Hello!

By on May 1, 2012 in Personal Success

Hey everybody,

This post isn’t going to be full of tips, tricks, and answers to your Social Media Marketing questions. This post is simply a hello. My name is Drew Larison, and starting today (May 1st, 2012) I am the new Social Media Marketing Director for Web Success Agency. This blog post will be kind of hard to write, because words simply can’t describe how excited am I to work for this company.

Social Media has been a passion of mine for around 5 years, so the fact that I get to use my passion in my career amazes me. It also amazes me that I am able to work with an amazing company like Web Success Agency. Like myself, everyone at WSA is unbelievably passionate about what they do. We wake up every morning excited to go to work.

If you guys don’t know, Web Success Agency is a full Internet and Marketing Agency that helps companies from small “mom and pop” stores to large corporations be successful with their online presence. Let’s be honest, there are a lot of companies out there that offer the same services we do. But what makes Web Success Agency different than all the other Internet Marketing agencies out there is that we have one thing in mind at all times; your success. We just don’t build you a website, we build you a website that is going to make your company as successful as possible. We just don’t set up your Social Media pages, we set them up with successful marketing strategies behind them. In this day and age it takes so much more than a physical place online to be successful, and that’s where we can help you find creative ways of making your online presence very interactive and personal.

So, if you or anyone you know is looking to jump in to the world of the Internet for their business give us a call, email, tweet, or even a Facebook comment ;-) We love to help your company start off on the right foot.

Thanks for reading,

- @MrDrewLarison

P.S. If you ever need to get a hold of me you can always email me at Drew@WebSuccessAgency.com or Tweet at me at @MrDrewLarison.

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3 Easy Steps for YouTube Marketing Success

By on April 11, 2012 in Quick Tips, Social Media, Web Success

Previously we have given tips on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. Today we thought we would give some tips with YouTube.

Before I give you guys the tips, let me first share some YouTube stats with you: 60 hours of video are uploaded every minute, or one hour of video is uploaded to YouTube every second, over 4 billion videos are viewed a day, over 800 million unique users visit YouTube each month, and more video is uploaded to YouTube in one month than the 3 major US networks created in 60 years. Impressive, right? These stats alone should make you be interested in using YouTube for your companies Social Media strategy. Here are our 3 tips of using YouTube for marketing your business.

1) Be Consistent

YouTube has set businesses up for success by implementing their “Subscriber” option. Users  have the option to “subscribe” to a YouTube channel so that every new video that channel creates will pop up on their YouTube home page when they log in. This is an awesome way of locking in a fan base on YouTube. For this to be the most successful, you have to be putting out consistent content. Whether it be weekly or daily, your subscribers are going to expect to be seeing consistent content coming from your channel. Help yourself be successful by setting goals for uploading video content. For example, make a goal that every “Tuesday” you will have a new video ready to upload. If you have a set day your subscribers will get excited on the day your new content is supposed to be uploaded. It’s the TV of the future!

2) Reply to All Comments

Just because YouTube is video based that doesn’t mean that text conversation between your brand and consumer should stop. On YouTube the comment section can easily be turned into a chat room. YouTube will send you an email with every new comment your videos get. When you get that email it’s important to respond as quickly as possible. Try to imagine catching the user before they go on to their next video or completely different site. Someone is more likely to check out more of your videos if they see that the person creating the content is talking to the viewers. If you’re having trouble getting people to comment on your videos, an easy way to get more comments is to simply ask for them in the video! Add a question of the video to the end of the video to start the conversation.

3) CREATE GREAT CONTENT

Try to remember the last time you shared a YouTube video that was just mediocre…it doesn’t happen! Users only share content that is entertaining. I know it is obvious to say that you should be making great content, but a lot of YouTube Pages think that just uploading a video is enough..it’s not. The whole goal of Social Media is to have your content and brand messaging shared across the Interwebs, and it won’t happen if your content is just mediocre. Invest in a nice camera and editing software, a simple video intro with some graphics can go a long way.

