Whole Foods Does Social Media Right

Posts Tagged ‘Twitter’

Whole Foods Does Social Media Right

Sunday, August 5th, 2012

While there certainly was a social media #fail here, it was on me, and not Whole Foods.

As we were packing to head out on our annual family vacation to Little Sebago I decided I wanted to head over to Whole Foods in Portland and pick up some of my favorite breakfast burritos from PJs Organics.

My wife, Cybele, asked me to pick up some Kind bars while I was there. At the same time I happened to see one of my friends had checked in at Whole Foods and I jokingly told him to pick up the Kind bars for me. Moments later, Whole Foods joined in the conversation, as you can see below.

I really didn’t expect Whole Foods in Portland to put aside the Kind bars for me, although I thought I’d buzz by customer service just for fun and to bust them.

The customer service desk wasn’t where I thought/remembered it to be, and once I found the Kind bars I grabbed the rest of my shopping list and took off, not thinking to check my Twitter feed.

It wasn’t until I got home that I saw the more recent tweets from @WFMportlandME: (more…)

Tags: customer service, Social Media, Twitter, whole foods, whole foods market, whole foods portland me
Posted in Business Philosophy, Entrepreneur & Small Business, Social Media | 2 Comments »

What Do You Do When Social Media Doesn’t Work?

Wednesday, February 1st, 2012

What do you do if you’re active in social media but it’s not helping your small business?

Dear Rich,

I run a commercial cleaning business and I’ve been using social media for almost a year. I have been blogging three times a week, creating videos, and tweeting several times a day. We have a Facebook page that gets updated multiple times a day but has very few fans and only my employees and family members engage with it, and only when I threaten them! Even when we ran a contest with an iPad 2 as a prize we only got a handful of new likers.

We set up a Google+ page for our business, but almost no one has circled us, despite the fact that we’re putting out fresh content daily.

Most importantly, in looking at our traffic reports, almost no traffic comes from our social media activity, and none of our new clients mention social media when we ask how they found us.

What are we doing wrong? I feel like I’m banging my head against the wall.

–Confounded in Cornish

(more…)

Tags: blogging, Facebook, google plus, LinkedIn, small business, Social Media, Twitter, YouTube
Posted in Entrepreneur & Small Business, Search Engine Marketing, Social Media | 5 Comments »

The Efficient Social Media Marketer’s Time Management Toolbox

Tuesday, September 27th, 2011

Is social media marketing becoming a time suck for your small business? These time management tools will up your efficiency, increase your reach, and improve your ROI.

For a small business owner, monitoring, engaging in and contributing to social media marketing can eat up a lot of valuable time. (Just the required five hours of Photoshop time I spend every time I upload a new Facebook profile picture of myself severely cuts into my productivity.)

Here’s a list of social media time management tools to help you become more efficient with your marketing and get better results at the same time.

Nutshell Mail: This nimble little tool sends you email digests of all your online activity. You can see recent posts from your network on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and more. See the activity on your Facebook business page. And perhaps my favorite bit: it shows you all of the people who recently started following you, and unfollowing you! (Not for the faint of heart or thin skinned.)

Tweetdeck: While Nutshell is a god-send, and can keep you entirely off the social networks while you make take phone calls, write your proposals and pound your fourth cup of coffee of the day, sometimes you need to keep your finger on the pulse in a more “real time” fashion. For you, my friend, there’s TweetDeck.

Tweetdeck allows you to pull in not just tweets, but friends’ Facebook updates, LinkedIn updates and more. It’s also great for creating searches around keywords you’re targeting, like accountant, massage, or singing telegram.

Also, it allows you to immediately engage with your network, posting and responding to tweets in real time. In my office at work I have two monitors: one for “work” and one for Tweetdeck.

An alternative to Tweetdeck is Hootsuite. One of the nice things about Hootsuite is that it runs within a browser window. Tweetdeck is a Adobe Air app, and I’ve noticed that when it’s running my laptop battery drains noticeably faster.

Ping.fm: Once you’re active on multiple platforms, creating the same update over and over again for each platform gets real old real fast. This is where Ping.fm comes in. This free service allows you to post once to Ping.fm and it will distribute your status update across all of your different networks, or any subsection of networks you choose.

Two caveats: Some platforms–Facebook in particular–diminish the importance of posts from 3rd party apps like Ping.fm. If getting into your fans’ newsfeed is critical to your success, you may need to balance automation with the few extra moments it takes to copy and paste your message directly to your wall or profile.

The second issue is that updating Twitter several times a day (or even the hour) may be the norm, but not so much at LinkedIn. Save Ping.fm and similar services for when you have a message that all of your networks may be interested in.

