Taming the Social Media Beast: 5 Easy Steps to Social Media Success

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Whether you are starting a tiny business from your basement or you're a brand manager for a major conglomerate, anyone responsible for getting the word out about a brand has a vague sense they should be using social media much, much better.

Thing is, social media is overwhelming. You could always be posting more, tweeting more, updating your Facebook status more. Then you get to thinking "Is anyone reading this stuff? Is this really making any sort of impact, or would my time be better spent on traditional marketing? Or maybe just having a margarita and catching up on The Good Wife?"

I am sad to say, from a professional marketing and branding perspective, an effective social media strategy is paramount for connecting with your audience, and thus, you'll need to pour out that margarita (it's 9 a.m., for heaven's sake) and get cracking. Good news is, it's easier than you think to devise a winning social media strategy. In fact, I've broken it down into 5 easy steps:

TOSS the elaborate plan. Many social media efforts fail before they get started because there's too much planning. Nail down what you want to accomplish, make sure it benefits your audience, then GO.

FOCUS your efforts where your audience is most engaged. This isn't an all-or-nothing endeavor. Pick one place to focus, whether it's a blog, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram or whatever and focus your efforts.

STICK to a schedule. Determine how much time you realistically have to spend on social media, put it on your calendar, and stick to it 100% of the time. Period.

CREATE an ideas file. There's that little "I had writer's block" problem solved.

HIRE it out. Maybe social media just isn't your thing. Pay someone to do it for you. Investing in marketing is always a good investment, and a smart social media campaign will build your business.

See? Easy.

(This post is a recap of an article from my newsletter. Read the full article "5 Easy Steps to Consistent Social Media Success" here. Sign up for the quarterly Amy Mac PR newsletter here.)

Photo Source: chicagonow.com via ROAR pro on Pinterest

On Being Bookish (Or, how you can use best seller lists as market research in moments of desperation)

First, I should warn you I plan to talk a lot about books and reading this month. In fact, I shall officially declare this Amy Mac Reading Month. Or maybe Amy Mac Book Month. Or maybe Amy Is Procrastinating By Trying To Name A Month After Herself Month. Anywho …

Effective marketing, in its simplest form, is understanding what your target audience wants and communicating how your product fills that need. If we could take a gander at the marketing research budgets for advertising big-spenders like Apple, Amazon, and The Coca-Cola Company, I assure you we’d begin imagining the wonderful things we could do with that massive sum of money (for example, retire to a secluded beach and focus on perfecting our ability to do nearly nothing all day. But I digress….)

Most small businesses and non-profits don’t have an enormous chunk of cash to throw at learning the intricate mental workings of a 30-something stay-at-home mom who decides which detergent to buy, how much to spend at Christmas, and which type of vehicle to purchase to keep her family safe on the road.

Analyzing The New York Times Bestseller lists can be a superior way to home in on general trends. For example, a quick peek at the bestsellers for 2009 tells me:

• We gravitate toward the inspirational (The Last Lecture)
• We’re always searching for the edge for success in business and life (Outliers)
• We’re examining and growing our faith (The Shack, Have a Little Faith)
• Based on the number of zombie and vampire-related books, we like to be spooked (Pride & Prejudice and Zombies)
• We enjoy revisiting our youth by sharing our kids’ books (Harry Potter, Twilight, Diary of a Wimpy Kid)

Pinpointing what an audience is reading and why tells you a lot about what motivates them to buy, and translating a book trend into a marketing opportunity is easier than you think. For example, if I owned a home design boutique, I would load up on inspirational quotes on wall hangings and throw pillows (the non-cheesy kind, of course), I’d lean heavily toward religious symbolism for the holiday season, and I might display a few items that provide a little retro-flashback to when my target audience was growing up.

But only after I’d cleared out all the scary vampire and zombie creatures from Halloween.

Check out what is flying off the shelves at your local bookstore and use what you learn to incorporate a few ideas into your marketing plan. You can thank me later for saving you $8 kazillion on marketing research.

Xo- Amy Mac

PS – Do you subscribe to the Amy Mac Blog? Please do so when I do my giveaways you’ll know when you win!

