This was a presentation I put on for CNG: The Certification Network Group. Although the lens is through the eyes of a certification network, there's good content in there anyone interested in created ROI from their social media activity.
How to Use Social Media to Build Your Organization or Certification Network
1. FLYTE SCHOOL
How to Use Social Media to Build Your
Organization or Certification Network
Rich Brooks
flyte new media
http://www.flyte.biz
http://www.flyteblog.com
http://twitter.com/therichbrooks
2. WARM UP QUESTIONS
• Who here is comfortable that they are
currently reaching 100% of their
prospective certificants?
3. WARM UP QUESTIONS
• My attitude on social media is...
• a) it’s essential to our future success
• b) it’s important, but there are better
ways to market ourselves
• c) this too, will pass
4. WARM UP QUESTIONS
• On measuring social media...
• a) if you can’t measure it, it’s not working
• b) it’s difficult, because it’s so new
• c) Facebook gives me a warm feeling
inside...
5. WARM UP QUESTIONS
• How many people here...
• are on LinkedIn?
• are on Facebook?
• are on Twitter?
• have a blog?
• use AOL as their primary business email?
6. TODAY’S GOALS
• To understand social media and...
• why it’s important
• how to integrate it into your process
• how to measure your ROI
• look at some real world examples
7. WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?
• Twitter has 10+ million users
• LinkedIn has 50+ million users
• Facebook has 350+ million users
• US has 304 million people
• YouTube shows 1.2 billion videos/day
• All these stats are out of date!
9. SOCIAL MEDIA
• The Business Case for Social Media
• Conversations
• Customers
• Competitors
• Cost
10. EFFECTIVE SOCIAL MEDIA
• Requires a 5 step process:
• What are your goals for 2010?
• What strategies will get you there?
• What tactics will you need to use?
• How are you going to execute?
• How are you going to measure?
11. SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY
“You cannot have a social media
strategy without a content strategy.”
--Susan Cato
CompTIA
12. WHAT IS A CONTENT STRATEGY?
• Must be outcome driven
• Must have goals
• Must address prospects’ pain points
13. WHAT IS A CONTENT STRATEGY?
• Develop content (podcasts, blog, video, etc)
• Repurpose what you already have
• Reach out to members, bloggers, influencers
• Inspire the audience to connect w/you
26. CASE STUDY: FLYTE NEW MEDIA
• Goals:
• Increase business
• Build personal brand
27. FLYTE NEW MEDIA
• Strategies
• Uncover pain points
• Create compelling, keyword-rich content
• Increase online visibility
• Drive more traffic to site
28. FLYTE NEW MEDIA
• Tactics
• Create content at blog, YouTube
• Participate at LI, FB
• Engage through Twitter
29. FLYTE NEW MEDIA
• ROI
• Web site traffic up 23%
• Conversions up 27%
• Gross profits down (but...)
31. GOODWILL NNE
• Goals
• Store Awareness
• Donor Acknowledgement
• eBay Traffic
• more...
32. GOODWILL NNE
• Strategies & Tactics
• Drive traffic to FB fan pages through
geo-targeted ads
33. GOODWILL NNE
• Outcomes
• Ellsworth opening biggest ever; thousands
attended
• South Burlington had over 300; had no
support staff there to promote it
34. GOODWILL NNE
• Other Activities & Monitoring
• Use Twitter search for “goodwill”
• Track links w/bit.ly
• Review Facebook Insights
37. COMPTIA ED. FOUNDATION
• Background:
• Offers IT certification exams
• Demographics: across the board, returning
military, recently unemployed
• Raise money through donations
38. COMPTIA ED. FOUNDATION
• Strategies:
• Engage prospects
• Retain certified clients (alumni giving)
• Increase donations to foundation
39. COMPTIA ED. FOUNDATION
• Tactics:
• Where are prospects already active?
• Listen and participate
• Strengthen CompTIA’s presence
• Started w/LI and FB, then added
“messaging” with Tw
• Launching blog/podcast
40. COMPTIA ED. FOUNDATION
• ROI:
• Mostly anecdotal
• Donations and online applications spike
after posts to FB, LI, Tw
• LI is great for lead gen, then comparing to
previous lists
• FB fan page activity is up
41. COMPTIA ED. FOUNDATION
• Lessons Learned:
• Go where your audience is
• Don’t reinvent the wheel
• People are self-organizing
• Must be integrated into general
communications
42. COMPTIA ED. FOUNDATION
• Next Steps
• Adding a blog/podcast
• Listening and providing service
• Measure basic referrals through Google
Analytics, later conversions
• Creating dashboards for mentions of brand,
employees, keywords, sentiment
43. SOCIAL MEDIA TAKE AWAY
• Social Media:
• Must be part of a bigger strategy
• Must be purposeful
• Must provide value
• Must be measured
44. FINAL QUESTIONS
• What resonated with you today?
• What will keep you from using social
media moving forward?
• How do we keep the conversation
going within CNG on social media?
45. SPECIAL THANKS
• Calvin Gilbert of Goodwill NNE
(@goodwillnne, @calvingilbert)
• CompTIA (@CompTIAEF, @comptia,
@scato)
• Mike Lewis (@bostonmike)
46. THANK YOU
Rich Brooks
flyte new media
136 Commercial St., Ste 201
Portland, ME 04101
http://www.flyte.biz
http://www.flyteblog.com
http://twitter.com/therichbrooks