Social Media Conference 2010

Andy Vander Meulen from Camp Firwood speaks with Drew Graham from http://www.varvid.com at the Social Media Conference NW 2010. He mostly communicates with his campers through their facebook fan page. He is limiting print advertising and moving things online and by promoting their facebook page. He learned to start using a plan to make his business more effective.

Camp Firwood: http://campfirwood.org/

Jonathan was impressed to learn just how important Video will be to leverage Social Media moving forward.  He also reiterates the importance of remembering the effect your web presence has on how new and existing customers perceive you- professional or not

iTelework: http://itelework.com/

Connie Shannon from Fairhaven Village Inn at Social Media Conference NW 2010 chats with Drew Graham from Varvid

Connie had the concept of having a plan and sticking to it “Don’t look at it as an experiment, have a strategy”. 

Shannon also had some candid comments about dealing with dissatisfied customers and the two-way personal connections that Social Media enable as opposed to traditional media/advertising and business practices.

Fairhaven Village Inn: www.fairhavenvillageinn.com

Hilary is the Managing Editor of a ‘traditional’ print media outlet, NWB Monthly.  Her organization is testing the waters as far as how to best leverage Social Media, as well as utilize their experience and resources for new and continued opportunities.

Northwest Business Monthly: www.nwbmonline.com

Scott shares the ‘ah-ha’ moment of “Everybody is a publisher” – all business people are running two businesses: their main business and the publishing of content for their business to Social Media.

Scott was speaking with Drew Graham of Varvid.com

Beast Nature: www.beastnature.com

Derek engaged us with an excellent nuts and bolts social media ‘how to’ discussion.  Nearly half of the audience owned their own businesses, and were eager to hear this Bellingham local social media veteran’s advice. He outlined and explained the most important things to focus on in your social marketing campaign:

1.  Talk with people, not at them.
- Connecting with your customers is a two way street.  You add value to the conversation, when you are not just blowing your own horn (which is typical for traditional mass marketing techniques: television, radio, printed publications)

2. Different Networks require different content.
- Each social stream is different and reaches a different audience.  Your messages should be written accordingly.  Embed photos and videos on sites such as Facebook, where it is an option, and write your Tweets, to reach your Twitter audience.

3. Don’t jump on the bandwagon.
- Don’t waste your time to post on every new social marketing channel. There are dozens of Facebook clones, but many of them will have little or no value to you.

4.  Include your social marketing links and tags everywhere.
- Your business cards, advertisements, email signature, and other business marketing materials should all include your Facebook page, your Twitter channel, your LinkedIn page, and other important points of contact.

5.  People do business with people.  Build a personal brand first.
- If you are planning a social marketing campaign for your small business, build your personal Facebook page first.  Include your interests, and hobbies, photos and so forth.  You’ll next build a Facebook for your brand (Your company’s page).  Clients who are thinking of doing business with you will find you.  People like to do business
with people.

6.  Don’t create many personal Facebook accounts to reach different groups of people.
- When someone searches, they will find more than one, and it can be confusing.

7. Your return on investment (ROI) is probably bigger than you think.
- Tools like Google Analytics will tell you a lot about where your web traffic is coming from.  But due to the very nature of ’social’ each blog post or tweet will also have a residual effect, which you can’t track.

8. Copying someone else’s successful formula is not bad.
- Find someone else in a similar line of business who is really doing it well.  Don’t feel bad about using some of the same techniques.  Chances are that other person did the same thing.

9. Don’t ask ‘How much time will I waste on this’
– Social marketing IS the new way of reaching your audience.  Your efforts will pay back.

10.  Your posts should ‘add value’ and be relevant to your customer’s
needs.
–  Don’t blog about just anything.  What do your potential clients needs?  Can you provide some valuable information.

Varvid’s Summary of the Social Media Conference 2008 from Aaron Booker on Vimeo.