Originally presented at www.ecomchicago.com on October 17, 2014. "Social" Sandi Garcia helps you sort through the myths surrounding social media marketing benefits and help you decide if you need to include a social media strategy in your marketing efforts. She also helps you choose which networks are a best match for your customer base.

1. Sincerely Social:
The Real Benefits of Social Media
Marketing for E-commerce
October 16, 2014
Entire presentation is copyright Sandi Garcia, all rights reserved.

2. Sincerely Social: Agenda
1. What is social media marketing?
2. What are the benefits?
3. Who should use it?
4. How long does it take?
5. Which social media networks are best?
6. How do I know if it’s working?
7. What’s the ROI?
8. How do I get started?
9. What do I post?
10. Where can I learn more?

3. #1
WHAT IS SOCIAL MEDIA
MARKETING?

4. What is Social Media Marketing?

5. What is Social Media Marketing?
• Technical: “Social media marketing is the
process of gaining website traffic or attention
through social media sites. Social media
marketing programs usually center on efforts
to create content that attracts attention and
encourages readers to share it across their
social networks.”

6. What is Social Media Marketing?
• Reality: Social media has organic, public, 2-
way conversations about your brand, and they
happen whether you are there or not.
Join the conversation by starting the
conversation.

7. What is Social Media Marketing?
• Planning, sharing content people are interested in
• Engaging with your customers in genuine ways
• Self-promotion in moderation
• Using new technologies to reach anyone,
anywhere, anytime, on any platform
• Visibility off-marketplace
• LISTENING for other conversations & joining
– Mention.com
– Google Alerts

8. Fundamentals of SMM
1. Understand the nuances of your platform
2. Use a distinct voice
3. Drive your business goals
Source:
Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook: How to Tell Your Story in a Noisy Social World , p. 102,
Gary Vaynerchuck, 2013

9. #2
WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF
SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING?

10. Benefits of Social Media Marketing
• Build your brand
• Easier retention of loyal customers
• Encourage trust with shoppers
• Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
• Customer service
• Product research before spending
• Increased sales (over time)

11. Social Media Marketing will not
surge sales overnight.
It’s a marathon, not a sprint.

12. #3
WHO SHOULD USE
SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING?

13. Who Should Use Social Media Marketing?
• Core business brand or core product defined
• Seasoned e-commerce merchants
• Positioned for growth with resources in place
• Plateaued

14. #4
HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE?

15. How Long Does it Take?
• It depends…
• Bare minimum post once/day (10-15 minutes)
(exception: YouTube, once/week)
• You get what you give
– More time, more channels, more reach
• Free tools like Feedly.com can speed things up
• Schedule ahead once/week (except Pinterest)

16. #5
WHICH SOCIAL MEDIA NETWORKS
ARE BEST?

17. Which Social Networks Are Best?
• It depends…
– Identify your customer persona or target
demographic & match the channel accordingly
• Are your products highly visual?
• Do your products display well on video?

18. Facebook
• #2 most visited website globally & in U.S.
Source: Alexa.com, Accessed 10/17/2014
• 1 in 5 pages viewed on the internet are on Facebook
Source: Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook: How to Tell Your Story in a Noisy Social World
by Gary Vaynerchuck
• Facebook has 1.9 billion active users; 874 million mobile users
Source: Facebook.com (10/30/2013)
• Now used by 45% of all adults age 65+
Source: Pew Research Center’s Internet Project August Tracking Survey,
Aug. 7 – Sept. 16, 2013
• Only 3-5% of your posts appear in your followers feeds
Source: Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook: How to Tell Your Story in a Noisy Social World
by Gary Vaynerchuck

19. Twitter
• Public posts are limited to 140 characters
• #hashtags were born here & are a critical in-Twitter
communication tool
• Used by 31% of all internet users age 18-29
Source: Pew Research Center’s Internet Project August Tracking Survey,
Aug. 7 – Sept. 16, 2013
• 100% of your posts show in followers feeds

