Social Media Checklist for Business

Social Media is a very powerful marketing platform for any business, but how do you know what to do? The typical business owner ask the same questions when social media is recommended for them. How do I blog? How many tweets do I send? What should I do on Facebook? What about LinkedIn? 

This is a very simple social media checklist to help any business owner with what they should be doing at minimum for these different platforms. 

Blog Post:

• Write 3 new blog post a week
• Have 3 targeted keywords that you include in every blog post
• Share the blog post link on:
• Facebook
• Twitter
• LinkedIn
• Google +

Facebook:

• Find and Like 5 new pages a week
• Update company page status daily
• Post about 2 interesting topics related to your business
• Ask people to comment, like or share post

Twitter:

• Re-tweet 2 interesting tweets a day
• Follow 10 new people a week
• Send at least 3 new tweets daily
• Business related
• Promotional
• Fun & Interesting
• Circulating the blog post

LinkedIn:

• Update Company profile and status
• Connect with 3 – 5 new people per week
• Ask for 1 -2 recommendations per week
• Follow 3 new companies

Google + :

• Add 5 new people to your circle a week
• Offer a Google + Hangout session for a related topic in your industry
• Share content at least twice a day to your personal Google + profile and company page
• Host a monthly Google + hangout for a topic your industry

Pinterest:

• Each month, post product images and examples of our work from our company website as pins leading back to the site
• Follow 5 new interesting and inspiring pin boards each week from other users related to our field
• Add 1 new board that contains at least 6 new pins each week

YouTube:

• Find 3 new videos each week to share on Facebook, Twitter, and Google +
• Plan a video that showcases an area of our businesses expertise
• Have video capability at special events our business hosts or attends each month. Ask for brief interviews to post to YouTube.

This checklist should be used as a guide to help any business owner with their social media platform. These are the typical minimum requirements necessary to perform properly and see results. 

Manti Te'o: Innocent Athlete or Guilty Publicity Stunt

Last night, an article written by Timothy Burke and Jack Dickey caused a national up rise with the emergence of a story no one thought was possible. In September of 2012, Notre Dame's Senior Captain Linebacker Manti Te'o suffered from the loss of his grandmother, Annette Santiago, then the death of his girlfriend, Lennay Kekua.

One of the NCAA's top 15 draft picks is now America's top story: "Manti Te'o's Dead Girlfriend, The Most Heartbreaking and Inspiration Story of the College Football Season, is a Hoax". The story was released January 16th at 4:10pm on Dead Spin and has surfaced all over the sports world within 2 hours with the help of Social Media Marvels Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Te'o was dating this woman by the name of Lennay Kekua, a Stanford Grad, that he met back in 2009, and she passed away from Leukemia hours after his grandmothers death on September 11, 2012. The inspiration came from his statement saying that "she didn't want me to go to the funeral because she wanted me to stay here and play the game". Te'o lead the Irish to victory against Michigan State and Michigan, giving Notre Dame a 4-0 record start for the first time in 10 years. Notre Dame's head coach Brian Kelly awarded the Game Ball to Manti Te'o in name of Lennay Kekua on Sept. 22, 2012 following the win over Michigan.

As you read the story by Burke and Dickey you will see the truth unravel on Manti Te'o and his so called girlfriend Lennay Kekua. The story provides proof and evidence through Tweets and Instagram of how Lennay Kekua never died and never met Manti Te'o. Was Te'o just the victim of a horrible internet hoax (like his and Notre Dame's alleged statements say?) or what Te'o using the dead of his girlfriend as a publicity stunt to gain fame? Until the story appeared yesterday, Te'o never said anything about a hoax or that he found out she was not real. ESPN Mike and Mike reports that if these allegations are true, and Te'o was involved in this immoral hoax for publicity, there could be a drop of interest in the draft. How can teams trust a player, A CAPTAIN and leader of their team, when he is a liar and involved in such deceptive acts. This is definitely a big hit for Te'o (alleged of being a top 15 draft pick) to be bumped to a 6th round pick. With Pro-Day and the Combine around the corner (in March) this was not a story that Te'o would have wanted leaked. The uprising of the hoax has caused a new trend on Twitter and Instagram with the creation of the hashtag #TEOING and a growth in popularity with the word #catfish. We will see what happens as the story continues to unfold.

