Pinterest is definitely on its way up on the social media scene. Marketers are starting to see the value in the photo-sharing style of this new social network. Like other social media sites, Pinterest has many helpful tools and apps that can help enhance your experience with the site.
Here are a few of the different apps and tools that are available right now for you to get the most out of your use of Pinterest:
PinReach
This tool (once called PinClout) is very similar to Facebook Insights. It helps users track their success on the network as well as monitor current trends. Signup is simple- just enter your username for Pinterest and choose a username for PinReach, enter your email and a password. You will be sent a confirmation email. Once you confirm your account, you will be able to look at your PinReach score and how it changes over time.
This will give you a better idea of how to boost engagement with users and increase your influence.
PinPuff
PinPuff is another service that is available for users to measure reach, influence and viral aspects on Pinterest. They will be given a Pinfluence score and see a monetary value of their pins.
WiseStamp
The email app-makers have brought us a new Pinterest App, which allows you to add a "Follow Me on Pinterest" button to the end of your emails. That means every email you send will now encourage others to become an active follower of your Pinterest pinboards.
Pinerly
When this site launches, users will be able to gain access to free analytics and metrics on their pin campaigns. This gives companies a convenient way to manage each campaign with scheduling and controls for following and unfollowing.
Pin a Quote
Some web pages have no images to pin, just a great quote or other piece of text that you want to highlight. With Pin a Quote, you can easily share that text on one of your pinboards.
Snapito!
Sometimes a full-page screenshot is what you want to have on your pinboards. Snapito! is an easy and quick way to do just that. You can choose to pin only a part of or the full screen shot of the site to your page.
Check Your Pins
You can easily see how many people are pinning your website by typing into your browser: [http://pinterest.com/source/YourWebsite]. Then Ta-DA! You will get to see any and all pins that users have pinned from your website.
It's still in the early days and many new Pinterest tools and apps are still in testing mode. It won't be long, though, before there are even more tools available to help improve and enhance the way you use Pinterest for marketing as well as personal use.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6967846
Thursday 29 March 2012
Tuesday 27 March 2012
YouTube, the Future of Business Marketing
With YouTube having announced in January that it is now receiving well over four billion daily video views, the popularity and power of web videos has become increasingly apparent, as a shift has occurred towards the internet, and more specifically web videos, as a primary source of entertainment. What may not be so apparent is the effect that this growth spurt will have on the future of business through web video marketing. Web videos are quickly becoming a major promotional strategy, and businesses that don't hop on the band wagon will soon be left by the wayside.
Now, the real issue is how to make your videos stand out against a throng of billions. YouTube also revealed last month that there are more the eighty-six thousand videos being added each day, a number roughly equal to Hollywood producing around three-hundred thousand feature films per week. One interesting example of the variations of content, which also illustrates the marketing power held by YouTube, can be seen in a pair of Star Wars related videos. Two weeks ago two videos were added to YouTube on the same day. One, titled Star Wars Uncut: Director's Cut, is a two hour film put together by several filmmakers working separately and then combining their clips to make the final video.
The second video added that day, entitled The Bark Side, is a VW web marketing video which lasts one minute and shows a group of dogs barking out the Star Wars theme song. In their two week run, Star Wars Uncut has accumulated a noteworthy two million views, while The Bark Side has brought in a staggering eleven million. Given the quantity of views that can be produced by such a simple video, one would suspect that companies would be climbing over one another to join the video marketing trend. The numbers say differently however. Stats show that 99% of those four billion daily views go to about 30% of the site's total videos. Of that 30%, only about 10% is made up of sponsored web marketing videos.
That small 10% represents nearly seventeen thousand hours of video each day. Because web video as a marketing strategy is such a relatively new idea, companies seem to be aware to make use of it. This won't last however. It's only a matter of time before promoters begin to realize that full potential offered by using web videos. However, for those looking to begin marketing their companies online and branding themselves through web video, now is the time to do it. Once the benefits of such a strategy are realized by the rest of the business world, video hosting sites like YouTube will never be the same.
