Social Media ROI?

Obsessed with figuring out ROI (return on investment) in social media? Many are ... and frankly that’s because it’s their job!

I am currently reading The Thank You Economy written by one of my mentors...Gary Vaynerchuk, a man with a brilliant grasp on business, our new economy and social media. He touches base on ROI in his book and I wanted to share an excerpt that I think ALL BUSINESSES NEED TO READ:

“Nielson conducted a study on what drives consumer trust – 70% of people turn to family and friends when making purchasing decisions. Where have people been talking to their family and friends lately? Facebook reports that 60% of the people online are going to social networks with half returning every day. If there is ROI in friendship and family, there is ROI in social media.” 

“We often forget the symbolic relationship between trust and ROI.”

“If consumers trust other consumers more than they trust traditional advertising, and the platforms to convey their trusted recommendations are now reaching billions, the ROI should start to enter the ‘no brainier’ zone”

So what does this mean? It means it’s past time to build strong relationships with your network. Relationships that will stand the test of time and new competitors because you were their source for (insert your product, service or opportunity here) before anyone else. Once you have built a bond that strong it would be very difficult for your competition to nudge their way in.

It’s time to build massive brand advocates, people who will go to bat for you and promote you ALL of the time. It’s time to treat every 1 person that enters your network as your only customer and bend over backwards to make sure they are happy…even if they haven’t done business with you yet! THEY WILL if you treat them like no one else is, I promise that!

Looking back to my very first piece of content I put on my blog 4 years ago…I described a new phenomenon called attraction marketing which is exactly the business/marketing world we all live in now. If you have not embraced this yet, HURRY UP!!!

“Getting back to the basics, it's the rebirth of the....You help me and I'll help you "relationship building" theory. It's like going back to old school marketing in the days where people did business with someone because they knew, liked and trusted them.... unlike recent times where the company with the biggest advertising budget wins (which by the way, is a dying statistic). Throwback means the reappearance of an earlier ‘way we do business’ characteristic dating back to the ‘Little House on the Prairie’ days.  Attraction Marketing is just that....Throwback Marketing!”

Your social ROI is directly correlated with the bond of the relationships you have built with your network Now…GO GET SOCIAL and treat every new person in your network like they are your best friend!

Michelle Corteggiano

Need help setting up your social presence? Two options:

• Do-It-Yourselferes - Build Your Social Brand (BYSB)

• Save 300-500 hours...Let ATI do it for you! Our Build Your Online Brand ( BYOB) program is designed to give you a completely setup social presence withtraining on how to manage in 30 minutes a day! This turnkey setup will allow you to focus on what's important to your brand...building relationships

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Marketing Ideas for the New Facebook Deals Feature on Facebook Places

Facebook Deals is a new feature of Facebook Places. Deals was created so businesses can offer specials to the millions of people participating in Places. What can Deals do for you? Simple, it can help you get customers, spread the word about your brand and build customer loyalty.

This IS a game changer for businesses using Facebook!

First off there are 4 kinds of deals you can offer:

Individual Deals: If you’re looking to offer a one-time deal, create an Individual Deal. You can offer this type of deal to both new and existing customers

Ideas for individual deals:

• Launch a new product or service at a discounted price
• Offer a gift with any purchase
• Specials on aged or seasonal inventory
• Special of the day
• 20% off to the first 5 people who come in – great for slow days
• Buy one get one free
• If you check in within the next  X minutes, hours or days… you get 20% off all your purchases in X month (use this to drive traffic on your slow months)
• If you check in X times this month you get a free X
• Free X when you check in on your birthday
• Next  3 people who buy a car get their oil changes included for 3 years for free
• $10 off any $50 purchase
• First 10 people to check in, get in free
• The next 10 people to check in get added to our VIP guest list for X event
• Free room/seating etc upgrade to the next 3 people who check in
• First  200 fans who check in get X (great for sporting events)
• Extra 50% off clearance prices for the next 25 people
• Team with another business and offer something to be used at their business for checking in at yours and vice versa
• Next 50 people who check in get first rights to see our upcoming product/service and get it at a discounted price
• Hotels: Free appetizer at the restaurant in the hotel for checking in
• Restaurants: Free cocktail with dinner purchase
• Free cup of coffee with check in

Loyalty Deals: To focus on rewarding your most loyal customers, create a Loyalty Deal. You have the opportunity to create a deal that can be claimed after no fewer than two and no more than 20 check-ins. Virtual Punch Cards!!!