RSS: Short for Real Simple Syndication, this is a standard feature on all blogs. Although RSS readers never became more than a niche tool, RSS makes it easy for people to subscribe to your content, so that one quality piece of content can appear in multiple places, reach a wider audience, and improve your ROI.

NetworkedBlogs, a free Facebook app, will read your RSS feed and publish your most recent blog automatically to your wall. LinkedIn can read your RSS feed and publish the same post to your profile. Tools like Feedburner, AWeber, and a host of other services offer RSS to Email, turning your most recent posts automatically into an email newsletter.

There are also tools that automatically update your Twitter feed (although this can sometimes be a turnoff if your only tweets are recent blog posts.) And, of course, millions of people use RSS readers to subscribe to multiple blogs at once, so they can quickly scan updates and emerging trends in their industry.

Each one of the boxes in the image above is a blog, showing the titles of the three most recent posts. Clicking the title takes you to the blog post, clicking the + allows you to read the blog post from right within this window. Pretty efficient way of keeping tabs on your industry, your customers’ industries, and your competition.

Google Alerts: Speaking of keeping tabs on your industry, nothing beats Google Alerts. You can choose a targeted keyword (“stamp collection” or “HR”), your industry, your competitors’ names or your own. I have alerts both on Rich Brooks and flyte. It’s not because I’m a megalomaniac.

OK, it’s not just because I’m a megalomaniac.

These alerts have tipped me off to people talking about me and my company on different websites and blogs, and have also shown me a number of times when people have used an article without permission.

This alert provides fodder for the new blog we started for our Zombie Ipsum site.

TubeMogul: This site is like the Ping.fm for online video. Post your video to TubeMogul and it will distribute your video to multiple video sharing websites.

What’s even better, is it will tell you how many views you have across different platforms. While there’s a pay model, the basic tools are free.

If you’re serious about YouTube marketing, I’d recommend not using TubeMogul to upload to YouTube. There seems to be some evidence that this counts against your YouTube visibility in their algorithm. Although I haven’t seen this myself, I’d err on the side of caution, as YouTube serves up an outright majority of online video.

A Word Of Caution

Tools for social media automation should be used with restraint. As mentioned above, certain platforms frown on 3rd party apps. There’s also the potential problem that if you’re automating tweets and updates, and a prospective client responds but you’re not there to hear it, it can damage your brand.

These efficiency tools are powerful, but they’re not right for every job.

Now it’s your turn: what tools do you use to improve your efficiency and manage your time with social media?

Rich Brooks
Web Marketing for Small Business

P.S. I was reached out to by Visa Small Business to write a blog post. Follow @VisaSmallBiz and discover more at http://visa.com/business.

Tags: Facebook, Google Alerts, Hootsuite, nutshell mail, NutshellMail, ping.fm, rss, social media time management, time management, TubeMogul, TweetDeck, Twitter
Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

Managing Your Twitter Account: Part 3 of 4 The Marketer’s Guide to Twitter

Thursday, July 28th, 2011

This is part three in a four part series on the The Marketer’s Guide To Twitter.

So, now you know what to tweet and who to follow, so now lets try to grow your following through promotion of your Twitter account and then learn how to manage that following.

First, lets talk about off page twitter promotion. This means putting your twitter handle and URL on any and all printed materials you have, mentioning it in radio advertising, placing an image on a TV ad, having it in your email signature etc. Any place that you already are spending time advertising or spreading the word should include your twitter info.

Second, is using twitter and twitter tools to help promote and manage your account.

Getting Retweeted: The best way to get retweeted is to tweet out good, let me rephrase that, GREAT content. People will retweet you when you give them something news worthy, different, humorous, or interesting. Make sure that you are mixing up your tweets as far as what types of messages and content you are promoting but also you can tweet pics and video that are interesting.

Here are a few reasons to try and get retweeted…

It’s Flattering
It’s an independent endorsement
It Virally spreads your message
Attracts new followers

Types of things that will get Retweeted:

Headlines
Valuable knowledge (breaking news, tutorials/how tos, free stuff, contests)
Calls to action (help me…, vote for…)
Adding “Please RT” – for contests, deals etc.

One last thing to note is that you need to leave room for RT’s (meaning don’t take up all 140 characters), this gives people the ability to comment or respond in their retweet.

Managing Your Twitter Profile: Staying in the Loop

Many folks talk about how when you start following a lot of people and vice versa how it gets a little overwhelming as far as keeping up with everything and having conversations. Twitter has a lists option that helps with this and Tweetdeck makes using and viewing the lists even easier.

Say that you have a list of people from Maine that you follow so you can strictly talk about what’s going on in Maine. All you have to do is create a new column in Tweetdeck and import your list to that column. That way it’s separated out from the crowed of “All Friends” and when you are in the mood to talk Maine, it’s right there for you.

