Echelon Media » Online Marketing

How to Create Share Worthy Content and Viral Campaigns for Social Media

Josh — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 16:08:40 +0000

This is a guest post written by Patrick Meninga of Make Money With No Work.

Does your social media strategy consist of integrating Facebook “like” buttons on your website?

Most people will hesitantly agree that this is pretty much the case, so let’s dig deeper for a moment.

Promoting your business should always include some form of content planning.

The goal is to publish content on your website that invites your site visitors to share it with others and help spread your message in a viral fashion.

Social media sharing is one of the end results, but we can shape this process by focusing on our content creation process.

If you want people to share your message, then build better stuff to begin with! Let’s look at a few different ways that we can do that.

Use existing data to point you in the right direction

Your website should already have some clues as to what type of content is a winner for your audience. Look in your Analytics package and sort to see your top content by pageviews or visits.

You might ask yourself a few questions about the top 20 articles, such as:

Which articles have the most comments (and thus user engagement)?
Which articles have the lowest bounce rate (and thus have a message that resonates well with your audience)?
Which articles have the most incoming links?
Which articles have done well in the past via social media?

When you are planning out future content, consider what your audience has responded to in the past, and use that as a guide to create more “winners.”

Promote, test, measure, repeat

Creating share-worthy content should become an iterative process for you.

This means that you are going to consciously create new content with the goal of surpassing the performance of older content. What you choose to measure is up to you based on the goals of your promotional strategy, so you may be judging your content based on the number of reader comments, number of Facebook likes, or whatever the case may be.

But each new piece of content should seek to set a new record when measured against your older content. If it fails to do so, then you have learned something, and you can then try something else.

If it succeeds, then you are onto something, and you should run with your idea and see if you can create more “winners.”

The web makes it very easy to test and measure success in this manner, so take advantage of the lessons you are learning when your audience responds (or does not respond) to your new content.

This testing process is important because eventually you can use this information to create custom content that you know will do well with your audience. You can then be more confident that any dollars spent promoting such content will be well spent, and your whole marketing strategy will become much more effective. You will create less content in the future that fails to engage your audience.

Crafting share-worthy content for your website

So how do you get started creating share-worthy content?

Start with your users, your audience. What is their most burning desire? What do they most want in the world, based on the fact that they are visiting your website?

Start with that hypothetical “burning desire” in the mind of your audience, and then work backward.

Special attention should be given to the headline of your content, as that is where much of the “share-ability” comes from.

One strategy is to start with your headline, make a huge promise to your audience, and then write an amazing article that actually delivers on that promise.

For example, your headlines might be things such as:

“How to Double Your Social Media Engagement in 30 Days or Less”
“Use this Simple Social Media Trick to Double Your Website Traffic Overnight”
“How to Write Articles that Sell Themselves and Spread Like a Virus”
“10 Steps to Building a Social Media Following that Has a Positive Impact on Your Business”

Using the iterative testing process, you might brainstorm several dozen of these headlines, then get together with your team and pick out the top five.

Then, carefully write and polish an article for each headline, making sure to test the response that you get from your audience.

I recommend that you focus on delivering real value to your audience with such articles rather than aiming for hype or sensationalism. That way, your articles will stand the test of time and continue to deliver real value and engage your audience for longer periods of time.

Successful social media starts with conscious content planning

There are thousands of cheap tricks and gimmicks when it comes to social media promotion, but a strong campaign starts with careful planning.

Start with your audience in mind and create genuinely valuable content that makes a big promise using a catchy headline.

Over-deliver with your article and then carefully measure the results of your content based on the metrics that are most important to you.

Keep brainstorming new content ideas and headlines, then test new content you create against your existing data.

Constantly refine your content offering based on the response and engagement. Continue to test and to measure new content until you have reached your social media goals.

Tips to Grow Your Business Facebook Page

Brian — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 18:14:42 +0000

There’s nothing more frustrating than starting something and not seeing growth. The problem isn’t Facebook, it that most of the time we focus too much on ourselves and not enough on the greater community at large. Being a successful social marketer for your business requires you to be an engaged social marketer within the greater community.

