Landing your first customer with new media presented by Suzanne Mcdonald, Designated Editor
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Using new media to land your first customer: Low-cost tools and tips to identify and refine your audience, shape your website and social media outreach, and do market research. Presented to Boston Entrepreneur’s Network by Suzanne McDonald, Content and Social Strategist / President of Designated Editor.
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Landing your first customer with new media presented by Suzanne Mcdonald, Designated Editor
- 1. Designated Editor Speaking Series first Landing your customer ^ Suzanne McDonald | Content& Social Strategist Boston Entrepreneur‟s Network @Sue_DesigEditor #enet
- 2. suzanne‟s experience Social Media Strategies professor 6 years Page 1 Masters in Journalism & Mass Communications BA in Journalism www.designatededitor.com 2
- 3. old methods of client acquisition Friends & friends of friends? School connections? Business connections? Civic clubs, organizations, church? Lawyer, doctor, plumber? Insurance agent, stylist, nanny? Neighbors? Sports and hobbies? http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/57382 www.designatededitor.com 3
- 4. who is your first client? Are they revenue generators or case studies? Enterprise vs consumer? What is their acute pain point? www.designatededitor.com 4
- 5. who is your audience? Who might be your best client? What are the defining characteristics? What are they looking for? Are you using the right vocabulary? www.designatededitor.com 5
- 6. your target audience Refine your target audience Tap into your Look at analytics statistics Use your Examine keywords demographics www.designatededitor.com 6
- 7. new world order Your website and blog Email newsletter Social media Blogger relations & PR In-person interactions Additional outreach platforms Tying it all together www.designatededitor.com 7
- 8. how easy is it to use your site? „Put your mom in front of your site and see if she can figure it out‟ − Tim Ash Sitetuners.com www.designatededitor.com 8
- 9. website Stay out of the way Prominent search bar Pitfalls • Geek-speak • Clutter • No call to action • Falling in love with the art www.designatededitor.com 9
- 10. speak to specific people XXXX www.designatededitor.com 10
- 11. for parents XXXX www.designatededitor.com 11
- 12. establish credibility XXXX www.designatededitor.com 12
- 13. your blog Google & search engines <3 fresh content Activates keywords Offers a glimpse inside your brand Enable and moderate comments Use an editorial calendar www.designatededitor.com 13
- 14. understanding audiences www.designatededitor.com 14
- 15. blogging www.designatededitor.com 15
- 16. socialization of brands “It won‟t be enough for brands to craft powerful messages ... They will need to participate directly in conversations and provide more meaningful exchanges … in ways that increase relevance and value [to] consumers. -Razorfish Social Influence Marketing Report http://faculty.cbpp.uaa.alaska.edu/afef/introducing_the_social_influence.htm www.designatededitor.com 16
- 17. social media best practices What to do when you‟re just starting? 1. Listen 2. Add value 3. Find influencers 4. Engage in dialog Don‟t be spammy or self-centered. www.designatededitor.com 17
- 18. Forrester‟s social strategy People Learn your audience‟s social activities and behaviors Objectives Decide what you want to accomplish Strategy Plan how your motives will change your relationship with your audience Technology Choose what social media platforms you want to use for your campaign www.designatededitor.com 18
- 19. Nearly 2 billion people searches in 2010 http://www.simplyzesty.com/social-media/linkedin-2/essential-linkedin-stats-you-need-to-know/ www.designatededitor.com 19
- 20. http-//visual.ly/following-twitter www.designatededitor.com 20
- 21. http-//socialtimes.com/twitter-vs-facebook-infographic_b73972 www.designatededitor.com 21
- 22. http-//socialtimes.com/history-of-facebook-commerce-infographic_b70647 www.designatededitor.com 22
- 23. social media market research What are your Facebook fans discussing? Which FB updates get the most response? Which LinkedIn groups are key clients in? What hashtags do targets use on Twitter? Which of your clients are most influential? What are they Tweeting about? www.designatededitor.com 23
- 24. what are their concerns? www.designatededitor.com 24
- 25. ask away www.designatededitor.com 25
- 26. www.designatededitor.com 26
- 27. blogger relations & PR 80% of journalists believe bloggers have become “important opinion shapers.” - Society for New Communication Research http://sncr.org/2010/02/19/journalists-use-of-social-media-is-surging-according-to-2nd-annual- middlebergsncr-survey-of-media-in-the-wired-world/ www.designatededitor.com 27
- 28. www.designatededitor.com 28
- 29. additional outreach platforms Google AdWords Facebook ads Affiliate marketing Yelp & review sites Amazon | eBay & marketplaces Groupon& daily deals www.designatededitor.com 29
- 30. socialtimes.com/user-generated-content-infographic_b68911 www.designatededitor.com 30
- 31. how do you relate? Need to open the door to welcome your customers and prospects Today‟s low-cost tools make it easier than ever www.designatededitor.com 31
- 32. In-person engagement www.designatededitor.com 32
- 33. tying it altogether Bring value: Discounts, deals, fun invites Content: Enhance SEO, social engagement Leads and insights: Recommendations Explanations: Who you are, why engage Information: Improve their lives Quick answers: Information ASAP www.designatededitor.com 33
- 34. freemium? “Don't give the product away for free to these early customers - even if they're friends and family. … If they're not paying customers, they‟ll be reluctant to complain.” -Dharmesh Shah Hubspot CEO & founder http://www.inc.com/guides/2010/07/how-to-find-your-first-customer.html www.designatededitor.com 34
- 35. Thank you! Designated Editor Speaking Series Landing your first customer Suzanne McDonald | Content & Social Strategist Boston Entrepreneur‟s Network @Sue_DesigEditor#enet
Editor's Notes
- How many of you have tried these methods? Any successes? 2% of the population are innovatorsBefore we jump into new methods and new media, we need to do our homework
- Because everyone’s answers will be different, we aren’t going to answer each of these questions. But we will explore tactics to help answer them for your startup – using new media.
