5 Advanced Twitter Tips for Your Small Business

This post originally appeared on the American Express OPEN Forum, where Mashable regularly contributes articles about leveraging social media and technology in small business.

So you're running a small business and you've got the basics of social networking mastered: You tweet often, you've created a venue on Foursquare and your Facebook Page is beautiful. How do you move to the next level of social marketing mastery?

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Devin Desjarlais, social media manager at Max Borges Agency, has five can't-miss tips for upping your Twitter game.

Scheduling tweets with a platform such as HootSuite or Tweetdeck can be a great way to spread out your business' social sharing throughout the day. However, Desjarlais says that it's important to pay attention to any responses your scheduled tweets may elicit -- the follow-up conversation is just as important as the initial tweet, if not more.

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"The key to attracting a following on Twitter is to engage with users," Desjarlais says. "Hootsuite is a free platform that allows companies to schedule tweets for all accounts in one place. That means that you won’t have to spend all day planning the next 140 characters to publish. However, check back hourly to see who has tweeted back at you. Twitter users have a short attention span, so it’s important to respond as quickly as possible."

Get familiar with platforms that let you build streams around phrases or hashtags relevant to your company. That way, you've always got your ear to the social ground.

"Hashtags are an excellent way to track conversation about a specific topic," Desjarlais says. "With Hootsuite, companies can create streams that track a specific hashtag, giving the account manager an easy way to find content and engage with other tweeters. For example, if your company makes custom guitars, you might want to follow a stream dedicated to the #music hashtag."

It's the mark of a successful social company to have plenty of customers tweeting at you or about you using your Twitter handle, but you can't rely on all users to do that. If you're only listening for tweets mentioning @BobsBurgerShack, for example, you'll miss out on a tweet such as, "Man, I wish Bob's Burger Shack had relish!"

The solution? Enhanced listening techniques.

"Topsy.com is a little-known website that lets users do real-time searches in the social web,” Desjarlais explains. "Do daily searches for your company’s name and narrow the search results to just tweets to see who is talking about your company but not @-mentioning you." Or you can save searches for some key terms and common permutations of your company name, such as "Bobs burger" and "Bobs cheeseburger."

While the majority of your tweets will probably be about your business, it's important to develop a personality beyond tweeting out discounts or new menu options. It's all about building a human personality.

"The last thing a company wants to do is spam their followers with tweets," she says. "Twitter is about sharing ideas, information and occasionally inspirational quotes in order to build a community around what the business offers. Try to tweet at least five times per day and dedicate one or two of those tweets to sending users back to your company’s website. Schedule those posts between 1:00 and 3:00 p.m. EST on the weekdays for the most engagement."

Determining the return on investment of social networking can be a real challenge, especially for smaller businesses that don't have the time or resources to dedicate to complex analytics. Desjarlais says free tools are available to make that task just a bit easier.

"The URL shortener Bitly lets users create shortened links for any URL available online," says Desjarlais. "Sign up for a free Bitly account and create custom Bitly links or 'bitmarks' that can be used whenever you send users back to your company’s website. To see how many people have clicked the link, simply paste the URL with a '+' at the end into your Internet browser to see up-to-date metrics."

What other advanced Twitter tips have you learned for running a small business? Share them in the comments below.

More Small Business Resources From OPEN Forum:

- Why Social Learning Benefits Your Business - 9 Steps for Getting Kickstarter Dollars - Choosing the Best Social Media

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, matspersson0

This story originally published on Mashable here.

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Why Business Executives Fear Social Media Marketing

This post was born out of a fascinating and revealing conversation our CEO recently had with a business executive of a prominent Minneapolis-area car dealership who absolutely refused to entertain the idea of social media marketing in general, and Twitter in particular. A marketing director, she was convinced that her fairly expensive ad spend on a local radio station was all their brand needed to reach its target demographic, 18 to 45 year-old men. Incredulous, our fearless leader tried to explain that such a group was one of the sweet-spots for social media/Twitter marketing (in fact, 70% of Twitter users are between the ages of 18-45; of these, just under half are men). The marketing exec seemed agitated. She would have none of it, and quickly changed the subject.

