We interviewed over 100 business owners and asked them about what they were doing with regard to social media for their business. This report details what's working, what's not and some recommendations

1. Social Media For Business
A look at the Golden Horseshoe – what’s working and why
As prepared by
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2. Table of Contents
Introduction 3
Executive summary 4
The study 5
Positive results 11
Troubling trends 12
The gap is growing 13
Recommendations 14
About the authors 23
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3. Introduction
Since the inception of the internet the world has become more and
more connected. Social Media is the next step in that connectivity.
No matter what sized business you operate or manage, Social
Media has or is about to impact your world. From customer service,
to sales, to marketing and hiring, Social Media’s effect can be felt in
almost every department of most companies.
We wanted to better understand how the business community of
the Golden Horseshoe in Ontario have been affected by Social
Media.
The following pages is a summary of conversations and interviews
we’ve had from January to March 2012 with close to 100 business
owners and senior managers about how Social Media has or has not
impacted them.
This is by no means a scientific study, rather it’s a collection of
candid conversations and keen insights into the real world of Social
Media for business.
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4. Executive Summary
At the conclusion of our interviews we
noticed that all of the companies we
spoke with fell into one of five distinct
stages in their Social Media journey.
As you can see in this diagram at least
80% of the firms we talked with are
using Social Media, however, only a
small portion are seeing distinct
results. This may lead some of you to
conclude that Social Media doesn’t
work, but the reason many are not
seeing tangible results is because they
are either just beginning to use it or
they have no strategy in place to drive
it.
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5. The Study
There are numerous tools that can be used for social media. Below represents what tools were most used by
the respondents. As you can see Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin were by far the most popular.
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6. The Study
A beautiful part of the internet is the ability to find content in the format we personally enjoy most, be it text,
video, audio or photos. Below you can see that the majority of the content being produced by the respondents
was text based, while links, video and photos all tied for second.
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7. The Study
Because Social Media is new to many of the companies we spoke with, almost half had no formal goals set. Of
those companies that did set goals, many were focused on the number of followers/likes and some identified
dialogue and engagement as important goals.
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8. The Study
The biggest mystery attached to Social Media is how to measure it. Some firms focused on numbers like
“followers” or “likes”, while others focused more on how many people shared and commented on what was
posted. And still others wanted hard numbers like sales dollars generated.
We can without a doubt attest to the fact that there is not a universal measurement that everyone could agree
upon. What it really came down to is what their expectations were of Social Media. Some of the firms we spoke
with are naturally social by nature and the tools of Social Media were a natural extension of what they were
already doing, while other companies are either completely terrified of it or have no idea how it could provide a
benefit.
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9. The Study
70% of the businesses we spoke with had no budget allocated to Social Media. Many of them did admit that
they had dedicated staff who spent time on Social Media but they did not allocate dollars to content
development, promotions or staff. Of the companies that did have a budget, it was almost exclusively dedicated
to staff.
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10. The Study
Even though almost half of the companies we spoke with did not have formalized goals and a majority have no
budget allocated to Social Media over 70% believe that Social Media is very important to the growth of their
business.
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11. Positive Results
After analyzing all of the interviews and conversations we found specific areas where companies using
Social Media were seeing positive results.
Hiring: Meridian Credit Union have utilized Linkedin for the majority of their recruitment. They found
that many of the profiles on Linkedin were more thorough than the actual resumes of some applicants.
Customer Service: Companies like CAA Niagara are using Social Media to provide answers to customer’s
questions in real time as well as directing them to important news, tips and information when they
need it most.
Sales Support: Schools like Niagara College and Niagara Christian Community of Schools are using
student testimonials, videos and photos to tell the story of the institution and why it’s a great place to
attend.
Customer Retention: Businesses like Innovative Kitchen Design provide their customers with recipes
from leading Niagara Chefs, video tips to help customers care for their new kitchens and discounts at
kitchen supply stores.
