Why and How to Use Social Media Optimization for Business Promotion

Online Trends:

Online competition is reaching greater heights in recent years and with current economic trends the situation has got even harder to manage for online firms. The importance of internet marketing has increased with such trends and to make things easy, there are different online promotional methods to choose from strategies such SEO, SMO and SEM are the most preferred. Among these SEO is famous for being the most cost-effective and highly targeted traffic method, while SEM is a perfect choice for short term business products, services and offers.

But SMO has always been the forgotten strategy, but in reality it is as equal and effective as other internet marketing methods and to be honest for some business social media optimization is much better and effective than others. This article covers how and why you should SMO for business.

Why and what makes SMO important?How to use SMO effectively?

If we can get the perfect answer for these 2 questions then it gets quite clear that SMO is much more important that we think. So let's waste no time and get to business...

Why and What Makes SMO Important?

The simplest concept of Marketing is "where ever people go you must follow" and it's true, for it makes sense to market your business and products where your potential clients are waiting and watching. Social websites generate immense amount of traffic, for instance there are more than 955 million active users in Facebook as of June 2012(Courtesy Wikipedia). And among those 955 million are your potential clients, and this is a tempting option for both small and corporate business firms to market their brands, products and Services. Apart from lead generation social media presence is also a valuable factor in you SEO campaign and SMO actually helps improve Search Engine rankings.

How to use SMO effectively?

Unlike any other marketing strategies SMO is a regular work, which means your social media campaign should actively interact with as many users as possible in order to get the most of it. Major SMO experts also recommend using graphics to get a better reach on SMO sites as people love to comment, like and share pictures and videos. Experts say a "picture can convey 1000 words" while a video can double that effect and so try using graphics to improve results and increase lead generation and interaction. Keep your page lively and active as people never prefer to follow an empty page, share your activities regularly, just anything presented lively will do. Tell your clients and followers about new offers and new products or share with the about achievements and milestones reached. Remember, advertising too much or being overly promotional will not go well with your audience so give them some fun and pleasure while occasionally promoting your brand or services.

If done correctly SMO will produce far better results than SEO for certain business and products. But always remember one important point, "yes you are there for business, but sharing and speaking of your business and products alone will never work".

Gybatech offers SMO services in India at affordable and cost-effective rates. http://www.gybatech.com/ also offers SEO and SEM solutions to clients in India, UK and USA.

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Using Social Media To Promote Start-Up Businesses

If you are planning to launch a start- up business or have recently started one, you probably have encountered a wealth of information on using social media to promote a business. Though there are millions of social media users across the world, around 900 million of them, it is easy to get carried away by the numbers. Finding the right social sites to promote your business to maximise its potential is essential for business success, and this is where you should concentrate your efforts.

What Social Media Engagement Achieves For Business

Social media in essence is about engagement through sharing, which for business means targeting your product range, your articles, or your services at engaging a potential customer or client base. Collectively, products, services and articles are known as content, and it is through offering quality content that success through your channels can be achieved. Social media has around 900 million users globally, and covers every topic range you can think of. As well as engaging a potential customer and client base or readership, social media is also relevant to search engine optimization. Social media is a unique format as it helps you promote your content directly to your audience, and in turn it generates traffic via people sharing your content with others, and through SEO. Perhaps more importantly than this, however, social media with its online reviews helps a business build trust, and nearly every brand you can think of uses social media for this reason. Consider this: you come across two companies offering the same services; one has 250 Facebook likes, the other 43 - which one would you opt for? So regardless of whether you're an online retailer, an affiliate marketer, offer a service such as tuition, or run a news site, social media can help you build your business online. Google estimates that by 2015, UK consumers will have purchased £40bn of products and services online.

Popular Social Media Sites And Their Uses

Getting to get grips with the nuances of social media's role in promoting your business can cause more than its fair share of headaches. Here is a list of the most popular social media sites and their uses:

Facebook is predominately for sharing. This can be products, articles, or services. In a nutshell, it's for sharing your content with as many people as possible.
Twitter is about sharing news on any subject. Don't let the word news make you feel it does not apply for products. New product launches, new stock ready to be sold - Twitter is good for all of this.
Google+ is in part a combination of the two and has become important for search engine optimization if nothing else.
Blogging is a great way to impart news and expertise to your readership, customer and client base, or followers. It offers a good way to attract visitors on your site via search engines.
YouTube is about showcasing videos to a wide audience. It is being utilised by businesses all the time to sell products and services. As YouTube is owned by Google, videos tend to feature prominently on search engine results. You can also utilise the YouTube ads to make a secondary income stream.
Pinterest and other bookmarking sites are very good at showcasing visual products. If your business is selling something online, albeit a product or service, ensure you are posting on Pinterest and as many bookmarking sites you can find.

