Whilst both of the above are true, businesses looking to enhance their SEO or social media shouldn’t incorporate the keywords within the copy on a whim, nor should they create relevant social media platforms, carry out a little bit of work and then leave them to dissolve.

Instead, when running both an SEO campaign and a social media marketing campaign, it is important to be spend the time on a weekly, if not daily basis, working on and improving the content, to ensure you and your business receive the best possible results.

Even when you reach the top of Google (SEO) or your followers count on Twitter reaches thousands and / or millions you need to continue with the hard work, to remain on top.

Along with carrying out continuous hard work on both your SEO and social media campaigns, as a business it is important not to view the two as two separate entities, as a recent study has proven.

The study in question, looked at a large number of tweets containing URLs, and the findings which have recently been published have highlighted that social media and SEO go hand in hand – as many who work within SEO and social media anticipated.

The study, which is considered to be the biggest of its kind, found that there is a strong correlation between the amount of tweets about a URL and its Google ranking; with the results showing that the more tweets a URL receives, the higher it appears within the Google ranking.

Whilst this may sound all well and good from the outset for your business, and you may be considering getting your clients and employees to retweet updates which link back to a commercial page or a business blog, the results are slightly more complicated.

Following analysis of the study, the positive effects remain minimal until around 5,000 tweets with the link, although URLs receiving over 7,500 tweets almost always rank inside the top five results on Google.

Understandably, as a small to medium sized accountancy or solicitors firm targeting a specific area within the UK, you may feel that the findings from this study cannot benefit your SEO rankings, as you don’t have that wide a reach.

However, the findings highlight more than the benefit of social media on SEO rankings; they also show the importance of a well planned, active and engaging social media marketing campaign and how it can increase your SEO rankings.

If for one moment we push aside the rankings on Google, the study shows how the basic principals of a social media campaign can help improve the reach businesses of all shapes and sizes, in all sectors and throughout all areas of the world have via the internet.
Some of the basics which all businesses need to ensure they do the moment they create a social media presence, whether it is on one platform or a selection, include:

• Add the social media widgets onto the websites
• Issue a press release announcing you’re on social media
• Engage with an audience

Adding Social Media Widgets:

When we talk about adding the social media widgets, we don’t mean just add the logos at the bottom of the page, where relatively few people look.

Instead, we suggest adding the widgets above the fold on the homepage, and then within the right hand column of each page on the website. If you have a separate blog site, the widgets should also be added above the fold on this.

In addition to adding the widgets to all pages of your website, you should also add them to the email signatures of all staff.

Why?

By incorporating the social media widgets on all website pages as well as the email signatures, you are automatically reaching an audience and promoting your social media platforms, without carrying out any additional work on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn.

This is beneficial because clients and your target audience aren’t necessarily going to go and search for your business on any of these platforms; but if they know via your website or emails that you are on social media, they are more likely to visit your social media pages and follow you / your business.

Issue a Press Release:

A press release doesn’t have to be wordy. All that is required is to inform your audience that your business is now using social media, details of the platforms you’re using (i.e. your Twitter handle e.g. @jeconsulting) and what they can expect from your social media performance.

Once the press release has been penned, send it to your main clients so they are aware that you’re using social media – again, if they know you are on social media, they are more likely to visit your social media pages and follow you / your business.

Whilst the above two “basics” should be carried out as soon as your social media marketing has begun, the latter needs to be done on a weekly, ideally daily, basis – and it is this last “basic” which will help boost your SEO – although it is worth remembering it will take time and hard work.

Engage with your Audience:

Engaging with your audience is one of the main elements of all social media platforms, and the power of engagement shouldn’t be ignored.

By correctly engaging with your audience, from retweeting / sharing updates they post which are relevant with your business, through to answering questions, offering advice or pointing them in the right direction, it all counts to creating a good following and a successful social media campaign.