You can also separate out your mentions and direct messages so that you can see these more readily. This tool essentially makes it easier for you to have actual conversations on Twitter and not get bogged down by constantly having to search through tweets to see what people are saying.

Search: Next you may want to see what people are saying about your company, product or service but you may not be following them, or they may not be following you. Using Twitter Search and Advanced Twitter Search can allow you to search for specific terms and words, as well as local tweets so that you can respond and promote your company or service.

Alerts: Setting up Alerts like “social mention” and google alerts is also a good method to help keep track of what people are saying so that you can respond, help and engage in conversation with others on Twitter. These are simple to use and come right into your email inbox.

Cross Promoting Your Twitter Feed

Just like adding your twitter url/twitter logo on all your printed and traditional materials you should also add it to your other online profiles, blogs and websites. This cross promotion allows people who normally visit your blog or website to discover you on Twitter easily. And, chances are if they are already interested in your other online material they will be interested enough to follow you as well.

Measuring Your Impact

Create custom landing page for only Twitter traffic, then use customer URL this helps to measure traffic to your site from Twitter.
Shorten and Track URLs: Most URL of the tools that you use to shorten URLs also come with an ability to track analytics. Bit.ly is a favorite as it has great insights as well being the shortest URL you can get.

An important thing to note is that only about 10% of tweets come from twitter.com, the rest come from other Twitter management devices and smartphones. So, your measurements will always be a little skewed.

Hashtags: helping you find interesting Tweets

People use the hashtag symbol # before relevant keywords in their Tweet to categorize those Tweets to show more easily in Twitter Search.
Clicking on a hashtagged word in any message shows you all other Tweets in that category.
Hashtags can occur anywhere in the Tweet.
Hashtagged words that become very popular are often Trending Topics.

Using hashtags

If Tweet with a hashtag on a public account, anyone who does a search for that hashtag may find your Tweet.
Don’t #spam #with #hashtags. Don’t over-tag a single Tweet. (Best practices recommend using no more than 3 hashtags per Tweet.)
Use hashtags only on Tweets relevant to the topic.

Stay tuned for part 4 of the Marketer’s Guide to Twitter.

Joan Woodbrey Crocker
Maine SEO

Tags: Hashtags, TweetDeck, Twitter, Twitter Guide
Posted in Analytics, Social Media | 1 Comment »

The Art of the Twitter Follow: Part 2 of 4 The Marketer’s Guide to Twitter

Thursday, June 23rd, 2011

This is part two in a four part series on the The Marketer’s Guide To Twitter.

The last post was about “What to Tweet”, this post is about finding the right people to follow that will hopefully follow back so that you are tweeting those messages out to the right audience.

So many people jump on twitter and just start following everyone they possibly can hoping for a follow back. But, what good is a follow back if it’s not anyone that is ever going to convert?

So, here are some of the basics of how to find people to follow.

Under ‘Who To Follow’ on twitter you have several options. You can follow Twitter’s suggested people to follow, browse interests or find friends through various email accounts. There are also several ways to search for people to follow by using things like local search and twitter search or looking through different twitter directories like “twellow” or “wefollow”. Whatever method you decide to use or if you use all of the above it’s important to keep in mind that just because you can follow someone, doesn’t necessarily mean you should. Instead you should practice strategic following methods.

Strategic Following:

Customer/Clients – follow your current customers and clients. You can even upload your customer/client email database into Yahoo, gmail, hotmail, or aol and start following those that are already on twitter and invite those who aren’t. You can also use LinkedIn to find customers to follow.
Colleagues: Is there someone that you are always running into at industry events and networking functions? This would be a great way to keep up with what a colleague is doing in the industry.
Vendors/Partners/Members: If you have any business partners or your company supports other companies you should follow them.
Staff: Follow your staff and have your staff follow you, this is a great way to tweet about the company to multiple audiences and also have them retweet/ you retweet valuable information.
Relevant journalists – So if there is a certain journalist that is always talking about your industry or a blog that is consistently talking about your industry make sure that you follow it.
Social Influencers- There are many different applications that can help you with finding out who the major social influencers are online in your industry. Klout and Crowdbooster (currently in private beta) are a couple that come to mind.
Competitors - Always a good idea to find your competitors online and keep track of what they are doing.

The next thing to do after making sure that you are following the right people is to try and increase your followers. Here are a few tips:

Increase Followers:

Include twitter URL everywhere
Write about your twitter feed
Add twitter badges to your sites
List yourself in twitter directories (twellow)
Run a contest
Get Retweeted – The best possible way to get retweeted is by tweeting things of value. A retweet is like someone saying “this person is really smart and you should follow them too.”

