If your company wants to have a nicely-designed custom landing tab for non-fans on Facebook, you’ll now need at least 10,000 fans or be working with an advertising account manager (you’ve got a large ad budget).

Facebook used to offer businesses the option to custom-design a tab especially for non-fans. As the page administrator, you had the option to show non-fans the Wall or the custom tab. Many businesses used a custom tab for promotions or to invite people to become fans.

To see an example of a custom Facebook tab, click over to REI’s Facebook page. If you’re not already a fan, you’ll notice that rather than going to the Wall, you go directly to a custom-designed tab.

Rather than leveling the playing field by letting small or local businesses have the same options as large companies, Facebook has made the decision to force small businesses to spend lots of money on ads to have the option of a custom-designed landing tab.

Read more at the AllFacebook.com blog.

Will this affect your company’s Facebook marketing strategy? Leave a comment and tell us how.

I’ve written quite a bit about conversion rates on this blog, but the fact is that most people that visit an e-commerce web site have no intention of buying.  They are window shopping.  Optimizing your web site to increase your conversion rate is very important, but you can’t forget about optimizing for the 70-80% of people or more that are “window shoppers.”

The mistake that a lot of online retailers make is to not engage the vast majority of their visitors — the ones that don’t intend to buy.

Yes, you can entice a small percentage of these window shoppers to buy with offers like “buy one, get one,” coupons and free shipping, but what about the remaining lot?

The answer is engagement.  If you can engage window shoppers, you can get them to continually interact with your company, and when they are ready to buy, your site will be top-of mind.

So how to you engage window shoppers?  Here’s how.

Make your e-mail newsletter signup more visible

If you don’t have an e-mail newsletter, you really need to start one.  Next, make sure your e-mail signup form is visible.

Many web sites have e-mail signup forms at the bottom of their sites.  While that’s an acceptable place for the form, why not duplicate the form and place it higher up on the page where people can see it right away?  By making the form more visible and writing a good call to action (like “Get sales and exclusive tips by signing up for our e-newsletter”), you’ll increase your subscriber rate.

This probably goes without saying, but you need to publish your e-mail newsletter regularly and pack it full of good content.  Remember, it’s about keeping prospective customers engaged.

Write a blog (regularly)

No matter what you’re selling, you should publish a blog with RSS feed.  Other than product inventory and pricing, the typical e-commerce site is rather static.  By adding a blog, you’ll freshen the site by regularly adding content that complements the products you’re selling.

The goal in blogging is twofold.  First, you want to generate some credibility for your company (see the next section on social media for some promotional tips).  Second, you’re giving prospective customers some good information and keeping your company top-of-mind.  Also, good search engine optimization is often a by-product of a well-written blog.

Engage in social media

Admittedly, social media isn’t for everyone.  But if you, your marketing manager or other staff in your company are already using Facebook, Twitter, You Tube, etc., then you need to get them involved.

I won’t go into all of the options that social media offers (I may go into that in a future post), but for starters, you can create a discussion group on a Facebook Fan page.  You can tweet latest blog posts, new products and sales on Twitter.  You can make how-to videos for a You Tube channel and embed them in your blog.  There are many more opportunities, so be creative.

In conclusion

Here are some questions for consideration within your company:

• How can my company test positioning of newsletter signup forms?
• Can I offer people in my company the opportunity to write blog posts to distribute the workload?
• Who in my organization can I tap to help brainstorm customer engagement ideas? (Don’t be afraid to ask entry-level employees for their advice!)
• How could I make a blog more visible?
• How can my company use social media in ways my competitors are not?

A while back, I stopped promoting my personal Facebook page. I did this because I received friend requests from random people I “knew” from Twitter or networking, but weren’t actually friends of mine.

What’s worse is that I kept getting cause and fan requests for things I’d never heard of.

One challenge of social media participation is that it blurs the line between business and personal activity.  I now expect that using social media sites like Facebook opens me up to friend requests and fan requests from people I don’t know or for businesses/causes I’m not familiar with.

As we all become immersed in the social web, where social proof (number of Facebook friends, number of fans on your Facebook Fan Page, Twitter followers, etc.) is seemingly important, we need to proceed with caution because being too pushy is likely to impact people’s perception of our companies or causes.

