Below are 5 areas to help you measure your Social Media success and consider making changes for 2011:

Honest Benchmark – It starts with an honest review of where you are at in Social Media.  I am assuming if you are reading this post you are one of the many businesses which implemented Social Media this year.  If I was meeting with you in person I would ask if you followed through with your Social Media strategy and goals this year.  So many businesses jump into Social Media with great plans and a minimal strategy only to decide to abandon Social Media because they realize it takes more than just setting up a few profiles.  Even some of our clients at Square Martini Media after creating a detailed Social Media strategy discovered in the process that Social Media is a big of a commitment and had to reconsider moving forward.  Social Media takes someone within a company or a firm like ours actual hours, time, and money to make successful.

Review Analytics – Use Google Analytics or something similar to review your site traffic for the year.  If you are using Social Media as a marketing tool to bring traffic to your hub (website or blog) you should clearly see what areas within Social Media are working and which one are not.  This is a great way to discover opportunities while having some reality checks at the same time.  What worked and what can be improved on?  Are there areas within Social Media that you are spending a lot of time yet not getting the desired results?    Make the decision to change or abandoned what is not working and focus your resources on new strategies or expanding what is working.

Blogging and Facebook Business Pages – Are you creating new content?  Did you commit to a certain amount of posts this year and did you follow through?  Have you adjusted your posting calendar for both your blog and Facebook business page this year and have your reviewed the results?  Are there certain topics, themes, or discussions that seem to be more successful than others?  For many businesses their blog can be the majority of the traffic for their site.  Take some time and discover the posts that are still driving traffic to your website and how you might expand on them for 2011.

Social Media Profiles – When is the last time you updated your Linkedin Profile?  And speaking of profiles have you seen your Facebook profile lately?  Many business owners set up a profile and never look back.  Business goals and messages change, make sure your message is congruent with both your personal and business brands.  Block out time to review and make needed adjustments to your main Social Media profiles.

Show me the money! – Let’s talk about sales!  If you are using Social Media to create sales make sure to review your sales and see where they are coming from.  Is the time, effort, and money you are spending on Social Media bringing new sales to your business?  I have to make it clear that I am assuming you are tracking your sales.  Not kind of tracking or broadly tracking, but really making sure that you and every employee is making every possible effort to identify where each and every sale is coming from.  I have talked to many business owners this year who swear they are tracking their sales.  Typically when I dig deeper and ask more questions about their sales they realize they are not tracking as well as they thought.  This is one of the biggest mistakes made in business today.  You must have great sales tracking to know if Social Media or any marketing strategy is working.  If you cannot clearly identify sales from Social Media it is time to adjust your tracking methods.

This is just a starting point for your Social Media marketing review and I would welcome any additional suggestions via comments below.  Make a commitment right now to not close 2010 without insuring your Social Media success for 2011!

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Step 1 – Define why you think social media will work for your business and what you are going to use social media for.  Are you trying to create sales, leads, brand awareness, or customer engagement?  You must know what you want before you begin.

Step 2 – Commit to the process.  Social media is a community.  Too many companies use it as a broadcasting tool and think they are using social media.  This is like placing a bowl of candy at your front door on Halloween with a note that says “please take one”.  Sure a few kids may take one and be perfectly happy but eventually someone will empty the entire bowl into their bag and the other kids are left with nothing but a note.  This result closely resembles many business Facebook pages and blogs- a great start yet no commitment to continue the process.

Step 3 – Seek out help from a credible social media firm to create your social media strategy.  Yes, you can do social media on your own by having an intern or someone with no business experience set up your Facebook page, Twitter profile, and LinkedIn account.  But this is not a social media strategy and in the end can create a PR and branding disaster that resembles the graveyard scene from your local haunted house.

Using social media in your business is no trick and the rewards for your business can bring you treats for years to come.  I encourage you to think about how you are approaching social media in your business and don’t be scared to contact us at Square Martini Media to help!

Square Martini Media is a San Diego based Social Media firm which specializes in working with both local and national small to midsized business who what to implement social media strategies to attract new customers to their business.

Photo Credit: Jeff Siarto

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The Social Media Kool-Aid Guzzler: For many businesses after taking their first step (sip of the Kool-Aid) in social media they tend to immediately jump all in or start guzzling.  Businesses try to drink the entire pitcher of Kool-Aid in one sitting.  They set up profiles on every possible social media network barely stopping to take a breath and not even considering how they will keep up with all these profiles.  Social media strategy is out the door but they are sure all these profiles will bring them business.  Eventually these businesses decide the Kool-Aid doesn’t taste all that great.  It could be within a few weeks or a few months but all the social media activity stops and these businesses will now tell you “I tried that social media thing and it does not work”.