Social Media And Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Good positioning on search engines is about unique quality content that is well shared and well linked to from other websites. By sharing your content on social sites, the more chance there is of people liking it on Facebook, retweeting on Twitter, or sharing the pin on Pinterest. Links are important for good SEO and posting your content on social sites provides a link from the social site to yours, and in every case this can be targeted to a specific web page. By web page I mean a specific product, service, or article. This also ensures Google indexes the web page. That is to say, it adds it to its database, ensuring it can be found on search engines.

Finding The Best Social Media Sites For Your Business

To find the best social sites suited to your business, think about what your business is trying to do. If your business sells products or services, then use social sites that showcase pictures and videos to sell the product. YouTube, Pinterest, Delicious and Instagram are all really good for showcasing products. If you're in the selling game, make videos of your products, take good professional photos and get them on these sites, and ensure you link the pictures and videos directly to the content on your site. If you sell on eBay or an affiliate seller, try to link directly to the product page where a potential customer can buy it. Also, put the products on your Facebook page, Google+ page, and Twitter. For service providers, a slightly different spin on social media promotion is needed as, more often than not, a service provider will sit in the middle of visual social media, and text-based social sites. This also applies to affiliate marketers. If you can, represent your services with a picture or icon, and publish the picture or icon on the visual sites. Use videos to showcase your services - if you can get testimonials from clients, well, that's gold dust. Publish regularly on your blog and tweet the articles, together with insights into the industry. This engagement will help build trust with your existing clients, showcase your skills, and help you to be found by people wishing to become new clients.

Social Media Advertising

If you have the budget for it, Facebook offers advertising on a click-through basis like Google AdSense, or it can be used to earn likes. It is often a case of experimentation. For affiliate marketing revenue streams, click-throughs will expose the user to your revenue stream, while a like will ensure every time an article or new product is published they'll be informed. It's trial and error and seems to work well for some businesses, but others have lost faith in it.

Saving Time

By now, you have probably guessed that updating social sites, especially if you publish a lot of daily content, is hard work. Larger businesses employ people to keep on top of it, something many start-up business don't have the budget or the time for. It is possible to automate your social accounts updating using automatic syndication sites.

A Social Media Strategy

Step 1: Create a Facebook Page, Twitter account and Google+ Page For Business

These have their uses regardless of the type of business, and all help considerably with SEO. Ensure you create business pages on Facebook and Google+. This keeps your personal details and indeed social media life hidden from your customers or clients, and it offers better options to promote a business.

Step 2: Identify Social Media Sites That Are The Most Important To Your Business

If your site sells products, make a list of all the online bookmarking and video sites you can find and create accounts. Ensure you use Pinterest and YouTube. If your business is for services, information, or is for an affiliate marketing revenue stream, you want to spread the word in as many ways as possible. Use blogging sites such as Tumblr, Blogger and WordPress.org to syndicate your blog posts and services, and try to create news content if you provide services to show your expertise in your field.

Step 3: Use Social Media Tools Such As 'If This Then That'

'If this then that' or ifttt.com automatically updates your social accounts. This is easy to establish and works by syndicating the information across a host of social sites automatically as soon as one site is updated. This, as you can imagine, saves a lot of time. Be cautions, however, and ensure social sites suited to the business, such as bookmarking sites for online retailers, appear just as you want them to be found. Automatic syndication has limitations and often links and pictures do not appear as you would like them to. Nonetheless, and especially for syndicating blog posts via an RSS feed, it is a very good time-saver for promoting your business via social media. Not all social media can be syndicated in this way, but the sites that ifttt.com syndicates to are well worth creating accounts on to promote your business. The more social media sites you post on, the better.

Step 4: Use #hashtags

Whenever you post your content, ensure you use accurate #hashtags. This will help users find your content when they search for it. So if I'm selling tyres on ebay, #tyres, #cartyres, #car, #tyres is good, and for sports news, #sportsnews, #football #cricket, and so on is good.

Step 5: Once It Starts

Once your content starts hitting the social media world, monitor your accounts for feedback. Concentrate on the sites you've identified as important to your business and respond to questions and comments. When responding, try to be helpful and non-abusive, even if the commentator is not pleasant. Professionalism goes along way.