- Need to develop a hypothesis of personae, whether you are marketing on the web or social. You need to SPEAK to SOMEONE. If everyone is a client, no one self-identifies as YOUR client … no one sees that what you do can solve his/her problem.URI students parents of young children=middle-aged
- Tactics to help answer and refine these questions. In the scientific method, you test your hypothesis. Same here, so run some experiments, crunch some data
- In the new world, web 2.0 and 3.0, enables us to answer fundamental questions about our target audiences and to engage with them. I’ll explore best practices for each of these: blog, email, SM, BR & PR affiliates & in-personStart with what you can control and end with how to synchronize them for optimal ROI
- Does your site, if your target audience comprises people like your mom, speak to her?It’s OK to throwaway a site that’s not working – not the URL though
- Be sure to have a conversion, such as a newsletter signup
- Background image: rock climbing vs
- Graduation, what could be a better selling point to parents?Is your site echoing what how you make people’s lives better?
- E-commerce? Online shopping? Credibility & reason to trust: An opportunity to get to know you: Media outlets add credibility, Call out for savings: VA save $120 on cellphone bill
- Editorial calendar should include: Holidays,Conferences Important dates/events that you’d like to get a post out ahead ofBe sure to appoint an Editor and content quality control, a function DE provides for some clients, along w Editorial Calendar development
- The more content you create, the feedback you get, the more data to crunch and better understand your audience.Initially, it’s like an echo chamber, but as the voices increase, a clearer picture emergesGoogle Analytics: Map overlay, keywords, where they’re coming from
- People rely on blogs to find out about new products, brands, decision-making when purchasingAlso ideal for SEO. Google loves fresh contentCreates the foundation for your social media outreach and enables you to own the content you’re investing in
- What people expect of today’s brands. Social media the great equalizer, so many success stories that show it’s passion not budget that leads to social media success.
- SM= Integration of technology and social interactionPlatforms = Facebook,LinkedIn,Twitter,Flikr,YouTube, Google+, Blogs,Podcasts,Wikis
- It all starts with peopleGoals: You can’t expect to gain anything if you don’t aim for itStrategy: Social media can be a big time suck. Are you wasting your time and your followers’ time? Editorial calendars help here and w goalsPlatforms: Go where you audience is!
- 6 million LinkedIn members work in saleshttp://econsultancy.com/us/blog/7334-social-media-statistics-one-year-laterSays to me: great for prospecting!
- Think of broadcasting, or flipping through the channels when you’re watching TVFacebook and LinkedIn are closed networks; Twitter is all about reaching and sustaining relationships with new people
- #1 reason is for deals. Mentioned previously Groupon and social buying. Huge cost to the business. Why not reward your most loyal? http-//socialtimes.com/twitter-vs-facebook-infographic_b73972
- One oft-asked question: whether social makes any money. Takes time, and big brands are seeing big revenue. Delta Air Lines being one. Anyone familiar with the term virtual goods?http-//socialtimes.com/history-of-facebook-commerce-infographic_b70647
- Discussions happening, which are going viral or gaining traction?What are your people interested in?Who is important to your target audience?
- Can you solve problems on LinkedIn Answers? LinkedIn Answers: not just phishing for clients, engaging with
- Facebook poll - great for B2C
- Just ask: survey monkey – great for B2B
- Influencers anyone? Engage with bloggers who post regularly about what you sell or something your prospects are interested in
- Be attention-worthy when engaging bloggers and mediaBe creative and fun to engage with users and influencersIf it’s interesting to PEOPLE, the right type of media will be interested. Consider Patch.com as a media outlet, always looking for contentAnd/or industry press. You may think what you do isn’t compelling, but how you helped someone is.
- Google AdWords: refine keywords via a/b testingFacebook ads: narrow in on demographicsAffiliate marketing: broaden your reachYelp: Review sitesAmazon & marketplacesGroupon and Daily deals
- One of the great payoffs of successfully engaging in social media. How much does it cost to advertise vsevangalize
- Now that have a great low-cost site & sense your audience. Engageto help resonate w audienceWhere do you engage with your customers and prospects?Secret: Social media but email still more ROI, Mailchimp free account
- Something about regularly seeing someone, in person, that truly builds a relationship. Social media simply augments this, not necessarily supplants it.
- Consider how each platform and/or and engagement point can hit these marks
- A point to lead the discussion further.
- Happy to answer any questions & thanks so much for having me!