All Posts, Content & Copywriting, Infographics, Marketing, Social Media
Facebook is an important platform for both engagement and professional networking among business and marketing professionals. But not everyone believes that time spent on this social media forum is well worth the effort. Or perhaps you think you do have strong and proper utilization of Facebook. And if so, that’s fantastic and way to go in leveraging your social media marketing channels. However, if you haven’t seen much engagement last year or haven’t generated any leads from it, then maybe some (or all) of these tips can help you change your fate in 2013. With a little time, a few colleagues and these tips, you can easily make your Facebook marketing strategy a success, increase traffic and engage, engage, engage!
#1. Content Making Your Audience Yawn?
Too many brands are guilty of over-posting articles and links to other businesses articles. Facebook is the most ‘social’ platform for all and people want to see, read, and share knowledge. Just posting articles can make your page quite boring! A better way to engage fans on your page and keep them coming back for more is to share a wide array of content. Anything from Infographics to select business tips to short e-books. Facebook may not be free forever so use this worldwide social media leviathan to your advantage while it’s still gratis!
#2. Tumble Weed Blowing Through Your Pages
There’s nothing worse than having a dead Facebook page. Many businesses Facebook pages were guilty of serious neglect with posts dating back weeks or even months ago. Not only does posting infrequently kill your Edgerank (the system that controls content visibility on your network’s News Feed), but it also sends a message to your fans that you don’t care to much about their loyalty to your brand and voice. The best way to improve visibility on Facebook is by frequent postings, advertisements and product/service imagery.
#3. A Little Vanity Is Good
A lot of businesses still don’t have a vanity URL (username) and are using the same old default URL given by Facebook from when they first signed up. To business prospects this can look tacky and unprofessional. Remember that once you have 25 fans, you are able to claim a dedicated username for your page. This comes in handy when you’re directing people to your Facebook page from other sources. You don’t want them to type in a URL that’s long and awkward. If you need help changing your URL, here’s how to do it.
#4. Don’t Let Your Page Be Visually Impaired
We all know that most of us “eat” with our eyes first. Visual content remains one of the number one way to engage with your network. What catches your reader’s attention through imagery certainly opens the door leading us to the relevant information causing them to spend more time on your page. Without it, your run the risk that fewer people will ‘Like’ your page or share your content. Infographics are a great way to grab the reader’s attention with imbedded links to your page to promote key information or a healthcare service being provided.
#5. Facebook Features and Apps
Business brands may not know or choose to use custom tabs for highlighting interesting content. But they should. With Timeline, a default landing page is no longer a must for businesses. You can now draw attention to your free resources, YouTube videos or other great content by using the (four) custom tabs underneath the header image (or cover photo). Custom tabs are fun and easy to create – here is a wonderful guide to get you started.
#6. Lacking Personality?
Although you still need to be professional on your Facebook page, it doesn’t mean you have to omit personality and excitement about your services and products. Once in a while ask your fans short, entertaining questions (even within the business context) to keep them engaged. Try to consistently engage your fan base by weekly postings with a certain theme. For example, try highlighting a product or service of the week, share a business tip or customer testimonial. Nurture your Facebook community while still maintaining your humor and lightheartedness in conveying the strength of your brand and business products/services.
Facebook is a fantastic business tool that can surely help you grow your business, but you have to use it properly for it to work to your advantage. So feel free to buck business stuffiness a little while using it to generate leads, engage your fans and gain a faithful following. Stay tuned for next week’s follow-up article highlighting Tips to Promote Your Business with Facebook Ads.
All Posts, Marketing, Social Media, Web Design
We’ve all heard the old adage, you only get out of it (a particular action) what you put into it. And that is so true when it comes to the online marketing of your business and the sweat equity you put into it. It takes time, effort and can also cost a considerable amount of cash if you have it. But if you are a frugal business owner or have fallen on hard financial times due to the economic climate, you need to review these 8 ways to promote your business online completely gratis!.
Free Social Media Resources
#1 Facebook posts need to occur on a regular basis to be effective. Most people are logged on during the prime time hours of 5-9pm. You can create quick posts about a new product or service, a free service tip or even ones that are relevant to seasonal time frames. For example, “Stay warmer longer and out of the cold less with a new SmartStart remote starter!”
