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Is Technology Changing the Way we Conduct Business?

Internet, Small Business, SMEs, Technology shifts No Responses »

Apr 292013

It is argued that fundamental shifts in technology are activating massive changes in business particularly around how information is accessed, captured, managed and shared.

These changes have implications for everyone in all aspects of our lives. We are now wired 24 hours a day with everything at our finger tips. The Internet connects us like never before and hand held devices means we are constantly blurring the lines between personal and business.

Due to increased mobility, emails can be responded to from home or the local coffee shop. Information travels faster and workers are expected to respond in an instant. We are so far away yet so close as barriers of distance disappear.

More businesses are setting up online so their target audience becomes global instead of local meaning that their market share can grow. However, competition becomes increasingly more intense with additional competitors.

What does this all mean now and for the future? We will be learning and adapting for many years to come.

How do people think technology is changing business for them?

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How to Choose Social Media to ‘Fit’ Your Business

Brand Awareness, Small Business, Social Media, Social Media Tips No Responses »

Feb 252013

Social media can be challenging for SMEs in terms of understanding and implementing it. They are constantly being encouraged to set up social media platforms for their business but where do they begin?

As a tool, social media has the potential to reach and connect with customers and to let everyone know about your business. Investing time and money is crucial so make sure the ‘fit’ is the best for your business. Here are some tips:

Research

Spend some timing exploring which social media platform will be the best suited to your business. What does your target audience use, how do they use the platform and how do they interact? This can assist in directing you to what platform is most likely to support you.

Have a Positive Attitude

It may seem like a strange one but most SMEs that get involved in social media do so because everyone else is. This means you are less likely to believe in social media and its potential. Social media needs to be seen as another tool to use for business not the only one.

Start with One or Two Platforms

Anymore and it can become overwhelming in terms of what needs to be done. Once the platform has been chosen, invest in a strategy. Then be patient as you develop and engage with your audience.

Determine your Goals

Set goals so you know what you want to achieve. If you are able to measure your success you can determine whether your strategy is working for your business.

If you what to give social media a try, then make sure you consider what is involved, then put a plan into place and commit to working with it long term. This will more likely bring some success in terms of goal achievement and will keep you flexible enough in a very dynamic environment.

Give it a try and see what happens!

What has worked for others?

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Support Your Clients Through Social Media

Online Media, Small Business, SMEs, Social Media, Social Media Content No Responses »

Feb 182013

Social media has exploded for business use. More and more businesses are now using it to engage with their customers and connect with potential consumers. Not all are using it effectively and some utilise it because everyone else is.

In order for businesses to have success on social media they need to have their clients at the forefront of their minds. If they don’t, their followers or likes will go elsewhere.

So how can businesses support their clients through social media? It is relatively simple and here are 3 key points that must be part of the strategy.

Listen

Such an easy word but not always followed. This means paying attention and letting the conversation flow. What are your audience saying, what are they thinking and how does this concern you? If you don’t listen, you will not be able to gain the information that is useful to your business.

Learn

By listening, you will be able to discover and identify what your audience wants and needs. If you can’t determine their needs then it will be harder to keep your audience engaged and provide them what they want.

Develop

Once you have determined what it is that your audience wants and needs, then develop your content strategy with this in mind. Do they want some particular type of content? Are they after some type of information? New product or service? Develop want it is they want and you will be able to engage them effectively.

Try it and see what happens!

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How to Get Your Message Heard in Social Media Marketing

Online Content, Online Media, Small Business, SMEs, Social Media, Social Media ROI, Social Media Tips No Responses »

Feb 112013

With an ever-increasing number of online platforms, businesses now have so many choices when it comes to social media. This can provide the false impression that so long as businesses engage with the networks, everything will fall into place. This is not the case and it is important to create a social media existence that is purposeful and strategic.

1. Develop a Strategy

A clear strategy around your reasons for using social media and what you hope to achieve is vital. The strategy needs to combine other business and marketing goals to be part of the overall marketing and communication strategy. This way everything is interconnected and social media platforms are linked to the main business website and vice versa.

2. Social Media is a Marathon, not a Sprint

Social media is about building relationships and this takes time. It requires consistency, engaging with others and learning to listen to what individuals are saying. Spending time having a two-way conversation will be more productive in the long run than forcing a message in a one-way direction.

3. Make it Different

Obviously the usual things apply when on social media, such as add value, have a clear purpose, complete your profile, show personality and so on, however, to stand out, there needs to be an element which is diverse. Try the following:

Use humour
Have a cleverly designed infographic
Use vibrant colours, easy to understand language
Use bold graphics, images, phrases, or titles

Once you have a concept to promote any number of tools can be utilised to make your message stand out. It is just a matter of experimenting and seeing what works. Try one of these and see what happens!

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Plan your Social Media Strategy for 2013

Goal Setting, Small Business, SMEs, Social Media Tips No Responses »

Jan 212013

With the year upon us, it is important to have a social media strategy in place for 2013. Doing so will facilitate more opportunities coming from your social media activities. If you haven’t put together a social media strategy for your business yet, here are some tips to get you started.

