LinkedIn: Promote Yourself and Your Business

LinkedIn has become widely used and affiliated with networking for job seekers.  A LinkedIn user can network with a variety of other professionals while still wearing  pajamas.  It’s easy and painless. 

Aside from a job hunt, LinkedIn is a great tool to promote your business. No matter what you are using LinkedIn for, here are a few great tips on how to make the most out of your profile:

(1)    Put up a photo: Not only should you put up a photo of yourself on your profile, but you should also be careful about what kind of photo you post.  Group photos, provocative clothing, and party pictures should NOT by any means wind up on your LinkedIn profile (or really any social media profile), but most importantly not on LinkedIn.  LinkedIn is meant to help you network with others and promote your current company. You wouldn’t want to portray yourself in an unprofessional light would you?

(2)     Join some groups: With a multitude to choose from, find some groups to join.  Groups help you connect with other people you might not otherwise meet in person.  It gives you the chance to network with other professionals and promote your company.

(3)    Invite others:  Don’t just add people you know.  Add people who may be able to help you accomplish something you want to do either with yourself or with your company.  Are you thinking about opening up a business in another country?  Invite people from that area.  Have a strategy when it comes to inviting others.

(4)  Post discussions:  If your looking to become a voice of authority in the groups you join, then post, post, and post again!  Posting relevant topics to group discussion boards gives you the opportunity to participate and most importantly, make connections.

(5)  Update frequently: Since your LinkedIn profile acts as a public resume, make sure you are frequently keeping it updated.  If your promoting your business, update your profile regularly to show people what the company is working on.  Keep your connections in the loop.

Looking for more social media pointers for your franchise business?  Contact us here at All Points PR for all your PR and social media needs.  

Create a Winning Social Media Strategy

                Using social media requires a strategy.  Creating a social media site is probably the easiest part of your social media experience, but the real work comes with the effort that goes into managing and implementing strategies for social media sites.  Make your social media work for you and create a strategy that is designed to make your company win.  Here are a few of our suggestions to consider when creating a social media strategy:

(1) The pitch: With character restrictions, you need to be able to convey who your company is as concisely as possible.  Think about the main ideas you want your target audience to know and stress that above anything else.

(2) Consider your relationship with your audience: What does your audience know about your company?  Are they brand advocates or first time buyers?  Depending on your relationship with your audience, your strategy needs to fit your target.  Examining how your target uses social media is also a necessary step.  If you have a younger audience you may consider “video contests” since that demographic tends to enjoy videos. 

(3) Program goals: Before creating a social media profile, in general, you should determine what your goals are.  Are you trying to generate sales, brand awareness, or gain brand loyalty?  Consider what you want to gain from doing social media for your company.

(4) Be personal: Social media sites are the place to show personality.  Don’t be afraid to be yourself because that’s what people want to see.  They want to see a little personality behind a company, which is especially true with bigger companies. 

(5) Track your progress: How can you celebrate your success if you aren’t sure how you have progressed?  Before you embark on a full-blown social media campaign, determine what metrics you are going to track to get the full idea of how you have progressed throughout your social media campaign.

As a franchise PR company that does social media as a service to our clients, we know how much of an impact a winning strategy can have on your social media efforts.  For more tips and tricks, contact us.    

Pinning Power: Using Pinterest

          

            Not all social media sites are created equal.  You may think you and your company need to create as many pages as possible, but truthfully, that’s not the best idea.  Depending on who your company is and what they sell, some sites may not serve you. Pinterest has become a groundbreaking social media tool, but is it right for you and your business?  Here are a few things we tell clients to think about if they are deciding to create a business Pinterest page: 

(1) Take the time:  Take some time out of your schedule to build up your Pinterest page.   The goal with your Pinterest page should be to build relationships with people who have quality “pins” on their site.  Look to connect with users who are very interactive with their pages.  This means they frequently “pin” relevant topics, post on other’s boards, and have extensive connections with lots of pinner friends.  Once the interactive type of pinner gets to know more about your products and business, the more likely they are to post about or repin your products.  This also makes befriending on Twitter or Facebook easier. 

(2) Make sure Pinterest fits with your business: This was roughly stated before, but we’ll say it again and spell it out better this time.  Pinterest is NOT for every business or product.  Pinterest probably isn’t the best way to show your company’s construction equipment, but it is a great way to show off your company’s new clothing line.  Hopefully, you catch our drift here.  Pinterest caters to style, photography, crafts, and room décor.  Clothing companies, teachers, chefs, hair stylists, makeup artists, guess what, Pinterest is definitely for you!  Pinterest makes it easy to show off these types of products and typically, that is what people are looking for on the site.  Remember to always promote your company accordingly.  Go where you are wanted and make your presence known that way. 

(3) Promote more than just your company’s products:  Pinterest users aren’t just looking for products.  They are looking for tips and solutions as well.  If you are a clothing company, for example, promote more than just your clothing.  Dedicate a board to your products, but also create a board for “Style Tips and Tricks” or “Hair Styles that Match Your Look.”  Give users more than just your products.  Give them a reason to come back to your page and visit your website.  The more you have to offer them, the better the chance they will repeatedly visit your page and potentially become your customers. 