Ideas for loyalty deals:

• Free cup of coffee after X punches
• Free movie entrance after X punches
• X punches gets you a giftcard for $25
• Offer a double punch day

Friend Deals: People don’t always buy, shop, or eat alone. To offer a deal to a group of people, create a Friend Deal. Friend Deals allow you to offer discounts to groups of up to 8 people, when they check in together. These deals can build even more exposure for your business because in order to claim your deal, your customers need to introduce what you have to offer to their friends and family.

Ideas for friend deals:

• Check in with X  friends and each get a gift certificate for $10 off next visit
• 10% carpool discount when you check in with the friends you rode with
• Movies: Bring 3 friends with you and get a free large popcorn with unlimited refills
• Check in with X friends and get X% off your bill (20% off entire bill for checking in with 3-8 friends)
• Bring a friend and get a free gift
• First 5 people to check in with 3 or more friends get X
• Get  our highly sought after water bottle for free by bringing a new friend to X (fitness centers)

Charity Deals: Show people that you care about more than just the bottom line. Create Charity Deals to make a donation in the amount of your choice to the charity of your choice each time someone claims your deal. This is a great way for your business to give back to the community. Please note that you must manage the donation process.

Ideas for charity deals:  

• Donate $1 to X charity for every check in on X date
• Donate 1 Thanksgiving dinner for every check in at X fundraiser
• Donate X item to X charity for every check in
• Every pair of mittens purchased by people who check in get a matching pair donated to X
• Get a 30% off coupon for your next visit for every person who drops off food to our collection for X

The possibilities are endless, these ideas are only a sampling of of how you can use Facebook Deals!  PLEASE comment on this post with ideas you have for Facebook Deals!

More resources on FB Deals:

Click to access Facebook’s Deals Guide for Businesses

Click to access Facebook’s FAQ’s about Deals

Make sure to share your deals marketing ideas in the comment section!

Michelle Corteggiano

Want to stay updates on the latest in social and mobile media marketing...SOMO? Click NOW to get access to The SOMO Journal

4 Helpful Twitter Hashtag Directories

Where do I go to find hashtags? If I had a dollar for every time I was asked this question...I would probably be writing this blog post from my yacht. Anyways, here are 4 extremely helpful hashtag sites used to locate, define and rank hashtags.

 1. We Follow

Here you can see a list of popular tags on the right hand side. When you click on the more button at the bottom it will take you to a listing of tags and show hashtags listed by popularity or alphabetically. It also shows the number of times the hashtag has been used.

 2. HashTweeps

Type in a word and this site will pull a full list of people who have used that word and how often…great way to grab a niche following

 3. Hashtags.org

Provides real-time tracking of Twitter hashtags. Opt-in by following @hashtags on Twitter to have your own hashtags tracked.

• Check out hashtag trends and how popular they are each day, week and month

• See who is using a tag by searching for it

4. TagDef

Hashtag definitions.  Here you can define your own hashtag or get the definition for any hashtag

Special Twitter Hashtag Tip: It is possible to view all tweets (posts made to Twitter) that contain a specific tag by modifying your URL a bit like so:  http://hashtags.org/tag/nwmi (in this example nwmi is the hashtag we want to view)

Have you created a hashtag yet...if so, please share in the comment section below!

Michelle Corteggiano

Want to stay updates on the latest in social and mobile media marketing...SOMO? Click NOW to get access to The SOMO Journal

 

How to Get Facebook Fans & Twitter Followers via Text Messaging

Facebook and Twitter have made it even easier to acquire “likes” and “followers” with a simple text message. Think of the magnitude of this…now you can build your digital fan base even faster by leveraging your face to face audiences.

It’s simple:

For Facebook, have them type in like username (no spaces in username)  to 32665

• Quick heads up here. The username you will enter here is the name you have chosen for your Facebook Unique  URL. If you do not have a shortened, unique URL go to http://facebook.com/username to secure one before this technique can be used. Also note that you cannot secure your fan page URL until you have 25 people who have liked your page.

 For Twitter, have them type in follow username (no spaces in username) to 40404

• The username would be the name you have chosen as your Twitter name

Here are some great ideas on where you can use this powerful new tool to get more followers very quickly.  Hint: Call to Action, give the directions on exactly what to do!

Signage in Your Store: Have a sign with a picture of how to text this info right next to the cash register, maybe even offer them a small discount on the spot for following you.

At Trade Shows or Events: Same thing, have a sign up that is telling people exactly how to do this. Offer something small in exchange for their following.

