So You’re An Expert In Your Industry–Who Do Others Say You Are?

I Am An Expert At Everything

I spoke with a woman today who said she was frustrated with her social media marketing progress. She said she posted content every day on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. Her frustration is not uncommon. She said no one had hired her off of one of these social sites and as a matter of fact, she said few people even comment on her posts, but she commented on everyone else’s posts. When I asked her about a strategy, she said her strategy was to be on the sites daily, trying to connect with people, which she was.

Her first problem was she had connected with friends and a few other marketers, but not people who would actually hire her. Another problem she had was she was having lots of chit-chat conversations on Twitter and her personal Facebook profile with the handful of contacts she had, but as I read through her content, even I couldn’t tell you what the woman actually did…except chit-chat. What would people actually hire her to do? Be a professional chit-chatter, I suppose.

As we continued to speak she revealed that she was a leadership expert, and an expert on team relations, AND an expert in communication skills, but I saw none of that in a consistent manner. She said her interests were so varied that she didn’t want to put herself in single box.

You may claim to be an expert or thought- leader in a particular area, but if only your mom knows about it, allowance is all you can hope for. Perhaps it’s time to do an audit of your website and social sites to see who others say you are.

Scan your website with a objective eye, or better yet find someone who doesn’t know what you do and ask them to do this. Based on the content you SEE, what are you an expert in?

Go to your Twitter account. On the PROFILE page, look for the link in the upper right of the page that reads LISTED. See how others have categorized you. Who do THEY say you are?

What TOPICS have you earned Klout in? Head over to Klout to discover your score and see how others categorize you. Some will argue the accuracy of Klout, but it is still another form of social credibility.

If you are a LinkedIn user, look over the discussions and posts on your LinkedIn profile and ask yourself if you need more focus there as well. When you do a search on LinkedIn for your area of expertise (not your name), does your name come up on one of the first two pages? Be sure your keywords are being used in your profile information as well as your posts.

Now sit down and make a list of keywords and phrases that describe your business and your expertise. Identify the type of person that can hire you or pay you for your services. What position does this person hold? How old are they? Is it a male typically, or a female? Where do they hang out? What content can you provide to this potential customer that would be interesting, helpful AND showcase your expertise?

What other ideas do you have to showcase YOUR brilliance? What advice would you give this poor unfocused woman?

If you need help with this, friend me on Facebook or follow me on Twitter…Let’s chit-chat.

Gina Schreck, social media marketing, social business

Chief Social Strategist

Gina Schreck
President & Chief Hooligan at Synapse 3Di

@GinaSchreck

January 25, 2012 | Filed Under Brand Management, Social Marketing, Social Media for Business, Social Media Management
Leave a Comment

SOCIAL STRATEGY: 6 Questions To Get You Started

Many companies created their Facebook and Twitter accounts because…well, because everyone else was creating a Facebook and Twitter account. Now they sit and wonder what they are supposed to post on the pages and profiles and, more importantly, what the point is for keeping it going. Is there anyone listening to them, and even if they are, what do they do with these social consumers of the content so they will give them money?

If we compare social media to television, radio or other traditional print media, the questions and the approaches are similar. You start with a strategy…a game plan! To build more business, you have to identify the audience or buyer. Where are they and what are the different ways you will reach them? Your next step is to design a plan for each of the avenues.

Placing a single ad in a local paper is not a strategy. It is one piece of an overall strategy. And even before placing an ad in your local newspaper, you would have had a meeting with the ad sales person to find out who reads this paper, what will the ad accomplish, what will the ad look like, what do you want the reader to do after reading it, and how often must you run the ad before seeing results. You would want to know how much the whole campaign would cost BEFORE signing off on the first ad.

Posting on Facebook is not a strategy. Auto-feeding all of your tweets or blog posts to your LinkedIn account or Facebookmprofile is not only NOT a strategy, but it is ineffective and irritating. Facebook, Twitter and any other site, are just tools or pieces of your overall marketing strategy.

Marketing is about raising your brand awareness, building a relationship with people who do not yet buy your product or service, informing those potential consumers on how and why they should work with you and give you those dollars. So to decide which tools you will need and then know what to do with each tool, you need a plan.