If you’re too persistent, here’s what people may be thinking:

“If I’ve never heard of your company, your band, your clothing line, your cause, so I’m unlikely to become a fan. Don’t even ask.”

“You might think I like your business because I know you, but that’s a dangerous assumption to make.”

“Just because we grew up together doesn’t mean that I’ll support your cause, especially if I’ve never heard of it.”

On the other hand, you still want Facebook fans.  What can you do?

Rather than sending out a mass message to all Facebook friends asking people to become a fan of your business or cause, send invitations to people that have enough experience with your business or cause to evaluate whether they’d like to be a fan.

If you support a cause that your friends may be unfamiliar with, send them a message telling them that you support the cause and ask them to learn more if they are interested.  Be sure to place a “Become a Fan” link on your “About your company” or “About your organization” page on your web site, so that when people do seek information, they have a logical next step.

Some questions to ask within your organization

• How can you generate buzz and interest to grow your Facebook fan base organically?
• How can you integrate Facebook efforts with other marketing channels?

Lots of businesses are using social media these days to promote their products and services. From Facebook to Twitter and more, businesses are embracing social media. Many small, local businesses are starting to understand the impact social media can have on their bottom lines, yet many others are skeptical.

I recently interviewed Monica Horsley, owner of By Invitation Only, a local business here in the Richmond area. I discovered Monica and her business on Twitter, and like many small business owners that rely on attracting local foot traffic into her retail location, she is using social media to her advantage.

Monica Horsley

Owner,
By Invitation Only

4017 Lauderdale Drive
Richmond, VA 23233
Web site
Twitter
Facebook

Number of employees: 5
Year established: purchased in 2003

Q: What social media channels are you currently using and what are your goals for having a presence on each?

We’re on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and we have a blog.

On Facebook, we keep customers aware of new products, sales, and special events. We also highlight gift and paper ideas and suggestions.

Our goals with Twitter are similar to Facebook but also to engage in a dialogue with current customers, potential customers and others in my industry. In addition, Twitter is a great tool for keeping up with new products and trends in the gift and stationery industry and I can get key information about upcoming trade shows and events.

I have a LinkedIn account but do not use this to its fullest potential, but my goal is to be more active in the new year.

We use a blog for several different reasons. First, we let customers know of new products. We also provide etiquette advice, talk about current trends and give people a reason to want to come into our store and shop.

Q: What are your expectations from spending time using social media to promote your business?

At first I just did it because other people in my industry did it and I was curious as to what this “Twitter Thing” was that everyone was talking about. But very quickly I found it interesting. At first I used it more for personal use and to gain info about the community and as I learned more about it I started using it to promote by business. My hope is that when people need my services they will think of By Invitation Only.

Someone once told me, “When I saw you on Twitter I thought why would anyone need to shop at a store like that,” but when he realized he needed to send out holiday cards for his business he knew exactly where to go!

Q: How does your involvement in social media help you differentiate your business from other local companies that might sell the same types of products?

Well that’s one reason I dove into it so quickly. I wanted to be the first in town to figure it out and use it to get my name out there. Now there are a few others here and there but I think I am different because I engage in dialogue with local Richmonders. I don’t just tell them why our store is the best, I give the reasons to trust us and to know that I really do care about my customers and the service I provide. It is not all about self promotion, it is really about creating dialogue and relationships that transcend outside of social media and I think I show enough of my personality so people feel they know a little about me.

Q: What impact does social media have on your business as compared to membership in a Chamber of Commerce, Rotary, BNI group or other networking?

Rotary is my passion but I am involved in Rotary because of my desire to help the local and international communities. I have been very lucky and have been trusted by many local Rotarians to use me for their paper needs.

Honestly I have gotten more customers from Rotary and social media and I truly believe it is because of the relationships that are made.

I don’t participate in BNI because of the time commitment and when I have visited I just haven’t felt it is the right fit for me.

I think being a member of the Chamber, RMA and other organizations are important to help gain info that will help my business but I haven’t found them to necessarily bring me customers.

