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!

Gina Schreck, social media marketing, social business

Chief Social Strategist

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

Go Ask Your Father Became Go Ask Google, and Now, Go Ask Twitter

Growing up, if you wanted to know how far the sun was from the Earth you were told to either “Go ask your father” or maybe your family was fortunate enough to own that beautiful Encyclopedia Britannica set with the gold pages (Did your parents fall victim to the traveling encyclopedia salesmen?), and you were then told to “Go look it up.”

Google, Social Media for Business, Twitter for business, Social media management, Gina Schreck

The Family Treasure

When my kids came asking “How do heavy airplanes actually fly?” I replied, “Let’s Google it.” But today when I have questions that need answers FAST, like “What is the best wireless printer?” ”Who is using a great budgeting app?” or “What is the best Italian restaurant in Wichita, Kansas?” I ask my Twitter network. It is more reliable and easier to sift through than pages of EHOW or ANSWERS.YAHOO responses that are more like technical forums at times than simple answers. Sometimes the answers that come up are paid advertisements based on the keywords I have typed in and I don’t trust them.

I’ve seen quesitons from my social network asking serious parenting questions that used to be answered by calling Mom, but today we put more trust in our Facebook friends and Twitter followers than even our parents. Perhaps it’s kind of like “Polling the Audience” on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, where we can ask a question to thousands and see which answer we like the best or how many people say the same thing.

Twitter for business, social media for business, social marketing, Gina Schreck

Go Ask Twitter!

I read a recent statistic that said only 14% of people trust advertisements versus 78% trusting peer recommendations! So if we are connecting to the right people, people we consider to be our peers, this is not only a powerful resource for us, but for organizations doing a great job building social relationships, it is a powerful marketing tool. Brands and organizations must be IN the communities, building relationships, sharing expertise and answering questions…not just selling!

So the question is, “How do you get in these social circles?” Well you can Google it, but I would bet you’d get a better response if you ask your Twitter and Facebook friends!

@GinaSchreck

Tech Head

May 23, 2011 | Filed Under Facebook, Facebook for Business, Marketing, Social Marketing, Social Media for Business, Twitter | Leave a Comment

Should My Company Start Using Social Media Marketing?

Hesitation is the quality your competitors most admire about you.

Social Media for Business, Starting out in social media, how to get started with social media, Social Marketing

Don't Wait

The first domain name was registered in 1985 (www.Symbolics.com) and in 1990 there were 15,000 domain names registered. Today there are over 200 million. Were you an early adopter or are you still waiting for this whole WORLD WIDE WEB thing to pass? Business websites changed the way business communicated with its customers.

We are experiencing a social revolution that is not only changing the way we do business once again, but it is changing consumer behaviors. Just like we go to a website today without any amazement or second thought, many are using Facebook that same way. Consumers ask their networks for suggestions or feedback before making buying decisions. “Does anyone know a great Plummer in Littleton?” “Has anyone had their kids at a charter school?” “I wish I knew someone who distributed pink sheet metal to commercial realtor. Anyone know of someone?” (okay the last one would be pretty darn random, but you just never know!”

Yesterday a friend of mine was sharing his frustration over name squatters or cybersquatters, as they are called on the internet. Cybersquatters are those people who go out and register domain names, Twitter account names and now Facebook Page names, just to prevent someone else from using them. My friend had waited too long and his business name on Twitter was already being used by someone else.

Here are 4 things I recommend you do today…right now.

1. Go register your business name and your personal name on Twitter. You can simply put a link to your website with a post directing visitors to learn more about you there.

2. Type your company name into Google and add + Facebook to see what comes up. If you find a page, see what is posted and by whom. Many businesses find that their fans did not want to wait for the company to take action and they created a page themselves. Remember, people want to talk about you and with you.

3. If you already have a personal Facebook profile Create a Facebook Page For your business, post a few interesting tips and facts about how customers work with you and start telling your current customers to join you on Facebook. Once you get 25 people to join your page, or “Like” it, you can secure your custom company URL

4. If you own a smartphone, which is an Internet ready phone such as a Blackberry, iPhone, or any Android-based phone, go into the phone’s app store and download one new app today to explore. Check out the top apps, or the recommendations provided. Since mobile is the fastest growing trend today, you should start think of ways your customers may want to interact with you through their mobile device. Our phones are considered the “3rd screen” (the first two being the television and computer) and it’s the one we don’t leave home without.

