Using Twitter as A Medium for the Anti-Social

Twitter is no longer the passing fad that was dismissed by some as a part of a social media plan because it was perceived as a derivative of the text message. Twitter is a broad communications platform that many have embraced. In fact many companies, like Starbucks, Intel, and Boeing have begun to use Twitter … View full post

How is the new Facebook Timeline Working Out for You?

Facebook is the most popular social networking website in the United States. You should have business pages set up on it to take advantage of Facebook’s 800 million member base. Your customers ARE there. As a personal user, you have witnessed the recent move from the wall view to the timeline view. The timeline has … View full post

Using Twitter as A Medium for the Anti-Social

Twitter is no longer the passing fad that was dismissed by some as a part of a social media plan because it was perceived as a derivative of the text message. Twitter is a broad communications platform that many have embraced. In fact many companies, like Starbucks, Intel, and Boeing have begun to use Twitter … View full post
Using Twitter as A Medium for the Anti-SocialHow is the new Facebook Timeline Working Out for You?Using Twitter as A Medium for the Anti-Social

DDC Media Group – Social Media Specialists

Categories:

social media management, social media marketing, social media services, Social Tools

by ddcmediagroup

Need help managing your social media profiles?

Do you want to use social media to promote your business but don’t have the time to devote to doing it properly?

Have you wanted to set up pages for your business on sites such as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and others, but lack the “know-how”?

DDC Media Group has your solution!  We’re Social Media Specialists that work with businesses (large and small) to promote themselves using the power of social media.  We can analyze your current social media usage and come up with a customized strategy for growth,  brand your pages, and manage your social media promotions.

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2 comments

Permanent link to this article: http://www.ddcmediagroup.com/?p=157

Feb 21

Using Twitter as A Medium for the Anti-Social

Categories:

social media management

by Bill Welker

February 21, 2012

Twitter is no longer the passing fad that was dismissed by some as a part of a social media plan because it was perceived as a derivative of the text message. Twitter is a broad communications platform that many have embraced. In fact many companies, like Starbucks, Intel, and Boeing have begun to use Twitter to support their social media efforts.

Unique characteristics of the platform of Twitter include:

  • Promotion of your product or service: When this is done it can result in real time feedback from your followers which can be invaluable to your decision making.
  • Drive more traffic to your blog or website: The ability of Twitter to automatically shorten the URL has given businesses the ability to write an article or update its website and drive visitors there.
  • Ability to market in a more creative and innovative manner: Since Twitter is an opt-in platform by its very nature, businesses can be sure they are talking to those that are interested in what they have to say.

If you haven’t done so already, adding Twitter to your social media strategy can be important in reaching your business to business customers.

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1 comment

Permanent link to this article: http://www.ddcmediagroup.com/?p=380

Feb 18

Handling Criticism As a Blogger

Categories:

Blogging

by Bill Welker

February 18, 2012

Writing a blog is expressing an opinion or sharing facts. In the process, it is only natural to get some criticism on the views you express. How you as the blogger respond to that criticism is important in showing how to serve your visitors who may become your customers. Here are several tips on how to handle criticism without it alienating those who read your blog.

Accept the fact that since you are operating in a public forum, the views you express will not be in agreement with the views of your readers. After all, the comments to your blog will come in many forms, and negative comments on your views only demonstrates that you are reaching people and getting them to engage with you and your thoughts. Though it is difficult to receive criticism in any form, you must be able to use the information positively and the first step in that process is to accept criticism of your views as a natural occurrence.

You must make use of the criticism. It is best to determine what the criticism is actually saying. It could be a comment that your information is of no value, or that the design of your blog is unappealing, or maybe it’s just a straight disagreement with your argument. The path of action you should take would be determined by the type of comment. If it’s a disagreement, then your reaction should be to verify your facts, and after doing some research, present your argument against the criticism with more evidence. If it is an argument that your information is of no value, then you may need to make some minor changes in the information that you present.

It is important to accept criticism and deal with it in a professional manner. Visitors to your blog come for the information. If they do not like the way that you have handled another reader’s opinion, then they may not return.

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1 comment

Permanent link to this article: http://www.ddcmediagroup.com/?p=375

Feb 16

How is the new Facebook Timeline Working Out for You?

