1. One hour of video footage is uploaded to YouTube every single second .
2. There are 4 billion video views throughout the entire world, every day.
3. The first ever YouTube video uploaded was filmed at the zoo.
4. There are many hidden secrets  within YouTube (Tip: go to a YouTube video, pause it, and press the up and left arrow simultaneously, and enjoy a game of Snake).
5. One needs over 1000 years of time to watch all videos on YouTube – though, of course, this number will keep on growing!

1. If Facebook were a country, it’d be the world’s 3^rd largest, as well as 2x the size of the U.S. population (845 million users).
2. 425 million active monthly users of Facebook (half of their user base) mainly go on Facebook with their mobile phones.
3. 250 million photos uploaded each day.
4. In the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2011, there were 2.7 billion likes and comments  per day.
5. Facebook is available in more than 70 different languages.

1. There are more than 465 million Twitter accounts.
2. The most active country of tweeters is the Netherlands. Japan is a close second.
3. The original name of Twitter was Twttr. Seriously.
4. When Twitter first started, there was no 140 character limit.
5. In January 2008 there were only 8 employers at Twitter. By 2011 this figure had skyrocketed to 400.

1. There are 161 million members in over 200 countries – the largest professional network online.
2. At the end of LinkedIn’s first month in operation, the social media network had a total of 4,500 members.
3. Roughly 40% of LinkedIn members are Managers, Directors, Owners, Chief Officers or Vice Presidents.
4. There are more than 34 million LinkedIn Members in Europe as of Febuary 17, 2012.
5. LinkedIn counts executives from all 2011 Fortune 500  companies as members.

Did you find out anything you didn’t know already?

Here is a summary of their most important findings:

Social media is important to marketers

As many as 83% of marketers suggested that social media plays an integral role  in their marketing campaigns…

…so we need to be utilising the likes of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Youtube.

Video marketing is where the next big push will be

76% of marketers intend to invest more time and money in Youtube and ‘video advertising’…

…so if you don’t want to get left behind online, start brainstorming a video that will go viral!

The top 5 social media networks are…

Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Youtube and blogging, according to marketers. Only 40% of marketers are using Google+, although more are planning to sometime in the future…

…this means that, for now, you should be focusing your social media marketing strategy on the first four networks, as well as blogging (take a look at why you should blog).

The 3 greatest benefits of social media are…

1. Generating more business exposure (85% of marketers)

2.  Bringing about increased traffic (in other words, driving your client stampede, totalled at 69%)

2. Gathering information on your target market (65%)

Social media marketing is time consuming

Most marketers use social media for 6 hours or more per week, and over a third are putting in as many as 11 hours  into their social media strategy…

…this is strange when you consider that…

…hardly anybody outsources their social media campaigns!

Only 30% of companies outsource some parts of their social media work. This is a tiny 2% increase from 2011.

This is understandable given the state of the economy. However, if you don’t have the time to do it yourself, and you can manage the strain on your businesses’ cash flow, it’s a good idea to invest in marketing now.

Especially something as affordable and effective as social media marketing.

Why? Because if your competitors are not doing it, then you have a clear field to capture your target market.

————————————————–

*More than 3,800 marketers took part in the study.

You can find a link to download the full 42-page report here.

But there are a number of questions about how you should use Twitter. For example, how often should I tweet? What should I tweet? Should my tweets be auto-generated?

This is a guide to answer these questions and more. Use the following 5 tips to optimise  your Twitter account:

1. Form a Strategy

Many companies use Twitter differently. For Example, Dell uses Twitter to sell products and share information related to the company.

Starbucks UK respond to customer queries or offer suggestions to customers in their store as to what they should buy.

Often, I see small businesses using Twitter to connect with and form stronger relationships  with their customers.

Whatever your goal, make sure there is an over-arching strategy behind your tweets, or they might not be as effective.

2. Edit Your Twitter

The only scenario where you can risk having an incomplete Twitter profile is if you are the owner of a worldwide brand like Coca Cola or Amazon.

But it only takes two minutes to create an online profile with Twitter, so why not edit yours? Without a profile your credibility will lessen and you will not be worth following. So add a description of who you are and what you do, and make sure you have your website attached as well (better yet, make sure your site is mobile-optimised for those using Twitter on their smartphones).

