You’ve come to the right place. This article highlights nine companies (big and small) that have transformed their online presence by implementing innovative social media marketing.

You’re sure to find inspiration for your social media efforts here.

Look at the tactics these companies employ and don’t concentrate too much on the target audience. It doesn’t matter whom you’re targeting—these tactics will work for just about any business… so let’s dive in!

#1: Martell Home Builders

Martell Home Builders is an Atlantic Canadian custom homebuilder. In the past, Martell relied heavily on realtors to keep their business moving forward. However, once they embraced social media, they were able to create a direct-to-consumer model where they were no longer reliant on a middleman to bring them business.

Martell started a content creation and blogging strategy to focus on their homebuyers’ needs. With topics such as “14 Must-Have Tools for New Homeowners” and “Home Staging Tips & Techniques,” Martell was able to grab the attention of homebuyers. Today, about 86% of all their leads come directly from consumers.

Notice in the image below the placement of their email capture box as well as their social media channel buttons. Prime placement of both components (above the fold and in the right sidebar) is the key to grabbing attention and encouraging interaction.

Note: Studies show that more people subscribe to blogs by email than RSS feed readers. Martell’s call to action—”Get the blog sent to your inbox. Enter your email”—is a smart move to capture leads while promising value in the form of new blog updates.

Martell also takes advantage of geolocation technology by mounting GPS tracking devices on their contractors’ vehicles, making it easy for their customers to always know where their contractor is when on the job. This eases the customer’s mind and allows Martell to extend even greater customer service.

In the image above, Martell's customers can track their contractor's location when they're on the job.

With innovative strategies, Martell has made the homebuilding experience social. One great strategy is their use of photo galleries of the clients’ homes being built. Not only can the homebuyer watch the progress in pictures, but also they can share their excitement with their family and friends on social networks. This is not only a great experience for their clients, but Martell is able to gain excellent social proof and even more visibility online via these photos as seen below.

Martell also uses the Facebook Like box, as seen below. This widget is dynamically updated; pulling content right from their Facebook page each time someone visits their site. The Like box is great social proof. It shows how many people have Liked your page and also shows faces of your Facebook fans.

The benefit of having this widget is that people can become your fan without leaving your company website. This encourages viewers to stay on your site longer and allows you to increase your fan base from your own website.

Tip: Think outside the box, like Martell did by allowing their clients to see where their contractors were at all times while on the job and by giving access to photos of their homes being built. By providing real-time, socially connected customer service, you’re able to create even more trust with your clients.

#2: Zappos

Zappos is an online retailer that sells shoes, clothing and accessories. They’re known for the enormous emphasis they put on creating real relationships with their fans and customers.

Notice their Facebook custom welcome tab below. Their catchy saying, “Let’s be in a Like-Like relationship,” shows they treat their potential fans as equals, solidifying their relationships even more.

One great strategy they’ve employed is to first ask for the Like and then ask their new fans to join their email list. Once you click their Like button, the custom tab changes and you then see the opportunity to sign up for their email list and interact with their products, as seen in the image below. By waiting until after the fan clicks the Like button, Zappos is proving they care about building relationships with their fans first.

In addition, Zappos uses a strategy often called “fans-only content” where they reveal content only after someone has become a fan, such as the fashion images in the illustration above. Once you click the Like button, you get instant access to exclusive content, videos and special promotions.

They’ve also included comment widgets, as seen below, on their custom welcome tab where you can post about their products and your comments will post to your profile or page, telling all your friends or fans what you like most about Zappos. Great social proof!

One of the best engagement strategies I’ve seen on Facebook is Zappos’ “Fan of the Week” contest. They encourage fans to send in their photos with the Zappos box and other fans get to vote on the best photo of the week. What’s great is that Zappos highlights the fan of the week by putting him or her in their wall image photo for all to see. As seen below, this is definitely about putting your customers first!

Tip: Brainstorm ways you can use social media to make your fans the stars. The more you spotlight your fans and followers on your social media channels, the more often they’ll engage with you and come back for more. Remember, you don’t have to be a billion-dollar company to model what Zappos is doing on their Facebook page. You can take their best strategies, tweak them to fit your unique needs and make them work for your business.

#3: Giantnerd

Giantnerd is a company that sells outdoor equipment for outdoor activities like hiking, biking and snowboarding. This company represents one of the best examples of social media integration seen online today. Their emphasis is on giving their customers the most value possible while becoming friends with them in the process.

As seen in the images below, Giantnerd has integrated social media into almost every aspect of their website. They’ve created a social network on their site that’s completely different from other social networks like Facebook or Twitter. Their one-click process to join their network makes it easy and fast to join the group and they incentivize new membership by offering a discount to all new members with their “Nerds save 5%” promotion.

