Social Media for Local and Regional Business: A Primer

A.      Your customers are already on line.

B.      They are google searching for goods and services.

C.      They are either engaged in social media themselves or…

D.      They are talking to people who are getting information through social media.

E.       Putting up your company web presence is easy.

F.       Putting up a company web presence is necessary.

G.     Putting up a company web presence is NOT sufficient.

H.      You have to drive traffic to your business’s web page.

I.        You have to increase the visibility of your web presence in a google search.

J.        Having backlinks to your web page or landing page promotes the value that search engines place on your website or landing page

K.      One objective of social media marketing is to build authentic backlinks.

L.       Another objective of social media marketing is to build keyword association with your webpage.

M.    You want your webpage or landing page to be on the top third of the front page of a relevant google search.

N.     Social media engagement also builds brand awareness

O.     Social media engagement is more than transmitting brand values. It is dynamic.

P.      It allows for a give and take of information, a conversation.

Q.     Social media is a way to interact with your customer to get their input.

R.      That input is valuable in shaping the way you deliver your goods and/or services.

S.       Engaging with your customers, giving them a voice in your business builds trust.

T.       Building the trust of clients or customers makes them advocates of your brand.

U.     Having authentic brand advocates increases the offline word of mouth of your goods and/or services.

V.      Having people talk up your business is called buzz.

W.    How do you attract your social media audience?

X.      How do you convert that audience into a return on investment of money and time?

Y.       How do you decide what social media channels to use?

Z.       How do you analyze all the data to see if you are on the right track?

The author, Philip Stephano, is a social media marketing strategist in Bucks County,  PA.  He is passionate about helping local and regional business around the country to use social media as an effective tool to find local prospects and customers. To learn more about Stephano go to http://about.me/philipstephano

What Local Businesses Can't You Do Without in Bucks County, PA

 What makes Bucks County such an amazing place to live?  The natural beauty, the varied activities and the people are only some of the reasons that we love to live here.  I am grateful for so many amazing businesses and organizations  that have made Bucks County such a culturally rich place to live.  The economy is tough on business right now.  We want to put the spotlight on those businesses that mean a lot to us.  Maybe we can even go out of our way to support them during tough times.

Here are three businesses that I could not do without (Bucks County ONLY! No cheating.): 1) Crossroads Bakery in Doylestown, PA, for killer breads and emergency birthday cakes 2) Auto Express in Doylestown for a quick oil change and wireless internet, coffee, and big screen TV while waiting, 3) Nonesuch Farms in Buckingham for heirloom tomato seedlings, whatever produce I need.  Of course there are MANY more businesses.  What are your top three?

The author, Philip Stephano, is a social media marketing strategist in Bucks County,  PA and founder of PrimalTweet.  He is passionate about helping local and regional business around the country to use social media as an effective tool to find local prospects and customers. To learn more about Stephano go to http://about.me/philipstephano

Ramps (wild leeks) and Bucks County

I first heard about ramps, or wild leeks, from an old coal miner friend of mine from West Virginia named Arnett.   Arnett lived near my former office in Quakertown.   Some years ago, in early Spring, he walked into my office with a big grin and two bags of smelly plants.   In his inimitable thick drawl he asked me, “do you know what these are, Philip?  These are ramps!”  I asked him what he did with them.  “Well, we cook ‘em with potatoes in bacon fat and have big ramp feeds!”  “Where did you get them,” I asked politely.  “Back by the railroad tracks.  The woods is thick with ‘em.”  He held out a bag for me to take. “You know in West Virginia we eat ramps as a ‘spring tonic’.”  Ok, I thought. 

There are a few times in my adult life when Bucks County locals have handed me a local delicacy like a freshly killed Canada goose or what purported to be a chanterelle mushroom.   I used to feel slightly conflicted about eating something that doesn’t come from a grocery store.  This is a hang up from growing up in the 70s when vegetables were something that came frozen in a bag and corned beef in a can counted as meat.

I thought my friend Arnett was some kinda whacked out Southern fried Euell Gibbons. I took the bag of ramps home with me and my car smelled like an Italian locker room.  I have to say, my expectations about how they might taste was pretty low at that point. 

                I cooked up some sweet potatoes and added in some cleaned and chopped ramps and cooked them up.  OH MY GOODNESS!  What a revelation!  The ramps were sweet and flavorful.  I was also pleasantly surprised that they DID have a tonic effect.  I didn’t even know what that meant, but the ramps just give you energy and clean out the winter blues.  That is some tasty tonic.

                Every Spring, when the last snowfall has not quite melted, I go to my secret spots around Bucks County and gather ramps.  I invite my friends over for a ramp feed.   Try ramps sometime. They go well with goose and chanterelles too!

Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics: Social Media and Small Biz

These are just a few examples of how business has social media wrong:

1) “It’s free”.  An effective social media initiative is definitely NOT free. Building an audience and keeping that audience engaged is time consuming.  Time is money.  Acquiring the knowledge to choose, much less run, multiple social media channels is also time consuming. See above.  Branding, research, and content generation….you get the point. Not free.

2)“Posting is like putting up a classified ad”.  Social media is not a static medium. It should be dynamic and interactive.   If it is done right you should actually be engaging in conversations and helping OTHERS to get their message out.  There is a reason why we have TIVO, caller ID, spam filters, and a remote control for the TV:  we don’t want to be marketed to anymore. Period.  Be useful, entertaining, or informative or get out o’ the road.

