A guide to social media marketing for small/medium businesses. How create a strategic plan, execution, and analysis of the social media results. Tips for creating content and setting up a process for consistent content development and publishing.
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Introduction Does Social Media Really Work?
Which Channels are Right for My Business?
How Do I Begin?
What Kind of Content Should I Post?
What is This Hashtag Stuff?
Analysis
Summary
Resources
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Make a Plan
• S.M.A.R.T. Goals
• Strategic
• Measurable
• Achievable
• Realistic
• Time related
Zenith Rocket
Boosters Social
Media Plan
Goals
Content
Channels
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Make a Plan
• Focus
• Which channel(s)?
• Content
• What kind, what topics?
• Links to website or landing pages
• Schedule
• Frequency
• Monitor
• Integrate with other media
• Tools
• Google Analytics
• Other – Hootsuite, SproutSocial,
etc.
Zenith Rocket
Boosters Social
Media Plan
Goals
Content
Channels
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The Process
Content
Strategy
Content
Development
Publishing/
Monitoring
Analytics
SET THE ROAD MAP FOR
EXECUTION
BRING CONTENT TO LIFE REAL-TIME EXECUTION &
RESPONSIVENESS
INFORM STRATEGY WITH
DATA
• Prioritize messaging
• Create Content Calendar –
campaign-based, event-based,
serial content
• Define purpose of content, intended
audience, tone of voice, content
types
• Define links/exit points/progression
of user experience from Social post
• Research Competitors
• Communicate across teams for
awareness of upcoming events,
stories, activities, case studies that
might inspire content ideas –
including coordination with Sales
team for Tradeshow campaign
planning.
• Curate content from partners/3rd
parties
• Creative Execution
• Graphic Design
• Copywriting
• Video production/editing
• Review/Approval Process – define
different levels of required approval
based on different content
types/channels and involvement of
key team members.
• Schedule/publish posts and set up
promoted posts
• Publish updates to profile pages as
needed.
• Social listening/monitoring/
responding. Dedicated person to
monitor accounts for
positive/negative mentions and
engagement opportunities
• Address real-time, responsive,
spontaneous opportunities and call
on other resources as needed.
Needs to be trusted to post/respond
without approval
• Respond to inquiries in a timely
manner, engage in conversations
• Monitor daily/weekly analytics
• Set up of necessary tools and
goal/event tracking
• Weekly/Monthly/Quarterly analysis
and reporting of analytics to share
progress and inform future strategy
• Competitor monitoring and research
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1. Main Lead/Manager
Central point of contact, responsibility to
oversee and connect the entire process.
2. Content Strategist/Planner
3. Content Creation Team
Will vary by type/amount of content,
combination of designers and writers
4. Review/Approval
5. Publisher + Channel Monitor and
Responder
6. Analytics Lead
Resource Allocation
Roles
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Think About Your
Content Mix
1. Helpful information
45%
2. Inspiration 45%
3. Interest -
entertainment &
personality 10%
I + I + I =
Appreciation
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Measure against your goals
Goal No. 3: Increase
brand awareness
• Social media metrics to
measure: Follower growth rate,
percentage change over time in
followers, Twitter sentiment,
reach by region, clicks by region
Goal No. 1: Increase
social media engagement
• Social media metrics to
measure: Likes, Shares,
Comments, Retweets, Mentions,
Favorites
Goal No. 2: Increase
customer acquisition on
your website
• Social media metrics to
measure: URL clicks and traffic
from social media
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Helpful Resources
Social Media Examiner
• http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/
• http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/social-media-marketing-
industry-report-2015/
Hubspot
http://www.hubspot.com/
Hootsuite
• https://hootsuite.com
• https://blog.hootsuite.com/measure-social-media-roi-business/
Buffer
https://buffer.com/
How to Rule Social Media
Social media can:
Build brand awareness
Drive traffic to your website
Improve SEO
Enhance brand credibility
Enhance reputation management
Even generate leads
Social media will not:
Provide the silver bullet
Be a free tactic
Run automatically
Fix your marketing problems
Produce results by working in a vacuum without other digital tactics
Automatically provide ROI
ROI is coming of age, but this is still pretty optimistic unless you have excellent tracking and analytics in place.
