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Continue reading »]]> As Social Media Managers, we already know the power of Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. We then go out and find clients and convince THEM of the power of social media. All to often, in our passion, we fail or overlook what the needs are of our client as we ask them swallow social media, hook… line… and sinker.

Here's the reality… social media is so very large, so vast… it will overwhelm most business owners. Instead of pouring a gallon of knowledge on them and TELLING them how great their business is going be once they embrace social media, I suggest you get to know your client first. What are their needs? What is their goal? What is it they want to accomplish using social media? Once you get a clearer picture of what's important to them, it is so much easier showing them how social media can help THEM rather than change them.

Social media can be used in so many different ways for different businesses…. and it definately isn't "one-size-fits-all". If you follow that attitude, you're going to leave so much businesses behind.

So before you do any social media audit, or reguritate the latest Facebook stats…. step back and ask the business these simply questions first….

"What do you want social media to do for your business?

"What expectations do you have about what social media can do for you?"

A food truck may only want a large twitter following to tweet out locations of their trust stops. A politician may want a full fleged campaign to get their message on issues out to more people, maybe a clothing store will use social media to handle customer service.

Once you have an understanding of what THEY want and expect from social media, your job is to either meet those expectations, or help adjust theirs to more realistic benchmarks.

If they aren't sure of what social media can do for them, then by all means, give them a quick education.

Know your client, their needs, their expectations BEFORE you put your social media strategy together.  They will stay committed to the social media processes a lot longer if they know what results to expect.

Continue reading »]]> So you have ventured into the jungle of Twitter. I personally have a love/hate relationship with Twitter. I enjoy getting to know all about twitter, but honestly I think it is made more complicated than it really needs to be. Mastering Twitter can help develop relationships with so many people, you only need a Jedi to help navigate through it unless you want to do yourself.

So here are some basics you need to know about twitter….

First the lingo. Yes, twitter has a language all it’s own… and I’m not quite sure who came up with it. Was there a round table discussion of a geek squad that just came up with it all? Who knows. But here is a translator of sorts for you.

• # – this is hash tag, not a number sign (well, ok, it IS a number sign too but not in twitter). Hashtags are brief, very brief, tag phrases used to describe or categorize a status update (tweet). I know it is kinda crazy #justsayin   Here is a great explanation of how to best use them.(special thanks to Twitter Support Articles  and Webopedia for their contributions)
• avatar: that’s your pic you uploaded and shows up in front of every status update, reply, etc. So make it a good one
• b/c: Twitter shorthand for “because.”
• B: Twitter shorthand for “be.”
• b4: Twitter shorthand for “before.”
• beetweet: Slang term used to describe a “hot tweet.” Usually this is a popular, trending topic on Twitter and many users will retweet a beetweet.
• BR: An acronym used on Twitter that stands for “best regards.”
• bulltwit: Slang term to describe fake, false or over embellished Tweets.
• Celebrity syndrome: This Twitter phrase refers to a situation in which a non-celebrity mistakenly believes he or she is a celebrity. Users with celebrity syndrome will not follow a significant number of Twitter users.
• #FF: FF stands for “Follow Friday.” Twitter users often suggest who others should follow on Fridays by tweeting with the hashtag #FF.
• follow: To follow someone on Twitter is to subscribe to their Tweets or updates. Find out more about following.
• follow count: The numbers that reflect how many people you follow, and how many people follow you. Found on your Twitter Profile.
• follower: A follower is another Twitter user who has followed you. We also call them “tweeps”.
• following: Your following number reflects the quantity of other Twitter users you have chosen to follow.
• GFF: Get followers fast. Sites that promise to get you more followers if you provide your username and password. After signing up, these sites send spam from your account. Don’t use them. Boo hiss boo hiss.
• hacking: Gaining unauthorized access to an account via phishing, password guessing, or session stealing. Usually this is followed by unauthorized posts from the account.
• mention: Mentioning another user in your Tweet by including the @ sign followed directly by their username is called a “mention”. Also refers to Tweets in which your username was included.
• retweet: A Tweet by another user, forwarded to you by someone you follow. Often used to spread news or share valuable findings on Twitter. Also referred as RT.
• trending topic: A subject algorithmically determined to be one of the most popular on Twitter at the moment. Getting a #tag on this list is like being on Oprah.
• Tweet: this is a verb and a noun. (verb) tweet, tweeting, tweeted. The act of posting a message, often called a “Tweet”, on Twitter. (noun) A message posted via Twitter containing 140 characters or fewer.
• Tweeter: An account holder on Twitter who posts and reads Tweets. Also known as Twitterers.
• Twitter: An information network made up of 140-character messages from all over the world.
• Twitterer: An account holder on Twitter who posts and reads Tweets. Also known as “Twitter user”.
• Unfollow: To cease following another Twitter user. Their Tweets no longer show up in your home timeline.

For a great list of twitterlistics, check out this list

Continue reading »]]> Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know that everyone is talking about social media strategy.

• YouTube is the second largest search engine on the web.
• 50% of YouTube’s 300 million users go at least once a week.
• Facebook usage is up 400% since last year.
• 3.5 billion pieces of content are shared each WEEK on Facebook.
• 96% of 18-35 yr olds. are on a social network.
• 34% of bloggers post opinions about products & brands.
• 80% of Twitter usage is on mobile devices – Imagine what that means for bad customer experiences?

Social Media is the only advertising that allows you to create a deeper relationship with your customers/clients.  So where, what, when and how do you get started with social media marketing?  It may seem all overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be.