Using Instagram Profiles for Your Business

Instagram and your social marketing campaign

Instagram started adding web profiles for its users a couple of weeks ago. This popular mobile app is Instagram, focused primarily on the visual aspects of life. While originally designed for sharing photos with family and friends, brands have begun to utilize it in order to promote their image through social campaigns.

But, what does that have to do with your brand? Not every business can promote a visual stance (words seem to be more appealing), but incorporating visuals into your social campaign is still essential to your online success. So, you must apply it: How is your brand pictured by your audience? What do you see when you consider your brand? What does your audience see? 

Create and promote

Though just an app, Instagram does have a profile for you to develop and utilize. Because Instagram is all about visuals, using a picture that effectively promotes your brand is essential- though you will want it to be appealing as well (for its repost potential). However, there is also the aspect of promoting it with the right hashtag (#mybrand). What this hashtag does is allows you to accumulate your brand’s uploaded photos on your account. This helps to define your photos as specific to your brand’s image. 

The best part is that followers can utilize the hashtag to tag your brand when they take a picture. It would be advantageous for aggregating your account with your website- such as a social campaign. Your audience can post pictures of how your brand has impacted their lives. 

This aspect of Instagram helps develop word of mouth marketing by including the audience in your social endeavors. [tweet this].

The more they interact- and the more they are able to interact- with your business will ultimately determine your social campaign’s success. 

Additionally, for any previously established photos, you can always hashtag within the comment feed to link it back to your brand’s profile. Be sure that your Instagram app is current- considering the new photo-map addition that allows you to tag your location when you upload a photo. This could be very handy for promoting your brand’s location and helping develop your profile. 

There’s an app for that

Since Instagram is more of an app, it lacks the site references that social sites possess. Though Instagram itself isn’t a social network, you can be followed through other apps like Webstagram and Statigram. These sites allow you to utilize a RSS button that links your account and allows viewers to follow you more effectively. This is an effective way to initially improve your Instagram profile’s visibility by linking with other sites, especially your blogs. 

Take advantage of all tools provided, and ensure that your Instagram profile is as widely available to the audience as possible. Instagram allows you to link with other social sites like Facebook, Flickr, and Twitter. So be sure that your profile incorporates these networks if you utilize them (don’t worry about creating an account on these sites though if you aren’t going to manage them effectively). Your social network profiles will carry with them the Instagram tag, allowing already established audiences to view your profile and follow. 

Using Instagram can benefit your social campaign, but only if it is utilized effectively and completely. Turn your profile into an easy-to-follow tool by which your audience can not only familiarize, but also be able to link with and further associate your brand with audience approval. 

A Social Marketing Strategist Makes Sense for Your Business

Social marketing strategist and your business

Marketing through the many social networks has become common practice for businesses, both big and small. These networks are often easy-to-use and economically effective, but that doesn’t mean you will effortlessly obtain all the benefits from your social networking campaign.

So, why is it necessary to utilize a social marketing strategist? Primarily because it can be difficult for a business owner or manager to spend the time required to deal with all the variables that exist in social media nowadays. Discussing, posting, analyzing, and overall engaging with the audience needs focused efforts and, above all, an expert in this field. 

It is crucial that social strategists are able to dedicate themselves wholly to social media marketing strategies. "Effective social marketing requires a wide range of skills to enable your brand to make the most of your social campaign" [tweet this].

The Social Aspect of Business

In order to handle an online social campaign effectively, a social strategist must be professional yet sociable, with a talent for speaking to the audience. Many business owners and associated management have one issue; they focus primarily on the technical side of a business, and less so on the people side.  Their functions and interests are sometimes limited, thereby restricting the ability of a brand to communicate thoroughly with the audience. 

A social strategist must be able to engage the audience in such a way as to gain their trust and loyalty; to achieve an effective audience approach.  Interacting, sharing, and getting involved with your audience require focused efforts, but  you will reap recommendations and interactions from your audience. Effective interaction between your social strategists and the audience opens up a window for word of mouth marketing, allowing your brand’s visibility and image to grow in the online world. 

To achieve this requires the focused efforts of a specifically designated social strategist. In situations where a technical expert attempts to interact with the audience, communication can break down. This is because not every representative of a business is able to focus on handling people as individuals and interacting with them appropriately (building loyalty, explaining situations, appealing to their wants). 

Why Do You Need a Social Strategist?

Of course, to communicate effectively, you must also be innovative and creative in your methods and thinking. Social strategists can focus their efforts to understanding the social environment, easily adapting to changes in the social network structure - such as new platforms, tool utilization, and techniques. It is necessary for them to analyze data and adapt to changes efficiently to accomplish this. 

