Navigating Social Mediamedia.instantcustomer.com/22902/0/181_navigating_social... · 2015-09-04 ·...
Transcript of Navigating Social Mediamedia.instantcustomer.com/22902/0/181_navigating_social... · 2015-09-04 ·...
Navigating Social Media
By Sharon A.M. MacLean
Navigating Social Media
You have an important story to tell. Finding ways to share
your message can be daunting when it comes to modern
marketing. This ebook sheds light on your mission.
Navigating Social Media
Contents
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1 Letter from a recovered print publisher 3
2 Where do you start:
-Define your goals 5
-Identify your personas 6
-Install a process 7
3 Do a Marketing SWOT 8
Find your Story 9
4 Create and bank content 10
-Type of content 11
-Consider the content purpose 12
-Build lists 13
5 The holistic nature of online marketing 14
Navigating Social Media
Keeping up with shiny new marketing tools can overwhelm you and
blow your budget. Believe me, it’s a painful experience—one that you
want to avoid. Thank goodness, there are strategies to avoid such
calamities.
A new era We had no blog, LinkedIn profile or
PayPal account. Twitter was eight
years away from dreaming up 140-
character text messages. Early
digital photos looked like people had
been photographed in coffins—
lifeless.
Google first posted the name of a magazine I published in 1998 titled
Edmontonians. I remember being dumbfounded that something
called a search engine knew about a magazine covering business
people in Edmonton, Canada.
Letter from a print publisherWho made the social scene
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Navigating Social Media
Letter from a reformed print publisher,
continued
The concept of positioning the magazine online was intriguing to me,
though. I anticipated reaching new readers by sending out stories into
cyberspace from our thought-leading columnists and inspired
photographers. No longer would we be restricted by the number of
pages we could afford to print. Sadly, hardly anybody knew our website
existed unless we told them.
The solution came in the form of social platforms. We joined them and
invited contacts to our networks to share the magazine’s stories. We
also discovered the new media meant learning a new language and
culture. It became necessary to learn the reasons behind the rise of
social media and to study how best to use the many tools.
This ebook is for those successful business owners and executives
who want to learn more about these strategies and tools, too. It’s for
savvy business leaders who don’t want to get left behind.
Here’s to your business success,
Sharon MacLean
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Navigating Social Media
Where do you start? Here.
Online marketing is confusing for many people. There are important and
powerful routes to take that will make your life easier.
1. Define goals
• Geography: Local, Canada,
North America, Worldwide
• Horizon: one quarter, one year,
three year, five year
• Breadth: corporate,
departmental, type of
information/service
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Navigating Social Media
2. Identify your personas
Learn what your audiences search for online.
• Demographics: Age, Gender, Income, Occupation
• Geographic location
• Interests/Behaviour
• Specific needs for each audience
• Criteria they use to visit your profile
• One-time vs recurring visits
• Timeframe for making a decision
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Navigating Social Media
3. Install a process
Define SMART goals: specific, measurable,
achievable, realistic, timely
Determine your available time and
resources
• Become consistent with your plan
• Develop proficiencies with tools
• Track communications
Select vendors/tools
• Learn and use time-savings tools
• Develop your contact lists for emailing,
LinkedIn, Twitter and others
• Develop useful content
Social media:
It’s not magic
• Viewers research and
compare online
• Most actions entail
multiple visits and many
touch points
• Taking action means
determining priorities for
time and resources
• Success requires a
holistic, integrated
approach
• Goal setting combines a
systematic approach and
creativity
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Navigating Social Media
Do Your Marketing SWOT
Do you know the strengths and weaknesses in your organization? Take
an inventory and capture the issues you believe are relevant in each of
the quadrants. This reflection gives you an objective look at your
business.
STRENGTHS• List of contacts
• Natural networker
THREATS• Stays the same
OPPORTUNITI
ES• Open to ideas
• Increased sales
WEAKNESSES• Contacts not
segmented
• Poor database quality
SWO
T
S
T
W
O
Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities,
Threats
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Navigating Social Media
Find your story
Your story--described online as content--
is what drives online search engines.
Content is anything relevant to you and
your company and takes the form of
imagery and text, video, audio, and
pictures.
Think educational.
This means anything from a basic blog
or vlog (video blog) to social network
posts and automated email to the ebook,
podcast, webinar or teleseminar to the
traditional newsletter or catalogue. Of
course, anything you choose must be
engaging and sharable for potential
clients to take action.
Content is driven by defining your target
audience or “persona” which is slightly
different for the online audience. Learn
how your prospects search to solve their
pain points.
Teresa Spinelli found her
corporate story: “Where the
language of love is great food.”
“Learn how your
prospects
search to solve
their pain
points. “
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Navigating Social Media
Kiid
Create and bank content
The big lesson I learned about writing for traditional vs online
marketing is the old-style is more promotional.
The creation of content requires a shift in your thinking, from “all about
us” to “all about the reader.” We now have unlimited space to provide
more educational and meaningful content; people expect this
approach now.
The good news is you aren’t paying for
mistakes that appear in print, radio or TV.
You get to change content based on
feedback. You can also ask these
questions:
• Which pieces do people download
most?
• How frequently is your audience
responding to or sharing your
content?
• Which ones fell flat?
A simple strategy will save you time and effort.
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Navigating Social Media
1. Targeted content
2. Unique content
3. Relevant content
4. Expert content
5. Visual content
6. Useful and educational content
7. Personal content
8. Creative content
9. Entertaining content
10. Context of content
Types of content
• Consider the
content purpose
• Website is the
epicentre of
holistic
marketing
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Consider the content purpose
Navigating Social Media
Which keywords might your prospects use? How do they search?
Determine how those words align with your business goals, and how
frequently they search for the keywords.
For example, perhaps you determine your customers use Bing to do
price comparisons, browse Chrome, and search before 8 am every
morning. These habits inform content strategies that call prospects to
take action with your company.
Tip: As a call-to-action, offer explanations on how the plumbing and
electrical for a new housing development was designed.
Tip: Create a sign-up form offering ideas on “How to select a wealth
management advisor” to build your prospect list.
Tip: If a user clicks on mobile communications devices, you might
include ideas on how to manage wireless expenses for the entire
company.
Build lists
Offer a call-to- action that moves the visitor
through your sales funnel.
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Navigating Social Media
The holistic nature of
online marketing
Your opportunity
Shape your
personal and
professional
brand
Build
relationships
with existing
clients,
prospects, and
partners
Establish
connections with
influencers
Capture a
competitive
edge
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Navigating Social Media
Navigating Social MediaBy Sharon A.M. MacLean
Sharon MacLean
President, WorldGate Media
LinkedIn: Sharon A.M. MacLean
As a lifelong communications strategist who became a magazine
publisher, I led a team who created original content with forward-
thinking solutions. Forging relationships and building community
networks became second nature for us. As early adopters of social
media, we also positioned the magazine online using Twitter,
Facebook, LinkedIn, and automated email marketing.
During the life of the publication, we originated the famous Sizzling
under 30 that celebrated 200 young business leaders; Women in
Business, Family Business, International Business; and Visionaries in
Technology, among others.
I sold the magazine in 2010 after 21 years. This opened the door to an
invitation by investors to lead another remarkable team who built a
marketing portal for wellness experts. Today, I like to help successful
business people adapt their traditional sales and marketing methods to
the new world of social enterprise.
Twitter: sharedmaclean
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
B. 1.855.572.4884
C.780.886.5957
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