Top Ten Social Media Marketing Questions Answered Dr.Hossam Darwish

Top Ten Social Media Marketing Questions Answered

1. How do social media marketing tools work?

Many social media marketing tools — blogs, social networks or media sharing sites, for example — have similar functionality, such as providing for conversations between users, interaction within communities, collaboration and sharing. Many of these tools and allow users to set up a profile to establish their identity and interests, and to connect with others — friends, fans, followers, subscribers, contacts — and to interact with those connections.

Every site and tool might have its own proprietary terminology and some unique features, but in general, there are similarities between most blogging platforms and some recognizable features that all social networks share.

2. How can you best use social media tools?

When using social media tools and tactics, you first need an overarching strategy and plan. What are you trying to achieve? Who are you trying to reach?

When you market using social media tools and tactics, you are interacting in a “social” space where trust and etiquette are critical. Many tools may allow you to broadcast, but broadcasting should not make up the bulk of your participation in social media spaces. Instead, you should be looking to first listen, and then meaningfully engage in conversations with your connections.

3. What’s the best social media tool to start with? (Blog? Facebook? LinkedIn?)

Choosing the social media sites and tools that are right for you depends on your overarching objectives: What are you trying to achieve and who are you trying to reach? There are wider-reaching sites such as a blog or Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, but also more narrow or niche sites and tools such as social networks specific to particular industry or interest, such as Care2 for environment, animal and human rights issues, or Behance for graphic designers. If you had to start with one site to help you in business, a good place to begin is with a professional profile on LinkedIn.

4. How do I discern which social networks are best for my market?

To find your audience, start with a search on Google for keywords specific to your audience to cast a wide net. You can also drill deeper by performing the same searches on specific general networks, such as Facebook or Twitter.

5. What are the big “don’ts” in social media marketing?

Never lie. Never spam. Never just broadcast a message out to your connections and call it good. Never be too promotional.

6. What are your social media marketing “must dos?”

You must listen first, respect existing online communities, enter conversations politely, start conversations, respond to others, be generous, share and provide value.

7. I’m involved in social media, but am not sure how to use it to grow my business (i.e. monetize it)?

Think of social media marketing as another tool in your marketing toolkit. Social media marketing is not currently a direct sales tool, but can lead to sales. Think of social media marketing more as a branding and loyalty tool. How do you quantify the value of brand building and loyalty building? Look at customer service as well. What are your cost savings in the area of customer service and customer relations because you’re getting to the heart of complaints and issues more efficiently via social media channels? There are clear and sensible ways right now to determine your social media ROI. Now is the time to set benchmarks, goals, and to regularly analyze your numbers.

8. How do you “vet” clients you meet or who find you via social media channels?

How do you vet clients that you get from other channels where you don’t have a common contact? You do your due diligence, which can start with a Google search of the person or entity’s name. With social media conversations, you can find out more about people, companies and organizations than ever before. But also see if you do have a common contact, even if they’re a few degrees away from you. LinkedIn is a great place to start to see if you know someone who knows someone who knows the potential client, but Facebook can be just as useful to glean some feedback.

9. Which tools are best for graphic designers?

There are online portfolios for graphic designers including Behance, design:related, Coroflot  and online communities on social networks such as Facebook and Flickr. Designers can showcase work on a Facebook Page, a Flickr account and a blog or even a micro blog such as Tumblr.

10. How do I best get started using social media marketing, and should I focus on using it for myself first and getting comfortable with it before using it for clients, or should I learn for clients first?

Everyone thinks they can offer social media marketing services to their clients. However, it takes more than having a Facebook account and knowing how to tweet to provide quality and comprehensive consulting and services. If you aren’t even engaged in social media channels, hold off on trying to offer social media marketing to your clients to avoid damaging your reputation. You first need to start using the sites, tools and tactics for yourself, and even if you master them to market your own company, that doesn’t necessarily mean you can now provide similar services to others.

