Can you expect to hear from Mark Zuckerberg during the quiet period in subtle ways? Follow us at www.facebook.com/thatcompanycom to stay up to date.

That! Company would like to congratulate Izaak Hale for winning the Fantasy Football Buildtelligence Bowl IV. After 14 weeks of battle on the virtual gridiron, Hale finished the season with a record of 9-5. Hale, who also took the SEO Divisional Title, was presented a commemorative trophy on January 25th. Before presenting the trophy to this season's winner, League Commissioner, Ken Knorr organized a Stealth Nerf War to deploy against Hale. Friends and coworkers rushed Hale's office to deliver the celebratory attack. Once the rain of Nerf darts had come to an end, Knorr surprised Hale with the Heisman look-a-like trophy, engraved with his name and the year (2011). The highly sought after trophy has been passed down from one winner to the next as the seasons go by and a new Fantasy Football champion is crowned. This is the second year running that an SEO Division player has won the trophy. Hale receives this year's trophy from the 2010 Fantasy Football Champion, Mitch Bozeman. Competing for the trophy has become a favored tradition by That! Company employees and Fantasy Football participants. After being presented with the trophy, Hale gave a short acceptance speech where he thanked Adrian Peterson, That! Company and his fiance, Melanie. Although his team name, “Vikings Fan,” may lack the luster of other, more creative Fantasy Football team names; Hale's team does not lack talent. Hale went into the Buildtelligence Bowl boasting a roster of some of the most in-demand draft picks in the league. Hale's top scorers during the championship game included: Adrian Peterson (Min RB), Jordy Nelson (GB WR), Julio Jones (Atl WR) and Tim Masthay (GB P). Hale won the championship after beating the PPC Divisional Title winner, Derrick DeYarmen and his “San Francisco D Squad.” The final score of Buildtelligence Bowl IV was 305-295.7.

Would you like $150 in free facebook ads? Well listen up businesses; Facebook has just launched a new campaign called "Small Business Boost"  to give you exactly that plus a chance to win 10,000 in free ads. (Note: It looks like even large businesses can participate)

Here's what you need to participate:

1. A Facebook Page for your small business

2. Your business must be based in the US

3. Your page will need at least 50 likes

This is how it works:

1. Get $50 in free ads if you have at least 50 likes on your Page

2. Get $100 more in free ads if you add 100 more likes to your Page before April 1, 2012

3. Win $10,000 more in free ads if you are one of the top 10 pages that gains the most new likes before April 1, 2012

Sounds pretty cool right? All you have to do is sign up here - Facebook Small Business Boost. It takes a day or two to get accepted, but after that you're ready to rock 'n' roll. Need help with setting up your ads, Reaching your target market, or simply getting started with Facebook then feel free to contact us. We look forward to leading you through a successful Facebook Campaign. We hope you win the 10,000! Good luck!

Step 1: Set Goals

In order to measure social media marketing you need to set specific goals. You need to know how to measure your success. You can have a multitude of goals and you need to know how to measure each goal successfully. Here is an example list of some of your potential goals. Some of the items on this list may seem ambiguous, and it will be necessary to take these terms and directly apply them to what you want to get out of your social media campaign. Most approach social media marketing with immediate revenue in mind. That's fine, but there's a lot more you can get out of the luxury car than simply getting from point A to point B. Analyze all of your options instead of limiting the campaign to simply being about generating leads/conversions.

Step 2: Identify Concrete Metrics to Measure Social Media ROI

Since many are interested in measuring immediate revenue we will focus on 5 metrics that are essential to measure social media ROI.

1. Measure social media networks together and separately.

It is important to measure not only how your entire social media campaign is doing, but you also need to measure each site individually. One key metric to monitor is site traffic. Twitter may send more traffic, but may not be sending conversions. Facebook may be sending less traffic but those that visit your site are of higher quality. Linkedin may be sending people that are clicking around your site looking for your job board. Overall it is imporant to understand what kind of traffic each network is sending and if the traffic doesn't meet up with your goals could they possibly be meeting other goals? For example Linkedin could be lowering your talent acquisition costs, but if you're not measuring that then you may get rid of unknowingly successful campaign. It is imporant to see where the traffic is moving around within your site. What articles are they reading? Are they filling out lead forms? What are they putting on those lead forms?