When we’re talk about engagement with your audience, we don’t mean spending hours a day on each platform looking for audience members to engage in. Instead, offering general advice via an update or checking your “mentions” and “comments” in the morning and before the end of the day, and responding to any comments can be as powerful, if not more so than spending every waking hour on the platforms.

Engagement will also help to build your social media following, which in turn will help with retweets, mentions and shares, which as touched upon above, can influence and improve your SEO.

In a nutshell, your social media marketing campaign and your SEO campaign, should be considered to be an intermingled never ending circle, which work together to improve your online marketing.

If you require help improving your SEO, social media or web presence, why not consider the services offered by JE Consulting.

Within the JE Consulting blogs, we have often said that there is no right or wrong way in which to operate your social media marketing campaign, after all what works for one business won’t necessarily work for another within the same industry – and syncing social networking accounts certainly falls into this category.

Why You Should Sync:

There are a number of businesses and individuals who sync their Facebook to their Twitter, their Twitter to their Facebook, and their Twitter to their LinkedIn – enabling them to reach the largest amount of connections via each major platform, in the shortest amount of time.

Time is often the principal reason behind businesses and professional individuals synchronising their social media platforms; after all it allows them to share a link to their latest blog or share important information on each platform without logging in and out.

With a few clicks of their mouse and a quick type, an update promoting their new blog on industry specific news can be shared with their followers on Twitter, their friends on Facebook and their connections on LinkedIn; allowing them to concentrate on other areas of the business or online marketing strategy.

Why You Shouldn’t Sync:

Synchronising your accounts may seem like a time saving idea – and it may have worked for you in the past – but by avoiding the synchronising button on each platform, and instead taking the time to log in and out of each platform individually, you could see greater results from the messages you are sharing.

Whilst time and reach are often the principal reasons behind the pros of account syncing, your audience and platforms should be the reasons you opt to manually update each profile.

On each platform, it is more than likely you’ll be reaching out to a different demographic – for example LinkedIn is a great tool for business-to-business communication and promotion; whilst Twitter is ideal for business-to-consumer interaction and engagement; and as such the updates you provide should be tailored to the audience on that platform.

As a rule of thumb, personal Twitter accounts should not be synced to your LinkedIn profile; even if you use your personal Twitter account to post work related updates; after all a generic sync between Twitter and LinkedIn will see every Twitter update you post added to your LinkedIn timeline, including those where you’re moaning about Monday mornings, the performance of a sports team or counting down to the weekend – the tweets which should be kept out of the work domain.

Along with the audience on each platform being different, the platforms themselves offer those engaging in social media marketing different ways in which to spread their messages.

Twitter for example, allows the use of hash-tags (i.e. #socialmediamarketing) which acts as a search function. Those searching for #socialmediamarketing are more likely to come across your tweet, whilst you are also able to click on the hash-tag to find tweets about the same subject and other users who are tweeting about the subject.

However, whilst #socialmediamarketing will make sense within a 140-character update on Twitter, within your Facebook or LinkedIn updates it will look out of place, messy and serve no function. It also has the power to turn users who do not understand Twitter but use other platforms, away from your profile.

As social media marketing continues to grow and expand, so do the expectations of the audience on each platform; and as such if you want to ensure your campaign is a success, you should take the time to understand your audience and tailor the updates to suit them – and not just opt for the most convenient option.

This is the result of research, which found that fans are most likely to engage with a brand on social media on a Sunday, particularly if the brand falls within fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) and telecommunications.

Many businesses who have seen the results of this research, will understandably be questioning how they can reach their audience, particularly as many SMEs using social media for online marketing purposes, generally work Monday to Friday.

Thankfully, there are a number of tools and applications, which mean whether you’re in the office, on the golf course or enjoying a relaxing weekend with the family, you’re still able to keep your target audience up to date with the latest news, developments and offers within your business.

Below, is a sprinkling of some of the ways you can engage with your audience, even when you’re not in the office!

