Social Media: Helping Communities Help Each Other

Social media is known for a great many things, ranging from being a great business marketing tool to simply serving as a digital water cooler for catching up on the latest gossip. However, more and more, social media is becoming known for something else entirely – a way for real life, flesh and blood communities to come together and help one another.

Fighting Crime

Graffiti is a problem plaguing many urban areas. However, social media is making it more difficult for taggers to hide and easier for law enforcement to catch them. A recent article in the Santa Fe New Mexican entitled, “Social media tip leads to graffiti suspects,” highlighted how social media can help communities fight crime and help local law enforcement. In this instance, over 30 local businesses had been tagged with graffiti before an anonymous tip led to a social networking site where evidence was found linking suspects to the graffiti.

While the use of social media outlets by local law enforcement is still relatively new, it has already been very successful. In an article on Mashable Social Media, author Lon S. Cohen outlines several ways in which law enforcement utilizes social media. One of the most effective techniques involves requests for tips and information by a particular local law enforcement agency on their Facebook fan page and Twitter feed. People with information can post it immediately, making that information instantly available to local law enforcement.

Crisis Management

Not only has social media proven its usefulness in helping fight crime, it’s also been shown to be an extremely effective tool during the course of an emergency. Michelle Lyon, Social Media Manager at MEC International, wrote about how social media brought community together after the recent riots in London. A call to action on Twitter resulted in over 80,000 volunteers almost immediately coming together to help clean up and reach out to those in need.

Twitter was used to organize the volunteer effort, letting people know exactly where they needed to go and what they needed to do to help. Even beyond the hands-on help being received by the local community, the Twitter feed was also used by local businesses as a way to offer free services to the people most affected by the riots.

Local Events

There doesn’t have to be a crime or crisis for social media to help build community. It’s extremely common for local chambers of commerce to feature updates and local events on social media platforms. Whether it’s a neighborhood farmer’s market or a local charity event, cities, large and small, are reaching out through social networking sites with great success.

Your Community

How has social media helped build your local community? Please share your stories and thoughts in the comments section below.

                      

Email Marketing Solutions and Social Media

Direct mail has been a tried and true marketing method for about as long as there has been mail delivery. Email marketing is a natural technological step up in direct mail’s evolution. But, what exactly is email marketing and what are its advantages?

Definitions and Advantages

Simply put, email marketing is the electronic version of direction marketing. As a business or association, your messages go directly into your client’s or potential client’s email inbox. Email marketing is not only used for advertising, but it also is advantageous when used for newsletters, promotions, and even fundraising.

There are many advantages to using email marketing, especially for small businesses and non-profit organizations. Email marketing is quick and cost effective, allowing you to control who your emails target and when the emails are sent. Essentially, you are bringing your message to your clients instead of waiting for your clients to come to you. Detailed tracking and analysis of your email marketing gives you exactly the information you need to tweak and improve your marketing campaign.

Social Media Integration

A social media platform is an essential part of any marketing strategy, but how and why should social media be integrated with email marketing? Last year, a study by GetResponse, an email marketing firm, revealed emails that included a social media share link enjoyed a 30% higher click through rate than emails without those links. Even better, if those emails featured three or more share options, the click through rate rose to 55%.

A 2010 study by MarketingSherpa, an independent marketing research firm, discovered that 42% of people who use social media on a daily basis also tend to check their email four or more times a day while only 27% of non-social media users do the same. Additionally, 63% reported using the same email address for both social media and opting into permission-based emails. Finally, 49% of Twitter users reported making online purchases as a result of an email offer whereas only 33% of all email users made those types of purchases.

The statistics make it clear that the key to email marketing success is to integrate social media by providing plenty of sharing opportunities within those e-mails. But, what’s the best way to get started?

Email Marketing Options

There are many email marketing websites and options to choose from to get your campaign rolling, including companies like Constant Contact, MailChimp, Graphic Mail, Vertical Response, Benchmark Email, iContact and GetResponse. Websites like Email Marketing Options offer helpful “apples-to-apples” comparisons of the most popular email marketing services. They are also a great place for a business new to the concept of email marketing to start out.

While each email marketing company offers its own unique brand of services, most companies offer similar types of services. Some things to look for include free trial offers, easy-to-work-with customizable interfaces and mailing lists, detailed analytics, helpful and reliable customer support and, of course, a reasonable monthly fee. 

Have you used any of these services and found them to be particularly beneficial in facilitating your marketing efforts? What has integrating your social media strategy and email campaigns achieved as part of your Internet Marketing program? Share your success in the comment box below.

