How Social Media Can Help Your Small Business SucceedSeptember 16th, 2014
SMB Business DevelopmentHootsuite Media, Inc.
@donjbaron
Don Baron
• What is Social Media and why is it important?
• Social Media Networks and Demographics
• Social Media Marketing Strategies & Tactics
• Social Media Sales/Support Strategies & Tactics
• Example Execution Plans
• References / Case Studies
Talk Overview
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The What’s and Why’s of Social Media
Social Media: Personal vs. Business
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Social Media: Personal vs. Business
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n
Social Media: Easy to start
Why Social Media?
Why Social Media?
Barrier to Entry
SPEND
AU
DIE
NC
E S
IZE
• Affordable and Effective Targeting
• Actionable
• Built in Advocate Amplification
• Casual
• Ubiquitous and Active
Social Media Engagement Characteristics
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Social Media Networks
http://www.mediabistro.com/alltwitter/social-media-stats-2014_b54243
http://www.mediabistro.com/alltwitter/social-media-stats-2014_b54243
Social Media Networks
Marketing Effort B2B vs B2C
http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/SocialMediaMarketingIndustryReport2014.pdf
B2C B2B
Some more numbers
of online users rely on social media before making purchase decisions.http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/newswire/2012/how-connectivity-…
of consumers say they will change their shopping behavior in response to social media content.
of consumers rely on social media to influence their purchasing decision (ODM Group)
of consumers cite social networks as a way they discover new brands, products or services: http://www.emarketer.com/Article/Social-Media-Weaves-Its-Way…
46% 85% 74%
33%
Strategies:Marketing, Sales & Support
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Strategies – Marketing
VS
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Strategies – Choose Networks and Demographics
Strategies – Create a following
Strategies – Amplify your Success
Strategies – Drive traffic to your website
Strategies – Paid Marketing
Strategies – Be realistic about your spend
Strategies – Pick your best content
Strategies – Clear plan to conversion
Marketing Tactics
Marketing Tactics
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Marketing Tactics – Create an online presence
• Start with your webpage – this is still the cornerstone
• Find your voice and use it
• Let people engage you on your site
• Highlight your successes
Marketing Tactics – Create an online presence
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Marketing Tactics – Rich Content
• Use content that catches your audience’s attention
• Content doesn’t need to be you selling stuff – anything that makes the readers’ lives better, more productive, or just gives them a good laugh
• Encourage your customers to develop content / Contests
• Use #hashtags to attach to trends (#IceBucketChallenge, e.g)
Marketing Tactics – Create Rich Content
Marketing Tactics – Schedule and Streamline
• Spend an hour a week planning a social media calendar for that week
• Schedule content so you don’t have to be there when it posts!
• Use tools that allow you to post to more than one network at a time
• Use shortened links to track success (bit.ly, ow.ly , etc)
Marketing Tactics – Schedule and Streamline
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Marketing Tactics – Target Influencers
• Influencers have a bigger reach than you
• Get their attention / engage
• Use twitter lists to keep up with important people in your industry
• Look at the content that resonates with their followers – emulate
Marketing Tactics – Target Influencers
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Marketing Tactics – Listen Smartly
• Use tools that allow you to stream several social networks into one place
• If your business is local, use Twitter geo-searching
• Use lists to target specific users
• Create notifications on your mobile device to respond more quickly
Marketing Tactics – Listen Smartly
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Marketing Tactics – Paid Media
• Get specific about your target demographic. You know your customers, target them ! FB is especially excellent at targeting.
• Re-use content that’s worked for your organic reach, use analytics to help you optimize performance
• Consider retargeting technologies
• Read up on some best practices: http://blog.hootsuite.com/facebook-ads-twitter-ads-best-practices/
Marketing Tactics – Paid Media
Sales and Support – Two sides of the same coin
• Create a brand page on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, etc.
• Listen for twitter Keywords that indicate buying decisions or support questions , set up notifications on your phone.
• Listen locally / Listen topically
• Connect to your systems of record
• Commit !
Sales and Support
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Example Execution Plans
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• Upfront Effort
• Research (3-6 Hrs.)
• Startup (5-10 Hrs.)
• Recurring Options
• Light: 1-5 Hrs. / Week
• Involved: 5+ Hrs. / Week
A few models and commitment levels
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• Map your customers to knowledge of network demographics
• Find businesses like yours that are successful. Learn.
• Determine mix of Marketing/Selling/Support business goals
• Talk to an expert
• Be realistic
Research (3-6 Hrs)
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• Create a rich social rich profile on targeted social networks
• Create a landing page to collect email addresses
• Sign up for a productivity tool , mobile too.
• Follow/like 3 influencers, 3 customers, 3 competitors
• Fill your first content calendar
One Time Startup Effort (5 – 10 Hrs)
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• Research what’s new this week (new products/trends?)
• Fill your content calendar for the week , including 3 original pieces of content (could be just a tweet)
• Engage with 3 customers, 3 influencers each week
• Spend 10-15 minutes a day scanning
Ongoing work (1-5 hrs / week)
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• Decide whether to outsource or go in house
• Content!
• Develop a paid advertising strategy
• Run a monthly contest to build lists
• Spend 1 hr a day engaging (split AM/PM)
• Measure success
Ongoing work (5+ Hrs/Week)
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Reference
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Reference
Which networks are right for you / Getting started?http://blog.hootsuite.com/what-social-networks-should-you-be-on-twitter/http://blog.hootsuite.com/guide-to-getting-started-on-facebook-twitter-google/
Small Business Strategy and Successhttp://blog.hootsuite.com/save-time-and-resources-with-social-media-3-tips-for-small-businesses/http://blog.hootsuite.com/social-media-for-business/http://blog.hootsuite.com/linkedin-for-small-business/http://www.slideshare.net/hootsuite/10-social-media-marketing-tips-for-small-businesseshttp://www.slideshare.net/hootsuite/smss-lookbookhttp://blog.hootsuite.com/facebook-ads-twitter-ads-best-practices/
Advanced Strategy: http://blog.hootsuite.com/how-to-create-a-social-media-strategy/http://www.slideshare.net/hootsuite/hootsuiteanalyticsbestpractice
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