So, here's what we're thinking...

If you're in marketing or sales, you've probably noticed that the process of turning prospects into leads into happy customers has changed drastically over the past decade. What's with that? Well, the easier it becomes to access and efficiently use the internet, the more well-versed our prospects are becoming. What this means for sales and marketing departments is that our buyers are knowledgeable enough to feel in control of the selling process, and honestly, the power is in their hands in a lot of ways.

In the era of constant online communication, it can be quite easy to commit a social faux pas. When typing at a screen instead of talking face to face, people tend to "act" differently. The rise of social media has created a plethora of platforms for “cyber bullies” and “trolls” to anonymously criticise whoever and whatever they want from the safety and comfort of their own homes. What might surprise you, however, is that even people you communicate with for business purposes might not know how to conduct themselves online.

It has been said that social media messaging is becoming the new customer service call. That is because social networking is more personal than other online communication platforms, like email, for example. This newly preferred communication method is quite helpful when marketing your business because it’s more likely that you’ll get a customer’s real name, a few pieces of correct personal information, and even a picture of them from a social network than you would with a simple email address. So how do you carry the excellent service you’re used to giving in person and over the phone with you into the online world? 

This blog is part of the How to Monitor Social Media in 10 Minutes a Day eBook download. 

Monitoring your business’ social media presence is extremely important in today’s technology driven world. As it turns out, yesterday’s customer service call has become today’s customer service tweet — making it a public exchange. Although it is hard work and can be quite time-consuming, monitoring your social media channels is necessary in order to:

You’ve been in this situation before: you have a problem that needs to be resolved and you make a phone call to customer service. You wait patiently, in the beginning, while the soothing music plays and the recording interrupts periodically to tell you that they’re experiencing heavy call volume.

It seems like the question of the hour, or the last few years, is, “how do we connect with Millennials?” The infamous generation is seen as a group of young people who heavily rely on their parents for financial support, are addicted to technology, and don’t pay attention to anything for more than a few seconds. So, how do we communicate with an audience who isn’t interested in anything they can’t find on their phone? Your first thought probably isn’t direct mail, but it should be.

The hashtag, established in 2007, was brought to Twitter as a way for users to filter through content to easily find information/conversations that match their interests. A decade later, the hashtag continues to thrive and become more and more crucial in the navigation of social media platforms. Commonly referred to as a pound sign, hashtags are used to create micro-communities within a platform.

This blog is part of the How to Monitor Social Media in 10 Minutes a Day eBook download.

I spend a lot of time on Facebook, managing posts for clients, creating ads, optimizing pages, seeing what other marketers and companies are up to, and listening to my friend Bill brag about the warm weather in California.

We’ve all been in them before. Long, tedious, nonsensical, directionless periods of time when groups of us sit around a table and pretend to be crafting brilliant strategies and turning early morning epiphanies into actionable plans. They can often resemble an out-of-body experience or a visit to the Twilight Zone.