So, are you ready to jump into the world of YouTube for your company? We hope so! If you have any other questions concerning this topic just let me know. You can always reach me on Twitter or E-Mail me at Drew@WebSuccessAgency.com

Thanks for reading,

-@MrDrewLarison

 

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Hits vs. Visits: Defining Internet Success Correctly

By on April 3, 2012 in Web Marketing Guides, Web Success

To understand Internet Marketing one may have to take a vocabulary lesson first. Terms like; hits, visits, SEO, tags, tweets, comments, key phrases, key words, blogs, and plenty of more make you wonder if you are speaking the same language. For a small business owner one of the biggest problems is understanding what you are being promised when you are trying to learn about internet marketing. One person tells you they can get 1,000 hits a day to your site while another tells you they can get you 1,000 visits a day. What is the difference and which one do you want more of? Well a single visitor or unique visitor as they are referred to in this field can actually generate dozens of hits on your server so when you are promised 10,000 hits a month, which could be as few as 50 unique visitors.

One of the main reasons small business owners shy away from web marketing is because they aren’t exactly sure how to gauge whether they are seeing better results or not, or especially what is giving them better results. Do the blogs create more traffic or is it the Facebook page? Which one is improving the rankings on Google? How can social media help you get better attention than sending flyers to people door to door? Your Facebook account helped you to get 300 hits today while your blog helped you to get 50 visits, which one did better? Hits mean very little, in fact someone may never even go to your site for it to count as a hit.

Imagine your company ran television commercials and one commercial was seen by 1,000 people. But you know for a fact, even though 1,000 people saw the commercial, that doesn’t mean you have 1,000 new customers. The customers are the people who saw the commercial and from it, came to “visit” your business. You had 1,000 hits on your commercial but you really only care about the visits, the people who actually gave you their business from watching that commercial. Now it is true, the more people who see it, the higher the number of visitors, so you want to get as many hits as possible to improve the number of visits. However, don’t let yourself be fooled by the number of hits; it’s the visits that you are really interested in because that is how your business will grow.

The beauty of web marketing is that it allows you to level the playing field. Your competitors can spend more money on television ads, newspapers, radio, and anything else like that. However, when it comes to web marketing, even the small businesses can get some of the spot light thanks to search engines, social media, blogs and so forth. All you need is a creative strategy and an understanding of what you are really trying to get.

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3 Ways to Get The Most Out of Facebook Comments

By on March 19, 2012 in Social Media

With Facebook Marketing so much time is spent thinking of ways to get comments. Whether it’s on a status update, picture, or video it’s important that you are trying to do things to get more comments on your Facebook Page. But what do you do when you have those comments? How do you engage with your customers who are engaging with you? Here are 3 ways to get the most out of your Facebook comments.

1. ALWAYS reply back to comments.

It’s important to always try to reply back to every comment that gets posted. This does two main things. One, it makes your fans know that you are using the page to try to communicate with your fans, not just to push content out. And two, it doubles the number of comments. If ten people comment on your status and you reply back to all of them your content will now have 20 comments instead of ten. Users are more likely to pay attention to a post with 20 comments rather than just ten.

2. Tag users in your responses.

Facebook now allows Brands to tag users in their comments. This is a really cool feature because when you tag a user they will receive a notification saying that “Your Brand” has tagged you in their comment. This helps because the user will actually know you’ve commented back. Before this the user would not of known you commented back unless they came and visited your page again. Just simply start typing in the users name and a menu will pop up with their name in it. Click their name and they are tagged! It’s that easy.

3. Comment back in a timely manner.

Like a lot of things in Social Media Marketing, timing back as quickly as possible to Facebook comments is very important. As communication is changing in our culture, people are starting to use Social Platforms like they used to use a phone. This is good because that means more people will be engaging with your brand to ask questions, schedule appointments, and maybe ever buy your product, but this also means that you have to ready to respond like you have with your phone for years. People expect a quick response from your brand on Facebook, so it’s important to meet their expectations.

