Golden Horseshoe Social Media Report - An interview summary of 100 CEO's and how the use social...

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Social Media For BusinessA look at the Golden Horseshoe – what’s working and why

As prepared by

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Table of Contents

Triggerstrategies.caTriggerstrategies.ca

Introduction 3Executive summary 4The study 5Positive results 11Troubling trends 12The gap is growing 13Recommendations 14About the authors 23

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Introduction

Since the inception of the internet the world has become more and more connected. Social Media is the next step in that connectivity.

No matter what sized business you operate or manage, Social Media has or is about to impact your world. From customer service, to sales, to marketing and hiring, Social Media’s effect can be felt in almost every department of most companies.

We wanted to better understand how the business community of the Golden Horseshoe in Ontario have been affected by Social Media.

The following pages is a summary of conversations and interviews we’ve had from January to March 2012 with close to 100 business owners and senior managers about how Social Media has or has not impacted them.

This is by no means a scientific study, rather it’s a collection of candid conversations and keen insights into the real world of Social Media for business.


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Executive Summary

At the conclusion of our interviews we noticed that all of the companies we spoke with fell into one of five distinct stages in their Social Media journey.

As you can see in this diagram at least 80% of the firms we talked with are using Social Media, however, only a small portion are seeing distinct results. This may lead some of you to conclude that Social Media doesn’t work, but the reason many are not seeing tangible results is because they are either just beginning to use it or they have no strategy in place to drive it.


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The Study

There are numerous tools that can be used for social media. Below represents what tools were most used by the respondents. As you can see Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin were by far the most popular.


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The Study

A beautiful part of the internet is the ability to find content in the format we personally enjoy most, be it text, video, audio or photos. Below you can see that the majority of the content being produced by the respondents was text based, while links, video and photos all tied for second.


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The Study

Because Social Media is new to many of the companies we spoke with, almost half had no formal goals set. Of those companies that did set goals, many were focused on the number of followers/likes and some identified dialogue and engagement as important goals.


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The Study

The biggest mystery attached to Social Media is how to measure it. Some firms focused on numbers like “followers” or “likes”, while others focused more on how many people shared and commented on what was posted. And still others wanted hard numbers like sales dollars generated.

We can without a doubt attest to the fact that there is not a universal measurement that everyone could agree upon. What it really came down to is what their expectations were of Social Media. Some of the firms we spoke with are naturally social by nature and the tools of Social Media were a natural extension of what they were already doing, while other companies are either completely terrified of it or have no idea how it could provide a benefit.


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The Study

70% of the businesses we spoke with had no budget allocated to Social Media. Many of them did admit that they had dedicated staff who spent time on Social Media but they did not allocate dollars to content development, promotions or staff. Of the companies that did have a budget, it was almost exclusively dedicated to staff.


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The Study

Even though almost half of the companies we spoke with did not have formalized goals and a majority have no budget allocated to Social Media over 70% believe that Social Media is very important to the growth of their business.


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Positive Results

After analyzing all of the interviews and conversations we found specific areas where companies using Social Media were seeing positive results.

Hiring: Meridian Credit Union have utilized Linkedin for the majority of their recruitment. They found that many of the profiles on Linkedin were more thorough than the actual resumes of some applicants.

Customer Service: Companies like CAA Niagara are using Social Media to provide answers to customer’s questions in real time as well as directing them to important news, tips and information when they need it most.

Sales Support: Schools like Niagara College and Niagara Christian Community of Schools are using student testimonials, videos and photos to tell the story of the institution and why it’s a great place to attend.

Customer Retention: Businesses like Innovative Kitchen Design provide their customers with recipes from leading Niagara Chefs, video tips to help customers care for their new kitchens and discounts at kitchen supply stores.

Customer Education: Companies like Beatties Basics provide valuable product information to help consumers make better choices. Nino D’Ambra Hair & Aesthetics use Facebook to give weekly tips on hair styles, make-up and hair care products attracting people from far outside their geographic region.

New Market Acquisition: HOCO Entertainment is reaching international markets and bringing in new visitors to Niagara.


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Troubling Trends

While the study did uncover numerous success stories, at the same time the report identified four areas where businesses were struggling with their Social Media activities. These trends are not exclusive to the Golden Horseshoe as we’ve seen evidence from third party research related to Social Media.

Campaigns: Trying to force traditional marketing tactics into Social Media. While contesting, promotions and yes campaigns can be effective, many companies we spoke with lose people quickly when its all they offer. Social Media is most effective when it’s a mix of giving value, engaging, promoting and sharing.

Selling Only: Very similar to campaigns are companies using Social Media exclusively to sell. The study found that this group typically posts messages very infrequently and when they do it’s only to promote their special of the week or a sale they’re having. While this will appeal to some people, the vast majority of people using Social Media will be turned off by this.

Long periods of time with no contact: Another trend we noticed were companies that set up pages or accounts, made a few posts and then nothing for months and in one case two years. We found that for Social Media to work, you need to be there. Just like offline connections, Social Media takes a certain level of commitment.

Putting the intern in charge: Because Social Media requires a time commitment, in some cases a major time commitment, it is often delegated to the low man on the rung; the intern. While they do have the time, they do not always possess the understanding of the business or the companies customers. Social Media is a real-time medium and requires individuals who know how to properly communicate with the market.


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The gap is growing

One of the biggest findings of the study was the gap between companies using Social Media for extended periods of time and companies that were using it sporadically or not at all. The businesses using it consistently were seeing exponential results and relevancy within their markets, while companies that are not using it, fearful of it or very sporadic in their application are only seeing incremental growth at best.