By acting now you have the chance to stay one step ahead of the competition and branch out into the limitless marketing potential offered by web videos. The success of VW's The Bark Side is just one example among many of the advertising power of a viral video. The proof is in the numbers, and the numbers say that web video marketing is the future of both the internet and advertising.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6917134
Now, the real issue is how to make your videos stand out against a throng of billions. YouTube also revealed last month that there are more the eighty-six thousand videos being added each day, a number roughly equal to Hollywood producing around three-hundred thousand feature films per week. One interesting example of the variations of content, which also illustrates the marketing power held by YouTube, can be seen in a pair of Star Wars related videos. Two weeks ago two videos were added to YouTube on the same day. One, titled Star Wars Uncut: Director's Cut, is a two hour film put together by several filmmakers working separately and then combining their clips to make the final video.
The second video added that day, entitled The Bark Side, is a VW web marketing video which lasts one minute and shows a group of dogs barking out the Star Wars theme song. In their two week run, Star Wars Uncut has accumulated a noteworthy two million views, while The Bark Side has brought in a staggering eleven million. Given the quantity of views that can be produced by such a simple video, one would suspect that companies would be climbing over one another to join the video marketing trend. The numbers say differently however. Stats show that 99% of those four billion daily views go to about 30% of the site's total videos. Of that 30%, only about 10% is made up of sponsored web marketing videos.
That small 10% represents nearly seventeen thousand hours of video each day. Because web video as a marketing strategy is such a relatively new idea, companies seem to be aware to make use of it. This won't last however. It's only a matter of time before promoters begin to realize that full potential offered by using web videos. However, for those looking to begin marketing their companies online and branding themselves through web video, now is the time to do it. Once the benefits of such a strategy are realized by the rest of the business world, video hosting sites like YouTube will never be the same.
By acting now you have the chance to stay one step ahead of the competition and branch out into the limitless marketing potential offered by web videos. The success of VW's The Bark Side is just one example among many of the advertising power of a viral video. The proof is in the numbers, and the numbers say that web video marketing is the future of both the internet and advertising.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6917134
Thursday 22 March 2012
Marketing and Facebook: A Potentially Profitable Combination
Facebook: The social media network that many advertisers and marketing companies see as their ticket to riches. It's a feasible theory; with citizens of all areas of the social graph being users of Facebook, a marketing company can easily cater to an extremely large amount of demographics very easily. On top of that, Facebook is essentially accessible from anywhere with the mobile digital world becoming only bigger and bigger. So what is the true, definitive way to advertise on Facebook, appeal to members of every area of the social graph, and get a more than decent social media ROI?
To begin with, the advertiser ought to make sure that the advertisement is eye-popping. Seeing a woman smiling with the product is not at all appealing to people of today's day and age. Most users of Facebook are easily stimulated. They like quick flashes of info, sudden flashes of color, whatever will quickly satisfy their never-ending hunger for fast stimulation. So how does one achieve stimulation on a marketing level? With an absolutely ridiculous amount of color. For example, say that a French art museum wants to advertise its wonderful art collection on Facebook. Rather than showing off some simple, polygonal painting in black and white colors, show one of the more ridiculous abstract pieces, one absolutely dilated with color and insane images. The more ridiculous and unusual, the better. Because that is what users of Facebook look for. They want things to be so incredibly outrageous that even a typical boring, lazy lorry driver will find them interesting. So that's the first key- ridiculousness, stimulation, and a whole lot of color.
And then there's the idea of product descriptions. Typically a Facebook ad is a boring picture located above a boring description of whatever the picture advertises. It's all very drab and unappealing to the common eye. In today's society, when it comes to reading, readers want one thing and one thing only- Humor. There is nothing that makes a Facebook user happier than getting a good laugh out of something stupid. Even the cheesiest, corniest humor in a description will increase the appeal of the product, guaranteed.
So in the end, what it all boils down to is quite simple. Lots of color, lots of stimulation, and a bit of dumb humor. With these keys, an advertising company is guaranteed to increase their social media ROI and their product sales with ease.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6951475
To begin with, the advertiser ought to make sure that the advertisement is eye-popping. Seeing a woman smiling with the product is not at all appealing to people of today's day and age. Most users of Facebook are easily stimulated. They like quick flashes of info, sudden flashes of color, whatever will quickly satisfy their never-ending hunger for fast stimulation. So how does one achieve stimulation on a marketing level? With an absolutely ridiculous amount of color. For example, say that a French art museum wants to advertise its wonderful art collection on Facebook. Rather than showing off some simple, polygonal painting in black and white colors, show one of the more ridiculous abstract pieces, one absolutely dilated with color and insane images. The more ridiculous and unusual, the better. Because that is what users of Facebook look for. They want things to be so incredibly outrageous that even a typical boring, lazy lorry driver will find them interesting. So that's the first key- ridiculousness, stimulation, and a whole lot of color.
