Social Media Tips for Being Socially Savvy on a Budget

Social Media Tips for Being Socially Savvy on a Budget
Survey: Small Businesses Rely on Website, Facebook, LinkedIn for Branding
Big Business Tactics Small Businesses Can Use
Quip Allows Mobile Word Processing, Collaboration
5 Ways to Win Your Share of the Federal Government’s Year End Budget

Posted: 01 Aug 2013 04:00 PM PDT

For small business owners, social media is a great way to connect with customers, potential customers, build brand awareness and spread news quickly. According to the 2013 Social Media Marketing Industry Report, 86% of marketers report that social media is important to their businesses.

But the average small business owner has limited time and money to spend on social media. A recent survey by Zoomerang states that 59% of small businesses spend less than $100 on social media (42% spend nothing), and 74% don't employ anyone to manage their social media. And those who do employ social media for their business often don't know where to start.

You can easily capitalize on the marketing potential of social media even with limited resources. You just need to make sure you put your resources in the right places. Below are some tips on how to focus your social media efforts in a way that will resonate most with your customers.

Social Media Business Tips

Start with Facebook

With 9 million pages for small businesses, Facebook is the most popular platform among small business owners. And for a good reason – Facebook is the place their customers are most likely to be. Not only is Facebook the most popular social media site, it is also the most addicting. According to the aforementioned industry report, 23% of Facebook's users check their account five or more times every day.

Facebook is very effective for generating business — according to Social Media Quickstarter, 51% of people who "like" brands are more likely to buy a product after becoming a fan:

Image: Social Media Quickstarter

Small business owners should spend the majority of time and money on designing a Facebook fan page. Make it visually dynamic with quality graphics and photos, which humanize your brand image by spotlighting the people in your business and giving customers a glimpse into your business's inner-workings.

A few tools that will make sure you get the most out of Facebook:

Use Name Vine to check domain names, Facebook and Twitter extensions in a matter of seconds to see if your desired vanity URL is available.
Facebook Social Media Plug-Ins let you see what your friends have liked, commented on or shared on sites across the Web.
Use an app like Pagemodo to customize your page.

Limit Your Focus

Beyond Facebook, be smart about which social media sites you choose to invest in. If you try to maintain a presence on too many sites, you may find yourself overwhelmed and unable to keep up. Outdated and abandoned social media accounts can hurt your brand image. When you fail to respond to customers' comments and inquiries on these sites, they will think that you don't care about their input.

To effectively narrow your social media focus, determine which social networks your customers frequent. One recent study found that the average social media user has accounts on only two social media sites and many users have narrowed their usage down to one site. You can determine which platforms your customers prefer by sending a quick survey.

Once this is figured out, maintain a consistent brand identity by matching your company's designs, graphics and logos across all platforms.

Post Effectively

After setting up your social media accounts, it's time to determine how to interact with your customers and how often to do so. Most small business owners don't have the time to spend hours posting on Twitter and scrolling through Facebook comments. Fortunately, you don't have to post constantly to reach a large audience; there are many ways to tailor your posts for optimal reach and engagement.

It is recommended that businesses post one to four times a day on Facebook and five to ten times a day on Twitter. These posts should occur during business hours (8 AM to 8 PM) as this is when most people visit social media sites. It may be difficult for small business owners to post this frequently, but fortunately, Facebook allows you to schedule posts to be published at a later date.

To further save yourself time, push content to all of your social channels at once by using a tool like HootSuite. Take your Facebook page, Twitter feed and any other social channel you have and publish to all of them at once from a single interface.

In addition to scheduled posts, make an effort to respond to customers' posts on your pages. Considering that the highest percentage of customers prefer to receive special offers and discounts (see infographic image, top of page), use social media as a platform for publicizing discounts. You can even offer exclusive special offers to your social media customers.

Social media might seem intimidating for the overworked and underfunded small business owner, but with the right tools and strategies, social media can be an easy and effective way to reach your customers.

Follow these tips and you'll be socially savvy in no time.

The post Social Media Tips for Being Socially Savvy on a Budget appeared first on Small Business Trends.

Survey: Small Businesses Rely on Website, Facebook, LinkedIn for Branding

Posted: 01 Aug 2013 01:30 PM PDT

You may have heard advice about using Twitter or Pinterest for branding. It seems there’s always a new flavor of the week in social media and the multiple channels can become a bit overwhelming.