At Presentations/Meetings: I begin every one of my presentations with a slide that shows the power of a real time audience by asking people to text like atiattractionmarketing to 32665. I do a giveaway to one of the new fans at the end of my presentation.

In Traditional Marketing Media: Try adding the tag line text follow username or like username and the perspective number to any and all of your traditional marketing. Business cards, TV, Radio, Newspaper, Magazine, Direct Mail etc…

On Social Sites: Once in a while (3-4 times a year) it is okay to solicit new followers on your social channels. Post a request to text this info to become a fan or follower

Email Signature: Add the call to action to your email signature. This way every email provides you with a new fan or follower opportunity

Social Backgrounds: Add a call to action request on your Facebook & Twitter backgrounds to like or follow you

Website or Blog: Have a static area designed just for the call to action to like or follow you on your site

Profile & Bio Areas: The bio/profile area is one of the biggest areas people visit on blogs and in social sites. Add the call to action to your bios everywhere...it sure can’t hurt!

Hope you find this helpful! To get more tips and great social info please

Text like atiattractionmarketing to 32665 and

Text follow mcort to 40404!

Aslo, please share your call to action for both your Facebook page and your Twitter page in the comment section of this blog post below...

 Michelle Corteggiano

Want to stay updates on the latest in social and mobile media marketing...SOMO? Click NOW to get access to The SOMO Journal

12 Ways Business Can Engage, Interact and Attract Customers Using Social Media

Being in business, you already know that the person who is most likely to do business with you is the one that already has. Marketing time and dollars are much less when marketing for repeat business. Social Media allows you multiple free avenues to interact with “your” customers, followers and fans. These mediums host very captive audiences….your audience! If you haven’t already figured this out, Social Media is a powerful way to engage, interact and attract the right kind of people, it's called Attraction Marketing.

I have compiled a list of ideas on different ways businesses can engage using Social Media.

Live Interaction

Give your customers a way to interact with your company in real time. People love feeling like they have access to you. Assign the duty to a trustworthy employee and have them monitor any area where customers can interact. (many SM sites allow for real time conversation, I highly believe Twitter is the best place for this)

Promotions

Long term: Post a standing offer to friends & followers that can be accessed only through Social Media channels. Discount codes, free report, free item of interest, buy one get one, newsletter, free consultations etc…

Short term: Offer a one or two day only special. This can be extremely effective for restaurants, hotels etc. On a slow day, post a short term offer to help drive traffic to you that day

Free Trial Offer

New product, why post a limited time, limited amount of free trials. i.e.: The first 500 people to click here can claim their free trial of X. (of course the link takes them to your site where they can access the info on how to get the trial) This will build you a nice list of targeted consumers.

Sneak Peek at Coming Attractions

This is a powerful way to get your customers hyped up for a new product or offer. Give them a sneak peek at what’s coming out and let them know when it will be available. Use this tool to grow huge anticipation of its launch.

Polls- Please Help Us!

Polling your customers will prove to be an ace in the hole for your business. Use this tool to find out what the customer would prefer. After all, they are who you will ultimately market to, with info collected through polls you can give them exactly what they asked for. Don’t be afraid to just say….”Help us Figure This Out”!

Discussion Boards

People love to chat with each other in Social Media. Offering a discussion board is like opening up a big huge billboard for all of your customers to see. You will learn a lot about their wants, needs and habit by studying their discussions.

Special Offer to Social Media Followers Only

By offering something to Social Media users only, you will teach your customer that your SM hub is the best place to go for the newest greatest info and offers. This will also help you to track your ROE (return on engagement) in Social Media.

Announce New Product Info

Building anticipation, announcing and launching new products in the Social Media world is very effective. Like I mentioned, many of these people are already your customers and word of mouth is by far the best way to spread news. By keeping your followers informed they will inevitably spread the word for you. Social Media helps create evangelistic customer, the best kind to have. It’s like having millions of salespeople out there working for you.

Suggestions/Feedback

Let your customers chime in. I have often wondered why every company doesn’t capitalize on this tool?!? Here’s my take on this; part of being good at what you do is becoming an expert on everything that has to do with your industry. While continually learning, growing and becoming the best that you can be, it is very easy to lose site of the big picture (or should I say simple picture)…what the customer actually wants. I know that all businesses get to a point where they so engrossed in their world that they find it difficult to see it from the customers point of view. I have noticed that when I get to that point, if I ask for suggestions from my followers, that the answer becomes very apparent and usually it is very elementary.

