I’ve been contracted to work with Stradwick’s Carpet One Floor & Home in Mississauga, Ontario GTA, to build and monitor their Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Yelp, web and blog presences… and it’s working quite well
It’s not a mystery that it’s working out so well because I’ve been doing this for nearly 15 years and most of that time in the flooring industry.
Note – follow this advice, then keep reading for the most valuable tools to put it all together and combine your social media efforts, saving you time.
Look around and you’ll see examples of social media being used, and mis-used, in business.
Sometimes it’s properly employed to work within a plan of action to achieve specific goals.
Other times, it’s part of a “slap it on the wall and see what sticks” approach (not that it’s entirely bad, just not ideal).
But what happens if you really do make some rain and get those coveted click-throughs?
Is your team ready to respond quickly with a coherent plan of action?
Here are 5 tips to put to use immediately.
Refer to my other post about speed if you think you are handling web leads properly (hint: if you take longer than 5 minutes to reply to an email, you’re moving too slow.)
1 – Use geographically-specific terms in your posts
If you have a local business in Milwaukee, include the following things in your posts and on your website – Milwaukee, your zip code, your suburb (West Allis, etc…), even street names. You can’t expect for a moment that vague terms will get you into Google’s top 10, which is where I live (Google’s Top 10, not Milwaukee) and where everyone who wants to do serious business online wants to be.
Here’s a basic example:
Flooring business in Alexandria, VA on S. Pickett Street, 22304.
You’d be amazed how often zip codes are used for searches.
2 – Employ a call to action
What is going to trigger someone to click?
Give them an answer, a compelling “why?”
It’s always fun to uncover information and explore.
3 – Include a hyperlink to more information Once you get someone clicking, focus the clicks on where you want them to go.
You can lead, so you should, once you’ve gotten someone’s attention.
For example: Click HERE to see more.
In this case, clicking the above link simply opens this same post in another window so you can keep reading.
4 – Whenever possible, use video
Google ranks video high, and it’s just more interesting than text.
The web is a very silent place and you can use video to stand out.
If a picture is worth a thousand words, a video is worth more.
And a little music never hurt anyone…
5 – Be interesting
This one goes without saying. Everyone who knows me or my business knows that I skydive, have a purebred German Shepherd, 3 fantastic kids, am a former Marine… Get the picture? People are looking for commonality… some way to connect with you. Give it to them and don’t be shy.
6 – Spell check… I had to put this one in. Although you can use purposeful misspelling as a traffic-generating tactic, it can also backfire.
Once you’ve got them down, start using Seesmic,HootSuite or TweetDeck to really bring it all together.
You’ll then be able to coordinate your different social media efforts from one place.
Go for it and send me some examples!
All the best,
