My talk from the Construction Leadership Network's Inaugural Conference on May 16, 2016. Two common objections to initiating an aggressive social media strategy are 1) the amount of time they expect to invest, and 2) the inability to find or create content. This presentation eliminates those objections with clear and easy to follow "hacks", as well as tips and rules to make sure that the time spent on a social media strategy will yield maximum results.

2. What we’re covering today…
• The USP
• Can your company handle social media?
• Defining your customer
• Finding your content
• Establishing your metrics
• Tips and rules of social media
• Q&A

6. This is “Growth Hacking”
Performing a marketing strategy, campaign or outreach effort with
minimal resources and maximum results. Key characteristics
include:
• Speed: a time-sensitive focus on only what you need to get a specific
result (traffic, conversions, etc.). Get results as soon as possible.
• Elegance and a cleanly structured (or even automated) approach.
• Performance. Using technology to eliminate complexity or any excess
of manpower.
• Memorability. Understanding each audience segment, and making
content that resonates.
• Attention to detail. Intensive tracking mechanisms that allow you to
know – immediately – as much as possible about your campaign,
audience and progress.

8. …you must be able to complete
one simple sentence…
Before anything else…

9. …you must be able to complete
one simple sentence…
“Only we…”
Before anything else…

10. “Only we…”
Completing this sentence forces you to figure
out:
• Why you’re one-of-a-kind, not just better
• Why prospects should reach out
• Where you fit in the marketplace

11. “Only we…”
• Offer a certain combination of services
• Provide expertise (certs, etc.) to a specific niche
• Are able to provide certain cost efficiencies
• Own or offer a certain process
• Have bandwidth to quickly execute

12. “Only we…”
What’s yours?

13. Companies that communicate a unique
message, or solve a problem no one else
can, thrive on social media.
Take the “Only we…” sentence, then turn it
into an action statement.
What’s your unique message?

14. A perfect example is Facebook, who can
justify their entire business case through
one sentence…
“Come waste time with us.”
What’s your unique message?

18. Figure out why your
audience would pay
attention to you.

19. Can your company handle
social media?
Budget and content mean nothing if your
company can’t manage this new addition to
its culture.
Marketing impacts the entire organization.

20. Can it handle negative comments?
Can it entertain?
Can it inform?
Can it inspire?
Can it handle the workload?
Can it keep a consistent message?
What’s your unique message?
Can your company handle
social media?

21. Defining your customers
A very basic, and often overlooked question.
Can include:
Gender
Age
Tech Savvy
Income
Geography
Profession
Industry
Education Level
Marital Status
Parental Status
Hobbies
Demeanor
Comm. Preference
Pain Points
…and more!

22. Defining your customers
A very basic, and often overlooked question.

23. Defining your customers
Identify the right time of day
• B2B – during work hours?
• B2C – early evenings or weekends?
Identify where they spend their time
• B2B – LinkedIn, Twitter, Slideshare, WordPress,
Quora
• B2C – Facebook, Yelp, Instagram, Foursquare
Identify their interests
• B2B – Entrepreneurs, Skilled Trades, Business Issues
• B2C – Fun, Humor, Family-Related

24. Study other companies in your segment or
niche to see how their audience responds to
certain content in certain networks.
Interview/survey some of your favorite
customers.
Then develop the content strategy (topics,
frequency, medium).
Defining your customers

25. • Complete the sentence “Only we…”
• Can your company handle social media?
• Defining your customer
Any questions?
So far…

26. Finding your Content
Occasional tweets, emails or random LinkedIn
posts don’t make a strategy.
You need to consistently publish content that
can include articles, blog posts, press releases,
images, graphs, videos, audio, documents,
whitepapers, guides, slideshows, ebooks...

