It’s widely understood that a business needs at least a presence on the popular social media channels if they are to be successful in the current consumer marketplace. Interactive, engaging social media activity is even better. But how are small businesses using social media to reach their customers?

This infographic from Column Five and Intuit shows how small businesses use social media, and the fruit their efforts are bringing (or not…):

Social media platforms are a great way to reach customers because it’s inexpensive (over 50 percent use less than $100 – or nothing – on social media), it’s easy, it doesn’t require a lot of time (and time is money, right?), and it reaches customers effectively because social media platforms are where the customers are spending a lot of their time.

Connection is key for why small businesses use social media – and most businesses find Facebook to be the best social media network for engaging and connecting with their customer audience. Anywhere from 16 to 35 percent of fans become customers after liking a small business’ Facebook page.

But while these businesses hope for connection with their consumers and fans, there is a major disconnection going on. While 54 percent of businesses think that wall posts are the most effective methods for using Facebook to reach customers, that is only 18 percent for the actual customers. Offers and discounts came in at 37 percent.

See, the problem that this infographic shows is that the small business owners aren’t effectively reaching their customers through their social media tactics. It should be common knowledge that the average customer is going to prefer a special offer or discount to one-sided information that they see in their newsfeed.

Businesses that use social media – and Facebook in particular – to get their message out, or to post relevant content have to understand the weight that a discount or special offer carries with their customers. It’s not enough to have a one-sided conversation, telling your fans how awesome your Bacon Bleu Cheese Burger is, or that they should come to the launch of your new product line on Saturday – they need a reason to engage with you.

How should small businesses use social media and Facebook in particular? Ask for engagement. Offer a deal – but not without strings attached. Give your fans a discount or announce a giveaway, and follow that with parameters such as any combination or part of the following:

• They must ‘Like’ your Facebook Page
• They must post a relevant photo of something related to (or not) your discount or giveaway
• They must share your post with their friends
• They must comment on the post

You can’t depend on a video or photo going viral; so it’s best to focus on what you know works on social media. Giveaways and special offers every once in awhile (anywhere from once a week to once a month is good), and supplement those with your standard wall posts and direct messages to fans.

Don’t forget that you’re engaged in social media for one thing in the first place: connecting with customers. So get out there and connect with them!

Featured photo from swagsocials.com.

The post How Small Businesses Use Social Media – And Why They Might Be Getting it Wrong appeared first on Marketeering Group - Seattle Marketing.

It’s something that plagues most writers, and it’s probably one of the things that made non-writers afraid of the practice in the first place … the blank page. You know, when you sit down with a pen and paper, or with your laptop at-the-ready and Word is open, and –

You fiddle with your pen… That damn cursor is blinking… and the page is still blank.

When you were in school, you couldn’t just throw in the towel and not write that English paper, but now that you’re a small business owner in your own right, who’s to blame you for giving up and going back to running your business? No one will blame you, it’s true, but you’re not doing yourself or your business any favors by neglecting your online content – specifically a blog, as I discussed last week in my post on why your small business blog matters.

But creating content can be hard. After you’ve celebrated new products, menu items, or services to death, or promoted your upcoming event till you’re blue in the face, it’s easy to come up dry for fresh content and blog topics. On top of that – when there’s nothing new – coming up with new ideas on a regular basis and taking the time to write about them in 300-500 words is a lot of work. It doesn’t have to be.

If you’re having a hard time creating new, fresh content, this infographic (left) from Red Rocket Media might help. They think it’s all about knowing where to look for content topics.

From a small Seattle business perspective, you can find lots of information from just using what you know and have already! Ask yourself the following questions – they just might result in a kick-ass blog post:

• What makes my store/restaurant/service special?
• Are my employees or partners pretty cool? (Shouldn’t you tell people about how awesome they are?)
• What’s happening in my industry? (Some more specific questions to ask, per business: Are there new trends in food that we’re on board with? Is there a new skincare practice out there that we’re going to try? What new studies are out there relating to fitness and health?)
• Do we have any awesome regular customers or clients who have a cool or inspiring story to tell?
• Is something interesting or exciting happening in our business’ neighborhood or community? (This one can help get you some love in return.)
• Our restaurant/store/spa has a special theme or specialty – how can we share that or push it further on the blog? (If your restaurant serves seafood, maybe post about your oyster-farming vendor. Write a post about how awesome your spa’s product manufacturer is. Talk about why your gym’s group yoga class is so great.)
• Are we considering something new? (If you’re on the fence about a new service, menu change, or product line, ask your customers and readers what they think! Everyone has an opinion.)