And then there's the idea of product descriptions. Typically a Facebook ad is a boring picture located above a boring description of whatever the picture advertises. It's all very drab and unappealing to the common eye. In today's society, when it comes to reading, readers want one thing and one thing only- Humor. There is nothing that makes a Facebook user happier than getting a good laugh out of something stupid. Even the cheesiest, corniest humor in a description will increase the appeal of the product, guaranteed.
So in the end, what it all boils down to is quite simple. Lots of color, lots of stimulation, and a bit of dumb humor. With these keys, an advertising company is guaranteed to increase their social media ROI and their product sales with ease.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6951475
Thursday 15 March 2012
Twitter Tutorial For Business: 10 Tips
When you are looking at working with Twitter, There are a couple of ways to use it: the right way and the wrong way. Your posts, or tweets, need to be kept brief, 140 characters or fewer, and they should be beneficial or helpful. People aren't interested by what you had for lunch, or that you just brushed your teeth. These kinds of things will get people to stop following you pretty quickly, even if your breath does smell good.
After using Twitter for quite a while here is a list of the top-10 things I've learned (not necessarily in order, but maybe) are most effective when taking part in the Twitterverse.
Tweet Regularly: I'm not saying you have to post daily tweets, however doing so wouldn't hurt. You should show up regularly. Kind of like when you were in school - if you hoped to pass, you at least had to come to class. Become a contributor your followers get to truly know and anticipate your Twitter posts. As a business person you probably don't have time to do this easily. If this is your case, there are services that help you schedule tweets ahead of time. My personal favorite is Social Oomph - the link is at the end of this article.
Retweet Other's Posts: When you notice Tweets published by other Tweeple (Twitter+People) you believe your followers would enjoy, retweet them. It takes only a single click, and you'll also be building relationships with other Twitter users simultaneously. When you retweet, you can include your own thoughts or opinions before posting it.
Be Helpful: Remember Twitter is a type of social networking, so social relationships are important. It isn't all about you. Anytime the opportunity arises to respond to a question, take part in a questionnaire, or help fix a problem, do so. This way you are taking part in the community. This may help your brand and image when other people know they are able to rely on you for support or comments.
Don't Follow All Followers: Do not follow everybody who follows you. This might be my greatest issue in regards to Twitter. A lot of people turn this function on to auto-follow people who follow them. Why do this? I would rather have those I follow be individuals and subjects I have hand-picked, rather than random followers who might be ranting about things I don't have any interest in. Be discerning in whom you follow or your Twitter stream could rapidly fill up with spam. To find quality people within your industry or interests, check out Twellow - the link is below.
Things to Tweet: Be sure that the tweets you publish are helpful and/or informative. Recent news relating to your industry, along with any special offers or sales you might have taking place are usually excellent topics. If you discover anything you believe your followers would really like, share it. Additionally, if your twitter posts are great, it can motivate other people to retweet them.
(Ideas: Funny Tweets, Inspirational Tweets, Helpful Resources, Questions and Opinions, Quotes, Leads and Opportunities, Blog Posts or Your Website)
Comment: Participate in the community by writing comments on other people's twitter posts. If you're able to respond to a question, do it. It never hurts and folks will really appreciate it whenever you take time to reply to what they may have to talk about. It shows them that other people are in fact listening to what they've got to express in the "Twitterverse".
Your Mother Was Right: When somebody takes time to retweet one of your twitter posts, be sure to thank them. Just like offline, manners rule online - especially in the social realm, and they will like that you noticed the retweet and took some time to show some appreciation. It might even motivate them to retweet even more of your tweets down the road.