If you have anymore questions on this topic just let me know by emailing me at Drew@WebSuccessAgency.com. I would love to help you guys out.

Thanks for reading,

-@MrDrewLarison

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Getting Started on Twitter: Tweet First, then Follow

By on March 15, 2012 in Social Media, Twitter

Tweet Before You FollowAre you or your business just getting started on Twitter?

A key element of an effective Twitter strategy is to follow people who you want to connect with. But before you follow, make sure that your stream of tweets isn’t empty.

When a user gets a notification that you are following them, there’s a good chance they will check out your profile first before following you back. If your tweet stream is empty there’s a good chance they won’t follow you back.

5 Tweets to Post Before You Start Following

(1) Post one tweet which includes a link with commentary to an article which your target audience will fine valuable

Ex: “Smart article for small biz: 6 Steps to Cashing in On Online Reviews www.websuccessagency.com/blog/“. This shows your potential follower that you’ll provide value by linking to quality information which they will find relevant.

(2) Post one personal thought which is relevant to your target audience

Ex: “I’m thinking the biggest challenge for small biz owners is focus. what do you think?” This shows potential followers that you’re not just a stream of information but a real person – and you’ll tweet like a real person.

(3, 4, and 5) Post three relevant @ replies to others’ tweets

Ex: “@avinkline thanks for sharing this article – it definitely made me think”. This shows potential followers that your not just looking for one-way communication and that you’ll engage with your followers. After all, Twitter is not a numbers game, it’s cocktail party.

The main point here is to be strategic. Don’t just start following hundreds of people while you have an empty stream of tweets. First put some quality tweets out there, then follow. This will help ensure you’re followed back.

For more tips on setting your Twitter profile up for success, check out 3 Ways to Make Your Twitter Curb Appeal Undeniable

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3 Ways to Make Your Twitter Curb Appeal Undeniable.

By on March 9, 2012 in Social Media, Web Success

I have been on Twitter for quite a while now, and the more followers I get the pickier I am becoming on who I follow back. There are some things that completely turn me off to someone’s Twitter page. For example, if you’re Twitter account shows that you follow 30,000 people and only have 2 followers…DEAL BREAKER. If all you post is links to articles titled “I am making $50,000/day working from home! You can do the same here!”…DEAL BREAKER. If you don’t have any @ replies on your timeline…DEAL BREAKER.

I have come up with 3 ways to make it so that no one will ever not want to follow you on Twitter. Here they are:

1. Make sure your stream is social.

It’s very important that you make sure that people feel like they will get some kind of social response from you by looking at your Twitter stream. If people look at your Twitter stream and see nothing but links and normal tweets, they will know that there isn’t a good chance that you will ever respond to them. Someone once told me that your tweets should be 90% @ replies, and 10% normal tweets. I’m all about this idea. NEVER FORGET TO BE “SOCIAL” WITH SOCIAL MEDIA.

2. Have a professional picture.

Your profile picture might be the first impression you will have on someone with your Twitter profile, so it’s important that you impress them right off the bat. I’m not saying that you should go hire a professional photographer, and spend $100′s of dollars for a Twitter profile picture, but I am saying that you should put some thought into it. Don’t just put up a picture of you and your best friend from college at a frat party. Make people want to know more about you by your picture alone.

3. Have a well written bio.

After the profile picture, your Twitter bio is the second thing people will notice about your Twitter profile. I’ve seen a lot of different Twitter bios in my life. I’ve seen ones that were full of hashtags, I’ve seen ones that were full of awards, and I’ve seen ones that were blank. A lot of people will give you advice to put your professional title and then a fun fact about yourself. In my opinion, the best Twitter bios are the ones that I feel like I really know the person after reading it. My best advice would be to just be yourself. Showing people your genuine self is always the best idea.

If you follow these three rules people that find you on Twitter will have no thought but to follow you.

If you have any questions about this topic feel free to contact me at Drew@WebSuccessAgency.com. I would love to chat with you.

