In other words, there may be many lists out there which describe model branding pages for social media marketing. This is the only list I will bother to make, because things do change quickly. I hope, in the near future, that I can create a new list focusing on smaller businesses and organizations (the brands that are less familiar) which have utilized social media effectively to help grow their brand.

In any case, the following examples of effective Facebook Pages for familiar brands are chosen based on why I view these pages as positive examples, and a brief explanation is given for each page for your convenience. Enjoy!

K-Mart (http://Facebook.com/Kmart) has a Facebook advertisement announcing that they are giving away a $20 gift card every 10 minutes. Like their page to qualify.

Toyota has launched a series of TV commercials drawing viewers to visit http://Facebook.com/Toyota and “share your story.” (There is one commercial that drew a large response, but it was misleading and was removed. The remaining commercials continue to work effectively.)

Pepsi, on http://Facebook.com/Pepsi, focuses that they give away millions in grants each month. Talk about Positive PR! More importantly, they spark interaction by encouraging you to support your favorite project, categorized by cause.

Coca-Cola– on the other hand– is the 3rd most popular Facebook Branded page (just beneath Facebook, naturally, and Starbucks.) At http://Facebook.com/CocaCola you’ll find a great example of viral and attractive engagement. A photo contest (snap a photo which includes Coca Cola in the summer cans, and you could win) is simply brilliant, don’t you think? The graphic landing page doesn’t even mention what the prizes are. They range from branded Coca-Cola t-shirts (more attraction marketing, of course) to a “cheap-ish” digital video camera & photo frame. Photo and video contests are effective, and you don’t have to offer expensive prizes but you do need to offer some form of incentive to encourage participation.

Starbucks provides Facebook users with an app to monitor the balance of a Starbucks card, and even surprise friends by adding funds to other cards as a gift. (http://Facebook.com/Starbucks)

Geico is well known for their advertising campaigns, and for good reason. At http://Facebook.com/Geico, you can view a Youtube feed of funny Geico commercials, “gift a gecko” (viral attraction marketing), participate in a poll (Currently “Which is your favorite Geico mascot? – Cavemen, Gecko, or Kash) and also view livestreaming News and Twitter feeds.

Pizza Hut offers an App at http://Facebook.com/PizzaHut which allows you to order pizza – carry out or delivery – without ever leaving Facebook. Enough said…

Zappos does not miss a beat! The landing page at http://Facebook.com/Zappos is an amusing graphic pointing to the ‘Like’ button, and it reads “Let’s Be in a Like-Like Relationship”. Talk about a Call to Action! Even afterwards, this is a fun, friendly page with playful and engaging updates.

San Francisco offers a great model for government usage of social media at http://Facebook.com/SF. From a great usage of Events and video integration to fresh content, this is a good example of how Business & Tourism Development organizations can utilize Facebook into routine marketing efficiently.

Skittles provides a very entertaining Page at http://Facebook.com/Skittles and it’s the status updates that keep it interesting. What better way to build loyalty than to keep fans laughing? Most updates contain some mention of “rainbow” which is the brand that Skittles is successfully maintaining. More importantly, not all updates are entirely self promotional. Every update has been liked and/or commented on by thousands of page fans, and this leads to attractive viral marketing. An example of a highly popular, non-promotional update: “It’s kind of insane how angry piñatas make everybody.” Just for the fun of it, another example: “Ants never complain when humans ruin their picnics.” Short, simple, and oh-so-effective! (Of course, there is the occasional update such as “If Skittles had an anthem, what would it be?”

Website content must meet many unique guidelines in order to be effective. What might surprise you is that the guidelines of website content are different from the guidelines for other forms of content, such as print marketing collateral.

If you don’t understand these guidelines, maintaining an effective website can be challenging, and this is where many websites fall short of their expectations. To prove the importance of quality website content, feel free to follow these DIY tips to make changes to the content on your website (where it is needed) and you will also increase the performance of your website.

Quality Website Content Will Lower the Bounce Rate of Your Website

The bounce rate of your website is the rate of visitors, AKA potential customers, who were immediately turned off by the first impression of your website. This number will tell you how effective the landing page (typically the Home page) of your website is, or how ineffective. The lower the bounce rate; the better! (On the other hand, a higher bounce rate means richer competitors!)

Most website owners can expect some “bouncers” to hit the Back button in their browser and leave within the first 30 seconds or less. Some website owners even view this number as a positive thing, assuming that internet users have found the information they were looking for and left… quickly and satisfied. While not all websites are attempting to sell something, it is never a smart idea to think of a bounce rate as a positive thing because it is not.

