With social media sites like Facebook, MySpace and Twitter being all the rage lately, there are bound to be questions about how these popular online tools should be deployed in a business environment. Some companies fully embrace social media, creating Facebook and MySpace profiles and pages, Twitter accounts, and using them to interact with customers, as well as advertise to potential customers, and manage their online reputation. Here are some best practices for implementing social media in your company.

1. DO use Social Media as a customer service tool. Your customers—and potential customers—are already talking about you online. To their Facebook friends, on their blog or via Twitter. Why not become a part of those conversations? If a customer has a gripe, they are much more likely to post something about it online, and social media is an increasingly popular place for online rants, especially about customer service. Social media is a great way to manage your online reputation. By engaging people who may have experienced a less than optimal situation with your company, you can greatly reduce the amount of negativity associated with your company and brand. Resolving issues in plain view of the general public goes miles towards building a reputation for transparency, as well as building trust in your company/brand. Comcast has been particularly successful at using Twitter to resolve customer issues.

2. DON’T use social media for recycling data or automated feed dumping. Nothing is worse than a company reposting the same thing that is on their website on their Facebook page or Twitter feed all the time. Linking to the website or blog post from your page/feed is great, but always save some unique information for social media. You want to engage your audience, not recycle information. One recommended use would be posting an online coupon just for your Facebook friends/fans, or Twitter followers. Make sure it is a ‘limited time only’ offer, to ensure the coupon isn’t abused. Some other potential uses would be “web only” deals or specials, free gifts, or complimentary services and perks.

3. DO be conversational. Monitor your pages and feeds (most social media sites offer email notification for this), and interact with your customers. With Twitter, use “@username” replies and “re-tweet” interesting and relevant posts as much as possible. On Facebook, respond to questions or requests for information on your company or its products. When someone has a gripe, respond publicly, and use the opportunity to show you are human, and willing to work with someone to resolve an issue.

4. DO have fun and be human. Give your customers some personality to enjoy. Being a social media automaton is not going to get you any fans or followers, and could even hurt your potential to gain new customers. Make social media fun and interesting to your fans and followers, and they will think of you first when they need your product or service.

5. DON’T be rude or condescending to people online, even if they are a troll or are trying to flame you. Most things posted online can remain there indefinitely. Having rude interactions with people online won’t win you new customers, and will just remind everyone that you didn’t handle a situation appropriately. If needed, you can always appeal to moderators or help staff of the social media platform for help with trolls and people who flame you online.

6. DON’T share sensitive information. If you are managing a social media presence for your company, you definitely don’t want to post things about layoffs, gossip, and other sensitive or potentially harmful information. Avoid things that could put your company in a negative light, or cause distrust among your potential customers. That’s just common business sense!

7. DON’T let your page, profile or Twitter stream go stagnant. Social media is all about engagement, and creating a profile or page, and then letting it sit there, is not going to do you any benefit. Post links to interesting articles in your industry. Ask questions, post surveys, contests and/or special offers…anything to engage your fans and get them thinking about your company and its offerings.

Use of social media is growing at an exponential rate. What are you doing to capitalize on these exciting new online tools?  Are you doing enough?

Much has been written about advertising on the Internet, and using search engines to get customers to your website, but can those customers really find you in your town? An easy (and free) tool many business owners don’t take advantage of is the “local search” listing section of the major Search Engines.

What is local search? Simply put, local search is a listing within the search engine’s maps database for your business. It is important to note that local business listings are only valid for businesses that have a real physical location. “Virtual” or “mobile” locations are typically not allowed. Local business listings include the company’s name, address, phone number(s), website address, and even hours of business and services offered. And best of all, they are FREE!

As an added bonus, local listings are shown in the local business results section within the regular search engine results page. A Google “10-Box” local business results section is shown below, for the search “commercial roofing products” near Portland, Oregon.

Chances are, your company already has a local business listing on Google, Yahoo! and Microsoft’s Live Search, even if you didn’t enter that information yourself. Here’s why: The major search engines take business information posted on other websites. Data from business review websites, like CitySearch.com, Yelp.com and MerchantCircle.comis imported by the search engines for this purpose as well.

