Social media optimization

I mean, you have your social media properties set up. Can’t you just continue posting content as per the schedule you set? Why the change of heart, yet you have made the bold first step?

Well, you have looked at your social media properties and noticed something, didn’t you? In comparison to other social media properties, you are not getting the traction you set out at the outset. Social media optimization (SMO) will help your corporation generate the publicity it has been working hard to get. Result, increased awareness.

So let us break down the 12 steps you need to take in order to optimize your social media properties aimed at boosting your social interaction and increase awareness. If you are ever having trouble, optimizing your social media properties, come back here and re-read this post to get a handle on the practice. Let us get started, shall we?

What are these 12 steps?

Start by defining your objectives and goals.

The decision to execute a social media program should not be treated casually. Similar to all other corporate programs, know exactly what it is that you want to achieve. Determine cues that will be used to measure progress.

As Lee Odden says, ‘Know your desired outcome at you start – for example, reputation, sales, influence, credibility, charity, traffic/page views.

Offer Value

Millions of social media programs exist in the social realm. But not all of them realize their set goals. Why? They fail to utilize this chance to share new knowledge with their audience. Do not make that mistake. Be there and be ready to share the most valuable content.

If apiece of content makes people seem smart, they are more likely to share it with their friends. And people like being the first to share information because it makes them seem cool and in the know – Mashable

Increase Linkability

To optimize a site for social media, we need to increase the linkability of the content. Adding a blog is a great step, however there are many other ways such as creating white papers and thought pieces, or even simply aggregating content that exists elsewhere into a useful format – Rohit Bhargava

Tag your content

Enable your content to reach a wider audience by using tags. A tag is a non-hierarchical keyword or term assigned to a piece of information (such as an Internet bookmark, digital image, or computer file). – Wikipedia. They help describe an item and allows it to be found again by browsing or searching. 

Make your content easy to access

Our audience have limited time to spend. Capitalize on that. By using short links that drive users to the exact location of your content prevents them from getting bored.

Content that is easy to view through short links (PDFs, video files, and audio files); travels further and is more trackable in proving it is driving visitors ultimately to your site – Rohit Bhrargava

Use permalinks in blogs for keywords and sharing

When you blog, permalinks automatically capture keywords in the URL titles that search engine look for when the crawl your site; at the bottom of your blog, they make it easy for readers to copy and share – Barn Raisers
 

Be Rewarding

In social media, we cannot go at it alone. We need to formulate a strategy, to court influencers, who help push the brands agenda. Whenever, you come across the content of these influencers, share it. This will give you visibility.

Show Humility

You are on a journey. Once you make it to the top, remember all the people that made it possible. Always show respect.

Let Go Of an Idea and Let Others Own It

In the spirit of social media principles, the idea of Social Media Optimization is now out there and belongs to the marketing and PR community. I strongly believe the future definition of this emerging marketing practice will come from the group – Rohit Bhargava

Know Your Targeting

Going into social media blind is not wise. Prior to anything, determine beforehand whom you intend to communicate with. Once you determine the audience you can appeal to, stick to that demographic. Those who you cannot let them be.

Be Useful

Add outbound links to areas that could help others. Folks will link to your social site and tag is as helpful or the ‘ultimate’ guide in that space. As this adds up, it will become more and more relevant in search engine results – Jeremiah Owyang

Stay On Top Of Your Game

With all the technological advances, you need to stay up-to-date. Learn of any new tool sin the industry. Know what the social media channels are up to. Never let any new development pass you by. It could be the break you have been waiting for to reach a million page views.

Over to you now reader. Give it a go and let me know how it goes.

This post originally appeared here.

How are you fairing on in LinkedIn?

To those of us working to break a niche in the world of digital communications – marketing, we should be curious. On my part, my curiosity has led me to severally observe how businesses doing so well on the social sphere go about it. To essentially find out what makes them tick.

I do not stop there, as should you. I delve further to observe those that are not doing so well, and find out why. Yet the two companies under observation could be in the same industry, netting same amounts in revenue, have almost equal numbers of employees, why the huge difference?

While on my fact-finding mission, I came across a blog post by Krista Neher, of kristaneher.com. Her post, quite informative, helped me reach a conclusion rather quickly.

In her post which she states bluntly: ‘…While I do not have all of the answers, one thing has become clear: Most businesses that do not get results from social media do not do it right.’ It then became clear, that those using social media, yet fail to get the desired results owe those bad results to themselves.

