Posts Tagged ‘high country’

There are so many different excuses that businesses and organizations use to NOT launch social media marketing campaigns.

- We sell septic tanks? Who would want to follow that?
- Our customers don’t use social media.
- Our company is in a highly regulated industry.
- We don’t have time for social media.
- We don’t want to know what people are saying about us online.
- We tried it once and had no ROI.

The list could go on and on. For B2B, the answers to these questions just aren’t that simple. However, at this point the risk of not participating is far more dangerous than taking a step back and approaching social media with a strategic plan of attack.

Here are three basic components you should have in your plan:

1 – Position your company/brand as the expert: Start a business blog and keep it updated on a regular basis. Not only will this aid in search engine optimization, it also gives you a strong source of content for Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. Communicating your expertise sets you apart from your competitors and demonstrates leadership within your industry.

2 – Connect with your audience: Chances are the people you need to reach are out there and motivated to engage with you on different social media platforms. By connecting, you’re projecting transparency and giving your audience the ability to communicate with you on a more personal level. This helps build loyalty and respect.

3 – Manage your brand: Online reputation management. Look it up. You have to claim your identity online and take control of the content associated with your company or organization. Social media gives you the opportunity to monitor and engage negative feedback, as well as express appreciation for the positive feedback…thus, building your brand.

Share compelling content, engage your audience and monitor/respond to the chatter. These are the basics that can lead to a positive and powerful online presence for your company or organization. Combine this with an effective search engine optimization campaign and you can take a closer look at whether or not you should spend all that money on every trade show on the calendar.

To learn how we can help, CONTACT US!

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Over the past 6 months I have proudly served as a coach/speaker at the Talk of the Town Social Media Workshop series at The Broyhill Inn in Boone, NC.

High Country Mom Squad founder, social media maven and close friend, Sarah Pinnix; created this series to help local businesses implement and execute social media and relationship marketing effectively. With her amazing experience and knowledge of the art form, I jumped at the chance to be involved.

Together with Sarah and website design/development expert, Boomer Sassman of Big Boom Design, we held hands with notable area businesses and walked through the social media maze together.

So…as we come to the end of our first round of Talk of the Town Social Media Workshops it’s gratifying to think back to where we all started more than 6 months ago. Most all of our attendees didn’t have a blog and few had a Facebook page or a Twitter account.

As more High Country businesses come to these workshops and jump online with social media marketing, these early adopters will already be masters of the art.

In our last session on Tuesday, February 15th we wrapped up and shared success stories. Mast General Store has nearly 5,500 Facebook fans as we write this. The NC Christmas Tree Association is getting tons of traffic on their blog and site. Appalachian Regional Healthcare System is setting up multiple Facebook pages, writing social media policies and growing followers like crazy on Twitter.

Doug Uzelac, General Manager of The Broyhill Inn & Conference Center and host of our workshop series states,

“Social Media Marketing is such a fast growing segment and it is the Broyhill Inn’s pleasure to be to be able to host these very informative sessions.  I would greatly recommend folks that have an interest in increasing their social media knowledge to attend.”

This is a serious workshop series where we get down in the hole with you and dig. We show you how to make relationship marketing work for your business. We give you the tools and help you understand measured results. We walk you through step-by-step from setting up your blog, Facebook, Twitter and much, much more. Most importantly, our team provides one-on-one personal coaching to make sure you’re getting it. We do much more than just helping you get set up.

Our smaller, more intimate and controlled setting makes it easier for you, the business owner…to learn, implement and execute effectively.

Vicki Stevens, Marketing Manager for the Appalachian Regional Healthcare System adds,

“The Talk of the Town series provided phenomenal insight to the world of social media and assisted our organization in establishing a new presence with our audience. I highly recommend the series!”

To learn more you’ll have to sign up for our next round beginning in March and we’ll share more personal testimonies and quotes in future posts. For details, CLICK HERE and register for our next series, beginning on March 2nd!

Visit http://talkofthetownworkshop.com, follow the workshop on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

“When are you going to do a workshop in the Winston-Salem area?”, you ask. It’s in the works and the wheels are in motion, so stay tuned for an announcement…coming soon.

For more information or to get help with your social media strategy, CONTACT US!

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