Hootsuite: A Brief Overview of an Amazing Social Media Tool

August 19, 2013

by Jeanine Vecchiarelli                        return to JayVee Media Link LLC

“What exactly is Hootsuite?”  That is a question I have been fielding lately, particularly from new coaching clients.  Here is an introductory look at the social media tool.

Hootsuite is a tool that simplifies a user’s social media experience by allowing virtually all duties across a multitude of platforms to be enacted within one easy to use dashboard. When a person signs up for the service he/she configures that dashboard by securely adding user names and passwords for any or all of the following platforms he/she uses: Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google Plus, FourSquare, YouTube, Instagram and Tumblr.  A WordPress blog site can also be added.  After configuration, one user name and password allows the client access to all his/her social media accounts, eliminating the need for continuously signing in and out of them individually.

Hootsuite allows users to monitor activity on their social media platforms, and to post to them. Posts may be shared immediately, or they can be scheduled for release at a future time and/or date.  They can be easily edited and even deleted from the scheduled streams.

Another great feature of Hootsuite is its built in URL shortening service.  When sharing links to Twitter we can’t afford to have our 140 character maximum be taken up by long URLs. Furthermore, they are unsightly even on platforms that allow unlimited characters for posting.  We need only paste our long form links into Hootsuite’s status box, click “Shrink,” and a much more manageable version is generated and inserted into our posts.  As an added bonus, Hootsuite tracks the short links it creates. This puts the analytics for what we share right at our fingertips.

Two features that help keep Hootsuite close by for easy use are its mobile app for our smart phones, and its Hootlet plug-in for our desktop/laptop browsers.  Both are straightforward, fully functional and very easy to use.

Hootsuite offers three levels of service.  Its basic level is free for use by one client, who can add up to five social media accounts.  Its Pro level allows the integration of up to 50 social media platforms, and one “team member” to assist in management duties.  The entry Pro level costs $8.99/month, but add-ons are available if a user needs to handle more for expansion of his/her social media business presence.  The final level is Enterprise, which is for big businesses with large staffs and much to oversee.

As users grow their social media presences they may find useful the more advanced features Hootsuite offers.  They may, for example, wish to configure platform streams to allow for monitoring of specific groups or keywords, including mentions of their companies.  Undoubtedly they will also want to take advantage of the tool’s integrated analytics for research and reporting.

Have you tried Hootsuite yet?  What is your impression?  Please leave your thoughts in the comments section below!

How to Run a Facebook Business Chat

August 12, 2013

by Jeanine Vecchiarelli                  return to JayVee Media Link LLC

Business owners have been experimenting with chats on Facebook since the platform unveiled a “reply directly to comments” feature earlier this year.  Facebook is rumored to be testing a group chat element as well as a formal chat room; in the meantime, business owners have been organizing them right on their page timelines, using the reply feature as the vehicle to drive the chat conversations.

How does one organize a Facebook business chat?

The most efficient method of setting up and executing a successful business chat on Facebook entails the following steps:

1. Pick a compelling topic.  It can be a trending issue; how to accomplish an objective; advice on completing a given task; a crowd sourcing exercise; a troubleshooting session.  We might even crowd source for a topic!  Whatever we choose should be something about which many people would be motivated to chat.

2. Keep in mind our specific goal(s) while choosing our topic. Do we wish to promote a new campaign? Increase engagement on our pages? Grow our reach? Add their contact information to our mailing lists?  Our chat sessions should be guided in a manner that leads to or incorporates our goal(s).  That may well mean designing a special landing page to which our participants can be directed.

3. If our chosen topic will require an expert’s participation, line up that person to be sure he/she is available for the chat.

4. Give LOTS of advance notice, and share it widely.  Spread the word across Facebook personal profiles and business pages; other social media platforms on which we maintain presences; and even email messages.  The earlier we advertise our upcoming chats and the farther we spread the word, the greater the turnout we are likely to see.

5. Create large, eye-catching graphics to use in advance notice postings.  Be sure to incorporate the chat’s specifics in text right on the picture, including topic; hosting page and its URL; day, date and time; and featured expert guests, if any. Check out this example of an advance notice announcement HubSpot shared for one of its Facebook chats!

