10 Tips for better Facebook Wall Engagements

Facebook has become the best platform for promoting business. You can get consumers for virtually any kind of product or service that you may wish to sell. Real estate, restaurants, yoga, vehicle sales and event promotion to even clothing – anything has the ability to be successful on Facebook, using a few basic tricks and strategies. Here are 10 tips that will help you promote your business on Facebook.

• Visibility: The first thing that you have to understand is that you HAVE to be visible on Facebook for creating a healthy network of consumers for your product or service. Keep updating your wall posts frequently. Start with one daily update and as your page grows do it more frequently.
• Interactivity: Once you post something on your wall, don’t just stop there. Reply to all comments that you may have received on it. Delete any posts that appear to be spam or derogatory. Try and promote your business by having a healthy interaction with your fans.
• Be careful what you post on your Fan page Walls: Keep in mind the fact that there are close to a 100,000 people logged in anytime on a Facebook. And at least 1% of them are expected to have a look at your wall. Do not put any information that can be considered racial or discriminatory.
• My Questions: Use the “My Questions” feature in Facebook to find out what exactly should be done to get best results from your Fan page. This feature has posters listing what they like and are interested in. This will help you with better social networking on Facebook.
• Text in Wall Posts: Facebook allows a variety of wall posts to be posted on your Fan Page Wall. Comments in plain text, if put smartly, are very effective.
• Images & Videos in wall Posts: Images and Videos are more viral than any other form of communication on Facebook. It also gives more visibility to your page as you can not only advertise but also get your fans to put in some good experiences that they have had with you in the form of a photograph or a video. Hence generating goodwill for your products.
• Links as Wall Posts: Links to pages that are either associated with your brand or product or those to your own pages for other products and services in the “Favorite Pages Section” can be easily made viral by posting them on the wall. You can also post Youtube videos using this feature. Finding stuff related to your product or service is really easy today and these videos are highly viral.
• The Facebook Network: Your Facebook fan page is a part of the local network. Now “local” is very subjective. It can either be your city, country or even the world depending upon your product. Whatever may be the case, you have to be aware of the network as it can prove to be a treasure trove of possible consumers.
• Facebook Notifications: Notifications are usually sent when people comment on your posts or tag you in their posts or images. These are meant to give you a gentle nudge as to who is thinking about you and is interested in your posts and possibly, your product. These notifications are a gold mine for you, providing you with a really good set of leads and prospects. Always take note of them and reply to any comments or queries apart from expressing gratitude wherever required.
• Facebook Events: This is one very interesting and important feature in Facebook and is especially important if you are into a business like event management or the like. Even otherwise, these events are a good place to publicize your business and get possible leads. Also, “Birthdays” are considered as an event. And posting something on your Fan’s walls or sending them a virtual gift can really help you earn brownie points!These basic tips if applied in the right manner along with a few smart ideas can work wonders for your business. All you need is a computer, an internet connection and PATIENCE!

Top 5 SEO Myths

Search Engine Optimization or SEO has become one of the fastest growing online businesses today. Industry experts observe that the demand for SEO services far exceeds the present supply. And this is because of the increasing competition between businesses for getting eyeballs and possible sales leads from the world’s largest network of people, the Internet. As such there are some myths and common mistakes that are often made by SEO experts which can be easily avoided. Here are a few of them.

MYTH 1: All the Meta Tags command equal importance: Not all Meta tags that you are going to use will generate the same results. Some of them will need more attention than others. You have to keep in mind that search engines rely more on what the website contains and not on what the Meta tags claim it does.

MYTH 2: One has to regularly submit your Website to Search Engines: You just have to submit your website once and at times even that is not required. Most search engines will get back to your site regularly. Instead you can link your website to one that has high traffic. These sites are listed usually on the top of many search engines and this will get your website automatically tracked and indexed.

MYTH 3: SEO is expensive: On the contrary, Search Engine Optimization is one of the cheapest and most cost-effective methods of online marketing. In comparison to Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Advertising or Banner Advertising, all clicks made on SEO back-links are totally free for life. All you have to pay for is there monitoring and the content.

MYTH 4: Natural SEO is not as effective as PPC: If you are planning a short-term SEO process, then go for PPC instead. But in the long-term, it will only add to your costs. Most people trust organic search engines and not advertisements and fancy banners.

MYTH 5: Hiring an in-house SEO is cheaper: While hiring an in-house SEO, you will have to pay them a salary. While SEO firms will usually charge you either on duration, number of items or on the type of project you want to be undertaken. As such, you might end up paying just a one-time charge for a permanent solution. Also, most firms have specialists that handle each aspect of your project with total attention ensuring you get the best results.

Though the above myths are just basic, they are also attributed to be the most common mistakes made by the online marketing fraternity. A smart decision while selecting an SEO firm will ensure a great Return on Investment in the long term. So plan carefully.

Social Media & Ghostwriters

Often it is said that it is unethical to hire a ghostwriter for your Facebook or Twitter account. A majority of the masses don’t find the idea of ghostwriting on social networking websites to be objectionable and they sight transparency and authentic as the reasons for the same. Many reports suggest the same.

The American Marketing Association recently published a report titled, Social Media Ethics Shades of Gray: GhostTweeting and other Dilemmas. In it, Wayne Hurlbert, host of Blog Business Success on www.blogtalkradio.com, says that hiring a ghostwriter is a grievous error.

But speaking realistically, when one is ready to hire spokespersons for media interactions, branding experts for designing yoyour company logo and expert advertising personnel for scripting your advertisements then why not hire an expert for social media. There is no doubt that an expert can do a better job than others as he or she is more experienced as well
as knowledgeable about the same.

This logic can be easily applied for Facebook accounts, but when it comes to Twitter Accounts, things do change quite a bit. Though companies can also outsource them, the information sent out has to be a hundred per cent authentic and in-line with the company’s positioning and goodwill. When outsourcing a celebrity’s Twitter Account, you can consider the option of celebrity spokesperson in Twitter so that you can have a mental assurance of what is being said and can take care of any repercussions should anything go wrong.

Many experts and marketing gurus are of the opinion that social networking is not just about marketing but about adding a personal touch to what you do. And the same cannot be achieved by ghostwriters. This claim was refuted by many as social marketing experts were of the opinion that ghostwriters can connect better than company executives as they know what is required on different platforms and can connect better to the consumers.

Also, many people pointed out that social media is a highly interactive platform that is growing at a rapid pace and it deserves careful attention and nurturing. This can be given to experts if one does not have the time or does not know where to begin. Though the final responsibility lies on the company’s shoulders for all that is published on the social media platforms, and that for making sure that all of the information is authentic and consistent with the brand image, ghostwriters are the best to present it there.

Experts say, social media is not just about Tweeting a couple of times a day or uploading some images on your Facebook wall, it is about responding to your fan’s and followers comments and getting the best out of the social media. Though many experts may deny this as is seen in the AMA report, but in the end it is all about giving a human face to your company. Though the face may be seen as wearing a mask, but that very mask can work wonders.