25 Ways to Engage Contacts in Social Media

What is it? What is it good for? Engagement.

One of the primary selling points of social media is the concept of engaging a potential customer or partner in your product or service. So how do you accomplish engagement on a personal level?

25 Ways to Engage a Potential Customer Using Social Media

1. Start a blog. This seems like an obvious one. This should be one of the first things you think about doing when contemplating using social media as a marketing tool. There should always be a hub where your contacts can interact. The so called “hub.” WordPress is a great tool to start blogging. Get on it!

2. Join Foursquare and Use it during the business day. Foursquare is a service that allows you to update your location to the people following you on a regular basis. I do not recommend using this tool after business hours (could turn a little creepy) but it can help your contacts get an idea of what you do on a daily basis. Even if you are just sitting in your office for most of the day.

3. Join LinkedIN and recommend your partners. Most of us are already using LinkedIN (if you are not click thislink for great information on LinkedIN). When you start to recommend the people you love working with it will help spread the goodwill that your business partners deserve. What happens you spread goodwill? Ever heard of pay-it-forward?

4 and 5. Start an RSS Reader and Find 5 Blogs to Follow. It is important that you use an RSS Reader to help with the organization of the blogs you read. For more information on starting and maintaining an RSS Feed check out this link. By using a Technorati or Google BlogSearch you can find 5 blogs that are industry “blog leaders” in your dedicated profession. By following and commenting on the blogs you will start to engage other readers.

6. Place a Poll on Your Blog or Website. There are plenty of tools available for polling on your website or blog. Wp-polls is a great resource if you are connected with wordpress. Ask a question to your audience. How can I make my content better? What are you wanting to read or learn about? This will help in engaging your more loyal readers and followers. Formstack also gives you the ability to create forms and polls for easy content access and building.

7. Ask a Loyal Reader  to Guest Post. There is value in having your loyal readers do a guest post for your blog. They will feed your link to their subscribers and it also gives them a pride in ownership of your blog. This allows for the strengthening of a relationship in the long run.

8. Identify Your Strategy. This should have been number one because it is the more important thing you could be doing before online marketing. If you do not have a strategy in place to lead the charge into social media you will be at a lost when it becomes overwhelming. A strategy allows you to measure success points in your social media journey. This only helps when it comes to YOU engaging THEM.

9. Focus. Really Focus on Your About Page. What is the second most read page on a blog? The about page. People want to know who they are communicating with. The last thing you need to do (and I am also guilty of this on my personal blog KyleLacy.com) is to create a boring about page. Spice it up. Add some details that will create the best about page you could possibly want! Also.. enable comments on your about page. Allow people to comment on yours likes and dislikes.

10. Use Twitter on a Daily Basis. Now this might be a little overwhelming to the young at heart in social media but Twitter is fast becoming the ideal means of online communication. For a detailed explaination of Twitter check outDiTii.com’s video.

11. Add Your Social Media Information to Your Business Card. I have written a ton about this in previous posts. If you want to truly engage with the people you meet offline… add your social media sites to your business card. I have my LinkedIN, Twitter, and Blog URLs on my business card.

12. Be open to collaboration. You may have run your small-to-mid sized business for years by yourself but social media is built on the art of collaboration. People will be giving their opinions on a daily basis and it is in your best interest to take those opinions with stride. Collaborate and join in on discussions surrounding ideas related to your industry and your life. Collaborate. Learn. Listen.

13. Start a Facebook Page and Add in Your Family Life. Facebook is an extremely personal tool that can be used to connect with individuals on an emotional basis using pictures. You have to be open in sharing some of your family life with the outside world. There is a reason why PR companies have used the idea of “family man” to save many tarnished CEOs. Add pictures of your family, your dog, your vacation. People will connect. (New to Facebook. Check out this link on getting started as a company).

14. Pick 4 Social Sites and Maximize. You will become anti-social if you become overwhelmed with the multitude of different social media sites in which you are a member. We teach a 4-touchpoint theory of choosing four social media sites to spend your time. With a limited amount of time you will find that 4 sites benefits you in two main ways:

1. You will have more brain “bandwidth” to communicate on a deeper level.

2. The same people will pretty much be on all the sites you choose. (I say this loosely)

15. When someone comments on your blog email them a thank you. I learned this from the famous Gary Vaynerchuk. If someone is joining into the conversation on your blog and adding content make sure you thank them for your support. The people who show a vested interest are key to growing your readership. Don’t be alarmed if you don’t have time to email people the moment they comment. It sometimes takes me weeks before I send a follow up email.

