Over the years, we have all seen the articles: Facebook Beats MySpace; Twitter Challenges Facebook; Will Google+ Take Over Social Media?-And so on. We are often left guessing which titan will fall, and when they do, who will be there to lay claim to the pieces.

However dominant Facebook may now seem, there appears to be a shift in the air: people are playing favorites. Not everyone logs into the same social network everyday. Some networks appear to be attracting certain demographics, turning many into ‘niche networks.’

For example, LinkedIn has positioned itself as the networking leader for business people, while Pinterest has really caught on with females, especially those who love crafting, cooking, decorating and family fun ideas. A jobseeker might log into LinkedIn first thing in the morning, eager to make new connections, while an avid Pinterest user might create a new board to pin ideas on while she enjoys her morning coffee.

New social networks that have cropped up recently are being described as new alternatives to the old standards: Pheed.com and App.net offer social media users a twist on the social network. Pheed.com allows those who create ‘channels’ either offer content for free or charge for it, which some believe might create more meaningful, worthwhile posts. App.net is a paid service that promises add-free content. We checked out Pheed recently, which seems to carry itself with an edgy, cool, ‘insiders’ feel, thanks to a soft launch that courted a number of celebs and musicians. While app.net has positioned itself as an alternative to Twitter, one for those who are serious about technology and  seriously opposed to advertisements.

Rather than seeing one social network replace another, it’s more likely that these networks and any others created hereafter will succeed if they can find — and retain — certain niches (we can’t lay claim to the idea; they’re already being called ‘niche networks’ by many). The idea here being that certain formats and online venues naturally attract certain people. Someone who logs into Pheed to check out his favorite independent artist is most likely not spending the rest of his day pinning pins on Pinterest, and vice versa.

How can this help your business when it comes to social media? Know that it might not pay to be everywhere. Social media is free in the sense that many sites don’t charge a fee to use them, but time really is money. Posting on every site out there might not be worth your time or effort. Instead, know your audience and find your niche. Where are your customers hanging out? On Twitter? Then focus more on tweeting and developing a conversation with them. Are your products visually appealing and likely to be pinned & repinned? Then concentrate more on creating fabulous photographs that will make their way across boards on Pinterest. Are you an up-and-coming brand whose future clients are teens who love hip hop? Then it would be worth setting up a channel on Pheed. Social media can be time consuming. Most of us can’t be everything to everyone. It’s best to find where your audience is and be there too; connect with them where they’re opening and willing to take part in a conversation.

Tags: app.net, pheed.com, social media segmentation

By now, everyone has heard of Pinterest, even though not everyone can use (at the time of this writing, Pinterest is an invitation-only site. You can visit the Pinterest home page and request an invite. Or leave a comment on this blog post including your email, and we’ll try to send you one!)

Ever want to know how to host your own live, interactive event on Twitter or how using social media can help give your business an edge?

Learn the ins and outs of planning and hosting a Twitter chat or party during our FREE Webinar this Tuesday, August 2nd at 1pm EST (10am PST)!

We are proud to be part of this weekly webinar series created by Mikaela Louve at Louve Notes Media. Mikaela has done a great job helping small businesses learn about how to best apply social media to their business marketing plans.

During the August 2nd webinar, TweeParties founder & president Erin Boudreau will take attendees through a step-by-step process of creating, promoting, hosting and analyzing a live Twitter event. Learn why Twitter parties and chats are a great way to ‘spread the word’ on Twitter and Facebook about your business, products and services, and to engage your followers in a meaningful, valuable, interactive event.

For more information and to register, please visit this Eventbrite page!

See you at the webinar!

Erin

Tweet

With more than 110 million tweets being sent per day, it’s easy for most messages venturing into the Twittersphere to get lost in the timeline shuffle. Unless you’re Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber or CNN, so much of what people tweet ends up being seen only by a few followers or goes unnoticed altogether. So how do you get your missives to stand out and get retweeted? Here are some tips:

Quality: Good writing gets noticed in part because it’s easy to read. Make good use of your 140 characters by making them good ones. Always spell correctly. Use proper grammar. Write using an active voice (such as “Jane shared her quilting tips”) rather than a passive voice (The quilting tips were shared by Jane). Don’t over-abbreviate—not everyone abbreviates words the same way and tweets containing too many abbreviations slows readers down as they try to decipher your words’ meanings. Always shorten links. Use all caps and punctuation sparingly and for emphasis. The easier you make it for people to read your tweets, the more likely they will want to read them and come to know that your tweets are worth reading when they see your avatar appear in their timeline.

