Social Media Marketing Services

[Pharaoh Man]

One area where I continue to struggle with my business is marketing. I've made some strides with social media over the past few months but I know that I can still do better. Whether it's my lack of marketing creativity or not being able to keep up with the time commitment, I know that things can be done better.

I've been playing around with the idea of hiring a firm to handle my Social Media Marketing so I can let the professionals find me new customers and free me up to concentrate more on my current customers. There seems to be a ton of companies offering these services but not a whole lot of information on which companies are good or the best bang for the buck. Does anyone have any recommendations? I'm specifically looking for advertising to get more likes/follows and someone to help with engaging posts that people are more likely to share or comment on. Thanks in advance!

 

[Eric@noware]

Personally I'm a fan of the old DIY ethos (which is what got me into this business a dozen or so years ago), and would rather handle that myself.

The reasons are two-fold:

1) I can't stand the idea of having to rely on outside help with something that, as a business owner, I should really be on top of myself (besides, what happens when whatever firm you hire goes under, and you find yourself having to handle the social media yourself, without a clue in the world?).

2) I just plain like to learn. I'm a dork, I know.

Regardless, I think that hiring out might be all good and well for the short term, but in the long term it would probably be better for you to handle this in house (if not yourself). There are literally a TON of resources out there explaining social media, and how to use it to enhance your business, and I believe there are a few fellow technibblers here that might be able to point you in a decent direction... Granted you ask the right questions... We're not going to do all the work for you

/2cents

 

[SupportCover.com]

One area where I continue to struggle with my business is marketing. I've made some strides with social media over the past few months but I know that I can still do better. Whether it's my lack of marketing creativity or not being able to keep up with the time commitment, I know that things can be done better.

I've been playing around with the idea of hiring a firm to handle my Social Media Marketing so I can let the professionals find me new customers and free me up to concentrate more on my current customers. There seems to be a ton of companies offering these services but not a whole lot of information on which companies are good or the best bang for the buck. Does anyone have any recommendations? I'm specifically looking for advertising to get more likes/follows and someone to help with engaging posts that people are more likely to share or comment on. Thanks in advance!

Hi,

This may be an area we could help you in.

While we don't do marketing direct for our customers, what we do provide is a service that will allow you more time to focus on growing your business.

You may be like a lot of other small business owners, really keen to do your job (being a technician) but not so keen to advertise your business. However, how can you grow your business without marketing, yet how can you market your business when your doing the work. There just aren't enough hours in the day.

This is where our service can really help.

We can handle all your telephone calls & emails, allowing our technicians to answer your customers questions immediately and also turning enquiries in to sales and appointments.

We can even resolve your customers technicial issues using remote support. Once we've resolved an issue we can try to upsell any products / services you want promoting to your customer at the end of the support session.

This leaves you with much more time every day to advertise and market your business, as well as doing any on-site work required which is a great way to network with your existing customers. We always find networking with people is so much easier in person than it is on the phone.

Hope this gives you something to think about, if you have any questions please let me know.
Thanks

 

[callthatgirl]

While I appreciate Support Cover adding their 2 bits to this thread....asking a computer owner to turn over their remote support to you so they can focus on marketing is not a great idea at this point, from my opinion. Especially if you are a one man shop, that's just silly. I have yet to outsource my remote support OR social media and I'm still in year 6.

Social media comes from the heart. If you're into it, you should do it yourself while you are working.

Social media (from my experience) starts at the heart/the core/the things you love to do....fix computers. Now tell those stories.

Blog daily about what you are doing in your shop.
Tell the truth, show emotion and be honest.
Ask your friends and everyone on social media to like/update/share your stuff.
Stay consistent.
Get followers by blogging more. The more you tell, the more stuff is shared and liked/followed, etc
Get a sign up newsletter going.
Start sending out newsletters of good information.

It's a slow process, but doesn't take long. PM me and I'll send you a free copy of my social media guide, but do not hire at this point. It's not hard to do yourself.

 

[easytechnician]

While I appreciate Support Cover adding their 2 bits to this thread....asking a computer owner to turn over their remote support to you so they can focus on marketing is not a great idea at this point, from my opinion. Especially if you are a one man shop, that's just silly. I have yet to outsource my remote support OR social media and I'm still in year 6.