We have all seen those pitchy Facebook pages, or streams of non-stop blatant and nauseating advertising messages disguised as “genuine” conversation. These types of posts often receive little or no response. Consumers these days are increasingly savvy. They know B.S. when they see it. Maybe your pages are not growing because you are guilty of not being “genuine” enough? To be genuine, you simply have to stop being a robot. Online it’s all about interaction

So how can you ramp up the interaction rate of your business Facebook page to foster growth? Here are a few tips:

Don’t forget to “like” other pages as your page and customize your “Featured Likes” under your “Edit Page” options. We all have partners and stakeholders so be sure to put them front and center. You’re allowed five featured likes. Use at least three of them for your most important partners and leave a couple open to randomly rotate among your entire “likes” list.

Share! Don’t be a selfish self-promoter! Share content from others too. The share button is a powerful tool in building relationships and providing topical content to your followers.

Keep an eye on your newsfeed even when you’re signed in as a page! If you find something interesting “share” it. Chances are others will find it interesting too and the original author will think you are cool beans.

LIKE! Like and comment on the content of others. Spread some love! It puts your name in front of more people and it tells people that you are listening. What comes around goes around. Show a little love, get a little love.

Comment on and “like” the post comments that people contribute to your page. Again, it shows that you are listening and appreciate the attention that your fans are giving you. If a comment requires a response…respond. It is kind of like rewarding good behavior. It makes people feel good and encourages future interaction.

You see, by dedicating a little more time to engagement you’re tapping into a huge pool of people who will start doing some of the marketing for you. It’s not just “playing” around on Facebook. It’s marketing. Simply put, social media is word-of-mouth advertising.

Recently, the Fargo-Moorhead Convention & Visitors Bureau (FM CVB) marked the 15th anniversary of the release of the film ‘FARGO” by creating a full-scale replica of the infamous wood chipper and brought the actual movie prop to the community for “The Wood Chipper in Fargo” exhibit. To promote the exhibit, we created a presence online with a Facebook page [hyperlink:http://www.facebook.com/FargoMoorhead#!/thewoodchipper]. In just a few months, the Facebook page has grown to more than 7,000 fans, and is growing at approximately 1,000 new fans a month. We’ve also seen a true “real world” impact. Walk in visitors to the F-M Visitor Center are up more than 30 percent in the months following the installation of the exhibit and launch of our social media efforts. The “Wood Chipper Community” is extremely engaged and responsive too. But, let me assure you it didn’t happen all by itself. It took dedication to our fans and continued efforts of outreach and interaction to foster this healthy and vibrant online community.

You can do the same for your business. All you have to do is get involved in the conversation, reward your audience for their participation and spread the love.

To Coupon or To Groupon?

Josh — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 14:20:26 +0000

I think both new and old forms of coupons and saving will be more successful in the coming years, but is one more practical than the other?

There has been a lot of talk lately about coupons and couponing (is that a made up word?). Having worked with the Pitch Anything McGraw Hill book, I have learned there are dozens of books about to be released on the subject of coupons and savings. No joke. Clipping coupons is about to become the norm for a large group of people. Except few people actually clip coupons anymore with the Internet around.

So all this raises the question, should a company provide an ongoing assortment of coupon codes or blow their whole load in a one day sale like Groupon?

I have to admit there is something addictive and sexy about a Groupon in a way that reminds be of woot.com. But Groupon has its limits such as location and the number of discounts it provides on a given day. In the booming metropolis of Fargo we don’t get Groupon deals, so the next closest Groupon list I could find to subscribe to was Minneapolis a few hundred miles away. I do admit I look at the deals but have never committed mostly due to not eating Chinese frequently in a city 3oo miles away, oh well.

Lately, I have heard that Groupon’s sales team suggests businesses being listed on their site up their prices considerably before posting the deal so they are not really out any money in the promotion. Now after reading that article and seeing the Groupon deals float through my inbox, I began to think that in fact the prices are inflated and most of the deals I would never need. I want camping gear, not cakes!

