Small Businesses Should Care About Social Media Management In the world of small business these days, it just isn’t enough to have only a website. Digital storefronts now extend into social media sites like Facebook, Google+ and Twitter. In order to successfully run a storefront using these networks, they need to be managed. What Is Social Media Management Anyway? Utilizing social media platforms for business makes it easier for your customers to interact, engage, and collaborate with your company. The complete ins and outs of involvement with this many-headed hydra are quite extensive, but here is a list of some of the main things that make up social media management: Writing relevant, interesting, and engaging content for posts with images, videos, links, and trending hashtags Finding great re-shareable content that is appropriate for your business while also appealing to your customer base Frequent daily monitoring of social media accounts to quickly respond to any account activity (like messages or complaints from customers) Engaging with other people, from leaders in your industry to potential customers within your community Creating an editorial calendar to maintain consistent activity and to keep customers informed of what the business is doing (like events and promotions) Regular analytics reviews to determine the most optimal posting days and times, as well as gathering statistics to evaluate all social media efforts Why Small Businesses Should Even Care? If your company isn’t actively on one or more of these social media platforms, then it’s time to get with the program and start capitalizing on them, because your competition is most likely already ahead in the game. Thankfully, it’s never too late to get started. The sooner you begin expanding your social media presence and followers, the better. We all know how important word-of-mouth can be for small businesses, and social networking amplifies that. It’s vital for businesses these days to tap into and join in on these social media conversations about your areas of expertise, your community, your industry, and even your competitors. But with running a business of any size, you simply might not have the time to manage all of those tasks and social networks yourself along with everything else that needs to be done to keep the business operating. Skynet Solutions is here to help you grasp the many-headed social media hydra by determining the right management strategy for your business and implementing a successful social media campaign.
Month: November 2015
A few blog posts ago, we wrote about the three-year lifespan of a website and the importance of updating your business’s website for the new year. Good web design and mobile friendliness are no longer luxuries in the world of business; these things are necessities if you want to keep up with your competition, hold on to your old customers and attract new ones. One of the things we do best at Skynet Solutions is website design. No matter what your business or how big the job, we can provide you with web design services to suit your business and budget. A good example of some of our recent work is AutoTrix.net. AutoTrix.net is an e-commerce website for a company based right here in Tulsa that sells custom car parts. They do a lot of cool stuff, and wanted their website to be able to reflect that. Unfortunately, it had fallen a little behind the times. So, the Skynet Solutions design team redesigned the old website and gave it both a new “front end”—an attractive and user friendly new design—and a new “back end”—by upgrading their e-commerce software to Skynet Solutions’ e-commerce software. These changes have not only made the website more visually pleasing, but have made it easier for AutoTrix customers to use as well. Skynet Solutions continues to manage the website to ensure it runs smoothly and is hassle free for the folks at AutoTrix. So take a look at the new and improved site, and if you like what you see, contact the experts at Skynet Solutions. We can help you with all your website design and marketing needs.
Learn to Market your Business with Skynet Solutions and Google! For the past few weeks, Skynet Solutions has been hosting seminars all across Green County with our partners at REI Oklahoma and local chambers of commerce. Many of these events have also been sponsored by another one of our partners—Google. These seminars have covered everything from how to get your business online to the best, free methods of online marketing for your business. There has been such great turnout and positive feedback at our last couple events that we decided to schedule more! Skynet Solutions has several workshops scheduled in the next two weeks where you can come and learn how to get your business listed on Google Maps for FREE, and hear about the potential business benefits of being on the map. But make sure to register soon at the links below—spots are filling up quickly! Bartlesville Eufaula Broken Arrow Sand Springs Prattville Google partners connect
Failing to take Google+ seriously could mean letting a valuable opportunity slip through your fingers. You may be asking yourself, “Why invest time and money into another social media platform, especially one that nobody else is using?” Well, if you have a small to medium sized business, there are several important reasons to re-evaluate your social media strategy and take a serious look at how beneficial Google+ can be for your business’ marketing and branding. Why Businesses Need to Use Google+: Everything posted to Google+ is immediately indexed by Google and therefore influences search engine results. Basically, the content you post to your Google+ page can give you a higher ranking in searches even if your website doesn’t. This is huge for businesses because, according to a study by Optify, websites that appear on the first page of Google—especially in the first few positions—get 54.8 percent of all clicks from users. Using Google+ adds authorship to your content. It puts your profile picture right next to your content that shows up in Google search results. Having this image appear in the results makes it easier for others to recognize you, more likely that they will click on your content and it gives them the ability to click on your signature to directly access your Google+ page for more content or to follow your page. Google searches now come up with a list of local results where Google is considering its own set of factors; having a Google Maps listing, a Google+ Business Page and the number of +1s and Google reviews your Business Page has. Keeping your business active on every aspect of Google will help you connect with more prospective local customers. Bottom line, if your business is not active on Google+ yet, then it’s time to get a move on! The team at Skynet Solutions is your go-to group of Google experts. We can get your business set up on Google+ with a profile that matches your brand and a content strategy that will improve your Google search ranking. We are also the local authority for Google Maps listings and can ensure your business is On The Map.