Blog Posts Help your Website Show up Higher in online Searches

In many cases, search engines reward websites that publish new content, and show them higher in searches than sites that put up their website then never make changes or add anything. Google plays favorites. Active blogs do better – twice a month should be enough, one a week even better, but at least put out one new blog post each month. Google sees so many sites go up with what they call ‘thin’ content. Just a slap-dash veneer of paint on a topic, which usually is not reflective of a quality site. But a site with rich, deep content both pages and posts around related topics is rewarded. Sites that have also generated some incoming links from a few other quality websites -search engines feel that those sites are more worthy of showing in search results than a 5 page only website about the same topic. Make your blog posts between 400 and 800 words, 600 seems to be the sweet spot (this is a tad long ant about 820 words). Occasional posts that are longer or shorter, will appeal to a wider variety of readers, and won’t hurt you. But those 500-800 word posts are not that hard to write and are seen by Google, MS Edge and Firefox as probably having enough information on a topic to be worth showing in search results.

A Business Blog can Help New Customers Choose to Work with or Buy from You

I have had several client prospects say I called you, over a competitor, because , “I liked the easy-going tone of your blog.” And “I like that you said you speak “English” – not all that geeky social media jargon…and I ‘got’ that from reading your blog posts.” They chose me, because the other guy didn’t connect with them as well. Well-written blog posts can help your clients take one step closer to hiring you, if they like the information you provide, or the way you present it, or find you more helpful than your competitor. A good blog post can also remind existing customers why they liked working with you or buying from you in the first place. You can link to them in your monthly newsletter, or many people sign up to get your blog posts via email.

Writing a Strong Blog Post Headline with a Twist can get your Post Seen by Potential Customers

Search engines respond to individuals typing in searches, those simple or complex requests for information typed into that little box, by scouring the internet for the right website, page or post that will make that searcher happy. A blog post with good information that answers a question and has a good title, can bring that new customer right to your online doorstep and get them to walk inside your site – giving you an opportunity to connect with them that you would not otherwise have had.

But dry, keyworded blog post titles don’t always do a swell on social websites. To get a blog post shared via social media, another way to get individuals to your site, you often need a twist. The title of this post is in two parts. The First half is the keyworded half – written to attract search engines. The second part is mean to catch your eye and make you say – “what does she mean Search Engines Play Favorites?” and hopefully click to read more. Writing a blog post title that catches the interest of both search engine algorithms and the curiosity of your potential clients is the golden ticket. Not always easy to do, and you’d better deliver on what you promise in the title – or people will bounce right off of your site and go somewhere else to find the answer. The longer they stay on your site – the better search engines like you. What are called “click-bait” titles often leave your readers disappointed, and they leave fast? And you wouldn’t want to do that. A good title followed by a good post will leave them coming back for more. What are your tricks for writing blog posts that bring traffic?

Next week… a post about What the Bleep Should I Write about on my Business Blog?

The questions are from #SocialPowWow Chat Host @ancitasatija & co-host @KDHungerford. “The question everyone has been waiting for: Give us your digital marketing trend predictions for 2016! #SocialPowWow”

2016 Marketing Prediction #1: The trend to consider or think about mobile 1^st – before other marketing considerations – will continue to grow & begin to work better. More people have fancier smart phones & tablets, plus some wearables. But let’s not forget that we live in a multi-screen world . People often use multiple screens to research a purchase or t look for information – phone, tablet AND computer (desk / laptop) https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/infographics/multi-screen-world-infographic.html.

2016 Marketing Prediction #2: Video & especially mobile video, short & to the point, will become more frequent & effective. Micro-moments are a new way to think about customer interactions or “touches,” videos and brand interactions that are under 30 seconds. More on Micro moments from @Google & @Forbes: http://www.forbes.com/sites/onmarketing/2015/04/09/googles-micro-moment-why-its-a-game-changer-for-cmos/

2016 Marketing Prediction #3: Big brands will continue to chase the millennials, but if they go too far, they may lose out in attracting other demographics. My mom is very intelligent, but misses out on 30% of the subtext of commercials – as she does not know or care about the cultural references – the music, the band, the social site, the actor used in the commercial. If your product has broad appeal – try not to lose your existing customer base while you try to win the millennials.