This makes me think that Groupon is fun and cheeky but not really for me as I have yet to use them once, although the skydiving deal looked enticing.

Now this leads to normal coupon sites and the ability to either copy and paste a code or print it out to redeem. I myself use these kinds of codes frequently. How else can you bear buying another domain through Godaddy’s check out cart if you don’t it get for 50% off?! I still see a need for coupon sites and coupon codes, but can a company innovate and change the way we shop?

For instance, if the site Harry and David produced a Harry and David coupon code (which they do, non affiliate) can they change the way people shop? The reason people love Groupons is due to the fact that it’s like the lottery and every morning the new, next, better deal will be waiting in their inboxes. This forms a community and a group of people talking about the next latest greatest thing.

But for an average online retailer not on the Groupon hit list, is there a way to catch the same zeal?

The first thing a company would have to do is get people talking about your product preferably on your terms (ie. social media, blogs, Facebook and Twitter). Then they would have to segment their followers into groups that like the same thing such as: organic lawn care vs dog tricks. There is no law that says one user can’t be in two different groups, by the way

With this segmenting and creating specials or deals, businesses and coupon sites could offer me more of the coupons and discounts I want. You know how Amazon starts blasting you with emails when you check out a product like a Netbook? They are trying to get me to purchase a netbook through them after looking up some info about netbooks. Except the only problem is, I was only showing a friend the different netbooks and I have no intention of buying one myself. So now I am being spammed for being a good friend.

What if, when you bought something you not only wanted but often buy such as Coke from the grocery store, your favorite coupon site automatically sent you monthly coupons for your next shopping trip or notified you of a killer 2-4-1 case sale going to take place next week? Now that is something I would want.

I don’t want to think as a shopper/consumer, I just want to know of the best deals for frequently purchased items and have them automatically sent to me. The first site/company/app to nail this will have a walk off homer in my book.

What are your thoughts? Do you use coupons? What is your favorite coupon site? Does Groupon really suck?

*img source: http://www.momsneedtoknow.com/printable-coupons-2/

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Talking Movie Making with Destination Marketing International (VIDEO)

Brian — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 15:53:31 +0000

Brian Speaking at DMAI 2011

Recently I had the opportunity to speak to a crowd at Destination Marketing Association International‘s Annual Convention. The topic was movie making and I was joined by my friend and colleague, Jeremy Harvey from Visit Loudoun. Together we covered destination movie making ranging from the low budget DIY to large scale productions with casts and crews.

The bulk of my portion of the speech had to do with creating low cost video in-house for travel and tourism promotional purposes.

Now I’ve talked about the “poor man equipment wish list” before on this blog in a post called “HD Video on a Shoestring Budget“. Not a lot has changed since I wrote that post a while back. But I do have one very important and useful addition to the list of equipment featured earlier.

I can’t emphasize enough the importance of audio. It can be really difficult to get quality audio in the field so consider picking up a simple stereo hand held audio recorder. For around $100 you can have a versatile recorder that you can use to get audio tracks to add to your video. Have wind noise? No worries. Just replace it with separate tracks. Very similar to what you see on the evening news.

Another big positive of having an hand held audio recorder is the fact that the people you are interviewing are generally much more comfortable having a mic in their face than a video camera. I have found that the content I get when just capturing audio is much more authentic, relaxed and usable.

I also shared some tips with the audience on how to make things as easy as possible. There is only so much time in the day. So making the most of your time and getting what you need fast is key. Here’s my brief list of tips that could save you a ton of time in the field and in the editing studio:

•Go “SHOOT” when it is busy
•Get 5-10 Shots MAX
•Fronts of Heads & Teeth
•Limit the shots to 5- 10 Secs
•Keep the LIGHT behind you
•Pay MORE attention to AUDIO
•Pay attention to the CAMERA (Being a human tripod)
•Less is MORE

Using these tips and equipment costing no more than $300 I spoke about how we all can create multi-use content to use in various capacities that were not limited to being used on just a blog post or social media post. Here’s an example of a video I shot with a total shoot, production and distribution time of about an hour. (including driving to the site and back to the studio!)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=JF9E6k4k5iA

