The Death of Facebook Promotional Apps?

📕 |

August 28, 2013

You’ve heard it, Facebook recently made it clear that running contests and promotions on brand pages is now legal. The once strictly regulated rule is now demolished, leaving social media marketers plenty of room to explore new possibilities WITHOUT the need of a Facebook promotional app.

To put it simple, brands will no longer need to spend on Facebook contest apps such as Binkd or Wildfire as they can now run simple contests such as sweepstakes or giveaways as they please. Hurray for the budget conscious!

Does this mean that Facebook promotional apps will now be irrelevant?

Not quite. In fact, it increases the potential of Facebook promotional apps and here are 10 reasons why:

1. Collection of database

Apart from increasing engagement, brands usually run promotions to grow their database and while accepting entries on the Timeline is now acceptable, collecting customer data will prove to be a challenge.

This is simply because customers will be posting their personal details such as their contact numbers, email addresses and other common contest requirements openly when Facebook apps usually provides…

2. A sense of privacy

This is obvious. You present your fans with a private form where they can submit their personal details to you and nobody gets to see them but you.

This is exceptionally important when sensitive data such as their identification card number or home address is required. Having fans to submit their entries openly with those data made public will definitely raise eyebrows.

3. Sense of security

The only way for a Facebook app to run is to have a valid SSL security certificate (yes, it is a requirement). This means that all data entered from your fans are encrypted to prevent a third party from stealing them.

With this basic necessity in place, your fans can be assured that they are in a safe environment when providing their personal data to you as compared to posting them on the Timeline.

4. Backend monitoring and control

By now you should be wondering, if point #1 to #3 above is all about customer data, wouldn’t it be solved by getting them to send in a private message instead for you to manually compile them into a spreadsheet?

Good thinking. And yes, that works too. But what happens when you gather 50 entries? What about a hundred? A thousand, maybe? The manual workload involved is not worth the time.

With a custom developed Facebook promotional app, you can have a backend control panel for you to effectively and efficiently monitor and manage all submitted entries and even export it to a spreadsheet within a click of a button.

5. Performance reporting and analysis

Understanding the performance for your promotional contests are important and yes, you will have access to Facebook Insights with the beautiful charts and numbers laid out but hey, is that enough? A quick look into Facebook Insights will tell you the reach of your promotional post, new fans gained with the period and etc. What about conversion rates? What about participation trends broken down by time and demographics?

6. Flexibility and space for content

One of the biggest challenge of running promotions or contests on Facebook is the content, or rather, the messaging of the promotion itself. In most situations, the text and visuals used plays a very important role in conversion. If doing so is already a challenge on a Facebook app, it will be twice (or more) as challenging on the Timeline.

The reason is simple, research shows that shorter status updates work better than lengthy ones, coupled with a visual that stands out on the Timeline. Most promotions and contests comes with participation requirements, mechanics, terms & conditions and the list of prizes in which can be a major challenge in making them concise and presentable as a post on Facebook.

On the other hand, having an app will effectively group all related information into a single location for quicker access and a more direct reference.

7. Minimize clutter on timeline

If you are thinking that the issue of post length can be mitigated by simply splitting them into several posts, think again as you will also need to consider the fact that contest entries may also be submitted on all of the posts made – which can be a major headache. On top of that, your Timeline may be cluttered as there will be a huge mashup of contest announcements, user posts and your regular brand content (which may be drowned by the contest).

8. Easy reference

I don’t know about you but I’m not a fan of cluttered timelines. I personally hate it when all the information I need are segregated into separate posts or different parts of a website. Having a specific app developed for a promotion or contest solves this once and for all. All related information, forms and terms are compiled in a single location with a unique URL.

Your brand will then be able to promote the unique URL instead of specific posts especially if you have split your contest announcement into several posts as point #7.

9. Brand experience

It is important for your brand to stand out (and to stick) with your fans during your promotional campaign. I’m not saying that running it on a post dilutes your brand, but it certainly won’t be able to give a whole brand experience as compared to doing so via an app.

