The Age of Social Media

Social Media Has Taken Over Our Lives 

Social media has evolved and taken over the lives of many young people who either seek false celebredom, perceived importance and awareness, created interesting networks for young professionals, driven a laissez-faire attitude for seasoned professional and developed into a new marketing tool for business owners, public officials, and corporate executives. But the tone and purpose of the message can be lost if the age of the viewer doesn't correlate. According to a recent study by the Pew Research Center revealed in Jessica Walrack's article, the breakdown of the social media age groups can be used to determine the type, frequency and focus of the message.

Promote, Promote, Promote 

If you want to promote a business or submit a highly publicized post aimed at a targeted demographic between the ages of 18 - 29. Focus marketing effort on:

• Facebook (87%)
• Instagram (53%)
• Twitter (37%)
• Pinterest (34%), 

To gain the interest of prospective buyers between the ages of 30-49, the efforts should turn towards

• Facebook (73%)
• LinkedIn (31%)
• Instagram (25%)
• Twitter (25%) 

63% of 50-64-year-olds are active on Facebook while those over 65 have a 56% Facebook usage rate.
There is no need to post new technology gadgets on Instagram for the elderly market because they won't ever see it unless their 19-year old grandson visits and sees it on his tablet. Offering after-work fitness boot camps with child care arrangements to 20 yr olds on Pinterest would generate less traffic than a Facebook ad that reaches the social media users from the ages of 30 - 49.

Know the age for the message and the targeted platform for them to notice. Welcome to the aging of social media.

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Posted in: Facebook,Instagram,LinkedIn,marketing,Pinterest,social media,Social Media and Business,sports psychology,strategy,Twitter

Power Down the Lights on Poor Customer Experience

TURN DOWN THE ATTENTION...

Whether a business owner or employee for a huge enterprise, it is quite humiliating when customers complain about the product or service offered.   Even if the complaints are warranted, it is even worse when customer service is so scripted that the customer cannot get the problem resolved.  This sparks frustration that can morph into bigger problems for the business – bad press through word-of-mouth and social media.

So how do you power down the big noise?

• Acknowledge the customer’s issue as a serious issue.  If it is ignored or downplayed, the frustration levels grow higher and the negative backlash will increase.  Set up a time for a chat session or discussion with a seasoned customer service individual with common sense.  Reaching out to the customer shows concern and willingness to resolve the issue.
• Have a senior customer service representative or manager respond.  Dumb questions from the junior person or overseas operator will only exacerbate the problem.   Senior personnel should know how to do the best research and also have the ability to override charges, provide discounts, or escalate where necessary for the quickest possible solution.
• Send a thank you letter/email/tweet from the business.  Appreciation speaks volumes to any customer, especially the one who has not had a good experience.  If a discount is available, offer it without being asked for it. 

Everyone learns from the misfortunes of poor quality in product and customer service.  However the difference in keeping the customer and having to put out bad publicity fires relies on the ability to quiet the complaints before they spiral out of control.  When in doubt, always remember – “A good paying customer of one company can easily move on to be a higher revenue customer of the competition.”

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Posted in: customer experience,customer service,Get A Clue,new business,quality service,Small Business Administration,small business expert,social media,Social Media and Business,Temeko Richardson

Best Read Fridays - Hashtags: The Best New Marketing

Repurposed # Sign...

Twitter users engage with one another to group conversations, hot topics, and trending ideas by prefixing words with the number sign, hashtag.  The hashtag is now used throughout all of social media as a norm.  But individuals are not the only ones that use them.  Marketing departments of companies have discovered that the use of a hashtag and encouragement of employees to use them in their social media experience increases awareness of the company and its products.  It is a cheaper marketing strategy that has a great awareness impact. 

Check out this article on how your company can make hashtag marketing successful:  http://onforb.es/14muzR3

Be sure to check back here for more weekly business tips and follow on Twitter @temekoruns.

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Posted in: hashtag,marketing,social media,Social Media and Business,Temeko Richardson

Social Media - Hard Work but Promising Returns

Pays To Know Social Media...

If you are like me, there is not enough time in the day.  For any business owner who also oversees clients' businesses, 80 hours is not enough in a week.  However social media is a must in today's society.  The rewards of recognition, notice for a great product or service, and Internet sales or interest can increase revenue for any business owner or show favor to corporate executives.  

So how do you handle all the social media needs to stay relevant in cyberspace?  