So if you still find yourself resisting the use of new technology because it is time consuming or frustrating, you cannot afford to wait any longer. Perhaps you should …go ask your competitors.

Gina Schreck

If you are having a hard time immigrating into this new social world, Gina and the team at SynapseConnecting can help you make sense of this foreign social landscape and determine which pieces make sense for your business. Give us a shout through that WORLD WIDE WEB Gina@synapse3di.com, or use the telephonic device and have the operator connect you to 303.978.0887

Gina Schreck
President & Chief Hooligan at Synapse 3Di

@GinaSchreck

April 7, 2011 | Filed Under Facebook, Facebook for Business, Facebook PAGES, Marketing, Social Marketing, Social Media, Social Media for Business, Twitter | Leave a Comment

Social Media Marketing for Your Business: 6 SUPER STEPS to DO SOCIAL RIGHT!

Perhaps your business has been trying to make sense of this new social world and searching for that elusive ROI to help justify the vacuum sound you have heard as your time has been sucked away. You may have set up accounts, and tweaked the accounts, even had your college son or daughter post content for you on Facebook or Twitter, and still the frustration grows. You wake up and ask “Is there anything interesting to post today for our business?” You leave work asking, “Why can’t I get more people to follow our posts or take action on them?” You are probably standing on your desk right now, crying out, “What am I doing WRONG?” Okay, so perhaps that’s a bit melodramatic, but hearing your cry and rushing to your aid, we bring you 6 Super Steps to Do Social RIGHT!

Social Media Marketing, Social media for business, How to get more Twitter followers, How to get more Facebook fans

SUPER SOCIAL

Have a plan. Why are you wanting to set up social media sites? Do you want name awareness? Will you use these avenues to be more responsive to customers? Do you want the ability to share your expertise and be branded as the go-to person or company in your industry? Are you wanting more sales, or are you just wanting to make sure you aren’t the only person left on the planet who doesn’t have a Facebook Page for their business? The answers to these questions will determine who should manage your social media (marketing, customer care, communications) and how you connect strategically on each site.
Be Realistic with the Time it Will Take to do it Right! Many think if they throw a Facebook page or Twitter account up, people will flood to their doors. It doesn’t work that way. You must dedicate time each day to update sites, listen and respond to the community and be fabulously interesting…well at least somewhat interesting! In the beginning this may just be 15-30 minutes in the morning and then 15-30 minutes in the afternoon, but when your business grows and the community starts engaging, you will need time to analyze where your community members are coming from, what links are getting the most click-throughs, what content gets the best conversations going and more. Many organizations start by bringing in an intern to help with their social media marketing and find that they need someone with more of a marketing focus and it turns into a full-time position or they outsource a big chunk of the daily tasks.
Don’t BROADCAST! It is called SOCIAL Media, not BROADCAST Media. Those who just post (and usually it’s automated…even worse) get tuned out quickly. Unless it works for you to go to networking events and just stand in the corner handing out your business cards and postcards as you yell “BUY FROM ME!” it probably won’t work in your social networking either! Here’s a list of 7 things you can share BESIDES your products.
Listen More Than You Talk. Like any good sales person will tell you, the key to success is to spend more time asking questions and listening to your community in order to learn how to best serve them. Listen and respond to what they are talking about in your social circles. Spend some time each day scanning and replying.
Be Interesting and Helpful. My rule in social media is, “Be interesting, be helpful, or BE QUIET! Be sure your posts are worth reading and passing on. Too many people post content that is so over used or trite that no one will forward, share or ReTweet it. And when people ask me how to get their information to be more viral or ReTweeted more often I simply say, BE MORE INTERESTING!
Use the right tools. If you took a pair of scissors and set out to cut your lawn, you could certainly do it, but it would take you all of Saturday and Sunday…for the next two months. Using the right tools can make all the difference. There are many to choose from and each one does something different. For conducting searches, connecting strategically to your target audience members, tools like Hootsuite, TweetDeck (both tools to manage Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn), JustUnfollow (a service that shows you who you have followed or connected with on Twitter that has not followed you back so you can clean house a bit), SocialMention (a site that sends alerts like GoogleAlerts on information heard on the social vine), Analytics HD(iPad app to measure site traffic), or even good ol’ Google Analytics to see where your clicks are coming from and how to be more effective. These types of tools will help you be efficient, strategic and much more effective.
Be consistent. Posting once a week or two times a month will not get you anywhere in the social media arena. Your customers and potential customers are out here everyday talking, sometimes about you and your topic and sometimes talking about or with your competitors. You can choose to engage in the conversation or hang the GONE FISHING sign up in the window. If you cannot commit to posting regular content (daily at minimum) hire someone to help you with this piece. It is important that you find someone who can be “on” when your customers are “on” and that the person or company you hire understands your brands personality, values and policies for replying to customers. I did an earlier post about that.