Be Personal: Once more, people really don't want to know what you had for supper, but from time to time you ought to show your human side with an innovative idea, quote, or any other statement. Show your followers that you're "real" and not simply all business. You should tread gently in this area. Being overly personal is overkill, but a little bit might help in creating a relationship with your followers.
Post Photos and Videos: Don't forget, Twitter isn't just for text messages. It is easy to publish brief video clips, and photos as well. It is nice to change things up a bit and share content in other forms too.
Talk About More Than Yourself: Don't make all of your tweets one massive promotional message, for example only tweeting about your most recent press release, blog posting, or report that was published. Nobody will want to follow you if all you are is a commercial. Sure, some of this can be good in small amounts, but you should walk a fine line and mix things up with helpful, intriguing topics.
Now it is time for you to begin putting these suggestions into motion. Social networking is dependent on taking part and listening to what other people have to say. It is about creating and giving information as well as becoming part of the community. Should you approach Twitter like this, it won't just be more enjoyable, but your followers will enjoy you and value you - and if that doesn't enhance your brand name, nothing else will.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6299824
After using Twitter for quite a while here is a list of the top-10 things I've learned (not necessarily in order, but maybe) are most effective when taking part in the Twitterverse.
Tweet Regularly: I'm not saying you have to post daily tweets, however doing so wouldn't hurt. You should show up regularly. Kind of like when you were in school - if you hoped to pass, you at least had to come to class. Become a contributor your followers get to truly know and anticipate your Twitter posts. As a business person you probably don't have time to do this easily. If this is your case, there are services that help you schedule tweets ahead of time. My personal favorite is Social Oomph - the link is at the end of this article.
Retweet Other's Posts: When you notice Tweets published by other Tweeple (Twitter+People) you believe your followers would enjoy, retweet them. It takes only a single click, and you'll also be building relationships with other Twitter users simultaneously. When you retweet, you can include your own thoughts or opinions before posting it.
Be Helpful: Remember Twitter is a type of social networking, so social relationships are important. It isn't all about you. Anytime the opportunity arises to respond to a question, take part in a questionnaire, or help fix a problem, do so. This way you are taking part in the community. This may help your brand and image when other people know they are able to rely on you for support or comments.
Don't Follow All Followers: Do not follow everybody who follows you. This might be my greatest issue in regards to Twitter. A lot of people turn this function on to auto-follow people who follow them. Why do this? I would rather have those I follow be individuals and subjects I have hand-picked, rather than random followers who might be ranting about things I don't have any interest in. Be discerning in whom you follow or your Twitter stream could rapidly fill up with spam. To find quality people within your industry or interests, check out Twellow - the link is below.
Things to Tweet: Be sure that the tweets you publish are helpful and/or informative. Recent news relating to your industry, along with any special offers or sales you might have taking place are usually excellent topics. If you discover anything you believe your followers would really like, share it. Additionally, if your twitter posts are great, it can motivate other people to retweet them.
(Ideas: Funny Tweets, Inspirational Tweets, Helpful Resources, Questions and Opinions, Quotes, Leads and Opportunities, Blog Posts or Your Website)
Comment: Participate in the community by writing comments on other people's twitter posts. If you're able to respond to a question, do it. It never hurts and folks will really appreciate it whenever you take time to reply to what they may have to talk about. It shows them that other people are in fact listening to what they've got to express in the "Twitterverse".
Your Mother Was Right: When somebody takes time to retweet one of your twitter posts, be sure to thank them. Just like offline, manners rule online - especially in the social realm, and they will like that you noticed the retweet and took some time to show some appreciation. It might even motivate them to retweet even more of your tweets down the road.
Be Personal: Once more, people really don't want to know what you had for supper, but from time to time you ought to show your human side with an innovative idea, quote, or any other statement. Show your followers that you're "real" and not simply all business. You should tread gently in this area. Being overly personal is overkill, but a little bit might help in creating a relationship with your followers.
Post Photos and Videos: Don't forget, Twitter isn't just for text messages. It is easy to publish brief video clips, and photos as well. It is nice to change things up a bit and share content in other forms too.
Talk About More Than Yourself: Don't make all of your tweets one massive promotional message, for example only tweeting about your most recent press release, blog posting, or report that was published. Nobody will want to follow you if all you are is a commercial. Sure, some of this can be good in small amounts, but you should walk a fine line and mix things up with helpful, intriguing topics.
