Last Friday, a conference room of 45 women within the Courtyard by Marriot was a buzz with questions like, “what exactly is a hashtag?” “why should I care about Twitter” and “what makes a great Facebook post?”
Presenters, Lisa Pisano, Social Media Consultant and Creator & Editorial Director of mom a la mode and Pam Kirkbride, Social Media Consultant and President and Founder of Triple Threat Media, LLC were used to these questions, in their work with helping their small business clients find their Social Media North Star. Their interactive presentation provided helpful tricks and tips to assist attendees in understanding the value of social media, the importance of good content and striking the balance between the personal and the professional in terms of a social media presence. Below are some highlights:
In the spirit of social media, Lisa and Pam encouraged live tweeting during their presentation, with members using hashtag #BCPWGSocial to tag their tweets so that attendees could get the hang of being part of a searchable Twitter conversation.
As a recap of the Facebook part of the presentation, Lisa suggested the following tips regarding what makes great content for Facebook posts:
- Be relevant. Add value. Be entertaining.
- Posting for the sake of posting can backfire – be aware of content timing and tone.
- Understand the Edgerank algorithm
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- More than 70% of interactions occur during the first hour of a post which is why it’s critical to have as many LIKES, comments, shares and overall engagement within that “power hour” to ensure the content reaches as many users as possible.
- Look into incorporating Facebook ads, sponsored stories and promoted posts into your business’ social media program. They are cheap and highly effective marketing methods.
- Most importantly: a strong fan base is the most critical thing you can have. The more fans you have, the more likely your content will be seen by more users.
Luncheon attendees were all a flutter when it came to Pam’s discussion on Twitter. Pam did a great job of demystifying the “hashtag” and providing helpful tips for using Twitter for business:
- Before you jump in to Twitter, read what is out there that is relevant to you. Find your voice.
- Decide on a short-ish handle (name) that represents you and your business. (tweets are 140 characters including spaces, including your name)
- Don’t follow everyone who follows you back.
- Read the tweets; see what other people are saying. Search and follow relevant hashtags!
- Reply back, RT if you agree or disagree. Make yourself known!
- Don’t use more than 2-3 relevant hashtags in a tweet
- Leave room for people to retweet you (RT), or to add a reply. So, make your tweets 120 characters long
- Do a mixture of 5-10 tweets per day:
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- Original
- Retweets (RT)
- Replies
- Be wary of spammers (don’t click on links you can’t trust the source!)
- Use Twitter as a 2-way communication; customer service
- Tweet photos and videos. 76% of shared tweets had content attached to it (Mashable)
- Tweets sent between 2-5pm PST 5-8pm EST generated a lot of response.
- Twitter Parties, Sponsored Tweets and other paid promotions can be cheap and effective ways to secure more followers or promote a marketing message.
LinkedIn was also a hot topic and we touched on many salient points from this Forbes.com story that was published in 2011. Key takeaways from this portion of the presentation included:
- Online resumes/portfolios are the wave of the future – which is why it’s so important to have a fully built-out LinkedIn Profile
- Let your strengths and passion show thru the way you describe yourself and your work in your profile
- Have a few solid Recommendationsundefinedthese can be used in place of “referrals” for potential clients or employers
- Boost SEO (Search Engine Optimization) by:
- Headshot
- Links to websites, blogs, portfolios
- Keywords in Job Position title, Skills and Specialties
- Read the Updates from your Networks for job leads, networking and industry news
Pam and Lisa ended their presentation with the following general Social Media Hot Tips:
- Social media is an extension of your Marketing Program – spokes in the wheel.
- Be consistent with your name/handle (ex: @momalamode on all platforms)
- Think about bandwidth and what you can manage. Are you a sole proprietor? Are you a large financial services company? You may not immediately need to have several social media platforms.
- Clothing/Food/Lifestyle: visually-driven: having a Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram presence is important
- Pick 1 or 2 social media platforms (i.e. Twitter or Pinterest or Facebook) and be really consistent and strong, and then think of branching out.
- Be aware of helpful tools like HootSuite to pre-schedule or linking social media accounts for auto-uploads BUT
- Be wary of pre-scheduling tweets/posts: we live in a Sandy/Newtown/Boston Marathon world
- Be reactive to how your customers want to communicate with you
- Not necessarily: “build and they will come” – a big part of driving engagement and traffic is you being actively talking to others
Lisa and Pam are available to provide consulting services to both small businesses and individuals, with their range of professional services that include:
- Brand Strategy, PR and Marketing
- Social Media Community Management
- Influencer Outreach
- Social Media Advertising
- Event Planning and Execution
- Brand Ambassadors
- Content Creation
- One-on-One Social Media How-To Sessions
Please visit their websites for more information: http://momalamode.net and http://triplethreatmediallc.com
Feeling like you have a newfound handle on social media? Follow and LIKE Lisa and Pam on Facebook and Twitter:
Mom a la mode on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/momalamode
Mom a la mode on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/momalamode
TripleThreatMommy on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TripleThreatMommy
TripleThreatMommy on Twitter: https://twitter.com/triplethreatmom