Imagine participating in a contest via a flyer by a street against filling it up on a purposefully designed contest form – which gives you a better experience? Which projects your brand in a better light?

Having a contest app allows you to create that very same experience by having clear indication of your brand, well written messages and ultimately, the contest form that is built for that very purpose.

10. Deep integration

This is one advantage I love the most about a Facebook promotional app – it allows brands to further integrate their promotion or contests into other backend processes or systems. It can be as simple as a newsletter subscription service, a CRM loyalty programme or even a warehousing system to display any relevant data.

This means that brands will be able to go beyond just running a mere contest and to provide a ‘whole’ experience from all users. The possibilities are virtually endless with this one!

Bonus: Fan Gate

Running a contest on an app allows you to create a fan gate, that is to condition users to first “Like” your page before participating. This method is also one of the most common ways brand pages have been utilizing to encourage fan growth. You definitely can’t do the same when running a contest on your page’s Timeline.

So there you have it!

10 reasons why Facebook promotional and contest applications will still remain relevant today and should not be left in the dust.

What are your thoughts? Do you think this Facebook update will cripple contest apps?

Brand Focus #13: Maximizing Search Engine Optimization Offline [Hong Leong Bank Malaysia]

📕 |

June 26, 2013

| Jan Wong

Search engine optimization (SEO) has always been key to many including myself. It really is a no-brainer as almost every brand, business or individual would want to be easily searchable across major search engines to stand out from their competition online.

However, can SEO benefit OFFLINE marketing efforts?

Definitely. And one reason why SEO can be equally powerful offline is that it demands attention and can potentially increases your credibility curve even if you are new to the industry.

Take for example this advertising campaign by Hong Leong Bank Malaysia I spotted in a shopping mall on their recent launch of the Mach Card (a credit card).

What do you think? Did it catch your attention? It definitely did to me! And here’s a vertical version on one of the pillars.

5 benefits of making your search engine presence known offline

#1: It captures the audience’s attention

This advert caught my attention when I was going down an escalator. Not because of its size but because it resembles Google search. My focus was immediately and naturally drawn to the “search box” effortlessly.

#2: It’s easy to remember

The message was clear and there was a clear takeaway for me as a potential customer – “A bank like no other”. Short, simple and sweet rather than the name of the new product that probably may not make sense.

#3: It’s a familiar design

An advert that utilizes familiar elements allows the audience to understand its context without any trouble. And in this era where Google search is dominant, they cleverly adapted their brand to the Google layout that we are all familiar with and listed out the product features as “search results”. One look and just about anyone gets the message.

#4: It’s a conversation starter

I have personally been utilizing a similar strategy for a while now and I must say it works almost 100% of the time.

People tend to go “Wow!” or “This is so cool”, followed by “So what do you do as an online strategist?” and it takes off from there naturally. What makes this method effective is that they would already have generated a certain amount of interest in you rather than you go babbling about what your company does.

#5: It boosts credibility almost instantly

Starting a conversation is one thing, and actually being on the search results is another. People who receive my card in most cases tend to test it out there and then… and it works!

What happened here? You’ve just successfully proven that you are the real thing and will leave a lasting impression on the recipient especially when there are hundreds of cards being passed about.

But wait, is the brand for real?

A quick search on Google revealed that they are no where to be found!

I was stumped.

Sure, it did very well in attracting my attention and I remembered your keywords but hey, I can’t find you on Google and mind you, I was genuinely interested in finding out more! So the question really is, what is the purpose of this advertisement?

Have you experienced an ad campaign that put you off? I would definitely want to hear your experiences below.

A Look Into Malaysia’s eCommerce Scene in 2012

📕 |

February 20, 2013

| Jan Wong

So the team and I at OpenMinds Resources recently put together our findings we conducted on the local eCommerce scene into an infographic and discovered a number of stuff that did surprise a bunch of us.

