Last updated 4 months ago
Today, Facebook is still one of the most popular social media sites for small businesses. In fact, one survey showed that 73% of small businesses use Facebook as part of their online marketing strategy. But how many of these small businesses use Facebook to its full potential? Here are three examples of businesses that have seen great success on Facebook, how they did it, and tips you can learn from their success.
Polly’s Pies: Deliver a Great Product
4,650 Fans – 336 Check-ins – Joined Facebook in 2009
A family-owned pie company located in Southern California, Polly’s Pies Restaurant has been in business for 40+ years and currently has 16 different SoCal restaurant locations. Throughout the past four decades, a significant and loyal fan base has emerged on Facebook for Polly’s Pies, due in part both to their impeccable pies, branding efforts, and top-notch customer service.
For a small business like this with an existing loyal fanbase, Faecbook brought the opportunity to bring that community online. So the company joined Facebook in 2009. They post content on a weekly basis, such as new offers, information about charity events, or new menu items. They also make a point to post on days like National Pie Day, Cookie Day, and Maple Syrup Day, which are a big hit with their fans and see great engagement. Throughout the past three years of actively building and maintaining their Facebook page and fan base, Polly’s Pies now has a total of 4,650 fans and 336 check-ins!
Key Takeaway: Always keep in mind that your true fans “like” your business on Facebook because they like and support your business already. So leverage your existing fan base, and share content that they will not only like, but share with their friends to grow your fanbase both online and offline.
Prolase Laser Clinic: Support a Cause
1,704 Fans – 612 Check-ins – Joined Facebook in 2009
A step up from a neighborhood med spa, Prolase Laser Clinic strives to deliver the highest level of service and treatments such as hair removal, acne scars, skin tightening, and more, to their patients.
On Facebook, Prolase Laser Clinic has formulated a way to both gain new fans and receive online engagement from them by catering specifically to the wants and needs of their clients. From monthly specials to Facebook posts referred to as “Fun Fact Friday”, Prolase has discovered what works for them on Facebook, and as a result, receives likes, comments, and shares on nearly every post. Their posts about their community involvement, from supporting a local veterinarian clinic to raising funds for a children’s hospital, have also boosted their fan engagement. One Facebook campaign that worked really well for the clinic was for Breast Cancer Awareness month. During the month of October, they donated $1 to Susan G. Komen for the Cure for every new “Like” on their Facebook page. The campaign generated 107 new fans. Over the past three years of actively building and maintaining their Facebook page and fan base, Prolase Laser Clinic now has a total of 1,704 fans and 612 check-ins.
Key Takeaway: Supporting and promoting causes that relate to your business and that your fans support can help increase your likability and continued fan loyalty.
Penn Oaks Golf Club: Share User-Generated Content
305 Fans – Joined in 2010
One of the most sought after and highly acclaimed golf courses in Pennsylvania, Penn Oaks is also a prime location for weddings, holiday parties, banquets, special events, and more.
Since their debut on Facebook in 2010, Penn Oaks has 305 Facebook fans who share their enthusiasm for Penn Oaks on a regular basis through engaging with the content posted each week. Most recently, Penn Oaks has created two different contests specifically for Facebook that require direct participation from fans, while still focusing on the business itself. Fans who have recently tied the knot at Penn Oaks were asked to submit their favorite photo taken at Penn Oaks during their wedding to be entered into a contest to win a gift card. These same newly married couples could also send in a brief bio of themselves with a photo that was featured in a monthly post called “Get to Know Us”. Both of these campaigns not only generated a ton of engagement from fans who were married at Penn Oaks, but more importantly, they provided the club with a plethora of user-generated images they can use to promote their wedding services.
Throughout the past two years of actively building and maintaining their Facebook page and fan base, Penn Oaks Golf Club now has a total of 305 fans and 3,145 check-ins.
Key Takeaway: Your fans can sometimes be the best source of content for your Facebook page, so acknowledge them and give them opportunities to share their own great experiences with your business on Facebook! This creates positive content not only on your Facebook page, but also on your fans’ Facebook pages when they interact with you.
What’s Your Facebook Story?
Success on Facebook looks different for every small business, but the good news is that no matter what your location, industry, or business type, you can build your own Facebook success story. What Facebook success have you seen from small businesses? Share your thoughts in a comment!
About the Author
Jillian Chopin is a Senior Web Presence Professional for ReachCast. Leading a team of WPPs who focus on cosmetic and medical campaigns, Jillian is passionate about her career and about serving as a Web presence expert and “go-to girl” for her clients.
