social media marketing for biz presenter: matthew young the creative ninja

SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING FOR BIZP R E S E N T E R : M A T T H E W Y O U N G

T H E C R E A T I V E N I N J A

I believe awesome Creative Consulting, Digital Media, Identity & Brand Management, Marketing Strategy, Ecommerce and Communications Design should be available to everyone; but they’re not!

That is the idea behind The Creative Ninja: to offer my 10+ years of expertise to start-ups, non-profits, new to medium sized businesses and individuals so they have a brand image and communications tools they can be proud of–without breaking the bank or being turned away for having a smaller budget then larger creative firms want to work with!

WHO OR WHAT IS THE CREATIVE NINJA?

WWW.THECREATIVENINJA.CA

INTRODUCTIONS

TOPICS COVERED TODAY L O O K I N G A T T H E F U N D A M E N T A L S O F S O C I A L

M E D I A M A R K E T I N G

F I N D I N G T H E S O C I A L M E D I A T O O L S B E S T S U I T E D F O R Y O U R B U S I N E S S

H O W T O D E T E R M I N E T H E B E S T T I M E T O B E G I N T H E M A R K E T I N G C A M P A I G N

C R E A T I N G A S O C I A L M E D I A M A R K E T I N G S T R A T E G Y T O G E T R E S U LT S


FUNDAMENTALS OF SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETINGMarketing is the management process through which goods and

services move from concept to the customer. It includes the coordination of four elements called the 4 P’s of marketing:

identification, selection and development of a product or service,

determination of its price,

selection of a distribution channel to reach the customer’s place, and

development and implementation of a promotional strategy.

Marketing techniques include choosing target markets through market analysis and market segmentation, as well as understanding consumer behavior and advertising a product’s value to the customer.

Marketing can be considered a marriage of art and applied science (such as behavioural sciences) and makes use of information technology; such as the marriage between social media and your business marketing strategy.

How you use different channels of social media marketing is determined by your audience, channels, engagement, consistency and flexibility.

FUNDAMENTALS OF SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING

FUNDAMENTALS OF SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETINGFind Your Target Market:

Professionals with knowledge of media coordinator training know that any business venturing into social media marketing first needs to identify their target audience. This is an ongoing process, but one of the first things to do is envision a typical customer. Is there a common age range? Are they local? Do they have a family?

This gives you an idea of who usually requires the product or services offered by a business and whether the goal is to stay within that range or expand into a broader audience.


TARGET MARKET

As entrepreneurs already you should have a solid understanding of who your target market is and their demographics. Some key factors are:


Age

Employment Status

Gender

Occupation

Income

Education Level

In Business:

Industry

Number of Employees

Type of Business

Geographic Scope of Business

Revenue Levels

With a correctly identified target market (which you should already have in your business plan); you can then move on to which channels of social media marketing would best be suited to communicate with those buyers.

How do you know which social media channel is for you?

FUNDAMENTALS OF SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETINGFinding the Right Channels:

As the world becomes increasingly wired, more and more social media platforms pop-up online. Each of these social networks is a unique tool with an equally unique audience.

When digitally marketing a business, you’ll need to consider each of these networks and how to use them to put yourself in the path of your target audience.


SOME AVAILABLE TO YOU… SCARY EH?


FUNDAMENTALS OF SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETINGRules of Successful Engagement:

Creating a buzz and getting conversations going around a product or service won’t happen overnight. It’s important to be patient and to interact with existing and potential customers with focused attention. For example:

Read your target audience’s online content and find out what’s important to them

“The customer is always right” (as entrepreneurs we know it) may not be 100% truthful, but do try and consider feedback (positive and negative) and constructive insight into what your audience is looking for

Don’t ignore people. Building relationships is paramount for social media marketing success so always take the time to acknowledge those who reach out to you


FUNDAMENTALS OF SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETINGConsistency:

It’s important to remain present on your choice of social media platforms. Establishing a loyal audience means being available to them. Read comments, respond and dive right into the interaction on a daily basis. Your participation brings more than just value, it builds your credibility and trust.


FUNDAMENTALS OF SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETINGFlexibility:

One of the most important concepts that students and professionals learn today is how to create a social media marketing strategy. But of course, strategies are flexible, and not every strategy will work right away, or at all. There are tons of ideas for social media marketing strategies out there—here are a few ideas:

Use your social media presence as a platform to announce coupons and special offers when applicable.

Hold contests and giveaways within your target audience

Share business growth milestones with customers and show sincere gratitude for their support.

However… we will explore this more in depth shortly. You need to tailor your presence to your audience.


THERE’S SO MUCH OF IT; SO WHICH IS BEST?

