Effective Inbound Marketing Tips

Nearly 90% of Fortune 500 companies are using social media. There is no denying the power of social media in today's world. The sheer number of active social media users is astonishing.

Only one thing is certain in today's marketplace.  That is change.  Change is a constant (like death and taxes).  But sometimes change is good.  Yeah, I know its hard to accept change.  Trying to stop change is like trying to stop this ball from spinning:

This blog will outline some of the changes and what they may mean to you as a marketer or business owner.

Facebook is constantly improving their platform.  And making changes. Especially now that Google is rolling out its Google+ platform.  New changes announced last week include a “Timeline” connected to member profiles and a controversial "News Feed Ticker".  Most of the other changes made on Facebook were made without you even knowing about it.

News Feed Ticker is real-time

The Ticker shows who is doing what on Facebook right now. The Ticker contains posts and “activity stories” -- friends commenting on other posts, liking pages, responding to events, etc.). And now the “recent stories” area contains only posts by friends, pages, subscriptions and stories posted by apps (such as YouTube or Networked Blogs).

If you're using Facebook for business or considering it - keep this in mind: The recent changes may have an impact on your social media campaigns.  The "Like" strategy must be addressed. Before, it was all about getting people to "Like" your business fan page.  Now, the key is to get your fans to take social actions which are enabled by your company (or brand).

Some of these Facebook changes will require new thinking as a “Like” is a bit less relevant now.  Businesses will need to work harder to earn their place in news feeds. Here are two social media marketing tips: 1) make your content compelling and absolutely remarkable. Its time to integrate further into your customers (fans) lives. 2) Get help from trusted authorities in internet marketing to truly leverage Facebook.

News Feed has changed

There is no longer the Top News and Most Recent to switch between. With the change there are Top Stories and Recent Stories. The Top Stories are things Facebook thinks you might be interested in based on your interaction in the past. The Recent Stories are simply in time (chronological) order.

Facebook has updated its smart lists.  Smart lists are very similar to Google + Circles. One annoying thing about Smart Lists is that you can’t delete them. You can only hide them.

No changes for Facebook fan pages

Important for business owners - Facebook fan pages will still continue to have the same look and feel for now.  In the near future they may be updated to reflect the look of the personal Timelines. As all the changes are to the personal profiles, there are no actions to take for page administrators.  

If you wish to stay on top Facebook and social media campaigns - seek out trusted authorities on these ever-changing platforms.

Social networking and blogging have enjoyed tremendous growth while the use of podcasts and wikis and online display ads have not. Facebook is undeniably the king of social media marketing.

Don't worry your competitor is not looking how to improve using Facebook for business because they just think setting it up is all they needed.  They are not even looking at hey, maybe there is the right way to do so.

So are previous blog talked about the all important username so if you missed that, please do check that one out.   Having your business name as your Facebook name is a complete mistake and you will need a do-over.

There is a reason why you, your mom and your dog's email are the only 3 likes your company has.   People are not searching for your company by name unless they already are using your company.  A social marketing goal is to "grow" your business which means we need those that do not know your name when searching.

 Driving Likes with Like Gates

You must continue to increase your likes in order to check the pulse of your Facebook page.  Is it sitting at less than 100 and you have had it up for a year?  Rut Row.  It definately takes time so patience is a virtue here but there are techniques that work.  What is a like gate you ask?  Well there are many out there but the one we recommend come FREE signing up with Hubspot which is the tracking software you need for success.  You will be able to come up with contest that will jazz your client base.

  Whatever you do will be able to offer a contest and you may be giving away the farm on this one.  An example is dentist-free filling, doctor-free consult, lawyer-free top 3 hours, handyman-free room paint, widget maker-free 25 widgets.  You get the idea, give them something they will sign up for and in return you will build rapport with them until they trust to do business with you.  

You Just Can't Stop the Wave

People are crazy and go with the flow, here is an example and think of this as the Facebook wave that is happening right before your eyes.

Don't think it works?  You are at a football game and the wave is going around the stadium and you are all by yourself so you decide you are going to stop it.  Thousands are raising their hands and lowering as the wave goes around but you decide that you are sitting down and it will just stop when it goes by me.   We need to ask you "How is that working for you and your company?".  Ok, why is that there has been a TRILLION hits searching for Facebook?  

Ah, this is not going anywhere anytime soon so jump aboard or at least dip your toe in and give it a whirl.  You may just enjoy it and our indicators show it will drive business to your company.