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Best Practices For Hashtags

Best Practices For Hashtags

Hashtags (#) are the best and quickest way to search and figure out what Twitter users are chatting about. The bottom line is Twitter is more than just talking about what you’re having for dinner and when used properly the connections are endless.

 But, most importantly is how you use them, why you use them and what are the right ones to use, makes all the difference.

 

1. FIND AND THEN JOIN A CONVERSATION

Hashtags allow you to find your target market and when you do it’s very easy to find weekly chats where you can engage with link-minded individuals, support other’s ideas and share your opinions.

2. DON’T OVERUSE THEM

Think of a hashtag as being similar to Google ad words. When explaining to someone how they work the best analogy is to compare it to typing words in a Google search to find a product. Hashtags work very similar on Twitter and allow you to find others that are chatting around the world on a specific subject. The key is to use one, maybe two keywords (hashtags) in a tweet that is most relevant to the topic of conversation. Using more than two can be downright irritating to others and overkill.

 

Example of a great hashtag – I recently found out that I must adhere to a #glutenfree lifestyle and I’m looking for help. Using the hashtag #glutenfree allows your tweet to be seen by so many more individuals (not just your followers) that are discussing gluten-free and it’s a great way to connect with those that are discussing it. This is also how you can gain followers and start following those that are discussing gluten-free.

3. TARGET YOUR AUDIENCE

Think about networking face to face with individuals, it’s all about building a relationship, discussing your business and finding power partners. Twitter is the exact same thing only online. When you think about whom you want to connect with, hashtags makes it extremely easy.

 

If you have any other tips for using hashtags, please feel free to comment below.

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How To Choose Social Platforms For Your Business

How To Choose Social Platforms For Your Business

With all the existing & emerging social media platforms out there, choosing the right ones for your business can be a daunting task. At the beginning of the social media “revolution” I would frequently see business owner’s eyes light up and the suggestion of them being on Facebook or Twitter. Essentially they thought it meant instant fans in the thousands (and some even thought millions)! Now, I get more of the reaction “Social Media didn’t work for me.” Or “It’s not a good fit for my product category.” While there are numerous approaches and strategies when it comes to actually managing social media platforms for business, lets first address actually getting to those platforms.

 

CLICK HERE to see a list of the top social platforms so far for 2012 (determined by traffic generated only, not effectiveness)

 

STEPS TO DETERMINING PLATFORMS

 

1) Look at your clients/customers, partners & associations BEFORE looking at the list of social platforms

Before you get overwhelmed looking at a list of thousands of platforms to start accounts on, first figure out WHO your clients/customers are. Do NOT take this step for granted. Once you start discussing this or making a written list, you will see how it starts to grow. Once you have your list of clients, move on to partners, vendors, sponsors, etc. These are just as important to connect with as your existing clients. And don’t forget about that dream ideal client… what do they look like (on the inside…not in appearance silly)

 

Find Out Where The People/Business On Your List “Hang Out”

 

* What platforms are most of your existing clients on?

* Are your vendors, partners, suppliers, etc active on social media? If so, what platforms?

* What is the demo of your ideal client? Find the platform that best matches that

 

If you didn’t consider your customers existing platforms, you would all be talking a different language and never connecting!

 

 

2) Consider Your Time… Be Realistic

Again, BEFORE looking at platforms ask yourself “How much time do I have to dedicate to this daily/weekly?” Every platform has it;s own unique learning curve and some take longer than others to take hold. Determining how much time you have to dedicate to your social media marketing could eliminate some platforms immediately.

 

3) What Are You Wanting To Get From Your Efforts? Also referred to as “Strategy”

So, you have a decent amount of info in your brain now… and you’re ready to start looking at platforms right? NOT YET!!! It is incredibly important that you decide what your social goals are. There are both metric goals and (what I refer to as) Umbrella goals. Some examples of these are:

 

* Increase Awareness (new product, service, location, etc) – This does not result in direct trackable sales: Umbrella Goal

* Use social media platform X to give new users a visual of what X product is, allowing them to review, comment & offer feedback for company benefit: Umbrella Goal

* Utilize videos/articles/pictures to create visual of company offerings: Umbrella Goal

* Generate 25% more website traffic coming from social platform(s) X: Metric Goal

* Launch product/service exclusively on social platform to generate sales of X dollars: Metric Goal

 

Alrighty…. you feel like this yet? We haven’t event gotten to the platforms themselves!