Step 6: Participation

Twitter and Google+ show trending topics and these are popular subjects people are discussing. It is worth performing the odd Twitter search to see what people are talking about in relation to your business, and making a contribution to the discussion. This is a good way to make connections and hopefully achieve more success.

Step 7: Monitoring Success

Monitoring success has proven to be quite difficult for social media. Unlike SEO results, which can be measured on click-throughs and content engagement, it is not so simple on social sites for a variety of reasons. You may feel if you provide news that 10 comments on one story is a good sign of success, while 100 likes of a product video on YouTube with no obvious link to sales may not be immediately obvious as positive. It is worth remembering, however, that though people may not directly access your main site via social sites, it may prompt them to return later. Always keep in mind that social media is for sharing content, so any like, comment or retweet is positive.

Visit HomeforBusiness for more online marketing tips.

Daughter, Sister, Wife, Mother of three, PR Consultant and Entrepreneur

Like many women on most days I seem to have to juggle all my roles. On other days just three or four. This is why I founded Homeforbusiness. I recognise what it takes to be a working Mum and how to set up an online business from home with all 'pulls' of everyday family life and work.

I have always been entrepreneurial and set up by first corporate communications company, EMA Productions, in my 30s working with big corporate clients such as Texaco, Rank and Boots. Whilst it was challenging and hard work, it was quickly successful. I could focus solely on winning contracts and meeting the clients needs without family distractions and with the support of a fantastic team and office.

I feel very passionate about HomeforBusiness as I believe that lots of people want to create a better work/life balance and work from home, either setting up a new business or working as a freelancer. There are hundreds of genuine opportunities for people but often people do not know how to start. I want HomeforBusiness to empower anyone who wants to work from home profitably. With a panel of guest experts I will share share genuine business opportunities, business ideas, advice on running a business, online marketing, and health and wellbeing tips. I have also put together my favourite free online resources.

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Using Social Media For Marketing Is One Of The Best Things A Business Can Do

Our everyday lives have changed ever since social media came into being. Social networking sites are now a part of what we do each day. If you think for a moment and ask yourself whether you can spend a day without checking your Facebook status or tweeting at least once, or pinning a photograph?

The answer is a big NO!

If we don't used any form of social media for an entire day, it will pinch us and we will go to bed with a restless soul, not correctly knowing why we are feeling uneasy. For businesses, the same theory applies. Presently, they are heavily depended on their different social channels to ensure they are able to reach out to a large customer base. Almost every business manager and marketing head has reduced their budget on orthodox media and are using the same funds to improve their digital marketing prospects. Furthermore, each business establishment is also bent on creating an in-house media marketing team, which can looks after the regular digital media needs.

Using social media for marketing is useful as long as a business knows how to do it right. Otherwise, both time and money will be wasted, but with no positive results being reaped. Alternatively, if ill-planned social media marketing is carried on for some time, chances are that the digital reputation of a given brand can be permanently damaged. Therefore, it's important that social media activities are initiated and managed by trained professionals only. Especially when social media optimization is being done to improve the online image of an enterprise, business managers can't afford to take any chances with the team that is being hired for the purpose.

Using various media sites to achieve organizational goals can turn out to be a huge boon for any particular enterprise, provided it is done systematically and consistently. Care must be taken that the social media marketing mix so created is kept flexible, so as to accommodate new strategies or modify an existing one. I guess it's always wise if a media plan is scrutinized each month, and modifications are made. Sometimes mere scrutiny is enough to ensure the strategy is still effective and the activities carried are still able to provide positive results.

Nowadays, even the most frugal entrepreneur is using social platforms to promote his company. And needless to mention, he's able to enjoy the effects that are following eventually.

Mark Weyland propagates the idea of using social media for marketing and advertising needs. He's also an experienced digital media professional.

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How Confusing Is Social Media Optimization? Learn More!

Is Social Media Optimization Confusing You?

Social media optimization has become a new and revolutionary new way of advertising your business online. And while it's related to search engine optimization or search engine marketing, SMO can actually be a complex process of giving your business a more visual presence online and increasing recognition of your brand and products.

Search Engine Marketing
Search engine marketing is also a unique way to get your business in front of the same consumers who are actively searching for your specific types of products on the major search engines like Google, Ask, Bing and Yahoo. SEM can also be a complex concept to understand and implement for a beginner to online marketing.