Social media comes from the heart. If you're into it, you should do it yourself while you are working.

Social media (from my experience) starts at the heart/the core/the things you love to do....fix computers. Now tell those stories.

Blog daily about what you are doing in your shop.
Tell the truth, show emotion and be honest.
Ask your friends and everyone on social media to like/update/share your stuff.
Stay consistent.
Get followers by blogging more. The more you tell, the more stuff is shared and liked/followed, etc
Get a sign up newsletter going.
Start sending out newsletters of good information.

It's a slow process, but doesn't take long. PM me and I'll send you a free copy of my social media guide, but do not hire at this point. It's not hard to do yourself.

Hi there Callthatgirl!

Great post, and I would say that for some I would agree 100%. Though just to add a bit, being a leader or a business owner it is important to continuously evaluate. One of the things that you should be concentrating on the most when doing the evaluation is yourself and your abilities. It is important to know your limitations and your short comings.

With this in mind, the best leader surrounds themselves not with people who are less capable, but who excel in the areas you fall short. For one I am horrible at organization, also bad at keeping financial records. I excel in people skills. It is best if I outsource or groom someone that has a higher aptitude at those things I am not as good in.

Many computer techs in my experience are not the best socializers. They do good communicating with other computer techs and dare I use the Geek word here, but when it comes to the regular, or computer illiterate or uninterested many times there is a communication gap. I am not sure I would recommend outsourcing to a company, I would recommend bringing in someone who is better at the social or communication aspect of things for the non-technical perhaps.

As you said, it is something that must come from the heart, something that you love to do, while a person may love working on computers they may not love typing out that information, or talking to others that they feel don't know as much as they do. There is a high tendency toward arrogance in our business field mix that with insecurity and you have a social disaster to say the least

 

[pennycomp]

I found that my experience with advertising on social media sites, did not have a good return on my investment (ROI). If you are selling a product or service, I always go with Google adwords, and Bing / Yahoo. Social media is more for brand recognition. When you have a large advertising budget, and you want more people to recognize your brand, use social media.


Just my 2 cents.

 

[LolaJohnson]

I hope you don't mind, but I really do think getting a firm do it for you wouldn't be very smart. Social media marketing isn't sort of rocket science or anything close to that. It only requires basic marketing skills. And for that, instead of hiring a marketing firm, you can just hire a team for that task. And you can refer to this article for additional info. Here's the link: http://smallbusiness.printplace.com...maximize-your-social-media-marketing-efforts/ There are also freelancers out there who have already familiarized themselves with SMM tasks.

 

[DocGreen]

I agree that outsourcing your social media marketing is a bad idea. I've been focusing heavily on social media to generate business and build brand awareness, and here is one thing I guarantee you will run into. People are going to expect you to be able to help them over Facebook (for example) the same as if they were on the phone with you, or talking to you via email. They are going to ask you technical questions or questions about pricing. You'll get these question in comments on your posts, in private messages, etc. If you are outsourcing your social media marketing it is going to be painfully obvious to your "fans." It will make you appear impersonal and it will make your "fans" feel like you don't have the time to interact with them. Trust me, it will be very very bad.

I understand your hesitation to do it yourself... there's not always time, you're not necessarily the best socializer, you don't know where to begin, etc. But it would almost be better to not use social media than to use it improperly. One thing I do that works out well is I have my girlfriend handle most of it for me. She has a bachelor's degree in marketing, and while she isn't a tech, she does work closely with me and is starting to pick up a lot of knowledge. She's able to answer most questions, and if she comes across one she can't I'm always close by to tell her what to say or to log on and say it myself. My best suggestion for you would be to find someone who is good at it that can do it for you... if you're able to hire someone, look for a marketing specialist to work in-house. If you're not able to hire someone, what about an intern? Maybe a college student studying marketing who's looking for real-world experience. The key is having someone who's going to work closely with you so that you can be heavily involved, even if it's just answering questions and approving posts.

