LinkedIn Tidbit – LinkedIn Signal

A LinkedIn Tidbit

 

LinkedIn is a great Social Network to include in your overall Social Media strategy, especially if you work with professionals and do business to business transactions.

Here is a quick video that LinkedIn released this year on how you can use the LinkedIn Signal feature for your networking and research on LinkedIn :

 

 

This is just one way you can use LinkedIn as part of your social networking and social media strategy.

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What Is Social Media SEO?

Social Media and the impact on SEO

 

In times past, search engine optimization (aka SEO) and social media wouldn't have been used in the same sentence. After all, search engine optimization comprises techniques designed to help boost one's search engine rank placement and social media sites, like Facebook, allow you to connect with your friends or customers in a "social" way.

However, recent changes by both Google and Bing make it clear that these major search engines are looking to social media sites as a way to validate the quality of the content found on websites. Those that make the grade are being rewarded with improved search engine rankings… even in "regular" search.

While there are some differences in the way Google and Bing are using information from social media sites to adjust their indexes, there are many similarities. The search engines are looking at the "authority" of the account holder and placing more importance on any links posted on sites like Twitter and Facebook.

While the links themselves may be "no follow" links, that isn't stopping the search engines from adjusting the indexes and increasing the search engine rank placement for the web pages they point to. In fact, some have said that it appears as though "retweets" are the new form of linkbuilding.

Both Google and Bing are looking at the frequency that a particular link is posted (or re-posted) on the social media sites and are also paying attention to who is doing the posting. If your links are being posted by an individual or business that is considered to be an authority by the search engines, the associated web page may see a boost in its search engine ranking.

This development validates what many marketing experts have believed for more than a year now;  Social media's importance is growing  in the eyes of the search engines and this trend will likely continue. It's well known that Google places a premium on relevant content and quality sites and pages so it should come as no surprise that they are tracking the number of people who liked your content well enough to share it with others.

Those who would like to take advantage of these new search engine trends are encouraged to make it as easy as possible for others to share their content or the links they contain. Adding a "retweet" function to your website or blog, for example, can dramatically increase the likelihood that your content will be shared by your visitors via Twitter.

 

If you would like to lear more about Social Media SEO you can request our FREE Report by clicking on the image below:

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Customize your Facebook Profile

Customize your Facebook Profile for Branding

Facebook is a great tool to use for marketing and branding for both businesses and individuals.  Depending on what your focus is you may opt to build your network with a personal Facebook profile verses a Business Facebook Page.

If you choose to use a personal profile there is a new application that you can use to tweak your profile and help strengthen your personal brand.

Schwepps the beverage company has created this application and made it available to you for use.  It is called “Profile Yourself” and it gives you the ability to run a giant photo via multiple windows on your profile page.

Here is a video that show how this app works.

 

You can get the application at Schweppes Fan Page:  http://www.facebook.com/SchweppesFanPage

If you are looking for a few more examples of tweeks you can make to your page you can check out this article from Mashable: http://mashable.com/2010/12/14/new-facebook-profile-hacks/

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Does Google use Social Data for Ranking

 A lot of our clients often ask how important is our activity on Social Media sites in relationship to our Google ranking.  This is definately something that Google has their eye on and may start using more an more for ranking a listing.

Here is a great video directly from Google on this particular topic:

 

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Social Media – Is it Hype or truly a money maker for your business

Everywhere you turn you are hearing about Social Media and how your business MUST use it to grow and connect with your current and prospective customers and clients.  Unfortunately, however many businesses don’t grasp the power of using Social Media right away and sometimes wonder if the effort of getting on board and getting started is worth it.

We have seen several clients grow their base of Fans and followers and then in turn convert these connections into either new customers or repeat customers from Social Media efforts.  It does however sometimes take a 3-6 month period to begin to build a loyal following and truly convert these supporters to trusting loyal customers.

Today we wanted to share some  great case studies of companies that have embraced Social Media and show the success and profit they have gained from these efforts.

The first example of success is from a business called Healthy Horizons Breastfeeding Center.  This company is now getting about 15% of their business from social networking activities.  You can read more about this Social Media Success story from this USA Today article.

The Crème Brulee Man is another great example of a small business successfully using Social Media.  The Crème Brulee Man operates a food cart and in just over a year now has over 12,000 followers on Twitter.  Every day he announces his location for the day via Twitter.  You can check out his Twitter account at http://twitter.com/cremebruleecart.

Dr. Irenea Vaksman is a Dentist that has done a great job of embracing Social Media and using it to grow her practice.  Dr Irena Vaksman has deployed the following Social Media tools to take advantage of the power of Social Media: a Blog, Facebook Page, Twitter Profile and a YouTube Channel.

Hopefully looking at the above case studies of success with Social Media will convince you that it is not just hype and it can and is a money making and business growing activity.

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A search engine just for Facebook – FacePINCH

 

FacePINCH is a search engine that will search posts and status updates on Facebook of those that have thier privacy set to public.  Once you enter a keyword or a phrase FacePINCH will return real time results.

In playing with this tool, it can be very useful in tracking a brand, watching keywords and finding new connections related to a specific niche

 

 

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New Privacy Controls from Facebook

Facebook’s privacy settings have been an item of concern for several people recently – even driving some individuals to delete their account and quit Facebook.

Today Facebook unveiled an update of the privacy controls available to users.  I guess you could say they listened and took action.