Stick to your core competencies and instead consider partnering with someone who is truly engaged in social media marketing consulting. Form a mutually-beneficial relationship where you can refer new business to one another and both work within your areas of skill.

Setting Up Your Twitter Account & Tweet Beginning with Dr.Hossam Darwishs

Setting Up Your Account & Tweet Beginnings

Below I will give you, the new Twitter user, some basic information to set up your account and begin tweeting.

1. Choose Your Username

For personal branding consistency, your username should align with your other social networks. For most students, use your first and last name. Because other variations of Hossam Darwish were taken by other users, my Twitter name is Hossamdarwish.

2. Create a Twitter Bio

It is crucial that you complete the Twitter bio section when setting up your account. Include in your bio: your interests or major in school, where you go to school, profession if you have one and what you tweet about. In short, let people know why they should follow you. I rarely follow anyone who doesn’t include a bio. If you don’t tell people who you are, why would they follow you?

3. Customize Your Twitter Background

A memorable and customized Twitter landing page helps further your personal brand. Twitbacks offers simple, quick and customizable backgrounds, where you can include links to your blog and other social network profiles. Visit this list of Top 10 Twitter background sites for more suggestions.

4. Become Familiar With the Twitter Home Page

In this screen shot, you can see the basic Twitter home interface.

Type your 140 character or less update in the “What are you doing?” box. Below the box, you can see the stream of tweets from the people you follow.

On the top right-hand side you will see your profile picture, your follower/following count and the Twitter lists you are a part of. Below that, you’ll see “@username”- which displays tweets directed at you by other users, “Direct Messages”, and “Favorites”. When you like a tweet, you can “favorite” it by clicking the star next to the tweet.

Below that, you will see “Lists”. Lists are a fairly new Twitter feature, and this article gives more information if you’d like.

5. Following People

There are a few ways to find people using Twitter. After setting up your account, you can import all of your Gmail, Yahoo, or AOL contacts already using Twitter. Also, look for important college contacts, friends, professors and professionals in your field.  If there is a company you’d really love to work at after graduation, see if any of their staff is on Twitter and start connecting now!

This Mashable post offers 10 suggestions for finding people to follow on Twitter.

6. Start Engaging 

In my opinion, beginning to tweet can feel a little awkward. But, it becomes a lot more interesting when your following picks up and people start sharing and responding to your content. Note: You don’t have to literally answer the “What are you doing?” question!

Here are a few basic suggestions as you begin to tweet:

1.       Use links. A valuable Twitter update could include a link and your brief thoughts. It is always thoughtful to credit the author of the post if you can.

2.        Use a url shortener, such as bit.ly. Go to the site, paste in your long url and the site will generate a shortened version. Twitter only allows 140 character updates; you don’t want a long url to take up half of your character allotment!

3.       Retweet. By retweeting, you are sharing other people’s content updates that you find interesting. To retweet, you simply type “RT”, followed by the person’s update. This is also a good way to pick up followers! People often follow you back if you retweet and share their ideas

4.       Using @reply. You can communicate directly with another twitter user by using the @ symbol followed by their twitter name. Normally, @ replies are not private, but through your settings, you can control whether or not you see @ replies that aren’t directed to you. (go Settings > Notices > @ Replies).

5.       Sending direct messages. To direct message someone, type “D” followed by their username in the status update box. This sends a private message, not visible to the rest of the Twitterverse.

Summary of ‘Getting Started’ suggestions :

Do not make your Twitter account private! The point of Twitter is open information sharing—if you don’t want people to see it, why are you on Twitter?

Share links. Use a url shortener.

Give credit when it is due. Use the @ symbol to recognize other Twitter users’ content.

Keep your updates shorter than 140 characters if you want people to retweet them! For instance, RT @cassie_holman is 18 characters, so if I want people to retweet me, I must keep my tweet below 122 characters.

Tips for Twitter use:

•    Write interesting stuff.

•    Include links when you can.

•    Lend your input on a topic of interest.