Feel free to decide on a standard… choose a number that you would like to keep your bounce rate restricted to. A safe number would be 15% to 20%. A bounce rate over 50% is cause for immediate concern, but you can change the bounce rate by changing the first impression that your website projects.

Visual Appeal is mostly graphic arts, naturally, but on a website the content must not be intimidating. Clean white space, shorter paragraphs, and sections broken up by sub headers will make any web page friendlier and more appealing to visitors. Each web page should have a minimum of 300 words for effective search engine indexing and optimization (SEO, more on that soon…) but it should be easy to scan through.

The simplest explanation for the visual demands of website content is that internet users expect immediate and convenient gratification. There should be no ‘hunting’ for important information… instead it should pop right out, clear as day. Within a mere glance, website content will make or break that important first impression.

Believe it or not, Readability Level is yet another key factor to consider and not in the way you might think.

In print marketing collateral, you want the tone of your marketing copy to reflect the language used by your target audience. However, the internet is a different medium where language should be simpler… in most cases. While it does matter who your audience is, the recommended tone for most websites is a 6th grade reading level.

It isn’t just about using shorter words and sentences, but about the ease of reading. To test the readability level, choose a page and read it out loud. Quality website content should flow from the tongue without any “stumbling.” Even better… hand a copy to a teenager (if you have one lying around) and ask him or her to read it out loud. (They may trip over a few words here and there, but not excessively.)

The readability level of website content also contributes to the visual appeal. Remember, an intimidating web page will have a higher bounce rate.

Finally, one of the most important elements of any quality website is the Navigation Path and you’d be a fool to count on the menu buttons to guide traffic. Take note that navigational buttons offer options, and a navigation path is already laid down… guiding visitors from one page to another. You choose where you want visitors to go next, and continue leading traffic down a path to a chosen destination.

In fact, you can offer several Navigation Paths and monitor the effectiveness of each using a handy tool like Google Analytics. In any case, it’s the duty of website content to steer visitors down these paths, and when you use anchor text links you also get a head start on Search Engine Optimization!

Quality Website Content Gives a Higher Traffic Potential through SEO

SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is defined elsewhere. If you’re unfamiliar with this term you’ll find a wealth of information to fill you in. Just do what every other internet user does and “Google It”…

For those who already know that search engines can be the leading traffic source to a website, you should also know that SEO relies on website content.

Target Keyword Research is a process which will tell you which keywords to optimize for. Remember to focus on keywords and phrases used by your market to describe your product or service… these are more important than the words and phrases you would use. From there, the quality of website content and the effectiveness of an SEO campaign rely on the Target Keyword Placement & Density.

Contrary to prior belief, keyword density is not as important as placement. Ironically, lower keyword density is more effective when optimizing a website for search engine traffic. SEO copywriting is a skill on its own, and best handled by a dedicated professional.

Quality Website Content Increases Conversion Rate

Quality sales people are amazing at face-to-face situations, while quality sales copy relies on the power of words to persuade readers to become customers. In this day and age, there are no “consumers”… there are shoppers. Rather than using manipulation to achieve a sale, website content should focus on giving readers a solid reason to choose you over the 10+ competitors easily available (by hitting the back button).

To do this, website content must meet all of the above standards while also Proving Value of a product or service. Of course you’d tell me you’re the best, you’re trying to sell something!

Solid evidence can be as simple as a portfolio, testimonials, or case studies. Showcase the proof that your market is most responsive to, and the rest is a piece of cake. Of course, you do have to remain in control of the “conversation” between website visitors and readers. Remember that navigation path mentioned earlier?

Strong Calls to Action are often overlooked by inexperienced copy writers, despite being one of the most critical elements of marketing copy. Don’t expect visitors to “guess” at what he or she should do next… tell them!

For example:

“Call 555-555-5555 to Request a Free Consultation” is a strong call to action that is short, simple, and to-the-point.

Calls to action can be used to steer traffic down a navigation path, using anchor text links for SEO of course, but are most effective when they are attractive, offering true incentive or value. (“Free” isn’t as powerful a word as you might think…)

An example of an attractive call to action is:

“Call 555-555-5555 for a FREE consultation and save $75! Hurry, offer expires {insert date for tomorrow}!!!”

Give Your Website a Complete Transformation With Quality Website Copywriting Services

Whether your website is in the development stage or has already launched – and bombed – Caryn can help! Call (315) 876 – 5925 or email Caryn@CustomCopySolutions.com and request a Complimentary Website Analysis with a rate for website content development or repair services, Because People Judge Your Business By Its Website…

Even if you are one of the few who are still reluctant to jump on the social media bandwagon, consider the Open Graph recently announced by Facebook, which has been interpreted by both fans and skeptics as a “plan to take over the world.”

