Here is the outline for those who asked! Feel free to contact me with any questions.
Social Why?
Today, Social Media is a great tool to grow your customer base or expand into new markets.
Social media is the overall term used to describe any number of on-line communication platforms.
Facebook, twitter, YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Google+ are some of them.
Think of Social media as a way to increase communication with:
- Your customers
- Search engines
When you have a social media presence, you will score higher when people do a search on google or Bing, or yahoo. So, if you sell carpet and have a website, and a Facebook, and a Google+ page, you will show up higher in the search ranking on-line than if you do not.
Today, most people do not reach for a yellow pages.
They reach for their phones or tablets instead.
Why have social media for my business?
Social media is used personally to keep up with friends and family
Twitter can be used to “stalk” fav. author (neil gaimon)
Is a way to keep in touch with each other and let everyone know what is going on.
For a business, social media is much the same:
COMMUNICATE to your current customers.
FIND new customers.
STAY up to date with previous customers.
Social media is free – just takes time but you can minimize the amount of time with a good plan.
- What platforms are best for your company?
Visual – Instagram, Pinterest
Communicate to people – Facebook, twitter
Searchability – Google+
- Have a specific goal
Do you want to get more customers?
Promote sales?
- What is needed to reach your goal?
- Have a firm timeline for steps to be completed.
Remember you can have weekly, monthly, and yearly plans.
Weekly: what daily posts will be scheduled?
Monthly: What was successful in the past month, build on it, and do big events or occasions.
Yearly: You know what your busy times are. So, plan ahead with blank templates that you can quickly fill in and post.
Look at what your competitors are doing. Have your kids do this research for you – or hire some H.S. kids to find out and do a report. I bet if you call up to the H.S. there is a teacher who will let the report act as extra credit!! If your find a similar business in Wisconsin that is successful on social media – don’t be afraid to use the same platforms. Call or email them with questions – reach out – people love to talk about their successes!
Scheduling programs such as hootsuite or the native controls within a social platform can make much of your updates automatic.
You have a unique value for your customers. Your business also has a unique voice. Do not hide this – embrace it and don’t be afraid to be honest.
Although there is very little that cannot be undone or changed. By the same token, keep in mind that once something is out there in the internet, EVERYONE can see it so it is worthwhile to have a plan. If you make a mistake – treat it the same way you would if you made a mistake in person.
Immediate response and honest explanation from the individual who posted:
And the response from Red Cross:
Great response from DogFish beer:
They jumped in and encouraged their fans to support the Red Cross. Many local bars across the country offered free beers for people who donated blood!
http://www.dogfish.com/community/blogfish/members/mariah/gettngslizzered-for-a-good-cause.htm
Who are you?
What is your core business message? Can you sum up your company in 3 sentences or less? For GF the core message is: “Delight every customer, every time – with amazing furniture, same day delivery and exceptional service.”
This single sentence touches on all the segments of the company and their goals. We sum up this statement with the single word: TODAY!
Your message should be the same across all channels. If you core message is that your widgets are all made in America, then that should be the focus everywhere. Suddenly changing and focusing on your great color selection could be confusing. But you can adjust your main message to read: “Great color selection of American made widgets.”
Be shameless. Do not be timid or afraid to ask for what you want. If you are not proud of your company, why should anyone else have confidence in you?
Do you believe you offer the best? Tell people why.
Be deliberate. Have a reason for everything you do on-line. If you have a homepage and change your font size or colors, have a reason.
Make a plan, have a calendar, but remain flexible.
With all social channels – ecourage people to follow you or subscribe. Offer current customers a coupon or promo if needed, but most will be happy to follow you.
Build up your audience.
FaceBook – great method for staying in touch with customers and remaining aware of them.
Pinterest – very visually oriented. You can make “dream boards” or special occasions boards.
Resource Listing
Books to begin with:
The New Handshake: Sales Meets Social Media
by Joan C. Curtis, Barbara Giamanco
Search and Social: The Definitive Guide to Real-Time Content Marketing
by Rob Garner
Websites:
Help files within the social platform!!
Contact me: deeryjennifer@gmail.com
DeeryJennifer 