Mobile Applications:

As Smartphones become the norm amongst many within the UK, it is not surprising that it’s possible to get applications for LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and much more on your phone, and in many cases for free.

It therefore shouldn’t be too surprising to hear that 96% of 18-24 year olds within the UK engage with Facebook via their mobile phones, whilst 22% of 25-34 year olds are owners of “tablets”.

If your audience are taking advantage of such applications via mobile phones, why doesn’t your business? Downloading the relevant applications means whatever time of day, and wherever you are, you’ll be able to update your social media platforms.

This can be great for when relevant news stories break late at night on a Friday or first thing on a Saturday, as you’re able to engage your audience straight away with the news, adding your professional opinions – and therefore building up trusts as an authoritative figure within the industry.

Schedule Updates:

If you’d prefer to leave work behind when you’re with your family, but still want to be able to update your social media platforms over the weekend, all is not lost, as there are a number of applications and tools available which allow you to schedule updates to both Twitter and Facebook.

Some of the favourites, which have a great reputation for being easy to use and reliable, especially for Twitter, include:

Hootsuite – a powerful and feature rich application which includes a tweet scheduler, and is very popular, web based multi account twitter client.

SocialOomph – along with having a tweet scheduler, SocialOomph also enables users to auto-follow

Tweetdeck – as with Hootsuite, Tweetdeck allows users to schedule updates to its supported social networks, which includes Twitter and Facebook.

Spare Five Minutes:

Ok, so this isn’t strictly an application or tool which you can download onto your computer, mobile phone or tablet. But, by the same account, it shouldn’t be ignored.

If you have a spare five minutes throughout the weekend, maybe the children are still in bed or you’re waiting for the Sunday Roast to cook, why not quickly (and we mean quickly, after all it’s the weekend) pop onto the internet and check the social media platforms, respond to any mentions / comments you’ve had – and if necessary update the status.

It doesn’t have to be every weekend that you log on, nor does it have to be for any more than five minutes, but that little bit of time you do spend on it, could make the difference to your social media marketing campaign.

Seeing this message can understandably cause your heart to flutter amid panic, but worry not, the message is a result of Facebook rolling out their compulsory “Timeline” design for business pages, which are set to give Facebook Pages a major facelift – but will also require businesses to carry out a few alterations to make sure they still have an engaging and inviting page.

The Facebook Timeline for business pages was first brought to our attention back in September, at the annual F8 Conference, and from today it is compulsory across all of Facebook; but for those businesses who missed the original announcement or that haven’t got around to complying with the new design, we offer some tips and advice on what you should be doing to create an engaging and inviting page.

Perhaps the two immediate and striking changes to the design are the large banner image across the top, and the change from one column to two – which sees activities on the right and status updates on the left.

Other changes which have been introduced as a result of the “Facebook Facelift” include thumbnail pictures now being bigger in size, the ability to add “milestones” as well as the option to “pin” important messages to the top of the page, making them more visible for visitors.

If this all sounds too complicated or like too much work to carry out in one go, don’t fret, below we’ll provide a few simple steps on how to take advantage of the new design and functions, helping you to ensure your page offers the “wow” effect for all visitors.

Picture This:

If you’re going to carry out any design work today on your Facebook Page, then the banner image is the most important feature to look at.

Currently, under the new design, without an image, you’re page will be lacking that cutting edge that other brand pages now offer; but within a few clicks of the mouse button your page too can look inviting.

The idea of the banner image is capture the culture and essence of a brand, whilst also showcasing products (if applicable) – and as it is the first thing visitors to the page will see, you need to make sure that it accurately reflects your brand.

To add a banner image, once you’re logged in to the company page, click “add cover” and then upload your desired image from your computer, it really is as simple as that; and should you introduce a new product in a few months time, or change your business brand image, following the same process you can change the image.

N.B. The minimum size for the banner image is 399 pixels wide.

