What Can a Tweet Do for Your Business? More Than It Used to Do!

If your business uses Twitter to connect with customers and prospects, you probably know that you can now use 280 characters per tweet. What you may not know is what exactly that means for your Twitter marketing strategy.

Many businesses are under the mistaken impression that more characters simply allow them to say more of the same thing. The truth is, these extra characters, when used correctly, can boost engagement. The key is to know how to use them to your advantage. What follows are some simple ways to make every extra character count:

  1. Include additional information. The 140-character limit usually meant you had a choice to inform or to make an offer. Now you can do both. This makes your tweets twice as valuable to customers.
  2. Express yourself. Let’s face it, there is only so much you can say in 140 characters so your use of the language was pretty limited. The higher character count allows you to be more expressive and creative, making your tweets more compelling to readers because you are able to appeal to their emotions.
  3. Increase readability. Line and sentence breaks were once considered a waste of valuable Twitter characters, making tweets difficult to read. Now you can write in a manner that is easier to understand and one that would make your high school English teacher proud!

While you will be writing more content per tweet, you will likely find that these tweets will actually take less time to compose. That’s because trying to fit what you wanted to say in 140 characters took a lot of editing and re-editing. Longer tweets allow you to say what you want to say without forcing you to spend valuable time deciding what you needed to leave out in order to come in under the character count.

Finally, when you customers and prospects connect with you via Twitter, you can actually engage with them in a more impactful way. Since so many people use Twitter to comment on customer service these extra characters will go a long way toward allowing you to get your point across when you reply.

Longer tweets mean more visibility and visibility is what social media is all about. Twitter’s increased character limits, when used to their full advantage, will help your brand be better seen and heard by customers and prospects.

Four Ways to Improve Your Social Media Performance

Chances are if you own a small business you are using social media to market your brand, as well as the products and services you provide. After all, social media is one of the best methods to connect with customers and prospects without breaking the bank.

Unfortunately, many small businesses reach a point where they feel as if they have done all that they can when it comes to social media. They enjoy a good following and are able to interact with customers and prospects on a fairly regular basis. The truth is, however, that social media’s reach is truly endless and no matter how much success you are currently enjoying, you can always achieve more.

So how can you kick it up a notch when it comes to your social media? What follows are some tips to expand your reach, increase your number of followers and, as a result, improve your lead generation efforts and overall sales.

    1. Up your posting game. Posting consistently on your social media sites is imperative to your success. Sporadic posting just won’t cut it. Review what you are posting, as well. It can be easy to fall into the trap of just slapping up a post to say you posted. As difficult as it may be, aim for making every post better than the last.
    1. Always be analyzing. Learn from your successes and failures on social media. Always track your posts to determine what worked best and what didn’t work. Use this knowledge to tailor future posts. It also is a good idea to analyze what your competitors are posting and how many likes, shares, etc. they are seeing. Are there topics they are focusing on that you aren’t? Give those same topics a try.
    1. Make sure your visuals really enhance your posts. It is well-known that pictures and videos increase engagement – but only if they are compelling. Make sure any picture or video you post is pertinent to the content it accompanies.
  1. Join the club. Join communities but be careful about promoting your product. If someone asks a question, you can share a solution but straight out selling is a no-no. Many small businesses wonder what the benefit of joining communities is if they can’t sell to these communities. Two words: relationship building.

Social media is one of the most inexpensive ways to market your business. Make sure you are taking full advantage of it by always looking for ways to do things better!

The Key to Using Social Media for B2B

The Key to Using Social Media for B2B. When many people think of social media, they think of funny cat videos, connecting with long-lost high school friends and sharing family photos. In light of this fact, it is easy to understand why many in the B2B world wonder how they can use social media to communicate with their customers and prospects.

The truth is, social media is an incredible tool for B2B marketers. The key is to know how to communicate your specific message via social media. What follows are some handy tips to help you do that:

Tip #1: Remember that content really is king. No matter what you are posting on social media make sure it is of value. Specifically, it needs to connect, educate and inspire your B2B customers and prospects.

Tip #2: Let your brand’s personality shine through. B2B posts aren’t usually littered with viral videos or funny memes but they still need to convey the personality of your brand so that people are able to get to know you better.

Tip #3: Ditch the sales pitch. Avoid overtly selling your products or services and instead educate visitors on issues that are relevant to your industry. Doing this allows you to be seen as a thought leader and builds trust in your brand.

Tip #4: Spread the good news. While you don’t want to blatantly promote your business, neither do you want to neglect significant company milestones. Therefore, don’t shy away from announcing industry awards your company has received or significant product launches.

