Avoid the Social Media Boneyard

Your small business started a Google+, Facebook or Twitter page; now what? What do you do with it? What do you put on it? Little to nothing is the popular trend.

Too many small business social media accounts are neglected and/or abandoned. It is all too common to see half-baked company Facebook pages with 20 likes, mostly friends and family, last updated 6 months ago. Social media is a business vehicle; it needs a driver. 

What Are Your Goals?

You likely started your social media campaign because everyone else was doing it. Avoid thinking of it as a formality or some “keeping up with the cool kids” trend. Business social media is not going anywhere and is still in its infancy, so you don’t have that much catching up to do. Use social media to your advantage. 

Think about what you want for your business. Is it increased sales? Maximum buzz surrounding a new product or service? Social media is your partner in these efforts; it can grow your business if you let it. Valuable uses of social media include:

·         Starting conversations with customers

·         Building your brand

·         Social media-exclusive promotions

Read up on more social media content ideas from Terrapin >>>

Instant Gratification Doesn’t Exist

The psychology of the failed Facebook or Twitter page seems to be “If you build it, they will come.”  You posted a few photos and status updates, nothing happened, so you threw up your hands and deemed the service useless.

Approach the process with some patience. Sit down with your team and build up your social media ideas. Encourage anyone with a campaign concept to bring it to the table. Look into what your competition or industry leaders are doing on Facebook, Google+ and Twitter. It’s a classic team effort applied to a modern forum.

Consistency Wins in the Social World

Business growth is an inherent benefit in starting and sticking to a social media campaign. There are other factors to consider. Inconsistency can hurt your social media presence down the road.

If your Facebook or Twitter updates sputter and disappear from user feeds, then pop up again, you’re not going to be taken seriously. Users will think you’re only interacting with them when it’s convenient for you, or when you need something. You wouldn’t ignore a customer on hold or in your office; don’t overlook them online.

Slow & Steady

Doing the bare minimum in social media will yield minimal or no results. On the flipside, applying effort to a social campaign will pay off in time as you build your audience and determine what piques their interest. You didn’t give up on your small business after a first trying month; don’t abandon social media because it doesn’t provide a quick fix.

Marketing Your Business in 2013

In small business, you can’t charge into the fray without a plan. From budget to production, efficiency and success depend on careful consideration. Marketing your business is no exception. 

You need to put together a plan, lay it out clearly and follow-through. Creating and committing to a proactive marketing strategy will keep your efforts on track and produce the best results for your company.

Creating and Understanding ‘Content’

If you’ve tested the waters of in-house marketing, you’ve probably encountered mass repetition of the term “content.” Content is a vaguely stated but loaded word, falling under the massive umbrella of any materials used in selling your products. Types of content include…

Blogs Facebook posts Tweets Newsletters YouTube videos

Website text Postcards Brochures Email Marketing Sell Sheets

Any and all information that promotes your products or showcases your expertise is content.

Great ideas can come from anywhere
There is no limit to the number of great marketing ideas out there. Don’t leave any stone unturned in your search for marketing content that could bring in customers.

1.    To create your own content, start with an old-fashioned brainstorming session. Pool ideas with your employees or co-workers and collaborate on the messages you want to push in the coming calendar period. Build your content plan around company milestones and business cycles. 

2.    Look ahead to holidays; is there any kind of marketing you can create to correlate your products with Mother’s Day, Thanksgiving or Christmas? Tie “minor” holidays into your marketing efforts. You can have an Early Spring Online Sale on Groundhog Day or Mardi Gras Fat Savings Tuesday. Have some fun with it! 

3.    Look to your clients and their needs. What challenges or changes do they face? What have you heard in phone calls or read in email exchanges? Your voicemail and inbox are treasure troves of blog post and tweet ideas.

4.    Which industry trends are on the rise? Which have plateaued or faded? Trade show and conference war stories exchanged between colleagues and competitors alike are loaded with content ideas. Don’t write off any snippet of information from any conversation, no matter how seemingly insignificant.

Organizing Your Content

Next you have to pan the marketing gold from the dirt of hastily-scrawled notes. Extract and organize your ideas using spreadsheets and calendars.  Feel free to download a copy of Terrapin’s own 2013 Content Marketing Calendar for reference.

