Blogging is possibly the most important tool in your online marketing arsenal. This regular interaction with potential and existing clients offers a chance to advise, inform and connect with the market in a unique way. But in order to maximize results your business should approach blogging with the right mindset and tackle this essential task in the most effective way.

How To Use Blogging Successfully

Your blog needs to be hooked into and accessible through your company website. However, a blog is treated vastly different than a static website is. Your company needs to keep the blog fresh, with new content posted on a consistent basis. It also needs to be relevant and valuable.

Think of the blog as a channel to the daily life of your market, as opposed to it being a sales platform. Sure, you will need to incorporate your business and highlight any current offerings. But that is secondary to the main purpose of this media channel, drawing customers to your business through helpful and timely information about anything connected with your industry.

Setting up a blog on WordPress, Tumblr or Blogger is straightforward. Having that blog managed well is vital and oftentimes requires the help of social media professionals.

Go Beyond Your Own Shelves

Blogging is like a constant conversation. The comment section encourages an engaged audience and that banter will transform your blog into a multi-sided conversation. The trick is to post relevant and readable content that will be found.

Current keywords should be incorporated, so be sure to put the research in ahead of posting time. What is your market concerned about? Are there any special events, holidays and seasons coming up that can be targeted?

These topics will put your company’s blog at the top of the organic search list, creating traffic and helping your firm develop a dynamic online community. Blogging is an essential media tool. Use it well and watch your target market grow.

There are a growing myriad of consumer review websites for small business owners to create accounts for their brands on. However, one stands above the rest as the ultimate weapon for small business owners – Yelp. Yelp.com allows users to search for local businesses and leave reviews of their experiences with its products and services. The site is an important tool for small business to build a brand and grow a community.

Widespread Reach

Yelp is arguably the most well-known and well-frequented consumer review site, boasting over 22 million total reviews. In 2011, it attracted more than 65 million unique visitors each month. Many small businesses are willing to pay extravagantly for this exposure and customer feedback, but with Yelp, it’s all free. Setting up your company page on Yelp.com costs nothing more than answering a simple phone call to verify your affiliation with the business. Yelp also has its own mobile app, making it easier for users to find your business when they’re on the go and in need of your services most.

Creating a Conversation

The main draw of Yelp for users is the ability to leave reviews, good or bad, on businesses and stores they have visited. As a business owner, you have the ability to create a dialogue with your customers to build brand loyalty and integrity. You can respond directly to negative reviews and learn new ways to improve your business. Positive reviews give you a chance to thank happy customers and invite them back to your store again.

Managing your Image

Even if you don’t create a Yelp page for your small business, chances are that someone else eventually will. They won’t have the ability to post special offers, respond to reviews or add certain information about your business, but they will be able to enter company information and leave reviews. If you don’t take control of your Yelp page, users may upload incorrect information, create page spam or negatively affect your company’s reputation. Yelp is incredibly user-friendly, making managing your brand’s image extremely easy.

Social media requires constant thought—keeping information up-to-date, making sure customers are satisfied with your products and services, and trial and error. Keeping your brand’s Yelp page current and monitoring reviews may take up time, but the benefits to your small business will outweigh the time you put into it exponentially.

With nearly 40 million blogs, Tumblr is fast becoming a top microblogging platform that your brand may benefit from. Not only does the website receive over 13 billion views per month, but it is also user-friendly. Here are our four favorite  Tumblr features:

1. Tumblr lets you know when accounts you follow last posted and makes the statistics easy to find. On your “Following” page, Tumblr lists all of the accounts you follow and the last time they updated. Better yet, beside this information is an “Unfollow” button that allows you to easily remove inactive accounts from your follow list.

2. Tumblr allows you to schedule posts. Instead of relying on third-party posting, Tumblr gives you the option to publish immediately or at a later time. You can pick a specific date and time to have the post go live, or you can add it to your queue.  The queue allows you to write numerous posts to be published at regularly spaced intervals by Tumblr.

3. Tumblr offers the option to create private posts. A critical part of expanding your brand to a new social media platform is learning how it works. Though Tumblr prides itself on its user-friendly interface, it takes practice to perfect post-formatting. You can preview how the post will look before you publish or you can make the post private. This allows you to view the post with all it’s formatting for future posting without others viewing it.

4. Tumblr posts pictures in their actual size. Twitter doesn’t allow you to post pictures, only links to the images. Facebook posts resize photos to thumbnails and turn them into links as well. Tumblr, on the other hand, allows you to post pictures as large, or as small, as you want. This negates the need for the viewer to have to click to see the actual picture, which increases their visibility and ability to engage the user.

Tumblr allows you to create posts, like other users’ posts, and follow other blogs much like many blogging services. Tumblr, however, stands out with its user-centric interface!  Try Tumblr for your company’s blog for ease of use and efficiency!

Social media management is vital for every business. Connecting with your customers – current and potential – is done best through relationships, and managing your social media connections allows those relationships to flourish. Larger companies with more than one location are ripe for the benefits that this strategy offers. Social media management for multi-location businesses is not only essential it’s also a virtual goldmine of opportunity.

Save Time and Money

Rather than designate the social media tasks to staff at each location, why not opt for full service social media management? This will free up your talent at each branch, store or office to focus on their own workload. You can eliminate the need to train multiple staff members and save money on duplicate approaches.

Imagine that you delegate the tasks of blogging, updating the Facebook page and tweeting to one person at each location. They will then need to spend time discussing a plan, ensuring that the individual locations are all portraying a genuine profile. Management of these channels will also need to be consistent (updates, customer interactions, replies, etc.) otherwise all of the locations will suffer. Managing this inter-office approach can be very time consuming. And time is money.

