On Tuesday, the Associated Press’ Twitter account was hacked into, and a tweet was sent that said, “Breaking: Two Explosions in the White House and Barack Obama is injured.”

After the tweet was sent out, the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged. The Dow was at 14,698 when the fake tweet was shared. Within two minutes, the Dow had dropped 127 points and fallen into the red, WSJ.com said. Bloomberg added Twitter to its stock dashboards for stock traders months ago, and market experts say close tracking of social media has become the norm in trading.

The Syrian Electronic Army has taken credit for the incident, announcing its ties via Twitter, along with the hashtag #ByeByeObama. FBI spokeswoman Jenny Shearer said the bureau was investigating how hackers were able to send out the bogus tweets.

On Saturday, social media accounts maintained by CBS News programs “60 Minutes” and “48 Hours” were compromised. The Syrian Electronic Army also claimed responsibility for some of these hacks on their own Twitter account.

Twitter says they will be adding two-factor authentication to make these hack attempts almost impossible.

This reminds us that whatever you share on Twitter can spread like wildfire and impact the world, for better or for worse. At Fahrenheit Marketing, we help our clients use the power of social media to convert clicks into customers. If you would like to learn more about our social media services, contact Fahrenheit Marketing today.

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Tumblr was founded in 2007 and is both a blog and social network that’s helpful for posting and sharing images, video, audio or short pieces of writing. Unlike Facebook posts, Tumblr content is indexed by search engines, so using it can increase your company’s search visibility.

Facebook is the only social network that users spend more time on than Tumblr. According to comScore, an Internet analytics service, 50 percent of Tumblr users are age 25 or younger. So if your company markets to a younger audience, tap into Tumblr. But even if that isn’t your target audience, you can still benefit from Tumblr. Here are some tips for getting started:

• Create a Tumblr blog: Make sure your domain name connects to your business or brand.
• Listen up: When using any social media, you should start by listening. Search topics related to your business to see who else is sharing about it and follow them.
• Reblog: If you want to show love on Tumblr, reblog something someone else posted. It will show up on your own Tumblr blog, with attribution, and they might return the favor one day.
• Play tag: The best way to get found on Tumblr is to use tags. For example, if you are a bakery, use tags like cupcakes, baking, cookies and Austin, TX, to help users find you.
• Put Tumblr in your tool box: To make it even easier to reblog posts, just install the Tumblr bookmarklet in your Web browser. Then, you can quickly reblog anything you find without even logging into your Tumblr account.

To learn more about how Fahrenheit Marketing can help you use social platforms to convert clicks into customers, contact us today and set-up your consultation.

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• Follow people similar to you: Through different Twitter tools like Hootsuite, you can set-up streams to search for people with the same passions as you. Once you find them, start following them and seeing what they tweet about. Then see who they follow and begin to follow them.

• Know Your Tweeting Options: Your Twitter timeline can look like a foreign language if you don’t know all the different ways you can tweet. Here are just a few:

• Tweet: Post an update that all your followers can see.
• Tweet to a specific person: If you just want your tweet to go to one person and your mutual friends, put @ followed by the person’s Twitter name at the beginning of the tweet.
• Tweet multiple people: Put spaces between all their Twitter names in the tweet.
• Reply to a tweet: You can reply to one person, or all the people mentioned in the tweet.
• Retweet: Share someone else’s tweet that you liked.

• Start talking and don’t worry about interrupting: If you see someone asking a question you know the answer to, or talking about something you love too, don’t be afraid to join in on the chat. Twitter is a public conversation that you can jump in on at anytime. Through interacting with others, and retweeting tweets you like, you will quickly build your followers.

• Be careful with retweets: Many people like to retweet or RT because it’s easy to do, and it helps show some Twitter love to followers you admire. But try to only retweet links or comments you really see as valuable to avoid populating your Twitter stream with a flood of random RTs within seconds of each other.