Content: People follow you for a reason. Maybe you represent a company that specializes in search engine optimization, or you’re a long-time sewing expert who loves to tweet about quilting tips and fabric sales. When it comes to tweeting, create content that is appropriate for your account. If your followers follow you mainly because you said that you will tweet about basketball news and NBA players, you probably don’t want to start sending multiple paid tweets for Acai berry products. An offbeat tweet now and then is fine and acceptable, but remember to stay focused on your purpose for tweeting and why people follow you. You know the saying: “Give ‘em what they want.” Give them anything else, and your tweets might become a turn off. Even if people don’t begin to unfollow you, they might simply tune out and overlook your tweets whenever they appear.

Frequency: If you send out several tweets a day—great! However, if those several tweets are crammed into the same hour, you will be missing out on the opportunity to reach more of your followers who tune in throughout the day. If possible, spread out your tweets more so that you increase the odds that more eyes will see them. If your schedule does not allow for checking into Twitter more than once a day, consider assigning the task of sending tweets to someone other than yourself. Often companies manage social media accounts in shifts, which allows them to interact and be available more for customer service questions (some companies even post their ‘tweeting hours’ on their account bios). There is debate over whether or not people should use a service that allows them to schedule tweets. Some argue that if you tweet you should also be available to respond to comments about those tweets. I agree that conversing with your followers is imporant. However, if you do not have the staff to support extended time on social media, a compromise might be in order. Try a mix of real-time tweeting and scheduled tweets. Log in to Twitter when possible to send real-time tweets and monitor follower feedback. Some services that can help you get started in scheduling are Social Oomph and Twuffer.

Twitter is all about reading. The easier you make it for your followers to read your tweets, the more likely your message will get noticed…and retweeted. Happy tweeting! ~Erin

Tags: 140 characters, business, how to tweet, lesson, tweeting, Twitter, Twitter marketing, writing

Tweet

Most people agree that when it comes to social media, one post alone won’t likely boost your business. Instead, each tweet or post is just one small piece over the overall social media marketing puzzle. Just as it takes many bricks assembled together to make a house, each tweet builds on the others until all of our efforts add up to something in the long run. It’s about creating relationships and interest in our products and services and most of the time it’s not about making a quick sale.

But while one tweet cannot make your business, can it break it?

One such scenario that made the news recently was a tweet sent out by designer Kenneth Cole (@KennethCole) that many considered to be in very poor taste. Here’s the tweet that was later removed from Twitter:

Kenneth Cole later issued the following apology on the company’s Facebook page:

“I apologize to everyone who was offended by my insensitive tweet about the situation in Egypt. I’ve dedicated my life to raising awareness about serious social issues, and in hindsight my attempt at humor regarding a nation liberating themselves against oppression was poorly timed and absolutely inappropriate.” - Kenneth Cole, Chairman and Chief Creative Officer

It is unclear what impact-if any-this will have on Kenneth Cole’s business. Today the company still has over 10,000 followers. However, there were dozens of comments left on Kenneth Cole’s Facebook page, reactions ranging from expletives, outrage and promises of boycotts-the kind of publicity no company desires.

So how does one avoid such a mess? It’s easy to say, “Don’t post anything stupid,” but sometimes that might be easier said than done, especially if your business has multiple people manning the social media helm. Here are a few tips to help your company send tweets that don’t garner negative reactions:

Think Before You Tweet. Sounds easy, right? But Twitter is a medium that by its very nature compels people to tweet their latest thoughts and opinions. That’s fine if this is your personal account seen only by friends. But for a business, every tweet becomes part of your public image and might be scrutinized by followers and media alike. It’s good to be current and ‘in-the-moment’ at times, but be sure to think about what you’re tweeting and the impact it might have on your followers. Be sensitive. And when in doubt, leave it out.

