The Necessity of Integrating SEO and Social Media

Search Engine Optimization or SEO is a marketing tactic that is imperative to the success of small to medium sized businesses today, along with a strong web presence and advertising campaign. A successful SEO strategy can provide a business with the profit, growth and wealth it deserves even if it doesn't utilize social media, but integrating social media is a growing need for SEO campaigns, merging the two worlds as one and delivering a SEO campaign like no other. In fact, integrating social media and SEO can provide a faster success rate in your marketing campaign. 

While this is true, though, 50% of companies that struggle with SEO are not integrating social media, according to a recent survey. A research agency surveyed almost 600 business and marketing professionals in June 2013 and found that 15% of these professionals were "very successful" with SEO while 18% said they were not. 

According to the article below, the biggest difference between the very successful and not successful is their use of social media within their SEO campaigns: 

The biggest difference between the “very successful” and “not successful” companies is their use of social media as part of the SEO strategy. As the chart below shows, 38 percent of those “very successful” with SEO are doing extensive integration of social media, compared to only two percent of the companies that aren’t succeeding with SEO.
And a full 50 percent of the latter group — the ones not succeeding at SEO — aren’t integrating social media at all.

That chart only compares the successful and not-successful companies. Elsewhere in the study is a chart using the whole group of respondents, which shows that almost one-quarter of the group aren’t integrating social media at all into their SEO strategies.

Our columnist Trond Lyngbø just wrote about this last week, in fact. In his article, You’re Dead… If You Don’t Integrate Social Media & PR Into Your Local SEO Strategy, Trond said
A couple other interesting notes from the Ascend2 survey:

• 48 percent of all respondents said “creating original content” is the most effective SEO tactic — the top answer

• only 19 percent said “external link building” is the most effective, but that may be due to difficulty — 45 percent said it’s the most difficult tactic, more than all the other tactics they could choose from

• at 48 percent, “lack of budget and/or headcount” was listed as the most challenging obstacle to SEO success

Social content ranks well on search engines. What happens on TripAdvisor (a social review site) and Yelp (a business directory) stays on Google (a search engine). What people say about your business — their feedback, the ratings they leave — everything — is publicly accessible to your prospective buyers. And this, of course, impacts the research/purchase cycle.

You can read the rest of the article here.

As a small to medium sized business it is important for you to implement a social SEO campaign so that your company can experience the growth it deserves. Both inbound and outbound marketing is a way for you to build relationships with your current or prospective clients and grow your business -- faster than many of your competitors. Today there are many companies that you can hire -- and for a reasonable price -- to manage your marketing campaigns, like Classic Image. These companies will handle the day-to-day marketing needs of your campaigns while you can focus on what matters most... growing your business. In many cases you can get a reasonable quote to jump start your campaign, ensuring that you don't break your bank.

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Hashtags and Social Media Marketing Power

As an online business or even a small to medium-sized business, social media marketing is a serious way to market your business. Now, while most business owners know this [or at least have an idea], it is still likely that they don't know just how much social media marketing can grow their business, helping them surpass their competitors. This is equally true of online businesses and small to medium sized businesses.

For those of you who are familiar with social media, I'm sure you know about hastags - you know, the # symbol that everyone puts in front of a word or phrase they want/need to stand out. While this hashtag frenzy can be a bit over the top with everyone over using hashtags, they are imperative for social media marketing.

The article below is about the use of hastags and how they can "pack serious media marketing power":

Q: I’m operating my fledgling company without a budget for advertising and marketing. Can I use social media hashtags to drive sales and build my business? If so, can you offer tips so I get the best results for my efforts? 

A: For the uninitiated, hashtags—the # sign before phrases in social media—have changed how small businesses connect with customers. First used by Twitter in 2007, hashtags have been adopted by Pinterest, Instagram and other platforms. The symbol packs serious power. 

Search #SparkandHustle (that’s my company) on these sites, and you’ll see what people are saying about my conferences for entrepreneurs. I’ve connected via hashtags with thousands of people to promote my business. Joining the ongoing conversation is an effective way to target audiences, serve them better and compete with rivals. In doing so, you should focus on two areas: 

1. Incorporating hashtags in your social media posts to attract new fans and followers.2. Searching hashtags to find people interested in what you have to offer. 

Here are some ways to achieve objective No. 1. First, whenever you share content, include a relevant hashtag so your post can be found when your target audience searches for related help. 

You should also piggyback on hashtags that are popular and tweet them, suggests Lena West of Influence Expansion Academy, an online business growth school. “If you work with small businesses, the #SMB hashtag is often used in tweets related to small-business concerns. If you use it, those tweets will come up on searches for that hashtag, leading to more visibility for your company.” 

And you should create your own custom hashtag to enable anyone interested in your area of expertise to join the conversation, says Dana Lynch, whose Amplify-Mobile develops apps for small businesses. “Use it across platforms—a hashtag is useful only if followers know about it—so promote it everywhere users can find your brand,” she says.