Q: How many meaningful connections would you say you made via social media in 2009?

There are so many it is getting hard to track. I hired someone to do my graphics and printing that I met on Twitter. I found a new tech guy that bailed me out of a computer crisis on Twitter. I have engaged in great dialogue with local media that has resulted in relationships that have and will continue to get me press.

I lost count of the new customers I have gotten from Twitter in the past 4 months. I would say that we got over 75 new personal and corporate customers during the holiday season.

I have also made contacts with people who write local blogs that now have put an ad for my store on their blog. I have gotten involved with a Food Drive and a Coat Drive with DowntownShortPump.com that has allowed me to support the community as well as get my name out there.

Q: I noticed on Twitter that invited a local writing club to meet at your retail location. Are there any other ways that you’ve used Twitter to engage the local community?

I did invite Write Club to meet at my location. It introduced 20 people to my store that have never been here before and I learned more about what they do.

I tweet for Innsbrook Rotary (I am their President) to let the community know about all the great things Rotary does.

Local author Kate Hall of Richmondmom.com and I used Twitter to promote her book signing at my store.

I also plan to look for other service opportunities on Twitter and Facebook like the Coat Drive and Food Drive, and I will continue to keep a close eye on all local feeds to see how else I can engage with others in the community.

Q: Have you run any promotions exclusively on social media channels?  If so, what have the results been?

We have done a “mention Twitter or Facebook to receive a discount (i.e. 10% off).” I don’t narrow this to just 1 day because you usually need a reason to shop at my store or need my products. I have found just limiting it to one day does not result in high numbers of users but we have been really successful in getting people to say “I follow you on Twitter.”

During the holidays I extended our Early Bird Specials an extra week for Faceboook Fans and Twitter Followers and this resulted in several people taking advantage of these savings.

Q: Do you have a budget for social media campaigns (i.e. monthly spend on a Facebook ad, etc.)?

Currently I do not spend money on social media, except to attend SMCRVA (Social Media Club of Richmond). I am not opposed to doing this, but I haven’t up to this point.

Q: For contrast, do you advertise in traditional media channels like radio, TV or newspapers?

I do a lot of print advertisement in many local newspapers and magazines, including Premier Bride, The Wedding Guide, Richmond Magazine, R Bride, Style Weekly, Belle, Richmond Times-Dispatch, West End’s Best, Richmond Family Magazine and Richmond Grid. I also advertise with the web sites www.downtownshortpump.com and www.richmondmom.com.

Q: How much time do you spend on social media activities daily?

It varies but I would say approximately an hour a day (my husband would say hours). I use my blackberry for Twitter probably 75% of the time so it is just here and there throughout the day as opposed to an hour straight. When I write a blog or in depth things on Facebook I obviously spend a little more time. But I have found to be successful in social media you have to be constant and engaging and they requires a little time each day.

Q: What advice would you give to other local retail business owners to help get them started with social media?

I have actually been asked to speak to local businesses about social media and at first I thought, me? I don’t know what I am doing. I don’t know the “technical stuff” but I know how to relate to customers. So that is what I share with other business owners. I tell them the key is to be consistent and show your personality (just not too much personal stuff). There is a difference between personality and personal info. Also I give them little tips like following people back (especially if they are in your industry or local) also I tell them to use Twitter at different times of the day, not always in the morning or night; this will help capture different audiences.

Q: In 2010, do you see yourself participating more in social media, less or the same amount and why?  Is there something you plan to try that you didn’t do in 2009?

I do plan to continue. My goals are to blog on a more consistent basis and to keep my Facebook Fan page updated with new and pertinent information. Overall my goal is to work on integrating all social networks to maximize the results.

Q: Is there anything else you’d like to share?

I think the main thing is to say that I truly love social media and not just for business gain but for personal reasons. I love to hear what is going on in the city, where the best new restaurants are, where everyone is going Saturday night, etc. I have gained some relationships that I will have forever and that is what life is all about!

I’m always looking for ways to make clients’ promotions and own our work stand out amidst the clutter. This means thinking differently than most other marketers out there.

