Jan 19, 2011

How to use Twitter For Business - Top 5 Tips

Twitter is touted as a social networking tool, but it has quickly doubled into a business networking tool, because it is so popular with businesses (and pro-bloggers) as a way to get word out about their websites or products.

Twitter is a great business tool. While it is "Free", it costs precious business time. You can hire a social media marketer to manage it for you, or let the Social Media experts at Promise Productions leverage their marketing know-how to maximize your results. We call it Social Media Marketing Management.

Used well, Twitter can provide good exposure for your business - making your products and services known to new prospects, but you can also stain your brand with social media marketing if you're not careful. As a business wanting to get positive results with social media marketing, it's worth learning the biggest dos and don'ts in order to use Twitter wisely.



Tip 1: Be yourself and be human. Social media is all about authenticity. In contrast to the distant and sterile approaches of corporate marketing years ago, the beauty of Twitter is that it's a huge global community of human beings. So do show your human side, especially when using your business account. Talk about things that matter to you. Join in with conversations that interest you - be friendly, show emotion, and use smilies if you want to.

 Social Media can get results all the slick advertising cannot - because it puts a human face to business.

But while you're being friendly and more personal, remember that you are a business professional and everything you say can be seen. So use discretion and tact.

Tip 2: Watch how you write


Some people write well, others don't. You don't need to be a professional writer to use Twitter, but it helps if you have basic literacy skills. As a business, you are expected to spell correctly, and keep slang minimal.

However good (or bad) your writing skills are, with Twitter's 140-character limit you'll need to be creative with your Tweets. Your Tweets need to be concise yet informative, and often you'll be trying to squeeze in a URL too (URL shortening services like bit.ly and tinyurl.com are lifesavers).

One definite don't is overusing "text speak" because it only makes you come across like a kid, not a business. If you are a businessperson who does not feel they write well for social media purposes, we are, after all, a marketing communications firm, so feel free to outsource your Social Media Marketing management to us.

Tip 3: Share and share alike


Being friendly includes a healthy dose of sharing. If you have some good news - related to your business or your personal life - share it; everybody loves a good news story.

 Do share links - to your website, your blog, your local news service, or anything else that interests your followers - this is a great way to get conversations going. Just remember to explain what the link's about, or your followers won't know why they should click it.

And don't Tweet the same link over and over; people will quickly become bored and may stop following you.

 Think "conversation." Do retweet your friends' links, too; they'll be grateful, and so will your followers if the link is interesting and relevant. (making sure, of course, you've looked at the material first yourself to see if you want your followers viewing it)

Tip 4: Be part of the community


Social Media is about being social - about a 2-way conversation. Don't treat Twitter as your personal billboard. It's not: it's a community, millions of members strong, and the community as a whole is not very tolerant of users who constantly advertise.

Try to stick to the 80-20 rule when you use Twitter for business: no more than 20% of your Tweets should advertise or self-promote, and at least 80% should be non-promotional.

Listen to what people are saying, and join in. Twitter is a network of conversations, so it's good practice to listen and respond to parts of those conversations that interest you; don't just stand in the middle of the room with a megaphone, shouting "I'm fabulous! I'm selling widgets at 20% off this week!" Again - if you wouldn't do it at a business networking event, don't do it on Twitter.



Do retweet your friends' requests for help (for example, charity appeals and sponsorship requests), and do introduce friends that are new to Twitter and could do with some followers. And again - do retweet useful, interesting links from people you follow, but always check links before sending.



Tip 5: Mind your language


Don't use offensive language when representing your business on Twitter; even mild swearwords can put sensitive prospects off following you (and besides - cursing in public is hardly professional).

 Use Twitter to answer customer questions and solve their problems, by all means; many organisations use Twitter as a customer services tool very effectively.

SUMMARY
Its not complicated, it is just a way to converse as a business that is more open and inviting! A way where your prospects can listen in on the things your tweet and get a sense of your values, your business' personality and decide if they want to come on in!

