Do social media right by following these five steps. We include examples of small to large sized companies doing it well. From mommy bloggers, to snack food companies, to blenders.
7. Agenda 1. Five categories for success: a) Humanizing a brand b) Being transparent c) Consistency d) Engagement e) Uniqueness 2. Five small businesses doing social media right.
There is something like 48 hours of video uploaded to YouTube every minute. Huge market opportunity.
There are currently over 22 Million active twitter users. http://www.businessinsider.com/twitter-has-less-than-21-million-active-users-2011-4 Many of those users are in first world nations, and an increasing amount of users are going mobile.
Daily there are over 3 billion internet users across the globe. Over 300 billion emails sent daily. Over 4 million blog posts added everyday. Your customers ARE online. More and more people are turning to social media for answers, to ask questions, to find a new product, to try a new sample, and so on… you need to welcome them with open arms. Stats: http://www.worldometers.info/
Two ways of doing this: 1. find a thought leader within the organization and make them the star instead of the company itself 2. Create a character or mascot that is relevant to the brand. - People connect more with something they can relate to. They connect better to living things. Think of how Telus uses animals, fastfood restaurants use characters like Ronald McDonald and Grimace, and cereal brands have mascots, like Tony the Tiger and Tucan Sam.
We worked with HK Anderson pretzels – created a mascot to represent the company.
We ran a few ads, created some exciting videos, but created a story line and plot for a character that was newly introduced to the market. Hk Nugget, the peanut butter filled pretzel had fans going nuts. Organic fan growth led to sales and increased brand awareness.
It’s the same reason why we tell our children not to lie. It’s human. It’s in our DNA; and unless you’re a habitual liar, you practice transparency everyday in your personal relationships. Why should it change on the social web? 5 things to remember when practicing transparency: 1. Approach the Varying Social Media Channels Differently 2. Understand the Risks 3. Be in it for the Long Haul – you cant start and stop, it is a long term commitment. 4. Support Engagement as an Extension of Company Culture – always be representing the company 5. Be open about who is managing the social accounts. - Examples: companies put right in the twitter profile who is managing the account
People who are known to represent companies often times put in their own personal profile that their tweets are their own and do not reflect the views of the company they work for.
Come back daily - check for changes in conversations, check for opportunities, maintain conversations, - Best thing to do is to set up alerts and specific times of day to always check back to your social accounts. [text alerts, email alerts, pop ups] what ever is most convenient for you. Messaging – follow your plan/strategy with the same messaging throughout all sites, whether its your bio, your campaign details or a contest, all messaging needs to be the same. - Create your own social media guidelines. Example: respond to twitter mention in no longer then 2 hours. Reply to facebook comments in no longer then 3 hours. BE positive. Be funny. Guidelines are also good for the way you’d handle a crisis, a question, a need, a complaint, and so on. Keep your team aware of the way these things are handled and be consistent about it.
Erica Ehm, the founder of Yummymummyclub blog uses Twitter to her advantage. Active daily - replies to people who mention her - engages - consistent, as she is on it everyday
Andrew can speak of an example here
Inbound marketing – online marketing university – pull in many elements here to their successful linkedin Group. Create daily discussions Users generated content - group members asking and answering the groups questions (Organic) - requires little maintenance - great information
Push their twitter followers to facebook Super exciting and engaged on twitter and facebook Really into their community
Standing out from the crowd. Brainstorm something really different.
The makers of Blentec, a top rated blender, created a Youtube channel called Will It Blend. Its very unique