It was so nice, they asked us to do it twice! The Amoskeag Business Incubator (ABI) is turning their “Ask the Expert” series into a summer of social media success, and we’re honored to once again have the opportunity to spread the social marketing gospel in a targeted, powerful, practical way. We hope it’s inspirational, too, but hey, people really need to hear about RESULTS these days…
…so the focus of the August article is “10 Ways NH Businesses Are Using Social Media Successfully and Strategically.” (The ideas apply just as well outside of NH, too!) The July article, “Social Media 101: Breaking It Down for the Busy NH Professional,” focused on getting past the hype surrounding social media, explaining why it’s crucial for businesses to start embracing it, debunking myths about what you can and can’t do on social media platforms, showing what results are possible, and drawing the parallels between social marketing strategy and traditional marketing strategy.
The new article deepens the conversation. Businesses are using social media platforms in ways the creators of these platforms never anticipated. Twitter started as the means to share mundane yet relationship-building personal details between friends. Facebook started as a way for college kids to connect and share online. Most, if not all, social media tools started by being adopted for personal use, then evolved as professionals began to see their business-boosting value and potential. So the new article expands on the idea of “what’s possible” with social media.
The article has been published on the ABI’s site, in the Union Leader, NH’s largest newspaper, and we’re sharing it here with you as well!
10 Ways NH Businesses Are Using Social Media Successfully and Strategically
“So what’s changed in the world of social media since we last met?”
That’s the question John Herman poses to his Epping High School Media Literacy class every time they meet. It’s also the question he posed to more than 75 attendees at July’s NH Social Media Breakfast – where “social media experts and newbies alike come together to eat, meet, share, and learn” at venues across the state.
Herman says there’s no shortage of answers – even on a daily basis. That’s how fast the world of social media changes. Creators and founders of social media platforms get caught off-guard by the changes, too, including the variety of ways these tools are put to use in the business world.
Does the social media realm really deserve this kind of intense scrutiny for those of us living and working in the Granite State?
You be the judge.
What follows are 10 examples of how New Hampshire businesses and organizations of varying shapes, sizes, and industries use social media platforms to advance their objectives. While new national and international examples are cited in Herman’s class (as well as everywhere you turn in mainstream traditional and online media), fellow business owners and passionate professionals are experimenting and succeeding right in our own backyard, and results are rolling in.
Here’s the scoop:
1. Improve SEO. PaladinID in Laconia creates custom bar-coding and product identification solutions. Owner Dana Ritchie says that after just eight months of blogging, his website comes up on the first page of Google search results for his industry keywords – and often within the top 2-3 spots.
2. Extend reach. Artist Stacey Lucas of VeggieArtGirl.com opened up a new boutique in Holderness last month. She’s active on social networks, and recently told us this story: “Someone from Florida found me on Twitter, saw my shop posting, was on vacation in NH, stopped into my little ol’ boutique, and bought three of my custom signs. Ding! Crazy Twitter success!” Meanwhile, Facebook and Lucas’ blog are helping promote workshops and events, and showcasing her work as well as her unique “swirly” personal brand and creative flair.
3. Recruit talent. Bedford-based Jittergram has used social media to find talented people to grow its mobile marketing business. Brookline’s Frank Mulcahy, currently the New England Regional Sales Manager for Microsoft Advertising, was recruited by the Facebook team through his LinkedIn profile back in 2005. Epping High School’s Herman teaches his students that what they include in their social networking profiles can open or close doors of opportunity for them as they prepare for college and the working world. The point: Who you are and how you present yourself online has become part and parcel of the employee screening process.
4. Expand networks. Leslie Sturgeon, founder of Women Inspiring Women (WIW) and the SBA’s 2009 Women in Business Champion for NH, looks at social media very strategically. Not only is she using it to build her membership, event attendance, and revenue (WIW has grown to three chapters in 2009, each with monthly paid events), she’s also expanding her mission, and vision – “bringing cool chicks together for empowerment, education, self-improvement, development and a whole lot of fun” – globally through Facebook and Twitter. What’s more, Sturgeon is now using her ever-evolving professional and social networking skills to help the Newfound Region Chamber of Commerce build their membership and might.
