SEO Expert Omaha | Bob Musilek

SMB’s are not finding ROI in “Social Media” Now What?

Social media management services have taken a nose dive. Why has SMB'S demand for these services dropped off a cliff? The social media hype bubble has burst, and most SMB’s have not realized their return on investment in social media alone. They’re not willing to pay companies hundreds of dollars a month to market their company exclusively on Facebook or Twitter; instead they are diverting those dollars to pay per click options, SEO, optimizing their websites for conversion and mobile, or targeted local media advertising like online display, IYP sites and even the original search engine “The Phonebook”.
Many SMB’s market primarily to a middle aged customer base (35 up to 75 years of age) this demographic alone makes social media marketing a difficult fit.
Social media marketers will disagree, “You’re doing it wrong”. All businesses need social media marketing, which if done correctly for a long enough time, will pay for itself.” But, to them, the SMB’s of America respond, “I’ve forked out thousands of marketing dollars; There's no ROI in sight”
Like so many new Internet marketing concepts, social media has been overhyped to the point where local small businesses, contractors and even larger companies thought it would make their cash registers ring. These types of business owners went out and looked for companies to manage their social media for them, a flurry of social media marketing companies were born; many traditional newspapers began offering digital agency services to fill the void of declining revenues. These news agencies not knowing a thing about local search or generating leads for SMB’s fueled the fire by creating their own Hype “Social Marketing the next big thing”
Now  that the smoke has cleared, here’s what these new agencies have learned: In a perfect Social Media world, your clients will loyally send their promotions and industry news each week, you write the copy, post photos, track the engagement, and their phone rings off the hook.
In reality, where we all live, this is not the case, the business owners are too busy, and (wearing many different hats) they don’t have time to send the material necessary to get the social media campaign off the ground.  As for the client’s cash register? It’s not ringing… No ROI
The type of business most likely to realize a social media return on investment are B2C businesses whose customers are younger than 35 and that focus on entertainment, retail, personal services, or tourism. B2B or home services, or businesses catering to middle age & older people, do not fare nearly as well.
Burst bubbles aside, here are the top three reasons for nearly all SMB’s to invest a small amount of time on social media:
1.  It’s free or near nothing, if you don’t count your time as money.
2.  It is an important way to reach customers younger than 35 years old, and an essential way to reach those under 30. Have an event to promote? Combine sponsored posts with a contest or other creative marketing, and you’ll get tangible performance results.
3.  Social media is important for SEO, but as far as knowing how social works in search results, this is where the professionals can help.
What SMB’s should know about social Internet marketing?
 SMB’s need to allocate a portion of their marketing budgets to social media management: Start building a foundation on channels like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube & G+.
1.   You don’t own your social media presence: Facebook and Twitter do. You can invest large amounts of time and money in obtaining likes and developing custom tabs and functionality, and then Facebook can pull the rug out from underneath you by converting to another format (like Timeline) overnight.
2. Half of all Americans are not on Facebook, and some experts think Facebook penetration in the U.S. market has maxed out. This means half of all potential customers (or higher, if your target customer is older than 35) have a slim chance of ever seeing your message.
3.  People do not use Facebook, and especially Twitter, with a purchasing intent. When they want to buy a product or service, they use search (Google, Yahoo, Bing IYP’s & Yes, Phonebooks). This is why it makes more sense to invest in integrated marketing programs, which offer products like professional websites, optimized for conversions and mobile access, and drive traffic to it through using SEO, pay per click, and targeted display advertising strategies.

At the end of the day business owners want results, once the preverbal internet “HYPECLOUD” has cleared, business owners want and need to invest in products and marketing programs that have tractable data – Transparency.  SMB’s have now realized the smart choice is a well rounded marketing program that can target their customer base & demographics. As for the new media agencies, the bottom line is quality customer service, with ROI being the new social priority.