Find the article by Burke and Dickey here and decide for yourself:
Manti Te'o's Dead Girlfriend: the Most Heartbreaking and Inspirational Story of the College Football Season is a Hoax

Foursquare Forges Partnerships with AMEX and Groupon

Back in January, we asked you if you were on Foursquare yet. Now, several months later, the company has grown leaps and bounds--particularly in the partnerships division. Over the past two months, Foursquare has announced a deal with American Express and a separate deal with coupon conglomerate Groupon.

The AMEX deal is pretty straightforward: cardholders will receive discounts when they check in to specific bars and restaurants. Syncing your account with the app will make you eligible for cash back, discounts, and all kinds of AMEX-only perks. There are no coupons to print or show, the rewards simply show up on your statement.

The Groupon deal opens Foursquare savings to everyone, not just AMEX holders. While Groupon has been long-standing on the platform of buy-now, print tomorrow savings at various vendors, a new deal has formed where checking-in on Foursquare triggers nearby Groupon deals to pop up for instant purchase & redemption. The real time coupon app is aptly called Groupon Now.

If you haven't joined Foursquare...or if you've been slacking on the check-ins...now's the time to get back in the game!

Here at Tandem, we eat, sleep, and breathe all things Internet. We strive to be your one-stop search marketing and SEO shop! If you've got questions about Foursquare or any other site, shoot us an e-mail or leave us a comment here on the blog.

Happy weekend from Tandem!

The Co-existence of Email & Social Sites

These days, it seems social networking is everywhere. People are constantly talking about connecting on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and countless other social networks, and it seems people are less frequently exchanging e-mails. However, according to a recent study, the general population isn't quite ready to say goodbye to e-mail and rely solely on social networks. In fact, the two worlds seem to be quite peacefully co-existing on the Internet. Here's a look into why social networks won't stomp out e-mail anytime soon:

*Professionally, e-mail is still the standard form of communication
*To set up a social profile, you need an e-mail address
*E-mail is the preferred method for sharing links, photos, articles, and other information with family and friends

Breaking it down unto percentages, a study found that when people find something online they wish to share--photos, websites, videos, etc, 78% of users send it through e-mail, 22% through social media; with the remaining percentage split between other less popular methods (in person, on a blog).

Is Your Business on Foursquare Yet?

Foursquare certainly made their mark in 2010 as the leader in location-based social networking. In fact, the website saw a growth rate at over 3000% and rang in 382 million check-ins.

Once dismissed as an application holding little value for businesses, but its massive growth and popularity has resulted in check-ins from everywhere, even...from space. Yes, on October 22, 2010, a Foursquare user checked-in from the International Space Station.

60% of the 382 million check-ins took place within the United States. However, with the remaining 40% spread across multiple countries, Foursquare is becoming a global network. So what does this mean for businesses? There is potential here! Having a presence on Foursquare allows users to check-in, thereby letting their friends see where they are checked-in, and also for businesses to promote incentives through the program. For example, checking into a store in the mall can pull up a "Special Nearby," such as "Get 20% off by checking in and showing the cashier." Even checking in at restaurants can garner free appetizers or a glass of wine.

So, while some feel telling people what they are doing through Facebook or Twitter is enough, (multi) millions of users want to also show people where they are.

Here at Tandem, we are all check-in enthusiasts. If you have questions about getting your business on Foursquare, don't hesitate to ask us!

Privacy Goes Out the Window with "Just Spotted"

Constantly dodging the paparazzi and savoring any moment of privacy--oh, the life of a celebrity. As if it weren't already tough enough for celebs to catch a break, Justspotted.com has made things significantly more invasive.
JustSpotted works like this: based on a celeb's single tweet, and the help of Google Maps, JustSpotted is able to pinpoint the exact location of a celebrity and show them to a searcher in real-time. Kinda creepy right?
Users are also able to fan celebrities, so anytime an update occurs surrounding the celeb they will receive an e-mail of the latest news surrounding them, sort of like a constantly updated map with popups of celebrity whereabouts. CEO AJ Asver says "we don't give you enough information fast enough for anyone to run to location and stalk the person. We really care about fans following celebrities they love," he adds. "We're trying to bring people closer."
Ok, Asver, if you say so.