Categories:

social media marketing

by Bill Welker

February 16, 2012

Facebook is the most popular social networking website in the United States. You should have business pages set up on it to take advantage of Facebook’s 800 million member base. Your customers ARE there. As a personal user, you have witnessed the recent move from the wall view to the timeline view.

The timeline has replaced the profile and wall pages and merges them. It shows everything you have placed on Facebook in a “timeline” format. Everything from job changes, marital status, photos, friends, to status updates is all shown as you have recorded it in the past. It is possible to edit what information is seen by whom, and you can delete something from your timeline. You can add backdated life events, and photos that you date will appear in a time ordered format.

There is a lot of information and some tutorials available to set up your timeline properly. A good article to begin is one from PC Magazine, “12 Things You Should Know about Facebook Timeline.” There is some good direction there on how to make sure everything is set the way you like it.

We’d like to hear your comments on how you like the Facebook Timeline.

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1 comment

Permanent link to this article: http://www.ddcmediagroup.com/?p=370

Feb 13

Using Twitter as A Medium for the Anti-Social

Categories:

social media marketing

by Bill Welker

February 13, 2012

Twitter is no longer the passing fad that was dismissed by some as a part of a social media plan because it was perceived as a derivative of the text message. Twitter is a broad communications platform that many have embraced. In fact many companies, like Starbucks, Intel, and Boeing have begun to use Twitter to support their social media efforts.

Unique characteristics of the platform of Twitter include:

  • Promotion of your product or service: When this is done it can result in real time feedback from your followers which can be invaluable to your decision making.
  • Drive more traffic to your blog or website: The ability of Twitter to automatically shorten the URL has given businesses the ability to write an article or update its website and drive visitors there.
  • Ability to market in a more creative and innovative manner: Since Twitter is an opt-in platform by its very nature, businesses can be sure they are talking to those that are interested in what they have to say.

If you haven’t done so already, adding Twitter to your social media strategy can be important in reaching your business to business customers.

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2 comments

Permanent link to this article: http://www.ddcmediagroup.com/?p=364

Feb 10

First Determine What You Want

Categories:

social media marketing

by Bill Welker

February 10, 2012

Measuring success with your social media efforts can take on many different approaches. Is it the number of likes, number of followers, or level of engagement? Believe it or not, none of these factors take on any meaning unless you first determine what your goals are.

As we have stated before, you must define your goals before you revitalize or undertake a web presence. Failure to do so can lead to a waste of your valuable time.

After defining your goal, you can then decide how to go about the accomplishment of your goal. This strategy will encompass all actions that will lead you to reaching your goal.

After you have your social media strategy, determine what platforms will help you best execute that strategy. It can mean action in your local community, such as flyers and handouts, public speaking, or it can mean a social media strategy using Twitter and Facebook to follow or cause buzz about your goal (such as writing a blog and promoting it on these two platforms).

If you can follow a social media plan similar to the one above in determining what you would like to accomplish, you will find that your time will be better spent.

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Permanent link to this article: http://www.ddcmediagroup.com/?p=359

Feb 07

Things to Consider When Building Your Website

Categories:

Website

by Bill Welker

February 7, 2012

The work involved in building a new website is time consuming. If you are going to spend that amount of time, it would be smart for you to insure that your website will deliver like you want it to. You must have a plan.

Time spent planning is time well spent. Some websites make an attempt to prioritize everything, and become a website that is cluttered and to the visitor it appears overwhelming. Such a website will not be very effective. To avoid this problem, you need to plan the goals and priorities of your website. You should consider the following:

1. What do you want the website to do? Do you want it to market your business? Do you want to provide information to establish your position as an authority?

2. Who do you want it to reach, and what do those potential visitors want? Once you determine who, it is a short bit of research to find out what they are searching for on the internet, and what type of design would be more appealing to them.

3. How are you going to determine the website is a success? Will you be measuring value by an increase in sales revenue, or just by increasing the number of visitors?

Determining the answers to these questions will help you to make the right decisions on the direction to take your website. Working with these answers will give you good results and prevent you from having to make significant changes in the future.

 

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1 comment

Permanent link to this article: http://www.ddcmediagroup.com/?p=352

Feb 03

Breaking Writer’s Block

Categories:

Blogging

by Bill Welker

February 3, 2012

Blogging everyday is very important for search engine ranking. The more information your website contains, the more credibility it gains, and the higher the search engine will rank it.

