“PRACTICAL TIPS AND TACTICS

TO ACHIEVE MEASURABLE GROWTH

THROUGH SOCIAL MEDIA CHANNELS”

FROM BUZZ TO BIZ:

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Presented By: Craig Briars

“PRACTICAL TIPS AND TACTICS

TO ACHIEVE MEASURABLE GROWTH

THROUGH SOCIAL MEDIA CHANNELS”

FROM BUZZ TO BIZ:

2

Presented By: Craig Briars

#BestPresentationEver

PLEASE “LIKE” ME

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I do not have cats or post about what I eat

Craig Briars

Facebook.com/ParkRidge

@cbriars

google.com/+CraigBriars

linkedin.com/in/craigbriars

Background

• Entrepreneurial Passion

• B.S. Integrated Marketing – Northern Illinois

• Web Developer – 10+ Years

• Pursuing dream to be a Recreational Fishing

Pro

TODAY’S “TIMELINE”

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• Overview of Social Channels

• Defining Your Social Media Strategy

• How to Execute – Tips, Tactics & Caveats

• Q & A

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QUICK BREAKDOWN OF SOCIAL

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Beyond Friends, Followers & Sharing • Social Graph, Sponsored Content, Ads, Custom Apps, Contests, Business Pages

• Real-time, Hashtags, Retweets, Image Sharing, Instant Dissemination

• Boost in SEO, “Smart” Networking, Communities, Blurred Social & Search Use

• Visual, allows audience and you to engage, connected to Facebook and/or Twitter

• Networking, Groups, InMail, Targeted Ads, Recruiting, Sponsored Posts, Messages

• Themed “Boards”, Re-Pin, inspiration, Visual Search, Female Audience

SOCIAL STRATEGY 101

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WHERE IT BEGINS

•You’ve been tasked with advancing your Social Media Strategy?

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Social Media Strategy

WHERE IT BEGINS

•#1 - Who is your audience & What are they interested in?

•#2 - What are your business objectives?

•#3 - Define your goals & how to measure success

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Start with the basics

DEFINE AUDIENCE / “THEME”

Who: Prospects = Consumers, Decision Makers, Researchers, etc..

Theme: In order to be considered relevant our digital presence must satisfy and

support their expectations, across the diverse channels being used (Web, Social,

Search, Traditional, etc..)

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Step 1 – Who & Why? A few examples

Translation:

The bar has been raised, we need a cohesive

digital footprint just to be relevant

DEFINE AUDIENCE / “THEME”

Who: Established “Connections” = Customers, Members, Students, Tax Payers, etc..

Theme: By interacting with our “connections” and allowing them to engage via social

we can expand our reach, re-target, communicate and reinforce our brand loyalty.

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Step 1 – Who & Why? A few examples

Translation:

We want people to love us & talk about us!

BUSINESS OBJECTIVES

• Increase Sales

• Lead Generation

• Networking

• Education & Informing

• Customer Service

• Brand Awareness

• Interaction / Engagement

• Brand Loyalty

• Show off! (employees, accomplishments, stories, play to human instinct)

• Wasting Time…wrong social channel…no strategy (cat posts)

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Step 2 – Focus on more than one

DEFINE GOALS

• Increase website traffic, campaign landing page, micro site (Events)

• Grow Lists / Data (White Papers, Infographics, Inbound Marketing Content)

• Opt-In – Email, SMS, Alerts, Page Likes

• Increase product reviews / increase social mentions

• Reduce common inquiries, questions, customer service

• Increase the reach of the brand (tap into social circles)

• Grow # of followers, Re-Tweets, Pins, etc..

• Let our audience have a voice, show their influence

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Step 3 – Find value beyond dollars and cents

GOT IT, NOW CAN I POST?

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No, there are more bullet points for you to read

Commit to practicing “Safe Social”:

• Do not demand people to “like” you

• It’s new to you but not everyone else, practice with people you know first

• Do not take people to strange places

• Keep an open mind, try new things, do not fall into a routine

• Keep to your standards & show your personality

• Protect yourself = change passwords, approval process, trusted employees

• Plan for the future = how to handle unforeseen, awkward, negative & gossip

scenarios

ONE MORE THING TO REMEMBER

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Social is only one channel

CREATING CONTENT

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Two Basic Types Original:

• Events

• Reviews

• Customer Stories

• Insights

• Tips

• Product Highlights

Curated:

• Corporate

• Advocacy Groups

• Media

• Industry Voice

• Event Organizers

• Retailers

Your Content Utensils:

Words, Video, Audio, Photos, Infographics, Locations, Actions

SOCIAL IDEAS & TRENDS

E-commerce

• Incentivize, Grow, Convert

• Post Checkout Purchase Sharing with Promo Code

• Exclusive Social Media Promotions

• Contests, Photo Submissions, Loyalty Programs

B2B

• Network, Nurture, Capture

• Incorporate social into all communication

• Build social into process (Connect with Leads, Partners, Influencers)

• Encourage employees to maintain public profiles (LinkedIn)

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Remember its social, have fun

SOCIAL IDEAS & TRENDS

Non Profit, Government, Non transactional

• Communicate!

• Use social to expand reach and exposure

• Encourage feedback, opinion, surveys

• Promote events, registrations, activities, alerts

B2C

• Establish, Influence & Support

• Create social pages for top networks

• Produce unique, insightful & relevant content

• Express your brands personality, differentiate from competition

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Remember its social, have fun

WHAT NEXT?

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Just a few of the resources available to you…

• Americaneagle.com Strategy Team

• CMS / Web Tools to empower Social Media Efforts

• Read whitepapers, presentations & infographics (2014)

• Americaneagle.com Partner Firms (PR, Content Writing, SEO)

• Best practices for Social Network Posts – Click Me!

SOCIAL CHECKLIST

• “Social Pages” should reflect branding & messaging standards

• Website & marketing materials should incorporate social channels

• Integrate social media to your Marketing Calendar

• # of posts per week for each Social Platform

• Are the posts relevant to each step of “Customer Journey”?

• Centralize control of Social Channels

• Use Technology = CMS and/or Platforms to automatically post content

• How are you measuring effectiveness?

• URL Shortener, Web Analytics, Social Platforms, Marketing Automation

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Remember its social, have fun

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Thank you!