Warning: 5 Ways You Are Losing Engagement By Not Using Social Media For Your Business

The opportunities are endless for today's business owner to reach potential consumers and convert them into lifetime customers. But in this modern landscape, users want to engage in a virtual community where they can be advocates, share ideas, and get the latest scoop on new product offerings and services. Making your presence known in a social space is essential for growing your business.

Interestingly enough, some of the most successful business owners have learned how to use technology to gain an edge. Rather than shelling out thousands of dollars on prime air-time, companies are learning to generate buzz by creating viral content and encouraging shares and likes. If you are not currently using social media for business, there are five things you need to know where you may be missing out on engagement:

1. Let's face it - Anyone who's anyone is on social media these days - Not being on social media is like not listing in the Yellow Pages in the 1980's. If you aren't utilizing these channels wisely you are limiting your audience and making it harder for potential clients to contact your business easily. A social media page is now like using a search engine. Consumers want information that is easily accessible and they want it at the stroke of a key. You want to be ahead of the pack by greeting your visitors with amazing content that is up to date and ready to go viral at a moment's notice.
   
   
   1. 72% of online adults are using social networking sites.
      http://www.pewinternet.org/2013/08/05/72-of-online-adults-are-social-networking-site-users/
      
      
   2. In 2012, nearly 20% of respondents reported not using social media tools; in 2013 that number was down 11% http://moz.com/industry-survey
   
   
2. Maintaining your reputation - Be it positive or negative, engaging with your customers through social media can turn a potentially negative experience into a positive highlight for your business. Earlier in 2013 after a hacking incident, Buffer showed great poise in the management and response to such an experience. Customers sometimes just want to have a voice. We all know the reach a negative impression can stretch and often it goes unnoticed or unresolved. Having that personal conversation with the customer shows them that you are not only engaged, but place great customer value for the service or product your business offers. Making a positive customer experience allows your reputation to shine and in turn, social advocacy will start turning its wheels. Maintaining your reputation allows your fans or followers to make suggestions for improvements, share the latest updates, and voice opinion on which products or services they would like to see most often.
   
   
3. Beating your competitors at the game - Having a popular social media page with a large following increases your exposure over your competitors. Being able to engage directly with potential customers gives you a strong advantage over a competitor who isn't online.
   
   
   1. By being on social media when your competitors are not, you're already delivering better customer service.
      
      
   2. This is a great place to start developing trust for first time buyers. It signals that you care about your customers if something went wrong.
      
      
   3. Pushing content-based and promoted ads to the Facebook News Feed in 2014 will prove to give you that competitive edge. Even spending $1 on Facebook ads per day will get you in front 4,000 more consumers than your competitors. That's a win in my book.
      http://moz.com/blog/1-dollar-per-day-on-facebook-ads
   
   
4. Social media is a fun place to engage - Showing fans your authenticity is very important in the eyes of today's social media goers. Being in command of your social media page allows you to be more personable when it comes to interacting with your customers. You can reply directly to their comments and re-adjust your tone to accommodate the given situation. Just like a search landing page, it is important to make your content exciting and interesting. Your page needs to stand out, because it is typical for a searcher to spend less than 20 seconds, before deciding whether or not they will take an action in a buying decision. Make the page pop with visual appeal by utilizing photos, videos, and banners. Social media gives you an easy opportunity to improve brand awareness and build your identity. Be quick to the punch and put a human voice to your brand - one that people, your customers can connect with on a personal level.
   
   
5. Now more than ever Google is placing more recognition on social behavior - In a vast digital arena where Search Engines grade your rankings based off social interaction and reviews, really depends on a business owner's willingness to obtain technical prowess. Not having a social page can cause your presence to decrease on Google's radar and slip down the search results, potentially loosing visitors to your website. Social media will help you increase the amount of traffic your website receives. Social media is an SEO ranking signal and has grown increasingly important. Being talked about and mentioned on social sends a positive signal and drives Google to seeing your site as more authoritative, which will help you rank better in organic SEO.

So what are the main take-aways for your business to become social savvy?