Then there is the widely underestimated factor that one social network is different from another. It is important to be able to understand the unique differences of each social network and their associated audiences. Twitter audiences demand a different approach than a Facebook or LinkedIn audience would appreciate. While the concept of social media is universal, each forum requires a unique approach and analysis in order to achieve its true potential. 

This is why it’s important to have a designated social strategist operating your marketing campaign. The wide range of social networks and constant changes to the networking world require a focused individual or department. 

Then there are certain characteristics that truly define a social strategist. While they need to be familiar with the handling of different social networks and their unique audiences, they must also be familiar enough with your company so that they can effectively endorse and speak as though they were the brand itself. 

This is often difficult to achieve and is, perhaps, one of the reasons why many businesses neglect to outsource their social marketing. They may decide to involve the entire business into their social strategy. This can, unfortunately, draw attention away from development within the brand (Jim can’t focus on getting those files analyzed; as he’s busy updating the business’s LinkedIn account).  

This is why the ability to communicate and appreciate the brand’s attributes and advantages is so important for a designated social strategist. They are responsible for opening up a line for communication for their associated brand and are able to discuss it with others with complete authority. This is why a social strategist must be able to wear many hats and constantly be updated with the company’s changes and new directions. A designated social marketing strategist would be able to collect that data, analyze it, and share it through marketing, without disrupting the brand’s development efforts.

When it comes to the social marketing, a business gets what it invests into the campaign. In order to achieve the maximum benefit from your online experience, it is necessary to engage the services of a social strategist who has the right skills, focus, and personality. It makes sense for your business to make the most of its social campaign. 

Pinterest Helps Garner Big Business for Small Businesses

Social marketing with Pinterest for your small business

Throughout the internet, imagery seems to be the most popular source of interest. People enjoy an iconic meme or a photo of the latest hot-topic. However, by considering the bigger picture, the prospect of visualization is presented. It’s easy to use and can easily influence a wide audience with minimal investment.

Pinterest has been an underestimated audience source for the business industry. Perhaps it’s because of the fact that its design was oriented around individuals sharing images they like. However, it has since grown far beyond that limitation.

Growth of the Pinterest network is extraordinary

More businesses are expanding their use for different social networks, especially the larger industries. This, of course, is a continuing trend that has opened up these industries to a larger network of individuals, contacts, and new opportunities. This radical growth has thus made Pinterest one of the leading opportunities for word of mouth marketing, by presenting an already established network that is ready to be utilized by businesses of all size. 

Pinterest is basically organized around visual appeal- the picture takes center stage and the message is displayed with simplicity so that it doesn’t distract from the purpose. Comments are applicable, but aren’t necessarily the primary intention of the social medium. Instead, it’s more about getting the attention of the audience and introducing yourself. By linking appropriately and with the right incentive, Pinterest allows you to guide the audience to primary sites, such as your webpage,LinkedIn site (with a professional profile), blogs, and other methods by which you increase your network. 

Gaining from imagery

While some social sites can be difficult to utilize or even navigate, this visual site focuses on being simple and relatively easy to use. The “Pin it” browser allows you to pin anything to your account without having to access the site or sign in. As you surf through the web, interesting imagery can pop up, such as statistical graphs or topics that apply to your business, in which case you can simply press a button and save the material. This helps the user avoid wading through the sign-in hoopla, a distraction that so many social networks tend to employ. 

“This is also a great site where you can simplify technical data that readers might find difficult to understand, such as business analysis. Information in general is often simplified through visualization, making it applicable to even the most technical fields.“ [tweet this].

Additionally, people tend to crave the taste of change regularly. This is perhaps why there are always new trends coming up, and perhaps why it’s also important to be conversant with the latest "hot topic", before everyone else. Social sites like MySpace and Facebook have in essence grown older. While their application is still viable, the introductions of sites like Pinterest generally possess a trending appeal which grabs the audience’s attention. 

"Social networks offer a wide range of marketing benefits, but not all businesses can utilize their communication outlets the same". [tweet this].

Pinterest relies on visuals, which means that your small business needs to be able to associate itself with something visual. In employing Pinterest, creativity is often essential, and it’s up to each individual to apply this in order to make their business appealing.

How Twitter can Help Your Small Business

Increase your business social marketing reach with Twitter

There are various social marketing tools readily available, each with their own specific perks and benefits. Amongst them is the incredibly popular Twitter network, which is a favorite for businesses of all sizes. For the small business owner, social networks can be an economical and powerful marketing tool, as long as you are able to utilize them effectively. 