2016 Marketing Prediction #4: For many marketers…it’s all about “the list”…all about getting the person to sign up to get your stuff in their email box. That can be great if you can get them to opt-in and balance giving them good info/targeted content, without overdoing it. But inboxes are being deluged w/ crap. Do it poorly in 2016 & they will unsubscribe. Email is great, as you control it, versus lack of control on social sites, but since email is direct to the consumer, THEY have the ultimate control to say yes or no to your content, pitches and product or services.

Take away tip: to learn more about trends facing your business, here is a link to my Twitter list of resources to research trends – marketing, demographics, technology, business trends, studies and information: https://twitter.com/CathyWebSavvyPR/lists/research-n-trends

Bonus predictions for those who can find a clever way to capitalize on them:

Bonus 2016 Marketing Prediction A: Mobile ecommerce growth. Mobile transactions are expected to grow from $115 Billion in 2015 to $142 billion in 2016.

Bonus 2016 Marketing Prediction B: Digital Video replacing trad. TV – Nexflix, Hulu, Roku, Apple TV, Amazon TV etc – can marketers connect thru these services.

Bonus 2016 Marketing Prediction C: Gaming is also capturing former Trad’l TV time – can marketers sneak in there as well, if their audience is there. From a recent Pew study: About half of American adults (49%) “… play video games on a computer, TV, game console, or portable device like a cellphone,” and 10% consider themselves to be “gamers.” And the video game population is about evenly split between men and women, despite that more people believe that more men game.

Bonus 2016 Marketing Prediction D: Podcasting seems to be growing in listenership in 2015 – this trend will continue to increase. Poscasting was fairly new in 2007, and finally seems to becoming a mature, robust product in 2016, at least in the U.S. I tend to think the ease of listening on our smartphones, wifi linked cars and more apps for tablets cotributes to the growth of this trend: http://www.journalism.org/2015/04/29/podcasting-fact-sheet/.

If you missed my first post inspired by the #SocialPowWow chat, click here to check out my take on 2015 marketing trends and where they are going in 2016.

For an instant takeaway: Here is my Twitter list of resources to help you research trends in – demographics, technology, marketing, business etc :https://twitter.com/CathyWebSavvyPR/lists/research-n-trends

I’ll paraphrase the questions from #SocialPowWow Chat host @ancitasatija & co-host @KDHungerford

Question: Where did marketers get it right in 2015, and where did we get it wrong:

Marketers are finally “getting” that mobile is very important . The use of images & video increased in 2015 and will continue to grow. By 2020, according to a Forbes article, there will be 80 billion connected devices worldwide.

However, we shouldn’t lose site that good, solid content connected to the right audience still CAN work, although some marketers are overdoing content. Quality content trumps quantity every time.

One thing we’re NOT doing right: storytelling, too many marketers use the term “storytelling” to replace other old old jargon terms without substance to back it up. True strategic brand storytelling is something deeper. Knowing at a core level what brand stories yr audience will respond to. And building that into the DNA of your brand, employees, content and THEN into yr marketing

Question: What are likely places that marketers will spend their 2016 marketing time & budgets?

Marketers in 2016 will be $pending on mobile, video & pay to play – paid will continue to annoy us, that is, sites that used to allow access to their customers for free will continue to find ways to make money – via ads or like Facebook’s algorithm which only allows certain people who liked your page to see your content.

Video “micro moments” will begin to grow in use – since Google is pushing them – https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/collections/micromoments.html.

Smart Marketers will also reserve some $$ for organic/earned & engagement – that’s NOT a passing fad in my book.

Question: Will wearable technology / smart devices gaining traction in 2016?

I think wearables will still be in their infancy in 2016. @Fitbit @jawbone etc have larger share than smart watches, so that category is definitely growing and hitting a broader share of consumers. For the right customer, cutting edge tech is the rage, but still too much $$ for the masses. Still a Fad, not a fashion to my mind, at least in 2016. Wearables that do 1 thing well & do a few other useful things WILL continue to grow, esp. w/ fitness crowd like Fitbit and Jawbone.
Question:  Some marketers say organic growth is dead. How will paid vs organic evolve in 2016?

Paid is taking over, despite what marketers want. To me, organic still has the long tail. A paid ONLY strategy is not only expensive, but equals short term thinking. Paid is unfortunately more important as social sites are finding ways to make us pay for what used to be free. But ad blocking software in also increasing – so organic has another reason to be in the mix. Some sites use adds, others algorithms, both are hard to navigate well. Smart marketers will find the balance between paid, earned and organic that works for THEIR customers. And as @KDHungerford said during the chat -so you mean paid may get them to your campaign, but organic keeps them there? I added yes, organic content and engagement builds that trust, loyalty and paves the way to may purchases easier.