Also, Giantnerd has incorporated the Like button on their site and they promise their fans exclusive deals and promotions when they click Like and join their Facebook community. Since adding the Like button, their average order has increased by 50%! That’s a pretty impressive social media ROI, to say the least!

Also, when potential customers are researching products on the site, Giantnerd provides multiple social methods to get feedback from other social buyers. One example is their WikiNerdia, as seen below. Similar to Wikipedia, viewers can check out all of the different products, including descriptions and photos, and their customers can edit the information as well, making the experience interactive.

With WikiNerdia, potential customers can also ask product questions and the nerd community comes on board to answer the questions. What’s genius about this is that they let their customers sell for them by giving them the tools to answer questions that potential customers post on the site. People tend to trust their friends and other consumers more than they trust the brand. Giantnerd benefits from their fan engagement by allowing customers to answer product questions for them, thus increasing brand trust for potential customers. Brilliant!

Tip: Let your customers be your salesforce. Think of multiple opportunities for your customers to tell others about you. Social sharing buttons, exclusive social communities and real-time engagement opportunities are all great ways to turn your existing customers into word-of-mouth advocates.

#4: Ford Motor Company

Ford has brought the social experience to the forefront of their marketing efforts.

Each time they add a new blog post, they pull in the image, headline of the post and the comments from readers onto the front page of their website. Those new to the site or those browsing for a new car get to experience the company and its culture from a social viewpoint right from the start.

Their blog, The Ford Story, is also unique. In the image below you can see their innovative layout where viewers can start reading the comments before they read the article, putting their fans’ and followers’ viewpoints first. Introducing your blog and your readers’ comments to new viewers sets a welcoming and friendly first impression for any company.

Notice the placement of the Stories button in the image below. Ford takes the social sharing component to the next level by not only asking their customers for their Ford stories, but also asking their community to share ideas that are in popular categories like Safety or Personalization.

Ford uses this as a way to get new ideas for their next generation of cars. These ideas are not taken lightly; Ford has used many of these innovations to advance the technology of their cars. They do a great job of involving their fans and customers into their company growth.

Also, photos are always a great way to attract new viewers and draw in existing audiences. In the image below Ford has added a Flickr widget to show off some of their latest photos, making their site more interactive and fun. (One little-known fact is that Flickr is a fantastic tool for search engine optimization. When you load your photos onto Flickr, you can tag them and optimize the descriptions.)

Tip: Encourage your customers to share their stories and ideas and make it easy to do so on your site. Also, make it easy for readers to interact with and share your content by adding more opportunities to comment on your blog and sharing buttons to encourage social sharing.

#5: Convince & Convert

Convince & Convert is a social media strategy firm with clients across North America. Its founder, Jay Baer, is a social media expert and co-author of the new book titled The Now Revolution.

To say the least, Jay knows a thing or two about making a website social. One smart strategy he uses is placing a link to all of his comments at the top of each blog post. This tactic is a smart social proof mechanism.

Most people only show their comments when you’re on the abstract of the blog post. However, when you showcase your comment numbers near the top of all posts, others can see how many readers before them have interacted with your post, making it more appealing to them and more likely they too will follow suit and read the post.

Jay also includes social share buttons in strategic locations on his site. He includes them at the top of each post (as seen in the image above) and he includes them at the end of each post as seen below. To get more people to share your content, provide more opportunities via social share buttons in numerous places throughout your site.

Since Jay is targeting businesses, he knows his audience is likely connecting differently than the masses when it comes to networking. He found that by adding the LinkedIn Share button to his site, he was able to dramatically increase the amount of traffic to his site from LinkedIn. In the image above you can see that for Jay, this button outperforms the Facebook Share button because his community is actively engaged on LinkedIn. It’s important to understand where your audience is spending time.

Tip: Give your readers every opportunity to share your content with their networks. Expert marketer Brian Solis calls this “an audience with an audience of audiences.” If you want to expand your message, make it as simple as possible for your readers to share with their audiences.

#6: Cree

Cree is a business-to-business company that sells energy-efficient, environmentally friendly, industrial LED lighting. When you think of social media marketing, you wouldn’t think that an industrial lighting company that sells LEDs to grocery stores would be shining; however, Cree is extremely social-savvy.

As you can see in the image below, Cree knows how to make their customers’ experiences fun, social and interactive. In their “Cries for Help” section, they encourage companies to showcase their terrible lighting on their site. It’s a fun way to make light (no pun intended!) of their bad lighting situations in their offices.