(4) Define your brand:  What you pin says alot about who your company is and what they value.  Make sure that you pay attention to what you pin and pin things that make your company relevant. 

(5) Connect your Pinterest with your website: Many businesses are allowing customers to pin products found on their website.  Once your product is pinned by a pinner, it gives unlimited potential to the number of people who can now see your product.  It’s like virtual word of mouth and is extremely powerful for businesses that can utilize pinning power. 

The main takeaway from this blog is that not all social media is created equal.  Pay attention to trends in social media and use the sites that best fit your business.  If you have your own thoughts on Pinterest or other social media sites, drop us a comment. 

PR Tactics

           

             We have said it before and we will say it again, good PR is priceless.  Encompassing many goals, PR can increase brand awareness, increase trust amongst your target audience and increase brand loyalty.  Aversions to using PR tend to come from misunderstandings or unawareness of how it really can help build a brand. 

            Your PR strategy is like your winning game plan.  PR strategies should include all of your plans to make your business succeed.  Common PR strategies formed by public relations experts can include promoting a client’s brand with the goal of making the brand easily recognizable, determining who the client’s target audience is, building better rapport with the target audience by identifying their needs, creating a loyal customer base, and creating a solid database of contacts to send press releases to. 

Let’s get into some tactics we find highly successful.  Here are a few great PR tactics that we utilize with our clients here at All Points Public Relations:

(1) Press releases: Utilizing press releases is a big part of PR and has been for years.  A press release is a great way to alert people of new products or events and can really captivate the media if it is well-written.

(2) Social media: Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. are great online tools for companies to get more in touch with their customers.  Aside from that, social media enables companies to create a memorable brand image and share company information. 

(3) Blogging: Like social media, blogs are another great way for companies to connect with customers and share company or product information.

(4) Chatrooms and forums: Let’s face it.  People talk.  Today, when customers are unhappy with a product or service they take to the Internet, find a forum to vent to and say what they feel.  Instead of not knowing how your customers feel, provide them with a space to vent if need be.  Doing this can help you more easily monitor and respond to the consumer yourself while offsetting a potential crisis. 

            (5) Customer service: Customers are all to used to companies doing the bare minimum to satisfy their needs, so show them something different.  Show customers that you are willing to go above and beyond expectations to make them feel satisfied.  The goal should be creating a loyal customer base and that takes work.

            Looking for more PR tactics or do you have some good tactics to share with us?  Talk to us here at All Points PR and we can swap tactics. 

"You 'Like' Me... You Really 'Like' Me!" Facebook Likes

        With over 800 million users, Facebook is no doubt a powerful tool to help you brand your business.  We’ve said it before in our previous blogs (both on this blog and the blog connected right to our company’s website) and we’ll say it again—social networking is a powerful platform for all businesses and we insist you have presence on social media sites to promote your business. 

Typically, we suggest that people build their business a Fan Page.  A Facebook Fan Page is just like your business’s website only in Facebook form.  Fan pages allow you to customize your page to fit your needs, contain your business’s information and target potential and current customers.  So you’ve set up a fan page—great!  Now comes the tricky part.  How do you get people to “Like” your page?  You may be thinking, “Hmm what does getting a ‘Like’ do for me?”  The truth is, getting people to “Like” gives you a better chance that you will gain people’s interest and it also gives you a better chance that your company updates are appearing in their newsfeed.  If you launch a new product, they will be some of the first people to see it.  Simply, it helps you better communicate with your target audience.  Here’s some of our tips on how to get more “Likes”:

(1)  Content, Content, Content!: Pretty sure we have said this one before, but here we go again!  Generate content that fans will find amusing, insightful, inspiring and overall, useful.  This is only going to keep them interested in you and your company.  Also, be smart about what you post.

(2)  Fans only contest: While there are rules you must abdide by to run a Facebook contest, it’s a great tool to get you more likes.  In order for people to enter your contest, make it so that they must first “Like” your page.  You can even jazz that up a bit.  You can make it so that people can’t view the top prize or rules unless they "Like" you first.  Either way, contests are a great way to get people talking. 

(3)  Email-signature:  You can add a link to your Facebook Fan Page through your email signature or you can add a little “Like Us” underneath your name that is linked to your Fan Page.  Either way, when people click on your name or  little catch phrase they are taken right to your Facebook Fan Page. 

(4)  Tagging (status and pictures): Tag people you know in relevant comments or updates to your page.  When you tag people in a status, comment or picture, it automatically goes on their personal page.  This way, people they are connected to may see your Fan Page and “Like” it.  You can also upload pictures from an event your company hosted and tag people in photos from the event.  Again, this will go on their page and could potentially get people to visit your Fan Page and “Like” it. 

(5) “Like” box on your website: You can embed a "Like" box right on your website that can make website visitors Facebook fans. 

             We have got plenty more tips from where these came from!  All Points Public Relations is no stranger when it comes to helpful tips for your franchise’s PR.  Talk to us and we’ll give you a few pointers.