Social Media Checklist for 2011

If you haven't already, now is a critical time to get your social media (SM) checklist going, reviewed and implemented to make your 2011 a successful networking year.

So many things change in such a short amount of time, so it's hard to keep up with everything. However, if you want your business to be successful, there are certain areas within SM that you should take note of. Sometimes, not everyone will have time or understand all these areas, therefore, many people will need a social media virtual assistant to help.

Here is a detailed SM check-list of things you or your virtual assistant should cover:

Marketing Overview:

• Create and carry out a plan to syndicate your articles
• Create and implement a plan for all marketing strategies and campaigns
• Run split tests on all of your marketing campaigns and view results

Your Blog:

• Make a plan that allows you to consistently post updated or new content
• Keep your blog up-to-date with all new plugins and upgrades
• Always be sure to submit your blog to RSS feeds
• Focus on creating a strategy for keyword placement, tagging and categorizing
• Be sure to connect your blog with all your social media platforms so updates are relayed in real-time

Twitter:

• If you're using a custom background (which hopefully you are) make sure it's professional and compelling
• Follow up on your past objectives and goals for Twitter to see if they need to change, and ensure you are achieving your original purpose
• Create or update your plans to get more followers
• Examine how often you "tweet," and if you need to do less or more. Also examine what tweets received feedback and which do not, then construct a new plan for 2011

Facebook:

• Make your personal profile strong, unique and professional
• Create a Fan Page or update your current fan page with many of the special features that Facebook offers such as a welcome page and FBML tabs
• Examine your objectives and goals for Facebook and update it, examine why you are on Facebook and what you can do better
• Create a plan to get more Fans on Facebook
• Be sure to add your Facebook Badge to all your sites i.e. blog, website, etc.
• Create or update your Facebook plan to engage past, current and potential clients
• Create a plan to keep your Facebook page up-to-date and consistent with updates

LinkedIn:

• Be sure you've created a professional profile and that it is completely filled out with appropriate information
• Ask for endorsements
• Create a plan and start it by being a Q&A expert role
• Make sure your LinkedIn account is connected to your other social media accounts

Other Social Media Accounts:

• Stay updated with the new sites developing to make sure you are where your clients are
• In finding new sites to participate in, set up a plan and times to update and create those accounts
• If you haven't before, create a video campaign plan with YouTube on your social media accounts

This list is by far not the total amount of work needed to actively keep up with the numerous platforms out there. However, it's a really great start if you're new to this arena. Furthermore, if you are new to or have experienced social media and its many benefits, this list will certainly help you to make 2011 a far more successful year than before. In any case, these platforms can take up a lot of time, as you can see, so hiring a social media virtual assistant may help you to clear up some of these tasks.

Source: http://BeSocialWorldwide.com

8 Expected Social Media Trends for 2011

With all things come change, and if you're set on making positive moves for your business in 2011, there are some necessary aspects you should be aware of. More importantly, if you are using social media as a marketing or communication tool, it's paramount that you add these changes to your strategies so you are well prepared.

Here are some changes that are expected to occur in 2011:

1. Changes to FTC Guidelines: Although FTC changes may not occur at the first of January, it is known that the FTC is looking into this industry for setting regulations sometime down the road. The FTC has begun focusing on paid reviews, disclosure on blogs, and the ethics surrounding traditional bloggers and journalists. If your company is based on interacting and promoting through the internet, you'll need to use these guidelines to properly conduct business.

2. A Neutral Net: Have you heard any news about what Verizon and Google are planning on doing together? If their plan goes accordingly, they are trying to incorporate a paid model into their system. Therefore, all you lovely bloggers out there won't be able to publish your content as you have in the past. Reaching people through blogging will no longer be a "free" form. Companies or individuals with substantial amounts of cash will be able to regulate their blogs in a quick manner, why the rest of us poor souls will have to wait it out. It's pretty unfair, and I honestly don't ever see this coming to pass. There should be something we can do about it, right?

3. Buying in Groups: I'm sure you've heard of sites like Groupon before and that's exactly what I'm talking about. Sites that offer you a greater discount if you get several people involved in the buying process. Groupon has been pretty successful in this venture with a gross of $1 billion dollars in sales. So it's highly plausible that other sites will be taking note and implementing the same strategies.

4. Sell through Social Media: You might be thinking, "Um, what?" but some of you "social media rock stars" already know that you can use Facebook to sell. Additionally, those clients can recommend you and tell their friends to buy. Whether or not you're using an e-commerce site or setting one up through a social network, now it's easier than ever to sell through social media.

5. It's still true, engaging with customers is important!: Hopefully, you've already heard about this a few times through learning about how to strategize with social media. For 2011, it's not really changing, but now it has become more than necessary. No matter what kind of content you provide when trying to engage your readers, the easiest way to begin the conversation is just by asking simple questions. For example: How are you, how's the weather, or what can we do better? Having a bunch of followers on Twitter and friends on Facebook is great, but it doesn't mean anything unless your business is successful. The only way to do that with social media is engaging!

6. Sites Featuring Q&A: Another interesting aspect of social media that is seeing a huge change in influence is Q&A sites. MerchantCircle and Facebook have incorporated this feature to their site, and it may sound odd, but fortunately, these types of sites are making a huge impact on what people buy. I would expect to see more sites like these becoming popular and furthermore, you should get a head start and begin answering questions. Marketing through Q&A sites creates an endless possibility for gaining new clients.

7. Going Mobile: This really comes as no surprise since so many people are using PDA's and other mobile phones to access the Internet. Regarding changes in 2011, it's probably a good idea to start thinking about how you can incorporate new features into your site that will enable purchasing via mobile phones by some sort of application.

8. Oh, and did I mention the content factor?: I've said this before and so has many others, but your content is a highly valuable factor in your business success. Content is not dead nor is about to be. More or less, it's about to take a huge turn and be extremely critical in order to gain new clients. Remember your content must be valuable to your audience; it should stay consistent and take a non-sales approach. It's also important to include as many aspects as your time will allow including videos, podcasts, e-newsletters, and white papers, not to mention your actual web site and blog content.

I'm positive we will see more changes in 2011 and we've only touched base on a few. In addition, hopefully there will be more widespread changes for freelancers, small business owners and social media pirates to gain more security and financial stability for the future. What have you heard that might be changing in 2011?