Set Standards. If you have more than one person representing your company on Twitter or Facebook, set guidelines for what should and should not be posted. Be explicit about what is and what is not acceptable and make sure everyone understands what is expected of them when tweeting. Just as you want to keep the lines of communication open between you and your followers, do the same with your staff. Regularly meet and discuss what your social media objectives are, what feedback your account has received from followers and fans, and what gets the best reaction. Make social media a team effort. Your online presence should have one consistent voice that followers come to identify and trust, even if many people comprise that voice.

Be Wary of Humor. It’s good for a business to have a personable ‘voice’ on Twitter and Facebook-to let people see that the account is not an automated robot, but rather populated by real people with real personalities who can respond when asked a question. But be careful if you try to make your posts humorous. Everyone’s ‘sense of humor’ is different; what’s funny to one person, might not be so amusing to another. Sometimes written humor can be misconstrued by the readers. Keep in mind what your purpose is. Is it to entertain? Then by all means, crack jokes now and then. But is it to inform and to interact with consumers and provide them with some form of customer service? Then it just might be best to leave the rubber chicken at home.

Be Wary of Politics. Often companies get involved in charitable causes and tweet about fundraisers or organizations they support. But be careful of tweeting or positing about anything of a political nature, unless you want to take a stand or know that the majority of your followers would agree with you. There is evidence that people do not respond or click on links if they do not agree with the political statements being made in them. If you want to engage your followers in a conversation and keep them talking to you (and about you), leave out the politics, unless that type of dialogue complements your business.

Tags: business, etiquette, Facebook, Kenneth Cole, Twitter

I love a writer who not only writes well but also who inspires at the same time. For me, one such writer is Bob Hall. Mr. Hall is a printing industry veteran and every month he writes an insightful column that is published at the beginning of every Quick Printing magazine.

It just so happens, I picked up his magazine this morning, just as I was getting down.

With the beginning of every new year, the prognosticators come out in full force. This year, many forecasts have focused on social media, specifically how social media can or cannot help a business succeed in marketing. The entire concept of using Facebook or Twitter for marketing purposes is so new, no one is 100% certain what the long term gain might be, though some may think they know. A few experts are calling it a fad. Some are saying it’s a waste of time and resources. A big ol’ flash in the pan.

This month, Mr. Hall’s column focuses on past predictions from the experts of their time. Here are just a few the highlights:

• 1880: The lightbulb is a ‘conspicuous failure’
• 1897: Radio has no future
• 1904: Airplanes are interesting toys, but of no military value
• 1916: The cinema is little more than a fad
• 1936: A rocket will never be able to leave the Earth’s atmosphere
• 1961: There is no chance satellites will be used to improve telephone service in the U.S.
• 1962: Transmissions of documents via phone lines (fax) is possible, but not practical

There are so many experts out there who have formed opinions about social media. Some of these experts believe there is no value for a company to get involved in Twitter or Facebook. These experts want hard numbers-sales figures and ROI-and without them right now, they say venturing into social media for a business is pointless and a waste of time.

Some experts have also been critical of events such as Twitter parties, Twitter chats and Tweetups. They question the value of such events, once again claiming that these are a waste of time and money for a company to get involved in.

My prediction: I believe social media is here to stay, not just to interact with family and friends but also with businesses. I also believe that a company that does not get its feet wet now will be scrambling to catch up later. I believe in the power of social media to help us better connect with people whether they are acting as a friend or a consumer. I believe in the power social media can give a company to help it open doors and start conversations that one day will ‘pay off’ down the road.

Will sending one tweet today get you a big sale tomorrow? Probably not. Will throwing one Twitter party next week instantly give you thousands of followers? I doubt it. But this is about relationship-building, about long-term engagement. Isn’t that what I learned about years ago in a class about traditional selling? That it was not about a quick, one-time sale but rather about developing a long-term relationship with the consumer?

I think one of the points of Mr. Hall’s column was that none of us really knows what the future holds for social media. We can make all of the predictions we want, listen to ‘the experts,’ try to be experts ourselves, but until those predictions are proven or not, we really don’t know. That’s why we at TweeParties will continue to forge ahead with our goal of providing companies with the tools they need-at a fair and reasonable price-to hold events on Twitter and inform all of those users who are interested of the who, what, where and when of these events the best we can. Maybe I am a fool and someday the joke will be on me. Only time will tell.

