I’m Julie Niehoff, Director of Field Education & Development for Constant Contact. Thanks for taking the time today to learn more about using email marketing and social media to grow your business. We hope you will gain insight into some if the key strategies for using Constant Contact tools – both for your own business and also for your clients.
Now, let’s focus on what goes into a social campaign
Marketing has changed….maybe you’ve noticed? How many of you use [click to build] Facebook for business? How many are on Linked In? Twitter? Anyone tweetingright now? (remind of twitter handle) [click to build] Who uses Pinterest? Instagram? YouTube?[click to build] And how many have checked your email today? (all hands up) …. We used to tell people over the back fence, nowWe tell everyone – our family, our friends, our colleagues, our clients, old highschool boyfriends/girlfriends, grandparents, teens.We have flipped the funnel – it’s less about spending all of your time/money and energy finding new customers and more about fully engaging your existing happy customers and making it easy for them to tell others. The changes have leveled the playing field for smaller organizations to compete with the big boys….[click to next slide]Mobile stat from: research from:email open by platform: https://litmus.com/blog/email-client-market-share-stats-infographic-june-2012
Marketing has changed….maybe you’ve noticed? How many of you use [click to build] Facebook for business? How many are on Linked In? Twitter? Anyone tweetingright now? (remind of twitter handle) [click to build] Who uses Pinterest? Instagram? YouTube?[click to build] And how many have checked your email today? (all hands up) …. [click to next slide]Mobile stat from: research from:email open by platform: https://litmus.com/blog/email-client-market-share-stats-infographic-june-2012
Having a great CTA. A Social Campaign is only as good as what you’re offering. Is it compelling? Is it useful? Is it something your customers will want? CTAs in original slide…traded out to match the CTAs in the SC templates per S.S.Visit your retail locationPlace orders onlineCall you to purchase or book your servicesWrite a positive reviewTell their friendsDownload more informationRegister for an eventoffer a couponrun a sweepstakessell with e-commerceshare exclusive contentget donationsshare a videosign up for your email newsletter
Email is:Privacy and intimacy – 1 on one relationshipSegmentationConversion – send out an email with a link and 100 people click it to donate, 33 will actually complete that transaction where as in social media only 3 will.Social media is relational in that it helps you to grow relationships and build your list as it is the new word of mouth. Email is transactional as this is where people tend to do business.Email is:Privacy and intimacySegmentationConversion
71%of consumers are more likely to purchase a product based on social media referralsSource: http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/30239/71-More-Likely-to-Purchase-Based-on-Social-Media-Referrals-Infographic.aspx
If you have concerns, you’re not alone. Many small businesses think:(Click) Social Media Marketing looks interesting, but… I will never have a million customers or even 5,000….(Click) Using new, inbound marketing tools sound great, but… I will never write Thought Leadership articles….(Click) Paying close attention to what’s being said on social media sounds useful, but… I’ll never have a dedicated staff to do it right…(Click) I hear about new networks everyday, but… I just don’t have the time to stay current
What you do have is powerful! You can successfully market your small business or association because you have…Loyal, happy customersAn excellent customer experienceInteresting and important things to say!
There are easy ways to discover which social media channels are your customers’ preferred channels. (Click) Remember: your contacts, customers, and prospective customers want to keep in touch with you on their terms, so dive in and learn the nuances of the more popular social media tools like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Your audience, marketing objectives, and available resources will dictate which social media is right for your business or organization. Another easy idea? (Click) Add social media icons to your next email marketing campaign or website and measure the number of new fans, followers, comments, etc. You will quickly be able to assess which channels are the most popular using click-through information available within Email Marketing reports or website analytics .
As you get to know what channels your audience likes, also consider what you should be using for your business. Let’s talk about each social media channel, how to use them, and how you might use them for your business or organization.
