A2Z Computer Services Inc

Corporate I.T. Solutions, Computer Repair and Web Design in Henderson, KY

Three questions that must be asked when creating a social media strategy

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A couple weeks ago, we at A2Z Computer Services, Inc hosted a free seminar at our office for our existing Mad Skillz Marketing customers to help enhance their Social Media presence.  The purpose of this seminar was to show these business owners how to start their Social Media ventures with a strong foundation.  So we showed them how developing a business plan for Social Media that included various Goals, Strategies, and Schedules will help them fully benefit from Social Media.

You might be asking yourself “Really?  A business plan and strategies for using Facebook and Twitter??”

The simple answer is YES.

And to help you, we’ve developed a few questions you can ask yourself to help you get going with Marketing your business with Social Media:

What do I have to offer?
As business owners, we all have something to offer our customers that adds value to their lives, whether that value be our products and services or simply knowledge and information. If we didn’t, then we wouldn’t have been in business for very long.  Are you looking to offer people knowledge or information?  Or perhaps you’re providing them a way to save money with your products and services. Whatever the value-add is that you’re offering, keep it in mind as you develop your Social Media Goals and Strategies.

Who am I trying to reach?
This aspect of your Strategies and Goals will play an important part in your overall Social Media endeavor.  Everything from the content of your posts, to the manner in which you convey your ideas, to even the design and feel of your Social Media outlets, having an identified target audience is very important.  Identifying targeted customer age groups, geographic locations, interests, and other demographic information is vital to developing a solid campaign.

What do I want to accomplish?
This question may sound simple at first, but after much thought it can become difficult to define.  Are you looking for more visits to your website?  Do you want more customers coming to your store or restaurant?  Is finding an alternative means to communicating one on one with your customers your objective?  Finding out your purpose for using Social Media will bring your overall Strategies and Goals together and get you started on the path to using these marketing avenues effectively.

Now, as an example, after answering these questions, a restaurant can develop a Social Media campaign to draw more 18 – 30 year old college students in their doors to try their latest mouth watering appetizers and convince them to stick around for a wonderful week night dinner.

Finally, remember that Social Media is not a one way street.  If businesses are just constantly throwing information out there, hoping to get a few bites, they are really just settings themselves up for failure.  Goals and strategies will help guide a business to truly reap the rewards that Social Media has to offer.

If you have any further questions please comment below and join in the conversation. If you would like assistance with your Social Media Strategy, please feel free to contact A2Z Computer Services, Inc at (270) 830-9590 or send us a message via our contact page.

Why should you use Twitter?

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Twitter, although it may not yet have the largest number of users, it’s the fastest growing social networking tool, growing at over 2,000% annually. You might not see a need for it as an individual, you might not see a need to have it for your business, but the truth is that more and more people are using it, and as a business owner, you should be willing to evolve as communication evolves, and learn to embrace and take advantage of these tools. Also note, that these are a way to further your relationship with your customer, not a replacement to face to face and voice to voice contact.

Here’s a short list of some basic ways twitter can help your product:
-Form a closer, daily relationship with your customers
-Offer “twitter-only” specials and discounts
-Free customer service (to an extent), anytime your customer needs it
-Show your customers you’re more than a brand, but also a person

This is just a taste of  what twitter has to offer (and all for free!) Of course there’s virtually an endless list of what you can do using twitter, but I just wanted to give you a little something think and talk about, please feel free to get involved in the conversation and share your thought, questions, and even innovative ways you’ve used twitter to help further your brand.

Social Media will not help your business…

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…if you do not use it correctly.

Just like anything else we use everyday, we have have to know how to use it correctly. If we don’t use a gas pump correctly, it’s worthless. If you don’t use Social Media correctly it will not help your business, if anything it will cause you stress and irritation and drive to possibly even write off Social Networking altogether.

When I say “use it correctly” I don’t mean the technical side of it. It’s not hard to make a post, the challenge is figuring out the content that you need to put in your post. Sure, simply sending out a fact or piece of history of the the business everyday can be nice and cute, it can even work well for some people, but the point of Social Media is getting the word out about business, drawing more people in, and better connecting with your current customers, no matter how large or small that number is.

NOTE: This post will not give you a strategy to copy and follow, the purpose of this article is to make you think and create a proper mindset for using Social Media with your business.

Strategy and goal setting are very important aspects of any successful business. If you run a business, you understand the importance of planning things out and deciding how you’re going to take advantage of different tools to better grow your business…so why would not put that same care into creating a strategy and setting goals for your Social Media usage? Social Media has grown exponentially in the last few years, it’s not just for teenagers anymore (we’ve discussed this in other posts).

You have to get out of the mindset that this is just a cute, static tool.

Learning how to create a Social Media strategy can be done several ways, all of which are useful. You can of course hire a Social Media consultant to meet with you and assess your needs and help you set goals and plan things out. You might be saying to yourself “A consultant to tell me how to use facebook and twitter? Ridiculous.”, but you’re then getting someone to teach you how to use something that will forever be free, which is not a bad deal at all. Another way is to research stories of how other businesses have used Social Media to get ideas and get the creative process started. This is your network, this an opportunity to be completely creative, with very few guidelines. This is your business, your mind, your thoughts, anything goes. You can come up with with specials and coupons to create buzz, you can have have random drawings from your friends lists to give out prizes like a free meal. The sky is the limit, this thing has an endless amount of potential but is completely worthless is you don’t know how to effectively plan and run with it.

A Decree to Small Business Owners

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Here at A2Z Computer Services Inc., our new service called Mad Skillz Marketing has really taken off, and we are not surprised. It’s been amazing helping all of these strong business create a presence in the Social Media world. Many of you reading are fairly new to this “revolution” altogether, some of you have had personal social networking accounts for years, still others are just now discovering the benefits that this whole thing can bring to your company.

Living and working in the Southern Indiana / Western Kentucky area, we’re use to small businesses all around us. It’s nothing new for us to know the business owners at our local coffee shop or restaurant. To put it simply, small businesses are all around, and if you’re reading this, there’s a good chance that you own one or are part of one.

I believe there’s a dilemma that many small business owners face in regards to social media. A lot of people will look to the big companies like Starbucks, Target, all the big guys, and they see that they have thousands and even millions of followers and they then get discouraged because they only have 35 or 100 fans and followers. A quick word of advice…

Don’t allow yourself to become overwhelmed!

Don’t freak out and give up, what you are doing is important not only for you, but for your customers as well.

Numbers are great, and I hope that one day you too get thousands of followers, but please understand that you have an advantage that the big guys don’t have. Your small size allows you to really connect and really show how much you care about your customers. You have the ability to say something personal to them everyday, to hear about their bad experience at your restaurant and make things right, to tell them about a special offer just because they’re a faithful customer or to even tell them how much you enjoyed the movie that they saw last night. Be content with the followers you have and allow your network to grow naturally, trust me, it will.

Should you create strategies to grow your network? YES
Should you creat a better customer experience? YES
Should you be proactive in finding new customers? YES
Should large numbers be your main concern? NO

The weekend is almost here, have a great one everybody!

Try to discuss ways that you can take advantage of your small size with your employees and coworkers in regards to your business’s social networking, the possibilities are endless, they just need to be thought up by someone!