Here are 6 questions to help you create a social marketing strategy:

Who is my ideal buyer or target? Be specific. You will most likely NOT reach “the world”. Are you trying to reach business travelers, women executives, sales people, disorganized and busy moms, etc.
Where are these people hanging out or how are they receiving information to make buying decisions. While it’s true that most people are now social consumers, reading review sites and asking their Twitter community for their recommendations for products and services, there are still those that read magazines, listen to drive-time radio or search in the yellow pages…..okay, scratch that last one! The only thing people are using the yellow pages for is a door stop or to boost short dinner guests!
What content will I provide on each platform identified above? Will some platforms tollerate more promotional content than others? What will each audience find interesting enough to engage further with you? (travel tips, discounts, informational video snippets, news, humorous viral videos or photos, photos/ videos of customers engaged with your brand, etc)
What do I want people to do from each platform? Do I just want their likes and comments or am I wanting to drive them to buy something or give me their email address for additional sales/ marketing opportunities? Do I want them to connect with me on additional sites, and if so, how is that site’s content different so there’s a reason to do so?
How often will I drop content on each, and more importantly, who will lead the charge on each platform?
How will I promote each platform and drive the right people to connect with us? How will our inside staff play a role in informing current customers about these platforms? What should they be saying? Do I have the information on signature lines, websites, business cards, etc?

It’s a lot more work than just throwing a promotion up on Facebook, but you may be able to finally see some results for your efforts! Which is really step number 7…measuring your results, but that is another post all together! What are your thoughts or questions? I’d love to hear from you.

And of course, if you are overwhelmed by all of this and want someone to help you, contact me via email or Twitter. Stay connected on our Facebook page for tips and tools for building your business and managing your brand!

Chief Social Strategist

January 20, 2012 | Filed Under Marketing, Social Marketing, Social Media for Business, Social Media Management
Leave a Comment

Social Business: Serving the New, Social Consumer

Social media marketing, social business, social consumer

Everyone On the Social Band Wagon!

For the past few years we have seen the steady growth of companies jumping on the social wagon. From creating Facebook and Twitter accounts that just pump out company information and promotions, to campaigns allowing customers to suggest new product and service offerings and rewarding the fans who share stories and videos on the social networks.

Some organizations do nothing but post one or two updates per month while others have jumped into the drivers seat, leading the pack with customer service representatives answering tweets 24/7 and customers getting replies back to a Foursquare check in or cross-pollinating by letting Facebook fans know they will find clues on Twitter that end up having them “pin” something using the new social darling, Pinterst for a chance to win big prizes.

In 2011 we saw the adoption of social media by just about every business sector, from hotels, restaurants, and car dealers, to clothing stores, heating and air conditioning contractors, and even funeral homes. If a business serves people, then you probably saw them creating Facebook, Twitter and Google+ accounts and then trying to build and engage a community. Smart businesses see social media, not as a replacement to traditional sales, marketing or customer service, but as an extension to their overall customer experience. They see it as another avenue to be out where the consumer is, building relationships, allowing people to get to know, like and trust them.

This meant businesses started sharing content. They shared tips, tools and helpful content to attract the savvy smart phone wielding consumer who was looking to connect. Towards the end of 2011 we started seeing the shift from just pumping content out to the consumer, to getting the customer to engage on and off line. Getting a consumer to participate more by loading videos of their “haul” or “pinning” items they find on a website to Pinterest which then shares to Facebook and Twitter. Well pollinated!

Social business, social consumer, social media marketing, Synapse

PIN your INTERESTS!

What many businesses still have not figured into the equation is how the consumer has moved into the marketing seat. With hundreds of social review sites like Yelp, Open Table, Trip Advisor, Oink, on top of Facebook, Twitter and more, consumers are marketing, for or against your business on these sites. Typically the front line staff member of an organization doesn’t realize the level of service they provide will end up written in a post on one of these review sites. So how do you influence your social community members to post kindly? Can you influence them at all?

Companies like Walmart engaged some of their influential customers, mommy bloggers, to write reviews of products and “influence” their communities. This third-party (kind of) recommendation of products can greatly influence a community, if that community has grown to know, like and trust the blogger. Mercedes ran contests on Twitter where they selected 3 teams of influencers to drive their car to the Super Bowl and tweet along the way building their teams of online voters in hopes of winning a new ride. The drivers became the marketers, or influencers, drawing others into the Mercedes community. Recently Samuel Gordon’s Jewelers ran a promotion using Facebook, Twitter, their website and that omni-present, Pinterest, to get their fans to share pictures of their jewels with their social communities.