6. If possible, enlist another person to help watch the comment stream for both our guest experts and ourselves.  Anyone who uses Facebook’s comment reply function understands that tracking those replies as well as new comments can become confusing.  Some may be accidentally overlooked if we fail to scour the whole thread constantly. Also, monitoring the streams helps us to keep track of questions/comments we may not have time to answer. We may wish to follow up on those afterward with links to additional resources.

7. End with a specific call to action. Perhaps we would like our participants to download a discount coupon. Or we may wish to send them to a specific blog post for more information. Maybe we have invited them to download an ebook. Whatever our intentions, we need to wrap up our chats by directing participants to take a specific action. Remember the special landing page we discussed in step #2?  This is where it will be put to use.

8. Share our chats after they conclude so others who couldn’t participate may benefit from the information that was disseminated.  The more important and relevant the value received, the more likely those folks will make the time to attend our future chat events!

Here is a great example of a graphic announcing a Facebook chat recap for sharing, and here is the link to the actual post!

Have you hosted a Facebook chat?  If not, are you considering doing so?  Please share your thoughts/experiences in the comments section below!

Keeping the Social in Social Media

July 15, 2013

by Jeanine Vecchiarelli                     return to JayVee Media Link LLC

“How many Facebook fans will you promise me?”  “Can you get me 3,000 Twitter followers by next month?”  Questions like these illustrate two issues: 1. business owners who don’t understand how social media works; and 2. an invitation to be hoodwinked by the less ethical in the field.  Let’s examine the first issue in order to prevent falling for the second:

What do I want from my social media platforms?

Businesses maintain social media profiles for several reasons:

1. to build followings – Yes, numbers do matter.  But the way we build those numbers, and more importantly, the quality of those followers, matter more than the mere numbers.  Ask any business owner with a successful social media presence what he/she prefers: a large number of fans who are invisible on the page except for their places in the fan count; or a smaller number of fans who spend lots of time on the page, interacting, asking and answering questions and being brand advocates.  Hint: ranking systems take much more notice of page activity than of fan counts.  In fact, high fan counts with little or no activity can actually work against rankings.

2. to foster client relationships – I shudder when I see business profile pages configured to prevent fans from posting to them.  That defeats the entire purpose of social media!  Businesses build loyal followings and strong referrals by interacting in a social manner with their clients and prospects.  That means more than just one way posting of news and product/service pitches.  Businesses that maintain consistent presences, actively listening, engaging in dialogues, welcoming and promptly addressing customer service issues show the online world how attentive and concerned they are for the satisfaction of their clients.  There is no purpose for having profiles if this activity is prevented.

I find most businesses that configure their pages to prevent interaction do so to avoid negative postings.  But dealing quickly with such issues turns negatives into huge positives.  Here’s another point to consider: there really isn’t a way to prevent irate folks from complaining about companies on the internet.  There are plenty of other outlets available for them to use. Wouldn’t it be better to have these folks bring their issues directly to those companies – where other fans can see them resolved quickly by business owners who really care for their clients?

3. to drive sales – Businesses ultimately maintain social media presences to achieve their unified goal:  driving sales.  The quickest way to stifle this goal is to broadcast constant pitches.  People use social media to be social, not to be sold to.  Hence, this goal is accomplished by sharing great value that benefits fans and followers, and again, by encouraging and participating in conversations, listening attentively and showing genuine concern for their satisfaction.  Getting to know prospects and clients in this manner yields the benefit of identifying their readiness to make purchases.  Messages and activities can be fine tuned to each level of preparedness.  All these undertakings unleash the power of social media to guide clients and prospects down sales funnels to successful transactions.

Gaming the system

The power of social media marketing is unleashed when it is done correctly.  Business owners who comprehend all that needs to be undertaken also understand the fact that it is a slow, steady process.  It takes much time and effort to build solid relationships that yield trust, loyalty and brand evangelism.  Anyone who comprehends these facts also realizes promises of 3,000 Twitter followers or 1,000 Facebook fans in one month are pure folly.  At best falling for these claims won’t improve business at all; at worst a sudden swell in numbers without accompanying interaction will work against the business’ page ranking.  It’s always best to remember the old adage “Slow and steady wins the race.”  Think marathon, not sprint.