We are long past the point of explaining why social media is such a critical medium for professional or promotional use. Things evolve quickly!

Now it’s just a matter of understanding how to effectively utilize social media. This is problematic for those who are unfamiliar with social networking tools, including those with no interest in using social media for personal or professional use. My answer to that is simple:

“It doesn’t matter how you feel about social media… what matters is how your audience feels about it!”

Some hire a younger generation student who is already familiar with social media for personal use. Some assign social media management to an Administrative Assistant or to a dedicated internet manager. In any case, you should be aware that there is a fine line between promoting your product, service, or cause… and posting unwanted spam.

With social media becoming a huge trend for businesses and organizations to get their name and message out there, I’d like to take this opportunity to offer a few suggestions to “newbies.”

After taking a look at the graph shown above you may understand why I recommend focusing on Facebook and not worrying about Twitter or LinkedIn. You’ll make your own life much easier, and the purpose of social media marketing is to reach your audience. If you don’t see a point to fishing in a mud puddle: focus on Facebook.

Without further adieu, here are a few free tips to ensure that your social media marketing campaign is as effective as possible.

Social Media Suggestion # 1: Budget Your Time Wisely!

Many “newbies” are spending far too much time on social media… and in many cases this is because they are trying to learn something new. Of course I’ll recommend social media training, so you can receive personal coaching in developing and maintaining a network for social media marketing purposes. However, the most important step to take is limiting the amount of time you spend on exploring and understanding how social networks work. Create a plan before you jump in and stick to your time budget every day, week, and/or month.

Social Media Suggestion # 2: Pick One Platform & Stick With It!

In some situations it is more appropriate to practice “niche networking” but in most cases where social media has not been a critical medium for marketing… just one platform is all you need. Once you get too many balls in the air, it becomes a burden. Yet if you focus all of your “social media time” on just one networking venue, you’ll be able to make the most of your budgeted time and become a pro. Following the statistics, it shouldn’t be too challenging to decide which platform to focus on.

Social Media Suggestion # 3: Plan Ahead!

It often helps to have a list already written of acceptable “Tweets” or status updates. This makes the process of maintaining social networks a less daunting task, so you can move on to more important things. Every once in a while, you’ll have a great idea… write it down and wait! (This is a great way to prevent posting anything you may regret.)

At the same time, you also want to have a set schedule for how you will make your posts, and understand what type of posts you’ll be making. As an example, you may want to post 3 times a day for 5 days a week. In this scenario, you might want to do one promotional post that is self serving (such as announcing an event or special offer.) To compensate for this and avoid producing spam, you would want to do a promotional post for somebody else in your network, such as a compliment, comment, or re-post. For the remaining post, a conversation starter is always a great idea. (Think of commenting on local or industry specific news topics, sharing a joke, or an inspirational quote.)

Social Media Suggestion # 4: Keep It Social!

Whether you use Myspace, Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn… you have a very high chance of running across somebody who only wants to talk about themselves. When you do, you’ll see how annoying this can be and you’ll understand why that is never effective. But you don’t really need to be in that situation to recognize that networking in any environment requires etiquette.

It may be challenging for you to find the best way to utilize social media for marketing without being too promotional, but it is possible! For personal, in house social media training customized to your unique needs please call Caryn at (315) 876 – 5925.

It’s not too challenging to read those thoughts and to recognize that these distractions are keeping your business or organization from reaching its daily potential. In some cases, it just makes more sense to work with a professional service provider to get the job done right… the first time.

Web Maintenance Increases the Value of Development

Simply having a website just isn’t enough to access all of the benefits that the internet has to offer. Most small business owners feel disappointed with the results of a new website when it fails to fulfill their expectations.

It’s important to understand that maintaining a website is critical to the success of that website, and ongoing internet management or maintenance training is a service that few developers or designers are able to offer.

Custom Marketing Words is available to collaborate with any graphic designer or web developer in the Finger Lakes to produce the most effective collateral possible, and for ongoing needs such as website maintenance, SEO, or social media campaign management.

Internet Management for Finger Lakes Businesses & Organizations

As of May 23rd, 2010 – Custom Marketing Words is available to work directly for any business, organization, or corporation located in the beautiful Finger Lakes Region of Central New York!!! Direct Internet Management Services with Custom Marketing Words, either in house or remotely, are twice as effective… and available for half the cost of a dedicated internet manager on payroll.

