Currently Browsing: Social Media
Mar 17, 2012
Posted by Guest on Mar 17, 2012 in Internet Marketing, Social Media | 0 comments
The emergence of social media networking sites has provided us with new ways to connect to people from across the world. Moreover, social media has given us different tools and platforms that allow us to share all sorts of stuff online. And since more and more people are joining these sites, marketers saw social media sites as a way to communicate with their prospect clients and target market. It gives them the perfect avenue to promote their products while encouraging an open line of communication amongst their loyal and potential customers.
Through social media sites, marketers are able to market their products or services while at the same time effectively monitoring their customers. But how do you gain the interest of your target market through the use of social media? Here are some great ways to do just that:
- Build a good social media community – It would be good strategy to know your clients and get insights on what they want. While it would be impossible for you to get to know each one of them, encouraging them to leave feedbacks on your wall will allow you foster a good line of communication between you and your customers. Developing a good social media community will help you to gain their trust.
- Promote interaction – Communication is paramount to engage your target market to try the products or services that you are offering. Use audio, video and text to interact with your customers on your social media page and encourage them to share content to their friends and social circle. Doing so will allow you to leverage on the marketing advantage of social media minus the expensive advertising cost.
Just as when looking for reputable hosting companies, you should also take time to research about your target market. Know what they like, what appeals to them, and what they think of your products. By doing this, you can give them better service through business improvements and product upgrades.
Mar 13, 2012
Posted by Guest on Mar 13, 2012 in Internet Marketing, Social Media | 0 comments
Highly reputable companies in the world are now turning to the aid of Sprout Social to help them provide their users and avid followers with the best social experience. If top companies have been using Sprout Social, then you should too! It offers the best social media management tools that will guarantee the success of any business. With social media seen as an effective advertising and marketing medium, you should tap into the business advantage of social networking.
What’s different about Sprout Social is that it allows you access to more than 20 varying and effective tools for social media management. That means that everything you need can be found in one place. In addition to that, management tools offered by Sprout Social are very easy to use. So whether you are a novice or advanced social networker, using Sprout Social media tools should be fairly easy. From your social media dashboard, icons, and other social media aspects, Sprout Social brings you the best management tools available today.
Some of the great things that Sprout Social can offer you:
- Delivery of relevant messages from social media networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Linkedln.
- Effective monitoring of social media activities.
- Engage your targeted audience or prospect clients to patronize your products.
- Timely delivery of messages to your targeted market.
- Finding ideal prospects through profiles, keywords and other geo search tools.
- Schedule and publish updates on different social media channels with just a single click.
Feb 8, 2012
Posted by Guest on Feb 8, 2012 in Featured, Social Media | 0 comments
Social media has become every nation’s access to possibly everything that happens around the world. From networking sites to sharing photographs and interests, social media indeed has become an essential tool in each individual’s life. It even caters to a diverse colony of interests and activities.
What Started it All
In 1979, Tom Truscott and Jim Ellis established a system that allowed users to post blogs and articles. This was referred to as the Usenet Systems. This system was responsible for the progressive development of newsreader clients. Several sites such as Google and Yahoo utilize upgraded conventions that were originally established by the early Usenet systems.
In 1970, the first ever BBS or Bulletin Board Systems was introduced to the virtual world. A personal computer was used to dial-in to a phone modem. BBS was the pioneer in social interaction sites. It has its limitations though, only one person at a certain time can access the site. While it paved the way for social interaction in the virtual world, it was also used as a panel discussion for shady subjects, like pornography, virus codes and hacking instructions.
In 1988, social media went a notch higher through the launching of the IRC .It allows users to share files and links. It is quite the ancestral father of modern instant messengers being used today.
The Birth of Social Networks
Dating sites were the bridge for the development of social networking. It allowed users to interact with people they do not know yet and share pictures with one another. In 1997, the first modern social networking site was introduced to the virtual onlookers, the Six Degrees. It had a fiery beginning and was purchased for 125 million dollars in 2000. But the spark died out soon, as it was shut down in 2001.
Social Network at its Peak
Friendster was established in 2002 and instantly became a worldwide hit. It was considered as the first ever-general social network. The thought of getting to know a lot of people and making new friends through the Internet sparked the interest of millions of users, with 90 percent coming form Asia. It even became a dating site for most of its users.
In 2003, another social networking site similar to Friendster was established, the Hi 5. It operates a little bit differently compared to Friendster. It provided users with more comprehensive networks, including second and third degree contacts.
Myspace was established in 2003 and became very famous in 2006. Aside from the social interaction, it allows users to customize their pages. They can even include videos and MP3s to complement the design of their profiles.