UPDATED 10/2012- CHWhy are businesses and organizations using Facebook? It’s because the majority of people who use social media are on Facebook, which means your customers or members are there too. There are now over 1 billion active users, and more than 500 million of them log on to Facebook in any given day.They’re spending a lot of time on Facebook and it’s not just about connecting with their friends and family. Users are also connecting with the brands and businesses they like.Let’s meet one of those businesses, who we’ll use to illustrate how Facebook can be a key part of driving your strategy.[click to next slide]Source: http://newsroom.fb.com/content/default.aspx?NewsAreaId=22ADDITIONAL STATS: People Interact With their Favorite Brands on Facebook More than other Social NetworksFacebook – 34%, Twitter – 4%, LinkedIn 1%2011 Chadwick Martin Bailey and Constant Contact Consumer Pulse
Create a Business PageFill with content that is relevant to them – comments, photos, videosA Facebook page is a great customer service tool – invite your fans to ask questions, and make sure you get back to them as soon as possibleHave fun too – add some humor to engage your fansMake settings public so your customers and prospects can find youUse as an alternate landing page for your email Add a “Join My Mailing List” form to invite people to join your listA few important things to know about Facebook’s functionality include:Like – let’s the Business Page administrator know that you are a fan of their business, association, or brand. Upon “Liking”, a user can engage with the business page.Post – text, pictures, videos, etc. – the action of putting up content to your pageComment – Leaving a written response for all to see, be it positive or negativeShare – extending the reach of any content object within that user’s network. The content will reference it’s source. ‘Share’ also gives you the ability to send content as an inter-Facebook message to a unique userGroups – Administrated discussion groups within Facebook on varied topics(Click) Applications – Join My Mailing List! As with any marketing outpost, you will always strive to collect the contact information of a prospect in order to engage more deeply with them, in more targeted ways. Constant Contact provides you the ability to do this by adding it’s JMML Application to your Business Page on Facebook. As you learn more about applications, you can seartch for an add those that are right for your business.
Create a Business PageFacebook Page ChecklistIs your URL the first thing listed in the About section?Do you list your social media channels in the About section?Does the cover photo have a description with a call to action?Does your profile photo reflect your brand?6. Are your three most important apps featured at the top of your timeline?Is your User Engagement Percentage at least 2%? User Engagement equals Talking About This number divided by Total Page Likes.Is your content strategy useful and engaging?9. Are you offering exclusive content?Does your page branding identify with your fans?Do you respond to fan questions and like their comments?Are you taking advantage of your industry opportunities?
For more Facebook page vs. profile info, here’s a great blog post that Dave Charest wrote for the blog: http://blogs.constantcontact.com/product-blogs/social-media-marketing/facebook-page-vs-profile-championship/Before we get started, let’s talk about setting up your Facebook business page. You want to make sure you create a business page and not a profile for your business. What’s the difference? A profile is for people – with a profile displays limited information, and it’s not set up to help you promote a business. A page has features and tools designed to market your business on Facebook. A page can also share statistics – Facebook calls these Insights – on your page’s growth, what content your fans interacted with the most, and how many people you’re actually reaching. If you’re not sure, what you’re using, take a look – if you have friends, you’ve set up a profile; if you have Likes, you have a business page. (If you want to convert a profile to a page: http://www.socialquickstarter.com/content/110-convert_your_facebook_profile_to_a_page) Let’s look at the anatomy of a Facebook business page – some of these are similar to a profile, but the way you use them is different:[CLICK TO BUILD] You have a cover photo on the top – use this image to promote your business. It could be products or services. It could be customers using those products or services. You can also spotlight your staff. It’s OK to have text on any images you upload as a cover photo, but make sure there’s not more than 20% on your cover photo, per Facebook policy. http://socialfresh.com/facebook-cover-photo-restrictions/[CLICK TO BUILD] Your business’ profile photo is here – this can be your logo; make sure that whatever you use fits that space and is not cut off. It’s 180 pixels by 180 pixels (resources: http://www.mediabistro.com/alltwitter/social-sizing-cheat-sheet_b31732; if they don’t have photo editing software, use partner PicMonkey – it’s FREE!)[CLICK TO BUILD] Here’s where the page displays information about your business – your name, how many Likes you have (also referred to as fans), the type of business you are, address, phone number and business hours. If someone clicks the about link, they will see a map with your location and contact information, a link to your website, and a description where you’ll briefly share what your business does.[CLICK TO BUILD] Below your cover photo are tabs that link to your photos, video, events, and a map of your location. Facebook allows you to add more tabs to this section, and they are called apps – they’re developed by companies outside of Facebook, and businesses use them to promote different things. Constant Contact has an app that you can add that allows fans to join your email list. [CLICK TO BUILD] This section is what’s known as the Facebook timeline – it displays your posts; the most recent thing you shared appears at the top. It also includes any comments that fans have shared on your page, as well as reviews/recommendations they’ve written.[CLICK TO BUILD] Here’s an example of a Facebook post. You can share an update that’s just text, link to pages on the web, or share photos or share videos.
