2. 130UnionStreet.com “ A Social Media Hub” “ What Is It?” Social Media are media for social interaction, using highly accessible and scalable publishing techniques. Social media use web-based technologies to transform and broadcast media monologues into social media dialogues. Several experts define social media as "a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0, and that allow the creation and exchange of user-generated content.“ Businesses also refer to social media as consumer-generated media (CGM). A common thread running through all definitions of social media is a blending of technology and social interaction for the co-creation of value. Social media is getting increased attention from businesses. Many use it to reach customers and to build or maintain reputation. As social media continue to grow, the ability to reach more consumers globally has also increased. This means that businesses are able to reach a broader range of consumers. Social media have become the "new tool" for effective business marketing and sales. ( wikipedia )
3. 130UnionStreet.com “ A Social Media Hub” “ Why Use It?” In an effort to broaden our marketing reach, we have started to use Social Media as an additional resource to compliment our traditional print and hard media advertising. Digital media is somewhat new to an old-line company like Hausmann Industries, and I have been asked, Why Use It, What Are The Benefits? Here are 5 reasons: ( Mike Fruchter ) 1) The cost for entry is minimal. 2) Your current and potential customers are using it. 3) Brand monitoring, listen, learn and react. 4) Compete on an even playing field. 5) Traditional websites are a thing of the past and just wont cut it anymore. More: Social Media Marketing - Who, What, When, Where, Why and How? & Why Use Social Media?
4. 130UnionStreet.com “ A Social Media Hub” “ Our Message” We hope to use Social Media in the following ways: 1) Strengthen the Hausmann & PROTEAM by Hausmann brand(s) by giving an online identity to a real world product. 2) Increase the visibility of the Hausmann & PROTEAM by Hausmann Logo(s). 3) Provide another level of service & support to our customers through digital communication as well as traditional CSR phone contact. 4) Gather feedback from customers & end-users, in order to proactively develop new products, that meet the needs of the consumer. 5) Engage with the community, to provide information, updates & special promotions. We are always looking for additional resources to make your experience with Hausmann a superior one and provide you with the best value in the market place.
5. 130UnionStreet.com “ A Social Media Hub” “ Why 130UnionStreet.com?” When I started looking into Social Media, back in the spring of 2009, I wasn’t quite sure what I was getting into. It was a relatively new concept for us, and we didn’t know how far we wanted to go with it and how visible we wanted to be at first. I believe Twitter was one of the first sites I joined, so instead of using Hausmann Industries as our handle, I thought about what else would give us some visibility but still keep us somewhat under the radar until we got a better feel for this whole thing. Well, for those that don’t know, our street address just happens to be 130 Union Street, and thus, our first Social Media handle was born. I have continued to use that same handle on most of the sites we are now active in as well as ProteamTables for our other brand, PROTEAM by Hausmann which produces our Athletic Training Equipment. 130UnionStreet.com is our “Social Media Hub” and landing page for all of our Social Media profiles.
6. 130UnionStreet.com “ A Social Media Hub” “ Where should I start?” As I mentioned, we started with Twitter @130UnionStreet & @ProteamTables , mainly because Twitter was really starting to become a force in the Social Media arena at the time, and seemed like an easy enough platform to become familiar with and start our journey. At this point in time, it’s hard to say where to start, only that you should focus on what you are comfortable with and how much time you have to dedicate to your new project. If you are doing it as a personal project and can work on it at night or on the weekends, then maybe just Twitter, Facebook and maybe a blog. If you are doing it for work, then it really depends on what your company’s focus is and where you want to make your impact. Bottom line, get involved with as much as you can, read other people’s blogs, tweet & retweet and enjoy it. Respect other people’s sites as you would expect them to do for you.
7. 130UnionStreet.com “ A Social Media Hub” “ Twitter” We created Twitter pages for both Hausmann Industries as well as PROTEAM by Hausmann, in order to market our message for each brand separately. In doing so, we have been able to selectively choose who we follow and who we allow to follow us. We can now send different and unique messages to each segment of our business. @130UnionStreet (Hausmann Industries) will provide links & info on Medical, Therapy & Rehab equipment, Social Media and other links to the healthcare field. @ProteamTables (PROTEAM by Hausmann) will keep you up to date on Athletic Training, Equipment and other sports related topics, as well as useful Social Media info.
8. 130UnionStreet.com “ A Social Media Hub” “ Facebook” We also created Facebook pages for both Hausmann Industries and PROTEAM by Hausmann. Both Facebook and Twitter are widely recognized as two of the most popular Social Media platforms out there, and we knew we had to have a profile for both of our brands on each site. You can visit out profiles here: Hausmann Industries, Inc. PROTEAM by Hausmann We post daily content to each site, and look for feedback to help make our products & services better.
9. 130UnionStreet.com “ A Social Media Hub” “ LinkedIn” LinkedIn is more about Social Networking, than it is Social Media. With LinkedIn, you create a profile and make connections with co-workers, classmates or people within your industry. We created a Company Profile for Hausmann Industries and several of our employees, who have LinkedIn accounts, are shown within our profile. LinkedIn is a very good tool for networking and broadcasting a message, but I wouldn’t consider it to be a true Social Media platform like Twitter & Facebook.
10. 130UnionStreet.com “ A Social Media Hub” “ YouTube” YouTube has been a lot of fun to get involved with. We went out and got a FlipCam and have started to record and post various videos to the our YouTube page . We are currently working on recording & editing several ‘How-To’ tutorials on products with assembly steps and product demos. We are always looking for feedback on what items you would like to see profiled, so please contact us, or leave comments on any of our profiles. Once we have the videos, we usually post them to the various sites & blogs we have. Do you have a video you would like us to post? Send us the link!
11. 130UnionStreet.com “ A Social Media Hub” “ Wordpress” There are many different blogging platforms out there. We chose Wordpress as our first site to use, mainly because of it’s simplicity to use, it’s free and it’s also pretty well known in the blogging circle. You can visit out profiles here: Hausmann Industries PROTEAM by Hausmann We post daily content to each site, and look for feedback to help make our products & services better.
12. 130UnionStreet.com “ A Social Media Hub” “ SlideShare” SlideShare is our most recent platform to get involved with. I had used it before, but never really saw the value behind having an account. While I was browsing our own website, I noticed that we had several documents loaded as hyperlinks, which would force people to have to download them to view them. I then made the connection, that by using SlideShare we could host the documents and allow them to be viewed live anywhere we embedded the code. So far, we have only uploaded a handful of documents, but will be posting a bunch more as we move on. As always, if there is something you want to see, or need information on, please let us know and we’ll do what we can to get it posted.
13. 130UnionStreet.com “ A Social Media Hub” “ Now What?” Well, it’s hard to say. This is what we are currently doing. There are so many more sites & platforms to look at, I can’t even begin to list them. Use ‘the Google’ and do a search on “Social Media”. Go grab a cold, frosty beverage and lock yourself in a room for a couple days, and then maybe you can decide what to do. Until then, go with the most popular, Twitter, Facebook, etc. and go from there. As I mentioned earlier, if this is a personal project, have fun with it. It can be a very fun and exciting way of getting involved in this new media, making connections and spreading our message. When we first started getting into this, I wasn’t quite sure how far we would go, but now I realize that this isn’t a choice, it’s a necessity. If we want to stay relevant, we need to have a Social Media presence and keep our content fresh.