3)Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics.  The number of “followers” or “friends” you have in your social media channels is NOT an indicator of how effective your business is in this space.  You can buy followers and friends or acquire them without establishing any value for your brand or your company.  The best indicator of an effective social media presence is how much people trust and value your presence.  This is measured by whether they share your content, engage you in conversations, or otherwise become brand advocates.  Again, this is a matter of trust.  You can be fun, funny, quirky, serious, but you better be relevant.

4)“OK, I’ll hire a PR firm to do my Social Media Management”.  While a PR Firm can be helpful in setting up your social media platforms, running special promotions, or generating content, they do not have the granular knowledge of your company’s values and your customers’ sensibilities.  If you ARE going to hire an outside social media manager it is essential that they are in constant contact with key people in your company to help shape the messaging and to speak in a voice that captures the personality and values of your firm.  In fact it is a good idea to have key employees participate in social media efforts; but ONLY if you have a social media policy completely thought out.  Be relevant, entertaining, informative and disciplined or don’t be in social media.

5)“There is no Return on Investment in Social Media Marketing”.  The 2011 Social Media Marketing Report by Social Media Examiner indicates that 93% of marketers are employing social media.  88% of all marketers indicated that their social media efforts have generated more exposure for their businesses.  Nearly two-thirds of marketers indicated a rise in search engine rankings was a benefit of social media marketing.  More than half of marketers found that social media generated qualified leads.  72% of marketers who have been using social media FOR MORE THAN 3 years report that it has helped them close business.  If used correctly, consistently, and within a well thought out plan, social media is an opportunity to build trust and relevancy with your customers, suppliers, potential partners, and even potential employees.  Trust equals conversion. Conversion equals ROI!

Remember without a plan, “social media” is just a buzzword. Plan your work and work your plan. 

The author, Philip Stephano, is a social media marketing strategist in Bucks County,  PA and founder of PrimalTweet.  He is passionate about helping local and regional business around the country to use social media as an effective tool to find local prospects and customers. To learn more about Stephano go to http://about.me/philipstephano

Social Media Marketing for Small Businesses: Cat Juggling

    Running a small business is especially challenging these days.  Under the best of circumstances being an entrepreneur requires courage, optimism, creativity, balance and determination.  Playing all the usual roles of chief negotiator, brand manager, human resources director, psychologist, financial officer and salesman is like juggling cats.  Add to this the shaky economy, and it is like cat juggling while standing on a teeter board.  And now, just when you think you have everything “under control” you get tossed a flaming cat called “social media marketing”.

    Don’t panic.  We are going to talk this through in steps.   Fortunately you are entrepreneurs and your natural reaction is that there has to be an opportunity in this crisis.

     For those of you who may still be more skeptical than optimistic, let’s look at the example of the music industry.   The record business used to have large barriers to entry.   The recording equipment was expensive and an artist had to have physical distribution to get into record stores.  Finding an audience required radio, paid promotions, buy-ins at stores.  It took big money.

     Today an artist can make a record with a decent microphone, a computer, and some relatively inexpensive software.  Significant distribution can be accomplished with very little, if any, physical product using services such as itunes and tunecore.  Artists are finding their own audiences through social media.  As a result of this phenomenon there are many fewer middlemen between an artist and his or her audience.  In fact, the music business as we knew it is gone or soon will be.  And yet there is more new music available now than ever.

    How does this apply to small businesses?   We also used to face large barriers of entry into the marketplace but technology has begun to level the playing field for us.  Super efficient shipping companies allow small businesses cost effective distribution to customers.   Affordable software systems allow for rapid and precise bookkeeping and financial modeling. We can save money on travel by video conferencing with business associates and by using virtual offices.  Most importantly, we can effectively engage our customers in conversations without the costs associated with traditional advertising and marketing. Like the music business we can bypass entire industries that used to stand between us and our customers.        

   The opportunity to engage with consumers and customers, to get the feedback necessary to shape products and services, to create brand advocates, and to increase sales is definitely worth investigating. In the next few blogs we will discuss some facts and myths that should be of interest to the small business manager.  We will also focus on the question of how to make your brand stand out in the crowd.   I encourage you to join this discussion by posting your questions or comments.

The author, Philip Stephano, is a social media marketing strategist in Bucks County,  PA and founder of PrimalTweet.  He is passionate about helping local and regional business around the country to use social media as an effective tool to find local prospects and customers. To learn more about Stephano go to http://about.me/philipstephano

How Virtuous is Your Firm? A Checklist

1. How serious have you been about hiring the disabled?

2. Have you encouraged diversity in the workplace? Are you serious

about supplier diversity?

3. Are you a learning organization?  Do you empower employees?

Are you treating your employees well?

4.  Does top management believe in the importance of integrity

and honesty?  Have conflicts of interest in the organization been

eliminated?

5.  Are leaders seen as servant leaders?  What is the ratio of CEO pay

relative to the pay of the average worker in your organization?

6. Have you helped the local community in which you conduct

business?  Are you helping public schools by partnering with them

and/or providing internships for students?

7. Is customer satisfaction important to your firm?  Do you have a

procedure for dealing with client complaints? Do you apologize when

you make a mistake?

8.  Have you been showing concern for the environment?

9. Are you engaging in corporate philanthropy? Have you made the

world a better place?

10. Does your mission statement discuss values?

Reprinted with permission from H. Friedman http://ejbo.jyu.fi/pdf/ejbo_vol14_no1_pages_14-20.pdf

The curator of this article, Philip Stephano, is a social media marketing strategist in Bucks County,  PA.  He is passionate about helping local and regional business around the country to use social media as an effective tool to find local prospects and customers. To learn more about Stephano go to http://about.me/philipstephano