The Easiest Way to Boost Your Customer Engagement and Social Media Buzz

This is no magical fix to all your social media woes. You probably won't even notice any empirical results. However, this is a simple way to give your Facebook page a little extra push.

The default setting for a Facebook page is to show your posts only. However, this robs you of so much potential buzz and word-of-mouth. Consumers will never trust your biased promotional jingles over the raves of impartial fellow consumers.

If you want to truly take advantage of the fanbase you've worked so hard to build, showcase all the positive things they have to say. In addition, this is great if you interact well with your customers.

To switch the setting to show both your posts and your fans' posts, simply go to your page while signed in and at the top right, you should see a button that says "edit page". Click this. Now there will be an option called "Wall tab shows". Select all posts and you're all set.

You just made your Facebook page 1.5% more engaging.

An Easy Way to Boost Social Media Word-of-Mouth

Customers are lazy people; there are not many of them who will go out of their way to aid your brand, unless there is a large enough incentive to do so. We've taken care of the incentive in previous posts about making customers proud to support your brand and creating experiences that translate into good stories. So let's move onto the easier portion: removing the part where the customer has to go out of their way to support you.

Clearly, more people will share if you make it convenient for them. For example, Nike+ GPS, Nike's latest running app, allows users to automatically share the details of their latest run. So users feel the pride of publicizing their fitness and it's easy for them to do so.

On the other hand, while automated sharing can be convenient, status updates or tweets that sound canned do not resonate. Allow users to customize their sharing, in order to let their own authenticity shine through. If this is not practical, add a little bit of flair or personality to the automatic sharing.

Once you integrate some programming that makes sharing easy, you'll be well on your way to achieving the buzz that you've been looking for.

For more posts on promoting social media buzz, go to the sharing portal.

Creating Social Media Buzz with Tangible Rewards for Sharing

Tangible motivators are popular amongst today's "social media experts" for a few reasons.

First of all, there is a clear and definite correlation between the value of your reward and number of "likes" or "follows" your brand gets. If you guarantee users who "like" your page, a coupon or voucher, naturally, more people will "like" your page. Don't get too excited though because with these extrinsic motivators, you zap the element of engagement from the "like". You do not forge an emotional connection with the person, robbing you of precious brand loyalty and advocacy. In fact, if the customer is actually captivated by your brand, an extrinsic reward downplays the value of this relationship. It's almost like your friend paying you to do a good deed- it takes away all of the intrinsic value.

Also, tangible rewards require little creativity; it's just coupons, a "chance to win an iPad", or access to content. I'm not saying that innovation cannot exist in tangible rewards; it's very possible. However, it's not very abundant in today's social media situation.

Despite all this criticism that I have, tangible benefits do have a place in social media marketing plans. Tangible rewards are effective if they are given to loyal customers unexpectedly. This unexpectedness does not render the customer relationship meaningless; if they are unexpected, they are more like gifts of thanks for being loyal, rather than benefits to remain loyal. Also, these unexpected gifts can be combined with exclusive closed groups to maximize their power.

Moreover, a short-term campaign based on tangible rewards, can be viable for small brands that need a period of viral buzz. If executed correctly, this can explode brand recognition. On the other hand, be careful with this sort of campaign because customers may become "addicted" to your reward and flock away quickly if it is withdrawn. To combat this, ensure that your rewards are short-term or offered on an infrequent basis. As well, during and after you withdraw the rewards, present another meaningful way for the customer to connect and reap benefits from your brand (some sort of an engagement campaign).

Last but not least, occasionally, businesses need to boost the number of "likes" their page has, in order to "legitimize" the page. A tangible reward can do this very quickly.

All in all, it is generally a good idea to stay away from tangible rewards but every once in awhile, they may be able to supplement more meaningful marketing.

For more posts on promoting social media buzz, go to the sharing portal.

How to Ignite Word-of-Mouth for Your Brand on Facebook and Oher Social Media

One of the most attractive facets of Facebook marketing campaigns is the massive word-of-mouth potential. However, a vast majority of promotion on Facebook does not take advantage of the most efficient platform for sharing, in the world.

To figure out how to spur sharing, we can go back to the roots of why Facebook is so addicting. We love Facebook because it is an opportunity to show our true colors to a network of people who are interested in them. If you have Facebook, you know what you share: status updates often detail your accomplishments of the day, you might post your child's graduation photos, and you may put your political or religious views in your information section.

The common denominator of all these items is that you are proud to showcase them to the world. Why do people spend time filling out their favorite bands, movies, and athletes on their profiles? Because they're proud to show how unique and special their preferences are.

Clearly, the best way to trigger word-of-mouth on Facebook, is to position your product in a way that your customers can be proud to use it.

Nike + iPod (a device that tracks and shares running statistics) users are proud to share the fact that they are avid users because it gives them the image of being fit and determined.

Meanwhile, charity donors love to flaunt their generosity and restaurant-goers like to show off their good tastes.

All of these people would take pride in sharing their love of a specific brand on Facebook. How can your brand make customers feel the same way?

For more posts on promoting social media buzz, go to the sharing portal.