If you want to look at doing it yourself, I would suggest checking out some marketing resources... jonloomer.com is a wealth of information. Hubspot is another good one. Hell, maybe even look up other technibblers on Facebook and whatnot to see what they're doing. Come to think of it, I may even do that myself! Maybe I should start a thread for everyone to post links to their FB pages. Could be fun and informative!

 

[TimJacobs]

Maybe I should start a thread for everyone to post links to their FB pages. Could be fun and informative!

There is already one......

http://www.technibble.com/forums/showthread.php?t=28197

 

[DocGreen]

There is already one......

http://www.technibble.com/forums/showthread.php?t=28197

Ah-ha! Thanks Tim!

 

[Velvis]

Does social marketing really result in $ coming through the door? I just dont see how a business owner who needs IT support is going to get interested in blog posts about virus removal or other mundane IT support stuff and somehow become a customer.

My business customers are not interested in following blogs and facebook pages about the computer business.

Realistically who is going to follow your company that isn't either friend, family, or an existing customer?

Am I missing something?

I ask because I am expanding my marketing this year, but I am just not sure if social media is worth the time and effort.

It almost seems like my opinion on Facebook for personal use, nobody really cares about what you did today except your real friends and family, not your 300+ "friends", would apply to the business aspect of it as well.

 

[easytechnician]

Does social marketing really result in $ coming through the door? I just dont see how a business owner who needs IT support is going to get interested in blog posts about virus removal or other mundane IT support stuff and somehow become a customer.

My business customers are not interested in following blogs and facebook pages about the computer business.

Realistically who is going to follow your company that isn't either friend, family, or an existing customer?

Am I missing something?

I ask because I am expanding my marketing this year, but I am just not sure if social media is worth the time and effort.

It almost seems like my opinion on Facebook for personal use, nobody really cares about what you did today except your real friends and family, not your 300+ "friends", would apply to the business aspect of it as well.

Marketing is a funny thing really, and it really varies according to your targeted market. To be honest is posting that mundane blog post, or passing along information to your friends through your personal FaceBook going to drum up a massive amount of visitors? The answer is subjective and a manner of perspective. Direct marketing through those social media outlets is not a sure fire way to drum up immediate business in many cases. It does however provide a voice. Most importantly it allows an open path to contribute to customer confidence and branding.

Customer confidence or actually consumer confidence is all in itself a funny thing as it is not necessarily attributed to every customer. Consumers purchase items and services for many different reasons. Some of these reasons include convenience, price, even curb appeal. A large portion of the market however, when confronted with purchasing an item or service will tend toward something/someone familiar. Knowing a friend that has used the particular service or store and had a satisfactory or above experience will tend toward that store or service before they do an unknown. If someone has simply heard your company name mentioned, be it through a link in Google of a blog post, a signature link in a forum etc is also more likely to feel better about spending money with the company.

So is there one sure fire way to guarantee traffic, I would answer as no, not unless we have the heavy guns that the big guys do and spend hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars on Newspaper, Radio, and Television ads.

Our tactic for the smaller guys has to be a conglomeration of several different tactics. One is by using social media to inform and to increase brand exposure. The use of the social media aspect be it facebook, twitter, blog or forum also increases our weight with Google and other search engines again contributing to a piece of the entire equation to hit the numbers as that is all marketing really is when you come right down to it is a numbers game, the more that are touched the more likely a sale is to be made as the percentages of visitors versus sales all things being equal like having a professional looking website geared toward your target market etc. The more you touch the more you sale and in today's world social media is a vast pool of people that can be touched both directly, but most importantly for every one of those direct contacts made tens, hundreds, and even thousands of others are touched indirectly all for a little bit of time if you are doing it yourself or for a much smaller advertising dime if paying someone else versus conventional methods.

