On attending the #SocialCrush Media Conference in Charlotte, NC:
After 2 full days of sharing, posting, tweeting, liking & blogging, I can honestly report that my innocent social crush blossomed into a networking obsession. Regardless of your experience in social networking, whether you are a cyber guru counting your followers by the thousands or still counting on smoke signals to get your message across, this seminar motivates you to learn and do more with the platforms that you use.
The purpose of Social Crush is simple: Learn how to grow your business through the use of social media and networking tools. The icing on the cake for all who attend: Receiving tips and guidelines from the leading sources in today’s social media including Classic’s New Media Specialist, David Leininger, who led a work session on Mobile media.
Not only were Social Crush attendees encouraged to ask every keynote speaker questions, but some received advice on ad placement from Pat Lai of Facebook and Search Engine Optimization Strategies from Tae Kim of Google!
(Above) Q & A with Keynote speakers Aya Zook from Bing and Patricia Lai from Facebook
The keynote speakers were impressive and knowledgeable about the ever changing world of social media. I was especially taken by the “Reality Check” with author and Social Media Consultant Michael Brito. He took the time to pinpoint misconceptions about social networking and gave us interesting insights to why and how social media can benefit a company and a company’s brand. Here are a couple of his key points that I found to be most thought provoking:
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The greatest misconception regarding social media and networks such as Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, FourSquare, LinkedIn and Referral Key is that they are free.
- Your payment is made by the amount of time you spend being active on a particular site. Keeping your sites up to date and interesting is one of the most important rules for social networking.
- This aspect can be utterly time consuming…
- www.Hootsuite.com is a great tool for micromanaging all your social networks from one website. It’s purpose is dedicated to lessen the amount of time spent posting / updating each site individually and allows you to delineate information to all sites at once.
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Social media is not magic. Joining Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn will not revolutionize your company or your marketing strategy just because you joined. You still need to:
- Identify your audience
- Get them to notice you
- Create value for them
- Sell something to them
- Keep them happy
- Measure your company’s reach within social media. It is always a good idea to look into how your company is rating based on the amount of followings and searches you have accumulated over a certain period of time. A great media tool to see your current social network ratings is www.crowdbooster.com
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Best advice Michael Brito shared with us:
- Create a main hub: make it easy for people to search out you or your brand within their comfort zone.
- Expand your company’s reach & search out prospects. There are many connections that can be made on a daily basis throughout these social hubs. Don’t be afraid to reach out!
- Always monitor your networking sites and keep customers & followers interested. Set aside 10 minutes in the morning and 5 minutes during lunch to check in and make sure you respond to discussions or comment on topics or news that pertains to you or your customers. Remember: It’s 80 % listening and reading what connections have to say and 20% commenting and posting.
- Keep personal Social Media content, relationships, and postings separate from your company and marketing content. LinkedIn is for business & professional connections, Facebook is for your friends, family, and personal content.
Social networking may have been conceived by a younger generation, but it has grown to become one of the most efficient marketing tools for large and small businesses alike. Here are some current facts about some of the more popular networking sites that businesses should know:
- Twitter alone has 175 Million users and growing. Small and large businesses have started marketing via tweets since it is free & a popular way to reach the masses.
- In the United States alone, 45 million videos are being watch on Youtube.com each month. Amazingly free & simple branding placement within videos could be a beneficial marketing tool for your brand and your company.
- LinkedIn now has over 120 million users. It has been reported by 92% of business that they’ve seen leads and recommendations resulting from a LinkedIn connection.
- 42% of businesses report that they acquired a customer from blogs or other social media.
Social networking is a vital tool that has substantially changed the ways in which consumers buy, sell, and communicate feedback. I suggest that anyone who questions the use or influence of social media and social networking for marketing and business growth find the time to attend a Social Crush event or a social media workshop. It’s worth it!
Allie Belk