Slate the relevant content for a corresponding post date and format your marketing calendar to a team consensus. The key itemizations in your document should be:

• Topic and Title
• Format (Facebook, Blogger, etc)
• Planned Post Date
• Author
• Tags and Keywords 

Getting Ahead of Yourself

You may want to knock out an entire year worth of content in one document. Or if you’re leery of committing resources to trends and information that might quickly become obsolete, focus on the next quarter.  You know the patterns of the business, so construct your marketing calendar according to the ebb and flow of your industry.

Just note that you are laying out your content ideas on a spreadsheet, not etching them in stone. Ideas can and will change as time goes on.

In Summation

Marketing your business is a necessary and beneficial battle. Putting in the preparation now is a solid investment on two fronts:

• You avoid the pitfall of struggling for last minute concepts
• More importantly, this simple document represents a dedicated, ongoing focus toward marketing and growing your business

Timing and Twitter

From mom and pop stores to corporate chains, all companies have sales and events. But small businesses don’t have the promotions resources enjoyed by their larger competitors. Where your business lacks in national TV spots it can thrive with the free services of Twitter.

Time-sensitivity is a common thread in all small business’ sales and events. Take to Twitter to spread the word and draw a crowd. 

Sale Savviness in the Twittersphere
Sales and promotions are a must of owning a small business, whether you’re in retail, services or run a restaurant. Once you’ve built a solid Twitter following, the network is ideal for inviting your customers to take advantage of your special offers.

Daily promotions require daily tweeting. If your pub offers nightly draft specials, or your consignment shop has a discount item of the day, fire out the relevant tweet the morning or afternoon of the offer. “Come in for today’s IPA Pick, Newport Storm India Point Ale!” or “Half-off Orange Tag items! Today only!” Make sure you include any relevant hours, such as opening and close times.

More focused events, such as holiday sales, require more planning and more Tweets. Whether the sale is a day long or runs for a week, you want to give your followers ample notice of the event while avoiding an overlong bombardment of reminders.

Two days before the event kicks off, start tweeting at the relevant high use hours.  3-4 tweets a day should be just right to pique followers’ interest. Don’t copy and paste the same content for multi-tweet campaigns. Highlight a different item, service or point of interest with each post. Use Twit Pics to give users a feel for what you offer. If the promotion runs several days, send out Tweets over its duration and stress when it will be ending. 

Optimal Tweeting Times

According to Twitter itself, the heaviest use of the network takes place at 9AM, noon, 3PM and 6PM. For maximum effect, post your event information during these time windows. Otherwise you risk your tweets being buried under the pile of relatively unseen posts created outside of these peak hours. 

Tweeting for On-the-Go Businesses

Not all businesses have a fixed location. Food trucks might be a common sight on your street’s curb. These road-bound restaurants need to communicate their schedule with sidewalk diners, and Twitter is the perfect vehicle.

The RI Food Trucks Twitter list compiles numerous tweets per day from various Ocean State food trucks. From Mama Kim’s Korean BBQ to Plouf Gastronomie to Rocket Street Food, this list tells followers where and when their favorite nomadic meal provider will be serving.

The list generally gives an hour’s notice of a truck’s arrival and its designated intersection. This gives the lunch hour crowd time to plan ahead. Consider this tweeting method if your small business incorporates street teams or traveling promotions. 

In Summation

Twitter is a free gift that keeps on giving to small businesses on a shoe string advertising budget. Its massive popularity and potential will give your company a fresh and viable web visibility. You put yourself out there on your time; you just have to get the timing down.

Once you’ve mastered the art of timing and Twitter, you just might find an entire new customer base clamouring for your products and services. 

Is Facebook Right for My Business?

New social media companies appear to be launching every day
At the end of every online article there’s a social share button that wasn’t there before. How do you and your small business keep up and capitalize on these new ventures?

You don’t need a presence in every social media brand on the web. Different venues suit different industries whereas other business-social marriages don’t mesh enough to warrant effort. So which social media is best for your business?

Facebook Wins with Business-to-Consumer

If you run a business-to-consumer (B2C) operation, Facebook is your social media match. With a reported 1 billion monthly users, it offers the farthest possible reach.  

