by Kimberly | May 2, 2014 | Blog, Facebook Ads, Marketing
There has been quite a bit of chatter online lately about the decline in reach for page posts on Facebook. Some people are pretty upset that Facebook is reducing the reach and visibility of the posts from their Facebook page and many declare it’s just an effort to force businesses to use Facebook ads. And, there may be some truth to that. But, there are other considerations as well such as: Reach is not down for everyone. Engaging content and an active page community can still contribute to a sizeable reach for posts. There is more competition for space in the newsfeed than ever before. It just isn’t feasible to believe that a user is going to be on Facebook for such a period of time each day to be able to see every single post from every page they like. (The average user likes approximately 150 different pages.) Facebook page posts have a limited lifetime reach. Facebook did not trick you into buying ads for fans and then left you lurch. Here are a few other articles on this topic if you want to read more about it: Facebook Reportedly Slashing Organic Reach for Pages Is social net trying to force bigger ad spends? Why Is Facebook Page Reach Decreasing? More Competition And Limited Attention Now that we have that out of the way, let’s get down to whether or not Facebooks ads can be helpful to your marketing efforts. Yes and no. Facebook ads, much like any other ads platform, are only going to be helpful or effective if you have a good idea of what you...
by Roz | Feb 6, 2014 | Blog, Marketing, Pinterest, small business
Pinterest now has 70 million users, are you one of them? If not, here’s why you should; the Pinterest Pin it button is on more retailer’s sites that than the Facebook Like button. Pinterest is definitely here to stay and a force to be reckoned with and utilized to sell your product, your service, etc. If you think about it, Pinterest IS best for product based businesses. Users look up a product, like a kitchen table, tons of pins come up, they find one they like, the posts might even include a price on it and by clicking on the image it takes them right to the business webpage where they can order it. In fact, pins with price tags included get 36% more likes than those that don’t. More and more users are signing up daily on Pinterest. The average user is female and on average spends about an hour on the website. Let’s get going with some basic tips. 1. Set up a business account. Join as a business if you plan to use it to sell products. If you already have an account that you’ve been using for your business but isn’t defined as a business on Pinterest, you can convert it as well. 2. Determine if your website is pinnable. Do you have any pictures/images to pin? If not, get some. 3. Get the Pinterest Pin-it button on your website, or the a Follow button or Board Widget. One benefit of getting a Board Widget on your website is you can entice people to follow your boards from your website. 4. Get to know your audience. Who are you pinning...
by Kimberly | Sep 23, 2009 | Blog, Internet Marketing, Marketing, small business
Analytics Help You Understand Your Effectiveness and Reach It is reported that nearly 20% of email marketers do not know how well their email marketing campaigns are working simply because they do not track them. The importance of reviewing and analyzing the metrics of your email or e-newsletter campaigns is a major component of knowing whether or not what you are doing is effective or is providing you with any return on your investment. Here are the major components of the metrics of any email marketing campaign. Delivery Rate: The delivery rate is simply the total number of email that were actually delivered to the intended inbox. Delivery rate percentages are determined by taking the total number of emails that bounced (undeliverable) by the number of emails sent. Spam filters and other issues can cause an email to be bounced. You can reduce the chances of having your email bounce by asking the recipients to white-list your email. Open rate: This is the number or percentage of total delivered emails that were actually opened by the recipients. There is some debate about how accurate this number is and whether it is reliable. However, it is still an important number to be aware especially as you send out multiple emails and if you are seeing any drastic change in your open rates over time. Industry research estimates the average open rate is 30%. If your rate is lower than this, you may want to research and evaluate how effective your emails are to the target audience. Click-Through Rate: This tracks the number of times a link in your email was...
by Kimberly | Jul 27, 2009 | Blog, Marketing, Social Media, social media marketing
A new report out by Wetpaint and the Alitmeter Group showed that companies with the greatest engagement in social media in the past year grew their revenues by 18% while companies that were the least engage showed about a 6% decrease in revenue. The study included the top 100 brands and include such social media channels as blogs, wikis, Twitter, Facebook and discussion forums. Not surprisingly, the top three brands with the highest levels of engagement included Starbucks, Dell and Google. Where it gets interesting is that the analysis revealed that these companies had dedicated teams of people who were actively engaged in using the variety of social media channels. WebProNews reports that: Basically, it shows that it pays (literally) to have a team working full time on engaging with customers via social media. Even if that team consists of one person, it means they will not be distracted by other tasks and can give the social channel the attention required for it to make a significant impact. What this means for the small business owner who may not be able to afford nor need a “dedicated” staff of employees to help them engage with their customers using social media, but they do have the ability to work with a Social Media Virtual Assistant and make an impact on their overall online visibility and more importantly, their bottom line. Social media becomes an effective marketing channel when it is used as part of a strategy and with continuous and ongoing efforts. The small business owner or entrepreneur who may not have the time or the capacity to get started...
by Kimberly | Jul 15, 2009 | Blog, Facebook, Marketing, Social Media
Facebook has gone yet one step further in providing you with the ability to embed a widget on your web site or blog which includes posts from your Facebook Fan page along with the option to show your current fans. Best of all, it provides a quick and seamless way for a reader of your website or blog to become a fan of your site from right there. (Assuming they have a Facebook account.) This is awesome new feature which allows you to create yet another way to engage with your target audience and to bring them in to part of your online social network. It’s also a great move on Facebook’s part to push Facebook out even further into the Internet stratosphere. To get the code for the widget for a fan page, you must first be an Admin for the fan page. This means you can’t just go and add a widget for any fan page that might grab your attention. As with anything that you post on your site, it should be something that you have explicit permission to post. As an Admin to a Fan Page, when you go to the page, you will see the option just below the picture or your logo which says, “Add Fan Box to Your Site.” There you will actually see two options, one for getting the code for adding a fan box and the other option provides you with code to get a Live Stream box which shows all the updates from your friends and where you can also post your status. Grab the copy and paste it...
by Kimberly | Nov 7, 2008 | Blog, Facebook, Marketing, Social Media
I’m pleased to announce that JK Virtual Office Resources now has an “official” Business Fan Page on Facebook. As a virtual assistant who specializes in social media and internet marketing, it makes perfect sense for me to have a Business Fan Page for the following reasons: I can keep my personal profile separate from my business profile. I can have a targeted group (fans) of people who are interested in my business and who want to receive updates regarding my business. I’ve essentially created a space where I can develop relationships with potential customers and have a “conversation” with them. I’ve made my business accessible to a whole population of people who I might not otherwise ever interact with. Increased visibility- I am able to post a link to my fan page from other social media sites, from my own website and from anywhere else I might be able to post a link. I’ve also made it easier for my friends on Facebook to find a place that explains exactly what it is that I do and what my business offers. Also, I’ve created an alternative to my website to advertise my business for potential customers who may do a search for virtual assistants or social media marketing on Facebook instead of Google. I can post notes or other relevant information on that page and it is immediately sent to my fan’s homepages. If they post back on my page, then all of their friends will see that on their homepage. That’s viral marketing at it’s best. Anyone can join or see my information without having to first send...