Are you harnessing the true power of social media marketing?  Which best practices are you employing to build trust and loyalty among your fans and followers?  Please share your thoughts in the comments section below!

3 Reasons Too-Good-to-be-True Social Media Promises are Just That

May 27, 2013

by Jeanine Vecchiarelli                      return to JayVee Media Link LLC

Social media profiles set up, optimized and branded; 100 press release submissions; reputation management; daily content creation; ongoing SEO; forum participation; client relationship management; link building; article submissions; video creation… The list went on for two full pages:

All for the low price of…and the named price was enough to hook the most gullible of business owners trying to launch social media as part of their marketing efforts.  Then, for the clincher, there was the GUARANTEE:  a top 10 Google ranking.  Such was the content of an unsolicited email recently received by a client of mine.  He forwarded it to me with the comment, “This sure looks like a lot for the price they are asking.”  I responded by thanking him for the opportunity to see what the charlatans in my field are doing.  My client then said, “You can do all that!  Why don’t YOU advertise like that?”  And so the lesson began once again.

Reason #1: There is no such thing as a guarantee of top ranking on Google or any other major search engine.  Be wary of ANY company who makes such promises, ESPECIALLY for bargain basement prices.  Top rankings are achieved through intensive, strategic work and constant monitoring of and adaptation to changing algorithms.  While all this is possible, it cannot be done cheaply.  Nor can it be achieved by one person singlehandedly.  Furthermore, even if this goal is attained, it takes just as much time and monetary investment to remain at the top of the rankings.

Reason #2: There aren’t enough hours in a day for one or two or even three people to execute every one of the activities promised in this glorious sounding message.  The broad scope of what this company is offering must be undertaken by a closely integrated group of people, each specializing in one or two aspects, and each investing a considerable amount of time.  Again, this does not come cheaply.

Reason #3: The company’s promised time frame cannot be guaranteed because the process cannot be rushed. The outreach, engagement and trust building that comprise successful social media marketing take time; for the company to represent its “strategy” as a quick road to success is disingenuous and misleading.

As an interesting aside, I also noticed this company’s promise to build large numbers of fans/followers for the social media profiles it would set up for its clients.  Intrigued, I visited its Facebook business page.  The site boasted several thousand fans.  Wow!  Yet the vast majority of page posts bore a smattering of likes or comments by the same few people.  Employees, perhaps?  Made me wonder…

The only possible conclusion to draw from this experience is that messages we receive which promise the world for the price of a cup of coffee are not to be taken seriously.  Those who send such paraphernalia devalue the social media marketing industry and make the credible businesses in the field look bad.  And anyone on the receiving end of such nonsense who takes the bait will undoubtedly wind up paying much more than promised and receiving much less than guaranteed.  It is best to remember the old adage “If it looks too good to be true, it IS.”

How do you handle messages like the one discussed here?  What do you tell your clients if they approach you after having received one?  Please share your thoughts in the comments section below!

Social Media Automation: Boon or Bust?

May 6, 2013

by Jeanine Vecchiarelli            return to JayVee Media Link LLC

To automate or not to automate? That is a very popular question these days.  And it’s one that appears to inspire passionate debate!

The way people use social media automation ultimately determines whether the practice is a good or a bad one.  We DO need to remember that for social interaction to be successful we must be present for it!  Automation needs to be recognized for what it is – a set of tools, rather than an end in itself.

Automate to Share

One useful type of automation consists of tools that help us to quickly curate great quality content by other leaders and peers in our fields.  Sharing value is one of the most important ingredients of successful social media marketing.  The activity engenders trust and loyalty among our followers, who appreciate the no strings attached information we share with them.  As an added bonus, the content we regularly share helps us to stay visible among our fans and followers throughout each day.

The downside to content curation is the inordinate amount of time we would need to spend researching and evaluating posts we deem important enough to share if we had to undertake this necessary activity manually.  Such a time investment would render impossible the equally important activity of real time responding and conversing with our fans/followers.  Tools like Bundlepost offer wonderful methods of accomplishing curation while still maintaining ample opportunity for the real time interactions on which successful social media marketing turns.  In this light, social media automation is definitely a good thing.