•    Write a good Twitter bio, and then deliver on what your bio says about you. If you are a business student about to graduate and enter the workforce, are you using Twitter for networking, to find a job, or to simply connect with the community?

•    What are your interests? Sharing a personal side with your Twitter community is important. Remember, on social networks you are still a person, not a profile.

•    Demonstrate your involvement. Are you a student reporter? Participating in a conference? Attending a speech by a renowned speaker? Volunteering for a cause? Being a student is one of the busiest times of your life. Share these moments and what you are learning from your experiences.

•    Pose questions to the general Twitter community and to individuals via DM or @reply. Thank someone or comment back if they answer your question.

•    Link to others’ blogs and @mention them in your tweet. Other tweeters are more likely to recognize you if you recognize them. One of the big draws of Twitter: it’s one big kudos community. Give credit where it’s due.

•    On a similar note, participate in #FF (Follow Friday). On Fridays, recognize other tweeters worthy of following by using the #FF hashtag. For instance, an update might be: “Follow these PR people for great insight! @PRone and @PRtwo #FF”.

•    Learn to write concise, targeted messages. Shorter messages are easier to retweet.

•    Syndicate your blog feed using Twitterfeed.

•    Refer to your Twitter account in other mediums: email signature, other online profiles or your business card, for example.

Third Party applications:

Twitter has a robust search capability. Here are some basic third party apps that you can use to your advantage:

• Tweetdeck: Tweetdeck’s robust features and ease of use make is a favorite among many Twitter users. Use this desktop app to create list columns, monitor mentions of your name, manage multiple Twitter accounts, and sync your Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and MySpace accounts.

• Twellow: Connect with people of interest using the yellow pages of Twitter.

• Tweetbeep: Get free Twitter alerts by email.

• Tweetmeme: Put a button on your Website or blog that makes it easier for readers to retweet.

• Ping.fm: Update all your social networks at once.

Bring the connections elsewhere: 

Twitter is just one medium for making connections and strengthening your online presence. Take the relationships to Facebook, LinkedIn and other social networks. Comment on others’ blogs. Attend conferences or events and introduce yourself to online friends in real life. Connect with university officials or potential employers via Twitter, and then set up face-to-face meetings. Once you begin making and strengthening these connections, the possibilities are endless.

Dr.Hossam Darwish The minister of E-Marketing and E-Tourism 2012 Courses Agenda

Dr.Hossam Darwish The minister of E-Marketing and

E-Tourism 2012 Courses Agenda

Drhossamdarwish@gmail.com

Advanced Twitter Marketing Training Course:

The most advanced, thorough, easy to follow Step-by-Step Training course of its kind in the known universe.

Twitter:

The Advanced Twitter Marketing course is for individuals who would like to become an expert in All aspects of Twitter and associated, legitimate Twitter tools with a view to leveraging Twitter for business benefit.

We follow Twitters guidelines and maintain the highest standards of online etiquette whilst teaching delegates how to quickly build lists of targeted followers. Large numbers of followers are only viable if they have been selected sensibly and communicated to, -with respect.

Twitter Marketing: Advanced Training Course:

Who is the Advanced Twitter Marketing Training Course for?

Business owners, executives, marketing managers or individuals who would like to build a meaningful long-term Twitter marketing strategy for the benefit of their business or brand and all business marketer

The Advanced Twitter Marketing course is essential training for Executive Personal Assistants (PA’s) and Virtual Personal Assistants (VPA’s).

What will Delegates learn on the Advanced Twitter Marketing Course?

Delegates will learn the most productive and rewarding methods of finding and following target user groups and how to formulate and transmit BRANDED content using the Twitter User Interface (UI) and approved Twitter marketing tools and applications. Delegates will also learn how to measure their performance against their own KPI’s.

