Social Media 101: Why your business needs a strategy

Since I started my new gig three weeks ago, naturally I've found myself having more and more conversations about social media. It wasn't until I spoke with my neighbor that I realized I am in the 1%. And no, not that 1%. I am talking about the fact that the general population can easily be intimidated (or bored) by those who can spew facts, dream up grandiose ideas, and jump at the chance to chat about the next big internet thing. Since social is so engrained in my very being, these type of epiphanies sometimes baffle me. But it's those a-ha moments that help keep me in touch with the fact that many companies, both big and small, still have no idea how or where to start when navigating the social waters. 

Which is exactly why I think it's important to routinely get back to the basics and brush up on social media 101. Because I can literally talk about this topic F O R E V E R, I'll keep it simple and steer clear of referring to any one particular industry, company, or what may be the "best" approach.  Below is some general info I put together regarding social media, how to get started, and links to a few infographics that I just lurve. So whether you are a "newbie" or consider yourself a season "expert" (a dirty, dirty word in my book but I digress), hopefully this list will help you get started or bring you back down to Earth.

When starting a social media strategy, think about these five things (at the very least):

1. What is your objective? There is no right or wrong answer. Well, except for "my boss told me to do it." In that case, definitely read on...
2. Who is your audience? This question can also be answered as "who do you want your audience to be?"
3. What are you going to say? My biggest pet peeve is navigating to a companies Facebook page, Twitter profile, Instagram feed, etc. to find ancient content that has been updated only a handful of times. If you're going to do it, commit. That means time, resources, and yes, money.
4. How will you track & measure success? I am a FREAK when it comes to this question. Not having defined KPIs (key performance indicators), goals, milestones, or any other source of measurement tied to your efforts is like going house hunting without a budget: pointless. You have to start somewhere so even if they are moving targets: benchmark, track, analyze, repeat.
5. Who is going to manage your efforts? Depending on answers to 1 - 4, your organizational culture, and your budget this could be a toughie. My advice to you is beware of the so-called "experts" out there. Find a partner who fits into your goals, can scale with you, and understands your business. <Insert the perfect opportunity to plug my wonderful new company.>

Defining these five things will help you and organization decide which social outlets to leverage (or not) in order to build a community that aligns with your brand, enables you to achieve your objectives, and allow you to create content that will be valuable to your customers, and ultimately, your overall business.

Ideas for starting small-ish:

• Create a Facebook Brand Page. I do not believe in using Facebook as an alternative to a traditional Web site. However, having a Facebook presence can be a cost-effective option if you are just getting started and looking to grow your social marketing efforts. At the very east, claim your Facebook Place/Brand page which can serve as a general source of information (hours, location, web site, paying methods, parking, etc.) as you work towards bigger, more involved initiatives such as using "the Book" as a customer service tool, for word of mouth marketing, recommendations, customer engagement, yada, yada, yada.
• Start a blog. Even if you only write one post a week, a blog is a great tool to establish your business as credible, knowledgeable resource. Posting authentic information, stories, and even pictures is another cost-effective way to manage your brand while helping out  the SEO department. Re: search engine optimization, which is particularly important for people who are trying to find you...or your competition.
• Cross-promote. Include social links on email blasts, direct mail pieces, forms, and any other customer-facing communication to help spread the word. But please, do not misuse the QR code. In fact if you don't know what that even means, keep it that way (at least for now).
• Don't try to do everything for everyone on everything. Being selective about your social strategy allows you to focus on building effective communities, generate quality content, and interact with your customers in a timely manner. Is your brand visually-driven? Create an Instagram account. Do you want to give your customers quick snippets of information or industry news? Twitter may be the way to go. Is your primary business B2B? You better be on LinkedIn! The truth is, there is a social outlet for just about anything you can think of, the trick is to explore, find what works and then do it well.   

