Presentation given by Brian Swanson to the AICPA on leveraging social media to develop your company's brand in 2012 - Flashpoint Marketing - Accounting Marketing.
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Leveraging Social Media to Develop Your Company
1. Leveraging Social Media to
Develop Your Company‟s Brand
Brought to you by the AICPA Young CPA Network
April 25, 2012
2. Brian Swanson, MBA
14 Years in Accounting Marketing
MBA in Finance & Accounting
Marketing Experience at Big 4 &
Regional CPA Firms
SEMPO Certified - Search Engine
Marketing
SEMPO Certified in Advanced Search
Engine Optimization
Digital Media Committee – AAM
Association of Accounting Marketing
2
3. Agenda
Social Media & Branding
Taking Your Brand Digital
Developing a Social Media Plan
Major Social Media Platforms
Measuring Engagement
Putting It Together
Questions
3
4. Taking Your Brand Digital
What Is Social Media Marketing?
Attracting Interest
Engaging Stakeholders
Sharing Traffic
Generating Content
Building Relationships
It‟s the New „Word of Mouth‟ Marketing
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5. Social Media & Branding - Benefits
How Social Media Can Help You!
Build Meaningful Relationships
Brand Awareness
Client Loyalty
Builds Brand Trust
Reputation Management
Increases Search Visibility
Free to Participate!
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6. Social Media & Branding – The Facts
Why is Social Media Important?
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Source: http://aytm.com/blog/research-junction/branding-and-how-it-works-in-the-social-media-age/
Information also obtained from Nielsen Ratings
7. Social Media & Branding – The Facts
7
Source: http://aytm.com/blog/research-junction/branding-and-how-it-works-in-the-social-media-age/
Information also obtained from Nielsen Ratings
9. Developing A Social Media Plan
Key Components Include:
Goals – What Do You Want to Accomplish?
Engagement – Content Strategy
Time – When & How Often will You Be Online?
Assignment – Who will Execute the Plan?
Conversation – How will You Encourage & Manage
Conversation?
Interest – How Many People are Being Engaged?
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10. Developing A Social Media Plan
Define Your Goals – Determine Direction
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Branding
Reputation Management
Employee Engagement
Client/Referral Partner
Engagement
Recruiting
Press Engagement
Promotions
11. Developing A Social Media Plan
Establish A Content Strategy
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Voice – Everything Posted Should Sound Like Your
Brand - (Corporate vs. Personal)
Timing – Have a Content Calendar Highlighting When
You Will Discuss What Topics (Google Trends)
Audience – Understand Your Audience and Why They
Follow You – Provide Content That Speaks to Them
Offer Solutions – Use Social Media to Offer Advice on
Issues the Audience May Be Facing
Authenticity – It is Essential to Be Authentic
12. Developing A Social Media Plan
Importance of Authenticity:
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Not Authentic - “Tax season is approaching! Refer a
friend for 10% off your preparation fees.” Timing –
Have a Content Calendar Highlighting When You Will
Discuss What Topics (Google Trends)
Authentic – Tax season is approaching! We’re up for a
challenge, what’s your toughest tax question?”
18. Developing A Social Media Plan
Define Your Time Investment
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Stay Focused on Your Goals
Define Your Daily S.M. Tasks
Limit Your Attention
Plan S.M. Efforts Into Your Day
Keep Track of Your Time
Remember to Stop
Monitor Engagement – Acknowledge
Start Small & Progress
19. Developing A Social Media Plan
Identify Who Will Execute The Plan
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Marketing?
Professional
Staff?IT?
Partners?
Human
Resources?
Outsourced Provider?
20. Developing A Social Media Plan
How Are People to Be Engaged?
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Don‟t Speak Through Canned Messages (Be
Authentic)
Offer Solutions
Giveback & Reciprocate
Consistently Create & Subtly Reinforce Your
Value
Participate In Others Social Media Outlets –
Don‟t Just Focus On Yourself
24. Social Media Platforms
#1 Visited Site Worldwide
200 Million Users
Wide Acceptance
Broad Demographics
Page Oriented – Active
Mobility
Brand Development/
Recruiting/Press Engagement
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25. Social Media Platforms
50 Million Tweets per Day
300 Million Users
1.6B Searches per Day
“Basic” Version of Facebook
News Oriented – Passive
Brand Development/ Employee
Engagement/Press Engagement
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26. Social Media Platforms
Professional Social Media
150 Million Members
200 Million Companies
4.2B Searches -2011
Page Oriented - Active
Features – Groups, Questions &
Company Pages
Recruiting/Prospecting/Brand
Development
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27. Social Media Platforms
Video Sharing Site
800 Million Visitors Per Month
200 Million Companies
500 Years of YouTube Video are
watched Every Day on Facebook
100 Million People Take a Social
Action on YouTube (Likes,
Shares) Every Week
500 Tweets per Minute Containing
a YouTube Link
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30. Measuring Engagement
Each Platform Measures Differently :
Facebook – Total Likes, Reach, Talking About This,
Check Ins, Testimonials, etc.