Course Agenda:

9:00AM Registration and Networking

Course Introduction, The anatomy of Twitter

Twitter Rules, Regulations and Terms and Conditions of Use

How Twitter Impacts on Search Engines and the WWW

Introduction to the Twitter Productivity Tools

Twitter marketing work-flow, tools and methods

Lunch (Provided)

Local marketing methods using twitter Lists

How to target and follow large numbers of people “legally”

Overview of the “fast-follow” productivity tools which are banned by Twitter

Tuition and practice with the Twitter Marketing Tools

Practical Twitter Marketing Exercises

5:00PM Training Overview and Questions

6:00PM Meeting Close

Advanced Twitter Marketing Course Fees

The Advanced Twitter Marketing Course fees per delegate:

1 x Ticket $ 175.00 USD.

Price includes lunch and refreshments. Please contact us for dates and venues in your area. drhossamdarwish@gmail.com

The Social Media Basics Training Course teaches everything you need to know, and have in place before beginning your Social Media Marketing journey. Get the basics right and then the rest will be easier.

Basic Social Media Training for Business:

Love or hate it, Social Media Marketing is increasingly important for businesses of any size from sole trader to the corporate giant.

The problem of course knows where to start and how to leverage Social Media for the benefit of your business without wasting hundreds of hours guessing where to be, which tools to use, how to use them and when.

Social Media can be a dangerous drain on time and resources, so as well as teaching the “why” and the “how” we teach best working practices for social media time management and meaningful productivity.

The Social Media Basics course is for those businesses that know they should be involved but are not sure where to start. During the course Dr.Hossam  Say will help delegates to understand how the internet has evolved and why social media marketing is important for their businesses.

Our teachers  uses a really easy to understand and implement Step-by-Step training method and delegates also leave the course with a detailed set of road-maps and per-printed notes to ensure that they can implement the strategies upon return to their busy offices.

Why Social Media Basics for Businesses?

Social Media Basics is a full day, instructor led introduction to Social Media and Network Marketing.
It includes live, hands-on, Step-by-Step training using the tools, processes and software needed to successfully implement a social media marketing campaign.

There are literally thousands of Social Media sites, items of software and applications involved with social media marketing and when novices set-out into social media they get drawn into a dizzying array of affiliate products and software; most of which is useless and some dangerous.

Dr.Hossam Say will guide delegates through this jungle and explain what to use and what to avoid. AND how to achieve a meaningful Social Media experience using very high quality tools, software and applications all of which are FREE! Please do not purchase any social media software or applications prior to attending the Social Media Intermediate course.

How will Delegates Benefit from the Social Media Basics course :

Delegates will learn:

• How the internet works and how it is evolving
• How Search Engines work in relation to websites and social media
• Why Social Media Marketing is so important for delegates businesses
• Which Social Media platforms are right delegates businesses
• Which FREE Social Media productivity software and tools to use
• How to navigate the Social Media Landscape
• How to formulate a Social Media Marketing Strategy
• Why Twitter is at the Center of the Social Media Space
• How to manage your social media time
• How to Manage your PC/Laptop productively for Social Media Management

Delegates will leave the course with a productive working knowledge of how to leverage Social Media for the benefit of their business.

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How much does the Social Media Basics course cost?

Single delegate investment $175.00 USD

Price includes lunch and refreshments. Please contact us for dates and venues in your area. drhossamdarwish@gmail.com

Private, individual tuition at your place of work or ours is available upon request. Minimum 16 delegates. Otherwise please contact us for further details. drhossamdarwish@gmail.com

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Social Media Intermediate Training :

Most will agree that the Internet is a rich source of new business revenue. The key to funneling this new revenue in to your coffers lies in a your ability to tap in to the seam in a manner that will be welcomed and appreciated by the sea of potential new clients that exists on the social web.

Social media allows a business to merge and communicate with prospects in the places that they “hang out” instead of Sell to them. Rather than chase business the company merely invites it, and then it will come.

When a brand engages consumers in conversation without trying to sell, they win respect and “citizen advocates” a consequence of which is more new clients and increased sales, or increased awareness to your message.

Traditional Field Sales Team -vs- Social Media Sales Team :

Social Media Marketing is still in its infancy and the businesses that choose to learn how to dominate their category online via integrity driven Social Media Marketing will benefit ahead of the competition.