In the meantime, I take all of the prognostications with a grain of salt. And I thank Mr. Hall for another dose of inspiration.

Tags: Facebook, social media marketing, Twitter

You probably already have a Twitter account for your business and regularly send out tweets that are informative and helpful to your followers. You might reply to all inquiries and use your Twitter account as a venue for Q&A, customer service or a mode to distribute news and information about your company. But is simply sending out tweets and replying to your followers enough?

One of your main goals for using Twitter for business should be interaction. That’s what social networking is all about: being social. So how do you get your followers to interact with you? Here are five easy, cost-effective steps you can take to convert your followers from being passive readers of tweets to active participants in a conversation.

Hold a Contest Nothing generates more buzz online than word that a company is giving something away. Have a contest and you’re sure to get people tweeting. Encourage your followers to take some sort of action to help spread the word about the contest, either by retweeting or posting the contest info on their Facebook page. Be sure to keep in mind any legal terms and conditions that you will need to adhere to for your contest to be legit. And remember to post your contest guidelines somewhere on your website and link to it in tweets so the rules are easy to follow and view.

Give a Special Offer Make your offer one that’s nearly impossible for a fan to refuse. And make exclusive to Twitter followers or Facebook fans only. With a special offer made just for them, you’ll make them feel special and glad that they’re ‘part of your club’ and following you. It might be a discount, a freebie or a ‘two-for one.’ Regardless, an offer distributed to Twitter or Facebook users alone might help you generate more followers or ‘likes’ and help create a buzz around your offer that can have far-reaching effects through social sites.

Have an Event Throw a Twitter party or a Tweetup as a way to open the lines of communication in a fun, interactive way. Pick a date, time and hashtag, as well as a theme. Invite an expert on the subject of the party to join you as a guest host to help answer questions of those in attendance. Give away some prizes during the party to generate more attention while promoting it and attracting more people to the event. A Twitter party can be a fun and informative event that not only gives your followers the opportunity to learn from you and interact with you in real time, but gets them talking about your business before, during and after the event. (For a guide to the differences between Twitter parties and Tweetups, click here).

Seek Opinions Another great way to engage your followers is to ask them for their input. Often TweeParties has asked our followers about what they like or don’t like about Twitter parties, things they would like to see change, what some of their favorite events have been like, etc.. The feedback we have received not only has shaped the way we host parties, but it also has helped us stay connected with our followers and better understand their needs and expectations. It’s a win/win situation: you engage your followers in a conversation, and you gain valuable feedback that you can apply to make your business even better. You’re also showing your followers that their opinions matter.

Make Them Feel Special People like to feel that they are part of something special. Everyone wants to be a VIP. This last point calls on you to make your followers feel that they are part of a select group or club. They’re your followers so they must be an awesome group of people, right? Make them feel that way by creating special offers or giveaways just for them; let them be the first to learn of any news or changes within your company or with your products or services; and always do what you can to respond to their tweets in a timely manner. Give them a peek at the ‘face’ or personality behind the Twitter avatar. Let them know that there’s a person (or persons) behind those tweets and that you’re hearing what they’re saying. Make a connection and you’re sure to feel the love in return. Or hopefully, feel the love in the form of more tweets and retweets about your business.

Tags: Engage followers, social media tips, Twitter, Twitter party

Every business that uses social media constantly looks for ways to measure the success of its marketing efforts. We check our follower counts and monitor hashtag performance to determine how many times our message is mentioned. Another statistic of interest to marketers is that of ‘reach,’ or ‘the maximum number of Twitter users who possibly could have seen our message.’

For example, say you have 100 followers. Send out one tweet and your reach is 100. If one of those followers retweets your tweet, and they too have 100 followers, your reach extends to 200 people.

