Website Promotion is not Voodoo

Last night I was ousted as Foursquare mayor of my new favorite watering hole by the owner.  Is this fair?

I think not. The red flag that popped in my head when I got the news via e-mail was not that my pride was hurt by losing my title, but that this is likely an issue across the board for Foursquare advertisers.

If you aren’t familiar with the concept of Foursquare or would like more information about how to conduct local business marketing on Foursquare, check out our previous blog post on the subject. The basic gist of mayorship is that a Foursquare user becomes mayor of an establishment by “checking in” more than anyone else in the previous 60 days.

While many companies are still figuring out Facebook and Twitter as a means of local business marketing, a whole new social media is beginning to break into the mainstream. While the underlying idea is to keep you connected, just as other social media networks, foursquare takes it to the next level.

It’s also similar to other outlets in such ways that you connect to people you know by adding them as a “friend,” but past that, this new location-based app sets itself apart by integrating the service into everyday activities, being primarily mobile-based, and serving as a “tap and go” app, with which it  doesn’t take much longer to interact than it does to send a text message to a friend letting them know where you’re having your coffee.

There are a ton of reputable charities out there and donating to anyone of them is admirable, but many of these organizations have no way of showing you the effect that your donation has had on the life of its recipient. SeeYourImpact is a network that enables visitors to make small donations to reputable charities and directly see the impact they have made on the world through the use of testimonials, photos and videos.

The reason testimonials and reviews are so powerful is because they provide a third-party (and hopefully, unbiased) opinion of what actual users think about products and services. Google knows this and considers reviews and citations an important factor in local search rankings.

Studies have shown that not only do long customer stories (2.5 times longer than reviews) lead to increased, more relevant search results, but increasing website interactivity with fresh, real-world content like customer questions and answers can increase sales conversions and lower customer service costs. For some business owners online reviews have become far more useful than the traditional print yellow pages and savvy business owners have figured out proactive ways to use online review sites.

Your Google listing and its Google Place page is a great central depository for all information about your business.  It is the compilation of business owner provided data as well as user-generated reviews. The Place page is an incredibly valuable tool for a small or medium size business owner.  The Places page URL is friendly to users, easy to share, and easy to find …

You will want to search for your company + geo modifier.

For example, “Search Influence, New Orleans, LA” will get me here:

I’ve posted pictures online of the first meeting of the Social Media Club, New Orleans.

It was a good time and I’m hopeful to see it evolve into something worth doing.

More from the Social Media Club of New Orleans:

• Social Media Club New Orleans | Facebook

  download are we done yet free

• Official Blog of New Orleans Social Media Club
  • Wind River full movie
• Social Media Club, New Orleans, on Twitter (in development apparently)

Message in a Bottle release

Red-Headed Woman release

australia onlineThe Taking of Pelham One Two Three movie