#2 Blogging via your website is easy enough by adding a few paragraphs with information specific to your business or service. Adding fresh content on a regular basis will give you consistent indexing on major search engines. You can do this yourself or consider asking a friend or family member that’s a pretty good writer to put a brief article together that gives you an authoritative voice about your particular niche and hopefully a faithful following!
#3 Twitter posts are the easiest but seem to be the hardest to keep up with. Why I don’t know. But I do know is that prioritizing a few Tweets per week can help keep your business relevant in this social medium. If you just don’t have the time, there are social media management programs to help schedule postings on a daily or weekly basis.
#4 Hootsuite is a free social media management tool can help you to schedule and manage multiple Social Media networks and your daily/weekly postings. It’s free up to 5 networks and then becomes a paid service. This is a great no cost/low cost option and it’s super easy to use. Another option would be to consider asking a college student to do it for a few bucks so they can leverage it as professional Social Media management experience.
Free Website Resources
#4 merchantcircle.com holds major clout when it comes to online business networking as the largest social network for local business owners. They offer free online business listings, free marketing tools, internet advertising and so much more. It’s 100% free to set up a profile account so you can connect with other local businesses and promote your services/products.
#5 Yelp touts they are “the best way to find great local business” and true enough they are one of them. The site is well-known as the word-of-mouth for the digital world when it comes to reviews and opinions about businesses. Creating a profile is easy, smart device friendly and it is similar to Zagat, allowing consumers to rate your business. Don’t be afraid to ask your favorite and most long-term customers to add reviews to your business profile which helps increase your ratings. Remember, you will look better to consumers with 3 great reviews rather than someone who has none. But make sure you monitor your profile regularly in case someone puts something on there that’s less than becoming. You want to be able respond timely to anything that’s said which could affect your business’ reputation.
#6 Google Places helps consumers, much like Yelp, to help choose the right businesses based on their needs. These searches focus on geographically locating your personal needs in the areas of food, service industries and more. Here you can add photos, videos, coupons and even weekly specials all on your Place Page.
#6 Google+ Profile Business Page is another great tool by Google helps you find, share, rate, and recommend your business to their friends, and people across the web. But here’s the real gold nugget value – on this site you can also hold free customer meetings via 1 to 1 or even a 10-way video meeting called Google Hangouts. You can even stream and record conversations for playback later.
#8 A Free YouTube Channel for your business will allow you to upload your videos and market via your own channel! Plus you can really leverage this medium by programming certain settings and keywords to make your channel appear in people’s online searches. Not sure what kind of video to shoot? Consider educating your consumers via a Tips Video with several how-to’s or why choose your business infomercials. For example, if you’re an automobile service business, give a how-to-tell if your tire has a real flat or if it’s just the outdoor temperature affecting the pressure.
Last Tips
-Unless you want to pay someone to do the work for you, it sill takes a consistent effort of rolling up your sleeves and getting these resources to work for you.
-Remember, the goal is to create engagement and grow your online business presence leveraging these free online tools.
-Be consistent in your business descriptions across all these mediums so that search engines pull the same company information about your business.
-Keep in mind that with these resources, there’s no “set it & forget it” recipe. Even with Hootsuite, you’ll need to follow-up on your postings to check for comments and post responses to those consumer comments.
-You aren’t going to see dollar-for-dollar return on these efforts & the time investment you put into it. But I am confident that within 6 months, you will be surely see the fruits of your labors with leads and consumer recognition.
-Pace yourself so you don’t burn out and remember, slow and steady still wins the race all the way to the successful business finish line.
All Posts, Branding, Content & Copywriting, Marketing, Social Media, Web Design
We know that Content is King…yes, yes, yes – we’ve heard that over & over again. But let’s talk about the content strategies being implemented by brands and media leveraging this great sporting event taking place right now. I’m confident it was a full on sprinting event for various brands & powerhouse marketing firms to get their client products or just their in-house writing talent to be considered for this years’ event. Whether submitting product designs or being a head content writer for the television promos or print campaigns, all were gunning for the gold.
Leading the pack of those trailing close behind, Coca-Cola (Coke) has certainly won the coveted spot. I have read that Coke created more than 120 pieces of content for this years’ Olympic Event. But the company’s most brilliant move was capturing Mark Ronson, an English DJ, Grammy award-winning producer, musician and co-founder of Allido Records, to blow away the competition with its “Move to the Beat” campaign for the London 2012 Olympic Games. http://bit.ly/QZoW7L Using the video platform of YouTube, Coca-Cola created an entire series of videos to extend the value of their brand for the Olympics and reach customers in an interactive way. While some companies may still be hesitant to embrace video due to budget or ROI concerns, the forward-thinking marketers of Coca-Cola are diving headfirst.