In addition, Cree provides valuable content to pique their audience’s attention. With articles such as “What happens if a baby holds a Cree light bulb?”, they’re able to speak to their audience in a way that grabs their attention and gets them involved. Great content is the key to a happy audience.

Also, Cree knows the value of social proof. When you become part of their environmental movement, you get to display a badge on your site that says, “Take the pledge. I joined the LED lighting revolution.” This is a great way to build community with your audience and get great viral exposure for your company.

In this image you can see they also do a great job of including their social media channel buttons on their site. When you see the Facebook Like box and their Twitter and YouTube buttons, it’s easy to see that Cree is truly changing the way B2B does business today.

Tip: Remember that you’re not selling to other businesses or to “consumers,” but instead you’re always selling to real people whose buying decisions are driven by emotion. Speak to that emotional side, as Cree has done by infusing the hot buttons of bad lighting in the workplace and people’s passion for environmentally friendly products. Find your cause and use it in your messages and share it on your channels.

#7: Emmy’s Closet

Emmy’s Closet is an online store that sells accessories for children. They’re a great example of infusing social media with ecommerce.

Emmy’s Closet is an extension of the popular arts and crafts ecommerce site, Etsy.com. On the site they use an application created by Etsy that allows you to browse and purchase directly through Facebook (see the image below).

They’ve also included social share buttons so fans can share their favorite items on their Facebook profile with their friends and their friends can then click through and buy products via Etsy as well. The share buttons create a viral buying experience. In the image below, you can see how easy it is to share favorite items with your Facebook audience.

Emmy’s Closet knows that Facebook commerce is on the rise. With over 500 million people on Facebook, it makes sense that many of them like to conduct their entire shopping experience on Facebook, including the actual purchase.

Emmy’s Closet also does a great job of branding their company to their social experience. Notice in the images below, they’ve created social buttons to reflect their brand, thus personalizing the social experience.

Tip: Experiment with ecommerce and product sharing apps on Facebook. For a great article on Facebook apps, check out the Top 75 Apps for Enhancing Your Facebook Page.

#8: San Chez Bistro

San Chez Bistro is a tapas bistro and restaurant in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Just like Martell Home Builders, they’ve taken social media and infused it with the needs and preferences of their local audience. San Chez encourages their patrons to use Twitter to reserve a seat at their restaurant. They call it “Tweet-Ahead Seating” and it’s a great use of social media local marketing. Once you tweet your interest in a reservation, the online hostess tweets you back with a message similar to this: “Great, you’re on the list. See you in a little while.”

With the number of smartphones on the rise, San Chez knows they can reach even more potential customers if they make access to their restaurant easy and quick. By combining smartphone capabilities, social media and local marketing, they were able to create an extremely successful marketing campaign online.

In addition, San Chez Bistro utilizes Foursquare to gain even greater viral visibility. Foursquare, one of the top location-based services out there today, allows people to check in with their mobile devices and let all their friends know where they’re currently spending time. It’s fun for the fan and powerful exposure for the physical business.

Notice below how San Chez Bistro has customized their Foursquare page, making it easy for patrons to see the incentive for checking in.

Tip: If you’re a local business, consider customizing your Foursquare page and adding an incentive for social media check-ins. It’s great exposure for you and makes your patrons’ experience in your establishment more fun and interactive.

#9: Cranium

Cranium, a game by Hasbro, takes board games to the next level by including fun activities like drawing, singing, acting and trivia questions.

To make their experience more social, Cranium does a great job of using content from the game to engage with their fans. They often post factoids that can be found in their game, such as the one about Einstein’s theory below. They know their audience well and therefore know that these fun factoids will attract them.

Also, Cranium has brought the experience of playing their game to their social networks. They’ve developed an app that encourages fun via fan engagement. For example, as seen in the image below, the app asks fans “Which one of these characters are you? Take our little quiz” and fans interact with the app and then are told which character best fits their personality.

Cranium is also clever with their use of video. Again, in the spirit of bringing the experience of playing their game to their social channels, they use video to get their fans to play along. For example, in the video they have someone humming a song, and you have to guess what song she’s humming. It’s put together in a way to make the experience interactive and fun.

In the image above you can see that the use of video on your Facebook page is smart because when you upload your video, you get an embed code. You can take that embed code and place the video on your website, your blog or anywhere outside of Facebook. When you do this, the Facebook video automatically brings the Like button with it. Therefore, if somebody’s surfing the web, they find your video and they’re not yet a fan, they can become a fan of your Facebook page right from the video just by clicking that Like button.

Also, if somebody shares your video on their Facebook page and a bunch of their friends see it, they too can become a fan of your page while they’re watching the video, without actually leaving the video. This is a great way to virally grow your Facebook fan base.

