eSpire Marketing

With so many people integrating Facebook connect to thier websites the question that comes to mind is; Has Facebook become the new open id? I would argue that it is quickly becoming so.
Facebook has become such a part of the way people interact online, that many websites are integrating Facebook connect to their site. For instance, The Huffington Post, one of the most popular and contraversial websites uses Facebook Connect to post comments made on the site back to the commentors Facebook page. It’s a great way for businesses to allow their user base to spread the word about their site to the Facebook world.
If you haven’t heard about how to use it, Google it. It really could help you get that extra bump in exposure that you so deaparately need.

IMG_0002.JPGTrust and transparency are the key to raising your revenue. I don’t know about the rest of you but I have certainly noticed a huge number of websites, applications, and blogs integrating facebook connect to their sites. Why is that? Well it’s simple really, everyone is finally cayltching on that social media is here to stay.
Whether your marketing department wants to believe it or not it is here to stay and if you don’t embrace it soon you’ll find yourself on the outskirts of your industry and fast. This economy has made it increasingly more difficult to sell things to people because most people, including myself, are buying simply out of neccesity and less and less based on want. On top of that people are researching more and more the products they do decide to buy before they make the final purhase. They need to trust the product and the company they buy it from.
This is always the analogy I use when I’m explaining myself to others; Think of it like this, are you more likely to buy the product that you saw on a billboard on the drive home, or the product that one of your friends can give you a review of and recommend? For me the obvious answer is to buy the product my friend recommends.
Social Media gives your business the opportunity to create that brand and product trust (as well as consumer recommendation) that is so vital to your business’s success. That is why we are all seeing the influx of Facebook and Twitter integration everywhere on the web. It gives your company the power to control (or at least influence) the conversation around your brand and your products and in turn transparency, trust, and inthe end sales.

I’ll leave you with this. My top 3 best practices for creating brand loyalty and trust with social media and that equals sales for you.

1. Ask the consumer – So you want to add a new product to your website? Go to your Twitter or Facebook page and ask your followers which one they like best. They’ll appreciate the fact that you want their opinion and they’ll feel as if they have some ownership in the decisions for your company.
2. Follow your brand mentions- Watching to see who is talking about you and what they are saying is important. That way if a customer has a complaint to make, you can deal with it out in the open and take care of them. That visibility and transparency will create brand loyalty and trust down the road.
3. Give away free stuff – The best way to win people over is to give them something for little or no return on their part. I realize from an ROI standpoint that might be hard to do but they’ll tell their friends and that word of mouth marketing is what you really should strive for.

It’s not hard really. You just have to put yourself in the consumer’s shoes. Wake up people, welcome to the new economy. The consumer driven economy.

So you just set up a Facebook page for your company, now what? Just because you set it up doesn’t mean that anyone knows (or cares) that you are on Facebook. You need to promote your social media campaigns just as you would promote a new product for sale. Generally when you’re promoting a new product, to get it off to the right foot, you probably give them a bit of extra incentive at first to come and try it out right? Well your social media campaigns should be no different.

Step 1:
The first thing you’ll want to do is post some cool content on your page. If you invite anyone to be a fan of a page that doesn’t have anything posted, you’ll hardly get any fans at all. You need to give the people who visit your page something to look at. Whether that is video content, blog posts, or pictures it doesn’t matter. Make your page look interesting before you tell anyone that you even have a page at all.

Step 2:
The next thing that everyone needs in order to have a successful social media campaign is friends right? Well then your first step is going to have to be to acquire friends. The obvious first step is to ask your friends and family to become a fan of your Facebook Page. You will get a decent amount of people to become a fan of your page just because they know you. It will help to make your account look a bit more established before you announce it to the rest of the online world.

Step 3:
Now that you’ve got your feet wet it’s time to officially announce your new Facebook Page to the rest of the world. Your next step should be to write a blog article telling all of your fans that you have set up a New Facebook Page. This step is more for the search engines than anything else. It will also act as a reference page for the next step in this process.

Step 4:
Gather a list of people to email and announce the launch of your new Social media page. You may already have gathered an email list from your customers. Email them and let them know, but give them some incentive as to why they should become a fan of your new page. Maybe offer a lucrative discount to all the fans of your pages. It works trust me. I’ve seen it done with a lot of success on numerous occasions. Then, add the people who actually opened the email to a separate email list. These will be the people you will continually email about your new facebook or twitter page.

Step 5:
Once the initial momentum has stopped from the first email, create a contest of sorts, and make the prize opportunity something very nice. One of the best things to do is a “Become a fan for free stuff.” For instance, if you want to make it your initial goal to reach 1000 fans on Facebook, give prizes out to your fans for helping you get there. Customized Girl does a great job with this idea in that contest.

Step 6:
Keep things interesting. You want to continue to keep momentum rolling. Try different promos, contest, and just fun ideas with your new fans on these pages. You want to keep giving them a reason to come back to your page and continue to give them reasons to interact with you. That is how you create online social media buzz.

A lot of smaller businesses might find the amount of time and effort needed to be spent with these people creating new ideas, contest, and promotions to keep their fans coming back for more. I promise you, that the lifetime value of these people is going to FAR exceed the amount of money you spend keeping them entertained. Keep it fun, keep it fresh, keep it real.