How to Maximize Your Facebook Presence

By now, many businesses have flocked to Facebook with the promise of raised awareness, increased brand loyalty and fresh sales leads. But are you doing all you can to maximize your company’s presence on Facebook?

First, it’s important to know what kind of users you are dealing with.  Here are some key behaviors to keep in mind as you develop your campaign:

• People are visiting fan pages looking for something in return—it could be coupons or discounts, exclusive information, entertainment to share with friends or maybe even recognition.
• The majority of a consumer's Facebook experience is the wall, which is also visible in their top news feed. The 95% of Facebook users view their news feed only, according to a recent study.
• With the new interface changes that took place this Fall, there is much more “passive sharing,” meaning a news feed is more cluttered with app updates from Netflix, Spotify and other sites connected to Facebook through an automatic update system. These changes are constant at Facebook so make sure to stay on top of what’s going on and maximize the technology or at the very least don't fall behind it.

It is often challenging to get attention when the Facebook universe is so vast and deep, but fret not. Social media is all about innovation and the best tips for success are discovered simply based on trial and error. So try these suggestions out and adjust as needed based on your target audience’s response.

1. Make “Like Us” buttons prominent and easy to find. One of the best ways to promote your Facebook presence is to simply add the small “f” icon on your website, but it shouldn’t stop there. Add the icon to your employee’s email signatures, to your e-newlsetter, or blog or any other digital communications.

2. Consider custom tabs. There’s more to a Facebook page than just the Wall. Consider working with a marketing agency that has experience in creating customized Facebook tabs. These become an extension of your website and can be used for product promotions and current offerings. Your designer can even arrange for these tabs to be the first landing page a user sees when they visit your page.

3. Engage and entertain. Social media definitely has a proven business value, but ultimately, users are looking for something fun and/or useful. Create content that makes them want to share with their friends or keeps them coming back for more. Quizzes, giveaways, exclusive videos and insights into the inner workings of the company are good ways to pique the interests of your fans and keep them engaged.

What are you looking to get out of your social media participation? Once you’ve determined the value Facebook or any other site has to your business, consider using an experienced marketing agency to do the heavy lifting—content research and development, posting and monitoring. Often the largest obstacle in the way of any kind of social media success is time.

Erin Higgins
Director of Marketing Services
ehiggins@cmasolutions.com

Put Twitter to Work for Your Business

You first opened a company Twitter account because everyone was doing it. You started to tweet because it was fun to try to get a full thought out in 140 characters or less. It probably didn’t take long before the honeymoon was over and tweeting became just one more thing on your to do list.

Before you let that Twitter account go cold, consider these tips for getting the most for your business out of this social media site.

Get Linked Up. Chances are if you are using or thinking of using Twitter, you probably already have a LinkedIn Group, Facebook Page, a blog or all of the above. Programs like TweetDeck integrate all of your social media sites allowing you to post content across multiple sites easily. Not only will this save time, but it will ensure your Facebook friends and LinkedIn connections are all receiving your posts.

Strike the Right Balance. Resist the urge to be overly promotional or "salesy." Your customers know that you are on Twitter to promote your business, but if you treat your account like a 24/7 infomercial, no one will be listening when you have something important to say. Start a conversation with your followers and give them a reason to listen.

Make Friends with the #. You’ve probably seen hashtags peppered through peoples’ tweets. Hashtags are a simple way to connect tweets about a specific topic. They make it easier for users to find tweets on a given subject. So why is this important to you? Twitter users often search hashtags for content from people they aren’t currently following. Using hashtags can be a great way to extend your reach and connect with your current audience in a new way.

Twitter can be a valuable way to communicate with your customers (and prospects) online. While it’s not a panacea, it can play a key role in an integrated branding and awareness campaign.

Still unsure how to get started? We can help!

Kaitlin Friedmann

PR Manager

kfriedmann@cmasolutions.com

CMA Displays its Many Talents to New Clients

CMA has begun launching marketing campaigns for three new clients: PIERS, Commercial Cleaning Corporation and KNF Neuberger.