• Start Twitter friendships: Once you are on Twitter awhile, you will start seeing who is on around the same time you are. After tweeting back and forth, you can start to develop a relationship and even help each other out if you are in the same kind of industry.

If you would like to learn more about how to make the most of your social media and use it to convert clicks into customers, contact Fahrenheit Marketing today and set-up your consultation.

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Don’t Have Too Many Buttons

For some website managers, the solution is to include every social media button that exists, but doing this could cause you to end up with fewer social media shares. Here’s why:

Too many social media buttons can slow down your website, which will hurt your Google rankings and increase your website’s bounce rate.
More options mean that your visitors will have a harder time choosing which network to use.
According to Quick Sprout, people are more likely to click one of your social sharing buttons when you give them three or four options instead of five or more. And they recommend only using four buttons if you have more than 50,000 monthly visitors.

Which Buttons Should You Use?

Now that you know how many buttons to use, it’s time to decide which ones are right for your website. This process isn’t one-size-fits-all, though. The right choice for one website won’t necessarily be the right one for another site.

To help you decide which buttons to use, look into your analytics tools to see which social media sites refer the most traffic to your website. While you’re at it, think critically about the demographic of your ideal visitors. Are they businessmen in their 50s? Maybe offering a LinkedIn share button could help spread your message. Are they 35-year-old housewives who love to craft? Try having a “Pin It” button so they can share your post on Pinterest.

If you’re looking for a Internet marketing agency to help move your website and business forward, contact Fahrenheit Marketing today.

The post The Art of Sharing appeared first on Fahrenheit Marketing.

1. Search them out.

Instead of waiting for customers to find you, find them. Through services like TweetDeck and Hootsuite, you can set up a variety of Twitter searches to see if anyone is talking about your company, or to get a handle on what kind of products your customer base is interested in. For instance, if you are starting a Thai restaurant, set up a search in your geocode and use specific keywords such as “love Thai food” and tweet those who love Thai food about your new restaurant. Or you can see what kind of Thai dishes people say they love and try to incorporate it into the menu.

2. Have a contest.

As we mentioned in a previous post, giving away products or having contests that engage your customers also helps you build up your customer base. But remember the point of the contests isn’t just to get more fans or likes, but to get devoted fans. So keep your contests targeted to the specific audience you want as customers and offer prizes that relate to your company.

3. Make the most of each social channel.

If you put the same posts on all your social channels, no one needs to follow you on all of them. Each social platform has its unique attributes that you can capitalize on to help your company. Posting an image on Facebook gets more shares than posting one on Twitter. It’s easier to have a conversation on Twitter and answer specific customer questions than on Facebook. Foursquare is perfect for giving special offers to those who check-in to your business. Before you post or tweet, make sure you are sharing the message on the best social channel for it.

To learn how we can help you gain more customers through social media, contact Fahrenheit Marketing today to set-up a consultation.

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According to the National Labor Relations Board: sometimes.

The NLRB has made it illegal for companies to adopt broad social media policies that discourage workers from exercising their right to communicate with one another for the aim of improving wages, benefits or working conditions.

A case in New York demonstrates how the ruling could be applied. At Hispanics United of Buffalo, a non-profit social services provider, one of the caseworkers threatened to complain to her boss that the other caseworkers weren’t working hard enough. Another worker posted a Facebook status asking, “My fellow co-workers, how do you feel?” Four other caseworkers responded to the post in angry, sometimes expletive-ridden comments.

All five employees were fired from the organization for harassing a co-worker. However, in a 3-1 decision, the labor board decided that caseworkers had been unlawfully terminated. The posts, said the board, were the sorts of “concerted activity” for “mutual aid” protected by the National Labor Relations Act of 1935.

In other cases, however, the board was not quite so forgiving.

Frustrated by a slow evening for news, a police reporter for the Arizona Daily Star tweeted several comments, including “What?!?!?! No overnight homicide. … You’re slacking, Tucson.” He was subsequently fired from the newspaper. The NLRB found his dismissal legal because the comments were offensive and not about working conditions.