Those that follow, share, mention, and re-tweet constantly act as a third-party reference, providing testimonials for your reliability and expertise in your field, functioning as a direct source for word of mouth marketing. 

Perhaps the most beneficial characteristic for businesses is that Twitter is an open network in which anyone can meet anybody else, making it easy to widen your network and make new contacts. But, just because you use Twitter does not necessarily mean that you are using it effectively. There are certain techniques and practices that one must apply to their Twitter experience. 

Using Twitter as a resource

Twitter isn’t just about speaking out; it’s about listening as well. Consider what others are saying- particularly focusing in on your field of expertise. Are there other experts out there that you could network with or follow in order to expand your network? One important thing to remember is that social accounts, especially Twitter, are not there for competition. They are there for networking purposes, specifically so that you can intertwine and discuss with a broader audience. 

Additionally, there is the “favorites” category on your Twitter feed. With all the various feeds and constant updated tweets, old tweets can quickly be forgotten and inevitably disappear into the past. Now consider that the “favorites” actually saves these and accumulates them for future reference whenever. But, it can be utilized in a more influential method. When you get recommendations, positive feedback, or are otherwise held in regard during a discussion, collect them in your “favorites” feed for others to see your third-party references. People like to see what type of feedback their fellow readers are leaving for their future prospects or partners. 

Keep an eye on your @mentions. When others talk about you, it’s important to respond. It helps improve visibility and develop an image of attentiveness that your audience will see.

Being able to research and cover FAQ’s is something that isn’t always done, but should be. It’s a great opportunity to start conversation and express your expertise in your particular business field. You can use Twitter itself as a research source for popular or trending questions and answer them (the use of hashtags and mentions are quite invaluable here to target specific audiences). 

Above all else, you must be able to speak clearly and use your words effectively. Being able to get your audience’s attention is one thing, holding onto it is another. In today’s fast and furious online marketing world, the average attention span is often no more than seven to ten seconds. When constructing your tweets, you must be sure to remain short, concise, clear, and most of all- to deliver to your audience that which interests them; not just what interests you. 

Locally yours

Twitter provides certain apps and tools available for your use, but it is how you use them that will determine how successful your endeavor is.

Utilize hashtags to promote your event, business expertise, and target a specific field. Remember that hashtags will use up some of your character count, so it’s best to limit your tweet’s content to no more than two hashtags at a time. This is ideal for promoting local events, particularly if your local audience has a specific hashtag (city/region/event center/business). 

Mentioning others to improve visibility is another great move. Now, consider that this is a great way to locally boost your awareness. Take for instance the “Follow Fridays” in which it has become popular to recommend specific accounts, followers, and fellow associates. 

Take the time to regularly mention at least one individual a day. This is a great way to initiate conversation, appreciate a new follower, or add personalization to a tweet (such as an answer to a question or responding to a familiar topic). 

When addressing an article, blog, or even a book, be sure that you mention the author (the Twitter account) as well as the article. This helps to improve visibility for you and is more likely to gain a positive response and future feedback (improving your network).

Twitter can be a powerful marketing tool for your small business, as long as you understand how to effectively utilize all of its benefits. You don’t have to tweet more in order to gain visibility. It’s all about how you tweet that will decide how your audience appreciates what you have to say today.

Promote Your Blog with Marketing Word of Mouth

Social marketing tips for your blog 

Manufacturing a blog and its content is only the first step a writer must take. The next is that you must be able to effectively market your blog in order to generate visibility and publicity for your personal brand. You can promote yourself and let others promote you as well through word of mouth strategies. 

So, what specific methods are most practical for marketing your blog? There’s more than advertising to consider in this situation, and quite frankly there are numerous tools and methods by which you can help your blog improve your audience response.

Coming up with promotional content

When it comes to basic blog content, there are several important characteristics that you should include in your material and content strategy. 

Blog honestly. This sounds simple and really is. It is in fact more difficult to try to be someone you’re not- and the audience will pick up on it. Stick to your field of expertise and acknowledge when you’re reaching into a different department. In many cases, the honesty will help improve feedback, particularly from other field experts that may have advice or recommendations. 

Blog regularly. Don’t make your posts erratic and unpredictable. Consider your blog as if it were part of a regular newspaper; delivering opinion, facts, and updates frequently to an expectant audience. If your readers know when and where they can expect to find fresh material, they’re more likely to subscribe and read your blog.

Include appealing photos/images in your content. Simple as it may sound, there are certain characteristics a photo/image should have. The most important is that it should be relevant to your content. Graphs that simplify complex data or information are a great place to start. Infographs can also be incredibly helpful, just make sure that the text is legible (size and color of font in relation to the background). 