In 2004, a Harvard exclusive social network site boomed into popularity, the Facebook. And in 2008 and up to date, it continues to be the fastest growing and the largest networking site that was able to surpass its predecessors. It has continued to progress over the years allowing its users to have a more exciting virtual meet up. From the chat rooms, your wall post, news feed on the current updates of your friends and options for privacy; it has indeed become everyone’s constant companion.
Jan 25, 2012
Posted by Guest on Jan 25, 2012 in Featured, Internet Marketing, Social Media | 0 comments
So you have decided to advertise your business on social networking sites. Good move! Of all the networking sites existing today, the best place to advertise would be on Facebook since more than 90% of the majority population has an account there. This means a great increase on your chances of being able to reach a wide range of customers and clients. But be careful, if you do not make the right choices, you might fall into the trap of a flopped online advertising scheme. To avoid that, here are a few tips to help you out.
Signing up your business for a Facebook account is probably one of the best moves to advance your marketing advantage. Facebook in itself is like a big web of networks, where you will get the chance to get connected to not only your target clients but also to their friends and family. You do not even need to put in too much effort to reach your target audience in Facebook. But to make sure your account will not go to sleep mode after the first few weeks, the first step at being remembered is getting a vanity URL. You can do this at the first few steps on sign up, so be sure you are ready with your brand or business name. Do not settle for the pre-assigned URL that consists of a bunch of numbers and letters, you will be less likely remembered that way. Use your business name if possible, or get creative and use words or phrases associated to the type of business that you do.
Next, do not get lazy, finish your profile! Fill out all details and be sure you give a clear description of your business. You need to show the Net folks that you are not a scam but you have a real and professional account. I know, it can get dragging and might feel a little cumbersome, but before you even start signing up, you need to be ready with the information you want to share to make sure that your Facebook page shows the right details and is seen as legitimate.
Finally, who wants to look at a boring account? Customize your Facebook page! They offer a lot of customization tools for business pages, so take advantage of that. Be sure you are ready with your design, too. The built-in apps at Facebook offer great customization options already, but for a better looking page, if you want your Facebook page to look as great as a customized webpage, you can look for third party tools that are simple and easy to use.
Jan 25, 2012
Posted by admin on Jan 25, 2012 in Social Media | 0 comments
If you run your own small business then the chances are you will have had someone tell you that social media is the way forward. ‘You need to start tweeting’ they will tell you but is there really any advantage to small and local businesses spending their day sending out tweets? Celebrities and large branded businesses may well get a lot from social media but how useful can it be to a local shopkeeper or painter and decorator, a gardener or builder? Perhaps the best way to look at it is a long-term project to build relationships, rather than short-term advertising. With that in mind, here are three important tips:
Forget business, think about relationships: Twitter is primarily a tool for networking and this is how you should use it. Don’t go signing up and just blasting everyone with adverts for your products or services. You can of course, mention your business from time to time but only on occasion and in context. Instead, make sure that you use twitter as you would if you were at a meet and greet in real life – by chatting casually and bonding with people. Intersperse tweets that relate to your industry and news about the field you work in with stuff you are interested in, stuff that is relevant to your local area and stuff you find amusing and you will soon make contact with people in your area as well as the wider world. It might not be that you will get any business initially but in the long term it will pay dividends. Real relationships will eventually bring leads.
Go local: Once you have built up a profile and some followers it is time to use Twitter more locally for your business. How do you go about doing this? Simple – get hold of a local community twitter tool such as Twitter Grader, which can simplify the process for you. If you live in a large city or a popular city then tools like this can easily link you up with other people and businesses in your area. Choose London or New York (or wherever) from the list and then you will receive a quick and useful list of the top fifty tweeters in your area, as well as their bios. Simply start following and interacting with them and begin to become part of the community for your area. If you live in a smaller city or town or village, simply do a search for your area in the search box and see if there are other tweeters in your area. If there are, get networking! Always remember to keep telling yourself that your aim is not advertising but networking and forming connections.
Get Media Coverage: Twitter is also useful not just for connecting people but also for getting some media exposure for your company, even if it is just in your local area. Journalists all over the world and in every town and village use Twitter. Seek them out and follow them – if you can get them to follow your tweets then you may well be able to get some exposure for your business. In addition to local media, you can also get involved with media and journalists that are related to your particular business or field. A simple search should bring you all kinds of sites and people who are pre-eminent in your industry – just get their twitter feed and get to know them – they might have some interesting developments for your industry and you may well be able to share some of your own.
Just remember, keep it all light and fun, make your tweets interesting and forget about trying to sell anything for at least a few months – and then you’ll find Twitter can be a really great tool for your business
Esther is a financial journalist and blogger. She writes about everything affectingsmall businesses and start-ups as well as personal finance from mortgages to credit cards to umbrella companies .