This campaign has broken the ribbon with their concept of recording the sounds of Olympic sports events and transforming them into music. http://bit.ly/NQMDvF The motivation behind Move to the Beat is to bring teens closer to the Olympic Games while drawing inspiration from London’s musical heritage and connecting the two in a very tangible way. http://bit.ly/MOzd68. Doing so resulted in a cool, interactive corporate sister-website solely dedicated to this Olympic campaign at http://bit.ly/QLBOKf.
Knowing that Social Media would play a key component in their ability to gain worldwide access & participation, they coupled with Facebook on this venture allowing the brand to blast worldwide and engage the masses to create their own music beat! http://on.fb.me/OxDuau
Wow, talk about leveraging Social Media elements with written & video content! I wish I could have been a fly on the wall at that team meeting! Just when you realize the enormity of this project & campaign, scrolling through the website you realize that this concept allows all of us NOT IN LONDON to engage outside the normal screaming from the couch or bar stool at the TV, to tap our fingers, dance while cooking or wield our musical talents (novice or expert) TO BE A PART of this historical event. That’s right YOU can create your own beats and let the whole world know you are part of the London 2012 Olympics. Sweet right?
So kudos to the marketeers and content creators at Coca-Cola for taking content creation to another interactive level. And based on the numbers of those Moving to the Beat on this venture, I’d say it’s proven that this campaign was destined for the podium and the #1 spot at that!
All Posts, Content & Copywriting, Marketing, Social Media, Web Design, Web Development
In the first of this two-part series, I delve fork-first into what should be on your success plate for your restaurant via the world wide web and which content accompaniments will have your customers coming back for more.
*It’s Like a Restaurant without Signage ~ Restaurateurs everywhere, you may offer fantastic platings and have a location that rivals cobblestone street cafes in France, but today’s savvy foodie eats with their eyes first…ON THE INTERNET. What about the power luncheon you’re boss asks your to book and you need that perfect location with a swank menu to ink the deal? Or the family of 7 traveling from Virginia to Maine who needs an affordable, family friendly menu with ample seating? In 2012, 90% of consumers first instinct is to Google everything – that’s even for the neighborhood coffee & biscotti café. One of the most successful ways for potential customers to know how fantastic your spot is- is if you have a website. This reigns true if you’re a small Mom & Pop coffee shop, a breakfast & lunch only establishment, or have won a “Best” culinary award for your fusion creations. Wherever you are and unknown vs. well-known, it is imperative you have a web presence to:
1. let the world know you exist and give them a visual perspective of your establishment and its offerings;
2. stay relevant & competitive with other restaurateurs within the same category or cuisine within your surrounding neighborhood/area;
3. make the world aware of accolades you’ve received and watch them influence your prospective patrons; and last but most importantly
4. obtain new and possibly life-long, faithful patrons.
*A Sour Ingredient? ~ If you’re still not convinced a website is necessary, here’s an eye-opening scenario. If you don’t have a website you could be opening yourself up to reviews of your food and/or service via such sites like Yelp which allow visitors to say something influential about your establishment. And wait, here it comes…AND POST IT ON THE WORLDWIDE WEB WITHOUT YOUR PERMISSION. Whether flattering or not, you won’t have a voice and presence on the www to contradict it will you…Convinced now? I have disregarded many a YELPing, whinny patron’s review when the restaurant’s website reflects legitimate and noteworthy criticism and compliments.
*Wanna Really Start Cookin’? Add Some Social Media ~ Social Media is big business in every business arena around. Facebook, Twitter, Digg, Stumble Upon…and even more to come. And the great thing about Social Media is that it’s free! Tweet about your most popular pizza made with all organic ingredients. Create a Facebook page for your restaurant and get customers to Like it. Dish on Digg about this seasons new menu and why your patrons need to give it a test run.
Another great Social Media tool is blogs. Much like this one, blogs can be influential depending on the level of content writing, and what other mediums the blogger is using to expose your restaurant to the world. And if they have a decent following in the industry for which your business belongs to, that’s even more exposure in addition to your other online marketing tools. I’ve seen this at work with a recent client for which I blog and how their customers responded to it. The blog influenced someone to order a dish they never had before and now they are absolutely in love with it. AND they bragged to others about it and now that establishment has 3 new customers. Ahhh…the power of suggestion.
