Social Media Basics – Two Strategies (Part 2)
By Camille Rodriquez In our previous blog, we began exploring two basic strategies for social media marketing – the Search Strategy and the Content Strategy. To review, the Search Strategy is the process of getting your business “found” through SEO, backlinks, and website development. The Content Strategy is about creating or sharing relevant blogs, articles, or videos to create credibility, thought leadership, or referral opportunities. Both are good strategies, and both create numerous options when it comes to social media use. The best marketing actually uses both methods. In Part 2,...
read moreSocial Media Basics – Two Strategies (Part 1)
By Camille Rodriquez When it comes to marketing your business with social media, there are essentially two basic strategies. They are intricately connected, but the methods used in the different strategies are different. To explore this concept, we’ll make a few assumptions: 1. All businesses want to make money. 2. All marketing, even social media marketing, should contribute to lead generation. 3. All lead generation is not equal. Now, let’s take a look at these two strategies. We’ll call the first method a “Search” Strategy, and the second, we’ll call a “Content” Strategy....
read moreSocial Media – Split Testing
There are many things to which you could compare social media marketing, but one common element has to be present. Social media marketing is a fluid, evolving, dynamic process that never rests. To undertake this kind of marketing you must understand that what worked yesterday may not work today, and what “so and so” did, might work for them, but it may not work for you. Enter the concept of split testing. Split testing can take a lot of forms in marketing, but it serves to test your strategies so that you can adjust for getting the best results. Split testing, or A/B testing,...
read moreSocial Media Marketing In 15 Minutes Per Day
Business owners may feel that social media marketing is a giant black hole in which employees and staff get sucked into, never to return. There is no question that this can happen if time isn’t managed. Social media is fun, it’s entertaining, and it wouldn’t absorb the attention of millions if it weren’t engaging. However, the business owner usually has one purpose in mind for social media marketing – promoting the business, not playing games. So the question becomes how you can engage in social media marketing for your business without it taking time away from other important...
read moreSocial Media is Like a Marshmallow
When you’re launching a new business or trying to grow an existing one, there’s a temptation to think, “I’ll just get on all the social media networks, and that’ll bring in the business I need.” The leading social media platforms nag at your attention, vying for a dominant place in your schedule like marshmallows in your hot chocolate, but is it a case of the more the merrier when it comes to generating sales? There are a couple of false assumptions about that theory, so let’s look at a few of the issues and some options for what you might want to do instead. 1. “Get on...
read moreYou Don’t Have a Blog? You’re Losing Money…Period!
Today, we are proud to welcome our first guest blogger, Rick Ellis, of Tomorrow’s Online Marketing. Rick has a lot to share on the subject of business blogging, and we hope you’ll utilize the tips he shares here. As a representative of a TopOnlineMarketingFirm, I’m often asked, “Rick should my company have a blog?” The answer is, “You can’t afford not to…” Why? For starters, it’s a nearly free (it really only requires time) way to promote and market your business, its products/services, its mission. Read on and see my 5 reasons why you should be...
read moreFriday Flick – Measuring Social Media
Have you ever wondered what social media managers and social media marketers are being told about measuring ROI or social media? Today’s Friday Flick is a quick “take-away” from a meeting I attended this morning where folks and businesses just like Polka Dot Impressions were there to talk “measuring.” For the purposes of our discussion, we defined ROI as “Revenue – Costs = ROI” and the bottom line is that it varies for each business. How you measure ROI depends on whether or not you are monitoring AND measuring the things you’re doing in...
read moreFacebook vs Twitter for Marketing
Many business owners, particularly small business owners, ask me this question often. Which social media platform should I use to promote my business, Facebook or Twitter? Sometimes they are asking this because they are trying to focus on one platform at a time in order to maximize their in-house staff. Other times, they’re asking this because they are looking to hire new help or outsource their marketing, and they want to keep the costs down. Either way, more and more businesses are incorporating social media marketing into their daily activities, and this question comes up...
read moreHave You Swallowed the Social Media Happy Pill?