Going, Going, Gone

I’d like to meet the genius over at Mars, Inc., the company behind M & Ms, who came up with the idea to create holiday-themed colors on the scrumptious candies. Heart-shaped bowls of pink and red candies are an easy, inexpensive way to give a little love (so to speak) to a fun February day.

With St. Patrick’s Day, Easter, Spring Break and Memorial Day on the horizon, start thinking of ways to incorporate the holiday angle in your business. Do you have a product that would fit nicely into an Easter basket? Perhaps you have a new line of lush, colorful beach towels that would be perfect for the beach during Spring Break. If you’re a photographer who experiences a lull during March, run a “When Irish Eyes Are Smiling” special for families who book a session during the month of St. Paddy’s.

A holiday-themed marketing angle is a great way to boost sales. Hopefully yours has slightly more staying power than these M & Ms did at my house! XOXO – Amy Mac

You, Too.

I was in ninth grade when U2’s The Joshua Tree was released, and while they’d released a few albums before The Joshua Tree (and given a phenomenal performance for the Live Aid concert), this was the one that launched them into the stratosphere in the United States.

And here they are, not only still chugging along, but selling out huge arenas during every leg of their last concert tour. All over the world. I was lucky enough to see their last tour thanks to some kind friends with a corporate skybox at Phillips Arena and believe me, it was one amazing show (worth every penny I didn’t actually have to pay.) I’ll be happy to pay top-dollar for their upcoming tour to promote their new album No Line on the Horizon. Which begs the question –

How does U2 stay relevant after 30 years?

I have a couple of theories – and one of them is they use marketing to their utmost advantage. I think we could all take a page out of their book (or liner notes, so to speak):

If you’re launching a new product, be everywhere. Just last week, U2 played five nights in a row on the David Letterman Show, performed on Good Morning America, is playing a “secret” show in Boston March 11, and has been featured in countless magazines (Rolling Stone and People, to name a couple.) As of today, U2 is on track to have its seventh number one album on the Billboard 200 charts, and NLOTH debuted at number one on the London charts, where they launched a similar publicity blitz.

Be relevant – and attract new audiences. The Good Morning America appearance took place at Fordham University. I am sure a majority of the students at the concert weren’t even born when The Joshua Tree was released. U2’s live performance introduced a whole new audience (and age demographic) to their music, but they couldn’t have done that without making sure their music would connect with that age group. My guess is there’s not a kid at Fordham who hasn’t downloaded the album.

Get out of your comfort zone – U2 has been playing stadium-size concert venues for 20 years now, but even they still get a case of the nerves. Last week, Letterman had them read the Top 10 List for the evening, and a couple of the guys were visibly nervous. Interesting, isn’t it – play in front of 20,000 screaming fans? No problem. Read a list in front of a small studio audience? Not so much. They did a great job, and reinforced their reputation as genuinely nice guys.

Produce a great product, every single time – this is the key. If the band didn’t produce great music, they’d be on an episode of VH1’s One-Hit Wonders. Except for a couple of slips in the mid-to-late 90s, their albums are critic and fan favorites alike …. the music is great because U2 sets the bar high and exceeds expectations.

Ask yourself how you can borrow a few of these marketing ideas from one of the greatest bands in the world – and make your product or service stand out. You might not land on GMA or Dave, but even a small-time publicity blitz can pay big-time dividends.

Life, Style and Work

Have you ever seen a profile of someone in a magazine or on TV dishing details about what they do for a living and thought “I want that job!!”? After seeing a stay-at-home mom on the Oprah show talking about how she’d written most of the songs for Faith Hill’s album a few years back, I briefly thought I should be a country music song writer. Thankfully, that delusion quickly passed, and here I am writing this blog (and lots of other things!) instead.

When these fabulous folks are being interviewed, it always seems rather “pie in the sky” to me – in other words, instead of hearing specific steps a person should take to pursue a dreamy career, we’re told “it just fell into my lap” or left with the distinct impression they had connections that made their success happen.

This week, the Amy Mac blog is launching a new series – it’s called “Loving this Living,” and it profiles women who have jobs they love getting out of bed in the morning for– and isn’t that the whole point?