I think back to e-mail marketing’s adolescence when we figured out that creative, subject lines and the send time could be tested. Marketers are starting to do the same with social media.  In fact, I’ve been testing Twitter message structure, subject and send time for four months now using a URL shortening service that measures clicks.  Indeed, I’ve found some patterns.

Then I read a blog post on Search Engine Land called “Timing is Crucial to Maximize Exposure with Social Media.”  While the post centers around the search engine optimization benefits of posting on social bookmarking sites Digg and Reddit, I’ve found that the patterns are similar on Twitter.

This excerpt from the article sums it up:

“If you want to share a great piece of information or resource over Twitter or Facebook updates consider what time of day you submit it. Weigh out noise vs. lower activity to make the best decision on when to shout your message.”

Something to consider, I’d say. If you’re using social media to promote your business, consider when you post messages.  When is your intended audience online? Do you want more exposure or more interaction?

With all the talk about “social” this-and-that, you’re probably wondering if I made up the term “social proof.”  While I can’t claim to have coined the phrase, I can tell you that using social proof in your business can dramatically increase your sales.

So what exactly is social proof?

In a nutshell, social proof is our tendency as humans to follow the crowd. We tend to rely on other people to guide our actions. Some examples of social proof include:

• Testimonials from real customers for your product or service
• Comments on blog posts
• Recommendations from well-known experts or celebrity endorsements (the “Oprah effect”)
• Customer ratings and reviews on ecommerce sites
• Customers participating in your business’ brand experience on Facebook Fan Pages
• #followfriday recommendations on Twitter (for you non-Twitterbugs, that’s when someone recommends that you follow someone else on Twitter)
• The number of Twitter followers, LinkedIn connections, RSS subscribers, blog readers, e-mail subscribers that you have
• Awards you’ve been nominated for or won
• Mentions on other web sites/social bookmarking sites
• Professional certifications or affiliations
• The granddaddy of them all — the referral

How do you get social proof?

Unlike a top 5 spot on Google Adwords, you can’t buy social proof — it must be built over time. The most clever way to build social proof is to invite your customers to interact with your business in new and interesting ways.

Threadless encourages their customers to design t-shirts that the company produces and sells. When the shirts sell, they give some of the money back to the designer. They allow customers to vote on the designs that they like the best, so the customer is ultimately making the decision about what the company sells.

Naturally, designers are more willing to promote Threadless if their shirt design has been produced and sold on the site. You know — the “My tee design was just picked up by Threadless” Facebook status or the “Vote for my newest t-shirt design at Threadless” tweet — help the company go viral. The customers do the marketing for them.  Brilliant, right?

In recent talks to job seekers, I’ve been telling them to use whatever means they are comfortable with to build some credibility and notoriety.  The unemployed project manager could write an e-book and supporting blog about what project management methodology works best in different company cultures and send links to hiring managers and other collegues. They might use the blog and other social media to promote the e-book, and as more people read and share the book, then job offers will find them.

Do this successfully and you’ve achieved marketing nirvana — people seeking out your business’ product or service. Make your product or service the best they’ve experienced and they’ll tell others, effectively marketing it for you!

Making the most of social proof

• Define and know your audience and what’s important to them.
• Work to be the best at what you do or offer the best product.
• Be passionate about your product or service. Clients and customers get a good feeling when they do business with upbeat people.
• Find ways to get feedback from your customers.
• Find ways to publicize client successes or ways customers are using the products you sell.
• Create a community for clients or customers to interact with each other, and participate in it.

Finally, forget return on investment (ROI).  As MarketingFactor.com so correctly states it, “The goal of social marketing is not to generate sales directly from Squidoo, Facebook or YouTube; the goal is to generate something far more valuable for your business: social proof.”

Build social proof and sales will naturally follow.

eMarketer today published a piece called “Social Network Marketing Expands Sphere” with some encouraging business news about social networks.

While businesses are still discovering ways to achieve marketing goals with social networks, it’s evident that social networks are versatile marketing tools. eMarketer senior analyst Debra Aho Williamson noted that “The beauty of social networks is that they are a place where nearly any marketing goal can be achieved, with nearly any marketing tactic.”

A May 2009 study disputes conventional wisdom that social networking is only person-to-person. 52% of people follow or have become a fan of a company on social networks, and 46% have said something positive about companies on social networks.