Hopefully these tips and questions will help you to cure your own fear of the blank page! I’m also happy to help suggest a couple of ideas if you’re really stuck. Just contact us!

Featured photo by Flickr user Dan Eriksson

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Blogging is critical to the online success of your business. Is that a surprising thing to hear? Some of the small business owners we’ve spoken to are skeptical when we tell them something to that effect, but it’s true.

Small businesses that do their thing out of a brick-and-mortar store or location often get caught with their pants down when it comes to their online presence. If they have a website (and a surprising number of Seattle businesses don’t), it’s outdated, doesn’t convey their image well online, and is rarely – if ever – updated. That kind of ‘web presence’ isn’t really a presence at all; it’s more like a forgotten sock under the bed, since it’s there but it’s not doing its job or bringing you any benefit.

Photo credit: Technorati Digital Influence Report.

Technorati Media released their 2013 Digital Influence Report back in December 2012. According to that report, 10 percent of brands’ total digital spend goes to social media (more than half allocated to Facebook), with much less spending for blogs and influencers. However, blogs “rank high with consumers for trust, popularity and influence. When making overall purchase decisions, for consumers, blogs trail only behind retail and brand sites … Blogs are more influential in shaping opinion than Twitter, and when it comes to affecting purchase decisions, more important than Facebook.”

Yet businesses continue to spend more on Facebook and social media campaigns than getting updated, fresh content on their blog.

I get it. It’s a lot easier to tap out a quick note here and there throughout the day, and create a regular social media following than it is to hammer out a 300- to 500-word blog post about why your skincare service is better than the norm.

But your small business blog is critical to your success online, and off-line – and not just as it relates to influencing your potential customers’ purchases. Here’s why:

• Getting Found Online: Design an awesome website? Check. Fill it with all the essential bits of information and content? Check. Maybe even have an expert optimize your website for search engines? Check. That’s where a lot of small businesses stop, when they should be asking “What next?” instead. The next step is to create a blog and make sure to keep it updated consistently with new content. Why? Because regularly updated content (once every other week at minimum) is what keeps Google and other search engines coming back and crawling your site on a regular basis. And that matters because the more regular your content is, the more value and rankings those search engines will give you when potential customers are looking for places like yours.
  

  Infographic from: DigitalSherpa.com

• Getting More Customers or Clients: As you write blog posts about your new product line, or maybe some special recognition your store got in one of the local magazines, you’ll be intuitively popping ‘keywords’ into your posts. Keywords are words or phrases that search engines use to recognize what kind of business or services you offer. Then, when Sally Smith searches for “Seattle hair salon” in Google, your website will come up higher in the search results if you’ve used that phrase a few times before in previous blog posts. Ms. Smith will then head to your salon. But if you haven’t put in the time with blog posts and keywords, she might not see you until the 5th or 6th page in Google’s search results – long after she’s found a different salon (who probably blogs).
• Influencing Customer Purchases: I’ll be honest and say that for many small Seattle businesses – particularly the restaurants, spas, gyms, and professional service providers we partner with – an active blog is more valuable from a search engine perspective than for engaging with customers. However, the more transparent information you provide, and in-depth communication with your business’ online community, you can still strongly influence your customers’ purchases. A blog brings personality, expertise, and more information than the back of a label to your brand online. Customers or clients can understand the history of a certain treatment, or the unique process for making a certain product – all of that information they could only receive otherwise if they were face-to-face in your store with you. A blog allows you to take your unique brand and personality online, setting up that relationship long before they become a customer or client.