Here are a few tips to get you started:
Blog

• Make sure your blog has a short concise sentence about what readers should expect.  
• Every blog post should have some picture.  It is a visual society.
• The format of every blog post should be the following:  picture, short catch introduction, Read more button, the rest of the post, and a "don't forget to follow me on Facebook, Twitter, and subscribe to my YouTube channel"
• Keep a strict schedule to post (MWF), (TH), Bi-monthly

YouTube Channel

• Keep a strict schedule to present videos and stick to it.
• Be sure to mention the video in all your social media platforms on the day it is published
• Aim for a new video a week.
• Every two weeks upload a video where you answer questions from your various social media platforms, or at your events, etc 
• In every description of the video, there should be a link to your Facebook, blog, and twitter accounts. 

Twitter Account Review 

• Utilize a scheduler like Tweetdeck or Hootsuite
• Commit to up to 5 tweets a day (3 business and 2 personal) 
• The business tweets should have a link that directs to your other social media platforms 
• Set a specific day or two to interact with others.

Facebook Account Review 

• Every facebook post should have a picture or at least a bitly link to your other social media platforms.
• Facebook is the best place to put up your Youtube videos.
• Also take time to interact on facebook too.

And if you thought you had no time before, you really won't have any left now.  I must say incorporated most of these tips and it has worked for me.  Of course, follow me on twitter @temekoruns or purchase my latest book, Get A Clue - 10 Steps to an Executive IQ on Amazon.com

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Posted in: business expert,social media,Social Media and Business,Temeko Richardson

Best Read Friday - 5 Ways Businesses Can Optimize Social Media

An Internet Society...

Social media is a big driver in helping consumers understand and desire the brand a company offers.  Timing is everything and content is king.  Do not waste time updating information that does not make your brand stand out from the rest.  Check out this article by Kevin Allen on 5 ways to optimize the social media drivers for your business initiatives.  http://bit.ly/11blckO

For more social media strategies, read Friday's article recommendation on how to transform your business with social media.  http://bit.ly/10MkFWt

And stay tuned for Monday's post where I write from experience on the best strategies to gain audiences in social media for business executive.

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Posted in: business expert,Get A Clue,Kevin Allen,small business expert,social media,Social Media and Business,Temeko Richardson,The RLC Group

The Not So Freedom of Speech Social Media

LEARN TO NOT BE SO FREE

Social media has become the norm for communication, job searches, entertainment and news updates, and opining differences in viewpoints. The Internet buzz has become so overwhelming that there are special tools to provide insight on every social media interaction, frequently used by businesses to track "brand" love but more often used by employers to track whereabouts and opinions of employees.
 
It requires self-imposed discipline to not speak (type) so freely in the following situations:

1). Human Rights Concerns: Gone are the days you can respectfully disagree with others' beliefs on certain topics. One statement that you don't understand a belief opposite than yours turns into imposed fines and sensitivity training. For those that believe in the topic, they can speak boldly with no consequence. Double standard, yes! But until you have Warren Buffet, Bill Gates, or Oprah Winfrey money, stay away from these public social media opinions.
2). Employer Related Woes: No matter how horrible the employer, manager, team, or vendor, it is in your best interest to not provide names or details that will cause others to quickly elude to who the culprits are. It is hard to not put unscrupulous or difficult people on blast to alert others who may think about working with them in the future. However defamation lawsuits are unnecessarily expensive legal battles. Trust me, they will be discovered by a much bigger entity than you, possibly one of those class action lawsuits that send penny checks in the mail.
3). Friend-to-Friend Banter: Sometimes casual tweets and posts turn into an interchange of profane or derogatory statements. Don't believe for a second that people who can possibly control your destiny are not paying attention. Your associations to followers and FB friends are oftentimes just as incriminating as if you made the statements yourself. I am sure your parents told you that you are the company you keep. So keep the wrong company at a far distance.
 
Social media used to be an open forum for sharing ideas but it has now turned into a way to police people's opinions and to punish for double standards when it fits the agenda of a particular company or employee. In essence, think twice before you post because freedom of speech may free you from some much-needed income.

For more business tips and motivation, follow tweets at http://twitter.com/temekoruns or posts on Facebook at http://facebook.com/execgetaclue

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Posted in: Internet etiquette,Internet usage,marketing,social media,Social Media and Business,Temeko Richardson