Social networks haven’t shown much promise (yet) in generating direct sales. 46% of social media marketing professionals say that social networks are not effective at increasing online sales.  Still, increased direct sales from social networks may eventually occur, especially considering Facebook’s upcoming virtual currency and 1-800-FLOWERS’ commerce integration with Facebook.

My guess is that many of these social media marketing professionals may be overlooking the indirect effects of brand-building.  Several studies cite that “the stronger a brand’s social media presence, the better the brand performed—whether measured in conversations or in financial performance.”

If you’ve never heard Peter Shankman speak in person, well, you should. Not only is he a dynamic speaker with a keen sense of humor, but he’s got a lot of great things to say, especially about succeeding at social media.

I had the opportunity to watch his keynote address at Affiliate Summit East 2009 today (you can watch the 1+ hour keynote here), and made the following notes:

“We have entered the age of immediacy.”
Things online, especially in the social media space, happen very quickly. I get a lot of news from Twitter long before it’s reported on TV or radio. Don’t believe social media is immediate? Within 10 seconds of posting my weekly bike route this week on Twitter, 5 people had already clicked to see the route map.

“Your reputation is on the line. You have the chance to screw up to a large audience in a short time.”
With social media, once you post something, it’s out there for the world to read.  Some social networks (Facebook comes to mind) let you edit or delete a post, but chances are someone has already read it by the time you edit or delete it.

“If you are running a social media campaign, you must talk, listen & respond.”
It’s not enough to “push” content to social networks. You have to engage by listening and responding to others.

“Social media is about trust. Doing something nice gets you remembered, not just recalled.”
As you start conversations on social networks, people form trust bonds with you. The way to separate yourself our your company on social networks is to engage and to give.  Whether it’s information, being helpful in some way or just making a positive impression, doing something nice for others helps you stand out.

“Want to sell more? Learn how to write!”
You can achieve brevity by learning to write. Persuasion happens online through copy. I recommend Copyblogger.com if you want to read more about learning to write.

Shankman’s Rules for Social Media

1. Be transparent. Transparency leads to trust.
2. Be relevant. Make people need your messages.
3. Brevity. Attention span is now just 2.7 seconds (or the time is takes to read 140 characters). Just say it.
4. Be top of mind. Let other people do your PR for you.

It seems that many companies are catching up with current web marketing trends.  Rather than being 5-6 years behind the curve, they are only a year or two behind the curve in some cases.  In fact, many companies I work with are starting to think beyond the web site — that is, thinking about how to promote their brand in other interactive channels.

So how do you think beyond the web site? Here’s are some things to consider…

“Push” content.

Your web site might be well-written, your products might offer a zoom view, spin view or video demo, and your client case studies might be spit-shined and polished. But if no one sees this content, your web site isn’t working for you.

Your business needs a strategy to “push” content to other channels and niches — ones that don’t require to actively seek your content.  Social media — like Twitter, Facebook, FriendFeed and YouTube –  is the first thing that comes to mind, but how about pushing blog posts, latest sales, etc. through RSS?  You might consider sending a monthly e-mail newsletter (e-commerce retailers, you better be doing this!), dropping press releases about new products, services or projects, or even distributing a podcast on iTunes. You may also want to post to Craigslist.

Getting your content in front of as many people as possible is the idea, and pushing content through as many channels as possible is the solution.

Integrate with social media.

I touched on this concept above, but social media is a great way to put your content in front of readers.

Let’s face it, I don’t blog for fun.  I blog so that prospective customers will read it and contact us to figure out how we can apply what we discuss on the blog to their business.  In order to get readers, though, I have to put it in front of as many people as possible.  To do this, I post links to Twitter (follow me on Twitter here), LinkedIn (connect with me here) and Facebook (find me here). As a result, about 40% of referral traffic (not from search engines) comes from these three social media sites.

Every blog post I write also has easy ways for readers to share my blog posts on social media outlets (see the buttons at the bottom of this blog post). Also, when I post links on Twitter, some people “re-tweet” them, sharing my link with their network, which required no effort on my part.