When adding the banner image to the Facebook page, it is also worth checking out the profile picture you’re currently using, as this will show in the bottom corner of the banner, and therefore needs to stand out still. It is recommended to use a high-resolution image which can be easily associated with your business.

Important Milestones:

In life, both as a business and individual we reach important milestones, so why not share them via Facebook?

The “Timeline” allows businesses to add larger pictures, videos, and link stories, under milestones, which if incorporated correctly will engage your audience further; and businesses can use milestones to define key moments in their history – unfortunately for those businesses planning ahead, it isn’t possible to add milestones for the future.

It is worth noting, before you look to add a milestone for your businesses five year anniversary, if you haven’t added a milestone to your business page before Facebook will ask that the very first milestone is about your Page itself. They want you to post the date the business was founded, started, opened, created, or launched.

Adding a milestone to Facebook is also as simple as adding a banner image, with an option appearing within the status update next to “status, photo, ask question”.

Pin That:

From time to time businesses are going to have important announcements, such as key dates, business seminars or special offers. Previously, when advertising these on Facebook, as soon as a new status update was added, it’ll be lost somewhere below.

With the Timeline, this thankfully is now a thing of the past, as businesses can now pin an important message at the top of their page for a period of seven days, ensuring that it remains within the view of their audience.

These are only three design changes which you can (and should) implement within your Facebook Page as soon as you have five minutes.

As a result of the Facebook Timeline, the way fans are able to engage with businesses via the social network is changing. It’s therefore important that you keep on top of your social media marketing and that you keep it fresh and engaging, by changing the banner image from time to time, pinning important announcements and adding milestones.

That’s right, six years ago today, Twitter was born with an innocuous 140-character tweet, sent by the micro-blogging sites co-founder, Jack Dorsey; and just like any proud parent will remember their child’s first word, at JE Consulting we can still remember the first tweet, sent on March 21st 2006 at 3:50pm……………“Just setting up my twttr”.

Six years later, and Twitter has grown from a company which employed five people, to a firm which has over 800 employees and is used around the world by businesses, organisations, charities and individuals alike.

Over the six years, Twitter has grown into one of the most powerful marketing and communicating tools available to anyone who has access to the internet, and below we look a select few key milestones that Twitter has achieved since that very first tweet.

It’s a Numbers Game:

In the social media marketing world, numbers count – and some of the key numbers for Twitter include the number of tweets sent and the number of users; so those behind Twitter will be keen to remember that:

• It only took three years, two months and one day to reach a billion tweets
• 2011, 60 billion tweets were sent out
• There are more than 100 million users right now
• Twitter is now valued at more than $10 billion

A few other firsts which Twitter has achieved already in six short years, include the first tweet from space, which was sent by NASA astronaut TJ Creamer from the International Space Station on January 22nd 2010; and the first product launch was on October 28th 2006.

Over the Years:

Over the last six years, Twitter, despite often being criticised by some for being mundane and trivial, has played a major part in some of the world’s biggest events; often being a key source for breaking news.

The site has also been a key element in people losing their jobs over the years too; a lot to achieve in six short years.

And Twitter’s Present:

As Twitter turned six, it didn’t take time to enjoy the cake and party; instead the micro-blogging site continued to push on in its challenge to become the number one social networking site – and also giving something back (in a roundabout way) to businesses using the site; by rolling out promoted tweets to feature on mobile platforms.

Twitter, confirmed the start of the roll out, in a blog, saying:

“For years, brands around the world have used Twitter to reach consumers with timely, relevant deals, discounts, news and information. And every day, millions of Twitter users who follow brands are turning to their mobile devices to hear from the companies they care about most.

“As with the launch of Promoted Tweets in user timelines on Twitter.com, we started by showing them in the timeline only for those users already following the advertiser. Since we began testing three weeks ago, reactions have been positive.

“Starting today, we are expanding this test, enabling brands to target Promoted Tweets to mobile users that share similar interests with their existing followers.”