                      

How Nonprofit Organizations Can Benefit from Social Media

Social media outlets have proven a tremendous asset for businesses worldwide. There’s no question of the efficacy of a social media platform for increasing sales and profitability. But, can social media be as big a boon to nonprofit organizations? In a word, yes. While for-profit and non-profit entities do have different challenges and goals, social media can be used as an effective tool in both types of businesses. How?

Bridge the Generation Gap

While many of those who either direct or are board members of nonprofits come from a generation not as familiar or comfortable with using social media, the next generation of donors, volunteers, and employees spends an increasing amount of time online and engaged with social media outlets. Just as it takes time to grow a relationship between potential customers and a given brand or product, it also takes time to foster a relationship between a nonprofit and potential contributors. That’s why now is the time to reach out and start building those relationships.

Focus on Communication

In his blog post, “Six Ways Non-Profits Can Use Social Media to Grow,” Fast Company blogger Rich Brooks spoke with Alex Steed, Director of Community Engagement at Opportunity Maine. Brooks and Steed suggest nonprofits use social media to tell their story and highlight the good work the nonprofit is doing. People are engaged and inspired by compelling stories and tangible, positive results. These stories resonate with potential donors, encouraging them to become active donors or volunteers.

Dan Morrison, CEO and Founder of Citizen Effect suggests an approach that at first might seem counterintuitive, “Don’t focus on asking them to give, focus on asking them to retweet any and everything you tweet, post on their wall, forward e-mails, etc.” This alternative approach encourages a simple passing on of information, which can lead to increased website traffic, increased exposure to the cause the nonprofit is supporting, and finally to actual donations. No matter what, it’s crucial to encourage and nurture participation whatever the level of that participation may be. Take the time to respond to comments and questions personally whenever possible.

Connect Online with Offline

According to Nora Ganim Barnes, co-author of a study released last year by the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Center for Marketing Research, 97% of nonprofits are using social media, a number which surpasses the percentage of for-profits businesses using social media as reported in a Philanthropy.com article. Organizations, such as the American Cancer Society and the Alzheimer’s Association, successfully use social media to promote fundraising events such as charity walks and relays. The viral nature of online social media outlets makes them an extremely effective way to organize and increase participation in offline events and rallies.

What’s Your Experience?

Are you a nonprofit organization that has benefitted from social media or a donor/volunteer that has supported a cause through social media channels? Please share your experience in the comments section below. If you haven’t yet experienced the value of social media, consider contacting Flyline Search Marketing to find out how their experts can help your nonprofit gain further exposure and interest.

A Comprehensive Internet Marketing Strategy Delivers Optimal Results

An online presence is a must for any business with a social media platform sitting firmly ensconced as the key  component of that presence. In addition to your business’s main website, you’ve got a Twitter account, FaceBook page, and a blog – but how often should you be updating them? While the frequency, immediacy, and function in your social media campaign vary somewhat between each online venue, certain concepts hold true across the board.

Quality over Quantity

However often you choose to update your social media outlets, the most important thing to keep is mind is quality. Make sure posts are interesting, relevant, and appropriate. Never post simply for posting’s sake. Your customers and potential customers have a limited amount of time to find, view, and process information. Post unnecessary or meaningless information and you will not only lose fans and followers, but you will see potential business and revenue migrate to your competition.

Different people have different opinions about how much is just right, but a good way to help monitor the effectiveness of your posts and posting frequency is to keep an eye on your analytics. Social media sites track statistics, such as traffic to your page or profile, number of followers or fans you have or have lost, and other metrics by which visitors interact with your posts. Using this information can help a business determine what’s working and what isn’t.

 Be Quick to Respond
When your analytics reveal a particular posting strategy isn’t working, be sure to quickly respond and adjust accordingly. It’s all too easy for a potential customer to disengage from your business’s social media if they feel bombarded or overwhelmed with updates.

If you’re still not sure where to start, the following are some general guidelines for determining how often to update:

Facebook

·        A good rule of thumb for updating an outlet, such as a FaceBook page, is about once a day but certainly no more than twice a day.

·        Post information that is helpful and provides a way to add convenience or value to your followers’ lives. Also include links to other places where you have added fresh content, which encourages them to quickly veer off to that information and, in the process, increase traffic to your website.

·        If you do update twice a day, space those updates apart like in the morning and evening in order to reach fans at different ends of the day.