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If you have highly visual content or great photos of products or your events or whatever you are marketing, you will want share that visual content on Facebook – and your other channels as well. Here’s why: According to Facebook itself, a post that includes a video sees 100% more engagement than a post alone. But wait, there’s more – a post plus a picture sees 120% more engagement (we felt that one first hand – we actually got 127%, but I’m not bragging). AND – if you include a whole photo album, you are looking at 180% more engagement.(Now, we’re all aware that Facebook likes to make changes to how it works…and that applies to the algorithm that they use which determines what posts get delivered to friends and fans. So…be aware of when Facebook mentions changes to their algorithm…and be aware of whether or not you can make adjustments to your approach to optimize the visibility and engagement of your posts.)Not to mention the social sites that are entirely visually based - Pinterest has changed everything. Instagram makes your pictures social, instantly. Mobile is your best friend here.
So how can Facebook help your business? This is the Facebook page for the Belleville Farmers Market in Belleville, IL, and they do a great job with their Facebook page. It’s full of relevant content. [CLICK TO BUILD] There are many posts keeping customers up-to-date about current happenings and promotions within its feed – those posts link back to the farmer’s market website, making it easy for fans to purchase items.[CLICK TO BUILD] Notice that the tone of these posts are friendly! One states: “It’s 2AM: do you know where your fruit is?” with a picture of fresh fruit arriving in crates at the market.[CLICK TO BUILD]They’re also helpful – lots of fans ask questions about products and services on the page, and the farmers market answers right away[CLICK TO BUILD] They also do a great job sharing engaging content – their page is full of funny photos like this [CLICK TO BUILD] They’ve built a great relationship with their fans, and every post has likes and comments – [CLICK TO BUILD] notice that this photo got 260 likes, 63 shares and 6 comments. [CLICK TO BUILD] Because of this great relationship with their fans, the farmers market gets a lot of praise from them – their fans regularly post reviews, photos, and thank yous, which help continue that social word of mouth.
UPDATED 4/2013- ACActive users on Twitter: 288,000,000http://www.mediabistro.com/alltwitter/twitter-growth_b36955 February 2013 Source: Global Web Index88% of users follow at least one Brand on TwitterMore than half of all users follow 6 or more brandshttp://techcrunch.com/2012/10/02/twitter-follow-brands/Tech Crunch, 10/2012If you ask the folks at Twitter if they are a social media network, they will correct you and identify themselves as an “Information Sharing Tool”. In essence, Twitter allows you to listen to global conversations about anything and everything in real time, as they are happening. This is important to any Small Business Owner for many reasons, including:
It gives you an easy way to listen to what is being said: about you and your industry; and about your domain of expertise and your competitors;You can become part of the “conversation”, engaging and adding value to the many-to-many dialogue. Cultivating an approachable online personality will increase your visibility and network-effect over time.Using Twitter, you can:Share links to interesting content & ask for feedbackTweet a survey or pollSend Direct Messages (DMs)Retweet content from people you are following
So what can Twitter do for you? This is the Currier Museum of Art in Manchester, NH. They have a great dialogue on Twitter, a good mix of messages – [CLICK TO BUILD] they promote their exhibits and classes, live tweet during events, share photos, [CLICK TO BUILD] link to news coverage of their exhibits and museum, [CLICK TO BUILD] provide customer services by announcing hours and cancellations during weather emergencies, and [CLICK TO BUILD] they build relationships by promoting others’ content when they retweet their followers’ content and retweet comments from visitors, and when they share information about events happening at other local cultural venues.
