Social Media — Page 14

The Social Media Planning Process (Part 1)

Typically, what I like to do at SSS for Success is map out a Social Media Marketing Plan that fits squarely within the overall marketing plan of a company. Specifically, the Social Media Marketing Plan highlights how social media outlets will be utilized to:

1) Drive traffic to your company’s website or blog,

2) Generate interest in the site’s content,

3) Generate sales or leads for new customers, and

4) Provide ways of keeping existing customers actively engaged in the company’s brand through its website, blog, or other social media outlets.

In order to accomplish the goals set forth in this Social Media Marketing Strategy, I usually take a company through the process of creating and updating their profiles on various social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Youtube. Then I delve into more specific strategies intent on acquiring more Twitter Followers, Facebook Fans, LinkedIn Connections, and YouTube Subscriptions through a series of mindful updates that are relevant to each of these communities and ultimately help your company build that brand recognition among the users who frequent these communities.

For those that have already created many of these accounts, I step back and analyze the medium in question in relation to the overall marketing goals of the company. Everyone doesn’t need a Twitter account. Now, it is always a good idea to register your brand name just in case you need it for future use, but just having a Twitter account and sending out random, sporadic, or spammy messages every now and again only promoting your brand, doesn’t do you any good. So part of the Social Media Planning Process is accessing which avenues are going to work best for your brand message to reach your core customers. What that means is if you’re using these outlets now, but not using them well, then you may need to discontinue them, or perhaps change the direction so that it fits better into your online marketing strategy.

With this in mind, can you firmly state Why You Need Social Media in your small business?

Kindra Cotton, Small Business Survival Specialist

The Social Media Planning Process (Part 1)

Why You Need A Website: The 5-Page Starter Website

By sss4success 2 Comments

A website in today’s business world is the equivalent of a Yellow Pages Ad 20 years ago: It’s a must if you want to be found by potential customers!

There are several different varieties of websites available on The Internet. Some function as an online version of your business card or latest company brochure, and others provide an entirely interactive online experience, complete with moving objects, pictures, video and music.

Your choice for the type of website you have will be based on the size of your imagination and budget. At SSS for Success we specialize in 5-Page Starter Template-Based Websites designed to take you from “no website” to “a web presence”.

Our Web Design & Technical Consulting expertise can also help you build the website of your dreams, and provide you with a Small Business Survival Specialist who has the experience to ask the right questions to insure that your site doesn’t just look nice, but also gets found in search engines.

Here’s How a Website Can Help…

A Restaurant:

Add your menu and give your site some flair by promoting your best dishes through pictures and video testimonials from satisfied customers.

A Dry Cleaners:

Promote exclusive offers and deals to site visitors to get new customers and obtain repeat sales.

A Clothing Store/Boutique:

Make your store hours easy to find and advertise sales while promoting your brands and new season additions.

A Salon:

Showcase your portfolio of satisfied clients and promote your contributions to style in the online world.

One of the things I’ve found interesting when I went out and did my “cold calling” earlier in my business going door-to-door with local area small businesses, is that most people that don’t have a website, apparently don’t feel they need one.

This was somewhat shocking to me, but then I had to think about those businesses and what their long-term visions were. For people that aren’t interested in increasing their revenues, or getting more new customers, or better connecting with their current customers, a new website probably doesn’t benefit them at all. Especially since a good number of them had previously had websites that they paid much too much for in the early dot-com days, and they’re now completely jaded on the whole thing.

So, for those people, I don’t blame them for not having a website. If you have a surefire way of getting folks to walk into your business, and can’t use the increased revenues of more customers, then you probably don’t need a website. For everyone else, I’d suggest the 5-Page Starter Website. And, I don’t just recommend it, because I sell it, and to prove that to you, if you go and do a little search for it, you’ll find that Yellow Pages is now offering 5-Page Starter websites, most likely to the customers they already have that are still paying for Yellow Pages Ads. Honestly, for them, getting new customers is like shooting fish in a barrel, because chances are if you have a Yellow Pages Ad in this day and age, you’re probably VERY resistant to change, and clearly don’t mind overpaying for products and services.

Do you feel like you need a website? Why or why not?

Kindra Cotton, Small Business Survival Specialist

Why You Need A Website: The 5-Page Starter Website

P.S. Feel free to Contact SSS for Success for help getting your small business online.