16. Write About Personal Experience. We talk a lot about this. Write about the way you see life. Write about the way you experience your business on a daily basis. TAlk about how you are helping people. Talk about how you are solving the problems on a daily basis. Use Twitter. Use Facebook. Tell stories on your blog. People engage in stories. They connect with stories.

17. Try to Keep Yourself Within 450 Words or Less on Your Blog. It is important to keep blog posts concise and to the point. If you have trouble writing this will help you in the long run. As you can tell by the post you are currently reading, it is not essential that you keep it to 450 words. If you have advice and knowledge to send out to the masses.. . please do so. If you keep blog posts short it helps to keep readers and that is the goal.

18. Remember Quality vs Quantity. Quality is always better than Quantity. I have always said that 100 extremely engage readers are infinitely better than 4000 quasi engaged readers. Quality allows you to truly form relationships with the people you are dealing with on a daily basis. You can build your base anyway you like but make sure you always come back to quality over quantity.

19. Monitor the Conversation around Your Brand both Personal and Professional. For more on this read:25 Tools and Tips to Following Your Brand Online. Why is it important to follow your brand online? You need to be involved in all the conversations surrounding your product, service, or YOU.

20. DO NOT HARD SELL! I am going to repeat this again: Do Not Hard Sell. This means you are not sharing about sales and detail after detail about your company. It means you are concentrating on listening to the people who are investing in your writing and social media prescence. Nobody cares about your 50% sale. They care about who will be greeting them at the door of your store or place of business. Personality rules and if you want to act like a used-car sales man… go work at one.

21. Handwritten Notes Go Places. If you have an individual refer you business through the online environment.. we encourage people to use the old method and handwrite a note to that person. You would be surprised how far a handwritten note will get you!

22. Setup Columns in Tweetdeck or Hootsuite for Use in Twitter. In order to follow the conversation surrounding your industry, clients, competitors, and your business… the tools provided through Tweetdeck and Hootsuite allow you to manage and organize tweets based on keywords or search functionality. Follow up to 3 columns and get involved in the conversation!

23. Use Rapportive to Connect with Your Email Database. Rapportive is a service that gives you the ability to connect with different contacts in your Gmail Inbox. A profile picture will appear to the side of the email and give you different information facts about the sender of the email. For more information on Rapportive read the LifeHacker post on the tool.

24. Try to Answer All Comments on Your Blog. It can be a daunting task. I felt guilty typing out this step because I am extremely bad at replying to comments. In all reality, the people you care about most…. should be the people who comment on your blog.

25. Use Rapleaf to Produce Segmentation Reporting for Your Email Database. Rapleaf is a reporting company who helps you better understand who your customers are and their social personalities. This service can give you some SWEET data on user engagement and cross platform marketing.

Checklist of 25 Reasons Not to Hire a Social Media Consultant

I have been discovering many people starting to enter the world of social media marketing. It can be anything from an advertising firm to a small business coach. It is probably pretty confusing for business owners trying to learn about the amazing new tools available on the web. I wanted to help you out with your first steps in choosing a social media educator or consultant.

1. They need to use the tools they are teaching.

It is extremely important that the teacher is using the tools. Before you decide to use a social media consultant… investigate! Make sure they are using tools like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIN, and Plaxo. If they do not use the tools on a regular basis, they are just riding a wave.

2. They communicate with their audience.

The last person you want to hire for your social media strategy is someone who throws our content and doesn’t allow for two way communication. The best way to test this? Go to their Twitter account and make sure they are actually sending “RT” and replies to people. Multi-directional communication is key to a social strategy.

3. Do they call themselves a Social Media Expert? Ask about experience.

The person that calls themselves a “social media expert” is someone who usually makes $500 a month setting up Twitter accounts. There are only a few people in the world of social media who can be considered an expert. A few are as follows > David Armano, Jay Baer, Jason Falls, and Chris Brogan. They have business experience of over a decade. They know what to do in business, marketing, and media… not only social.

4. What is their definition of social media?

If they give you a list of tools. Fail them.

5. They will “grow your following” and “run your Twitter account”T

It is not impossible to ghost a Twitter account but you need to have an opinion in what content is used. Do not sign over your Twitter account to a random consultant. Also, growing a following works sometimes but MOST OF THE TIME you want quality over quantity.