Twitter’s present to its users certainly shows that it the social networking tool has no plans to sit back and relax after achieving six years towards the top; and this can only be promising for businesses that are utilising the platform for their social media marketing needs.

The idea behind the Facebook Timeline is to tell the story of your history on Facebook, and as a result it’ll show comments from when you first joined the network through to the modern day.

Although it can be interesting to see how your page has progressed throughout this time, nostalgia should be put to one side, as you ensure your page is prepared for the changes, whilst taking steps to guarantee your page remains inviting, engaging and informative for your visitors.

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words:
The old proverb that “a picture is worth a thousand words” seems to ring true with the design of the Facebook Timeline, as a large image should now be incorporated at the top of the page to prevent unattractive grey space showing.

The image, along with hiding the grey space left from the redesign by Facebook will also push the majority of comments, pictures and information below the fold on the screen, so it is important to select an image which positively reflects and “sells” your business.

Whether you opt to use your company logo, a team photo or an image of your products as the opening image remains your decision, but Facebook do insist on it being a minimum of 399 pixels wide, so you need to make sure that it doesn’t distort when expanding.

Top Tip: If you want your Facebook page to remain engaging to regular visitors, why not consider changing the image used every few months – whether to fit in with new product launches or popular days within the calendar (i.e. Easter, Christmas, summer holidays).

New Features Mean New Opportunities:
Along with the introduction of a large image at the top of the page, the introduction of the timeline brings with it new features – which in turn bring about new opportunities for businesses to promote themselves.

One of the biggest new features to be introduced by Facebook is the ability for businesses to “pin” a post, meaning it stays at the top of the page (even once the page is updated).

The ability to pin a message on the page now allows businesses to keep important information, such as impending seminars or product launches at the top and in the public eye.

Another new feature which brings about new opportunities, being introduced is set to be beneficial to both the clients and business; as Facebook are introducing the ability to send private messages to the owner of a business page, rather than only being able to communicate via public wall messages – a change which could see Facebook grow from a social network into a customer service platform.

Whilst the new features and design layout of the Facebook Timeline for business pages may take some getting use to, and there will no doubt be the odd grumble from those who are still getting to grips with social media marketing, there is no doubt that in the long run, the changes will be influential in the way your online advertising and marketing is carried out.

The study, which looked at 123 companies, revealed that thirty-nine percent of businesses are looking to introduce social media into their activities this year; whilst of the fifty-three percent of companies who use social media, less than half have a strategy in place.

For any business who is considering running a social media campaign, or who are currently reviewing their online marketing campaign, a strategy is a must; as like the managing director of the firm behind the study, said without a strategy “you can quickly find you’ve wasted a lot of time, and money, and not got much to show for it.”

However, it isn’t just the time and money element at risk, which makes a strategy a must before launching or progressing further with a social media marketing campaign.

For individuals looking to experiment with one or more of the social media platforms available, to understand the buzz around them a strategy isn’t needed; however for businesses looking to progress online, reach a specific audience and promote products and services, a strategy is a must.

The “strategy” can be looked upon in the same light as the good old fashioned A-to-Z that drivers relied upon before heading to an unknown area of the UK.

Without an A-to-Z drivers run the risk of taking a wrong turning, getting lost and ultimately they won’t reach their intended destination. Without a social media strategy, businesses are likely to aimlessly wander around various social media platforms, without having anything to show for it.

At JE Consulting, we cannot stress enough how important it is for any business which is serious about reaching and engaging their audience via online marketing, to create a social media strategy.

It is a necessity which should be carried out at the very beginning, even before you sign up to Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook; and below we’re going to look at the key points which should be included within every businesses strategy.

Each decision you make whilst creating your strategy will guide you on how best to tackle the emerging yet powerful market which is social media; in a similar way to how your answers on a flow chart influence the final outcome.

A) Audience – It is all well and good having a well designed social media profile on any of the platforms, an elegant social media page on your website and an informative blog; but without the right audience, all of it means nothing.

