Social Networking
Social Networking: Social Media is Not All That
March 25th, 2013 10:35 AM
Last fall, as I participated as a presenter at a regional conference on SEO and social media, someone asked me if there would come a time when websites would become obsolete because of the proliferation of social media. My answer to her in short was "no way." For two years we have been saying that social media is not the marketing driver that many people hype it to be. We didn't have research. It just didn't make sense based on our own use and observations.
Companies in my social media streams are annoying. Unless they are offering a 50% off everything deal that I can click and get right then, they are just a bother. I don't need a cooking spoon set even at 50% off. Most of us are facebook cleaners - in fact, I just hid most of a friend's posts this morning (as I often do) because I am just not interested in most of the stuff he posts - and he is a friend. Imagine my wrath toward companies who try to fill my streams with their useless marketing junk - it's downright biblical. (of course the wrath of God is far worse, so I do not make light of that)
Now the empirical data is in hand and our years of preaching has been validated - build a great website, sensibly optimize your website for users and search engines, and that will drive the traffic your business or organizations needs and wants. If you need (sensible) help with that, contact us.
Here's the article with the empirical data.
Posted by Greg Pearson | 0 Comment(s)
Social Networking: Connecting Facebook and Email Marketing
August 14th, 2012 6:01 PM
Are you using email for marketing? You should be. If you are your website should have an easy email subscription form integrated with your email service provider ( see www.hospiceofchattanooga.org ). By the way, the HOC site is mobile enabled and email subscription is in the mobile version as well as standard.
We love MailChimp for email marketing because they are easy to use and innovative. Here’s a great example of that innovation – easily placing an email subscription form in your Facebook profile.
Here is how to do it - https://lonelybrand.com/blog/how-to-add-a-mailchimp-tab-to-your-facebook-page/
Get those subscribers and ‘gently’ use email marketing to keep your brand, products and services in front of them.
Posted by Greg Pearson | 0 Comment(s)
Social Networking: Facebook Fear and Fatigue?
April 9th, 2012 5:07 PM
For the past year I have had this argument with myself (and a few others) about the value of Facebook for some businesses.
For retailers who have a regular business relationship with their customers, Facebook makes a lot of sense - “Here are our new products, our upcoming sales, our holiday hours, etc.” Facebook can work well for non-profits too because many people have an affinity for certain kinds of charitable work and are interested in following and engaging when possible.
On the other hand there are manufacturers and B2B services that aren’t sure about the value of Facebook, or least about the ROI for the time that needs to be invested to do it right. They have very little engagement, and what they do have is friends, families, vendors and suppliers and v.v. On the other hand, our's is a B2B service company, and we think FB and TW are pretty good tools to communicate with clients and friends. We publish our blog to FB and Twitter, and the stuff we post is usually pretty valuable to our clients and others.
So, there can be value in social media for businesses like ours if used for education and communication instead of just being “another marketing tool that everybody said we have to have, and now we don’t know what to do with it, and we are so dad-gum frustrated with it, and no one here knows how to use it, and now it has changed AGAIN, and we can’t remember the login most of the time, and when we do we have nothing to say or no time to say it…”
Purposeful or painful: Which version of Facebook does your business use? Have you ever considered that it’s actually OK to not be on Facebook? For some businesses that is obviously the right choice. So don’t be sold on something that may not be needed, and often isn’t helpful at all. If you go FB-free, it may actually set you free to focus on the things that ARE useful and helpful for your business and your customers.
Posted by Greg Pearson | 0 Comment(s)
Social Networking: New Nielson Social Media Report
September 20th, 2011 8:45 AM
There is a very helpful report published online from Nielson regarding social media usage and trends. You may have already seen it. If not, it is available HERE.
This will also be a great topic for discussion at our Slice and Advice on October 20. There is still space available if you want to attend. Click HERE to learn more and to register. You can register from your desktop computer or mobile device.
Posted by Greg Pearson | 0 Comment(s)
Social Networking: More Google Plus
August 26th, 2011 1:59 PM
Since my last post Google has made an important change to its Plus 1 button (you are beginning to see it everywhere now). Previously, the Plus 1 button was one of the ways that Google used to rank websites for Google Searches. Now the Plus 1 button is like the Facebook ‘Like’ button and posts the link in the user’s Google Plus circle(s).
Even though businesses cannot create Google Plus profiles yet, the addition of the Plus 1 button to your site IS beneficial and more so as Google Plus grows. Adding the Plus 1 Button to your website allows Google Plus users to ‘Plus’ your website and recommend it to others in their circles, as well as increasing your site’s presence in Google searches.
The easiest way to add Plus 1 as well as Facebook ‘Like’ and Twitter ‘Tweet’ and other sharing functions is to use utilities like ‘Add This’ (www.addthis.com). For our SiteNow clients, you can add the code for Add This as a media item and insert that snippet on every page. However, the best way is to add these utilities so that they show on every page of your site. We will need to place the code in the template but the cost is very small – usually less than $50. Let us know if you would like to do that.
One last thing - We are about to announce the next Slice and Advice. Be looking for the invitation email next week and be ready to click quickly. Slice and Advice always fills up within 8 hours.