If you have nurtured your fan base, providing them with valuable content and promotions they really like, they will be listening when you ask them to pull their friends into your circle.

So where are YOUR customers talking about you and your brand? How do you plan on influencing those influencers out there? Perhaps this should be added to your next marketing meeting. What do you think?

Do you need help getting your social business ready to serve the new social consumer? We would LOVE to help you! Connect with Gina on Twitter or join the Geeky Fun on our Facebook page where we post helpful tips and tools for using social media to build your business!

The Biggest Social Consumer

January 6, 2012 | Filed Under Social Marketing, Social Media for Business, Social Media Management, SOCIAL SHARING
1 Comment

Never Hire a Broke Financial Planner, a Skinny Cook or an Anti-Social Social Media Expert

facebook expert, social media expert, social media outsourced, social media management

Can I Manage Your Wealth?

Perhaps you’ve heard the saying, never trust a skinny cook (or in my case a cook with a skinny family). Perhaps you’ve had the experience at a Chamber of Commerce event when a young man approaches in a cheap suit and introduces himself as a “WEALTH MANAGER!” Sorry, but I’d rather take financial advice from Warren Buffet! So when you find yourself looking to hire someone to help manage your social media activities, you might want to look beyond that teenager down the street who knows how to tag photos on Facebook.

There are so many so-called “Social Media Experts” out there today that it is comical. After all, you just need to have a Facebook profile and Twitter account to call yourself a social media marketing expert! If I were looking to hire someone to help me with PR or communications today, I would expect to see them blogging and tweeting. If you are wanting to hire someone to help you with social media, well, you should see if they are SOCIAL!

Here are 8 Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Social Media “Expert”:

Are people following them on Twitter? (porn & spammers don’t count–they follow my dog too!) Not that big numbers mean someone is brilliant, but if they can’t get 100 people to follow their tips, how will they get people to follow you?
Are they having conversations with people on Twitter? Conversations include other people. They are not just pumping out sales messages to get people to sign up for a webinar or newsletter.
How many times has the person been LISTED on Twitter and how are others categorizing their “expertise.” It is one thing to say you are an expert at something, but who do OTHERS say you are? Go to their Twitter profile and click on LISTED in that upper right.
Do they blog? Again, there are many brilliant people who do not have time to blog, but blogging can show you their writing ability and style.
Do they maintain their own Facebook Business Page? How are they getting business? Are they showing how they use Facebook apps and tools that they will use to help you engage with a community?
Are they involved in groups on LinkedIn? Where are they sharing their knowledge and showcasing the skills they are saying they will use on your accounts?
Do they have a Google+ account set up and running. Since this is a newer platform, they should be out in the front experimenting with new tools to help YOU grow your business.
Can you look at some of the accounts they are managing on social platforms? Do you like what you see there?

Obviously checking references or getting a referral from another trusted source are also big parts of identifying and beginning a relationship with a social marketing firm. What are the other things you feel are important when hiring someone to help you manage the growing task of Social Media and Social Marketing?

Now to go open a can of Spaghetti O’s for dinner; my family is hungry again!

Gina

Gina Schreck

President & Chief Hooligan at SynapseConnecting

@GinaSchreck on Twitter

Check out our Fun and Geeky Facebook Page

December 4, 2011 | Filed Under Social Media for Business
Leave a Comment

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving, Gina Schreck, SynapseConnecting, Social Media Management

With Gratitude

To all of my wonderful readers, contributors and supporters who have become like an extended family~

I hope this Thanksgiving holiday your homes are filled with good food, loved ones, music, laughter and memories that will be cherished for years to come. This Thanksgiving I have so much to be thankful for. The support of a fabulous team here at SynapseConnecting, and client relationships that have blossomed into cherished friendships are upon my gratitude list!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Gina

Gina Schreck
President & Chief Hooligan at Synapse 3Di

@GinaSchreck

November 24, 2011 | Filed Under Uncategorized
Leave a Comment