Schedule for Smarter Real-Time Presence

Another facet of social media automation that hits the proverbial hot button is the actual advance scheduling of the posts we wish to share.  Opponents of the practice often paint proponents as lazy and apathetic about the germination and nurturing of those all important social media relationships.  In actuality, proper use of advance scheduling tools offers benefits that would be very difficult to attain if every post we shared was in real time.  For example, we may wish to target specific time sensitive posts to a certain segment of our prospects/clients who are located in different time zones.  It makes much better sense to schedule copies of our posts to arrive within the necessary time frames, targeted to our fans/followers in each applicable time zone than it does to manually resend our messages at the necessary times for each time zone we need to target.

As noted earlier, advance scheduling of value posts keeps our companies present and visible among our social media platforms for our clients and prospects to see.  Ideally, these should serve as “anchor” posts which we use to stimulate enthusiasm and spark good conversation among our fans/followers.  In other words, advance scheduling does NOT mean we may walk away from our accounts.  Proper use of this feature allows us to spend even more time present and engaging with our audiences, ultimately guiding them down our sales funnels.  Truly, the only fail with this system is for those with an automation “set it and forget it” mentality.

Which social media automation tools have you tried?  Which ones do you prefer for your business?  Please share your experiences in the comments section below!

Oops! 5 Tips for Dealing with Business Mistakes on the Social Media Stage

April 29, 2013

by Jeanine Vecchiarelli                             return to JayVee Media Link LLC

“My Biggest Mistake.” That is the headline of a series of online articles I recently saw on LinkedIn.  The entries that comprise the posts are offered by some of the biggest names in business, making clear that mistakes happen to EVERYONE.  The gist of each is that we can overcome, just as these big business persons did, IF we know how to handle the problematic situations we accidentally created.

The first thing we need to remember is social media is instantaneous.  We lose control over our postings literally as soon as we click the “post” button.  So we always, ALWAYS must double check what we have written before sending it to our sites.  Of course, spelling and grammar are important.   But we also need to check our passages for proper word usage.  And tricky as this may be, we must use our best objective judgment to look for the potential that the way we worded our thoughts could be misconstrued. Many unexpected issues occur because we didn’t stop to think how something we posted with good intentions might be misunderstood. Finally, we also must make sure our messages are about to be sent to their intended destinations.

Should the unthinkable happen – and it may sooner or later, because we ALL make mistakes – here are a few guidelines to help smooth ruffled feathers among our followers:

1. Own up to our errors.  It might surprise us to discover how forgiving our disgruntled followers can be when we step up and claim responsibility for our mistakes.

2. Take a moment before typing our mea culpa messages in order to make sure we craft our apologies clearly and with genuine sincerity.  Our fans can spot phony remorse a mile away; trying to “pull one over on them” will only make a bad situation worse.  Recently a big name company tweeted something wildly inappropriate after a major tragedy. That was bad; when they responded to scores of complaining followers with the same bland blanket apology it made their initial mistake exponentially worse!  They were still getting bad press more than a week after the tragic event.

3. Do NOT delete angry comments!  This action will be viewed as dismissing the feelings of our followers, and will more than likely cause even more to be posted – including across different social media platforms that we may not be able to track quickly. The negative comments may sting, but they also offer the best chance of turning our negatives into positives.  We need instead to demonstrate our genuine remorse by owning up to our mistakes and responding with sincere apologies to our disgruntled followers.

4. As much as those negative comments may sting, we must not become defensive or escalate the situation by fighting back.  We did the crime; we need to do the time.  Any other response from us will turn our bad situations into much bigger events.

5. After apologizing, we need to move on.  There is no reason to dwell upon our mistakes.  Everyone makes them, after all.  And since we aren’t perfect beings there’s a chance these may not be our last errors. The best we can do is resolve to try our hardest not to repeat the mistakes we made, and make every effort to watch how we act and what we post going forward.

What additional tips can you offer to help us deal with mistakes in our businesses?  Please share them so we may all learn from each other!