What shifts in measurement and analytics do you see coming in 2016?

In 2016, Management / CEOs /t he boss will want more actionable data. Looking for Data to equal better insight & next step actions. Data for big biz is a strong part of the mix already, for smaller companies, gathering data is working, but sifting, sorting and moving into action from data is still expensive and difficult for many.

Hopefully tools and opportunities to do it better will increase in 2016. Marketers would love to see a reasonably priced product that breaks down data silos into one dashboard.

I think marketers will Improve tracking – use more UTMs (unique tracking markers) on campaigns – get granular to see what works – that is something most companies CAN do.

Will 2016 be the year when businesses finally value customers over marketing tactics?

One can always hope that valuing customers will trump tactics, but w/ so many competing forces, it’s hard to do well. Truly connecting with the customer, building a relationship, nurturing that connection is crucial to do well. Marketing tactics not connected to the customer’s needs & interests will continue to fall flat.

I’ll be following this post with my actual Digital Marketing 2016 predictions in a separate post, click here to see my 2016 Digital Marketing Trends and Predictions. In the interest of keeping this post shorter LOL.

For a recap of the #SocialPowWow chat – including discussions with other marketers – click here.

This site was created a while ago using a now old theme* that when the theme developer upgraded it to a newer version a few years ago – they left no easy upgrade path for those who bought in early. It annoyed me, but the site looked ok. Nothing fancy. But as WordPress and newer themes have been moving forward, with lots of new options, and as a part of my business has become WordPress Web Design for others, I decide to bite the bullet. And as I tell my clients, always keep your WordPress software, themes and plugins up to date. That was getting harder to do here. So I’m creating a temporary site today and will evolve a new one over the coming weeks. I may be experimenting with a few different themes. So my site may look different if you happen to stop back at a mid-point.

This is phase I

Updates in the Background:

• WordPress software – fully updated
• New Mobile-Responsive Theme*
• Plugins updated
• Old not-current Plugins deleted

Visible  Upgrades

• A new fresher theme, simpler, more streamlined
• A new header image
• A simpler headline and tagline in the header – probably not finalized

*Self-hosted WordPress is the software I use for my websites, which is very versatile. A part of its versatility is that it comes in different…flavors. I often say that WordPress comes “dressed in jeans and a t-shirt,” which is not necessarily how you want to present your business to the world.  So they created the concept of Themes. Themes are coding written by WordPress or other developers  which allows your site to have a different look and feel,  a business suit or casual Friday attire – whatever fits your business – as well as to provide greater functionality. Another analogy is WordPress is the engine of your website, but the theme is the make and model, which also allows for customization of the site’s both look and functionality – just like a car.

**Part of what spurred this update was that Google  is beginning to downgrade websites  in their search results that are not “mobile responsive” or in other words not easy to read on a cell phone or tablet. Sites that don’t pass their test for  adapting to the size of the device being used to read it will show up lower in search engines. My old theme was not mobile-responsive, i.e. the current these will adapt to the size of the screen that the viewer is using.

Wish me luck!

(Note: This post was inspired a weekly chat help by BufferApp.com (@Buffer) on Twitter. The specific chat was November 12, 2014 with guest Atomic Reach @Atomic_Reach. See the recap (below) of that interactive Twitter chat via Storify, created by @NMillerBooks*.

Your online activities should draw in potential clients and inspire them to take some action – take a step closer to your brand:

• Follow (Twitter), friend or like (Facebook), connect (LinkedIn) and/or Circle (Google+) your business

• Bookmark a post, or mark a social post as a favorite; read a second blog post or view another page on your website sign up for your newsletter and/or blog feed

• Retweet (Twitter), like and or share (Facebook & LinkedIn) or pin a post (Pinterest)

• Comment on a blog post or reply to a social media post

• Download a white paper or view a video (or comment on a video)

• Ask for help via phone, email or social site

• Give a testimonial or share their interest in/love of your product via WOM (Word-of-Mouth) or a social site

• Click an ad to see your offering

• Click a link or…

• Even make a call, email an inquiry, sign up for a webinar or buy something

Each of these possible actions a client or customer makes brings them a step closer to your business.

