May 18, 2012 in Business Blog
Check out the new infographic about Facebook and it’s mobile users.
How often do you check Facebook on your mobile? Tell us in the comments below and you could win a social media design for your FB & Twitter page!
May 4, 2012 in Business Blog
There are some fascinating statistics surrounding South Africans on Social Media for 2012. Why not take a look at this video and let us know what you think in the comments below.
Here’s a few highlights for those that don’t want to take a peek:
February 27, 2012 in Business Blog
One of the major problems that South African SMMEs (Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises) face is that they haven’t the infrastructure, resources or knowledge to build an effective website.
Many have one page website, with no links to alternative resources, any additional information, some even lack contact details, but the main problem that almost all of them face is that they’re not optimised for search engines (search engine optimisation).
What this means, is that your website was not built with what Google/Bing/Yahoo are looking for. They haven’t the foggiest what your site is about, as the clues they look for aren’t there.
Now, you know that we offer SEO services, which means we look at your website on an individualized way and restructure/rewrite and reformat in the correct way, working with meta-descriptions, robot.txt files and all those complicated aspects, but we know that you may not have the funds to invest in something like this as yet. So, when we came across an extraordinarily cheap book on SEO and Social Media Marketing, we decided we’d have to share it with you.
People are searching for your products and services, but can’t find your website. What this book describes is how to get traffic by either buying it, or attracting it, at next to no cost. Something we can all do, if we just spend a little time on it.
You BUY traffic using pay-per-click (PPC) paid advertising or banners and impression-based ad campaigns. You ATTRACT traffic organically using tactical onsite and off-site search engine optimization (SEO) techniques, and implementing a calculated social networking strategy.
Discover the tactics you’ll need to employ to transform your website into a powerful selling tool and lead generator. Click Here.
February 21, 2012 in Business Blog
We recently had the honour of contributing to an article in Wholesale Business Magazine about Social Media, its impact and benefits.
We’re thoroughly impressed with the outcome and would like to share it with you. Wholesale Business/Supermarket.co.za have a rather nifty ‘flipbook‘ that allows you to flip through the magazine. It’s fast and takes almost no time to load, so try this first. Click here to go to the flipbook and, if you’re only interested in seeing the SaysSEZ article, put page 30 in the little white pages block at the top. However, the magazine makes an interesting read, so try browse around whilst you’re in there.
If the flipbook has little interest for you, click the image below to see the pdf of just the SaysSEZ article.
We’d like to extend a rather large thanks to Supermarket.co.za and Michel Mack, the journalist who wrote the article.
February 10, 2012 in Business Blog
As you may or may not know, this website is based on a WordPress platform. I’m not embarrassed about it, quite the alternate. We’ve found that WordPress has the unique ability to be entirely customisable, whilst being extremely user-friendly and, let’s face it, even the experts like a bit of easy-to-use software every now and then.
So, while working in WordPress, we’ve found a few Plugins quite useful. Firstly, Yoast’s SEO Plugin was recommended to us from the word go. Without a doubt, this has to be one of the best Plugins we’ve found. It makes life so much easier and, again, is simple to use.
We’re still struggling to find the right Social Media Icon Plugin, but we’ll get there, although today I came across quite an innovative design for a Facebook Plugin for WordPress. I’m not sure what to make of it, but take a peek and let me know what you think. I love, but can see some setbacks. Perhaps you’ll find this on our site soon….Click Here!
February 10, 2012 in Business Blog
You Want To Learn An Online Advertising System That Is More Targeted And Less Expensive Than Google AdWords?
The Facebook Advertising Guide will show you all you need to know how to create successful marketing and advertising campaigns right on Facebook.
You will learn how to avoid costly mistakes that can be crucial to your online marketing success. You will also learn how to create great Facebook Pages, Groups, Places, Social Plugins and how to use them to your advantage in your business marketing.
November 24, 2011 in Business Blog
There are a few Dos & Don’ts in Social Media that we haven’t covered yet. One of the biggest questions companies pose is how to increase Facebook fans.
