Notes from my Social Media Roundtable at the 2012 Texas Conference for Women. This is an idea list for how social media tools can help with market research, sales, brand awareness and authority. My team and I do online and in-person training in social media for tourism and hospitality at Tourism Currents - http://www.tourismcurrents.com

1. Moving From Idea to Action with Social Media
Texas Conference for Women, October 2012
Social Media Roundtables
Sheila Scarborough / @SheilaS
TourismCurrents.com / @TourismCurrents
Social media is a technology-based set of tools for communicating and networking. It is not
a magic bullet for your business, nor is it going to rescue a poor product/service, a bad
business strategy or lack of cash flow.
That said, here are some ideas for incorporating social media into those times when you
need to launch a product/service or sell an idea....
1) Market Research & Learning About Your Customers
** Finding them: look for scheduled Twitter chats, related professional association
Facebook Pages/LinkedIn Groups/LinkedIn Answers/Twitter accounts/blogs (check
http://alltop.com/ for blogs,) industry conference Twitter hashtags, online forums (yes,
that's social media,) YouTube channels and Flickr/Instagram/Pinterest image-related
accounts.
** Are there reviews of your business on Yelp, Google local listings, TripAdvisor, etc.?
** Look for related mentions of your business keywords on Twitter's search engine
(http:search.twitter.com,) Google and Bing. Set up Google Alerts.
** When you find your market on social media channels: participate, comment and bring
value to the discussions. Listen more than you talk.
** Ask your market questions via polls on LinkedIn and Facebook. You can also throw out
questions on Twitter or your blog, but getting responses often depends upon timing.
** Dig into your website analytics – Google Analytics is the gold standard and it's free – to
see how your market finds your website. Do they click through from social media?
** Review your Facebook Page Insights data, do a LinkedIn search, do hashtag/keyword
research on TweetReach and general Twitter research on Twellow and Listorious.
** Take any "influencer" data from Klout or PeerIndex or Kred with a huge grain of salt, but
it IS a data point.

2. ** On LinkedIn, dig around in Groups, News Today (http://www.linkedin.com/today/) and
Answers (Q&A) for discussions and posts related to your market.
2) Becoming a Known, Trusted Authority in Your Field
** First, you'd better know your stuff. If you blow this, there's no help for you, social media
or otherwise.
** Blog and/or tweet about your industry, and really have something to say. This can be as
basic (but helpful) as live-blogging or live-tweeting from industry conferences and events.
Be useful, bring value, be the indispensable source of the best information and
connections.
** Send snippets of your insights as status updates to your Facebook Page, LinkedIn
Company Page, Twitter account or Google+ Company Page.
** Once you're an established blogger (minimum 6 months, often longer) seek out guest
blogging opportunities on respected blogs in your industry.
** Start a podcast series or Blog Talk Radio show for your industry.
** Start a video series on YouTube or Vimeo or Ustream for your industry.
** Create photos that tie into your industry. Optimize them for SEO with keyword-rich
titles, descriptions and tags. Consider Pinterest, Flickr, Instagram and Foodspotting in
addtion to photos posted on your blog, Facebook Page, Twitter or Google+.
** Speak at industry conferences. Hold on- and off-line workshops. Present webinars. Put
your presentations on SlideShare (optimized for search in title, description and tags.)
3) Marketing & Sales
** First, define what makes your product/service so terrific that people should hand you
their hard-earned money. What's in it for them? Are you solving THEIR problems?
** Integrate your social media presence across your website, email and print materials
including business cards. Make yourself easy to find in any dimension.
** Speak at conferences, hold workshops and webinars, and share your expertise through
associated blog posts, SlideShare updates, etc.
** Appear "in person" in Google+ Hangouts, Zipcasts on SlideShare, "open mic" blog
posts and Twitter chats (as participant and/or host of the chat.)
** In addition to your personal LinkedIn profile, have a robust, complete LinkedIn
Company Page with tabs, photos and video for your products and services.
** Add an ecommerce tab to your Facebook Page for purchases.
** Send special offers and sales notices out to your Twitter followers, Facebook Page
Like-ers and blog subscribers/email list.