Attracting new customers and retaining existing ones requires more than simply pushing out marketing messages and waiting for results. Consumers are drawn to companies who genuinely care about their needs, and are constantly asking them what they want. Incorporate humanized methods to find these consumers, and keep them for a lifetime.

1. Adopt an efficient content marketing strategy. Inbound marketing has become a buzzword among brands and marketers, creating a need for well thought-out content marketing initiatives. This method is a way for your brand to communicate with both your industry and consumers, to identify your unique customer profile.

While developing your content marketing strategy, think of how you can relate your product or service with the consumer’s personal life. What value are you bringing to the table? How does your product streamline their daily lives?

Using varied types of content not only engages the prospective customer, but also establishes your brand as an expert in your niche. Videos, graphics, typography and photos are just a few ways you can mix up your blog and social content. Visual-centric social platforms such as Pinterest, Instagram and Vine make this easier to communicate with users.

2. Hire a community manager. How do you keep your customers involved with your brand? Give them someone they can communicate with on a regular basis. A community manager is your first line of defense for finding out what your customers like and don’t like about your product or service. This is an invaluable role and a huge benefit to your brand.

Find someone who is both passionate about your brand and about helping other people. This role not only builds trust with your customer base, but offers them empathy, expertise, and relatability. It also provides you with firsthand knowledge of what your customers are thinking, and how you can improve your products and services for them.

3. Cultivate active and engaging social profiles. Where do your customers hang out online? Go there. What are they sharing with their networks? Participate in these conversations. How are they interacting with your brand online? Respond to them. Give them the best possible experience. Keep the relationship exciting with benefits such as deals, free products and exclusive offers. This can be in the form of online only coupons, onsite giveaways, and e-mail-focused campaigns.

Develop meaningful conversations with them via social media. Provide them with thought-provoking ideas and charitable opportunities. Solve a problem for them, answer their questions, thank them for doing business with you, connect with them on common interests.

Consumers want to feel that you care about them. Show them with more personal communication with them through your blog, employees and social profiles. This will set a good example for other brands in your niche, and allow you to gain loyal customers.

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Consumers have learned to tune out what they perceive as spam. Whether that spam comes in the form of ads for products in their inboxes or eight posts a day about the same event on Facebook, they have an uncanny ability to filter out what they aren’t interested in seeing. If your messages are being ignored, you’re wasting your time… and you may find your number of followers dropping.

To make sure you keep your customers engaged, here are a few don’ts for your Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, and any other social media site you use to interact with customers. Take a look at your pages to make sure you aren’t repelling the very people you want to attract by doing any of these things.

• Don’t post the same message over and over. Your followers get it. You’re having your grand opening or debuting a new product. If your marketing plan is simply to repeat the same announcement every day (or worse, multiple times a day) until the big day arrives, consider a different approach. Hold a contest or ask a different question each day in celebration of the big event.
• Don’t do all the talking. Social media is, at its very heart, social. Just as your co-workers and colleagues would be put off if you spoke constantly and never listened, so are your followers. Interact with others on the site and respond to tweets about things that are important to you. People are more likely to respond to you if they feel you are interested in what they have to say.
• Don’t engage in a battle of words. Occasionally, despite a business’s best efforts, a dissatisfied customer will air his or her issues in a public forum. If that public forum happens to be a social media site, avoid exacerbating the situation by arguing with the customer. Simply offer to make retribution for any problems and ask the person to contact you privately.
• Don’t restrict yourself to your own profile. Social media sites provide a prime opportunity to network. Regularly engage in conversation with others in your field. This not only helps you meet others, those other members have followers who may see the conversation and click over to learn more about your business.

For businesses, social media is a great resource to connect with consumers. By using social media sites in the most effective way possible, marketers can make the right impression on customers and ensure they keep coming back.

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When you end your tweet with a hashtag, that section of your tweet immediately becomes clickable. Clicking on that link will immediately take you to a page of tweets with the same hashtag. By using hashtags that are used by others, this can lead new Twitter users to your page, resulting in additional followers.

But what many small businesses may not realize is that hashtags can actually increase your prominence in Google search rankings. Hashtags are, in essence, keywords, and Google’s search algorithms love keywords. Additionally, Twitter enthusiasts often use hashtags in searches to find tweets containing certain keywords.

As you review your Twitter profile and make changes to improve visibility, here are a few ways you can actively improve your chances of being seen by more people.