The key is “multi-use.” Create content that is versatile with a long shelf life and the time you put in can pay dividends for months, even years in the future. Always try to create content that you can use for the following purposes:

•Website Content
•Blog Posts
•Search
•Social Media
•HELPING Our PARTNERS
•GAINING the TRUST of the community

We shared quite a few other examples during the session. One of my most favorite example that I was able to share with people in this session was a video that the Plains Art Museum in Fargo, ND produced. It’s my favorite and most simple to produce. If you like eating ice cream bars, coloring with crayons and unlocking some true creative energy this video style can be a lot of fun. It was great to see how people reacted to watching it. They smiled, they looked intrigued and genuinely surprised that something so simple could be so motivating. Take a look for yourself.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNl8Q5Ni9RU

I love being a part of conferences like this because I always learn something too. My speaking partner, Jeremy Harvey introduced me to GoPro Cameras and showed an impressive example of the capabilities. Granted it may be a bit more expensive than some of the equipment I recommended in my shoestring video post, but I think the versatility that it offers and ease of use make it a great tool to shoot for if you have the funds. Take a look at the example we shared shot entirely with GoPro equipment.

3 Days in Rio (personal vacation 2011) from Daniel Ferro on Vimeo.

Another great aspect of the GoPro Cameras is that it is capable of doing time lapse productions. I’ve looked at a lot of cameras over the years and have rarely (if ever) seen this feature on cameras in the $300 or less category! We shared an example of time lapse and talked briefly about how destinations could create easy content by hitting record and walking away.

For example, in North Dakota our visitors often comment about how gorgeous our sunsets are and how they had no idea it could be so beautiful here. Why not share it with the world! I can’t wait to shoot one my GoPro arrives!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SsSAaJ6BII

I hope I have been able to outline some of the basic content we covered in the session. Bottom line, and the point that I really wanted to get across is that video isn’t just for people with degrees and top-notch equipment. We live in a time where technology is affordable and within reach. Just get out there and experiment. Have fun, put yourself out there and start creating video. You can’t get good at it unless you start trying. Don’t take yourself so seriously, allow yourself to have fun and don’t be afraid to make an ass out of yourself once in a while to get that perfect shot.

Below you can see some of the slides from the presentation.

DMO’s-Destination Movie Making Organizations

View more presentations from bvmatson

What are you thoughts and ideas for making video on a minimal budget? What are some of your successes? Failures? We’d love to extend this conversation and learn even more from the community! Leave your comments below.

Join Us for a Talk About Video at BlogWorld & New Media Expo in L.A

How Bakeries are Using Social Media to Gain Customers

Josh — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 21:05:27 +0000

Recently we were quoted a ton in the May issue of Modern Baking on how bakeries can use different social media tools to increase business and revenue.

Here is the link to the article:

So how can businesses and bakeries use social media to increase sales?

The #1 thing they can do is to interact over social sites such as Facebook and Twitter with their clientele. We are not just talking about sending out an update on your next special or when your store hours are, we are talking about genuinely engaging in conversation with them. This dialog can cover anything and everything under the sun, but your customer needs to view you as a person that cares about them and not just some business with a Facebook page.

Follow the link to the article to see other great ideas.

Green Screen-It’s Easier Than You Think!

Brian — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 02:22:06 +0000

Today I received my first green screen in the mail and I have to say it a lot easier to work with than I expected. As you can see in the video below it didn’t take very long to get up and running!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmr5nRc8E70

As I mention in the video all you need are few things! 2 sets of lights, a green screen and a camera.

Be sure to shop around too! You can save A LOT of money! I picked my lights for less than $200 and my green screen for $30. In the video above I used the onboard camera built into my iMac…nothing fancy. I took a few minutes to fully light the screen and used another set of lights to loosely light myself. This was truly a “run ‘n gun” experiment and the first project I have tried to use green screen on. Not too bad for a first try which makes me pretty excited about future uses!