Well, a recent survey suggests many small businesses may simply be forgoing all this and sticking with one or two tried and true channels to brand their businesses.

It might surprise you that these most popular channels don’t include Pinterest or Twitter. In many cases, they don’t even include blogs.

Branding Survey Says Small Businesses Use a Few Trusted Tools

A survey of 529 Canadian small business owners each employing between 2 and 100 people found 52 percent rely mostly on their company website for branding.

And what other channels are small businesses relying on after their company website?

Well, a recent breakdown of the study by PC World suggests 35 percent of these businesses rely on Facebook for branding with just under that (33 percent) relying on LinkedIn.

Other social channels aren’t even close.

Other Branding Efforts

According to the breakdown:

19 percent of small businesses surveyed use Twitter for branding.
11 percent use Google Plus.
10 percent use a blog or forums.

Use of services like Pinterest and Instagram are even lower.

In fact, the study conducted for American Express Small Business Services by Rogers Connect Market Research suggests many of these businesses understand the need for digital channels but still rely on very traditional approaches.

In an official release, American Express Small Business explains:

A full 60 per cent of business owners rely on the actions of their employees to communicate their brand to their customers and almost half (45%) of these report it being effective. Furthermore, 32% of small business owners leverage events to help increase brand awareness.

What is your small business doing for branding?

Brand Photo via Shutterstock

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Big Business Tactics Small Businesses Can Use

Posted: 01 Aug 2013 11:00 AM PDT

big business tactics

I've always adhered to the idea of making my business look bigger than it is. I'm not trying to misrepresent my company, but I know the resources that will give my one-woman shop more gloss and make me appear more professional to potential clients.

Don't buy into the idea that as a small business, you're limited to your personal capabilities. Software is getting more affordable. And DIY is "in" right now in a major way. The lines blur between "big" and "small" business when it comes to tools and techniques like these.

Take advantage of what's available to you right now, and start living large.

Big Business Tactics You Can Use

Customer Relationship Management Software (CRM)

I'm guilty of thinking CRM just works for giant corporations with multiple people accessing the same customer data. I'm also guilty of thinking my small business couldn't afford it. But plenty of small business CRM programs (such as Insightly) are reasonably priced, and also cater to the needs of solopreneurs and boutique-sized businesses.

If you have customers, you need to track data about them. That's what CRM does. I, for example, keep notes when I have phone calls with clients (I'm terrible at remembering what we've talked about), and I like linking emails to those conversations, or assigning tasks.

Visual and Audio Marketing

Even if you don't quite have the budget for TV or radio ads, you can still get your face (or voice) out to the masses. Podcasts are easy to set up and record, and are hugely popular with the small business segment.

Video's another great option for the budget-conscious entrepreneur. You don't have to spend thousands of dollars to have a professional-grade video produced. Anything from your camera phone to a nice digital camera that shoots video can create commercials, video blogs, or customer interviews you can share on YouTube, your site, and social media.

Project Management Software

Again, I assumed I needed a bigger staff to really benefit from project management software. And while I'm pretty satisfied using Google Calendar to assign tasks for myself, it's so much easier to assign tasks to others on my team, as well as see the status of what everyone's working on with the right software.

Promotional Items

While I'm not a huge fan of pens with logos on them, you shouldn't overlook promotional items as a category. Small businesses typically won't need tens of thousands of a given item, so you can order smaller products that cost more per unit, but pack a better punch.

Legend has it that once upon a time, when Amazon pretty much sold just books, the company would send little freebies with orders, like branded bookmarks and travel mugs. Those are probably collectors' items by now. Find something your audience will value, and they'll actually use.

Email Marketing

I'm still surprised at how many small businesses don't use email marketing, or who are settling for sending text emails directly from their provider, rather than through email marketing software (such as MailChimp, InfusionSoft, Constant Contact, etc.)

With a cost ranging from $0 to under 50 bucks a month, there's really no excuse for your business not to be marketing through email.

Social Media Monitoring

Sure, your company's on social media, but are you actively monitoring what's being said about your brand or your industry?

Don't let the big social media monitoring brands like Radian6 scare you off. You don't have to spend a gajillion dollars to track activity on social media. A simple search on the social site of your choice, or a social media platform that lets you save searches for specific keywords, will help you connect to people who are interested in your brand, or who fit the demographic you want to connect with.

Whether your business is big or small, you want to instill confidence in your clients. When you choose to invest in smart marketing and operations tools, your customers will feel good about investing in you.