To continue she lists, some of the aspects that these businesses fail in and as a result fail their social media program. I will categorize them for simplification:

Content Strategy

• The content is not strategic
• They have no strategy                                            
• The content is not very interesting
• The posts are not structured well
• The audience is not clearly defined

 Copywriting

• The headlines are mediocre
• They do not post consistently

Incorporating talented graphic designers

• The posts do not have great visuals  

Krista's advise is to go all in when it comes to social media. I agree.

Many a times we have seen poor images used on corporate social media sites, unprofessional graphics, unattractive headlines and so on. Feel free to use the list to iron out areas of weakness as you revamp your social media program.

Post consistently. Use the best images in your image library (you should have one of these). Ask your colleagues to chime in on your headlines, if it works, keep it. If not, re-write it. Depending on the feedback, adjust accordingly.

Corporations cannot afford to stay on the sidelines anymore. The social media games are on. And whoever dances his feet off, will take home the pot of gold. Taking part is becoming a must-do. With that in mind, deploy your resources fully towards your social media program and watch as the magic happens.

I would like to hear from you on this. Leave a comment.

To read the original blog post, click here.

Punctuation Essentials

We in communication marketing cannot escape putting pen to paper. Think of the numerous contents we have to write, aimed at appealing to our audience’s triggers to buy and or be our loyal customers. Words are our currency of trade.

In keeping with that, it bores our audience when we miss a comma. And or misuse punctuation marks in the course of relaying information. Since we all (I am keeping a copy for myself) fall victim to poor punctuation occasionally, Ragan’s PR daily have a download, which I think will come in handy when you sit down to craft that post, press releases, and or case study.

To receive your free download, click on the link. 

Social Communication

3 Steps To Becoming The Best Social Communicator

The world is moving at a steady pace. The advent of digital has revolutionised the way people do business. The way businesses do business. Digital has found its place of comfort in communication and marketing. Calling upon the need for business leaders/founders to socialize their businesses.

At the forefront of digital, we have the social web. According to PR daily, ‘In less than 10 years, social media has become communication professionals’ best friend and fickle foe. With relative ease, customers can be targeted, support can be organized, discussions can flourish, and grievances can be aired with ease.’

This creates the need for all of us in the discipline to hone our social communication skills. How do we deliver upon the promises of organizing support to customers having difficulty: contribute to discussions online and address customer grievances in real time? By learning how to be good social communicators.

To be one, you need to work on the following:

Creatively Respond To Positive Feedback

People like to be praised. It bolsters their self-esteem. The same is true of businesses in the social realm. Many a times, when all is said and done, we all expect good feedback. Especially when we have made the effort to reach out. It could be positive feedback, about your service delivery and or quality of products.

When it happens, take time to respond to that feedback. Bottom line:always respond. Be creative; mention the source in the post/comment. Acknowledge their contribution in pushing the brands equity a notch higher. Make them know that there contribution is valued.

Deal With Negative Feedback Quickly and Appropriately

This is what we fear most. Being put down. It happens to most of us during the course of our lives. In our personal lives, we are even allowed to take it personally. However, in a business set-up do not ever take this personally. Especially negative feedback.

Suppose, a customer posts a negative comment regarding your services: do not respond by telling him to go get the service elsewhere. As was the case with Kenya Power & Lighting Company (kplc) January 21st: during a total blackout in some counties. On one twitter handle, a user posted his frustration of staying in the dark. The social team at KPLC, response chose to respond by telling the user to try other lighting sources such as candles, lamps, etc. It was a nightmare, if no one noticed. Thanks to monopoly the user could not move. If there were other service providers, don’t you think the user could have jumped ship?

Instead, try something like promising to address the issue by either giving him a refund and or internally, find out what led to the negative feedback exactly. Give them assurance that something is being done to remedy and or rectify the situation to normalcy.

Remember, always be timely. A complaint responded to 3 days later would have done irreparable harm. Avoid this.

Make Social A Resource for Your Customers and Not Yourself

Go on the social web, with the intention to give, give and give some more. Make it you mission to give useful information to your audience, round the clock.

Post alert when you suspect the roads would flood. Notify users of the promotion going on and if possible give them a reward, such a coupon. Do not tire to give.

Offers, promotions, product launches, the whole shebang. By giving and giving some more, you increase your chances of not only getting deserving repeat customers but also, loyal customers who will go out of their own way to evangelize your product and or services.

Do you feel ready to go be the best social communicator on the social web? Give it a go and share your experience with me.

Five Things To Do, To Be On Top

Five Things to Boost Your Social Media Skills

Social media managers (communicators & marketers in general) need to sharpen their skills, now more than ever. As we continue to witness the immense growth of digital channels, it is incumbent that we continue to learn.