On Twitter, everything you say is out there for everyone to see, so leave your followers with the best possible impression of your brand at all times... the Internet has a very long memory and you want to uplift!

We call it ATTRACTION MARKETING. We're here for you in all aspects of marketing communications including Social Media consultation and Online Visibility strategies.

To your success, Promise Productions.
 877-858-0071

Jan 17, 2011

Promise Productions - Dallas Marketing Agency with a New Media Twist!

As a YES to all those asking us about the big picture of Promise Production's capabilities...
Well here they are in a nutshell. We provide strategic marketing communications so as to attract your ideal clients for optimum profits. We do this through:

Social Media: Social Media Strategy and Social Media Marketing Campaign execution. From business blogging and Twitter to Facebook and YouTube, using social media to facilitate business relationships and produce results.


Web Site Design and Web Site Marketing - putting your message in the right place and time


Search Engine Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Pay Per Click: strategic online visibility


Print Marketing: brochure design and printing, direct mail campaigns, presentations, postcards and business cards, trade show support.


iPhone and iPad application development.


Branding: creating memorable names that stand the test of time!


Visual Marketing: photography and Dallas video production for all the above.

Simply call our Dallas marketing headquarters at 877-858-0071.

Jan 5, 2011

Online Marketing & Advertising in 2011

As traditional forms of media (print, newspaper, magazine, Radio, TV) continue to dwindle, savvy online marketing is where it is at. For several years now, advertising budgets have been shifting more and more heavily into Internet Marketing. 2011 will see an accelerated stampede to where the customer is -- online.

Smarter mobile phone technology, iPads and so forth mean that the Internet is accessed in more places than ever - dare we say basically everywhere you go! So online marketing is not just for the home or office customer anymore. It is a wireless world and the Internet has gone wireless!

Some sources predict online advertising will be a $50 Billion dollar industry in 2011. Whether it reaches or exceeds that exact number or not, one thing is for sure, online marketing will become more local and more social. Why is this? Because it is trying to become more personal and more meaningful.

"These days, people have been over-saturated with interruptive types of advertising and have developed thick skins that shut out information overload. So if it is not immediately relevant to them, it gets ignored" says new media strategist, Marcus Kaiser.

He went on to add, "The customer is more and more in control, filtering their news and information, selecting and rejecting business/personal relationship connections in all their social media, controlling their music and video watching." We will see a continuation of the truth that people don't want "commercials". They do want to be informed but not "sold." They want peer-review of their products and services to boost trust and see for themselves that companies truly deliver what they claim. They want to avoid the lemons out there.

"2011 will be a bad year for companies wanting to take shortcuts -- shortcuts on quality, authenticity or customer service. Thanks to the Internet and Social Media, researching a company or a product now takes just a couple minutes -- enough to know if they are for real. The public has options on who to use and where to spend and knows how to use them." Kaiser said.

He added, "That is why our social media marketing strategy service is more valuable than ever. We help companies connect with their prospects, demonstrate value, retain customers, develop brand loyalty - and all of that translates into honest profits for our clients."

Less Commercials, More Story Telling
Your "value proposition" is a popular term in marketing, but it really is the key. Your distinctive value is where it is at. More specifically, your ability to effectively communicate that value - to present it - is what means the difference between success and failure. 

When it comes to making what you have to offer relevant, it means meeting the customer where they are. This need is what is driving marketing to be more local and more social. However, there are two other elements that must be addressed to really pull it all together.

You see, a relevant value proposition determines whether people know about you and want what you have to offer. That means market awareness, which in our digital age is much the same as "Internet Visibility". If you have visibility, you have awareness, but do they want it for themselves? Wanting what you have to offer all depends on how you present your value. 

That leads us to the first of the 2 other key elements: Presentation. Today, technology empowers presentation, from typesetting choices through an actual Powerpoint presentation, image and context speak on fundamental sub-verbal level. However, the most powerful form of presentation through technology is video. 