If you're a small to medium sized business that has yet to implement a successful social media marketing campaign, it's due time. Social media marketing is a way for you to build relationships with your current or prospective clients and grow your business -- faster than many of your competitors. Today there are many companies that you can hire -- and for a reasonable price -- to manage your social media marketing campaigns, like Classic Image. 

These companies will handle the day-to-day marketing needs of your campaigns while you can focus on what matters most... growing your business.

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Innovative Ways To Market Your Start-Up Business (and Successfully) Through Social Media Marketing

Over the last ten years technology has advanced quite a bit, including the way that social media is used. First generation social media platforms like Myspace were basically used by people to connect with other like-minded individuals. It was used to share your life and everything about you, including your up and coming band, short films, etc. Today, however, social media is so much more than that -- especially for small to medium sized businesses and start-up businesses around the globe. In all essence, social media is something that can help you make your brand go viral.

As a start-up business it is very important to understand just how important social media is when it comes to marketing your business and the growth of your company. The article below talks about three different ways that start-ups are driving results through social media:

1. Warby Parker  

Social strategy: Encouraging user-generated content that drives brand awareness. 

Warby Parker, a New York City-based online seller of vintage-inspired eyeglasses and sunglasses, is using social media to reinvent how people shop for and purchase eyewear. It does this by shipping customers five pairs of frames that they select from Warby Parker's website in packaging that encourages them to take pictures of themselves wearing the glasses and then post the shots on their Facebook, Instagram and Twitter accounts. Customers can take five full days to test the glasses before shipping them back and, the company hopes, placing an order.
The strategy behind the Home Try-On campaign is for shoppers to get feedback from their social-media friends and contacts on which pair fits them best, while generating a positive, social buzz around Warby Parker's brand "in a natural, organic way," says co-founder and co-CEO David Gilboa. Customers who post photos of themselves in frames are buying at twice the rate as those who don't, he says. 

Shoppers seeking opinions outside of their own social-media circles can submit pictures to Warby Parker's Facebook page for additional feedback. Home Try-On participants have posted some 25,000 images on the company's Facebook Timeline and more than 40,000 on Instagram since the promotion was started in February 2010.  

"Don't view social media as just another way to push your marketing messaging," Gilboa advises. "Think of Facebook, Instagram and Twitter as critical customer service gateways and take the time to respond to each and every customer who reaches out to you there. Each comment, photo and tweet gives you an opening to directly communicate with them on a meaningful, personalized basis that encourages brand loyalty."




The founders of Pork Barrel BBQ created their own social-media platform for BBQ fanatics.  

2. Pork Barrel BBQ   

Social strategy: Creating its own social community.  

Who needs Facebook when you can invent your own social-media network specifically tailored to your target demographic? That's what Heath Hall and Brett Thompson did in February 2011, creating Backyard BBQ, a social-media network for barbeque enthusiasts.
The co-founders of Pork Barrel BBQ, an Alexandria, Va.-based barbeque sauce, restaurant and catering company, noticed that barbeque fans from around the world were interacting on internet message boards and forums that didn't allow them to share, comment on or like photos and videos. In response, the company developed a free online social space for grillers of all skill levels, from backyard beginners to competitive pit masters, so they can swap recipes, cook-off stories and pictures and videos from the pit.  

Hall and Thompson invited legendary pit masters, such as Johnny Trigg, Pat Burke, Rod Gray and Melissa Cookston, to join the social network and help spread the word in their own social networks and grilling circles. Backyard BBQ has grown to 4,312 members from in the U.S. and in more than 20 different countries, Hall says, and it is driving "a significant amount of traffic" to the company's main website where people can buy sauces and rubs.  

From concept to launch, it took about six months for Hall and his Pork Barrel BBQ co-founder Brett Thompson to develop BBQ Backyard. They developed the platform using Ning, an online service that lets individuals and businesses quickly, relatively easily design, create and host their own custom social networks. Ning offers a 14-day free trial and basic monthly prices range between $25 and $99. Hall says it cost about $500 in all to get BBQ Backyard off the ground.  

Pork Barrel BBQ has its own member profile on Backyard BBQ, of course, featuring blog posts, how-to cooking videos, recipes and promotional event photos. Hall encourages fellow small-business owners to launch their own specialized social networks "if there is a void in their particular market." Hall says the benefits "can be enormous in terms of networking, spreading your brand message, learning about new opportunities and giving back to the community."

You can read the rest of the article here.

If you're a start-up business that is looking to grow your company there are a various ways that the use of social media can make that happen. Classic Image is a creatively driven marketing and design company that thrives on helping businesses grow; a company that has helped hundreds of start-up businesses with their marketing and social media campaign, providing excellent results for a reasonable price. The company is insanely creative, coming up with innovative ways to grow your business, regardless of your niche. Give them a ring! 

