Whenever we run workshops or give talks to groups about the benefits of using the internet to market small business, there’s one question we invariably get asked.

“Will social media marketing work for my business?”

The short answer is you don’t know – until you try it!  In our experience, owners of small businesses are discovering all kinds of benefits from using social media marketing methods – and many different ways of using the social networks too.  It isn’t just about immediately getting more sales!

However, it would be foolish to keep using precious time and resources on activities that aren’t working and measuring results and effectiveness are a vital part of marketing.  Here are a few ways you can start measuring social media effectiveness:

Website visitors – You don’t only want to measure the number of visitors to your site with a tool like Google Analytics, you need to capture their details to be able to contact them again.  This is where having a sign-up box will help.

E-Commerce – It’s surprising the number of potential customers who don’t complete the purchase, even though they fully intended to buy.  Most Shopping Carts will let you know where and how many people jump ship, so you can correct and reduce the loss.

Blog – Providing interesting content will encourage readers to comment.  Also, make it easy for people to subscribe to the feed and offer more than one way for them to do this (either to a reader or by email).

Article Marketing – monthly reports will show you how many views each article got, the number of clicks on each link, and even which keywords people used to find the article!

Newsletters – Using a good provider (not Outlook!)  will enable you to see how many people received your mailing, how many opened it (although this isn’t completely accurate as some people have a preview window which automatically opens the message) and most importantly, the number of clicks back to your selected web pages.

Social Networks – Of course you want to know which networks are bringing the most visitors to your website or blog.  Using (currently) free tools like http://bit.ly/ and http://ow.ly/url/shorten-url (part of the Hootsuite Twitter client) mean you can easily track this.

I hope this has given you some ideas to try out in your social media marketing.  What else have you tried that can be measured and works well?  We’d love you to share by leaving your comments below!

If you use WordPress or another content management system for your website, such as Joomla, you may have come across ‘plugins’. Basically, a plugin is software which gives additional functionality to the website and many plugins are free.

For example, when you have a site built in WordPress (the self hosted version, not the free hosted version), you may want additional functionality that will allow you to share blog posts. This isn’t built into the WordPress program, so a third party ‘plugin’ is required for you to be able to share your posts across social networks. On Savvy Marketers, at the bottom of each post you’ll see some social networking icons. If one of these is clicked on, it will allow you to share the post with your social network on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn etc. The plugin we use for this is called ‘Bookmarkify’ and I had to install it onto the site as an addition to WordPress.

Plugins not only give you additional functionality, such as sharing posts, but include securing your site better, allow you to back up your posts and pages, add advertising to your site, e-commerce functionality – the list goes on. Plugins will make your site unique from the next one and really give you the ability to have your site just how you want it, aside from design.

WordPress offers a definition of a Plugin and how you could write your own (if you’re a real geek techie!) and they have their own directory of Plugins on the WordPress website. There are almost 8500 plugins in their directory, so it’s quite likely you’ll find something that will add the functionality you want to your website.

If you use plugins regularly, let us know which ones you use and how they help you – it’s always good to know the most useful ones out there!

For small business owners who embrace the internet, social networking presents so many opportunities to connect, communicate, share and get their marketing message ‘out there’.

Many individuals, from college students to pensioners, are also enjoying the novelty of being part of a growing online community, connecting with like-minded people, sharing their thoughts and experiences, as well as following TV and film celebrities who have discovered the PR value of belonging to Twitter and Facebook.

I spend a lot of time online (probably far too much!) and am often taken aback by some of the rather frank and personal tweets and status updates. I’m talking about strong language, personal attacks and bigoted views. Of course I realise much of it is done for the ’shock’ value but really, it isn’t clever and it certainly isn’t a good move for your future reputation.

You are not only communicating with people you know. Once you hit ‘update’ your message is available for the whole online world to see, forever after. Even that little @ message replying to a close friend is visible to all other followers (and your Facebook and LinkedIn contacts if you’ve set your updates to synchronise). Do you really want a potential employer/partner/business associate to read every detail of what you got up to on that weekend or see the party photos you just posted on YouTube?

