Tag Archives: SEO

Social Media Matters: SMM Gives Your Business the Brand Awareness It Needs

Brand
loop_oh / Foter / Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic (CC BY-ND 2.0)

Prior to social media’s existence, what was one of the problems small businesses had to face? Brand awareness. After getting into the yellow pages, local newspapers, and creating a website, that still wasn’t enough to grow the business into something bigger. As with any form of marketing, getting customers to walk through your storefront doors or having online shoppers buy products off your online store is the number one priority. But the question really is how? Social media allows you to promote your business and brand on a regional and even a global scale.

There are many small businesses these days that don’t put a lot of emphasis on their websites, and instead have the main focus on Facebook and Twitter. The reason for this is that updates can be posted with a click of a button, photos of products can be shared, and a connection between the business and the customer are much easier established. Even before they click on the business’s website link for more information, or walk into that store, the customers already get a feel for how they’re going to be treated and know exactly what to expect when they step in the door.

Sharing pictures of what you sell, and exposing your company’s logo on social media helps spread the word throughout the social media platforms you’re marketing and advertising on. By posting what products are in your store, informing your customers that your store is having a sale, or showing what services your business provides all helps spread brand awareness to current and future customers and clientele.

Years ago, television ads and even YouTube were the more viral route to travel to expose a company’s brand. But with Instagram, a short fifteen second video with the right hashtags can have the same affect, and you didn’t waste time and money on production. Using all of the major social media platforms is the best way to get the full effect of social media marketing. Facebook can be used as a micro blog, Twitter can be the site that connects your business with current and future customers, Instagram is where photo’s and videos can be shared, and Pinterest allows you to post pictures of what you sell and direct the viewers to your online store or website.

The best part of social media however, is the fact that you can connect all social media platforms together, creating a web that all leads to your website or online store. That’s where social media in itself becomes a search engine such as Google, Yahoo, and Bing, but it’s your search engine, the one you built and created.

Until Facebook and Twitter become e-commerce sites, which has been discussed, social media should be primarily used as a brand awareness tool and marketing outlet that drives traffic to your site. Social media marketing indirectly boosts sales, as you’re informing the customer about what your business does along each social media platform. Don’t hesitate now, get started and promote your brand on social media. You’ve got to reach out to the customer and meet them at the halfway point to guide them to your business and online store.

Social Media Matters: At Face Value Are You Wasting Money on SEO?

seo-blocks
Paloma Gómez / Foter / Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Being a business owner and blogger, and knowing other business owners, SEO marketing is always looked at as the go-to form of advertising for companies. However, the new kid on the block, social media marketing, is slowly changing how preliminary advertising is done, and in it’s handful of years of existence, it’s making a huge splash on Google.

If you already have accounts on multiple social media platforms, conduct a Google search of your business. You may be surprised to find that your Facebook page and Twitter account list ahead of your business’s main website. By constantly posting content and driving traffic to your social media accounts, you’re website in essence is being pushed aside as most of your traffic will be lead to the website through Facebook or Twitter. With this discovery, you’ll probably begin to question whether you’re wasting your time and money on SEO.

As a believer and user of social media marketing, SEO is becoming obsolete because most of the traffic you’re generating is originating from your social media presence. Other forms of advertising, such as posting a few job offerings on Craigslist, further show that there are other ways of acquiring clients and customers without spending your hard earned money (if you hire an SEO professional) or countless nights if you decide to work on your marketing efforts on your own.

Don’t get me wrong, social media marketing can be expensive depending on how much advertising you want done, and how often you want your social media accounts updated, but there is no denying that the results are better than if you looked to old school marketing techniques. The reason for this is because by using social media, you’re exposing your business and brand to where your future customers and clients are. Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram are constantly used by consumers, and if they do decide to use Google for information it’s because they saw your products or services on a social media platform.

I encourage those who haven’t looked to social media for marketing to start right now. Post consistently and build up a solid following and customer base. Most small businesses post statuses early on, but then stop after a few months, and that is a huge mistake. Do you want committed followers? You have to show them they you’re also committed and willing to post intriguing content that grabs the viewers attention. Promote your business and brand on social media, and you’ll begin to reach more customers and clientele.

Social Media Matters: Twitter Incorporating an Analytics Page?

A few days ago, I received an email from Twitter for one of my accounts, giving me information on the amount of views I got on a particular link I posted. It told me what was the most popular tweet I shared during the week, and also how many followers I accumulated. As most of you know or have probably seen, Twitter has made changes to profile pages, making all tweets more vivid and enabling you to put a popular tweet at the top of your Twitter timeline. With these subtle add ons and changes, could we be seeing the future and growing potential Twitter may have for businesses both big and small?

