Customise Everything
Go back just ten short years and the world of social media was a virtually unpopulated wasteland, peopled only here and there by barely evolved platforms which were merely half formed ideas riddled with bugs. Nowadays we’re blessed with a much plusher and livelier social media landscape which is embraced by all, even those most rare of beasts – A-list celebrities. However this modern web isn’t without its problems, and the proliferation of tweeters and facebookers means that the average first time user has little chance of standing out.
Like a sparrow amongst parrots we can tweet all we like, but sadly if our feathers are dull and our song uninspiring, we’ll never attract any notice. We need that certain something if we’re to stand out, after all; the parrots were once sparrows themselves, which means that they must have done something to expand their social media presence and develop into an authority.
The key is originality, originality, originality. Or technically, just originality. If you can present a profile and wider online persona that is original, you’ll be able to capture people’s attention and imagination.
Originality is closely related to the idea of uniqueness, so as a social media marketer it’s your task to create something entirely new. This means customising everything about your Twitter or Facebook profile so that it’s both engaging and interesting. It means sitting down and thinking long and hard in order to hit upon something completely fresh.
Twitter Tassles
Where Twitter is concerned, customising everything you can is the first step on the road to sticking out like a sore thumb.
1. Backgrounds
If you can, design and upload your own background (tying in with your brand or image if you have one). Open up twitter.com now and click on one of the top tweets. What’s the first thing you notice? If it’s a commercial account especially, I’d be (hypothetically) willing to bet that it’s the custom background. Twitter profiles are dominated by empty space either side, so use this to build your personality and character.
It’s probably not worth picking one of Twitter’s own background themes, as this defeats the object. Instead, upload a photograph as your background, or something you yourself have created.
2. Photos
Even if you don’t have the ability or money to come up with a custom background, you can still upload a photograph or brand icon into the photo field; the important thing is that it’s exclusive to you.
3. Tweets
The above point goes for Tweets too. Instead of retweeting only industry related links/tweets, try bringing something more universally interesting to the table. Industry content is excellent, but when you boil us all down everyone is human, and so a video you find funny will probably be enjoyed by others too. Small to Medium businesses can fall into the trap of being too commercial and forgetting to be social in the social media world.
Put down the exhaustive list of plumbing tips or timber window news and pretend you’re an individual user who has stumbled across your business’ page – what would keep you there longer than the time it takes to hit the back button?
Facebook Fancy Dress
1. Landing Pages
As a platform, Facebook is a little more straight laced. Aside from the plethora of photograph uploading opportunities, users do have the ability to create custom designed landing pages to which new visitors are automatically directed. Effectively, these are the homepage of your profile, and should achieve the same things that your real homepage does; inform, engage and call to action.
2. Status Updates
It’s not always a good idea to aggregate your Twitter feed to Facebook, as this diminishes the originality (there’s that word again) of the tweet/link etc. There’s a reason why Facebook users are on Facebook rather than Twitter, so don’t force Twitter onto them.
Plus it might appear to an interested potential client that you have little to say if you repeat yourself on your blog, Facebook and Twitter. Instead, come up with fresh status updates for Facebook so that social networkers can see you’re investing time and effort.
3. Page Types
Make sure you create the right page for your purpose, Facebook allows users to create groups, business pages and community pages, as well as featuring countless apps used to promote charitable causes.
Overall, staying fresh in the social media world isn’t without a sense of irony. Success means that everything you say is repeated and retweeted, and countless users become aware of your brand of “distinctiveness”. However, the massive commercial exposure and increasing popularity gained is well worth a little irony. Customise everything and make yourself indispensible and irreplaceable and, predictably, social networkers won’t be able to live without you.
Joel Tarplin is a Content Writer for Creare; specialists in SEO, web design, ecommerce, internet marketing, email marketing and video production.