Utilize keywords appropriately. It is completely necessary to include related keywords in your content, but you don’t want to overwhelm your content at the same time. Overuse and/or wrong placement of keywords may deplete the quality of your blog’s material. Getting the reader’s attention is important, but keeping it is a necessity. 

How to attract readers

One of the best ways to start enunciating your blog is by linking to social networks- such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and even Pinterest (you can link the pictures to your blogs, just make sure they provide relevance). Be sure to include any forums, groups, and blogging communities that you are a member of as well when making links.

Don’t neglect to sign up with the RSS feeds, since this is one of the best and simplest ways for readers to subscribe to your material. When fellow readers can see subscription numbers, they are more likely to subscribe themselves. Numbers can say more than words sometimes, as though it were an indirect recommendation from other readers. 

Then there are the benefits of linking through “popular reading” blog sites. These sites promote blog material and are great for improving blog visibility as they basically list a large network of established blogs that readers are already familiar with. They can be incredibly handy and are a great place to position a new blog. They include:

• Stumbleupon.com
• Digg.com
• Reddit.com
• Delicious.com 
• Technorati.com 

These sites also present an opportunity for you to do a little footwork in order to achieve more. Reach out by writing related articles, blogs, and social posts, and also by commenting on the material (such as giving advice or answering a question), then add in your blog’s link. Be sure to read the comment rules, since some will require that you shouldn’t post any links or your comment will be deleted. Though for the most part, they will only block out the link and leave the comment itself. 

There is also the option of syndicating your blog through certain sites. These sites are networked and reach different audiences around the world. An example is Amazon.com where Kindle owners can read your articles (you even get paid for each read). Others, like Networkblog.com and EvanCarmichael.com are perfect for building blog traffic for your business related material. 

Email newsletters are still very effective and should include your blog link (s) for your most recent posts. Keep mailing lists of already positively established contacts as they will give you a great chance to ask for feedback from frequent readers.

When it comes to blogging, you can create quality material that is attractive, but it won’t receive the visibility it truly deserves until you promote it properly. Design your material with promotion in mind and set up a network of sites where your blog can reach a broad range of readers who will appreciate what you have to say. 

Keep People Hiding and Staying Away

Social networking tips for your small business or personal brand

Have you ever wondered why you have plenty of “likes” but so few interactions or conversations on your social pages? You post material and only get five likes and one comment on your feed, which leaves you wondering why no one seems to be paying attention to your feed.

When it comes to Facebook or other feed related social networks, getting a “like” or comment raises your visibility, but time also plays a role in visibility. How often they view your page also matters. Do they regularly check on you or interact with your feed? There are several variables that generate improved visibility. 

But, this means you have to start at the beginning. How do you get that attention?  What are you doing that is keeping your visibility low on your social network? What might you be doing so that viewers either un-like you or hide you in their newsfeed?

Maintaining visibility

Have you ever considered the fact that you are guilty of scaring people away? Whether you are saying the wrong thing or saying it far too often, there is the possibility that you are boring! Take it seriously, because everything comes down to generating interest, especially in a social, high-speed environment. And consequently, intimidation comes in many forms. You could be guilty of several different tactics that are hindering your social visibility. 

What makes up your feed? Are you selling it too hard, too much, or too often?

“If your feed is limited strictly to making sales or blatantly selling, many people will not pay attention to it. “ [tweet this].

Few people would constantly watch commercials all day long because they would rather be entertained. 

This brings us to the posts about random and irrelevant material to your business. They liked you because of what you have to offer them. Be sure that’s what you provide. Talk about things that are relevant, yet have a trendy application to them.

Then there is the art of: Memememememe! The worst thing you can do is think that it’s all about you! Be sure to include the activities of your contacts, customer conversation, and associated topics into your social campaign. If your viewers post something, follow up on it and turn it into a conversation (by the way, you need to comment on your own posts as well). Avoid thinking that everything on your page is about you because in a network, it’s all about everyone. If they share, you share. This is the basis for word of mouth marketing because if you present content that others are willing to share, many more will see what is going on with you.

This means that you should strive to make the experience interactive. Don’t limit yourself to just speaking to a crowd of wandering participants. Create games, generate questions, and get your audience interacting with you and each other.

Consider what you can do to keep your feed line smooth and applicable so that your viewers enjoy reading it. It takes quality information for an audience to want to interact with it rather than ignoring or hiding you from their feeds. 

