Facebook, Facebook and mobile, mobile and Facebook, mobile marketing

(Want to learn more about how to succeed in mobile marketing?  Please download my free “Secrets to Successful Mobile Marketing” video now)

Facebook is its own universe but I daily talk to small businesspeople who aren’t sure how best to maximize its potential.

Because so much of Facebook is happening on mobile phones nowadays, if you are interested in mobile, you HAVE to be interested in Facebook.

Here are some tips on how you can make Facebook work better for you:

1. Great Content. One of my key mantras has always been that without great content, it is difficult to have positive social media results. Fresh content in particular is crucial. One tool I use is a monthly calendar which tracks out exactly what I need to create in advance both in terms of subject and format (blog posts, videos, articles, tweets, reports, podcasts).

2. Talk to your fans. Answer their questions. Encourage your fans to ask you questions and make sure you are there with constructive, positive tips. You might even want to consider creating an FAQ or resource center right on your Facebook Fan Page.

3. Be personal. Set out time at least once a day to actually comment on other people’s posts. Check out your fans, press on their avatars and go to their pages. Post there and comment on what they are talking about. Be personal! Don’t be stiff and whatever you do don’t try to sell. People do business with people they know and like.

• Share content you find.

Share what your fans say

. Share what influencers in your field say.

Even share thoughts and ideas that are generated from people outside your field. The more you share, the wider your circle will become.

4. Track results. You can measure your progress by the number of fans you have and how many new ones you are adding. If you see that the progress is slowing, try to figure out why. If a certain content or dialogue doesn’t seem ‘strike a chord’, just stop using it and try something else.

Click here to learn more about the Secrets to Successful Mobile Marketing!

Facebook, Flickr, Master The New Net, social media, social web, susan rice-lincoln, twitter, YouTube

When people talk about social media, they tend to talk about the various tools and how best to use them.

What people talk about far less is the CONTENT they are going to share with these tools. 

This is a mistake.  Because it is the content that makes the difference.

High-quality content and social media are like brilliant dance partners.  A perfect fit for each other, they combine to create a terrific show built on each other’s strengths. 

Social media is far and away the best way to distribute content. I can’t think of another medium which will get your content moving around in front of more (targeted) people better than the Social Web.     If you provide content that educates and entertains, it will travel far and fast on sites like Facebook, Linkedin, YouTube, Twitter and Flickr.  Social media did not invent content marketing-but it might as well have. 

On the other side of the equation, excellent content pumps energy into the Social Web.   Without it, social media would be dull and uninteresting.  Great content is what gives people the impetus to keep visiting a fan page, follow a Tweet stream or subscribe to a blog.

Very simply put, if you create content that is high-quality, solid, varied and worthy of attention, you can rest assured that people will show up to read/view it and talk about it.  Those people and their conversations will become the seed of your community and the promise of your business future. 

More than any other element, it is content that persuades people to return to your site.

It is content that inspires other bloggers to quote (and link to) you.

It is content that will get people to flock to your Twitter stream.

The number one factor contributing to success online and within the Social Web  is quality content. 

So, think less about your tools and more about the content you plan to share within them.

Facebook, Master The New Net, social media, susan rice-lincoln

In March 30^th, 2009, Mashable.com published a great article outlining the 5 successful elements of a fan page written by Samir Balwani.

Here is a summary of the article’s key  points:

Here are 5 suggestions which will help your Facebook Fan Page enjoy a larger following:

 

1.Network with other platforms.

• A good example is Victoria Secret who pushes the traffic they get on their home page towards their Facebook fan page
• Many companies expect their customers will find them automatically which is not true
• Make it easy for your customer to find you

 

2. Make your Fan Page a Resource

• For example, Dell has created a social media resource for small businesses. The page also offers deals and coupons

 

• Cons ider offering a resource outside your normal demographic to attract new customers to your business

3. Create contests that include participation

• Create contests which offer coupons can entice consumers to join
• Sears did this, offering $10 coupons. If you click on the coupon, you are taken to a page where Sears collects your information and sends you information about coupons and deals
• You can offer coupons, weekly deals and free shipping

 

4. Empower pre-existing pages

• Coca-Cola fan page, created by two users who liked Coca-Cola,  has turned out to be the largest product page on Facebook

                  i.      Coke didn’t take over the page.  Instead it rewarded the users and brought them to Atlanta to see Coca-Cola’s facilities

                 ii.      Now the page has the blessing of the company

                iii.      The two users made a video, talking about the history of the page

• Don’t take over unsanctioned pages.Instead reward consumer dedication

5. Target the proper demographic

• Make sure the Facebook demographic matches your own
• If your demographic isn’t in Facebook, you will have a hard time growing your Fan Page

In closing, creating a Facebook Fan page is simple.  To get it working really well however takes time and dedication.  It is unrealistic to think you can create a page and have an automatic huge following.

Build good content that is easy to share.  Let people know about it.  If you do this, your community will grow over time.

 

Facebook, LinkedIN, Master The New Net, social media technology, susan rice-lincoln, twitter

There is a huge misconception about social media.

Everyone thinks it is ‘just’ a new technology.  Fun. Exciting. Perhaps irritating. But a technology nonetheless.

Nothing more. Nothing less.

Well, for any of us born in the 50s or 60s, we are arguably technology weary.  Just imagine, when I went to Stanford University, I wrote my essays  with a TYPEWRITER!!!

It’s hard to imagine the technological road we have traveled. Our first PC, our first cell phones, Sony Walkmans, fax machines, emails…The list got  longer and longer and just seemed to accelerate over the years.

I think it is fair to say that by the time social media showed up, we were all suffering from some kind of technology fatigue.  Or at least technology dizziness.

Maybe that is why so many of us have got it wrong.

At its essence, social media has NOTHING to do with technology.

It has EVERYTHING to do with people.

Social media is 100% about people.  It is people-driven.

It exists because people want to be connected to like-minded people.

It exists because people want to be part of a community since so many of our traditional communities have gone the way of the dodo bird.

It exists because people are tired of hearing the opinions of the experts and would rather hear the opinions of neighbors, colleagues or friends, virtual or otherwise.

It exists because people don’t want to be spoken to, they want to speak.

And social media lets them do all of those things.

Oh, okay.  I admit it. The wheels of social media has been greatly greased by technology.  But the true force behind social media are real live human beings:

Your consumer

Your prospects

Your partners

Your wife (of husband)

Your son and daughter

Your best friend

This is why social media is bigger than television, the first Apple PC or the Sony Walkman.

This is why social media represents one of the biggest communications revolutions in the history of mankind.

And this is why social media absolutely cannot be ignored.

If you want to learn about the 6 other frequent social media mistakes and how you can avoid them, you absolutely must sign up for my FREE webinar that I will host on November 19^th.  The webinar, called   Unleashing The Power Of Social Media will be held at two convenient times,  One at 9 am PST and the second at 6 pm PST  The webinar will be 70 minutes packed of free information and insights that you can put to use immediately.  Whether you are a Fortune 500 company, a solo entrepreneur or a non-profit organization, you MUST attend this phone call if you want to learn how to capture the social media wave.  Spaces are limited so sign up right away at http://bit.ly/24eLOk