LinkedIn - Followers, Number of Posts, Likes
Twitter – Number of Followers, Re-Tweets
YouTube – Comments, Number of Views, Shares
Google Plus – People in Your Circles, +1
Identify the Most Important Metrics To Track!
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31. Measuring Engagement
Key Metrics to Assess Monthly:
Audience Growth – Increase in the number of
followers, subscribers, readers, etc.
Activity – Number of posts, tweets updates, and
comments
Engagement – Number of re-tweets, link backs, user
comments, likes, shares and conversations.
Web Traffic - Determine how many visitors came to
your firm website from social media platforms. (Bit.Ly)
Lead Generation – The total number of leads that come
from social media efforts.
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33. Putting It Together
Take A Focused Approach:
Identify A Clear Objective
Select the Proper Platform
Start Small – K.I.S.S.
Stick to Your Plan
Ensure A Consistent Flow of Content
Develop/Leverage Measurement Process
Make Adjustments as Needed
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34. Contact Info
Brian Swanson – Flashpoint Marketing
bswanson@flashpointmarketing.biz
Twitter: @bswan775
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36. 36
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37. 2012 AICPA Leadership Academy
October 1-4, 2012
The program offers promising young CPA
professionals a unique opportunity to dive into
experiential strategic leadership exercises and forge
a valuable network of relationships with thought
leaders and promising professionals across the
country in an intimate and interactive setting.
Visit www.aicpa.org/leadershipacademy for program
details and applications.
Application period ends
May 15th.
37
38. Maximo Mukelabai Award
38
Nominations due May 15 for AICPA Maximo
Mukelabai Award
The 2012 Maximo Mukelabai Award recognizes a young
CPA who has demonstrated outstanding service
towards the advancement, stewardship and promotion
of the accounting profession and selfless contributions
to the community. Maximo Mukelabai was a member of
the inaugural class of the AICPA Leadership Academy.
Tragically, his life ended abruptly at the age of 36. He
was an extraordinary individual filled with
passion, intellect and inspiration; traits immediately
recognized by anyone who met him. Mukelabai was the
youngest and first African-American chair for the North
Carolina Association of CPAs board of directors.
Peers, AICPA staff, employers or state CPA society
liaisons may submit nominations for the annual award
until May 15, 2012. Self-nominations are not accepted.
For more information and to access the application, visit
Maximo Mukelabai Award webpage.
40. ThisWayToCPA.com
AICPA‟s website for college students and CPA exam
candidates.
Find tools to help become a CPA, such as:
CPA exam rules and study pointers
State requirements and other need-to-knows
A community of current and future CPAs
www.thiswaytocpa.com
Social Media:
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41. Resource
The Inside Track to Careers in Accounting
41
The Inside Track to Careers in Accounting is designed to
help new accounting professionals and students
interested in accounting expand their understanding of
what CPAs do and navigate the numerous opportunities
that are available. This book focuses on careers in
• Public accounting
• Corporate accounting
• Government accounting
• Nonprofit accounting
• Academics
• Starting your own business as a sole practitioner
Detailed job descriptions, typical salary ranges and career
trajectories, plus invaluable background information, history,
and personal insights are provided for each career path. In
addition, the book includes interviews with more than 50 CPAs
from every corner of the profession who share their insights on
career choices, succeeding as a CPA, and the future of the
profession. The companion CD contains full transcripts of each
interview.
Available at www.cpa2biz.com
Hinweis der Redaktion
Social media marketing refers to the process of gaining website traffic or attention through social media sites. Social media marketing programs usually center on efforts to create content that attracts attention and encourages readers to share it with their social networks. The general focus is on relationship building.
Social media allows you to enter your brand into the broader “digital” conversation. These are the key benefits it provides to firm’s that are looking to engage in social media.