 

 

3) Based on Your Goals Set Above & Time Available, Look at Size of Platforms and Ease of Use

Start considering overall site traffic. Platforms always recommended to be incorporated into strategy because of the sheer number of users & search-ability are Facebook & Twitter. That doesn’t mean you need to focus your efforts there, but being able to be found on platforms of that size is important.

 

4) Consider Niche Platforms For Your Industry

While you may exist on Facebook, that doesn’t mean you can’t benefit from LinkedIn, Digg, YouTube, Pinterest & more!

 

LEGAL INDUSTRY check out this social networking platform JUST for you!

 

EVENT PLANERS & Businesses that service weddings, this platform is GREAT for you to look into!

 

REAL ESTATE, INTERIOR DECORATORS, CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRIES look into starting an account on this networking platform

 

RETAIL, BAR/RESTAURANT, LOCATION-BASED businesses we recommend being on Foursquare

 

Other Honorable Mentions For Great Platforms For Small Business: Pinterest,  YouTube,  Tumblr,

 

 5) What People Think Of Your Business/Product IS Social Marketing Too! 

Don’t forget about the oldie but goody platforms like Yelp, Google Reviews, Yahoo Review, Travel.com, Hotels.com and many more!

If customers or people you have encountered in your business are out there “chatting” negatively about your business or writing bad reviews, you need to be aware of those as well, Addressing them publicly is the best way to handle most issues that arise.

 

 

Now What?

You’ve now determined what platforms your target audience resides on, which platforms you will sign up for, what your goals are for each and how much time you will dedicate to individual social platforms.  So now what?

 

The overall objective of social media are to tie all the intangible efforts out there back to your brand. And by doing so, accomplishing your goals. How do you do that? Well… that’s a whole nother blog post. So stay tuned!

 

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International Marketing: How Important Is “Word of Mouth” To Your Business?

On my recent travels to Spain, I spent the first week or so in Barcelona eating mediocre food. It wasn’t until 5 or 6 days into the trip that I began to meet people, talk to locals, take tours and get recommendations on what to do and where to go from other tourists & people I randomly chatted with. What I found was that you REALLY need to know where you are going to find a great place to eat, a specialty store or other particular establishments you may want to visit, because there is a SEA OF SATURATION when it comes to lil cafés and stores!

There are cafés that look absolutely adorable on the corner of a plaza but the food is sub-par. Or shops that you would think have the best products or price because of their storefront or how busy they are, but you almost always experience that ever dreaded “buyer’s remorse” after purchasing things from those places.

Once I got recommendations and knew exactly where to go (with the help of a map and a couple locals that understood my spanglish), I enjoyed the best food of my trip! Amazingly fresh tapas with waiters from all over the world that made my experience in their ten table lil restaurant one to remember! When I asked them why they are not as busy as some of the other cafes and what they do for marketing, they said they rely on “word of mouth” and trip advisor. So that got me thinking…

 

… Could Your Business Survive On Word Of Mouth Marketing? And what would clients/customers say about you when describing your services and their experience????

 

Yes Spain is Social, but the companies that embrace that are almost always the larger chains/franchises and well known brands that exist in numerous cities. No offense to Mickey D’s but I don’t exactly want to check-in on Foursquare while visiting Tarragona, Spain to get some free fries! I want to eat the food from local farms & restaurants, shop at locally owned stores that have history and a story, not Facebook Review Starbucks (which will get you an upgraded size espresso drinkers).

So I came up with a few questions that I thought would help any business owner in any products/service category:

 

1)      Where do your current customers come from and how did they find you?

2)      If you are found multiple ways (internet, signage, ads, etc) what percentage does each represent?

3)      What is your client retention rate?