·        Take the number of your fans and the type of your business into consideration. The pages of big businesses with a greater number of fans can tolerate more posts while smaller, more focused pages seem to get by on far fewer.

Twitter
While it’s generally acceptable to tweet multiple times a day, remember to only post relevant, meaningful information. Twitter’s immediacy makes it great for more time-sensitive information, such as daily specials or special promotions, and it is also an excellent way to connect with customers in real time.

Blogs
Here are some thoughts about blogging frequency:

·        The frequency of blog posts depends on what type of information you’re trying to convey. If your blog features product-related posts, such as how-to tips and suggestions on product use, then once a week or even once every other week is fine. If you use your blog to promote daily or weekly specials and promotions, more frequent updates are necessary.

·        Length is also an important consideration. Generally, the longer the post is, the longer the time between posts should be. Conversely, shorter blog entries can be posted more often.

·        Who are your readers? Knowing your audience and their needs goes a long way toward determining how often you can update your blog without overwhelming or alienating your customers.

 Your Experiences
What are your challenges with keeping up with your social media campaign? Do you need assistance? Want to find out how an Internet Marketing specialist can help you? Contact Flyline Search Marketing or leave your comments below.

                 

Melloy Dodge: Entering the World of Online Social Media

Recognizing that local customers in Albuquerque, Santa Fe, and around the local New Mexico area turn to social media and networking for their information and research when vehicle shopping, Melloy Dodge recently hired Flyline Search Marketing to initiate a comprehensive Internet Marketing strategy for their firm. The package to be deployed includes tools like, Google AdWords, Yahoo/Bing Sponsored Search, Call and Data Analytics, SEO-driven content, and a social media/networking presence, including a blog, Facebook page and a new Twitter account.

Accelerated Presence and Customer Connections

Besides offering a way to maximize available marketing dollars through low-cost channels like YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook, social media helps a dealer get in front of their audience and make a more personable connection – something that has not always been possible with auto dealers.

Typically, dealer websites have been set up where prospective customers want to inquire about a car or service only to find they cannot quickly get the information they want but are instead are harassed with phone calls from pushy salesmen. For Melloy, their sales and service philosophy has never been about making the quick deal or pushing their customers around.

Instead, an auto dealer needs to avoid the following strategies if they expect to connect with customers and get to know their target audience better:

• Don’t focus on advertising and sales angle; focus on being an information connector.
• Don’t be reactive; instead, be connective.
• Don’t rush the social media practice; it takes time and it will build into a viral campaign if you are patient.
• Don’t forget to contribute; answer questions left by fans or visitors and include topics that they can respond to.

No Chop Shop Strategies

Melloy Dodge understands the importance of using a comprehensive strategy and offering content and valuable consumer information that their clients, prospective customers, and vendors are searching for that extends well beyond just trying to sell them a vehicle – it is about showing how Melloy Dodge is so much more in order to develop a long-term partnership where the customer and their family will return again and again for car purchases, trade-ins, and service.

All the social media strategies will include content driven to make the visitor’s life easier:

• Car maintenance
• Increasing and/or maintaining vehicle value
• Safety advice
• Promotions and specials on vehicles, parts, and services
• Car purchases and trade-in strategies
• Financing options

Each topic provides a way to illustrate Melloy Dodge’s knowledge, expertise, and credibility as a reputable and high-quality dealer.

Your Thoughts

What do you think an auto dealership can do to use social media more effectively? What would you like to see an auto dealer include in their social media content? Or, are you a dealership thinking of jumping on the social media bandwagon and have questions. Leave your comments below.

If your dealership is ready to get started with your own comprehensive Internet Marketing Strategy, we encourage you to contact our expert team here at Flyline Search Marketing. The program is affordable and effective. Learn more by calling 866-258-5511.

                   

From Small Business to Government Agencies in Santa Fe, Everyone is Online and Onboard with Social Media Marketing. It’s Your Move

In searching some of the most popular social media sites, it would seem that nearly everyone in Santa Fe is online. 

For example, Hello Santa Fe is an informational site that encourages social networking and interaction, attracting both local residents and tourists alike.

On Facebook and Twitter, there are all types of businesses – from swimming pool contractors and gardeners to restaurants, clubs, government agencies, and schools. A search on YouTube uncovers Santa Fe realtors marketing homes for sale and documentary filmmakers seeking attention. If you are a small business in Santa Fe and you are not using one of these sites, what are you waiting for? 

