Kate Austin-Avon of Advokate, LLC presented "Secrets to Social Media Success" to the Adirondack Regional Chamber of Commerce's Leadership Adirondack Class of 2015-2016 at Gracenote in Queensbury, NY, on February 3, 2016. Consult with Advokate today! www.advokate.net or (518) 353-2121

1. SECRETS
TO SOCIAL MEDIA SUCCESS
A presentation by Kate Austin-Avon

2. What is Social Media?
Websites and apps that enable users to
create and share content and participate
in social networking.
• Facebook
• Twitter
• LinkedIn
• Pinterest
• Instagram
• Google+
• YouTube

3. Why bother?
Increased inbound traffic
Decreased marketing costs
Better search engine rankings
Improved insights
Richer user experience

4. Inbound Marketing
Social Media, Blogs, Email Marketing, SEO
“New Marketing”
Interactive, two-way communication
Your audience comes to you
You earn attention, rather than paying for it
Intends to entertain or educate
You provide value

5. Overall tips
Show off your excellent customer service.
Look up 17hats or So Delicious for examples of
brands responding right away, and cleverly,
to their potential customer base

6. Overall tips
Branding is not just your logo and color
scheme. Your tone on social media should
be consistent with your brand image.

9. Overall tips
Mix it up with links to articles, offers, and more;
not just sales pitches.
Use hashtags to join conversations and be
found. Make up your own!

10. Facebook
- ESSENTIAL -
By far the biggest social network
1.59 billion monthly active users
Paid ads & boosted posts expand reach
Can be specific with targeting your ads
Handy insights show you who's engaging with
your posts, and when

11. Facebook Tips
Communicate like a real person. Your
updates are showing up among friends'
updates & family photos
Be relevant, interesting, concise & responsive
Page Likes don't mean much. You need them
to comment, share and like. Ask for input &
make sure your website includes SM links

12. Facebook Tips
Your cover photo & profile photo get a
farther reach. Make sure their descriptions
are filled in, with links to your website & calls
to action
Add CTA button to your cover photo –
Contact Us • Book Now • Sign Up
Add company milestones to About section

13. Facebook Tips
Post lots of photos & videos.
You want your photos & videos
apps populated.
They're also the most engaging
types of content.

14. Facebook Tips
Get more people interacting with your page
so you have a better chance of showing up
in their news feed later on.

15. Facebook Tips
Storytelling & humor have high appeal
Don't overbearingly sell, sell, sell. Interact,
share articles, post photos, videos, tips,
events, deals, answers to commonly asked
questions from customer service
Be part of your community with what you
share, strategically, and people will notice

16. Twitter
320 million active users
Platform for breaking news
Can be very viral
Great way to interact with customer base

17. Twitter tips
Make it a 2-way street: Retweet and favorite
tweets that relate to you or are in line with
your brand message; reply to customers
Live tweet events at your company
Find out what's trending and get in on it
Use @ to tag celebs or other Twitter accounts

18. Twitter tips
Try using IFTTT to automatically upload your
Instagram photos to Twitter instead of
posting as a link, which drops engagement
Try RiteTag to see which hashtags are hot
now, which are overused, and which have
a long life
Use bit.ly to shorten URLs and monitor clicks

19. Twitter tips
Not everyone's on Twitter all the time and
most people won't make a point to visit your
profile, so don't be shy about sharing your
content multiple times. Your second post will
receive 86% as much engagement as the
first time, on average

20. Twitter tips
Try your URL in the middle
rather than the end of a Tweet
Post at least once a day. Test what works by
posting at different times. Best time to post
depends on your audience
Tweet on the weekends

21. Twitter tips
Schedule Tweets with Hootsuite, but don't
forget to live Tweet to stay relevant
Ask for user generated content
(“Tweet us your photo of XYZ!”)
Don't just share content, comment on it

22. LinkedIn
Where business takes place;
More serious than FB and Twitter
Use it to scout and recruit employees
Best for B2B
Write blog posts to establish yourself as the
leading expert in your field

23. LinkedIn
Use LinkedIn Groups to listen to your market
Make the most of your company profile by
filling in all the sections, especially the
keywords. Upload YouTube videos,
SlideShare presentations and other media,
or set your Twitter and FB updates to
automatically post to LinkedIn (though be
aware of the difference in tone)

24. LinkedIn
Build your business's reputation
by asking for recommendations
People do pay attention to these!

25. Instagram
Where millennials are hanging out
Especially effective for visually based
businesses — it's a place for artistic,
awesome photos, not stock imagery
Make sure your photos are excellent
Use relevant, popular hashtags

26. Instagram
Reward your followers
Showcase the behind-the-scenes of the
business and celebrate your staff
Make use of the video functionality

27. Pinterest
People are making shopping decisions on
Pinterest, saving their favorite things and
actually making purchases based
on their pinboards
People spend HOURS on Pinterest
Ideal for products, especially ones targeted
toward women

29. YouTube
Owned by Google and is the second largest
search engine (after Google)
Important to produce videos of high quality,
with engaging, inviting content
1billion+ unique visitors per month

30. YouTube
Embed your videos on your website to reach
both YouTube audience as well as visitors.
Make sure your content is mobile friendly
Make content, not ads. Nobody wants to
watch an ad. Check out Dollar Shave Club
for a company intro video done right
A single person should appear in most of your
videos. People connect with people

31. YouTube
Push people to your website. Include a link in
the first line of the video description, in the
about section and in the
header of your channel
Collaborate with an already established
creator. Most YouTube talent have contact
info and some even have managers

32. Google+
Another essential. When it comes to SEO,
Google+ (Google MyBusiness) is necessary,
as it comes right up on the side
of search results
Fill out your profile thoroughly, with photos,
links to your website, some status updates,
and verify your address

33. Google+
Integrates with Google Maps as well, making
it easy for mobile users to get directions, call
you, view your open hours, view your menu
or find your website
www.google.com/mybusiness

35. More tips
Don't overstretch yourself.
It's better to do one or two well than to have
any dead profiles out there
not making any updates
Choose what's relevant for your audience
and focus on that channel
Stick with it. It's a time investment,
but will ultimately pay off

36. More tips
Create policies about what should and
shouldn't be shared
Create a social calendar (Follow Friday,
Motivation Monday, Throwback Thursday)
Be consistent in your tone
Define your objectives

37. More tips
Listen and lurk as much as you post
Follow/Like other organizations and keep a
close eye on your competitors
Think visual
Measure and improve
Create great, shareable content

38. Questions?
Ask away!

39. Thank you!
Web & Graphic Design, Marketing, Publicity,
Small Business Consultation & More
Kate Austin-Avon
www.advokate.net
(518) 353-2121
kate@advokate.net