Great Brand Resources Direct from Brandidos

Personal branding tips from Brandidos

Advice is a great source of information. Recommendations on Good Reads, quality sources to investigate, and ultimately comparative goals that other businesses pursue can be informative and useful, even when they don’t relate directly to you. In other words, they are references you would use to write your own essay on how to conduct your business activities.

"And remember- everything and everyone has something to teach you"  [tweet this].

Books of interest and how they help your BRAND grow

Reading is the ultimate source of learning, and oftentimes offers helpful hints that we can learn from or incorporate into our lives, even if they are fictional. Books contain insights in many forms, even when they aren’t good (we learn to avoid a particular style or approach).

Highly recommended are books such as “Brand Thinking" by Debbie Millman, “Social Marketology” by Ric Dragon, “Engage” by Brian Solis, and “Business Stripped Bare” by Richard Branson. But, it all comes down to what you are looking for in a book. What education and insight do you seek?

What current sites or online resources do you use daily as a Brandido?

Quality resources can begin with keeping track of your client investment. Newswire can be used effectively by searching industry/company to monitor news and updates for clients. Additionally, the New York Times advertising and media section is completely relevant to developing or adapting trending marketing strategies. Other sources might include Smashing Mag, Jakob Nielsen, Mashable, and B2B of course. But, some are convinced that a wider variety of online newsletter content tends to generate numerous ideas. It is good practice to look outside your industry and learn new techniques to apply to your own pursuits. The key here is to seek out multiple sources in order to generate different ideas and visions of the world.

What conferences, seminars or webinars are a MUST in your annual plan

For a majority of the business-minded, the free ones are perhaps the top choice for their economical value. But consider what is free? Time always costs something, so you need to target the right opportunities to gain the most benefit from your experience. Focus on what you need. A good starting point should be tradeshows in your industry and client-focused events that provide quality instruction on how to approach and handle customer situations.

Some even recommend that one save even more time by paying attention to what others have to say such as in social feeds and “unorganized” webinars or irregular coffee conferences. What are people discussing regularly? Despite the unorganized characteristics, there are plenty of opportunities to participate in regular webinars and seminars that are not properly titled, but offer some great information.

For the most part, it is always wise to seek a fresh perspective when possible. Search for new opportunities and avoid the same song and dance. Keep your eyes peeled for fresh and trending material that you can source from to better your business pursuits and search outside of your field to see what new theories and techniques you can apply to your brand.

What is on your list of things to do? 

What's on your bucket list as a branding professional? Consider who you’ve wanted to work with and what you’ve always wanted to do with your brand. Perhaps you’ve wanted to work with the people from the show: Shark Tank, most of who are often great thinkers and artists when it comes to generating new ideas. And while these fantasy ideas are good to have, there are more general targets in mind. Could your target be a region- a city- perhaps an individual?

Looking towards the future is perhaps the most prioritized item on our bucket list- and why? Because it never ends. We are always looking to better ourselves and prepare for tomorrow.

At the end of the day, we all teach each other something, but it is up to us as individuals to learn and adapt those teachings into our brand applications. Consider what others have to say, even if it is bad advice or quality information, because somewhere in your brand, you will learn something.

Creating Trust through Word of Mouth

Word of Mouth and your brand reputation

When meeting a contact for the first time, within the first few seconds, you plant a relationship seed which can either flourish or fail. It’s all about building trust when working on a relationship. 

Trust is one of the most powerful tools when generating a relationship with contacts. Primarily, it is the first impression that always leaves the most impact on an individual, and will later decide how they will want to interact with you.

Attitude that builds

So, it’s up to you to start things out the right way. What are some things that you can do to create a good first impression? When first meeting a contact, be sure that you make a positive impact on them with several different techniques that are small and simple, but carry the most powerful impact during an initial meeting. 

You may have seen those cliché movie scenes where one person instructs his comedic, yet faithful companion to act proper and don’t be a fool. Often, this situation turns out as a complete failure with the benefit of a few good laughs, but it teaches a valuable lesson. Be honest to yourself and to others. Don’t try to play a role or a part in a play. Smile, but don’t force it. Others will quickly notice if you are trying to be someone you are not, mostly because you aren’t being honest with them. This is imperative to trust, and how you act needs to present an honest image. 

Upon introductions, shaking hands combined with balanced eye contact ensures the other person that you are confident. Your handshake should be firm, but not too overwhelming. Don’t break their hand or shake more than three times. 

While shaking hands, be sure to look your contact in the eyes and confirm your name. During a discussion, balance your eye contact in a group and avoid any stare-down contests that could intimidate others. You don’t want to seem overwhelming or unapproachable. A friendly attitude is the most effective tool to building trust. 