The question becomes, how do you stay up to date with changes happening this fast? How do you run with the giants and prevent a possible burnout, yet they keep changing and or adding features to the social sites, every single day?

It might seem daunting to stay on top of the game. Considering that social media is growing very fast, but we can do it.

All you need to do is, invest your time and a few shillings and you will be on your way to keeping your skills sharp. I read this piece of wisdom, somewhere and I am going to share it as I read it: ‘Make the time to invest in yourself.' Sometimes we are so caught up in doing our day to day jobs, that we forget the importance of learning new skills and practicing. Prioritize investing in yourself and your skills or you’ll quickly find that your skills are obsolete.’

To keep you on top of your game, here are five things you need to do:

1) Attend conferences/seminars

How many have you attended so far? Just the other day, an accountant friend of mine went to a seminar, on Corporate Tax, organized by the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA). In so doing, he shared with me, that he gathered valuable knowledge that he would not have, while at his desk.

This goes to show you, how important it is to refresh your knowledge. Conferences, and or seminars is where you will learn from experts and expand your knowledge repertoire. Conferences get you energized, allow you to network with other smart people and get the latest on industry trends, tools, strategies, and approaches.

2) Read a few books

Readers are leaders. I heard this way back, and I continue to hear it to date. In fact, among the 10 things that Warren Buffet does, before clocking out is he reads 500 pages every day. Moreover, this is a person the world, refers to as the Oracle of Omaha! Bill Gates, Elon Musk, and group are not far behind.

Reading a few good books about topics (social media) that you want to learn more about, will make you a leader in your field. Books tend to go into more depth than blog posts and are usually based on facts, data, and research vs. opinions. Brian Tracy says, if you read books on your field, it will take you 5 years to become a leader in your field.

3) Blog subscription

There are many blogs in the world, on any topic you think about. Choose a few blogs and subscribe to the RSS feed. Make it a priority to read a few blog posts or trade publications at least every other day. This will keep you up to date on new content and give you quick posts on new topics. Better yet, start your own blog. Share your work experiences.

4) Attend a training.

Formal training is great because it provides structure around learning something new. It is usually more comprehensive versus a conference or blog post, meaning that you will learn a topic from start to finish. Social Media Training is a great way to continue to advance your skills.

5) Follow great social media accounts (Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn)

It is a crime, if you do not have at least one social media account. If not at least three. With that in mind, where else can you connect and see what pioneers and or thought leaders in your field are doing than through their social media handles and or accounts? I get my best news from social media and enjoy seeing a mix of personal and professional content in my streams. Follow a few accounts to get breaking news and inspiration in your social media news feeds.

I am sure the list could be longer than this. Feel free to add your own to-do’s and share them with us. Until then, cheers to ever being on top of the game!

Would you like to connect with me on social media? Check out my accounts.

Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | Google+

Sales ROI - Social Media

Social Media ROI Series Part 5: Sales

Members of the c-suite like this ultimate ROI. Will it boost our sales? They tend to ask immediately. Who wouldn’t? I mean, businesses exist to make sales. The more sales a business makes, the more profits it makes in that financial year. However, businesses involved in e-commerce, stand a better chance of reaping this rewards through social media efforts.

According to Peter Friedman, LiveWorld, ‘There are two types of sales ROI. Firstly, there is the direct revenue lift brands see when they push promotions through social.’

Direct revenue, because of direct sales; belong to the short-term category of sales ROI. In this category, all that businesses want is to sale, sale…sale! They will post a product, its price, and a bold call to action, prompting immediate sales. This is a characteristic of businesses in the e-commerce industry.

Through a social media program, a business can make direct sales (short-term) by offering their products up for sale and or through promotions. Through coupons and or sales promotions, products can indeed move. As we know, immediate sales, is what members of the c-suite want to see: making it quite a challenge.

‘Of course, short-term sales are not bad. They’re good—as long as the promotional push to make them happen doesn’t compromise building a social experience with committed, long-term customer relationships (and the revenue they create).’ says, Peter.

If your goal is to drive sales, it is advisable that you embed call to actions in your messages and or have some metric in place that will show you how you are doing in regards to making sales. For instance, having a link on social media that directs the visitor to a landing page and or sign-up to a newsletter page, and or build a mailing list. These are good places to start. The key is to have some way of measuring your sales efforts.