Dependant on the business genre a tradition sales team can cost an overhead large enough to finance a small country. Conversely a single Social Media Sales person can touch thousands of people per day at a mere fraction of the cost.

EG: A traditional field sales person will cost his or her employer upwards of $25.00 per sales call, a well trained Social Media Marketer will cost his or her employer about $35.00 Per-Day!

The case for training key members of your team in Social Media Marketing techniques is as compelling as not engaging in Social Media Marketing is Scary.

Social Media Marketing Training Courses:

Who do we tailor our Social Media training courses for?

1.     Small business owners or individuals who will carry out their own social media marketing.

2.     Corporate Teams A: Chairman, CEO and Senior executives

3.     Corporate Teams B: Corporate Marketing Department teams

4.     Marketing managers or senior staff who supervise staff involved in social media

Further to the above we provide a Social Media Marketing Management Service for organizations who would prefer to outsource their Social Media Marketing operations to a dedicated professional. This makes sense for large organizations who need pin-point accurate feedback and reporting with a view to honing medium and long-term marketing strategies.

Social Media Marketing Course for Business:

This full day course is an instructor led introduction to social media marketing and includes live, hands-on, Step-by-Step training using the tools, processes and software needed to successfully implement a social media marketing campaign.

Delegates will learn:

• A brief history of the internet and how it works
• What is Social Media and Why it’s Important
• What is Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
• What is Search Engine Marketing (SEM)
• How to link SEO – SEM and Social Media for business benefit
• How to build a meaningful Social Media Architecture
• How to amplify and project your brand, product or service
• Social Media – Time Management and Productivity
• How to build a meaningful network of followers and advocates
• Which programmes and applications to use to optimize each aspect of their work
• How and when to use specific social media tools and applications
• How to monitor their social media marketing impact and performance
• Which social media platforms to integrate with and why
• How to automate aspects of their work with quality, precision and integrity
• **Note we do NOT advocate or teach the use of Twitter following software
• How to target and communicate with specific profession or consumer groups
• How to market with integrity to a local geographic audience
• How to engage in conversation with a wide and deep social network
• How to stream the brand name without annoying your network
• How to drive significant traffic to the organizations website or message
• How to improve customer relations via social media channels

Building brand reputation and trust is essential in our new digital world, and by utilizing available technology organizations can significantly increase awareness of their brands, products and services to a far wider audience than ever before possible.

The objective is not to sell, the objective is to integrate with your intended audience and create awareness which leads to connections which leads to increased interest and trust, which in-turn leads to more sales.

The Social Media Intermediate Marketing Course fees per delegate:

1 x Ticket $ 200.00 USD.

Price includes lunch and refreshments. Please contact us for dates and venues in your area. drhossamdarwish@gmail.com

This course can be tailored and delivered in-house. Quotations by request. Please contact us for further details.

drhossamdarwish@gmail.com

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Search Engine Optimization Training:

Organic Search is the means by which most non-staple products and services are researched and purchased today and increasingly in the future. So if your website cannot be found on the first page of Google then in the eyes of your customers and prospects your business may cease to exist.

Did you know that the number one Organic ranking position on Google gets 40% of the click through’s for search terms? What would it mean for your business if you dominated the organic search results?

Search Engine Optimization Training Course Agenda:

What you will learn and take away from the Search Engine Optimization Training Course :

• The history of the internet and how it has evolved
• What is Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
• What is Search Engine Marketing (SEM)
• How do Search Engine Algorithms work
• What is Page-Rank and how does it work
• What is an Alexa Ranking and why is it important
• Website Page SEO Copywriting Essentials
• Blog SEO Copywriting Essentials
• Website Content Planning and Strategy
• How to Optimize Images for the Search Engines
• What is Meta-Data and how it should be structured
• Essential HTML knowledge relating to Search Engine Optimization
• What are back-links and why are they important
• How to build a back-link strategy and get QUALITY back-links
• On-site – Search Engine Optimization
• Off-Site Search Engine Marketing
• How external resources impact on your website ranking
• How social media impacts on Search Engine Optimization
• How to build a Social Media Architecture to accelerate SEO and SEM
• Essentially this 1 day Search Engine Optimization Training course will teach everything the website owner or administrator needs to know to get ranked on the first page of Google.