Tip: Create experiences on your social channels. How can you tailor your programs or product experiences to get your fans engaged and interested? Think of ways to spread your message by getting people to interact with you in fun and interesting ways via great content, apps, videos and quizzes.

Want to Learn More About Social Media for Business?

If you’re not fully leveraging the power of social media, don’t worry. You’re not alone.

There’s one easy way to take your social media efforts to the next level. By attending the web’s largest online blogging conference, Social Media Success Summit 2011 you’ll become empowered to use social media to gain more exposure, better engage customers and grow your business.

The great part is you’ll be learning from 22 blogging experts. Join Jeremiah Owyang (Altimeter Group), Guy Kawasaki (author, Enchantment), Brian Solis (author, Engage), Frank Eliason (Citigroup), Mari Smith (co-author, Facebook Marketing), Erik Qualman (author, Socialnomics), Michael Stelzner (founder, Social Media Examiner), Dan Zarrella (author, The Social Media Marketing Book), Andy Sernovitz (author, Word of Mouth Marketing), David Meerman Scott (author, Real-Time Marketing & PR) and experts from Verizon, Boeing, Timex, Intel, and Cisco as they reveal proven social media tactics at Social Media Success Summit 2011.

Check out this video from Michael Stelzner

It’s the web’s largest online social media conference. Click here SAVE 50% (expires Thur. April 14th) or for a free sample and to learn more.

Now it’s your turn. Did you see some great ideas and tactics that might change your social media strategy? Leave your comments in the box below.

You’ll hear how Ford started to build buzz and anticipation with social media a year before the Fiesta was brought to the United States, and how this impacted their sales.

Watch the video to hear about the other ways Ford is using social media and be sure to check out the takeaways below.

This video is full of business insights for social media. Here are some of the things you’ll want to listen for.

Use Social Media For Pre-launches

Discover how Ford used social media to pre-launch the Ford Fiesta to:

• Get socially vibrant people to spread their message
• Focus on getting other people to tell people about Ford

In the Fiesta launch Ford converted ten times more reservations into orders than with a traditional vehicle launch

Leverage Facebook Communities

Learn why Ford has a strong representation across different Facebook pages to:

• Give people content to share and ask Facebook readers for more content

You’ll hear how Ford Revealed the Ford Explorer on Facebook instead of at an auto show and how this had greater impact than with a Super Bowl ad

Other Key Insights From Scott

Scott’s biggest social media lesson: integrated marketing communications.  Find out how Scott learned to use paid, owned and earned media together for successful marketing.

Hear about how Ford is catering to mobile devices with the new MyFord Touch system, and how Ford has made the API for their Sync system open to the public so Ford can benefit from outside talent and build a stronger community.

Learn more about Ford’s new Focus Rally America, an interactive Ford Rally competition, driven with social media to create awareness for their brand and connect with their audience.

Check out The Ford Story and find Ford as well as Ford Focus on Facebook.

What’s your favorite takeaway from this video? Please share your comments below.

However, many businesses are starting to use social media as a tool for listening and providing customer service.

When a crisis or emergency erupts, the power of social media can be an amazing tool for businesses.  A crisis can include anything from a simple website outage to negative publicity.  This article will reveal how to use social media during a crisis and provide many examples you can model.

Why Your Reputation in Social Media Is Important

Why should a company be concerned about social media’s influence on their image?  The answer is simple: Social media allows consumer opinions to spread far and wide quickly.  Word of mouth and social search are two powerful reasons to manage your social media reputation.

Word of mouth

Imagine you’re a restaurant owner, and you recognize a customer walking into your establishment as someone who has a wide influence in your community, such as a newspaper writer.  You would want him to have the best experience possible so if he chooses to write about your restaurant, those who read the review would be impressed and possibly come in to have a wonderful experience as well.

Social media allows anyone to be a major influence in the community.  Any customer who walks through your door could possibly have hundreds or even thousands of followers in your region, or if not, his friends might.  Word of mouth marketing can reach a worldwide audience through social media; thus, one bad experience could be retold to the masses.

Social search

Google’s recent implementation of social media in their search results brings real-time conversation to the front page.  Twitter users in particular are fond of hashtags, and just adding a hashtag in front of a search for a name brand can reveal what is currently being talked about in relation to that brand.

Take Toyota for instance.  Adding the hashtag in front of the name reveals the following in the first page of search results.

Now, let’s look at what happens if you do the same for Ford.

You can see why social search could be very influential on a searcher’s perception of a brand.

Managing a Crisis Through Social Media

Now that you can see why social media is important to a company’s reputation, let’s look at how large and small businesses have used the following social networks to respond to their customers.

