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These days, there is no question that social media marketing is a major buzzword in promoting your company. Whether it be Facebook, blogging, Twitter, or Digg, people are investing a lot of time and money into making these sites work for them. In fact, according to a poll by e-Tailing Group in September of 2009, by the end of next year 96% of brands and retailers will be using Facebook fan pages as a community and social networking tool for their business. So the question is how can you use these sites to help you too?

Great question! All of the sites mentioned above can be fantastic sources (and to find out more about how Twitter can help you, watch our Twitter for Business video blog series about it in posts below!!) but we will explore some options with Facebook in this post.

The first thing to do is to set up a Facebook fan page for your business. Just follow the set-up instructions or if you want a more branded or interactive fan page, we can help by developing a custom Facebook fan page for you. Either way, with a fan page, you will have a venue to get whatever message you want to whoever “fans” your business.

It is a great idea to send messages to all your Facebook friends suggesting they follow your fan page and hopefully you gain more followers from that. Through your fan page, you can post exciting things happening with your business and upcoming events that are going to happen. Specifically, you can post messages about upcoming deals you may be having at your company.

For example, if you are giving a special offer to customers because your company is celebrating its five-year anniversary, why not tell all your fans on Facebook in hopes of a potential sale?

Messaging your fans could also be used if you want to host an event that you want people to attend. You can send them an invite to attend your event. All their Facebook friends will see the event as well and could greatly increase the awareness and attendance of your event than if you chose to stay away from Facebook. With how competitive businesses are now, you should do whatever you can to get noticed by the public.

The potential doesn’t end there! On your fan page, you can link back to your website and have your company telephone number listed. This not only gives people another way to reach your site, it can also help bump up where your website is ranked in Google searches and other search engines. It could be the difference that sends your company to the top of the charts!

The fun never ends when you join Facebook! Adding Facebook to your company’s marketing repertoire makes you more relatable. Your customer will see you as someone who is social and in tune with recent trends. This means you are using a venue that they feel comfortable using. They can see what your company is all about through Facebook before giving you a sale later.

Once you have tackled Facebook, you can take the basic principles you have learned to then further market yourself in other online social tools. From fan pages to messaging, higher rankings to higher customer usability, Facebook does it all. It’s time you start using it for your company and see your sales grow!

Well, if you’ve stuck with us this far, hopefully you’ve got a good grasp on Twitter and how you can use it to increase business and communication with your consumers. But one very important question remains: How do you measure its success?

Measuring Social Media Success and ROI

• Exposure
       •  Visits
       •  Search Engine Rankings
       •  Comment Tonality
       •  Buzz
• Engagement
       •  Click-Throughs
       •  Repeat Visitors
       •  Readership (duration of visit)
       •  Subscriptions
• Influence
       •  Awareness
       •  Purchase Consideration
       •  Attitudes
• Action
       •  Visit Key Pages
       •  Attend Events
       •  Make a Purchase
       •  Tell a Friend
       •  Contact

Thanks for watching!

We hope you found this presentation helpful and wish you luck as you start your Twitter marketing campaign. Remember, the most important factor in determining your success when it comes to social media is participation. So what are you waiting for? Go on, join the conversation. Or better yet, start it!

From understanding its culture and attracting followers to choosing your following and using desktop applications, there are a number of factors that can increase your odds of social media success when it comes to using Twitter for business.

Part 8 of the Minnesota and North Dakota BBB’s 2009 Focus Seminar, offers simple tips and information to help you succeed when it comes to using Twitter as a business and social media marketing communication tool. Driving community participation is key and the best way you can get participation is to publish the fact that you are on these channels. Put it on your website. Use it in your email signature. Promote it on your offline materials.

Aside from creating a following and getting real participation, another item that’s going to effect your success with Twitter is finding the right programs.  We mentioned earlier that by itself, Twitter is not exactly “user-friendly” but there are desktop applications and software programs that work with Twitter to make it easier and more convenient for the user.

Tweet Like A Pro

• Desktop Clients – view tweets, replies and direct messages all in one interface, group people together, handle multiple accounts, monitor what others are saying
• Twitter Search – Find other people
• Tweet Schedulers – setup tweets to be published at a later time, auto follow people, send automatic direct messages to people who follow you
• Integrate Files - images and video
• Twitter Mobile - tweet and monitor your twitter account from your mobile phone

The more you know about Twitter and the people who use it (tweeple), the easier it will be for you to use it to leverage your business and marketing goals. Watch Part 8: Setting Up for Social Media Success now and be sure to tune in next week for the exciting conclusion of “How to Use Twitter for Business.”

If you haven’t had that “ah-ha” moment where everything becomes crystal clear, the clouds part, sun comes out and the little Twitter bird starts a chirping… or I mean tweeting, you are not alone. Using Twitter for business and marketing is still new for a lot of companies and even the ones who have been using it for a while are still playing around with their accounts, trying new things to really get the most out of their time and efforts.

Keep in mind that every business is different, so what works for one company will not necessarily deliver results or even make sense for yours. But to get an idea and good example of a real life business application of Twitter in action, check out Part 7 of the Minnesota and North Dakota’s Better Business Bureau’s 2009 Focus Seminar presentation, “How to Use Twitter for Business.”

This should help shed some light on what we’ve been building up to for the last few weeks now and maybe even help you reach your “ah-ha” moment.

Using Twitter for Business

• Think of Twitter as vehicle to get the word out
• Twitter works in real time
• Your followers represent your audience
• Twitter is a great place to find new people
• You need to participate - it’s suppose to be social
• It is not a dumping zone  - that’s what your blog’s for!

Watch Part 7, “Twitter In Action” now for a real life example of how Twitter can be used for business and be sure to stay tuned for more useful tips on using your business Twitter account.

Often times the most difficult or challenging part of learning a new technology is understanding the lingo. When you don’t understand the jargon, it can seem as though what you’re reading is in a completely different language.

If you’re not familiar with Twitter, Part 6 of the 2009 Minnesota BBB Focus Seminar presentation, “How to Use Twitter for Business,” will help you learn the foreign tongue of Twitter lingo. And once you’ve mastered the lingo, it will be much easier to go about using your business twitter account.

The Language of Twitter

• Tweet – Update or post
• DM – direct message
• RT – retweet
• @username – public reply (dialogue)
• #keyword – hash tag
• Tinyurl.com, Bit.ly or is.gd – url redirects (used to shorten and track urls)

Watch Part 6, “Learning the Lingo” now to get a handle on the jargon Twitter uses. And be sure to check back again next week for more useful tips on using your business Twitter account.