The Social Media Kool-Aid Big Gulpers:  Have you seen these before?  The 44 oz, 64oz, wait that’s not big enough the 1 gallon jug people carry around with a big straw hanging out?  Picture this jug full of Social Media Kool-Aid.  These Kool-Aid Gulpers are social media super users.  They are similar to the Guzzlers typically not having a social media strategy but don’t seem to quit.  They are constantly drinking, updating too many profiles and are the types of users you always see iPhone or Droid phone in hand.  In the middle of a meeting, party, or conversation these users are trying to update Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn.  They may be taking pictures and uploading to Flickr or even shooting video and trying to get it up on YouTube on the spot.

If you are one of these two users how can you possibly be losing business?  You are doing everything right… right?

For the Guzzlers they lose business by spending so much time learning and applying social media as fast as they can and then just let it all go.   A lot of businesses think they need to do social media and think they can do it themselves.  Business owners and executives step away from their primary roles and try to become social media experts.  By doing this their business actually goes down and then a few months later they stop using social media anyway.  All that time and effort goes to waste.

For the Gulpers they don’t realize they are alienating the people around them.  These could be prospects or customers who don’t understand why you have your phone out and in hand.  The perception is you don’t care about the meeting or conversation which creates a feeling of indifference.  This indifference can grow to the point of losing long standing customers or prospects that are ready to buy.

The moral of the social media Kool-Aid story is to be aware of what you can become.  You truly do not want to be a Guzzler or a Gulper in social media.  If you are a business wanting to get started in social media ask for help.  Seek out social media marketing firms within your network and find out how they work.  Create a social media strategy and implement it over time.  Social media works for all types of business but you must have a strategy and plan.

If you want to learn how you can work with Square Martini Media on your social media strategy please visit or contact us page and use the form, email, or call us today.

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A person can have only one personal Facebook account but unlimited business pages?

Facebook regulations require that each person have only one account that is listed in a personal name (not in the name of a business).  However, you can add Facebook “pages” for most businesses in addition to your personal page.  A facebook page functions much like your personal page.

Facebook calls this feature “pages”.

This feature is listed under “Advertising” at the bottom of all Facebook pages.

Example:

http://www.facebook.com/squaremartini

http://www.facebook.com/vw

We know you’ve seen lots of Facebook pages and “Like” buttons everywhere.  However, do you continue to see friend requests from businesses?  We do!  Those businesses that choose to use personal profiles versus business “pages” in facebook sacrifice many business benefits which facebook has built for businesses.  One of the biggest benefits is the ability to send an update to all of your fans/likers.

What are some of your favorite Facebook pages?  Have you visited our Square Martini page yet?  Join our conversation today and tell us your feedback!

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What is a Google Alert?  According to our friends at Wikipedia Google Alerts is a content monitoring service or what we call in social media, a listening tool.  Google Alerts will automatically notify you of new content published online as news, in a website, blog, or video based on your key word or phrase.

Google Alerts makes a users life easy by sending the results directly to their email account or rss feed. It may seem strange to get the results sent to email when the user could in theory receive similar results from a Google search, but this tool allows you to catch up on important information as its appears online in real time. This can really be convenient for two reasons.

The first reason is competition. Most worthy business competitors are going to have online advertisements, homepages, newsletters, Facebook Pages and Twitter accounts, and many more kinds of online activity. Google Alerts delivers the news of your rival businesses in real time, in one place so you don’t have to search for hours trying to find new information. It’s like a daily newsletter that tells you exactly what you want to know without all the extra and repetitive results that a normal search would provide for a user.

The second reason your company should use Google Alerts is to listen.  You want to know what is being said about you, your business, and your brand as it happens online.  This could be a news story about your company that you were not aware of or it could be a raving fan talking up your brand.  Positive or negative you must know what is being discussed online about your business.

Lastly, it’s easy to remove a Google Alert if you don’t want them anymore- just click the delete button from within the Google Alerts email you receive and you will no longer receive them. This means you have nothing to lose!

Take a moment and think of a few keywords or phrases about your business and add them to Google Alerts today!  This is a free tool that can easily be a powerful resource for any business.

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For starters, LinkedIn is the number one business network.  LinkedIn has over 50 million users all over the globe with every Fortune-500 company represented. This is a network you cannot afford to miss.  LinkedIn is easy to setup and forget.  But just like you forget LinkedIn, so do all your LinkedIn Connections.  Your connections forget about you.

Social Media Tip: One simple step to insure you maintain top of mind awareness with your connections is to Update Your Network Status on LinkedIn.  This update will be listed on your connections home page as well as the weekly email LinkedIn sends to its users.  LinkedIn asks the question: What are you working on now?

Examples for your LinkedIn status could include:

• If you are a Financial Planner you might say, “Just finished meeting with a new client, it’s refreshing to see the excitement when I give new clients their financial plan”.
• If you are a Home Remodeler you might say, “Just completed our 200^th kitchen remodel and the owners are still surprised we finished on time and on budget” .
• If you sell Insurance you might say, “Just reviewed another home owners policy and showed the clients why they were under insured and how to correct it for an additional $28 per year!”

Updating your status is easy, time effective and most importantly effective.  We recommend scheduling a weekly appointment  that reminds you to update your status.  You’ll be investing ten minutes to reach out to your LinkedIn community.  Is that an investment you can afford to make with the largest online business network?  Afterall, you can do it in your pajamas should you choose or during your mid morning break in the office.

