Moving From Idea to Action with Social Media

Texas Conference for Women, October 2012Social Media Roundtables

Sheila Scarborough / @SheilaSTourismCurrents.com / @TourismCurrents

Social media is a technology-based set of tools for communicating and networking. It is not a magic bullet for your business, nor is it going to rescue a poor product/service, a bad business strategy or lack of cash flow.

That said, here are some ideas for incorporating social media into those times when you need to launch a product/service or sell an idea....

1) Market Research & Learning About Your Customers

** Finding them: look for scheduled Twitter chats, related professional association Facebook Pages/LinkedIn Groups/LinkedIn Answers/Twitter accounts/blogs (check http://alltop.com/ for blogs,) industry conference Twitter hashtags, online forums (yes, that's social media,) YouTube channels and Flickr/Instagram/Pinterest image-related accounts.

** Are there reviews of your business on Yelp, Google local listings, TripAdvisor, etc.?

** Look for related mentions of your business keywords on Twitter's search engine (http:search.twitter.com,) Google and Bing. Set up Google Alerts.

** When you find your market on social media channels: participate, comment and bring value to the discussions. Listen more than you talk.

** Ask your market questions via polls on LinkedIn and Facebook. You can also throw out questions on Twitter or your blog, but getting responses often depends upon timing.

** Dig into your website analytics Google Analytics is the gold standard and it's free to see how your market finds your website. Do they click through from social media?

** Review your Facebook Page Insights data, do a LinkedIn search, do hashtag/keyword research on TweetReach and general Twitter research on Twellow and Listorious.

** Take any "influencer" data from Klout or PeerIndex or Kred with a huge grain of salt, but it IS a data point.

** On LinkedIn, dig around in Groups, News Today (http://www.linkedin.com/today/) and Answers (Q&A) for discussions and posts related to your market.

2) Becoming a Known, Trusted Authority in Your Field

** First, you'd better know your stuff. If you blow this, there's no help for you, social media or otherwise.

** Blog and/or tweet about your industry, and really have something to say. This can be as basic (but helpful) as live-blogging or live-tweeting from industry conferences and events. Be useful, bring value, be the indispensable source of the best information and connections.

** Send snippets of your insights as status updates to your Facebook Page, LinkedIn Company Page, Twitter account or Google+ Company Page.

** Once you're an established blogger (minimum 6 months, often longer) seek out guest blogging opportunities on respected blogs in your industry.

** Start a podcast series or Blog Talk Radio show for your industry.

** Start a video series on YouTube or Vimeo or Ustream for your industry.

** Create photos that tie into your industry. Optimize them for SEO with keyword-rich titles, descriptions and tags. Consider Pinterest, Flickr, Instagram and Foodspotting in addtion to photos posted on your blog, Facebook Page, Twitter or Google+.

** Speak at industry conferences. Hold on- and off-line workshops. Present webinars. Put your presentations on SlideShare (optimized for search in title, description and tags.)

3) Marketing & Sales

** First, define what makes your product/service so terrific that people should hand you their hard-earned money. What's in it for them? Are you solving THEIR problems?

** Integrate your social media presence across your website, email and print materials including business cards. Make yourself easy to find in any dimension.

** Speak at conferences, hold workshops and webinars, and share your expertise through associated blog posts, SlideShare updates, etc.

** Appear "in person" in Google+ Hangouts, Zipcasts on SlideShare, "open mic" blog posts and Twitter chats (as participant and/or host of the chat.)

** In addition to your personal LinkedIn profile, have a robust, complete LinkedIn Company Page with tabs, photos and video for your products and services.

** Add an ecommerce tab to your Facebook Page for purchases.

** Send special offers and sales notices out to your Twitter followers, Facebook Page Like-ers and blog subscribers/email list.