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How well do you think this is working for their #SocialMedia efforts? #RocketGroup

A photo posted by Gus Wagner (@wagnergus) on Dec 12, 2014 at 7:12am PST

Everyone wants more friends, likes, and followers in social media…and whatever Google is calling theirs…for their businesses, campaigns, and efforts. Many businesses are making basic Facebook Page mistakes that you can avoid by following the Facebook search tips in this post.
One common call to action I see repeatedly in print and even local television advertising is the icon below:

It doesn’t work like that. Not well at least.

With that call to action, a customer might find you on Facebook if you are the only business with your name on the platform. But they might just as well find a similar-named firm in another region of Missouri, they may find nothing, or they may find a sneaky competitor of yours.

What is the proper way to promote your Facebook presence in real life? It’s by using your full URL. For example, ours on Facebook.com/RocketGroup.

Let’s assume that your customers are able to find your Facebook Page online. What are some of the common Facebook Business Page mistakes they might find when they get there?

• The last time you updated your Page was over two months ago.
• You have a Facebook Profile instead of a Facebook Page (a Cardinal Sin.)
• The purpose of your business or organization has gotten lost.
• You haven’t engaged with your Fans.
• Your Fans have no idea what your brand stands for.

Your business can distinguish itself from others by responding to posts, answering customer questions, and otherwise interacting with your Fans on Facebook in a way that’s true to your purpose and authentic to your brand.

If you’re really serious about Facebook, here’s some more food for thought:

• Empower someone dedicated to social media to manage your account.
• Unlink your twitter tweets and your Facebook posts. They are two different audiences. And your ‘more than #140’ tweets are getting lost. Share the same info, just in different ways.
• If you are going to schedule, which is ok to do, schedule at minimum two posts a day. Just like Raisin Bran it will do you good. Don’t lump all of your posts together at the same time of day or on one day of the week.
• Ask questions. Customers will become accustomed to answering your questions. And when they do, you’ve engaged your customers with your brand.
• Even if you aren’t on social media, your customers and prospects are, and they’re talking about your efforts and your business. Engage with them by paying attention to what they have to say and responding.

Just like everything else in your business life, social media is a commitment. You must commit to using it well, and to adapting to its constantly changing landscape.  Your goal in social media should be to constantly test your methods, content, and timing to see what works best for your organization. And just when you think you’ve figure it all out, it’s probably time to test again. That’s how quickly social media platforms like Facebook can change.

Need help? We’re here.

Thanks for the time,

Below is the SlideRocket presentation from our April 18th presentation to the Missouri Travel Council. The video from this talk to the statewide audience at their Jefferson City, MO conference appears below the SlideRocket show.

During our recent Social:IRL statewide tour, we became admirers of the team behind RAZ Mobile. We are happy to announce today that we are now partners with that same team.

Click the graphic below for more information:

RAZ Mobile gives nonprofits, organizations, and political campaigns the ability to create their own branded, mobile-optimized web site, to share it with new and existing supporters through social media, text messaging, QR codes, email, search and more, and to accept donations from supporters with a few taps on their smartphone. RAZ Mobile’s easy-to-use site-builder allows fundraisers to post news, polls, events, videos, volunteer info and more. All RAZ Mobile websites feature a prominent donate button throughout each site, enabling the ability to collect donations from supporters via their smartphones. 

With more than 60{628954cb2bad821921117287c23504a7919be1893c483613421612ad8712cddb} of all consumers using mobile devices to interact with consumer purchases, Social Media, and especially live events, creating a mobile portal to launch your fundraising success story is an obvious choice to make.

Click here for more information and to get started with your account sign up today.

With the Graph Search, algorithm improvements, and one billion users on Facebook there will be more and more pressure on businesses and organizations – large and small – to gather as many Like’s as possible. 

We stand by our longtime stance, the best way to get Like’s for your business is to earn them.

It appears Graph Search will be fueled by the Like’s users have accumulated since the beginning of their time on the platform. If I am looking for a hamburger restaraunt recommendation for Jefferson City on the tool, it will supposedly show me all of the interactions my Facebook friends have had concerning “hamburgers” and “Jefferson City”. Then I will be able to pick the best option.

This will be like Google search with peer pressure applied on top of it.

If early testing reports prove to be real, Like’s will have an inordinate amount of weight when it comes to results.This will lead to a rush of fear mongering bloggers and scared business owners to do anything and everything to drive up their Like counts. This will then result in larger numbers that will have no actual impact on their business…driving up frustration for all.

Earn your Like’s through good content with consistent posting, good visitor interaction, good real world service (that still works!), and targeted investments in sponsored posts and Facebook ads. 

Having your Christmas card list from around the world give you 100 or 1000 new Like’s to your hair salon in Mid-Missouri is not going to help you one bit. Can your Gramama in Spokane get her weekly cut and curl from you in Fulton? If the people who are liking your Facebook page aren’t local and can’t spend money with you then you are wasting time, energy and bandwith.

Invest the time, energy and bandwith into a content calendar so you know what will be posted and when, into taking attractive photos of your work product to share online, and into customer recommendations and shares which will further your message into your customer’s audiences and further.

The Slides from the presentation we gave at the Mid-MO Public Relations Society of America on January 24, 2013 in Jefferson City, MO.

Highlights from and testimonials about the Social:IRL Social Media for Non-Profits events held in Jefferson City in December of 2012.

Yesterday the story of the maybe/maybe not imaginary girlfriend of Notre Dame star linebacker Manti Te’o broke. Regardless of whether the story is true or not the fact of the matter it spread like wildfire across the internet damaging the NFL prospects of Te’o, Notre Dame, and media outlets like ESPN and CBS who had covered the emotional story in the past.

Look at the image above of Deadspin’s original Facebook post which we saw 51 minutes after it had been posted in the mid-afternoon. It had already received 359 fan interactions, including 242 valuable Facebook shares. A tweet posted at the same time has, as of this post, recieved more than 15,705 retweets and more than 2,200 favorites. 

While the Facebook interaction may seem low compared to the 99,000+ fans their page has, are your good news posts about your business getting these types of response rates when posted at an off-hour in the middle of the afternoon?

We have talked before about bad news spreading fast when it comes to local businesses and the need for your good news to spread just as fast…or to encourage the spreading of your good news from your audience.

Social Media channels are powerful funnels for information of all kinds and you should always be prepared for the speed at which your good, bad, or indifferent news spreads.