We found that guys tend to make online purchases more than the fairer gender, payment via cash on delivery out weighs bank transfers and exclusive deals doesn’t necessarily command an immediate purchase (despite us Malaysians being quite crazy over bargains). You can read about the findings here or directly from the infographic below (click for larger image):

Where do we go from here?

If your business is situated in Malaysia or are facing a similar market outlook, here are 5 points to consider to turn these findings to your advantage:

#1: Offer credit card checkout options

This may seem obvious but most small sized online retailers do not offer such options to their customers for various reasons including high transaction fees and technical complexities.

What you may want to explore is to utilize a credible payment gateway such as PayPal, iPay88 or MOL Pay in Malaysia as setting them up aren’t difficult at all. As for the high transaction fees, I’d rather not lose out on the 58%.

#2: Consider meetups to drive sales

The biggest disadvantage of an online store to the customers is the inability to physically see and feel the product. Having that said, a no obligation meetup to showcase your products may not be a bad idea though costly to you at first.

What you want to achieve here is to boost your credibility. I recently made online purchase of a shirt myself and I was pleasantly surprise that the retailer was more than happy to provide an exchange of size at no additional cost should it not fit me.

#3: Be detailed when providing product info

Instead of putting all your effort in writing a sales pitch for your product, try to be descriptive. Saying your product can change the world in a click and how awesome and limited they are won’t cut it. Instead, say HOW it can change the world and in what way will it function will do a whole lot better.

Of course, the price has to be clear too. Nothing annoys a customer off more than having an unclear pricing mechanism.

#4: Consider REAL product reviews

One of the reasons why sites such as Amazon.com and TripAdvisor.com are loved by many is because of its reviews. Real, honest reviews by fellow customers.

I know this sounds like a risk to many retailers but it works. Not only you’re able to obtain real feedback from your customers, you’re getting them to do the selling for you!

BlackMilk Clothing turns real reviews up a notch by encouraging customers to submit a photo of themselves in the dresses they sell. This not only shows other customers how that dress may look like on them, but not also have a user-generated pool of photos. Brilliant!

#5: Create exclusive offers… and gain from it!

Group deals are still pretty big over here in Malaysia and that’s great for us consumers. The problem is that retailers tend to rely on these deals as a means to drive sales and eventually find that these deals are not sustainable, which is true.

Don’t just create an offer and throw it off the street. Ask yourself, how can you maximize it to your benefit? Could it be a good opportunity to grow subscribers? To amass reviews or feedback? To get them to bring their family and friends along?

Check out: How to manage a group deal for a small business

What are some other observations you’re able to gather from this research? Would love to hear from you!

What About Customer Satisfaction Online?

📕 |

January 21, 2013

| Jan Wong

Customer satisfaction has always been an important contributing factor to businesses and more recently, it has been translated to technology too! No longer it is sufficient for businesses to ensure customer satisfaction offline, but on online platforms too.

The Reason

It is okay to place your contact number on a website 10 years ago (if you had one) and expect customers to call you directly should there face any problems. In fact, your website did not need to be interactive. A guestbook (do you remember that one) was the cool thing back then.

Today, things are different. There was never a time more relevant than now for you to ensure a higher customer satisfaction rating on your online platforms. A recent survey revealed huge numbers on online customer satisfaction and how it CAN indeed improve sales – both offline and online (click on below image for full article).

The Challenge

You may have seen or read tons of reports, articles, infographics such as the above and you know by heart how customer satisfaction is important. The problem is, how?

How can you effectively increase customer satisfaction through your website?
What can you do to ensure customers have a good digital experience with your brand?
What does it take to be ‘user friendly’?
What is ‘user friendly’ anyway?

If you’ve asked some of these questions above, read on!

10 Ways To Increase Customer Satisfaction Online

#1: Provide REAL Product Reviews and Ratings

Note that I stressed on the word ‘real’. Simply placing a photo of a satisfied client with a well scripted message does not cut it anymore. Allow customers to generate their own reviews, both good and bad. Empower your customers to create more customers. Let customers see for themselves what others are talking about your product or service and allow them to speak of their experiences as well.