Check back next week when I add the remaining ingredients for a stellar, set you apart from the competition restaurant website. And if you think you should toss this advice out with your table scraps, check out http://www.google.com/analytics/customers/case_study_cke.html and see what CKE Restaurants founder Carl N. Karcher found behind the curtain about his restaurants web presence!
All Posts
Maybe you’ve had a successful hair salon for years and your flow of clients is in and out like a Manhattan revolving door. Or perhaps, you just started one and are struggling to pack the chairs and fill the appointment book. Regardless, both need a website. It would seem that the latter would be more in need. But here are the top 5 reasons why both do and how it benefits the one with the successful streaks AND the one that’s a little green at the roots. Because the goals of a hair salon aren’t to create just great client impressions when they walk out the door, but even before they get there or perhaps know that you exist. How so? Read on….
1st Show that You Are a Cut above the Rest ~ Perhaps you can highlight with the talent of Picasso or have the most stylish stylists in a 50 mile radius- if you don’t advertise it, word of mouth is probably not enough to keep your book of business on the incline despite a declining economy. Grooming is one of the “extras” that many people can’t justify when the light bill is due and groceries are in need. In today’s tough economy improving the growth and profitability of your hair salon needs to be a high-priority and this is one tool you’ll want to have in the kit. Having a website shows potential and repeat customers that you really mean business about your business. It reflects another level of professionalism for clients and to the industry. Remember, the goal is to create a great impression on a client both before they come to the salon AND after they see their reflection in the mirror.
2nd Add Social Media Presence to Your Menu ~ Running a hair salon requires interaction with a lot of people and why not let that network work for you. What do I mean by that? I mean getting people to Like You on Facebook, connect with you via Linked-In and chat about you on Twitter. With constantly changing styles, promotions, and products you shouldn’t have a problem finding topics to talk or Tweet about. This is an ever-evolving industry and you can take advantage of that using the free resource of Social Media. Use it to show others that you are tapped into the most current trends in hairstyling, makeup, products or whatever your salon may specialize in. And speaking of specialties, if you have one in particular-like you wax as smooth as a baby’s bottom or have a stylist who coifs with the precision of Edward Scissorhands-then Social Media is the perfect place to create hype about the talents in your establishment.
3rd Great Referencing Tool for the Trade ~ A website is a great place to let your work shine and the words of your clients work for you. Often, word of mouth helps as much as it can hurt. Letting others “hear” from current/past clients does influence decisions…especially in service-providing industries. Most repeat customers would love say how Thomas keeps their true roots invisible or Shelly is a Shear-tress like no other AND see it in print! No to mention that playing to a client’s ego in this manner, is also another way to keep their business at your business. I mean this is an industry of vanity after all…
4th Stylistas, the Cutting Floor to Web Design ~ A great look and feel website should engage visitors and compel them to spend time there. You are in luck in this particular industry because the variety of website designs available can vary as much as shades of blond. But you also have to know which to choose based on your demographics, clientele and other such factors. Don’t forget that when selecting one, it should reflect both your vision for your business and the clientele walking through its doors. Keeping this in mind, don’t fail to have fun with it. I mean it isn’t a law firm for goodness sake-so you can push the envelope of creativity without seeming over-the-top.
5th Picture Perfect Coiffing & Selling ~ Photo Galleries aren’t fabulous only in SoHo but can be just as spellbinding on the www while exhibiting your stylists’ work. There are various choices to do so…like a slide show, a flip/style online book or even a Virtual Tour of your Salon while talent’s in motion. It will be engaging and be a non-traditional way of showing off your talented team.
Decide Who Will Make the Cut ~ If don’t have a salon website already but are now convinced you need one, here are some considerations when choosing a website designer and/or company:
Find one that you feel understands your salons demographics and how to reflect it on the website.
Know that imagery will be crucial for your website. So make sure that you have “web-worthy” photographs to showcase the talents of your team and use stock photography where needed to beautify the site.
Make sure they will write your content with commonly used keywords that are frequently used when searching for hair salons, especially in your geographic region.
At Design Theory, we’d love to help you take your business to the next level of design and success. As such, we now have great packages 
specifically designed for hair salons that will help you blow away your competition.