‘Long-term sales ROI generated from relationship-building ROI when customers become active with the brand community, form a deeper relationship, and build a space for the brand and its products in there and their friends’ everyday lives. Here is where we see increased loyalty, increased lifetime customer value, and enhanced revenue growth that is sustained overtime.’ says Peter.

Still on the path to making sales, businesses can decide to go the long route and or short route. Instead of hitting their visitors with hard selling messages, they choose to forge a relationship first. Then cultivate that relationship into a lifetime customer.

This is the best route businesses are always advised to take. In the process, they not only make sales but also, convert total strangers into loyal and lifetime customers. Who better to evangelize your products and or services other than your customers?

Research has shown that people will tend to buy more if they get recommendations from close relations, compared to advertising and or persuasions by a business. Then why not leverage this opportunity? Make her want to talk about your products and or services, wherever they are.

In the sales funnel, for which social media plays a critical part, its takes time to convert a prospect. Holding his hand all the way from awareness, interest, decision, and action needs patience. In addition, social media plays a pivotal role in taking a prospect through all the stages.

In conclusion, knowing social media ROI is key to knowing the value any social media program brings to the table. Without which, any social media efforts would be seen as throwing away money. Knowing which ROI to be on the lookout for helps in finding a way forward. Knowing what works and what does not.

If you missed my earlier posts on social media ROI, read them here. I would love to hear from you on this. Until then, happy reading.

Welcome to our place of business.

Social Media ROI Series Part 4: Relationship Building

We are all familiar with the business motto: ‘A customer is the most important visitor on our premises. He is not dependent on us. We are dependent on him. He is not an interruption in our work. He is the purpose of it. He is not an outsider in our business. He is part of it. We are not doing him a favour by serving him. He is doing us a favour by giving us an opportunity to do so.’

                                              

This motto has served many businesses in understanding that at the center of their operations is the customer. They (customers) determine the growth of a business. That is why organizations spend a fortune in recruiting new customers and still work round the clock to keep the old ones.

Knowing this, businesses then try to find ways to ensure that they build a formidable client base: which can be achieved through good customer relations. What businesses will realize is that social media can aid in cultivating good customer relationships, which will then lead to sustainable sales ROI.

“Delivering outstanding service [through social] creates impassioned advocates and can serve as a powerful marketing weapon for companies,” according to Jim Bush, Executive Vice President of American Express World Service, in a company press release. 

“For example, consumers who have used social media for service in the last year are willing to pay a 21 percent premium at companies that provide great service. They also tell three times as many people about positive service experiences compared to the general population. Ultimately, getting service right with these social media–savvy consumers can help a business grow.”  He adds.

Jim's testament, further proves the value of building relationships on the social web. On that note, social media delivers the following benefits:

• Customer Loyalty
• Brand Advocacy
•  Intent To Buy

Customer Loyalty

This is a result of consistently providing positive emotional experience, physical attribute-based satisfaction and perceived value of an experience, which includes the product or services.

According to beyondphilosophy, to build customer loyalty, customer experience management blends the physical, emotional and value elements of an experience into one cohesive experience.

It is said, retaining customers is less expensive than acquiring new ones, and customer experience management is the most cost-effective way to drive customer satisfaction, customer retention and customer loyalty.

Not only do loyal customers ensure sales, but also they are also more likely to purchase ancillary, high-margin supplemental products, and services. Loyal customers reduce costs associated with consumer education and marketing, especially when they become Net Promoters for your organization.

Brand Advocacy

The big and famous brands use brand advocates:  people who talk favourably about the brand and pass on positive word-of-mouth  messages to other people.

One thing a small business owner should know is that brand advocates are just as important to a small business as they are to the bigger corporations out there. People like to buy from companies or people that they know and trust, and they tend not to buy from those they do not.

However, how do you build that trust, particularly online? How do you get customers to come to you without spending a lot of money on advertising? By setting up a social site, and sharing topics that are of interest to your target audience.

Intent to buy

This is the ultimate goal of all business relationships. Yes, a business will feel good having a cohort of loyal customers. Having them (brand ambassadors) sell your business name, services and or products to their peers. 

However, building a relationship to the point that customers desire your products and or services and eventually decide to act on their desires, is the ultimate ROI.

For a business to walk the journey from building relationships and converting page visitors into loyal customers all the way to repeat buyers, takes good relationship building skills. Social media has provided a platform for which we can spend less, reach many people, and establish a connection. One that would eventually lead to sales. 

By monitoring the sales metric, you are able to quantify the value social media is bringing to the table. Understanding ROI helps us stand firm, and set our eyes on the prize.

If you missed by previous post, read it here.