Twitter

Although Twitter communications happen in 140 character updates, these tweets are easily searchable by Google, Twitter, and the many Twitter applications available.  Businesses can be followed on Twitter by anyone – customers, potential customers, and competitors.

Therefore, it is extremely important that companies monitor Twitter mentions of their brands, products, and services in order to respond swiftly to any negative circumstances.   Best-practice examples of social media response through Twitter include:

@Toyota

By now, everyone has heard about the major recalls by Toyota due to defective “sticky” gas pedals in many of their vehicle models.  Toyota has been monitoring and responding to their customers’ questions on the recall via Twitter.

@Codero

Codero, a web hosting company, experienced a power outage that affected their servers, leaving their clients’ websites down. Codero responded directly to their clients through via Twitter throughout the next several days.  Although there were many complaints about websites being down, there were positive referrals to their followers by clients who were satisfied by the customer service they received.

YouTube

YouTube is the most popular video search engine, and no doubt the best (and fastest) way to send out a public announcement when your company needs to make a statement about an ongoing situation.

LexusVehicles

Lexus Group President and General Manager Mike Templin recorded a personal message on YouTube for their customers (see below) on the LexusVehicles channel, assuring them that Lexus is dedicated to building high-quality vehicles that surpass expectations and, in response to Consumer Reports’ review of the rollover risk of the GX 460 SUV, are voluntarily recalling this model to upgrade and improve the vehicle’s stability system.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=3M1Pj0KCjAs

CoderoTV

Codero Chief Operating Officer Ryan Elledge uploaded a video on CoderoTV the morning of their power outage, giving a preliminary explanation of the situation (see below).

www.youtube.com/watch?v=b78G5T9WfzA

One important thing to note when using YouTube for crisis management announcements is that unless you set your options to moderate comments, YouTube users can add comments to videos that are available for public consumption as well.

In both of the above examples, the company has an opportunity to include positive responses (when possible) to any negative comments made on their videos.

Facebook

If your company has a Facebook fan page, it will be another social media outlet to focus on supplying excellent customer response.  Depending on your page settings, fans can post comments to your page which be seen by fans and non-fans alike, so it is important to monitor your Facebook page and update it as needed with the latest news and responses to customer comments.

Toyota

Toyota’s Facebook page, having almost 100,000 fans, is constantly updated by both Toyota and fans with both praise and complaints alike.

Because of the volume of comments, Toyota does not seem to comment on each status, but that doesn’t mean they’re not responding at all – they simply may be making more comprehensive responses behind the scenes via private emails to the fans.  It’s good to see the public responses, assuring fans that someone is actively getting into the discussions, rather than just posting news updates.

Codero

Codero’s Facebook page did not receive as many responses from clients affected by the power outage as their Twitter accounts; however, they not only made an update directly on Facebook about the outage, but also directed customers to watch real-time discussion of the situation on their Twitter accounts and linked to blog posts which contained the YouTube video update.

They also updated their fan page to update customers to assure them that they were working on a comprehensive analysis of what went wrong and ways they would prevent such an outage from affecting their customers in the future.

Best Practices

So what are some best practices you can take away from these examples?

• Social media is public.  Your fans and followers have the right to make negative comments – it’s your company’s job to turn those negative comments around and defend yourself to change it from a negative to a positive situation.
• Monitor your business on social media and respond to tweets, mentions, and comments on your company’s profiles in a timely manner.  Social media is real-time, so the faster you respond, the better your customer service will look.
• If possible, suggest that customers contact you privately to send their email address or phone number for more in-depth discussion.
• On Twitter, you must follow the customer so she can direct message you.
• On Facebook fan pages, you must share a personal profile the customer can send a message to.
• On YouTube, customers can visit your company’s channel and send a message.
• Remember that aside from private messaging, anyone can read conversations between you and your customer.  If you provide thorough, great customer service, it can go a long way in impressing your customers, increasing their likelihood of giving you positive referrals.  And for other followers who are watching the situation unfold, it could be a great first impression that leads to a potential customer.

Your Experiences With Business Use of Social Media for Crisis Management

Do you own a business and have you used social media to respond to customers in times of crisis or in the face of negative publicity?  Or are you a customer who has had a positive or negative customer service experience from a business on social media? Please share your thoughts and best practices in the comment box below.

If your business is not yet on Twitter, this article is for you. Creating a Twitter profile is quick and easy to do; however, you want to make sure you take the right steps when setting up your Twitter accounts.

This is the first of a two-part series of tips for creating Twitter profiles to both facilitate engagement with your Twitter audience and build a strong brand online.

