Social Media and Web Marketing Coaching

I get a lot of questions from clients about Facebook Fan Page vs. Facebook Groups. It can be overwhelming to know which one to choose, but here’s a breakdown for you:

Facebook Groups are best used for non-profits, fundraiser groups, and friend gatherings such as a bowling group. The group is very oriented around events and doesn’t possess the same amount of features that the Fan page has. Facebook considers groups to be an extension of your personal actions. When you post something as a group administrator, it looks like it’s coming from you and is attached to your personal profile.

Facebook Fan Pages allow for businesses, organization, and brands to have a place to talk to their customers and clients. Unlike groups, fan pages are visible to people who aren’t logged into Facebook and are thus indexed by search engines. Pages communicate by “updates” which show on the news feed of a fan. Pages can have applications as well. A Fan Page can create content that doesn’t linked to you personally.

You do need a personal profile in order to use either one of these features, but one advantage of a Fan Page is ability to assign other people as admins of the Fan Page, this is especially nice if you are delegating the updates to an employee or an assistant.

Overall, Groups and Fan Pages are powerful and if used properly, can help promote a great cause or a business.

Brian C.  Johnson is the man behind the local Portland magazine: Mix. Mix is a great mixup of food and drink, interviewing restaurants aimed at foodies, sharing recipes, and covering “what’s new” to consume. How does a magazine use social media to help broadcast its news?

What’s your business?

MIX Magazine, Portland’s #1 Food + Drink magazine

When did you start using social media and why?

Began in the summer of 09′ primarily to reach out to those interested in the food + drink category, have dialogue with them and encourage them to read our
publication.

Has social media changed your business?

It has helped us as publishers to have a better understanding of our audience, so I would say it has changed it yes.

How to you envision social media changing in the future?

It will need to continue to be relevant to the consumer. This is the greatest
challenge for any media of our day.

Have a social media story you’d like to share?

We recently did a story on a particular cocktail featuring a local
distiller and a bartender who served this drink at a particular
restaurant in town. We posted the story on Facebook and the restaurant
told us they had so many new customers come in to order the cocktail
that they ran out!

I promise you, after using Google Alerts, it will change your life - Google Alerts are a simple and free alert that will update you  about something that interests you. Google will send you an email any time a new web page appears in the top 20 web results or top 10 news results for the terms you specify.

Here’s some good things to keep track of:

1. Track your business - I have Google Alerts running for “Blue Deer Designs” and my name. It seems to pop up tweets, ads, and content associated with them.

2. Want to see who is coming to your blog? You can track incoming links to your site.

3. Track your products - this way you can see if there are reviews or tweets about your products and are able to respond to them, if needed.

4. Advanced Searches are a great way to track topics you want to keep your pulse on.

5. Watch your competition. It’s important to see who is writing about them and what kind of news they are sharing.

The following blogs go into more depth and can be handy for setting up your alerts

http://foodblogalliance.com/2009/04/how-to-use-google-alerts—5-quick-ways-to-get-news-about-you-your-blog.php

http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/4203/How-to-Use-Google-Alerts-to-Monitor-Your-Company-s-Online-Presence.aspx

Yelp has been a breakthrough in reviewing businesses online. Never before could you look up restaurants or dentists in your home town and see how others had experience with them.

There are some ups and downs that come with this responsibility of reviews, especially on the business owner’s end. Yelp is set up so that anyone can sign up for a yelp account and review different businesses. On the business end, a business can either create an account and encourage clients/customers to write reviews - or - a business can claim it’s account if Yelpers (yelp users) have already start reviewing on their own.

Pink Sherbet Photography

Here’s when things get tricky. Let’s say you own a restaurant and you have an account on Yelp and over the past few months, you’ve gotten some reviews. Most of them are 3 and 4 stars, but you also got some one or two 2 star reviews. At first, you might feel defensive and reactive about how the customer reviewed your establishment and want to react. I’ve read business owner’s reaction to low ratings and it can go either way.