#2: Clear Navigation (and Call-to-Action!)

Ever been to websites that plays hide-and-seek with you? Hidden links, poorly coordinated colours or simply just by having too many links. Contrary to the beliefs of many businesses, having more links does not necessarily help customers to navigate better.

Ask yourself, who do you expect to come by your website? What do they expect to see? 3 different links to you company’s vision and mission statements or the products and services you offer? Are they often looking for an answer to a question or to get personal advice from you?

#3: Support

Let’s be honest here, there are many occasions where we as customers ourselves often head straight to the contact form to pen down our feedback, suggestion, enquiry or question without first checking the FAQ page or using whatever search feature there is. While sometimes it is due to customers being hasty, often it is due to you not providing clear or simplified ways for them to seek support from.

Let’s take a look at Air Asia for a bit. Note that they have a section on their website solely dedicated to answering customers’ questions? Not only they provided a clear and distinctive way of searching, the topics are also laid out in a very understandable manner, minus the jargons.

#4: Be Multi-Channel

Provide as many avenues for customers to be in touch with you as possible within your capabilities. This not only allows customers to communicate on what they are comfortable on, but it also demonstrates how open you are to hear from your customers.

I usually recommend my clients to have a minimum of 3 different customer touch points: a contact form via the website, a contact number and a social media platform. While these touch points are not absolute, it caters to 3 different groups of customers – the tech inclined (contact form), the non-tech inclined (contact number), and the socialites (social media platform).

#5: Surprise Them

Think about the small things that can make a difference, just as how awesome it would be for a hotel to leave you a handwritten note during your check-in or how the waiter brings your check with free mints. How can you convert these small gestures online?

It does not need to be something big but good enough that it stands out, especially from your competitors. It can be a small bonus, extended warranties, free support or training, insider discount, an easy return process or even personalized packaging (I’m a sucker for packaging)!

#6: Don’t be Too Quick to Reply

Businesses often equate speed or response time to customer satisfaction. That’s just partially true. There’s nothing more irritable than receiving a half-baked reply that derails from the customer’s concerns. Customers want their voices heard and problems acknowledged. Saying “We will look into it” is not enough, especially if it s a canned response.

Your response does not need to be Lego, but relate yourself in that very same situation, address the pain and always offer a solution. If there is none, tell the customer what will be done exactly on your end to rectify the problem. Take it another step further by dropping the customer a call or another email few days later to provide an update of the situation.

#7: Mobile Compatibility

You’ve probably heard this a million times and I’ll say it again because it IS that important. With such a huge increase of mobile users over the past 3 years, it is almost guaranteed that customers will likely stumble upon your site on their mobile devices – whether it’s through a link on Facebook, a newsletter you’ve sent or via search engines.

A site that is mobile compatible usually has these traits:

NOT designed using Flash
The site fits into the screen
The contents, such as text and images can be seen without scrolling or zooming
Simplified navigation scheme (e.g. displayed in a dropdown list instead)
Quick loading time

#8: Check Your Links

This sounds like an easy one but you’ll be surprised on how easy it is for you to miss just a single link on your website. Click here for an example.

See what I mean? Did that annoy you just a bit? Check your links. All of them. Make sure they work as intended as customers do get annoyed if they can’t get to where they want to be!

#9: Revisit Your ‘Introduction’ Page

There really is no reason to put a page before your home page. I am very glad that this trend is slowly making its exit but many businesses are still on it! If you have one, do you REALLY need to have one? Can that introduction be placed as part of the home page instead?

Such pages not only requires customers to go through an additional step to ‘enter’ or to ‘skip’ it, it is bad for SEO too. Search engines hate it, and you definitely do not want to get into their bad books!