People will usually look at such information to determine whether or not you are a ‘fake’ or ‘spam’ account.

3. Only Use So Many Automated Tweets

If you are looking to interact with your customers, automated tweets won’t do the trick. For instance, most Twitter users can tell if a tweet is automated and usually find them quite annoying. Therefore you shouldn’t use too many automated tweets, although they can be fine if kept to a minimum.

4. Be Original

Try to make your tweets unique to attract the interest of your follows and to generate positive real-time interaction . This can improve the image of your brand and, if people favourite or retweet your posts, even get you more followers and, by extension, revenue.

A good example of this is Skittles. Their twitter feed is full of random, thoughtful and amusing observations that a lot of their fans enjoy – myself included!

5. Lastly, Be Useful

If you are a restaurant owner and a follower has mentioned your company in a tweet, and they’re not sure what to buy from your menu, message them back on Twitter with a suggestion or even with a special deal.

Even better, let them know you have noticed them mentioning you on Twitter by giving them drinks on the house.

Such actions can produce upbeat online publicity  for your company and provide you with lifetime customers who appreciate your kindness and consideration – as well as more followers.

Many traditional, long standing business’ sat back, relived they had not jumped on to the ‘technology bandwagon’. The internet was simply a passing fad and life could now go on…

BUT it wasn’t and many of these traditional businesses got left behind. The internet was merely the foundation of what is happening now. Change happens regardless of what you do and the methods we are using to communicate, like it or not, are changing – rapidly!

In a 1995 article in Newsweek an author writes…

But today, I’m uneasy about this most trendy and oversold community. Visionaries see a future of telecommuting workers, interactive libraries and multimedia classrooms. They speak of electronic town meetings and virtual communities. Commerce and business will shift from offices and malls to networks and modems. And the freedom of digital networks will make government more democratic.

Baloney.

Just about everything he mentions as baloney has come about…

in less than 20 years .

Change is happening faster and faster…

The Industrial Revolution took around 150 years and ended approximately 1914. During that time great leaps forward were made in agriculture, industry and transportation with the invention of the tractor, the cotton gin and the steam engine. Roughly 50 years later in 1969 we landed on the moon.

How’s that for fast progress!

The internet is no longer considered a ‘passing fad‘. The likes of social media and  mobile marketing have taken on that title – but beware , they are no more a fad than the internet of the 90′s.

So what happens if you decide that social media and mobile marketing are simply not for you?

Remember what happened to Borders?

Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow but, at the rate of change we are currently experiencing,

soon you may not have a business to worry about!

Most people do not leave home with out their smart phones so why not put your product or service into the palm of the consumers hand?

Like Pavlovs dogs at the first noise or vibration from our smart phone we are conditioned to check and see who is trying to get in touch.

The vast majority of people will open a text – we are curious (nosey?) that way, so why are SME’s so reluctant to embrace this almost captive audience?

Patrick Moorhead, senior vice president of mobile at Draftfcb Chicago says…
 

“Brands that have a mobile presence no longer have a first-mover advantage. Instead, brands that do not have mobile initiatives will eventually be left in the dust as marketing switches to a mobile-first mentality.”

All small and medium sized businesses need to use the most popular medium to get their goods, products and services in front of the most people.
 

Newspaper circulation is down, leaflet drops simply don’t work and people put their ‘snail’ mail to one side and read it later BUT…

almost 95% of people WILL open a text message.

Most businesses have quite periods whether is be the middle of winter for garden centres or most Tuesday night’s for a restaurant, these are the times to initiate your mobile advertising.

‘FREE SCONE WITH EVERY HOT CHOCOLATE DRINK BEFORE 4PM – GREENFINGER GARDEN CENTER’

’15% DISCOUNT FOR NEXT TEN CUSTOMERS THAT ORDER A MEAL FOR TWO OR MORE PEOPLE – FOOD 4 U RESTAURANT ‘

Short texts to previous customers can be the answer to less than full garden centres and restaurants alike.

Why not call us today, take us up on our free consultation and let’s see if we can bring you profitability where you thought there was none.

MFSB where technology meets outstanding customer service…

It can be a scary new world of Facebook, Google, Pinterest, Twitter etc. and many business owners feel its just for the young ones -WRONG!

