2. CONTENTS
WHY do businesses use social media?
HOW do businesses use social media?
How is The Alexander Group using
social media to build its brand, connect
with its audience, attract new
clients, and drive more business?
3. How the World Spends Its Time Online
From VisualEconomics
Total Time Spent WorldwideThe average American spends more than 60 hours a month online. This is the equivalent of 30 straight days a year.Social networking accounts for 22 percent of the time, and 42 percent is spent viewing content. Other activities, such as email, commerce and searching, accounts for 36 percent.
Issue: Prior to the upgrade, The Alexander Group’s website had a dated color scheme, low search engine ranking and averaged 1,200 unique visits monthly. Objective: Create an engaging, modern-themed website that illustrated who we are as a firm and generated higher traffic numbers.
Strategy: Use videos as a medium on our website. “No one tells your story like you do.”Select unique design elements. For example, the abstract images shown on parts of our website are by the same artist as the paintings we have in our office. Utilize search engine optimization by creating text that was rich in “key words.”Create a method to alert visitors to new content through monthly blog blasts.
Strategy: Use videos as a medium on our website. “No one tells your story like you do.”Select unique design elements. For example, the abstract images shown on parts of our website are by the same artist as the paintings we have in our office. Utilize search engine optimization by creating text that was rich in “key words.”Create a method to alert visitors to new content through monthly blog blasts.
Results: A website that more appropriately reflects The Alexander Group and its members that receives an average of 3,000 unique visitors monthly.
The Alexander Group’s TAGlines Blog receives nearly 400 visits monthly with the blog blasts boosting that number to nearly 1,000 visits. Blogs blasts are one of the largest sources of traffic for our website. The “Most Popular” section calls attention to blogs not necessarily on the front page and ensures relevant older content continues to receive views.Blog content is a mix of personal and business with our target audience as hiring executives. Commentary on current events, such as holidays or the election, always garners more views in a week, but views to current events blogs typically taper off after two weeks. Photos are a key blog element, and you want to choose photos that communicate visual messages. Don’t be afraid to have a bit of fun. *Note* If you do not take the photos yourself, use a stock photo site to avoid copyright infringement. The more outlets you can find for your blog, the better! We use the Human Capital League and Businessweek’s Business Exchange. In addition, our PR firm pitches selected blogs to media outlets. As a result, we’ve received media placements in Fortune, Forbes and The Wall Street Journal.
Strategy: Use videos as a medium on our website. “No one tells your story like you do.”Select unique design elements. For example, the abstract images shown on parts of our website are by the same artist as the paintings we have in our office. Utilize search engine optimization by creating text that was rich in “key words.”Create a method to alert visitors to new content through monthly blog blasts.
Objective: To create consistent messaging between platforms and increase followers/fans.Follow the 20% rule – self promote 20% of the time. Most messages should be items of interest to your followers or fans.
Add social media sites to e-mail signatures.
Implement analytics (Bitly and Hootsuite) to identify popular articles and trends.
Promote one outlet through another. Facebook allows for longer posts, so you have an opportunity to “tease” the post on Twitter and direct followers to Facebook for more information.
Refrain from posting the exact same message across all social media platforms. Make eachplatform’s message different, even if you are commenting on the same article.
Results: In a two-year span TAG has gained over 300 new Facebook fans, Twitter followers increased by over 300 and LinkedIn has grown to over 215 followers.