Let’s separate the cacophony from the facts
The noise and crowds can make you feel like a Luddite if you don’t participate in social media.
There are companies that promise your business will soar if you hire them to do your social media for you.
Truth is, it’s not free and by itself, is simply another marketing tactic. It has a role in the digital marketing ecosystem, but do not count on it alone to drive business. Your website comes first, and great SEO should take priority. That way, you can use social media to increase traffic and leads at your site.
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Social media is an engagement medium. You want to engage people and get them to do something, such as going to your website where they can learn more about the business and you can convert them into leads. So when you think about social media – or any digital media – think about the journey you want customers and prospects to take.
Do you have a service? Then you want them to be intrigued and impressed enough to go to your site and contact you, once they are ready.
Are you selling products from a brick and mortar store? Then you want inspire them to go to your store. They may well go to you website first, and they may do it all on mobile devices.
Are you doing ecommerce? Then you want to drive them to your site and provide a great purchasing experience.
When you use social media, you want something to happen. You want it to build your reputation and ultimately, drive business. But people don’t just see a Facebook post and decide to purchase. There is a journey that customers take, and it’s reflected in what is frequently referred to as the sales funnel.
People want different things at each phase of the journey. Make sure you pay appropriate attention to each phase and to all of the interactions, not just social. You might use social media, for example, to create awareness and discovery, then give them reasons to go to your website to learn more and then contact you. After the purchase, use social for reputation building by asking customers to provide reviews and by saluting them (as appropriate, of course). For example, if a company just finished painting a home exterior, they could post a photo and state what a pleasure it was to work with the customer to add fresh new life to their home.
Awareness (social, SEO)
Discovery (Social, SEO, landing pages)
Consideration (website, landing pages)
Decision (website, store visit, personal contact)
Purchase (website or store)
Post Purchase (website, social)
Learn to think through their filters. You know your business, but they don’t. Their concerns are different than yours. They do not want to feel manipulated or feel like they are being sold to.
Snapchat is hot right now, but if you are selling a home building service, it’s not your best medium. On the other hand, if you are a fast food, open-all-night restaurant, it might be just right.
Too many businesses are overlooking the power of LinkedIn. It’s a strong credibility and recruitment resource.
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This company has an excellent profile page and by providing useful content, they position themselves as industry leaders.
This company is making good use of LinkedIn to promote recruiting.
A good example of a B2C company using LinkedIn for credibility when recruiting.
The big monster. Over 62% of users are 35+.
A B2B company can use Facebook to build employee and community relations.
This company has a good Facebook profile page, although showing a human face in the portrait box would add interest and be more personal.
These posts do a great job of giving credit to their clients, rather than bragging about their own work. They pack a lot of information that is educational, but they do it without being too “salesy”. The photos tell the story and will catch the attention of any homeowner who is thinking about an exterior addition.
Other content by Exterior Additions. They post educational information about products they use, thus helping customers and building relationships with their suppliers. Also shown, when they get a lead, they respond quickly (here, in an hour) and they provide a phone number and a reason to go to the website for more useful information. Already, this prospective customer is enjoying an excellent customer experience.
A small town, local bank that is competing against industry Goliaths puts up a friendly Facebook page that reminds people they’ve been around over 100 years in the community…
…to remind the community of their long standing local roots, they created a Facebook campaign emphasizing their unique, and valued difference.
“I bank local.” features their customers. Local people.
In a community where “everybody knows each other”, it garnered popular response.
Facebook is useful to promote events.
No matter what social media you use, take some time to create the right visuals. There are many online resources that provide templates for correct sizing. http://sproutsocial.com/insights/social-media-image-sizes-guide/
Which company is more likely to win your interest if you want new color on your walls?
Twitter is a powerful channel.
Now you can post up to 140 characters without including photos and links.