The Seven to Thirteen Brand Touches Rule of Thumb

There is a rule of thumb in marketing and PR, that it can take from one (for an impulse-buy) up to three, five or seven (some say 13) “touches” or contacts with your brand or business before someone buys; it depends. Social media and blogging make those passive views and basic brand touches more likely, and can lead to what I am calling a “dynamic brand touch” – one where an interaction occurs. These dynamic interactions can be an opportunity for your brand to build trust and connection with potential and existing customers…which should bring them yet another step closer to your brand.** And if the interactions are quality – not just an add, the ratio should be higher. Especially if you can take that next step and interact back with them. That’s something you couldn’t do with an old-style ad.

Brand Touches can Lead to Client and Customer Conversions

What’s a conversion? That’s marketing-speak for a purchase or an interaction with your business. Different people define it in different ways. Of course, the ultimate “conversion” is when  you convert a prospect into a buying customer, or an existing customer or client into a repeat buyer of your product or service. But before they buy, you need to lay a foundation or create a pathway that makes it easy for them to like and begin to trust your brand.

How do you Lay the Groundwork for Converting a Brand touch into a Customer?

• Content Marketing = knowing your audience’s needs, interests, pain points  and what gives them joy & then serving them content on your site & where they hang out online (and off)

• Content marketing is website, blog, social media writing that attracts your ideal clients like a magnet & earns trust

• Engagement happens when you serve up quality content that entices your audience to interact; take a step closer 2 your brand

• Quality, targeted content builds trust and entices your prospects/customers to take a step closer to your brand & interact

• Engagement back with your audience creates a fertile environment upon which a relationship can grow. Content are the seeds, interactions the sun and rain.

• Be careful of making assumptions – my customers aren’t on XYZ site – do your research

• Survey existing customers, call them ask for their input, what do they want to hear? where do they spend time or “hang out” online; also, know their demographics too.

• Metrics depend on goals for specific content. Ultimately sales, but it can take many brand “touches” before a sale is made

• Calls to action – Targeted, interesting, clear visuals increase engagement on most sites if not used too often

• Non-yes/no questions, something that provokes thought, “Share your tips on how you solve this problem” are better

• CTA’s (more marketing speak – Click Through Actions) that Build community – like @Buffer is doing in their weekly #bufferchat

• Obviously Quality wins over quantity, but consistency…being there when your customers are is also important – it is all about Balance

So when planning your social media and blogging activity – Get to know your audience or customers. Plan for items that will help people take a step closer to your brand. If you think more about what’s in it for them, than what’s in it for you…what’s in it for you might just follow.

*Here is a recap of this Twitter chat event about creating engaging content – https://storify.com/BufferNicole/bufferchat-11-12-14-atomic-reach-creating-engagin)

**FYI – this article tried to find the root and validity of the rule of 7 – 7 times exposure needed to an ad before most people buy – lots of circumstantial evidence, but no solid evidence. http://successfulsoftware.net/2010/06/03/do-customers-need-to-see-an-advertisement-seven-times/ Just in case you wanted to know.

How to Create a Small Business Blog that Works for you AND your Customers

First determine your resources.

• Are you comfortable writing?

• Is there someone on your team who is a comfortable writing?

• Can you outsource it, then revise what is written for you to make it more personal/work for your customers?

Once you have decided. Then look at who your customers are, and what are the main 3-5 topics they are interested in. People don’t want to hear about your new staff member or new tweak of a product, at least not most customers, or not that often. Your goal is to provide useful information about the topics related to your business that are of interest your customers. Once you have built that – then you can add in a few  company-driven posts. Example my customers want to know about social media (tips, new trends, how to, new tools), blogging, websites, small business and email marketing. I covered all of those, but I’ve never really focused on email marketing…hhhmmmm another post idea. Then create and editorial calendar and slot blog posts that cover those topics into your calendar. I admit, even I don’t blog as often as I should, my excuse…I’m helping clients set up and promote their own blogs.

How Often Should a Small Business Post Blog Posts?

Once a week is ideal for most sites. Once a month should be the minimum. Some other sites, especially sales-oriented sites – selling affiliate products or surviving on ad revenue – there is evidence that blogging multiple times a week, or even several times a day drives both more traffic and more sales. Although that is not practical for many businesses, and not necessary for most. A book seller could interview authors, talk about new books out on the market, an insider’s view of attending a big insiders book event, talk about a favorite book, interview customers etc. Think about answering the questions you hear often from customers.