28. The biggest question we get is:
“That’s great, but how am I
going to find time to do this?”
Fortunately, there’s a good answer.
Finding your Content

29. The biggest question we get is:
“That’s great, but how am I
going to find time to do this?”
• Comments on existing content.
• Sharing news articles, adding your own perspective.
• Repurposing earlier content (PRs, blogs, etc.).
• Being louder about the work you’re already doing.
Finding your Content

30. The second biggest question we get is:
“Which networks do you
recommend we use?”
Finding your Content

31. The second biggest question we get is:
“Which networks do you
recommend we use?”
Instead of worrying about which networks to
use, focus first on the content and let that
dictate the choice of network.
Finding your Content

32. The toolbox

33. The toolbox

34. • Photo-sharing (Instagram, Flickr)
• Document-sharing (Prezi, Slideshare)
• Event-planning (EventBrite, Meetup)
• Reviews/ratings (Yelp, Angie’s List)
• Blogs (WordPress, Website CMS)
• Microblogs (Tumblr, Twitter)
• Wiki (Wikipedia)
• Location-sharing (Foursquare)
• Marketplace (Etsy, Groupon)
• Q&A (Answers.com, Quora)
• Staying in touch (LinkedIn, Facebook)
What type of content are you
sharing?

35. Personality. Boring online is worse than boring in
person.
Variety. Feel free to deviate from your business
offering. No one wants to read the same stuff
over and over.
Mobile-friendliness. Simple posts are best
(images get more interaction than text, video or
links).
What Makes Good Content?

36. 46% of marketers say photography is critical
to their current marketing and storytelling
strategies.
http://www.cmocouncil.org/images/uploads/297.pdf

37. What Makes Good Content?

38. However,…
http://syndacast.com/video-marketing-statistics-trends-2015/

39. Establishing Your Metrics
Set expectations and metrics up front, and
adjust as you go. Make sure they’re:
• Realistic within your resources
• Achievable within a defined time period
• Focused on a network and audience
• Related to a business objective (website
traffic, whitepaper downloads, sales)

40. Establishing Your Metrics
For example: within the next six months,
we would like to see a 10% increase in
website conversions from Pinterest and
Facebook marketing to women aged 25-34,
located in western Prince William County.
Realistic: 10% increase
Achievable: within six months
Focused: defined audience
Related: website conversions

41. Tips For Saving Time
And Increasing Your
Productivity With Social
Media

42. 1. Automate
Use social media automation tools to help
you manage your social media networks.
Some of the more commonly used tools are
HootSuite and TweetDeck. You can manage
all of your social media accounts through a
single interface, saving you time and energy.

43. Much of the content out there can be of
tremendous value to your audience. Instead
of feeling like you have to come up with
everything on your own, feel free to share
something you’ve seen or read somewhere
else. Just make sure the creator of the
content gets some credit.
2. Share

44. With more websites being built on open-
source content management systems
(WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, etc.), business
owners are using plugins on their website to
streamline their social media efforts. Not
only can these plugins automatically publish
to social media, they can also lead website
visitors to your social networks.
3. Plug In

45. The same content you’re posting on your
blog and social media sites can be re-
purposed into an email newsletter. In many
cases, people don’t catch everything on
social media, and many people prefer to get
emails that catch them up.
4. Repurpose

46. Facebook, WordPress and many other
services now let you schedule when your
content is published. In many cases,
publishing between 9 to 5 doesn’t work as
well as maybe 8 or 9 at night. Schedule your
posts for when they’ll get the most visibility.
5. Schedule

47. RULE 1. Add Value
• Give free advice (LifeHacker, Lowe’s “Fix in
Six”)
• Encourage your audience a chance to
speak up (rewards programs, contests)
• Give them the exclusive (discount codes,
exclusive promotions)

49. RULE 2. Be Human
• Have a conversation, not a sales pitch. No
one likes being sold to…
• Use casual language. Cut the jargon.
• Don’t be afraid of humor, but be sensitive.
• Use it to manage crises, and do so quickly.
• Focus on the brand and the relationship,
not the sale.

51. RULE 3. Know Your Audience
• When are they active online?
• EEE (enlighten, educate, entertain)
• Women dominate social media
• Targeting men? Go to LinkedIn, G+ and
YouTube (they’re hiding on Digg and
Reddit too)

52. RULE 4. Stay Active
• Share current experiences (blogs, social
posts, news items)
• Share your personality and culture
• Feature an employee, customer or partner
• Respond to comments and messages
promptly