Social media today is the stuff dreams are made of… at least in the business world. More and more companies are getting on the social networking bandwagon to bring their marketing and advertising into the 21st century in truly successful ways. Of course, just saying that it’s happening more frequently doesn’t prove why it is necessary for a business today, so we’ve put together a list of the top 6 social networking statistics for why you’re company should partake in the marketing craziness that is Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+ and more.

Reasons Why Social Media Marketing is of Necessary for a Business

Reason 1) 67% of Twitters users have given a clear preference for buying products and services from companies they follow on the site.

Reason 2) 61% of B2B companies find that they are more successful at getting new customers when they use LinkedIn in their marketing plan.

Reason 3) 42% of social media users have mentioned brands in their posts on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, etc.

Reason 4) 80% of all customers prefer to get their coupons, deals, discounts and so forth on trusted social networking and media sites.

Reason 5) 61% of marketing professionals in 2012 generated sales leads on Facebook, 48% on Twitter and 29% on Google+.

Reason 6) Businesses that use Facebook generate and close 2.6X more leads than those who don’t use the site and businesses using Twitter create and close 1.9X more sales than those who don’t.

Why You Should Use Social Media

When it comes to successfully selling and branding your business sites like Facebook and Twitter continually show themselves to be a virtually limitless resource for customers just waiting for a brand to get behind. Whether you’ve got a business that is front and center like a restaurant or less flashy like a paper company, social media can provide a solid base for marketing and advertising to new and long standing customers.

Social media today is the stuff dreams are made of… at least in the business world. More and more companies are getting on the social networking bandwagon to bring their marketing and advertising into the 21st century in truly successful ways. Of course, just saying that it’s happening more frequently doesn’t prove why it is necessary for a business today, so we’ve put together a list of the top 6 social networking statistics for why you’re company should partake in the marketing craziness that is Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+ and more.

6 Reasons Social Media is Vital to Marketing

  1. 67% of Twitters users have given a clear preference for buying products and services from companies they follow on the site.
  2. 61% of B2B companies find that they are more successful at getting new customers when they use LinkedIn in their marketing plan.
  3. 42% of social media users have mentioned brands in their posts on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, etc.
  4. 80% of all customers prefer to get their coupons, deals, discounts and so forth on trusted social networking and media sites.
  5. 61% of marketing professionals in 2012 generated sales leads on Facebook, 48% on Twitter and 29% on Google+.
  6. Businesses that use Facebook generate and close 2.6X more leads than those who don’t use the site and businesses using Twitter create and close 1.9X more sales than those who don’t.

Why You Should Use Social Media

When it comes to successfully selling and branding your business sites like Facebook and Twitter continually show themselves to be a virtually limitless resource for customers just waiting for a brand to get behind. Whether you’ve got a business that is front and center like a restaurant or less flashy like a paper company, social media can provide a solid base for marketing and advertising to new and long standing customers.

 

Recently Facebook launched its “Custom Audiences” ads to help Facebook advertising gain a whole new level for drumming up business and brand interest for a company. Facebook in years past has allowed advertisers to target their Facebook advertising towards certain demographics such as age, gender, relationship status, Likes and location found through the user’s Facebook account, but now the social media giant has taken the concept of Facebook marketing and personalized it even more.

What are Facebook Advertising Custom Audiences Ads?

Custom Audiences ads take the traditional forms of Facebook marketing (age, gender, relationship status, Likes and location) and add even more dimensions to it for businesses to create custom targeted ads for Facebook users. The new advertising option gives businesses the chance to filter through the hundreds of millions of Facebook users more thoroughly with email, Facebook user IDs, phone numbers and any users who have had previous contact with the business through Facebook in some way.

How Do Custom Audiences Ads Work?

To use Custom Audience ads the advertiser needs to upload a .txt or .csv file that is filled with the necessary data for advertising such as emails, phone numbers or Facebook user IDs of those on Facebook the advertiser wishes to specifically advertise to. Once that is done the information is then encrypted with Power Editor and sent to Facebook where the information is the matched with information the social media site already has in their database. From there an advertiser is then able to use the recently uploaded information with other advertising filters such as age and gender to create customized audience ads for specific Facebook users or demographic groups of people on Facebook.

What Does this New Form of Facebook Advertising Mean for Businesses?

This opens up the possibility of Facebook advertising getting precisely targeted results so businesses can advertise to the users who would find the most favor and benefit the most from the ads they see. With more highly targeted Facebook marketing ads, businesses are able to get better results from those ads, creating a higher success rate for the businesses advertising budget and it’s overall profitability.

Are Custom Audiences Ads the Future of Facebook Advertising?