#1: Set Up Your Twitter Account

You should always try to secure Twitter accounts for your real name and your company name to ensure no-one else grabs them.  And businesses should also consider getting Twitter names for any major brands they own. This choice of Twitter names raises some other questions when setting up your Twitter account.

Should you consider having multiple accounts? Twitter can be time-consuming. This is why it’s easier to have one main account. But if you have different conversations with different audiences, it makes sense to have different Twitter accounts.  Two common reasons for having multiple Twitter accounts are to:

• Separate professional and personal tweets
• Tweet in different languages

Should you use a company account or a personal account? Or both? It depends on your company, how you intend to tweet and whom you want to interact with on Twitter. Watch this video to hear how Ann Handley tweets under @marketingprofs. And this one in which Scott Monty talks about how Ford uses Twitter.

Ann Handley tweets under the Twitter name @MarketingProfs for www.MarketingProfs.com and openly associates her name to the Marketing Profs Twitter profile.

#2: Choose Your Twitter Name.

Here are some guidelines to help you choose your Twitter name:

• Your Twitter name is limited to a maximum of 15 characters.
• Although Twitter names are not case-sensitive, Twitter will save the name exactly as you enter it when you create your Twitter profile. So although you can create your profile with “JohnSmith” and be listed as @JohnSmith, your Twitter fans will be able to find you by using @johnsmith.
• Avoid names with numbers, uncommon abbreviations and names that are difficult to remember. Keep mobile users in mind and avoid underscores, which require extra steps to type in on mobile phones.

Are you still wondering which Twitter name to choose?  Look for a name easy to relate to who you are and what you represent.

Use your real name or company name? Most people open up more to the Twitter names they recognize as a real person’s name or a company name they trust. If you’re using Twitter for brand management, you will probably want to use your website name (without the “.com”).  You can also use a pen name you use regularly.

Doreen Iannuzzi at Diversity Media Services combines both her name and the abbreviation of her company name.

Seesmic.com uses their name for their Twitter handle.

Keywords. A Twitter name with a keyword may work well for you if you make it obvious who you are. But for most people, a keyword Twitter name is also associated with spammers and those who push unwanted sales pitches.

Gabriella Sannino uses keywords to target her primary audience.

#3: Upload Your Picture

It’s important to change the default picture to show others you are a real person and not a spambot and you can get a little creative to show your personality.

As Denise Wakeman points out, you may want to use the same picture on all of your social media profiles. This creates stronger online branding as people will notice the same photo on different social media platforms.

Dan Waldschmidt’s photo matches the “outrageous vision” mentioned in his bio.

#4: Use Your Best Link

You only have one active link on your Twitter profile. And before choosing this link, you need to give some thought to your overall online web marketing strategy.  Why are you online?  Where do you want to lead your Twitter followers?  For most people, the link you have on your Twitter profile will go to your website or blog.  This link can easily be changed.

You should also give some thought to the exact page your Twitter visitors will land on when they click the link on your Twitter profile.

• You can create a specific page for your Twitter followers. A good way to do this on your blog is to create a list of people you recommend others to follow on Twitter.
• You can link to a social media profile such as OneForty like @AmyPorterfield.
• If you’re a blogger, linking to your blog is a good option.

#5: Write an Interesting Twitter Bio

It’s important to tell your Twitter followers who you are and what you’ll be tweeting about.  Unfortunately you only have 160 characters to do this in your Twitter bio. It’s usually best to write short sentences to engage the people who read your bio.  But you should also weave in a few important keywords relevant to the people you want to meet on Twitter.  Keywords will help the right people find you.

Judy Dunn creates an engaging picture in her Twitter bio.

It’s easy to want to take up the offer Mike CJ makes in his Twitter bio.

Mari Smith suggests you mention the link to your Facebook Fan Page in your Twitter bio or on your Twitter background as mentioned below. Although this will not be an active link, it should be easy to remember if you have a vanity URL, and it will help grow your Facebook activity.

After completing these five steps, there’s one final step—creating a Twitter backdrop. In the second part of this series of tips covering your Twitter profile, you’ll find out how to use your Twitter background to create a more engaging Twitter presence.

Do you have any Twitter advice to add? Do you use your personal name or your company name to tweet for your business? Please share your tips below.

Here’s one of the biggest questions for businesses: Will the time they spend interacting on Facebook and Twitter affect their sales? Though they spend the considerable effort necessary to create thriving social media communities, small business owners and marketers often fail to drive floor traffic, inbound calls, store sales, and other offline business success metrics.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. Savvy marketers will begin to tie the development of communities on social media networks to increased revenue if they implement a few of these simple steps that make sense for their specific business.