#10: Loading Speed

One of the biggest turn offs is slow loading speed. Not only it greatly affects browsing experience, it totally kills the mood too. No customer would be happy waiting for your product page to load or to make a payment. Did you know that even a second is now, too long?

Google has a nifty tool to test your website’s speed and recommends ways you can speed it up, though you need a technical person to do so. If your website is getting anything lower than a score of 60, you definitely need to do something about it!

Customer Satisfaction is Here to Stay

Like it or not, customers will continue to expect more out of businesses online especially when the internet population and tech literacy continues to increase. Business can no longer escape this fact, not for long.

Remember, dissatisfied customers can stir a storm and should not be taken lightly.

What’s your take on customer satisfaction online? What is it that ticks you off the most?

Websites Are Beyond URLs

📕 |

January 14, 2013

| Jan Wong

Sometime last week I received an email from an existing client saying that they’d want to terminate their corporate website and to setup a Blogspot account instead.

You heard that right. They (the directors) have decided to terminate their existing corporate website (which already has a blog section) to setup a Blogspot account simply because “blogs are more popular than websites”. According to them, this will make a good marketing strategy allowing them to reach the younger consumers since a blog is part of social media. And if this blog goes well, they are looking towards pulling themselves out of Facebook too to see what will happen before making the next move.

3 Reasons Why They Are Wrong

#1: Having a Blog Does Not Necessarily Mean More Visits

Consumers today are not drawn to the platform your brand is on. Just because you have a blog or own a Facebook page does not make you look cool and they’ll flock towards you. In fact, it’s a commitment – one that is open and transparent.

After all, a blog is a website. Same goes to a portal, a forum, a social networking platform, they too are websites. It is essentially what you do on the site that makes it exciting to the consumers. Now I’m not against having a Blogspot, but to terminate a corporate website that’s already enjoying steady streams of traffic, receiving enquiries from local and abroad while sitting steadily on top of all major search engines really is a “bold” move.

#2: Where is the Brand?

Branding is important. In fact, it is vital for consumer-driven businesses and having a easily recognizable website will not only increase memorability, but also allows marketing messages to be more concise.

If these are still not good enough reasons, think about the perception of what your consumers or business partners will think about your brand. Between myawesomesite.com and myawesomesite.blogspot.com, which sounds more credible?

#3: No Home Base

An official website also acts as your brand’s home base. It is here where conversions, sales and subscriptions ultimately should happen for 1 reason only – it is YOUR platform. Yes, you own it and no one can take it from you. The traffic and database you have built is yours to keep.

Unlike having it on Blogspot, WordPress, Facebook or Tumblr, who knows what will happen in the coming years? Are you absolutely sure they’ll still be around? Remember Friendster? They were the undisputed champions of social networking once, with over 115 million members before Facebook took the lead.

Do you think having a subdomain (such as Blogspot) is better than a domain itself?

Brand Focus #12: Online PR Gone Bad [Paradigm Mall]

📕 |

May 31, 2012

| Jan Wong

Online PR have always been a popular topic among marketers and social media enthusiasts and I really don’t blame them because it IS an important topic to address and for some reason, I’ve been bumping into some really bad PR campaigns online lately. Take for an example Mayo Clinic where they posted an article on their blog on ectopic pregnancy right beside an ad for ‘cute little dresses’, the recent outbreak of really bad customer service with KFC Malaysia and more recently, with a newly opened shopping mall in Malaysia (see below).

What went wrong?

I don’t know about you but I got a shock reading the reply from the management or their supposed social media team. You’ve guessed it right – this immediately turned viral where customers started creating photos, videos and tagging their friends into what they are calling the ‘magical moment’.

3 Things to Learn from this Incident

#1: Speed Matters

If there’s anything I’ve learnt through the years, consumers want to be noticed and wants an answer yesterday (no, this is not a typo). They are not inclined to know that you are on a holiday or whether it is a weekend. To them, social media does not sleep because they aren’t, and they want to hear from you.