Geo-targeted social media is still possible with social media management. In fact, an overall management approach allows geo-targeted campaigns to really sizzle, supporting the main brand while still drawing in local customers.

Accurate Information

You want your customers to receive accurate information about the company, including a consistent brand as well as local and company-wide promotions. Social media management allows you to do so smoothly, with less opportunity for duplication, errors and omissions.

With proper management social media can unify all of your locations, as well as providing guaranteed results. Don’t waste your time and money on a scattered approach to social media. Build your multi-location business with strategic, deliberate plans to tap into the power of social media

You work hard at running your small business, spending countless hours making sure your products and services are the best they can be. But certain elements of management are best entrusted to a professional. When left in the proper hands, things like social media become powerful tools for growth and expansion. Find out why hiring a professional small business social media manager is a wise and profitable decision for your company.

1)    Social Media Takes Time – Implementing a successful social media campaign for a small business takes time. A professional manager dedicates the ideal amount of hours to this task, knowing exactly how often and when to interact with consumers on various media channels. They put in the time; you reap the results.

2)    Social Media Evolves – Changes occur at lightening speed in the digital marketplace and only social media experts can ride those changes, making waves for your business and avoiding common pitfalls. Place your trust in the experts and commit your time to what you do best.

3)    Social Media Management Saves Money – Investing in social media management actually saves money. Consider how the revenue earned from a successfully run campaign will be far more substantial than those trial and error campaigns many businesses start with. And think about the value offered compared to the amount of hours you would need to put in to achieve similar results.

4)    Management Provides Guaranteed Results – Quality social media managers guarantee the success of their campaign, working hard in every avenue to ensure your business sees genuinely positive results. They will continue to work until you’re satisfied and sold on the value of using social media.

5)    Well Managed Campaigns Improve the Business Image – Professional social media campaigns can transform the image of your business. Consumers will see a large, successful and long established business, resulting in greater trust and a higher perceived value. Make sure your brand is well received with a professionally managed campaign.

Hire a professional small business social media manager and rest easy, knowing this powerful tool will be put to work for your company.

Many small businesses are locally based. Their customers come from the neighborhood, not necessarily the nation, and the marketing focus needs to reflect that reality. Local-Social or Geo-location social media tools have been specially designed to target this type of consumer base, attracting local attention and bringing your business to the forefront of the community.

Go Mobile

The very best local-social media channels are those designed for mobile use. Smartphones are in the pocket of nearly every consumer and if your business can be found, recognized and even connected with through a mobile phone surging traffic are likely to follow.

Local-social based marketing is the bread and butter of restaurants, home improvement contractors, specialty retailers and tourist attractions, among others. Businesses need to promote loyalty and reward their customers in a public way to draw them back. When this is done through specific social media channels it will also catch the attention of their friends and neighbors.

Popular Examples

This type of media is still being developed and integration with the major social media outlets is key. Gowalla and foursquare are both well established channels, ready for your business to jump in and experience the amazing effects of local-social media.

Think about ways for potential customers to mark their visit with you, reasons for them to promote you in the local sphere. Coupons, reward points and public recognition are all good tools, as is partnering with other local businesses to build a virtual community. Some companies consider it word of mouth on hyper drive.

Reputation management will play a role in this media channel, as it should in the other channels. Keep tabs on what customers are saying about your business and interact in real time. This will build your following and expand the value of local-social media beyond your expectations.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, how much is a video worth? More and more businesses are recognizing the value in using picture and video sharing on their websites and in connection with their social media accounts. Both of these formats allow for creative expression and communication far beyond what textual content can do. But how can companies harness these channels successfully?

How To Incorporate Picture and Video Sharing

Use this media channel to evoke emotions and stir up reactions from your customers and the market in general. Do you have a Facebook Page or a Twitter account? Those outlets are ideal for posting a link that will direct browsers to a video on YouTube or an image on Flickr. Fast and effortless, putting these images at the fingertips of buyers is simple.

This channel works seamlessly with your website as well, where videos and images can be posted and shared around the clock. In certain cases these videos can load up from the initial click through, but be aware that browsers within a certain market will shy away from that type of set up. Having video links in the sidebar (noticeably marked) is an easy solution to that problem.

Videos are much more likely to go viral, especially those with a twist of humor. People love to share things that make them laugh – if your business can use that pattern to spread a message or solidify their brand, using videos is an excellent way to do so.

Picture and video sharing can be incorporated into your firm’s social media channels and used on your website. Incorporate them into email and even print marketing to create synergy. A powerful tool with the potential to spread, videos and pictures are worth more than you can imagine.

Social media is centered on interaction, but instant communication is another major element. Users are drawn to the fast pace of social media channels, and none are faster or more efficient than microblogging. This tool can be used effectively to promote your business, conduct market research and establish your brand. Learn the easy steps to get this media channel working for you.

Where To Go

Twitter is the number one microblogging platform. And despite what the skeptics might say, spending time on Twitter delivers value for your business. It’s about more than just having a long list of followers. Microblogging also involves community discussions and catching the spread of industry and market news in real time.

Using hashtags and strategically worded microblogs (or tweets) your company can establish and build a brand. It’s important that you stick to the basics on Twitter and work hard to interact with others in a meaningful way.

Stay Away From Spam

Microblogging is not the same as spamming. Your main goal while posting on Twitter is not to promote your company and/or products. What you are trying to do is attract positive attention and build relationships. By offering helpful tips, valuable retweets and interesting links you will become known as an authority. And using the reply feature will allow even tighter, more instantaneous interaction.

Keep pace with the way your market is moving by having a viable and genuine presence on Twitter. It may take awhile to build your platform in the world of microblogging, but once established this media tool is highly useful.