Online success, be it in the form of a blog or a business, brings with it the challenging task of managing your online reputation. As soon as you find some success, you will likely also find yourself the target of criticism or negative comments somewhere on the social web. And since everything that’s published online is long-lived and searchable, it becomes important to deal with these problems in a timely and constructive way. The following are some tips to help you manage this tricky task:
Stay alert.
Don’t assume that negative commentary can only be posted on your site or social media profiles. In fact, unless your critic is looking for a fight, they’re more likely to vent in their own network (Facebook, Twitter, blogs etc) than to confront you on yours. It’s important to identify potential criticisms as quickly as possible so that you can get a handle on the situation before it turns into a pile-on. So: if you haven’t already, create a Google alert for your name, your site’s name, your brand’s name and any other trademark or identification commonly used to refer to your online identity and assets.
Identify the issue.
All negative comments are not equal. While it’s possible to find yourself at the receiving end of ad hominem or personal attacks, it’s much more likely that your critic has an issue with your product or message. He or she might offer it in the form of a detailed review, an angry tweet or a comment on your blog. As soon as it comes to your attention, identify the problem behind the negativity. Is it meant to be constructive or destructive? Is it a legitimate problem, a vague critique or a personal tirade?
Decide whether and how to react.
Not all criticism deserves or requires a reaction from you. For instance, if your critic is just trying to capitalize on your success by creating a stir, or is not a credible source, or does not have a network online, not responding might be better. But if you feel that an objective reader is likely to find and be influenced by the negative remarks, then you should respond. Having identified the issue (as mentioned above), decide what would be the best way to respond to the criticism, keeping future readers in mind. Proceed accordingly.
Be specific and direct.
Responding to criticism is one situation in which you should not focus on the person but rather on the issues. In most situations, it will be your reputation at stake, while your critic will have little or nothing to lose by a prolonged argument. So it is in your interest to address concerns not only swiftly but directly and specifically, without getting personal even if you are provoked. If your critic is vague, try to pin them down to specifics. The quicker you can know what needs fixing, the sooner you can resolve it.
Be real.
Online interaction and social media have recalibrated the expectations of consumers. Online brands are dynamic, interactive entities that exude both professionalism and personality. Bureaucratic delays, form responses and detached, robot-like answers to people’s problems just don’t cut it anymore. Being real means engaging with the issue, and this is especially called for in situations where your critic’s complaints are legitimate. This also means that if you’ve made a mistake that has directly impacted your customer, you should apologize and fix the situation to the extent that you are able. And remember: don’t try to use it as an opportunity to market!
Create a dialogue.
It is quite likely that your response will in turn generate its own response(s) – from your critic or from others. This is a good opportunity to turn criticism into conversation and get a better handle on the situation. In certain online interactions, even your ability to keep your cool, stay on topic and treat your critic respectfully will earn you the respect of your readers, and possibly even your critic. Conversation will take the edge off the negative comments and enable you to end the matter on a positive note.
Know when to quit.
It’s good policy to respond to every critic in good faith, addressing their issues promptly and turning the criticism into conversation when possible. But part of managing your reputation online is knowing when to disengage from a conversation, particularly if it’s becoming personal or fruitless. But don’t leave in the middle of a dialogue either – summarize your response firmly and leave the option of direct, private communication open, especially if the issue requires more back-and-forth.
About the Author:
Shelby Parson serves as the Executive VP of internet marketing for Premiere Tree Services of St. Louis where she actively represents the tree service in all forms of social media marketing.
Every 4 years the world comes together for a very much anticipated event called “World Cup”. What makes this year very different from all other World Cups throughout history, is the access the world now has to social media and how it brings fans from all over the world closer than ever. Soccer fans have never been shy about expressing their opinions, but this year’s World Cup in South Africa, which will be the first of the “social media age” according to many, may see record levels of global interactivity compared to any past event. “Soccer (or Football known around the world) is the world’s biggest sport, so the world will practically stop for the month of the World Cup (June 11- July 11).