UPDATED 10/2012 CH83% of marketers are using LinkedInContent Marketing Institute B2B Content Marketing: 2013 Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends- North America, October 2012http://www.slideshare.net/CMI/b2b-content-marketing-2013-benchmarks-budgets-and-trendsnorth-america-1485577033% of Non-profits and 52% ofAssociations using LinkedInNonprofit Social Network Survey Report, 2009
Manage your professional contacts and relationshipsFind individuals you know in a professional capacityJoin networks or groups by industry, geography, or work historyParticipate in discussionsRecruit attendees to your eventsInvite people to join your mailing list
So how can LinkedIn help your business? This is PropertyMinder of San Jose, CA – they are a real estate software company. [CLICK TO BUILD]Their LinkedIn profile has a full description of who they are, what they do, company website and history. [CLICK TO BUILD]They show their expertise by sharing updates about the real estate industry – they post links to infographics they’ve created, related articles from industry blogs and major news sources like Forbes magazine. [CLICK TO BUILD]They have information on their products in the products section – filled out the product overview for each. [CLICK TO BUILD]And they build relationships on LinkedIn – they post engaging content, ask their followers questions about the industry, and they promote other products and services from industry businesses.
http://www.mediabistro.com/alltwitter/online-users-social-media-infographic_b22882http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/pinfluence-book-review/http://therealtimereport.com/2012/04/02/pin-commerce-21-of-pinterest-users-have-purchased-a-product-they-found-on-the-site/If you are not using Pinterest, you might have heard of it. Pinterest is a virtual bulletin board where users pin images or videos to boards they create based on different categories. The top categories are home, arts and crafts, style/fashion, and food (http://mashable.com/2012/03/12/pinterest-most-popular-categories-boards/) Many of these pins are things they want to purchase, and are linked to e-retail sites.How do you pin something? You can add tools to your Internet browser that allow you to press a button or right click and pin. Many websites also have Pinterest buttons – just click from there and select which board to pin to.[click to build]Pinterest now has 10.4 million active users[click to build] 21% of those users have purchased something they saw on Pinterest
[click to build]Pinterest now has business pages – you can create a business account – different from a personal account.You can have your business verified by Pinterest – there will be a check mark that shows up in your about information.Pinterest has business resources at business.pinterest.com[click to build] Do you have visual content to share? It could be products that you sell, but you can pin anything that has images on a website – your blog posts, newsletters, photo albums, etc. Pin those images and link them to your website. [click to build] You can pin other Pinterest users’ content (which is also called re-pinning) to your profile – it’s easy to do. All pins have a red Pin It button that allow you to save to your boards.[click to build] Not everything has to be about buying and selling – create boards that are related to your business or are just for fun. For instance – if you’re a sporting goods store, you could also have a board for your staff’s favorite hiking and biking trails. [click to build] You can write captions and descriptions on your pins – ask people to share your pins. Share them on your other social sites and ask your followers to re-pin.
How do you use Pinterest for your business?[click to build] Visual content is a great way to drive engagement – a post that includes an album or photo receives 120%-180% more engagement from fans than a text-based post http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/storytelling-with-images/[click to build] Pinterest is a great way to do some customer research – what pins are getting the most comments or repins? Those are products or topics that your audience is most interested in, so make sure you’re offering them more of what they want.[click to build]Pinterest can also drive users to your website. This is a pin from Constant Contact customer/online T-shirt shop TeeFury. They have a new T-shirt every day in their shop, and they pin each design to their Pinterest board. All the pins are linked to the product’s page on their website, so you can easily buy their merchandise.
[click to build] Art Impressions – a rubber stamp/craft store in Salem, Ore. – does a great job with their Pinterest marketing. [click to build] They pin offers like this free pumpkin stamp they gave away to people who made a $30 purchase. They also pin their customers’ work.[click to build] They ran a Social Campaign on their Facebook page – they gave away an owl stamp to their fans. Pinned the promotion on their Pinterest page. They also pin how-to videos, where their experts show you how to use their stamps.