Lets talk the language of business, lets talk ROI, lets find out just what your cash will get you if you embrace online marketing and online customer service because that is what social media is all about.

The ROI of social media is that you will still be in business in 5 years…

It really is a simple as that. Embrace social media or be prepared to not be in business. The young ones are your next generation of customers and they are lazy…

They want it to be as easy as possible to find the goods, services and products that they need. They will go online using tablets and mobile phones, they will ask friends for recommendations, they will read reviews before deciding and they cant find your business, they wont buy from you.

You have to meet them online in a way that makes it easy for them to buy, you have to provide customer service online because that is what the next generation of your customers are doing and you have to let go of all your traditional ideas about how to promote your business.

Don’t be one of the businesses that will fall by the wayside in the next 5 years…if you want to know more about how to promote your business online call MFSB today.

Is it just so the people you meet don’t need a pen?

Take a look at it if it only has your name, title, company, address, fax, and phone number then your missing a big trick!

Think out of the box a little and also take the opportunity to stand out from the crowd.

Pack on your e-mail address, website, logo, and tag line too and your headed in the right direction.

Stick a QR code on there that links to a mobile website with your profile and full contact details and now your starting to get with the programme.

Instead of a single little card double up and create a minibrochure that lists the benefits you offer and services you provide. People will appreciate you packing so much into such a small package.

Add some colour, your picture to make it easy for them to remember you. Have it fold down the same size as other business cards, so it can be kept with them.

Test Sub Highlight

Put the icing on the cake with an extraordinary offer that motivates people to keep it on top of the other cards. Free consultation? Free appraisal? Free estimate? Do what it takes to make you stand apart from the usual boring business cards and people in grey suits.

Avoid the tacky though, having invested such creativity into putting it together and sending it out don’t ruin it by giving it that home made look. Local printers and online printers can produce high quality cards for a few pounds.
Now that you have the cards in hand make the best use of them stick it in every mail you send, always carry some and swap them with people you meet taking great care to store the ones you get in return.

In this high tech world why is it important to make sure you keep having real face time with people?

For one you are off the record. How many times have you called someone and you can hear people talking and phones ringing in the background? Many people work in open planned spaces these days and a truly private conversation can be hard to come by.
 
Chances are if the call is not private you are not going to get the important information that you might need whereas over a latte, a bite of lunch or a walk people are more inclined to be relaxed, open and honest about what they are looking for.
 
Building rapport with someone is so much easier during a face to face conversation. You can respond to body language, more easily tell how the person is feeling and relaxed ‘small talk’ can often provide vital pieces of information that help you to provide the service.
 
So even in the age of virtual face time there is still a reason to have some real face time.

google.co.uk to the web search:-

1. Go on your pc type in your industry and where your based e.g. restaurant Glasgow. You see those really prominent listing with the flags by them that match that nice big map? Are you listed there?
2. Do the same on your smartphone are you listed there?
3. Now go to your website on your smartphone. Can you easily get your selling message without having to zoom in and out and scroll around the screen?

If you can’t find yourself but you can find your competition then you want be surprised to learn that your customers are doing the same.
 
Try this for a comparison go on your smartphone to google.co.uk web search and do a search for “fish and chips Hamilton”, you will see the GOLDENFRY listed. Click on it and see how much easier it is for their customers to do business with them.
 
There’s a huge opportunity for smart business owners to cash in but you need to take action now as mobile is growing much faster than the original internet.

Mobile Friendly Website

Your next generation of customers, the igeneration if you like will expect a mobile version of a website whenever they use their smart phone to surf the web. The Google mobile site shows that the search giant is taking this new wave of technology seriously and their mission to provide the best possible experience online is a good one to take on board.

So are mobile friendly websites simply a mobile enabled version of an existing site? They can be but at MFSB we think that people who are using their smart phones to access your website are on the go people who know what they are looking for. That is why when we create a mobile website for your business it will contain unique content, thumb friendly, clearly labelled buttons and will provide concise information that meets the needs of the user.

A click to call button is just one of the features that our mobile websites offer. One click sends the user to their phones dialing feature and one more click connects them to your business…

As more and more businesses are waking up to mobile friendly websites can your business afford to miss out on this wave of technology? If not and you would like more information call us today on 0141-416-2641 or 07414 907936 and find out how we can help you ride the latest technological wave and not be swept away by it…