What SUPER Tips do YOU have? We’d love for you to share your superpowers with us!

TWEETERWOMAN

Like Batman, Superman, or Tweeterwoman, Gina and her team of superheros are just a tweet or phone call away! Let us know how we can help you succeed in this new social world! Gina (at) Synapse3Di.com or of course on Twitter @GinaSchreck

Gina Schreck
President & Chief Hooligan at Synapse 3Di

@GinaSchreck

April 4, 2011 | Filed Under Brand Management, Facebook, Facebook for Business, Facebook PAGES, Marketing, Social Marketing, Social Media, Social Media for Business, Twitter | 3 Comments

Smart Copy Gets Read AND Remembered…Forward or Backwards

I have used a tool called Xobni (inbox spelled backwards) back in the days of Outlook email client. It pulled social information about anyone sending you email into a box on the side of your incoming message, so you could see their profile picture, the latest conversations etc. It is a great tool for people like me, who correspond with so many people in so many different mediums that I am constantly asking myself, “Okay, who was this person? I don’t remember this conversation. What did they look like?”

Social media, social business, social media training, social media coaching

Well I switched all of our email to Gmail a while back and did have to say farewell to Xobni…until I saw they were rolling out a Gmail, Android and iPhone version soon. I went to their site and clicked on the JOIN THE PRIVATE PREVIEW link. Here is the response I got the next day via email:

FROM: Britton Montalvo

SUBJECT: Xobni for Gmail Beta

BODY: Thank you again for signing up for the Xobni for Gmail Beta. We were thrilled with the amazing response to the announcement and have been working our buns off to bring to life the feedback and ideas from the Beta testers. We’re bringing thousands of new users on each week, so your wait shouldn’t be too long. Keep an eye out for your invite – we’ve heard that they sometimes hit the Junk Mail folder.

Crankin’ away
- The Xobni Team

I laughed when I read this and then I had to reply telling him how much I appreciated their witty copy and how much more I was looking forward to working with their product!

In a world where we are all pumping out so much content that it starts to blend in like oatmeal and powdered milk, this kind of copy stands out and says, WE ARE DIFFERENT! WE ARE FUN TO WORK WITH. With so much content passing by our eyeballs in our email box, Facebook pages and Twitter streams, DARE TO BE DIFFERENT!

This kind of witty copy always reminds me to stay true to our company’s personality and voice. To write with the reader in mind and not your BLAH features in mind. Being clever and having fun will make you stand out in the sea of sameness. So work those buns off, and crank away to attract and retain more customers, AND use this tip from Xobni to write better and to put more fun into your social communications.

Chief Hooligan

Gina is the Chief Hooligan at SynapseConnecting and is the Queen of Sarcasm (She has to remind her family that it is a GIFT and not a CURSE!). The amazingly witty team at Synapse works their BUNS off to create content that matches the personality of our clients, and for those clients who have no personality….well we work magic there too!

Ready to work with us? Email Gina@Synapse3Di.com, call 303-978-0887, or send a smoke signal to **-****

Gina Schreck
President & Chief Hooligan at Synapse 3Di

@GinaSchreck

March 30, 2011 | Filed Under Brand Management, Marketing, Social Marketing, Social Media, Social Media for Business, SOCIAL SHARING | Leave a Comment