You may have noticed that social media results are appearing more frequently in search results. Search your business or any of your competitors in Google and you will likely see a Facebook page or LinkedIn company page displayed in the organic search results.

So…why does this even matter?

What is the goal of SEO?

To rank on the first page of Google…

That’s the bottom line, right?

We can say it is to index in all search engines, and have our business represented with relevant content…but the real goal is to rank well in Google to get traffic to our websites.

And to get traffic, you have to be at the top of the first page when someone is looking for your business or service. If you are on the second page, you’re invisible.

Bottom of the first page….eh, I wouldn’t celebrate.

Is Social Media Marketing is the New SEO? A couple of case studies…

Case Study 1: All Star Automotive Group

A Google search for “All Star Automotive Group“  shows the following results.

Notice the top three results following All Star’s website: LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube…certainly consistent with the previous theory.

Now you may be tempted to think that this search was done on an Ipad, so the results would be different if I did them from a desktop or laptop. So, here are the results from that search below.

I can tell you that no matter what OS I use to search, Facebook and LinkedIn have consistently been at the top of the search pile. YouTube, Twitter, and Pinterest tend to be less consistent, although one of them routinely appears.

Case Study 2: Sanford Infiniti

A search for “Sanford Infiniti” reveals the following results…YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook all on the first page of Google.

An interesting point about this search: when I first ran the search, I noticed the social media results were at the bottom of the first page of Google for this search. But when I ran it a week later, the YouTube and Facebook had both moved up to the middle of the first page.

So, it seems social media search results tend to respond well to some basic optimization and more frequent posting to generate more unique content…or Sanford Infiniti has a very skilled social media expert that makes it look easy. I can tell you from experience that it is not this easy with other types of search results. Of course, other search results that dealers control don’t have the massive Page Rank 8 or 9 that social media sites have.

Are your social media sites ranking in Google?

Now, obviously social media is not the only influencing factor in SEO, and you should certainly focus on owning search results for other high-traffic keywords. However, when someone Googles my business, I still want the results to display sites I own or control.

Social media gives you the ability to dominate the search results your customers see, to improve the organic search rank of your “lead-generating” web properties, and to funnel traffic to websites you own. Ohhhh!

I encourage you to test this for your business. Simply Google your business, and see what comes up.

Are the search results the content you want…and have control of?

Do you see your Facebook page, LinkedIn company page, or YouTube channel?

If not, get into your social media, optimize it, and make it happen.

Also, if you are reading this sentence, hopefully you found this article interesting. Do me a solid and share it below.

What have you experienced with your search results? Which social media sites have you noticed ranking well? Message me or leave a comment below.

Now potential customers can get pre-approved for financing in seconds…without even leaving Facebook.

Benefit to Customers

This essentially makes it easier for customers who are in the market for a new vehicle to find out if they are pre-approved for financing…without even having to leave their house.

Actually, without even having to leave their Mac.

In fact, this application is so quick, customers will be back to more important activities in less than two minutes…like checking out pictures of their friend’s cat

A simple click of the button below, and the customer is linked directly to the short application.

Why does this matter?

At a time when other automotive dealers are still trying to figure out a strategy to reach customers via social media, All Star is investing in technology that makes it faster and easier for customers to find the car they are looking for…and get the financing they need without wasting a lot of time.

Or even setting foot in a dealership.

Feel free to leave a comment with your thoughts.

Please consider that as marketing director for All Star Automotive, I created this Facebook page…

So please spare my feelings

What’s New?

The update includes a new cover photo (shown below), custom page promoting the Kia Optima, and new custom tabs where users can sign up for a $500 coupon, get pre-approved, or value their trade all without leaving Facebook.

The highlight of the cover photo is the 2013 Kia Optima, which is just plain cool! So, I decided it needed its own custom tab as well.

In it, there is a Kia Optima commercial embedded, as well as links back to All Star Kia’s inventory, pre-approval app, and contact form. Pretty cool, right?

Check out the custom tab on All Star Kia’s Facebook Page here <== Click here to view.

Here is the design of the custom tab, but to get the full tab with the Kia commercial included, you have to click the link above to view the full Kia Optima tab. It’s sooo worth it

Kia of Baton Rouge Facebook Highlights:

Page: www.facebook.com/AllStarKiaBatonRouge

Fans: 3,158

Page Reach: 27,655 Peeps per week

Customization: 2013 Kia Optima tab, Get Pre-Approved app, $500 off coupon, and Kelley Blue Book Trade Valuation app.

Don’t spare my feelings…

Let me know what you think in the comments below. Unless you don’t like it, then just ignore the previous sentence

I will periodically do a case study on a local company that is doing an amazing job on Facebook, or some other social media platform.

So…here it goes.