The number one thing that Facebook executives heard was that there needed to be simpler way to control your information and who could access it.  This being the case the number one change is a simpler way to control your information.  There will now be a single control for your content and more powerful controls for your basic information as well as an easy control to turn off all applications.

With the new privacy controls being added to Facebook starting today Facebook  will:

• Provide an easy-to-use “master” control that enables users to set who can see the content they share through Facebook. This enables users to choose, with just one click, the overall privacy level they’re comfortable with for the content they share on Facebook. Of course, users can still use all of the granular controls we’ve always offered, if they wish.

• Significantly reduce the amount of information that must be visible to everyone on Facebook. Facebook will no longer require that users’ friends and connections are visible to everyone. Only Name, Profile Picture, Networks and Gender must be publicly available. Users can opt to make all other connections private.

• Make it simple to control whether other applications and websites access any user information. While a majority of our users love Facebook apps and Facebook-enhanced websites, some may prefer not to share their information outside of Facebook. Users can now opt out with just one click.

The video below is the statement that Mark Zuckerberg released to the press outlining the new privacy controls

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Great Example of a Video that will go viral

One goal that many businesses have that are using Social Media and Social Networking tools to market their business is that they will share or create something that will go viral.

viral: The buzzwords viral marketing and viral advertising refer to marketing techniques that use pre-existing social networks to produce increases in brand awareness or to achieve other marketing objectives (such as product sales) through self-replicating viral processes, analogous to the spread of pathological and computer viruses. It can be word-of-mouth^[1] Viral promotions may take the form of video clips, interactive Flash games, advergames, ebooks, brandable software, images, or even text messages. delivered or enhanced by the network effects of the Internet. (from wikipedia )

This morning I saw a great example of success in creating something that will go viral and be shared by many.  This is a video produced by Evian.  It has a catchy beat, uses babies and get it’s message across — but leaves the entertainment factor in place.  When you watch it you just feel like you have to share it and you do not feel like you were promoted or pitched to.

Here is the video for you to judge for yourself — did they do a good job in creating something that potentially will go viral and be seen by many and shared?

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Use Twitter for Special Promotions

Twitter is a great tool for businesses to use in their overall marketing strategy.  There are many ways a business can use Twitter ranging from customer service to all out marketing and promotions.

We have seen a lot of companies use Twitter to share special deals with their followers.  This is a very effective strategy because in most cases these deals are not available anywhere else.  This encourages active followers who will watch for the special promotional tweets from the business they are following.

One of our local clients A-1 Custom Trophies has begun using Twitter and will periodically tweet a special just to their Twitter followers.  You can follow A-1 Custom Trophies on Twitter (@A1_Trophies).

This strategy of posting special deals on Twitter has also been used successfully by several other businesses.

Corner Coffee in Minneapolis MN is now using Twitter to send special deals to their customers.  (@cornercoffe)

Dell Computers is an example of a company added a very large additional revenue stream by using Twitter for special promotions (over $2 million a year) (@DellOutlet)

StarBucks is using Twitter very effectively and is communicating special Twitter deals on a regular basis (@starbucks)

Naked Pizza has also been using Twitter for special promotions – and in fact last year a special Twitter promotion brought in over 15% of the daily business for that day. (@NakedPizza)

As you can see businesses are using Twitter to send out promotions and specials to their followers and are having success in doing so.  As a business owner this is something that you do not want to miss.

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• Coffee Giants Starbucks To Take Advantage Of ‘Promoted Tweets’ (ronmedlin.com)

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Successful Use of Social Media by Small Businesses – Case Studies

One question that many businesses that are starting to venture into Social Media ask is are there others that are using Social Media effectively and are they seeing a return on the investment?

The short answer is yes

Here are some examples of companies that have been successful in implementing various forms of Social Media into their marketing mix with success.

Effective Twitter Use

Curtis Kimball is an owner of a crème brulee cart in San Francisco that has had great success growing his customer base with Twitter.  He currently has over 5,400 followers and every day he uses Twitter to post where he will be that day.  This allows him to be mobile and for all of his customers to find him.

See the complete story

Umi, a San Francisco sushi restaurant sometimes will get 5 new customers a night after learning about the restaurant on twitter.

Umi’s Twitter Profile

Umi’s Website

Effective Complete Social Media Usage

One local Steak House,  Caminito Argentinian Steakhouse, has done a very good job of incorporating several Social Media components into their marketing strategy to grow their business.

They have incorporated the following with great success:

• A Blog, Prime Cuts , which focuses on providing cooking and kitchen tips and tricks along with some recipes
• YouTube with Prime Cuts TV which expands the Prime Cuts Blog
• A Facebook Fan Page http://www.facebook.com/caminitosteakhouse

Before implementing Social Media strategies the restaurant was averaging a 5 – 10% decrease in sales each month.  Now they are seeing on average a 20% increase in sales each month over the previous year.

ProBest Pest Management is another example of a small business that is embracing Social Media and using it in their marketing mix.

ProBest Pest Management maintains a blog that helps educate the public on bugs.  This blog can be seen here: http://probestblog.wordpress.com/

They have also just embraced Facebook and have a Fan page set up so that you can connect with them and learn more. ProBest Pest Management Fan Page

ProBest Pest Management can also be found on Twitter @ProBestPest

The above businesses are just a few examples of businesses that are harnessing Social Media in their marketing and increasing profits and decreasing costs by doing so.

We will profile several other businesses over the next couple of months.

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