• Be specific. Use hashtags that relate to your brand and only your brand occasionally, which can help cement your name in people’s minds. Don’t overdo it — but with any luck, eventually your most loyal fans will begin to use the hashtag as well, and you’ll create a trend of your own.
• Be general. Write down a list of terms that your target customers might search for on Twitter or Google. Work those search terms into hashtags occasionally to increase the odds that you’ll be found by someone searching for all tweets falling under that hashtag.
• If you’re offering a special or coupon, use a hashtag like #coupon or #deal. Consumers use these hashtags to find specials on products, so this can help you reach people who might not have otherwise found you.
• Look for relevant trending topics. You can find these in the left-hand column of your Twitter feed. Don’t use a trending hashtag just for the sake of using one. Choose one that is relevant to your business to avoid looking as though you’re simply trying to jump onto the latest trend.
• Keep hashtags in retweets and replies. As you respond to tweets that catch your attention, keep the hashtag intact. This will allow other Twitter users to follow the conversation and increase the likeliness your tweets will be seen.

Twitter can be a great tool for spreading the word about special events, a business’s offerings, or deals on products. As you work to build your brand, it’s important to make your page as findable as possible, both within Twitter and on search engines. Hashtags are an essential part of everyday Twitter use and, by using them correctly, you’ll potentially reach more customers than you imagined.

Active YouTube members know that establishing a presence on the site centers on creating a YouTube channel. If you’re a Google+ member, you can create a channel using your Google+ account. If not, you’ll simply need to set up a regular YouTube account. Once your channel is in place, you may begin uploading videos, easily access and manage your subscriptions, and interact with other users via a newsfeed that brings all of your video comments together in one place.

Customer Engagement

For a business, a YouTube channel can be an invaluable tool for customer engagement. The first step is to complete your profile on the channel and begin uploading videos. By adding descriptions to each of those videos, you can increase the chances your videos will feature prominently in searches for content similar to yours. Videos should be informational, with content designed to fulfill consumers’ needs. Brief how-to videos and short explainer videos that simply describe how your business works can get the message across without feeling too direct.

Once a YouTube user stumbles upon one of your videos, that user can browse your channel to check out other videos. For this reason, it’s important to regularly upload relevant content to your channel, along with a link to your business’s website. If videos meet visitors’ needs, those visitors will then subscribe to that channel and keep coming back to watch any new additions.

Customers Seek Help

The Small Business Administration’s YouTube Channel is a great example of customer engagement using the YouTube platform. Videos are designed to help small business owners, featuring “how to” instructions that answer visitor questions. BlendTec took a more humorous route, uploading videos with demonstrations of the company’s trademark Total Blender blending various items like iPads, iPhones, golf balls, and crowbars. The “Will it Blend?” series went viral, bringing more than a half million subscribers to the company’s channel.

“Will it Blend?” is an example of how businesses can use YouTube to demonstrate products in a unique, fun way. Instead of simply showcasing the product blending normal items, the company went for the dramatic, entertaining visitors in a way that could potentially prompt visitors to share them on other social media sites.

By truly knowing customers, small businesses can create videos that answer questions those customers have. Those customers will then seek more information on that business by visiting the official website or other social media sites… and that’s where the marketing begins to pay off.

Tumblr takes a unique approach to social media. Instead of limiting users to short status updates, long blog posts, or photos, Tumblr lets you post it all. This abundance of options lures millions of unique visitors each month. More importantly, though, comScore reports that more than half of Tumblr’s users are under the age of 25 — a significant statistic for businesses with products appealing to younger buyers.

ComScore goes on to state that web users between the ages of 18 and 24 are 2.5 times more likely to visit Tumblr than the average internet user. These users are at an age where they’re first beginning to make buying decisions. If your product is one that might catch the eye of someone under the age of 25, Tumblr may be the best site for your marketing message.

