So, you’ve taken the time to set up your business Facebook page. You’ve even updated the page with a cover photo for the new timeline feature. That’s great! But, how are customers finding you on Facebook? We recently visited a variety of candy store websites to connect with their Facebook page and were surprised to find that while many of them had a Facebook page, they were not connecting to it from their website. Or, if they were, the link was tucked away and difficult to find.

 

Facebook actually provides the images available for you to use on their website  (and other marketing materials) along with the guidelines for use. You can find the files and guidelines here (read the guidelines for usage and then click on ‘downloads’). Be sure to pay attention to where you place the link and image on your website. Your customers will likely not take the time to search for it, so you want to be sure it is somewhere that grabs their attention and encourages action. And when they do take action, why not reward them? Offer them a discount or coupon just for liking your store on Facebook. You may want to make it valid for just the day or week they have 'liked' you so that they are motivated to get to your store asap.

 

Note: Today’s tip is focused on adding a Facebook ‘Like’ button to your website, but we would go one step further and encourage you to be sure all of your online media is connected. Do you have Twitter or a blog? Be sure you provide an easy-to-find link to those features as well. You want to be sure that if a customer lands on your blog in an online search, they also are able to easily connect to your website as well as Facebook and any other online media you manage.

 

You’ve listened to everyone saying you must have a Facebook page, Twitter handle and maybe even a blog, but how do you know these things are working? How do you leverage social media platforms for your business?

 

We have gathered some of the top free tools available to collect data from your social media networks and make sense of it. Check them out and let us know what tools you use!

 

Facebook Insights – Facebook has a built-in tool for measuring and analyzing your Facebook page. As you know, Facebook often has changes and updates and it’s the same for Facebook Insights. They recently revamped it so that you can view even more information about your page. To access Insights, just click on the “Insights” link on the left side of your Facebook page. From there, you can view a detailed analysis of your page including items such as likes,  reach and engagement.

 

NetshellMail – Rather than logging into each account separately, this free tool allows you to receive updates on your social media accounts through a single weekly or daily email.  NetshellMail currently supports Facebook Twitter, LinkedIn, Yelp, MySpace, YouTube, Foursquare and Citysearch.

 

Hootsuite – One of our favorite features of Hootsuite is the ability to schedule posts to social media accounts in advance, but did you know it also has great analytics features? You can monitor keywords, followers, trends and engagement.

 

Tweriod – This free tool will analyze your Twitter account and let you know when your followers are most engaged on Twitter. Then, you can schedule your tweets at times when your followers are most likely to see and respond. No login or registration is necessary; just enter your Twitter account information and it will email you a report. Tweriod suggests doing a monthly analysis since behaviors tend to change over time.

 

Klout – Klout measures your online influence. How many people are you really reaching? Are you driving them to action? Visit this website for your Klout Score to find out how significant your online influence really is.

 

Do you have tools you use to monitor your company’s social media presence? Leave us a comment and share below!