Posts Tagged ‘philadelphia social media optimization’

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I Dare You To Take The Social Media Fast With Me!

Friday, February 15th, 2013

For those of you who are religious may know that the Lenten season has started, whether you are practicing or you just know because you celebrated Fat Tuesday on February 12th. Anyway, I haven’t really put much thought into what I would give up or try to do this Lenten season, until I came across an article about giving up social media. GASP! Give up social media?

Yes, you read it correctly. How on earth will you function? As I pondered the idea here in the office with fellow team members Matt “John Goodman” Flowers, and Lora Novak, I asked does Pinterest count as social media? Although I knew the answer already I awaited their response with my head down. Sighhhh. I think it ‘d be possible to maybe give up Facebook and Twitter, but Pinterest!

Being a Content Writer/Social Media Strategist at 1SEO.com you may be wondering why would I give up social media if I am suppose to live and breath it. Well, let’s not get ahead of ourselves I found a loophole… I am all for social media and social media optimization for a business, however do I think many people have become consumed by it, yes. It connects us all for sure, I have stayed in contact with people I would never have still talked to, because social networks has made it possible.

So, with that being said, take a few days off. A mini vacation perhaps each week on lessening the amount of time we spend productively or wasting on social media. Unplugging from the world for a while can bring us back to reality. Think of the times when we arrived at a friends house, we had to knock on the door to let them know we were there to pick them up instead of a call or text to say I’m outside. Or I can even remember when I went to the movies with friends in my teen years, I had to find out how long the movies lasted and figure out when it would be over so I can let my parents know when to pick me up. Oh the embarrassment. All of this technology is extremely convenient, but has it made us lazy and consumed how we spend our everyday lives?

Be here, right now and live/communicate with family and friends and put our phones down in the presence of others. Maybe we can also realize that we might be missing something.

It’s business baby. I know it may be difficult to disconnect with me here, but taking some time off never hurt. Although, what about the business pages you might manage? Do we stop working on them and engaging with loyal or potential customers? Absolutely not! Maintaining a business profile is much different than going on to chat with friends or see what an old high school buddy is up to.

Maybe you decide to shut down during the weekend or shut down Monday through Thursday whatever works for you. But don’t disregard your followers or they’ll do the same to you. Instead of spending hours on end browsing through newsfeeds, come up with strategies and posts, or take a second to observe and see if your efforts are even working on every platform you are using, before exuding any other energy trying to get a presence on them all.

By taking a breather from your personal social networks, will allow you or maybe even a business owner to notice other tasks that may need to be addressed. It may even be a great idea to take a step back and see your overall strategy. This will allow you to find an objective instead of sporadic, random posts that could be bringing traffic to your site.

Trust me it won’t be easy, but with a little discipline I think I will realize and hopefully you will notice that you are more productive and enjoying the free time with family. As for businesses, it will allow no time to be wasted and make your social media presence better than before! Take the plunge and let me know how well you do.

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Why You Should Be Involved In Social Media To Help Brand Your Business

Friday, February 1st, 2013

Using social media to further your business opportunities can be a frustrating and upsetting process.  Just like SEO strategies change because of Google’s algorithm changes, so do social media strategies.  While I would love to announce that there is some secret code to gaining customers and a ROI for your social media marketing and optimization, the hard truth is that most of the time you will get very little conversions.  In fact, what I have learned here at 1SEO.com is that more conversions will occur if you are involved in Internet marketing tactics such as search engine optimization or pay per click.  Now you may be wondering what the point of being involved in social media is now especially if you want to get a lot of leads from it, and the whole process of being involved is frustrating—one word, branding.

As a verb, branding means to promote something, particularly a company or its products by doing advertising or distinctive design on some sort of platform.  By placing your company’s name on a social media site such as Twitter or Facebook you are promoting your company’s (brand’s) name.  Therefore, what I can conclude about being involved is social media is that it helps with branding your business.  If branding can also mean that you are creating a greater awareness for your company or its products, what better way can there be to do it for free than by being involved with some of the top social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Google+!

The only setback about being involved in social media is that you need to have manpower behind you social media strategy.  While this may be an obstacle for smaller businesses, it may be easier for many big businesses like Best Buy and Wal-Mart to be involved with social media effectively (because they have more employees.)  Also, there is no denying that you need to have people as well as a fan base that are willing to expand and share the content that you post, because how’s more exposure received without a great word of mouth?  Next, you need to figure out what you have to offer and say to current as well as potential fans and followers.