And when you add search engine optimization into the mix, getting your business, product or brand recognized online can easily turn into a very confusing labyrinth of tools and processes to wade through.

What Does It Mean For Your Business?
Basically, each of these processes is a tool for promoting your website or blog to the masses online, and each involves a way for driving more traffic to your site starting with search engines.

However, social media optimization targets traffic and potential customers that rely heavily on social sites like Facebook, StumbleUpon, Digg and Tumblr for referrals and reviews of certain products and businesses.

Social media can easily be thought of ad today's "word of mouth" advertising but done online. And if you want your business to gain optimal brand recognition, traffic and sales, it's important to grasp an understanding of how all three of these concepts work together on the Internet to capture the attention of your target audience while they're actively searching for specific products and services.

So while SEO and SEM may use techniques to target consumers who rely on Google and Yahoo for their searches, SMO, or social media optimization, optimizes your website to show up on the same social media sites that your potential customers ultimately go to for referrals and product reviews.

Getting On Page One of the Search Engines
Setting all of the terms aside, what you ultimately want is for your website to show up on the first page of Google, as close to top position as possible, when people search for the types of products or services that your business sells. At the same time, you want your brand name to be recognized across all of the most popular social media sites such as Facebook, Digg and even MySpace.

The tools and techniques used to accomplish these sometimes complicated and time-consuming tasks are best understood by search engine marketing experts who have actually made it their primary business to study these techniques for which processes and tools work best for different types of businesses and brands.

Social media optimization and search engine marketing is definitely not a one-size-fits-all advertising and marketing process by any means. No two businesses are ever alike; each targets a different audience, different demographics and sometimes even a different geographic location needs to be targeted for local businesses.

Since different businesses and brands require a different approach, it's often best left to a search engine marketing firm that has carved out a niche for online marketing specialization to handle the fine tuning and details of a solid marketing strategy for whatever your business is.

Karen Musselman writes about working at home and online marketing, offering tips on a variety of home business topics including the importance of analyzing backlinks to your website or blog. You can visit Karen's blog, Working At Home With KSMusselman at ksmusselman.com for more insightful articles and stop by her YouTube channel too!

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Social Media Power: How African Businesses Can Use Social Media To Grow

Discover the 4 steps on how Social Media Marketing can help you:

· Improve your brand awareness

· Attract more clients

· Improve your ROI

· Enhance your current marketing strategies

Step # 1: Improve Your Brand Awareness

Even though African brands such as Standard Chartered Bank, Kenyan Airways and so on have huge advertising budgets they are still taking advantage of these free Social Media platforms to engage with their existing and potential customers.

Step # 2: Attract More Clients With Social Media

Social Media is mainly used for relationship building. People want to buy from those they Know, Like and Trust.

Before the formation of Facebook when someone wanted to open a bank account with Standard Chartered bank in Africa they would probably incur transportation costs as the bank might not be where they live.

Now with the help of these Social Networks, someone can be a fan or a follower of the bank without having to travel a long distance.

The customer gets to know more information about the company. The information is not just limited to financial information which is normally reported on the news channels but they get to know the social side which is the human side of the company. The customer is now in a position where they begin to feel that they know the company, they like the company and they can trust the company. Standard Chartered Bank on the other hand can now have easy access to their customers. Their customers are liking and commenting on their Social Media posts.

This is great relationship building. Relationship building is also about sharing valuable information about your products and services before attracting the customer. The company can easily win this customer as the customer would feel that the company is part of them. Even if a competitor is offering a cheaper service the customer would still prefer to stay with the one that offered the best service.

Facebook is a great platform to conduct market research as the information gathered are very current and not out-dated.

Kenya Airways asked their fans on their Facebook fan page in January 2012:

"What is an Online Check In?"

They offered a solution and had 29 likes and 9 comments.

You see how effective this marketing campaign can help your business.

You can see from the above example that Social Networking can be used in many ways to get to know your customer. It also will help you in the creation of your products and services. You get to know what they want before you start producing and in this way it saves you time and money and makes you more money.

Do you see how powerful Social Media can be? When you introduce these same strategies in your business you are definitely going to get more business.

Step # 3: Improve Your ROI

The above companies are doing very well online and have taken advantage of these free platform tools. For your Social Media activity to be successful you have to put some things in place. Or else it becomes a complete waste of time, energy and resources and not bearing any results.

To have maximum Return on Investment in your online activities you must have some strategies in place.