Have a great weekend!
Posted by Greg Pearson | 1 Comment(s)
Social Networking: So What’s Up with Google Plus?
August 11th, 2011 10:58 AM
For a couple of weeks everyone was ‘buzzing’ about Google Plus. It was invitation only so people were asking those who were already on Google Plus to send them an invitation. I got mine and promptly signed up, messed around a bit, and then went back to watching Facebook.
I am not alone. According to Chitika, Google Plus web traffic peaked at 0.007% of web traffic on July 20 and by July 31 had fallen back below 0.005%. It could be that this is just a respite as Google works out some bugs and is not issuing as many invitations. One thing is certain, until all of my friends are there, I do not have any reason to be there – I think that is why early adopters like me have not hung around, at least for now.
There is also the matter that businesses are not allowed to play in the Google Plus sandbox yet. One of the most attractive things about Facebook is that it allows regular people like us to interface and interact with other individuals, groups and businesses. It is true that it didn’t begin that way but what it has become is far better – because the interactions of our lives are more than just inter-personal. We do business everyday and most of us are part of organizations and support organizations. Facebook accommodates all of life so to speak.
That doesn’t mean that Google Plus is dead already. Some people I have spoken with like it more than Facebook but limited as it is it is not enough for those of us who already have much more in other social venues. One survey published on August 10 says that Google Plus will surpass Twitter and Linked In in 2012. Maybe it will.
Until Google Plus expands, there is nothing there for businesses and organizations, and just not enough for individual users. However, knowing Google, they will likely make it work. So businesses and organizations should at least add the Google Plus +1 button to their sites to allow Google Plus users to promote those businesses and organizations in their profiles.
Posted by Greg Pearson | 0 Comment(s)
Social Networking: Social Media Roundup for May 29, 2011
May 29th, 2011 7:47 AM
Each week Williams Web selects some of the social media stories we are following and shares them with you. Here are the topics that caught our attention this past week:
Top 10 Twitter Trends This Week
via Mashable.com
The Apocalypse, American Idol and Nerd Pride all make this list this week. Check out the complete Top 10 Twitter Trends at http://mashable.com/2011/05/28/top-10-weekly-twitter-trends/
Tag Pages on Facebook
via Facebook.com
Now you can tag Pages on Facebook just like you tag Friends. Learn more at http://on.fb.me/mECu87
Know Your Facebook Rights
via Facebook.com
There have always been rumors and suggestions that you forfeit your rights to your photos and other content you post on Facebook. Untrue says the social media giant. Learn more about your rights at http://facebook.com/terms
Gmail Launches the "People Widget"
from gmail.blogspot.com
The new People Widget in Gmail is another step in the search giant's quest to be relevant in social media. Learn more at http://gmailblog.blogspot.com/2011/05/introducing-people-widget.html
YouTube Posts Interview With Endeavor Crew
If you missed the live interview with the crew of the Space Shuttle Endeavor, YouTube has posted a recap at http://goo.gl/usFhR
Posted by Kent Callison | 0 Comment(s)
Social Networking: Convert Your Facebook Profile to a Facebook Page
March 31st, 2011 11:28 AM
Facebook announced today a new tool to convert your Facebook Profile to a Facebook Page. The biggest difference between a Profile and a Page is that Profiles require you to invite and/or approve friends before they can view your information like wall posts, photos, etc. while content on Pages is viewable by the public. While Profiles are great for individuals, Pages are better suited for businesses, nonprofits and public figures.
When businesses first adopted the use of Facebook as part of their online marketing strategy, many set up Profiles for their organization. They invited customers to be their "friend" on Facebook but the closed nature of that approach was less than successful in communicating their brand on Facebook. While they could set their Profile to be public, unless a customer was a friend they didn't see any news updates from the business in their news stream. When Facebook added the option to create Pages, some businesses opted to maintain their Profile because they didn't want to start over and risk losing any friends in the transition process.
The new Profile to Page conversion tool, however, makes it easy for a business to transition their Profile to a Page without losing any of their friends. Friends are converted to Likes automatically and photos from the Profile are carried over to the new Page. However, the tool does not migrate any other data such as wall posts, videos or events. Those will have to be added manually until Facebook creates an automated method. The conversion is irreversible at this time, so before you make the move, consider downloading your content so that it isn't lost.
Posted by Kent Callison | 0 Comment(s)
Social Networking: Keeping Facebook and Blog Comments in Sync
March 6th, 2011 4:27 PM
Facebook recently updated its Comments Box feature to allow you to share comments left your blog with users on your Facebook profile page. Likewise, when someone comments on the story on Facebook, the thread is synchronized with the comments on your blog.
Posted by Kent Callison | 0 Comment(s)
Social Networking: What Does that Tweet Button Do?
January 9th, 2011 4:30 PM
You may have seen a Tweet button around the web on your favorite websites or blog. This button lets readers share their favorite content with other users on Twitter. And since the tweet includes a link back to your website or blog, it's a great way to increase traffic and improve SEO performance.
Posted by Kent Callison | 0 Comment(s)
