8 Things You Should Know About Social Media To Get The Best Results.

What is your objective when using social media? Is your objective brand awareness, customer service, public relations or are you trying too hard to make a sale? Social Media users are not on these sites to buy from you, but they will consume your information, develop relationships, and share your knowledge with others. After this relationship is built, “If” they develop a burning need for your product, then and only then, they will seek you out to make a purchase.

Here are 8 great tips to getting better results on social media

1. Social Media is a two way communication process.
Get engaged with you customer base. You’ll never succeed by just making posts. You must get involved in the communications with your target market.

2. Social media updates with links do better then those without.
I’m guilty of not including enough outside content on sites like Facebook and Twitter. Its okay to link to your blog, a news story etc. Just don’t over do it. A good rule of thumb is 1/3 of your post could contain links. It’s not only okay but recent studies have shown post with links get shared more.

3. Limit your updates to 2-3 per hour at most,
Hubspot did an analysis on effectiveness of post and after this 2-3 per hour limit there were almost no value as far as people sharing your content. Remember, some of us follow you on are mobile devices, if your blowing up my phone every 2-3 minutes, I have no choice but to unfollow you.

4. Save your best content for last.
Hubspot did an analysis on what time of the week is the best to get a post to go viral (other people spread your content). Monday – Wednesday were the absolute worst times to post. They attribute this to all the chatter and junk being posted during those times. Friday afternoon was the best time to post.

5. Provide Value when you post.
News and humor seem to get the best results when it comes to spreading the word. If you can break news in one of your post, that’s the big win. If you can at least be one of the first to discuss a story that has already broken then it will get good results.
Humor spreads because people like to laugh and make others laugh, use it when it serves your brand / business. Don’t try to be funny just for the sake of being funny.

6. Never Hard Sell.
Social media is used best to build long term customer relationships and maintain existing customer base. You will pick up new customers if done right, but the true value is developing existing customers in to loyal, devoted, “VOCAL” customers.

7. Be Authentically Passionate about what you do.
If you are passionate about what you do it will shine through into your post and everything you do. Passion spreads, passion sells, and authenticity are the key. Authenticity in your passion isn’t something you can really “fake it until you make it”. If you lack in this department find someone on your staff or hire someone who works in your line of business because they absolutely love it.

8. Social media is only 1 piece of the puzzle.
Don’t get so caught up in social media that you don’t tend to other things in your business. Remember that content is king, so your blog, website, video, podcasts etc need to be fresh and continually growing. Think of social media as a way to get the word out about your content, the content as the way people learn about your business and your business as what provides the products and services to all the above.

5 Small Biz Web Design Trends to Watch

5 Small Biz Web Design Trends to Watch

Why Having a Compelling Logo Design For Your Company’s Brand Identity Is Important.

Having a corporate identity is very important to keep you ahead of your customers. A brand identity is the visual representation of the company. It is the image that the company would like to show to people. The image of the company should be able to depict its message to its potential customers.

In the business industry, there is a tight competition ongoing; therefore, it is very essential to have a distinctive identity that will help you to stand out from competition and succeed. If you are planning to establish your own company, one of the basics is to have a company logo. Usually, corporate logos consist of the logomark and the slogan of the company along with its name. With the right combination of these elements, an effective logo can be created and will definitely give a huge impact to the company.

Developing a brand identity for your organization is not an easy task. Actually, it will involve a great deal of resources and time. Brand identity is an important aspect in every business and it should be invested in, taken much attention, and properly managed in order to secure the success of the company. With a compelling brand identity, a business can increase recognition and gain more customers.

When it comes to creating a compelling company logo, it all comes down with hiring a logo design company that offers reliable and high quality services at reasonable prices. As soon as you have hired a professional who will be creating the logo for your company, you should first define the value that your company has and how it is different among the others. The designer should have a proper perception of the organization based on the company values, mission statement, and company goals in order to come up with a suitable brand identity.

Apparently, one of the foundations for the company's brand establishment would be the company logo. It is very important for every company to have a compelling company logo which will give identity to your company. It is best to hire a professional designer who will be responsible for creating this brand identity.

Social Media Manager

Social Media Manager & Management

Small Business Owners – Read this closely to see why you need a social media manager:

▪ The Yellow Pages are DEAD

▪ NOBODY reads print newspapers any more

▪ Direct mail advertisements get thrown directly in the RECYCLING BIN

▪ Radio and TV commercials are TUNED OUT

Traditional forms of marketing for your small business will get you nowhere and will do nothing but waste your money.

So, where can you turn to get the buzz you once received from the now deceased forms of advertising?

A SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER

Did you know that 91% of businesses now use social media as a means of advertising their business, and a whopping 85% of businesses that already use social media say the platform has generated buzz for their business? You need a social media manager.

This buzz is so big that by 2011, businesses will be spending over $2.5 BILLION on social media marketing.

There is no denying the power of using Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and Linkedin to market your business. You know this, and know you need to get on it because your current marketing plan just isn’t working. There’s one small problem though: you don’t know where to begin and you’re too busy running your business to take the time to learn how.

That’s where 360 Social Media Solutions comes in. We will be your social media manager, in addition to offering you many other online marketing services, and help you get the customers you’ve been losing to your competition.

We want to help your business grow, and are willing to give you a free social media website evaluation. Email us at info@360SMSolution.com to schedule an appointment. From there, hopefully we will develop a long and lasting online marketing and social media management partnership.