Know why you want to be on social media:

· Is it to improve your brand? or

· sell your products?

Draft a plan and work on its execution.

Develop a system where you are able to measure performance and metrics.

Find out what your competitors are doing online.

The above strategies must be placed under different projects to be effective.

Step # 4: Enhance Your Current Marketing Strategies

Incorporating Social Media into your current marketing activities can be challenging in the beginning. Not all your work force will be in support of this Social Media integration and understand its power and the positive impact that it can have in your business. You must be ready for such oppositions but it is useful, as it gives you the opportunity to educate your team about this. It is your job to find out how many people in your team are using some form of Social Media, how many hours they spend a day and who does not use it at all.

If in doubt you can always hire an Online Marketing Consultant.

You are now aware about the impact of Social Media Marketing and how powerful it is in helping brands in Africa. With over 17m African users on Facebook and still growing, use the above strategies and begin your Social Media Marketing campaign to grow your business and enhance your ROI today.

To help you catapult your business using Social Media, visit http://www.tinakyei.com/ and claim your free gifts: Catapult Your Business With Social Media Ezine 7 Day Video Training Series; Top 7 Keys To Attracting More Clients Online MP3 and a FREE chapter of my eBook " Catapult Your Business In 30 Days With Twitter".

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Are You Making These Social Media Mistakes?

Nearly 90% of small businesses network with their customers online, promote services and products and reach out to potential customers. Social media is an essential part of marketing online because there are hundreds of millions of users to be reached.

While social networking is one of the most popular ways to market your company, there are several mistakes that are made all too often by small business owners. These mistakes lead to missed opportunities.

Make sure you are not missing out on getting the most from your social media marketing and avoid some of these common mistakes:

Thinking social media marketing is free.

Sure, social media sites are free to join and use. But if you fail to make any sort of investment in your social networking strategy, then you are going to fall far short of your desired results. You will need to consider spending money on sponsored posts, advertisements, plus establishing a team for the sole purpose of social marketing.

If you are assigning staff members to social network duties in addition to their regular tasks, then you are short-changing both areas of your business. You need to have a person or persons who will be able to focus on engaging and interacting with loyal customers and reaching out to potential customers.

Failing to respond to customers.

Social media marketing is not a one-way street. You cannot simply blast a bunch of product information and call it a day. There are two sides to social media, a give and take. If you want to be successful online, you need to be engaging with the fans. When a fan reaches out to you through social media, you need to respond quickly.

Social interaction online is what Web 2.0 is all about. Start conversations, join in on existing ones and reply whenever someone asks you a question. The more you engage with your fan base, the wider your reach will be.

Find out what your target audience is talking about and use that information to get conversations started. Track your metrics in order to see what is working best and what needs improvement.

Talking business all the time.

It is important to remember that you are reaching out to people, not just consumers. You cannot spend all of your efforts on bombarding your fans with business talk. They want more. They want conversation and fun. Social media is about entertainment.

You can post about your products and services, but don't let that be all you talk about through your social networks. Post pictures and videos. Hold contests and special giveaways. Use your natural tone of voice in everything you post.

Make sure your customers know that there is a bona fide person at the other end of the computer and take interest in what they think and what they say. Use your social media as a way to connect on a deeper level with your customers.

Every business can benefit from social media, so long as you are doing everything you can to get the most from it. Avoid missing out on a strong marketing strategy by planning effectively.

What mistakes have you made with your social marketing? What changes have you made to get the most out of social networks for your business?

Dawn Pigoni of Be Social Worldwide is a certified social marketing specialist and a social media virtual assistant. Dawn offers superb social networking, social marketing and social bookmarking to WAHMs, Small Business Owners, Internet Marketers, Affiliate Marketers, and Coaches who desire to bring stunning internet presence through social networking to their businesses. Get Dawn's free report, Social Networking today & see how she can assist you with being Social Worldwide!

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The Perils of Electronic Socialization

We are social creatures. We are designed that way. Some of us are more social than others. But even the most reclusive enjoy some socializing.

Yet, the convenience of social networking such as Facebook, Twitter, and texting, is limiting good old fashioned social interaction. We don't spend time with each other like we should. Sure, there is the occasional text, "Hey, let's grab lunch", but a large percentage of our conversation is electronic. Will the long term affects change us?

Maybe.

Take Facebook for example. I initially had 300 friends when I first joined. What I liked about that was finding out what was happening in other people's lives who I don't normally see every day, week, or month - and being able to encourage them through "liking" their status update or comment. I soon found it was cluttering my mind with too much information about people and what they were or weren't doing - and even what they should or shouldn't be doing!

