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2 2 As a small business, you know that being active on social media presents enormous opportunities to grow and get customers. The problem? Time. When you re responsible for everything from handling employee benefits to purchasing office supplies, finding and posting interesting content to social networks like Facebook and Twitter is probably one of the last things on your mind. The good news: There are several ways to maintain a social media presence without spending a whole ton of time. Here are five tips that will help 67% of small businesses are holding back on social media because they don t know where to begin 50% of small businesses say there are too many social media sites to manage 88% of small businesses said they believe social media does or will impact their business you streamline your efforts and get your social media presence going and growing. Source: Small Business Stuck in Neutral on Social Media by Social Strategy1

3 3 1Answer these simple questions If you don t know what you want to accomplish, it s easy to get overwhelmed and feel scattered. So let s look at the elements of a good social media marketing strategy. Thankfully, it doesn t involve rocket science. Let s get started: Who am I talking to? This one should be easy. Just think of the customers you have and what you already know about them. What social media networks do they use? What are they talking about? Are there new customer segments you want to starting reaching? who? Who am I talking to? wine club members retail customers tasting room visitors focus on Facebook This example shows how a winery might answer these questions and form a strategy.

4 4 What do I want to say to them? Think about the content you have and/or can create and share. It can be blog posts, polls, questions, press releases, case studies, white papers, customer testimonials, photos, etc. Then ask, what kind of stuff would your customers want to hear and see from you? What are their needs? What are their pain points? How does your business solve their problems? what? What do I want to say to them? discounts recipes press mentions special events food and wine pairings photos

5 5 How much time and money can I put toward social media? What kind of time, money and manpower commitment can you make? Be realistic. Is it 30 minutes a day? A week? Who will be in charge of creating/posting content? Who will be in charge of addressing questions and comments? Can you hire help for certain specialized tasks, like writing or producing videos? What is your budget? how? How much time and money can I put toward social media? Tasks for the tasting room manager: 1 hour/month posting 1 hour/month responding 1 hour/month friending/following + 1 hour/month analyzing 4 hrs/month of time Budget: $25/month

6 6 How do I know if social media is working? Define what social media success looks like to you. Is it more traffic to your website? More blog subscribers? An increase in leads? Growth to your list? Or is it engagement with your fans and followers? Pick just a few so you can really focus your efforts. how? What do I want to say to them? 10% increase in Facebook likes month over month Get over a 1% in virality for each post on Facebook Get 10 people using coupons through Facebook/month Write down the answers you have for these questions, and you should start seeing your plan take shape. Now it s just a matter of committing to it!

7 2 Sign up for an easy-to-use social media management tool Logging in and out of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. multiple times a day whether to post something or check engagement is a huge time sink. Take advantage of an all-in-one tool that lets you update, monitor and maintain multiple social media platforms at once there are several options out there, like VerticalResponse Social. One log-in to all your social networking sites also simplifies the process of posting updates and content on the fly, not to mention the ability to organize and schedule all your posts and tweets from one place, in advance. 7 Bonus: It will be easier to make sense of all the stats and metrics when it s all rolled into one tool. Another bonus: You can also use these tools to communicate BACK with your customers if they comment or reply. Another huge time-saver.

8 3 Use the content you already have You might not think you have any content, but you do! Everything from photos to press to discounts to questions are all considered content. Have a quick brainstorm and make a list of content you can share and tout on social media that will resonate with your current and future customers. Think of things that you know are coming up, like seasonal events and press releases, as well as go-to content ideas for those slower periods when nothing really special is happening at your business. Bonus: Download this handy-dandy template to help you organize your content. 8 What types of content do customers like? 44% Pictures 40% Status Updates 37% Videos 36% Jokes, Memes, Cartoons 35% Links to Articles Source: 2012 Life on Demand Study by Performics based on a survey of 2,000 respondents

9 9 4 Make a content calendar You ll want to leave room for spur-of-the-moment posts, of course, but having a plan will keep you organized and focused on the big picture. Create your editorial calendar with a simple Excel spreadsheet or an online tool such as Google Calendar. Start off with scheduling each piece of content that you already have (which you got from the brainstorming activity in tip No. 3). Fill in some of the holes from the bucket of go-to content (also from tip No. 3). Don t forget to designate who will be in charge of writing and/or posting them. Here s what a content calendar might look like for our winery example.

10 10 5 Analyze, adapt & improve After you ve committed to being active on social media for a few months, you ll start to see what gets people talking and what doesn t. Facebook Insights is a free, easy-to-use tool within Facebook that lets you see which posts are popular and who likes them. If your goal is Web or blog traffic, use Google Analytics to see if you re getting more eyeballs referred by social media. If you re using a social media management tool (tip No. 2), see if there are any trends in the tool s reporting. If you are not getting the level of engagement you expected, try changing up some of your content, and even try testing the time of day and frequency of your posts. There will be some trial and error involved, but don t worry about perfection. Just be natural and focus on your objectives. With Google Analytics, you can see how many people visit your website every day over a period of time. See the breakdown of where your visitors are coming from, e.g., from organic search results, by typing your URL in their browser, via , etc.