Thanks for reading,

-@MrDrewLarison

 

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3 Things Every Brand Needs to Know About Facebook Timeline for Pages

By on March 7, 2012 in Social Media, Web Success

If you didn’t notice, Facebook released Timeline for Pages last week. This is a HUGE change for all brands that have been using Facebook as a part of their Social Media Marketing plan. Here at Web Success Agency we have loved reading all of the new blog posts, watching all the videos, and seeing all of the new brand Facebook pages. We have come together with our top 3 things that every brand needs to know about Facebook’s Timeline for Pages.

1. Cover Photo and Profile Picture

 

The first thing you and everyone else will notice about Timeline for Pages is the new Cover Photo and Profile Picture set up. Facebook has taken away the photo strip on the top of the page and given brands the opportunity to make a custom “cover photo” that can be 850 pixels by 315 pixels. I personally have loved the cover photo design ever since they made it possible for people to have it. I think it’s a great opportunity for brands to show their fans more about them in a creative way.

The profile picture has also changed. The dimensions of the profile picture are now 180pixels by 180pixels and can be viewed as a 30pixel by 30pixel image next to any post. The trend with the profile pictures is to use this space to put your brands name, and then to use the cover photo as a call to action or describing what your brand is all about.

2. Brand Highlighted and Pinned Posts.

One of the mail goals that Facebook is trying to accomplish with Timeline is to help brands tell their stories over Facebook. Highlighted and Pinned posts will help do that in a HUGE way.

With Highlighted and Pinned posts, brands now have to the opportunity to pick which posts they want to show up at the top of the page and also in a larger more eye catching way. For example, if your company just posted a new video showing a new product you could Highlight the post of the video and make it show up in a much larger way so that people will notice the post more easily.

3. Fan to Brand Messaging

I’m really excited for this new feature. I said about 6 months ago when Facebook started allowing users to have @Facebook.com emails that they are trying to control 100% of the communication on the Internet. I believe this is just another step towards that goal. Users can now send private messages to brands. This is a great opportunity for brands to humanize their message even more.

What do you think? Do you like/dislike the changes Facebook has made? I really think all the changes are positive ones and will help brands share their message with all of their followers.

Thanks for reading,

-@MrDrewLarison

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3 Reasons Why NOT to Connect Your Twitter to Your Facebook.

By on February 29, 2012 in Social Media, Web Success

Connect Twitter to FacebookThis is one of those blog posts that came from a request. The other day I tweeted this: “PLEASE STOP CONNECTING YOUR TWEETS TO FB! TWO COMPLETELY DIFFERENT PLATFORMS, TWO COMPLETELY DIFFERENT CONVERSATIONS!”. This tweet got around 7 RT’s and started some good conversation. People were asking why I felt that way about connecting Social Platforms, and why was I using ALL CAPS! So, I decided to write a blog about it. So, here are my 3 reasons why NOT to connect your Twitter to your Facebook.

To understand any of my points you first have to realize this: Facebook marketing and Twitter marketing are two completely different beasts. They both flow differently, they both work differently, and they both communicate differently.

1. Different platform, different communication.

Let’s say a company has set up for their Twitter account to automatically send their tweets to Facebook and one of their tweets has the term “RT” in it. If that tweet is sent to Facebook where there is no such thing as a “RT”, it will come off as confusing. Twitter users have their own language that Facebook users do not understand. Have you ever seen an Italian try to speak with an American? It’s not pretty, and the same thing goes for Facebook and Twitter.

2. Don’t overload your Facebook feed.

If you use Twitter and Facebook you understand that you Tweet a lot more than you put out new status updates on Facebook, which is a good thing. I look at Twitter like a giant chat room, so seeing someone tweet 50 times a day isn’t weird to me. But, if someone was putting up 50 Facebook status updates every day that would get annoying and more than likely I would unfriend you. If your tweets are connected to Facebook and you are tweeting more than 50 times a day, that basically means you are putting up over 50 Facebook statuses a day. This will be looked at as SPAM and you will be either ignored or unfollowed.