The rulings have been criticized by some who say the NLRB is trying to apply progressive era policies to 21st century realities, and sometimes not very successfully. The labor board counters, however, that social media has become the new ‘water cooler’ of the workplace and that the board is protecting employees’ right to complain about working conditions just like it did in the heyday of the unions.

In the end, the lesson most of us can take from the controversy is that it’s worth your while to be careful on social media. Nothing is private on Facebook or Twitter and what you say online can come back to haunt you.

So the next time you tweet about being bored at work, take a moment to consider the following questions. Is your boredom a legally-protected coercion with other workers about improving wages, benefits or working conditions? Or is it time-stamped proof that you’re a lazy worker (and dumb enough to let your boss know)?

To learn more about the new social media rulings, check out Steven Greenhouse’s excellent New York Times article.

Think you may need Austin SEO and social media marketing for your company? Contact Fahrenheit Marketing today.

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1. Set a clear, specific goal.

Your goal through your contest shouldn’t be just to get a certain number of likes or followers. It doesn’t help if you have more fans, but your company hasn’t grown its community or revenue. Try to set a goal that will help your company more directly, such as doing research. If you are a dentist and want to see what kind of people like teeth whitening, offer a free whitening for those who like your page and see who enters. 

2. Follow the rules.

Many aren’t aware that Facebook and Twitter have strict guidelines when it comes to running contests. If you don’t follow the rules, your company could be penalized. Try to use third-party apps to do your contests on Facebook, which will help you avoid breaking Facebook policies, and read The Twitter Rules before starting your promotion.

3. Choose a prize that relates to your company.

It can be tempting to offer prizes like iPads since most people want one. But that doesn’t help you with your target goal of reaching your specific audience. Try to offer prizes that relate to your business that your ideal customer would want. It’s cheaper, and it helps build up your target customer base. Or you can even offer prizes that won’t cost you anything. For example, some companies let their fans give ideas for a new flavor of chips or suggest a name for a new menu item.

If you would like to learn more about how Fahrenheit Marketing converts likes into fervent fans, contact us today.

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Facebook’s “Graph Search” isn’t like your typical Google or Bing search. Instead of matching up keywords with sources containing those keywords, you’ll instead search combinations of phrases such as “my friends who live in Austin and like SEO” and the results will include people, places, photos or other content that’s been shared on Facebook.

So does this mean that people will be able to search things I’ve kept private?

No. According to Facebook, Graph Search will respect your current privacy settings. So if you’ve taken 110 photos of your cat (and who hasn’t, right?) and posted them in a private album, a stranger searching “photos of cats” won’t be able to see Snuffles in his scandalous Halloween outfit.

For those of us interested in SEO, Graph Search opens up a whole new realm of possibilities about how people will locate websites and business online. Instead of using Google, Facebook users may turn to Graph Search and type in “dentists liked by my friends from Austin.” This means that keeping Facebook pages up-to-date, engaging with fans and sharing business information such as location and industry on Facebook will become more important than ever.

Graph Search beta begins today and is only available for a limited number of English language Facebook users. If you’re interested in checking it out, sign up for the Waiting List at https://www.facebook.com/about/graphsearch.

To learn more about Facebook business pages and the Austin social media marketing strategies here at Fahrenheit Marketing, give us a call today.

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1. @chrisbrogan: Chris Brogan is the NY Times bestselling author of “Social Media 101” and is the president and CEO of Human Business Works. He has an informative newsletter he sends out every Sunday to subscribers that shares many of his social media and online marketing secrets to success.

2. @MariSmith: Mari Smith is considered one of the top social media thought leaders and is a popular consultant who trains businesses in how to best use social media. She has a helpful book,“The New Relationship Marketing,” which outlines a proven nine-step program for building a network comprised of quality relationships that garner leads, publicity, sales and more.