Finally, the best advice that I have for companies to help with their branding on social media is that if you go down the social media route, you need to work on finding a way to build trust with your fans to let them know that you care about them and not just their money!  If you keep this one simple piece of advice in mind you just might start to see what social media is all about—engaging with your customers and fans in order to help with your company’s (brand’s) exposure!

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Beta Facebook App Might Just Clean Those Skeletons Out Of Your Closet

Thursday, January 31st, 2013

Right now, my white car does not look so white. The snow, crud, salt, and build up from the recent whether around here has put my car to shame. Easy solution would be to go get it washed, but I simply can’t find the time or urge to drive myself there. You are probably wondering who cares about this girl’s car, where is she going with this? Have you ever thought about what if you could wash your Facebook?

Wash your Facebook? What are you talking about… I am saying what if there was an app or tool that gave you the ability to find every bad post, comment, or status update that you wish you could get rid of right about now. Well, there is! I came across an article that explained how three Kent State University undergrads were on their way to UPenn for a hackathon and dreamt of this idea to rid of unwanted Facebook posts.

Let’s think back to a time when you thought something was extremely funny or you were angry, or made a nasty, crude comment. At the time, you probably didn’t think how this can hurt your social online profile, however with employers searching possible candidates profiles for a potential job, it may not helping in your favor…

It’s called Face Wash or the Social Scrubber. The app, which is still in beta testing right now, scans all of your posts on your timeline and tagged photos, to look for anything you know… bad. If the app finds anything implicating not good-natured it will let you know. How convenient? When Face Wash finds these posts or comments it gives you a link to the post with the opportunity to delete them from your profile. Jackpot! I’m golden.

So, I decided to give it a shot. You start by typing facewa.sh in the browser, click Get Started, click Go to App and then “allow” for the app to be used. After all that was done, it then starting scanning my profile. I waited anxiously for what seemed like an eternity for the unknown to pop up and scare me! It scanned one year of posts finding nothing bad at all really, just maybe the word “sex” since I like the Sex and the City fan page. Phew!

There is also a search bar at the top of the page that allows you to search any profane words that may have been posted, in comments or even in links that you have liked. They have thought of it all. The only thing that is still in the works is embarrassing photos, because as of now it will only show them if any distasteful comments or descriptions are made on them.

Question is will you try it? I have, there is nothing to be scared about unless you happen to have no filter when it comes to social media. It’s free, easy and might be a great way to clean up that profile before the big interview! Side note… maybe we should Face Wash the 1SEO.com Facebook page and see what comes up. ;)

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Don’t Distract Readers With Your Boring Content!

Wednesday, January 23rd, 2013

Warning this blog has every intention to be as least boring as possible. However keep your judgments’ to yourself :)

So, we all read on a daily basis, for me all day every day. Whether it is on Facebook, Twitter, Emails or whatever, we are constantly reading the gibber jabber society publishes that they think is exciting to the world. Although in all honesty it may not be so exciting… awkward.

Anyway, think of some of the most popular brands that come to mind in today’s world. What did you think of? Was it Red Bull, Old Spice, Progressive, or Livestrong… too soon? (By the way I do not condone the use of steroids unless however you are Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.)

The odds are if you have boring punch lines or content on your site and social platforms, people are not going to want to follow you. Case and point. By branding your content marketing it allows you to become an established, well-respected business that has won the crowd over for their creativity and uniqueness. Being original is so crucial when it comes to being successful in business and for SEO. So create some noise, not physically but on paper!

People need to realize how powerful words can be whether you are a blogger trying to get your name out there, or a small business who is trying to make an impact with their social media presence. It can be done people! Look at Red Bull for instance, “Red Bull gives you winggsss” is their famous line and when I think of them I not only think of an energy drink but compelling commercials with people skiing off mountains, or free falling from space, or any type of extreme sport for that matter. These are all snippets of video that engage us to want more, to see the full length.

However, you may be thinking, how does Red Bull have compelling words and enticing literature, it’s all visual. So I took it upon myself to browse through their website and of course exactly what I expected, exactly what Dietrich Mateschitz founder of Red Bull created the product on. ORGINALITY! Everything I read was nothing I’ve heard before and the fact that he created an entirely new market stimulated the growth even more.