This is all off the top of my head as I sit here and just type what comes out, if I have worded poorly or failed to make my point well, let me know and I will draw something up that is more professional rather than impulsive

 

[DocGreen]

Easytechnician knows his stuff!! +1

If your target market is business, then no... Social media marketing isn't going to directly result in customers. That doesn't make it any less important though. For you B2B guys, social media is all about brand recognition. Getting your company's name and logo in front of as many people as possible, and as much as possible. I made name and logo bold because they're the most important part. Your Facebook, Twitter, Google+, etc. accounts all need to be setup with your company's legal (or dba) name, and the exact same logo you use everywhere else. Don't use variations of your logo, don't use pictures of yourself or your staff. Only use your logo. You can always post other pictures of whatever you want, but save that for your photo albums. Profile pictures should always be logos. (Did I repeat that enough? LOL)

As far as your reach, let's use my FB page for an example. When I started my page I shared it with all of my FB friends and so did my girlfriend. Within a few months, about 50 or so of my personal friends had liked my page, and about 50 or so of my girlfriends friends had as well. SO, at that point... anything posted to my page was seen by 100 "friends". HOWEVER, when you post interesting content you get interractions. THAT is where the magic starts to happen. Anytime someone interacts with your page, all of THEIR friends see it! All of a sudden you have people you don't know seeing your content! A few months of posting interesting and relevant content and all of a sudden you have people you don't know "liking" your page. Magic.

One thing you should know about Facebook. People "like" things like crazy... it doesn't matter what it is... if it's interesting to people, and it has a like button, you can bet your ass they're going to click it. So... hardest part of social marketing? Creating interesting and relevant content. Something that will get you the interaction you need. Preferably something that will drive people to your webpage or blog... but even just page "likes" are good, because each "like" increases your reach exponentially. For example: on 4/27/12... we had maybe 170ish fans... but we reached 1,224 people! What that means is, 1,224 people saw our content on Facebook!! 114 Organic, 1,175 Viral (organic means people who saw our content directly... viral is people who saw their friends interacting with our content).

So, Velvis asks who's going to follow your company other than friends, family, and existing customers? Answer: Potential customers! Here's something to note... we've never had someone like our page because they were a customer. It's always been the other way around. People like our page, then become customers! But why did they like our page? Because we posted something that interested them.

Now I'm not going to lie... we did run a Facebook ad which added a nice number of "likes" to our page. But ads aren't magic. You still have to post something interesting to get people to click that like button. A note on ads: When you run them, you want to make sure you're specifically targeting your audience. You can target a specific geographic location, an age group, a gender, certain interests... choose the options that give you the largest number of people who are actually part of your target audience. Getting likes from the next state over isn't going to do you much good unless you actually intend to service customers out of state.


Now, as if this post isn't long enough... let's touch on another point! LOL

This is all well and good if you're marketing to residential customers, but what about businesses? Your potential clients aren't sitting around all day reading Facebook, right?
Well... actually, they are. Just because your target client is a business doesn't mean Facebook is irrelevant. That business owner, the employees, etc. probably all have Facebook pages. If you're doing your social media marketing right, that business owner or his wife, his kids, his secretary, etc. will eventually see your content... recognize your name... maybe even like your page. You're probably not going to get that business to interact with your page... but you can easily get that business' owner and employee's to do so. And when you eventually turn that business into a customer, you actually COULD get that business to interact with your page. Now all of a sudden people are seeing that [Your Business Customer] likes [Your Business] on Facebook. Bam! More magic! LOL


Of course, this type of marketing isn't a direct approach to B2B marketing. This is more brand recognition than anything. But like others have said, good social media marketing and blogging will increase your ranking with Google... and being at the top of Google's list is everyone's goal, right?

 

[dipper]

I agree with most of what DocGreen states but I believe you can use social marketing to target other businesses.

What I'm noticing is that there are local business pages where other business congregate (like a networking event). You can then interact with other businesses and then some of these groups I've noticed has moved to also include face to face business network events.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

Does social marketing really result in $ coming through the door? I just dont see how a business owner who needs IT support is going to get interested in blog posts about virus removal or other mundane IT support stuff and somehow become a customer.

Depends on which market you're targeting....
I'm guessing that for getting brand new home/carry in clients....social network and all that SEO type stuff does work.

For us..we don't want home users, we go after businesses...and on the "M" side of SMB..meaning larger SMB types. What has worked over and over and over for us is the old fashioned approach....referrals and direct contact. Working them over time. Through face to face conversation...such as a local business chamber events...and through referrals....such as through BNI chapters. And even just walking into the business and talking to someone.

