KKom, Inc.

Serving Milwaukee's Web Marketing, Design, SEO, Social Media, Direct Mail and Color Printing needs for over 22 years

Social Media

6 Things Your Business Might Be Doing Wrong Online

by

Your business’s online presence is more important than ever. 36% of shoppers say they find new businesses using internet searches.

So here are some things you want to make sure you’re NOT doing so you, your revenue, and happy repeat customer base can continue to grow!

Not claiming your digital properties

When you start a business, there are certain legal steps you take to set it up. With the internet, you should now do the same with various platforms that customers use as a way to build trust with a new company/brand.

Not only this, if you have competitors with similar names, they can easily claim these for themselves so they will pop up when people search for you. This may lead to confusion and a loss of potential customers.

First steps: claim your business’s domain name, and your business name on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Snapchat. Obviously you may not have an immediate use for all of these, but you can place the profiles as private so they don’t sit unused, and pull them out when you have some ideas for them.

Lots of typos and bad grammar

While not everyone notices or cares about typos and grammar errors, it looks incredibly unprofessional especially to consumers who do notice. Especially on your website, this will reflect on the value of your business and ultimately hurt you to some degree. Another set of eyes before you publish content, or even using a professional copywriter can do wonders for maintaining a positive brand image.

Never responding to comments (esp. bad reviews)

One of the main purposes for social media is to interact with customers and create a real community if you want to improve brand loyalty.

As well, many people now look at reviews and comments to gauge whom they should give their business to. Besides collecting great reviews from people and encouraging customers to create content with your brand, if you have a few bad reviews coming in, you need to address those immediately, positively, and publicly if the reviews are public. Everyone and every business makes mistakes. It’s those companies who admit to their mistakes and do their best to fix them that become loved by their customers and stay in business for years to come.

Having unused social media accounts

Social media is a fantastic way for B2B and B2C companies alike to enjoy free marketing and networking with relevant digital audiences. Search engines like Google also look favorably on brands that interact on a regular basis on these channels.

However, when customers come across unused profiles, or out-of-date posts at the top, they may think you’re no longer in business, or look for a competitor that looks more favorable.

Your website is not mobile-optimized

Besides that Google itself now looks at this as a pretty major factor for search results ranking, many people are very mobile now. If you have a terrible mobile website that is frustrating and slow, people will leave within seconds to look for a competitor who has a website that is functional and will give their business to them, even if you have a better service or product.

Make sure you test your site on your phone, ensure photos are the right size, everything loads the way you’d like, contact or buying buttons are very clear and easy to use, etc.

Lots of poor quality photos

While having compressed photos is important for fast website loading speed, having grainy, distorted photos looks unprofessional. Make sure you’re using a decent camera (most smartphones these days are just fine). Our brains process images 60,000x faster than text, so if people see bad photos first, you might lose their attention more quickly than you’d like.

For social media channels, make sure your photos are the recommended dimension for the space they will be placed (profile picture, cover photo, etc).

Avoid these easy-to-fix mistakes, and your business and brand name will continue to thrive!

10 Ways to Grow Your Social Media Presence the Right Way

by

Social Media for Business Part 2

Social media for businesses may still sound frivolous to some, but it really has become an important factor for Google rankings as well as for building customer trust and loyalty. Here are 10 ways to ensure you grow your social media presence the best and most efficient way possible.

1. Determine goals and objectives

Before you do anything, you must decide why you’re doing it and what you want to come of it. Make sure you’re not wasting money and energy in a place that doesn’t have your target audience!

2. Understand your audience

To create content that’s worth someone’s time to read or share, you must understand the type of people your company’s products or services appeal to. What are their interests? What types of things do they talk about online with their friends? What problems and complaints do they have that are related to what your business does?

3. Let your social media platforms reflect your brand

Profile pictures/icons, cover photos, content shared – everything must feel fluid and make sense to the people you want to attract. This includes color, design, and the voice behind your content.

4. Interact with your audience

Once you start growing your community (remember it is a community you’re after), interact with them. Build real relationships. This is the best way to foster customer loyalty and appreciation. Be human.

5. Have a social media strategy written down

It’s easy to think you have everything clearly remembered in your head, but being able to see the big picture, get sucked into the fine details, and then go back to the big picture is not easy, especially if you’re juggled three to five different platforms, each with a different purpose. Designing a content and social media calendar can be a major headache-avoidance system when you start planning out ideas months in advance.

6. Use relevant hashtagshashtag

While some platforms are better for this than others, this is one good way to reach more people and gain potential followers that you otherwise wouldn’t reach or would have to pay to get in front of.

7. Provide real value

Going back to understanding your audience, look to provide extra value to them. If they see that they’re gaining something worthwhile from you at no cost to them, this creates an appreciation and greater willingness to do business with you, now and in the future.

8. Network like crazy

There are lots of public groups that people have created with a shared interest. Find the ones most relevant to you and share your added value content with them, for free. If this really is relevant to them these are the people that will be even more likely to bring you additional business.

9. Post consistentlysocial media calendar

There’s something about being consistent that people and Google-like. A Facebook page with a post from last year is very unappealing, and may cause someone to question whether you’re even in business anymore. Being current is also very appealing to Google and your SEO status!

10. Provide efficient customer service and promote conversation

Do not avoid issues. Encourage customers to share their problems and deal with them in a very public social media platform (when appropriate). When people see you’re not afraid to handle issues and are willing to go the extra mile to fix them, customer loyalty will increase dramatically.
If you’re like most business owners, and way too busy to deal with things other than running your business, contact K-Kom Marketing and ask about social media strategy. We’ll be glad to become part of your team and create the social media presence you need to increase your reach online and explode your bottom line!