Results

Time

The gap is widening

= companies using social media

= companies not using or sporadic use of social media

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Recommendations


Based on all of the data from the study and our consulting work over the last two years we have compiled a best practices formula for businesses looking to use Social Media.

The Social Media marketing development process 1. Expectations2. Goals and objectives3. Build the team4. Overall strategy5. Budget6. Social Media policy7. Content strategy & editorial calendar8. Choose platforms9. Set-up accounts and team training10. Engaging with the community11. Monitoring and analytics

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Recommendations


Expectations

It’s essential before beginning any Social Media initiative that everyone involved discuss what their expectations are. These include desired results, time and resource commitments, what the team should look like, impact on the business, and how important Social Media will be in the overall marketing mix.

It’s this type of discussion that will determine how to best proceed and what success will look like.

Goals & Objectives

While it is sometimes difficult to apply specific sales goals to Social Media, especially when first starting, it’s important to put in place milestones and targets that can be measured and monitored.

Goals can include:

• Number of communities you will participate in• Number of people following/liking various pages• Website traffic from Social Media sites• Content being shared and commented on• Newsletter subscribers • Overall audience growth

Social Media is simply a set of tools, it’s what you do with them that will determine your success.

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Recommendations


Build your team

Your Social Media program can consist of two teams:

AdministrationContent providers

The admin team will be responsible for setting up accounts, managing passwords, monitoring the sites for comments, responding to the community, uploading content as per the content schedule and ensuring the social media policy is being followed.

The content providers will be responsible for creating and or sourcing content in various media formats (text/video/photo/audio) that fit within the Social Media strategy. The content team will have an editorial calendar that they work within.

Ensure you have the right people in the right role.

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Recommendations


Overall Strategy

Social Media is not a stand alone department, it is part of the marketing department. It’s a series of tools designed to give you the opportunity to communicate with your audiences in an open and honest way with two-way dialogue.

Your Social Media strategy needs to fit within your marketing strategy and compliment it.

At this stage we suggest focusing on the following questions:

Who do we want to communicate with? How many different communities do we want to engage with?What do we want to be known for?What is important to each community?Where are they getting their information now?What information is your community interested in?What information does your community need that it’s not getting?

Social Media that is not connected to your sales, marketing, customer service and human resources is just noise.

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Recommendations


Budget

While the tools of Social Media are free, the time of your team is not. A budget needs to be established to determine how much time individuals will dedicate as well as the cost to produce content.

Budget items can include:

• Video production/editing• Ghost writing• Professional photography• Prizes or giveaways• Graphic design

Social Media tools are free but the time and commitment it takes to do it right have a cost associated to it.

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Recommendations


Establish your Social Media policies

It’s important to let your staff know what is and isn’t acceptable when it comes to their professional lives in the Social Media arena. It’s also important to ensure your business has a crisis plan in place. Think about all the possible “worst case scenarios” and how you will react quickly and professionally.

This shouldn’t become a bogged down legal document, but it needs to work through what is expected and accepted. If your people don’t know what is acceptable they will make up their own rules. We recommend that your legal representation be consulted.

Be prepared because something can and will happen.

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Recommendations


Content strategy and editorial calendar

The first step is to determine what types of media your audiences prefer. This can include video, text, audio and photos. From there determine who within your team has the ability and is comfortable producing content in the various forms. The last step is to determine what topics will be developed and in what format. From here you put this all into a calendar format.

Example

Topic Format Author 1st proof Final Go Live

RRSP Video Joe Smith Feb 15Feb 25 Feb 28

Savings Blog Mary Jones Feb 20March 1 March 5

Mortgages Video Eric Timms March 1March 10 March 20

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Recommendations


Choose platforms and set-up accounts

Here is where you determine what social tools to utilize to communicate with your communities. There are numerous choices, but the most prevalent are Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Youtube, Pinterest and Flickr.

We recommend starting slowly with one or two platforms, establishing some connections, engaging them and then start sharing content.

At this stage you will also want to do some training of your staff so they feel comfortable connecting and sharing with your sites and recommending them to their friends and connections.

Engaging the community

Now that all of the planning and training is completed and the content development is well underway, it’s time to start engaging with your communities on a regular basis.

Some communities will be more active than others, and others may take some time to catch on, but it’s critical to establish a consistent approach so people know what to expect.

Setting up the different tools you will use is one of the last steps in a successful Social Media program.

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Recommendations


Monitoring and Analysis

It’s important to know how you’re doing. While direct sales may be the ultimate goal, that will take time. You’ll want to monitor the following:

• Followers/Likes to various pages• Comments and engagement• How much and how often content is shared• Amount of conversation about your brand within your communities• Sharing of content• Website traffic from Social Media sites• Newsletter subscribers • Overall audience growth

Return on investment is a big topic of discussion, understand what you want to measure and why.

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About the authors

We get approached by business owners because they are not happy with sales and growth. After our first conversation we usually find out they have trouble getting things done because of one or two things. The company has grown to a new size, or they simply do not have the right people in the right places. Because of this, they are unsure about what to do next.

So we do four things:

1. We work with your team, to make sure you have the right people in the right roles

2. We work with your company to ensure you have a clear and committed corporate vision and strategy

3. We work with you and your team to better communicate with and service your market and customers

4. And lastly we put everything into action with dates, commitments, resources and accountability. We measure results and help you drive change

These owners tell us they do not want theories and books, they want us to get s@#! done.

If that sounds like something you need, call us.


Larry AndersonTrigger StrategiesDirect: (905) [email protected]

Neil Thornton Trigger StrategiesDirect: (905) [email protected]

Golden Horseshoe Social Media Report - An interview summary of 100 CEO's and how the use social...

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Transcript of Golden Horseshoe Social Media Report - An interview summary of 100 CEO's and how the use social...