Or how about Cosmopolitan? Magazines are filled with ads out the wazoo, however, women purchase Cosmopolitan to read those “Carrie Bradshaw” articles and stories that are crazy enough you don’t know if you should believe. They manage to create monthly compositions each month that entice consumers to stay loyal subscribers. They hire the top writers, publishers and editors so there are no mistakes, so they are original, and to produce the most pristine publications in their field.

People look for the clever, witty, sensational phrases on social media. Your cleverness is then rewarded with “likes” and comments. Making original content the most effective kind there is, and for 1SEO.com it becomes a crucial part to our SEO strategies. If your business or blog has been under the radar, take a second to think am I being original? Is this something no one has ever read or seen this style of writing? Come up with engaging and compelling content and you will see the effects from your readers!

 

 

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Peer Pressured Into Buying End Of The World Sales

Friday, December 21st, 2012

Even from the start of time, man has said the world was going to end one day. Most of society is well aware that the “world is going to end”…today. We have seen meme’s blasted on Facebook, Twitter and every social media outlet you can think of. The Internet is a stomping ground for apocalypse talk and marketers feed off of the fear of the human race to make any buck they can. How many times have you bought something because it was on sale for a LIMITED TIME ONLY or ANNUAL SALE? I know I have.

Although I am probably not the best candidate to judge by, considering I make my purchases based on the idea that it’s not going to be there when I go back for it later. Now let’s take a second to think, every business whether it is retail or selling of services are always bombarding us with last minute aggressive sales to meet their quota or goals. Especially during the holidays you’ll find many incentives and sales that wind up getting people to spend more than their allocated budget.

Since most of us believe the world is not going to end today (obviously or else I wouldn’t have posted this) will we all continue to fall for these end of the world sales…maybe not so much fall for, but take advantage of. The marketing of businesses create this sense of urgency at all times and they do a damn good job of making us feel like were missing out on a great deal once it has passed. Whether companies push these sales through social media platforms because its topical or however they get their end of the world sales across they need these sales today, not tomorrow, not next week or by the end of the year, but now. I wonder how good will the increase in sales do if were all dead…jk lol.

However, it seems that businesses almost run knowing that the world is not going to end (at least they operate that way) because marketers will wake up the very next day pushing another convincing sale or promotion. We thrive and grow on these incentives and fall for them all the time. I’m no saint in these accusations. I simply will take advantage of these blowout sales with the mindset that the world will not end.

Since we all know that marketers wait till the end of the month or year or season to promote these sales, why do we continue to fall for these urgencies each time? If a company really loved our loyalty to their product or service they would not blast our inboxes with last minute deals online or in stores. They can emphasize the fact of not scaring us into purchasing which might seem like a much more natural marketing tactic. Just like 1SEO.com we want clients for long term and not these scaring marketing techniques that some businesses may use. But hey whatever works, right?

 

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The Rise of Social Media in Professional Sports

Friday, December 7th, 2012

People love to talk about sports whether it is guys or girls, they love discussing strategies, trash talking or simply being a loyal fan to their hometown. Not sure how loyal Philadelphians are right now, to the Eagles but that’s for another day. Even with the losing record going on for some time now social media has been used. Most statuses are probably bashing the current status of the team or talking about the tantrum that Mike Vick’s brother Marcus had during one of the games that I am sure some of you are familiar with.

Anyway… where I wanted to go with this is that social media networking and marketing has increased dramatically throughout recent years in professional sports. I came up with this topic from pouting about the NHL Lockout. Without further adieu I began my research on professional sports and social networking. Prior to social media, fans have been able to get their news from talk radio shows, newspapers and television. While they have all done a swell job of entertaining us talking about strategies, who to trade and whether we’ll get to the Super Bowl, World Series, etc. social media is what continues to engage fan bases across the world with their favorite sports teams

More than 80% of fans interact via social media while watching games, which I think is a substantial amount. I am part of that 80%. With the times changing, sports teams had to change their marketing tactics in order to cater towards fans who are looking to follow their favorite athletes and get the latest updates on injuries, trades you name it.

However, athletes and social media aren’t always on the best of terms. There have been many rants, and regretted tweets from some. For example, the triple jumper Voula Papachristou was eliminated from participating in the 2012 Olympics for her racist tweet. The sports leagues fine athletes thousands of dollars for violations; despite these reprimands they still continue to embrace the social media realm.