As a raving fan of social media marketing, the last thing I want to do is put you off joining in. Indeed you must join in for the good of your business! What I’m saying is please think before you post, message, tweet or have a rant. Are you happy for the world to read your update, or would it be better kept as a private phone call, email or DM?

Sharing personal stuff is a bit of a minefield. Yes it’s important to let people get to know who is behind the business, but if you’re having a bad day, perhaps it would be wiser to stay away from the keyboard….

OK, this is a of bit alarmist post title, but seriously, if you haven’t been a victim of website hacking, chances are you could be in the future.

I wrote a post in January about my WordPress site being hacked before Christmas. It’s been an ongoing saga until a couple of weeks ago – I thought the problem had been sorted out until a second set of code was found and it’s all taken much longer to resolve than I initially thought – 2 months in all.

It wasn’t just the headache of having to find and remove two sets of malware code from my site, but what went with it. It’s quite fortunate that I don’t rely on my site to keep my business going. I get repeat work from existing clients and regular referrals so I’m not relying on enquiries through my site or selling products from e-commerce. If I did, this experience could have seen the end of my business – no joke!

The knock on effects of having a website hacked are:

• warnings in the search engines and internet browsers not to access your website
• loss of rankings to the point you may not even be found for your company name (yes, I’m still working on getting my rankings back!)
• hiring technical help for advice and to further secure your site
• contacting the search engines to ask for warnings to be removed from your website listings which can take several weeks
• loss of business and any financial effects from this

So, you do need to take your website security very seriously. Even if you don’t use WordPress or a similar content management system, hackers can get through web hosting companies too (it’s all automated, not someone randomly finding a site and trying to get in). My hosting company has just introduced ‘ftp locking’ so I have to ‘unlock’ my site if I want to make any changes to it. It’s worth contacting your hosting to ensure they’re taking measures against the growing numbers of hackers and malware being spread out there!

Sophos (web security specialists) recently published a report about cybercrime, malware and hacking in 2010 and is well worth reading if you want to know more on the subject, and I advise you do. The above link will take you to a pdf document you can download. It’s not just websites being hacked but malware being spread through social networks, and those of you on Twitter will know from experience that accounts are regularly being hacked with malicious messages spread to their network of followers.

If you’re unsure whether your site has been secured properly or want it checked over, then I would recommend Debbie Mahler, who has spent hours pouring through my site’s database and log files to resolve the problem. She can also tell you how to make sure you choose a password for your online accounts which will be difficult to break!

If Google can get hacked, so can your website!

Anyone who still believes Social Media is just another marketing tool hasn’t got it yet.  While many newcomers to Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn go hell for leather to promote their particular product or service, they soon realise, from the lack of positive response, that isn’t the way to go.  At this point, they either declare that social media doesn’t work or they take a look at how other people are using it successfully and model them.

Initial Contact - I love how you can make connections from all over the world, and with people you may not have thought it possible to meet in person.  Celebrities, industry leaders and well-known entrepreneurs are showing up on networks like Twitter, even if only because they don’t want to be left out.

Be Selective – While there are some people we wouldn’t want to be seen networking with at a local Chamber event, the same doesn’t appear to apply with networking online.  But connections online shouldn’t be automatic and it definitely isn’t a numbers game just because of such easy access to so many people.

Getting to know you – Once you’ve clicked to accept a connection, what happens next?  Have a plan how you’re going to move that person on from brand new contact.  This may be by firstly following their tweets and updates and reading their blog posts to get to know them better.  Or perhaps you’ll dive straight in and start exchanging messages.

Helping and sharing – This is right at the heart of social media, and the part many newcomers don’t understand at first.  While it’s perfectly acceptable to direct people to your blog posts and events, such self-promotion needs to be balanced by helping others promote their events, products & services.  When you share items of interest (which have nothing to do with you), that’s entering into the real spirit of social media.

Recommendations – Traditionally many people have been quite careless about getting testimonials from satisfied clients, perhaps not wanting to pester.  LinkedIn has changed all that and it’s much more acceptable to request a recommendation online, although caution should be exercised if the recommendation is for a very new acquaintance.