Is this how we really want a large portion of our minds to be used every day? It's like one continual soap opera.

What we miss because of electronic socialization:

Facial expressions. When I send something funny electronically, I don't get to see you smile or laugh. I don't participate in the warmth of that moment that can only come from sharing it face to face.Sharing meals. There is really, really something to sharing a cup of coffee or a meal with someone. It's meant to be that way.Affection. A kiss, hug, hand-shake, or hand on the shoulder or back. This is how we're wired. And it translates.

When you use something in a way it wasn't really made to be used, what happens? Over the course of time there will be some noticeable results - even damage! If we are not living the way we are designed, what will our society look like in the future? Robotic?

I shut down my Facebook for 6 months and returned with adding only 20 friends. I had 30 people (some extended family) wanting me to befriend them and I didn't. I wanted my Facebook world to be small: family and a few close friends (and so I could play Words With Friends).

What hurts us because of electronic socialization:

Time. People are spending too much time socializing this way. It affects us not getting things done and therefore, who wants company when you're so busy playing catch up? Not only that, but we're stressed. We are always vigilant. "Ding!" goes the smart phone - someone commented on Facebook.Comparing. Far too many people are comparing what so-and-so is doing or what so-and-so has and can you believe what so-and-so posted? And profile pictures that have us enjoying the thrill of celebrity status.Rejection. If someone doesn't respond to your post, you feel rejected and lonely. Especially when so-and-so got 300 likes and you only got 14. And especially when so-and-so always gets 25 comments and no one pays attention to you.

Life brings progress and change which we cannot and should not prevent. However, it is important to protect the fragility of our humanity through managing how we socialize - and not forget some good old fashioned breaking bread.

Kathy is a freelance writer and has a passion to bring hope to people of all ages who are hurting through disappointment, discouragement, and loss.

She is a member of the Working Writers Club, Writers On The Move, and a monthly contributor to Heartbeat the Magazine.

You can find her at "When It Hurts" - http://kathleenmoulton.com/

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Social Media and Customer Service

Social media, the interaction between people through the Internet, through web 2.0 configurations and programs is in full swing. At least, as far as many of the social media websites and many of the newer versions of software - browsers, smart phones and the like - are concerned. It has been hyped, pushed, used, improved and tweaked no end. And yet, for some major companies, it doesn't seem to have come through yet. There are still many customer service related firms who either do not know the benefits of social media or have not implemented them yet.

Their loss, you may well say, but it goes a little bit deeper than that. It is the customers loss more than anything else. It is the customer who is losing out on benefits gained through web 2.0 simply because they still have to rely on the old contact processes, on contact forms and telephone lines.

Let's just take the two most popular social media platforms as examples: Facebook and Twitter. Both are ideally suited for quick and efficient interaction with the customer base of almost any company, whether it be an international one or just a local firm.

Most already have a Facebook page and use this to promote their products and services through the Like button. You appreciate a certain service or product, you click on Like to tell all your friends that you've found something and that it has worked well. Facebook users can also add comments, critical or otherwise, to the pages of their favorite or less favorite companies with the knowledge that someone is going to see the comment, even if they don't react to it. And anyone else hitting the page will also get to see the comment, unless the company concerned decides to delete it; a bad company practice admittedly, but one used to prevent creating a bad impression when a service or product has failed for potential future customers.

With one billion (Facebook figures) potential viewers it is one of the best contact possibilities available on the web today and has largely replaced the old web site contact.

The second popular social media platform is Twitter which, surprisingly, is underestimated by many companies. It has a potential for growth and contact with a real customer base in much the same manner as Facebook does, but allows for even more possibilities. With Twitter companies have not only the chance to quickly highlight what is on offer and link to their products, but also address concerns quickly and efficiently in a short and clear manner. Using the hashtags (key words prefaced with the # symbol) all manner of potential customers can be reached in a matter of seconds. With Twitter it is also not necessary to continually change from one screen to another, merely updating the Timeline brings new messages on the screen. There is also no need to build a second or third platform for information, a simple link to a web page or a photograph achieves this in seconds. And Tweets, the one hundred and forty character messages, appear on other people's Timeline as soon as they are sent. Replies are also easier, since using the original writer's @ tag - their contact name and address on Twitter - automatically sends the message to them as well as to anyone else visiting the company Timeline. Twitter is, in effect, a far more personal means of contact between firm and customer.