Tip #5: Communicate your message in a variety of ways. Use tactics like videos, blogs and infographics to maintain interest.

Tip #6: Take surveys and hold contests. These types of posts are historically very popular with social media followers and are more likely to be liked and shared. This leads to more attention for your brand.

Tip #7: Get Interactive. Always encourage customer feedback and respond to feedback in a timely manner.

Tip #8: Keep your ear to the ground. Don’t forget to monitor the social media sites of your competitors. This is a great way to find out what others in your industry are talking about and helps you keep tabs on the competition.

Social media is—and will continue to be—a driving force in the marketing world. Therefore, whether you are marketing to businesses or consumers, you must use it to your advantage.

The Secret to Getting Noticed on Social Media

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Social media marketing is all the rage these days. And with good reason. Marketing on social media has been shown to have a much higher lead-to-close rate than outbound marketing. It also is a great way to get your brand the attention it deserves.

If you are considering using social media to market your products or services, you are not alone. Over 50 percent of businesses are taking advantage of social media marketing and this number is expected to grow.

Of course, the popularity of social media marketing means that many businesses are using the same techniques. The result is a social media marketplace saturated with the same old same old. If you are looking for new and different ways to use social media to market your brand, product or service, we’ve got some creative ways to stand out among the crowd:

  • Hand it over: If you have one person handling your social media posts, consider guest posters such as a customer or another employee. When different people post to your account they offer another perspective which can be refreshing.
  • Hashtag it: Encourage satisfied customers to share the good news about your business with a hashtag you have created for just that purpose.
  • Say cheese: Give customers a behind the scenes look at your business by posting pictures of what goes on behind the scenes at your business./li>
  • Ask others to say cheese. Ask customers to post pictures of themselves using your product or service or anything else related to your brand.
  • Play some games: Caption contests or trivia questions are great ways to engage customers. Give the winner of these contests a gift certificate or some other prize. The chance of winning something is sure to increase engagement.
  • Make a difference: Support a local charity and encourage your followers to get involved. A diaper drive for a local shelter or a dog wash to raise money for the local humane society are examples.
  • Ask questions: Surveys and polls are an excellent way to engage with customers and prospects. Create surveys around specific events or holidays. Ask followers to respond with their favorite type of Halloween candy or a must-have side dish at Thanksgiving. The key is to make it light and fun.
  • Share some stats: Readers love statistics. What’s best, when those stats confirm something one of your follower believes, that follower is likely to share it—driving more traffic to your site. Top 10 lists are another way to share stats.

The best part about social media marketing is that you don’t have to sink a ton of money into it for it to be successful. Likewise, if a particular tactic isn’t working, you aren’t out a great deal of money. In the end, the key to social media marketing success is standing out from the crowd.

It’s Never too Early to Start Planning Your Holiday Social Media Strategy

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The kids are back in school and Halloween is still weeks away but if you own a business that relies on holiday sales, it’s time to start thinking about the most wonderful time of the year. Otherwise it might not be wonderful at all.

Many small businesses wonder how they can stand out among the many extravagant marketing campaigns that are rolled out ahead of the holiday shopping season. Thankfully, social media allows these businesses to garner the attention of their customers and prospects without breaking the bank.

If you have not started putting together your holiday social media strategy, now is the time. Here are some things to keep in mind as you build this strategy:

  • Less is more. When you try to post on every platform out there, you will find yourself unable to do any of them right. Instead, focus on a few social media platforms that you know your customers frequent and concentrate your efforts on the visitors to these sites.
  • Focus on followers. Offer special deals that are only available to your social media followers. This encourages followers to share your deals with friends and family. This creates a buzz around your social media sites that will allow you to gain followers and get your brand noticed.
  • Ship for free. With people spending so much money over the holidays, they are always on the lookout for ways to save. When surveyed, almost 50 percent of consumers said that free shipping plays a significant factor in whether or not they make a purchase. Consider offering free shipping codes to social media followers or use social media to advertise free shipping offers.
  • Get personal. Facebook allows you to use its targeting features to reach a specific demographic. You can target your social media messages to reflect a particular age group or geographical area, for example.

Of course, no matter how effective your social media strategy is at garnering attention for your brand, none of it will matter if you don’t back it up with superior customer service. The holidays can be an especially hectic and stressful time of year for consumers. When you are there for them—responding quickly when they have a problem or question—they won’t soon forget. The result? Happy holiday shoppers that remain loyal long after the season is over.