What to say is basic- stick with a greeting that suits the occasion. Don’t be interrogative or overwhelmingly emotional about the situation. The best practice is to affirm your name and ask theirs. Follow up with something similar to: “This is quite the event, I’m glad I could come, how about you?”

This topic brings us to the importance of asking a question and listening. Stop dominating the conversation by sharing information about yourself or they might get bored, consider you self-centered or even sales-y.  It’s important to showcase your ability to listen and comprehend when interacting with others, especially prospective clients.

Openly display your expertise in your field, especially if asked, yet do refrain from being ‘all about you.”   Tell them about what you do, but do keep it short and simple (in order to leave a taste they will be intrigued with for a later follow-up) so they will know if you are a viable source of networking material for them. Always remember that networkers are searching for valuable contacts, so be prepared to make yourself one of them.

Basically, you are building a rapport that is influential. What will others say about you? Trust depends on the impression you impact on your contacts. This is one of the best methods by which we can apply word of mouth marketing because when others trust you, they will be inclined to endorse you as a quality prospect.

Others included

You build through the connection towards other connections. Each person has access to a new network of people, so there is never a useless contact. Never turn away from someone who is interested in you, even if they themselves don’t seem to benefit you.

This is often where many networkers go astray, because they are searching for something specific that they need…right now. But, there is always the future to include, so it’s good to consider that everyone will at some point prove beneficial to your business needs. Be ready to add anybody to your contact list.

“Building trust through word of mouth marketing is crucial to your success.” [tweet this].

While time is a resource we all feel we don’t have enough of, it is important to concentrate on leaving a good impression, especially during your first encounter with a contact. You never know who they will know or who they will talk to, so be ready to impact the entire world positively and create a network of trust. 

Maximize a Conference Event

Use your social marketing tools before your conference event

How can you make the most from a conference event? You meet a lot of people, shake hands, and gather business cards, but you can only do so much during the event. There are so many people there that you don’t really know anybody until you get there. Sure, you might see a familiar face or two, but for the most part, a new group of people is going to provide you with the most opportunity. 

However, there lies the problem of meeting the right people. How do you prepare for a conference? Would you show up and simply demonstrate your professionalism and wisdom, and hope you catch some good leads? Or would you prepare for the event, utilizing all the tools available to you?

Meeting the right people

Having something in common with your fellow attendees is incredibly helpful for beginning a conversation. For this reason, social networks can be incredibly invaluable. Consider contacting the hosts of your conference and asking them for a list of other attendee names. From here, you can research business-oriented networks such as Linkedin and other social sites, to gain insight on what their interests are. Who is going to be there? Social links help you discover associated interests you share with others. What are some trending topics that other attendees are discussing? 

This will help you develop a connection strategy to employ during the event. What individuals have the most in common with you? What are some good conversation starters for these people? You will enter the event knowing who to look for and how you can help each other. In these cases, sites such as Linkedin are ideal for identifying the business side of an individual. 

Networking

When you do begin to network, associate yourself and communicate that you would like them to join and enhance your networks, ideally social networks. This is a great way to start an ongoing relationship, and often it is much less bulky than juggling business cards. Smartphone technology is handy in this type of situation- simply tell them you’ve sent them a request to join your network. Now you have a good contact and information that won’t be lost or misplaced. Also, inquire from your associates on their own social sites and tell them that you are going to follow them, such as Twitter. This tends to stimulate more conversation, such as- “I prefer to use (fill in the blank) social sites”. This will help you identify hot spots and social preferences to look for later on.

Keep talking

What about making others talk about you? Word of mouth marketing is a powerful tool, but it can be limited in a networking setting in which everyone is talking about themselves. But, don’t neglect the fact that conferences don’t end when everyone exits the scene. Following up is just as important as the event. Follow attendees on Twitter or Pinterest where social sites are open networks. Investigate their company pages and subscribe to their blogs. Each time you follow, friend, or otherwise associate yourself with your contact’s online network, they see your name one more time. Additionally, you are able to see their expertise and apply their network to your own. 

When it comes to networking at an event, it is always best, and most efficient, to come prepared. Know the people you are going to meet and identify the people you need to meet. Spend your experience wisely and always be prepared.

Brands and Challenges

Overcome personal branding challenges

As trends progress and change with the demands of our audiences, brands must be able to adapt and evolve to accommodate in order to not only survive but thrive as well. Questions on a recent brandchat discussion brought up some very good points of how a company handles the challenges of building their image effectively.