Social Media Marketing: Consistency is Key

March 11, 2013

by Jeanine Vecchiarelli                             return to JayVee Media Link LLC

Consistency is a word we hear a lot in the social media field.  It is an integral part of the online world, and is vital to growing an influential presence among both peers and prospects.

How often do we see Facebook business pages or Twitter business profiles that have been left to gather dust?  There’s no doubt each was launched with high hopes and good intentions.  Some may bear a smattering of earnest posts from those initial days of existence.  And that’s where they lay.

It’s important to remember that simply possessing social media business profiles does not guarantee us desirable returns.  More likely, deserted profiles may work against us.  They exist on platforms where social behavior is expected.  Prospects and clients seek them out anticipating a cultivation of customer/merchant relationships as well as a ready conduit for enlightenment and assistance.  Peers visit them in pursuit of information and conversation that may lead to mutual business benefit. What message is conveyed when they encounter virtual tumbleweeds upon clicking onto our sites?

I was recently approached by a former client who could answer that question.  Throughout our affiliation, we worked together to successfully nurture trusting connections, share value, facilitate conversations, and assist those who needed help.  Once our joint effort ended, this client ceased all activity on his sites.  Is it any wonder why he didn’t receive a single response when he recently posted a promotion for an excellent service?  All the trust, all the relationships we cultivated, all the good will we built was gone. He needs to start over again.  But this time his starting point may be met with uncertainty. Will he stay around consistently, or will he disappear on his following again?  Trust is difficult to rebuild when it has been violated.

We come to be known and trusted by posting consistently, sharing value regularly and nurturing engagement daily.  This is the recipe that translates into better bonds, deeper customer loyalty and stronger referrals.

In what ways do you ensure consistency on your social media business profiles?  Please share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Social Media Marketing? Go Where Your Clients Are!

February 25, 2013

by Jeanine Vecchiarelli                                    return to JayVee Media Link LLC

Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Google Plus.  And SO MANY others.  In the social media marketing realm there is a place and a purpose for each platform.  Of course, it would be counterproductive to try keeping up with ALL of them.  Each one requires a proper time investment.  But a strong marketing strategy will employ several, integrating them into a good, productive campaign.

After carefully selecting the best social media platforms to suit our business needs, it is not uncommon for us to gravitate toward the one or two whose style(s) we favor. That may well lead to us spending a greater share of our time on the one(s) we prefer.  But in order to court success for our clients – as well as for ourselves – we need to step outside of our own preferences and ask: Which platform are the majority of our clients and prospects using?  We owe it to them as well as to ourselves to become comfortable and fluent on the one THEY favor, and to invest a larger share of our time and energy posting and engaging with them THERE.

Are our businesses primarily B2B?  Chances are the profile that holds the most potential for us is LinkedIn.  B2C? Platforms such as Facebook and Twitter may likely fit the bill.  Do our businesses lend themselves to visual displays and promotions?  Pinterest and/or You Tube may be the best places to court and interact with current/potential clients.  These are merely generalizations, of course.  The best platforms for us need to be determined through careful analysis of our specific businesses.

To recap:  Planning a successful strategy means determining which of the social media platforms will work best to service the general needs of our growing businesses.  Smart planning will result in setting up and using the few most likely to deliver the best results for our important business metrics.  After that, the largest segment of our time needs to be spent engaging on the one or two platforms that are most heavily populated by the people who are more likely to want or need the product/service we provide.  It is our duty to become familiar and comfortable with those channels in particular, so we may nurture the most potentially fruitful connections and hence obtain the best return from our invested time.

Which platform do you feel is most heavily populated by the best prospects for your business?  How will you use that social media channel to engage with them?  Please share your thoughts in the comments section below!

Facebook Makes Changes Again

January 28, 2013

by Jeanine Vecchiarelli                                     return to JayVee Media Link LLC

Facebook is beginning 2013 by living up to its reputation:  the only thing constant about the platform is change.  Three new features and one rule change are rolling out so far, and it’s still only January!

One feature that is being introduced is certainly convenient for page owners.  In the past, when we wished to like another business page AS our pages, we have needed to formally switch perspectives by utilizing Facebook’s “Use page as…” option.  The new feature enables us to “like as page” simply by choosing that option from a drop down menu that becomes visible upon clicking the gear image to the right of the page’s “message” or “like” button.