This experience is not an isolated one. I’ve had numerous conversations with business leaders in the over-30 crowd whose opinion of social media ranges from that of novelty item to utter abomination casting a blight over their well-ordered business universe.

Why does the mere mention of social marketing upset so many executives and business owners, anyway?

WHY DO I NEED THIS?

A new study authored by The Economist Intelligence Unit and Pulse Point may shed some light. The study interviewed 329 US and Canadian executives (C-level to CEO) from 19 different industries to glean their perspectives on engaging customers “in meaningful conversations-enabled by social technologies-so both parties benefit.”

While 81% of executives agreed that social engagement provides their company with tangible benefits, such as increased market share, the study highlighted 9 roadblocks to deeper social engagement:

Taking a look at the top three roadblocks, it makes sense that concerns over ROI measurability, legal issues and strategy would make executives hesitate in their adaption of a new marketing platform. Having said that, social engagement is actually quite measurable; unless someone nukes the entire planet, all legal issues surrounding the dissemination of online content are going to have to be dealt with by organizations sooner or later. Moreover, there are innumerable resources on the web for any executive or organization to bone up on social media adaptation and strategy.

Except for very small organizations, the whole lack of budget argument is a bit of a canard. Yes, there are costs associated with hiring social media staff or outsourcing the management of social media to a marketing firm, but as a general rule the efficiencies of social media outweigh the costs. If you’re unconvinced, check out the blog I wrote on P&G regarding this very topic.

Beyond the numbers, I think there are three fundamental reasons why business leaders resist embracing social for their brand:

Fear of the Unknown - Many pre-Millennial execs see social as “the other.” They don’t really get it, or refuse to consider it, and they sure as heck aren’t going to let some young whippersnapper tell them how to use it. I think I was a bit like this until I realized that I was really just plain wrong.Fear of Change - Apathy is the handmaiden of stagnation. For many busy executives, it seems like a lot of work to take on a new project, let alone a whole new paradigm.Fear of Technology - A subtle but powerful roadblock, as the world embraces all things digital and techie at an exponential rate, many execs feel like they understand less and less about the underpinnings of their business.

Taken as a whole, the rise of technology has inspired the Millennials (aka Gen Y) to conduct business in a fundamentally different manner. They tend to work in an inclusive, flexible, and naturally collaborative way and are very willing to share knowledge and engage socially (at least online).¹ As the world moves toward the adaptation of Internet, social and mobile technologies at breakneck speed, these trends will only continue to gather force.

I REALLY DO NEED THIS, DON'T I?

Because many business leaders’ understanding of social media is limited to casual observations made of their children’s interactions, they are unable to acknowledge the relevance (criticality) of social engagement for their business.

Perhaps they see the Internet as another channel rather than a different space to do business in; they do not understand the open and supportive ethos that underpins it. Amazon's Marketplace showing a competitor selling the same product at a lower price on its own website and customer reviews is one example of this ethos.¹

As a pre-Millennial myself, I can relate to the points highlighted above. Admittedly, though, I must say that those who resist social engagement for their brand simply must change their ways or face increased marginalization. I truly believe that for most businesses, social is no longer a novelty or a luxury, but a fundamental necessity, right up there with telecom and power.

I ask all business executives who are currently resisting social engagement to reexamine their reasons for doing so, stripping away all fear and prejudice. When analyzed in the cold light of day, I believe you are left with one stark choice: to adapt and evolve, or stagnate and face extinction.

¹ Ecadamy, "Business: Social media can only be bad for business”

 

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Social for Small Business: Is Facebook Cooler than Google?

In case you missed it, YouTube/Google threw a star-studded event for advertisers Wednesday night to promote its $100 million investment in new "channels," Google’s initiative to bring professional entertainment to the world's largest video site.³ There was Jay-Z, Flo Rida and the Neon Trees, Julia Stiles, Jennifer Beals, and Virginia Madsen, all partying down with the search giant’s generalissimo, Eric Schmidt.