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Last updated 4 months ago
It’s that time of year! Time to make plans and resolutions for what you want to accomplish in 2013. This holiday season, more and more consumers received digital and mobile devices they’ll use to go online. So, now more than ever, it’s important to focus on your business Web presence in 2013. Here are five resolutions to keep this year:
1. Complete Your Google+ Local Page
Having an optimized Google+ Local Page will be vital to your business’ Web presence in 2013. Your Google+ Local page is an online presence tied to your Google map listing. It features your basic business information, photos and videos, reviews from your customers, and more, so it’s one of the top places consumers may see when they search for your business online. You want to ensure that your page is 100% complete and owner-verified. Owner-verifying your page is the first step in establishing that all the information listed on your page is current and valid. Next, populate your page with keyword-rich business information, content, and photos, to allow consumers to get an insight into your business. In the upcoming year, focus on asking current happy customers to leave you a review on your Google+ Local page so you can leave a lasting impression with consumers who visit your page. Download our free ebook to walk you through the process of claiming and optimizing your Google+ Local page.
2. Nurture Relationships with Your Fan Base
Your business’ Facebook fans and Twitter followers are important to your online presence. Social media engagement such as likes, comments, tweets, retweets, and shares can drive online word of mouth and social discovery from friends of fans, helping build awareness of your business online. As you and your business transition into the New Year, remember to nurture your existing relationships by showing appreciation to your current fans and followers while making your new fans and followers feel welcomed and recognized. Here are a few quick and easy things you can do:
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Set aside a few minutes each week to create personal posts mentioning individual customers and thanking them for their business.
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Post photos of your customers to your social sites (with permission from the subjects, of course!) Be sure to tag individuals in the photos to alert them and entice them to comment, like, and share the posts.
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Create a special offer for fans and followers in the New Year, because offers are a great way to thank current customers, gain more followers, and promote brand loyalty.
3. Ask For Reviews – And You Shall Receive
The New Year is the perfect time for businesses to ask happy customers for reviews! After a holiday season full of sales and service, your interactions with many of your customers may still be fresh in their minds. So, use this time to reach out to customers you are already connected to via email or social media and ask them for a review. You can also create a review flyer that you can hand out to new customers that asks them to review your product or service on sites like Yelp or Google+ Local after a good experience. You could also ask them to write a review in-store that you could post on your blog or website as a testimonial.
4. Give Your Web Presence a Facelift
There is no better time than the present to give your brand a full facelift! Adding new photos of your staff, interesting videos, and first-of-year specials is a great way to keep your website and social media pages fresh and relevant in the New Year. You can also take this time to update assets like your business logo, landing pages, or your online ads. Keep in mind you should always keep your brand consistent across all your ads and pages, so make sure that any changes you make are consistent across the Web. Also, if you have recently added any new products or services, locations, or team members, be sure to add them to all your sites, profiles, and listings as well.
5. De-clutter Your Web Presence
Is it time for your online image to lose a little weight? Now is a great time to browse through all of your pages, website included, and de-clutter any old or obsolete information. Check for old services or products that you no longer offer, former employees that no longer work for your business, expired offers or specials, and any copy that is no longer relevant. After you have checked all your pages, be sure to go back to Resolution #4 and add in any new pertinent information to these pages as needed.
Keep in mind that as your business grows and changes, so must your Web presence. Even though many of these items might fall at bottom of your priority list, remember that your online pages are live and viewable to anybody at any time, so it’s important to keep them in the best shape possible. So, resolve this year to get your business Web presence in the best shape ever!
About the Author
Jillian is a Senior Web Presence Professional for ReachCast. Leading a team of WPP’s who focus solely on cosmetic and medical campaigns, Jillian is passionate about her career and about serving as a Web presence expert and “go-to-girl” for her clients as well as colleagues.
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Last updated 4 months ago
Because of the time-sensitive nature of social media, mishaps are bound to happen, and more than a few incidents occurred over the past year. In 2012, some major brands, like Gap and KitchenAid, saw some major mishaps on their social media pages that resulted in a few dings to their brand as well as their online reputations. Here is a closer look at some of the top social media blunders of 2012 and what we can learn from them.
KitchenAid Breaks the “No Politics on Social Media” Rule
We all know that for businesses, talking about politics online is a social media no-no. But, when an inappropriate political tweet comes from a well-known company like KitchenAid, it can cause quite a stir, whether intentional or not. During the 2012 election, one of Kitchen Aid’s Twitter team members accidentally posted an inflammatory personal tweet from the brand’s account: “Obamas gma even knew it was going 2 b bad! ‘She died 3 days b4 he became president’. #nbcpolitics.”
