Social media management:-Twitter: Are you Human?

I know people will tell you that Twitter is all about tweeting links to news articles and blogs that are relevant to your industry. I say, be careful with this approach. Yes, Twitter is excellent for tweeting articles and blog posts that you and your readers may find interesting; however, if this is all you do how can anyone tell if you are human?

Human? Yes, are you a real person or are you a bot (essentially, spam)? I research people and company’s all day everyday as part of my job and I run into so many people and businesses that use twitter to simply tweet links with no engagement.

When I say engagement, I mean asking your fan base questions, encouraging your fan base to ask you questions, and leave their comments and opinions.

When I look at a Twitter page, if I simply see links being tweeted with no engagement I will not follow them, simply because I do not want someone spamming me.

Tips on being Human on Twitter:
1. Ask questions. Not all questions have to be relevant to your industry. Personally, I love to ask people what they did over the weekend.

2. If you are going to tweet links, use the characters available to create your own title for the link, make it more personal. I like to add comments in parenthesis. (This is such a fun article). Also, take into account that people with smart phone will check their Twitter accounts using an app on their phones. This makes reading links to articles difficult.

3. I don’t care what anyone says, I love to see pictures on Twitter. I encourage everyone to upload pictures to your twitter post. I usually upload pictures of places, people, events, etc that my businesses is involved in. Pictures add a personal touch that you can’t get through words.

4. Tweet interesting content and don’t be afraid to get personal. I love it when businesses tell me that John Doe the barman has a birthday today.


Happy Tweeting!!!

Black Friday, there's an app for that.

The holidays are approaching fast! This season we will see a big surge in the number of retailers using social media, blogs, geo-location based services and apps.

Before you shop check out Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and blogs pages of your favorite stores.

When you are on the go, get the apps (iphone only)

Black Friday App By dealnews.com, Inc (Free) Click Here.


This app shows and confirms rumored deals. Black Friday deals that are no longer available are removed form the list.

Most large retailers now have an app available. I would consider also downloading these.

Happy Shopping!!!

Meet the Constant Raving Team

A picture is worth a thousand words, which is why they are so much more engaging than words alone. Don’t be afraid to add pictures of your staff, product/services, and events you attend.

Facebook and Skype

Time to install the new Skype version 5.0, and this time you can sign in with Facebook. Now you can easily call or SMS your friends. You also can check out your News Feed, update your status, and like and comment on posts directly within Skype.

Follow the link, sign in or sign up, and download the new version. The dowmload process only takes a few minutes.Skype Link


Click the Facebook tab and follow the direstions.Ta-da, your news feed apears!

Not seeing results with social media?

You need to get the word out that you’re using certain social platforms. While some people may find you via search, others need a bit of help.

First, it is important to utilize your website. Make it easy for people to move from your website to your social platfroms with direct links.





Second, use the back of your business card. Most people do not take advantage of this space.



Last, if you have a newsletter, email list, flyers, etc, make sure to include the links to your social pages.

Good Luck!!

National Restuarnat Association Trade Show 2010

Sunday through Tuesday, Constant Raving attended the National Restaurant Association Trade Show in Chicago. We walked the corridors of the McCormick Center to chat with folks in the restaurant business about the power of social media and why they need to be a user.

We interviewed a few vendors at the show and posted them on our Facebook page and Twitter page. You can find them at www.facebook.com/ConstantRaving or http://twitter.com/ConstantRaving.

The show attracts a wide variety of people in the restaurant business, everyone from restaurant owners to app developers. As we strolled through the masses, we found that most of these businesses were not using social media and if they were, they were sticking exclusively to Facebook. Diversity is key to a successful social media strategy.

The show had quite a few app developers; however, most were exclusively for the iPhone. In our opinion, app developers need to create useful apps for the major smart phones, not just for iPhone users.

As we walked past the entrance to the North Wing, we noticed a screen displaying live Twitter feeds from the event using the tag #nrashow. That says it all. Allowing people the opportunity to see their tweets is a great way to engage. We just loved that.

All in all, the show was a great success and we had a blast.

Meeting

Today we attended a meeting with a potential client in the Sandhill's area of North Carolina. They are very excited about the prospect of using the power of Constant Raving. When will you be calling us?