From the information supplied by Facebook, Custom Audiences ads are set to be the newest and most effective form of marketing or advertising businesses can chose on the social media site. With roughly 955 million users on Facebook at any given time, this newer form of Facebook advertising will help fine tune the targeting process for ads and give businesses the chance to make the Facebook ads as successful as possible.

social media marketing, social media

We all watched as the Facebook IPO flopped with a resounding thud and for some that outcome left the idea that social media may finally have hit it’s peak and it on the downturn. However, big name companies such as Google and Oracle don’t feel that way at all and are taking startling measures to get even more entrenched in the long term viability of social media as a profitable and effective avenue of advertising and marketing.

In a recent article by Forbes, writer Robert Hof goes into detail about the highlight of the MediaPost’s Social Media Insider Summit at Lake Tahoe where the general consensus was that social media is on its second upswing and is burgeoning on another boom of Facebook book proportions.

To read the article in full visit Forbes’ article “What Startup Buyout Frenzy Says About Social Media’s Future.”

SEO, social media, search engine optimization

SEO or search engine optimization and social media are like two sides of a coin; they need the other side to truly stand up and be complete. They can work apart, but in the modern age of social networking, online brand awareness and the social drive of the customer, SEO and social media marketing together are vital to the overall success of the advertising campaign bringing in profits and web traffic.

Social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are constantly in a state of renewal, bringing in thousands of new users every day because social networking is king at the moment. That constant state of new potential customers and heavy regular use of current customers, allows a greater chance of brand awareness and return on investment for good SEO business practices. By incorporating search engine optimization with social marketing, a business is able to reach greater quantities of customers by offering up-to-date information that is carefully planned with SEO parameters in mind such as keyword tagging, meta title tagging, linking and more. Adding search engine optimization to social media platforms increases the chances of the information being seen by the right people and bringing ROI back to the business.

SEO and social media at times can seem like two entirely different options for a business to get ahead in the business world. However, they both play their part in creating a clear web presence for a business and, if done right, they do it in such as way as to play off of each other and create a whole new level of customer participation, profits and brand awareness. Search engine marketing and social media marketing are two things that a business must invest in today and in a way that allows them to work hand in hand. Without utilizing the two complimentary business marketing options of SEO and social media, a company isn’t using every avenue they have available to become a leading company in their section of the business world.

After seeing a nice little infographic I thought I would post on our blog about how Social Media and how companies may not see the Return on Investment to be that vast from it. It is very important from an avid Social Media user for feedback directly from a company when I need something answered.

To put it in perspective the study done for the infographic said that there are 2 Billion people online, 85% of those customers expect businesses to be active in social media. Why, do you ask? Well like it or not most of your customers daily lives are spent on Social Media websites on the computer or mobile device. Word of mouth is a company’s strongest form of advertising; now with all of the Social Media portals you could say it is “word of mouse”.

Now that you are thinking about embracing Social Media, show that you’re human. 80% of businesses are NOT passionate about their Social Media image. The more people feel that they know you and like you, the more you will succeed. You do not want to be a robot all the time on your Social Media accounts, this will drive people away and show that you are not interested in what their opinions are and what they have to say. You must show how much you love your business and your customers for them to pay attention to your Social Media accounts. The study also showed that 68% of email subscribers & Twitter followers are likely to buy. 51% Facebook fans are likely to buy. With that type of information, wouldn’t you want to engage and encourage the purchase of your products to your Social Media followers? That just seems like too good of a statistic to just overlook.

Return on Investment (ROI) is a big concern for most companies, especially for small businesses. For small businesses or startups this is where you need to pay attention. Look at Social Media as another way of chatting with customers, answering the phone and meeting customers who would come into your store. Can you really afford not to communicate with your customers?

Another big thing is Blogging. Most of you are probably wondering why I’m talking about something that has been around forever. This is very key point, according to the study, 55% more web visitors and 67% more leads for businesses that blog. This is very transparent look into your company and what a typical day is like at your business. I myself have found this very stimulating to read about what others are doing at their job. You seem to get a sense of feel of how much love and care they are putting into their business. Also look at it from a standpoint of this is giving your potential customer to learn more about you and the company without a PR Release or News item. They now have an actual human voice that is representing your company.

Here are some great Statistics from the Study that everyone should pay attention to and the questions that follow the statistics:

  • Las Vegas Social Media Marketing30% of customer questions & compliments get no reply
    Would you NOT answer the phone 30% of the time?
  • 77% of customers read brand posts, but don’t comment.
    17% comment & share experiences.
    13% post about your brand.
    Do you inspire interactive or just push sales?
  • 71% of complaints on Twitter are NOT responded to.
    Negative reviews don’t kill brands. Not replying or inappropriate responses can.
    Do you use social media to convert angry complaints into happy customers?
    Of the 29% that were contacted, 83% liked they got a response & were satisfied with it.

Now that we have gone over some basics about running your Social Media campaign and gave you some statistics to back it up, you should be out there making a plan to build your social media portfolio. Don’t just tweet, post and blog because everyone else is doing it, invest the time and love into it to make it grow. And one thing you must not do is count likes and followers. The only number you should be really concerned about is the amount of interactions that you have with your customers. That is the most important statistic around.

