The Social Media Marketing & Communications guide for Natural Health and Wellness insiders.

Tweet Links to Drive Clicks (Not To Drive Your Ego)

Twice today I’ve seen natural product brands tweet a link to a media story about their product. Both times the brand ignored the original headline and theme of the story and instead tweeted a headline that was all about them.

For example, say the Globe and Mail just published a story about natural approaches to managing high cholesterol. And hooray – they included a mention of your product!

Their headline: “Natural Health Companies Capitalize On Consumer Safety Concerns About Cholesterol Drugs.”

You might be tempted to start tweeting: “Read about us in the Globe and Mail! <link>!”

Here’s why you need to think twice:

Use Google Analytics to Fire Up Your Web Strategy: Tuesday Tweaks

(There’s so much social media advice out there that it can be overwhelming. Tuesday Tweaks are the antidote… simple, step-by-step actions for improving your social media performance. On Tuesdays, but not every Tuesday.)

Martina Iring just published a post reminding us how important Google Analytics is for your web strategy. Fact is, a website without analytics may not be worth building. Luckily, you can add analytics after the fact. Like now.

Here’s my comment on Martina’s post:

To be valuable, your website needs to perform. To measure performance, you need analytics. Websites aren’t written in stone anymore – they’re living evolving things. Keywords, page titles etc need to be tested, evaluated and likely changed over time. Google analytics helps you see what’s working and what isn’t.

Focus Your Attention and Build Engagement on Twitter with ConversationList

(There’s so much social media advice out there that it can be overwhelming. Tuesday Tweaks are the antidote… simple, step-by-step actions for improving your social media performance. On Tuesdays, but not every Tuesday.)

Many thought leaders agree that “engagement” is an important aspect of any Social Media business plan, but I continue to see many natural health and wellness businesses struggling to engage people online.

Conversationlist is a free tool that helps you build engagement on Twitter.

Tuesday Tweak: Embed Twitter Search Columns in Your Website or Blog

(There’s so much social media advice out there that it can be overwhelming! Tuesday Tweaks are the antidote… simple, step-by-step actions for improving your social media performance. On Tuesdays, but not every Tuesday.)

When Prairie Naturals asked me to help them generate conversation about their ReCleanse Whole Body Herbal Detox program, I wanted to do something that hadn’t been done in this industry before.

Hence… “The ReCleanse 7 Day Twitter Review.”

Starting today, about twenty participants will tweet in real time about their experience using the program.

The details of “The ReCleanse 7 Day Twitter Review” are on their Facebook page, but what I really want to share with you right now is Hootsuite’s tool for embedding a twitter search column directly into your website or blog.

Tuesday Tweaks: How to keep your facebook fans happy even when they’re not

Call it the Triple-A protocol for Facebook wall interactions. (Every good system is better with a snappy name right?)

1. Acknowledge
2. Address
3. Accountability

The Triple-A protocol applies to both POSITIVE comments and NEGATIVE comments on your Facebook wall.

Here’s a recent example from a wellness retail chain’s facebook wall (edited for privacy and clarity).

Tuesday Tweaks: Un-Sync Your Social Media Platforms

Don't Tangle Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn

(There’s so much social media advice out there that it can be overwhelming! Tuesday Tweaks are the antidote… simple, step-by-step actions for improving your social media performance. On Tuesdays, but not every Tuesday.)

Many people in business are tempted to synchronize their Twitter, Facebook and even LinkedIn posts. This means that when you post to one, you post to all. I think this is a grave mistake.

Tuesday Tweaks: Put Keywords in Your Facebook, Blog, Twitter Titles

(There’s so much social media advice out there that it can be overwhelming! Tuesday Tweaks are the antidote… simple, one-step actions for improving your social media performance week by week.)

Do you know about Search Engine Optimization (SEO)? How would you like to get the benefits for free, just by tweaking what you’re (hopefully) already doing?

Your customers, prospects, partners, and the media all search the internet every day for the information they need. They use Google, Bing, Yahoo and other popular search engines. These search engines now include Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and other social media content in their results.

Bottom line – When people search for information that relates to your business, you want them to find YOU.

Search Engine Optimization simply means that you optimize your online presence (your website and various social media sites) so that when people search the internet, your brand comes up on top. SEO is a crucial part of any successful website or online presence.

Until recently SEO was still a very complex (and expensive) proposition. You hired an SEO specialist to add keywords to your website meta-tags and do a bunch of coding and back-end stuff that most people don’t really understand. Many companies still pay big bucks for SEO consulting to improve their search rankings and get more website traffic.

There’s nothing wrong with that. Many SEO specialists provide very good value.

But I’m going to show you one single tool to drastically improve your SEO – to connect you to your target market – without spending a single extra cent or taking any more time out of your day…

Tuesday Tweaks: Optimize Your LinkedIn Website Links

(There’s so much social media advice out there that it can be overwhelming! Tuesday Tweaks are the antidote… simple, one-step actions for improving your social media performance week by week.)

LinkedIn lets you display up to 3 website links on your profile.The generic default reads “My Website” but you can customize the titles to reflect the name of your site or whatever keywords or phrase you choose.

The benefits are two-fold -

1. Your website links become much more compelling. People are more likely to click on them.

2. Weblinks to your site containing your name or keywords are valuable SEO tools. Your website search engine optimization and general find-ability shoots up.

Tuesday Tweaks: Hotlink Your Company Website on Your Facebook Fan Page Profile

(There’s so much social media advice out there that it can be overwhelming! Tuesday Tweaks are the antidote… simple, one-step actions for improving your social media performance week by week.)

Today’s Tweak: Hotlink Your Website in Your Facebook Fan Page Profile Box

Part of the reason you have a Facebook Fan page for your business is to direct visitors to your company website right?

So make it easy for them! Many fan pages include a company website address (beginning with www. etc…) in the profile box that appears on their “wall” sidebar (beneath your profile picture).

But you can do better.