Small Business Social Media Survival Tips Preso (Updated)

Small Business / Social Media Survival Strategy v 1.5 Marc Danziger Charmed Particles, Inc. www.charmedparticles.com [email_address]

… Who am I?

What’s in it for you? Well, there’s a wave coming…

… caused by the explosion of online tools that help people communicate…

… and you don’t want to wipe out.

Defining Some terms.

Traditional media

“ You pay, I talk, you listen.”

Interactive Media

“ You and I talk”

Social Media

“ You all talk to each other…”

To get customers, your business relies on two things: Identity Reputation

Identity

Who?

What?

Where?

Reputation

Any good?

Can I trust?

Who says?

You need to understand how both are changing…

One: You used to own your identity.

(bought and paid for…)

Ads… Location… Website…

Where is your identity today?

Physical presence

Direct mail

Print directories

Print ads

Your web site

Local directories (Yellowpages.com, Citysearch, Yelp…)

Google / Yahoo

The last two are growing dramatically in importance.

You don’t own or control them.

But you still have to actively manage them…

(that’s the core takeaway of this presentation)

Why does this change matter? The web used to be the open plains. All that mattered was improving your homestead.

Now there are highways. Roads other people built will make or break the value of your property.

Today, identity is search. Most people try and manage their sites and their ads . But you are often found and presented in the context of systems other people own. Maybe – just maybe - you should be managing your identity instead …

How do shoppers find you?

Search Engines (31%)

Print Yellow Pages or White Pages (30%)

Internet Yellow Pages Sites (19%)

Local Search Sites (11%)

Over 30% of the customers who find you don’t look where they can find your website…

Source: Oct 2008 study, TMP Directional Marketing

Here’s a typical small business site.

What is the value for the owner?

Do you need your own web site?

Could you get found perfectly well on Google, Yahoo, Yelp, Citysearch…?

Lots of reasons to have a site (just like the reasons to have an attractive storefront).

But is it for everybody?

Is it the be-all-end-all of your marketing?

No. The strongest identity you can afford is the be-all-end-all of your marketing efforts.

Two: Reputation matters more.

Today, it is becoming an integral part of your online identity; it used to only matter f2f (that’s Face To Face)…

… which meant building or changing it was slow.

… and because it was verbal, it did not persist.

… and relatively few people had access to it.

Now, your reputation is online. And tied to your identity.

For better …

“… Yes, indeed, Frank, my new favorite locksmith, was here yesterday afternoon, just when the movers left. He worked on all the locks and got me new keys and reprogrammed the garage door opener. And told me where the best Mexican food is to be found locally (future review) and chatted with me about local events & all kinds of stuff. So happy to be your new neighbor, Frank! You did a magnificent job on my locks & general safety issues for an extremely reasonable price & I highly recommend you to anyone and everyone!”

- Hermosa Lock & Safe, reviewed on Yelp.com

… and worse.

“ Flam's is terrible! Five hundred dollars later, the door still doesn't lock and they won't come back to fix it without charging a minimum of another $160 and who knows how much more after that. (Who's ever heard of a lock that needs twice a year housecalls when the weather changes... does the weather even change in LA?)

They have bad customer service too, although honestly I don't care how unprofessional they are- all I wanted was a lock that works more than a few months.

Hire someone else! “

-Flam’s Key Service, reviewed on Yelp

What’s your reputation worth? - June 2005:

Blogger Jeff Jarvis (disclosure: friend of mine) buys a Dell computer, and has some problems.

Dell customer service is - unhelpful.

Dell stock is at 40.3 ; HP stock is at 22.68

Jeff starts blogging about ‘Dell Hell’

November 2005:

Jeff’s blog post has been cited by Business Week, NY Times, PC World, the Guardian UK, Adweek, and other mainstream media.

Dell’s reaction? It shuts down its message boards and issues press releases .

The market’s reaction? Dell 29.24 , HP 28.79

Eventually, Dell lost ~ $36 Billion in market cap.

Why did Dell get in trouble?

Because they didn’t know what their customers thought of them

They talked ‘at’ their customers, they didn’t converse ‘with’ them.

Blogs didn’t cause Dell’s problems. The problems were there and customers were mad – but unheard. No one at Dell – or outside Dell – listened to them. Once the media started talking about them – triggered in part by Jeff’s blog posts – then they had quite an impact.

Managing Your Reputation

What’s your strategy for dealing with people who say nice things?

Who say bad things?

… what if no one says anything at all?

Start By Observing

To find your reputation online, first check:

Google

Yahoo

Yelp.com

Citysearch.com

Superpages.com

Yellowpages.com

Reinforce the Positive

Find the people who say positive things, and reach out to them. Offer an appreciative comment, send a personal email, send them a coupon for $5 off the next time they come.

It’s not the economic value that matters; it’s the fact that you’re paying attention.

Embrace the Negative

Find the people who say negative things, and reach out to them too. If you can – make it right. If you can’t, explain what you learned and what you will do differently. Send a personal email, send them a coupon for $5 off the next time they come.

Just like the positive comment - it’s not the economic value that matters; it’s the fact that you’re paying attention.

Ask So They’ll Tell

Approach all your customers and let them know that you want to know what they think; that you’re checking online.

Encourage them to tell others what they think of you. Hand out a card that tells them how to do it and where.

Just like the positive or negative comment – this alone will have an impact because it’s the fact that you’re paying attention that matters.

Actions and Tools

Here are three concrete tasks that will help you manage your identity and reputation online.

Every 6 months, make a plan.

Every day, check the Web.

As needed, engage.

Plan

Review the performance of what you have today – how much traffic, how many conversions.

Decide if you want your own website or if you will maintain identity with your entries on local search.

Polish the description of your identity on local search sites; optimize your own site if you have one.

Check

Set up keyword “agents” on Google and Yahoo for your business name and your key competitors’ business names, as well as industry terms.

Google search on news, blogs, discussion groups. Once in a while, check the results against another search engine (Ask, Yahoo). Search on local search sites.

Do this every day – set aside fifteen minutes and just do it .

Engage

Write up some ‘thank you’ messages to people who say nice things.

Come up with a checklist of questions for users who were unhappy – when, what went wrong, who did you talk to – and send a message and some questions to everyone who criticizes you.

Ask customers for feedback – on your site or on rating sites you point out to them.

Your ideas? Here are mine…

… if you want your customers to be married to you…

… you need to get engaged first.

Dell got engaged.

What did Dell do after its crisis?

Reopened message boards

Started a corporate blog, took its licks and converted a number of its critics to allies

Decided to start listening to its customers, and with Salesforce.com, launched ‘Ideastorm’ a Digg-like rating tool that let customers suggest ideas and vote on the ideas suggested. Check out the free version you could use at www.uservoice.com ...

What is engagement?