The Statistics Say it All

Maybe these statistics will move you:

• Nielsen reported that the world spends approximately 110 billion million minutes on social networking and blog sites like Wikipedia, Facebook, and YouTube, spending more time in 2010 than the year previously and accounting for about 22% of all time spent online.
• TechCrunch found that LinkedIn now has 60 million users with many people expanding their professional contacts and networks, marketing their companies and themselves, and finding new career paths here.
• CNN Money discovered that sites like Yelp are catching on fast and providing a great avenue for small businesses to gain big clientele through the social networking and online advice and forums offered on the site.

What This Means for You

If you are not participating in these sites, you could be losing out on getting in front of a large portion of your target audience that your competition may now be wooing with their savvy online social media presence.

There are innumerable benefits that a local Santa Fe business can quickly garner through social media:

• Spend less on marketing but reach more potential customers. Traditional marketing channels cost more and often do not target as well as social media does.
• Use more than one channel at one time. Because social media is often so low cost, there are ways to use multiple channels at one time to quickly expand your reach.
• Learn and interact with local customers in a new and more meaningful way, including learning more about their needs and wants.
• Reach out to potential customers beyond local residents. As a popular tourist destination, many visitors to Santa Fe are looking online for restaurants, attractions, and small businesses to visit when they are in town. They are using their Smartphones and tablets during their trips and want to find businesses like yours.

 

Getting Started

Getting started is something that you should have essentially done yesterday. Never mind as there is no time like the present. Whether you utilize in-house resources to create a blog, LinkedIn profile, and Facebook fan page or you reach out to a social media marketing agency that can create a strategy for you, it is important to get on board now before your target audience takes a different turn and bypasses you completely. Contact Flyline Search Marketing and start making connections now!

                 

The Political Perspective on the Do’s and Don’ts of Social Media

The political realm becomes a good example of thinking about the do’s and don’ts of using social media when working to build your brand for your company. You don’t have to be in politics to appreciate this comparison. 

Let’s use the strategic and proactive do example of President Barack Obama versus the incredibly inappropriate version of what not to do by Rep. Anthony Weiner.

Tips to Follow

While two years old, an article in the New Mexico Independent (“Tips for Politicians Using Social Media”) seems apropos for thinking about how no matter what realm you play and work in and want to use social media, you need to think strategically and be careful – after all, what you do and say on the Internet travels fast and furiously and rarely ever disappears. 

Consider these tips below and think about the Do’s and Don’ts that should be followed:

·        Be respectful of those you follow. People you follow are looking for interesting conversation and refreshing tweets or posts. If they follow you, we recommend that you follow them back. People appreciate that show of respect. They are often frustrated and leave your site when they follow, but, can't seem to make your follow list.

·      Be yourself and be authentic. Those who follow you really want to hear about what is going on in your world. If they didn't want to know you, they likely wouldn't have requested to follow you. If you are in a position that requires professional assistance in managing your Social Media sites, we encourage you to utilize a firm like Flyline Search Marketing. Clearly, President Obama most likely has someone doing the job for him. Even when Flyline Search Marketing handles a program for someone, we always encourage the person to participate as often as possible.

·       Interact but think about what you do. This is one of those Do’s that Rep. Weiner might have wanted to think a bit more about before he decided to interact with some of his followers in inappropriate ways, especially since he is already a public figure. Engaging in conversation and sending pictures needs to be really thought out before you make the wrong move and say the wrong thing only to realize that RSS feeds and Google Alerts have shared it with the rest of the world.

·       Use multimedia tools responsibly. President Obama’s staff understands that social media most definitely helped his presidential campaign. In fact, there a many who believe that he would not have been elected without it. He and his staff continue to value the idea that social media tools can help reach constituents and get feedback on what the American people are thinking about and what they are feeling. This means that President Obama not only uses Twitter and Facebook, but his strategies of going to the people also involve YouTube videos and regular blogs and content that shares his ideas, policies, and programs.

·        Learn by example. There are numerous examples – politicians and otherwise – who have used social media for success and have also suffered embarrassment, tarnished images, and damaged reputations. Certainly, Rep. Weiner’s denial and then admittance only made the situation worse as the evidence that he was using social media in a questionable way was already apparent (despite the hacker story, which was as believable as the “dog ate my homework” tale).

Go where your customers are, join their groups, engage them in conversation and share with them (just think about what and how much you share) in a way that helps enhance your brand and/or your company.

 Share your questions or ideas below on what you think are the best do’s and don’ts of social media and we’ll share them in future posts.