2. Track visit-to-lead conversions

This is common sense, but you'd be surprised how many social media campaigns are simply measured by the number of likes their Facebook Page has and the number of followers they have on Twitter! If you're tracking visits to your site that's great, but you also need to understand how effectively these campaigns are turning those that are looking around into actual prospects.

3. Track lead-to-customer conversions:

For ecommerce sites they will be tracking visit-to-customer conversions, but for the lead generation companies; especially B2B companies need to measure lead-to-customer conversions. By monitoring these statistics you will be able to identify how much social media leads cost to acquire and how much they spend with you compared to other types of leads.

4. Score your social media leads

By scoring all of your leads and comparing them to your social media leads you are able to have your sales team properly prioritize their time. Not only that, but by measuring how long it takes social media leads to go through the sales cycle, but also how much time, effort, and money you should be pouring into social media marketing. You may find that social media marketing provides you with not only a substantial number of leads, but also leads that quickly make their way through the sales cycle and purchase more. Scoring your leads will allow you to identify the areas that are most successful so you can invest your time wisely.

5. Watch site behaviors from your social media traffic

Watch what pages they're visiting, what they're reading, and what they're clicking on. Understand them so you can provide them with content that is most interesting to them and that helps solve their problems.

Step 3: Evaluate Your Results

If you're reaching your goals it will be quite clear, but if you're not reaching your goals you need to step back and analyze all the potential side benefits that you may not be measuring. Do you now have an audience who is willing to take part in research? What does long-term revenue look like? Does have internal communication advantages? You may be alerting your customers to changes within the industry and helping them feel satisfied with their choice of using your company. You may be alerting your own employees to changes within the industry and giving them a look at the big picture. There are a multitude of advantages that could easily be overlooked. Carefully examin the impact social media has had not only on your top/bottom line, but to your culture, and to your current customer relationships.

Step 1: (Didn't we cover step one?) Get professional help!

There is a lot of tactical knowledge required to get everything in line to gather these data points to measure social media ROI. If you don't know the "how" then we can help. If you want to put the campaign in a professional's hands; then we can help. Do you have a specific question on how to measure social media marketing? Feel free to fill out a form and we'll be able to examine your particular situation and show you how you can truly measure your social media ROI and not just Like/Follow numbers.

To understand what social media policy you should implement for your company you need to first look at the culture of your company. Some company’s have many employees who interact with sensitive data on a regular basis and social media access would pose as a legal risk to the company. In such cases restricting access to social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, and Youtube would be appropriate.

Most companies ask this question in regards to productivity and social media postings regarding work and other employees. If your concern is productivity again look to your company culture. Do you have a hard working yet playful culture or is it 100% business? In today's society the 5 minute coffee break has become the 30 minute Facebook break. How can you be sure that your employees are working on what needs to be done and not playing Farmville? The fact is even if you restrict access to these sites you can never be 100% sure your employees aren't slacking off.

Our opinion is that slackers will fine a way to slack off and not do their work. By blocking access to social networks you simply take one option away from them. Now they'll find ways to read celebrity gossip or maybe they'll simply whip out their smart phone to check up on their Facebook friends. For the professional slacker they'll tilt their computer screen so other employees can't see and use a proxy to check up with their Twitter followers.

The fact is you can take two approaches. You can either limit their options until they have to give in and do their work, or you can set internal measurements to ensure they are completing the work they are required to get done. You then promote the employees that take initiative and work harder, and some of your employees will do what is required and then take their Facebook break. As for slackers you need to know when they're missing deadlines, not completing work, or are simply sitting around wasting resources. You then fire them and replace them with a more productive individual.

Blocking access to social networks won't achieve the results you're looking for. In fact it'll simply entice the employees who handle an average workload to spend time trying to find a way around your block.

As for handling postings regarding the company and other employees tread carefully. See our article “Can you use social media as a basis for termination?” To learn more about "protected employee speech" and acceptable social media policies.

Ultimately the question isn't “Should I block Social Media Access”, but “How can I monitor my employees productivity?” Having reporting systems so supervisors can report upwards how their teams are operating is key. Feel free to comment below with any additional questions.