Some social media marketing tactics that I have never even heard of was in my hometown. The Philadelphia Wings last February decided to switch up their last names on the back of their jerseys to their Twitter handles. What I found even more interesting is a player that had a Twitter account was provided with training to ensure their social profile was maintained throughout the lacrosse season. They were the first ever to do so and I think this was a great idea in order to increase the conversation about the team. Like any celebrity or athlete, it allowed fans to “get to know” their idol on a deeper level.

What I gathered from the increasing use of social media in professional sports is that it can do great wonders for an organization. Bringing cities together, increasing sales and just building the conversation. The road that social media has gone through has been criticism and triumph. Sports teams and businesses alone like ourselves at 1SEO.com can benefit from social media.

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1 Way To Use Social Media For Your Holiday Marketing

Monday, November 12th, 2012

Your social media marketing and the holiday season, it has a certain caroling of the bells to it…doesn’t it?  Well, holiday songs aside, the holiday season is probably the busiest shopping time of the year.  So, if you are a business owner and want to push your social media marketing strategies even further during the holiday season, then it’s time to rethink your social media strategies for the next couple of months.  If you’re also wondering why your social media marketing should be in its most tip-top form during the holiday season, the answer is this:  People will be using social media to find offers on gifts, and also to see what the hottest gifts are by seeing what their friends like, follow, suggest, and purchase.

So, what is the best way to find all of this information out?  For starters, delve deeper into the conversation that is occurring amongst your Followers on Twitter, and what the general consensus is on Facebook—even better yet, get in on the conversation!  If you want to know what your fans, customers, and potential fans are looking into buying for their loved ones this holiday season, then why not check out what they thinking about buying (you can also ask them if you feel up to it.)

One really merry way to use your social media accounts effectively during the holiday is season is to be more personable with people while they are shopping around and looking for the best of the best holiday gifts.  There is also no better time and way to build positive relationships with people and add value to your brand by offering people discounts at a time when their anxious about how much money they are spending on gifts.  If you are able to offer your customers something that is both attractive and budget friendly (as well as talk about how great it is) then there is a strong possibility that you will make a sale as well as build a positive relationship with the customer.

Therefore, if you are really looking into upselling your products via your social media accounts this holiday season, show and tell shoppers that you care about listening to what they have to say and offering them up something of value.  As with any social media strategy, the fundamental idea is the same, but with everyone worrying about their holiday budget, chances are that people will go for the most reliable product with the best reviews.  Give potential customers that, and you may just hear about how much their son or daughter loved your products aka their gifts!

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Social Media: Politics Am I Right?

Friday, October 19th, 2012

WARNING this blog contains NO views on my political stance so you need not worry!

With the upcoming election some or maybe all have seen your newsfeeds blow up on Twitter, Facebook you name it. How many are actually enjoying it? Well maybe we should keep those comments to ourselves… However, social media is playing a huge role in politics as the presidential election draws near.

Not only is everyone voicing their opinion on Governor Romney and President Obama, but also the two themselves are using social media as a battleground. Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube allow them to organize their messages, making it more feasible to contact those voters who are hard to get a hold of, extending their reach and influence voters. So let’s talk about how this is affecting social media goers since the presidential election has been underway.

With now over 1 billion Facebook users out there the United States holds a majority of those accounts, resulting in the social media political uproar. Whether you are interested in politics or not, you are most likely being bombarded with it on a daily basis especially when the debates are airing. But are you getting fed up with the constant politics rants on the social media, which is made for connecting with peers, family and friends?

I am going to be honest here; I actually did unfriend someone because I could not handle all the political statuses. I felt like I was taking it a little far but when I saw that almost 20% of Facebook users have unfriended, hidden or even blocked those due to politics, it put my mind slightly at ease. Don’t get me wrong social media is an amazing tool for political debates and so on but it is our choice whether we want to tune into it or not.

What I am trying to get at is the shift from the 2008 election to 2012 has changed dramatically. Social media has become the second source next to television for political coverage. From the first presidential debate alone derived more than 12 million tweets, making it the most tweeted topic in history on Twitter. That goes to show how powerful this platform can and is going to be in any significant news. The presidential candidates for sure have taken advantage of social media to gain online support in hopes to win the election.

