You’ve heard it before, but it doesn’t hurt to hear it again – social media is here to stay.

The shift to interacting with our friends, family, colleagues and customers through social networking sites isn’t a fad, it’s a fundamental shift in the way we communicate. And the true ROI of joining in on this social media bandwagon is that your business will still be thriving in 5 years.

Demandforce knows that keeping up with the newest trends can be daunting, especially when you have a business to run. So how can we make all this “Facebooking” and “Tweeting” easy for you while ensuring you stay relevant and in-tune with your customers? One word: Timely.

Facebook And Twitter For The Busy Professional

The key to using social media successfully as a marketing tool is to engage customers by feeding them fresh and relevant information regularly. In our latest release, Demandforce D3 is offering a convenient way for you to do just that.

You can now connect your Facebook and Twitter pages directly into your portal using Timely by Demandforce.   With one click, you can post status updates from the D3 Dashboard directly onto your Facebook and Twitter Pages. Taking it a step further than any other platforms offering a similar function, Timely by Demandforce automatically schedules posts for the optimal time, maximizing impressions as well as the effectiveness of any post.

How Does Timely Work?

You will now see on your D3 Dashboard, under “Revenue Generated”, the Timely by Demandforce box. Here is where the magic happens.

Using Timely you will be able to enter posts for Facebook and Twitter that can either be scheduled to go out at a later time or set to post immediately.

• If you select the “Schedule” button, your message will be set-up to post at the most optimal time based on Timely’s algorithm.
• If you select the “Post Now” button, your message will be featured on your social media site(s) in real time.

You can track the performance of your posts by selecting the “Settings” button under “Post Now” – here is where you can see the number of people your post reached and the number of reactions to each post.

The value of using these sites really starts to become clear as you see just how many people your business is reaching at the right time with the right message.

 

5 Tips For Using Timely and Social Media Effectively

You know you should be on Facebook and now you have an easy way of posting updates and messages, but that’s only half the battle. What should you be communicating and how often?

There is definitely an art to using social media sites effectively. Below are a few tips we’ve learned along the way that can help you master the art of social media messaging.

1. Take 30 minutes out of 1 day and set up all your posts for the month. Our motto is “set it and forget it!”
2. We recommend starting with 1 post a day. You don’t want to overwhelm yourself or your Facebook page with too many posts that aren’t very relevant to your customers. Quality over quantity is key. When you’re ready, you can increase. Or not.
3.  Speaking of quality…not sure what to say? Google key terms about your business that your customers may find interesting. Post the title of a relevant article or blog and add the link in your post. Or let everyone know about a special promotion or update to your business. Questions or polls are also great additions – engage your community. And make it personal. Your customers may love hearing that Maria at the front desk just had her first baby.
4. Find your social media rock star. Maybe you don’t want everyone posting, or you have someone on your staff who LOVES Facebook. Enlist them to help you get your posts up and scheduled.
5. K.I.T. – meaning, check in with your Facebook and Twitter pages and continue the conversations with your customers. They don’t just want to hear from you, they want to know you are listening to them as well.

Your Time Is Now!

Demandforce understands the importance of staying relevant in an ever-changing world and we want to help you stay ahead and relevant. Check out our “How-to” guide and FAQ section and watch this video made by our trainer, Dan, to help you get started using Timely by Demandforce today.

We want to hear from you!  Do you like this new feature? How has Facebook changed the way you do business? Any tips or suggestions for other businesses? Let us know what you think in our comments section.

Related posts:

1. How to Maximize your Social Media: Connecting Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube
2. Neill Technologies, Makers of SalonBiz and SpaBiz Software, Builds Relationships and Drives Revenue Through Social Media
3. Customer Spotlight: Mortenson Family Dental on “Social Media Tips for Your Business””
4. Customer Spotlight: Mortenson Family Dental on “What Social Media has accomplished for our practice”
5. 5 Best social media practices for small businesses.

Tags: Facebook, Social Media, Timely

This entry was posted on October 21, 2011 at 5:30 am and is filed under Customer Care, News, Online Marketing, Small Businesses, Social Media Strategy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.