My apologies for the long-winded post, but I hope it has helped you see the value in your business’ blog – no matter how small or techno-un-savvy your business is.

For some more statistics, check out the Technorati report, or read a summary of the report by Social Media Examiner here.

Featured photo from Acceleration-Partners.com.

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Go behind the scenes of your business
Social Media as already done a great job of getting to know brands more personally, with Vine you can take that even farther and create videos demonstrating how a product is made.
For example a coffee shop can show how their lattes are made:

#latte #cafemoka #espresso #vabeach #snowday #hooleyfilmingthisandnotkittens #latteart vine.co/v/b5QMDvJ0wBQ

— Cafe Moka (@CafeMokaVa) January 25, 2013

Twitter Ads Vines are great tool to create awesome ads for your Twitter feed and the best part about them is that your clients probably won’t mind (yet). If your looking to really engage your audience, creating a micro ad using Vine is a great away to promote events or sales for your business. Example: Photography Studio promoting headshots:

Studio is ready and waiting for you! HEADSHOTS!!! vine.co/v/bnBFxqd9PKH

— SweetShotPhotography (@sweetshotphoto) February 4, 2013

Create a contest / (Ask Friends To Promote Your Products)
Contest are great because it’s a great tool to encourage people to create their own content for your business and promote within their own social networks. Vine is great for contest because it’s a new medium for users to be creative with, don’t be afraid to ask your audience to get a little creative!
Example: UK Based online-only retailer ASOS asked customers to get more personal with their purchases:

Loving #vine? We wanna see you unbox your #asos order, tag #ASOSUnbox (we may even give you something new t… vine.co/v/bJ9dTgx3wJt

— ASOS (@ASOS) January 30, 2013

Other example of Vines from brands: Dove:

Our #firstpost on Vine! Definitely a strike, thanks to some last pin #magic. vine.co/v/b52z6ljw1F1

— Dove (@Dove) January 25, 2013

GE:

Tap the screen and tell us your favorite blueprint from National Inventors’ Day! #loop #magic #IWantToInvent vine.co/v/bvPAd0dd1W3

— General Electric (@generalelectric) February 12, 2013

Bacardi UK:

Our #CubaLibre #cocktail in #sixseconds. Which #SixSecondCocktail would you like to see next? #vine #howto vine.co/v/bnqj5qmnIwQ

— Bacardi UK (@BacardiUK) February 5, 2013

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Use of Facebook pages for small businesses can be a bit of a mystery – or at least a confusing. Many Seattle businesses just throw in the towel and settle for more “Like’s” as their success or growth measurement on Facebook. They don’t know how do get in front of more fans, and they don’t know how to increase engagement from the fans they have.

The new EdgeRank algorithm that Facebook introduced last September only aggravated this frustration. The new algorithm inspired a flurry of articles and blog posts on how to deal with the sudden decrease in visibility of a Page’s organic posts (estimated at 5 to 40%, although some pages experienced as much as an 83% decrease). We even posted about Facebook marketing tips for small businesses and why you should promote your page and posts.

But Facebook use for social marketing is still an enigmatic art, requiring extensive expertise and strategy for a lot of small businesses – something they don’t have the time or know-how to successfully use to their advantage. We’d like to change that a little bit, and so we’ve boiled it down to some simple tips for using Facebook:

1. Post often, but not too often: Based on Facebook’s algorithm, they’re trying to cut down on “spammers” – limiting the number of posts from any one Page to its fans. In that vein, it’s more valuable to limit your posts to 1-2 per day, instead of barraging your audience with much more. That being said, however, you should make sure to post at least once or twice per week – three or more being optimal. You want to stay in front of your fans, but not overwhelm them.
2. Content is number-one: In order of value as far as Facebook’s new algorithm is concerned, your posts should include a (1) video, (2) photo, (3) link, (4) text only. Obviously, text and links can be used in tandem with videos and photos, but images or clips from YouTube will get you a lot more visibility in your fans’ newsfeeds than just plain text. Make it a goal for every post that you put up to at least include a picture of something you’re talking about.
3. Timing should be considered: When is it best to post on your Facebook page? Whenever more of your fans are on Facebook, of course! We’ve found for many of our clients (restaurants) that an optimal time is mid-late afternoon – especially the window between 3-5 p.m. That’s when the nine-to-fivers are winding down from the day and thinking about their plans for that weekend or that evening. If your business is in retail, a café, spa/salon, or corporate business, the morning time might be better for posting, since that’s when your audience is online and planning their day.