Big Small Concept Photo via Shutterstock

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Quip Allows Mobile Word Processing, Collaboration

Posted: 01 Aug 2013 08:00 AM PDT

tablet word documents

For anyone who’s tried to compose anything more complex than a text message on your smartphone, have we got news for you.

A new app called Quip claims to help you do basic word processing and even some document design all on your smartphones or tablets.

There are also collaboration tools for sharing documents with co-workers or partners.

Mobile Collaboration at No Cost

Quip offers a freemium version of its basic word processing and collaboration features on iOS from the Apple Store. An Android version is on the way.

The app offers some features of a standard word processing and office software package mixed with those of popular document sharing collaboration tools.

The difference here is that the app developer is touting the user’s ability to perform all of these functions comfortably from a mobile device.

According to the developer’s website, Quip allows you to do simple document design, share folders and collaborate on documents with up to five users.

Some of the app’s other features include integrated messaging between team members, a place for notes on all edits to documents and more. One interesting feature is @mentions allowing you to create links to other documents within a message.

Business Application

A Quip Business version available for $12 per user per month allows a team of up to 250. An enterprise version of the app is coming soon.

An overview of the new app from TechCrunch highlights the innovation Quip brings to word processing.

But for business owners, Quip promises your team will be able to collaborate, use chat threads to discuss documents, or even hold virtual meetings sharing agenda items and other presentation materials without ever needing to open a laptop.

Image: Quip

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5 Ways to Win Your Share of the Federal Government’s Year End Budget

Posted: 01 Aug 2013 05:00 AM PDT

the federal budget

September 30th marks the end of the federal government's fiscal calendar, which means that the year-end buying season is upon as we continue through this fourth and final quarter. So, how can you make sure that your company is considered by government procurement officers and end users who use your product or service (and influence buying decisions)?

No matter what you sell – from janitorial services to agricultural supplies – these marketing tips can help you secure federal fiscal year-end business.

Win Your Share of the Federal Budget

1. Plan Ahead

Hopefully, you haven't waited until now to think about how you can make the most of your federal year-end sales. It's important to have built relationships with those influential government folks by way of integrated marketing efforts and effective marketing throughout the year – and sometimes longer. A strategy with a component of developing relationships and a foundation with government users and buyers can result in a solid return on investment when September comes.

Nevertheless, a carefully crafted marketing plan can help you undertake those final critical months of the year and help keep your business top-of-mind. Strategic planning between sales and marketing should start in June or sooner, with campaign execution starting in mid to late July.

2. Understand and Target Your Top Customers

Make sure your team is aware of and understands the latest federal happenings and directives. Use your knowledge of these mandates to frame your year-end strategy about how exactly your product or service can help. Showing your awareness and intimate understanding of what's required of an agency can help you differentiate your small business – leading with specifics and a tailored approach versus a general marketing message.

Keep in mind that it's also best to keep your purview small by focusing on your top three agencies. This is not the time to be all things to all people or explore new business in new markets.

3. Offer a Year-End Special

Although offering discounts isn't always effective (particularly in a competitive market), you can distinguish your business in a few ways with a year-end special offer.

In general, ensure your specials align with your overarching year-end message. This could be as simple as offering a one-hour quote turnaround during the month of September.

4. Market Your Contracts

Having a GSA Schedule is great, but don’t ignore the other contracts in the lineup. Not everyone buys off the GSA contract. If you have other federal contracts, include them on your marketing materials. And if you are a sub-contractor, don't forget to include information about your partner contracts, too.

5. Market to Procurement Officials

Keep in mind the procurement and contract officers. They're responsible for spending the money within the agencies; they're busy gathering quotes, processing paperwork and making sure the budget is used as efficiently and responsibly as possible.

If your budget allows, consider developing a sideline marketing campaign to specifically target contracting officers and procurement teams to help keep your business name and contact information top-of-mind.

Lead with a message that communicates how you can simplify the year-end buying process. Offer extended hours, one-hour quote turn-around or other value-adds to help ease the process of doing business with you. And be sure to update your website, email signature and other outbound marketing pieces with this information.

The fiscal year is coming to a close, but there's still a wealth of opportunity for your small business to get its share of those year-end government dollars. Have other questions about government contracting? Check out your local Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC), which provides local, in-person counseling and training services to businesses that want to sell products and services to federal, state and/or local governments.

Money Photo via Shutterstock

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Small Business Trends

Friday, August 2, 2013