If you know someone who does something for a living that makes you say “I so wish that was my job!!” send me an email at amymacpr@comcast.net . Following are some guidelines for submission:

1. Ladies only, please. As my school-age children will assure you, “Girls Rule, Boys Drool.” With all due respect to the men in our lives, No Boys Allowed in the Amy Mac Loving this Living series.
2. Lots of women out there are doing amazing work at phenomenal jobs…and I’m happy for ‘em. But what we’re looking for are women who have translated their passion into a way to make a living – and have done it successfully while juggling a real life (ya know - kids, dogs, husband-with-hefty-travel-schedule, volunteer work, triathlon training – okay, that’s a stretch, but you get the point)
3. Must be willing to share tips for breaking into the professional field and balancing career and life – this is key! We don’t want to hear about your fabulous life unless you’re willing to share your secrets!

In the meantime, stay tuned for the first blog entry for Loving this Living – it’s a California dream if I’ve ever seen one! AND, even more fabulous – a giveaway is coming your way!

See you back here soon! Amy Mac

Color Me Surprised

In my most recent post, I rambled about how technology can be tricky for those of us who do not hold advanced degrees in computer science. One situation I briefly touched on was how my entire e-mail address book was briefly lost when Comcast transitioned to a new server.

Imagine my surprise when, less than 24 hours later, an e-mail arrived in my inbox from a woman named Melissa that works for Comcast in their Customer Connect division. She was just checking to make sure there was nothing they could do to ensure my ongoing happiness.

Huh?

I told my sister last night about the e-mail and her question was “how on earth did she find your blog?” I told her I figured Comcast had folks whose job was to monitor e-mail blogs and chat rooms to find people that were unhappy with their service and endeavor to clean up any messes.
Sure enough, Melissa e-mailed me back this morning and said: “Our team aims to find customers online and in social media web spaces who may need our help. In today’s technologically driven society, many people will blog about a problem before they call in.”

The people at Comcast sure are smart. Think about it, what’s the first thing you do if you have a sore throat, want to unclog your kitchen sink, or are wondering what is the number one album on the Billboard charts? You Google it, of course. So imagine what might happen if you Googled a business and there were lots of bloggers out there complaining. You’d likely decide against that cough medicine, that brand of drain unclogger (yes, it is unlikely that is a word, but go with it) or a badly reviewed album – no matter where it is on the charts.

My kudos to Comcast for managing their online presence. If you have an online business, consider setting up a Google Alert so you’ll know if someone is posting something about you. Good or bad, it’s better to know where you stand so you can make improvements while you grow your business.

And thanks, Melissa for the tip on my e-mail signature line. I’m going to try to get that fixed up tonight, right after I throw my Blackberry out the window (just kidding, Sprint.)

The Web in Sight

E-commerce is such a wonderful thing. I fully intend to have much of my Christmas list items delivered directly to my doorstep, thereby avoiding the cranky and unskilled Atlanta drivers in their last-minute rush to find must-have items for Christmas morning.

The world-wide web provides everyone with a viable avenue to sell their goods. Written a how-to book but can’t find a publisher? Sell it on the web. Hit upon the perfect design for an apron to sell to stylish, at-home gourmets? A web site can perfectly display your wares. A photographer looking to visually capture your audience? An online portfolio can be at the world’s fingertips in a matter of a few hours.

Which is probably why I am often asked the question:

“I know I need a web site, but where do I begin?”

Business web sites range from the very basic to the wildly flashy and entertaining. You can land somewhere in the middle without paying a bundle of money.

There are three critical factors to your web site: the writing, the design and what I like to call “making it click.” There are many folks out there that think they can handle the writing and designing part themselves, and just part with the money for the web site technician.

Please do not become a member of that delusional mass of write-and-design-it-yourselfers.
Unless you are a writer, pay someone with marketing communications writing experience to write your site. Not only will they make sure the words connect with your audience and influence them to buy whatever it is you are selling, they can also ensure the copy helps build awareness with the search engines so when a potential customers “Googles” your product, your web site will appear like magic - and suddenly they are just one click away from…..