Product innovation

Consider some of the best practices of a brand that reinvents their product. What must they do to accomplish this and how does it ultimately affect their image? Soda companies have been around for a very long time, but have always managed to keep their image and products current. While the brand is the same, it is the fact that there is always constant improvement and evolution of these products. The goal is to adapt and apply their brand to popular trend rather than trying to change their brand to match the trend. Under the leadership of Steve Jobs, Apple reinvented their products and how they applied to the current demands of the generation. The brand was the same, but the image changed from simply producing technology to producing technology that was desirable to its audience. At the same time, they worked to enforce the purpose of the brand, which is ultimately what this challenge must overcome.

Timing the changes

What key advice would you give a client as to the "timing" of reinventing or fixing their product and promotion? This is a unique question in that it is incredibly difficult to answer broadly. Depending on the product’s trend cycle, you would have to consider that what is popular today may slip away tomorrow. You must know your audience well, especially their demands and desires. You should only change as a response to customers, not as a response to competition or personal desire. Rebrand because you need to in order to appeal to your audience. Lois Martin once stated, “Carefully consider and plan. Is it a reinvention or simply an update? An expansion? An invite to a new market?” When reinventing and innovating, you must take into consideration what your goal is. Are you upgrading a format, fixing an issue (patching programs or promotions)? Or are you introducing a new line that will draw a new audience? 

Defining a spokesperson

A spokesperson is one of the most beneficial tools to creating audience appeal. How can a brand handle their spokesperson that is created, not a celebrity, and their rise to celebrity status? There is something unique about a created character because while you can make them do what you want, you also have to work to build their image, which means that it’s up to you how successful your spokesperson will be. The primary priority should be to align their values with those of the target audience. The task is to create a personality that your audience can relate to, not just speak to. When an audience can relate to someone, they begin to develop a relationship and word of mouth marketing takes place. People talk about characters they can relate with. Though there is always the other side of the coin which asks at what point a spokesperson-character would begin to draw attention away from a brand; when presented improperly, you can end up with an audience that recognizes a spokesperson but can’t relate them to the brand. That is the other task of developing a character. They must not only relate to the audience but will directly relate your audience to your brand. 

Brand image controversy

What are the best practices of brands on how they handle controversy around their brand? Perhaps the most prominently renowned brand image that had to overcome their controversy was BP and how they handled the gulf oil spill. They acknowledged the accident and quickly became involved in cleanup efforts. The best practices would include avoiding any hesitation and to be direct. Be personable. You never know when controversy will take place, so it’s good to have a personable image that people already enjoy doing business with. You shouldn’t wait for a problem to arise before you address it. Always admit controversy, don’t hide it. This is the first step to turning it around to your advantage. However, you must also be entirely transparent about the situation. An audience will want to know how your brand is addressing the issue and what is being done to prevent it in the future. 

Brands are often challenged with keeping their image current with the audiences’ desires and trends, but at the same time they must also hold on to what defines their brand. Ultimately, the task is to create a brand that is renowned for delivering products and services that customers want. 

Social Marketing Comments Can Be Wonderful Reviews for Your Business

Word of mouth marketing and taking your business online

Word of mouth marketing has now moved into the digital age thanks to the internet and, in particular, social media websites such as Facebook. The impact for small businesses is clear, because it is now a means by which individual consumer reviews can be seen by thousands of people rather than only close friends, thereby leading to even more exposure. This in turn, can lead to an increase in new customers or clients if the reviews are positive. But how can a business really take advantage of this type of marketing?

Online reviews on the rise

Prior to discussing how a business can take advantage, it is perhaps best to quickly mention how leaving reviews online for businesses has really taken off in recent years. People have been spending more and more time on sites such as Facebook and using it to arrange meetings with friends and comment on numerous things. But even review sites such as Yelp now give people the option of signing in via their Facebook login details prior to posting reviews. This then creates a network of comments online and you will also find that search engines such as Google give more weight to these comments. What this then means is that when people search for businesses online, these links often appear higher up in the results pages and people find the businesses without the businesses having to do anything themselves.

The outcome of this is that even if they leave a comment on a different site, it can appear on their Facebook page or other social media networks, and then be seen by their friends who will of course be more willing to believe whatever comments they post rather than a complete stranger. This can be a wonderful opportunity for businesses, but only if they know how to take advantage of it. It is important that comments are believable because a number of reviews on various sites are faked either by the company itself or through hiring people to post them. This adds a certain degree of uncertainty to them, which in turn can affect the business, but this approach does away with any skepticism.

Take advantage of the visibility of social media

Due to these comments, it therefore makes sense for a business to make sure they have a presence on various social media sites to allow people who are reading these comments to find them more easily. A profile on these networks should be seen as a major advertising opportunity, which is why the profile needs to be complete and offer as much information as a potential customer would need to know prior to buying products or using services. A profile or business page can then be used to communicate with customers both new and old with various comments stating how wonderful they are, displayed for all to see. Interaction can also take place with customers when they do not have a good experience, which can then still be turned into positive for the business by encouraging them to try again.

