When it’s Time to Break Up with Facebook
Posted: February 14, 2012 Filed under: Uncategorized Leave a comment »I’ve fallen out of love with Facebook.
When I look at our newsfeeds or post content, it feels as though something is missing. I don’t get the same excited feeling in my stomach when someone comments on our posts, or shares something on our wall. In the beginning, it was so important to “engage” people, grow our audience, and share ideas. While there’s certainly merit in that concept, Facebook isn’t doing it for us.
We were skeptical about whether a Facebook page was right for us in the beginning. Our clients come to us for Online Marketing and Web Consulting, so the web is an area they need help with. Few of them actually contact us via Facebook, or use Facebook as a means to click through to our website. We’re a B2B company, and as a small firm, we don’t send out a lot “Company News.” Most of what we share on Facebook are tips and tricks on using the web - useful information, granted – but these are small steps in the credibility building process.
What it came down to:
Regardless of how big or how small our “fanbase” was on Facebook, or how “engaging” we were of our audience, the conversion wasn’t happening. Since measurement is so important in our business, we started closely monitoring the time we spent on developing strategies, creating content, and networking with people using Facebook. Many people think of Facebook as a free marketing tool - wrong! Putting up a post takes a few minutes, but coming up with the right content (aligned with the right strategy) takes much, much longer. We calculated our time spent versus the payback, and discovered we were left in the red.
Is Facebook the Right Tool for Your Business?
Don’t get me wrong – Facebook does work as a marketing tool. We’ve helped countless clients successfully reach their audiences using Facebook. Their communities have grown, and they’ve reaped the benefits. There’s no magic formula for success using any social media site – just a few rules to live by:
- Before choosing a social media site, find out where and how you’d most like to connect with potential or existing customers
- Create a strategy that’s linked to your business objectives
- Post meaningful content that your audience would be interested in reading (and interested in sharing)
- Don’t just keep it one-sided – be sure to comment on other pages, respond to questions, and be active on the site
- Know when to quit. Social media marketing is still a learning process for most. Measure your results continually, and if something isn’t working, rethink your efforts.
To those who have enjoyed connecting with us on Facebook, please continue to visit our blog, send us an email, or hey – even pick up the phone! We’d love to hear from you!
Website Contact Forms – A Review
Posted: December 6, 2011 Filed under: eBusiness, Process Improvements, Websites, eMarketing, Social Media Marketing, Facebook Leave a comment »Members of our team recently discussed the value of a “contact” eMail form as a call-to-action tool. We agreed that this is one of many ways to ensure that visitors to your website are given an easy opportunity to convert.
Interestingly, it was not long after this that I had the opportunity to fill in four such contact forms, with varying results. Here’s a quick rundown of what happened.
Image: Ohmega1982 / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
1.
Business type: Entrepreneurial provider of household services.
Contact form: Included standard fields, requesting name, eMail, phone numbers and comments – along with a “submit” button.
Nice: The contact form was linked to a seasonal special announced on the front page of the website. It also included a “How did you find us?” drop-down menu option.
Not-so-nice: There was no opportunity to navigate back to the site from the form. Also, a few lines of data were written in a very small font, which was difficult to read.
Response: I received an automatic eMail response indicating that I’d hear from a real human very shortly…and I did!
2.
Business type: Another small business, serving home owners.
Contact form: As above, with standard fields for name, street address, eMail, phone numbers, comments, and a “submit” button.
Nice: The form was accessible from the website home page via links to either “Contact” or “Request a Quote”.
Not-so-nice: Right beside the “Submit” button was a “Reset” button, which I inadvertently clicked after filling out the form. This button was not well-positioned, so I accidentally dumped my data and had to start over.
Response: There was no automatic confirmation message, and it was four days before I heard anything back from this provider. (And it was a really odd message, at that.)
3.
Business type: A boutique health and wellness provider.
Contact form: This was more than the standard form, as it actually allowed me to book an appointment for myself with this supplier.
Nice: I could use a calendar feature to see free appointment times and book with a particular staff member, if I wanted to, by selecting their name from a list.
Not-so-nice: The booking functionality was not initially easy to understand. The choices were not immediately clear, as I had to select from a menu (and a sub-menu) which did not seem to include the services I wanted.
Response: I received automatic eMail confirmation of my booking. I also received a follow-up phone call as a reminder about my appointment.
4.
Business type: Yet another health and wellness company. (You’re getting the picture of what I buy online, aren’t you?)
Contact form: This was another booking-engine-cum-contact form. It included the standard fields, and additionally offered a map, hours of operation and information about appointment cancellation policies.
Nice: The front page link to the contact form was clearly titled “Book an Appointment”. Also, users could write in any desired appointment time and date.
Not-so-nice: My automatic eMail confirmation message warned me that my booking was not final until I received a “real” confirmation. This took several days to arrive by eMail, and left me wondering if I needed to call them to finalize the details.
Response: The “real” confirmation eMail included the name of the practitioner with whom I was booked, as well as directions to the establishment, their phone number and links to their Twitter and Facebook pages.
As you can likely guess, I ended up doing business with three of the above firms. To a greater or lesser degree, I got what I needed, and these businesses made it easy for me to procure their services at my convenience.
Take a look at your company’s contact (or booking) forms. Do they provide your prospects with an easy opportunity to buy/convert? Can you match – or better – the accessibility, functionality and ease-of-use of those described here?
You may need to bring fresh eyes to your contact page, to give you an unbiased look at what is working, and what needs to improve. Done well, these forms may be just the thing to bring you a torrent of new customers!
Why Businesses Should Dare to Stay the Same
Posted: November 1, 2011 Filed under: Business planning, Process Improvements | Tags: Cisco, HP, innovation, RIM, small business, technology Leave a comment »In business, the word innovation is talked about as though it is the accolade of the most progressive and forward-thinking business models, the holy grail of achievements. Companies love to describe themselves as innovative, or talk about how they “strive for innovation.” But what does it actually mean? A dictionary definition would say that to innovate means to do something in a new way. It’s fair to say that innovation has led to some great success stories in business, propelling small shops into huge multi-national corporations. Should businesses then always be striving to do something in a new way?
If you look at business advice over the decades, the mood changes dramatically depending on economic, social, and political climates. At one time, you might have heard that “consistency is the key to a successful business.” The current climate might be the reason we love to think about doing things in a new way. On the heels of a recession, we’re looking at more dismal economic news on a worldwide scale. Our hopes are tied to the notion of things moving forward out of the mud, as they should be. I dare to say that in such climates, sometimes the best thing to do is get back to basics.
Some of the heavy-hitters in the technology sector such as RIM, Cisco, and HP have learned the hard way that innovation is not the most lucrative pursuit. All three companies have scaled back production in a number of areas, even closing down entire departments of their business. Innovative products like RIM’s tablet, or Cisco’s Flip Video camera have ceased to exist, while the tech giants focus on getting back to what they’re truly good at.
Not to say that innovation is a bad thing, but something can be said for focussing on what your business truly does well, regardless of your size. Ensuring that your product or service meets the needs of your target market should be priority one. Managing your growth at a rate you can keep up with should also be high on the list. Before introducing a new way of doing things, examine closely what works (and doesn’t work) about the way you are currently doing things. I’m reminded of the old adage: if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it.
Have a comment? Think Tim Horton’s will become famous for lasagna? I’d love to hear your thoughts.
