professionals: climbing the social media growth curve
DESCRIPTION
The steps any business professional - from novice to pro - can take to continuously grow their use of social media over time.TRANSCRIPT
Business Professionals:Climbing the Social Media
Growth Curve
Goal: be
find-able
Pick one and create a profile:
NoviceGoal:
learn how best to connect
In-TrainingGoal:
become a trusted advisor
ActiveGoal:
invest in relationships
Pro
Take a course, read articles and books,
learn from the pros:
Consistently provide useful
content, cultivate your
networks:
Monitor key life events in your networks, use
them as conversation
starters:
Social Media Growth Curve
Basic tools
Sophisticated tools
Goal: be
find-able
Novice
Social Media Growth Curve
Basic tools
Sophisticated tools
Novice
• Goal: be find-able.
– People who use social media are easier to find.
– LinkedIn profiles rank high in Google search.
– Being present in social can build your credibility, showing that you’re someone who is in step with the times.
Novice
• Pick one and create a public-facing profile:
Start with LinkedIn. It always ranks high in search engine results; most professional platform; most forgiving if you set it then forget it.
Move on to Twitter next. Can maintain professional image; great for listening to what others are saying; easy to post updates to Twitter at the same time as LinkedIn.
Your personal network can be your greatest advocates. Don’t talk business, but do share helpful content; if you want to talk business, create a separate business page.
Goal: be
find-able
Novice
Goal: learn how best
to connect
In-Training
Social Media Growth Curve
Basic tools
Sophisticated tools
In-Training• Goal: learn how best to
connect with your network.
– Social is a powerful tool to connect with clients and prospective clients.
– They’re on Facebook and LinkedIn on a daily basis, and prefer these platforms because they’re less intrusive and cluttered vs. email.
– You can also start to see who’s connected to your connections, and use social as an opportunity to gain an introduction.
In-Training
• Take a course, read articles and books, learn from the pros:
There are many companies that offer training both online and in classrooms. Some even offer professional credits.
Follow online resources, especially ones specific to your profession, with constantly updated tips, suggestions, case studies for using social media.
Read books, especially ones specific to your profession, with guidance on how to get started, and how to make the most of your social efforts.
Novice In-Training
Goal: become a
trusted advisor
Active
Social Media Growth Curve
Basic tools
Sophisticated tools
Goal: be
find-able
Goal: learn how best
to connect
Active• Goal: become a trusted
advisor.
– Posting consistently in social media gives you the opportunity to demonstrate thought leadership.
– You build credibility as a trusted expert by sharing timely, helpful content.
– You stay top-of-mind with your connections, increasing the likelihood that they’ll reach out to you when the need arises.
• Sign up for content alerts from sites that publish content relevant to your industry, like BrighterLife.ca:
Active
• Get a basic social sharing tool like Buffer, to make sharing and scheduling posts easier while you’re surfing the web:
Active
Novice In-Training Active
Goal: invest in
relationships
Pro
Social Media Growth Curve
Basic tools
Sophisticated tools
Goal: become a
trusted advisor
Goal: be
find-able
Goal: learn how best
to connect
Pro
• Goal: invest in relationships.
– Stay aware of what’s going on in people’s lives, and look for life events, to reach out and make a meaningful connection.
– A recent McKinsey study shows that knowledge of just 3 life events resulted in a huge production gain.
– And remember this applies to friends, not just clients and prospects – friends can be your best advocates!
Pro
• Use the alerts and search functionality in the social platforms.
Pro
• Use the alerts and search functionality in the social platforms
• Get a social media management tool like Hootsuite or enterprise software your company provides, to manage all your activity from one dashboard:
Pro
Goal: be
find-able
Pick one and create a profile:
NoviceGoal:
learn how best to connect
In-TrainingGoal:
become a trusted advisor
ActiveGoal:
invest in relationships
Pro
Take a course, read articles and books,
learn from the pros:
Consistently provide useful
content, cultivate your
networks:
Monitor key life events in your networks, use
them as conversation
starters:
Social Media Growth Curve
Basic tools
Sophisticated tools
Good luck!
Linkedin.com/michellesmyth@michelle_smythabout.me/michellesmyth