Why is Facebook considerably more popular than Twitter for customer service?

Firstly Facebook has considerably more weight for many than Twitter. A company page shows products with descriptions and photographs. Twitter merely shows links which take the potential customer to another site, although the latest version of Twitter does allow a photograph and some other media to be opened in the Timeline. Facebook has promoted itself considerably better than Twitter and will undoubtedly continue to do so.

Twitter, however, is far more attuned to customer service needs, in my opinion, than Facebook. Promotions with product descriptions are fine, but they do not always address customer needs. When a customer has a problem they wish to gain an answer, or the link to an answer, as quickly as possible. The old system, sending a mail through a contact page on the company web site or picking up the telephone, are no longer in tune with the younger generation. Added to which, telephoning a company to use their customer services is linked in many minds with long waits, with out-sourced help desks and people who do not, can not or will not help quickly and efficiently. Telephone calls are a single person speaking to a faceless single person, they do not allow for input from others who might be able to help with considerably more speed and efficiency than the help desk person, relying on their own experiences.

I recently had to contact a telephone company in Germany, the company which holds the contract for my smart phone. Obviously this is a slightly different case with my personal disabilities, but it highlights a specific need. The telephone company web site is complicated and filled with adverts for new offers and a vast array of rates, contract possibilities and specials which is hard to navigate through when you're seeking a quick answer. A contact mail sent will not necessarily be answered quickly, often not even within two or three days of sending, and the chances are that any reply will be a form reply (building block) which doesn't address needs.

Fortunately this particular company also has Twitter. Sadly, the four people listed as operators for the Twitter account only seem to be putting out (rare) adverts for new products and network upgrades. They do not answer any of the questions and complaints addressed through Twitter messages. The social media platform Twitter is, for Internet customers, useless at the moment. And yet, with four people operating this account, it has the potential to become a wonderful time saving contact medium for the company. Questions could be addressed in a matter of minutes - even with replies longer than 140 characters using a service such as Twitlonger - thus saving time and costs for the company.

How many companies appreciate the power of immediate reply?

Sadly, again, very few. We live in a society where almost everyone believes that they have very little time. We rush from one appointment to another, have our work times and our play times and always something to do. With the immediacy of the Internet, many expect - if not demand - that all the information they need is immediately available, which it could be. Patience, as far as the Internet is concerned, is a thing of the past. If my cell doesn't do what I wish it to do right now, it is useless. If I cannot get an answer on how to change this, the company is useless too, in the eyes of the customer.

Every company of any size which relies on customer contact today has an Internet page, has a Facebook page, has a customer service department, a help desk and someone designated to handle Internet matters. Most customer service departments are linked directly to the Internet so that they can find solutions on their own web site or answer mails when they arrive. Would the addition of an interactive Twitter account be too much of a burden on their working day? I don't believe so. I believe that the addition would be a massive enhancement of their efficiency and, above all, of their customer satisfaction ratings.

Good customer service - after sales, repair, general queries - is a major part of any company today. It promotes company loyalty amongst customers. Good customer service keeps customers, keeps people purchasing the same products. It is a matter of holding a good rating in the market place and, for me, Twitter, as much as Facebook, is part and parcel of the whole.

Viktoria Michaelis is an American student (born July 1992) currently resident in Germany on a Student Exchange Program Intensive Training Course in Property Management, Investment, Insolvency and Executive Management Skills prior to studying Business Studies and Economics at Bremen University. She regularly writes in her personal Blog at Viktoria Michaelis.

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5 Tips for Starting a Career in Social Media TODAY

So I take it you're looking to start a career in social media? Well unless you're one of the lucky few who can "blow up" with a viral hit, it's going to take some hard work and passion. I should know- I'm not writing this from some ivory tower. I'm writing this with the belief that what I'm about to share with you will continue to propel me forward as well. There's a lot of opportunity out there in online marketing and I'm guessing you want in too. Businesses are finally taking social seriously, and now is the time to learn the tools, theories and people to set yourself ahead of the competition. Are you committed? Are you serious? And most importantly, are you ready?

T- TODAY: Is it bad to start an acronym with the word itself? I don't have the answer to that, but I digress... Social media is both an art and a science. To become knowledgeable, you have to both study and practice regularly, starting today. Read up from sources like Mashable or Social Media Todayand listen to thought leaders like Michael Stelzner and Brian Solis. Trust that other people are smarter than you and use the internet to your advantage to learn from the best. After a while, you'll begin to internalize the best practices and make them your own. When the ideas become your own, you can reflect them back into the world and help to grow the thinkers of tomorrow. For all we know, you may even write a book someday- but let's not get ahead of ourselves.