We bring the knowledge and experience of internet marketing and web management, including social media, so there Is no need to train a current or new employee. We are available for short or long term contracts, and we can also provide in house training for small organizations.

Social Media Coaching

Social media marketing is becoming a big trend for businesses and organizations of all shapes and sizes, but the slightest mistake made during a social networking campaign could be permanently damaging to your brand. There are a number of social media classes, courses, and seminars available to receive training on how to effectively utilize sites like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn to network, market, and promote. Unfortunately, these options are very one sided… and lack the personal attention it takes to get all of the solutions for your unique challenges.

Custom Marketing Words provides in-house, personal social media coaching for small businesses and non-profit organizations located in the Finger Lakes only. (Businesses with more than 10 employees are ineligible.)

Personally, I come from the generation where social media is natural. It has evolved, of course, from Yahoo! Chat & Email to Instant Messaging… and now it is Tweets and Wall Posts dominating the way we communicate with others. Connecting with others through social media is convenient and there is nothing wrong with that. (That is, just as long as you don’t neglect “real world” interactions.)

However, there is another perspective to Social Media which can be damaging if used improperly. Of course I am talking about social media marketing, or using social networks to promote a brand, product/service, event, or an organization.

Social Media Marketing Is Powerful… And That Can Go Either Way.

It is very effective to use social media for marketing purposes, and there is good reason why “everyone is doing it.” Yet so many are doing it wrong… and you may be making the same mistakes.

The first question I ask a client regarding social media is “Do you use it personally?” followed by “How do you use it?”

Most who do use social networking for personal use, but not professional, use it to stay in touch with friends and family. Any interest in utilizing social media for networking is something that most clients wish to do separately, and that is perfectly understandable. In fact, that is the first point I touch on about social media marketing.

You Never Want To Spam Your Friends & Family…

So why would you want to spam total strangers who might be your customers? The use of social media as a marketing tool should be handled carefully, because the thing you are promoting is your brand, and the modern world has a very low tolerance for self serving promotions. This is why a Facebook Page is not likely to gain exposure or reach as many leads as it could, if all it does is promote, promote, and promote. (That’s called spam and quickly results in being blocked, un-followed, or un-liked!)

My advice to clients, and anybody reading this article, is to wait until you have developed an effective branding strategy. Most small businesses try so hard to do the advertising, and the marketing, but neglect the single most important step: branding. If you already have an effective brand, then this should already create the guidelines to follow for social media marketing.

Another thing to know about social media is that Facebook is taking over the world. Literally! Have you read about the Facebook Open Graph yet? It can be a daunting task to maintain multiple social networks, and it’s not necessary because LinkedIn and Twitter will soon fall into the graveyard, buried next to Myspace. Simplify your life and focus on Facebook for your social media networking campaign.

To make it even easier, here are some general tips for using Facebook to your advantage without producing spam:

A Facebook Page is similar to a Facebook Profile, but you can create as many pages as you like. It is possible to keep Personal and Professional lives from crossing, without needing to create a second profile. It takes more work to maintain two profiles anyways, so why would you want to?

There are several tabs, tools, and apps you can use on Facebook. Use the tools most appropriate for the Purpose of your Facebook Page, and get rid of the rest. (Example: Events, Photos, Videos, Links, Discussion, etc.)
A general guideline I use for maintaining professional networking is to post 5 updates each day.

• Of these, only one post should be self-promotional. The other posts should be:
• a relevant discussion starter (such as a question),
• a response to an update posted by somebody else,
• an appropriate joke or an inspirational quote,
• and a comment regarding a “hot” topic (such as a popular news story) that is appealing to your target audience.

If you want more tips on how to effectively utilize social media marketing without producing spam and compromising the credibility of your brand, please Contact Caryn. Caryn is a Creative Consultant with Custom Marketing Words, specializing in Copywriting, Internet Marketing, and Web Management for businesses, organizations, and individuals in the Finger Lakes. If you need help transforming an underperforming website into a powerful medium to increase traffic and conversion rates, but would rather do it yourself, don’t forget to ask about the Website Inspection Report!

Public Relations Is A Process…

Credibility is just one of many elements that make up an effective PR campaign, and we are in an age where earning trust is not easy, nor is it quick.

Customer loyalty tends to go in the direction of businesses that have been around longest (particularly without any hiccups.) New businesses have a more difficult time competing against established businesses that have been around long enough to prove their worth. (Nonetheless, a Positive PR Campaign will work wonders!)