The answer is absolutely. The main step B2B businesses forget is to set appropriate goals and to target their social ads correctly. A SEO campaign and a PPC campaign come natural to B2B businesses. The philosophy “If they're searching for me then they need me” works well. However with social media you can create a need for your services through social media ads. Facebook is the main social network with over 800 million users. With that many users your target market is in there somewhere. All you have to do is find out how you can target them through the Facebook Advertising Platform.

With our Facebook Market Research we take into consideration what products/services you offer and then we research the social identifiers that allow you to reach key decision makers. We take into consideration the common demographics of your decision makers, their likes, interests, and any information they could possibly have on their profiles. After the research has been completed and we've run your ads for a few weeks we are able to review the trending data and make additional recommendations. We test this data to see how well our targeting correlates with your main goal.

Some companies set their goals to be around building their brand credibility and some go after the hard and fast lead generation capabilities of social media. Sometimes social media marketing is the helping hand that converts your potentials into actual customers and sometimes it's what introduces the potential customer to your company for the first time. It is important to get your current clients to interact with you and leave you recommendations so potential customers not only hear your sales pitch, but see your credibility for themselves.

In conclusion, if you are running a B2B company social media marketing definitely influences the bottom line. It can help you increase the conversion rates of sales presentations to sales as well as introduce your brand to decision makers for the first time. If you haven't heard social media marketing is also going to be affecting your Seo campaign in the near future. Fill out a contact form and ask one of our sales representatives for our “How Social Media Affects SEO” white paper.

The great thing about social media marketing is that you can proactively reach out to those that aren't even looking for your product yet. Your target market surrounds themselves with great social identifiers and all you have to do is determine what those identifiers are and then launch a campaign directed at them. The Facebook advertising platform allows you not only to target specific demographics, but it also allows you to target specific interests and information that your customers put on their profiles. Looking to reach key decision makers within a company? They list their title on their Facebook profiles and you can target them. Want to reach out to a specific interest group in a certain area? Facebook allows you to reach the masses quickly and with That Company's help efficiently.

With Google PPC you're playing the waiting game. They have already recognized their need for your product/service and they're looking for you. It's exceptionally important to have a PPC Campaign and SEO Campaign to reach these customers, but it is not necessarily the place to promote your social media properties unless you're a social media product or service. Instead you need to focus those campaigns on sending people back to your site. We do recommend that you capture people on your site by promoting your Facebook page/Twitter account. This will give you an additional contact point and a way to stay in front of them in their every day lives, but make sure you are driving them to fill out a contact form or finish their purchase before you distract them with Facebook and potentially lose the conversion. There is a fine line and you need to know how to properly send your customers through the conversion funnel and then get them to connect with you on social networks. By doing so correctly you can increase the potential for repeat business.

The answer is yes and no. An employee can be held liable for what they post on social networking sites even if they post it after work hours using their own hardware. An employer should execute a reasonable social media policy to make sure standards are understood. Reasonable policies do include the right of employers to restrict use of company equipment and spending company time on non-work activities. These policies need to be consistently enforced. However employers should review their policies to ensure they aren't limiting protected employee speech and to be sure they are reasonable. Simply having illegal policies in place that restrict protected employee speech can get your company in trouble.

What is protected employee speech? For example one protected employee speech is that employees have the right to discuss working conditions. They have the right to discuss their working conditions in the office as well as on Facebook. If you're running a reputable employee centric company then termination should be your last concern. Your first concern is to fix any of the conditions the employee is actually complaining about. You don't want to promote such activities like complaining on social networks so the way the employee went about their problem should be addressed, but then you as the employer need to ensure there are ways for employees to report unsatisfactory conditions.

There have been reports of employees being fired for photos of them drinking alcoholic beverages. Now you may want to weigh the pros and cons of having such an employee around. Does such behavior/posts disrupt the workplace or their work capabilities? If it does not directly affect their work or others work then you're better off leaving such posts on social sites alone. If you feel that such behavior gives others a negative outlook on your company then consider having a conversation with them regarding their posts and get them to look at it from the professional company angle.

In conclusion, tread carefully before making any final decision regarding termination. Double check your employees rights, but if they are clearly in the wrong such as posting confidential company material you should consult your HR Department to see if the content can be unpublished and then bring in your employee for a chat. If they're complaining about a manager however they are protected to do so. Overall, if you're working on having an employee centric environment be quick to address problems and find a long term fix to negative situations.