Linkedin...I signed up for an account 5 or more years ago...but haven't logged in since then. Facebook...I actually shut my page down last winter...only opened it last week to check on the health status of an old friend that was on it but I had recent bad news to get an update on. Twitter..can't stand it, I don't care what someone is eating for lunch.

Ad words 'n Google hits 'n website related stuff...I don't worry about it, our website is old...horrible...I'll be the first to admit it. But our networking presence is so strong...it does all the work we need.

IMO...due to the popularity of electronics, computers, smart phones, etc...people have forgot "how to interact face to face".....how to socialize with other people out in the real world. Most of us here over the age of 40 grew up in a world where we played outside with other kids, went over the houses of others. I don't want to lose those skills.

 

[Amanda]

Depends on which market you're targeting....
I'm guessing that for getting brand new home/carry in clients....social network and all that SEO type stuff does work.

For us..we don't want home users, we go after businesses...and on the "M" side of SMB..meaning larger SMB types. What has worked over and over and over for us is the old fashioned approach....referrals and direct contact. Working them over time. Through face to face conversation...such as a local business chamber events...and through referrals....such as through BNI chapters. And even just walking into the business and talking to someone.

Linkedin...I signed up for an account 5 or more years ago...but haven't logged in since then. Facebook...I actually shut my page down last winter...only opened it last week to check on the health status of an old friend that was on it but I had recent bad news to get an update on. Twitter..can't stand it, I don't care what someone is eating for lunch.

Ad words 'n Google hits 'n website related stuff...I don't worry about it, our website is old...horrible...I'll be the first to admit it. But our networking presence is so strong...it does all the work we need.

IMO...due to the popularity of electronics, computers, smart phones, etc...people have forgot "how to interact face to face".....how to socialize with other people out in the real world. Most of us here over the age of 40 grew up in a world where we played outside with other kids, went over the houses of others. I don't want to lose those skills.

So you only want old clients who don't use social media? With all due respect, if you aren't on social media (and using it correctly) you are missing a key marketing tool. Sure, you're business may be great now... but think about the business you are missing out on? I can't imagine any marketing person worth their salt would tell you to rely solely on BNI and Chamber events. Heck, even Chamber people will tell you to use social media.

If that is what is working for you... great... but your lack of social media/internet presence is costing you business. Guaranteed. Any new business in the area is going to look for an online presence. The days of only word-of-mouth, phone books, and only networking are over.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

The days of only word-of-mouth, phone books, and only networking are over.

We will have to agree...to disagree there. Although no I don't "only want old clients" if you're referring to age..like some old geezer lawyer that doesn't know how to use a computer. No need for that kind of condescending attitude.

Although I will agree about phone books in general.

I can't imagine any marketing person worth their salt would tell you to rely solely on BNI and Chamber events.

Uhm...and do you know why they'll tell you that? Comon now! ....
.....the answer is...."Of course they won't tell you that, the marketing agency would rather rope you into paying them some 250/mo so they can use automated scripts to boost your Google ratings, Facebook, Tweets, and other stuff like that. Of Course they're not going to tell you to use the direct person to person approaches...they would be taking business away from themselves.

The larger local business clients are very much still a "good ol boys club"...where it's referrals and word of mouth that get you in. Past track records of getting new clients has clearly proven that over and over. My biggest and best clients that I've had over the years that I targeted...I got by using the old methods. Even some of our new potential clients that call us up...we ask how they heard of us..and they'll often say "Because So and So said they use you guys and they gave us your name.".

There's no way that those old ways "are over"....all I have to do is look at our past history of onboarding new clients that my colleague and I both got through our local BNI chapters. There is a clearly illustrated track record of getting clients..many of which we hand selected and went after using these techniques. I say "hand selected" because we've been in business for quite a while and our work load is fairly steady..and we have the opportunity to cherry pick our ideal clients. We have been growing, and recently hired a 4th tech so that our staff count is now 5...including a full time office manager. IRAs, health insurance, Aflac secondary insurance...2 years ago moved into new larger offices....doing something right!