Those are the big kickers when it comes to getting the most from your Facebook page. Some other tips we suggest are occasionally promoting your Page – see image at right for how to do this – or promote a post (for an event, special, etc.), tagging other pages or communities on Facebook by ‘@’ tagging them, and finally by using Facebook as your page, ‘like’ other pages in your industry, neighborhood, or city, and comment and interact with them. You’ll get in front of more people – Facebookers who aren’t even your fans (yet), and gain a good rep within your community.

With Facebook, it’s all about sharing the love – after you’ve got a good, strong Facebook page of course!

The post Small Seattle Businesses Tips for Using Facebook appeared first on Marketeering Group - Seattle Marketing.

With small Seattle businesses, and businesses everywhere, content marketing – or Content-onomics as we call it here at Marketeering Group – can be relegated to the lower levels of your business priorities. However, content is crucial to the success of your business online. It drives more traffic to your website, by attracting search engines and human eyes, than anything else.

Content marketing really matters. Why?

Content Gets Attention.

If it is relevant and interesting, your online blog, social media posts, and email marketing campaigns will get your customers’ attention. For small businesses in Seattle that are primarily a brick-and-mortar presence, content provides pretty much the only way to get in front of their customers when he or she is not right in front of the physical business.

Email marketing campaigns remind the customer of special upcoming events or promotions, blog post feeds can be followed for consistent updates or education on the business and its products/services, and Facebook and Twitter bring that up-close-and-personal interaction with the business.

Content Engages Audiences.

Photo Credit: MediaBistro

This is particularly true with social media. Blog posts and email marketing provide information and education, but customers of today’s small Seattle businesses are more likely to comment on your Facebook post and ‘re-tweet’ your Twitter message than to comment on a blog post.

Through Facebook, your business can interact with other business pages in your neighborhood or industry, ‘liking’ and commenting on their posts or shared content, creating a community. This behavior also puts your brand and business in front of potential customers who are already fans of those pages or social media communities.

With Twitter and Pinterest, you have a quick and easy method of interacting and sharing educational information or interesting photographs (of your products or otherwise) with your followers.

As of today, there are over 163 million users on Facebook in the United States, Google+ is now the second most-used social media network at 343 million active users globally (Facebook has an estimated 693 million active users around the world), Twitter passed more than 200 million active users worldwide back in December, and the newer social media powerhouse, Pinterest, passed 10 million U.S. users faster than any other site in history. That’s a lot of users, and potential customers.

Of course for small Seattle businesses, those numbers are significantly smaller. But with that wide scale of people actively using these social networks around the world and in the United States, it stands to reason that there is a heck of a lot of people in Seattle using them, too.

Content Attracts Search Engines.

Search Engine Optimization is a mystifying science for lots of people these days – even those who are technologically inclined. It doesn’t help that Google and other search engines are constantly changing their methods and valuations, so that an SEO strategist has to constantly update his/her approach. But across the board, content is the driver to better optimization on search engines.

A simple way to achieve the most basic search engine optimization without expert help is to ensure that your blog posts are regularly posted (once per week is optimal, once every month is mandatory), and that they include keywords or keyword phrases.

When you use keywords or phrases, choose simple words or phrases that are most important to you with that post, or your site and business as a whole. For instance, you might have regular live music events at your Seattle bar, so two phrases you should make sure to use are “live music events” and “Seattle bar”. It gets much more complicated the deeper you go in SEO practices and strategies, but using keywords in your blog posts can help give you a boost.

What Now?

Approach your content marketing using some form of this “Gold Standard of Content Marketing” from NewsReach. (Infographic on the right).