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Social Media Marketing Tips That Will Help Grow Your Business

In today’s technological world it is almost unmanageable for a small to medium sized business to flourish without utilizing social media marketing. Marketing tactics change regularly, so keeping up the rest of the world is essential. With that said, regardless of what kind of business you run, it is very important to continuously look at other avenues that will grow your business.

Social media marketing or SMM is imperative
for the success of small to medium sized
businesses.
Photo Courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net.

Now, while there are a million different methods that you can utilize it’s also equally important that you find ways that will not require you to spend hours upon hours working in your business, rather than on your business. Social media marketing can do just that, if managed properly and efficiently. Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and other platforms are increasingly becoming a well-known—and successful—marketing tool. These platforms can assist your business in obtaining a healthy and growing fan base that will generate leads, word-of-mouth and conversions.

At Classic Image we have managed hundreds of social media marketing campaigns over the last five years. We understand that the concept of a small to medium sized business handling their own social media marketing campaign can be overwhelming, but there are many tips that you can consider utilizing to make your life easier—and to help your business grow. The last thing you want to do is spend hundreds of hours on social media efforts only to find out that your approach will not bring in the results that you desire.

Throughout this blog I’m going to mention a handful of tips that you can use to help strengthen your social media efforts and growing your business:

Get More Leads with a Call To Action. There is no question about it—a social media call to action is an integral and often overlooked element of a social media strategy. Social media gets prospects, customers and the public primed to want to find out more about what your business is offering or to engage with you further. You can use any platform to achieve this, too, such as a blog, Facebook, Twitter or a landing page. If you strengthen your call to action you will receive a better success rate, compared to ones without them.

Optimizing Your Business’ Facebook Posts. Many people don’t even think about adding a call to action to their Facebook page. However, sometimes just the act of inviting someone to share your post will be the encouragement a fan or follower needs to take your suggestions. And this works with any niche. For instance, you can post a link to your blog or another piece of useful information (something that you are offering) and ask your fan base to SHARE the information with their followers or colleagues. It can really be as simple as that. Take the image below, for example. 

 Experimentation. As you continue with your social media efforts it’s always a good idea to experiment with different call-to-action’s. Take Twitter, for example—it’s a fast moving stream of content and because of that updates can quickly flow by readers. While they are deciding on whether to read your full update, a call to action can practically seize the moment. AND if that reader likes what you have to offer they will be more inclined to follow you, retweet your message and visit your page.

Content is KING. So give it the significance it deserves.  Many small to medium sized businesses do not take into account just how imperative content is when it comes to all of their marketing campaigns—but especially social media marketing. Fresh, frequent and quality content is necessary to bring in new clients and customers. In the same respect, though, even the BEST content in the world won’t do a lick of good if people are not engaged. Make all of your content engagement-friendly.

There are many more tricks to the trade when it comes to social media marketing and how to utilize it to truly benefit your small to medium sized business, but the best bet is to test…test…and test again. You will need to test your results and see what works for your individual business because what might work for your competitor might not do any good for your business.

If you are someone who is interested in learning more about how Classic Image can help benefit your business, we are here to discuss your needs seven days a week. We are home to some of the top marketing professionals in the business, but at the same time we are a group of creative professionals that use all tactics to help push businesses to the top.

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B2B Marketing & Social Media

In today’s world, technology and social media is ever-changing. In fact, 2013 is marked as a year that will bring B2B marketing and B2B social media marketing to the top. One main reason for this is because daily social media usage includes B2B customers and prospective customers. Many B2B companies and small to medium sized businesses complain that their customers and prospects do not use social media, but according to a recent report 40% of the world uses a social media website every day.

According to the infographic below, created by Saxum, people are using social media each and every day. So as a B2B business, once you begin to identify where your customers and prospects are in regards to social networks, the next step will be to determine what kind of useful content you need to create to connect with them.

 The statistics below show just how important it is for B2B companies and for small to medium sized businesses to use B2B social media marketing:

•  1 out of every 7 minutes spent online is spent on Facebook. 
• 23% of Facebook users check their newsfeed more than 5 times per day. 
• 2.1 billion search queries are conducted on Twitter every day. That’s almost half as many as performed on Google. 
• 1,370 company pages are added to LinkedIn every day. 
• Facebook and Twitter traffic peaks in the afternoon. 
• LinkedIn traffic peaks in the morning. 
• 200 million hours of video are watched on YouTube every day. 
• 10 million presentations have been uploaded to Slideshare. 

There are a wide variety of tactics that businesses can use that will really boost their social media presence. Once this happens you will find that your business will begin to cultivate and flourish. While no one can expect this to happen overnight, you will notice a difference within one to two months of continuous effort.

The infographic below reveals “Social Media in a Day” for B2B social media marketing and small to medium sized businesses.

Classic Image is a creative marketing firm based in Brooklyn, New York, dedicated to helping businesses just like yours move to the top. They have worked with hundreds of small to medium sized businesses in the Brooklyn area--and nationwide--with social media campaigns, content management and all marketing essentials. 

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