3. It makes you look lazy.

If your goal on Facebook and Twitter is to grow an effective brand, than connecting these platforms will work against you. It is a much better idea to show you are intentional by creating a custom message for both platforms. This also makes it look like you are favoring one platform over another. If your tweet is sent to Facebook, people will be less likely to read it because it’s not from Facebook.

There are many reasons why I believe you shouldn’t be doing this to your brand messaging, but these are the main 3 to help you get started. If you have any other questions over this topic I am always ready to discuss! You can tweet me at @MrDrewLarison or email me at Drew@LarisonSocialMarketing.com.

Thanks for reading,

-@MrDrewLarison

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6 Steps to Cashing in on Online Reviews

By on February 28, 2012 in Online Reviews, Web Marketing Guides

Online Reviews SuccessWhether your business is B2B or B2C, having a flood of positive reviews and recommendations about your products and services can be an incredible difference-maker in your company’s online and overall success.

Positive reviews from your customer found on review websites not only send your website a strong stream of traffic, but more importantly are a major influence on your customers’ purchasing decision.

Positive reviews help your potential customers Know, Like, and Trust You.

Be Intentional About Your Reviews Strategy

Just like everything else in your business, a flood of positive reviews probably won’t happen on its own. You’ll need to be intentional and strategic. The good news is… it’s worth it.

Let’s get started.

1. Provide Remarkable Value & Service

The most important step in your effective reviews strategy is to first provide remarkable value and customer service so that the customer wants to give you a great review. If you’re not providing a product or service worth talking about [positively], there’s no point in developing a reviews strategy – your strategy instead is developing a product or service that’s worth a positive review.

2. Build a Strategy

Identify the top five review websites where a review or recommendation would be effective for your company. Include the main review websites like Google Places, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Yelp. Also include a couple industry-specific locations. If you’re a local business, include one or two local review websites.

Create a spreadsheet which includes the websites you’ve identified. List each in a row, then create a column for each of the next six months. Every month you’ll record the total reviews you’ve received on each website. This will come into play in Step 6.

3. Ask for the Review

You want to begin by identifying the customers who are most likely to give you a positive review. I recommend starting with customers who you have the closest and most long-term relationship with and who truly value you and your product/service.

Suggest the Review Website Based on the Client

You want to make it as easy as possible for the client by minimizing as many challenges as possible. Basically you want to make it so the customer doesn’t have to put much of any thought into this.

For example, if you know the client has a Gmail account, then you know that they are at least familiar with navigating Google applications. In this case you’ll ask for a review on your Google Places page. If you know your client is an avid yelper, ask for a Yelp review.

Give a Step-by-Step Guide

You don’t want them to have to figure out how to do this for you. Remember, they’re doing this as a favor for you. List out the steps for them so they can simply follow your direction to get where they need to go. I’ve included an example email at the end of this post.

Ask for It, Don’t Pay for It

Most review websites frown on companies paying reviewers for positive reviews (including credits for products/services). Some sites, like Google Places, strictly prohibit it. Instead of trying to give the customer an incentive, simply ask them. Let them know that you understand they are very busy don’t want to take their time, but that it would be doing you a big favor to do this for you. If you make sure they know you’re not expecting a lengthy review and that you’re asking for just a minute or two of their time, they’ll probably be happy to help out.

4. Respond to the Review

If you have access to the review website as the business owner, many of the review websites will give you the ability to respond directly to a review (ex: Google Places). Often businesses will only respond to negative reviews, but why not respond to all the positive reviews? When your client gives you a review after you asked them to, respond right on the review site when applicable. For example, ‘Thanks so much for sharing Susan. We’re glad you had a great experience and promise to strive for excellence every day. Thanks Susan, it was a pleasure working with you.”

Also, make sure to respond to them privately as well. Give them a call or send an email telling them “thank you” for taking the time and that you’re happy to help them in the future in any way you can.

5. Promote the Review

Once you get a good collection of positive reviews going, promote these reviews. Reference them in your sales process, mention the reviews (testimonials) on your website. While many people may find your company from these specific review websites, also promote them from your other marketing. Your positive reviews show potential customers you’re valuable and low-risk.

