small business strategies for social media 3-11 conference
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STRATEGIES FOR SOCIAL MEDIA IN SMALL BUSINESS
“Nurturing the Entrepreneurial Spirit”
Entrepreneurship Conference 2011
SOCIAL MEDIA START UP QUIZ
What is social media?
Who does social media attract?
Why would a small business use
social media?
SOCIAL MEDIA
Social Media
Relationship Reliable
Listening Based
Engaging
SOCIAL MEDIA IS NOT…
Easy or fast
An ad or sales campaign
A reason to abandon SEO Practices
Something you can do without participation
Something you can do in disguise
Direct Marketing Observations
NEW MARKETING EFFORT
NEW MARKETING EFFORT
Not just a webpage, but a work page
People are looking for assurance
20% of people trust ads
60% of people trust editorials
80% of people trust word of mouth
Allows for personalization
Brand management
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFZ0z5Fm-Ng
TARGET MARKET
Are you reaching your target market?
Who is your target market?
What are they looking for?
Is your target market using social media?
TARGET MARKET
Between April 2009 and May 2010, social networking use among internet users ages 50-64 grew by 88%--from 25% to 47%.
During the same period, use among those ages 65 and older grew 100%--from 13% to 26%.
By comparison, social networking use among users ages 18-29 grew by 13%—from 76% to 86%.
WHERE ARE YOUR CUSTOMERS?
Social Media sites gather tons of information
Location
Age
Sex
Education
Workplace
Relationship Status
WHAT ARE YOUR CUSTOMERS LOOKING
FOR?
Information on your product/service?
A place to voice their concerns?
Knowledge about your growth and advancements ?
FAST FACTS
More than 500 million active users
More than 700,000 small (local) businesses have Pages
Fastest Growing Demographic – 50 and over (PewResearchCenter)
Top Twitter Users – 45 to 54 year olds (eMarketer.com)
Around 200 million Twitter accounts
Allows for real time moderation
‘09 – ‘10 showed user increase in 25-34 age group
FAST FACTS
YouTube
Demographic – Ages 18 - 34
90 million unique monthly visitors
Demographic – Ages 35 - 50
55 million members
SOME KEY DIFFERENCES
Goal is user interaction at many different levels
Custom applications and the ability to moderate a page
140-character limit
Instant satisfaction
Conversation is not as easily traceable
All about brand evangelism, with retweets acting as the most valuable currency
REMEMBER…
Demographics will change
Social media today is not what it will be next year or even next month
Transparency is Key
HELPFUL HINTS
QuantCast.com
Statistics regarding the digital media audience
eMarketer.com
Market research and trend analysis provider
ESTABLISHING YOURSOCIAL MEDIA PRESENCE
Where to go to gain your presence
What to do to gain presence
When & how to infiltrate the Internet
ARE YOU LOCAL?
Gain an initial presence on the Local Business
Listings of a number of search engines with just
one click!
www.getlisted.org
http://listings.yellowpages.com
http://listings.local.yahoo.com/csubmit/index.php
SOCIAL NETWORKS:WHERE TO BEGIN
Take your time
Practice Internet safety
Practice business common sense
Make sure your content is relevant
Posts
Pictures/Videos
Links
TIPS FOR RESEARCHING THE
SITES
Think Smart
Read the About page of the website
Review each sites Advertising Link Wealth of Information!
Look at how large companies and corporations are using the site
THE OVERINVESTMENT PROBLEM
Conversation and connection can be never ending
Vast amounts of information
New and improved around every corner
It’s FUN!
MANAGING YOUR TIME
Review your measurements and realize why you use social media
Research
Interaction
Brand Management
Sales & Marketing
MANAGING YOUR TIME
Create a Schedule Your purpose for accessing social media can help
determine the amount of time necessary to adequately address your social media needs
Have a Plan
Prioritize – Sale, Publications, or Conversation?
Make Notes for the Next Day
Follow Through
TOOLS TO HELP MANAGE
YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA
TweetDeck Browser that allows for instant updates for Twitter,
Facebook, LinkedIn, and MySpace Manage what people are saying about you through
searches and alerts
HootSuite
A social media dashboard that allows you to manage multiple social networks and multiple users from one place.
Track statistics, auto refresh and view threaded conversations all from one place
GET STARTED:THINGS TO DO TODAY
Take the first steps today!
Make sure your on all search engines at www.getlisted.org
Decide what your intention is for a social media presence in your small business
Take the time today to research at least one social media site that fits your intentions