SOCIAL MEDIA FOR YOUR UNIQUE BUSINESS

SOCIAL MEDIA FOR BUSINESS

Should your business be on social media? Absolutely. But should you have an account on every platform? Not necessarily. Your social success depends largely on the type of business you run and how much time and effort you intend to put into your strategy.

Some networks, like Facebook, are more low-maintenance and work for every type of business, while others, like Instagram, require more dedication, working best for businesses in certain niches. Want to create an enviable social strategy? Familiarize yourself with all of the social networks at your disposal, figure out which features will work best with your business and focus on the platforms that best reflect your business's mission

I've profiled the top social media platforms, so you can learn how some of the top contenders might relate to your business and to help you determine which ones fit your needs.


FACEBOOK

Facebook is the biggest social network out there, both in terms of name recognition and total number of users. With over 1.39 billion active users, Facebook is a great medium for connecting people from all over the world with your business. And Facebook is not only the biggest network, it's arguably the most versatile one. In the 11 years since it launched, Facebook grew from a simple website where college students could keep in touch into a multifaceted Web and mobile social-platform where anyone can connect with not just their friends and family, but also with celebrities, organizations, businesses and more thanks to the Pages feature.

Since Facebook has a wealth of options for any type of organization, it's a great starting point for your business, regardless of your industry. You can use it to share photos, videos, important company updates and more. Additionally, Facebook is a lot more low maintenance in terms of posting frequency — whether you post several updates a day or only a few a week won't make much of a difference in terms of what your fans think of you.


TWITTER

Twitter is another social network where mostly anything goes. With Twitter, you can post short (140 characters or less) text updates along with videos, images, links and more. You can also easily interact with other users by mentioning their usernames in your posts, so Twitter is a great way to quickly connect with people all around the world (the platform has more than 500 million users worldwide). Because of this, Twitter is not only a great way to market your business; it's also an effective channel for handling customer service. For example, if you maintain an active Twitter presence, then customers who are also active on the platform will seek you out to express concerns or share their praise.

If you have interesting content, Twitter is also a great tool for quickly spreading the word. Retweeting and sharing other users' content is incredibly simple, and if a user with a lot of followers retweets you, your content has the potential to go viral. But with Twitter, it's important to remember to find balance — don't simply share your own links or media; make sure you are also sharing a lot of interesting, relevant content from other Twitter users so your audience doesn't think you only care about what your business is doing.


PINTEREST

This platform consists of digital bulletin boards where users can save and display content they like in the form of pins. Users create and organize their boards by category, so for example, as a personal user, one might have a board dedicated to food where they pin recipes, another board dedicated to photography they find interesting and so on. Pinterest is very visually oriented (every post has to be an image or video), and like Facebook, it is also fairly low-maintenance as far as post frequency is concerned. However, keeping your boards organized and search-friendly can be time-consuming.

Pinterest is also a much more niche network than Facebook or Twitter, and so it may not work for everyone. Pinterest's users are primarily female, and popular categories on the site are DIY projects, fashion, exercise, beauty, photography and food. That's not to say that businesses outside of these categories can't succeed on the platform, but it does make it a great marketing tool for businesses that do work in those areas. If you can find ways to connect your content to Pinterest's audience, then go for it. There are plenty of cool ways to use this platform to your advantage.


SO HOW DO YOU CHOOSE?

I can’t advise you on choosing the appropriate social media networks for your unique businesses. I haven’t done the research; you have. You know what your target market is: research them and see what social networks they’re on; those are the ones you want to be on!

Don’t send the same social message to every network.

Software automation seems amazing (HootSuite); but you wouldn’t put the same message in Teen Magazine as you would Zoomers… would you?

Personalize everything to your brand.

Experiment and have fun, you can always delete things and try new ones.


WHEN DO YOU START SOCIAL MARKETING?

NOWWHEN TO START SOCIAL MARKETING

SO NOW WHAT? HOW DO I DO THIS?

So now you need to create a social media marketing plan. No easy task, right? Many of us struggle to iron out exactly what that is, let alone how to build one from scratch. It really is easier than you think.

Put simply, every action you take on social networks should be a part of a larger social media marketing strategy. That means every Tweet, reply, like and comment should all be guided by a plan and driving towards pre-determined goals. It might sound complicated, but if you take the time to create a comprehensive social media plan, the rest of your social efforts should follow naturally. Everyone can do this if they approach it correctly.

Learn what a social media marketing plan should include, and follow THIS 6-step plan for creating your own!

SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING STRATEGIES

STEP 1: CREATE SOCIAL MEDIA GOALS

The first step to any social media marketing strategy is to establish objectives and goals that you hope to achieve. Having these objectives also allows you to quickly react when social media campaigns are not meeting your expectations. Without these goals, you have no means of gauging your success and no means of proving your return on investment.