Bob Musilek Digital Strategist Joins Hibu Omaha

Bob Musilek heads to Omaha Ne, with the announcement of Hibu's comprehensive programme to transform the business from being a leading supplier of print and online advertising for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to being a leader in the emerging local eMarketplace for consumers and SMEs. The strategy was debuted following a rigorous six month strategic review led by Mike Pocock, hibu’s Chief Executive Officer, and his management team. The review included extensive customer research and thorough assessments of market opportunities.
Our strategy calls for an intense, multi-year programme of activity that will facilitate the transformation with the following aspirations and initiatives:

• To become the leading digital services provider to Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), offering them social, e-commerce and mobile web capabilities, among other value added services
• To pioneer the creation of the local eMarketplace, comprising an innovative platform and digital portal where consumers and SMEs can connect and transact
• To achieve leading share of attractive customer segments such as new and existing Latin markets and US Hispanic markets
• To extend the life of the established print business to fund digital growth
• To deliver a best-in-class customer experience, including self-serve and simplified offerings

Musilek stated, "brining this programme to Hibu Omaha leverages our strong presence in the local market, providing a broad range of digital services that address the converging SME need to grow, to transact and to be efficient in the digital world and the consumer’s need to be connected locally to the goods and services they want, to save time and money, and to move their lives forward".
Strategic partnerships form an important part of the strategy that will help drive forward the execution of each initiative. As a consequence, we have rapidly built a strong portfolio of business partners focused on further enhancing our SME and consumer offerings and contributing to the creation of the local eMarketplace platform. Since announcing the strategy in July 2011, relationships have been announced with:

• Znode, acquired by hibu in July 2011 to provide the eCommerce platform that underpins the Group's new digital service offerings
• Microsoft, with whom hibu has established a global strategic alliance, enabling the Group to offer a broad range of Microsoft Advertising solutions and software to its over million strong SME customer base
• The UK Government, who selected hibu to help UK SMEs export their products
• Bazaarvoice, a global leader in transforming customer conversations into long-term business value, enabling eMarketplace participants to engage and converse with their customers online
• Netbiscuits, the leading platform for developing, publishing and monetising sites and apps across all mobile and connected devices, allowing eMarketplace participants to quickly move their products into the mobile environment
• Shopkick, an innovative leader in local loyalty, allowing US businesses to use smartphone technology to reward customers for visiting their premises
• Moonfruit, acquired by hibu in June 2012, to complement the website building capabilities of Znode, by offering merchants the facility to build their own web presence together with the ability to transact online, on mobile and in social media

Bob Musilek will lead the charge, as Hibu Omaha begins to implement its strategy in the Heartland.

Digital Media Specialist Relocates to Omaha Ne.

   Bob Musilek is moving to Omaha,
Bringing 10 years+ experience in digital marketing, and a passion for Social Media. While in Omaha Nebraska, Bob will lead by conducting local Training of all types of search, LBS /Mobile, SEO, SEM, and all forms of Social Media Optimization.
 Bob has an extensive background in sales, leadership and marketing, his focus will be on the development of new media & online product selling strategies, new customer acquisition, same store growth, customer retention in the Omaha area.
 Bob has a Strong understanding of social media strategies and social media protocol with a solid grasp of New media trends and industry topics. Musilek stated: "Omaha Council Bluff's Business environment is embracing new technology and building a very strong digital landscape,  just look at all the growth from companies like, Google, Yahoo, Pay Pal, TD Ameritrade it's an amazing time to be hear in the heartland!"
Bob’s goal while in Omaha, is to ensure he positions his customers, team members, and local Omaha companies to succeed in today's ever changing digital landscape.


Bob Musilek's  Specialties are: Online Product Strategies, Helping Business with Sales Execution,
Marketing, Communications, Branding, Advertising, Interactive, Creative Design, Public Relations, Social Media, Brand Strategy, Account Planning, Mobile Media,
  A leader of SEM  / SEO/ Online Display and mobile products.
A proven track record of implementing and delivering key initiatives. Build and manage Websites. e-commerce solutions, New Sales Channel Development, Assist brick-and- mortar business get ahead of the new media curve.