It’s therefore important to research your audience. Where can they be found? Are your target audience more likely to use Twitter than Facebook, LinkedIn than online forums, or do they use a selection of all the above?

With this information to hand, you can begin to consider which platform(s) to use.

B) Message to Portray / Goal(s) – Once you’ve decided upon your audience and you’re aware of what platforms they use, you need to consider what messages you want to portray.

Social media marketing doesn’t have to be used to just push a product or service. It can be used to engage with your audience, receive feedback and build awareness of your business / brand.

At this point, you also need to consider whether the messages you want to portray are messages your audience want to receive and whether they fit in with the social media platforms they’re using – and the decisions you make here will influence the next step of your social media strategy.

C) Choosing the Platform(s) – Each platform offers something different, and finding the one / ones which fit with your business brand, image and messages will ultimately depend on what you want to achieve; and by looking at the above two steps first, you’ll be almost there on creating a basic strategy on which to build a successful online marketing campaign.

When choosing the platform, you need to carefully consider whether A plus B equals C; because this isn’t always the case. Sometimes the message you want to portray (B) and the platform you want to use (C) don’t always match your audience (A); whilst on the other hand A and C may go together, but B may not fit in, no matter how hard you try!

That said, there are individual variables which need to be taken into consideration on a business by business basis, which may result in A plus B plus D equalling C – again, in a similar way to the hypothetical flow-chart, each answer will guide you to the conclusion.

So if you’re thinking about beginning your social media marketing campaign, before you switch on your computer, grab your marketing team, a pot of tea and a notepad and pen and plan how you’re going to tackle social media – making sure to cover all the points above. We’re not saying it is going to be easy or quick, but it’ll certainly be rewarding in the long run!

However the last seventy-two hours worth of news, have been anything but quiet or slow, as we briefly explain below.

Not only has it been reported that the global news network is on the verge of buying social media news website, Mashable, for $200 million upwards; but over the last three days the news has also brought mixed fortunes for two of the leading social networks.

Facebook:

Whilst Facebook is currently seen as the number one social network, the site has warned, in a document prepared for investors, that it could be forced to shut down if it loses a series of costly lawsuits.

Facebook are currently facing a number of lawsuits, including one from Yahoo, which Facebook have said “could have a significant impact on our business, financial conditions or results of operations” adding “the terms of such a settlement or judgment may require us to cease some or all of our operations or pay substantial amounts to the other party.”

Although the warning is thought to be no more than an exploration of worst-case scenario, it does pose a few questions about the future of the social network, as they themselves admit that they are “presently are involved in a number of lawsuits” before adding “as we face increasing competition and gain an increasingly high profile, including in connection with our initial public offering, we expect the number of patent and other intellectual property claims against us to grow.”

The warning comes on the back of other documents released by Facebook which reveals that between five and six per cent of its 845 million users were either fake or duplicate accounts.

In better news for the Facebook team, and Mark Zuckerberg, banks have doubled the overdraft available, from $2.5 billion to $5 billion; whilst creditors have also extended its $3 billion bridging loan to cover tax as some 3,000 staff prepare to exercise share options worth $7.5 billion.

Twitter:

It would appear that good news and bad news are in equal measure for Facebook’s nearest rival, Twitter, too.

Whilst Facebook has received a financial boost, with its overdraft being double, leaked financial results to Gawker report that Twitter is failing to capitalise on the vast users who regularly use the site, as a net loss of $67.8 million was racked up in 2010.

Unfortunately for the micro-blogging site the losses continued last year with a net loss of $25.8 million through to April 30th 2011.

However, despite the leaked financial reports, the good news for Twitter is that they are successfully managing to bridge the gap between consumers and businesses / brands, as they introduce new incentives.

Hot on the heels of the announcement that Twitter has teamed up with American Express, Twitter broke the news that they have finalised a number of partnerships with retailers and money providers that will offer customers discounts through what they tweet.

