Savvy Social Media:How to Find, Sell & Keep LeadsCEDIA EXPO 2015

Learning Objectives

• Understand the difference between traditional marketing & social media• Define how to effectively set up Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn & Houzz profiles• Identify target demographics & best practices for each platform• Evaluate the best social media platform(s) to leverage for your business • Create & share your own #CEDIA15 social media content

Overview

• Why care, does social media marketing really work?• Setting yourself up for success• Optimization• The major players:

o Facebooko Twittero LinkedIno Houzz

• How to measure & track impact• #CEDIA 15 Lab

o Creating & sharing content in real-time

Why Social Media Marketing Matters

• SEO & rankings• Targeted website traffic & digital visibility• Humanizes your company• Enhanced engagement with prospects, current customers, partners & media• Customer service tool

o Gain useful product & service feedbacko Social referrals, reviews & recommendations

© Social Media Examiner

Prepare for Success

• Your website is your digital front door• Determine goals & objectives

o Keep it SMART: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Timely • Do your research

o Pay attention to what your target audience is using, doing & saying• Build your digital Rolodex

o Make connections by following the conversationo Build lists of key influencers

• Analyze, adapt & improve

Optimize for Maximum Results

• Tell the search engines what you are all abouto Trade-specific

home technology specialist, electronic systems integrator, custom integration, audio visual specialist, CI pro, CEDIA certified

o Broader industry & techconsumer electronics, smart home, home automation, IoT, home theater, streaming media, audio/video, home entertainment, lighting control, installed security systems, home network, lighting control

o Location basedInclude mentions of your city, state and/or region served

Top 5 Tips for All-Star Optimization

1. Branded avatar, cover photos & background images*Note: every platform has different dimension requirements

2. Include full contact info & links to your other social media profiles

3. Include a link back to your main website

4. Fill out all profile fields

5. Remain consistent across all platforms

Facebook

Facebook Action Steps

• Build your Business Page – not a personal profile, a branded company page• Fill out your profile completely to gain credibility• Build your community

o “Fan”, comment/like & support local businesses, charities, restaurants, sports teams, area celebrities, partners, media, CE brands & more

• Post regularly to keep your community engaged• Feeling confident? Experiment with paid promotions

o Like Ads, Promoted Page & Boosted Posts

Posting Etiquette

• Post dailyo Personality & voiceo Educate your audienceo Tailor content to your unique audience(s)o Ask questionso Embrace holidays & seasonso Establish traditions

• The days keep users coming back: #MusicMonday, #TechTuesday, #SmartHomeSaturday

Sharing is Caring

• Stumped for content?

Try sharing articles, research, images & video from CEDIA, your vendor partners, local & industry media and more

Be Present & Attentive

• Customer support is a very rare opportunity to connect to your customers on a much more emotional level

• A look at the data:o When companies engage & respond to customer service requests over

social media, those customers end up spending 20-40% more with the company

o 43% of consumers say that a direct response to their questions is most important on a social media site

o 86% of social media customers would love to hear directly from a company regarding a complaint or experience

Twitter

Twitter Action Steps

• Create your company accounto Brand your profile with a logo, header image, colored text

• Custom bioo 140 characters include # to transform keywords into searchable links

• Cultivate a followingo Follow local businesses, charities, restaurants, sports teams, area celebrities, partners,

media, CE brands & moreo Create lists to organize your audience into relevant groups

• Follow the 80/20 ruleo Aim to post 2-4 times per day, at least

• Don’t forget hashtags & linkso Use Bit.ly to track link interaction

Create Your Content Strategy

• Listen & observeo What are your competitors doing? Your partners? What do you like about

it & how can you adopt & adapt?• Drive interaction

o Focus on content that will get re-tweets, favorites, & comments back before inundating your feed with promotions a& sales pitches

• Let your personality shineo Strive for an approachable communication style

Tools to Help Maximize Your TimeTwellow.com• Acts as the Yellow Pages of Twitter• Comprehensive categorization makes

qualifying easy• Follow those with high number of followers,

most active, quality content

Hootsuite• Allows you to categorize & track

conversations, inbound messages mentions, RTs, etc.