Have Clear Goals

If you have no idea what you want to achieve, then how can it be achieved? Know what it is that you want to gain from using social media. Simple goals always work well when starting off. For example, don’t aim for 200 ‘likes’, aim to get ‘likes’ that consist of your target audience even if the number is low.

Have a Content Plan

Develop a content approach that you are able to use for social media activities. Decide how often to post, when to post and what to post. If this is planned out, it is much easier to maintain a social media strategy when it becomes busy and chaotic.

Consider your Resources

Know how much available time there is for the social media activities and plan accordingly. If there is limited capacity, then tailor the goals and content plan to this scenario.

Consistency

If there is one vital step when using social media for business then that is to be consistent. That means posting on a regular basis. If you have decided to post every week, then you must post every week. This is what your audience will be expecting and not doing so means your audience will go elsewhere.

When there is strategy there is focus so try these steps and see how you go.

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Benefits of Using Twitter for SMEs

Brand Awareness, SEO, Small Business, SMEs, Twitter No Responses »

Aug 132012

Twitter is one of the fastest growing social network platforms in the online space with unbelievable growth. As such it offers many benefits to SMEs. It can be used for a number of purposes and if used consistently and strategically there are many possible advantages.

Here are 6 benefits in using Twitter for business:

Brand Awareness: Twitter allows SMEs to keep their brand at the top of mind for people. By easily linking to articles or content, the brand name can be kept at the forefront.

Competitive Intelligence: useful information can be gleamed by monitoring what your competitors are doing and saying. By scanning their tweets, profile and contacts valuable business intelligence can be gained.

Industry Conversation: participating in conversation makes you visible. Reporting on industry news and providing commentary promotes your expertise. Listening to the audience as they engage provides useful knowledge.

Twitter and Mobile: as Twitter is limited to 140 characters, its mobile interaction is effortless. Receiving updates is easy via SMS and it becomes a transportable communication tool – very influential for modern day business communication.

SEO Increase: use Twitter to drive traffic to your website (or a preferred page), particularly if you have valuable content for you audience. This may assist in enticing conversion.

Feedback: Do you have specific questions that you want answered? Use this mechanism to gain feedback by posting your queries on Twitter with instant and helpful comments.

Although these benefits can also apply to other social media platforms Twitter’s uniqueness of 140-character limit can be used to advantage. Most individuals don’t want to read long pieces of information so short tweets providing valuable content which your target audience finds beneficial is priceless. The future lies in mobile communication and Twitter is ideal for this interaction.

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How SMEs Can Utilise Facebook for Business

Facebook, Online Content, Online Marketing, Small Business, SMEs, Social Media, Social Media Tips No Responses »

Aug 062012

Although primarily a social platform, Facebook can be utilised effectively as a business tool. Here are 4 key fundamentals that need to be put in place to support the process.

Have a Goal

Anyone who establishes a Facebook page for business purposes needs to have a goal for what they want their page to achieve. By creating a clear objective, this can be used to assist in shaping online perceptions about your business.

Some examples of goals to aim for include:

o Building community

o Raising brand awareness

o Enhancing customer service

Create a Publishing Schedule

Publishing content is time consuming and repetitive. Content needs to be published regularly to have any impact. However, posting too much may annoy your Fans. A schedule allows you to track your activities and strike a balance in terms of content upload as well as consider topics of interest, research and creation of content in a strategic way.

Link your Facebook Profile

If you have other social media profiles, then link these to your Facebook page. A blog, Twitter account or LinkedIn page should all be connected. These interrelated platforms are a great way to promote your business across platforms and establish a presence.

Create a Resource

Use your Facebook page to “add value” to your customers. Offer information, create contests, offer deals and provide solutions to customer issues. Post questions on your ‘wall’ so that your Fans can respond and be interactive. Get them to share insights, opinions and reward them for their feedback.

But more importantly have some fun!

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Online Social Media Strategies to Move Your Buisness Forward

Online Content, Online Marketing, Online Media, Small Business, SMEs, Social Media, Social Media Tips No Responses »

Jul 102012

With social media changing daily it can be challenging to keep up especially when you are a sole business operator. However, there are simple strategies that remain effective despite the fluid online environment.

To begin with choose one or two strategies discussed below and eventually work your way through all of them. Implementing them this way facilitates more likely success as you are able to refine each strategy as you go instead of becoming overwhelmed with having too many!

1. Develop a Strategy

Having a social media strategy is vital and can’t be stressed enough. It is essentially important to have a clear strategy around your reasons for using social media and the goals you hope to achieve. The strategy needs to combine other business and marketing goals to be part of the overall marketing and communication strategy. Therefore, everything is interconnected for maximum affect.

2. Social Media Means Being Social

One of the most common mistakes people make in respect to social media is that they treat it like traditional media – forcing a message in a one-way direction. Social media is about building relationships and this takes time. It requires consistent posting always engaging with others and learning to listen to what individuals are saying. So the key is to be active, consistent and engaging.

3. Content is Still King

Content is king on the Internet. Search engines love it and so does your target audience if you are providing them with information they require. Static websites no longer work so add articles on a regular basis. If you have a blog then update it regularly at least on a weekly basis and more if feasible. Your Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn platforms also need to be active and this can be done everyday with content such as quotes, clips or articles.