There are no quick fixes with social media marketing. There are no secret formulas or magic pills that will make it so. Ignore the rumors or the scams, and know this…Social media marketing takes time and energy. So, before you launch a social media campaign, or create a lot of pretty pages and profiles, ask yourself the following questions: Am I certain of my goals for social media? Are my goals possible with social media? Do I have the staff to implement the daily attention to these goals? Do I have a process for interactions across social media channels? How will I maintain a single...
read moreSEO vs SEM vs SMM?
Marketing is full of buzz words and jargon, some of which are harder to understand than others. Take for example, SMM, SEM, and SEO. Are they just a jumble of confusing letters, or are they important? They’ll be defined differently by different people, but in broad terms, what do these acronyms actually mean, and why does that matter to the business owner? SMM is short for “social media marketing” and is has to do with the promotion and engagement with fans on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, etc. SEO, “search engine optimization,” directs...
read moreWhat Do I Talk About?
One of the more common questions I get from business leaders is, “What do I talk about?” Of course, they’re referring to the commitment it takes to “do” social media marketing for their business. Recently I did a list of Quick Posting Tips to get you started, but when you look at that list, or if you’re the business leader trying to make some decisions, you’ll see that thought has to go into a posting strategy. While some posts appear random, in fact, a good social media posting strategy isn’t random. It sets out to convey information and obtain information. You want your...
read moreResolutions? Not Us!
This week, you’ll hear a lot of this word….resolution. However, you won’t hear it from us! Our “resolution”… twitter.com/PolkaDotImpres… — PolkaDotImpressions (@PolkaDotImpress) December 28, 2011 Instead, we’ll be creating a plan. In fact, we already have one…And there’s a big difference between a resolution and a plan. Whatever business you’re in, 2012 will see changes in it. That is the nature of business and many other things. If you are not growing, by default, you’re dying, so they say. That’s where a...
read moreGoing Wide Versus Deep in Social Media?
In the social media world, numbers are tossed around all the time. If you own a business, or handle marketing for a business, you already know this. Numbers in social media can measure your Klout, your Twitter Following Ratios, your Facebook Friends, your LinkedIn Connections, how many shares you have, your website/Twitter/Blog grades, your influence…and a host of other things. Sometimes these are helpful to look at, and sometimes, not so much. They all boil down to one thing. Does anyone care what you are saying? Rather than focusing on the numbers, I would challenge you to consider going...
read moreTwitter for Business Owners
One of the more common questions that I am asked by business owners is, “What can I really do with Twitter, anyway?” It seems that Twitter is easily misunderstood. So, let me give you a few tips for Twitter, especially for the business owner or manager. There are other things, too, but here are a few of the basics for you to try out. 1. Search – Across the top of your Twitter screen, you’ll see a field titled, “Search,” where you can input any term, key word, or person. Twitter will search its system to see if that term or name is being tweeted about. It’s like a mini-Google,...
read moreThe 3 R’s of Growing a Robust Business
There are thousands of books written on this subject. Some are good and worth the read and some are not. I’ve read many of them – of both types. I’ve sat at the feet of excellent and wise business coaches. I’ve been a part of life-changing work and a part of jobs that just paid the bills. In every case, whether for good or for bad, there were patterns of behavior that made one business or one company grow into something to be proud of over one business that well, just wasn’t quite “all that.” Those patterns boil down to three consistent elements that everyone intuitively knows,...
read moreThe Jekyll and Hyde of Marketing Strategy
Sometimes, random facts inspire a great analogy. Seeing something like that this morning, this one is too good not to share. Do you know the first names of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde? Most likely, you don’t. Now, before you run away from this article to Google those names, hang on and hear me out. I’ll give you their names at the end. In social media marketing, we like to make a big splash. We want to get noticed right away and make it big. Unfortunately it doesn’t always work that way, and often, the businesses that make it big right away can just as quickly fade out. In some...
read moreHow To Plan A Strategic Marketing Campaign
This may seem overly simplistic, but it really is the easiest way to use social media, strategically, and stay on target with your goals. The hard part is sticking to it. The hard part is not really hard, but time consuming; but truly, that’s the only difficulty in using social media for business. But remember this, consistency matters. It speaks to your commitment to your customers and your business philosophy, so consider your time and resources well. If you plan to engage in social media for business, keep reading, but do so with the understanding that you will either need to use your...
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