Now it is time for you to begin putting these suggestions into motion. Social networking is dependent on taking part and listening to what other people have to say. It is about creating and giving information as well as becoming part of the community. Should you approach Twitter like this, it won't just be more enjoyable, but your followers will enjoy you and value you - and if that doesn't enhance your brand name, nothing else will.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6299824
Tuesday 13 March 2012
Social Media Marketing in 2012
Social media marketing is such a broad term that many people who are looking to boost the image of their company ask "What is social media marketing?
Social media marketing defined as the process of gaining website traffic or attention through social media sites such as facebook, Twitter, youtube, etc.
Doing business today is very different & challenging from the days of old, What worked earlier that doesn't necessarily ensure success today, nor can you get by just with extensive knowledge in one particular arena. Today is about keeping your eyes and ears open and bringing value to others in new ways.
Today is about re-inventing and expanding and building relationships across a wide open sea of Social Media. It requires a passion for learning new technologies, a willingness to immerse yourself in uncharted waters and a genuine capacity for generosity.
People are engaging in conversations. Conversation is the new marketing. Tapping into these conversations shows where your audience is spending time online, and what subjects and issues are of interest to them. To reach your consumers successfully, you need to move your marketing activity from the traditional "push" method, where you broadcast your messages to thousands via the media, to a "pull" strategy, where you make it easy for people to find your information, whenever and wherever they want it.
"If searching for the news was the most important development of the last decade, sharing the news may be among the most important developments of the next."
Therefore it is very important to have a presence on social networking sites. Social networks not only give the marketer a place to express themselves but it also provides with a unique platform to interact with their customers and help them serve better. And ultimately fulfilling the sole cause of the business i.e. Customer Satisfaction.
This can also be a great starting point for the marketing to go viral and pick up a grassroots effort.
Marketing of social media through various social media platform
Twitter
Twitter allows companies to promote products on an individual level. The use of a product can be explained in short messages that followers are more likely to read. These messages appear on followers home page. Messages can link to the product's website, Facebook profile, photos, videos, etc. This link provides followers the opportunity to spend more time interacting with the product online. This interaction can create a loyal connection between product and individual and can also lead to larger advertising opportunities. Twitter promotes a product in real-time and brings customers in.
Facebook
Facebook profiles are more detailed than Twitter. They allow a product to provide videos, photos, and longer descriptions. Videos can show when a product can be used as well as how to use it. These also can include testimonials as other followers can comment on the product pages for others to see. Facebook can link back to the product's Twitter page as well as send out event reminders. Facebook promotes a product in real-time and brings customers in.
As marketers see more value in social media marketing, advertisers continue to increase sequential ad spend in social by 25%. Strategies to extend the reach with Sponsored Stories and acquire new fans with Facebook ads continue to an uptick in spend across the site. The study attributes 84% of "engagement" or clicks to Likes that link back to Facebook advertising. Today, brands increase fan counts on average of 9% monthly, increasing their fan base by two-times the amount annually.
These platforms are not only used for marketing social media but also help in social media monitoring.
Social media marketing defined as the process of gaining website traffic or attention through social media sites such as facebook, Twitter, youtube, etc.
Doing business today is very different & challenging from the days of old, What worked earlier that doesn't necessarily ensure success today, nor can you get by just with extensive knowledge in one particular arena. Today is about keeping your eyes and ears open and bringing value to others in new ways.
Today is about re-inventing and expanding and building relationships across a wide open sea of Social Media. It requires a passion for learning new technologies, a willingness to immerse yourself in uncharted waters and a genuine capacity for generosity.
People are engaging in conversations. Conversation is the new marketing. Tapping into these conversations shows where your audience is spending time online, and what subjects and issues are of interest to them. To reach your consumers successfully, you need to move your marketing activity from the traditional "push" method, where you broadcast your messages to thousands via the media, to a "pull" strategy, where you make it easy for people to find your information, whenever and wherever they want it.
"If searching for the news was the most important development of the last decade, sharing the news may be among the most important developments of the next."