What’s the point of being on Social Media, if no one is seeing your posts, right? 
South African SMMEs often find that once they’re up and running on Facebook, they haven’t the foggiest how to get fans. I often find that, when guiding them through this process, companies react with “but why should I get current clients to follow me, if I want social media to bring me new clientele?”
This may go without saying to those that are well in the know, but, to the average SMME, Facebook is a very confusing platform and it’s enough to ask them to get posting, never mind asking them to understand the anthropology behind it all; so, here’s a quick guide to understanding fans and how to increase them.
This is based on the premise that you already have your Facebook page up and running and that you’re about to start posting, or have already started.
1. Before you do anything, add Facebook and Twitter icons to your email signature, linking to your Facebook page and Twitter page.
This may seem like a moot point – why would you want to encourage fans in people already emailing you, as they’re obviously already interested in your services?
Here you need to remember that Facebook, more so than other Social Networking sites, is based mostly on peer recommendation.
If I ‘like’ a page, my ‘friends’ automatically assume I trust that company, I have used that company and I have found them to provide a good service/product. This is almost as good as your client sending all his colleagues and friends and email saying “Use Joe Soap’s Panel Beaters.”
2. Include the same icons (consistency is key) in any marketing, mail drops or presentations you do. If it’s not electronic, put the link. These days, you don’t need the full URL, all you need to do is put your little icon and ‘/yourcompanyname’ next to it. Like so:
/SaysSEZ
People now know that that means go to www.facebook.com/SaysSEZ to follow us.
3. I’m still harping on about the icon thing, but please put the same icon and ‘/yourcompanyname’ on your business cards.
If someone may have the slightest interest in what you’re doing, they’ll follow you and from that moment on will receive all your updates. It’s consistent, constant and personal branding.
4. Interact with other companies and pages.
The ‘Networking’ in ‘Social Networking’ is there for a reason. If a page adds you (at least in the beginning) add them back. Share other companies’ posts – this will encourage them to share yours and thus market on your behalf to all their followers.
5. Inteact with your fans.
If they comment on a post, keep commenting until they stop. Keep the conversation going. The new Facebook ‘Ticker’ box will show all their friends that they’re commenting on your post, increasing your branding and reputation.
These are just a few tips to help you increase fans. Don’t forget, if you have any questions, I’ll gladly answer them for you.
Don’t forget to subscribe to our Social Media Blog (the
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November 7, 2011 in Business Blog
Whilst working with various SMMEs, I have that found the phrase ‘Facebook Ads’ sends marketing directors into the throws of panic, so with that in mind, I’ll guide you through Facebook Ads and find out how easily SMMEs can benefit from Facebook Ads.
So by now, we all realise how important it is to be on Facebook, after all, it is where your clients probably spend the majority of their days (much to the woes of their employers), but where we fail, is attracting more customers, ‘likes’ and most importantly, website traffic and sales.
Social Media is a necessity, but it can also demotivate, as the ROI takes a rather long time to show itself. We sit and post daily, updating faceless people, whose numbers seem to stagnate. Whilst constantly updating your page is fantastic (again, a necessity), it doesn’t help if you haven’t the people to see it.
This is where Facebook Ads come in. It’s not a faceless, nameless advertising scheme, aimed at the bigger corporates with oodles of cash for marketing and whose names are already well known. Facebook Ads are specifically targeted, aimed only at people who you want to target and best of all, you decide how much it costs.
Firstly, you choose who to target. In marketing, we all known demographics are vital, so if your target audience consists of mainly men over the age of 35 and under the age of 70, you put that in. Remember, Facebook garners all this information from individuals when they sign up. So now, you are only targeting men between 35-70 years of age, but come on, how many will that be? Millions? So you narrow it down.
Men between the ages of 35 and 70, within South Africa. Again, quite a few, so to further narrow it down, we list what they’re interested in.
