Social media and search marketing are critical to many small businesses these days. This is not just because so many small businesses are located online, but also because social media and search marketing have become such a cost effective and powerful way to build brand identity. Compared to more expensive and, in many ways, less effective traditional media marketing, social media and search marketing allow you to target niche customers and promote your company like never before. Here’s the latest on this expanding field!
Search Basics
Keyword research in the cloud. Clearly one of the most important aspects of search marketing is keyword research no matter what form your online marketing initiative may take. With the rise of cloud computing, Travis Campbell gives us his video review of SE Cockpit, a new cloud application that goes beyond volume and competition on your search terms. MarketingProfessor
PR with search and social media in mind. When creating PR for your business or for a small business client online, it’s helpful to remember that while some things stay the same other things are very different. Beyond the differences between online and offline readers, let’s not forget about the importance of search and social media in the equation. Here’s how to craft a message that considers both. E-Marketing Performance
Social Media
Why you should be ware of social media experts. Rachel Strella talks to small business people as often as she can about the services she can offer in the world of social media. But one thing that often makes her uncomfortable is when people refer to her as an “expert.” Here are three reasons why you might be skeptical when people start throwing the e word around in reference to social media. Central PA Webster
Why the social media lamdscape keeps changing. Don’t get too comfortable with the latest titans of social media marketing, sites like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. It turns out that while social media marketing may remain viable for a good long time as an online strategy, any one site or location may not. Here’s a look at how quickly things can change and why following, even anticipating that change could be critical to your marketing efforts. Bloomberg Businessweek
Social & Search Trends
Social media continues to influence search. And one marketing agency believes it is a trend that is here to stay. Not so long ago, social media and search marketing were very different animals, but this may not be the case in the near future. From Google +1 to the partnership between Facebook and Bing, there is evidence of an ever narrowing gap. Is your marketing ready? SFGate
Building your backlinks. They are an important part of search engine marketing, to say nothing of SEO, but what makes for a good backlink and what considerations should go into a link building strategy? In the world of search, certainly all backlinks are not created equal. How should you go about planning the best backlinks for your small business site? Small Business Computing
Why you need a real network. Though link building can be a viable strategy, it should not be relied upon simply as a way to gain a “high score” from search engines. When Google and others change the way the game is played, some Websites may be left out in the cold. Instead, look at links as real connections with people: customers, partners or fans who might give us referrals. Then no game change will make a difference. SEO Book
Marketing Intelligence
Is Twitter a waste of time? It’s one of the most talked about social media platforms around, but certainly some would question the value of spending endless time entering messages of 140 characters at a time to friends and followers. For a better feel of the effectiveness of Twitter and whether it could be right for your business, read on. ProBlogger
What comes after traffic? Got a lot of traffic coming to your site? That’s great, but if those visitors take one look at your site and click back from whence they came, you’ve got a problem. If you’ve done your marketing well, they should want to stay a while and maybe even take a look at your products and services. If this isn’t happening despite a good amount of traffic, what could be going wrong? SEO Book
Conclusion
Search or social media: Which should you choose. A recent study by Google insists search still retains a higher credibility with users than social media. We can take these results with how ever many grains of salt we wish given the interests of the company releasing the findings, but Frank Reed insists it’s still a good reminder that no platform has a corner on the market. Marketing Pilgrim
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Dave Kemick
One article that stuck out to me was the ProBlogger article asking “Is Twitter a waste of time?” I talk to a lot of small business employees and owners in rural Pennsylvania and it’s often hard to convey the value of Twitter. Most folks assume that Twitter should be overlooked since all of their friends and family are already using Facebook, especially since rural adoption of Twitter is happening at a much slower rate.
Thanks for the resources!
Bob
Very good article. And I agree with you Dave that twitter is often overlooked which can be a huge mistake, but advantage for others in their niche.
TJ McCue
Interesting information, Dave. Hadn’t heard that rural biz owners were seeing Twitter differently than urban ones. I don’t doubt what you’re saying, but I’d be curious as to why you think that’s the case? I guess if the biz owner is hyper local in a really small town, then it not be worth it. I live in a small town and I know that local bakeries use it to tweet out about fresh baked items or cupcakes or such. I’ll go read that Problogger post, too. I love Darren’s work.
Great resource of articles thanks! Twitter is often overlooked as a great way to monitor what is being said about your business, your competitors and/or the industry that you are in. It’s a great way to keep up with the pulse of what’s going on in your industry.
chatmeter offers a great tool to monitor your online reputation on twitter and all the social media platforms
Dave Kemick
TJ – From what I’ve seen the biggest barrier to entry is that there isn’t immediate feedback for the small businesses in my area like there is on Facebook. Most of the ones I’ve worked with start off strong but then tend to favor Facebook because they already may have a small following there but are starting fresh and don’t understand the conversation mechanism on Twitter as easily.
It’s certainly something I’ve been trying to overcome by encouraging local folks to get more involved but it’s a slow process thus far!
Jayne From Business Marketing
It is hard to convey to business owners who dont use twitter, facebook and linkedin how important they are as marketing tools for your business. A lot of marketing today is about building your reputation, client base and getting your message out quickly and as cheaply as possible.