#2: Never Fight Fire with Fire

Dealing with customers is tough. And it’s normal. There are days where you just aren’t in the mood and here comes this customer with a complain that drives you up the wall. Stop, take a walk and reply positively. It is never, ever a good thing to be sarcastic, unapologetic or to even outsmart a customer – it’ll just make matters worst.

#3: Never Let the Fire go Wild

A wildfire is the last you want to start online. Sure, mistakes do happen but you must be able to sniff out fire and put them out within the shortest time available. Never let it go unnoticed, thinking that it’ll eventually go away because it won’t. And when it starts going out of hand, things will be harder to fix.

What to do if you can’t seem to keep up?

#1: Bring it Off-Grid

If things go out of hand (or you’re already sniffing fire), try bringing the conversation off-grid – whether it is through email, a phone conversation, a direct message on Twitter or Facebook’s ‘message’ feature with the new Timeline update. Politely request for a change of platform and in most cases, customers do comply as they too want their problem fixed.

#2: Get a Trained Team

While going off-grid may make things better, you don’t really want to get there in the first place. Make sure your team is well trained to handle situations like these. Have a guideline in place spelling out the do’s and don’ts and make sure the guidelines are readily available.

#3: Make Things Clear

If time is out of your hands, you may want to consider announcing your ‘customer service’ hours. While this is not exactly the best way to go about online, this method will be able to set an expectation among your customers by telling them when will you be available to reply accordingly.

Social media platforms have become so important that most businesses today see the need of leveraging on its potential, but there is a greater need to be able to MANAGE these platforms to achieve that potential.

Paradigm Mall is just one of the many examples out there and I would love to hear your experiences on other online PR disasters too!

p.s. The management of Paradigm Mall publicly apologized on their Facebook page a couple of hours after the incident and to that, a job well done!

Social Media for Entrepreneurs: Friend or Foe?

📕 |

March 14, 2012

| Jan Wong

Note: This is Part 4 to the Social Media for Entrepreneurs series.

Social media networks are awesome to have

This is Part 4 to the Social Media for Entrepreneurs series. Quick access to the series below:
[ Introduction | Part 1: The Basics | Part 2: Why It’s Made for You | Part 3: The Reality | Part 4 ]

Disclaimer: The video was recorded as part of the RU Ready series targeted to entrepreneurs in Malaysia by Prudential which I was involved in. This also happen to be my first ever video series :)

Social Media for Entrepreneurs: 3 Reasons Why Social Media is Made for You

📕 |

March 7, 2012

| Jan Wong

Note: This is Part 2 to the Social Media for Entrepreneurs series.

Social media networks are powerful tools for both individuals and businesses. No, I’m not referring to the fact that it has a huge user base (because you will not be able to reach out to all of them anyway) but the ability to do the below 3 amazing things for your business.

Watch the short video below!

If you missed this part in the video above, let me ask you again:

“Everyone, including your competitors are on social media networks. Why are you on social media? What are you doing different than them?”

That may sound like a simple question but you’ll also need to understand the 3 reasons why social media will benefit you as an entrepreneur to understand what can be done:

Note: the below is an excerpt from the video above (with a little extra)

#1: Social Media Levels the Playing Field

Social media is all about building a relationship with your target audience in a two-way conversation. It is not meant to be collected and admired upon. This also means that brands with huge budget cannot directly purchase success on social networks, unlike on print ads where visibility wins. High visibility does not guarantee a growing relationship with your audience.

On top of that, these social media platforms often go through updates (like the recent Facebook timeline update). Big brands have to keep up with it as well and there are no shortcuts to it.

#2: Social Media Can Be (Very) Targeted

One of the advantage social networks have over traditional mediums is that it can be a whole lot more targeted. Not only it allows you to target potential customers in a specific location, gender, age or interest (such as in Facebook Ads), it can also be used to target conversations (on Twitter) or even current locations (on FourSquare).

This means that entrepreneurs today have the ability to reach out to their target audience specifically without spending unnecessarily while effectively meeting the ‘wants’ of a customer.