In the example below, the local business listing was created from listings on Super Pages and Dex Knows, and has not been claimed or edited by the business owner. There are 8 additional web pages that mention the company (ABC Supply), and 2 pages of user-generated content, typically blog posts, that also reference the business somewhere online. This business has not received any reviews online, positive or negative.

Some questions to consider about your local business listings:

·      Do they exist in the 3 major search engines (Google, Yahoo!, MSN/Live)?

·      Is the information they contain correct and relevant to your business?

·      Have you claimed your business listing in each of the major engines?

Yes, all of the major engines allow, and actually prefer, business owners to claim their local listings. To quickly find out if your local business listings have been claimed, visit GetListed.org and enter your businesses name and zip code. GetListed.org even gives you easy links to claim your listing in each search engine.

Once you have submitted a claim request to each engine, the engines will verify that you are indeed the business owner by calling you or mailing you a letter with a unique code that must be entered into the listing. After you have verified your ownership and claimed the listing, you are free to edit your listing information. Here are some tips to consider when you do this:

·      Make your listings as accurate as possible.

·      Place your listing in as many appropriate categories or types as possible in each engine’s local business center.

·      Solicit positive reviews from customers! If a customer thanks you for doing a great job, ask them to review your business on Google, CitySearch, Yelp, or other review sites. A good idea would be to create postcards for your company, with the URLs to your local business listing, Yelp, CitySearch, etc…to make it easy for them to find you on those popular review sites.

Total number of reviews, as well as amount of additional user content and web pages helps the local listing to rise within the “10 Box” results section. Note that while negative reviews are not good for the company’s reputation, they do actually help the listing get better rankings in local search, and provide a way for the company to address customer issues publicly, which increases trust.

In review, it is very important to have a good local search strategy in place for your business. You can start by following the tips below:

1.    Go to GetListed.org and check your local listings.

2.    Claim each listing.

3.    Edit/update each listing.

4.    Solicit user feedback in the form of reviews and user generated content (blog posts, etc).

5.    Ensure your full business address is located on your website.

It is brutal out there. Banks won’t lend to each other, consumers are holding back spending uncertain of the future, and companies are cutting back as they have lost faith that consumers will buy.

Although times are tough, history has shown us that companies that invest wisely in marketing during economic downturns can steal market share and strengthen brand image.

You only have so much budgeted for marketing.  A wise move in 2009 might be to shift some of those marketing dollars on-line.  Internet marketing can prove more cost effective, targeted and measurable than traditional advertising.

Here are five on-line marketing strategies that I believe can help you survive the downturn to emerge stronger and ahead of the competition.

Demand Accountability and ROI

Is data driving your marketing? Do not rest until the value from your marketing plans and activities can be quantified and measured.

By using web analytic tools you can see how visitors found you and interacted with your site. You can determine what messages work and don’t work. And by integrating your on-line efforts with your off-line advertising you can deliver consistent, planned messages to move buyers comfortably through the decision making process.

Test, test, and re-test. The web provides an inexpensive way to experiment and come up with creative ways to engage customers and prospects. Continue to iterate and test focusing on continuous improvement.

Leverage Search Engines

Although the market is tough, buyers still need information on what to buy, where to buy it and who is providing the best deal. And today, over 80% of consumers and businesspeople turn to search engines to get the information they require.

Traditionally, we try to interrupt potential buyers with our advertisements to get their attention. On search engines you serve up an ad that is relevant to exactly what they are researching. Ads are actually welcomed by the buyer.

Build Your Brand On-line

Determine where your target customer is performing research and consuming on-line content for advertising opportunities to hammer home your value proposition.

Stay Close to Customers

By participating in or spending time exploring social sites and blogs that relate to your company’s demographic or target customer you can learn more about their needs and your competition. You can merely listen in or even contribute.

Focus on Trust

Buyers are generally skeptical of marketing messages and advertising. And now, the economy is delivering a major blow to consumer and business confidence. Because they have limited funds the risk of buying the wrong product or service is increased. They need to turn to companies and brands they can trust.

In today’s connected marketplace it is more critical than ever to leverage the fact that consumers trust each other more than they do marketers. One bold move you can take is to allow customer ratings and reviews on your Website. Although the possibility of negative comments may make you nervous, buyers will appreciate your company’s openness and vulnerability.

This economic downturn will be difficult. But, there is an opportunity for those that choose to act.