A Real-world Example of how Small Business Blogging Can Work

A potential client contacted me about help with his website. He and his wife were tired of doing it themselves and wanted someone else to handle their updates and site tweaks, so that he could concentrate on blogging. The surprise was he’s a contractor…not the type of business you think of when you think of a blog. He said, “I’ve got to get this site cleaned up. I am a contractor – I fix anything in your house… and I get business leads every week from my blog.” He looks at the questions he gets daily from customers, then turns them around into blog posts.

I get clients all the time from my blog. I pride myself in being able to break technical info down into easy to understand concepts that makes it easy for non-tech types to “get it.” I say on my site that while I speak “geek” I talk or translate into plain English. I often get new clients who comment on how the liked the easy to understand blog posts, and that’s a part of why they contacted me.

Why Does Small Business Blogging Work?

Blogging can be an effective way to drive traffic to your small business website. If you write clear headlines that include a few selected keywords (words your customers might search for) and is catchy (a tough balancing act), and back it up with good writing in the post – search engines will serve it up as the answer to customer search queries – i.e. – it will show up on Google or Bing. Blog posts work well over time. You can have a blog post from 3 years ago bring someone to your site today. Posts also give you something to post to your social networks that showcases what your business is about, and how you give them helpful info, without directly promoting your business, but when they click to read the post, they are presented with your website and blog and all of your business info. They can hopefully sign up to get your blog in their inbox (what’s called an RSS feed), sign up for your enewsletter, or call you with a  question or buy your product or service.

One last business blogging  tip: if you can – launch your blog with 3-5 posts rather than just 1. Give prospects info to read once you get them to your site. Give them a reason to hang around. Posts don’t have to be long 400 – 800 words  – 600 is ideal, and an occasional longer or shorter post works too. Get it on your calendar and your blog will work for you while you are doing other things.

I talk about stepping back from issues that arise in your small business and assessing them before diving in. Asking yourself if you should outsource something, or tackle it in-house. I talk about breaking projects into sections to make it psychologically easier to tackle and more – check it out. And if you are not aware of @SmallBizTrends – their site, and their Twitter account, are great resources for any business.  Has life taught you a lesson that you can apply to your business? if so let me know in the comments.

Signs and signage can set the tone for an interaction between a potential customer and a business, both offline AND online. Storefront signs are a essential for bricks and mortar businesses. Sometimes those created by a business are useful, other times useless. But what people don’t think enough about are the online applications of the equivalent of good signage. Daniel Pink’s concept of “Emotionally Intelligent” signs even works on websites too.

Check out this very brief video here to see what I mean: “Pecha Kucha: Get to the PowerPoint in 20 Slides” By Daniel Pink (@DanielPink): http://tinyurl.com/2ze363. He formulated this concept of emotionally intelligent signs – those that engender empathy or understanding in the sign’s readers. His video is explaining a power point presentation concept called Pecha Kucha. But his actual Pecha Kucha slide presentation linked to above is about the concept of “emotionally intelligent signs.”

How Often are you Frustrated By Not Being Able to Find The info you Want on a Website?

Just think how many times you’ve been frustrated looking for the phone number or e-mail address or contact us page on a website? Just who was it that decided that the contact us button should be at the bottom of the page in 9 point type?

Thankfully, many websites now put contact info on a navigation page/tab at the top.  One book I read a while ago about website usability suggested that we rethink some of the website items that have become standard. Yes buttons like “login” have become familiar, but is there a better way to say thing like that. The term login is from the early days of computers. May be sign in? Although that’s archaic in another way.

When you choose anchor text, or page titles, or headings where people will click to take an action on your website, the author (I can’t find the book right now) noted – that we should try and use words that will let them know what to expect when they click there. Not a term that I, the site owner, would use to get the info, but a word that my audience or readers will understand exactly what they will get.

What have you done with your web real estate to point the way with emotionally intelligent “signage?” The following lesson from poor traditional and updated “emotionally intelligent” physical signs, can help us all.

My Signage Experience

PR staff at many organizations are not always involved in the “signage” process, and often not involved in the website redesign process, but they should be. PR staff are trained to help bridge the gap between the public and the organization and help facilitate communication. However, anyone involved, shop keeper to PR professional to CEO, can make a difference in how your business is perceived by paying attention to the emotional intelligence of the online and offline signs you choose to use.

