Articles Posted in Social Media

Every company with at least an interest in having a social media presence has put their brand online in at least one of the major social networking sites. While these businesses will not make nearly as much of an impact as those that wholeheartedly pursue a strong social media presence, even those who are trying to use just one site to its full extent may be overlooking important aspects.

These sites are meant to be easily used by any and all consumers, but also have deeper content and greater uses that are not known by everyone. If you are serious about using these sites in the social media marketing of your company, be aware of these aspects and consider their benefits.
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For most people, the phrase “social media marketing” conjures up images of Facebook likes and retweets. However, social media marketing is about more than just how popular you are on social media sites. Anyone who tells you otherwise probably doesn’t have a background in marketing, and may set you up for failure if you don’t keep the following points in mind.

It’s All About the Likes!

Up until Summer 2012, buying Facebook likes (or Twitter followers, or YouTube views, or Google+ Circles) was a relatively common practice that supposed “social media marketers” utilized in order to justify the fees they charged. Specifically, it was often preached that social media success was measured by how high you could get your follower count, and not based on the quality of the followers you were obtaining. While there may be a sliver of truth to that belief (only in the sense that a higher follower count increases exposure to some varying degree), it was, and still is, much better to focus on building a fan base that will further serve you as brand advocates. A brand advocate will not only preach your brand’s message, but it will greatly increase the chance that others are converted to believers in your product.

So ultimately, it’s never been about the sheer number of likes you have. Instead, it’s always been about the quality of fans you obtain (and for any brand starting out, friends and family should always be the FIRST group of likes to go after).
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One week later, our nation continues to recuperate from and make sense of the terror at the Boston Marathon. At SLS Consulting, we express our condolences to the families who have lost loved ones and we wish as smooth a recovery as possible for individuals coping with injuries.

No one can anticipate what their response will be to such a shocking tragedy. The relentless effort on the part of The Boston Globe to accurately report on events surrounding the finish line bombings and the subsequent manhunt is admirable and inspiring.

According to a Mashable article, The Globe had 20-30 reporters at the race and many other reporters participating in the race, but, thankfully, no staff members suffered injuries. One staff writer was near the finish line when the first explosion occurred. Instead of running away from the scene, he began documenting the events and recorded a video. In addition, a producer for Boston.com shot footage of the explosion aftermath that made its way onto numerous websites. These are only two examples of the many efforts by The Globe employees to provide non-stop breaking news coverage on its websites and social media platforms.

When Dedication Produces Results

On the day of the bombing, April 15, 2013, the two websites of The Globe, Boston.com and BostonGlobe.com, had approximately 4.3 million unique visitors and 1.2 million unique visitors. From the day of the attack to the day of the suspect’s arrest five days later, Boston.com received five times as many visitors and BostonGlobe.com received 10 times as many visitors.

The number of site visitors is impressive; however, apart from their success, what stands out the most about The Globe is the courage and perseverance of staff members in a city that was under attack.
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While marketing your company online and through social media websites is still relatively new in the arena of business, a large portion of people are already aware of it. However, simply knowing about the idea of social media marketing is not enough. Often, little pieces of advice or conclusions that you have come to on your own are actually misguided. This can come back to hurt your marketing plan and your company as a whole either immediately or in the long run.

However long you may have been marketing your company online, it is never too late to put an end to these mistakes and get on the right path!
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According to UrbanDictionary.com, a “catfish” is “someone who pretends to be someone they are not online to create false identities, particularly to pursue deceptive online romances.” While the 2010 film documentary of the same name brought the issue to light in the mainstream, the most recently publicized case of catfishing involving a University of Notre Dame football player highlights all the reasons why due diligence must be put in place when interacting with online personas, particularly from a marketing standpoint.

The story of Mant Te’o, defensive linebacker for the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame, is emblematic of the deceit that can very easily take place in the online world. In case you haven’t heard his story, Te’o is now at the heart of an Internet hoax involving him, a fake girlfriend, and that fake girlfriend’s death. After establishing an online relationship with an individual whom Te’o assumed was female (and real) on the microblogging site Twitter, the football player was recently presented with evidence that says otherwise. Unfortunately, reality online is not always the same as it is offline.