4. Make it Different

To stand out in social media there needs to be an element that is diverse. There are a number of simple ways this can be achieved and here are some things to experiment with:

Use humour
Have a cleverly designed infographic
Use vibrant colours, easy to understand language
Use bold graphics, images, phrases, or titles

5. Use Video as Content

Video makes you visible and is a great tool to add to your marketing kit. Potential customers may feel you to be more “trustworthy” or “real” when they see your face and hear you speak. It is not as complicated as you think and once you have done it a few times it will be second nature and a great way to build relationships.

6. SEO is Important

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is essential and critical for online success. It is not as intimidating as it sounds. There are tech people that can support you with this. However, you can learn about SEO and navigate simple techniques to begin with. For example, starting your own blog if attached to your website is great for SEO. As your rankings improve, targeted traffic will increase and hopefully generate more leads

So why not give one a go and see what happens? I look forward to hearing your feedback.

Thanks for reading!

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Measuring your Social Media Marketing

Small Business, SMEs, Social Media, Social Media Tips No Responses »

May 052012

Social media has entered a new phase – it’s no longer a novelty where business can simply experiment and hope for the best. As the social media space matures, businesses are demanding more value for money.

At present, social media measurement is still in its infancy and strategists can’t agree on an established framework to measure its success, however, there are some approaches that can be used to help establish a framework that will work for your business.

The following three steps are a good starting place:

1. Establish your Goal

Any good marketing plan begins with established goals and this is no different with social media. Before you can measure your efforts, you need to know what your goals are. What is it that you want to accomplish through social media? Some possibilities include: reach a specific demographic, get more reviews, increase brand awareness or sell more products.

Whatever the objective, the main point is that the goals need to be very specific and clear. For example, if you want to increase brand awareness, what do you hope this increased awareness will do for your business? Break it down until it’s tangible. If there are no clear goals, it will be impossible to effectively measure what you are doing.

2. Establish your Baselines

Baselines are benchmarks standards, which all metrics are measured against. In order to establish whether your goals have been achieved a starting point of information is needed that can be used to compare the data collected.

The goals will determine what you measure, and this is why set standard metrics are so challenging to determine. Each business will have different goals, and the metrics needed will be determined by the individual business using the information they have available to them.

Social media needs to be considered as a long-term prospect. Estimates suggest that you require three to six months to determine benchmarks – and skipping this stage to get to the next will leave you with flawed data.

3. Track your Efforts

Once you have established all the information you need, the most important aspect is to actually track your efforts. Although you can pay for these services, there are plenty of free tools available that can be used to track progress.

Most social media platforms have free internal features that can give some insight. Here are some examples:

Facebook Insights: this tool can be accessed from the main menu when you edit any Facebook page. It can assist in tracking and analysing demographics, how users engage with specific content and much more.

WordPress Stats: if you use WordPress for your website or blog, there various plugins which can aid you to analyse your site.

Google: there are a number of tools Google provides which can be used to for analytical purposes over a range of things. Google Analytics, Google Webmaster Tools and Google Trends are just three available.

It’s also valuable to use more than one tool for tracking purposes, as using various tools can provide a more accurate representation of what’s happening. Also, remember to focus only on the data relevant to your goals otherwise there can be information overload.

Social media isn’t a destination, but a vehicle of communication tools. It’s important not to get overwhelmed by all the information and advice available, you need to trust your instincts, as you know your business better than any expert. A slow, methodical and disciplined approach is recommended with regular action and inroads will be made.

This article was published in Dynamic Business.

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Social Media Essential for SMEs

Small Business, SMEs, Social Media, Social Media Tips No Responses »

Nov 022011

The June 2011 Sensis® eBusiness Report examines a number of attitudes and experiences of small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) in relation to e-business across a range of online technologies. An interesting aspect of this report is that of the 95% who had an online presence only 16% reported that they had a digital strategy. Further only 18% of SMEs use social media in their business. Although this has grown 10% over the past twelve months this is still extremely low.

In this modern age of digital technologies, utilising social media is essential, as it has exploded over the past five years. Social media is all about engagement and relationships and valuable information is available via social media presenting SMEs with an opportunity to listen, learn and engage with customers.

SMEs that utilise this platform with a planned and strategic approach will benefit. Here are 3 reasons to connect with social media:

Wider Audience Exposure

There are millions of people using it representing an enormous pool of people that can be tapped into. Individual businesses that research where their target audience is residing and where potential can come from will directly increase their exposure.

Build Relationships

By engaging with consumers, businesses can initiate discussion about their products, share information and build confidence in their business. As consumers interact they see a different aspect of the business. This interaction can build trust and in a globalised economy these relationships are important and can drive customer loyalty.

Risk Management Strategy

One of the most important reasons every business should be engaged in social media is to protect their reputation. Being online allows every business to have a proactive risk management strategy and hopefully minimise damage from negative comments.

So what do people think about social media for SMEs – a waste of time or a positive new approach?

Let me know what you think.

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