These goals should be aligned with your broader marketing strategy, so that your social media efforts all drive towards business objectives. If your social media marketing strategy is shown to drive business goals forward, you’re more likely to get executive buy-in and investment. They should also go beyond vanity metrics like retweets or Likes, in favour of more advanced metrics like leads generated, sentiment or website traffic referred. Strive to approach these goals using the SMART approach, meaning they should all be specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-bound.

A simple way to start your social media marketing plan is by writing down at least three social media goals. Make sure to ask yourself what the goal will look like when completed, and use that to determine how you will track it.

Example: For Instagram we will share photos that communicate our company culture. We will do this by posting 3 photos a week that will achieve 30 likes plus 10 comments each.


STEP 2: CONDUCT A SOCIAL MEDIA AUDITPrior to creating your social media marketing plan, you need to assess

your current social media use and how it is working for you. This requires figuring out who is currently connecting to you via social media, which social media sites your target market uses and how your social media presence compares to your competitors’.

Once you’ve conducted your audit you should have a clear picture of every social account representing your business, who runs or controls them, and what purpose they serve. This ‘living inventory’ should be maintained regularly, especially as you scale your business.

It should also be evident which accounts need to be updated and which need to be deleted altogether. Reporting fraudulent accounts will help ensure that people searching for you online are only connecting with the branded accounts you manage and your approved messaging.


STEP 3: CREATE/IMPROVE SOCIAL ACCOUNTSOnce you’ve audited your accounts, it’s time to hone your online

presence. Choose what networks best meet your social media goals. If you don’t already have social media profiles on each network you focus on, build them from the ground up with your broader goals and audience in mind. If you do have existing accounts, it’s time to refine them and update them for your best possible results.

Every social network has a different audience and should be treated definitely. See how you can optimize your profiles themselves to meet any of your business goals. Optimizing profiles for SEO can help generate more web traffic to your online properties. Cross-promoting social accounts could help you grow the reach of content. In general, social media profiles should be filled out completely, images and text optimized for the social network in question.


STEP 4: GET INSPIRATION FROM EVERYWHEREOne of the most important reasons for being active on social media is

that your consumers already are. That usually means, so are your competitors. That might not be comforting, but it actually means that there’s a wealth of knowledge already available to you which you can integrate into your social media marketing plan. Turn to your competitors for inspiration when it comes to what content types and information get the most social media engagement. Also, use social media listening to see how you could distinguish yourself from competitors and appeal to consumers they might be missing.

Consumers can also offer social media inspiration, not only through the content that they share but in the way that they phrase their messages. See how your target audience writes Tweets, and strive to mimic that style. Also learn their habits, when they share and why, and use that as a basis for your social media marketing plan.

Get inspiration from industry leaders. Follow major businesses in your industry and study what they are doing to make themselves socially amazing, and see if you can do any of what makes them great.


STEP 5: CREATE A CONTENT PLAN/CALENDARYour editorial calendar lists the dates and times you intend to post

blogs, Facebook posts, Twitter messages and other content you may plan to use during your social media campaigns. Create the calendar and then schedule your messaging in advance rather than updating constantly throughout the day. You want to work hard on the language and format of these messages anyways. Be spontaneous with your engagement and customer service rather than your content.

If you’re unsure of how to allocate your resources, a safe bet is to follow the Social Media Rule of Thirds.

⅓ of your social content promotes your business, converts readers, and generates profit.

⅓ of your social content should surface and share ideas and stories from thought leaders in your industry or like-minded businesses.

⅓ of your social content should be based on personal interactions and build your personal brand.


STEP 6: TEST & ADJUST THE PLAN – ALWAYS!The most important thing to understand about your social media plan is

that it should be constantly changing. As new networks emerge, you may want to add them to your plan. As you attain goals, you may need to adjust them or find new goals for each network. New challenges might present themselves that you need to address.

As you scale your business, you might need to add new roles or grow your social presence for different branches or countries. This is a plan that is meant to change, so be flexible and open to these changes. Rewrite your strategy to reflect your latest insight, and make sure your team is aware of what has been updated.


WHAT ELSE DO I NEED TO KNOW?

The way you interact with your customers can truly make or break your business. Especially now, in the age of social media — word spreads quicker than you can imagine, and all it takes is a few bad experiences to ruin your business's reputation.

To keep up with today’s social demands, it's important that your business has great customer service, and even more so, an engaging social media strategy that's equipped to handle customer service issues as well. Don't just let your Facebook page or Twitter account be a place to share your content — make it a platform where your customers and readers can feel comfortable reaching out to you (good or bad), knowing that they'll get a response.