Therefore it is very important to have a presence on social networking sites. Social networks not only give the marketer a place to express themselves but it also provides with a unique platform to interact with their customers and help them serve better. And ultimately fulfilling the sole cause of the business i.e. Customer Satisfaction.
This can also be a great starting point for the marketing to go viral and pick up a grassroots effort.
Marketing of social media through various social media platform
Twitter allows companies to promote products on an individual level. The use of a product can be explained in short messages that followers are more likely to read. These messages appear on followers home page. Messages can link to the product's website, Facebook profile, photos, videos, etc. This link provides followers the opportunity to spend more time interacting with the product online. This interaction can create a loyal connection between product and individual and can also lead to larger advertising opportunities. Twitter promotes a product in real-time and brings customers in.
Facebook profiles are more detailed than Twitter. They allow a product to provide videos, photos, and longer descriptions. Videos can show when a product can be used as well as how to use it. These also can include testimonials as other followers can comment on the product pages for others to see. Facebook can link back to the product's Twitter page as well as send out event reminders. Facebook promotes a product in real-time and brings customers in.
As marketers see more value in social media marketing, advertisers continue to increase sequential ad spend in social by 25%. Strategies to extend the reach with Sponsored Stories and acquire new fans with Facebook ads continue to an uptick in spend across the site. The study attributes 84% of "engagement" or clicks to Likes that link back to Facebook advertising. Today, brands increase fan counts on average of 9% monthly, increasing their fan base by two-times the amount annually.
These platforms are not only used for marketing social media but also help in social media monitoring.
Thursday 8 March 2012
Five Things You Should Be Doing On Facebook
As you know, Facebook is THE no 1 social media site around and not only this but it is also one of the best small business marketing resources there is. I was having a look at some stats to do with it today and it's staggering how big it is. As local businesses, you simply can't afford to ignore Facebook for the following reasons:
It has over 800 million members and your customers are using it.
Every day Facebook users comment or press the "Like" button more than 2 billion times.
Facebook reached one trillion page views in June 2011, making it the most-visited web site in the world.
And if these stats aren't enough to impress you, then thinks about this; Fan pages, if done correctly, can turn fans into CUSTOMERS. That's right, Facebook is one of the best ways to get people interested in buying your products and services and once you have happy customers, they share this around their community of friends via recommendations. This beats other small business marketing resources hands down.
Now unless you live on the planet Mars, you would have noticed that recently, Facebook has decided to introduce their timeline format so with this in mind, I thought it a good time to present you with some of the best Facebook marketing tips I have learned (and no, spending hours a day spamming people isn't one of them). So check out these top 5 tips, and start using them immediately.
1) Create a great cover for your timeline page:
As we bid farewell to profiles and start welcoming the new timeline format, it's a great time to update your look. The new timeline gives us an opportunity to give ourselves a professional makeover by creating a new banner. This is fantastic for personal branding and I would definitely take advantage of this if I were you. So what should you include? Well, for starters, make sure the photos are actually of you. You can get professional shots done or get a friend to do it but make sure the photo makes you look friendly and approachable. Your image is going to be your brand and you want people to have positive associations with it. Then highlight something about your business such as a product or service or tell them to visit the website you have listed in the space just below the cover. Include some other photos of your self or things from your life and you'll have a fantastic banner that's ideal for personal branding. You can get all of this put together by a freelancer for about $30. Just visit freelancer.com and see who'll bid for the project.
I also found a great tool that you can use for free called FaceIt Pages which allows you to create timeline covers and fanpages and they're not bad.
2) Make sure you are posting lots of good-quality content:
Did you know that once people start clicking on your posts, they will appear more times in their own walls as top priority items? This is why you need to engage friends and fans as much as possible. For this reason, you need to be creating fresh content and make sure that content is something that people will want to read. Create catchy headlines which encourage readers to click on it and read and also put an interesting image with it and you will find that over time, people will following you regularly without even knowing that they are. The new Facebook format allows people to subscribe to you as well so if they see your content as particularly relevant, useful or entertaining, they may subscribe to your posts.
3) Create some 'buzz' around your page - get people talking:
Ask people questions, poll them about important things or entice them to give feedback. People are going to want to follow someone more if they have been interacting on their page. Make sure some of the questions you ask or info you share is more personal so your page isn't just a forum for sharing business opportunities or selling stuff - otherwise people will lose interest in you.