Protect your reputation – Affiliate recommendations and product reviews given to online connections can be helpful to people deciding what to buy, but they must be truthful and based on personal experience if your credibility is to be preserved. In other words, don’t recommend something you haven’t personally tried!

Recent requirements bought in by the US FTC (Federal Trade Commission) mean that full disclosure of association has to be clearly stated by anyone endorsing a product or service if they stand to receive payment.  While this may not affect us directly here in the UK, (unless we communicate with people in the US)  it is an ethical model to follow.

Taking it offline – One of the goals following that initial online connection should be to make contact by phone or in person.  While you can exchange messages online, they will only maintain connections at ‘acquaintance’ level.  Deeper relationships needed for possible business or joint ventures will best be achieved away from the keyboard.

I believe Social Media is a great way to make many new, highly targeted connections, get relationships started, and exchange information, but that building relationships still relies on lower tech methods.  What do you think?

When I talk to people about blogging and starting a blog, a lot of people are reluctant as they worry about what to write about, the time to do it plus they don’t think their writing style is good enough.

The first two concerns can be tackled by preparing a list of things to write about in advance which allows you to brainstorm blog topics and not worry about what to write about when the time comes – thus saving you time!

However, the third point is more difficult. You’re going to be putting your thoughts and ideas out there for everyone to read and if you’re not confident about your writing style, it could be a no go from the start.

In my opinion, I don’t think you have to be a good writer to be a good blogger. I don’t think my writing style is particularly great, but I do think the more I write, the easier it is to find my ‘blogging voice’. If you’re confident about the subject you’re writing about, then even if it’s not the greatest prose, I wouldn’t worry about it. Blog writing is much more informal than anything you were ever taught at school, so you can write in a much more conversational style, as if you were talking to someone face to face. It doesn’t mean you need to be sloppy with spelling and grammar though, so if spelling isn’t your strong point, use a spell checker. You could always ask someone to check your posts before publishing them for all to see.

Don’t let lack of writing experience or even a lack of confidence put you off. You never know where your blog may lead or the people who may read it and actually like your blog! You may find great new contacts and even new business from it. If you’re a little reluctant in the beginning you can always write a few posts before publicizing it for the world to see. Get ideas from other people’s blogs too, that way you can see how other people write and find new things that you could apply to your own blog.

So, no, you don’t need to be a good writer to be a good blogger, but if you think otherwise, please let me know!

Each time you send out an Email Marketing message, as opposed to a regular informative Email Newsletter, you run the risk of increasing the number of unsubscribes from your list.  Here are some thoughts and tips to avoid annoying too many people!

• If your subscribers have been used to receiving a chatty newsletter once a month and you suddenly start bombarding them with ’salesy’ messages every couple of days, be prepared to lose those who don’t like the sudden change.
• Don’t try to make a sale from your Email. The objective should be to get interested readers to click through to a specially prepared web page that will take over the job of selling.
• Some people will take exception to you selling anything at all – they believe you should give them everything for free.  You’re better off without them on your list.
• Rather than keep sending the same marketing Emails to everyone on your list, find out who could be genuinely interested by inviting them to join a separate list.  Then mail this smaller, targetted list.
• When your promotion has a genuine deadline, like a date for an event, you’ll need to send out reminder emails right up to the day itself.  It’s surprising how many people ignore anything that isn’t urgent or immediate and therefore don’t book until the last moment.  Interestingly reminders like this don’t seem to annoy too much.

What tips would you add?

When setting up a new campaign on Google Adwords, you may have noticed that your ads automatically appear on Google’s ‘search’ network and ‘content’ network.

The ‘search’ network means that your ads will appear to the right or above search results on Google and their search partners which include AOL, Ask Jeeves and other search engines who display Google ads. In fact you can opt to have your ads appear on Google only and not the other search engines.

The ‘content’ network is a whole network of websites who opt to display Google ads on their site in return for a commission from Google if someone clicks on them. Google automatically matches your ads with the content displayed on the website – it’s the general theme of the website and the theme of your keywords that Google uses to decide the match. This can be a bit hit and miss, so it’s worth checking which sites your ads are being shown on.

