Transcript
How to make
social mediawork for your small
business
Originally presented on September 8, 2012
To Entrepreneurs and small business owners as a beginners guide to social media.
Presented by: Stephanie Sigel, social media specialist
Twitter: @StephSigel
What can social do for my business?
Everything that the telephone, print and in-store can do, and more! Build/strengthen relationships with your
customers (Customer Service)
Respond to consumers’ questions/comments (Customer Service)
Generate leads/referrals (Sales)
New products/offers (Marketing/PR)
Monitor conversations about your business/industry (Market Research!)
Is social for B2C more than B2B?
No, both can use social media.
How many of you are currently using some form of social media for your business?
• Facebook• Twitter• Google+• LinkedIn• Blog• Instagram• Pinterest• YouTube or Vimeo,
other video• Geo-location – ie.
Fourquare• Daily deals• Forums• Photo-sharing ie.
Flickr• Social Bookmarking –
ie. Digg, StumbleUpon, Reddit
Do you use social media for your business?
Yes No0
102030
405060
708090
100
B2BB2C
Source: 2012 Social Media Marketing Industry Report
Businesses vs Platforms
Daily DealsSocial Bookmarking
Geo-locationForums
Photo-sharingGoogle+
BlogsLinkedIn
YouTube/ other videoTwitter
0 20 40 60 80 100
B2CB2B
Source: 2012 Social Media Marketing Industry Report
Which platform is right for my business?
B2C’s most popular platform is Facebook
B2B tends to use Twitter, LinkedIn, blogs and Google+ more than B2C
Where you invest your time and effort depends on your business and most importantly, where your customers are
Top Uses: networking, recruiting, lead generation.
How many of you are on LinkedIn?
How many groups are you a part of?
Do you actively use it to engage/network with customers and other businesses?
Check it out! http://linkedIn.com
Best Practices: Post daily/weekly to your company profile
Ask employees (current/previous) to link up
Ensure CEO maintains own active profile
Confirm URL
Post new positions/opportunities
Follow other companies & your customers/prospects
Join groups/Start your own
Example Groups
Toronto Entrepreneur Alliance
Entrepreneur’s Network
The Indus Entrepreneur
Small business network for startups
Small business online community
Photography Industry Professionals
Paints and Coatings
Doors and Windows Manufacturers Group
Top Uses: Follow customers, similar brands, receive news, share updates, and most of all TALKING!
How many on Twitter?
Do you actively respond to customers, share news/updates, follow similar businesses and retweet industry news/trends?
Start now! http://twitter.com/
Best Practices Tweet multiple times daily - min 3; max 1
per hour
Retweet and reply often
Follow 1:1 ratio
Use hashtags
Create lists
Use link shortener (ie. bit.ly)
Blog
Top Uses: Share company news/updates; opinion on industry news/trends; offer value to consumers (how tos, best products, etc)
How many are currently writing a company blog?
Are you actively posting (daily/weekly), responding to comments, and sharing posts via other social sites?
Start a blog! http://wordpress.com
Blog
Best Practices Blog regularly, be it daily, weekly or monthly
– keep to a schedule
Topics: Don’t only write about what you want to say, but what your customers want to know
Share on Facebook/Twitter/others
Link to your favourite/similar blogs on your blog roll
Include key words in title, meta data.
Encourage employees to use/share it
Facebook Pages
Top Uses: Post company news/updates, respond to customer questions/comments, share other valuable content of interest to your network.
How many are using Facebook?
Do you actively post (daily, weekly) respond to comments?
Create your Page http://facebook.com/pages
Best Practices: Post 1-2 updates daily
Use photos 80 %, include links to your site
20% video or other media
Do not automate content
Tag other pages
Integrate into website
Shortening Tool
Top Uses: shorten long links, track clicks, geographical data and other insights.
How many are using a shortening tool? (ie. Bit.ly, tiny.url, ow.ly )?
Shorten a link - http://bit.ly
Others
Google +: social network offering live video chats and targeted publishing (via circles)
Pinterest: create pin boards of your favourite photos/videos linking to their source.
Instagram: optimized photo-sharing mobile platform
The list is endless, but start with major players that make sense for your businesses. Start with one, master it, and move on to the next.
How do I measure ROI?
#1 question asked by business owners and brands
No easy answer, but it helps if you set strategic objectives, monitor growth and use meaningful metrics.
A more useful term for measuring social media is Return on Engagement (ROE) This can be measured by likes, comments, shares,
retweets, clicks, views, repins, etc.
But providing a service or product is no longer enough. To be a truly social company ask yourself, "What is that thing we can do to help make our customers'
lives simpler, less confusing, less alienating, more efficient, more meaningful and just plain better?” (Tara Hunt, 2012http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2012/09/are_you_building_facebooks_empire.html)
Social BusinessesHere are some ideas for your wedding/event. I also take beautiful photos.
Social Businesses
Social Businesses
Social Businesses
Social Churches
Start Connecting!Today’s Attendees:
Nicole Hackett - Photographerwww.nicolehackettphotography.coLinkedIn Angelo Lantosca, Devine Painters Website www.divinepainters.comLinkedIn, Facebook Jim Drakopoulos - Musician and JewelryFacebook Greg Morrison - Entrepreneur, Business DevelopmentLinkedInTwitter GregoryMorriso1 Djigem – MusicianIgemtube.comFacebook, Twitter, YouTube
My Hide a Hook, ProductWebsite hideahook.com D Hubb Designs – Fashion, DressmakingFacebook LinkedIn Cucina Maione - BakerFacebook Mel’s Catering and Party PlanningFacebook page Pllight – Industrial LightingWebsite http://www.pllight.com/index.php/
Stephanie Sigel - Social MediaTwitter: @stephsigel
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