Calculating reach can be difficult (if not impossible) to do alone. The more your hashtag is tweeted around the Twitterverse, the more adding up of recipients you would have to do. If you don’t like to be driven to the brink of insanity, then it’s best to leave it to the experts. Tweet Reach helps determine how far your hashtag, keyword or url spreads across Twitter. They can run reports not only to determine reach, but also to interpret how many times in total your message was received by all users (called ‘exposure’ — this number includes how many times one tweet was received multiple times by the same user), and  also who exactly tweeted or retweeted your message to their followers (for a more detailed description of these terms and their meanings, check out Tweet Reach’s definition page). By compiling these stats, you not only will learn how many times your keyword/hashtag/url was mentioned, but who was interested in it enough to mention it to their followers—which could help in determining who to contact for future campaigns.  

So just how important is a statistic like ‘reach?’ Just because your tweet had a reach of 200 doesn’t mean 200 sets of eyes actually saw and read your tweet. Reach is all about possibilities. ‘How many people did I reach?’ would then turn into ‘How many people actually read my tweet?’ followed by ‘How many people read my tweet and took action because of it?’

And that is the key here: we want to expose our tweets and share our information with as many people as possible. We want people to take notice of our messages and in turn, hopefully take notice of us and our products and services. If you have a specific goal in mind for a Twitter campaign, definitely keep an eye on reach, but also include a call to action. When we tweet about an upcoming Twitter party, we include a link to a party RSVP page. Our goal is to get as many people to sign up as possible. Another tweet might be to encourage people to take part in fundraiser for a non-profit. Or order something today and get free shipping with a special code that is included in the tweet. Here social media meets traditional marketing: having a call to action helps track how many people not only saw your message but reacted to it. 

I think of reach as being like the circulation of a magazine. Knowing the circulation of mags helps advertisers decide which one gets their ad business. However, with magazines it’s not strictly about the numbers, and it should not be in social media, either. Advertisers like big numbers, but they also look at the types of readers who comprise that circulation. No sense for a kayak manufacturer to place an ad in a magazine that reaches 500,000 subscribers who are into fashion (unless the fashion is limited to Teva sandals). Better for to place an ad in a paddling magazine that reaches 50,000 hard-core kayaking enthusiasts.

Monitoring a statistic like reach can help you modify your campaign so that you better target the audience you’re trying to, well…reach. For example, according to Tweet Reach, if you have a low reach rate but a high exposure rate, it could mean that a small group of people are tweeting your message too many times: not a good thing if you want to reach a more diverse group and not annoy the smaller group of users who might feel as if they’re being bombarded by your message. You might need to do some research and reach out to another group of users whom you haven’t targeted before who might find your tweets of interest and tweet it to a different pool of users.

Twitter stats can help you better guide your marketing campaign and fine-tune it. But remember that while the medium has changed, the basics of marketing hasn’t: you still need to utilize traditional tools such as including special offers and incentives to signup for lists or newsletters in your message to help determine how many people actually do turn that tweet into action.

Tags: hashtag, reach, social media marketing, tweet reach, twitter statistics

As business people, marketers and advertisers, we all want our messages to be heard by as many people as possible. In order to generate new leads and business, that’s typically the goal: get the word out to hopefully thousands of sets of ears.

That being said, there are so many articles and services out there that claim to help boost the number of followers you have, or subscribers to your mailing lists. Many people focus on numbers, trying to always increase followers with the idea that they will increase the chances of their messages being viewed. I’m here to argue the opposite.

It is more important to have a following or mailing list comprised of those truly interested in what you have to say, rather than a list filled with people who follow you but don’t really care to listen to you.

Twitter There are services out there—both free and paid—that guarantee 100’s of ‘quality’ followers to follow you. If you sign up today, start following their members or pay them a few dollars, you’ll have hundreds of followers by tomorrow. In reality, it takes time to build a list of quality Twitter followers. By ‘quality’ I mean followers who might have more than a passing interest in you or your business and who follow you out of a genuine desire to read your tweets. Social media is all about, well…socializing. Exchanging dialogue. Meeting new people or staying in touch with current ones. To have random followers follow you without any real interest in you—those who are following you simply because they are being paid to do so or want to increase their own following—won’t really benefit you in the long run. You’ll have a high count, but not a lot of attentiveness. Follow those you genuinely want to follow, and in time, others will follow you back—others who really want to follow you back.

