People just beginning on social networks frequently come to me with a big question... "How can I be more efficient with social media?" These words usually come after experiencing overwhelm - Especially for small business owners who are already wearing multiple hats in their roles.
As a small business owner myself, I understand this question. There are indeed several social networks and many available social media tools!
So it was a pleasure to be asked by New Media Dayton to team up with Michelle Ton of Teradata to present on Social Media Tools. The NMD group is mainly small business owners and self-employed consultants already engaged in social media on a basic level.
Their main concerns:
- Online Presence
- Time Management
- Brand Monitoring
- Attracting New Customers
It seemed most useful to show the group new tips and tools, but also new ways to use resources they were already using with greater efficiency...
Practical Social Media Tools For Small Business Owners
1) Tweetchat
As more and more businesses hop onto Twitter looking to establish relationships with hopeful customers, Twitter chats are increasingly popular. Following along and keeping up with the pace of these conversations can be daunting.
Tweetchat gives you your own personal tweet space for whatever Twitter chat you are following. The platform will show you only those engaged on that chat topic, and automatically includes the necessary #hashtag so your tweets are included too. The tool will also help you feature or hide specific tweeters and makes it easy to reply and re-tweet. A must for Twitter chats!
Helpful Twitter chats to search for:
- #NMDChat - Thursdays, 10am ET; New Media Dayton's social media topics.
- #SMmanners - Tuesdays, 10pm ET; Social media etiquette.
- #Toolschat - Wednesdays, 10pm ET; Social media tools.
2) Google AdWords - Keyword Tool
The main reason to have a website and be online is...to get found! By people that are searching for products and services that your business offers. Optimizing social media content is something many overlook. The Google Adwords Keyword Tool identifies:
- Level of competition for key words or phrases.
- Global monthly searches for words/terms.
- Local monthly searches (by country or other filters).
- Approximate Cost-Per-Click (like a "hotness" indicator).
That information can be used for optimizing:
- Website text.
- Blog content.
- Facebook posts (and other social networks).
- Twitter tweets.
- Alt. text on photos.
- Attraction of stumblers on StumbleUpon.
All factors above make a big difference on how you rank in the search engines, and how people discover your business through social sharing.
3) Facebook Pages
On Facebook, this is the best way to market your brand, boost new customer acquisition, and relate with people where they are already hanging out. 800+ million users are your potential audience!
Reasons to create a Facebook Page:
- No limit on connections (fans).
- Interact on Facebook as your brand name.
- Social plugins for websites.
- Insights & Analytics available.
- Advertising options (with unmatched demographic targeting).
- Sponsored stories - Use of content on the Facebook Page Wall.
- Many opportunities to feature your brand via custom tabs & applications.
Businesses must comply with Facebook terms of service and operate from a Facebook Page. Facebook's Timeline - due to roll out soon - offers a "Profile Cover Image" - Convenient additional marketing space for every brand Facebook Page admin with a personal profile.
Facebook's new Sponsored Stories tool capitalizes on conversation from the community, or interactions on the Page wall. Sponsored Stories is available through the Advertising platform, and encourages individuals to react based on what their friends are doing on Facebook, or what a popular celebrity might like.
Although Facebook is an effective marketing tool it can also raise mental health issues among some users, this is something you can be sensitive to on social media and in your workplace by considering solutions to mental health.
Worth noting:
- Customized Welcome Tabs double visitor-to-fan conversions!
- 48% of video referrals are from Facebook!
- Facebook will eventually revoke access of those abusing marketing privileges via personal profiles.
4) YouTube
YouTube is the second most popular search engine. Take a look at some statistics:
- 2 billion videos are watched daily (YouTube)
- 24 hours of video is uploaded every 60 seconds (YouTube).
- 86 million viewers are looking at videos DAILY (Brightcove).
- Video is 53x more likely to appear on 1st page Google search (Forrester)!
- Adding video to email marketing increases customer interaction 200-300% (Brightcove)!
- 60% of all traffic on the mobile web is video traffic (YouTube).
A highly versatile and powerful tool -- Really, tying all social media thrills together! YouTube now offers advanced analytics that give great insight to future opportunity for your business based on your audience's interests.
Here's a video I created on editing tabs on your Facebook Page:
The video above is embedded - The information to do that is available right at YouTube.
5) SlideShare
Like YouTube for PowerPoint & PDF.
If you look on my side bar to the right, you'll see my SlideShare presentation, "7 Game-changing Ways A Social Media Manager Can Help You Right Now."
Benefits of using SlideShare:
- Great social share opportunities.
- Watch full screen if desired.
- Embed presentations on websites or blogs.
- Connect directly to LinkedIn profiles.
- Zipcast - FREE online meetings allowing video transmission, type chat right with your slide deck.
SlideShare also gives great SEO. You'll find it frequently on first page search listings. It's like a stealth social weapon!
There are free options, as well as paid options for various levels of branding and presentation hosting. There is also a rich analytics panel that offers terrific insight about where your customers and potential customers come from. That knowledge allows businesses insight to where they should spend their development budgets.
