Ryan Lewis's Blog

2 Posts tagged with the twitter tag

Relevance is something I have been talking about for about a month on various panels, client training and internally at Bonfire. What the idea truly comes down to is making sure you are recognizing people exist. Now I know this seems like a no brain-er and, well, it should be. But it is something that's often forgotten in the hustle of running a business.  If you have not already noticed, there is a conversation happening online weather you like it or not.

 

Internet users have unprecedented access to speaking their own mind in the form of reviews, blogs, comments, tweets, forums, Facebook and about a Trillion (with a capital T) places to be prolific. You do not even have to be a business owner to be reviewed for something you have done. LinkedIn give users opportunities to recommend prior work or Trusty's for sole proprietor/contract work.  mcdonalds

 

Anyone that takes the time to write about your business or you want to be recognized. This is increasingly important with the amount of clutter on the web today. Good, bad or indifferent, by responding to a mention, review, link, etc. will reap dividends in customer loyalty and company culture.

 

The lesson here is listening and responding. Have you Googled your business? Have you searched Twitter for mentions? Do you know who the influencers are online and what are they saying about you? Do you understand how to search keywords on Technorati?  Your clients are talking, but do you hear them?  What you don't know might really hurt you.

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When to Re-Invite

Posted by Ryan Lewis Jun 8, 2009

confused

 

So you made some profiles and invited your friends to "fan" your company on Facebook or "follow" your company on Twitter. Now what? Did half your friends do what you told them? Have you reached a plateau for members? What do you do now?  This is a question I come across A LOT! And although there are many ways to spam your way to more members, here is what anyone getting involved in social media marketing needs to know: Be interesting. What I mean by that is if you want people to come to your business and be involved, you have to be involved with them. You also need to keep going. This is not your normal marketing campaign. It requires you to be relevant and interesting more than once. You don't have to talk about really mind bending ideas. You're not writing a book. You just need to be there and be relevant. Here are a few examples of what your company should write about:

 

  • Hire someone new? Make them feel welcome!

 

  • Carrying a new product? make an informal introduction (without sounding salesy)

 

  • Serving up a special dish? put in on special!

 

  • Featuring a new beer? tap your fans for feedback!

 

  • Having a sale? make a coupon and spread it around!

 

  • Not sure what to do over the weekend? ask your fans!

 

  • Like/Hate the weather? make a comment!

 

As you can see, It can be a casual as the weather or as immediate as a food special. The important thing is to keep trying to connect. This is about energizing and connecting with your customers, not talking at them about self serving purposes.  I find that using twitter 15 minutes per day, updating fans twice a week and sending emails once a week is about the right amount of contact to not be "spammy", but retain that top of mind awareness. If you are producing good content, you won't need to re-invite. But if you do, make sure you have a reason to re-invite them and don't say because you have the coolest company on the planet. Your company is it's coolest only in your eyes.  Practice this regularly and you will notice people gravitating to you and growing your marketing database. If you ever need inspiration, fan Threadless on Facebook. They are outstanding at keeping users engaged.

 

Cheers!

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