#3: Social Media is a Network of Networks

Many people limit their networks to their immediate friends or followers, thinking that it is only them that they are reaching out to and this is a flawed concept. One of the main benefits of social networks is the ability to tap into the networks of your friends or followers. This can be done through the ‘sharing’, ‘retweeting’ or ‘recommend’ feature on Facebook and Twitter.

How else can social media benefit you as an entrepreneur?

Next up in Part 3: The 5 Realities of Social Media

This is Part 2 to the Social Media for Entrepreneurs series. Quick access to the series below:
[ Introduction | Part 1: The Basics | Part 2: Why It’s Made for You | Part 3: The Reality | Part 4 ]

Disclaimer: The video was recorded as part of the RU Ready series targeted to entrepreneurs in Malaysia by Prudential which I was involved in. This also happen to be my first ever video series :)

Social Media for Entrepreneurs: The Basics

📕 |

March 2, 2012

| Jan Wong

Note: This is Part 1 to the Social Media for Entrepreneurs series.

“With power comes great responsibility”

I’ve always found that quote from Spiderman to be so very true. The thing is, social media networks over the years have become a checklist item for entrepreneurs, business owners and individuals alike, so much so that people are just doing it because it is THE thing to do.

They forget that social media is a force to be reckon with and cannot be taken lightly. It is not something where you setup and forget or a tool to make you money in your pyjamas.

Have that said, here are 4 responsibilities entrepreneurs should take note of on social media:

#1: Stay dedicated

It is easy to give up especially when you’re lacking in followers / fans or when no one seems to be reading your articles, replying to your posts or retweeting your content. But instead of throwing in the towel saying “It does not work”, ask yourself, “Why isn’t it working?” instead and do something about it.

Could it be your approach? Could it be your timing? Or could it even be your profile description? Remember that you’re dealing with people on social networks behind those pretty avatars therefore it can take some time before you catch their attention. Again it is a game of trial and error. Never give up!

However, be aware that social media can be a major time suck. Something as simple as replying to a comment can lead on to many other activities and distractions so set a time for yourself to be ‘at work’ on social networks and turn it off when you’re done so you won’t miss out on ‘real work’ in your business.

#2: Learn, and never stop learning

You need to be in the know as an entrepreneur, especially if you’re on social media and having not enough time is NOT an excuse. Technology and business today are moving so quickly that it might cost you if you are oblivious to what’s happening. Besides, it is just unforgivable if you’re not taking time off to learn especially with the abundant of resources online today.

Reading 3 articles a day can take you very far and that will probably just take you less than 10 minutes. I have personally subscribed to a number of feeds on my Google Reader so that I won’t miss out on what I deem as important such as technology news, social statistics / infographics and marketing insights. You should, too!

#3: Ignore the glitter

It is extremely easy to get caught in the glitter as an entrepreneur. Yes, like a magpie. It can be the iPhone 7 (new gadgets), Mega Hootsuite (new apps) or whatever that is supposedly made to help ease the workload on social networks.

Sure, there are tools or gadgets that WILL help (and I use a number of them) but do you need the latest of them or even at all? Choose your tools wisely and work with them. Remember, it is quality engagement you need on social networks so complete automation is not necessarily a good thing. And if you’re thinking about auto DMs on Twitter, forget it. It ain’t cool!

Disclaimer: the gadgets and apps mentioned in this section are all made up and is not to be represented as a rumor, leaked information or marketing attempt for any kind.

#4: Don’t abuse the usage of social media networks

Now before you go trigger happy with social media networks, you should be mindful that there are certain social media manners and rules to adhere to. Take Facebook for example, tagging your followers / friends on a promotional flyer, posting on their walls to promote your product, and pestering them to “Like” your page are seen as spam. A rule of thumb is to not do to others what you don’t like others doing to you.

As for rules, know that the Facebook rules and guidelines forbids you using Facebook as a promotional platform. This includes contests of any kind. Sounds familiar? Yes, this means a contest of “Likes” or “Tagging” or “Sharing” are all prohibited on Facebook.

