LAST MONTH…

Last month was dedicated to Northern Kentucky Youth Foundation and today, after counting all check-ins, we will send a donation to this great organization!  The youth are our future and we all need to pay more attentions and support this cause to be a successful society.  We’d like to thank everyone who checked-in at Boot Camp Digital in order to help Northern Kentucky Youth Foundation and be a part of our charity campaign.

THIS MONTH…

Today we are officially starting our February donation to Heifer International - an organization that works with communities to end poverty and hunger and care for the earth.  By giving families a hand-up, not just a hand-out, this organization empowers them to turn lives of hunger and poverty into self-reliance and hope. Their success stories include providing wells and pumps to communities as well as milk cooling systems. This inspiring organization was suggested by @designratcincy.

It only takes a moment to check-in at Boot Camp Digital on Facebook or Foursquare and you will increase the donation to this great non-profit.

Thanks everybody!  We look forward to counting all of your check-ins this month.

At first, getting involved in social media can be a little bit overwhelming and time-consuming.  Below is a quick start guide that covers some of the most popular social media platforms for small businesses.

Which social media platform do you find the most successful for your business?

 Source: Flowtown

Mariya Newman

Follow me on Twitter (@MariyaNewman) and add me on LinkedIn!

This is a common question that businesses ask during our social media training programs, and it can be a legitimate concern.  In order to get results you obviously need some sort of a fan base, but once you have a solid base of organic fans, forget worrying about getting more and start worrying about what to do with them.

Why You Don’t Need More Fans

Most of your fans don’t even see what you are posting.  Seriously, this isn’t my opinion, it is proven.  A study by PageLever showed that only 3% – 7.5% of fans actually see your posts.

What this means is that most of your fans don’t see your posts.

Think of it this way.

Today, you have 1000 fans and engagement of 3%.

Fans seeing your posts = 1000*3% = 30

If you focus on engagement with existing fans and get it towards the top, you could increase it to 7%.

Fans seeing your posts now = 1000*7% = 70

Improving your content and the engagement with your content can more than double your actual post views.

Instead of focusing on engagement, you may want to try to increase your number of fans.

Let’s say you increase your fan base by 50%, which is pretty significant, and do not focus on your engagement.

You now have viewership from 1500 * 3 = 45

As you can see in this math, you can probably get better results with less effort by focusing on improving interactions with your fans and increasing engagement vs worrying about getting more fans.

Engagement Gets You Even More Fans

Here is another dirty secret of social media marketing (ok, it isn’t dirty).

Your best new customers are one step removed from your current customers.  This means that your best new customers can be reached by your current customers on social networks.  What is more is that when your current customers interact with you on social networks, your next best customers can see it.

According to “The Power of Like: How Brands Reach and Influence Fans Through Social Media Marketing” study, conducted in May by comScore in conjunction with Facebook, for every fan of a top 100 brand, an additional 34 friends of fans can be reached through an exposure to the fan, or liker. (from ClickZ)

This means that friends of your fans are a great target for your business.  Getting your fans to interact with you on Facebook means that their friends will be exposed to your updates.

So Worry First About Driving Interactions and Then Get More Fans

The truth is that it isn’t an either/or proposition.  You can both work on creating meaningful Facebook posts that drive real interactions and at the same time acquire more fans.

But, most businesses are more concerned with getting new fans than they are at doing something meaningful with their fans.

You can get more exposure by engaging existing fans vs. adding new fans.  Remember this when you set your social media priorities.

Here are some key ideas on how to use LinkedIn and Twitter to find your next perfect hire.

1. LinkedIn as an official “professional network” has become the most important recruiting tool for today’s job market.  LinkedIn allows you to not only search for the active job hunters, but also find and engage with passive candidates.

• Use your status box to broadcast that you are hiring.  It will inform your entire network as well as other people who come across your account.
• Optimize you company page on LinkedIn by posting job openings and listing current employees.  Nothing can make your company more attractive than real employees sharing positive reviews about working for your company.
• Develop and expand your personal network.
• Take advantage of LinkedIn Groups and LinnkedIn Answers where you can demonstrate your expertise and connect with potential candidates.  Your goal is not to spam there with constant job postings but to participate in conversation.
• Upgrade your account to LinkedIn Recruiter.  This will give you access to the entire LinkedIn network and allow you to contact candidates directly.
• Use the advanced people search function for targeting the right industry or location.

2.  Twitter is also a great tool for finding talent for your organization.  You will be surprised how many people make connections and find amazing job opportunities through Twitter.

• Share links to your job openings.
• Tweet interesting facts about your company to make it more appealing for job seekers.
• Follow and engage with potential candidates and see what they tweet about.
• Use keywords within the Twitter search field for finding the right candidates.
• Include hashtags in your tweets to reach a bigger audience.  Here some hashtags to consider: #jobs, #hiring, #industrykeyword (#itjobs, #healthcare).
• Tweet about the job fairs and events you are attending to possibly line up a meeting with active job seekers.
• Follow and network with other recruiters.

How do you use Twitter and LinkedIn for recruiting?

Mariya Newman

Follow me on Twitter (@MariyaNewman) and add me on LinkedIn!