Positive Public Relations, especially in small communities, significantly reduces the amount of time it takes to build credibility — from several years in business to as little as a few short months. When combined with a strategic marketing campaign, PR can be a powerful medium that builds a stronger foundation for a successful business venture.

How Important Are Public Relations, Anyways?

For an example of the importance public relations: most consumers do read the restaurant inspection reviews published in the local newspaper. A bad inspection is bad news for any facility, and negative PR has forced many small businesses to close. It is in this time of crisis when a small business owner will try desperate things to reverse the way consumers feel about their business.

Unfortunately, Positive Public Relations is not a magic eraser. Without having already established trust, there is nothing to win back once that trust has been broken. It’s not just the newspapers where consumers turn for information… it’s also word of mouth. A bad review is just as likely to be passed around as a good review… and vice versa.

So you can take control right from the beginning and build a positive rapport… or do nothing and hope there won’t ever be anything negative said about your business.

 For more information on how to develop and maintain a Positive Public Relations campaign for your small business or organization in the Finger Lakes, please contact Caryn at (315) 876 – 5925 or email Caryn@CustomCopySolutions.com

There are 3 “types” of SEO tips, and only one type is worth following. First, let’s take a closer look at the worst form of SEO guidelines, so you know what not to do when you want to optimize your website to gain traffic through search engines.

Black Hat SEO… It’s Just Not Worth It!

So there’s no confusion about it, black hat SEO tips produce spam. This is the most unethical method of search engine optimization possible, and there are many ways to go about it. The entire concept, however, is based on manipulating the results when a search engine spider, such as the GoogleBot, “crawls” (or indexes) a website.

Examples of black hat SEO include:

• Article Spinning – a process which “rewrites” one original article into several duplicate articles that are considered unique (to a robot) by spinning words and sentences into similar words and sentences, that contain the same meaning. This is usually done through article spinning software, or by hiring low quality, low wage freelance writers to generate multiple rewrites of a short piece of content. Spinning an article is unethical because the end product is not unique or original, and offers nothing of true value to a human perspective.
  
• Keyword Stuffing / Keyword Counting - While keyword density is important in any effective SEO campaign, it is unethical to “push the limit” and aim for a higher density of keywords (as high as 5% on web pages.) When producing an SEO Blog or Article, keywords should fall into place naturally. The quality of an article is compromised when you focus on counting the number of times a long tail and/or short tail keyword is used instead of providing valuable information related to the target topic. Another example of keyword stuffing is to use meta keywords that are not relevant to the web page, in an attempt to mislead search engine traffic.
• Cloaking – An especially deceptive black hat SEO strategy is to publish hidden or invisible text on a web page, for example by disguising keywords in a color that blends into the background of a web page

Also known as ‘spamdexing’… Black Hat SEO tips are easy to recognize. If it sounds like “cheating”… it is. There are several reasons to avoid these deceptive strategies, the most important being the risk taken that if you are caught (and you will be caught) you will suffer the punishment of a reduced page ranking… or worse yet, being black listed by search engines. (That means your website will not show up in search engine results at all.)

White Hat SEO… Taking the Honest Road Pays Off in the Long Run

Sure, it may take a bit longer before you see any results, but the only SEO guidelines worth following are those provided by the search engines. When all is said and done, search engine optimization is just one element that your website content serves. The most important purpose of any website is to serve the end user, human visitors.

Whether you want to inform, educate, entertain, or convert… this purpose should always be met first and foremost. Keyword density, and keyword placement, will occur naturally when you understand white hat SEO guidelines are based around customer satisfaction. The highest page ranks are given to the highest traffic websites, and if you can’t keep visitors on your website… you’ll never stack up against competitors!

So the best ways to optimize your website for search engine traffic are to:

• Focus on a topic that will include natural density and placement of target keywords & phrases. Produce quality content that serves a purpose to your audience, and will satisfy your target market.
  
• Turn to the search engines for quality, white hat SEO tips & strategies that you can follow yourself to rank higher in search engine results. (Try Google’s SEO Tips and the Yahoo! SEO Content Guidelines for more information.)
  
• Keep content fresh and up to date. Stale content is useless to consumers as well as search engines, so be sure to maintain your website with at least 2 new posts each month. (I recommend a minimum of 2 posts a week, depending on the nature of your small business.)
  

What About Silver Hat SEO Guidelines?

Silver Hat SEO is a pretty name for a combination of ethical (white hat) policies and the deceptive policies of black hat seo. In other words, it doesn’t matter. Whether you cheat a little or cheat a lot, you’re still cheating and it’s not worth the risk. SEO is not the sole purpose of your website anyways, so what’s the point of disappointing potential customers?