When you sign up to Facebook, you list what you’re interested in – this is why Facebook Ads are so successful.
So now, you’re targeting men, between the ages of 35 and 70, who are in South Africa and have listed themselves as interested in your industry. This is your target market. Instead of mindlessly throwing marketing at uninterested people, you are now hitting exactly where you want to hit.
Much like Google Ads, Facebook charges more the narrower your search is. So, if you’re targeting 200,000 people, you will be paying more than if you were targeting 400,000. And, as Google Ads, you pay per click, so you can choose your budget. You will never pay more than your set budget.
The goal of Facebook Ads is not to send people directly to your website, but rather to increase your Facebook page followers. This may seem like an own-goal to you, but once again, the ROI is long-term. You can send people to your website, but is it worth it? Each follower may not instantly visit your website, but if they simply press the ‘like’ button, they will be receiving your information for weeks, months and possibly years to come. Your name becomes well-known, your brand reputable (if you manage your page correctly) and your website traffic increases…slowly, but it does increase.
My suggestion? Put 10% of your marketing budget aside, do a couple of campaigns on Facebook Ads (they’re dead easy) and test it. If you don’t like the results, you’ve not lost out on much.
So, I leave you with these five steps to ensuring your Facebook Ad Campaign works:
Let me know how your campaign goes and if you find you have questions, comment below and I’ll answer them for you!
Don’t forget – subscribe to this blog and you’ll receive a free Social Media e-book! Just click on the ‘Follow’ button at the bottom of the page (follow the star) and put your email address in.
October 26, 2011 in Business Blog
With statistics like these, how can you afford not to take your business social? People are talking about your brand – make sure they’re reading from your script.
On a side note: how many of you no longer equate the ‘#’ with ‘number’?
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October 24, 2011 in Business Blog
I’ve touched briefly on perseverance before, but it’s something we should all take a long, hard look at.
We’re all looking for a quick -fix that will make us tons of cash – there’s no shame in admitting it, but we need to be able to discern which media will be a quick-fix and which will take awhile to return on investment.
Let’s take a mail-shot for example: if you send out 10, 000 emails in one day, you’re likely to get a return on that investment in one week. One enquiry could be enough to make the money you invested in a mailing list provider worth it. The job of the newsletter or mail-drop is to generate enquiries, it is now your job to convert that into a sale. Thus, mail-shots could be considered a quick-fix that could make you a lot of money…or at least get you through to the end of the month.
I may be shooting myself in the foot here, but it’s important to realise that Social Media is not a quick-fix. You will not get a return on your investment over night, or even perhaps in a month. It takes months of constant maintenance to generate enquiries and make your name in social media. You cannot merely design a pretty page and leave it to manage itself. It won’t.
It is networking. Think of it as a business event. You rarely generate a sale after meeting someone for the first time. You meet a person, exchange cards, have a brief conversation. The next time you meet, you still look smart, hand out another card and generate more intriguing conversations. The process is slow, but it’s vital. Your face, demeanour and company name will stick with that person for many months, perhaps years, because of that interaction; whereas, if your mail-drop email isn’t opened, you’ve slipped from their mind entirely.
Social Media acts in exactly the same way. You need to prove to users that you’re worth of following. Show them that the information you’re giving them is not a once-off epiphany that will never again be matched, but rather an example of a consistent stream of riveting information that they cannot live without. Online, you are a company who they are inviting into their lives. It takes time to prove to them that you are worth it and they are not going to vouch for you to their friends and followers until you’ve proved your worth.
It may take months for you achieve that relationship with your followers, but one day, after painstakingly updating your pages and interacting with face-less strangers, you will see the return on your investment blossom. It often happens in one quick movement – jumping from 71 followers with 3 people speaking to you, 72 followers, with a whopping 27 people speaking to you – and you start to see your followers increase…
Persevere. Social media may take awhile to respond, but these are the clients who will always remember what you do, always refer you and always stick by you. You can’t get a better marketing medium than a client who believes in you.
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