Due to Te’o’s notoriety as a standout player with one of college football’s most storied programs, his girlfriend’s death soon became common knowledge amongst sports fans, particularly since he attributed his on-field success to her legacy. With her mere existence being part of a much larger hoax at this point, it is a sad fact that those whom we interact with on social media sites and online forums may not always be who they say they are. Just as Te’o’s image has undoubtedly been affected by this hoax, so too can a brand’s image be negatively impacted by deceitful practices online.
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In this day and age, if a business wants to reach as large of an audience as possible, it must have a social media profile, on as many platforms as is relevant to its niche and can be effectively managed. This holds true for all businesses, whether you run a law firm, a chiropractic office, or a retail store.

A poorly executed social media plan is actually worse than not having one at all and can scare away potential clients. With that in mind, knowing what not to do is just as important as being aware of best practices. Unless your business social media plan is to alienate as many people as possible, you may want to avoid doing any of these things:

On Twitter

• Tweet in several batches because 140 characters isn’t enough
• Always tweet quotes from others
• Complain about the drama in your personal life
• Tweet in different languages
• Retweet several times in a row
• Make offensive jokes and/or controversial statements

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Marketing in the digital age offers individuals, businesses, and companies alike a host of e-opportunities to market their products or services and reach their target audience. Social media is one such twenty-first century outlet which, if utilized successfully, can boost website viewership and increase your consumer base. As such, understanding social media trends and how Internet users actually use social media can be beneficial for a company’s own marketing strategies.

With this in mind, the following are three interesting social media related-statistics highlighted by BostInno and tips on how to utilize this data for the benefit of your own marketing plans and policies.
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We’ve got Facebook; we’ve got Twitter; we’ve got LinkedIn; we’ve got Google +; and we’ve got Pinterest. New social networks are popping up all over the Internet, but what is a law firm supposed to do with them all? A strong online presence is necessary for a law firm to succeed these days, and a social media presence is part of that success, but should your law firm be trying to engage and interact on all of them?

In short, no. It’s important to try and keep up with new social media trends, but you have to choose your battles. Having a strong social media presence on a few social networks can be more beneficial to your law firm’s marketing campaign than having a mediocre presence on every social network under the sun. Spreading your social media marketing campaign too thin can be detrimental to building a strong online presence.
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In the world of social media marketing, there are a few different kinds of social media marketers. There are those individuals who label themselves as experts, those individuals who call themselves gurus, and still others who refer to themselves as little more than social media professionals. The important thing to remember though is that no two “experts” or “gurus” or “professionals” are alike.

There are also a variety of strategies that can be employed in an attorney Internet marketing campaign. Some strategies involve the simple set up of profiles for link building purposes, others involve posting content on a regular basis (focusing more on whether or not the content has to do with a given industry and less on whether or not the content is engaging), while still others focus on starting conversations with their fan base in order to promote discussion and encourage positive word-of-mouth. Depending on your industry and type of business, all of the above strategies have their merits, yet it’s important to remember that not all strategies work for all businesses.
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Let’s get one thing straight before we jump in: Having a flinchworthy social media presence is absolutely not a good thing. It is true that infamy gets attention, but that does not necessarily lead to conversions. The trick is to have a praiseworthy social media presence. This takes a lot of work and does not happen overnight, but it is as much about not falling into flinchworthy territory as it is about focusing on best practices. If you find the line between praiseworthy and flinchworthy territory a bit blurry, these social media don’ts inspired by a Hubspot article, should help it become sharper.

Do NOT:

• Launch a private social media account. The whole point of social media is to be “social.” If you make it harder for people to follow your business, they won’t bother.
• Be just a giver or just a taker. Social media is all about balance. If you follow hundreds of people but only have a handful of followers on Twitter, there is a problem. Likewise, if you have thousands of followers but only follow 10 people yourself, there is also a problem.
• Be long-winded. Keep your updates short and sweet. Just because Facebook now allows you to post updates around 63,000 words does not mean you should. It’s an update, not a novella.
• Air your dirty laundry. Whether by employer or employee, hashing out personal issues on Twitter and other social media is inappropriate and won’t interest your audience in the way you want. As a business/brand, you have to keep a certain level of professionalism.
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