12-20-2012, 09:19 AM
Thanks to everyone.
Here is the SUMMARY:
1) social media cannot make up for a bad product - in fact, social media will HURT
your marketing efforts as bad news travels fast
2) social media is NOT an overnight marketing promotion, it takes time to build up
this presence and truly engage in a conversation
3) social media is not free - most people think that because it's free to join social
media sites, it's free marketing. It's NOT. It takes time, energy, effort and a proper
strategy to pull this off.
1) you have to know what phrases people are using to identify themselves as a potential
customer (i.e.: how do you listen for leads?)
2) you need to know how people are talking about you, your products and your
competition (monitoring)- you have to do this regularly, i.e. you need a strategy and
the resources to put all of this listening (and learning from it) into action
3) Listen first before you talk back
you absolutely need to know who your target audience are
once you know who they are, start finding them on social media sites
figure out where you are targeting too wide an audience (whether it's social
media or other forms of advertising) and refocus your efforts.
1) small is better! Why? because you can engage better, hence stay at top of newsfeeds,
which means more mindshare, which results in greater exposure for your brand and product
2) you need to know what your target audience want and like, so you can craft all
your messages around those wants and needs
1) ask people to 'like' your business, just make sure to do it in a way that provides value!
2) start focusing on getting the like (even forgo a few short-term sales) but make
absolutely sure you have the medium/long term monetization strategy in place.
The core of this is authentic engagement with your audience. Figure out WHO can
and should take care of this – knowing that this is NOT a one-off effort, but an ongoing process.
You may wish to consider hiring an online community manager whose only role is to
build and grow an engaged community.
Then start picking apart your existing ways of communicating and ask yourself
how you can make it more authentic and engaging!
Negative things will happen – so you need to prepare for those occasions.
Make sure to stay positive, show that you care (do NOT be silent and try to ‘ignore it away’),
then deal with it asap.
Come up with a list of things that can go wrong and determine how you are going to
respond to them (also make sure every situation you haven't encountered before is being
captured, so you know how to deal with it in the future) this includes what type of
"compensation" to use at what level of complaint.
Follow-up to positive comments is just as important as to negative feedback.
Come up with a list of responses to use, including 'added bonuses' depending on what type of
response you're getting and whom it is by.
When in ‘social’ mode, be social and talk like you would talk to a fellow human being, not a prospect.
Rather than have fixed rules for what exactly needs to be said and how and when,
just come up with a framework within which your social media managers (inhouse or outsourced)
can work. Then just hire people with switched-on heads and their heart in the right place.
Think of social media as a date: on the first date you wouldn't disclose ALL of your
inner feelings (and failings), but you'll openly discuss your values, your culture and decisions
you've made - all of which makes you interesting and more likeable. That’s how you should
act and talk when ‘doing’ social.
The secret to making social media work is to ask questions – like you would at a party
when you are genuinely interested in someone else.
One of the main currencies of social media is free content. The difference between
a ‘standard’ website and social media is this:
On a normal website, you often expect something in return for that high-quality free
content, like e.g. an email address.
On social media you are much better off giving away that free content without
expecting anything in return – as long as the quality of the content speaks for itself, there is no need to ‘force’ anything.
Find out what the stories are that really connect with your audience, then start and keep
telling and polishing them. Make sure to figure out what format (blog-post, images, video…)
work best, and do this for the different social media channels.
Find out the “wow” factor that defines your product or service, then determine
WHO exactly thinks it really is a “wow” factor (your passionate users) and support
this group of users as much as you can in spreading the good word.
All of this is aimed at taking the information from the previous chapter to the
next level: YOU are now part of THEIR stories!
Before you start using social media, make sure everything about your company
(including every customer facing employee) is likeable.
Then make sure you remind people wherever you can to join the conversation – i
f there are no ‘like’ buttons, no one is going to press them.
Social media advertising is (like social media in general) less focused on the transaction,
and more on establishing relationships.
With this in mind, define your perfect target audience (think: not just interest, but also job-title?),
then start testing different advertising ideas – with Facebook advertising it is extremely
cheap and easy to test dozens of ideas very quickly. Try Twitter and/or LinkedIn when/where appropriate.
It’s ok to apologize (even if you’re not admitting guilt) – make sure to work with your legal advisors so everyone is happy.
Create an emergency plan and actually put this into practice in fire-drills.
Always keep listening to the market – if something goes wrong, the emergency plan has
to kick into action FAST – you cannot wait until after the weekend, by then anything
negative will have spread too far.
- Come up with a plan for surprising your followers – exceed the standard of excellence on a regular basis.
- Consider options for surprising individuals as well as everyone once a certain milestone has been reached
- Be aware of the fact that more and more companies are getting active on social media –
so the competition for your audience’s attention is only growing. The best way to keep at
the top of their minds is by exceeding the standards of excellence.
Make sure you're providing a seamless and barrier-free buying experience - and
continually optimize the resulting sales-funnel.
Be aware that social media is only one channel in which people get into contact
with what you are offering, now extend the same principles you use on social media
sites to the other 'touch-points' of your sales-funnel.
As long as you think "buying" instead of "selling" you will continue to see opportunities
to provide more value, generate more 'buy-in' from your audience that will ultimately lead to sales.
