Social Media Marketing Full Presentation
- 1. Using Social Media Marketing to Connect with Customers and Increase Sales A Hot Topic
- 2. • Moderator: Glen McCandless President, Focus Marketing; Publisher, SellingToSchools.com • Panelists – Brandi Heinz Brown Social Media + E-commerce Manager, ETA hand2mind – Charlene Blohm President, C. Blohm & Associates – Ileana Rowe Principal, Corporate Growth – Mitch Weisburgh Managing Partner, Academic Business Advisors, LLC
- 3. Our Goal for This Session is to… Meet your expectations based on the description in the conference program: – Why social media; How to get started. – What networks to use? How to get best results. – Social media as part of your overall marketing strategy – How social media marketing can be used to attract and retain more customers – Best practices for K-12 and hi-ed audiences
- 5. Why invest in social media marketing (SMM)? Convince Me!
- 6. What are the benefits of SMM? According to a survey of marketing managers
- 7. Choices, choices, choices … Which SM networks do we use to engage various stakeholders?
- 8. Twitter, Google+, or Plurk • Educators often raise their problems • Educators look for good information or links • You can connect if you can offer advice or links that helps them in their jobs and lives • If you connect, you increased your brand recognition Potential Users Users Thought Leaders
- 9. #Edchat and other chats • Expands your network of contacts • Find out what mindshare leaders are talking about • If you contribute valuably, connectors are more likely to share your information Potential Users Users Thought Leaders
- 10. EduPln, Classroom 2.0, and other Ning Communities • These members are often the technology leaders, and you can connect with them • Many tech savvy teachers go to these sites, and if they see your name, you have increased your brand recognition Thought Leaders Potential Users
- 11. EdWeb, WeAreTeachers, and other proprietary communities • You can be a sponsor to directly reach their members – Run a contest – Run webinars – Advertise Potential Users
- 12. Reading & Commenting on Blogs • Blog writers are often thought leaders: market research • Potential buyers & users read these blogs • Blog article links are often valuable to Tweet to other educators, while also connecting you to the blog writer if you site them Thought Leaders
- 13. Writing Blogs • Places you as an expert or thought leader if your blog content if valuable to educators • Tweet to hashtags to make entries better known • When potential buyers look for you, they will find your blog articles • Method of staying in touch with potential users and buyers who subscribe Prospects Customers Thought Leaders Potential DMs Users
- 14. LinkedIn • Industry groups, but not many educators • Post job openings and look for jobs • Become known within the industry by responding to group posts Education Community Thought Leaders
- 15. Facebook • I’ve yet to see a well used education business page • Follow some groups of educators to expand your network • Contribute links and advice to groups to be perceived as helpful and a thought leader Users Potential Users
- 16. Diigo, LiveBinders, and other social bookmarking • Keep track and tag links that will be helpful • Recall links when they are relevant to a question that was raised Potential Users Users Thought Leaders
- 17. How to get started: Vendor options, costs, required resources What do you really need? • Overall strategy and messaging • Implementation and development • Ongoing content creation and management • Tracking campaign results and ROI Resource: How To Spend Money on Social Media, http://socialfresh.com/social- media-is-an-investment/
- 18. How much are you willing to pay for it? • Social Media isn’t FREE! • Remember your goals need to be aligned with your available resources • No budget for SMM? If you’re already allocating marketing dollars to print, TV, radio or directory listings, evaluate the ROI with hard data. Can you reallocate?
- 21. How to get it done • Full-service agency • Consultant • Full-time hire • Training (for current staff) • Free online resources • A blended approach
- 22. Effectiveness vs. Effort and Use of SMM There are many channel options! Expect to apply more effort (resources) to get better results or to expand SMM channels
- 23. The Steps 1. Use Your Network – ask for referrals 2. Expanding Your Search – online directories/investinsocial.com 3. Ask, Ask, Ask – Who will be managing my account? – Will you be implementing recommendations or will I? – What tracking tools do you use? – Which metrics do you actively track and report on? – Once the engagement has ended how will the transition process work? – Which accounts will I have access to and which will I own upon contract completion? – Can you provide writing samples from any content creators working on my account? – How will I be updated regarding my campaigns progress? Weekly call? Email? Monthly report? – How will you recruit new followers and fans?
- 24. Putting it all together 1) Get your house in order – The Foundation Website/Blog – usable, strong calls to action, easy to find great content for your target audience, keyword-rich landing pages 2) Research/Listen Create a listening station for your brand and industry terms Survey current clients Research top industry blogs, tweet chats, hashtags, etc. Find key influencers Keyword research Study competitors
- 25. Monitoring: Who’s talking about us, and where? Start with brand mentions, then build out your keywords. Example: – Started with Follett = Too many results! – Revised to “Follett Software” and “Follett-ken” – Misspellings and abbreviations: “Follet” and “Follett Lib” Do it with: – Google Alerts – Save Twitter Searches – Did you know you can track links to your website by saving a search on your website URL?
- 26. Monitoring Others: Industry Topics and the Competition Topical Hashtags Keywords • #edchat • Relevant to your industry • #edtech • ebooks • #mathchat • Manipulatives • #ntchat • Math manipulatives Conference Hashtags Competitors • #etis12 • Company names • #iste12 • Company social accounts • #ira2012
- 27. 3) Goals/Objectives What do you want to achieve with social media? Measurable KPI’s Realistic/Time sensitive 4) Strategize Create your plan to achieve and measure your goals Define target/create personas Concept creation Tactics/Tools Content strategy/Editorial calendar 5) Launch! Create your assets, profiles, blog posts, etc. 6) Evaluate Weekly/Monthly reporting Review of KPI’s Testing Tweaking / Optimizing
- 28. Reporting Weekly Dashboard • Exposure (Reach/Views/Clicks) • Engagement (Interactions) • Growth • Website Referrals • Highlight posts
- 29. edWeb.net at ETA hand2mind Started in January 2012 Keys to success: • Hot Topic • Focused Audience Community Performance Members: 672 April Live Webinar Attendees: ~50 Total Webinar Viewings: 2,273 Average Views/Webinar: 568
- 30. Pinterest Most popular pins (2 of top 6 are our products!)
- 31. Some Examples
- 33. Channel Possible Strategies Facebook • Service providers: showcase personality for company or brand • Content providers: credentials/thought leadership, contests and promotions, sales leads Twitter • Consumer engagement • Media relations • Research • Customer service Pinterest • Promote products and link back to online catalog • Illustrations and ideas for customer use • Sales leads SlideShare • Thought leadership • Sales presentation • “How to” and “What to” featuring products or services YouTube • Showcase faces/voices of leadership team and customers Google+ • Similar to Twitter and Facebook, plus higher SEO in Google rankings LinkedIn • Employee or customer recruitment • Credentials/thought leadership and networking
- 34. Tying SMM to Online Strategy
- 35. Contact Information Moderator • Glen McCandless [email protected] Panelists • Charlene Blohm [email protected] • Brandi Heinz Brown [email protected] • Ileana Rowe [email protected] • Mitch Weisburgh [email protected]