6. Their blog is less than six months old with no comments. (thanks Beth)

7. Ask them about the future of social search. Do they know what it is?

8. Have they taught a class before on social media? Even a webinar?

It is important that your consultant or educator has experience in teaching or presenting on social media. The last thing you want to do is spend money for something that is going to be a DRAG. You want to know that you are not wasting your money.

9. Are they a Just-add-water expert?

10. They actually have a personality and GET people.

It is important that your social media consultant have a personality. What do I mean by personality? They are not stuck in an office all day pecking away at Twitter and have no sense of humor. ALSO, they are not overly bubbly and excited about everything under the sun. Sanity is key.

11. They blog at least once a week or more

It is important that the investigation goes deeper into the blogging world. Your social media consultant should be learning on a daily basis and expounding upon what they are learning by blogging. This does not have to be catered specifically to a BLOG (WordPress or blogger). You can always check Twitter on how they are communicating and learning.

12. They are linking and being linked.

Complete a Google link search and make sure your social media consultant actually has people and blogs linking back to their site. It is extremely important

13. Ask their opinion on viral marketing.

It is extremely important that your social media consultant and educator understand the concepts behind word-or-mouth marketing and viral marketing. Social media marketing is a relationship driven model. The evangelists and lovers of your product or service need to have the means to shout to the world… WE LOVE YOU!

14. Check out their website.

The first step to any Internet or social media strategy is the website. Do they have a communication driven website or is it a web 1.0 brochure driven site? Are they interacting with people? Are they talking about social media? Are they talking to YOU and not about their services.

15. What do other people think about them?

Mentors are one of the greatest asset to any small business owner. Who would they choose? Maybe they think social media is a waste of time. You need to take that into account. Maybe they were burned in the past? It is extremely important to get another perspective when entering into a relationship with any type of consultant or marketing professional.

16. They advise you to start a Facebook page as the first step.

It isn’t about starting in one spot. If you are new to the world of social media it may be smart to start USING Facebook other than trying to manage all 5 but the last thing you need to do is just start a Facebook fan page. SM strategy should be surrounding an integrated marketing approach. Period.

17. The instant success test.

It takes time and knowledge to be successful at using social media as a small business strategy. If they promise instant results.. You should probably find another consultant. We usually promise success in up to 6 months depending on strategy and implementation.

18. What do they think about traditional marketing and advertising?

Ask them. If they come back to you and say that the traditional approach to marketing is dead. They are just riding the wave of no return. They will never understand the concepts of combining traditional and new media into an overall strategy. You will slowly drown them.

19. Ask them about Radian6 and CoTweet.

Radian6 and CoTweet are some of the better brand monitoring tools out there. Radian6 is a robust system that measures brand awareness and interaction and CoTweet is an awesome corporate Twitter tool.

If they have no idea about Radian6 or Cotweet. FAIL.

20. How long have they been using Twitter?

I have come across plenty of consultant who have been using Twitter for a matter of months. It is important for the consultant to know more than YOU… the client. Check up on their usage of the different tools on the web.

21. They believe in actually listening to your problems instead of convincing you about the world of social media.

There are plenty of ways to use social media to gain a successful advantage over competition or increase sales. If they have a one shot approach to using social media without listening to your pain and need… Fail them.

22. If they are still using an @aol.com, @aim.com, @comcast.net, or @att.net email. Fail them.

23. Listen for new approaches to strategy.

Everyone is offering to be a “social” consultant. Do they talk and think differently than anyone else you have listened to? If they do… You have a gem on your hands. Creative thinkers are the best social media consultants.

24. Are they a used car salesman? Do they seem genuine?

For the sake of argument I am going to list this. Do not work with someone you do not trust. Period.

25.Do they have any success stories?

Ask them about their history in using social media. The space is extremely new but there are people who are succeeding in using the tool. If they do not have case studies. Ask. If they cannot present you with a valuable case study… find someone else.

There are plenty more but this is just the beginning. Add to the list if you would like!

It is Impossible to Control Your Message

There is talk going around about how blogging, Twitter, Facebook, and other social media sites can help control your marketing message.   I completely agree with the assertion that you can help sway a particular message to the public but.. the world has a tendency to misunderstand where the CONTROL takes place.

It’s impossible to control HOW people interpret your message, but it IS possible to control WHERE the conversation takes place.