By using a mixture of originality, engagement, and search engine optimization, your (well-done) online content could mean the difference between remaining stagnant in your brick-and-mortar business, versus the possibility of doubling – or more – your sales and foot traffic to your business. However, it’s crucial to remember that your content must be produced regularly, be interesting to read, and be unique.

Featured photo from EmpowerNetwork.com.

The post Why Content Marketing Matters appeared first on Marketeering Group - Seattle Marketing.

The wrong stage

Small business owners are often very attached to their image and brand. This is a great thing. Often they have built it from the ground up and are very proud of it. Business owners are like an artist or performer, we are trying to communicate something profound, and we want everyone to get it. Here’s the thing 99% of our audiences (especially on social media and blogs) are here to see improv, and not Shakespeare.

Be Yourself

One most common forms of paralysis I see with small business owners is the overwhelming desire to get every word just right, and that every nuance of Facebook, twitter, and their blog communicate that spark of what makes them unique. The problem is, people don’t remember what you said, in fact they barely remember the vague idea, and only that if they feel like they know you. That there in lies the goal.

The purpose of blogging, vlogging and social networking is not to communicate a 100% perfect brand, but to present an image of yourself and build a relationship with far more people than those who can walk in your doors that day. It takes personality. Be fun and engaging.

It is not only alright to waiver from your “brand” to show off who you are, it is encouraged, because despite what you think, YOU are your brand. It’s sort of like dating, the best advise is to just be yourself. In our day and age brand loyalty is not built on status, but a feeling of connection and identity. Now, as throughout all of history, identity comes from one’s people. And people are messy, engaging, and–oh yeah, Funny.

A Great Example

Here is what I’m talking about. Watch Larry from the Chocolate Box. At the end of the video are the out-takes. People might come in to the Chocolate Box because of the location, online visibility, or ads, but they stay and recommend it to their friends because they like the people. Be bold and express yourself. (seriously, watch the out-takes at the end)

The post The Skeleton Key to Small Business Social Branding appeared first on Marketeering Group - Seattle Marketing.

Small Seattle business owners have a lot of struggles to get through and obstacles to overcome, so we like to help by keeping you informed with tools and tips to make your life easier.

Infographic from blog.intuit.com

We’ve found three great communities and tools that every Seattle business should have on hand – or at least be aware of. Check them out:

• Social Media: Your communication with customers and fans of your business is paramount to building brand loyalty as well as spreading the word about you. In order to succeed as a small business in Seattle, you really should at least have an active Facebook page. To help you manage your social networks as efficiently as possible, Hootsuite is a fabulous tool to use. Schedule posts, set content to publish on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and more – all from one easy-to-use dashboard. The only difficulty with Hootsuite is that “@” tagging other pages from Hootsuite doesn’t translate to Facebook. Hashtags will work just fine, though. Another free tool to help with your social media interaction is The Mashable Guidebooks for Twitter and Facebook.
• Networking: Connect with other local small business owners to share tips and experiences, or collaborate to help each other get ahead in business. In this town, it’s all about who you know, and sharing the love to everyone’s benefit. Seattle’s a pretty small town, so take advantage of that fact by getting to know as many people as you can. Meetup.com offers great group events for individuals of all hobbies, professions, and interests. There’s quite a few business owners’ networking events, too!
• Consultation: Every small business can use a little help now and again, and the Economic Development Council offers helpful consulting services for that extra boost. Formerly known as enterpriseSeattle, their free confidential consulting services are great for businesses looking to get their start, grow, or move to the Seattle area. The EDC creates public-private economic development partnerships with businesses, to become a go-to source for businesses in Seattle and King County.

We hope these help you get ahead in your Seattle business!

Featured Photo credit paysimple.com.

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Last May, Facebook rolled out their feature for promoted Facebook posts – allowing businesses to pay a fee to have their posts promoted to their fans.

Since then, businesses of all shapes and sizes have used Facebook post promotion to get their message to the masses. But if you’re not using the tool and promoting your Facebook posts, why should you?