Customer Education: Companies like Beatties Basics provide valuable product information to help
consumers make better choices. Nino D’Ambra Hair & Aesthetics use Facebook to give weekly tips on
hair styles, make-up and hair care products attracting people from far outside their geographic region.
New Market Acquisition: HOCO Entertainment is reaching international markets and bringing in new
visitors to Niagara.
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12. Troubling Trends
While the study did uncover numerous success stories, at the same time the report identified four
areas where businesses were struggling with their Social Media activities. These trends are not
exclusive to the Golden Horseshoe as we’ve seen evidence from third party research related to Social
Media.
Campaigns: Trying to force traditional marketing tactics into Social Media. While contesting,
promotions and yes campaigns can be effective, many companies we spoke with lose people quickly
when its all they offer. Social Media is most effective when it’s a mix of giving value, engaging,
promoting and sharing.
Selling Only: Very similar to campaigns are companies using Social Media exclusively to sell. The study
found that this group typically posts messages very infrequently and when they do it’s only to promote
their special of the week or a sale they’re having. While this will appeal to some people, the vast
majority of people using Social Media will be turned off by this.
Long periods of time with no contact: Another trend we noticed were companies that set up pages or
accounts, made a few posts and then nothing for months and in one case two years. We found that for
Social Media to work, you need to be there. Just like offline connections, Social Media takes a certain
level of commitment.
Putting the intern in charge: Because Social Media requires a time commitment, in some cases a
major time commitment, it is often delegated to the low man on the rung; the intern. While they do
have the time, they do not always possess the understanding of the business or the companies
customers. Social Media is a real-time medium and requires individuals who know how to properly
communicate with the market.
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13. The gap is growing
One of the biggest findings of the study was the gap between companies using Social Media for extended
periods of time and companies that were using it sporadically or not at all. The businesses using it
consistently were seeing exponential results and relevancy within their markets, while companies that are
not using it, fearful of it or very sporadic in their application are only seeing incremental growth at best.
= companies using social media
= companies not using or sporadic use of social media
R
e
s
u The gap is widening
l
t
s
Time
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14. Recommendations
Based on all of the data from the study and our consulting work over the last two
years we have compiled a best practices formula for businesses looking to use
Social Media.
The Social Media marketing development process
6.Expectations
7.Goals and objectives
8.Build the team
9.Overall strategy
10.Budget
11.Social Media policy
12.Content strategy & editorial calendar
13.Choose platforms
14.Set-up accounts and team training
15.Engaging with the community
16.Monitoring and analytics
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15. Recommendations
Expectations
It’s essential before beginning any Social Media initiative that everyone involved
discuss what their expectations are. These include desired results, time and
resource commitments, what the team should look like, impact on the business,
and how important Social Media will be in the overall marketing mix.
It’s this type of discussion that will determine how to best proceed and what
success will look like. Social Media is
simply a set of
tools, it’s what you
Goals & Objectives do with them that
While it is sometimes difficult to apply specific sales goals to Social Media, will determine your
especially when first starting, it’s important to put in place milestones and targets success.
that can be measured and monitored.
Goals can include:
• Number of communities you will participate in
• Number of people following/liking various pages
• Website traffic from Social Media sites
• Content being shared and commented on
• Newsletter subscribers
• Overall audience growth
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16. Recommendations
Build your team
Your Social Media program can consist of two teams:
Administration Ensure you have
Content providers
the right people in
The admin team will be responsible for setting up accounts, managing passwords, the right role.
monitoring the sites for comments, responding to the community, uploading
content as per the content schedule and ensuring the social media policy is being
followed.
The content providers will be responsible for creating and or sourcing content in
various media formats (text/video/photo/audio) that fit within the Social Media
strategy. The content team will have an editorial calendar that they work within.
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17. Recommendations
Overall Strategy
Social Media is not a stand alone department, it is part of the marketing
department. It’s a series of tools designed to give you the opportunity to
communicate with your audiences in an open and honest way with two-way
dialogue.