The most important thing you need to do when working with green screen is to light the screen first! And do it well. Don’t skimp here! Take your time to light the entire screen and most of the hard work of “keying” out the green can be done for you by the software you are using. In this video I used iMovie which is a free program that came with my Mac.

HINT: If you use iMovie be sure to turn on your advanced settings or you won’t see the “green screen” options!

There is no reason why you can’t start using green screen yourself to enhance what you do online! The possibilities are endless! I am going to be working with this quite a bit in the future and will provide more tips and tricks as I discover them! Bottom line, YOU CAN DO THIS TOO!

Thanks for checking out the site and I’d love to hear you comments on green screen!

Embrace the obvious

Brian — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 04:05:35 +0000

"The Woodchipper" in Fargo, ND

Far too often brands are missing the obvious. They’re trying too hard to create their own thing, or out Google the mighty Google. If you are having a hard time outranking something that is already strongly associated with you why not just latch onto it and join in the community! Being an engaged social media marketer costs a lot less and can also help form valuable connections with your true fans.

For example, when most people hear “Fargo” and they think of that famous Coen Brothers film…you know the one with the wood chipper. Yeah. Search Google or YouTube for the term “Fargo” and you’ll see pretty fast that the movie owns the term. Links to IMDb info, wikis and video clips are “owning it.” So what is a city like Fargo, ND supposed do when they are trying to get noticed? How do they compete with an Oscar-winning film to get exposure “above-the-fold” on page one of search results?

Unless you are an SEO god like Allyn Hane or Steve Sherron (Both of which are Echelon Media partners) you’ve really only got a couple options:

1) Pay to play ($$$)
2) Get in the mix (Organic)

In the case of Fargo Tourism it just made sense to finally embrace the whole infamous wood chipper thing. You see for years the brand had distanced itself from the stereotypes portrayed in the film about the area and people. They missed a huge opportunity to jump on the publicity bandwagon. With the growth of social media in recent years they took advantage of jumping on something they missed.

Marking the 15th anniversary of the release of the film they built a full-scale replica of the infamous wood chipper from the film and created a Facebook page dedicated to it. They hired a local photographer and bought a domain name. Got some professional design work done and started to push the idea on an already established community.

How cool is that? Heck, if you’re going to be in Fargo, you might as well get your picture taken with the wood chipper, right?!

The cool thing is that once you get involved in the community a lot of other opportunities start to present themselves. Fargo Tourism is now bringing the real wood chipper from the set of the movie to Fargo with an exhibit of memorabilia to enhance their efforts. They’re also planning numerous contests based on the requests of their fans. You see, by opening themselves up, engaging and listening a lot of new unforeseen marketing opportunities have presented themselves, organically.

The key in social media is to present something that is unique and approach your goals with an honest intent in contributing something of social value. We have all seen those insurance company Facebook pages, or streams of non-stop blatant and nauseating advertising messages disguised as “genuine” conversation. The times have changed. In order to have a positive and lasting impact with your social networks you need to give something of lasting value. Otherwise you quickly get thrown out of people’s minds along with the rest of the noise in the social stream.

Fargo embraced the “ruby slippers” of the film ‘Fargo’. And let me tell you,..there are a lot of “ruby slippers” out there that people are missing.

After 5 days of being public online…

“The Woodchipper” in Fargo reached 500 fans on Facebook.
Got covered in a French magazine: http://bit.ly/gxgy62
Garnered local TV coverage: http://youtu.be/xMCUXNkHilI
Garnered local Radio coverage: http://bit.ly/g6rrTl
Was mentioned on Brand Channel: http://bit.ly/hq3kna

How to Market a New Book Part One (series)

Josh — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 21:43:29 +0000

Over the next couple of weeks I would like to bring some book marketing ideas and strategies to the table that we are using. We are working with McGraw Hill on a new book launch and want to share some simple and easy tips to make your own book launch more successful. Pitch Anything by Oren Klaff is set to release Feb 18th.

Most authors and the hundreds of thousands books released each year sell very few copies. Only a few well-funded and connected authors will ever make the New York Times best seller list. So what can an author do to sell books and raise exposure?

