Social Media: Beyond the Hype

How to Integrate Social Media into Your Current Marketing Plan & Identify Common Social Media myths. Social Media- Beyond the Hype

What we are going to discuss.
What is social media is NOT.
What social media is, really.
10 Social media myths, and why you should ignore them, including:
Who in your business should lead social media?
Should you outsource social media?
How can your business use social media?
How do your customers use social media?
How should you choose social media tools?
How do you get started with social media?
How do you measure social media ROI?

WIIFM Radio
A clear understanding of what social media is, and is not.
How social media can work with your marketing plan.
Actionable steps and additional resources to get you started.

Since we are being social…
Who I am (and am not) and how we can connect
I am NOT:
A social media expert, guru or specialist. No one is, really.
Selling you a book, product or service.
Pretending I know everything. No one can, really.

Who are you?
Small Business owners?
Do you have employees? Work in a marketing department? Use social media now?

Who I am
Decide for yourself- here’s how:
Read the blog: http://www.minternetmarketing.com/blog/
Have fun Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/carole.mahoney
Follow my thoughts on Twitter: http://twitter.com/minetmarketing
Connect on LinkedIn:
http://www.linkedin.com/in/carolemahoney

Why does Social Media have so much hype?
What’s the big deal anyway? Is this just the latest internet fad?
Relax: it’s not rocket science, and you already know how to do it.
Additional resource: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFZ0z5Fm-Ng

What social media is NOT.
A slick new campaign that will make a big splash fast.
An easy, cheap, or free way to sell your product/service.
Going to make you rich.
Done over night.
Additional resources: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JL3--jlut9g http://www.socialmediamyth.com/

What social media IS (or could be for your business).

The myths, and why you should ignore them.
Myth #1- The bigger your following, the better.
Why it is a myth: Your number of friends or followers means nothing if they do not participate with you. True influence is not just a number.

Social Media Myth #2
Social media is free and cheap.
Why it is a myth: Some tools might be free, but your time is never free. Effectively incorporating a social media strategy into your marketing plan requires time and expertise.

You can make a big splash in a short time.
Why it is a myth: Social media is great if you're already a star, but most of us aren’t. Building a credible reputation takes time.

You can do it all in-house.
Why it is a myth: You need strategy, contacts, tools, and some experience. Incorporating social media into your marketing plan may require some knowledge or skills that you do not have in house.
Note: You need your team involved, who else knows your business, customers or industry best? Do not assume you can completely outsource social media and see success.

Social Media Myth # 5
Social Media is so easy, an intern could do it.
Why it is a Myth: The person in charge of your social media campaign is the voice of your company, answering questions, responding to complaints.
Do you really want this guy representing you online?

Social media marketing is hard.
Why it is a Myth: It really is just people having conversations. If you can listen and respond authentically, in other words be human, you can do this.

Social media is for the younger generation.
Why it is a Myth: The largest part of Facebook’s user base is the 35-54 age group, and the fastest growing is currently 55+..

Social Media Marketing is new.
Why it is a Myth: Ever heard of word of mouth marketing? Been around quite a long time and is not a new concept.

There are no rules.
Why this is a Myth: There are rules. Mostly use your manners, be nice, don’t overly promote yourself, don’t automate everything, be sincere, seek to add value.

Social media marketing doesn’t apply to my business .
Why it is a Myth: Does your business involve people? Does it involve people who make a decision about your product or service? Unless you are selling to unthinking robots, it applies.

Integrate your marketing plan
Have one? Great- does it tell you:
Who do you want as a customer?
What they really want and why?
How they are going to get it?
What you want them to do (and where?)
If you answered no, take Action: Sign up for my next Lunch & Learn with Maine Marketing Association on June 23.

How Do Your Customers Use Social Media?
Take Action:
1-Set up listening tools
Open a Google account, use Google reader.
Search for yourself and your keyword terms in technorati.com
Use a Twitter tool like Tweetdeck and do some searches.
“ If you wish to know the mind of a man, listen to his words.” ~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

How Your Business Can Use Social Media
Take Action:
Write down what you want to accomplish with social media according to your goals in order of importance.
Goal Type of Social Media Marketing

Time… is it on your side?
Set a schedule and track your time as part of your work day.
Aim for 1 hour a day. Break up into 15-20 min segments.
Use listening tools to organize the noise.

Where to put your focus
Now that you have your goals in order of priority, it’s time to decide which sites you will use to accomplish those goals.
2 Types of Social Media Sites
Social Networking
Link Building

Elements of Social Networking sites
You can create a detailed profile.
You can search for and add friends.
You can group your friends.
You can make comments on your profile and others.
You can message each other.
You can add media (photos, videos, etc)

Elements of Link Building Sites
Content focused rather than user focused
Minimal interaction between users
A voting system for content
A book marking system for content
Commenting is based on posted content

How do you get started with social media?
It’s all in the blog…
Write what you know.
Write what others want to know.
Write what you want to know.

Every gardener needs their tools…
Tweetdeck.com - integrates in with Facebook, manage multiple accounts, schedule tweets, easy search feature.
Hubspot.com - Not just social media management, also SEO, PPC, email, analytics, lead generation (ROI!)
Google Reader, Google Alerts
Twitalyzer.com - free (and paid) Twitter Analysis reach and influence.

How to Choose Your Tools
The Two Factors to Consider:
Your Time
Your Money

Last but certainly not least!
How can you measure social media ROI?

Additional Resources
Because I won’t ever claim to know it all, and even if I did…
http://blog.hubspot.
http: //socialmarker .com/
http: //socialmediatoday .com
http://blogs.Forrester.com
http://www.web-strategist.com/blog
http://www.experiencetheblog.com
http://mashable.com/

“ Instead of worrying about what people say of you, why not spend time trying to accomplish something they will admire.”
~Dale Carnegie

Social Media: Beyond the Hype

by Mahoney Internet Marketing

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