Why You need Social Media

We are talking about social media, again. Because we love it! It is so amazing that we can connect world-wide with people, and not through our standard websites. We can talk, we can relate, we can really know our customers. And, it's really all about knowing our customers. Often I struggle to understand why some businesses are still not embracing the relationship they could have with their clients. It certainly is a commitment, and it takes research, and persistence. While Top Shelf Media 

offers services in all areas of marketing, advertising and public relations, we specialize in, social media, so forgive us if we tend to focus on the subject. But it's really that important!

Watch this video by Socialnomics. It will establish some very clear reasons why you need to incorporate social media into your business culture. Its pretty powerful.

It also features several funny anecdotes, great graphics, and good mood music.  Its pretty powerful.

 

When meeting with clients, what I hear most about why they aren't handling their social media accounts is that they don't have the time or staff to maintain their accounts. If you aren't the most tech-savvy business owner, or are just uninterested in social media personally, I can see why the you might struggle to justify spending your own time to learn about this ever changing subject. If you don't have the luxury of an internal marketing department at your disposal, consider hiring an outside company to create your social media campaigns for you.  Top Shelf Media

offers several different social media management options, and customizes those options for our clients to fit every budget. 

The most important thing is to create your social media strategy around your audience. It's about creating a personal relationship with your customers. You need to find subtle ways to sell your products and services. Offer up examples of your work in photos on your Timeline, but don't use a call to action. Just display it with pride in your work, let the example do the selling for you. Talk about your local community. Share stories and photos from other local business pages. Remember, social media is not about your business, it's about people.

Timeline for Facebook Fan Pages

Are you ready for the new Facebook Timeline for your Fan Page? Gear up, because March 30 you are going to see some big changes. You'll notice that all the changes mentioned here are in support of Facebook's goal to create a more personal, organic experience for the user. Here are the top items, I took away from the webinar I attended last week.

1. Cover Photo: Just like with your new profile timeline, your fan page will have a huge cover photo! This is an excellent way to brand your business. There are some rules about what you can place as your cover photo...No "Like Me" gimmicks, no contact info, no discounts/promotions, and it needs to be primarily graphic. Pick a photo that identifies with your brand. Have a graphic designer create a piece of art for you. Change the cover photo to run with current campaigns, or over time as your business evolves. Make it memorable, because as the user scrolls down, the branding "disappears" and you and left with only your profile picture visible. Make sure your profile picture is attention getting as well.

2. About Section: Right below the cover photo, your About section is prime real estate on your timeline. Include a short, but fantastic reason get your user to explore your page!

3. Pin Posts, Milestones, and Stars: Post pinning is a great tool to use to draw attention to specific information such as sales and special events. A status update can be "pinned" to the top of your timeline for up to 7 days, so no re-posting of the same event is required. Milestones can be added to highlight special events in your business history. Your company's founding, first license, or a million dollars in sales, can be pegged as a milestone on your timeline.  Star a post you want to draw attention to it. Starring the post will expand it to go across the entire width of the timeline.

4. Tabs: Located in the About section, all tabs are customizable with the ability to change the position,  photo and name, except the "photos" tab  which remains constant in position. Only the first three tabs are visible before the user needs to use a drop-down menu to access the rest. Position your tabs strategically, as to draw attention to the most important ones, such as a contest or promotion. One last note on tabs. Under the new guidelines, the timeline is the landing page. You can no longer force fans to land on your custom apps, like a welcome page (unless you buy a Facebook ad, and you link the ad to the custom app...but that's a whole different blog post.) Don't worry, your custom apps will still work the same, you can still have a "forced" like on custom apps, but you will need to find a creative way to get the user to it. What does that mean? You better have some great content on your timeline.

5. Administrative features: There is a new admin panel that is much more user friendly, and you will have a lot more control over your page. For example, you determine where your recent activity such as posts from your fans are placed. Your options are either placed sporadically throughout your timeline, or in it's own custom box. I like the box! You have the option to moderate all fan posts before they are published. Your fans can message you directly. Keep in mind that you cannot contact fans, but can respond to them up to two times if they message you first.

6. Competitive analysis: This is part of the administrative features, but a big enough deal to get it's own number! With the new timeline, you will be able to view any fan page analysis. It will give you information on when the page had a lot of interaction, when it drops off, etc. in graph form. What can you do with this information? Use the easy to navigate timeline to go directly to the day that fan page had a significant amount of interaction, and find out what they posted! This is fantastic! Using this tool to its compete potential enable see what your competitor's are doing to increase their fan base, and improve your strategy. Keep in mind, that it's a two way street, and the competition can be checking you out as well.

Another noteworthy tidbit: Anyone who comes to your Facebook page will now see how many of their friends are fans. This will make the experience different for everyone. More personal. Less commercial. This is a good thing! There will also be a lot of changes for advertisers, but unless you have Facebook advertising budget of around 25K a month, it really wont' affect you.

Don't despair; embrace the changes. Use the new tools to your advantage. Implement a strategy and keep posting. If you post it, they will come.  

Multi-Chamber Business Expo

Yesterday, for the fifth year running, the Greater Fort Walton Beach, Destin Area, Crestview Area, Niceville and Valparaiso Chambers of Commerce joined forces to bring their members the biggest and best marketing and networking opportunity in all the Emerald Coast...The Multi-Chamber Business Expo and Taste of Okaloosa County. The event was held at the Emerald Coast Convention Center on Beautiful Okaloosa Island. Naturally, Top Shelf Media was there to scope it out.

Our Mission: Find some fabulous promotional items, booth designs, and marketing collateral. And, if we get to network with area businesses and sample some goodies along the way, so be it.

Trade shows and business expos can be a great way to get your business exposure, especially if you do them right. Three aspects of trade shows will get people coming to your booth: spectacular design, free stuff, and well, the chance to win more free stuff. Once you draw them in, work your magic and make connections.  

Develop promotional products people will use, or will set you apart, and put your branding on it. I have a promotional magnetic notepad from many years ago that is still lingering on the fridge. If you can give away a product that is related to your industry, do it! A winery could give away bottle stoppers or corkscrews. A landscaper could give away packets of seeds with their branding on it. The possibilities are endless. Be creative and try to stand out from the crowd, and don’t underestimate the power of great packaging.

Collect customer information by hosting a sweepstakes. Give away something good! At the Multi-Chamber Business Expo, I registered to win an iPod Shuffle courtesy of Century Link.

 For a dollar donation to Horizons Foundation I was registered into a drawing for this Mustang. Pretty bad ass. Let’s hope this is parked in my driveway at the end of April when the drawing will be held. 

Booth design is equally important. An out of the box display will surely have people stopping by your booth. This was my favorite at the Multi-Chamber Expo. Bad Girls Art Gallery in Fort Walton Beach created an exiting display featuring pieces of art available in their gallery. They made the most of it by offering these items for sale at the expo.

The Emerald Grande had a nice display that captured the essence of the Emerald Coast.

At The Emerald Grande booth, we enjoyed mini cupcakes by Stacy-Cakes, decorated to compliment the display. The Stacy-Cakes business cards featured here were equally as impressive as her baking!

Be sure to use professionally printed marketing materials. It will be an investment, but please no home copies! Looking polished and professional will certainly increase buyer confidence.