For PIERS, a global trade intelligence organization, CMA is revamping its online presence through a custom-designed blog called Data in Motion, LinkedIn profile and Facebook page. CMA will additionally be conducting digital marketing for PIERS.

Commercial Cleaning Corporation, which offers maintenance services to both public and private sectors, turned to CMA update its brand including a the development of a comprehensive corporate brochure. After completion of this project, CMA plans to focus its efforts on the company’s website.

CMA is also working with KNF Neuberger, a manufacturer of diaphragm pumps for gases and liquids, supporting the company’s tradeshow sales follow up through digital and print communications.

Social Media: Do’s and Don’ts

It’s become pretty clear to businesses across the board—social media is here to stay. Now that you know you need to have a social media presence, let’s examine some best practices we’ve found work best for us and our clients.

1. Do participate. You might currently be what we in the social media business call “a lurker.” Maybe you have a Facebook profile, you check it once or twice a week, but you rarely provide your own status update. Social media is about two-way communication—don’t be afraid to test the waters. Share a funny article or quote your favorite author and show you are ready to engage with your friends. You will be rewarded with their feedback.

2. Don’t do it all at once. You’ve identified the need for a social media presence, but it can be overwhelming to launch everything at once without a clear plan. A good way to start is to launch a blog and post on at least a weekly basis and keep a schedule of what you’re going to post and when. Once the blog is launched, it gives you a solid foundation for future tweets and updates for your Facebook and LinkedIn walls.

3. Do maximize your time by using apps or tools that update across multiple platforms. HootSuite and TweetDeck are good examples of this—whatever your 140-character comment is for the day can be updated on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. all at once. You can even schedule posts throughout the day. This is especially important for businesses who want to keep a consistent message across all platforms.

4. Don’t be afraid to try new things! Social media changes every day and the most used platforms like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn make updates to their inferface, policy changes and new privacy rules very frequently. Stay flexible with social media—it takes time to develop a following and is self-policing. Only the most consistent participants are rewarded with followers, fans and group members. Change it up to keep those folks engaged long-term.

Keep in mind, social media is growing and changing, AND best of all, open to new and frequent innovations! While there’s no charge to use these sites, often the biggest investment is time. Let us know if you’re ready to jump in and we’ll work with you to develop an organized schedule and customized approach to a successful social media campaign.

Kaitlin Friedmann

PR Manager

kfriedmann@cmasolutions.com

What Summer Slowdown?

The summer months are certainly a fun time to be with friends and family and enjoy the warm weather. Contrary to popular opinion, I also believe it to be a productive time in the workplace. Here are some ways that small businesses in particular can keep their marketing messages moving during the summer months:

Webinars
In the summer, there are far fewer workshops, conferences and networking events being held. It’s the perfect time to launch your own webinar so that your customers can learn about your products, services or look to you for guidance on an industry trend completely at their own convenience.

Surveys
If your customer base does have some downtime, this could be the perfect timing to ask them for an update on their concerns or learn more about how the economy has affected them. Send out an email survey that takes no longer than five minutes to fill out and utilize that information to plan any marketing changes come September.

Social Networking
Are there some business contacts you’ve lost touch with? Maybe you finally have the opportunity this summer to start that LinkedIn Group you’ve been meaning to launch. Or, just take more time to learn about social networking sites—it’s a rapidly changing part of the way the world conducts business. Take some time to participate and strengthen your business network.

Don’t assume that all companies you work with have a “Summer Friday” policy. Reach out, keep marketing and communicating, and you’ll find the summer is more productive than you thought.

Jeffrey Barnhart
President & CEO
jbarnhart@cmasolutions.com

How Heavily Should You Rely on Social Media?

We’ve discussed social media strategies quite a bit since the inception of CMA Central, but it’s an ongoing conversation that needs to be had, as many organizations have come to rely on various social media to stay connected to key audiences.

But how much is too much reliance on social media?

In one of the most poignant speeches on creativity I’ve heard in a long time, Brian Crooks, a seasoned creative director and regional speaker, cautioned a crowd of New Jersey Communications Advertising and Marketing Association members to be careful about two particular things: 1) don’t proclaim anything “dead,” and 2) don’t put all of your eggs into the social media basket.

