It used to be the case that a company had to have its own website to be on the cutting edge of promoting their business online. You not only had to have a website you had to promote the site through paying for expensive SEO fees or participate in the many pay per click advertising platforms to drive traffic. The tide has once again turned and all of those expensive methods of promotion are no longer a necessity to succeed online.

Numerous companies and organizations are having great success online with or without a website by promoting their name, brand, products and services through various social media marketing campaigns. Each social media platform has its own method of participation and in many cases the audience you are trying to reach will work better on one platform then it will on another. Some companies will have separate campaigns on several social media sites while others concentrate on one particular platform. Regardless of how many and which sites you promote with, the key to success is having a strategic plan in place. Marketing your business through social media is no different than any other promotional campaign; you need to clearly spell out goals and objectives prior to spending any serious time, energy or funding.

Remember as I stated earlier by participating in a well planned social media marketing plan, you may no longer need to fund the traditional methods of driving traffic to your website. Social media campaigns run by most company’s can be handled internally with their own staff and resources, which will usually be less costly then out sourcing. Additionally as your campaign moves forward you will likely be spending less time and resources while achieving more success as your popularity grows.

Any company can have success with social media. If you don’t know where to get started look at what others are doing in your particular industry with social media and put together a campaign similar to theirs. Much company’s put a lot of effort into this type of promotion for a reason, because it works.

TurnKey Internet just recently launched an aggressive social media campaign to gain followers on several of the most popular social platforms. The campaign revolves around some fairly aggressive marketing tactics to attract visitors to their numerous websites . Once a new visitor lands on one of the Turnkey pages they are prompted by a popup offer to join one, any or all of the social media vehicles Turnkey uses to promote their business. The caveat is a discount offer tied to each social media outlet that will only be provided to the visitor when they become a follower of Turnkey on any of the social media platforms. This is a great example of a very in depth and well thought out strategy with clear goals and objectives in place.

There is no reason any company can’t take advantage of the FREE promotional opportunities that social media platforms offer. This is like anything else in life, your results will be dependent on the thought and effort you put forth.

If you were to type “Social Media and your business” into any search engine, you would most likely receive countless pages and numerous ideas, on how your company can benefit by the utilization of such tools.  Every link you can click on, each person’s different views on the subject, a different rendition however all the same points.

Yes, we all know Social Media can help your business in a multitude of ways.  So let’s be different, let’s take a minute or two to talk about what you’re going to see, upcoming on Turnkey’s social media.

As you know, we are currently running a summer long Social Media contest. Well, contests to be exact. This is your change to take part in daily, weekly and monthly contests, drawings and games. This is your chance to interact with the Turnkey Staff like never before.  Say, maybe games where you win a free month of hosting by contacting a certain staff member and revealing “the secret code”.  Who can get us the most likes on Facebook?  You just never know what that specific day can bring, however I can guarantee you, following us on our social media pages will be without a doubt, worth your while.

So be sure to like us on Facebook, friend us on Twitter, give us a quick + on Google and be sure to find us on Linkedin.

A new study has come out about adult use of social networks. Like with every other demographic, it’s going up. Though adults still rank well below youngsters, the late adopters are still adopting as the human race moves closer and closer to 100% virtual living. Okay, so maybe that’s a little grandiose. Just because something continues to grow now, doesn’t mean it is never going to stop. Still, there doesn’t appear to be any end in sight, according to the numbers.

89% of users still consider social networks to be primarily social, but business use is growing. The majority of social networkers have multiple accounts, some for business some for personal. Of course, younger adults have the highest percentage of use:

75% of 18-24
57% of 25-34
30% of 35-44
19% 45-54
10% 55-64
7% 65+

I was surprised to see that Myspace still ranks highest for usage, with 50% of all social network users. Facebook has 22% and LinkedIn has 6%, with 1% left over for YouTube. Among older users, privacy was of the greatest concern, but wasn’t keeping them from setting up profiles like it used to.