#1: Place Your Phone Number on All Social Media Accounts

Use Google Voice to track incoming calls from your social media profiles.

If your business has a more consultative sales process, starting conversations on your blog or social networks is a great way to generate leads.  A natural extension is to place your contact phone number on all of your social media presences and on each blog post for the customers who find you via search.  Using a separate Google Voice number that forwards to your main account lets you track the number of inbound calls you receive from your social media activities.  Though Google Voice is currently invite-only, invitations are available for $1 and less on eBay.

#2: Promote Offline Events on Social Media

Facebook has an especially robust function for creating events and promoting them.  Facebook events allow you to post pictures and event location information, while also inviting your fan base to participate.  You also can message all attendees to remind them about the event or give special instructions.  Creating a Facebook event page then gives you a landing page that will direct visitors to your blog and Twitter followers too.

Here's an example of using Facebook to promote a large social media event.

#3: Offer Coupons Exclusive to Social Media Channels

This is my personal favorite.  Make specific offers through each social media channel you use, like 10% off a purchase if you print a coupon from Facebook, or “buy one get one free” if you use a code sent out in a Tweet.  Keep a spreadsheet of the different offers and the response rate, and you’ll begin to generate really useful data about the best way to optimize your marketing campaigns for each channel.  Incentives are a great way to build the size of your social media communities. Also, giving fans and followers an incentive to follow you shows the importance you place on social media outreach.

Kohl's example of an exclusive offer delivered to social media community members. They also encourage users to share the offer with friends, increasing its reach.

#4: Host a TweetUp

Here's a sample invitation to a TweetUp. Charity events and cocktail hours work especially well for drawing attendees to TweetUps. Photo credit.

The best way to cement interactions online is to meet your contacts face to face, and there is no better way to do this than to host a TweetUp.  While you probably won’t bring more than 1,000 members to your event like Ford did in the largest TweetUp ever, TweetUps let you form more personal relationships with your local followers. Here’s a great in-depth resource on how to host a successful TweetUp.

#5: Connect Social Media and Email Campaigns

Many businesses have established email lists they use to stay in touch with customers.  Drive visitors on your social media accounts to sign up for your email list to receive more information about your business.  Getting social media visitors on your email list can connect you with people you might not otherwise reach with social media.  Bolstering your email list gives you an additional way to inform people about offline events and specials, in case they don’t see a specific offer you make on a social media channel.

The best way to close the loop between social media and offline action is to promote your social media channels offline as well—adding another way for you to stay in touch with your customers in between purchases.  I hope these suggestions help you start thinking about ways to convert your social media fans and followers into loyal customers. I’m sure you have many other great suggestions on how to drive offline action with social media outreach.

Have you tried any of these? Which ways did I leave off my list? Please comment in the box below.

As Scott Monty, head of social media for Ford Motor Company, says, “U.S. brands looking to leverage social networks internationally know that while their messages need to stay consistent regardless of the region, the language, cultural reference points, platform and tactics, all need to be tailored for each market.”

He continues, “Whether it is customer service, IT, HR or product development, there are a number of uses for social media. And when you add to that all of our constituents—customers, employees, shareholders, dealers, retirees—it becomes a very complex assignment.”

Here’s a look at a few of the difficulties and how you can overcome them…

The Information Available

In the past, statistics on social media were difficult to come by and they were not always relevant.  But there are more Internet statistics available today even for social media.  McCann’s Wave 4 Power to the People report  is one resource available to gain insights into how to use social media internationally.

The trouble  with an international social media strategy, as Erik Qualman of Search Engine Watch points out, one size does not fit all. Having more relevant statistics does not get you very far.  You still need to learn how to adapt what you do on social media to effectively connect with people in other countries. And before you can do this, you need to know a bit more about what social media is like over there.

Social Media in Different Regions of the World

A good place to start is to look for general insights into the social media environment in the places you would like to reach.

The Nielsen report Global Faces and Networked Places clearly explains why localization has won the day in many countries and says, “Succeeding in China takes more than producing a translated version; it requires investment in a local infrastructure and a mentality of running a Chinese social network that understands the domestic nuances of social network behaviour rather than simply rolling out a generic social network in Chinese.”

Here are more insights from two social media players well-known in their own countries:

Have a look at this interview of Laurel Papworth in which she gives an analysis on what’s happening in social media in Australia and Southeast Asia.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlhEzAdyCIs

Fred Cavazza says, “The main differences in France‘s social media are based on the local offering and local players: Dailymotion, Skyblog, Viadeo, Dofus, BlogSpirit, CanalBlog, OverBlog… and there are 3 distinct groups in France around culinary, political and IT gadget blogs.”