Potent interaction and engagement capabilities are Facebook’s key brand-building advantages for B2C entities. The network offers a host of marketing options, but how do you attract users who will cross the social bridge and become customers?

Building an Engaged Fan Base

Don’t build your Facebook page on a foundation of grovelling. Hitting “Invite Your Friends” and blasting them all with a plea to like your page will give you some likes, but little engagement.

Start with existing clients and newsletter /mailing recipients. These people signed up for your other content vehicles voluntarily. They care about your product or service, and will actually interact with your Facebook content.

Facebook offers no-cost sign up, so paid ads seem on par with luring you in with free samples, but don’t rule out a small campaign. You can build and run ads targeting user gender, age and a sweeping selection of preferences and interests.

If you understand your brand’s audience well, ads can deliver you an engaged base. Plus, there’s no set campaign cost; you determine your own budget on a pay-per-click basis.

Answering the Content Question

Keep your content original. Photos are a good starting point. If you have a new product in the works, hype up its release with high-resolution images of its development.

Capture shots from around the office or on any company outings to establish a human connection with customers. You don’t want to be an anonymous social media handle. Questions related to your products and services will also spur interaction.  

Try to develop your own niche, scheduled content. Give your users something to anticipate on scheduled days such as videos, graphics or promotions.

Avoid Bad Habits

When using Facebook, your business needs to find and walk the fine line between consistency and nuisance posting.

Bombarding users with non-stop content leads to annoyance and a shrinking “Like” list. On the other hand, going days or weeks between posts results in stagnant user engagement. Post twice a day between the hours of noon and 3PM. This will line up with lunch breaks and “zoning out” in the workplace.  

Keep your eye on the ball and save your opinions and politics for your personal page.  Remember, Facebook users log in to see their preferred content. What do you do when you get an unsolicited game request? You roll your eyes and delete it. Facebook brings out the self-empowerment in people. They control this world, and they will exercise that control.

In Summation

Your business-to-consumer operation can benefit greatly from a Facebook presence. If you develop and implement an effective regimen for your page, it will bring in new prospects and keeping current customers engaged.

Words and the Web: Understanding Keyword Tiers

A car with no key is a useless hunk of metal, much like a website with no keywording is a static clump of code and graphics. There’s no magic bullet to bring traffic to your site and customers to your product. 

Your user-friendly functionality and attractive visuals won’t get the word around for you. You have to spread it yourself with three keyword tiers that Google can grab onto to help your site get found.

Tier One: Who and Where You Are 

Let’s say you’re a sporting goods retailer. You’d stock tier one with variations of your company name and location. For example, you should go with “Jimmy’s Sporting Goods, Rhode Island,” or “Jimmy’s RI.”

The web is a seemingly endless road. Through tier one keywords, customers ask for directions to your site.


Tier Two: Your Products and Services 
Not all users will ask Google to point them toward your stake in the digital terrain. Some people will be searching for products and services in their area using tier two keywords.

Following the sporting goods example, such users might query “baseball equipment, Rhode Island,” or “hockey equipment, Rhode Island.” You offer these products, and you want to be sure your site is optimized with them.

If you operate in a competitive market, properly executed tier two keywords give your small business’s voice extra decibels in a loud and crowded room.

Tier Three: Your Niche 
SEO specificity hits its peak here. If you’re just starting out, don’t bank on tier three landing you on a page one Google search result. It incorporates extremely focused terms not likely to be queried.


This doesn’t mean optimizing with tier three terms is mere diligence. Think of them as an investment.


Once your business and products start to take off, you want your unique items to have a foundation web presence. Back to Jimmy’s Sporting Goods, let’s say the shop is carrying equipment for all of the major sports, but wants to eventually be the local go-to for custom lacrosse gear.

They’d lean heavily on tier one and two keywords, but not so much on tier three examples like “Jimmy’s Extreme LaCrosse 3500 Stick.” But, they would want to lay groundwork to build this product’s searchability over time, turning this specialty item into a tier two term as it gains visibility and popularity.

In Summation 
Remember, your site is not going to attract eyeballs based on merit. Approach keywording and SEO for what they are; crucial components to your site’s success.