I wrote this article some time back on this and though much has changed, the gist of it still remains. Check it out if you’re unsure about the Facebook promotional guidelines.

What’s your experience or advice to entrepreneurs on social media? Do leave your thoughts at the comment section below.

This is Part 1 to the Social Media for Entrepreneurs series. Quick access to the series below:
[ Introduction | Part 1: The Basics | Part 2: Why It’s Made for You | Part 3: The Reality | Part 4 ]

Next up in Part 2: Why Social Media for Entrepreneurs?

3D glasses image credit: CoolGadgetConcepts.com

The Credibility Curve, 2nd Impressions and Social Media

📕 |

February 27, 2012

| Jan Wong

I was listening to someone over the radio the other day speaking about sales on how the importance of building your credibility in your networks will attract more business opportunities. I wasn’t really paying attention at first and I suddenly thought:

“Hey, isn’t this true on social media networks too?”

If you take a look around, you’ll find many companies, businesses and individuals trying their very best to accumulate masses of fans. You know how it works – some put together promotions and contests requiring you to first “Like” their page or to “Share” with their friends, some go all out to build connections and to send personal invitations, some create a welcome page with a freebie to give away upon a “Like”, and some go by the shady way of just purchasing fans / followers.

Where am I getting at

Many tend to spend their time accumulating, amassing huge amount of fans by creating a very well polished, presentable and approachable first impression. It’s like walking into a newly opened cafe in town and the waiters are friendly. They greet you by name, start small talks and will even leave you something so that you’ll come by again. All these are great to have, however…

How many take note of creating a great 2nd impression?

It is very easy to start off something big but it is never easy sustaining its growth and its the same on social media. You see, being social does not end at having amassed 100,000 or 1,000,000 fans. In fact, whatever the number of followers are, that is only the beginning and here are 3 reasons why:

#1: You’re the new kid in town

Which also means that you’re probably one out of the many competitors out there doing the same thing.

A painful truth: Your followers may have “Liked” you only for the sake of winning that brand new gadget you offered as a prize.

What can you do: Show them you’re not just a pretty face. Give them reasons to remember or to talk about you in their personal networks. Leave them something to share and to take action of, keep them involved in one way or another.

#2: You’ve left them looking forward for more

Consumers have high expectations, especially when you’ve created an unforgettable first impression. They’ll want to experience it again, or more.

A painful truth: If you’re unable to keep up with their expectations on their 2nd experience with you, there’s a possibility that you’re out.

What can you do: Never, ever over promise beyond your means. Can you still fulfill that promise if you have 10, 100, 1000 or even 10000 customers? Go small, but strive to over deliver all the time. Ask yourself, “What else can I offer to create a better experience?”. Sometimes the key is not to create an extensive but a unique experience.

#3: You’ll be forgotten, soon

No matter how good the experience is, there’ll be a time where your customers will experience something better elsewhere and you’ll be forgotten.

A painful truth: They forget quicker online. Can you remember all the pages you’ve “Liked” on Facebook in the past? When was the last time you posted / interacted on a brand’s Facebook page?

What can you do: Don’t let the momentum of your launch campaign go down. Start putting out content that matters. It helps when you tell your fans what you want them to do or to even ask for suggestions on what you can do better. This may sound like common sense but the more people you get interacting, the more people will see your brand on their timeline.

So how is credibility related to this then?

Creating memorable experiences naturally breeds memorability towards your business. When that happens, a relationship is formed between you and your customer – because you’ve been there with them. It’s a feeling of familiarity, or trust. The reason why you say or think that social media isn’t working for you is because the perception of risk continues to supersede the perception of trust among your customers.

To make social media ‘work’, you’ll need build your credibility with your customers.

So if you haven’t already, remember,

2nd impression matters. It drives credibility.

Yes, even on Social Media.

Photo credit: Bob Gorrell