4) Create photo albums:
Nothing gives people a better idea of who you are than a photo album. Albums are great for personal branding and like 'creating a buzz', they add life and interest to your page encourage eyeballs to stay on your profile longer. Make sure you include plenty of personality shots and fun ones. Remember, Facebook is a social networking site and there is no need to have a serious and businesslike appearance.
5) Add an opt-in box to your fanpage:
Why do we bother having fanpages if they are not going to collect the email addresses of people who visit? Creating an opt-in box may seem a little difficult for some people but if you visit freelancer.com, you can just get someone to create one from Aweber or one of the other email marketing service providers. After all, Facebook can easily become one of your most important small business marketing resources and you don't want to waste this opportunity.
So there you have some of my best tips for making the most out of Facebook and you can start putting them in place straight away.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6854131
It has over 800 million members and your customers are using it.
Every day Facebook users comment or press the "Like" button more than 2 billion times.
Facebook reached one trillion page views in June 2011, making it the most-visited web site in the world.
And if these stats aren't enough to impress you, then thinks about this; Fan pages, if done correctly, can turn fans into CUSTOMERS. That's right, Facebook is one of the best ways to get people interested in buying your products and services and once you have happy customers, they share this around their community of friends via recommendations. This beats other small business marketing resources hands down.
Now unless you live on the planet Mars, you would have noticed that recently, Facebook has decided to introduce their timeline format so with this in mind, I thought it a good time to present you with some of the best Facebook marketing tips I have learned (and no, spending hours a day spamming people isn't one of them). So check out these top 5 tips, and start using them immediately.
1) Create a great cover for your timeline page:
As we bid farewell to profiles and start welcoming the new timeline format, it's a great time to update your look. The new timeline gives us an opportunity to give ourselves a professional makeover by creating a new banner. This is fantastic for personal branding and I would definitely take advantage of this if I were you. So what should you include? Well, for starters, make sure the photos are actually of you. You can get professional shots done or get a friend to do it but make sure the photo makes you look friendly and approachable. Your image is going to be your brand and you want people to have positive associations with it. Then highlight something about your business such as a product or service or tell them to visit the website you have listed in the space just below the cover. Include some other photos of your self or things from your life and you'll have a fantastic banner that's ideal for personal branding. You can get all of this put together by a freelancer for about $30. Just visit freelancer.com and see who'll bid for the project.
I also found a great tool that you can use for free called FaceIt Pages which allows you to create timeline covers and fanpages and they're not bad.
2) Make sure you are posting lots of good-quality content:
Did you know that once people start clicking on your posts, they will appear more times in their own walls as top priority items? This is why you need to engage friends and fans as much as possible. For this reason, you need to be creating fresh content and make sure that content is something that people will want to read. Create catchy headlines which encourage readers to click on it and read and also put an interesting image with it and you will find that over time, people will following you regularly without even knowing that they are. The new Facebook format allows people to subscribe to you as well so if they see your content as particularly relevant, useful or entertaining, they may subscribe to your posts.
3) Create some 'buzz' around your page - get people talking:
Ask people questions, poll them about important things or entice them to give feedback. People are going to want to follow someone more if they have been interacting on their page. Make sure some of the questions you ask or info you share is more personal so your page isn't just a forum for sharing business opportunities or selling stuff - otherwise people will lose interest in you.
4) Create photo albums:
Nothing gives people a better idea of who you are than a photo album. Albums are great for personal branding and like 'creating a buzz', they add life and interest to your page encourage eyeballs to stay on your profile longer. Make sure you include plenty of personality shots and fun ones. Remember, Facebook is a social networking site and there is no need to have a serious and businesslike appearance.
5) Add an opt-in box to your fanpage:
Why do we bother having fanpages if they are not going to collect the email addresses of people who visit? Creating an opt-in box may seem a little difficult for some people but if you visit freelancer.com, you can just get someone to create one from Aweber or one of the other email marketing service providers. After all, Facebook can easily become one of your most important small business marketing resources and you don't want to waste this opportunity.
So there you have some of my best tips for making the most out of Facebook and you can start putting them in place straight away.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6854131
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