My real world example of this comes from several jobs ago. Shortly after starting a PR job (now years ago) at a public garden, we were going through a master planning process. New signs were a part of the plan. I lobbied hard for one specific sign change that I saw as crucial to PR and public perception. It was one of the first signs you saw when driving into the parking lot at that time.

It used to say “Please stop, pay $3 parking fee.”

I suggested changing it to something along the lines of “Your $3 donation supports our educational programs & helps maintain the gardens and trails.”

Now, the second sign I proposed is long, I will admit. And you could call it PR spin, except that the $3 donation to this non-profit organization did go into the general operating fund that did support both the educational programs and the maintenance of the property, gardens and grounds. I’m no longer sure of the final wording, but it similar to above.

Why did I lobby so hard for the change?  Because several years before I began working at this garden, the formerly-free garden had instituted this $3 parking fee when they built a new asphalt lot over the previous dirt lot – it was the honor system at first, then they installed a gatehouse and a guard to collect money on weekends.

But what did I hear from a large number of people when I said I was going to work for XYZ organization? Ikept hearing about the parking fee.  Over and over I heard some version of “I used to go there, but not any more.  They have a parking fee now.”  This was more than 5 years after the fee and its starkly worded sign went up just outside the lot. (My guess its that the initial parking fees went to pay for the fixing up of the parking lot, although I can’t confirm that).

When I would counter with – “well, it’s really a donation. Do you know that XYZ garden is a non-profit, and that they provide environmental education to over 2,500 kids every year, and that they have to work hard to maintain those 20 miles of hiking trails you enjoy, and the over 100-year old plant collections that make it so pretty?”  I wouldn’t convert folks to forgiving the institution immediately, but you could see them shift mental gears. The new “emotionally intelligent” information I gave them took them outside of their pocket book, and out of the past perceptions and into empathizing with the organization.

The new sign I suggested was up for many years, and when I chatted with the gatehouse donation collection guy, he said people often commented that they were glad their donation helped out. The system at the garden has changed now, you park first, then enter though a small store and buy your ticket and get a trail map there.  But the store helps tell the organization’s story in a similar way as my updated sign.

What stories (or reactions) – positive and negative – do your online and offline signs tell people.  How can or have you implemented this in your own online or offline space?

1) One Reason Why you Might Use Social Media in Business is Branding and Visibility

One reason to incorporate social media activity into your PR strategy is to strengthen your brand and increase your business’s visibility. To make sure that your customers and prospects see your business as an active participant in the online places where they “hang out” or spend time. It can also protect your brand, but ensuring that others don’t co-opt or infringe on your brand.

2) Customer Service is Another Reason Why Some Businesses Should Use Social Networking

If your customers are active on social sites and they are talking about your product online – either positively or negatively, then you and your business need to be there. If your clients are talking about your industry then you should probably be there, and if they are talking about your competitors, then you should probably be there. How active you need to be depends in part on how active your customers are there, how effective your competitors are online, and what resources you have available to help you engage with your customers. Social media has, for better and worse, given those who are connected online a megaphone to talk about great customer service experiences, and to talk about dismal customer service experiences. And often their peers will amplify that message, especially the negative ones.

A good goal for social media activity is to participate in the customer service conversation around your brand, your industry and sometimes, if done carefully, that of your competitors. This type of activity really needs a PR plan backing it up – how to handle negative comments & reviews, (while engaging and solving problems, not trying to sweep them under the non-existent rug); how to handle “trolls” – those who go online to just be negative, etc.

3) Another Obvious Goal of Social Media for Businesses is Lead Generation

All businesses want to attract prospects and convert them into new clients & customers. Social media can be a way to reach those consumers or B to B customers directly. It can also be a waste of time. Follow some of the steps or questions I outlined in the #EQList post I linked to in the first paragraph. Then see how you can make this work for you, not frustrate you. You need to hone in on your audience/customers; Identify what subjects/topics interest them. Then figure out where they “hang out” online, and only THEN decide if it makes sense for you to participate and craft a plan based in part on that research, the tips fro my guest post, and the goals you develop from this list.