First, let’s map out how Facebook post promotion for businesses works:

1. Let’s say you decide to promote a post. Follow the steps for how to promote a post, conveniently offered by Facebook. Note that the post has to be within three days old of when you decide to promote it.
2. Target your post based on location (this is key, particularly for small Seattle businesses), language, and the other parameters offered.
3. Set the duration of your promotion and determine your budget. Facebook handles billing for this the same way they do for their ads; you set a limit per day or per click that you’re willing to pay, and they go to that limit.

Finally, you’ll watch it work! Unlike with Facebook ads, these promoted posts won’t show up on the side right column of Facebook where the ads are. They’ll see these posts in their news feed with everyone else’s, only the post will be labeled as “Sponsored” to note that it was paid for.

Now to the big question: Why should you use Facebook post promotion for your business? The simple answer is because it works.

Jon Loomer, a social media and Facebook blogger, did a test of Facebook’s post promotion back in August. With his Facebook page and its 5,000 fans as a sample size, he ran a promotion to see what the difference was between promoting a post versus not promoting one.

You can check out his blog post to get the details, but in short, he found that he reached 31% more fans, had a significant increase in fan engagement, and he also experienced a surprise with substantial non-fan engagement (friends of fans). And Jon only spent about $6 per post to get this kind of engagement.

Jon’s is just a small example of how promoting your posts on Facebook can increase your reach and engagement on the social media platform. Even if you only spend a few dollars on each special post that you want to promote on Facebook, you can significantly increase your ability to connect with fans and potential customers. What’s more, you’ll have much more coverage through social media to get the word out about your products or services.

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Most business owners know that they need to be on Facebook to get in touch with a vast majority of their clients and customers, but they struggle with making those Facebook pages worthwhile and convertible into higher sales and revenues.

The following are four Seattle businesses that are doing a kick-ass job of their Facebook interactions with customers and fans, and we wanted to give them a little spotlight attention:

The Walrus and the Carpenter: With close to 1,900 likes* (at 2 p.m. on Dec. 20^th, 2012) and lots of regular interaction from their fans, this Seattle oyster house has got a great look on Facebook. Their updates are unique, engaging, and best of all; personal. Learn from what they’re doing, and keep your brand as real as possible on Facebook and other social media platforms. Your customers are looking for a human element behind the facelessness of a company – give them authenticity.

Atlas Coffee Company: Over 1,500* people like Atlas, and it’s not just because of the good coffee. This java house is much more than just that – they team with local artists and entertainment to bring exciting, fun events to their fans, customers, and folks that hear about it through the grapevine. Even fanatic fans get tired of getting a sales pitch every time they interact with a brand, so follow Atlas’ cue and try to be a part of your community in a bigger and better way.

Hotel Max: Yep, that number of likes you see is right – about 8,750* people like this hot hotel in Seattle. How did they get so many? They interact with their fans on the fan’s level, talking about happenings around them that have nothing to do with the hotel, but might interest their community of followers. You won’t stay in a hotel that often during a year, even if you travel a lot, but if one specific hotel is forefront on your mind when your friend mentions they’re visiting Seattle, you’ll recommend that one. Hotel Max also asks for likes on their page posts and images – a crucial habit, since ‘it can’t hurt to ask’, right?

Trophy Cupcakes: We almost fell out of our chairs when we saw Trophy’s number of likes: 71,335*. Goodness. And that’s what Trophy is all about – the delicious goodness of cupcakes. In these troubled times, we all want a little bit of luxury just to help us through, and it seems like Trophy totally understands that need for a little indulgence. They keep their menu up-to-date with the season, as well as going after creative new flavor ideas and pairings – all the while keeping their Facebook fans informed about the changes and new things to try.

No matter the type or style of your small Seattle business, Facebook can be a great revenue-generating platform, and it can basically be used for free marketing (unless you pay for Facebook advertising). Take some pointers from these successful Seattle businesses and their Facebook pages, and you will more than likely see some great interactions with your own company!

* All numbers of likes reflect the amount of likes seen at the time of this post (2 p.m. on December 20^th, 2012)

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