Want to read more about Social Media? Square Martini Media has plenty of articles with useful information for you and your business. Check out the links below and browse our website for more great advice!

• 7 Top Tips for Creating A Linkedin Profile That Markets Your Business

• Using Social Media Share Buttons to Increase Website Traffic From Linkedin

• 11 Reasons Why You Should Be Using Linkedin

And if you’ve got a great example of inspiration for writing social media strategies, please share it here  in a comment or on our facebook page.

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Twitter Names: @GiniDietrich,  @AngieSwartz

Twitter Talk Radio, hosted by Angie Swartz, is recorded live in the WSRadio studios in sunny San Diego! You can listen to the podcast by clicking on the links below and sign up for our RSS feed at the bottom of the page.

Each week on Twitter Talk Radio, we spend an hour broken up into four segments when we cover:

• Guests Offering Great Case Studies and Examples of How People and Businesses are Using Twitter and Social Media for Business
• Useful Tips for Listeners on Twitter for Business
• Twitter and Social Media Happenings in the News

Gini Dietrich on Why Spin Sucks

Host Angie Swartz interviews Gini Dietrich, founder and CEO of Arment Dietrich, Inc. Gini shares the different ways she utilizes social media. Listen in to learn more about her blog at spinsucks and how she quadruples traffic every time she posts a video!

Gini Dietrich and Is Twitter Dead and Over?

Host Angie Swartz talks to Gini Dietrich about making Twitter work for business. Gini answers the looming question, “Is Twitter dead?!” Tune into this segment to hear experiences with winning a twitter contest and her critiques of the process.

Gini Dietrich Asks How to Manage Rapid Client Growth

Host Angie Swartz and Gini Dietrich discuss how to manage a large customer base without resorting to automated responses. How do business owners maintain their personal philosophy without drowning in clients’ needs? Angie gives great advice on how to reach multiple clients at once without losing the personal impact.

Attention! Business Owners: Make Life Simpler with RSS

Host Angie Swartz and Gini Dietrich talk about how to be a great CEO. Gini reveals some of her own success secrets on how to manage content and coach her team. Listen in to learn more about how an RSS reader could simplify your business.

Check out Gini’s video blogs and tell us what you think! Post links of your own blogs to share with us, too!

Subscribe to Twitter Talk Radio:

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1. Create content because it’s one of the most important things you can do when implementing your social media strategy
2. Podcasting can be easy and convenient, especially if you enjoy talking
3. It is inexpensive and no major equipment is required

Here’s Angie Swartz with the weekly Social Media Minute to further explain the benefits of content:

As Angie said, it’s not which medium you pick but how you use it. What matters is that the content is on a popular medium so that it is easily assessable and enjoyed by your target customer.

You’re a writer, no problem- write blogs! Oh you like to be in front of the camera you say? Then record a video for YouTube! There is always a way to use your creative skills to create social media!

We hope you enjoyed the Social Media Minute and I look forward to your thoughts and comments.  Please subscribe to the Square Martini Media YouTube channel and if you have a question you would like covered on the Social Media Minute, let us know by giving us your Social Media Minute Question.

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A good social media strategy must be well thought out, targeted and aligned with your company goals.  Thus, the first step is to make sure you start by revisiting your company goals.  Only then can you start thinking about social media and how it can compliment your objectives.

Social Media Tip: A Good Social Media Strategy Starts With a Good Overall Company Business Strategy.

Make sure you have 5 written business and/or marketing goals with you when you start thinking about social media.  Use these goals to develop your social media goals.  Identify influencers and customers  in your industry who are already using social media to connect with, learn from and target for relationships… which in the end lead to business.

Want to read more about Social Media? Square Martini Media has plenty of articles with useful information for you and your business. Check out the links below and browse our website for more great advice!

• Why Should My Company Use Social Media?

• Social Media Strategy Case Study: AJ Bombers uses Foursquare, Twitter to Rock the Restaurant Industry

• Does your 2009 Business Plan include a Social Media Strategy?

And if you’ve got a great example of inspiration for writing social media strategies, please share it here  in a comment or on our facebook page.

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Some of you may be thinking why video and why put them on YouTube?  This could be a post in its self but to keep it simple video is HOT, it’s something we recommend to many of our Social Media clients, and if you  looked at YouTube as a search engine it would be ranked number 2 above  Yahoo!.   So what you really should be thinking is how can you implement a video and YouTube strategy in your business?

To kick of the Social Media Minute please watch the following video as we explore using Twitter, Facebook, and Linkedin to follow up after speaking.  In the video I discuss using Social Media to continue the conversation, establish stronger relationships, and move prospects in an audience to customers and referral sources.

I hope you enjoyed the Social Media Minute and I look forward to your thoughts and comments.  Please subscribe to the Square Martini Media YouTube channel and if you have a question you would like covered on the Social Media Minute please let us know by giving us your Social Media Minute Question.

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