6. Measure & Evaluate

You already created a spreadsheet. Now make sure to be intentional about your reviews strategy and stay on top of it.

Every month add up the total reviews on each of your targeted review websites, then set goals for the next month. Just by measuring this KPI (Key Performance Indicator) you’ll do a better job of staying intentional about your reviews strategy.

Please Share Your Successes

Have you had any successes with online reviews? Please share in the comments below. I’d love to hear what has worked for you (whether big successes or small successes).

Best of Success!

 

Bonus.1: Example Review Request Email

Example of an email that you would send to a client who values you and your product/service.

Subject: Personal Favor

Hi John,

I hope your week’s going well. I wanted to ask you for a quick favor. We’ve found that reviews from our clients are really valuable as people are looking into our company.

I know you’re very busy and don’t want to take much of your time, but would you be willing to take a couple minutes to add a review for [Our Company] on Google Places? You know I’d really appreciate it.

If so, here is a quick step-by-step:

  • Click this link: http://g.co/maps/3y3nu
  • If you’re not signed into Google, click the ‘Sign In to Rate’ button.
  • If you’re signed into Google, click ‘Write a Review’

That’s it!

Thanks so much John. Like I say, I know you’re busy and appreciate the favor.

 

Bonus.2: Avoid these Google Places No-No’s

Here’s a good reference straight from Google on tactics that may get your reviews flagged or removed from Google Places.

 

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3 Easy Steps to Success with Instagram for Your Business

By on February 27, 2012 in Social Media, Web Success

Instagram for BusinessSince the new year came there has been so much talk about Pinterest and how everyone is predicting for it to be very successful, which I completely agree with. But, let’s not forget about the other startups that I think will have a huge impact in 2012, like Instagram.

Wikipedia defines Instagram as a free photo sharing application that allows users to take a photo, apply a digital filter, then share it a variety of social networks including Instagram’s own.

Like all new applications, I like to use it for my own personal use and then strategize how a business could find success using it. I used Instagram for close six months and always found myself checking it to see who has put up new pictures. I could be wrong, but I think this means that I really enjoy using this app.

Like Pinterest, if your content on Instagram isn’t great quality and unique it won’t be successful. Luckily with Instagram and their professional looking photo filters, it is really not that hard to make great looking content. All you have to do is take a picture using your phone and then choose a filter that you think works the best.

Here are 3 steps on how a business can be successful with Instagram

1) Get creative.


Don’t look at using Instagram like you would look at just taking pictures with your cell phone. Get creative with it. Starbucks is one of the top Instagram users because they are very creative with their pictures. They just don’t take a picture of a cup of coffee, they take a picture of a cup of coffee sitting a deck of a lake house looking over a beautiful lake. It’s very important that you try to make people smile with every picture you take.

2) Reply back to other user’s comments.

On Instagram, people can “like” and leave comments on pictures. It’s important for you to try your best to turn that comment section into a chat room. With every comment you get, reply to it. Another important fact about commenting back at people is to use the @ sign in front of their name. If you do that they will get a notification saying you replied back. If you don’t use the @ sign, they will not get a notification and your reply will most likely go unseen.

3) Give users a behind the scenes look of your company.

Instagram gives brands a great opportunity to show their fans and followers a behind the scenes look of their company. Burberry does a great job of this by taking pictures of their models backstage of a fashion show. Users love to see this type of content because it gives them that VIC (Very Important Customer) feeling. 



So, don’t get all caught with Pinterest and forget about all of the other valuable platforms that are there like Instagram. I hope this will encourage you and your brand to get on Instagram and start making some awesome content.

If you would like to follow all of my pictures on Instagram you can search for me by searching “MrDrewLarison”. I would love to follow you back and check out how you’re doing. If you have any other questions about Instagram feel free to email me at Drew@WebSuccessAgency.com

Thanks for reading,

-@MrDrewLarison

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