5 Social Media Tips To Grow Your Online Presences

1) Be useful. Use social media to talk about more than just your business. Give local perspective, behind-the-scenes information, and advice outside the confines of your market niche. Provide long-term value and inspire repeat visits by adding links to places your customers would want to go for related information. Additionally, of course, provide a clear description of what your business does and how to contact you online and offline.

2) Deliver value. Incentives, discounts and promotions provide site-visitor benefits, prompt repeat visits, and allow you to track customer interactions. Also consider adding value with that let people voice and view opinions.

3) Be consistent and conversational. Commit to keeping your social media sites routinely updated with short entries that are written as if you're talking to someone over the counter. Entries don't have to be perfect. They do have to be current and interesting to customers, otherwise people won't bother to check back regularly.

4) Be competitive. Do some online sleuthing to learn what competitors are up to in social media. Seeing that those you're up against are already online, growing their awareness levels and deepening their interactions with customers, may give you just the incentive you need to get started.

5) Be relevant. As you build social media presence, continually ask yourself, "Why should people come to this site? What unique values and benefits separate us from competitors? Are we telling our story and demonstrating our distinction? Are we showing expertise in a non-salesy way? Are we delivering long-term value more than advertising messages?"

Answer yes to those last three questions and you have a formula for turning social media into the newest guerrilla marketing tool in your marketing arsenal.

Facebook Will Celebrate 500 Million Users Next Week

Facebook Will Celebrate 500 Million Users Next Week

Bad News Travels Fast Online!

The other day a friend from Facebook complained about the horrible service they received at a major restaurant. Because these two I'm sure aren't friend on Facebook, I'm sure this major restaurant will never know!

If you are a business owner, how do you know if you're business name is being tarnished?

360 Social Media Solutions is the answer!

5 Misconceptions About Social Media

Do you really understand social media? Understanding social media is not a difficult thing at all. However, some businesses still can’t figure it out. They can’t figure it out because misconceptions are spread all over the internet concerning social media.

Getting more involved in social media now is better than waiting until later because it will get to a time that it will seem more confusing and even more difficult for businesses.

If you hold any of the beliefs below, do away with it and jump on board before you miss the train.

Misconception #1: Blogging is a tool: Blogging is a business strategy, not a tool. A blog is rather the tool used for blogging. A blog also helps you integrate your other strategies like social media marketing by linking to other strategy enhancing tools like social media websites such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Youtube. Yes, social media marketing too is strategy. All the strategies you use in your blogging and social media strategies are just sub-strategies of blogging and social media which are your main strategies for success in achieving this or that.

Misconception #2: Social Media is about numbers: Is it of essence to build 40,000 Twitter followers and 20,000 Facebook fans who don’t buy from you? Social media is about relationship building and influence. Sorry, but having a large number of followers doesn’t mean you are influential. One-to-one relationships build influence. Good relationships later lead on to influence. If you have 200 Twitter followers who listen and engage with you, you stand a better chance to get a sale from them than from 40,000 people who don’t send you @ messages about anything of your business’ interest. It’s best to follow the people you want to talk or listen to (a.k.a. your target audience) than follow just anybody.

Misconception #3: Automation Means Using Tools: No, measurement rather means using tools. Automation means your fans and followers will do your work for you. They will be your evangelists and will recruit more fans and followers for you. The number one quality required here is patience. If you rely on tools to build your fans and followers, you will most likely recruit web robots who also want you to buy something from them. Would you rather waste time gathering status update spectators or you want to utilize your time to build a more targeted following?

Misconception #4: Be present everywhere: So you’ve been told to have a Twitter profile, a Facebook fan page, a Youtube channel, a LinkedIn group, Digg profile, etc. Well, are your customers gathered there? Do you have the resources to manage your business on every social media and networking site? Before you put your business on any social networking site, be sure of what you want to achieve with that profile; customer service, more leads or maybe sales. After setting your goal, stick to it. If at any point you find any trouble getting the results you want, perform a social media audit.

Misconception #5: There is no ROI: If you are not getting any ROI, then you are either doing something wrong or you’re not measuring things right. Dell has been able to make over $6.5 million on Twitter alone. Avaya also made a $250,000 sale using Twitter. Small businesses are also using Twitter to bring in some ROI using social media. To make social media marketing work for you, you need to communicate your intentions well with your followers. Dell’s @delloutlet clearly tells everyone they will be selling. We all know what an outlet means. If all you are going to do with one of your Twitter accounts is to just give discount coupons, tell your customers about it. So anybody who follows you knows you’ll be tweeting coupons from time to time. Secondly, ROI is not just about money or profits. If your aim is to get leads or newsletter subscriptions, your ROI will be the number of leads you collect. Then your ROI on those leads will be the number of leads you convert to sales. Social media can be a channel for both lead collection and direct selling. You need to communicate it well. Plan your campaign well. Remember, the most important thing in marketing is communication so don’t forget to plan about what you want to communicate to your followers.
Now that we have gotten these wrong ideas taken care of, where are you headed to with your social media marketing campaign? In your experience, what other misconceptions have you found?

19 Essential Social Media Resources You May Have Missed

19 Essential Social Media Resources You May Have Missed

Publish Post

40+ Essential Social Business Resources

40+ Essential Social Business Resources

HOW TO: Implement a Social Media Business Strategy

HOW TO: Implement a Social Media Business Strategy

How Social Media Has Radically Altered Advertising

How Social Media Has Radically Altered Advertising

5 Ways to Clean Up Your Social Media Identity

5 Ways to Clean Up Your Social Media Identity

Hello 360 Social Media Solutions