I tend to agree with Brian’s perspective, where social media should exist as just another medium to be considered. As creative professionals, it’s our challenge to create a plan where a website, traditional printed pieces, public relations and perhaps social media campaign interlock and complement each other in a way that resonates with the target audience. The tactics are a means to an end—a way to achieve the goal—and not necessarily the goal themselves.

CMA creates social media campaigns where it makes sense. Is your target audience on LinkedIn, for example? We won’t direct resources and energy in any area of social media until we are sure it’s the best medium to reach them. It helps to start to dip your toes into the waters of social media yourself, if you haven’t already. For the best information on new social media developments and guides, check out Mashable.com to learn more about social media’s capabilities for business applications. Or give us a call to learn more about the ways we can help you determine the path that’s right for you and your brand.

Jeff Barnhart
President and CEO
jbarnhart@cmasolutions.com

Linking In to Your Professional Network

Ask any business professional and they’ll agree—one of the most useful social networking sites for maintaining business connections is LinkedIn. Yes, there are countless success stories showing that Facebook has created new business opportunities. But LinkedIn can be used for different purposes than Facebook, and can expose you to new, qualified contacts endorsed by those you trust, among other valuable benefits.

LinkedIn has more than 50 million registered users, spanning more than 200 countries and territories worldwide. The purpose of the site is to allow registered users to maintain a list of contact details of people they know and trust in business. LinkedIn users can simply maintain a profile or actively join and participate in “Groups” according to their line of business or interests. For example, Creative Marketing Alliance’s Group page is designed to keep our clients, past clients and other qualified prospects up to date on our activities and services.

The benefits of using LinkedIn are twofold. Not only can you do some reconnaissance work on prospective clients, current customers or those you’ve worked with in the past, you can also connect with them through introductions or referrals through your own network of professional contacts. LinkedIn also provides a way for you to track down contacts that have changed jobs, creating consistency when email addresses often change.

Discovering the relationships between your peers through LinkedIn might also allow you to tailor your sales pitch to that prospective client better. Through the involvement with various Groups, a LinkedIn user has the opportunity to position themselves as an expert on a given topic, whether it’s through your own Group or through your comments on another Group’s page.

The beauty of LinkedIn is that it’s a good place to get your feet wet if you’re unsure about how to use social media, as it does not require constant updating like Twitter or other social networking sites. Let our team help you determine a systematic approach to your social media initiatives to guarantee manageability and success.

Jeffrey Barnhart
President & CEO
jbarnhart@cmasolutions.com

Don’t Rely on Luck! Promote Your Web Presence

Now that St. Patrick’s Day has come and gone, it’s important for marketing executives to realize that really establishing a web presence is not accomplished with the luck of the Irish. It’s a combination of integrated marketing and public relations tools that help build a brand and keep the target audience engaged.

For example, a company with a blog that is maybe two or three months old that isn’t seeing any traffic is not providing people with the right avenues to get there. Remember the old saying “If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it, did it really make a sound?” Think of this when planning your strategy for social media.

It’s become more common for companies to add “Follow Us On…” notes on their e-mail signatures, websites, e-newsletters and any other area that it makes sense to let your audience know there is an additional way to learn about your products, services and company culture. Blogs also often receive some of the most foot traffic from links embedded in other social media postings. For example, an employee’s Tweet may link to your company website providing a whole new network of potential customers with access to your company’s bloggers.

Social media components such as blogs, Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook provide a customer with a less formal way to get to know who they are doing business with. Candid, transparent insights into that company’s business practices and how a client can benefit are easier to find on social media sites than in a corporate brochure or on a website. Both serve wonderful purposes to educate a customer, but think of social media as taking your mission and vision statements a step further in a literal and conversational sense.

It takes planning and the effort of dedicated individuals to run an effective social media campaign that is constantly kept fresh and new. Rushing to jump on the bandwagon can end up being an unlucky move in the end.

Erin Higgins
Director of Marketing Services
ehiggins@cmasolutions.com