6) Twylah
In short: Twitter brand pages. Here is why they are helpful and important:
- The average tweet "dissipates" in 10 minutes or less.
- 92% of Re-tweets occur in within the first hour.
Now that Google no longer allows real-time indexing for Twitter content, individual tweets are not considered with the same emphasis contributing to Google rankings.
Twylah makes a "blog page" out of your tweets, drives interaction with your tweet content, and also encourages more followers. Even better, Twylah will allow you to brand your page, create a sub-domain, and own your Twitter content. So, with Twylah, your tweets are giving you extra "Google love!"
7) Hootsuite
My preferred social media dashboard. Hootsuite lets you:
- Schedule posts (individual and bulk).
- Import Twitter lists.
- Monitor ongoing Tweetchat conversations.
- Manage multiple accounts.
- View analytics & create reports.
- Collaborate with team members (if needed).
It focuses on improving Twitter efficiency, but also coordinates connection and updates to other social networks.
On the Hootsuite menu: Facebook, Facebook Pages, LinkedIn, Foursquare, Ping.fm, MySpace, Mixi, and Wordpress.com. It also allows RSS feed. Their new App Directory broadens connectivity to Fickr, YouTube, Tumblr, and Get Satisfaction. Coming soon to the Hootsuite App Directory: Disqus, SlideShare, Constant Contact, Summify, Posterous Spaces, and Salesforce Chatter.
Hootsuite has a custom link shorter, is web-based, and is available for all mobile platforms. Free, Pro, and Enterprise options available.
A fun access link for you: http://bit.ly/HOOTme
8) Tweetdeck
Tweetdeck is owned by Twitter and is available on a desktop platform, or by Chrome Application, and even mobile app.
Very similar to Hootsuite, the nice things about Tweetdeck is the more flexible color customization, and direct use of the bit.ly link shortener and tracker. The ease to connect right with those analytics is a time-saver. The ability to examine tweet success is very important for growth and development.
Tweetdeck offers basically the same scheduling and monitoring features as Hootsuite, though I have not heard of any plans for an App Directory. Free plans are available, as well as paid options with more services.
9) Timely
Simple but nifty tool!
They analyze your most recent 199 tweets and schedule for maximum impact based on what you tweet about. Here's how it works:
- Sign up for free.
- Add your tweets.
- The tool schedules the tweets for the best times.
Just a few short clicks & 140 characters or less. The result is ultimately more re-tweets, @ mentions, and followers.
Having used Timely, I have to say that the results are positive and the results are as they claim. My recommendation is to be available to respond to what you tweet. :)
10) TweetReach
First we explained how to jump in and use #hashtags. Here's the tool that helps measure a hashtag's influence!
Why is that helpful?
- Know the total number of tweets.
- Know how many people your Twitter chat tweets are reaching.
- Know how many regular tweets, re-tweets, and @ replies.
- Know how many total impressions for each type of tweet.
- Know who the best contributors are to your conversation.
Tweetreach provides a free analysis for the most recent 50 tweets in list and pie-chart format. Export reports in Excel, PDF, or even get a link to pass along to team members.
Free on up to Enterprise level plans available for big business brands.
Shiney New Toys
Lucky for Michelle and I, we had an attentive crowd... There was one exciting incentive that kept our group listening with keen ears: Verizon Wireless was kind enough to award one of our attendees a new Droid RAZR -- To celebrate the release of the item on that very day.
A good size group of about 50 people were excited to win, but eagerly learned. In order to win, they had to try the tools and complete exercises using the social media tools in order to be in the drawing.
What social media tools were they most excited about?
- Twylah.
- SlideShare.
- Facebook Custom Tabs (with video).
So, if you're a small business owner or self-employed consultant, that gives you an idea of what to check out first!
Michelle was kind enough to put our Social Media Tools presentation into Prezi -- Another groovy visual tool. (Thanks, Michelle!!)
So...
Did I miss any useful features in my descriptions above?
Which tool can't you wait to try?
Please tell me in the comment box below... :)
34 Replies
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Very helpful post Keri. A few of the social media tools are already familiar however some sounds strange. I think facebook an youtube are the most commonly used social media tools, but I would love to try your list of other social media tools in the future.
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Grace, This list is packed with a lot, and several tools are now well-known. Put together, this grouping will hopefully help you be more efficient. YouTube is becoming quite the platform. The second largest search engine, in fact. I do update my lists. We’re about due for another tools list. Thank you for sharing your thoughts, ~Keri
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I am looking forward to trying out Twylah. I currently use Hootsuite but I will admit, I’m a bad twitty bird, rarely tweet, thank goodness for my fan page updating it or I would probably have no followers. Going to check out the others on the list that are new to me like tweetchat. Maybe some new tools will make me tweet more. Thanks for the info!
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Shoe Diva, Great to see your groovy red heel! I’m a Hootsuite user most often, though a few extra tools to supplement from time to time. Twitter takes a bit of getting used to. Twylah is a great way to preserve tweets and encourage followers by leading people to the page with power tweets. We’ll have to hook up on Twitter! 🙂 ~Keri
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YouTube is on my social media todo list for 2012 but I didn’t know all the facts you shared about YouTube. After reading your information I’m putting it on the top of my list!
