Facebook has added a new “Add to Map” button on places and pages with locations.
With this new feature you can check in to places you’ve been. You can add what you did and with whom.
Details of the check in will appear on your map in your timeline. Already thinking how this can be used.
One of the most important aspects of your Facebook Page is the Wall Image. It can either make or break your page in terms of the number Likes your page gets. Your Wall Image has to look good and provide relevant information for your fans. Unlike your wall, and other tabs, your Wall Image is always visible.
Wall Image of a Client
A Wall Image can virtually contain anything. Although, there are limitations such as dimension. Maximum dimension for a Wall Image is 180px by 540px.
At a minimum a Wall Image should contain:
If you’re are a bricks and mortar page, also include address and telephone. Also if Twitter is a key element of your Social Media marketing include your @twittername. You want easy access to all your pertinent information – once they have to start hunting, you have lost them.
One of the drawbacks of Wall Image is that you cannot add clickable links. But, Wait, here’s a cool little trick! When you click the Wall Image, it takes you to the Profile Picture Page with a comment. The trick is to add all your URL links and additional information to the comment. If you look at the example below, you see all the links and and it even gives you a Preview. You can even add “Click Here” on your Wall Image to entice clicking of your Wall Image.
Profile Pictures Comment
Remember, because you are entering in a comment, you will need to Shift+Enter for every new line.
Having all the information at your fan’s fingertips and giving them the ability to easily get to it by using URL links, will get you more fans, more engagement and ultimately more customers.
If you would like to get regular updates on the latest news and tips on Social Media, Join me on Facebook or Follow me on Twitter.
Social Media is Going to the Dogs!
A Savvy Veterinary Hospital Parkdale Animal Hospital Adopts Social Media.
A well established veterinary hospital in Toronto’s Parkdale Village has decided to adopt Social Media. They felt their current traditional marketing methods were not giving them the exposure they sought. The hospital is implementing a strategy that includes a Facebook Business Page, Twitter, and a Blog. They already have a website and a YouTube Channel, with fantastic pet “How-To” videos. Social Media will give Parkdale that needed exposure.
In a recent study, about one half of small businesses have successfully connected with new customers through social media.
Social media adoption by small business has doubled since 2009. Facebook has over 800 million users and 50% of them log on every day.
A Facebook Profile is about friends and family, whereas a Facebook Business Page is about interfacing and engaging with customers or potential new customers. Unlike a website, a Business Page is dynamic and it allows this veterinarian and his team to connect with their community every day and remind them of their presence. By using Social Media the veterinary hospital can interact daily with its customers and others in the community, thus spreading out the word about Parkdale Animal Hospital.
In the first couple months the Business Page has been up and running, the hospital has provided posts on:
These are all fantastic ways to engage with the Fans of their Page. It provides relevant and fun content for what the hospital does – providing care for your pet.
Social Media gives the hospital a vehicle to discuss “events” or share stories, like BBQ’s, school visits, and upcoming awareness events and promotions such as “Pet Dental Months”. The hospital has a “free” clinic the last Thursday of every month for pets whose owners are on social assistance. People like to hear how many pets were treated – they love the “feel good” stories. This gives the hospital increased visibility in the community and the surrounding area. A strategy that helps maintain customers and also attracts new ones.
Social Media is about consistency. Posts need to be regular and constant and interaction with the Fans of the Page is equally necessary and important. Since Parkdale Animal Hospital is in the business of veterinary medicine and not Social Media, they played to the strengths of their team and outsourced all their Social Media development, management and posts to various networks.
Social media continues to grow and should be embraced by small businesses everywhere. Being Social Media savvy means continued growth for customers and revenue.
Social Media provides the means for small businesses to increase the visibility of their products and services. It is the new way of doing business and those who adopt it effectively will be rewarded.
In this case Social Media is indeed going to the Dogs!
To connect with Parkdale Animal Hospital, join them on their Facebook Page or follow them on Twitter. You can also visit their Website.
Social media continues to play a key role in helping small businesses attract and retain 
customers. While a website is fairly static, social media allows small businesses to be dynamic and interact with their prospects and customers on a daily basis. A Facebook page is one of best methods to connect with your customers. There currently over 800 million users of Facebook.