The first thought that came to mind with the analytics email was that this would be an important tool to gauge how effective marketing and advertising on Twitter really is. This also gives the user valuable information as they’ll get a better idea as to what content draws the most views and creates buzz. Right now that is what’s lacking from Twitter, and while your website’s analytics page gives you certain information, it doesn’t exceed the boundaries of the site itself.

If this becomes an added feature to Twitter, this further enhances the effectiveness of social media marketing, and gives the business owner another tool to see what works for the company and what doesn’t. Search engine optimization is slowly being replaced by social media optimization, which unlike Google, Yahoo, and Bing, targets a specific audience and gives the customer or viewer exactly what they want. This also works for the marketer or business owner, as social media is beginning to drive more traffic to sites making keywords obsolete as opposed to hashtags, which are being used across most social media apps.

Also by giving the statistics on what the most popular tweet of the week was, it then lets the account manager know what gets attention and how other users respond to it. Instead of sitting around thinking of what to Tweet next or thinking of a clever statement, companies could use the same blueprint based off the analytics to tailor to a specific audience, something that they don’t have right now, forcing them to use their own judgment. If business owners know what makes their followers tick, they’ll continue posting content that creates interaction and further development of the customer base on social media.

Facebook, Twitter, and all other social media outlets are the future of marketing and advertising, and receiving an email from Twitter that gives me information on my tweets and links, proves that how businesses reach potential customers is changing. It will be interesting to see if Twitter does in fact implement an analytics page on the site itself, or continue sending emails to their users. Either way, this could be vital to a business, especially those who market and advertise on social media.

However, the only question that has to be raised is whether this will be used for businesses only. Analytics to companies and marketers are extremely important, but to a high schooler or college student who has no interest in either career paths wouldn’t find an analytics page useful.

Marketing Matters: Is SEO Overrated and Outdated From A Customer’s Point of View?

Business owners and companies around the globe are constantly looking for ways to attract customers and reach out to people. One of the most popular and well-known forms of marketing and advertising over the internet is by utilizing SEO and Google Adwords.  But are the days of customers or future buyers using Google and being lead to a website that used the correct words to be at the top of search results coming to a close? The answer is yes, but many companies and even marketing consultants still preach SEO as if that’s the only way to draw in views and potential customers.

Having recently bought a car, and currently reading Youtility that was co-written by Jay Baer, I’m beginning to see that there is a flaw in how businesses market and rely upon SEO.  When it comes to the automotive world, think from a customer’s point of view, and apply it to other sectors of the economy.

After a few weeks of research and narrowing down the list of potential vehicles, the first step I had taken was to visit Cars.com because of their reputation and history as being a place to find a wide variety of new and used vehicles. While they advertise on television, the years of it’s existence and it’s simplicity made it the perfect resource to see what my choices were. Next, once the decision came down to three vehicles, I didn’t go on Google searching information on the car so I could read endless pages and reviews, I went to YouTube to visually see, hear, and in some cases watch the reviewer drive the vehicle. Whether these individuals make money off of these 5 minute videos or not, it’s a form of marketing; video advertising.

Once the decision was made and I found the dealership where the car I wanted was, I went to that dealer’s website, or the source that contains the product I want to buy. When I saw that it was available, I made the trip to go see it and later bought that car.

The three steps that were taken to buy the product weren’t the traditional SEO or Google search that has been taught for years as the most affective form of marketing. While this was and sometimes still is the case; visual advertising, reputation, and the source itself didn’t require SEO to get me to view, research, and later buy.

So now let’s tie this into other examples and products or services that can use other forms of marketing that aren’t directly related to SEO. For instance say you’re a plumber, carpenter, electrician, or anyone who works on houses. You have the skills and the demand in the industry, but how do you establish yourself and break away from the rest of the other private contractors out there?

Create YouTube videos, especially those that are simple tutorials that inform and help the viewer install an item or how to use a certain tool to fix a problem. This may seem counterintuitive, but most of the viewers won’t install or fix these things by themselves, they will call a professional and pay someone to do the work. By putting yourself out there, saying a quick blurb about who you are  or what company you work for and your experience in the field, that pays immediate dividends over other forms of marketing because that viewer can personally see you.

One thing to remember is that in this day and age with social media, marketing has to become personal. The customer or client must have a connection with the contractor, business owner, or the company before they buy into a service or product.

The days of SEO are ending. The days of the customer using these Adword searches are ending. Helping these potential buyers visualize, answering their questions and concerns, and giving them the feeling of trust is the best and most affective way of marketing and advertising.

There is a lot more that needs to be covered regarding other avenues that attract clients and customers in all industries. Over the next few weeks and months I will take an in-depth look at new ways companies are trying to reach people. Hopefully I can persuade you to take the next step into a new era of marketing and advertising that hasn’t been explored or used by many businesses and even marketing consultants.