Should you be on Instagram? You should if you have images to share – and if you have a smartphone.Instagram is a mobile app for the iPhone and Android – you can’t add images via your computer – it’s all done through your phone. You can see Instagram users’ profile pages and photos in your computer’s web browser, but all uploading and interaction take place through the app.[click to build] 100 million monthly active users http://allfacebook.com/instagram-reaches-100-million-monthly-active-users_b111646?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+allfacebook+%28Facebook+Blog%29[click to build] 40 million images uploaded every day (AllTwitter.com, Nov. 2012) http://www.mediabistro.com/alltwitter/social-sharing-2013_b38339
http://blogs.constantcontact.com/fresh-insights/instagram-for-business/Here are six tips to help you get the most out of this powerful tool:[click to build] 1. Use images to tell a story, not blast your brandingIf you sell a product or service, make sure the images you use are about the experience of using the product or service, and not a product placement ad.Starbucks is an example of a big brand that does this well. Sure their photos show lots of Starbucks cups, but their photos also tell a story—the focus is always on what the person is doing while enjoying their coffee—on the beach, reading a book, etc.There’s not a lot of tolerance for marketing that’s obviously marketing. Keep it subtle and keep the focus on your customers.[click to build] 2. Most photos fall into two categories: beautiful imagery or humorMake sure your Instagram photos fall into one of these categories. Most users aren’t posting all their random party pics to their Instagram stream and brands should exercise similar constraint. Photo albums in that vein are for Facebook. Think of your Instagram photos as high value/low volume.[click to build] 3. Don’t post too oftenA general rule, don’t post more than three photos in a row or one every three hours. If you post more often than that, you run the risk of hogging your users’ feed.Anecdotally, I’ve noticed that most users follow between 50 and 250 users. I think this is a sign of social media maturity—folks are learning from their experiences on Facebook and Twitter that following too many accounts is overwhelming.Also, unlike Facebook, the commitment level to an account is low—”unfollows” can happen frequently. Don’t automatically share your Instagram photos—editorially select and customize each one for the appropriate platform.And remember, you can use apps like PicFrame to include several snaps in one Instagram. Just be sure the images are related and the impact is magnified (rather than splintered) when you use a collage.[click to build] 4. Choose an account name that’s the same as your Twitter handleHaving the same Instagram account name and Twitter handle serves two purposes. One—your profile will be easily recognizable and easy to find. And two—if you are tagged by another user in a caption and that photo is shared on Twitter, that tag will link to your Twitter profile. It ensures that tagging makes sense when an Instagram photo is shared on other networks.[click to build] 5. Use hashtagsLike on Twitter, hashtagging photos enables discovery of your profile by users outside of your primary connections. You can use the search functionality on the app to find out which hashtags are often used. Like on Twitter, hashtaggingInstagram photos by event, geolocation, or subject matter is a good idea.Other hashtags people tend to use on Instagram are filters and colors. Hashtags tend to be somewhat limited on Twitter due to the character length limitations. Because Instagram doesn’t have these limitations, this has encouraged some users and brands to stuff Instagram captions with every hashtag imaginable. Don’t do this—it looks like you’re trying too hard. Even worse, it makes you look like a spammer.[optional tip] 6. Set up an account on a web-based viewerInstagram’s focus continues to be all about the mobile experience, but the app recently added the ability to view individual photos on the web through a shareable link. This feature allows your Instagram stream to not only be seen by those not using the app, but allows those who do have an account to like and comment on a shared photo right from the web. However, using a separate web-based viewer can help you manage your presence and track your progress.Using Instagram’s API, these tools recreate your feed on a webpage, so you can view multiple photos at a time (without scrolling) on your computer. Most often you can make the same actions (liking, commenting, searching, tagging, etc.) on these web viewers that you can make on the mobile app. My favorite tool is Statigram—they even have a few basic metrics, comment notifications, and an Instagram campaign toolkit.
