Ten guiding principles for successful social media marketing

Tools of EngagementNew Media marketingMobile Apps

Ten guiding principals for effectiveSocial media marketing: A case study

By: Sherry NourainiFounder/President: Captive Touch


About Me

2006 2007 2009 End of 2010

R& D Founder Founder/Marketing Director

Founder


About Captive Touch

Social media, mobile, and e-newsletter marketing, and blogging


Profile of a client

• High end children’s product•Personal Facebook page•Personal Twitter page•Blog on blogspot.com

•Website •Captive Touch started coaching 6/01/2010


•Advertisement for product•Little or no 3rd party links•Conversation with friends•Inconsistent•Little or no Re-tweeting•No endorsement of others

•Changed wording to entice clicking on links•Shared 3rd party links•Conversation with all•Consistent•Re-tweeting•#FollowFriday

Broadcasting Engagement/Value


Objection

Why am I driving people to other people’s websites?I want them to go to my site and shop!


Social Media Marketing is not about you.It is about providing value, generating trust

andestablishing yourself as an expert

Principal #1


• Personal profile as Business page• Mixed: conversation with friends, and product ads• No means of obtaining analytics•Private

• Created Fan page• Posted consistently• Shared blog posts• Posted product updates• Engaged in Conversation• Giveaways

Personal/Private Professional/PublicAllowed measurement


Don’t mix personal with professional on Facebook

Principal #2


•Blogging on Blogger•Inconsistent•Mostly centered around product description

• Switched to WordPress• Setup blogging schedule• Changed topics to value add subjects• Posted how-to-videos

AdvertisementValue add contentSelf hosted blog


• Blog value-add articles consistently and on a self-hosted server with a unique URL

Principal #3


Objection

Client: Social media is not working, my sales are not going upMe: How do you know the little sales you have is not coming from Twitter or Facebook?Client: Ah……………………….Me: Get Google analytics


Principal #4

Decide on a number of key metrics and measure your success regularly


Growing the Fan Base on Facebook


Objection

Client: Why is the number of fans not growing?

Me: You need to get out there, actively participate in both online and offline communities. Fan pages don’t grow by themselves.


Principal #5

Social media marketing is only one componentof your marketing plan. You have to try othermarketing channels to give people a reason to like your page

•The whole is greater than the sum of its parts


Objection

Client: A friend has used a Facebook app and was able to double her number of fans, why are we not doing that?

Me: Show me what she has done.


Investigation: The friend used an app to exchange likes for percentage discount? (bribe)

Me: Yes, I am familiar with those apps. Let’s see how engaged her fans are:

Results: My client’s fans were twice as much engaged even though she had half the # of fansConclusion: See principle #6

Objection (continued)


Principal #6

Social media marketing is not a numbers game. Thefocus should be on increasing engagement rather than trying to get people to follow and like you in meaningless ways.


Social Media Campaign: Shift the focus to providingUltimate value: do something amazing

Winner: An online jogging marathon in the monthof May, just in time for Mother’s day. Give-awayPrizes.


ObjectionClient: A friend told me I should talk to their social media consultant for advice. I did, and he showed me two tools to promote the marathon. He also promoted the marathon on their blog.Me: Let’s see what he suggested and has done:Application #1: An application that requires people to share the marathon on their social network before they can sign up!Me: This creates a barrier to entry, don’t use it


Objection (continued)Application #2: An application that allows you to turn themarathon into a game. It can be incorporated into the Facebook page.Me: Let’s see what it isResults: The tool required the skills of a developer, and itcould not be incorporated in the Facebook page.Conclusion: It’s too late in the game to start involving a Developer, besides you don’t have the budget.


Principal #7

Just because there is a cool tool out there, it does notmean you should use it. Be strategic about the toolsyou use. Your goal should be to get good at drivingbusiness results from your activities, not to get goodat using tools.


Objection (continued)Promotion: There was a short article, posted on a blogBased on Posterous. The blog link was shared on the friend’sFacebook page.Me: Let’s see what it isResults: The blog post had all sorts of html code on top!Conclusion: Red flag.


Principal #8

Be very careful when choosing a social media consultantto work with. If you meet one that throws at you the namesof a bunch of tools, run in the opposite direction. A realprofessional should first ask about your business goalsbefore making any suggestions.


The Process

1- Dedicated website for the marathon2-promoted on Twitter, Facebook

3-Partnered with followers influential with themom and fitness community

4- Press release (Published in local paper)5-Dedicated weekly newsletter

6- Marathon Launch and Finish videos7- Continuous support for the participantsby posting value add articles, quotes, etc.

8- Photo contest


Growing the Fan Base on Facebook


Engagement of fans with Facebook Page


Click through Twitter


The Challenge

• To keep the engagement level high.Asked on Facebook:

1. How can we continue to support2. What subjects they want to learn about3. What are their challenges


Principle #9- Your work is never done


Principal #10

Set realistic expectations: Getting results fromSocial media marketing is not a part time thing, and it is not

something you can do on the weekends.

There is no magic pill: Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.


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Ten guiding principles for successful social media marketing