1. Do I need to be on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, etc.?
      Answer: No. You only have to participate where it makes sense. You don’t need to do everything. I will assess where your customers are participating and what makes sense for your audience and your industry. But you don’t always need to be on every platform. Even if your customers are on Twitter and you hate using Twitter, you don’t have to use it. You need to enjoy what you are doing. Or you can hire me to do it for you. We keep an open dialogue so that you know what is happening and what is working for you.

    2. What results can I expect from social media?
      Answer: It depends on your participation in each platform. Or it depends on the level of service you hire me for. A minimal posting schedule will result in minimal growth and minimal interaction. But when you are engaging and more active you can have a great impact on the buzz you are generating, your sales, and the traffic to your website. It’s not instantaneous and takes time and effort.

    3. How do I get more followers on Twitter?
      Answer: The biggest mistake people make on Twitter is using it to broadcast and not talking to other people. Retweeting isn’t even always the most engaging (commenting with a retweet is better). Following new people, using lists, using searches, participating in Tweetchats are all good ways to connect to new followers. Follow people and 30-50% will follow you back.

    4. How do I get more Likes on Facebook?
      Answer: You can either spend your time or your money to get more Likes. With your Time you will engage other Pages, post often, cross -promote on other platforms, and more. With your money you can run Facebook ads, run contests, run Sponsored Stories, use Facebook Offers and more.

    5. How do I get more connections on LinkedIn?
      Answer: Strategically connect to 20 new people a week. Use the Add Connections section to find people you may know. It’s amazing that LinkedIn knows you know those people. Use LinkedIn Groups to connect to like – minded people and potential customers.

    6. How do I update Twitter from Facebook?
      Answer: There are a lot of ways to do this. If you want to automatically tweet every Facebook post out (the better option because you have more tweets than Facebook posts) you can just go to www.facebook.com/twitter and link those accounts. But there are mixed feelings on whether or not you should do that. I definitely don’t recommend putting a lot of Twitter lingo in your Facebook Posts if you are going to use a tool like Hootsuite to post to Facebook and Twitter at the same time.

    7. How do I get seen in the Facebook News Feed?
      Answer: The million dollar question these days. Pages are not showing up as much in the News Feed and it’s frustrating. You can see exactly how many people see your posts with the percentages and it ranges from 10 – 40% typically depending on how active the Page is. You need to get more engagement on your Page to be seen more.

    8. How do I run a Facebook contest?
      Answer: You can either run a Facebook “Timeline” contest (i.e. Comment on this picture to be entered) or use a Facebook App to run a contest. If you use a Facebook App the benefit is that you will get people’s e-mail addresses and you can then market to them more later through your e-mail newsletters. Great Apps include, Offerpop.com, Easypromosapp.com, Woobox.com, ContestDomination.com, Tabsite.comand lots more.

    9. How do I run a Facebook ad campaign? (and which type of ad do I run?)
      Answer: Usually we recommend only advertising something for free and/or only advertising your Facebook Page. Typically either a Sponsored Post or a traditional Facebook Ad works best. To get the cheapest clicks you will want to split test your ad campaign to determine what ad and targeting is performing the best for you. Try to focus running Facebook Ads in the News Feed because they get better click through rates. Do not use the Boost Post option on your Page because it goes out to a very untargeted audience.

    10. How do I add a custom tab (or custom app) to my Facebook Page?
      Answer: Custom tabs are added in different ways depending on the App. Anything you can create on a website, you can create in a custom tab on Facebook. There are many Apps that I recommend for certain businesses and I work with you to determine the best Apps for your Page.

    11. How do I find my customers on Facebook?
      Answer: I work with you to strategically target other Pages, encourage sharing and interaction on your page, and possibly run targeted ad campaigns and contests.

    12. How often should I post to social media?
      Answer: On Facebook at least 2-5 times per day is typically ideal but it can also depend on your audience. Twitter can handle more posts per day and depends on your growth goals.

    13. Do I need to blog?
      Answer: Yes. With Google changes coming through to favor fresher content many websites would improve their search results by blogging even once a month. You will continually add more keywords to your site and attract new customers by blogging.

    14. What should I be measuring on social media?Or how do I measure ROI?
      Answer: You should be measuring actual sales. You need to put some things in place to track actual sales. Custom coupon codes are the easiest way to track. You can put cookies in place on your site but that requires your webmaster’s help. Growth in Fans, Followers, and connections is a decent measure of health but doesn’t tell the whole story. I put reports together that give you a picture of the health of your sites and we can work together to track sales.

    15. How do I sell more with social media?
      Answer: Make good connections. Use social media to get to know your prospects in the sameway you would at a Networking meeting. Post sales messages only 10 – 20% of the time and deliver great information, tips, and content the rest of the time. You will create raving fans who will do the selling for you.

    16. Do I have to do Facebook/Twitter/YouTube etc. if I don’t like it?
      Answer: No. If you don’t want to use it, you don’t have to. If you are going to hate it, you aren’t going to present your best foot forward. It will be a chore and that will come through. But understand that the world is changing. People are checking out your social sites and if you aren’t there, or have an account that hasn’t been maintained, it looks bad for your business. It’s ok to focus on one or two sites and not do them all but it’s good to participate somewhere.

    17. What should I be doing for mobile marketing?
      Answer: Social media is great for mobile marketing. Many people are accessing Facebook and Twitter from their phones. Having a mobile website is becoming more important as well. Using QR codes can be beneficial for local businesses.

    18. Do all of these accounts need to be my personal name – or can it be my company name?
      Answer: LinkedIn is used with your personal profile or you can create a Group or Company Page but you can’t do as much with a Company Page. Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube can be branded with your business name. There are some benefits to using Facebook as your personal profile.

    19. Is there anything I can do to make this go viral?
      Answer: Viral isn’t always the best thing. You want the campaign to reach your target audience and not necessarily get a million views. Cat videos go viral because they are funny. Using humor can be a better way to get more shares.

    20. How do I connect all my sites together?
      Answer: You don’t always want to post everything on every single site. Tools like Hootsuite and Tweetdeck can help with posting to multiple sites and I work with you to automate where it makes sense. NetworkedBlogs can help as well as other tools to schedule posts.


      And a Bonus question: What is Facebook Edgerank?
      Answer: It’s Facebook’s algorithm that determines what shows up in the News Feed. It depends on Time decay (how old a post is), Weight (how popular a post is), and Affinity (how much the person has interacted with the Page in the past. Take a look at www.Edgerankchecker.com (not affiliated with Facebook at all)