4) Another Social Media Goal Closely-related to Number 3 is Connecting with Existing Customers

Using social media to connect with existing customers allows you to stay top of mind when a customer needs your product or service. If you maintain a consistent, helpful presence on social sites where your existing customers “hang out” (or spend their time), you have a better chance of retaining them as future customers. You also increase your potential to get referrals – direct: “hi Cathy, I think John’s product is just what you need,” and indirect referrals or WOM (Word of Mouth) “I just loved your product John; it did just what I needed it to do,” often more specific in detail and with social media, that person’s online followers and friends have the potential to see and be exposed to your brand in a positive way.

5) Another Reason to for your Business to Explore Social Media is Competitive Research

Social media allows you to easily see what the increasing number of people who are “plugged in” through their computers, and through their mobile smart phones, are are saying about your competitors and their products – both pros and cons. You do have to use this information wisely. Some businesses see a competitor’s activity and say – we need to do that too. Sometimes that’s a good decision; other times it’s not. Other businesses will look carefully at competitor’s complaints, reviews, Tweets, Facebook and forum posts and notice that a they are not serving a segment of your shared customer base, then research it further to see if serving that segment of your market is a sound business idea, or if there are barriers that make that unprofitable for your biz.

What Comes Next?

Social media can help your business rock, or it can also be a waste of time and money, especially if you haven’t defined your primary and secondary goals for its use. Then tied how its use supports your business goals. Identify your resources to achieve those goals. Then feed that all back into your integrated PR strategy and marketing plan. Then, once you plan has been in place for a few months, step back and review. What have you learned? What is working, what needs tweaking and what just needs more time. Social media for small businesses is not like waving a magic wand, but it has become a necessary part of most businesses, and it can take time, and effort, to make it work for you…and for your customers.

What is a Twitter chat?

Twitter chats are unique, in that, instead of tweeting into the equivalent of an empty room, which you hope that a few of you followers are passing by at the time, instead someone like Melinda, has picked a day of the week and  a time and a topic, and a hashtag (in this case #SmallBizChat) and has publicized that event on Twitter and on her blog. This means that at that day and time, people interested in that topic will show up. No more tweeting to an “empty room.”

How Can I Make Twitter Chat’s Work for Me?

But like some offline networking events, Twitter chats can feel crowded. Here are some tips to help cut through the chatter. Try using a third-party tool to help you  keep up try www.tweetchat.com or www.tweetgrid.com in party mode (put the #hashtag in the top, host’s twitter name and the guest’s twitter name in the middle, and your name in the bottom – then a three column grid comes up – all tweets in left column, the host and guest’s tweets in the middle and yours in the right column). Melinda has prepared a tweetgrid for tonight already: http://bit.ly/SBChat192. Book mark it and come back 8 pm ET Weds. 3/27/13.

Be sure you know the host (@SmallBizLady) and guest’s (@CathywebSavvyPR) Twitter names, follow both of them. Keep an eye out for the questions and answers they will be tweeting.

• If you are just listening in, or a new to chats on Twitter, at least retweet a tweet about the chat topic and guest for the night, or one of the questions so the host knows you are there.
• But please don’t retweet everything you see. Be selective, retweet the things you think your followers would find important. Too many RT’s clutters the chat (although I know I break this rule sometimes, I get caught up in chats)
• Let the guest answer, then pop up and answer if you have knowledge to add to the conversation. But keep it balanced, don’t be spammy.
• If someone tweets something interesting, hit the star and mark it as a favorite for later. Then later check out their profile or the link and decide to follow them or not.
• If there is a potential connection, reach out in a tweet and let them know you liked what they had to say on the chat.
• If you like a chat, come more than once. this helps build connections. I have gotten business referrals and straight business from frequent participation in a chat.
• If you disagree with something someone says on a chat, it’s okay to say so, but try not to start a distracting flame war during the chat. Try and make it constructive, or get into it AFTER the chat.
• Get to know the chat’s guidelines or flow. Some let you introduce yourself at the start, others only at the end, others never say. Look to the chat host for guidance.
• Some chats put up a framing post before the chat, others put up a blog post after the chat with more detailed information from the guest. Some chats have no guests. Each chat hosts runs their own show.
• After the chat, follow the people who intrigued you, or who gave good info. If you liked the guest’s info, check out their website/blog. Comment on something you find there. If the guest wasn’t your cup of tea, see who is on the chat the next week.
• As a thanks to the host, if they tweet out about the next week’s topic and guest, retweet it, if you think your followers would be interested.

that’s my quick post about Twitter chats. what are your best tips?