Social media now connects millions around the world, 50 million tweets are sent daily while Facebook boasts more than 400 million active users, a development that will allow fans separated by distance to celebrate goals or critique referee decisions together online. Sites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube were in their infancy in 2006, when the last World Cup took place in Germany, but have since exploded in popularity and continue to further grow. There will be more media consumed, used and published in 2010 than in 2006. Social media brings fans closer together and give them the opportunity to communicate with each other. FIFA has its own social-networking service on FIFA.com — called “The Club” — which has 1.6 million members, but the organization is about to make a bigger push into social media. Facebook will be launching “Facebook Connect”, which allows Web sites to be shared on Facebook, which will be incorporated into FIFA.com and FIFA plans to launch official Twitter accounts for the World Cup too.
During the last few days of the tournament, World Cup discussion is more than likely going to take over Twitter. So far, many fans have been using the Twitter tag#WC2010 when they tweet about the World Cup. Although Twitter is based in the U.S., where soccer is not as popular as other parts of the world, the service is seeing its fastest growth outside of America as noticed by analyst. Twitter service is now available in six languages, there are plans to add more, and a recent report found that only half of all tweets are in English. Twitter is also striking deals with mobile providers in other countries so that it is free for subscribers to send and receive tweets on their phones. Within minutes of the World Cup starting, thousands and thousands of uploads are expected about the World Cup. In 2006, after French player Zinedine Zidane head-butted Marco Materazzi of Italy, hundreds of videos parodying the play were posted on YouTube. Some videos placed Zidane in a video game while others showed him in well-known movie scenes. YouTube’s popularity has surged since 2006 thanks in part to the advent of inexpensive video cameras and cell phones that can record and instantly upload video to the Web. Many more mashups and parodies during this 2010 World Cup are expected to go up. There will be no limit to the uses and creativity that emerge around this upcoming World Cup and the way it brings the world together for an entire month.
The purpose of Facebook (or any social networking site for that matter) is to connect people together. Ask your aunt, your cousin, your neighbor, your pharmacist why he or she has a Facebook account. Undoubtedly, the response will be, to keep in touch with people and learn what they are up to as well as what their likes and dislikes are. So what is the Facebook open social graph and what does it have to do with other websites?
Picture this: you’re on Facebook and you’re scrolling down the news feed. You see someone wished someone else a happy birthday. You see an announcement that someone is moving. You see that someone “likes” a certain website or a certain group of people. Well, before the open social graph came about, Facebook users had to push the “like” button for that website or group of people from within their Facebook account. The open social graph brings that “like” button to you – on many websites other than Facebook.
Here’s an example – the very popular IMDb.com website provides all sorts of data and information about movies. Let’s say you’re looking up the latest blockbuster to find out more about it. You glance to the right of the screen and you see that familiar “like” button from Facebook – although, you’re not on Facebook, you’re on IMDb.com. You click it and you’ve just notified Facebook and all other people who “liked” it that you like it too. Now when you go back to IMDb.com (or any other website that has this feature), you will notice a specific list of your friends from Facebook who have also said they “liked” it as well.
This could work for any website that chooses to have this feature whether it’s an online vitamin store or a national news website. So basically what it’s doing is connecting everyone together outside of the one-dimensional social networking website, Facebook. Basically, any website that chooses to can plug some simple code into their meta data and provide the “like” button on their own website. In essence, the Facebook open social graph brings the interactive qualities of Facebook to any websites that choose to join in with the networking fun.
This is a guest post by Eric Rea. Image taken from blog.joshbarr.com.
Twitter sent people into a panic today when they set everyone’s followers count to 0. This was in response to a hack that Gizmodo outted:
http://gizmodo.com/5535298/how-to-force-anyone-to-follow-you-on-twitter
People were using the hack to make famous people follow their account. It is pretty shocking when you see how vulnerable your online information really is.
Everything seems to be back to normal now but remember when you put your information online anything can happen so only put things out there you don’t mind being exposed to others!
Follow us on twitter @authoritydomain now that you can again lol.