Some business owner choose to use this opportunity as a frustration outlet and lash out at the customer, blaming them and accusing them of behaving badly, ordering the wrong food, having too high of expectations and overall, being defensive. This defeats the whole point of a site like Yelp. On the flip side, I’ve seen some business owners react openly to negative reviews, responding to the customer and asking them to give them feedback to improve the experience. It simply could have been a bad day or night for the business or the staff and it came through to the customer. That happens, but I think it’s so important for the business owner to see how they can be a part of this communication process and turn the corner. Often times,  once the reviewer has communicated with the business owner, they will update their review.

The message is simply - don’t lose out on gaining a customer for life. Bad reviews happen but business owners have the power to turn them around. Your customers are huge part of the new wave of advertising, there’s nothing more powerful than hearing a recommendation from a friend to a friend. It’s magical and it can spread like wildfire.

I discovered Threadless after asking a few friends where they got their awesome one-of-a-kind t-shirts. I signed up for Threadless’ email newsletter and have been amazed at how entertaining and fun it is to shop at their site. They have a special formula - let me explain who Threadless is -

Threadless is a community-centered online apparel store that began in 2000. The business is primarily based on community voting – members of the community submit t-shirt designs online - which, by the way, are some amazing pieces of art.  The designs are put out to a public vote. A percentage of the submitted designs are selected for printing and are sold through their online store. Winning designs receive prizes of cash and store credit.

Their marketing ranges from traditional - holding a “scary designs” contests for Halloween or using social media tools like Facebook,  dedicating themselves to interact with their customers and attract new ones. Here’s some of the ideas they have been cooking up:

• Fans can add items to their cart directly within the Threadless Facebook Page. After choosing your size and clicking “Add to cart,” you’re then directed to Threadless.com where you review your order or return to the Facebook Page and continue shopping.

• Under their tab “New Tees”, you are able to browse the new items of the week. You can post a comment about a t-shirt which then posts to your Wall and News Feed.

• Every Thursday, the company posts hourly videos, giving away prizes by spining on the prize wheel to random fans. Its like a short talk show with prizes and no celebrity guests.

Here’s another profile of Threadless with more examples of how they use Facebook . Who wouldn’t want to go and hang out on their Facebook Fan page? Sounds like fun

Bob’s Red Mill Natural Foods is a leader in the grains industry, they provide over 400 products, focusing on gluten-free and organic.  Their slogan is “whole grain foods for every meal of the day”.

How does a business share their community  such as gluten-free baking contest and supporting a cyclo-cross team? Bob’s Red Mill uses tools such as Facebook. Here’s are some great ways they did it right on their Fan page

• they put a photo of “Bob” as part of their profile, having their business come across very warm and friendly.

• on their wall, they post many time during the week with news about the cyclo-cross events, commenting on other companies products and overall, reaching out beyond their products and themselves

• Using the notes section to share info about tools folks can use in cooking and baking, content info, and more.

• they have their facebook badge on their blog, so readers of the blog can easily “become a fan” of Bob’s Red Mill on Facebook.

Do you know of other companies that have “done it right” with their Facebook Fan page?

Setting up a Facebook Fan page is the best way to advertise your business, but I’ve found a lot of folks baffled about what to do with it.  Here are steps on how to set it up

Once you have your Facebook page, what do you do with it?

1) Feed your blog postings into your Facebook page - this can be done by editing the Notes tab and adding your blog feed. Facebook will confirm with you if it’s done correctly and you simply confirm.

2) Add business apps, there are a ton to choose from here,  but don’t go overboard, pick a few that having meaning to your business.

3) Promoting your page - you can’t just friend someone the way you do from your personal profile. You can encourage folks to be fans of your page by spreading the word.  Find contacts from your profile that are business connections, in the industry, or who could benefit from what your company provides and invite them to become a fan. Send a personal note what your page offers. Also promote your page in other places such as Twitter, email sigs, business card, your website or blog.

4) Build a community around your page - start discussions by asking questions regarding your products or what they suggests should improve. Post on a regular basis, such as you would on a blog. Be patient, it won’t happen overnight, but it change slowly.

Want to take it to the next level? Read this report on developing a Facebook pan to attract a million fans!

I met Gary originally through Biznik.com and was happy to see his company on Twitter shortly after. In a world where everyone wants something customized, ImageWear Solutions provides a plethora of items, including many eco-friendly wares. Check out his site and read the interview below to learn how small businesses can build community through social media.