3. @marketingprofs: Ann Handley is the Chief Content Officer of MarketingProfs, which provides strategic and tactical marketing know-how and training for marketing and business professionals. She also writes a helpful monthly column for Entrepreneur Magazine.

4. @garyvee: Gary Vaynerchuk’s book “The Thank You Economy” details the effect of social media on business. His company, VaynerMedia, helps Fortune 500 companies like Campbell Soup Company, PepsiCo, Green Mountain Coffee, the NY Jets and the Brooklyn Nets find their social media voices and build their digital brands.

5. @unmarketing: Scott Stratten is the President of Un-Marketing. He is an expert in Viral, Social and Authentic Marketing which he calls Un-Marketing — positioning yourself as a trusted expert in front of your target market, so when they have the need, they choose you. His book “UnMarketing: Stop Marketing. Start Engaging” became a national bestseller before it was released.

We hope learning from and following these social media experts will help you as much as they have helped us. To learn more about our social media strategies, contact Fahrenheit Marketing today. 

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Social media will almost certainly continue its swift wave of growth. The top social media platforms for businesses in 2012 include Facebook, Twitter and blogging — in that order. Of course there are many valuable social platforms, but for our purposes here, we are choosing the three listed above. If you think social media isn’t for you, we challenge you to test it for six weeks. Prove yourself wrong — or right.

Your Weekly Social Media Schedule

Facebook (Monday, Wednesday and Friday)

• Each Monday, Wednesday and Friday, write a Facebook status related to your business. Post the status.
• Each Monday, Wednesday and Friday, “like” a Facebook page related to your business.
• Each Monday, Wednesday and Friday, reply to a comment someone has made to your status or post a comment on another’s Facebook page. Make your comment engaging and informative.

Note: If you are using Facebook for business, use your Facebook business page, not your Facebook personal account. If you need to set up a Facebook business page, roll up your sleeves and create a simple business page. It is easier than you think!

Twitter (Monday, Wednesday and Friday)

• Each Monday, Wednesday and Friday, write a tweet related to your business. Publish the tweet.
• Each Monday, Wednesday and Friday, follow one new Twitter account related to your business.
• Each Monday, Wednesday and Friday, reply (or “@” in Twitter lingo) to one account you follow with an interesting comment.
• Each Monday, Wednesday and Friday, retweet (or “RT”) a tweet from one account you follow. Use Twitter’s retweet button whenever possible.

Note: You will need a Twitter account and a Twitter “handle” — @YourNameHere. Choose your handle thoughtfully. The easier your handle is to remember, the easier it is for followers to find you.

Blogging (Monday)

• Write one 250- to 300-word blog post (engaging, informative story) prior to Monday. Post each blog so that it is live each Monday at 8:30 a.m.
• Leave a comment on another site’s blog that is related to your business. Make sure the comment is related to the blog or thread. Shy away from comments that might be interpreted as a sales pitch.
• When appropriate, add your email address or URL to the comment as part of your signature.

Social Media Tips

• Consistency is key in successful social media marketing.
• Take care in your tweets, statuses and comments to stay away from a pushy or hard sell. Having said that, by all means put information about your products on Twitter and Facebook. This is how followers find you. Most definitely post statuses and tweet about special offers!
• Each time you post your blog, take time to tweet a link to the blog and add it to your Facebook page.
• Check as often as possible to see who has commented on your blog, replied to a tweet or posted a comment on your Facebook page. Respond to them.

Social Relationship Building

One of the most important things to remember when using social media is that social media relationships are often built on reciprocation: “You follow me and I’ll follow you.” This is especially true with Twitter. “Followbacks” are important, but build your relationships based on how they benefit you. Oftentimes a follower wants to keep up with you, but they themselves may not send out social messages. Followbacks are not always necessary.

After your six week challenge, you will be socially savvy and better able to determine if social media is right for you. At the very least, you will have a better understanding of the social landscape and the time involved in developing and maintaining your social side. Consider our challenge to you a win-win.

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