• Be Proactive! - Build your social media page to fit your business' consumer base and start creating a buzz! Make your content engaging and most importantly, have fun!
  
  
• Engage your Customers and Create Social Advocacy - Personalize your brand to your consumers and let them know what real customer value is all about!

While it takes time to be a social media Jedi, social media engagement is no longer an option but an essential part of your online business plan.


About The Author: Anna Johnson is a Senior Digital Marketing Analyst at seoWorks and takes a great interest in everything marketing, social media and internet related and enjoys sharing her knowledge on these subjects.

Did you find this article helpful? Please let Anna and myself know by leaving us your valued comments below.

Would you like to guest post on the blog? Please use the Contact tab above to get in touch if you write business-related articles or articles on the topics of Internet Marketing, Affiliate Marketing, Social Media Marketing/Optimisation (SMO), Blogging, Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) or Search Engine Marketing (SEM).

Related articles:
Facebook Branding For Online Business
Five Effortless Things Business Owners Can Do To Boost Their Social Media Presence
How Pinterest Can Help Your Small Business

For more business tips plus helpful articles on marketing your business on social media, use the following links:
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http://www.derekjones.co/search/label/Social%20Media%20Marketing


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Until my next post on the basics of business networking, I wish you every success with your business!

© 2014. This article is DMCA protected. Republication is prohibited.

How To Protect Your Business' Reputation Online

Believe it or not, your business could face all kinds of threats in the online arena when it comes to reputation. This is especially true if you fail to recognize warning signs and address them accordingly.

While you're probably aware that customer complaints aired on public forums can damage your reputation, you may not realize that unscrupulous competitors can launch attack campaigns, relying on the anonymity of the internet to come after you without the fear of repercussions. But you can also do harm to yourself by failing to create a positive image to counteract the negative one. So if you're looking to build and maintain a stellar online reputation that will help to bring in traffic and increase sales (the main goals of any business), here are a few protective measures you might want to take in order to ensure your virtual success.

The first thing you should do, if you haven't done so already, is build your online presence. This means more than setting up a website with an online store; you should also engage in outreach efforts that allow you to connect with a wider audience. You might do this by creating an on-site blog and setting up social media profiles. These outlets will not only allow you to interact with consumers on a level that doesn't require them to buy something, in essence offering them added value, but it also helps you to create the type of image that you want to present. As for your website and other platforms, you must use them to your best advantage through integrated efforts and optimization. The best way to ensure that people looking for you encounter a positive image is to create it yourself and take the steps necessary to spread it.

Of course, you can't rest on your laurels once you have built up a good reputation. You need to protect it. It's not enough to create and update your content for optimization purposes (although this is certainly the larger part of protecting your online reputation). You must also be aware of any negative press so that you can catch smear campaigns early and put a stop to them. Even with vigilance, however, you may not have much luck facing down your detractors.

While you can certainly contact administrators to request that libelous information be removed, you won't get much traction if you simply ask them to take down negative commentary. What you can do, of course, is make sure that any customers who contact you directly receive the incredible service that will keep them satisfied. And you can reach out to industry forums and blogs to ask for equal air time to set the record straight. But there's no guarantee you'll get what you ask for, and calling out those who post complaints might backfire anyway.

However, all hope is not lost. When you reach the end of your own ability to combat a negative reputation you might consider online reputation management services. There are many companies out there dedicated to cleaning up negative press and helping to restore the online reputation their client companies deserve. So whether you've made some mistakes along the way or you're competitors have tried to bury you with negative press, these services can help you to turn things around and get back on track with building a good reputation online.


About The Author: Leon Harris is a contributing writer for Reputation.com Reviews, an online reputation management services organization. Harris lives in Southern California, and enjoys eating healthy and exercising with his two Golden Retrievers.

Did you find this article helpful? Please let Leon and myself know by leaving us your valued comments.

Would you like to guest post on the blog? Please use the Contact tab above to get in touch if you write business-related articles or articles on the topics of Internet Marketing, Affiliate Marketing, Social Media Marketing/Optimisation (SMO), Blogging, Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) or Search Engine Marketing (SEM).