• One platform to view it all• Ability to schedule content

Sprout Social• Paid service• Schedule across multiple platforms

(Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, Instagram)

• In-depth reporting measures impressions, interactions by unique users, new fans/followers

Facebook Scheduler• Schedule posts directly from your Business

Facebook Page• Include links, photos, video, #hashtags &

@mentions to link to brands, media, etc.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn Action Steps

• Create your business pageo Must be set up via a personal profile with company email addresso Highlight major initiatives, achievements/awards, featured projects

• Build your professional business reputationo Seek written recommendations from partners & customers

• Participateo Join relevant groups, engage in conversations

• Share your content o Include links to your website/blog, media coverage, etc.o LinkedIn Publisher

Sample LinkedIn Group

• Insert yourself into the conversation to increase thought leadership

Joining & actively participating in LinkedIn Groups allows you to share your industry insight, ask questions & develop your clout

Get Your Staff Involved Too

• Employee profiles are a representation of your business, make them count!

• Optimize for premium visibilityo Include keywords in headline,

summary & job descriptiono Consider headshot with visible

company logo• Endorsements

Houzz

What is Houzz?

Houzz is the leading platform for home remodeling & design, providing people with everything they need to improve their homes from start to

finish – online or from a mobile device.

Profile Creation

• Houzz isn’t just a social media platform; it’s also a business directoryo Contact details are a MUST, the top ranked pros on Houzz have their

email, webpage, telephone & address listedo Include your specific location/region, many homeowners will search for

local professionals, make it easy for them to find you• Create your sales pitch

o The highest ranked Houzz professionals give a brief intro on the company & its history before moving into services provided & industry awards

o Use buzzwords that explain your projects (i.e. “spacious smart kitchen”, “ultimate automated man cave”, “luxurious home theater”, etc.)

Loading Photography

• A mix of product & lifestyleo Upload individual product shots as well

as photos of spaces where integrated products (i.e. automated devices, shading treatments, lighting control, etc.) can be seen in the home environment

o Highly recommended that any picture upload is at least 1000 pixels wide; this allows the image to be displayed on the site at optimum grade, & for good display on mobile devices

Adding Brand Tags

• 3 easy steps:1. Identify individual

brands/products in each image prior to uploading

2. Add related product tags to the image by selecting the ‘product tag’

3. If the product is not in the Houzz database, add it by uploading it with the upload button in the top right corner of any screen

Touchscreen

HD TV

Automated Shading

Inspiring Through Ideabooks• Ideabooks are the main principal of Houzz

o Allows users to pull from any photos on Houzz, not just those they may have uploaded

o Great publicity toolo Click the “sharing” button on your ideabook to

make it public

• Ideabooks allow for easy collaborationo Can share via email & enable select users to edito Ex. Kohler created an ideabook called “Your

Designs with Our Products” which features photos uploaded by designers with their Kohler-branded product present

Tracking Your Results

Next Steps & Key Takeaways

• 8 Social Media Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to Track:1. Number of fans & followers2. Demographics & location3. Number of active followers4. Likes & shares5. Comments6. Mentions7. Retweets8. Traffic data

Next Steps & Key Takeaways

• It’s called SOCIAL media for a reasono Plan for daily engagement, consistent content sharing

• Success through goal sharingo Limited time, limited focus – choose one & do it wello Don’t expect success overnighto Aim for 1 Facebook post, 2-4 tweets and consistent LinkedIn updateso Houzz requires more time upfront

• Remember you are the local authority, own it!o Showcase your expertise, become a thought leadero Strive to share informative, inviting content

• Have fun

Conclusion• Discovered the difference between traditional marketing &

social media• Defined how to effectively set up profiles• Identified target demographics & best practices for

Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn & Houzz• Evaluated & selected the best social platforms for your

business• Generated your own #CEDIA15 social content

Questions? Thank You!Please submit course evaluations

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