Source: http://aytm.com/blog/research-junction/branding-and-how-it-works-in-the-social-media-age/Information also obtained from Neilsen Ratings
Daily FB users have greater influence on their followers because FB pushes status updates to the top of followers news feeds based on their level of activity. This also include page likes for companies, etc. If someone likes a page then it is pushed to the top in another followers newsfeed. Source: http://aytm.com/blog/research-junction/branding-and-how-it-works-in-the-social-media-age/Information also obtained from Neilsen Ratings
So you are thinking okay I can see the potential for social media, but what is the next step? Tell stories about companies that just jump in without a plan.
Voice - Many companies have a corporate voice for their brochure and website. However, if this approach is taken in social media then it will be difficult to engage your audience. You need to have a separate brand that does not necessarily sound corporate, but is warming and inviting. The tone needs to be conversational in the approach. Timing - This is especially important for tax and accounting professionals. No one cares about tax planning tips on April 18th, so it is important that you develop a calendar that dictates what subjects will be covered when. Timing is key in terms of prospect engagement. Audience - our audience comes to your social media outlet for several reasons. It is essential that you both understand why they are coming and then provide the sort of information they are looking for. - You don’t need a sales message if you’re targeting existing clients with your updates – instead you need to focus on building the existing relationship and creating a brand promise.Offer Solutions - Examples of this I have seen have been on recruiting social media sites where information on good interviewing skills, how to dress, key questions to ask, etc are all addressed. It relates and is relevant to the audience. This Way to CPA Facebook page Authenticity - Your audience wants you to be “real”. Don’t just post promotional information about your firm which serves as an essential ad. Engage them in conversation about their issues, or other tax issues, challenges, etc which may be coming. The easiest way to lose your audience is to be inauthentic.
It’s not to say the first message is not appropriate for marketing, but it is not a conversation piece and really has little value in the world of social media.
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General time invest for new social media users is much higher than it should be. On average during the work day you should spend 2-3 hours per week. This is just a suggestion and not something YOU MUST follow. Acknowledge - Although by and large, many brands with smaller followings typically have a proportionately higher number of lurkers – if and when your audience does engage with you, its very important to acknowledge the engagement.
Clearly define in the social media plan who is going to manage the social media outlets. Will it be a partner, you (if one person business) or more than one person. If there is going to be more than one person then it needs to be clear which person is responsible for which activity and so forth. The most effective social media programs seem to have one person managing the effort.
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Before one can start we have to determine which social media platform to leverage. There are many options and since we are not social media managers it’s best to assess the major platforms to determine which best meets our needs.
There are so many options to choose from on the Internet today. The key is to start in place where most of your customers and prospects are currently active in social media.
This is an important social media outlet for two reasons:Only major video social media outletOwned by Google
This is an important social media outlet for two reasons:Only major video social media outletOwned by Google – this means that your brand will get strong recognition in search engine results specifically Google. Early adopters – So Far most CPA firms are using this as a duplicate outlet for their Facebook page content. Google Plus 1 concept has an impact on how information is shared and indexed for other users when they are logged in.
Discuss here why it is important to measure engagementLikely the partners will want solid stats about “what they are getting” for the effort – standard ROIIndicates what part of strategy is working and what is notDocument new leads and opportunities through social media.
Each social media platform has different ways of measuring engagement….it is important to become familiar with each and what they mean for your efforts.
Activity - For activity here it is important to mention that this is what the professional has done to reach out and engage the audience. Engagement – Google Analytics just released a new version of the software that provides exactly this information. If you don’t track your web stats then you need to. Getting the social search information will not be difficult. Bit.Ly – visit the website and let’s discuss how you can track website traffic through the links. Lead Generation – This is the trickiest one because it can be difficult to get this information from someone. If you work in a larger firm then you need to work with partners to develop a method for properly tracking internet leads. In some cases the firm will have other metrics they want to use. It is important to consider those as well.
The key to success in convincing a skeptical partner group or others is to demonstrate through these metrics that your efforts are having a positive effect. Start with the understanding that your peers and boss do not understand the benefits and therefore you will need to build your case. If you can do this then you are assured success in your social media endeavors.
Start Small:Objective – Just pick one objective and start working towards it. The goal maybe to open a twitter account and starting generating followers. Consider what will you tweet about? The way to generate followers on Twitter is to start following other people. So who do you want to follow and why? Flashpoint example!If you have a blog – open a Twitter account and start posting bit.ly links to the Twitter account highlighting your firm’s blog posts. Consider tweeting information about the firm’s newsletter articles. Using the Bit.Ly feature you will be able to see who is clicking through your links and document the traffic to your blog, etc.