Planning for a Social Media Holiday: Giving Thanks

The Holidays Are Here

Are you ready?  How can you use your social media efforts to show your customers and fans how grateful you are for their support and business or organization?

Whether you are a for profit small business or a not for profit organization, you have a community to thank for existing.  Everyone wants to feel appreciated.  I have come up with some ideas to help you keep connected with your social media community through the holidays, while avoiding to appear needy.  Needy as in, "Buy, buy, buy" or "Give, give, give".  

Soliciting sales and donations are important goals and should be part of your marketing plan this time of year, but it is a sure fire way to alienate all those fans you gained during the past year.  It's all about balance and making people feel special.

Today's tip: Giving Thanks

Give them a "Thank You" gift. 

You can give a coupon for a free service or a discount. 

• Some of you can take advantage of Facebook Offers.  This is a pay per click way to give you fans (and their friends) a deal.  You may also drum up some new business this way.  You can limit how many offers to send out, but it will cost you.  So if you are on a tight budget, this may not work.  However, if you can afford it, by all means, do it!
• Insert an custom application on your Facebook page for the offer.  I use Shortstack.  It is very user friendly and most of the templates are free. You can also insert a "Share" option.  You can use this to gain new fans by posting a link to it in your email newsletter.
• Create a hidden page on your website and link your posts to it.  This is also a good option to drive business to other pages on your site.

If you are a business/organization who does not have a "product", how about:

• Host a customer appreciation day or week.  Invite your fans and customers in for a treat or offer a giveaway in house and online.
• Partner with another local business.  Offer them a "Coffee on us", etc.  This is a win/win for both you and your partner.

Tie in anything you plan with Thankful posts.  Ask you staff for positive stories from the past year and include a photo of that staff member holding a Thank You sign.  Be creative and have fun. You are forging relationships.

3 Reasons To Hide Your Status On a Facebook Page.. Or Not.

My friend Lisa Padgett, of Green Dog Graphic Design, LLC, asked me when and why a business should use the "Hide" a post option on the Facebook Timeline.

Here's my answer: As far as I know, there isn't a good reason to do so.  I'm sure there is a valid reason, somewhere out there, but I'll be damned if I could find it.

So, let's think about this. Here are some scenarios:

• You post a status and no one likes it, do you hide it?  Was it a good post and maybe no one saw it?  Leave it.  You never know, I've seen "likes" and comments on old content, months after they were originally posted.  
• It was a bad post.  Poorly written, in bad taste or may contain typos, for example.  Hiding leaves it on your activity log, which only the page administrators can see.  Should you leave it there as a reminder of what never to do again? Nah.  Delete it, or apologize in a comment and move on.  You are only human. If you just have horrible judgement on what is good content, it may be time to hand over the reins to a more capable party.
• The status post solicited negative comments.  Unless the "fan" is posting really nasty things, you are better off leaving it there.  Address the issue.  This is the real reason you are engaging your customers.  You should welcome both good and bad comments.  How else are you going to correct your downfalls or make sure the successes are repeated?

If you know of a better reason to Hide a post, please let me know.  Contact me at crazymuttmarketing@gmail.com 

Blogging for your Non-Profit or Business

I met up with two different Non-Profit Organizations this week.  My main goal was to help their volunteers and staff understand the importance of blogging.  I explained Content Marketing and how it relates to fundraising and community support and awareness.  These same tactics and reasoning apply to a For Profit Business.

Here are some pointers I gave:

• Content Marketing is giving your clients or donors information, education and entertainment relevant to your brand, product and services.
• Your staff and volunteers have stories to tell every day. Stories = Content
• Good Content builds validity to your cause, trust in your expertise and a willingness to donate when asked or buy a product from you.
• Not everyone is a writer and that's okay.  Everyone in your business and organization has something to contribute.  I pointed out how the Finance Director of one agency could talk about efforts to cut costs to make donated funds go further.  It doesn't always have to be a client or customer success story.. though those are great.
• You have to have a plan.  What topics will you focus on?  Who will post what?  When and How often will you post?
• Don't get discouraged.  Do keep writing posts.

You also might find these links helpful:

• How to Blog Daily
• How to write a blog post people will read

How are you "marketing" your Social Media Marketing

"Bird" Dog

I help small businesses with their Social Media Strategies.  I consult, train, create content, edit and build profiles.

It's awesome, I really love what I do.  

After it's all said and done, the business owner has to create change.  Great! We have a page on Facebook..but we aren't getting any fans.  

This may seem like a no-brainer, but this is what you need to do:

• Integrate   Do you have your URL's and profile names on your business cards, brochures, stationary, receipts?  Have you changed your "signature" on your email to include a link to your Social Media profiles?  
• Ask   Train your employees to encourage customers to become a Fan or Follower.  Post creative signage with a "Text: FAN (insert Facebook URL here) to 32655.  Ask your customers through email, newsletters, etc.  
• Offer  Make it worth their while to Fan or Follow.  Create a giveaway or coupon that customers can find on your profile.  Warning: You cannot make it mandatory for a "like" or comment to be used for entering a contest, it's against Facebook's rules.  You can offer exclusive coupons and offers.  Also, keep in mind that you may lose some of these fans eventually.  Some of them are just liking your page to get the offer.
• Advertise  Facebook Ads can help get you fans.  I know it, I've witnessed it, it works.  Do you have links on your website? 
• Be Social  Interact with others.  Comment, Like, Retweet, Reblog, Follow... as the business and personally.  We don't call it Social Media for nuttin'.  It's free advertising.  "Hmmm, I wonder what Crazy Mutt Marketing is all about?  I'll just click and find out".
• Be Patient  You are not a Coca Cola. You will not get 10 million fans.  You will be successful, but you have to have some patience and work at it. Give your current Fans and Followers great content and use the tips above.  