Fred Cavazza raises a good point. Let’s have a look at the main challenges presented by local offerings and local players.  These are areas where you will need to adapt to fit in with what works in the local social media environment.

Cultural Differences in How People Respond to Social Media

Cultural differences always impact how people use social media. Here are some insights from a few culturally minded social media players.

Engagement—Jack Yan says, “There seems to be a gap between Americans and New Zealanders on Twitter usage, for instance. Kiwis, for the most part, seem to engage a bit more and there are relatively fewer accounts, proportionally, made up of automated tweets. There seems to be more of a demand on American tweeters, for instance, to provide a lot of content, and I suspect that this drives the automation. This arguably comes back to the different cultures: one historically more collaborative, the other historically more individualistic.”

Hesitation—France shares a trait with many countries: hesitation and observation before engaging in new social media. Thierry de Baillon says, “Where Anglo Saxons are prone to quickly dive into new platforms and get new habits, Frenchies stick with old ones, watching others acting while taking their time.”

Networking—Lucy Chatburn sees more networking activity on both LinkedIn and Facebook in Turkey than in the UK. “This could be because networking doesn’t come naturally to many British people. And a LinkedIn profile is definitely not seen as an essential career tool in the UK.”

Shyness—Mixi, a leading social network in Japan, added a special feature to make it easier for people to make friends.

Of course, there are many more ways cultural differences impact social media. Before you can find the right way for your business to connect with people on social media platforms in different countries, you do need to:

• Develop cultural awareness
• Do your research
• Adapt your communication and social approach

Evolution in Local Players

Other challenges in international social media are related to changes in popularity of social media platforms.  A snapshot of the social media environment in any country may not remain current for long.  Social media environments change.

Facebook’s growth has had an impact on many countries outside of North America. Orkut’s popularity in Brazil and India is changing.

This is why it is difficult for businesses to know how to:

• Anticipate where to spend time
• Identify the most relevant social media platforms for their business

Good monitoring practices and a local presence are keys to success.

Can Social Media Help Your International Business?

There are many reasons why this is a tough question to answer.  As we have seen above, statistics do not always reflect how people use social media. There are also:

• Different speeds of adopting social media
• Differences in how locals use social media
• Differences in how businesses can use social media in different countries

On the one hand, local statistics can be misleading.  Another culturally minded social media player, Martin Lindeskog points out that “The broadband/high-speed Internet connection is very common here in Sweden.” However, he also notes that “you can’t find many examples of companies that have embraced a new type of media strategy in full scale yet. There is a lot of talk about Twitter, but you don’t see many companies microblogging.”

On the other hand, although statistics only tell part of the story, a detailed view of the local social media environment can give you valuable insights.  According to Fred Cavazza, the social media market in France was evangelized long ago by local players, and this made the road to success easy to maneuver for Facebook in France.

A Source of Inspiration

In addition to connecting with business networking partners abroad, there is another good reason to keep an ear open for what is happening in international social media: there is richness in diversity.  And this can help you stay in tune with social media as it evolves for everyone.

Monitoring how businesses in other countries use social media helps you to:

• Get ideas for new things to try in your own country
• Spot new trends in other areas of the world which might, in time, affect your own industry

As different people around the world adapt social media to their own cultural tastes and the driving forces in their local markets, we are sure to see:

• More innovation
• Different uses for social media in business
• Opportunities to adapt the strategies and tools we are familiar with to new international markets

Observing these changes and understanding why they fail or succeed increase our understanding of what social media is all about.  Although North American businesses are using social media more than businesses elsewhere, there are many examples of innovation and inspiration to be found outside of North America.  This alone is why following international social media is useful to many businesses.

Now, over to you…

• What have you learned by observing social media in other countries?
• What is the most interesting difference in international social media to you?
• What anecdotes can you share about social media in different countries?

Please share your comments with us below.

In this interview I talk with Scott Monty—head of social media for Ford Motor Company—and the man in charge of Ford’s social media presence and initiatives like TheFordStory.com.

When you think of Ford, you might think “old American car company.” However, under the direction of Scott Monty, Ford has become one of the leading big businesses in America using social media to connect directly with consumers. And it certainly seems that Ford is on the right track to success, recently reporting 1 billion dollars in profit!

In this video, you’ll learn how Ford uses TweetUps to help Ford executives connect with customers across America and how Ford is humanizing its brand. Scott also provides advice to other businesses that are looking to capitalize on social media. Scott also has a little fun, as you’ll see…

VIEW VIDEO HERE NOW:

What did you think about the video? How has your opinion of Ford changed in recent years?