A good Social Media Strategy has 4-steps which I call C.I.M.A. Many individuals and companies skip Step 1 because they don’t understand the importance of it.  Having and following a Social Media Action Plan (SMAP) can mean the difference between success and failure with social media marketing.  To maximize your Social Media Marketing results, you need to complete all four of the following steps:

1. Create social media action plan
2. Implement social media action plan
3. Measure goals outlined in social media action plan
4. Adjust social media action plan to meet desired goals

During implementation (step 2) you should:

• set-up & link social media sites
• set-up productivity & streamlining tools
• import blog where applicable
• get training on social media sites as needed
• generate content
• interact
• listen
• prospect

Unfortunately many people fly through the implementation stage and plug along but fail to Measure against their social media goals and Adjust their plan.  Without these two steps it is fairly easy to get discouraged with social media marketing and to abandon it or not give it the attention it deserves!

If you need help creating a Social Media Action Plan or following my recommended 4-Step C.I.MA. Strategy, feel free to contact me at Marketing That’s Easy.

Kimberly

P.S. - I consult & train businesses on how to promote their business on the internet and get found! Subscribe to this blog via RSS Feed or Email so you don't miss any Free Tips! @KimberlyYow

This is a great slide show that covers what Social Media (social networking for business) IS and IS NOT!  There’s also plenty of statistics to help convince you that you need to integrate social media into your marketing, public relations and customer service activities!

If you are not sure what social media is OR are not sure why you should be participating, please watch this slide show to the end!  And, F**K is as bad as it gets so if you can handle that…spelled with the asterisks…then go on…watch the slide show…

If you are ready to get started in social media or need to ramp up your results, contact me, I can help you develop a plan and reach your goals.

Kimberly
MarketingThatsEasy.com

I previously wrote a blog titled “How To Invite Someone To Connect Online“.  If you click on the link to read it and then come back to this post, this post will make more sense.

I just had to share this invite that I received through LinkedIn:

Hi Kimberly,

I’ve been reading some of your [blog] posts on Biznik and I want to thank you for all of the great information.  Social networking is new to us at ImageWear Solutions and your advice and knowledge have proved to be extremely helpful.  I’d like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn.

Gary

The person that sent this LinkedIn invite to me is located in another state…I’ve never heard of him.  But you can bet I will accept his invitation!  The main reason is because he told me how he found out about me and then he indirectly told me why he wants to connect.  That is the type of information I like to have when someone I don’t know wants to connect online.  Isn’t that the type of information you would like too?  Is that the type of info you provide in invites that you send?

The bottom line is that Gary’s invite is the best I’ve ever seen and I wanted to share it with you as an example of what to do.

Great invitations may very well lead to great connections!

Kimberly Yow
Marketing That’s Easy.com

Most social networking sites, membership websites and company support departments send “blind” messages to users (or members) through their system.  I’m going to use Facebook as an example to make this easier to explain.  If someone on Facebook logs into their Facebook account and sends you an email, Facebook will send you an email to let you know that you have received a new message in your Facebook inbox.  The email that you get from Facebook will actually show the message that your fellow Facebook user sent to you.

While conducting my workshops on how to use social networking sites, it came to my attention that numerous people are simply clicking “reply” in their email program, typing a response to the email and then clicking send.  What they didn’t realize was that their email response was going into a black hole! And that the intended recipient never sees their response!

The reason these messages go into a black hole is because Facebook sends “blind” messages.  That means that when they send you an email notification of a message a member sent you, they are hiding your email address and the email of the sender and there is no valid email address that you can reply to. This is done to protect your identity from the sender in case they are not a Facebook Friend and you don’t want to have any direct contact with them.

As I mentioned, most social networking sites and membership sites send “blind” messages.  Many companies also send them, especially from their support staff.   You therefore need to know what to look for before simply clicking the reply button.  Whenever you get a message, look to see what shows up in the “from” section of the email.

If it is a “blind” message from Facebook it will say something like:   Facebook [notification+ys_2jftc@facebookmail.com].

If it is a “blind” message from LinkedIn it will most likely say: messages-noreply@bounce.linkedin.com.

When you receive a “blind” message from a website, the only way you can reply to it is by logging into your account on that website and replying to the message through your account inbox.

If an email is truly coming directly from an individual, you should see their email address in the “from” section of the email header.

I hope this helps you get your messages out of the black hole and into your intended recipient’s email inbox.  If you have any questions or comments, please add them as a “comment” to this blog post.

Remember, don’t reply to no-reply!

