When social media is not your best marketing strategy

I'm willing to admit it. Social media is not for everyone or every brand. 

Before you dive in too deep, here are some key factors to consider when determining what role social media plays in your marketing strategy.

Take a hard look at your business:

• Is your business intuitively "social"?

• Is social media a forced-fit or does it come naturally?

• Does your line of work make sense to be in the public domain?

Then take a look at your customer:

• Is your customer intuitively "social"?

• Is it natural to connect with them in social channels?

• Will they feel comfortable interacting with you publically?

Still not sure if social media marketing is right for you? Give me a ring and let's work it out together.

Read more.

Nine ways to vamp up your social media

Feeling a bit lost or dull with your social media marketing efforts? Don't worry! Here are nine ways to get up, dust yourself off and get back in the social media game!

1. Create a social media voice that people want to hang out with. Make your brand sound like your customers, or more importantly, relatable to your customers.
2. Make yourself and your team visible. Give a face to the name!
3. Know your customers and what their day-to-day lives are about.
4. Be an active listener. If you don't know your customer, get to know them and then get to know them again in a few months. Things are always changing and we have to keep up!
5. Avoid too much branding or talking about yourself too much. 
6. Instead, be more conversational and invite others to contribute to your story.
7. Give credit where credit is due. This not only shows you are a respectable brand, but also gives you a chance to network with others.
8. Lay off the #hashtags. #No one #wants to read a #sentence with too many #breaks! Be relevant in what you tag to get maximum results.
9. Remember that numbers fans and followers are overrated metrics. I said numbers. Fans and followers matter when they interact with our brand. Just having them doesn't mean anything if they aren't being engaged.

Bonus idea: Have fun with it! What exists online is just a reflection of the real world. So just be yourself!

Thanks, Entrepreneur for the article idea.

What's dinner with a social media marketer like?

Here's your answer. According to my poor husband, at least. He's the one that found this little cartoon!

Social Media Sins You Need to Quit!

Like anything, there is the good and bad to social media. Be aware of these five social media sins and avoid them!

1. You haven't posted for weeks. This is the same as not returning a phone call. Maintain contact with your audience, reply to their comments and make time to post. If you decide to stop blogging, for example, give your audience notice rather than stopping without a word. 
2. You post about everything you do. While it is good to be honest with your audience, there are somethings that are better left private. Know the boundaries before something slips or causes concern. Private messages are a great way to still use a social media platform, but privately.
3. You use every social network created. Not all brands need to be on all networks. Know where your audience "hangs out" online and focus on being part of those networks. Plus, if you are using too many networks it can get overwhelming for users.
4. Your profile picture is not you. I mean this in terms of personality and what it's actually a picture of. Avoid pictures of couples, pets, group pictures or children. Scenery or your brand's logo are ok. In the end you want a current, recognizable picture representing you online. Choose wisely. 
5. You post links or content that is misleading. Although you may have an excellent service to offer, don't promote it the sneaky way. Making false claims or posting links that go some place other than what you claim is annoying and creates distrust. Post quality content.

Learn more about how to overcome these "sins" and how to give clients what they are looking for by signing up for my newsletter.

Original article. 

The Biggest Twitter Mistake Businesses Make

Making mistakes online isn't cool. I recently attended a webinar that covered several aspects of Twitter and presented some interesting figures. Most impressive was that 31% of business aren’t even bothering with Twitter and they are missing out!

The fact businesses aren’t even using Twitter isn’t the mistake I am referring too. The common mistake I am talking about is that many businesses seem to view Twitter only as a method to push their info (and could be part of the reason why so many businesses aren’t even using Twitter). Many social media managers refer to Twitter as the perfect network to “marry personal and business worlds”. Twitter is the social media network to be a personable, professional business person online.

As a business professional on Twitter, there are three interactions to be part of: listening, speaking and responding.

To learn more about using Twitter for your business, give me a call!