To maximize your effectiveness on Tumblr, here are a few tips:

1. Participate. To build a following on Tumblr, it’s important to be a part of the community. Tumblr users share content freely, reblogging and liking posts to share items with others. On Tumblr, when a user likes content, their name and link show up at the bottom of the post, giving increased exposure to businesses trying to extend their reach. Also, regularly respond to comments on any blogs you post to show you’re an active part of the site.
2. Tag. Tagging is crucial on Tumblr. Every tag you use puts your content under a list of Tumblr content under that specific tag. This is a great way to bring more users to you without much extra work.
3. Use links. One great thing about Tumblr is that it allows external links. Link to your website and other social media pages liberally, sending visitors to your Facebook and Twitter pages and your company website.
4. Know your customers. Because Tumblr’s user base is so youth-oriented, you can’t simply employ the same marketing strategy you use on other sites. Your posts must be specifically geared toward tween, teen, and college-age users. Coca-Cola’s Tumblr page is a perfect example of targeted marketing, incorporating fun polls and moving images to give the site a young, energetic feel.
5. Keep your Tumblr presence open. Your Tumblr page should be open to everyone, whether they’re a Tumblr user or not. This can help expose your brand to consumers who happen upon your page from another source.

Since Tumblr membership is free, setting up a presence is simply a matter of adding it to your social media marketing duties. For businesses interested in appealing to millions of young users, it’s an investment well worth it.

One way to break things up is to occasionally feature an expert on your blog. By choosing a person who has experienced in your field — and isn’t part of your company — you can boost your blog in several key ways:

1. Increased credibility. It’s one thing to tell your customers how great your product is, but it’s another to show customers you have associations in the field. Even if the expert doesn’t endorse your product outright, simply having that person weigh in on your blog can boost a visitor’s respect for your company. While celebrities and other big names in the field can provide a huge traffic surge, don’t rule out smaller names who have tons of expertise in certain areas.
2. A new voice adds life. No matter how many times your staff has weighed in on a topic, it’s still those same voices. New voices break things up, providing a variety to your blog that will keep visitors reading. You’ll likely add a photo of your interview subject, which will catch the eye as someone scrolls through pages of blog posts that otherwise feature stock photos and pictures of your staff.
3. New visitors. If you’re lucky (and if you ask), your interview subject will probably promote his or her presence on your blog on various social media channels. This will introduce your blog to new eyes which may already have an interest in your industry. This could help add followers and even bring in new customers.
4. Good for SEO. Adding a new voice to your blog can give a boost to your SEO efforts. Not only will your discussion boost you up in search engine rankings, but when someone searches for the person you are interviewing, they will also be directed to your blog in search results. This can bring a long-term, positive boost to your web presence. Interviews also tend to bring in comments from readers, which search algorithms love.
5. Easy networking. The possibility of attracting your subject’s followers to your blog is only one of the ways interviews can provide networking possibilities. You’re also building a relationship with the subject of your interview that can lead to months of Twitter conversations and LinkedIn recommendations — and hopefully new customers down the line. For a small business owner, these relationships can lead to much bigger things down the road.

Interviews are one of many ways you can change up your blog format to keep things interesting. Try having one of your staff members pose the questions and present the interview in a Q&A format to give your blog a new look for the day.

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The answer has a little to do with search engine algorithms. According to Hubspot, businesses that blog see 55 percent more traffic than those that don’t. They rank higher in search engine results and give visitors a reason to stick around in the form of fresh content. But a bad blog can scare off visitors, prompting them to click away at first glance.

Nothing can scare blog readers away like a long page of unbroken paragraphs. As a general rule, experts suggest keeping blog posts short and to the point. 300 words is probably too short. 1000 words is probably too long.

Before you post your next (or first) blog, here are a few tips to make it snappy.

1. Use photos. Photos are for more than illustrating a point. As demonstrated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), photos can break up large chunks of check, increasing interest and giving the blog an overall tone that is more friendly.
2. Use multiple writers. The White House blog is a good example of the power of multiple voices on one blog. These different perspectives keep things fresh and give visitors a well-rounded view of your business.
3. Find your audience. Know your target audience and write directly to them. Fashion blogs like the one at Zappos do this well, writing directly for the fans of their brand. This also gives you a chance to work in coverage of your latest specials, targeted directly to the people who are most likely to buy.
4. Break it up. The Android blog uses not only photos to break up text, but also subheadings. These subheadings work to make copy seem less daunting by interspersing bold text with regular text.
5. Add a call to action. Engaging readers is one thing, but engaging them to do something can lead to results. End each blog with an invitation to vote in a poll, try one of your company’s new products, or simply comment. Many successful blogs add a question at the end that prompts visitors with a topic for their comment.

As blogs have evolved, bloggers have evolved with them, embracing new techniques and raising the stakes. Your business needs to find unique ways to appeal to your customers while remaining competitive.

