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Everyday people turn to the web looking for products and turn to blogs, comments, forums, reviews for feedback and want to find you there. Learn how your small business can implement a social media strategy and get started by listening to what your customers and potential customers are saying. Presented at PodCamp Montréal, September 2010
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SOCIAL MEDIA AND THE SMALL BUSINESS
@sandysidhu
www.sandyksidhu.com
September 12, 2010
WHY START?
•People turn to the Web to search for products
•Rely on reviews, comments, forums, blogs for input
•When people search for your product/service they don’t only want to find your site.
STATISTICS ARE MEANINGLESS
WITHOUT A STRATEGY
GETTING STARTED
• Identify your goals
•What are you hoping to accomplish?
•How much time are you willing to invest?
•How will you measure success?
•How long are you willing to try?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kryptos5/3281740790
DO IT YOURSELF or OUTSOURCE?
WHY BLOGS (OR ANY SOCIAL MEDIA) FAIL
•Lack of purpose
•Not writing for your target audience
•Blog/social media is an extra not as high priority as webinars, whitepapers, other marketing collateral
•It’s NOT easy
•Lack of ownership
COMMON MISTAKES
•Lack of plan
•Self-promoting: talking about your products all the time
•Taking on too much: joining every possible site out there
IT’S NOT ABOUT YOU
http://www.bazaarvoice.com/blog/2010/08/30/corporations-get-big-on-blogging-but-why-do-so-many-still-fail/
HOW TO SOLVE THIS?
•Have a core team that is responsible for the blog/social media, it is NOT just a marketing thing but a ‘company’ thing
•A leader/point person that will guide the team
•Identify what your target audience will respond to
Where to start?
http://socialmediadudes.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/social_media_sites.jpg
Who is your customer?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cesarastudillo/359770309
Break it down into phases• Content creation•Focus on the ‘what’ you will take about, then the ‘where’•Align with your goals•Align with your target audience
STRATEGY & APPROACH
CONTENT STRATEGY
WHAT to talk about?
•Tips, Tricks, How To’s•Case studies•Advice•Best Practices•Industry News
Topics that will EDUCATE, ENRICH, ENGAGE your reader
BLOG? TWITTER? FACEBOOK?
•Decide based on your target audience
•Don’t try to do it all!
•Divide into phases
KEEP IT SIMPLE
•Focus on Content•Have a core team-contributors, editor•SEO can be introduced gradually•Help with topic ideas•Be realistic: don’t over-commit yourself
SET THE EXPECTATION
•
• How often will you blog?
• Who will blog & when?
• What type of content will be produced
http://www.flickr.com/photos/horiavarlan/4273913228
SOCIAL MEDIA
MARKETING
EMAIL MARKETING
CAMPAIGNS
PPC
SEO
METRICS METRICS METRICS
Decide what is important and in line with your goal
•Is it more meaningful site visits?
•Getting more industry recognition?
•Increased Sales…
It’s not a sprint
http://www.flickr.com/photos/pabo76/1862652822/
INTERNAL: WINS
•Cross company partcipation increasing
•Working towards a common goal
•Healthy Competiton!
•Proactively commenting on other blogs
ONE YEAR LATER
•Blogger Outreach: Through our blog we have built relationships
•Traffic is continuously going up
•Sharing of content on competitors site/newsletters
•Positive feedback from customers, engagement
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS•Will your company be implementing social media as part of your marketing strategy?
•How did you start? How do you plan on starting?
•Is your company facing any challenges with their social media implementation?
•How do/did you get buy-in from management?
Sandy Sidhu
@sandysidhu
www.sandyksidhu.com
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
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