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Rose, Great to see you here from SME! YouTube is a surprising online wealth – Of resources, trends, and activity. Underestimated for sure. I’ll be interested to hear how you utilize your channel – Please keep me updated. Thank you for reading, and for your comment, ~Keri
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Sheesh! I really need to get on board! I’m involved in most of these, but I haven’t even thought about tweetchats, Timely, and Tweetreach. I know I could be more efficient with my time on social media and these would really optimize my tweeting experience. I also really needed this encouragement to get more videos out! I’ve seen how well videos do and how well they accompany blogging and social media efforts! =) Now, I just need to get out and *DO!* =) Wishing you a beautiful new year, friend! =)
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Samantha, How sweet your smile! Wishing you a beautiful year as well!! For the tools listed, there are other options. I choose these in particular because I find them the most efficient and realistic. But you should use what works for you. If these recommendations give you something more, then I am so happy! 🙂 Tweetchats, in particular, have humanized my online network a lot, and have connected me to new people I would have never met. This one “tool” might be the most valuable for me. Maybe for you too – Please let mek now how it goes for you. Video & screen capture instructions really do make a huge difference in communications. While I have done this, I too have work to do in perfecting. The key is, as you say…DO. 😀 You are terrific, ~Keri
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Fantastic post Keri, with some great tools that people can leverage with their social media efforts. I’m a real fan of Hootsuite, and have only just upgraded to the paid version, which is great. Being able to access several profiles all from one location. A real time saver! Thanks again for sharing these resources – there’s a few that are new to me, so I look forward to checking them out!
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Wow, Keri. This is awesome info. There are several tools in your list that I am not using yet. Thanks for all the fabulous content. I may be asking for your input on my content marketing book!
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Jayna, Great to see you here — Glad to provide some useful tips. New tools are always coming out, and it is an adventure to keep up, isn’t it? 🙂 I’m happy to offer any insight and collaboration. Please let me know how I can help. ~Keri
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As always – another well-written informative post! You covered some tools I’ve been meaning to cover but just haven’t gotten around to yet. I’m definitely book-marking this post! 🙂
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Knikkolette, Knowing how tools-adept you are, this is quite a compliment! You know I have referred to your insights as well, so I am happy for, and enjoy, our collaboration. 🙂 ~Keri
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Thanks for the fab article. I hadn’t come across Timely, but I think a combination of Buffer App and Tweriod is a killer combination. Tweriod analyses your followers (I think it might be 1000 or 2000 max) and gives you a graph of when they are most on. You can use this info to set the best times in Buffer App to schedule your Tweets. Buffer is great because you just add a tweet or an article and it will tweet at the specific times.
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Ian, Thank you for offering this additional insight! I do use Tweriod — they take the analysis from the most recent 5000 followers. Buffer App is a really groovy newer tool. I’ve tested out the console, but at that time, they were not set up on the most recent version of WordPress, so I hesitated to install. (Now today, I see WordPress 3.3 is ready…). I do plan to put Buffer into my strategy. There are also other tools like Crowdbooster that I like too. I actually use a combination of tools when I am looking at timing. Timely was one tool that would be time conducive to the group that we were presenting to. Had we more time to dicuss, I think we could have presented 50 groovy tools! I’m curious to hear more from others that are using a combination of Buffer & Tweriod. This seems common in discussion lately. Thanks for contributing to this online community! 🙂 ~Keri
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Keri, I would love to put your great article in my newspaper, all things real estate. it’s a local real state newspaper in portland and goes out to hundreds of realtors who need this good information:-) let me know what you think, thank you! Tracey
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Tracey, Thank you for reading and sharing your thoughts. I’m thrilled that you like the article — so much that you’d like to share! 🙂 I’ll be in touch to arrange with you. ~Keri
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What a great post, loaded with value! I will check out Timely and Tweetreach, have not played with them before.
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Sherry, You will love Timely — Very easy & efficient. A bit like Buffer App, but without the download. Tweetreach – I like it. Many levels of options available. Another one that is similar is Hashtracking. Please keep me posted on what you find, and any comments/insights. Thanks for sharing your thoughts, ~Keri
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Thanks for the information, I have found some great new tools to help with my site. I have been looking to increase my website traffic and these maybe able to help speed things up alittle. Thanks very much
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Wayne, Glad you found some new tools above to try. One way to find website traffic is through social networks. Many of the tools I talk about will definitely help enhance your social networking success. Looking forward to seeing you again soon… ~Keri
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Great post Keri! Some of these tools I have heard of before, some of them I use and a couple I am going to check out, like Timely. Thanks for providing such valuable and time saving tips, much appreciated.
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Tom, Thanks for checking out my article, and being open to trying some new tools! You’ll find Timely easy and effective. Thank you for your collaboration with Internet Billboards!! ~Keri
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Great post, thanks
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Joel, Thanks for reading, and for your vote of confidence. Hopefully there are a few new tools for you to experiment with and improve efficiency. See you again soon, ~Keri
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