What is social media marketing? SMM refers to the process of gaining website traffic or attention through social media

sites

•Centers on efforts to create content that attracts attention and encourages readers to share it with their social networks •A corporate message spreads from user to user and presumably resonates because it appears to come from a trusted, third-party source, as opposed to the brand or company itself •This form of marketing is driven by word-of-mouth, meaning it results in earned media rather than paid media.

•Easily accessible to anyone with internet access.’ •Increased communication for organizations fosters brand awareness and often, improved customer service. •Is a relatively inexpensive platform for organizations to implement marketing campaigns.

So, Kristin… What does this mean for us? Why would we do this? What’s your plan???

WELL!!

Lets start from the top.

To REALLY understand the best practices and benefits of social media marketing, we need to look at what we can use and why it’s popular and THEN I‘ll tie it back to us.

This is Sally. She is a 35 Year Old Executive Assistant to the President and is the Assistant Secretary to the Board of Governors for Google.

When Sally has a question, she GOOGLES! it.

Since Sally has a really important and time consuming job, she wants information fast, and she wants to know it’s reputable information.

Looking at Google search allows Sally to quickly select one of the top three search options that come up.

Sally LOVES google. She really is proud of her company.

Today, Sally’s boss asked Sally to throw together Google’s annual event with 5,000+ people with a budget of $300,000.

First, Sally expresses her concerns to her friends and family on FB.

“Holy crap, boss just asked me to throw HUGE event. What do I DO??”

Sally is scared. She has no idea what to do. Where does Sally begin?

Next, Sally decides to Google EVENT PLANNING since she is now responsible for throwing her company event.

Ok… Now I know what it is…

I’m not going to start my own Event Planning service???

What does Chuck E Cheese have to do with this???

Ok……. Sally needs to think smarter.

Lets see if she knows anyone who knows ANYTHING about Event Planning.

She remembers her last connection with Bob from Target talking about how he threw a really awesome event last year and it received a ton of accolades. Maybe Bob could share some insight on this.

Bob’s kinda creepy. Sally thinks it’s best to just send him a message on Linkedin.

Bob is super excited to see Sally’s LinkedIn message. He is on LinkedIn all the time because he is a Sales Exec from Target and loves to be connected.

He immediately suggests to Sally to look into hiring an event planning firm because it will save her time and they will REALLY help make the event fantastic.

What a GOOD idea!

Sally feels empowered. She knows she needs a planner.

Now, she needs to research this.

Sally types in Event Planning firms in Seattle, Washington.

She finally finds one about 6-7 links down for a specific company, but she wants more options.

She clicks on Event Planners in Seattle.

Alright… Lets find out more about Well Done Events.

She googles their website.

Sally is sold.

Sally goes to her boss and pitches Well Done Events.

Sally’s boss is not happy.

He wants to know why he hired her if she wants to hire someone else.

“It’s not in the budget, Sally!”

Sally goes home and is depressed.

When Sally is depressed she stalks her friends on FB.

Sally notices she has a new FB message from her Mom’s friend Betty.

Betty’s Message:

Hi, Sally! So great to see you doing so well! Love all your photo’s! Your mom said she was on FB and saw your status. She told me you were looking for an event planning company. My neighbor’s friends Mom’s son works for a woman who is really close with a sister of a woman who works in DC at a company called BRAVO! Events by Design. Apparently they do a lot of strategic work in creating events with impact that works with a companies marketing and communications plan to create the best ROI! Thought you would like to know! Hugs and kisses, hope to see you soon. Betty PS: Are you still single? My son is available!! Hint hint wink wink!

Sally has some research to do!

Sally googles BRAVO! Events by Design and is taken to the website.

After doing some browsing, Sally has found the information she needs to really sell her idea of hiring an event STRATEGIST!

.

Sally is ecstatic that all the information she would need to sell her boss on making a buying decision is RIGHT on the website!

She’s really blown away by the video under the Corporate Gallery about the Acentia Event!

She decides to share the content to her FB wall!

She can’t wait for all her friends to see the new cool video she found!

Sally goes back to her boss with all of her new ideas.

Sally prepared a flash drive with BRAVO!’s website and pulled out all the relevant wisdom wed blogs she needed to really sell her idea! (SOON TO BE WHITEPAPER PACKET)

“Finally! Someone who understands my business objectives!”

Sally’s boss decides to meet with Nancy.

He’s trying to stay up to date with new technology so he’s really trying to use Twitter

“I think I have the hang of this! This is fun!” – Sally’s Boss

Needless to say, the meeting went really well and Sally’s boss is excited and is left with a lot of great ideas swimming around in his head.

Sally’s boss goes home to tell his wife about his great day.

“BRAVO? you say??” Says Sally’s Bosses wife. “The girls and I were just chatting about them at lunch!”

“I found the cutest ideas for a Moroccan themed party on their Pinterest!”

Sally’s boss is glad his wife raised and birthed 5 of his children but sometimes he really wished she did more than surf the web at home and do pilates. *SIGH*

Now Sally’s boss is confident in his decision that BRAVO! is the right fit.

He immediately goes to work and pitches it to the board and the rest of the e team

Everyone agrees this is a good idea

Sally is pumped!

The moral of the story is the internet is full of a vast range of possibilities

All it takes is one creative and unique idea to set you apart from the rest

My plan is to make BRAVO! the thought leaders of our industry through our social media channels

This requires:

Time

Effort Creativity

A willingness to push the limit

Collaboration

DISCUSSION How do you guys think Social media is evolving the corporate/Small business culture?

How important do you rank social media in the success of an organization

Do you believe the adage no press is bad press

What do you believe is going to be the biggest challenge with social media over the next 5 years?

THE POWER OF A TEAM

Reasons why we have all the gusto to make a bang:

WE ARE DIVERSE

WE ARE INTELLIGENT

PEOPLE WANT TO TALK TO US

WE ARE CREATIVE

WE HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO MAKE A SPLASH AND BE UNIQUE IN OUR MARKET

COLLABORATION IS KEY TO OUR SUCCESS

Your ideas are CRUCIAL to us thinking outside the box

There is no I in team

WHAT I SUGGEST:

Monday morning 9:30 AM 30 minute huddles around white board to talk about current trends, cool things you saw on the internet, whats exciting you online, the buzz around town, something cool you saw over the weekend… etc etc

OUR SOCIAL MEDIA GOALS:

ATTRACT POTENTIAL CLIENTS

ENGAGE OUR AMBASSADORS

BE TRANSPARENT

GLORIFY OUR STRENGTHS

SHOW WHO WE ARE TO THE PEOPLE WE MEET. GOOD ALWAYS WINS