The brand quickly apologized, but not before it was subject to lots of negative criticism online. The lesson: If you’re managing a business’s Twitter account, make sure you keep the personal and professional separate. When using social media management tools that allow you to manage multiple accounts, it’s best either to double check that your posts are syndicated to the proper channels – or simply to use separate accounts or platforms to manage your personal and professional accounts.
#Aurora is Trending – But Not for the Reason They Thought
It’s safe to say that some businesses don’t do their research before diving into a social media trend, which can be a big mistake. This year, the UK-based company CelebBoutique started posting to the trending topic of “Aurora” on Twitter, promoting a new product of the same name. What the company failed to realize was that the term was trending because of a terrible shooting incident in a Colorado town.
Online, the insensitive message was retweeted hundreds of times, and people called for a boycott of the company, ultimately hurting the company’s brand. The lesson from this mishap? While timeliness is critical, it’s also important to do your research and fully understand a trend or meme before associating your brand with it.
Skittles & Arizona Tea Post Insensitive Facebook Posts
When it was reported that the last two items shooting victim Trayvon Martin purchased before his death were Skittles and Arizona Tea, both companies posted questionable and controversial Facebook statuses shortly after this information was released. Arizona Tea asked, “What would it take for you to give away your last AriZona?” And Skittles posted, “What would someone need to do to get your last pack of Skittles?” Many fans were disturbed by these posts, replying, “Ask Trayvon Martin,” and both brands received negative media coverage for their remarks and how they handled the situation.
The lesson here? Think carefully about whether and how to respond to incidents that involve your brand, especially if your business is not really involved in the incident. Also, consider how your fans will perceive any message before posting it.
Businesses “Newsjack” Hurricane Sandy
Also in 2012, major companies used social media to take advantage of all the online conversation around Hurricane Sandy. But, rather than expressing their sympathies for those affected by the storm, they used the disaster as a promotional tool for products or services. This act, known as “newsjacking,” can have a negative impact on both your brand and on your community, far worse than any complaints you might receive. During this weather event that impacted many lives, several major brands were criticized for their comments:
Gap – Using both Foursquare and Twitter, Gap posted to the #Sandy hashtag a message with a light tone that didn’t reflect the seriousness of the situation while simultaneously promoting shopping on the company’s website.
Urban Outfitters – This brand also took a humorous tone to the weather event and used Twitter for some shameless promotion of free shipping.
Sears – Also took advantage of the #HurricaneSandy hashtag to promote its survival gear on Twitter.
As each of these brands began to receive flack for their messages, they removed their posts and apologized for their blunders. But, even some of the biggest names in business can make glaring mistakes on social media. The lesson from these mishaps? Rather than using a catastrophic event to promote your business, products, or services, offer your sympathy, or better yet, help and support to those in need.
So, what can your business take away from these social media mishaps of 2012? First, be careful not to use politics or controversial topics on social media when promoting your products and services on those channels. Second, make sure you have an experienced person running your social media accounts to help you avoid running into issues like these. And lastly, use separate management platforms if you have both a personal and a professional account on sites like Facebook and Twitter.
What were some of the biggest social media mishaps you saw in 2012? What are you doing to make sure your business steers clear of these types of online reputation blunders in 2013? Share your thoughts in a comment!
About the Author
Lindsay Paramore is an expert on online marketing and branding for business owners. She works as a Web Presence Professional for ReachLocal.
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Last updated 4 months ago
Since its creation, Pinterest has been a social network for crafters and collectors to share niche content, but for local businesses, it’s now much more. Pinterest is now a useful online marketing tool that helps local business owners market their brand, build a community of followers, and create an optimized Web presence that drives traffic back to their website or other pages online. And for some local businesses, the opportunities to do this are great as Pinterest is now the third most popular social media site behind Facebook and Twitter. Before January 2012, Pinterest was receiving an impressive 10 million monthly visits, which quickly grew to 17.8 million monthly visits by February and has continued to climb. And now that Pinterest offers business accounts, it’s important that you know how to use this new feature to help you market your business on Pinterest. So to help your local business get the most out of Pinterest, here are a few tips for optimizing your Pinterest for Business page.
Set Up Pinterest for Business
To start taking advantage of Pinterest for your business, you can either set up a new account or convert your personal Pinterest account into a business one. Then, you’ll need to complete your profile with an image that represents your business and a quick message to your followers. In addition, you need to verify your website so the URL appears directly in the “About” section of your Pinterest profile. You can also sync your Pinterest account with your other social media accounts, like Facebook and Twitter, to share your Pinterest content directly on those sites.