Video allows both physical and conceptual messages to be presented with amazing power. And technology has embraced video, putting it everywhere from our screens to our phones. 

OK, back to those 2 other key elements:
Human beings create meaning out of a story. The Myths of ages ago were stories that answered fundamental questions people had about their world, Their mythology literally described what was meaningful to them. It set the boundaries of their inner worlds, their views, their values, what they could and could not conceive of. What we're point to in all this is that storytelling is not just entertainment; rather it is generating the context in which your products and services have real meaning, and thus real value - how want-able they are!

Conclusion
To reach your prospects in a way that makes them want to take the action of using your products and services is all about being relevant -- about being meaningful. Relevancy has essentially Four Factors:


  1. Make it local - touching us right where we live.
  2. Make it social - can you surround your product with a culture? Can you make a community -- whether in physical space or "virtual" online space, of individuals whose values intersect at a point large enough to stir up sufficient interaction - sufficient buzz? Get an aligned consensus around your message and your company values gives momentum and leverage to your marketing. 
  3. Powerful Presentation - use the technology of video whenever possible! Video is power for many reasons but one big reason is all the many ways video can spread and be shared like never before.
  4. Tell a Compelling Story - human needs psychology has distinguished 6 core needs which we all share, just in different proportions from person to person. Every message that has ever grabbed you or motivated you has done so because it touched on one or more of these 6 human needs. Every movie you love or relationship you wanted to stay in touched you because it touched one or more of these 6 basic needs. (and those 6 are a story for another time) 
Our point is that humanity is not a nuisance to be marginalized in the age of technology, it is the very reason that makes technology serve us instead of enslave us. Those who can lead with the heart in their marketing communications, will end up capturing minds and pocketbooks as well.

We at Promise Productions believe that online video meets all these requirements far beyond anything else out there. Those who can control the images people see on screens, influence thoughts at a profound level. Those who tell a story (a human story, and thus a relevant story) with video, grab us and pull us into their message. That's why we've invested heavily into Dallas Video Production

Video is not magic in and of itself; it must be mindfully and "heart-fully" (just made that word up) produced. At Promise Productions, we understand motivation and can use video to tell a meaningful story that is relevant to your audience. 

We are unabashedly excited going into 2011 because we have the best of all worlds available for powerful results! We look forward to advancing your success and getting to know you and your goals. Let us be your advocate and put our skills to work for you by calling 877-858-0071.

Jan 1, 2011

Gain an UNFAIR Advantage in 2011 - Dallas Video Production

Yes you heard that right! Video Marketing is your UNFAIR advantage to release profits in2011.

We've gone through an evolution of maturation of online marketing. Many businesses have now hit a wall, they are already doing all they can and don't know how to get an edge in 2011. See the evolution:

1 • Have a Business Website that is more than an online brochure
2 • Make that website Search Engine Friendly
3 • Add a business Blog promoting your website
4 • Start Tweeting about your products and services
5 • Look to Facebook to expand their reach and attract prospects

The exponential DIMENSION to supercharge all the above is video marketing. Whereas a 12-year old can tweet, Video cannot be slapped together and generate positive business results. Video requires numerous skill sets (writing, audio production, editing, savvy motivational approaches, lighting, etc.) that your standard "social media marketing" or "advertising" person cannot master.

USE Video Marketing to:
• Increase Website Stickiness
• Integrate your marketing
• Put a FACE to your products and services
• Boost the effectiveness of your Google Maps
• Elevate your Blog in visibility and readership
... and foundational to all of this is the core truth that...

VIDEO MARKETING PRESENTS YOUR VALUE PROPOSITION IN AN AUTHENTIC AND COMPELLING FASHION FOR MAXIMUM RESULTS

Video has to be done in ways that are marketing-savvy and integrated with your SEO and your Social Media Marketing - the result is a blatantly unfair EDGE above all competition - enabling Your busienss to enjoy the Lion's Share of the profits.

Start enjoying today - call Promise Productions at 877-858-0071.