Last week I had the privilege of speaking on the Power of Social Media (“To Tweet or not to Tweet – that is the question!”) at the London "Women in the Workplace" conference.
After some blood, sweat and tears (well almost!), I managed to compress 200 social media slides from my digital marketing training module and strategy into a 45 minute session for an audience of women who are starting or thinking of starting their own business and know little about social media.
I opted to give the attendees a crash course in social media, since I knew that merely talking about it was just not going to be enough to empower them to walk away with a clear understanding of how it can help them and their businesses, and how to go about it.
I introduced my step-by-step social media strategy outlining the following:
1. LISTEN and monitor social media for information about your industry, competitors and trends as well as feedback on your product, website and brand (both positive and negative).
2. FIND your customers or potential customers.
3. JOIN the conversation. Be authentic and don’t interrupt.
4. START your own conversations and build your own community. Ensure your website is social including sharing and commenting mechanisms.
5. ACTIVATE your brand advocates to be your extended sales force.
6. EXPERIMENT, learn and evolve using free or paid tools.
After my sessions and throughout the day, I fielded a range of questions as well as the most profound level of appreciation I have ever experienced from the attendees. I realised that social media knowledge for many is like finding water in a very dry desert. Twitter is everywhere but so many people don’t even understand the meaning of the hashtag.
Moving forward I will be add a bunch of Social Media educational posts to the JaffeBLEND blog. If you know it all already, then please add your comments, experience and insights. If you don’t, then drink from the well and may you never be thirsty again.
If you want to learn more about the conference, need help with your social media strategy or need a presentation on social media, then feel free to contact me ([email protected]).
Go forward. Go social.
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