Each Delegate will receive an individually prepared top 10 SEO Website Competitor Analysis report worth £300.00 and the course will teach delegates the strategy they need to implement in order to beat their competition.

Who will benefit from attending the Search Engine Optimization Course?

Any website owner or person who is responsible for a website, form the sole trader to the corporate website administrator will benefit from attending the Search Engine Optimization Training Course.

Where & When:

How much will the Search Engine Optimization Training Course Cost

Open delegate training courses: $390 USD per delegate

(20% discount for multiple bookings from the same organization)

Price includes lunch and refreshments. Please contact us for dates and venues in your area. drhossamdarwish@gmail.com

5 - LinkedIn Course:   

The Linkedin course provides the training on how-to use LinkedIn for business. It covers the how-to steps to market the business' products, services and brand on LinkedIn.

In addition, what is covered in this course can also provide insight and techniques on how to use LinkedIn for networking for individual professionals for employment opportunity and development of business alliances.

LinkedIn members are business-minded professionals. They are people who comprehend the value of professional contacts, are interested in connecting with professional 'groups' and are interested on expanding their business and professional networks.

LinkedIn provides the opportunity to grow your network for business or career by increasing your exposure to gain business leads or professional connections.

Learn social media marketing techniques and strategies that are specific for Linkedin. We eliminate the mystery and demystify the process.

LinkedIn Course Agenda :

Intro to Business Social Networks:

·         Business professional networks explained and its purpose

·         Why being involve in online professional networks are beneficial to both businesses and individual professionals for career purposes. 

Getting started right:

·         Steps to open an account on LinkedIn

·         Review of the internal components of LinkedIn and identify which functionalities are beneficial for businesses and for individuals who like to increase their network connections.

·         How to step-by-step to use the key functionalities of Linkedin for marketing purposes

·         LinkedIn online etiquette – what you should do and not do

Generating leads and increasing business exposure:

·         Techniques on how to market your business or professional skills on LinkedIn

·         Strategies to find and generate leads on Linkedin

Included:

- Course notes

- LinkedIn User Guide In PDF version

- 6 months email and phone support from the course instructor

Cost: $150

After completing the LinkedIn Course, you will know how to:

·        Up-date the components in profile and know which are important

• Create, manage and understand company listing
• Leverage and use LinkedIn to its full potential to market your business or professional skills by understanding how to use key functionalities; profile, groups, connections, contacts, messages, advance people search and company.
• Market your business and professional skills effectively by understanding the LinkedIn marketing cycle
• Find and generate leads, business alliances and professional connections on LinkedIn
• Translate connections into leads
• Integrate Twitter and Blog feeds

Who Takes Our LinkedIn Courses :

• Business owners and entrepreneurs who want to increase their online business exposure on the social media channels to attract their target market to increase leads and sales.
• Marketing and sales executives - our courses will provide them with the essential knowledge to make the decisions on the proper direction of the company’s social media marketing campaign.
• Website developers - whether working for a company’s I.T. team or a freelancer, understanding social media marketing helps them develop websites that are industry leading.
• Marketers entrusted with the responsibility of promoting their company's or client's web site and brand on social media sites.
• Career professionals to improve credentials, for continuing education, professional development and where their job requires the knowledge of the use of social media for communication, branding, public relation and marketing.
• Sales Professionals that depend on high number of leads to generate income i.e. real estate agents, insurance brokers, mortgage brokers etc…
• Recent Graduates of traditional Marketing Degree or Diploma Programs, for additional business training where their curriculum does not include a full exploration of the top social media channels (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter & Blog).