Large companies are doing it, too.  1-800-Flowers.com recently announced that they had conducted their first transaction within their Facebook Fan Page (not on their web site). Shopping widgets with full transactional capability will become more prevalent in the coming months and years.

Embrace the mobile web.

It’s no secret that more people are using their mobile devices to browse the web and interact with your content. How does your web site look on a mobile device?

As I see it, there are really three levels of sophistication when it comes to a mobile web site.

1. Carefully coding a site so that content is readable when read on a device. We typically opt for this most simple option as most companies we work with don’t yet want to pay for a mobile version of their web site. If you want to learn about our techniques, you can read our past blog post called “How to code a web site that’s usable on mobile devices.”
2. Include a handheld stylesheet on your site to format content correctly for mobile devices. Thi second technique is slightly more sophisticated than the first, but is not a separate mobile site.
3. The most sophisticated technique is to create a separate mobile version of your web site.  The idea here is to buy the .mobi version of your web address, then develop a site specifically for mobile browsers. When someone visits your web site, the web site automatically recognizes whether they are on a mobile device or computer screen and routes them to the appropriate version.

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While each of the above techniques isn’t right for every business, you can see that there are many ways to think beyond the traditional web site. In the end, the reason we do this stuff is to promote our businesses to a wider audience, and many companies take it a step further and use interactive technologies to develop relationships with their customers, clients and markets.

I’m sure there are many more ways to “think beyond the website,” and I’d like to hear your ideas. Leave a comment below!

Shrewd business owners know that to survive a downturn, you have to cut unnecessary costs,  advertise to gain visibility and get referrals. In tough economic times, referrals are more important than ever. That’s where social networking comes in.

No doubt about it, word-of-mouth is a powerful marketing tool.  Networking at the local retail merchants association, chamber of commerce or other networking organizations can produce revenue during downturns. Investing time in online networking can reach many more people than attending the face-to-face events. (Note: face-to-face has it’s place — but networking online can be done in your pajamas or at the office, a little at a time.)

MarketingCharts.com recently reported that social networking can help retailers (it can help business owners of any kind) weather the economic storm.

While participating in social media can be time-consuming (more like addicting), it’s free and can open up a whole new marketing channel.  Here are some ways to build credibility and engage people using social networking.

Build “social proof” and credibility by engaging.

The number of fans your business has on your Facebook fan page or the number of followers you have on Twitter says a lot about the credibility of your business.  If you have a loyal customer base that believes in your business, they’re likely to tell others.  People want to be where other people are, and if your business is popular, then you just might earn customers that way.

Build and promote a Facebook fan page for your business.

I’ve admittedly been late to the punch here, but we’ll soon be launching a Facebook fan page, and we’ll be promoting it here on the blog, in e-mail signatures and more.  Facebook fan pages have a feature that allows you to invite people to become a fan, so that’s an easy way to get people to join you.  If you’re in retail, you should let customers know you’re on Facebook and that they should join you there.

Once you are promoting the fan page, offer some value.  Perhaps offering a special sale to Facebook fans or special events for fans (and have them invite a few friends to come along) can be effective.  If you’re in the professional services industry, post new blog posts to the fan page and notify fans.  Use the fan page for e-mail collection and to show off your work or products you’re selling.

Use Twitter as a networking tool

While I can’t say we’ve ever gotten work directly from Twitter, we have gotten press mentions, interviews and speaking engagements that help promote the business.  Twitter is a great tool to converse with like-minded people.  As you make connections, they will promote you and what you have to say.

As an example, I was working for a client (a blogger) on an unrelated project and tweeted the client’s web site along with a helpful tip she had posted to her blog.  The post was re-tweeted by 5 other people, so the message was seen by over 3,000 people.  It’s the power of that viral network that increased my client’s blog traffic that day by over 10%.  She sells advertising on her blog, and more traffic means a higher advertising fee and more revenue.  Tapping into social networking by sharing useful information and linking back to her site will benefit her business’ bottom line.

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These are just a few ways to use social networking to survive the tough economy.  While traditional networking helps you make connections in the community, online social networking helps you attract  people from all over the world into your business network.  The benefits are limitless.