Related articles:
Your Blogging Reputation Is At Stake
How Your Business Can Cope With Bad Online Reviews
Why A Bad Business Reputation Is Harder To Ditch Than Ever Before
What Is Online PR And How Can It Help Your Business?
Are You Speaking The Right Language With Your Customers


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Until my next post, have an enjoyable and relaxing bank holiday weekend!

© 2013. This article is DMCA protected. Republication is prohibited.

Your Blogging Reputation Is At Stake

It doesn't matter if you blog to put food on the table or if you do it for fun. Either way, you've likely dedicated a lot of time and effort into creating a stellar reputation as a top-notch blogger - a reputation that you need to protect.

If you've mastered the art of blogging, but have no idea how to maintain your glowing image, here are a few tips:

1. Remember that "more" isn't better
   
   Don't flood your blog with mediocre content. Your audience wants quality posts, not a barrage of humdrum material. It is better to create awesome content once a week than foist a daily dose of drivel upon your dedicated followers. Nothing kills your blogging reputation faster than crappy content.
   
   
2. Choose guest bloggers with care
   
   If you allow guest bloggers to post on your site, make sure their material is share-worthy. Cut and paste regurgitations, content that reads like a sedative, and poorly written gobbledygook will make you and your blog look bad - tarnishing your pristine reputation.
   
   
3. Monitor your press
   
   Bing, Google, and Yahoo your name regularly to see what they are saying about you. If you blog for your company, monitoring search engines should become a regular part of your online business management routine.
   
   The most popular search engines also offer alerts that will let you know every time there is a new post pertaining to you. Hopefully, these new posts are positive - but if they aren't, you will now be able to respond quickly.
   
   If you are a guest blogger, make sure that you request e-mail alerts whenever someone makes a comment on your post. WordPress blogs usually have an RSS feed for post comments; you just have to grab that feed and put it into your RSS feed reader. This will enable you to reply to your readers, which lets them know that they are valued. There is nothing more annoying than someone who wants to be heard, but won't hear others. Don't be that person.
   
   
4. Be yourself - unless you are boring
   
   Choose topics that inspire you. If you hate knitting, don't write about it - unless it's a post about why you hate knitting. It's hard to compose quality work if you really don't care about your topic. And it's doubly hard to write an informative piece about something that you don't understand. Wasting your reader's time with meaningless fluff will hurl your blogging reputation into an irrecoverable nosedive.
   
   It is equally important that you write in your own voice - unless, of course, that voice is borderline illiterate or lulls your audience into a comatose state. But, if you have chosen to blog, you likely don't suffer from either of those impediments - so be yourself.
   
   
5. Be a "follower"
   
   Actively follow and support other bloggers that you admire. Not only can you learn a great deal about your craft, but you will also create a valuable network of blogging friends. Encourage other bloggers with comments and "likes" - and they will repay the favor. They may even re-blog your posts, exposing you to an even larger audience. Generous bloggers enjoy much greater success than those who blog in a bubble. And generosity definitely boosts one's blogging reputation.

Your reputation as a blogger is one of your most valuable assets and you need to work to protect it. Creating high quality material, keeping an eye on what others are saying about you, and engaging in a tad bit of "sucking up" will go a long way towards fostering and maintaining a first class blogging image. And sometimes you might have to make a guest blogger cry.


About The Author: Kimberley Laws is a freelance writer and avid blogger. Her blogs are her "babies" and she welcomes any advice that will help her protect her "babies" and her blogging reputation.

Did you find this article helpful? Please let Kimberley and myself know by leaving us your valued comments.

Would you like to guest post on the blog? Please use the Contact tab above to get in touch if you write business-related articles or articles on the topics of Internet Marketing, Affiliate Marketing, Social Media Marketing/Optimisation (SMO), Blogging, Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) or Search Engine Marketing (SEM).


If you found this or any of my other posts helpful, don't forget to share the posts to your favourite networks using the toolbar below or by using the "+1" and "Share" buttons located at the bottom of each post.