People will interpret your message in a way that is congruent with their beliefs and values.  You can’t change that.  When you start broadcasting your message through the social media sphere you will most certainly be misread, misinterpreted, misquoted, and you will be wrong… from time to time.  That’s fine.. it is all part of the game.  Don’t let that bother you.  Focus on the things you can control.

Where you have more control is the conversation.  If an unhappy customer is spouting bad news about your company on Twitter, you have the power to take the conversation offline… if you respond quickly.  If you’re using social media for lead generation, you have the power to lead prospects to your blog where you have the chance to convert them to customers.

Bad news can only hurt you if it stays on the social web.  Interested prospects are no good to you if you don’t lead them to your doorstep.  Your message will be warped by social media.  Spend your time thinking about where you want people to go and how to get them there.

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• Market Your New Business Online Through Social Media (ricksrss.com)

Are You Going to the YouToo Social Media Conference?

I wanted to let you all know about the YouToo Conference in Akron, Ohio on April 16th. I am going to be opening for Phil Gomes of Edelman Digital (Chicago).  theI can’t wait for this because it is going to be a fun time and AWESOME!

Check out the information and be sure to check out the YouToo Social Conference website.

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It’s not just Web sites and e-mail anymore. The use of social media in marketing and business communications exploded during 2009. In 2010, social media are being used in all phases of operations for companies and non-profits.

Business and non-profit communicators and students can learn how to tap into this vital network at the Third Annual You Too Social Media Conference to be held Friday, April 16, at Kent State University’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication in Franklin Hall, itself a national model for communications education.

The all-day conference, co-sponsored by the Akron Area Public Relations Society of America Chapter and the PRSSA Kent State Chapter, will include hands-on sessions with expert presenters in such branding tools as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. There will also a dessert reception for professionals and students to network.

Who: Akron Area PRSA and PRSSA Kent

What: Third Annual YouToo Social Media Conference

When: Friday, April 16, 2010 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Where: School of Journalism and Mass Communication
Franklin Hall
Kent State University
Kent, OH 44242
(Directions)

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Day 7 of the We Love Boobies and Hate Breast Cancer Tour

We have been on the road for seven days now… raising money for the Susan G. Komen Race for a Cure in Indianapolis. For those of you who have not been in the loop here are the details:

I am on the road with two guys, Daniel Herndon and Daniel Robertson. Daniel Herndon founded an initiative called Forkout.org that helps non-profits raise money by experiential marketing. Forkout.org will be the central location for all the content being distributed during our road trip. You can view the places we will be stopping at the Forkout.org Fan Page.

There is only one catch. Everything that we are using from the car to the hotels are all donated. We still need some help with lodging and food in certain cities. Let us know if you can help! We will be live web casting our trip via the Forkout.org webpage. You can view us live pretty much the entire two weeks of our travels.

We are currently on day 7 of the 14 day tour to raise money for Komen Indianapolis. It has been an awesome experience! We have visited the cities of Fort Wayne, Lafayette, South Bend, Marion, Merrillville, and Indianapolis. We will be hitting the cities of Muncie, Rushville, Columbus, Vincennes, and Evansville. We return home on April 6th!

I wanted to show you a video of a young women we interviewed on the 3rd or 4th day of our travels. Adrienne was diagnosed with breast cancer when she was 19 and is now cancer free at 22. She is about to graduate and get married in July. Watch her story!

We still need your help with donations and support for the Komen Cause. We are trying to save 250 women by the end of the trip. When you are getting a mammogram through any type of cancer services it usually costs $100 for each woman. ONE HUNDRED PERCENT of breast cancer is curable if detected early.

To give to our cause please visit http://www.forkout.org. Any amount helps!

Thanks to the people who have helped us out the past few days!

• The wonderful people at Fanimation bought a hotel room for our travels to Marion
• Beth Kinney donated a room in Fort Wayne
• Douglas Karr of the Marketing Tech Blog donated $100!
• Steve Quirk of Standt’s Fine Jewelery in Anderson, Indiana donated $100
• Jennifer at the Cancer Services of Grant County fixed us dinner on Monday night!
• Chad Pollitt and Digital Hill donated dinner on Sunday night in Fort Wayne
• LaSalle Grill donated food on Friday night in South Bend!