Some of the firms who’ve joined this partnership include H&M, Dell and Best Buy, and it is hoped that these new partnerships will build more in-depth interactions between brands and customers.

Twitter’s head of global revenue, Adam Bain said of the news: “This is just the beginning. You’re going to see a tonne of creative examples of people building on this platform – this is not just about giving people a deal or discount.

“Buying directly from tweets will be huge.”

Whether any of the above will have a large enough impact on social media marketing as we know it, remains to be seen. But should Facebook be forced to close some or all of its services, or should Twitter succeed in bridging the gap between brands and consumers, businesses using social media marketing are bound to benefit in some form.

Far from it, in-fact social media marketing is still seen as an emerging market, as more businesses – from large corporations through to SMEs recognise the power online marketing offers – sign up to the various platforms available and run online marketing campaigns alongside existing forms of marketing.

However, whilst marketing via social media is still a powerful tool for businesses to utilise; it is an area of marketing which also involves many hurdles – which should be taken into consideration if you want to guarantee your campaign is a success.

It is worth thinking about your social media marketing campaign as the sixty-metre hurdles which forms one of the events in the pentathlon at this years World Indoor Championships.

Now we’re not asking you to complete your campaign in record time, instead whilst Olympic gold medallist hopeful Jessica Ennis is completing the 60m hurdles in a record time; for businesses carrying out their online marketing campaign, it is better to go slow and steady to ensure you overcome the following hurdles and finish the race.

Quality vs. Quantity:

Quality verses quantity is one of the most important hurdles you need to overcome during your campaign, and as luck would have it, it comes right at the beginning of the “race”.

Many businesses can be found guilty of going down the quantity instead of the quality route; but this is more likely to cause your campaign to stutter rather than flourish.

A top-tip when coming out of the starter’s blocks is to consider the social media platforms your using to be the same as your audiences mailbox. You wouldn’t cram as many leaflets of promotions, special offers and information into them as you can in a day, so why do it online?

Recent research has suggested that as many as seventy-five percent of social media users find two or more messages a day from a brand too much; whilst sixty percent are more interested in the quality and creativity of what is being said, not how often it is being said.

If you want to keep your followers, engage your audience and spread your reach further, then you need to make sure your updates are creative, grammatically correct and there are no spelling errors – which leads us onto the second hurdle.

Engaging Content:

Your marketing campaign needs to engage your audience if it is going to work. Unfortunately twenty percent of online users find that incentives offered by businesses aren’t worth the effort, whilst forty percent don’t want to share brand interactions with friends.

So how do you reach your audience and engage them with your content?

Each platform is different as is each member of your audience, therefore what works on / for one, may not work on / for another. The key is to alter your message for each platform and to remain creative at the same time.

Thankfully this isn’t as hard as it sounds, as each platform – from Twitter to LinkedIn – has its own tools available, such as the infamous hash-tag on Twitter.

They all also have the ability to support images and website links, meaning your updates no longer have to be just text based, instead you now have the option to wow your audience with interesting pictures or direct them to more informative short videos.

Time:

The final hurdle is often a stumbling block for many businesses, as they juggle to find time to concentrate on the core elements of their business whilst also running a successful online marketing campaign.

Thankfully, it is a hurdle which can be easily straddled, if you have the right strategy in place.

Time spent working on your social media campaign doesn’t have to be a significant amount, to make it successful.

In all honesty, twenty minutes a day is plenty of time to run an online marketing campaign, if you know what you’re doing; as within this time you’ll be able to respond to any only enquiries you’ve received, engage with your audience and look at new avenues to pursue to improve your campaign further.

The Finish Line:

Overcoming these hurdles will see you cross the finish line, and hopefully collect a well-earned following of audience members who are interested in what you have to say, your business and what you’re offering – although it is worth remembering that audience reach doesn’t always mean ROI.

