• What networks or organizations are your company and/or its leaders actively involved in? What is the nature of the involvement such as a sponsor or board member?
There is an old advertising adage that states a person needs to see a message seven to 12 times before they commit it to memory. It is important to find multiple ways of reaching your audience to make your messages stick. Social media should not be an isolated program and it should not replace your existing communications channels, rather it should integrate with them. Your social networks are simply communications channels. The content that you use on the social web should complement, pull from, and promote the pieces of your existing marketing programs, such as your newsletters, direct mail and events.
Finally, before starting a social media campaign you must be prepared for flexibility. Social media tools and rules change frequently. Although you are not expected to be a social media expert, your company must be able to make a quick decision and respond in real time to crises as well as positive PR opportunities that arise.
Proper use of social media is about decentralized decision-making where everyone in your company can contribute and have a voice. However, before letting just anyone in your organization tweet or post on your company’s behalf, defining guidelines and core messaging is essential. Setting up the right internal structure and goals before you engage in the social space is key to making it work for your company. We’ll get into the internal behind-the-scenes tactics for generating ideas, recruiting contributors and empowering employees in Chapter 4.
You rely on the knowledge and success of individuals within your company as a pillar of the firm’s reputation. In Chapter 5, you’ll find strategies that are being used at some of the most recognizable businesses that are positioning their experts in front of their brand. We’ll address the risks and benefits of this approach, how some are embracing their thought leaders, and the changes they are seeing because of it.
Social media tools continue to grow and evolve based on the needs of today’s business user. The most exciting thing about social media is that unlike any other form of media, you can track the results of your effort instantly. As you engage in social media, you’ll learn that a simple tweak in the way you compose a blog post headline, or the time of day you tweet can make a significant impact on the results you will see.
As you engage in the tactics outlined in this book, we’d like to hear how you are doing. Find us online at www.The-Social-Media-Advantage.com to connect with us via your favorite social network. Here you will find links to share ideas and ask questions. We look forward to hearing from you.
2
Finding your Target Audience Determining the Best Social Network for your Business
By the time you finish reading this sentence, there will be 700 new posts on Facebook. By the time you finish reading this chapter, there will be more than 1 million new tweets. With more than 1.9 billion Internet users world wide (RoyalPingdom.com, June 2010), watching millions of videos, creating millions of blogs and updating posts, status updates, and comments on a daily basis, finding your target audience in the sea of social media can feel overwhelming.
Stop. Take a deep breath. Realize that in order to be successful on the social web, you do not have to be everything to everyone—or everywhere for that matter. In fact, no one can conquer every online social network. There is simply too much information flowing every second. Therefore rather than trying to tackle every social network at once, focus on the handful of social spaces where your target audience is most active.
As you start using social media to find and communicate with different audiences, you will quickly discover that some social networks provide more immediate benefits to your overall goals than others do. You may also discover that it can take a combination of many social networks to promote your message most efficiently. Because online communications are more measurable and trackable than traditional forms of communication, the more you listen and engage on different social networks, the more you will be able to refine your efforts to maximize efficiency and attain your desired goals. (You’ll learn how to track, measure and evaluate your social media efforts more in Chapter 7.)
PlaceMakers, LLC, is a small company made up of independent consultants primarily focused on the reformation of municipal zoning codes, as well as master planning and urban design for private developers. Through social media use and engagement, they have discovered that it takes a combination of social tools and messaging to reach their audiences and goals.
Scott Doyon, Atlanta, Georgia-based principal and director of marketing of PlaceMakers, LLC, (http://placemakers.com) describes effective social media outreach as a delicate balance of several tools. He advises that small business owners look at their social media profiles and fan bases as a tool box. The more you engage on the sites and understand how they work and help the lives of your audiences, the better you will understand which tool to use, and when.
On any social networking site, such as Twitter and LinkedIn you can easily search by keyword, topic, job function or company name and you’ll be presented with a list of tweets, profiles, pages, groups and so on. Once you identify where your target audience is, take some time to listen.
This is a strategy that Christine Morris, communications and special projects coordinator of Construction Specialties, Inc. (http://www.c-sgroup.com), in Muncy, Pa. has found success doing. “Our target audience is made up of customers, potential customers and other influencers,” explains Morris. “Our first step in deciding which networks to use was to spend some time watching, listening and researching to see where this target audience was spending their time and where they were posting* on a consistent basis. We simply met them where they are.”
Think of joining a new social networking group as stepping into a cocktail party where you don’t know anyone. You wouldn’t start loudly announcing your business and latest offerings the second you stepped foot in the door. Not only would this be rude, but it would be a complete turn off to all the other guests. Instead, take smaller steps. See figure 2.1. Listen. Ask questions. Find out who the key influencers are in that group and get in their good graces. Also, pay attention to how the group talks, the lingo they use and how they interact with each other. You want to fit in.
Figure 2.1
Never directly push your business. Instead, contribute meaningful information that your target audience is seeking. Don’t be afraid to give it away for free. Encourage dialogue that helps position you as a knowledgeable person in your industry and as someone who cares about others’ thoughts, problems, concerns and opinions. Spend more of your time on social sites talking to people, building relationships, sharing resources that aren’t your own products or services than you spend promoting yourself and your company. Through this type of engagement and understanding of the audiences, you will be more likely to capture the right kind of attention, along with trust and loyalty.
Once you are an accepted member of the group, test out new approaches and dialogues. Have fun with it. After all, social networking is still in its infancy as a field of interest and study. Best practices and tactics in the field are continuing to evolve. Many small businesses are benefiting from a combination of traditional and social marketing. While social media helps open doors to new leads, many small businesses have found that more traditional follow up tactics help them to actually close the deal. Read the side bar from TKO Graphix to learn how they used a combination of social networks and traditional sales to help them land a 2 million dollar project.
Case Study
Combining Social Media outreach with traditional sales strategies helps land $2 Million Dollar Sale from Flickr lead
Company Overview
TKO Graphix is a full-service graphics provider in Plainfield, Indiana, established in 1985. We design, manufacture, and install graphics for fleets, vehicles,