20. Google+
• Constantly evolving; it’s a layer of social media that
integrates with all things Google (SEO gold)
• There are now over 1 billion Google+ enabled accounts
• It has reached 359 million monthly active users, and is
growing at 33% per annum
• The 45 - 54 year old bracket increased its usage on Google+
by 56% since 2012
• #hashtags work and are important for trending
All stats this slide- Source: www.jeffbullas.com

21. Pinterest
• Highly visual! Fashion, Home Décor, Recipes = most popular
• Used like a search engine, people come here to explore
• 33% of on-line women and 8% of on-line men; more affluent
Source: Pew Research Center’s Internet Project August Tracking Survey,
Aug. 7 – Sept. 16, 2013
• Longevity: 50 percent of site visits happen after 3.5 months
of first Pinning (eBay Seller Take-away: Use GTC)
Source: piquora.com Pinterest ROI Study 11/22/2013
• Promoted Pins are coming soon for marketers
• #hashtags work

22. Instagram
• Mobile, mobile, mobile!!!
• More popular among people who live in urban areas
• 37% of adults on the internet, age 18-29, use Instagram
Source: Pew Research
• #hashtags are important to the search experience
• You cannot link to web pages in comments,
only in profile
• Rollout is in-progress for a paid advertising option

23. YouTube
• YouTube reaches more US adults (18-34) than any
cable network. Source: Fastcompany.com
• YouTube is the second larges search Engine, after
Google, and for many Millennials it is #1
• YouTube videos can be shared on Facebook and
Pinterest, and will play inside their windows
• YouTube has reached 1 Billion monthly users
Source: YouTube Blog, March 2013
• As a Google product, YouTube is SEO gold

24. #6
HOW DO I KNOW IF IT’S WORKING?

25. How Do I Know if It’s Working?
• Monitor your Social Media
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
– Likes/Favorites/Hearts/Thumbs-up
– Total # of followers
– # new followers and # of unfollows
– Traffic reports on your website/marketplace
– Clicks
– Comments
– Sales Revenue & Sales Growth

26. #7
WHAT’S THE R.O.I.?

27. What’s the R.O.I.?
Simple Formula:
ROI (%) = Gross Profit – Marketing Investment
Marketing Investment
If you have your own website, you can get the
value of sales resulting directly from social
media marketing through Google Analytics.

28. R.O.I. (continued)
Marketplace Sellers:
It’s NOT possible to calculate the R.O.I. of purely
your social media marketing, because eBay,
Amazon, and Etsy will not give you the exact
value of sales generated from social media links.
Rely on your other KPIs.

29. #8
HOW DO I GET STARTED??

30. How Do I Get Started?
• Make a social media marketing plan
– Define your social media marketing goals
– Define your (quantifiable) benchmarks
– Draft a content calendar with major annual events
– Research channels and decide which to use
– Can you market your social media presence?
– Draft an action calendar to monitor success
– Consider hiring a coach to help get started

31. #9
WHAT DO I POST?

32. What Do I Post?
• Three general types of content
– Self-promotion
– Related interests for your audience
– Trending topics
• Four primary types of posts
– Text-only
– Photo
– Video (generally FB-loaded video or YouTube link)
– Links

33. Great Themes for Great Content
• Makes an emotional connection
• Original and in a natural voice
• Reflects your audience’s interests
• Offers ‘infotainment’ or inspiration
• Native to the SMM channel

34. #1 Rule: Ask Yourself
“Would I engage with this
if I saw it in my feed?”
If the answer is no, don’t post it.

35. #10
WHERE CAN I LEARN MORE?

36. Where Can I Learn More?
• Recommended Reading
– “Kick-Ass Social Commerce” by John Lawson
– “Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook” by Gary Vaynerchuk
– “The Cluetrain Manifesto” by Rick Levine et al
• On-line
– SocialSandi.com
– Study your competition

37. THANK YOU!
Visit www.SocialSandi.com for a free membership in
our education site.
Bonus for attendees!
Social Media Audit for just $20 (usually $50) or
25% off any set-up package!
E-mail me at Sandi.Garcia@Live.com to schedule
yours today!