First, let me give a big thanks to the founders of Izzo’s Illegal Burrito. I discovered Izzo’s when I was in Grad School at LSU.

And…I’m pretty sure I lived on it exclusively during that time.

Izzo’s Illegal Burrito is Crushing it on Facebook

Company: Izzo’s Illegal Burrito

Website: http://izzos.com/

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/izzosillegalburrito

Current Fan Count: 21,060

People Talking About: 917

Izzo’s on the Baton Rouge Social Media Scene

So why is Izzo’s dominating Facebook? After all, for a local business, 21,060 fans is A LOT of fans. The potential reach of this page is staggering. If every Facebook fan has an average of 250 friends (this was the average, although Izzo’s average per fan reach is probably higher since their fan base is younger), the reach is

21,060 x 250 = 5,265,000 <=== Imagine if you business had the potential to reach this many people.

Here is the video explaining what Izzo’s does so well. Enjoy…

Question to ponder: What are you getting on your burrito when you visit Izzo’s today?

I began working in Baton Rouge social media as a franchisee of an international fitness franchise.

Since then, I founded a Baton Rouge Social Media Marketing company. In a short period of time, the market and demand for social media in Baton Rouge has increased significantly as businesses recognize the substantial value of this marketing asset.

Before you consider hiring a baton rouge social media marketing company, here are some things to consider.

What are your goals?

Do you want to drive more traffic? Increase sales? Maybe you want to simply provide great customer service. Or create goodwill by providing great content to your customers.

Whatever your goal, make sure the company or individual you consider hiring understands your goals. The person pitching you their services should definitely ask about your goals. If they don’t, I’d look elsewhere.

What is your budget?

Social media services are not cheap, with good reason. A Facebook business page, for example, is an advertising medium that can attract more traffic than a business website (with as much functionality), and provide significantly more opportunity for customer interaction.

Baton Rouge Social Media Investment

Here is a list of price estimates from an article titled How Much Does Social Media Cost Companies in 2012. Prices are based on published rates found online, as well as what other agencies and consultants have quoted for service.

Facebook

• Initial Page Setup: $500-$2,500
  Most Charge: $500-$1,500
• Monthly Content Management and Creation: $500-$3,000 a month
  Most Charge: $1,000-$2,000 a month
• Facebook Promotion Creation
  Short-Term (1-3 months) Contest, including branding for the app, limited promotion on other channels such as Facebook and Twitter to promote the contest.  Fee doesn’t include prize and Facebook Ads to promote: $1,500-$20,000

Twitter

• Account Setup: $500-$2,000
  Most Charge: $500-$1,000
• Ongoing Account Management and Training: $500-$3,000 a month (For this service, the more content you need provided for you, the higher the fees)
  Most Charge: $500-$1,500 a month

Blog

• Design and template creation: $1,000 – $5,000
  Most Charge: $1,000-$3,000
• Writing/Editing Content for the blog plus ongoing training: $500-$4,000 a month (Assume 1-2 posts a week at this rate)
  Most Charge: $1,000-$3,000

Do you plan to create the content?

Who will post on your Facebook page or Twitter account? Do they know how to engage fans, what to say…and what not to say?

Fan engagement is part art, part science. Done right, it can generate a thriving community of fans promoting your business. Done wrong, your Facebook page is a morgue.

Content creation, like anything else can be outsourced. If you decide to handle it in-house, make sure the person handling it knows how to engage customers and increase your presence online.

Do you plan to use paid advertising on social media?

Facebook is probably the one of the most targeted advertising platforms in existence. You can hyper-target your ads to your exact customer demographic in a way that no other advertising platform can touch.

In my experience, paid advertising (Pay-per-click) for Baton Rouge social media is extremely effective and I recommend considering it. If you do hire a social media consultant, make sure to discuss the possibility.

Baton Rouge Social Media Wrap Up

Hopefully, this helps you in taking steps to further develop your baton rouge social media campaign and increase your online business presence.

Feel free to contact me for more information about the services we provide or leave a comment below and we will respond.

-Josh

We are a Baton Rouge-based company specializing in social media marketing and design for business clients. We also provide social media marketing for special event, as well as search engine visibility and blog design.

Below you will find a list of our services:

Social Media

We will create a highly-effective social media design and strategy for your business based on your goals and objectives. Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Google Plus are just a few of our areas of expertise.

Search Engine Optimization

We will design a customized solution for your business to increase traffic to your website, Facebook page, or YouTube channel. Keyword research, inbound links, and “on page” optimization are just a few of the strategies we can assist with.

Email Marketing

We can design and implement an email marketing strategy that combines the latest technology with the most effective advertising methods to get your message to your customers and drive sales of your products and services.

For more information, or a custom quote on services, please contact us.

Thanks for visiting.