And, lastly the best way to get followers is really to provide great information, links, ideas, thoughts, and conversation. Make sure that you read tweets and comment and engage in conversation. Twitter is not a place to just shout out salesy gimmicks at folks, in fact that might just be the quickest way to lose a follower. Instead mix it up and keep it conversational.

For more info check out our post on “How to Find Authentic, Interesting People on Twitter” and “How to Get a Twitter Snob to Pay Attention to You.”

Joan Woodbrey Crocker
Maine SEO

Tags: Twitter, twitter followers
Posted in Social Media | No Comments »

Social Media Marketing Workshops in Maine

Friday, April 22nd, 2011

Whether you’re just getting started with social media marketing or looking to take your social media to the next level, we’ve got a great half-day workshop that’s just right for you, and right here in Maine.

Both of these events have very limited seating! Don’t get shut out! Early bird tickets are still available.

Social Media Marketing for Beginners – 6/14/2011

(Learn more and register)

This 1/2 day workshop is for businesses, non-profits and individuals who don’t have a social media presence, or are just getting started with social media, or just don’t know what to do with the social media they already have in place. A good portion of the seminar will be in how to set up your accounts the right way, how to find and network with people online, and how to avoid classic mistakes in social media.

Who Should Attend?

Any business owners, marketers, PR professionals or non-profiteers who feel like their being left behind when it comes to social media.

What Will You Learn?

How to setup your Facebook profile and business page and get people to “like” you
How to manage your privacy on Facebook and other platforms
How to get started with Twitter and use it to drive traffic to your website or business
How to build your LinkedIn network so that you can build your business
How to blog for search engine visibility
How to use videos to increase your online visibility
Time management and social media

Is It Worth It?

Oh, yes. In fact, we’re so sure it will help your business we offer a 100% money back guarantee for all attendees.

Is It Too Basic For Me?

If you’re concerned that you’re a little advanced for this seminar, be sure to check out our Advanced Social Media Marketing seminar on 6/28!

Date: Tuesday, 6/14/2011

Time: 1pm – 5pm

Place: Portland Public Library, Portland, ME (directions)

Cost: $35 early bird tickets, $45 angry bird tickets

Advanced Social Media Marketing – 6/28/2011
(Learn more and register)

What to Expect:

This 1/2 day presentation is for businesses, non-profits and individuals who are active in social media (you blog, or tweet, or have a Facebook business page) but are looking to take things to the next level. You’re looking for advanced tools, tips and techniques to make your investment in social media pay off.

Who Should Attend?

Any business owners, marketers, PR professionals or non-profiteers who realize that social media is going to continue to be a big part of their marketing and communications.

What Will You Learn?

How to get more people to “like” your Facebook business page
How to maximize your Facebook experience with events, ads and networking
How to create an irresistable profile on LinkedIn with video, blogs and more
How to use Twitter to find and follow local people, industry leaders and anyone else you need to network with
How to use a blog to dominate Google and other search engines
How to encourage comments and shares on your blog
How to measure your social media activity and improve your ROI

Is It Worth It?

Oh, yes. In fact, we’re so sure it will help your business we offer a 100% money back guarantee for all attendees.

Is It Too Advanced For Me?

If you’re concerned that you’re not quite ready for this seminar, be sure to check out our Social Media Marketing for Beginners seminar on 6/14!

Date: Tuesday, 6/28/2011

Time: 1pm – 5pm

Place: Portland Public Library, Portland, ME (directions)

Cost: $35 early bird tickets, $45 angry bird tickets

Rich Brooks
Never Met a Mic I Didn’t Like

Tags: Facebook, LinkedIn, Maine, Online Video, seminar, Twitter, YouTube
Posted in Business Blogs and Blog Marketing, Social Media, Web Marketing | 3 Comments »

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Posts Tagged ‘Twitter’

While there certainly was a social media #fail here, it was on me, and not Whole Foods.

Are you a Paper.li user looking for more control over your online paper? The Pro version may be just what you’re looking for.

What do you do if you’re active in social media but it’s not helping your small business?

Improve your Twitter marketing and ROI by finding and removing people who have stopped tweeting.

Is social media marketing becoming a time suck for your small business? These time management tools will up your efficiency, increase your reach, and improve your ROI.

1. Quick and easy

2. You can search tweets, tweets with links, and (sort of) search bios

3. Follow Tweeps and add to a list

Who Should Attend?

What Will You Learn?

Is It Worth It?

Is It Too Basic For Me?

Who Should Attend?

What Will You Learn?

Is It Worth It?

Is It Too Advanced For Me?

FREE REPORT

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