E-Mail Marketing If you compile a list of e-mail addresses of those who did not consent to be on your list, not only is the practice illegal, but the likelihood of the recipients actually opening your e-mails is small. Even if you compile a list of e-mails from current customers (which is legal without explicit consent, if they in fact had a transaction with you during the past two years), but do so without their consent, you’re likely to have many unopened messages. It is much better to either A). ask them if they would like to be included on an e-newsletter list, or B). incorporate a form on your web site for such a sign up. Once again, traveling this route will take time for your list to increase in numbers, but those who do sign up will do so willingly and will be more likely to open your messages and read them.

For example, a business I worked for compiled a list of current clients, a list of about 300. Very few were asked if they wanted to be included on that list, but they were in fact current clients. The open rate for this list hovered around 10%. However, a smaller list of about 150, compiled entirely from newsletter signups regularly had close to a 50% open rate.

For both Twitter and e-mail marketing, building quality followings takes time. Start out slow and do what comes naturally: for Twitter, follow those you find of interest; for a mailing list, gather names and contact information only from those who truly consent to receive the mailings. Think quality over quantity. If your first few mailings go out only to a handful of people, be reassured that those people want to hear from you; they will expect to see your messages in their “in” boxes and are likely to be receptive to the messages contained in them.

This is not a paid endorsement, but one given by me, from the heart: if you want to give e-mail marketing a try, check out Mail Chimp. They have a “forever free” plan that will cost you $0 for up to 500 subscribers and 2,000 e-mails a month. Now that’s an offer I couldn’t refuse!

Tags: building followers, direct mail, e-mail marketing, followers, Mail Chimp, mail lists, marketing, subscribers, Twitter

My grandparents used to say, “Nothing in life is free.”

If you were raised to believe in this notion, then you might cast a skeptical eye on any offer that stands before you with a $0 on the price tag.

But in business, offering something to your clients or prospects for free can work toward your advantage by better promoting your products and services and possibly gaining a new or repeat customer in the long run.

We’re used to seeing freebies: food samples at grocery stores, product samples or special coupons mixed in with the Sunday paper, a buy one get one free entree at a restaurant. But many businesses often are hesitant to give away anything for free for fear of lessening the perceived value of their products and services.

However, in the increasingly-competitive clamor for people’s attention online, it might be worth it to offer something to your clients or prospects for free, especially if the cost to you is minimal. Here are some ideas on how offering a freebie can be worthwhile for your business:

Product Samples If your product really is worth its salt, giving out free samples not only gives people a taste of what you have to offer, but also demonstrates the confidence you have in your products—your belief that if someone tries them, they’re bound to make a follow-up purchase. People often buy into that confidence: they want to buy something others think is good and of a high value.

Free Trials Often people shy away from trials when they’re asked to give out a credit card number to activate it. Within the past year, I was offered free trials (no credit card required!) for Website Magazine, Social Oomph and Mail Chimp. I had nothing to lose, so I went for it. As it turns out, I am now a HUGE fan of all three: I subscribed to the professional level of Website Mag, the professional level of Social Oomph, and will soon upgrade to a paying service for Mail Chimp. After trying all three, I now feel that I can’t live without any them. I’m hooked! Three examples of three companies that believe in their products so much so that they’re willing to give people like me a little ‘taste’ for nothing in return. Very little risk, very big payoff.

Information If you cannot offer a free trial or a product sample, at the very least give visitors to your site something useful to come away with. If someone gleans useful information from your site, they might bookmark it and return to it to learn more at a later date, or even (hopefully) come back to make a purchase. You will be seen as an expert if a visitor can come to your site and learn something that they can implement immediately. Offer visitors tips, information relating to your products or services, or expert advice—free of charge, of course. You can offer this information in the form of a downloadable ‘white paper,’ guide or manual, or by simply displaying the information on your web site. At TweeParties, we offer visitors a peek at our Twitter Party Calendar that lists all parties we can find on Twitter. We also offer tips and guides on how to attend parties, as well as this blog for tips on Twitter, social media and marketing. We even offer visitors an incentive to sign up for our weekly newsletter, offering them the freshest party information available and special offers.

As long as the cost to you is minimal, a free offer can be a great way to entice people to take notice of your company, and hopefully, make a connection with your products and services—one that they will come to find that they cannot live without.

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Tags: advice, business, free trials, freebie, marketing strategy, special offers, tips