As such, the moment you cross the finish line, you’re back in the starting blocks because as with athletes competing at the World Indoor Championships, success is short lived. If you want to continue engaging your audience and succeeding in social media marketing, you need to keep going, and after each “race” start again, improving each time.

For more information, please visit [url=http://www.je-consulting.co.uk/]www.je-consulting.co.uk[/url]

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A six month study is currently being run by The Chartered Institute of Marketing who are looking at 1,500 marketers to see how they are adapting to, investing in and getting value from social media; in an effort to help companies understand how they can improve their online marketing campaigns in the future.

The first bunch of results were released at the end of February 2012 have made for interesting reading as they show which platforms are being used the most by marketers, what they’re being used for and how effective marketers found their campaigns during 2011.

We’ve already examined some of the results from the study in two of our previous blog “Measuring Social Media Marketing Success” and “Don’t Always Believe the Social Media Marketing Statistics”.

Today, we’re going to look at the rest of the findings from the study; at the same time as explaining how they can benefit those businesses looking to take their first steps into the world of online marketing.

Which Platforms to Use:

The study has found that seventy-one percent of the 1,500 marketers are using Twitter for the main elements of their campaign, whilst fifty-six percent are utilising Facebook and fifty-three percent LinkedIn.

However, just because more marketers are using Twitter as their main platform, it doesn’t mean that your business should.

Before opting for one social network over another, you should consider who you want to appeal to. Are you looking for Business-to-Consumer (B2C) interaction, Business-to-Business (B2B) interaction or both B2C and B2B?

According to The Chartered Institute of Marketing’s study LinkedIn is a more prominent network for those looking for B2B interaction; whilst Facebook was used more for those businesses looking for B2C interaction.

The study also found that Twitter, saw little variation between B2C and B2B.

Who Is Managing Your Social Media…..

Despite many misconceptions, online marketing via social networks isn’t as simple as posting a quick status update advising your fans / followers / friends of a new product or service. Yet the study into how marketers are using social media revealed that businesses are still managing their social media ineffectively.

Twenty-eight percent of the marketers who participated in the survey admitted that the management of their social media remains undefined and inconsistent from campaign to campaign; whilst twenty-three percent distributed the tasks amongst the marketing team.

On the other hand, five percent of participants said they outsourced their social media, four percent said it was managed by a dedicated social media manager and twenty-nine percent said it was looked after by a social media champion.

…..And Are They Equipped?

Whilst there is no denying that having someone who understands your business, products and services running your social media marketing campaign is beneficial; it is equally important to have someone running your campaign who is equipped and understands social media.

This, however, seems to be an area where many businesses are falling down, with the findings showing:

• 19% are fundamentally ill-equipped
• 31% consider themselves below their industry average
• 32% consider their social media marketing skills to be average and only 6% believe their skills and competencies are optimal.

The group of statistics above may go someway to highlighting why the statistics mentioned within “Don’t Always Believe the Social Media Marketing Statistics” are as they are.

For any business, whether you’re looking to take your first steps into or you’ve ran numerous campaigns, it is important to have someone running your campaign that not only understands your business model / what your business is about, but also understands and is passionate about social media.

Why Are You Using Social Media?

So we know which platforms to use for what and who should be running the social media element of your business; but why are you using social media?

Worryingly, three-percent of participants in the The Chartered Institute of Marketing study admitted they didn’t know why they were using it, whilst two-percent were using it because their competitors do.

The rest of the participants said they were using it because customers use it (18%); it’s expected (12%); it’s a core part of their marketing campaign (27%) or they were “just experimenting” (28%).

Whilst there is no right or wrong answer as to why you’re using social media as a form of marketing; it is important for businesses to have a strategy in place.

Your social media marketing strategy should explain what you want to achieve by using the platforms available and how you plan to achieve these goals. Without such a strategy your marketing campaign is likely to lack direction and consequently run the risk of not proving as beneficial as a competitor’s who has a plan of action in place.