Kimberly Yow
Marketing That’s Easy.com

Over the weekend, I was on Facebook and noticed that one of my online “friends” had posted a lot of photos of a trip she had taken.  In scrolling through my feed, I noticed this gal sporting a suggestive pose and being fondled by another girl.  My first reaction was, “why would she post that for everyone to see?.”  And then I immediately started thinking about how a potential employer may also see it.  Which leads me to this post…

If you EVER plan on looking for a new job, be careful what you post online!

A study released by CareerBuilder.com, showed that more than 1 in 5 employers search social networking sites to screen job candidates. One-third of the hiring managers who use social networks had found information there that caused them to remove a candidate from consideration for a job.

Top areas for concern among these hiring managers included:

41% – candidate posted information about drinking or using drugs

40% – candidate posted provocative or inappropriate photographs or information

29% – candidate had poor communication skills

28% – candidate bad-mouthed their previous company or fellow employees

27% – candidate lied about qualifications

22% – candidate’s screen name was unprofessional

21% – candidate was linked to criminal behavior

19% – candidate shared confidential information from previous employers

The study did find that 24% of hiring managers found content on social networks that helped convince them to hire a candidate. To read the study results from Career Builder, click here.

The bottom line is, don’t post suggestive photos, nasty or threatening comments or, in short, anything you would not show to a prospective employer!  If you do, you may be harming your chances of getting a new job in the future.

And don’t be fooled by thinking your privacy settings are protecting you.  There are people out there that can hack into your information and there are also computer and coding glitches that can make your private information public.  I recently read of a glitch in Facebook that did this very thing.  It was fixed quickly, however info that was meant to be private had already been made public to (I believe) non-Facebook employees that discovered the glitch.

So before you tell the world, or show the world everything you do during your time off, stop and think about whether or not you want to share that info with a prospective employer.  If you post the info/photos online, you are doing just that.  You may not like having to limit what you post, but in reality, you need to.

Kimberly
Marketing That’s Easy

If you are reading this blog, I’m sure you would like to use sites like LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Biznik and other social networking sites to grow your business.  If you are on these sites, have you ever received an invitation from someone that says, “I’d like to add you to my professional network on _______”?  OMG!  That drives me crazy!

Have you ever sent that type of invitation?  If you have, please don’t send any more.  Please don’t use the default invitation.  Instead, take a few extra seconds to personalize the invitation.  If you are sending the invitation to someone you know, you could say:

1. “Hi (person’s name), I just found your profile on xyzSite and I’d like to connect with you.  Take care, (your name)”
2. “Hi (person’s name), I can’t believe we aren’t already connected on xyzSite.  Hope all is well.  Take care, (your name)”

If you are sending an invitation to someone you don’t know, you could use the first option and elaborate a little about “why” you want to connect. If you have a common friend or business contact, say so in your invitation.

This advice may seem silly and unimportant.  But trust me, taking a few extra seconds to personalize your online invitations will leave a better impression of you with the recipient!  It’s also the very first step you need to take to establish a business relationship or referral partnership.

Happy Online Networking!

Kimberly
Marketing That’s Easy

Are you looking for answers regarding social networking or social media marketing?  If you are like many business owners and entrepreneurs, I am sure you are.  I just heard about a great report on the Social Media Marketing Industry through my Twitter feed.  The report answers top questions like:

• Who is using social media for business purposes?
• How much time are people spending on social media?
• How many people are using Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook?
• Are there really benefits to using social media and what are they?
• What are the top social media channels used by marketers?
• and many more…

To access a pdf version of the report, written by Michael A. Stelzner, simply click Social Media Marketing Industry Report.

I am sure you will find the report useful, as I did.  If you know of others who would be interested in reading this social media report, please forward this blog to them.

Social Networking is part of my daily routine.  Is it part of yours?

Kimberly Yow
MarketingThatsEasy.com

Social Media Marketing is basically word-of-mouth marketing or networking using the internet. There are different types of social media which include:

• blogs
• online communities & social networking sites (like Facebook, LinkedIn, MeetUp, Twitter & others)
• social bookmarking sites (such as Del.icio.us, Digg, Reddit, StumbleUpon, etc…)
• video & photo sharing sites (YouTube, Flickr, Photobucket, etc…)

As of 2008, there were over 2,500 social media sites and the number continues to grow. Some sites are industry specific and others, like Facebook, are very general in nature. Sites can be geared to or predominantly visited by teens, college students, business owners or seniors as well as other market segments.

Before you get involved with Social Media Marketing, you need to know which Social Media sites are best for your industry and your specific goals.