What’s your business and who are your clients?

ImageWear Solutions is an advertising specialty distributor, which supplies company uniforms and corporate apparel, as well as a wide range of promotional products. We also offer custom embroidery and screen-printing services.

When did you start using social media and why?

We just started getting involved with social media a few months ago, because we like the sense of community that it offers.  It’s a great, affordable way to not only showcase the products and services that you offer, but also to showcase the character of your company.  I started my own business to not only be independent and hopefully profitable, but also to be able to use our resources to help build a better community.   Social media gives us a great outlet to support non-profits, the arts, environmental issues, as well as other small businesses. For us, it’s all about helping each other grow and blossom, then give something back. We can all make this a better world in which to live.
Have you seen an increase of business?

We have seen a slight spike, but most of all, we’ve met some really great people and feel like we’re more in tune and involved in the community than before.

What are you looking forward to social media changing in the future?

I’m hoping that it will continue to evolve and maintain the community spirit in which it was intended and also clean up the business landscape.  If you are honest and sincere, as a business owner, the word is going to spread allowing you to grow and offer more back to the community in which you live.   And if you’re not, well people can spot a phony pretty easily and yes, the word will spread like wild fire. There will be an increase of “get rich” schemers, as well as so-called social media “experts” hoping to part you from your hard earned money. There are scam artists everywhere. As a community, we have a responsibility to protect each other from the predators.

Have a social media story you’d like to share (how you connected with someone or how someone helped you?)

As I said before, we’ve met some really great people, including you via social media. One story does come to mind though. I came to know Kimberly LeRiche, who owns and operates JK Virtual Office Resources and her husband Jeff, the owner of OTC Sports on Twitter.  She has helped us greatly with understanding how social media can benefit our company.  One day she had re-tweeted a message by the Portland Police Bureau Sunshine Division (http://www.sunshinedivision.org/), who collects donations of food and clothing and distributes them to families in need.   We had never even heard of them before.  Well, we accumulate a great deal of new clothing samples through our dealings with various vendors.  We had clothing stashed in various locations and not really doing anyone any good at all.  So, we gathered them all together and donated some really nice, new clothing to the Sunshine Division.   So, through social media, we have found a great place to donate clothing that will benefit those in need. It’s a win-win for everyone.

I recently spoke with Bo, from KOifusion about his successful use of Twitter to promote his food cart.

KOifusion is a food cart that produces a mashup of Korean BBQ along with Mexican, American,  and Italian flavors. Bo’s cart travels to different locations across the city to feed cart lovers alike. Their company is only 2 months old, but they have driven their marketing through Twitter, using it to share promotions, their cart locations, as well as what’s going on day to day.

Bo can’t believe the connections he’s made in such little time, he doesn’t just talk about the cart, Bo said he tweeted about his car breaking down and had 5 different folks come to him with lunches and a willingness to help.

He mentioned that Twitter allows folks to give suggestions while feeling safe and easy to reach out. Bo really likes Twitter because he can update from his iPhone, it’s fast and is the best way to spread news. He can’t wait till there’s a way to sync with other media tools to make updating even easier and looks forward to the ease of use of social media in the months to come.

I’ve been researching different tools to analyze my links through twitter. Bit.ly was ok, but just didn’t have enough data and not easy to use. Tweetburner had potential, but its personal stats page was broken. Hootsuite fits just right. For a more extensive review of similar tools: http://networksboise.wordpress.com/2009/06/22/test-drive-hootsuite-ping-fm-twitterfeed-bit-ly/

My favorite reasons to use it:

-Tracking my URLS, I want to make sure and see if folks are following what I post and by golly, they are. I can see at what times were the most clicks, etc.

-Hootlet , the easy to use plugin for Firefox works smoothly, I pop in and shrink my URLs -scheduling tweets, here’s another review that focuses on that: http://www.twitip.com/twitip-reader-review-hootsuite/

-you can use Hootsuite to check several different accounts

-the latest 2.0 version is even better with columns separately different messages and get tabs to help you stay organized and get the data you want!