Facebook Evolution: Business Communication Tool to Viable Conversion Platform

Since 2002, Chad H. Pollitt has played an integral role in designing, developing, deploying, executing and tracking robust web marketing strategies for over 100 client companies and organizations and is an internet marketing expert. He holds a BS in Entrepreneurship from the Indiana University Kelley School of Business and an Internet Marketing Masters Certification from the University of San Francisco’s prestigious School of Business and Management.

With over 400 million users, a valuation of greater than $10 billion and the recent title of most traveled place on the “Internets,” Facebook has become a juggernaut.  As a result, businesses are scrambling to find their place on this most popular internet platform and have been for the last several years.  Their biggest challenge isn’t setting up a Facebook Fan Page, but the deployment of a viable and measurable strategy that converts visitors into customers.

Social Media is a communication tool by its very nature and lacks a true internet marketing sales funnel that businesses can utilize to convince visitors to take action.  Facebook is no different.  These strategic sales funnels are usually reserved for the company’s conversion platform, it’s website.  Because of this, businesses are forced to “encourage” visitors of their Facebook Fan page to take the leap from Facebook to their website.  Internet marketing professionals have known for years that click-through rates drop significantly when people have to jump to a different website.

As a communication tool, Facebook is great for building brand awareness, growing SOV, and building relationships.  As a conversion platform, Facebook is inflexible and breaks commonly known conversion conventions.  That has been changing over the last 12 months with the proliferation of custom applications that enable businesses to utilize more gracile elements of conversion conventions.  That all changed when Digital Hill Multimedia, Inc. launched its newest Facebook application called TabSite.

The Facebook TabSite application allows businesses to easily build a website on their Facebook Fan page.  This website can have multiple pages, a contact form and it even allows for the use of flash animation.  Companies will now have the ability to deploy a robust conversion strategy on their Facebook Fan page just like they would on their website.   With TabSite Facebook has officially evolved from a social media communication and networking tool to a robust conversion platform that businesses can take advantage of.

It is commonly accepted that people only go to the web for two reasons: to solve a problem or to be entertained. Most companies on Facebook are in the business of solving problems. As a result, applications such as TabSite allow for businesses to present their unique value proposition utilizing the creativity of a custom website and commonly used conversion conventions. Facebook Fan pages are also indexed by Google for search. This begs the question, will websites go away with Facebook being the preferred platform for gathering information? I believe it’s too early to tell, but companies like Honda have already began to push past and prospective customers to their Facebook Fan page in lue of their website. This may be the next logical evolutionary step for Facebook and social media.

Day 3 of the ForkOut Susan G. Komen Fundraising Tour

You can donate at > Forkout

It has been an interesting process traveling throughout Indiana the past few days while raising money for the Susan G. Komen Foundation. We have visited Wishard Memorial Hospital Tissue Bank, Riggs Community Health Clinic, the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure Indianapolis headquarters, Tippecanoe Mall, and we have interviewed multiple breast cancer survivors.

There was one breast cancer survivor (Adrienne) who was diagnosed with breast cancer when she was nineteen years old. Now, this is surprising on multiple levels… especially with her age. I think I had a hard time dealing with the interview because I could not comprehend dealing with the understanding of life ending around your twenty first birthday.

It was hard for me to even put myself in her place. What do you do with that type of knowledge? How do you comprehend the thoughts of dying at such an early age? She has been cancer free for 2 years.

Now here is the kicker! This is the important part. She found out she had cancer and told her (then) boyfriend to go away because she didn’t know what was going to happen in the future. Do you know what he did? Nine days after she told him she had cancer… he asked her to marry him. Crazy huh?

The trip has been humbling and we still have eleven days left to raise the necessary money to help the Komen cause. So far we have been graciously helped by the following people:

• Omni Severin Hotel in downtown Indianapolis donated two nights in their pent house suites
• Wendy Pike from Feller Business Solutions is donating 100% of profit to all supplies sold through April 6th just mention the word FORKOUT
• Molly at Noodles & Company in Downtown Indianapolis gave us a free meal
• Jennifer from Skylight Coffee House in Lafayette, Indiana gave us a free meal
• The great people at Golden Technologies donated a hotel room in South Bend
• Dave Woodson and Nat Finn have donated dinner on Friday night
• Dana Nelson in Evansville has hooked up media and a bowling night on April 3^rd
• Wayne Clayton and Kimberly Clark have helped with media connections in Northern Indiana
• Starbucks on Frontage Road in Lafayette donated coffee and food
• Mike Heffner from Express Personnel in Greenwood, IN donated $10 for every job placement