For a reference on a situation where a employee's rights are protected see this USA Today article

Social Monitoring

How do you monitor what is said about your company? There are many free tools that allow you to monitor mentions live, but few allow you to monitor without being interrupted. Social Monitoring allows you to identify, respond, and measure what is being said about your company on multiple social networks. Time is money, and taking care of your customers is important, but how do you balance the two? With That! Company's social monitoring tools you can. Monitoring your company's mentions live leads to fragmented work days and you will find that you will accomplish less by attempting to handle every mention the second it happens. Instead, you can receive a daily or weekly email detailing each time your company was mentioned on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Youtube, Google Blogs, and a variety of other smaller social networks you would never think to search. It is important not only to reply
to questions/mentions about your business that are sent to your Twitter Account or Facebook Page, but to be proactive and reach out to those that are talking about your business to their friends, but not necessarily contacting you.

If you're mentioned in a positive way , then reach out and send a thank you. You may find that this will encourage them to take this action more often. If they mention you in a negative way , and you respond in a proactive way, then you could create your best brand ambassadors by solving their problem when they didn't even approach you to do so! Social Monitoring tools are great , but only if they get used. You can monitor mentions live with tools like Tweet Deck, but you may find you're alerted to mentions that don't even apply to you and your business. With That! Company you get the attention and expertise of our social monitoring professionals who will critique and manage your social monitoring campaign.

There are plenty of tools available, but they don't include professional maintenance to set up your account and you may soon be lost in a sea of irrelevant information. Our philosophy is that your time is valuable and you need to be informed; not disturbed! Get started and check out our social monitoring tools by contacting us now.

This is an excellent question and requires in depth research.

-END BLOG-

That would be a pretty lazy, unhelpful answer. The fact is in order to answer the question we must ask additional questions. Who

are you trying to reach? What are you trying to achieve? How long is the buying cycle/decision making cycle? What is the profit margin or acceptable lead cost? We need to understand those four questions to give you the answer that is right for you. At the end of this article we hope to have helped you answer those questions for yourself, but if not we're a phone call a way.

Question #1 and #2 Who are you trying to reach? What are you trying to achieve? The answers to these questions almost always includes a recommendation for a Facebook Campaign. Facebook has the largest social user base to date, the most targetable social data, and the system to target 
them. If you're a B2C business, the chances are you're ready to jump in and just don't know where to start. Now if you're a B2B, business you may be weary of a Facebook Campaign, but for every one Linkedin user there are 6.5 Facebook users. Your target market is in that number and, believe it or not, they're willing to take personal time to connect with a business that is going to make their business better. As a B2B business you should definitely look at starting a Linkedin campaign, but Facebook needs to be on the to do list. What about Twitter? Twitter isn't for everyone, but it's worth testing. We've listed some initial demographic information, but to truly answer this question, we need to research what resources your target market is already following on Twitter.

Here are some key demographic information:

From a PEW study regarding the demographic of twitter users: 200 million users

19% of online adults age 18-24 have used twitter or something like it

20% of online adults age 25-34 have used twitter or something like it

10% of online adults age 35-44 have used twitter or something like it

5% of online adults age 45-54 have used twitter or something like it

4% of online adults age 55-64 have used twitter or something like it

2% of online adults 65+ have used twitter or something like it

Facebook Demographics: (provided by Facebook) 750 million users

18-25 are 35% of Facebook users

26-34 are 20% of Facebook users

35-44 are 16% of Facebook users

45-54 are 12% of Facebook users

55-64 are 7% of Facebook users

10% of Facebook users don't share their age.

Linkedin Demographic: (provided by Linkedin) 101 million users

18-24 are 20.9% of Linkedin users

25-34 are 35.8% of Linkedin users

35-54 are 36.3% of Linkedin users

54+ are 6.9% of Linkedin users

As for Youtube, many are interested in creating and promoting their videos. Youtube comes with its own set of questions. What is the purpose of your content? Is your content engaging? Youtube is the place to introduce a person to your brand and make them want to learn more. This social network works for almost any business it's a matter of shaping your overall purpose to become engaging.

