U.S. NetworX

You’ve got your new site up and running. You’re ready to keep it updated with information about your company’s services and products. And then you see it…those little icons in your website design. The FB, the T or blue bird icon, the pin. What about those links to your social media accounts? Now what are you supposed to do?

Let’s be honest: there are companies all over that are more than willing to sell you books on how to run your social media accounts. While some are ready to charge you a $2,000 per month consulting fee. The goal of this blog post is to give you some general advice and some confidence that yes, you can do this. And keep in mind, it’s a bad representation of yourself if you link on your site to your accounts, but your accounts have no posts, unanswered comments and such. They are like plants, since you have to feed and water them to make them grow!

Facebook

Let’s face it (pun not intended) – Facebook has the most social media users. If you’re facing a limited amount of time to keep up a social media presence, then this might be the place to be. You know how it works, what you can do here, etc. since you probably have a personal account there.

As far as tips go, keep it updated and current. Do you have some great photos to show off your office, staff, product or service of the month? Does your company page follow local brands or similar companies that you can like and comment on? When you have followers who comment on your posts, are you engaging them in a discussion or ignoring?

Beyond posts, Facebook has a suite of in-house apps ready for use, such as surveys, contests, games and more. You can also style your page to have icons that link to your own and functions, such as a customized contact form.

Twitter

While Facebook might seem more sedate, Twitter might be best described as the manic, overly caffeinated sibling. From a company standpoint, Twitter’s 140 character limit for each post can seem daunting. But you can’t ignore so many users, especially younger followers.

As we noted above, the character limit is a stumbling block as to what you can say and do, but nothing is keeping you from Tweeting out a link to a page on your site, a link to a new photo, or to your blog and being more in-depth there. You could also use Twitter to have a more real-time discussion with folks: imagine using Twitter for an online chat with your fans or for customer service instead of email or the phone.

Facebook and Twitter might be the larger social media platforms out there, but don’t forget these guys…

YouTube – the work behind a video post might be the most intensive of all the updates discussed here, but on the plus side you can be the most creative here. You don’t need an expensive video camera these days; your smart phone would work just fine in most cases. As far as ideas go, how about a behind-the-scenes look at your company? Maybe a training or usage video for your product? Feel like interviewing a customer to get some testimonials? Keep in mind that posting on YouTube passes the bandwidth off to the Google company to handle and that there is a comments system connected to videos unless you block them.

Pinterest – this tool might be the youngest of our discussed platforms, but it’s seeing a massive growth in users. With an account here, you create so-called boards where you “pin” photos to a variety of topics. A good start in using this tool would to pin the same images you’d share or post on Facebook or Twitter. There are also some sharing features here; pinning an image here can send out notices via your Facebook or Twitter account.

Blogs – writing a multiple paragraph blog post takes more time, but this is your chance to expound deeply on a topic with links, images, custom formatting and such. Many folks use the well-established blogging tools at WordPress or Blogger for their updates. Remember: you can always use your other accounts to promote your latest blog entry.

What’s the take away from all of this?

At the end of the day, what’s the one thing to consider? Simple: it’s not called “social media” for nothing. You have to be social. You have to be engaging. This is not you standing on a table in a crowded room and yelling. Rather, this is you listening to various people and stepping in (when appropriate) to continue a discussion. When you stop interacting (or never talk) with your followers, the game is over.

This conversation happened Friday night, while waiting for a table at Mug Shots in Flowood, Miss. Apologies to my wife in advance!

Dinner Discussion

“So what’s this I keep hearing about that new thing … Google+?” my wife asked before supper.

“It’s their Facebook killer,” I said. “They’re looking to move people away. Think I saw where some 20 million have created member accounts in the last two weeks or so.”

“But what makes it different?” my Facebook-loving wife asked. “Why would I want to move away from Facebook?”

“It’s all about the Circles, baby. It’s all about the Circles.”

Circle of Life

“See, their Circles allow me to group and organize folks,” I said. “I can put some people over here, and some folks over there. Maybe I only want to read what my closest and local friends say, not what some others say. I can use Circles to break those groups of people up.”

My wife then asked, “So I could have one Circle of friends and one for co-workers, right?”

“Sure,” I said. “And you can set it up so that what you say to one Circle isn’t directly seen by the other.”

“Well, that’s cool. What else does it have?”