Another new element being introduced is a larger viewing area for pictures and preview text when we post a link that includes an illustration.  Considering the attention posted pictures draw, tripling the size of this preview in shared links will be very helpful as we attempt to pique site visitors’ interest and encourage engagement.

In case we should start thinking Facebook is getting too nice, a new rule was recently launched that spells aggravation for many business page owners.  We already know the cover picture no-nos:  no contact info; no calls to action; no promotions.  The new rule – JUST in case we were still finding a way to make them too spammy – limits text to 20% of our cover pictures.  How many of you are scrambling, as I am?

Of course, the biggest new feature for Facebook is what the platform’s big announcement last week was all about:  the roll out of open graph search.  The implications for business AND personal users can only be imagined at this point.  Search will undoubtedly be taken to an unprecedented new level of personalization.  This will be true both on platform as well as for any off platform businesses that utilize Facebook’s API.  For those users concerned about privacy, it’s a good time to make sure all of your privacy settings accurately represent your preferences.  Graph search will not access what is private; nor will it make public information you have set as visible to only your friends (search WILL factor in your information for your friends if that is how your privacy settings are configured).  For businesses, now is the time to optimize business pages to maximize the chances of being found by the open graph search feature.  That includes filling out the “about” section with as much relevant detail as possible, including links to websites and other social media platforms, and creating/sharing posts with good value that keep page visitors reading and engaging.

So many changes in so little time!  Facebook seems to like keeping us on our toes by making things easier and more challenging at the same time!  Which new feature will keep YOU busiest?  Please share your thoughts in the comments section below!

Facebook = Websites?

January 14, 2013

by Jeanine Vecchiarelli                         return to JayVee Media Link LLC

Do we really need websites when we have Facebook business pages that allow us to build our customer bases, promote and sell our products/services? This question arises every so often. I have heard it asked a few times recently, so I thought I would weigh in with my views once again.

My short answer to the question “Do we need websites?” is YES! Facebook is an excellent tool for promoting our brands and our products/services. But it is NOT a good “home” for our businesses. Here is why:

The difference between having a website and just maintaining a presence on Facebook is comparable to owning a house versus renting one. When we own, the place is OURS. We set our own rules and are able to do anything we wish with and within our domiciles. Conversely, when we rent we live subject to the rules as set forth by our landlords. We may not do as we please; indeed, ignoring the rules may result in our being evicted from our homes. Websites are our businesses’ homes. They belong to US. We make the rules, control the designs, post what we want, plan and run promotions the way we desire, and house our all important original content there. We can and should host links to our Facebook business sites and other social media channels on our websites. But while they are important, those business sites are merely rented spaces. Facebook, for one, is a stickler of a landlord! We are not free to post anything we want on our business pages, or to post in any manner we desire. We must follow the platform’s strict rules for promotions and contests. If we don’t play by ITS rules, we will be evicted. And we will lose everything in the process, with no avenue for recourse.

Let me repeat that, for it should be the most unsettling consideration for us: If we don’t follow Facebook’s Terms of Service (TOS), our business pages will be shut down. And there is no real recourse for appeal. In essence, that means we do not own or control our content when it is kept on the Facebook platform. Additionally, Facebook’s TOS frequently change. In fact, rules for the cover photos of our business pages just changed again: as of January 15th, text may take up no more than 20% of our cover photos. Were you aware of this new stipulation? Failure to keep track of such changes diligently can cost us our business pages, along with all the fans we have amassed and content we have created. Scary thought, right?

Lack of control and only tenuous ownership of our own content; small wonder Facebook is not a replacement for our websites. We need to consider this carefully and use the platform for what it is: an important tool in our social media marketing toolboxes. Facebook is wonderfully effective for sharing our posted content, engaging and exposing our brands and offerings. But for the security of our businesses, we should not make it into something it wasn’t meant to be – the sole online home for our companies.

How do you field questions from your clients about Facebook versus websites? Please share your perspectives in the comments section below!

SEE ALSO: “7 Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Replace Your Website with a Facebook Page,” by John Judd of Codeboss