Yeah yeah, I know, everyone EVERWHERE is obsessed with Twitter, and for good reason. Twitter is fun, it’s easy to connect to tons of people and it’s SO hot right now. But, with the good comes the advertising. Along with being everyone’s favorite social media plaything, Twitter is also paving the way for the next generation in spamming. And, as the account holders with the most followers get wooed by the green, good people get jacked.

Help! My Tech Heroes Are Selling Out!

Every time I login to our TurnKey Internet Twitter account, I see another good tech person selling out. I know: who am I to talk? After all, I’m logging in to my COMPANY Twitter account, to SELL something. I shouldn’t really be splitting hairs here. But there is a big difference between a company account and a personal account; between a company network and a network of friends. Or there should be. There REALLY should be. Unfortunately, at this stage of the game, the line between personal and professional is woefully blurry. Drunk pirate anyone? While this might be good news for companies taking advantage of individual’s social popularity to market their products, it’s not so good for individuals taking advantage of their FRIENDS for monetary gain.

Companies are no dummies

Twitter offers an unprecedented forum for the bite-sized advertisement and tech gurus with thousands of followers offer an irresistible demographic. But I don’t follow those tech gurus to be advertised to, and I suspect you don’t either. I want my free information and I want it now! Which leads me to my next point…

Everyone’s In IT for the Money

The more I think about it, the more I wonder if the problem is more systemic. We have all gotten so used to this fancy-free exchange of information. We subscribe to feeds and streams left and right and consume them without a thought for the poor sap behind the tweets, endlessly and thanklessly churning out tech tips for our enjoyment. Surely tech gurus need to eat! If only we could all keep our professional lives and our private lives separate, but with this all-access-all-the-time technology… it’s a fat chance, sister.

So what’s the upshot? The conclusion I keep coming to is that free access puts the onus on the individual. It’s up to each of us to decide what we are going to share and where we are going to share it. Each of us has to weigh our friendships against our desire to monetize. We also have to remember that our input is valuable, as diluted as we might feel by the seemingly endless input of others. And, I think, we have to start valuing quality input more highly, and by that I mean, we have to start being willing to pay for it. If we aren’t, we have no right to complain about our tech expert buddy spamming our twitter feed with advertisements. The fact remains: if we value what he has to say, we’ll tolerate his spam. Probably. If enough of us stop following him, perhaps he’ll think twice about what he’s doing. Perhaps he will offer a monthly subscription to an ad-free version of his feed. Now THAT is something I’d pay for.

As the Marketing Director here at TurnKey, it’s my job to keep up with all the social networking stuff the kids are doing these days. In all seriousness, social networking has had a real impact on how we do business. Since the very beginning of the company, TurnKey has been focused on the customer first. Adam Wills, our president, firmly believes that customer satisfaction is the single most important part of a successful business. I couldn’t agree more! So, when I came on last summer, my job was to facilitate our customer communication and to present TurnKey to the world as a company that cares about nothing more than keeping our customers happy.

Of course, these times being what they are, the logical first step was to set up accounts on all the social networks. I built our profiles and started posting company news and coupons, but quickly realized I wasn’t getting the kind of customer interaction I had hoped for. There are so many commercial enterprises out there vying for eyeballs nowadays and people are wary of befriending companies that might just end up spamming them.

I realized social networking works best for our business as an extension of our ticketing/contact system. By using Twitter and Facebook to respond to questions about our services, I engage our customers, help them out and encourage them to stay connected. When I do post the occasional coupon or special, the customers who have connected with us through the network in the past appreciate the notification because it comes on the heels of actual real human interaction. Nowhere does it say that being part of a company means you can’t make small talk or be friendly but so often in this virtual space, companies are all business. Of course it goes without saying that professionalism is important, but we are selling services to people, not machines. They are called social networks, after all. If you’re going to use them (and doesn’t everyone?) I think you should make an effort to really connect.

Anyhow, I’d like to give a shout to Facebook, Twitter and Myspace for facilitating our communication with our clients. You’ve given us great tools for understanding how we can be a better company!

If you would like to connect with TurnKey on the social networks, you can!

TurnKey on Facebook
TurnKey onTwitter
TurnKey on Myspace

Come tell us what you think, what you need and how we can better serve you! We’re all ears.