This infograhic from crowdSPRING shows how small businesses use social networks.
The top social network continues to be Facebook and it is used by 27% of small businesses. Next is LinkedIn at 18%, followed by Twitter at 7%. Blogs are at only 8%, which I feel is the most underutilized tool that can be used to promote a business.
Social media adoption by small business had doubled since 2009.
About one half of small businesses have successfully connected with new customers through social media. 61% of small business owners are using social media to attract new customers, 45% expect their social media activities to be profitable in the next 12 months.
Social media will continue to grow and needs to be embraced by small businesses for continued growth of customers and revenue. Social media provides the means for small businesses to increase the visibility of their products and services.
In this Infograhic from SEJ, the use of Social Media is not even close to flattening out, but in fact it is still seeing phenomenal growth in 2011.
All age groups continue to see growth, with the largest gains in age groups 50 – 64 – maybe the ones with the largest amount of disposable income.
Facebook continues to lead the way with a whooping 310 Million daily unique visitors and has 640 million registered users. Interesting fact is that users using their mobiles devices has increased by 200%! Many companies are now seeing more user hits on their Facebook Page over their website.
Twitter users increased by 26%, while number of tweets increased by 252%. I see Twitter as an untapped opportunity for companies and individuals to increase their visibility.
80% of companies use Social Media for recruitment, 95% of them use LinkedIn.
With the continued growth year over year, companies-large and small and individuals, must continue or even start to use social media to promote their brand, their products and their services. Or they may be left behind by their competitors.
Here is the Infographic.
Came across a great infographic from Queaar on the increased use of QR Codes. I too have seen a greater adoption of QR codes in print media, websites, and even billboards. What is a QR Code?
Here is a sampling of the stats:
Business uses mentioned:
Other uses not mentioned:
We are becoming a more mobile society with the advent of smart phones. QR codes can be the gateway to information about a company’s products or services – anywhere, anytime.
‘EntreNomics’ is a fabulous new on-line publication created by Donna Messer and the ConnectUs Canada team. ‘EntreNomics’ is a combination of Entrepreneur and Economics and it really says what this magazine is all about.
I am so excited to be part of the premier issue. You can find my article in the “Technology” section. Please take some time to read the article and the entire publication.
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Here is a great article on why you should create a Facebook Business Page. I couldn’t have said this better! A Facebook Page is a great way to increase your visibility and brand en masse. While a website is fairly static, a Facebook Page is very dynamic. An update on your business, brand or services can easily be posted to your page on a daily basis.
Enjoy the article. http://bit.ly/klk3po
Reading an article the other day got me think how really important collaboration is and how it impacts our everyday lives – whether it solving a customer problem, developing software, designing a Facebook Page for a customer or even managing your daughter’s softball team. Collaboration is not easy and requires a lot of effort, but it can be overdone as well. Good collaboration is about focus and balance.
Here’s the article. Enjoy!
http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2011/05/getting_collaboration_right.html
What is a QR Code? A Quick Response (QR) code in its simplistic form is a 2D bar code. Just like the standard bar codes you see every day on products, but more powerful, as they can hold much more data. These codes can be read by smartphones and provide links to content on the web or other information by using a QR Reader.
The QR code has it roots in Japan and has been in Europe the past few years and is now making some inroads in North America.
A QR code can store thousands of alphanumeric characters. With all that information available it can provide links to URLs, phone numbers, messages, maps – the possibilities are endless. Airlines are currently using QR codes on their boarding passes and QR codes have been widely used on convention name tags.
There are many free QR Reader apps available on smartphones today. Some manufacturers are including QR readers with their phones.
Small businesses or individuals can take advantage of QR codes to market themselves. The advent of smartphones has given everyone the added flexibility of going to the web – anywhere, anytime.
Where are some uses of QR Codes?
Imagine a prospect scanning your business card and automatically dialing your phone number or scanning your brochure to get additional information on the products and services you provide or providing directions to your place of business.
This QR code takes you to my Blog. Check it out.
Twitter recently celebrated its 5 year anniversary. Is the QR code the new Twitter?
Social Savvy | Len Vassos 