EXAMPLE: NIKE

With more than 4 million followers on Twitter, to say Nike has a huge social following is an understatement. The company recognizes just how important customer service is, especially on social media, which is why Nike created a separate Twitter account just for responding to customer inquiries and issues: @NikeSupport.

Nike Support is dedicated to all things customer service, making it easier for customers to reach out when they have a problem or a question they want answered. And Nike Support is very active, and like other companies with great social media customer service, very quick to respond. If you look at the account's Twitter feed, you'll see replies every few minutes. This shows customers that they can trust Nike to provide them with the help they need, when they need it. (Why do you think they can charge more even after aligning themselves with professional athletes endorsements?)


SOCIAL MEDIA MISTAKES TO AVOID

Too Many Platforms

Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Google+, Tumblr, Reddit, Instagram, and much more make up the social media landscape. When starting out in social media optimization, it’s easy to fall into the trap of trying to push your business on as many platforms as possible. On the surface, it seems easy to manage this many: toss out links to new website content, a few plugs, maybe a silly picture or two, and you’re set, right?

Unfortunately, not so much. Every social media site has its own style and practices, so getting good results on one won’t necessarily work on the other. By casting your net too broadly you can end up with a great deal of shallow content rather than one or two focused social media pages with strong content and presence. Branching out is fine, but do so gradually after you have properly assessed your strategy.



Excessive Brand Focus

This may seem odd, since the whole point of social media optimization is to promote your business, but it’s true. This is because of the social element. Sites like Twitter and Facebook are a chance for customers to interact with businesses like they’re people, not logos. Constant self-promotion gets annoying and boring fast, so you need to strike a proper balance to maintain interest. A good example of what to do is to post interesting articles or news reports that may be of relevance to your audience.



Improper Hashtag Use

Be wary when you use hashtags. Make sure to use only the most relevant or important ones, even if it seems like more might apply. Excessive or inappropriate hashtag use is annoying and will turn people away. Precision is often your best tool in these instances.

Also, if a new hashtag starts trending, make sure to look into it before joining in. In 2014, DiGiorno pizza stuck their foot in their mouth when they tweeted: “#WhyIStayed You had pizza.” Unfortunately for them, the #WhyIStayed hashtag was about domestic violence and women talking about why they remained in abusive relationships. This is a somewhat extreme example, but the underlying principle is the same: do your homework.



Failing to Proofread

Typos happen. Spelling mistakes happen. Embarrassing grammatical errors happen. Autocorrect will betray you. While an occasional lapse is fine, repeated proofreading failures will add up and seriously harm your credibility and reduce your presence. Take the time to have an editor or copywriter go over your content before posting and make sure everything checks out. It will save you embarrassment in the long run.



Sharing to Much

There is a careful balance that needs to be struck when engaging in social media. Too much of anything is always a problem, and the same goes for your content. If your audience is inundated with alerts or shares, then they could simply blanket-delete your posts, or flag them as spam.

Being too enthusiastic about sharing also reduces the quality of your content. Quality writing takes time and there is often only so much that can be discussed. Sharing too much leaves you with thin, borderline repetitive (or sometimes completely repetitive) messages that people will tune out.

Have a different strategy for each platform you use; don’t fall victim to enterprise suites. This is why larger companies have a dedicated Social Media Coordinator.



No Strategy Whatsoever

A successful social media presence takes time, effort, and most of all planning. This is not a “if you build it, they will come” scenario. Properly targeting and attracting your desired audience needs a social media strategy that can’t be thought up on the fly or done haphazardly. The ‘voice’ of your page, the primary goals and measurements of your plan, general policy, and content schedule are all integral elements that should be established in advance in order to get the most out of your social media optimization.



Buying Followers

There are businesses available that will, for a small fee, provide your social media accounts with a large number of followers. This can be tempting since it’s easy to believe that more followers equals more credibility. In practice, it doesn’t work out that way. Purchased followers are nothing more than dummy accounts. They won’t share links, repost your content, respond to your social media posts, become future customers, or do anything else except raise one little number on your page. Fake followers have at best, no impact on your ROI and at worst will be a wasteful expense.



Ignoring Your Audience

Social media is a two-way street. People can talk to your business just as much as your business can try to talk to them. Your posts may attract comments, questions, or even criticism, and it’s important to have a habit of responding to them. While it isn’t expected that you reply to every comment left on your posts, it’s important to make it clear to your audience that they are being heard. This helps build trust, confidence, and overall reliability.


QUESTIONS


social media marketing for biz presenter: matthew young the creative ninja

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