Your beautifully designed site. That’s right, I highly recommend you fork over the cash to a qualified graphic designer to layout the site. It’s the difference between looking like an operation out of someone’s garage and being a business that knows its appearance affects consumer confidence. My point is your web site takes the place of a brochure, and if you have a professionally designed web site it makes an important difference.

The last one is a little easier. Either you know how to set up a site on the web or you do not. No imagining “hey, I can figure this out.” If you know how to set up a web site, fantastic – get busy. Otherwise, find a good web site tech to set it up for you at a reasonable price.

Now that I have that off my chest, if you are a do-it-yourself kind of person, Go Daddy has a “build it in a night” web site tool that seems to be pretty user-friendly and is definitely worth checking out. If you have a web site that will need frequent updating, ask your web site tech to set up the site in Dreamweaver and purchase the Contribute companion software. Contribute is user friendly, even for the most technologically challenged, and will allow the administrator (you) to make changes to your site and publish them directly to the web.

My parting, pre-Thanksgiving word of advice is in the world of small business, it is critical to know where to invest your money. A well-written, well-designed web site is a sound investment … it’s your calling card to the world.

I'm Amy Mac, and I Approved This Message

Just when you thought people clamoring for your vote had come to an end, I am here to say …. not so much.

As you might have noticed at the top right section of my blog, the Amy Mac blog has been nominated for the Best Blog Ever. How exciting! How exhilarating! How annoying for those of you who tried to vote then gave up in a fit of frustration because of technical difficulties!

I promptly emailed the folks at the Bloggers Choice Awards and informed them my faithful followers were having trouble voting for a variety of reasons, including not letting you sign up for an account, and then not letting you vote once you did get signed up.

Here’s the direct response:

Without knowing what accounts they are trying to access, I really can’t tell you much. Please have them contact us with the email they originally used to sign up to the Blogger’s Choice Awards so we can further research – Karen Allen, director of Customer Love.

You can email Karen at Karen@bloggerschoiceawards.com if you are having trouble and I know she’ll solve the problem. And no, I did not make up her title to be funny, that really is her title.

One of my successful voters said she had to sign up for the account then log back in before she could vote, so try that trick, too.

So, please don’t give up! The current first-place blog has only 47 votes, and I know we can do way better than that. We’re smart, we’re tech savvy, and we are determined! No one can stop us now! (Are you humming “I Will Survive” in your head?)

So follow this link, and we’ll share a bottle of virtual champagne if we win!

A Gap in (Advertising) Time

A few weeks back I read an article about the Gap eliminating its television advertising for the remaining months of 2008, and their plan to shift to “traditional and non-traditional” marketing tactics.

I will miss the Gap ads this holiday season. Remember the ones from a few years back where the models danced choreographed dances to festive holiday music? I loved those, and bought a few sweaters and pairs of mittens because of those catchy commercials.

So why the sudden turn from traditional advertising? The answer is simple: it is expensive to run television advertising consistently enough to reach your target audience effectively. Really, really expensive when you factor in paying an advertising agency to concept the commercial, make the commercial (and all that entails, from paying the models, stylists and photographers to scouting and paying for locations), to paying for the “spot” – the actual advertising air to run the ad during The Oprah Winfrey Show, Good Morning America and Grey’s Anatomy -- and any other show the Gap’s research reports its target market is watching.

So exactly what does “traditional and non-traditional” marketing tactics mean? Most likely they will be launching a full-scale publicity campaign, complete with publicity events with high-profile celebrities, giveaways -- and I’m keeping my eyes peeled towards the Oprah’s Favorite Things show. Whether or not they actual land one of those coveted spots remains to be seen, but they’re good marketers over at the Gap. And the smart marketers are pitching (and have been since July) their little hearts out to Ms. Winfrey’s producers.

While I’ll miss those fun commercials, I’m glad for the reminder for all of us small business owners. What reminder? That a giant advertising campaign isn’t necessary to launch an effective marketing campaign. And while smaller businesses are unlikely to hook a big-name celebrity to promote our products in the press, a few news releases can go a really long way toward building your brand in your community.

Let’s all stay tuned on who has the best holiday commercials this holiday season (my money is on Target. You?)

Happy Holiday Marketing!