Twitter is a great channel to tap into larger events and make a relevant connection.
Videos continue to gain power and popularity. YouTube is the leader, but Vimeo is also popular. YouTube is free, but be sure to turn off the monetization feature, otherwise competitors – or worse – can post ads in front of your video. Vimeo has a small cost, but they don’t advertise, and the content is considered to be higher quality, putting you in a better neighborhood, so to speak.
You can make your own video and build your brand’s reputation and credibility.
This company created a before-and-after slide show that takes viewers on a complete journey of a major remodeling project. By doing so, they both educate customers and build their credibility as a quality, reliable company that can be trusted with a major project.
For builders, remodelers and decorators, Houzz is a powerful channel to for reputation building.
Pinterest is a wonderful visual channel. However, it’s not as powerful for driving business – so far – as Facebook or video venues.
Some companies naturally lend themselves to Pinterest than others.
Instagram is a good “what’s happening now” medium.
Define your target audience
Specify the things they are interested in
Be realistic about how many channels you can commit to. One channel done well is better than three scattershot channels.
Create interesting content
Don’t make it just about your business
Provide ancillary information
Have a personality
Don’t spew
Create a disciplined schedule
Monitor
Analyze
Adjust and repeat
Too many business take a shotgun approach and just start posting. Investing time up front to carefully plan how you will execute and what your content will be, will make it much easier and more successful in the long run.
This is a typical process
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Enlist others to help you.
“It’s not me, it’s you.”
To use social media effectively, you have to define the person you want to engage with and make them the center of attention. Paint a picture of them as a person. Imagine you are having a conversation with them. What are they interested in? What’s important to them?
Hint: they could care less about your company, unless it looks like you have a superior solution for them.
They are looking for solutions. Or entertainment. Or information. Or fun. They need something that you can help them with. So put yourself in their shoes and engage with language and content that is relevant and valuable to them.
You can make a simple Excel chart…
Or
A hashtag is simply a way for people to search for tweets that have a common topic.
You can set up your content and track popular topics based on these keywords.
It started in Twitter, but has spread to other social channels like Facebook.
Engagement goes down if you use more than 2 hashtags.
The goals here are typical. Ideally, you would quantify the goal, such as “Increase Facebook Likes by 10%”. Then you have something to benchmark against.
You should already be using Google Analytics for website analysis. (If not, back up and do that first!) Google also provides social media analysis, and it’s free.
There are also excellent resources that can help you manage your social media efforts, from planning content and setting up posting, to dashboards and analytics. These are just a few. Some have free versions, others have tiered rate structures.
Once you have a solid social media effort in place, consider testing some advertising. Facebook does not send every post you make to all of your followers every time, and their algorithms are constantly changing. But you can pay to have it promoted and you have options for specifying who you want it to go to. Here, PrimeSouth bank specified a geographic area for promotion. Along with other appropriate demographics.
Start with focus – select one channel and learn it
Get in the habit of regular updates. Like brushing your teeth
Give it time
As you get more active and confident, add another channel
Explore tools like Hootsuite, HubSpot, Sprout Social, etc.
Monitor
Analyze
Keep your expectations low to begin with
Integrate with your other digital marketing – website, SEO
Do
Create a strategic plan
Intentions
Goals
Objectives
Implementation
Measurement
Analysis
Focus on key channel(s)
Post local
Understand what your target audience is interested in
Invite feedback – ask questions
Promote events
Thank customers
Exercise discipline
Use qualified admins and participants
Have a response plan
Provide visuals
Leverage your expertise
Invite more engagement via comments, landing pages, blogs, etc.
Don’t:
Open an account and then abandon it
Post content without a plan
Ignore comments
Be afraid of negative comments – every complaint is an opportunity to make things right or correct a mistaken impression. When people see a company genuinely committed to correcting mistakes, the brand gains credibility.
Try to control the message
Assume your audience is as fascinated by the same topics you are
Sell
Spew
Expect fast results
There are many great resources online. These are just a few.