Group Think

I said, “The Hangout function is cool. You can start a Hangout, invite folks into it, and it can become your little private chat room of sorts. But in addition to text chatting, you can do video chatting at the same time. You can also share and watch YouTube videos at the same time, but I don’t see the use of that so much.

“Facebook of all things added their own Skype-powered video chat about a week after Google+ was launched, but for now it’s just one-on-one video,” I said. “And they’ve had a text chat mechanism in place for a while now, but that’s just been one-on-one.”

Sparks

“You also get the Sparks feature,” I said. “That gives you hints and suggestions as to themes and topics they think you might want to follow and read more about. Like sports, movies, entertainment and such. But for now, it’s just a series of headlines from all over, such as a more restricted Google New feed or RSS feed.”

Brands and Businesses on G+

“However, one thing that’s an issue is that brands, companies, businesses and things like that can’t be on Google+,” I said. “At least not yet. So far, I’ve seen two branded accounts disappear: Thinkgeek and the Atlantic’s In Focus photo blog. Google said from the start that their tool was for personal use only, and they’d shut down any other accounts that infringed on that.

“But there are rumors that Google is letting branded entities sign up for a possible version or implementation of the G+ system. Now how that will work or be implemented with the millions of existing personal accounts, only Google knows.”

Additional reading

I’ve put together a list below of a variety of Google+-related notes, critiques and the like.

Mashable has an in-depth Google+ 101 walk-through

New York Times’ tech journalist David Pogue provides his own take on Google+ vs. Facebook

Mississippi blogger Knol Aust delves into the Circles settings

Infographic of Facebook’s features vs. Google+’s

In the meantime, follow U.S. NetworX’s Twitter account for more real-user feedback while we put Google+ through real-world use.

New research from Outbrain, a content recommendation service and tool provider, shows that maybe we shouldn’t be trading in search engines for social media platforms. At least not just yet.

As reported by Search Engine Land, the report showed that out of 100 million visits to connected sites, 41 percent fell in the search category as the method they used to arrive to a site. In addition, the top three traffic sources were non-social media tools.

In another bit of research, Outbrain investigated the average number of page views per session – basically, once the user was there, did they click around the site? Visitors who arrived by a search mechanism clicked around more, while social media visitors tied for last place.

You can view Outbrain’s original report by clicking here.

So what does this mean?

I wouldn’t toss out search engines in favor of social media placement if you are looking to promote your site and your message. Simply put, folks are still using Google and the like to find the information, despite the current hype social media tools are garnering. As financial experts say, “diversify.” Social media might be growing, but there’s still a large audience of potential visitors who are going to want to use Google and co. to find you, and once they’re there, they want to stay.

As we head into a new decade (or was that last year), make sure your website reflects the times.  If your site was designed more than two years ago, it’s probably due for a facelift.  Don’t be the website that is “so last decade”.  Not sure where to start?  Here are a few helpful tips from USNX to get 2011 started off right.

• Listen to customer and client feedback – even ask your friends to critique your website.  Once you’ve heard what they have to say, update your site accordingly.

• Stay on top of your updates!  Keep your content fresh.  Search engines do notice when updates are made.

• Look at website traffic stats to see where improvements need to be made and…yes, make those improvements!

• Pretend you are the customer.  Look at your site as if you are a potential customer.  Is the information you want or need easy to find?

• Cross link.  Cross link.  Cross link.  Is your website address on your brochure and business cards?  How about on your television/radio/print ads?  Does your site link to your Facebook and Twitter accounts?  Do you link to new blog posts from Facebook?  Did you post your television ad on YouTube and link to it from Facebook, Twitter, and your website?  You get the idea.

• Give people a reason to come back to your site.  Your business philosophy and location generally doesn’t change, so you may need to think outside the box.  Frequent blog posts, tips, contests, and links to interesting news articles or other blogs in your industry can all keep users returning.

We would love to hear what works for you!  Please feel free to post any helpful tips you may have below or join the chat on our Facebook page.

Happy new year from USNX!

The Digital Surgeons company has released a graphical breakdown of users of the two social media leviathans Twitter and Facebook, with data mostly from users in the United States.