Video

Statistics show that compared to print advertising, video has 800% more response rate with customers. The good news that goes along with this statistic is that YouTube makes it very easy to pop a video on your site and to link to the video in Social Media. Even better news….because of YouTube, amateur video is the norm, so you don’t have to spend a ton of $ on video production. Go get yourself a Flip Camera and get going! Video is a strong way to connect with people. It makes they feel like they know you and in the know like and trust world, know has proven to be 90% of the equation as far as doing business.

Giveaways

Give something away! The word free attracts people like crazy. Use this tool to get people to join you on your Social Media pages where they become part of your captive audience.

Customer Vote

Got something new coming out? Need to know what would sell best between 2 different colors, sizes or styles? Want to know which logo you should use as your new logo? Want to know what people want next? ASK THEM!! They will tell you and then you have the best solution to the issue at hand.

Photos

Posting photos and allowing your customers to post photos is one of the smartest things you can do! People love to look at pictures….especially pictures of themselves. Currently, Facebook hosts over 3.5 billion photos…need I say more?

Of course there are things businesses need to watch out for in the Social Media world. But just like everything else, with a little monitoring, things can be kept in check very easily. If you are not currently using Social Media to market your business you are going to lose if you keep your head in the sand.

Michelle Corteggiano 

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Transparency Era: 10 Reasons This is a Positive for Businesses

So, here we are 2009 and the buzz word “social media” is transitioning to a new yet related word, “transparency”. Five months ago I was reading predictions for social media that stated 2009 would be the year that businesses embrace social media as a viable form of marketing. Well, not even half way into the year, that prediction rings very true. Businesses, small and large, are jumping on this wave and why wouldn’t they? This is the information age after all and with the Gen Y’ers being so digitally savvy businesses would be foolish to look past this huge opportunity.

With the rise of Social Media comes the rebirth of transparency. A word that scares the crap out of a lot of people …. But why? Why is everyone so worried about the merger of business and personal?

Transparency is nothing more than going back to the days where people did business with you because they knew, liked and trusted you. We call it Throwback Marketing or Attraction Marketing, back to the day where the best man actually won! This is just speculation but, maybe that’s why people are so worried. Is it because they really aren’t the best, have bought their way to the top and this type of marketing just isn’t their bag???

Transparency brings:

Trust: Customers feel like they already know you before they do business, it’s like doing business with a close friend.

Relationships: Transparency puts a face with a business and shows you as a real human being, you can actually build a human relationship with me as a customer….. “There is no business that doesn’t need better clients, there is no business that doesn’t need customer service” (Enrico Schaefer | www.traverselegal.com | Built his whole law firm on a social media platform)

Loyalty: The more you share with people about who you are as a business and a person the more they feel connected and comfortable. When customers become comfortable they become evangelists, they will consistently purchase and send referrals.

Accessibility: Being accessible is what it’s all about in today’s world. People want to feel the security of knowing how to easily get a hold of you right away .

Longevity: Business graveyards are marked with headstones of businesses that were not forthcoming or even deceptive. Becoming transparent will give your business the chance to thrive instead of die

The Perfect Customer: Targeting your customer can be difficult sometimes. Let them love you for who you are and customers will begin to flock to you. Become the hunted!

Cream to the Top: The days of pretend are over! The continual blurring of personal vs professional transparency will raise the qualified “experts” to the top.

Communication: Being able to get your message to your potential customers becomes much more effective when you can open the lines of communication turning your offer into a 2 way street instead of 1 way message.

Realism: Revealing your activities and interests in your everyday life creates a sense of fellowship. You now are not only a business associate, but a friend that enjoys many of the same weekend activities as your customers.

Authenticity: By being true to your own lifestyle and not necessarily society's conditioning, you will attract like-minded people who are eager to be part of your world

This is the era of transparency, thanks to YouTube, the 24/7 news cycle, and the Internet, and what you don't admit to in public will hit the news in a nanosecond or two anyway. So relax and begin to embrace the fact that transparency is not going away. Transparency is just beginning to explode and if you are smart….you will get on top of the transparency gig right now. Do not get left behind.

PS- If this whole transparency thing still frustrates you…You might want to take a step back and ask yourself, ” What exactly is it that I am trying to hide”?

Michelle Corteggiano

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Stunning Technology Statistics Why Social Media is Here to Stay

Michelle Corteggiano

Want to stay updates on the latest in social and mobile media marketing...SOMO? Click NOW to get access to The SOMO Journal