[click to build] Instagram is a great way to engage with your audience through multimedia – people love photos, and Instagram makes it easy for people to interact with your content. [click to build] It’s another avenue for customer service – you can easily interact with your followers and answer questions.[click to build] If your products or services can be told through photos – and they can be shared in an interesting way – Instagram is a great way to promoteCTCT customer: Vinatero Wine Shop in Whittier, Calif.Example photo from Vinatero Wine ShopUsed Instagram for over a yearThey already took a lot of photos for social media marketing, so Instagram was a good fitLisa Ceja, co-owner: “Instagram lets us share bits of our blessed life as wine shop owners. We aren’t just taking a picture of a bottle of wine and posting it—we’re telling the story behind it. I try to post once or twice a day.” They share behind-the-scenes photos of wine tastings, events and their day-to-day life as wine shop owners.[CLICK TO BUILD] Instagram has been very useful in their customer interactions – you can see that a comment on this post with their wine store monkey mascot asked if they host wine tastings.[CLICK TO BUILD]Vinatro was able to respond right away and direct the customer to the wine tasting info on Facebook.
CTCT customer Awesome Merchandise in Leeds, UK – promotional products businessThey use Instagram to promote their products and designs, but they’ve also started to create a community there by sharing more about their employees and their customers.[CLICK TO BUILD] Started on Instagram to show customers what goes on behind-the-scenes at their factory and with their employees – this images shows followers the company culture – artsy office, happy employees, checking out some new designs. They also take photos of their employees to promote their employee profiles on their blog.[CLICK TO BUILD] They do a great job of leveraging these images on other channels – their customers started to send them photos of Awesome Merchandise boxes and products with their cats. They shared a customer photo on Instagram. [CLICK TO BUILD] It was also featured in their newsletter as a way to ask people to send them more cat photos [CLICK TO BUILD] and they shared it on Facebook.[CLICK TO BUILD] They’ve used Instagram to offer discounts and hold contests/giveaways. The photos include info on prizes and how to enter.
343 million monthly active users: http://socialmediab2b.com/2013/02/b2b-social-media-google-plus-best-platform/http://socialmediab2b.com/2013/02/b2b-social-media-google-plus-best-platform/37% taken an action http://www.marketingprofs.com/charts/2012/9671/facebook-pinterest-trigger-more-offline-actions-than-other-social-sites5 billion times Google +1 button used per day http://www.jeffbullas.com/2012/11/28/the-latest-27-social-media-facts-figures-and-statistics-for-2012-infographic/What is Google+? According to Google, the idea is to make sharing on the web more like sharing in real life. Essentially, the user experience is similar to that of Facebook (a news feed based on status updates and shared content, recommended friends, etc.), but the idea here is to make it easier to share content with specific sets of people (called Circles) instead of just publishing content on your wall for everyone to see.Google+ is a small but growing social network – [CLICK TO BUILD] there are 343 million monthly active users, and [CLICK TO BUILD] their +1 button is clicked 5 billion times a day. The +1 button is similar to a Facebook like, and allows you to give a stamp of approval/endorsement of content that’s shared by other Google+ users.
http://blogs.constantcontact.com/product-blogs/social-media-marketing/what-is-google-plus/If you decide to use Google+, here’s some tips to get you started:[CLICK TO BUILD] You can choose what audiences to share your posts with – to get the most bang for your buck, make sure you’re sharing things publicly so more people have an opportunity to see your content.[CLICK TO BUILD] You can organize your Google+ followers by putting them into groups that Google calls Circles. Think about creating circles for customers, event attendees, people who like a certain product, volunteers (if you’re a nonprofit).[CLICK TO BUILD] Once you’ve organized your circles, consider sharing relevant content with those circles. If you have a survey for current customers, think about sharing that on Google+ with your customer circles.[CLICK TO BUILD] Google+ has live videoconferencing, which they call Hangouts. You can schedule them in advance and notify your circles. Think about having a hangout for Q&A, as a webinar, or as a video podcast. You can save your hangouts and post the videos on your other channels.
So how can Google+ help your business?Here’s the Google+ page for Quiqq – they’re a CTCT Solution Provider – and their app provides small businesses a fast, easy way to sell their products. [CLICK TO BUILD] Having a Google+ page is a great way for Quiqq to get more SEO (Search Engine Optimization) value. Google+ is a Google product. If you have a Google+ page and provide information about your business, and you’re sharing things online – blog posts, photos, videos, and any content from your website – you have a greater chance of coming up in a Google search. [CLICK TO BUILD] The Google+ cover photo is huge – we cropped this image of Quiqq’s page – the photo is very large, and gives you a digital billboard to advertise your products or services.[CLICK TO BUILD] There are tabs on Google+ for photos and videos – it’s really easy for your followers to have access to any multimedia you’re posting[CLICK TO BUILD]Quiqq also has lots of Google Hangouts – this gives them a chance to speak directly with their customers in real time. You’ll learn more about what your customers want, and they will get to know you better.