Click here to see the graphic

Some interesting data to ponder:

• Facebook’s users out-populate Twitter users by a factor of five
• Facebook users are more likely to login every day
• Twitter users, though, are more likely to update their status every day – so it seems Facebook might be more read-only
• There are a few more non-U.S. users in Facebook
• While Facebook users are far more likely to follow a brand, Twitter users are more likely to purchase from that specific brand
• Education-wise, Facebook seems to be skewed more toward the younger crowd, as there are more high school users
• However, Twitter seems to be much more popular for currently enrolled college students by almost twice as much
• Going hand-in-hand with the education data, the age breakdown supports the notion that Twitter is being used by an older population, with a large portion (74 percent) in the 26-54 span vs. Facebook’s 53 percent in that same age span

Putting it all together, what does it mean? I find one interesting thing to ponder is who wants to market to which platform. Facebook is getting heavier use from the younger crowd, so if you had to market to tweens, teens and high school students, you can’t go wrong. Twitter, on the other hand, would be best used for those marketing to an older, educated crowd (read: has the disposable income). It also seems that Twitter users are more willing to engage with a brand via a purchase.

Trends in 2010

On a related note, both Facebook and Twitter have posted “end of the year” reviews that dig into their own usage data.

Facebook takes a look back at the top trends in 2010

Twitter lists the most popular retweets as well as what it considers some of the most powerful messages.

Is social media really worth your time every day?

Sure, it’s worth the time you put into it.  I’m not saying that making a post a few times each week will triple your income, but what’s it going to hurt?  When you sit down to make a post – post something you would actually want to read.  If what you post doesn’t catch your attention, chances are no one else will be all that interested in what you have to say either.  By giving your fans and followers a good read, chances are they will keep coming back to see what you have to say.  You also want to make sure that these pages get noticed.  Don’t forget to add a link to each social media site on your website homepage.

Social Media?  Check.  Now what?

So now that you’ve got your Facebook and Twitter accounts set up and you’ve already made a post or tweeted a few times – don’t stop there!  Social media is all the rage, but it’s still just one method of getting the word out.  Even if you don’t understand technology or don’t have a huge SEO budget, you can always start small.  Put your URL on your business cards, on your brochures, and on any existing advertising campaigns.  For a low-cost, low-tech solution, be sure to mention your site to anyone that comes through your doors.  As word spreads, you’re sure to notice an increase in website traffic.

I’m going to try something different this time: a post of some interesting links I’ve read or heard vs. one long post. Let’s see how this works out.

Where does social media fit into marketing prescription medicine?

I heard this going home the other day, about the FDA investigating how pharmaceutical companies are using social media tools to promote their wares. I did appreciate the point of (and I’m paraphrasing) “we’re not promoting sneakers” but prescription medicine via Facebook. But I do worry that people feel comfortable in taking complete strangers’ medical advice over seeing their doctor.

What happens to a deceased user’s Twitter account?

Twitter has a new policy page to handle such a situation. The social media tool can either remove the account or provide the user’s tweets to family members. Read on for a comparison of what Facebook offers for deceased users’ accounts, as well – it’s not the same as Twitter. (I don’t know about you, but there are some Twitter posts I don’t think my parents would appreciate. Sorry, Mom and Dad.)

Breaking news: If you’re cute, you’ll have more success on online dating sites

Sorry for the sarcasm, folks, but here we have some good data that backs up the “Well, DUH!” nature of this topic. The OkTrends blog is connected to the OkCupid.com dating website, and is used to take their dating data (say that 10 times fast) and provide a thorough analysis of what they record. And this time they’ve looked at users’ images and compared them to their dating activity. It just goes to show that if you have suitable data from a website, there are amazing things you can do with it.

If you have extra time, their blog tackles other online dating research such as popularity of age groups, what to say in your messages, and a whole lot more…but with real data to back it up.

It’s looking like there’s enough of a growing backlash of Facebook users who are concerned for their privacy, that an open-source challenger is being developed.

Profiled in the New York Times, Diaspora* is promoting itself as a locally grown social media platform. The idea behind the new platform is to answer (or even fix) privacy concerns Facebook users are bringing up, plus allowing a distributed approach to social data. (A recent Wired article delves into Facebook’s changing privacy model.)

Installing what the four-man team of developers call “seeds,” users will collect and combine whatever data you want to feed it, but with more control over who gets to see what. You can still have your Facebook account and your own Twitter feed, but via Diaspora* you have a more customized approach to pushing that data to other users.

So how popular is the idea? The team’s funding goal was $10,000, which was met in 12 days. As of May 13, they were up to a shade over $90,000, backed by over 2,100 donors.

The Diaspora* team is aiming for a September launch.