A business should also look at openly encouraging their customers or clients to leave these comments either on the page for the business or their own personal one. This then opens up the possibility of their friends being able to ask them questions about the business instead of reading reviews by people who are pretty much anonymous. This can be done by promoting the various profiles to current customers as well as marketing it directly to people either in the local area or those who would be most likely to use the services or products.

By actively marketing a social media profile, which costs nothing to the business, it means their name becomes better known amongst the target market. Reviews and comments that are posted on the business page can then be picked up by a large number of potential customers who will be interested in discovering what other people have to say. This type of marketing has been responsible for giving business to companies more than any other type of advertising.

Encourage your customers to tell their friends all about their experiences with your products or services via social media to help boost your profile. Word of mouth marketing is still the most effective form of advertising available, but with it having moved into the digital age, you need to take full advantage because you can benefit from it in the long run.

Word of Mouth Marketing Through Pinterest

Word of mouth marketing through Pinterest

Pinterest is now the official number 3 US social network, and it seems to still be rising in the number of brands that are planning to use it. Described as a virtual pin board meant to share and organize the things you love, the social network started in 2010 and has become one of the biggest players in the e-commerce world. Its number of users has reached 145% since the beginning of 2012, better than that of Twitter or even Facebook.

ComStore states that online shoppers are 10% more likely to buy if they are referred from Pinterest, making word of mouth marketing one of the best things this network has. Therefore, these shoppers not only spend more, but they also do it on more items and more often than in other social sites.

How is Pinterest useful for your business?

If you are a small business owner or you just want to know how Pinterest can be useful to you, here are some things you should know.

As with most social media networks, one of the things you might do is a campaign. The crucial aspect of any campaign is the analysis, seeing what the results are, what has been good and what can be improved or changed. In order to help you with measuring your results, Pinterest offers some free reporting tools. If you usually would have to pay a great deal of money for these kinds of reports, the free tools available on Pinterest are now doing the job for you, and they're doing it for free.

Here are three of the most useful tools available on Pinterest:

PinReach - also known as PinClout, this tool brings analytics and insights in order to help monitor trends and help you see how successful your Pinterest page is. This tool provides an overall influence score, as well as easy-to-read tables and charts, displaying most popular boards and pins. You can see the top 5 pins and compare them staked up against each other. Details about the most far reaching boards' performance are available. You can also see the number of your pins, re-pins, followers, comments and likes for each one of them, and the page's overall score, otherwise called the total PinReach. Practically, you can see at a glance all your activity, how viral (spread through word of mouth marketing) your pins are, how many people are actually reading, liking, pinning and re-pinning your pins, the boards created, and the ones you are contributing to. It's also easy to learn generally about the Pinterest community, seeing other members that are doing well and learning from their experiences.

Pinerly - this is an analytic tool, promising to make it easy to keep track of likes, click-throughs and re-pins your pins have. This is available for any campaign created on Pinterest. Practically it enables you to see how effective your campaign is, whether your content and efforts are rewarded, and it allows you to optimize your content if and where it is necessary. Each pin used on this website creates a campaign that you can afterword breakdown and analyze with four metrics: likes, pins, re-pins and reach. The tool is particularly useful if you want to know how many times people are making a click through to your link, and is not available with any other Pinterest services. Furthermore, you may receive suggestions of users to follow, or pins to re-pin based on your interests and boards.

Although pretty new and still in testing, this tool is planning to offer more services, like more drilled down analytics and scheduling pins in advance, making it easier for brands to pin at specific moments, when followers are most active.

PinPuff - this calculates the influence you have on Pinterest, providing you with your activity, reach, and viral scores (word of mouth marketing). You can also see a detailed breakdown of the evolution of your top 20 boards. The calculation of your referral traffic and pins is calculated in 3 ways: cost per click, Pin Worth (Gen), Pin Worth (Ecom). The first refers to the measurement of each outward click or traffic referral on your pin. The second one refers to the worthiness of a pin with a non-sales landing page. Finally, the last one represents the worth of a pin that has a landing page wherein a user can purchase something.

Conclusion

Pinterest has had an amazing evolution lately, developing new strategies and offering great tools for you to be able to get your business known online, making it cheaper and available for anyone to have great marketing campaigns. The tools stated above are just some examples of how much social media has evolved, and how important word of mouth marketing is in today's e-commerce world.