Better still, Google unveiled a $200 million campaign to market the premium video channels by using YouTube and the Google Display Network, among other resources.¹

Get ready, you’re about to see a flood of online ads promoting Google’s latest pet project.

"We will fish where the fish are in a mighty big pond," said Google VP of content Robert Kyncl in an appeal to ad agency execs. "If you want to lead, join us now for the next seven years. We can build audiences together. We can build brands together" (my emphasis).¹

Yuck.

What happened to good ol’ “do no evil” Google? Let us remember the words of Larry Page, who wrote in a recent blog post, “We have always wanted Google to be a company that is deserving of great love.”

But I’m confused. Isn’t this the same company that changed its search algorithm to level the playing field for the little guy, who supported such free-love inbound marketing principles as unique content creation?  

Judging by the preponderance of back slapping from the cigar-chomping, scotch-swirling Madison Avenue illuminati in attendance at the YouTube gala, I’d say Google is more focused on making a “push” toward the old-school marketing world order.

By contrast you have Facebook, whose apparent rejection of big media, even as the social network prepares for its historic IPO, has left ad agencies in an uproar. As David Smith, the CEO of digital agency Mediasmith, noted with exasperation: "Facebook just doesn't seem to care. They're still trying to grow this thing. The question is, do they want the big bucks?"²

Big bucks indeed.

When taken together, these two developments leave me asking one question: Is Facebook cooler than Google?

ABOUT FACE(BOOK)

Paul Sloan of CNET wrote a post on this topic, where he quotes Mike Parker, the co-president of U.S. operations of Tribal DDB, talking about his frustration with Facebook: "For the longest time, we've been trying to call Facebook to do business with them and there's nobody to pick up the call," said Parker. "They're very focused on the consumer experience, and less focused on revenue and working with advertisers."

Flakes.

Sloan goes on to recount the grievance of another exec at one of the world's biggest interactive agencies, who spoke on the condition of anonymity: "We know the reach is there," she said. "The problem is that Facebook isn't willing to do anything different for the client that wants to spend $10,000 versus $10 million." (How about those of us with considerably less than 10k to spend?)

So what’s got big media champing at the bit to advertise with Facebook, anyway?

As I noted in an earlier blog, Facebook has been aggregating the profile information of its now roughly 900 million-strong user base for years, and it’s able to use much of this information to provide marketers laser-focused ad targeting. Location, age, gender, precise interests, Facebook connections, sexual orientation, relationship status, languages, education and specific workplaces are some of the fields on offer for keen marketers.

If they can get at it.

Much to the consternation of ad execs, Zuckerberg reminds us in a recent letter to shareholders, "Facebook was originally not created to be a company …it was built to accomplish a social mission -- to make the world more open and connected." And that mission, he writes, continues to underlie all decisions the company makes.²

TAKEAWAY

In fairness, all glitz aside, Google (as usual) has big plans for its YouTube video platform, envisioning it as the logical evolution of cable TV.  As Chris Hardwick, host of Nerdist channel, points out, "The web will be to cable TV what cable TV was to broadcast.”³

As the world goes social mobile, it’s hard to argue against web-based video playing a prominent role in the future of entertainment. In fact, that’s exactly what Google is betting on with its focus on YouTube premium channels.

I don’t often question Google’s destination, just its disjointed motives. As Google tries to be everything to everybody, Facebook seems to be staying on message by aligning with Zuckerberg’s social mission (at least as much as a 100-billion dollar company can these days).

I doubt if this point will be lost on the Millennials, whose spending power is set to eclipse that of the Baby Boomers by 2017, thereby driving the future of American Consumerism.

What’s the bottom line for small business? At least for now, Facebook is cooler than Google.

¹ Mashable, “Google Pledges $200 Million to Market Premium YouTube Channels”

² CNet,”Frustrated advertisers to Facebook: Take our money -- please!”

³ Ad Age, “YouTube Commits $200M to Promote Premium 'Channels'”

Image Courtesy of Ogilvy

 

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