5. Leverage resources. Like many companies, agencies, and organizations the world over, NH’s Division of Economic Development had been posting a wealth of information in a newsroom on their website. Unfortunately, the massive amount of content wasn’t getting indexed by search engines. Yikes! In addition, a good chunk of time was lost emailing this same information separately out to economic development practitioners, key business leaders, media, and more. By adding a blog to their site, their updates are now search-engine friendly, enhancing their Content Kingdom, automatically emailed to their constituents, and posted into their newly created presences on Facebook and Twitter. Eliminate redundancy, save resources, invite connections, spark conversations, and improve results? You bet.
6. Increase sales. We can speak to this one from personal experience. There are a few ways to increase sales, including: 1) Get new clients; 2) Sell more to existing clients; and 3) Increase the average price of your transactions. Thanks to social media, we’ve done all three this year – and we were able to double our hourly consulting rate and land five new and high-profile speaking engagements in five months to boot.
7. Build word-of-mouth. Squam Lakes Science Center in Holderness started their Facebook Fan Page in early May 2009. Two months later, more than 400 people have become Fans. One of the often-ignored secrets of successfully building a social media following is to promote your presence with your other marketing touches. The Science Center promoted their Facebook Fan page inside their print and email newsletters, and are now giving their most online-savvy constituents the tools and forums to be living testimonials and voluntary viral marketing folks for them.
8. Inform communities. PSNH was no stranger to social media, with content on both YouTube and Flickr. But when they used Twitter for emergency communication during the December 2008 ice storm, their social media profile skyrocketed. Nearly 2,000 people started following PSNH, and – more importantly – the following didn’t drop off after the storm had passed. Now, PSNH is using their social outlets to talk about everything from wind farms to osprey hatchings, adding a new dimension to their brand and values.
9. Ride waves. Who could have ever guessed an Amazon product review, with tongue planted firmly in cheek, could spawn a cult phenomenon? Yet that’s exactly what happened with Three Wolf Moon, a T-shirt made and sold by Keene’s The Mountain. One reviewer claimed the shirt had magical powers “with the ladies,” and others followed suit in increasingly silly ways. These antics drove the T-shirt to the top of Amazon’s apparel store and social bookmarking site Digg. The folks at The Mountain then rode the wave by concocting an equally absurd creation myth. Monks dyed the shirts, eagles dipped them in the Atlantic Ocean, and “Pegacorns (Unicorn-Pegasus Hybrids)” delivered them. The upshot? Sales at the rate of more than 100 per hour, according to a May 27<SUP>th</SUP> report from ABC News.
10. Spread inspiration. During the 2008 Democratic Primary, Manchester makeup artist Kriss Soterion made Hillary Clinton look so good, rumors started spreading about whether Clinton had undergone cosmetic surgery. Nope! The founder of Kriss Cosmetics, Soterion has used this opportunity to build a following on Facebook, blog for Yahoo!, and parlay her appearances on Inside Edition and Access Hollywood to turn makeup lessons into inspirational events and become a motivational speaker.
That’s your ten ways right there, but we can’t resist adding a bonus 11th. Because social networking is such a hot topic, the media is always on the lookout for interesting stories to share with their audience. This article, apart from being an educational resource for readers, is also a bona fide media opportunity.
And because the ten businesses and organizations highlighted above have been active on social media platforms – at all points on the learning curve – they put themselves in a position to receive greater exposure because of their efforts.
So that’s the bonus 11th way NH businesses are using social media – to boost visibility. Sometimes, all you have to do to get added media attention and PR is to be in the game in the first place.
So tell us…
Has anything changed in YOUR world of social media since you started reading this article?
If any of the above examples blow your mind, inspire action, or change your thinking about how fast you’re going to adopt your own social media strategies and launch your own online empires, please chime in with a comment on this blog post!