Question #3 How long is the buying cycle/decision making cycle? If you're selling something online that includes a cart and a quick checkout, then you're buying cycle is short. If you're selling something like a complex business CRM system, then your buying cycle is probably much longer. You need to consider your buying cycle before promoting yourself on a social network like Facebook. When you update Facebook you're not updating every single one of your fans. You're updating the fans that are engaged with you. If someone hasn't liked/commented on one of your updates in a while, then Facebook's algorithms may have you updating an empty room regardless of the number of likes you have. As you can see, it is exceptionally important to be engaging. When the buying cycle is long you have to be very creative with your status updates to increase engagement. If you post simple facts about your company you may soon lose their interest. If you're updating with statistics proving that your CRM system is superior and that it is winning over the hearts of many business owners due to specific features then share those details. You will continue to influence the potential buyer and you will be make those that have already made their purchase feel better about doing so. When you're giving good news to those that already do business with you, then they're more likely to listen when you have a new product/service to offer.

Question #4 What is your profit margin? This question can determine what social sites you should look to advertise on. If you have slim profit margins then you will want to research the Cost per click (CPC) it will cost to reach your target market. If it doesn't make financial sense, then you'll need to rely on real world advertising to promote your online properties, or by using the social media networks virality to help you grow your audience. If you have moderate or large profit margins, and if all of our other advise falls in line, then you're ready to talk to a social media marketing professional who can provide further tactical expertise.

In conclusion, not every social network is right for your business; which is why we recommend researching what each social network has to offer your specific business before just jumping in. Our social media marketing professionals can assist you with identifying which social networks are best for you. Have your company evaluated today. Click to have us contact you.

Top Social Media Questions CEO's Have: Question # 11

Question 11: How do we access potential customers on social media?

First off, this is quite a loaded question, but I will do my best to discuss the multitude of avenues you have to reach potential customers. To start off, let's define what a potential customer is. A potential customer falls into two different categories: a customer could be someone who has never done business with you before, but is interested in the products/services you have to offer, or a customer can be someone with the potential to repeat their business. It is exceptionally important to realize that social networks are not only good for brand exposure and connecting your business with those that have never done business with you before, but they can also can create brand loyalty or at the very least, increase the amount of repeat business you receive.

There are a few different ways to access the potential customer who has never done business with you before. The first step is to identify what social signals show their interest in your products/services. The easiest way to reach them is through advertisement placements on social networks. If you're looking at advertising on Facebook you must consider who your customers are, what they like, and what makes them different from the other 750 million Facebook users. Here are a few examples: Do you sell chocolates? Consider marketing to those that are in relationships or those that specifically list themselves as liking chocolate or even competitor chocolate brands. Are you a B2B business? What decision markers are you looking to reach? Market to those that list themselves as that specific decision maker. Note: The titles CEO & Owner are the two most faked titles on Facebook. If you plan on marketing to CEO's/Owners make sure to use demographic information, such as age to exclude the younger generation who are prone to put such fake info on their profiles. This will increase the relevancy of your ads which leads to a higher Click-through-rate (CTR) and a lower Cost-Per-Click (CPC). If you can reach a more direct decision maker such as the Vice President of Marketing or CFO then try and reach them via a separate campaign to accurately track effectiveness. There are many social signals that will allow you to hone in on your target market, if you're unaware of the targeting potentials then I suggest consulting with professionals. Targeting is the first step to a successful social advertising campaign. If you're new to the game, then I recommend contacting a professional who can setup and run your campaign. (We can help you with THAT!. Hint. Hint)

The easiest way to find potential customers for free is to monitor for relevant keywords mentioned on various social networks. You can do so using a tool called TweetDeck. TweetDeck allows refreshes regularly, which allows you to monitor virtually in real time. Using TweetDeck setup searches within Twitter will notify you when a specific keyword or phrase is mentioned. Then manually go through the mentions and reply only to those that are truly interested in your product/service. Offer an incentive for them to continue talking to you. Rule #1 DON'T SPAM! People don't like it and you will get a bad reputation. Only offer your product/service if they're legitimately looking for it or have a potential interest. People are also more accepting to a less relevant reply if you're providing a quality incentive. For example, if you setup a search for “I'm hungry” and send them a coupon they're more likely to reply positively than if you just send a message simply promoting yourself. If you have one store located in Orlando, Florida don't waste time replying to those in Georgia or in the far reaches of Florida. Use the advanced search parameters to your advantage!