Benefits of Social Media for Your B2B

by

Having a professional presence on social media is almost a necessity these days, and while most often we hear about B2C companies engaging with their customers on social media, more and more business professionals look towards these platforms as a source for news, recommendations, and networking. So even a B2B focused company can reap great rewards by setting up a social media strategy.

Research has been done investigating B2B companies and their social media usage for branding purposes as well as acquiring new customers.The biggest barrier found for companies in deciding whether to participate or not was “the lack of perceived relevance for particular sectors”, however the majority of these were also not attempting to assess the effectiveness of social media. Nearly half of the studied companies that were using social media were planning on increasing their market spending on it.

As you begin to brainstorm where your company could go with this, here are some helpful first steps to get you moving in the right direction…

B2B Social Media Tips

Do not be salesy

To put it bluntly, people always and will always only care about themselves, not you or your company. So, if you can successfully send a message that tells people what’s in it for them loud and clear, you’ll be rewarded. “You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.” – Dale Carnegie, How to Win Friends and Influence People.

Think “thought leader”

Take your favorite niche part of your business and position yourself as a thought leader in that niche, build relationships with “influencers” – people who have built up a following who have similar interests to what your business does.

Showcase Employees

Besides being a great way to show how much you care for your employees, this also humanizes your business, improving internal morale and giving your customers a positive image of your brand.

Spy on Competitors

Seeing what your competitors are doing on social media is a great way to help shape your strategy and learn from other’s mistakes without wasting valuable time.

B2B Content Ideas

Pick a content theme

Choose a few relevant topics you want to be known for that relate to your business and your customers, and find informational articles to share on your social channels (just don’t share articles written by competitors!). Popular content types for business people include things like trends, quotes, stats, infographics, and how-to’s.

Write a blog

If you already do this, more SEO power to you! Make sure to share these on all your social platforms. If you have many frequently asked questions, write them out and answer them, or take a few and expand them into full articles.

Share your events

Do you attend networking or educational events? Tweet about them on Twitter and tell your network new things that you’re learning while you learn them. Even throw in an Instagram video/story if you find value for your company with that platform. This shows dedication and that your business strives to be on the cutting edge of knowledge in your industry. You can also share the event on a company LinkedIn page and describe it in more detail. Don’t forget photos!

Engage in your online community

Ask people for their opinions on hot or trending topics in your industry, and when someone participates, publicly recognize it as a reward for them.

 

If you’re curious about what kind of advantages you might be missing out on in the B2B social media marketing world with your company, please contact us anytime and we’ll be glad to answer your questions!

If you’re interested in B2B marketing services or brand building for your company, we specialize in the B2B sector and will gladly build a custom strategy based on your unique needs.

 

“OK Google: Milwaukee social media marketing agencies!”

Local Search Optimization and How Your Company Can Benefit

by

As a business owner in the digital world, optimization is very important. Local search optimization is not necessarily priority #1 for everyone, but if you’re looking to reach an audience located within a specific radius from you – eg. if you’re a service provider, going to people’s homes or businesses, or if you have a physical storefront – local optimization is exactly what you need to stay competitive in your market, especially if your known-competitors have already been doing this for the last few years. Google themselves confirmed that 50%+ of searches done on mobile are local, and that 60% of all searches are mobile, so that’s a huge percentage of local searches! Here are a few steps to get you where you want to be in your future customer’s search engine searches.

6 Steps Towards Local Search Optimization

Claim or set-up your Google My Business account

Google My Business Optimization with K-Kom, Inc.

This is the listing (outlined in blue) that pops up at the top of mobile searches, and on the right side of search results on a desktop computer, along with a map, link to your website, business hours, reviews, etc. It’s very important that this is filled out with every possible detail, using location-based keywords, and is as accurate as possible, especially your NAP – name, address, phone number (keep these three elements consistent throughout the web!!).

You’ll also need to pick a business category that best fits you. You can choose multiple, but it’s better to pick one if possible. Lastly don’t forget great photos of your business, logo, products, employees, etc

This graph from Hitwise shows the share of online searches done on a mobile device, by industry:

hitwise mobile searches

Claim/set-up business listings on other major websites

  • Yahoo! business listing, now called Aabaco Small Business
  • Yelp for businesses
  • Apple maps
  • Facebook – they’re working to be a bigger influence in local search
  • LinkedIn – for those who deal with other businesses, or business professionals
  • Other social media sites depending on your unique customer base/target audience
  • Any industry related sites you may be aware of
  • A few such as the BBB (Better Business Bureau), local chamber of commerce or prominent local directories may not be free but offer potential customers a sense of trust when they see these.

Collect reviews and testimonials

These can be through your Google My Business, Yelp or even sites like Facebook. Address your bad reviews in a positive, assertive way, and let the good ones pour in. This creates another added trust factor for customers and Google itself.

Expand/add content with keywords to your website

Keyword research is necessary for this step, and ties in with your overall SEO strategy. Your Google category picked while setting up your Google My Business should be added to your list of keywords, often fitting for the homepage. Aim for 300 words per page, but ensure this content is valuable for your visitors. It’s helpful to include your target city or town as part of your keywords – category + city, like “marketing agency Milwaukee”.

Include your location on your website

It’s easiest to put this right into your header or footer so it shows on each page. If you have more than one location, have a separate page for each with the cities included (for SEO purposes)

Social Media

Build an audience in your local area. Grow a relationship with your current and potential customers. Find out exactly where these people are so you know where to focus your valuable time and effort.

This is just the beginning to getting your business on top of the local competition. If you have questions about local SEO services, or think you may be interested in local search engine optimization, contact K-Kom and we’ll be glad to answer your questions!

We also have printing services such as color brochure printing, menu printing for restaurants, and a variety of other options.