Posts by Azure Collier

Why You Should Let Your Fans Post on Your Facebook Page

May 7, 2012 By Azure Collier 4 Comments

Illustrations of socially connected people with speech bubbles over their headDuring last week’s Supercharging Your Facebook Marketing webinar, I got a great question from an attendee that I thought I’d share:

Q: Our organization does not currently have a social media program, and we a getting ready to kick it off in the next few months. They are very weary of leaving the Page open to comments from all fans. They have requested that I approve or disapprove all comments before they post on our Page. Do you think that us monitoring all fan content could be detrimental to our social media campaign? [Read more...]

Filed Under: Social Media Marketing Tagged With: , , ,

How to Create Content Without Doing the Work

April 26, 2012 By Azure Collier 3 Comments

Relaxed business man with feet up on deskA question I hear a lot from our customers lately is “I have no idea what to post on my social media sites. How do I create content?”

If I said “You don’t have to,” would you believe me? It’s true!

One of the great things about social media marketing is the access we have to lots of content.

Facebook users create an average of 90 pieces of content a month. All this creativity is too good to keep to ourselves – so we share it. Every 60 seconds on Facebook, users share 50,000 links with their friends.

Take advantage of the great content that’s online and use it to engage with your Facebook fans. Here are four resources to find content for your social media marketing without having to do all the work: [Read more...]

Filed Under: Social Media Marketing Tagged With: , , , ,

4 LinkedIn Features That Will Help You Expand Your Network

March 9, 2012 By Azure Collier 6 Comments

Have you logged into LinkedIn lately?

If not, you’re probably part of the 32% of people who check in a couple times a month or less.

You’ve got a profile and maybe your business or organization has a page on LinkedIn, but you haven’t had time to take your LinkedIn activity to the next level.

Well, now’s your chance — LinkedIn has been adding and updating some smart features that will help you grow your network and business.

Here’s a look at four of them. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Social Media Marketing Tagged With: ,

Be Stat Savvy: Use Reporting Data to Better Engage Your Facebook Fans

February 11, 2012 By Azure Collier 3 Comments

Do you have favorite businesses, organizations, or brands that you like because they “get” you?

When you scroll through your Facebook newsfeed, does their logo alone make you stop your mouse because you know you’ll see something that appeals to you — a link to a coupon, beautiful photos, or a post that taps in to your sense of humor?

A business or organization that “gets” you is a smart one because it knows its customers, clients, and supporters, and knows what kinds of content will engage them the most.

Thankfully, there are ways for small businesses and organizations to get to know the loyal fans who “Like” their Page.

Let’s look at two of them. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Social Media Marketing Tagged With: , , , ,

You Don’t Have to Be Everybody’s Friend: How to Balance Public, Private, and Social Media

January 19, 2012 By Azure Collier 2 Comments

Personal Professional Social MediaA few weeks ago, I got a friend request on Facebook.

I recognized the name and clicked on the person’s profile to check out his information. He was pretty well-connected in his career and we had a few friends in common. I had a problem though: I had spoken with him only once on the phone — for a project I was putting together at a place I haven’t worked at for three years. I’ve never met him in real life and really know nothing about him.

I declined the request. But that’s just me. Someone else might have accepted it. Our interpretations of what’s personal, what’s professional, what we share, and who we let into our worlds have gotten fuzzy because of social media. Millennial Branding found that Generation Y is happy to blur those lines — they use Facebook as an extension of their professional life. For some people, that can cause problems when you’re sharing information about your personal life and forget that the colleague in the next cubicle is watching every social move you make.

I present Constant Contact’s social media webinars and frequently get questions from attendees on how to separate the personal from the professional in this public space. One solution is to create a personal social media policy for each of your profiles. Look at your social networks and decide: What do you use this space for? Who do you want to let in? Think about the things you talk about on each social network — do you really want your potential new friends or followers to know those details? Do you want to know theirs? Here’s my personal social media policy: [Read more...]

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There’s No Business Like Snow Business

January 4, 2012 By Azure Collier Leave a Comment

This past October, a rare snowstorm clobbered the east coast, and my husband and I were without power for six days.

To say it was an inconvenience is an understatement. During this time, we relied on our iPhones to figure out where to get heat, power, and food, and we sent messages out on Facebook and Twitter to let friends and family know we were alright.

Facebook and Twitter also became our lifelines to the small businesses in our area that shared information on who was open and where we could go in the aftermath. It was how we found out that one of our gym’s two locations had power — we could sweat out our stress and use their showers — and that some local businesses were letting people come in just to use their outlets to charge their phones and laptops.