O- ORIGINALITY: If your plan involves being a copy of someone else, why would anyone follow you over them? Instead, bring your own dip to the party and be happy that a career in social media allows your creativity and personality to show through. There's only one right way to change the oil in a car, but there's countless ways to build a following on Facebook or Twitter. Experiment and find what works for you. Though it may take some time to find your niche, you can already cross off copying "that guy" with a million Twitter followers, because what he did to get there has already been done.

D- DATA: Data is your friend with online marketing- Learn to love it. Sooner or later someone is going to want to see behind the curtain of your work and you'll need to come up with sexy-looking reports to show your progress. Previous generations have had to struggle finding and collecting data, so be thankful that now it's just a click away. Find ways to interpret meaning from the numbers and use them to your advantage in future planning. Ask yourself "Why?" again and again, and test your hypotheses to see if you were right. You'll know when you are, because the data doesn't lie.

A- ALWAYS: Here's a list of a few things you should always do: Create what you'd want to see, share your content, cite your sources, being engaging, network with like-minded individuals, stay on top of the trends, accept that your know nothing and continue learning, go to meet-ups, update your profiles, keep it classy, have fun, keep trying and most importantly- be yourself (I said it twice because I mean it).

Y- YEARNING: There are plenty of jobs out there, but is this what you want to be doing? If I were to search Google and ask what you're all about, what would show up? I'd hope to find employable social profiles and see some initiative on your part- Otherwise your talk is just fluff. It's easy to say you have passion and drive, but if you're truly passionate, then start putting your name out there. Spend the time to build a website, show the world the plans inside your head, and develop a deep understanding of all the social tools and the tactics that drive them. Faith is an action word my friend, so take the plunge and get started following your dreams today.

How are you getting started? Tell me in the comments below and share your success stories.

For more information on starting a career in social media, check out Mashable's What Does It Take To Be a Social Strategist? [INFOGRAPHIC]

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Evaluating Social Networking Tools for Events Promotion

A growing debate arose amongst event organizers regarding the usage of social networking tools for event promotions. One school of thought believes in the view that spending time and energy on social networking sites is nothing but wastage of vital man hours. They rely more on traditional age-old methods of advertising which primarily consist of newspapers adverts and telecasting commercials on television and using radio jingles to campaign for the event. However, new age business bees have argued social media has brought about a revolution in the way event promotion used to take place previously. The online strategy is quite fruitful too in diverting web traffic to the event website successfully.

Facebook

Facebook is the most popular social networking website today and will soon have 1 billion registered global users. Facebook allows you the platform to promote your events and company products to millions of people worldwide. It is very easy to use and you can open an account absolutely free! The site lets you search for people related to your industry and potential attendees and customers. You can join groups to network with like-minded professionals and share ideas and suggestions when planning smart marketing strategies for your business. You can 'Like' an event page that looks interesting and informative.

Twitter

This micro-blogging site is a powerful tool to share information and updates of any kind. You can tweet about your upcoming events as well as provide useful online webpage links for the users to click on those to visit the page. Twitter allows anyone to write a message of maximum 140 characters; hence you need to be extra careful to tweet the most important things first. Don't fill up your profile page with unnecessary scraps; rather share your online event registration links or your business website links with fellow Twitter followers. This site helps you get feedback from people in real-time by voting in favor of or against your tweet.

LinkedIn

It is a professional social networking website where you can meet and network with industry experts and specific company executives. LinkedIn increases your event website visibility plus credibility. It lets you establish contacts with like-minded people and in the course of time create new business opportunities and increased event registrations.

Google+

Google+ allows individuals to create "Circles" to allocate contacts into different groups. The chatting feature lets you start a dialogue with anyone -friend or potential prospect, and "Hangouts" facilitate group video chats with a maximum of 10 people joining in a single Hangout session. With Google+, you can initiate discussions with likeminded individuals and in the process begin an interesting conversation with them explaining the reasons for attending your upcoming conference or webinar.

Jonathan is a professional event planner. Event professionals worldwide are increasingly relying on automated software to streamline the online event registration, payment management, and attendee relationship management. Acteva is the market leader in providing event registration solutions at competitive price.

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