USING FACEBOOK TIMELINE FOR BRAND AND BUISNESS PAGES

With the announcement of Timeline for Brands from Facebook this month, there will be a big change coming for your brand. Before brands were able to set a custom default landing page, this was to make sure the consumers would see what you wanted them to see and forcing them to “LIKE” your page to get past the landing page. This is now all out the window. Time to start thinking outside of the box with Timeline for Brands.

Cover Photo

 

With the new format you will be getting huge real-estate on the very top of your page. This image is 850×315 pixels. This will be the first thing a new/returning customer will see. This sets the basis for what the customer can expect from your company and decide whether you have put in the time and effort to make their experience enjoyable. Now remember that the new Cover Photo does have some guidelines. The Cover Photo itself cannot include the following:

Price & Purchase Information
Contact Information or anything that should be placed in the “About” section of your Facebook Page
Calls to Action (i.e. “Like Us Today” & “Like Us to Join”)
References to Facebook Terms & Actions (i.e. Cannot contain “Like” or “Share”)

These are very important for your brand to remember so make sure you read the guidelines.

 

 

Above the Fold

About Section for companies will include space for you to input 150 characters to explain what your company is and what you do. For Local Businesses this will be the spot for your address, category and phone number. Your “About” Bio will be limited to the “About” page that you can click on from your main Facebook Page.

 

Photos Tab will be next to the About Section. This will be a native application from Facebook and is in a fixed position. You cannot move this application. The most important thing to remember is that it will show a thumbnail of the most recent photo uploaded. You can use this in one of two ways. The first way is use it as a “Call to Action” photo. With the other applications on your Facebook page next to this, you can use it to point and tell your customers what to do. The second way is to keep it updated with “Fresh” new photos that are going to show what you want it to show.

Maps is an application that has exclusive use, which means it is only available to Places Pages. Local businesses can take advantage of this as they can put it in their 3 main applications that show up on their page without even have to click anything. It is a Native Application that Facebook automatically puts on Local Business Facebook Pages.

Custom Applications are still going to be an important part of your Facebook page still. You will not be able to set it as a default landing page, but you can make the Applications more visible to your visitors. With the option of setting up 3 Applications after the Photos Application with bigger Application Tabs you will be able to promote them more. The Custom Applications tabs are 110×74 pixels. Now you just don’t want to put a picture on these with no text. You want to put a picture that has to do with what you want the visitor to do. This will be very important to realize that you can update these as much as you want. Change the custom applications tab with pictures that you will be able to re-brand what your current promotions are. Use these for Special Offers and Deals if you want to do that, or something that is interactive to gain repeat visitors and followers.

Visitor Experience

The biggest thing is that there are no landing pages for the visitor to be ‘forced’ to like your page. This will distinguish which brands are going to survive in the Timeline for Brands changeover. You will need to stay active on Facebook, engage your visitors and make your new page desirable and updated using all the above features.

Running a Facebook Contest/Ad Campaign with the new custom applications/tabs you will be able to link a potential visitor directly to that application. With the Custom Applications you are still able to “fan gate” the content. Fan Gate means that you will be able to have 2 different things of content for the same Application. One will be for fans (already Like your page) and the other will be for non-fans (they do not already Like your page). This is very key to you and your brand. You want to keep the “Special Offer” only available to fans of your page. No sense in making it for everyone to see and to not Like your Page.

The Visitor experience is also going to change for the Custom Applications. The old Facebook pages would only let you have a 520 pixel width. The new timeline layout will be 810 pixel width. This means you will be able to have more space for your custom content and your visitor will have a more overall experience with the new added space, if you utilize it correctly. Don’t worry if you already spent money on old custom applications, they will all work on the new Timeline for Brands layout. They will be just centered in the middle of the new 810 pixel wide viewing area.

Likes have also changed for the visitor and admins alike. Competitive Analysis will be for EVERYONE. You do not need to be an Admin and you do not need to be a Fan. These statistics will be able to be viewed by EVERYONE. With the timeline you will be able to see what your competitors are doing. You can click through their “Likes” statistics and see which week was very engaging for them. Then on the timeline itself you will be able to see what they were doing to be so engaging with their fans.

Pin & Sticky is also a new feature on the visitor experience. If you are familiar with online forums you will know what I’m talking about. If not, what you will be able to do is “Pin” or “Sticky” an important post that will always be at the very top of your page. The “Pin” or “Sticky” only lasts 7 days. So this is Facebook’s way of governing that brands are keeping their pages up-to-date. You can go back and “Re-Pin” or “Re-Sticky” that same post. But you will have to go back in the Timeline and find it again. This will stay at the very top no matter how much you post for those 7 days.

That ends our blog post, I hope you have a better understanding of the new Timeline for Brands format. We look forward to giving you more blogs in the future!

– Ian Olson