4)      Do you have steady renewals or returning customers? If so, do you ask why they chose to return to you rather than your competition?

5)      Do you ask your clients regularly how you are doing and what their feedback is?

6)      Have you ever asked your existing clients to tell their friends/networks about a specific special you may have coming up?

7)      When a client does leave, do you ask why or continue to stay in contact with them?

8)      Do you have any sort of reward or discount program for returning customers?

9)      What would your employees say about working for you?

10)   What would a potential client say to their friend after receiving their first service from you?

 

Feel free to comment publicly on some of these, add your own questions or shoot us an email! I am right there with ya and will be addressing all of these myself, so for those of you that know me you can be expecting a survey soon. 

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Foursquare Is More Than Having A Mayor Of Your Bar

Foursquare Is More Than Having A Mayor Of Your Bar

I recently met with a prospective client that initially said he knew what Foursquare was and he didn’t want to have people competing over Mayorship so he wasn’t interested in utilizing it. Already sensing that his education on this platform was limited, I asked if he knew about OTHER ways Foursquare could be utilized. Or if he knew about the “Explore” and “Specials” features. I’ll give you 1 guess what his answer was…. This exchange inspired a blog post about how Foursquare has been successful for our restaurant/bar clients.

 

1) EXPLORE: User feature that allows your business to be found in area results

The Foursquare EXPLORE feature allows you to search for categorized businesses within your designated search range (Up to 10 miles and as narrowed as 0.5 miles). When the search results display, they also show which businesses have SPECIALS for checking in and allows you to view them! Talk about a motivation to frequent one business over it’s competitor in the same area…

As you can see from image below, users can also search specific categories like “gluten free”, “Italian food”, “dance club”, etc.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2) SPECIALS: User feature that allows your special to be viewed & unlocked with appropriate number of check-ins. Usually some sort of reward or discount is associated with specials

Below is an actual screenshot of one of our client accounts: Front Row Friday’s @ Chase Field. The image shows the two specials we have running, how many times they’ve been viewed, who viewed them, who their current mayor is and more stats  down the page. This client has decided to NOT utilize the mayor feature, rather offer a NEWBIE special for people who check-in for their first time! This special is viewable from inside Chase Field. When people check-in for 2012 DBacks games, they will see that Front Row has a special of Buy 1 Get 1 drinks for first time check-ins and hopefully make their way up to redeem at some point in the game. Foursquare just yielded a new potential guest just from having their special visible.

Most bars/restaurants have “regulars” right? Our client wanted to reward their regulars and incentivize people who do come often (but not necessarily considered regulars). Current special of Check-in 15 times before the 2012 Season started in Jan so guests had several months to come often in order to win a table for 5 to an April DBacks game.  This was developed to drive more traffic during an off-peak time for client.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3) DATA DATA DATA!: This is a business feature available to locations that utilize Foursquare platform benefits & specials

This is relatively new for Foursquare and by far, in our opinion, adds the most value to the platform. You so often hear “WHAT’S THE ROI OF SOCIAL MEDIA?” Well…. here are your stats! (At least for Foursquare)

 

 

So what do the above statistics tell us? A LOT!

- Who is checking in most often (as well as frequent visitors)

- How many check-ins are new and how many are repeat guests

- Times of the day that are most popular for visits

- Specials viewed vs redeemed compared to number of visitors

- Gender & Age of establishment’s Foursquare users

- How “Viral” your check-ins are based on sharing percentages

 

WHAT CAN YOU DO WITH THAT DATA?

* Adjust your specials to lean towards hours most popular; EX: happy hour vs dinner, breakfast vs lunch

* Different ages tend to trend towards liking different specials. EX: Younger demo may like drink specials more while older ages may like food discounts more

* If one special is being viewed but NOT redeemed (can find out via stats) then you can make necessary adjustments

 

FOURSQUARE is one of the platforms AMG utilizes for all of our bar/restaurant clients and many of our retail stores as well! The platform is incredibly versatile now and can provide helpful insights to business owners/managers on the specials they are currently running. So AMG says: USE IT!

 

 

 

 

 

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