We've covered a lot of social media tools here, tips on what to do with them, and how some businesses are using them. But what do you do with all of it? After you’ve decided what you want to use for your business - set up your profile, spread the word, start sharing content, and don’t forget to monitor what people are saying online.
Make sure your presence looks good: make your profiles polished and professional-looking.Complete your business profile with a: description, clear contact information, your website URL, and a Join-My-Mailing-List tab/information;Include your website URLBrand the presence: add your business logo, pictures, and a backgroundAdd starter content! It’s important to populate your social media profiles with interesting, relevant content before you begin inviting folks to fan, follow, friend, and link to you.
Announce your new presence in your newsletterwith a clear Call-to-ActionInclude standard links in every email so subscribers can share your contentInclude social media sign up icons in every email so subscribers can join you on your social sitesAnnounce your new presence in your newsletter with a clear Call-to-ActionInclude standard links in every email campaignAlways include a share bar in every email. Make it effortless for your network to share your great content
Wondering what kind of starter content you can use to populate your profiles, today?Information, tips, and practical adviceQuestions asked by your customersOr links to:Archived Email Marketing newslettersPolls and SurveysEvent Homepages and registration pagesBlogs (yours and others)Websites (yours, and others in your area of expertise)Product or service reviewsThought-provoking discussions that inspires debate and dialogueRich media: relevant videos, photos, podcasts
Speaking of starter content, one of the best ways to reuse content is by repurposing email marketing newsletter content. Most Email Service Providers such as Constant Contact provide a Share Bar at the top of emails which will allow both you – and your recipients – to share your content across social networks. Whenever possible, add Social-sharing capabilities to your content to provide customers and prospects alike an effortless way to share it within their networks.
This slide shows an example of the Manchester, NH Animal Shelter’s content reuse across multiple platforms. They had a story about 34 cats that had been living in an apartment building that were available for adoption. [click to build] They included it in their newsletter. [click to build] They also talked about the cats on their blog, on Facebook and on Twitter. The key takeaway? A little content can go a long way! Create content “sound bytes” for easier content reuse.
When getting started with social media marketing, be the expert!1. Focus on the content - share knowledge so people careIt’s not about youIt’s about what you know2. Trade useful information for attentionWill they talk about it when out with friends?Will they look forward to your next communication?Will they be inspired to share/tweet/comment on this information?3. Filter out the noise by narrowing focusing on creating a stream of relevant, interesting contentBe an expertClearly convey the mission. It’s OK to deviate at times, but stick to a 90/10 rule of thumb
Once you are actively monitoring for social media channels, you will encounter both positive and negative comments. Positive comments are a perfect opportunity to interact and help spread your messages and other content. Social networks are a convenient way for people to share interest and excitement, but more importantly… relationships. So what should you do?Comment back. A simple sentence to show you are interested in what they have to say demonstrates that you are listening to your customers, and those prospects that are lurking. Whenever someone says something positive about your business, simply say ‘Thank you!’ online – publically – to reinforce continued engagement and show prospective customers that you are listening.Answer questions. Clear and helpful answers to questions posed by your customers is a hallmark of excellent customer service. The benefit of answering them on your social media network is twofold: 1) odds are others have the same question and will be helped- or chime in for more information, and 2) you can then repurpose your answer (content!) by including it in your Email Marketing, Tweeting it, etc.This graph shows Yelp’s aggregate rankings of businesses as of September, 2009. Yelp is a ratings and review social site which allows consumers to share the experiences they've had with local businesses. This As you can see, the majority of online feedback is positive.