Here is the SUMMARY:
1) social media cannot make up for a bad product - in fact, social media will HURT
your marketing efforts as bad news travels fast
2) social media is NOT an overnight marketing promotion, it takes time to build up
this presence and truly engage in a conversation
3) social media is not free - most people think that because it's free to join social
media sites, it's free marketing. It's NOT. It takes time, energy, effort and a proper
strategy to pull this off.
1) you have to know what phrases people are using to identify themselves as a potential
customer (i.e.: how do you listen for leads?)
2) you need to know how people are talking about you, your products and your
competition (monitoring)- you have to do this regularly, i.e. you need a strategy and
the resources to put all of this listening (and learning from it) into action
3) Listen first before you talk back
you absolutely need to know who your target audience are
once you know who they are, start finding them on social media sites
figure out where you are targeting too wide an audience (whether it's social
media or other forms of advertising) and refocus your efforts.
1) small is better! Why? because you can engage better, hence stay at top of newsfeeds,
which means more mindshare, which results in greater exposure for your brand and product
2) you need to know what your target audience want and like, so you can craft all
your messages around those wants and needs
1) ask people to 'like' your business, just make sure to do it in a way that provides value!
2) start focusing on getting the like (even forgo a few short-term sales) but make
absolutely sure you have the medium/long term monetization strategy in place.
The core of this is authentic engagement with your audience. Figure out WHO can
and should take care of this – knowing that this is NOT a one-off effort, but an ongoing process.
You may wish to consider hiring an online community manager whose only role is to
build and grow an engaged community.
Then start picking apart your existing ways of communicating and ask yourself
how you can make it more authentic and engaging!
Negative things will happen – so you need to prepare for those occasions.
Make sure to stay positive, show that you care (do NOT be silent and try to ‘ignore it away’),
then deal with it asap.
Come up with a list of things that can go wrong and determine how you are going to
respond to them (also make sure every situation you haven't encountered before is being
captured, so you know how to deal with it in the future) this includes what type of
"compensation" to use at what level of complaint.
Follow-up to positive comments is just as important as to negative feedback.
Come up with a list of responses to use, including 'added bonuses' depending on what type of
response you're getting and whom it is by.
When in ‘social’ mode, be social and talk like you would talk to a fellow human being, not a prospect.
Rather than have fixed rules for what exactly needs to be said and how and when,
just come up with a framework within which your social media managers (inhouse or outsourced)
can work. Then just hire people with switched-on heads and their heart in the right place.
Think of social media as a date: on the first date you wouldn't disclose ALL of your
inner feelings (and failings), but you'll openly discuss your values, your culture and decisions
you've made - all of which makes you interesting and more likeable. That’s how you should
act and talk when ‘doing’ social.
The secret to making social media work is to ask questions – like you would at a party
when you are genuinely interested in someone else.
One of the main currencies of social media is free content. The difference between
a ‘standard’ website and social media is this:
On a normal website, you often expect something in return for that high-quality free
content, like e.g. an email address.
On social media you are much better off giving away that free content without
expecting anything in return – as long as the quality of the content speaks for itself, there is no need to ‘force’ anything.
Find out what the stories are that really connect with your audience, then start and keep
telling and polishing them. Make sure to figure out what format (blog-post, images, video…)
work best, and do this for the different social media channels.
Find out the “wow” factor that defines your product or service, then determine
WHO exactly thinks it really is a “wow” factor (your passionate users) and support
this group of users as much as you can in spreading the good word.
All of this is aimed at taking the information from the previous chapter to the
next level: YOU are now part of THEIR stories!
Before you start using social media, make sure everything about your company
(including every customer facing employee) is likeable.
Then make sure you remind people wherever you can to join the conversation – i
f there are no ‘like’ buttons, no one is going to press them.
Social media advertising is (like social media in general) less focused on the transaction,
and more on establishing relationships.
With this in mind, define your perfect target audience (think: not just interest, but also job-title?),
then start testing different advertising ideas – with Facebook advertising it is extremely
cheap and easy to test dozens of ideas very quickly. Try Twitter and/or LinkedIn when/where appropriate.
It’s ok to apologize (even if you’re not admitting guilt) – make sure to work with your legal advisors so everyone is happy.
Create an emergency plan and actually put this into practice in fire-drills.
Always keep listening to the market – if something goes wrong, the emergency plan has
to kick into action FAST – you cannot wait until after the weekend, by then anything
negative will have spread too far.
- Come up with a plan for surprising your followers – exceed the standard of excellence on a regular basis.
- Consider options for surprising individuals as well as everyone once a certain milestone has been reached
- Be aware of the fact that more and more companies are getting active on social media –
so the competition for your audience’s attention is only growing. The best way to keep at
the top of their minds is by exceeding the standards of excellence.
Make sure you're providing a seamless and barrier-free buying experience - and
continually optimize the resulting sales-funnel.
Be aware that social media is only one channel in which people get into contact
with what you are offering, now extend the same principles you use on social media
sites to the other 'touch-points' of your sales-funnel.
As long as you think "buying" instead of "selling" you will continue to see opportunities
to provide more value, generate more 'buy-in' from your audience that will ultimately lead to sales.