 

TweetDeck also offers the ability to setup searches within Facebook, but the two social networks are very different. Facebook users are much more likely to mark your reply as spam, regardless of your intentions. Generally, if you're sending them a message as a business, you're breaking one if not multiple terms of Facebook's Terms of Service. Consult with a social media professional before starting any such campaign on Facebook.

 

The final way of reaching potential customers on social media networks is actually through offline advertising. Using your other marketing materials to promote your social campaign can contribute greatly. Consider first what the consumers incentive is to follow you on Facebook or Twitter? Is your incentive strong enough? Would you follow/like another company if they were offering that kind of incentive? Provide value. Sometimes you're incentive can be as simple as the content/updates you provide, but for most businesses it requires giving a little to get a like/follow.

 

Finally, how do you connect with a potential customer that has already done business with you? This tends to be a lot easier. If you have an email database, you can definitely send them a message with an incentive to like your Facebook page/follow you on Twitter. Other similar techniques include monitoring for brand mentions of your company, and replying to those that have had positive/negative experiences. Many customers will be thoroughly surprised if you reply to a negative experience and try to right the wrong. Many times, if you correct a negative experience, they will become your best brand ambassador, leading to repeat business and word of mouth promotion to their friends. Be timely, accurate, and don't repeat the same mistake twice. Use negative feedback to change the way your business operates to ensure that it does not happen to another customer, and certainly not to the same customer. The last way I will mention to reach potential customers on social networks is to let them know in the real world that you're online. For example, include advertising within your businesses' office space. When a customer comes by, they should see something that makes them want to connect with you online. A simple sign that says you're on Facebook/Twitter will receive very little response. The best tip I can give you is to give your customer a very good reason to connect with you. You might try offering them 20% off their next purchase. That one time gift gets you in the door to update them on a regular basis and encourages them to make a future purchase.

 

You're now ready to start motivating your customers to connect with you online. Unsure where to start or how to send ads to your target market? We can help with THAT! Fill out a Contact Form and our Sales Representatives will set you up with a Social Media Marketing Professional to discuss your exact business needs. Forget the generic, fluffy sales presentation and let's get straight to the heart of what you and your business needs.

 

 

Written by That Company 's CEO Ken Knorr-  I was part of a Vistage Social Media in the Workplace panel a few months ago. CEO's from various industries through out Florida sat down to write out their social media questions. In 10 minutes there were already 99 questions listed! Everyone wants to know what Social Media has to offer their business and many are confused at the potential. With the release of Google Plus and their skyrocket growth it's no wonder they have so many questions. From there they were asked to narrow down their questions to a list of 10 questions by voting on the questions they thought were the most important. The need for information is so great the best they could do was limit themselves to 11 questions. CEO's are dying to know everything they can about social media. Four out of eleven questions asked questions regarding measuring Return on Investment (ROI). Let me address the main concern. You can most definitely measure the ROI of your Social Media Marketing Campaign. Over the next few weeks our blog posts will be dedicated to answering the top social media questions CEO's have. If you have a similar question make sure you don't miss the answer! You can sign up for an email subscription of our blog, like us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter. We'll be posting not only our opinions but also links to other articles that revolve around the question of the week. We will start with question 11 and work our way up. Feel free to discuss your opinions with us as well.

The Top Social Media Questions CEO's Have:

The first four questions were about ROI just asked in different ways.

1. 1. How do you measure ROI with social media? (Answered as of 12/8/11)

2. 2. How do you determine ROI? (ROI question worded differently)

3. 3. How do you measure social media results? (ROI question worded differently)

4. 4. What are the measurable business benefits of social media? (ROI question worded differently)

    

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5. 5. Should I Block Social Media Access? (answered as of 11/22/11)

6. 6. Does social media work for B2B? (Answered as of 11/21/11)

7. 7. What's the best way to advertise online for social media – do you use Google PPC or Facebook Ads or both? (Answered as of 11/7/11)

8. 8. Can you use social media as a basis for termination (Answered as of 10/31/11)

9. 9. How do you monitor what is said about your company? (Answered as of 9/15/11)

10. 10. What are the best social media sites to use for my business? (Answered as of 9/2/11)

11. 11. How do we access potential customers on social media? (Answered as of 8/16/11)