As a small business, you can benefit from weather events by using social media and email marketing to communicate with your customers. When bad weather hits, and people in your local area are affected, what can you do? Here are 4 tips from Constant Contact customers who’ve successfully taken advantage of bad weather in their marketing efforts: [Read more...]

Filed Under: Fresh Insights Tagged With: ,

4 Tips for Nonprofits to Keep Supporters Donating Again and Again

December 12, 2011 By Azure Collier Leave a Comment

If you run a nonprofit and haven’t sent an email yet this month thanking your advocates for their donation or their time, you will soon.

We don’t have to tell you that December is a busy month for nonprofits, as you take a look at your budgets and start planning for the new year. Part of that planning includes making sure there’s enough cash in the bank and plenty of active volunteers, and those emails can help accomplish both.

Fortunately, despite the economic downturn, Americans are keeping nonprofits on their priority list. According to the Red Cross, seven in 10 Americans plan on giving the same or more this season compared to last year.

So, to keep donors and volunteers engaged and thinking about you, here are four content tips for nonprofits: [Read more...]

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5 Ways to Market a Seasonal Business All Year Long

December 5, 2011 By Azure Collier Leave a Comment

If you’re like me, these days you’re probably looking for holiday gifts at small retail stores or looking for seasonal services like snow plowing.

Although some people are wishing it was summer, we’re not thinking about our gardens or the beach.

That’s why I wasn’t surprised when one of our customers, a landscaper, recently asked me how he can connect with his customers in the fall and winter when they don’t need his services. I know his is not a unique concern.

If yours is a seasonal business, there are some things you can do in your off months to keep in touch with your loyal customers. Here are 5: [Read more...]

Filed Under: Email Marketing, Social Media Marketing Tagged With: , ,

Ready for a Tweet Chat? 5 Tips on How to Join the Conversation

November 28, 2011 By Azure Collier Leave a Comment

If you’re a Twitter user, you may have heard of or participated in a tweet chat.

Tweet chats are live discussions that take place on Twitter about a pre-determined topic. Tweets related to the discussion are marked with a hashtag (a word or phrase preceded by the # sign; an example is#CTCTsocial, which we use to identify Constant Contact tweets about social media).

Tweet chats are a great forum for small businesses and organizations to learn from people in their industry and to collaborate with their peers. It’s also a way for you to promote what you do by offering advice, and sharing your expertise on a topic. (You can find a list of tweet chats about a variety of subjects on this Twitter chat schedule.)

Before you dive into a tweet chat, there are a few things you should keep in mind. Here are 5 tips on how to participate in the conversation: [Read more...]

Filed Under: Social Media Marketing Tagged With:

Easy Ways to Promote Your B2B Business on LinkedIn

November 17, 2011 By Azure Collier 1 Comment

Social media marketing takes a lot of work. It’s a constant cycle of creating content, engaging your customers, clients, members, and supporters, and finding creative ways to make your business or organization stand out in a sea of channels that all take a different tone.

The one social media site that has a stable atmosphere is LinkedIn. Why is that? Because the conversation there is all about business. When you sign in to LinkedIn, you’re not going to see people linking to stories about celebrity antics or posting vacation photos.

Instead, people are there to share expertise, to network, to find a new job, or to seek business advice. That’s why it’s a great place to promote your business — especially if you’re a B2B.

How do you get noticed on LinkedIn? Start by creating a company page and fill out all of the tabs that come with it: overview, careers, products & services, and analytics. Give visitors the full picture of what you do. Post job listings, provide company updates, and showcase your products and services.

Once you have people connected to you, ask them to submit recommendations on your products tab. Reviews are essential for driving new business — a recent Nielsen study on brand marketing showed that consumers look to social media reviews before they make purchasing decisions. Nielsen found that 63% of social media users rely on ratings; 62% said it was as their preferred information source when researching products and services.

Next, take a look at LinkedIn groups. Join industry-related groups and start your own groups around your business or what you do. Groups provide a great place for discussions and collaborations. Someone in a marketing LinkedIn group I follow started a blog and wasn’t sure what to do with it. Fellow members checked out the blog and gave fantastic feedback on how to create content, provided tips to improve the blog’s SEO (search engine optimization), and explained how to use social sharing tools. You can gain a lot of insight by adding to the conversation and asking for advice from your colleagues.

Then, be a resource. Your knowledge and your unique take on what you do can’t be beat. Contribute to discussions with your expertise. Offer solutions and value to your LinkedIn colleagues and they will start to look at you and your business as the place to turn when they need help.

 Do you use LinkedIn? Share your experience with the site here or on our Facebook Page.

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