The XXI Olympic Winter Olympic Games are also being called the “Social Games.” Based on sponsors clever ways of gaining the spotlight, more consumers will have their eyes glued to their iPhone and computer screens, than the actual broadcast on TV. If major sponsors can motivate 500 million Internet transactions as a result of the Super Bowl (a one-day event), can you imagine what sponsors, apps, social networks and search engines can gain from sixteen days of sporting events in Vancouver for the 2010 Winter Olympics?
Reaching out via social media, this Olympics may rival China in attention, if not in spectacle. On the months leading up to the event, the marketing teams of a hundreds of brands have been strategizing as to the most effective means to advertise its product and services using social media distribution. Both social networks will be covering the events in Vancouver closely and may prove to be a more informative source than even TV.
With Twitter’s more than 23 million hits and 1.2 billion tweets per month, Twitter will no doubt have a direct effect on Olympic information and viewership in 2010. Another feature released by Twitter just in time for the Olympics, is a Verified Tweeting Olympians resource page where you can cross-reference what the athletes are tweeting about in real-time from one source. Presently this site is following 100 athletes from Apolo Ohno to Joannie Rochette.
On Facebook, the International Olympic Committee has created an Olympic Games Page, which already has more than 1.2 million followers. The page plans to feature updates, photos and videos submitted by the athletes. The International Olympic Committee is also using Facebook to conduct a fan photo contest, awarding free tickets to events to winners, and has created an Olympic Mini-Games on their social network.
So the Social Games are in full swing in the social media space and it will be interesting to see how Vancouver fares as a result. Eighteen months after the spectacular opening of the Summer Olympics in Beijing, the organizers of the Winter Games in Vancouver are challenged to top the Chinese. Stated as the first-ever “Social Games” the excitement created by social media might be the stepping stone to make the opening ceremonies and subsequent competitions stand out from previous Olympics.
As a result of all of us getting social, let’s hope the 2010 Games are one of the best organized and most enjoyable Olympics ever. So rev up those mobile phones/ laptops and let’s hit the slopes!
LinkedIn recently added a Twitter status update functionality to their interface! Smart! So is there a reason to add your Twitter updates to your LinkedIn status? The answer is yes, I added it then contemplated the value add. Here are 3 reasons why you as any professional should utilize this functionality.
1) Stay On Topic- Over the last 24 hours I have thought more about my tweets and staying on topic. I still do posts on my interests, but have made sure to keep it more PG.
2) Additional Opportunities To Beat Your Chest – If you are currently using LinkedIn to network and find a new job, posting your Twitter posts is a great way to be King Kong & show what you know. Especially if you are in the Social Media and SEO fields. It is important to be intelligent in front of your peers and prospectus employers.
3) Gives LinkedIn Users Reasons To Return To Your Profile – Let’s be honest, Facebook is a far more personal application while LinkedIn is used for more professional reasons. I also looked and I only follow 40% of my LinkedIn contacts on Twitter. So adding this app is a no brainer and has already led to 8 new followers because of the use of the application.
I am sure there are more reasons to use the Twitter Status functionality on LinkedIn. But these are a few I found within the first 24 hours. Feel free to add yours in comments! Happy Tweeting & Linking!
Did you notice that Twitter added list functionality to follow this week? I have had a few people ask me what is the purpose? So with that; here is 4 ways to use Twitter lists:
- Niche Follow- Simply put lists allow you to follow groups of people based on their niche focus. As Social Media becomes more prevalent in the business word, the ability to focus your tweets on verticals will become more necessary. That reason necessitates the need for Social Analytics. The lists are another way to organize and focus.
- Topic RSS- In a way the lists are almost an RSS aggregator of niche topics. Much like http://www.search.twitter.com allows you to pull RSS feeds of #keywords, listing allows you to focus on topics.
- Who to Follow? – This is an easy one. If someone is being put into a lot of lists, then they are Tweeting items of value. Being added to lists is almost like getting a high rating! This will keep people honest. I know I have started looking at how many lists folks are on before following them. I have made simple criteria of 3 lists before following them.