As ever, if you want to stay up to date with the latest blog posts, don't forget to follow via Google Friend Connect (button on sidebar), on NetworkedBlogs, via Email (maximum of one email per day), on Facebook and Google+ or by subscribing to our blog feed at:
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Until my next post tomorrow, enjoy the rest of your day!

© 2013. This article is DMCA protected. Republication is prohibited.

How Your Business Can Cope With Bad Online Reviews

It's 2013 everyone! I hope you all enjoyed the festive holidays and have made your New Year's resolutions. :)

Now that we are in 2013, I would like to take this opportunity to wish each and every one of you a Happy New Year. Hope 2013 brings you good health, joy, happiness and prosperity. All the very best for the year ahead.

The first post of this year is by our regular guest author, Wayne Barker explaining how your business can cope with negative online reviews. I hope you find the post helpful and as always, don't forget to leave us your valued comments.


How Your Business Can Cope With Bad Online Reviews

In this technological age of social networking, not only is a public bad review seen by the business it's directed at, but it can also be seen by anyone and everyone with access to the internet. Worryingly, studies show that 4 out of 5 consumers changed their minds about a purchase after reading a negative review about it online.

No longer can a company ignore a bad review and hope for the best, here in this article are some practical and pre-emptive steps to take when dealing with a less than complimentary review.


1. Plan your response

Don't respond to a review unless you can fix the problems that are being raised, it's a fact that you just cannot please everyone so don't waste any time trying to. If you do have the power to improve the issue, offer an apology and a promise for an improved consuming experience for the aggravated customer as well as an assurance for all future customers that the issue will not arise again. Be sure to avoid personal feelings when responding to a review, you are coming from the point of view of a business!


2. Get to know local review websites

There are thousands upon thousands of review websites on the internet, and if you understand how these review websites work, you can really use them to your advantage. Different sites allow you to interact with reviews in different ways. Some sites will let you respond to reviews, some will let you delete bad reviews and others may even let you edit reviews. Spend some time researching popular review websites and get a good understanding how they work. Check them regularly for customers feedback and even check to see if you can be notified by email when you are mentioned in a review.


3. Learn to work bad reviews in your favour

Bad reviews are going to happen whether you like it or not but if you can manipulate your words and create constructive criticism, you can do yourself a lot of favours. It's vital to acknowledge that your customer is upset so don't brush that aside when responding to a bad review, but try and get the customer to see the story from your point of view as a professional. Not only will apology placate the customer making the complaint, but it will assure other potential customers that you listen to their feedback and work with it.


4. Don't ignore a bad review

Do not assume that a bad review won't be seen and that you can forget about it easily; the popularity of social networking means that negative publicity can spread like wildfire. The best way to control a bad review like this is to nip it in the bud before it gets heated; placate the upset customer with some calming words and hopefully calm down any hype that was building. Not only will you save yourself any misery but you might even gain some business from those whom respect your work ethic.


This post was written by Wayne Barker for Hallmark Consumer - experts in e-fulfilment.

Would you like to guest post on the blog? Please use the Contact tab above to get in touch if you write business-related articles or articles on the topics of Internet Marketing, Affiliate Marketing, Social Media Marketing/Optimisation (SMO), Blogging, Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) or Search Engine Marketing (SEM).

Related articles:
Why A Bad Business Reputation Is Harder To Ditch Than Ever Before
What Is Online PR And How Can It Help Your Business?
Are You Speaking The Right Language With Your Customers


If you found this or any of my other posts helpful, don't forget to +1 or share the posts to your favourite networks using the toolbar below or by using the "+1" and "Share" buttons located at the bottom of each post.

As ever, if you want to stay up to date with the latest blog posts, don't forget to follow via Google Friend Connect (button on sidebar), on NetworkedBlogs, via Email (maximum of one email per day), on Facebook and Google+ or by subscribing to our blog feed at:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/DereksHomeAndBusinessBlog

You can also follow me on Twitter @djones1509, Google+ and on Facebook at:
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See you back here on Friday with a new post!

© 2013. This article is DMCA protected. Republication is prohibited.