Before you decide to continue with these default settings (i.e having your ads on both search and content networks) consider how much you’re spending and if you really want your ads on the content network (certainly to begin with). If your budget is fairly small, then just concentrate on the search network and disable your ads showing on the content network.

If you really want your ads on the content network too, then I find it works best to set up a separate campaign for the content network and allocate its own separate budget. So disable the content network in your settings for the campaign to be shown on the search network only, then set up a brand new campaign for the content network (so you may need to disable the search network on that one). You’ll find it easier to control and keep tabs on the sites displaying your ads than having them all lumped together with the search ads.

You can then see how your content network ads are faring with their own budget and adjust budgets accordingly for both networks separately depending on the return you’re getting from your ads.

You can read more about the search and content networks in the Google Adwords Help Centre.

I first mentioned Twitter lists soon after their launch last November and thought it was time to take another look at what has become a very popular Twitter feature.  Indeed the main Twitter clients – Seesmic (was the first), Tweetdeck and Hootsuite all support Lists.

In my first post I couldn’t really see the point of lists; however now I’ll admit to finding them quite useful.  Here are what I see as the major benefits:

1.    Lists keep things tidy. Once you follow more than a few hundred people, it’s nearly impossible to follow every tweet, especially if they’re a noisy lot!  Let’s say there are some people whose tweets you don’t really want to miss.  By creating a list and adding in their names, you can create a column in your Twitter client especially for them.  Then you simply scan the list when it’s convenient to you, safe in the knowledge that you’ve captured every conversation.

2.    Private or Public options. Social Media, and especially Twitter, is all about sharing with fellow members of online networks.  So once I created a public list of marketers based in the UK, that list acquired a unique URL enabling me to share it with you, like this: http://twitter.com/LouiseBJ/uk-marketers.  If, on the other hand, I prefer to keep a list ‘for my eyes only’, perhaps while researching a new, top secret product, I can choose for it to be private.

3.   One-Click Follow. If you want to follow someone else’s public list, you can do so with just one click AND you don’t have to individually follow all the members of that list!  (This can also be a good way of finding out privately whether what someone is tweeting about is of interest to you before following them publicly!).

It would seem my original fears about list membership becoming a ’status’ thing are largely unfounded.  The majority of social networkers I meet aren’t worried whether they’re included on a list or not.  Interest has been in how lists can help them get more from their time on Twitter.

Here are a couple of interesting and informative posts about Twitter Lists, if you want to learn more:

5 Reasons to use the new Twitter List Feature from Duct Tape Marketing
Twitter Lists in Details from Twitip

Have you tried Twitter Lists yet?  Do you like them?  How are you using them?  Please share by commenting below.

A couple of weeks ago I wrote a post about getting started with WordPress.com. As a follow on, I thought I’d write a bit about what you should include in your blog plus categorising posts and tagging them.

If your blog is an addition to your main business site (rather than a standalone blog), then make sure you link to your main site and make the link prominent. You want visitors to your blog to be able to easily find your main site. Don’t forget to link to your blog from your main site too.

Include an About page – who you are and what you do, no matter what your blog is about as people are often interested in who’s behind the blog. You can create as many ’static’ pages as you want with WordPress so if you provide a few services, you could create pages for each one too.

When it comes to your blog posts it’s a good idea to categorise them, so if you provide different services, they would make good blog post categories, the same with products. When you write a new post, make sure you allocate it to an appropriate category. You can create many categories, and categorising posts makes it easier for visitors to find what they want.

You can also ‘tag’ posts with keywords. This is different from categorising posts and is there to make it easy for visitors to find posts relating to their own keywords if they perform a search on your blog. You’ll need to add a search box to your blog for this which you’ll find in your ‘widgets’ (in the ‘appearance’ section). I’ve previously written about tagging which you can read here.

The best thing when getting to grips with blogging is to dive in and start experimenting. Try different things out, you can’t go far wrong with it and you never know, you may start to enjoy it!