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Enter the internal blog. Usually posted on a company’s intranet, internal blogs can be updated by one or two select employees or they can be communal, with posting open to everyone. A light, informal tone is often best, encouraging employees to openly discuss issues that are important to them. These blogs can also serve the purpose of cutting down on meetings and e-mail communications, with workers able to communicate one idea to many in just a few short paragraphs. All of that can help boost employee morale by making employees feel their ideas are being heard.

An internal blog is only as good as its content, however. To ensure your blog is as engaging as possible, here are a few helpful tips:

• Get employees involved. At first, you may notice some employees are hesitant to pitch in. Encourage top management to write posts as a good example for their workers. If participation continues to be a problem, consider generating topics regularly to inspire employees to post. It’s important that employees voluntarily participate; forced participation can actually lower morale.
• Require approval. Require all posts to be posted in “draft” or “pending” status until a designated employee can approve them. That person should be someone you trust to oversee all posts and check for errors or possible problematic posts. While you will want to allow employees to post freely, you’ll also want to put safeties in place in case an employee posts something inappropriate.
• Include photos. Having your designated editor add photos from a site like iStockPhoto can liven up your internal blog. Long paragraphs of text can cause readers’ attention to drift, but even one related photo can add visual interest.
• Avoid too much editing. Some companies require every communication, inside or out, to go through public relations professionals or upper management. The result is a stiff tone that erases the employee’s natural voice. Make sure any editing is light-handed, geared toward preserving the author’s natural voice.
• Reward participation. The best way to help grow your internal blog is to regularly give positive acknowledgment (or even small rewards) to participants. Others will notice the accolades and a natural sense of competition will prompt them to participate, as well.

An internal blog is a great way to communicate with employees and share ideas, as well as get a better feel for your corporate environment. Often business owners find they learn things from their employees when they’re writing freely they never would have imagined. By providing a forum that encourages free communication, employees can share ideas and learn from each other, strengthening overall morale within the organization.

Authorship Displays Your Content to Your Contacts First

Implementing the rel=author tag across your company’s website will display your content to those you contact most frequently. What does this mean for your business? Any searches your contacts (or clients) make while logged into their Google accounts (and most of us are logged in all the time) will be served your most recent and relevant content for that query by default. If you primarily sell headsets and recently began selling headset adapters, using this feature can prove incredibly powerful.

Google+ is Already a Ranking Factor

Despite the number of active users compared to Facebook, Google+ is already a mildly-substantial ranking factor in search placements and is growing in importance. Remember that there are over five different components to Google+, most of which your competitors probably aren’t aware of. If your business’ web presence drives a substantial amount of leads, build a dominant Google+ presence before your competitors have a chance to chase you down.

Rich Snippets Drive Click Through Rates

With the major search engines all displaying structured markup like Schema, it’s almost certain that implementing Google markup will drive click-through rates the same way the Google Checkout badge did for AdWords users. While the average click-through metrics may remain debatable, there’s no denying that search engines — especially Google — are providing opportunities for businesses to enhance their organic listings with rich snippets. Enhancing your listings with Google’s authorship markup or Schema’s snippets may draw more attention to your listings. For web-driven businesses, they should be considered compulsory.

Is your company doing something original to drive click-through rates or revenue by using rich snippets? If so, share your experiences in the comments below.

Recently there were two 2013 predictions for social media that caught my eye. First, consumers understand that by doing nothing more than showing up to a social media site, they provide a lot of value to businesses. As a result, 2013 may be the year that consumers start to demand compensation for interacting with your business. Coupons, small gifts, or virtual currency are a few of the ways they may seek to be rewarded. What can you give them in return for their engagement?

Second, if you feel as if big social media sites are so commercialized that it’s hard to be noticed, keep in mind that consumers feel that way too. They are as tired of it as you are. For this reason, smaller more niche-oriented sites may see a large-scale uptick in users. Users want to utilize social media in a way that relationships are developed. Have you devoted any of your time to those sites that are outside of the mainstream?

What All This Means for You

What do the financially-focused trends in social media mean for you now? It means that if you want to receive more reward for your social media efforts, you have to embrace these changes. Don’t assume that you are adding value simply by providing information. Instead, add a tangible way for your consumers to save or earn real money by engaging with you. Next, become familiar with smaller social media sites such as Path and NextDoor. Focus on building relationships rather than selling products.

Finally

None of this matters if your content is not well written, visually appealing, and targeted to a goal. Social media is a form of advertising and there is a reason successful companies contract their advertising efforts with professionals instead of shooting commercials over the lunch hour.