Negative comments are inevitable: social networks can be a convenient way for people to vent any frustrations. Remember that social media marketing is about creating positive relationships through many-to-many (not one-to-one or one-to-many) engagements. Rather than fear negative comments and a tarnished reputation, look at every negative review as an opportunity to engage with the dissatisfied customer, resolve their problem, and further delight them with an excellent customer experience. Study after study shows that if you can resolve a problem, a customer will be more likely to buy again and recommend you than someone who had a pleasant experience the first time around. And since most content that is shared on social networks can be seen by others, your engagement with both positive and negative commentary will inspire credibility and trust with both old – and new customers. [Note: see in-slide example. Boloco asks a complaintive customer to Direct Message them his Boloco member card number so that they can remedy a poor experience, a.k.a., give him a free burrito on-the-house. Notice that the interaction took place on Twitter, offline, in a Direct Message (DM), but Boloco publicly and graciously responded so that Boloco’s quick action to satisfy their customer is transparent to all Followers).1. Always reach out to the customer, ideally offline!Pick up the phone if possibleUse a private message, email, or DM2. Let your network know that you are addressing the issue. [See Boloco example above]Don’t be afraid of publically addressing a negative comment on social networks. Delight the customer to turn a negative experience into a positive one they’ll tell their friends about!
What should you monitor? Monitor the activity of all your social presences, including:Your Brand. Think about all it’s possible spellings / configurations. For example: Far And Away Bicycles, Far & Away, Bicycles, Bikes, etc.Your competitors. Spot successful tactics being used by others in your industry (and the not-so-successful!) For example: Does the pizzeria down the street tweet daily?Do the other consultants in your area of expertise have LinkedIn profiles? What do they look like?3. Categories, topics, and keywords of your business. For example:Pets, Dog Day Care, Cat, Dog, Pet sitting, Animals, Rescue etc.Take a few minutes to make a list of the main topics you’re monitoring, and then make a list of three or four subtopics. If you think about it, when you’re focused on your reader and your expertise, most of what you’re going to be monitoring falls under five to seven main topics. Set these topics up in Google Alerts or Twitter to begin to get a pulse on the conversations happening and content being distributed.4. The experts and influencers in your business. Watch not only what they’re saying, but what they’re sharing, which events they’re choosing to promote, who they’re following, etc.
When you’re just getting started monitoring and listening to what is being said about you, there are several easy and free tools at your avail:HootSuite: a social media dashboard for teams used to gather intelligence, search, etc.Last but note least: NutshellMail: (more in the next slides)Google Alerts: Google Alerts allows you to “save” keywords. Google Alerts will then send you an email anytime your keyword matches with new content found on the web.You could mention these as well…TweetDeck: a real-time browser, connecting you with your contacts across multiple social platforms such as: Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, Foursquare, Google Buzz, etc.RSS: Real Simple Syndicate. Use a web reader (such as Google Reader) to “pull” new content to you in real time. You can apply an RSS feed from newspapers, blogs, and most content distribution channels.
When you’re just getting started monitoring and listening to what is being said about you, there are several easy and free tools at your avail:HootSuite: a social media dashboard for teams used to gather intelligence, search, etc.Last but note least: NutshellMail: (more in the next slides)Google Alerts: Google Alerts allows you to “save” keywords. Google Alerts will then send you an email anytime your keyword matches with new content found on the web.You could mention these as well…TweetDeck: a real-time browser, connecting you with your contacts across multiple social platforms such as: Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, Foursquare, Google Buzz, etc.RSS: Real Simple Syndicate. Use a web reader (such as Google Reader) to “pull” new content to you in real time. You can apply an RSS feed from newspapers, blogs, and most content distribution channels.
When you’re just getting started monitoring and listening to what is being said about you, there are several easy and free tools at your avail:HootSuite: a social media dashboard for teams used to gather intelligence, search, etc.Last but note least: NutshellMail: (more in the next slides)Google Alerts: Google Alerts allows you to “save” keywords. Google Alerts will then send you an email anytime your keyword matches with new content found on the web.You could mention these as well…TweetDeck: a real-time browser, connecting you with your contacts across multiple social platforms such as: Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, Foursquare, Google Buzz, etc.RSS: Real Simple Syndicate. Use a web reader (such as Google Reader) to “pull” new content to you in real time. You can apply an RSS feed from newspapers, blogs, and most content distribution channels.