Link love:

• Social Media Cheat Sheet [Infographic]: http://www.flowtown.com/blog/the-small-business-social-media-cheat-sheet?display=wide or http://mashable.com/2012/06/01/social-media-ranking/ <--- both need to be updated with MANY more such as LinkedIn, Pinterest, FourSquare, Yelp!, Flckr, and Instagram but it is a start.
• Why you must go social [Infographic]: http://www.1stwebdesigner.com/design/why-business-must-go-social/ 
• My Pinterest Infographic Board: http://pinterest.com/Dee_Huest/infographic-love/ 
• Mashable for the win: https://mashable.com/follow/topics/social-media-101-series/ 

PS. For you "advanced" followers, I am currently reading the book "Grouped" by Paul Adams. Definitely a recommended read and will challenge the entire notion of social media as you know it. Get your copy here.

Was this helpful? Do you have questions? 
I'd love to hear your thoughts so feel free to leave me a comment!

Take a deep breath: Pinterest updated their T&Cs

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Did you hear that? It was the big sigh of relief from marketing managers, bloggers, photographers, and Pinterest enthusiasts everywhere.  Yes, Pinterest has changed their Terms & Conditions as announced on March 24.
Many of you have probably seen the above image (sans my lovely editing) and read the original article from The Window Seat which highlighted some of the legal dangers and risks of pinning. The article received over 400,000 views and was even pinned 45,000 times. Legal gurus and worrywarts fretted in their seats coming up with hypothetical legal cases while deleting their pins, while major publications continued to write about and magnified the perceived issue with Pinterest. 

I decided to equate this fear with Y2K (remember that?) and kept on pinning. In comparison to the growing pains of other social media platforms, I felt it was obvious Pinterest was working hard to embrace their new found growth across all areas of the social community. In my opinion, the negative attention simply helped expedite the progress they were already making. In the last few weeks alone, there have been numerous updates to the UI, profile page, and mobile app so it was just a matter of time this hotly debated topic was next. As stated by Ben himself:

 Over the last few weeks, we've been working on an update to our Terms. When we first launched Pinterest, we used a standard set of Terms. We think that the updated Terms of Service, Acceptable Use Policy, and Privacy Policy are easier to understand and better reflect the direction our company is headed in the future. We'd encourage you to read these changes in their entirety, but we thought there were a few changes worth noting.

Now we all know reading the Terms & Conditions can be a very daunting [re: boring] task and most of us blindly hit "Accept" eager to get to the next screen. So for those of you that have been following along, here is a recap of some of the most important changes along with my social commentary, which will go into effect on April 6:

• What Pinterest Says: Our original Terms stated that by posting content to Pinterest you grant Pinterest the right for to sell your content. Selling content was never our intention and we removed this from our updated Terms.

  My take: Don't worry, your artsy shot of your Sunday Brunch or the generic beach scene will NOT become stock photography.

• What Pinterest Says: We updated our Acceptable Use Policy and we will not allow pins that explicitly encourage self-harm or self-abuse. 

My take: Thank. You. It really grinds my gears when I am simultaneously pinning high-calorie recipes and workout tips and come across that stupid image of Kate Moss saying "Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels." Obviously she never tasted ice cream, cheese, or Nutella. Aka, this will help cut down on the amount of girls encouraging each other with pro-ana tips.

• What Pinterest Says: We released simpler tools for anyone to report alleged copyright or trademark infringements. [Updated form & updated policy].

My take: If you installed the do not pin code to your site, this will help. Or if you are the marketing manager for Starbucks and a super fan already created an account claiming to be Starbucks. And in extreme cases, someone is blatantly ripping content off your blog and posting it to theirs then pinning it back to their site in hopes to drive traffic.

• What Pinterest Says: Finally, we added language that will pave the way for new features such as a Pinterest API and Private Pinboards.

My take: This will open the door to a ton of really cool ideas, integrations, and 3rd party applications that seek to enhance the Pinterest experience. And private pin boards means you can actually plan a party, source inspirational images, and curate a marketing promotion privately, before you want the rest of the world to know. 

And the final note:

Like everything at Pinterest, these updates are a work in progress that we will continue to improve upon. We're working hard to make Pinterest the best place for you to find inspiration from people who share your interest. We've gotten a lot of help from our community as we've crafted these Terms.

In other words, keep the feedback coming but puh-lease, be patient, stay positive, and know they are working as fast as humanly possible while creating a sustainable business and inspirational community. If you are still interested in the finer details, read the follow-up post from The Window Seat.

Happy pinning and of course if you aren't already, follow me!