Social Media that
Your Social Media strategy needs to fit within your marketing strategy and
compliment it.
is not connected
to your sales,
At this stage we suggest focusing on the following questions:
marketing,
Who do we want to communicate with? customer service
How many different communities do we want to engage with?
What do we want to be known for?
and human
What is important to each community? resources is just
Where are they getting their information now?
What information is your community interested in?
noise.
What information does your community need that it’s not getting?
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18. Recommendations
Budget
While the tools of Social Media are free, the time of your team is not. A budget
needs to be established to determine how much time individuals will dedicate as
well as the cost to produce content. Social Media tools
are free but the
Budget items can include:
time and
• Video production/editing commitment it
• Ghost writing
• Professional photography takes to do it right
• Prizes or giveaways have a cost
• Graphic design
associated to it.
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19. Recommendations
Establish your Social Media policies
It’s important to let your staff know what is and isn’t acceptable when it comes to
their professional lives in the Social Media arena. It’s also important to ensure
your business has a crisis plan in place. Think about all the possible “worst case Be prepared
scenarios” and how you will react quickly and professionally. because
This shouldn’t become a bogged down legal document, but it needs to work something can
through what is expected and accepted. If your people don’t know what is and will happen.
acceptable they will make up their own rules. We recommend that your legal
representation be consulted.
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20. Recommendations
Content strategy and editorial calendar
The first step is to determine what types of media your audiences prefer. This can include video, text, audio and photos.
From there determine who within your team has the ability and is comfortable producing content in the various forms.
The last step is to determine what topics will be developed and in what format. From here you put this all into a calendar
format.
Example
Topic Format Author 1st proof Final Go Live
RRSP Video Joe Smith Feb 15 Feb 25 Feb 28
Savings Blog Mary Jones Feb 20 March 1 March 5
Mortgages Video Eric Timms March 1 March 10 March 20
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21. Recommendations
Choose platforms and set-up accounts
Here is where you determine what social tools to utilize to communicate with your
communities. There are numerous choices, but the most prevalent are Facebook,
Twitter, Linkedin, Youtube, Pinterest and Flickr.
We recommend starting slowly with one or two platforms, establishing some
connections, engaging them and then start sharing content.
Setting up the
At this stage you will also want to do some training of your staff so they feel different tools you
comfortable connecting and sharing with your sites and recommending them to
their friends and connections. will use is one of
the last steps in a
successful Social
Media program.
Engaging the community
Now that all of the planning and training is completed and the content
development is well underway, it’s time to start engaging with your communities
on a regular basis.
Some communities will be more active than others, and others may take some
time to catch on, but it’s critical to establish a consistent approach so people know
what to expect.
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22. Recommendations
Monitoring and Analysis
It’s important to know how you’re doing. While direct sales may be the ultimate Return on
goal, that will take time. You’ll want to monitor the following:
investment is a big
• Followers/Likes to various pages topic of
• Comments and engagement
• How much and how often content is shared
discussion,
• Amount of conversation about your brand within your communities understand what
• Sharing of content
• Website traffic from Social Media sites
you want to
• Newsletter subscribers measure and why.
• Overall audience growth
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23. About the authors
We get approached by business owners because they are not happy with sales and growth. After our
first conversation we usually find out they have trouble getting things done because of one or two
things. The company has grown to a new size, or they simply do not have the right people in the right
places. Because of this, they are unsure about what to do next.
So we do four things:
1. We work with your team, to make sure you have the right people in the right roles
2. We work with your company to ensure you have a clear and committed corporate vision and Neil Thornton
strategy Trigger Strategies
Direct: (905) 401-1434
3. We work with you and your team to better communicate with and service your market and neil@triggerstrategies.ca
customers
4. And lastly we put everything into action with dates, commitments, resources and accountability.
We measure results and help you drive change
These owners tell us they do not want theories and books, they want us to get s@#! done.
If that sounds like something you need, call us.
Larry Anderson
Trigger Strategies
Direct: (905) 321-2663
larry@triggerstrategies.ca
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