Once in a while, you will encounter writer’s block. It happens to all writers at one time or another. Try not to let it frustrate you; the block will eventually crumble. Every writer also has ways to overcome the obstacle of writer’s block. Here are some techniques that many writers use.

  • Take a walk. Be observant of everything around you, especially people and what they are doing.
  • Network. Engage in a conversation with someone about their business.
  • Read. Your next inspiration can come from any source, so read everything you can.
  • Do something else. It could be that you are trying too hard to write, and performing another task will sometimes get your brain free and get your blog ideas flowing again.

Writing a blog on information that your visitors seek is usually easy, because it is just another place for you to establish your brand and market your business. When that time comes that you seem to be fresh out of ideas, try one of the above activities to get you back on track.

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1 comment

Permanent link to this article: http://www.ddcmediagroup.com/?p=343

Jan 31

Social Media – A New Way to Listen to Your Customers

Categories:

social media marketing

by Bill Welker

January 31, 2012

Small business owners (and their sales staff) know the importance of listening to their customers. The best way for a customer to tell you what they want is by engaging in a conversation with the customer rather than reciting benefits and performance without knowing exactly what benefit the customer is actually seeking. Many a sale has been lost by doing more talking than listening.

Social Media Marketing is the new venue to establish a conversation with your customer, even though the customer is not there with you. It allows the customer to give you feedback on your service or product in a less threatening environment. Listening to these unfiltered conversations from your customers will yield a greater depth and emotional context to your customer’s desires than can be attained through more traditional research methods.

The conversation in social media allow you to be in control in a way not possible previously. Previously, surveys generally return information that focuses on the brand. Social media conversation is more human based, and can lead your customers to give you more information on their experiences with your company in their own words. In the long term, listening to the social media conversation will give you a more market-focused point of view. For instance, in can give you insight as to how your customer feels about a hard sell approach or if they feel your showroom is tidy or not.

Social Media listening is still in its infancy, but it is growing. If you fail to begin your social media listening campaign now, it will be more difficult to catch up with your competition that has decided that now is the time to begin. Don’t miss out on gaining insight into what your customer thinks about industry trends, customer service, competition, new product development and the like.

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1 comment

Permanent link to this article: http://www.ddcmediagroup.com/?p=333

Jan 28

Google + And What It Means For Your Brand

Categories:

social media marketing, Uncategorized

by Bill Welker

January 28, 2012

It seems that many are buzzing about whether Google + is going to be a success as a social network or not. Currently, Google+ does not have the interaction platform of Facebook, though Facebook has been around for a long time, and has had time to evolve and is still evolving.

Google + on the other hand, just seems to be another way to use Google. In its own right, Google has become the dominant choice for information and research. The amount of times that someone types a search term into Google may be described as astronomical. Google is and will always be an important way to get information. But will Google + ever be anything more than just another way to use Google itself.

Recently Google changed the way it will rank results on its search engine. Having a presence on Google + will help to take advantage of that ranking. Each time a user clicks on the +1 button, the site becomes more relevant, as search results are personalized on the +1s of your circles. So to be ranked higher, having your business on Google + will be a help.

Also the +1 shares will help to spread your information and brand awareness. The internet is all about information and spreading your information is what you need to achieve to gain trust as an authority in your business classification.

For a more detailed look at what Google+ can mean to your brand click here to read a more lengthy article written by Lauren Friedman.

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1 comment

Permanent link to this article: http://www.ddcmediagroup.com/?p=322

Jan 26

The Role of Social Media is Ever Increasing

Categories:

social media marketing

by Bill Welker

January 26, 2012

Social media has found its way into the news in recent months, and why shouldn’t it? Many people are using it and is fast becoming a top way to communicate. Case in point, the city of Indianapolis is creating a social media command center to help the visitors coming to the city to watch Super Bowl XLVI first hand.

The role of the command center will use several social media platforms to find parking, area attractions, and even be on standby with emergency information should the need arise. It will be more than just tweeting to someone and getting a response. The center is set up to monitor keywords and phrases to see when the social media conversation demonstrates a need for help or information, and so does not require someone to tweet to the center directly to get help.

The city of Indianapolis obviously believes that social media is a way that people communicate now. Shouldn’t you take their tack and have move your business into the social media realm and market to this large and powerful group of potential customers?

To read more about this social media command center check out the article on Mashable.

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2 comments

Permanent link to this article: http://www.ddcmediagroup.com/?p=316

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