Drive Traffic to Your Sites
Pinterest offers a great opportunity to generate links back to your website, blog, or other content sites such as your Flickr page or YouTube Channel, and this is a key goal for many small businesses using Pinterest. You can use Pinterest to pin unique content from your existing sites, such as new products, special offers and promotions, blog posts, images, interesting videos, and more. Because these pins link directly back to your website or other pages on the Web, you can drive more visitors to those sites, encouraging more traffic and conversions. Plus, every time someone repins your image it creates another path back to your site that helps new consumers discover your business.
Create Boards that are Relevant & Interesting
Once you set up your Pinterest for Business page, you can start sharing content you’re your followers by creating relevant boards and pinning content your followers want to see. Daniel P. Maloney, CEO and Co-founder of PinLeague.com, suggests creating a few boards with content that your audience loves, a few boards with unique content that they might be unable to find elsewhere, and a couple of boards primarily about yourself. By creating this diverse mix of content, you can build a great Pinterest profile without making your page a giant advertisement. Also, be sure to select a bold image for each of your board cover photos, as well as your profile image, as these are two of the top places people will look first.
Optimize Your Pins for Search
When you do pin content, whether from your own pages or content from around the Web, it’s important to add related business keywords to the text in your pins so that search engines and consumers can find your content. For instance, if you are a local baker, you could include keywords like “wedding cakes”, “special event cakes”, or “cake decorating” when you post pins of those types of cakes. Not only will this help your Pinterest profile in terms of organic search engine optimization (SEO) but will help people looking for your types of products or services find what they are looking for. In fact, one survey showed that 70% of people use Pinterest primarily to get inspiration on what to buy. This means Pinterest is a great place to showcase your products and services.
Encourage Content Sharing
There are several ways consumers can share your content on Pinterest. One way is to ask your existing Pinterest followers to share and comment on the pins you post on your page. And since 43% of consumers surveyed said they use Pinterest specifically to engage with brands and retailers, compared to 24% of Facebook users, they may be likely to comment on and share your content if you ask them to. You should also consider adding a “Pin” button to pages on your site, like your Product page, blog, or video pages that contain content you’d like consumers to share. Then, you can track those pins with this link to see which content consumers are pinning from your site: http://pinterest.com/source/yourdomain.com.
Are you using Pinterest for Business to market your products and services? What unique ways are you using Pinterest to build your brand and boost visits to your site? Let us know in the comments.
About the Author
Lindsay Paramore is an expert on online marketing and branding for business owners. She works as a Web Presence Professional for ReachLocal.
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Last updated 4 months ago
Nielsen’s State of the Media: The Social Media Report 2012 reflects on various social media trends of 2012, as well as the potential impact they will have on the coming year. There is no denying that social media is more popular than ever with consumers, and that having a social media presence is critical for SMBs’ online marketing strategies in 2013. Here are a few highlights from the report.
Mobile Usage Is Not Slowing Down
As you might have guessed, the amount of time consumers spent on PCs and Smartphones increased between July 2011 and July 2012. Time spent on these devices grew by 21%, while time on apps rose 120% in that same period. While PCs still remain our primary source of Internet access, the usage of mobile Web and apps are increasing at a significant rate. Small businesses can’t afford to ignore mobile any longer, and should invest in mobile-friendly advertising and sites to reach this growing audience.
Time Spent on Social Networks Grew 37%.
From July 2011 to July 2012, the time consumers spent on social media sites grew from 88.4B minutes to a whopping 121.1B minutes. Nielsen attributes this substantial growth in part to the rise of mobile apps, which enable us to stay connected to our favorite sites while on the go. In fact, we spent seven times more minutes on apps than on the mobile Web. Time spent on these sites means social media access is not only on the rise, but also that we are more engaged when we do visit them. For small businesses, this means being active on social media is more important than ever in order to reach consumers spending a large portion of their time there.
Consumers Value Social Customer Service
For more and more consumers, social care, also known as social customer service, is becoming an increasingly important, and valuable social media trend for SMBs to leverage. Nielsen reports that one in three social media users prefer social care to contacting a company by phone. That means that more consumers are using social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and the company blog to reach out to businesses and brands in the hope of resolving a customer service issue. SMBs are not immune to this trend, and many will see an influx of customer complaints through these channels, which can impact their online reputation. As a result, it’s vital for businesses to monitor their social media pages regularly and respond to customer questions, complaints, and more as soon as possible.
As we’ve seen throughout the year, mobile and social media continue to top consumers’ online behavior. And as 2012 winds down, it’s important for small businesses to think about whether they have successfully taken advantage of some of these social media trends, and how they can incorporate them in the future. You can read the entire Nielsen social media report here.
How do mobile and social media fit into your online marketing strategy? Let us know in the comments!
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About the Author
Tamara Weintraub helps equip small business owners with information about local online advertising, social media, and content marketing as a writer for the ReachLocal blog.