So with that being said, hopefully not too many friendships and relationships are damaged from the 2012 presidential election, and those who are taking advantage of social platforms will continue to write history.

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What Is Twitter, And How Can You Use It For Business Purposes

Friday, October 5th, 2012

What is Twitter?  Twitter is a social media networking site where hundreds of millions of people Tweet at one another much like a person would text their friends on a cell phone.  The only difference between texting and Tweeting is that Tweeting is public.  Yeah, you can make your Tweets “protected” aka “private” but why would you want to do that?  Joining a social media site like Twitter should mean that you have something to say, so why restrict yourself?  Save private conversations for your cell phone and get in on what Twitter is all about, getting yourself connected to everyone whether they are your friend, a celebrity, or your local bakery store!

The question that Twitter begs any user to answer is “What are you doing today?”  However, Twitter is also an excellent platform for sharing URL’s to the things that you are doing, watching, hearing, reading, and cooking, etc, on the Internet.  In addition to sharing your hobbies with all of your followers and helping them find out about all of the cool stuff you are doing, when you share a cool URL and provide a good and vivid description, your Tweets may have a high chance of being Retweeted.  Also, if you share great links and information on a daily basis, people will come to see you as a great source of information, thus boosting your professional reputation.

If you are a business owner or professional, and are looking to get your brand on a social media networking site, Twitter is a great place to start.  Additionally, organizations and people around the web have also reported that adding some of their website’s links to their Tweets have also proven to drive traffic to their website.  However, the way in which you write and describe the post or page you are linking to in your Tweet is important because you must write something that will stand out to your followers.

Making your Tweets stand out to your followers will take some creativity, as most people on Twitter follow well over 100 people.  To stand out from the rest, some things you may consider to entice your users to notice you are by running contests, doing polls, and offering something to your followers.  Maintaining the conversation with your users is important, but if you don’t give your followers some incentive for them to follow you (every once in a while) they will not follow you anymore.  I’ve found that one of the most fun ways to get more followers is by running a contest.  It can even be as simple as asking your followers to Retweet your Tweet for a chance to win a prize that you are willing to offer.  If you do consider running a contest make sure to include your website URL along with some hashtags.  Hashtags are the “#” symbols you can put before a relevant keyword or phrase to help categorize Tweets in the Twitter search.  In the instance of a contest, the more people you have Retweeting your Tweet, the more you will show up in the search with the hashtag you choose for your original Tweet.  This is effective because not only will it make you show up in the Twitter search, but if you have your URL in the Tweet, it will also spread your URL across the Twitterverse!

If you are a company that a lot of people already love and adore, you can probably get away with posting about your company.  However, if you are not well-known, you should consider using Twitter as a way to exchange interesting information.  So, rather than posting about your company, start out small by initiating conversation, and once you start it, give something back to your followers.  Taking this approach will not only build up your business to consumer relationship, but it may eventually make you look like one of the go-to guys in your profession!

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Is Your Business Taking Risks On Social Media? You Might Want To Start

Thursday, September 20th, 2012

Once upon a time it was too risky and may be even looked down upon to have a business page on social media. Now you might be a fool not to be taking part in social media marketing. However, being highly active on social media with your business and taking risks to succeed are entirely different. Social media gives people a chance to express their creativity (maybe offend a few people) but in the end learn what works and get conversation going.

It’s time for businesses to stop taking safe bets and experiment into the social world. However, in most cases companies will continue to stay in their safe, comfortable place. Although if you never take a chance and step outside the box how will you know how big you can get? For example, Old Spice they seemed to come back out of no where advertising like crazy with their hilarious commercials and “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” slogan. You remember brands and products like that who catch your attention and take these chances.

Don’t think your industry can create any humor or conversation because it’s not trendy or popular? Well, it doesn’t have to be that way. I am sure there are plenty of jokes made all the time that you, your co-workers and other people in the industry would appreciate. This allows fans to connect on a different level and see things though your businesses eye.

By loosening up your sleeves a bit might make fans a little more willing to share. Engaging with them will turn followers into loyal readers and maybe even a conversion. Who would’ve thunk it, being clever on social media could turn into sales leads. In all have you ever seen any become successful without taking any risks? Chances are probably not. So get creative and try not to offend too many people!

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