leverage social media to build your business

Leverage Social Media to Build Your Business

Allison CollingerMarch 18, 2011

©AHC Consulting LLC 2011

Social Media: What We’ll Cover Today What is it? Why do I keep hearing the term? What do I need to know? What are some ways I might incorporate into my

efforts in a strategic way?


3

Why Should You Care? New media contact with companies and brands fosters

goodwill in a majority of users, with at least seven in 10 respondents reporting positive impressions, stronger connections and a greater willingness to engage with the company. (Cone Consumer New Media survey, 2009)

There are a variety of tools to help you meet your objectives, look smarter and do your job more effectively and efficiently.

A majority of employees are utilizing some form of social media.

3©AHC Consulting LLC 2011

Trends Recognition among a number of age segments that

this is a growth area Women over 50 comprise fastest growing segment

online (Pew) According to Nielson, Facebook users in 55 plus

category increased by more than 500 percent in last 6 months

It is not just for “young” people any more! The way people get information at every age is shifting.


What is Social Media? Social media is technology-based social interaction

where the user(s) creates the content


Overview/Benefits of Social Media Elevates organization’s thought leadership/expertise Increases organization’s visibility online Efficient tool for sharing information - fast Makes collaboration easy Free to use, the only expense is time Fatigue among other common ways to reach people

(e.g. emails/enews not getting opened)


Businesses on Twitter


Case Histories

Email Direct - thought leadership through blog, Twitter; looked for conversations to engage in; 1-2 good leads a day

Butter Lane - customer service focus using Facebook, Twitter, Yelp; monitoring reviews, engaging with customers, solving problems; developed “raving, high-value customers”

(Source: Robert Ball, CEO, OfficeArrow 2-24-11 on-line article)


The Basics

So what are all these services/sites? What are the basics I need to know? How can I use these tools?


Social Media Tools


http://www.wikipedia.org/�

http://www.linkedin.com/�

Example: LinkedIn What is LinkedIn? Think

of it as your electronic rolodex plus

Key business source for biographical info on people; often the first cite in google search on person

Can download “resume” for people


Example: Twitter What is Twitter? 140

character micro blog Interesting people are

on Twitter: Sen. Claire McCaskill, Leisa Zeigman (KSDK), John McCain, Southwest Airlines


Example: What is Facebook?

More than 500 million users regularly connect with friends, colleagues, businesses and organizations

How do you or can you use it?


14

Implications Widespread personal use by employees Company reputation is at stake - monitoring by HR

may become important Legal liability for employee postings Conflicting and emerging case law Communications is no longer the exclusive domain of

PR and Marketing Less control of company messages Opportunity to incorporate into existing

communications efforts


15

Actions to Consider Development of communications grid/plan Creation of Social Media Policy to guide employees

who are using Work with communications and legal departments to

implement guidelines Employment terms - HR handbook guidelines include

in employee handbook Consider whether or not your employees can be

leveraged as ambassadors, recruiters, etc. And if so, how?


16

Engaging Stakeholders◦ Communications planning discussion◦ Identify stakeholders - Review grid◦ Analyze how you reach each◦ What is working? Have you asked?◦ Remember 4-5 touchpoints to change behavior◦ What is right marketing mix?◦ Integrated strategy is key!


17

Specific Opportunities Be “top of mind” to contacts, prospects through

LinkedIn status updates Build thought leadership in your niche Promote business partners, other stakeholders Engage with media for story opportunities (e.g.

Three60 Gear @LisaBrownSTL) Research new prospects and determine best

approach - based on who they know, their schooling, etc.


18

Specific Opportunities Recruitment - LinkedIn Reputation management - Google alerts,

Glassdoor.com Intelligence - Looking smart: LinkedIn groups/articles,

Twitter; Google Reader Internal Communications - Ning.com, other closed

sites Tracking search words, analyzing traffic, what

employees are searching for: Google Analytics


Action Plan What is your overall goal for using social media? What do you want to accomplish?

Strategies – what specific services/tactics will you use?

Due dates – give due dates What do you need from others to execute? How will you sustain? How will you measure the effectiveness? (revenue,

profits, leads, donations, etc.)


Q & A


Roundtables - Action Planning


Allison Collinger@ahawkcollinger

LinkedIn: Allison Hawk Collinger

[email protected]


AHC C onsulting LLC9200 Olive, S uite 200S t. Louis , MO 63132314.994.7676, E xt. 24www.ahcconsulting.org

leverage social media to build your business

Documents