Want to get some help? Contact me at CrazyMuttMarketing.com

And... Like our page on Facebook Follow me on Twitter @CrazyMuttmMarket and get more on Tumblr

Engage Your Fans With "Tips"

The Crazy Mutt Content Challenge this week is to post a "Tip" on your profile. 

Social Media marketing is only successful if you keep people interested. One way is to provide some education or information that they will find useful and hopefully entertaining.  An easy way to do it is to offer up some helpful tips, relevant to your business.

There's a reason these people are following your business' pages and profiles. They had an enjoyable experience at your establishment or you provided them with a service they appreciated.  To them, you are the expert.  Whether your business provides plumbing services, serves ice-cream, grooms dogs or digs ditches, you have something to share.

Now I'm not asking you to give away all your trade secrets.  Think of questions you get asked the most often in your line of work.  Get creative, even a little funny.  How about a short "Do It Yourself" video?

If I owned an Italian restaurant, I might make a video on the proper way to twirl spaghetti or how to pair a wine with your meal.  The ideas are endless and only limited to your imagination.  Ask your customers in house, what advice they would be interested in hearing..then give Joe Customer the credit for the "Tuesday Tip".

What "tip" can you offer? Post in the comments!

Having trouble coming up with ideas? I'd love to help.  Contact me at crazymuttmarketing.com.

"The Mutts & Me"

You also might be interested in:

• How to twirl spaghetti

Private Messages on Facebook

The Facebook Timeline introduced Messaging for Pages.  It is a great way to communicate with your fans.  The click away messaging, allows people to ask questions that they don't want the rest of the world to see.  They don't have to bother with opening an email, it just makes things easy for them.. and easy is good.

So check your admin section at least once a day, if not more.  Using a phone app to post to your Facebook is great and can open up opportunities for creative content.  Your private messages from your page DO NOT show up on your phone app... at least not yet.  In the mean time, you can really irritate a customer by inadvertently ignoring them.  

Facebook is a great vehicle to show off your stellar customer service skills.  Social Media is 24/7, just like your email, website or answering service.  That doesn't mean you check your page every 15 minutes.  What is a reasonable turn around for returning a customer email or phone call at your business?  The same should apply to your social media sites.  If you don't have the time to monitor your profiles, assign it or hire a professional to help you.

You can also "turn off" messaging, but isn't encouraging your fans to talk to you the whole point?  I do not recommend this option.

You don't have the time and you don't have the funds in your budget for help?  Stay away from Social Media until you have one or the other.  

Do it right or don't do it right now.


These links might be useful. too:

• Messages for Pages
• Facebook Direct Messages for Pages: Can I Turn It Off.. Should I?
• Who's ignoring their customers?

3 Reasons Why I Love Pinterest and StumbleUpon

It's not because I can waste hours Pinning and Stumbling.  The entertainment value is admirable.  Okay, the addiction is almost frightening. The fact that I have Pin Boards full of recipes I will never try and scads of jokes and articles saved on my StumbleUpon profile have nothing to do with my deep rooted affection for both Social Media sites.



Why do I love them? Content with a capital "C"... and that rhymes with FREE, as in "freeing up your time". But you say, "Maria, you told us to be creative and original! What's up with that?!"  Hold on, don't get your Social Media Panties in a bunch.  Yes, be original.  Yes, be creative.  Yes, give into the dark side once in a while. 


Here's why:

• Both sites let you search within interests.  I help manage a Facebook page and a Blog for a local Dog Park.  In between original photos, Blog articles and "selling" the events and memberships, I need lots of canine related content.  Let me tell you, if there is one thing these dog lovers drool over.. it's meme's.  I search and save meme's like it's going out of style. 
• They are great place to store future content.  I have a Pinterest Board titled For the Crazy Mutts. You guessed it, I use it to store ideas for the Dog Park.  I often Stumble my interest, Dogs.  I either Like a page or email it to myself.  
• Inspiration finds me.  I don't care how creative you are, everyone benefits from a little inspiration.  Millions of creative articles, photos and stories are poured into your lap.  It gets me thinking, "I could blog about this, but I would add....", or "Hmmm, that photo is amazing.  We could do something similar with an added twist!".

Some things to remember.  If the content is not yours, you cannot use it like it is.  Make sure you include links and obtain any permissions necessary.  

Need a content game plan?  Give me a bark. Maria Firakly crazymuttmarketing@gmail.com

These finds might pique your interest, too:

• What is Pinterest?
• What is StumbleUpon?
• The Bark Side