One of our clients is one such author. He has spent the lat year writing an amazing book on how to execute a proper business pitch. Oren and his book Pitch Anything have a huge chance of being the go to book on pitching in the future. The quality of the content is amazing, including his method for delivering successful pitches time after time. But how do we get people to hear about his book and then go out and buy it?

There are a lot of moving pieces when you go to launch a new book. I am sure the marketers behind George W’s new book had at least $500,000 to spend on just the marketing side of things. How can a normal author compete with that? The truth is they can’t, completely, but they can still have a successful book launch.

With 100 different things for an author to do, where do you begin?

First thing first: know what your goal is

Every author has a unique goal they are trying to reach. Some what to sell books, others want to find work or consulting, build a brand or legitimize their existing brand. The list goes on.

Knowing what the goal is changes your marketing path and strategy. If your goal is to sell books you have to target the people who need your information. If you are trying to generate business, you target people looking for your expertise and are to busy to execute themselves. If you are trying to build a brand, you use the book as a platform for gaining and building trust.

Knowing what your goal is in the beginning will determine where to focus your time and energy. In the case of Oren and Pitch Anything, he is using the book as a tool to set himself apart from other capital raisers. His goal is less about selling books and more about building a lasting brand that he can build on. Of course he will try to sell books in the process but with a much smaller budget than most New York Times bestsellers, his chance of breaking into the top 100 is very slim. Fortunately that is fine with him as long as those who continue to read his book keep recommending it to others, which they are

Looking to your network

An author has to have a base or foundation to launch from. They have just spent the last year or more writing a book on a subject they are very passionate about. Start by reaching out to your peer group, associates and then your friends and family. Of course your mom is going to run out and buy the first four copies of your book. But mom probably isn’t entrenched in the community your book is targeting. Your peer group and associates will help you build a solid foundation to launch from, so make sure those relationships and connections are strong.

Often times people have their own extended network of colleagues who are in the same or similar niche. Start by assessing if any have a mailing list, a blog, weekly group/meeting or are part of a bigger network.

It is important to properly assess what kind of resources you have to work with. You will also be surprised at the amount of options that will present themselves. You’ll soon find out that 1 or 2 levels deep in your network can potentially reach 10,000 people or more. Of course, if you are writing about something very specific such as the history of Rugby, North Dakota, your target audience will be much less than a new Puppy Training book.

Start by putting together a list of contacts and begin to network with them about resources you can plug into or use for your launch. Ideally these are people you have a strong report with and don’t mind asking them for a personal favor. A book launch is a big deal and if you have enough social capital with those you deal with, there is no shame is asking one big favor from your connections. Favors wear through quickly, though, so use discretion.

More to come… in part 2

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Easy Facebook Tips to Improve TODAY!

Brian — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 01:45:04 +0000

The other day I had a consulting session with a client that wanted to get better at engaging on Facebook. They of course wanted more comments, more likes and more interaction. The client was being active, sharing relevant content and for the most part going above and beyond what most users on FB do with their pages. Even though they were sharing content regularly their posts were not getting any traction.

Sound familiar? If so, you don’t have to recreate the wheel…all you really have to do is start out with some simple additions to what you are already doing. If you take a few more seconds on your posts and pay attention to some of the details and options in front of you, you’re posts can really get energized.

Here’s a few tips, and you don’t need to be some guru to make them happen…you just need to pay attention.

Tip #1 Customizing the details & titles of shared links

This is a really easy way to get your message across. Far too often I am seeing shared links on Facebook with long titles or descriptions, that are in many cases irrelevant to the content being shared or not appropriate for the page it is being presented on. Take advantage of customizing the message in the details and titles area. You can summarize the contents, share links and personalize the message. It’s there for the taking! So don’t overlook this step in the posting process…just move your cursor over the description, click it and customize that post! It’s easy and overlooked by virtually everyone I work with. No longer do you have to be stuck with the message someone else wrote for a different audience…just take 5 seconds…and customize! Easy.

Tip #2 Add a picture

It makes a big difference if you take the time to add a relevant image to your posts. There are a couple of reasons for this: #1 It is more visually appealing than just a text post. #2 It is all about real estate. Seriously, think about it while looking at the following posts.

