Cross your T's, Twitter!

It's important to have both a Facebook and Twitter presence for your business. They are both very different outlets and you should be taking full advantage of them. A lot of folks like to incorporate both tweets & Facebook updates together, but in my opinion this is a bad thing to do. You want to have people follow you on both social platforms, but you don't want to feed them the same information twice. My suggestion is to rewrite your posts for each outlet - especially because twitter talk is so different from normal lingo.

The "F's" of Facebook:

• FULL MONTY: Facebook updates can provide your fan base with a lot of info - you can post photos, events, questions, links and video. And you want to do ALL of these, do not leave a stone unturned.
• FEED: You shouldn't overwhelm your followers on Facebook. Your fans want to hear from you, but not be bombarded with useless information - which is how they feel when they read your updates more often then from their BFF from college.
• FASCINATE: Engagement is key. You don't have to have a lot of followers to have excellent engagement - just interested fans. And you're in charge of keeping them interested! Facebook is a little more challenging when it comes to enchanting your audience, so it's especially rewarding when you succeed. 
• FORTIFY: Ask questions, and not just to poll kind. Your fans want to be part of a community and give you their knowledge and insight. Make sure you continuously give them the opportunity to do so.
• FLOURISH: Always respond to your fans when they write on your wall or updates. Even if it's just a click of a "like" button, make sure they know you are listening.
• FILL A VOID: Offer your fans something no one else does. For Hydrant, I update my fans about social media trends AND fun pet facts. My favorite segment is "Word at the Hydrant" where I give random pet facts. Make your page fun, think outside of the box.

And let's not forget the "T's" of Twitter:

• TEMPT: Tweets have to be done in 140 characters or less, make your followers want MORE! You can include a link with more information - short tweets usually see more engagement and clicks than long ones. And make it interesting, you want them to wonder and therefore click on your link: "Cross your T's, Twitter! LINK."
• TANTALIZE: You can send out more information than on Facebook, and get away with it! Twitter is happening so quicky, in bulk, you can get lost in the tweet clouds. Stay grounded with useful information and lots of interactions with your followers. Engagement is key, both TO others and FROM others.
• TRANSLATION: Twitter has special speak, get with the lingo! Know the basics: 
• RT is Retweet: Sharing a tweet someone else posted and giving them credit
• FF is Follow Friday: Showcase the people you enjoy hearing from most
• WW is Woof Wednesday: Showcase your favorite furry friends and organizations!
• # is a hashtag: use this to make a topic and it creates a link to the topic. "I love living in this beautiful city! #austin" so "austin" becomes a link, and when clicked anyone who hashtag's Austin will appear in a feed. 
• TWINKLE TOES: Twitter has the great capacity of being light. You don't have to put as much thought as Facebook, it's okay to update more frequently and even better to interact often.

How do you use Facebook and Twitter? 

What My Large Mexican Family Taught Me About Social Media

Photo by Visual Photos (not my family!)

I had a whole lot of family members visiting this weekend. In addition to my boyfriend, myself and my parents, we had my aunt & her family of four, another aunt and her family of four, my uncle's family of four and my grandparents. This is just half my family, by the way!

It was a mission getting all 17 of us got together (give or take a person or two!) for our various meals around Austin. So while I sat back and watched, I thought of how these restaurants or retail shops could capitalize on our invasion and get some free publicity.

If I was working at a restaurant and 17 people came in, you bet I'd take a quick photo and post it on Facebook & Twitter. Why aren't these businesses doing that? Talk about quick, free promotion. Not just with a big crowd, but anytime anything fun, unique, weird or funny happens. I bet a lot of people new to Texas have no idea what sizzling fajitas look like, or a slab of brisket cooking on the grill at a local BBQ spot. What about a really cool looking beverage? Or a guest that's wearing a funky outfit, or better yet - a tee shirt with your logo on it!

In addition to the exposure, it's really important to cater to ALL customers - big crowds and single people. Something I really hate is bad customer service, and with peer review sites like Yelp and City Search, you would think the managers of these establishments would keep an eye on us - that's a potential 17 bad reviews! And we had some pretty bad service, but I won't point any fingers.

So restaurants and business, keep in mind how taking a quick photo and putting it up on social media sites is a great way to catch people's attention, without blatantly self promoting. Encourage patrons to like your page on Facebook, tag these photos and leave comments.

What do y'all think? What opportunities have you capitalized on using social media?

Snazzy new transformation - You to Page in 3...2...1...

I wanted to share with everyone how Party Animals went from 100 to 121 in less than a month on Facebook - and for our small niche local business, that's a good number!

There are a lot of tutorials out there on the new Facebook Fan Pages. But I wanted to share my quick "Wow - this kicks-doggy-butt" synopsis of it all and why it's the best for small businesses marketing.

And, viola! Your page is now being navigated by your business. Now, you can't interact with fans or other "human" pages, which is both a good and a bad thing. I'd hate it if every page I fanned was always commenting on my photos - creepy! But, with this snazzy little tool, you can connect with businesses that can help grow YOUR business!

This is Teeny's Friends page, they are a local non profit organization that gives toys to needy dogs in the community. I love this organization, so I interact whenever possible. This builds our relationship, adds interactions to Teeny Friend's which helps their SEO & indexing, and now all of their fans can see Party Animals exists. win-win-win-#winning! 

So there you have it, my super quick, über cool new way to maximize your Facebook Fan Page!