- Business Intelligence, Competitive Intelligence & Industry Pulse- What a great opportunity to pull in all of the industry experts, stakeholders and players into one list and monitor what they are up to. A huge BI opportunity that all businesses should jump on!
Here is the SEO List we made: http://twitter.com/authoritydomain/seo
I am not sure if you know this, but Twitter lists have been available prior to this week. Here is a few to check out:
TLists: http://www.tlists.com/ (thx to @TazmanianTayTay)
TweepML: http://tweepml.org/TweepGen/createnew.aspx
Ultimately, the ability to organize your followers by niche is much needed! If you have other ideas, please share them in the comments.
Yesterday I posted two videos on my Facebook wall and realized that they both are great examples of how Social Media is allowing even the smallest business or individual stand eye to eye with large organizations or celebrities. Both are a true David versus the Goliath story. Or is it?
Case 1: AARP posted this video:
What I love about this video is how viral it has become with a positive message attached to a brand. But the beauty is any one person could create a video like this and help build their own personal brand that rivals the likes of AARP. Dollars are no longer needed to market effectively.
Case 2: Ask for what you want & come across capable:
A former client of mine recently became a free agent. She is a bright lady that knows how to use Social Media to market not only a corporate community- but her own brand as well. Case in point above! What is beautiful is she can use this video as the spine of her job finding campaign. Point to it with external
links and use the keywords she wants to rank for in her job search. She also shared the video with her peers who..well….shared it again. Case in point here! I will share this post in all the usual DoFollow channels and she will receive the very same link juice and viral exposure that we will. My point? 10 years ago the brand of an individual had no chance of being seen in the very same channels as Google and Microsoft – for free no less. This is affecting the News Media- the many is reporting news better then the major new agencies. Read Craig Newmark’s article- “A Nerds Take On The Future Of News Media”. Today, the gap between the bigs and the smalls, the corporations and the individuals has shrunk. The playing field has been leveled. Corporate responsibility is prevalent (a plus in my eyes) while their weight is decreasing, while the individual has more opportunity to be seen and thrive! Another plus! Before long there will no longer be a goliath, just a whole lot of David’s – some with a greater commitment to their brand! Which begs the question, what are you doing to grow your personal brand or your companies brand? Opportunity is ripe for the taking! Have you thought about your brand when watching the AARP and Naomi Marr videos?
We are consistently looking for new and inexpensive ways to market our E-commerce sites. Like many E-commerce sites, we operate on a shoestring budget, and are always looking for the least expensive ways to promote our site. We have found one of the best ways to market the site, with a very small budget is to partner up with the manufacturers that we represent on our sites. Here are three ways to utilize the skills and services that manufacturers offer to their dealers.
1) Print Advertisements-Many manufacturers will run print advertisements in trade publications. Ask the manufacturers that you work with if you can be involved with these publications, by paying a small fee to have your website listed on the print advertisements. Your website can be listed as a place that sells the manufacturers products. In return, this is also helping the manufacturer pay for the advertisement.
2) Website Listing on Manufacturer’s Site-If the manufacturer has a website with online retailers listed, typically a “where to buy this product online” or “online retailers” section, ensure your website is listed. This is a free link that the manufacturer should have no problem putting up. Some manufacturers will only put your link up on their site once you have reached a pre-set yearly sales number. Ask the manufacturer what the requirements are to have your link listed.
3) Promotions - Find out from your sales representative what promotions the manufacturer is running and when they will occur. Most of the time they will have it listed in a special area on their website, possibly homepage, or in a print publication. Ask to be involved in the promotion, to ensure that customers know they can take advantage of the promotion by purchasing from your website.
Manufacturers are always willing to work with you to help sell more products. Typically, they have a marketing team in place, and are more than helpful. Utilize the resources they provide to you for being their dealer. We have found the above three ideas are a great to start to working with manufacturers on the marketing of our sites.