Old Way:

New Way:

Pictures are worth a thousand words! They are easy to digest and increase your posts real estate several times. When someone is scrolling through the list of updates on their home screen a single line post can get lost pretty easy. So bust out the camera, dig into the archives and take a few seconds to add an image to your posts! (If you are feeling really adventurous bust out the video camera!) Again, Easy.

Tip #3 Start utilizing the @ feature in Facebook

A great way to start linking up and spreading the love (not to mention gain some more exposure) is to link profiles and pages in the posts that you do. It is really easy to do and can help you build a cozy network. This can be really beneficial for pages trying to promote broader things besides themselves.

In your post where you would typically just type the name of something you are mentioning you just add an @ symbol, type the name of the account you are wishing to link to and select it from the drop down. Check it out.

The result, is a link within your post to the page or profile you are mentioning.

Not linked:

Linked:

Pretty slick…and a great way to show people that you are promoting them because they will know that they got tagged in the post! Again, Easy!

Start using these tips and you’re going to give yourself a pretty good shot at improving those insights, increasing your reach and be well on your way to a healthy and vibrant Facebook marketing experience! Hey, it can’t hurt!

I’d love to hear your thoughts! What kinds of tricks or tips do you use! This is just the tip of the iceberg, so stay tuned, get subscribed and thanks for spending a little time with Echelon Media!

It’s Time For You To Use Social Media Just Like The Big Boys Do

Steve — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 16:39:42 +0000

Have you noticed a trend as of late on TV commercials? Major worldwide corporations are marketing their Facebook page instead of their website. These companies must certainly have invested millions in their online presence over the years but many have now decided to brand themselves with a free social networking website.

Major corporations are using the same free Facebook account that is available to all of us. If you take the time to give that some thought, it really is mind blowing. I’ve seen Coke, Ritz Crackers, Fed-Ex among others, ask TV viewers to visit their Facebook page at the end of commercials. I’m very interested to see the Super Bowl commercials to see how advertisers use social media this year. I predict that many will advertise their Facebook page.

You would be well advised to examine the trend of the Big Boys to see how you may put the same type of marketing into practice no matter what size your business.

Let’s break it down just a bit. A company makes a product. A company distributes a product. All companies must have distribution platforms in which to sell their product. Facebook is emerging as a major platform of distribution for all companies world-wide.

What is your distribution platform? Social Media is one cog in the wheel. Are you using it effectively?

I’m not saying every business should have a Facebook page. If I owned a catheter supply business, I would not start a Facebook page. I can easily predict it would fail and would be a miserable platform in which to market my goods.

What if I owned a local jewelry and dress store? What if I was a local landscaper looking for new accounts? What if I operated a local community website and I was looking to increase my readership? It’s a no-brainer that all of these businesses could and should have a social media presence.

It boils down to strategy. What is your marketing strategy? Are you getting any visitors to your website?

If I come to your website, do you make it easy for me to join your social network?

If your Facebook page is about lawncare and lawncare tips for Smithfield, Kansas, are you focusing it to get more customers and make more money? Are you using Facebook to build your reputation as the local lawncare expert? Are you making it painfully obvious that you are the “go to” guy for lawn care and if you don’t, your yard will probably suck?

If not, why not?

If I “like” the Dollar General Facebook page, guess what? They are going to try to sell me some stuff from their store. I know that going in when I click the like button. Dollar General marketed their Facebook page to me for that exact reason. I expect to be marketed to. Coke, Fed-Ex, Ritz Crackers all want me to buy some stuff from them. News flash!! They are trying to sell me stuff using social media. Imagine that?

The Big Boys are experiencing success through social media and it’s time that you jumped on the bandwagon. If not, the dust you are choking on and the dim red lights you see is your competitor speeding down the road ahead of you.

How can Echelon help you with your social media presence? Do you have video on your Facebook page? Do you understand the importance of marketing yourself as the local expert? These are just some of the questions we can answer for you. We are here to help. You can contact us using our convenient contact form.