Social Media Marketing for Small Business May 17, 2012 SCORE Julia Campbell, J Campbell Social Marketing

What is “Social Media”? Any online technology or practice that people use to share (content, opinions, insights, experiences, perspectives and media). REAL interactions in REAL time.

Is social media just a fad? Facebook had 845 million monthly active users at the end of December 2011 and 483 million daily active users on average. Twitter now has around half a billion registered profiles, with over 100 million in the USA alone. Collectively, Twitter users now send 175 million tweets every day.

Is social media just a fad? As of February 9, 2012, LinkedIn operates the world’s largest professional online network with more than 150 million members in over 200 countries and territories. In January 2012 Pinterest had 11.7 million unique U.S. visitors, making it the fastest site ever to break through the 10 million unique visitor mark. YouTube: 60 hours of video are uploaded every minute, or one hour of video is uploaded to YouTube every second. Over 4 billion videos are viewed on YouTube per day. Over 800 million unique users visit YouTube each month

4 Things You Need To Know This is not a cure for your own ambivalence about marketing your business. Your Social Media Manager/Marketer cannot operate in a silo. If you do not have a website or your website is awful, social media will not be effective. You get out what you put in – time, resources.

Approach social media like a cocktail party Mingle and chat. Laugh and listen to amazing stories. Don’t be a wallflower. Do not be the guy with the lampshade on his head. Do not oversell or come on too strong! Each “party” (network) has it’s own etiquette and rules.

Facebook 101 The place where people go to connect/reconnect with friends and family. People come to Facebook to make personal connections and to have fun. Strategy – Help customers feel more connected to your business; show them who you are as individuals; help them connect to each other. Share “behind the scenes” photos and videos, ask questions, share compelling statistics and success stories. Easy, light, fun. Include media with all posts – links, photos, videos.

Twitter 101 A space where people share the content that excites them, in short 140 character bursts. “Micro-blogging” The link reigns supreme! Strategy – Don’t get too personal; share the best content you can find; drive traffic to your website. Get people to “ReTweet” your content; follow “key influencers” and ask them to spread your message. ReTweet, Thank – create good Twitter karma. Statistics, quotes, links. Be creative!

LinkedIn 101 A professional network where people go to build networks and connect to resources. Strategy – Unlike Facebook, people actually want to talk about work and work issues on LinkedIn. Longer, wordier responses, more professional tone. Look for potential employees and customers, share professional networking events, join Groups and ask questions and start discussions. Thought leadership in your industry.

Pinterest 101 Third largest social network, fastest growing. Very popular with women. The “ability to create your own lifestyle magazine on the Internet” via bulletin boards (pin boards) million unique U.S. visitors in January 2012, making it the fastest site ever to break through the 10 million unique visitor mark. Strategy – Compelling images! Great for retail, art, fashion, jewelry, architecture, travel – visual mediums.

YouTube 101 Video-sharing website where users can upload, view and share videos. Strategy – Create a branded channel, upload videos! Videos should be quick, simple, engaging and professional.

What comes first?

Social Media Plan – SCORE Create a social media plan. Using social media means long term commitment. You will not get results in one day. What is your capacity? Staff time, etc.? You get out what you put in (like everything else).

Social Media Plan – SCORE What does SCORE do? 140 characters, clear & concise, short & sweet. Set a goal. What has to happen so that you can say “it’s working”? Sales Brand awareness Brand reputation Customer loyalty Put a number on it. What gets measured gets done! Hard to measure “brand reputation” – but try to quantify what you can.

Social Media Plan – SCORE Who is your audience? Select the target group that is most likely to be persuaded by your message. Who are the people that have the most to gain by what you do? The “general public” is NOT a target market. Which market is most likely to engage in social media? What channels are they using? What are they doing there? rule (1% of people participate actively, 9% comment and interact occasionally and 90% are lurkers)

Social Media Plan – SCORE Do they know who you are? Where should you start? Start with Fans/Brand Advocates Recruit them to spread the word and bring others over to their way of thinking. Might initially be a small group. Turn what you do into a simple message. (Think tagline.) Why do people buy from you? Why do people participate with you? More than just the “unique selling proposition” – should be emotional and meaningful

Social Media Plan – SCORE Get set up Square avatar Compelling images Search Engine Optimization – SEO SEO visibility – key word research Google Trends - Google Key word Tool Type in any word, phrase or website name. Google gives a list of keyword ideas plus data showing how often words are searched and their ad bid competition.

Social Media Plan – SCORE Plan your content. Make a schedule/Content Calendar 3 blog posts per week One video Update your status every day Build time in for interaction – answering comments and feedback

Ideas for generating content Industry blogs, newsletters, websites Google Alerts & New York Times alerts Competitors Success Stories Inspirational quotes Reached a goal Want input on an issue Events, anniversaries, celebrations, birthdays newsletter Tie current events to your cause/issue Read everything and follow everyone! Figure out what’s working for others and adapt it!

Social Media Strategy – SCORE Writing style Don’t use big words and jargon. Relax, act normally. People like personality. Put some passion into it. Be excited but don’t hype.

Social Media Strategy – SCORE Promote your social media networks! If you build it, they will come. (Well, no…)

Julia’s Social Media Philosophy Social media is a TOOL – it is not a silver bullet. In other words, you still need a good product or service to get people to care.) Integrate it with an overall marketing campaign, just as you would other tools (direct mail, newsletter, website, ads, customer service).

Julia’s Social Media Philosophy Not all social media channels are right for you. Pick and choose. Do a few well than many poorly. QUALITY over QUANTITY – one quality Facebook post per day (or every few days) is worth more than 100 posts that are perceived as spammy.

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