Social media does have it's place. For people just starting out in the field...i'm sure it's a necessary thing. For those going after home markets...I'm sure it's OK. For my wife...with her fast growing real estate business...it's been great....heavy online presence is necessary for her targeted audience...which is typically strangers from out of town/out of state. She needs a heavy presence with Google..and Zillow....because potential new clients find her via Google searches.

 

[Amanda]

We will have to agree...to disagree there. Although no I don't "only want old clients" if you're referring to age..like some old geezer lawyer that doesn't know how to use a computer. No need for that kind of condescending attitude.

Although I will agree about phone books in general.



Uhm...and do you know why they'll tell you that? Comon now! ....
.....the answer is...."Of course they won't tell you that, the marketing agency would rather rope you into paying them some 250/mo so they can use automated scripts to boost your Google ratings, Facebook, Tweets, and other stuff like that. Of Course they're not going to tell you to use the direct person to person approaches...they would be taking business away from themselves.

The larger local business clients are very much still a "good ol boys club"...where it's referrals and word of mouth that get you in. Past track records of getting new clients has clearly proven that over and over. My biggest and best clients that I've had over the years that I targeted...I got by using the old methods. Even some of our new potential clients that call us up...we ask how they heard of us..and they'll often say "Because So and So said they use you guys and they gave us your name.".

There's no way that those old ways "are over"....all I have to do is look at our past history of onboarding new clients that my colleague and I both got through our local BNI chapters. There is a clearly illustrated track record of getting clients..many of which we hand selected and went after using these techniques. I say "hand selected" because we've been in business for quite a while and our work load is fairly steady..and we have the opportunity to cherry pick our ideal clients. We have been growing, and recently hired a 4th tech so that our staff count is now 5...including a full time office manager. IRAs, health insurance, Aflac secondary insurance...2 years ago moved into new larger offices....doing something right!

Social media does have it's place. For people just starting out in the field...i'm sure it's a necessary thing. For those going after home markets...I'm sure it's OK. For my wife...with her fast growing real estate business...it's been great....heavy online presence is necessary for her targeted audience...which is typically strangers from out of town/out of state. She needs a heavy presence with Google..and Zillow....because potential new clients find her via Google searches.

I wasn't being condescending. I was merely saying that your existing customer base is great, but if you want to expand, having a social media presence is essential.

I'm a marketing person. I have a degree and take the marketing aspect very seriously... I have no vested interest in your business or how successful it is. But I think it's a bit silly to assume that all marketing people want to bilk you for money. I didn't say you were doing anything wrong... I merely pointed out that you could be even more successful if you had a serious online presence. Established brands across the market do this... not just the new guys. Marketing people will tell you to go to events... they will recommend the Chamber and BNI. Perhaps you have had a sour experience with a marketer... and that is unfortunate. We aren't all out to take you for money. In person traffic drives people to your Facebook, twitter, blog, website... which drives then revenue. It all works hand-in-hand.

 

[DocGreen]

It sounds like YeOldStoneCat doesn't necessarily want (or more accurately, need) to expand. That's great. I hope we make it to that level some day!

We've come across the type of marketers that you've described... and I thank God that I have Amanda to steer me in the right direction, because I'm sure it would have been just like you say. Of course, that was always obvious from the first meeting. Like I stated earlier in the thread, I highly suggest avoiding outsourcing your social media marketing because that's the type of service you'll end up with. If you (StoneCat) do ever decide to dabble in social media marketing, your best bet would be to do it in-house. Hire a recent grad with a marketing degree... find an intern who's studying marketing... or even have one of your existing employees take some marketing classes to learn the ropes. That way you can integrate it with your existing tactics, which as you stated are working great for you. I only suggest it because I feel that it's best to have a more rounded approach to marketing, and not to rely on just one tactic.

All that being said... maybe the market is different in your area! As we've learned in other topics, what works for you isn't always going to work for me, and vice versa. Don't think that I (we) are trying to convince you that you're way of doing things is wrong. You're obviously more successful than we are. I'm also not looking for your approval. To each his own