A T Social Marketing and Consulting

This post has been reblogged from my personal blog and edited to fit with A&T Social Marketing's voice. It does not matter whether you are a non-profit or for-profit business, the principles of social media are the same.

Recently I have spent some time helping my father build a deck on the back of his home. During this time we had a constant "helper" in Molly, my sister's golden retriever. My sister received Molly for her birthday 6 years ago as a dog seemed like a fun pet to have. Fast forward to today and Molly gets taken for a walk maybe once a month and gets attention from my sister even less than that.

I took a look at this situation and realized this is what is happening with social media. Much like my sister enjoyed the idea of having a dog, the work involved in truly caring for the dog was too much for her. I think we can all think of a few companies whose pet project of social media seemed like a good idea but the idea of keeping up with the sites (or even monitoring their own Facebook page) is just too much for what they wanted. I have mentioned HTC - North America and their Facebook page before as a great example of this omission.

Why is it so difficult for some organizations to really take on the responsibilities that social media brings? I believe one of the biggest problems (this is what has happened with Molly as well) is laziness. This also includes the lack of time management but I am lumping that in to laziness. Social media truly does not sleep and most organizations are not used to having a dialog with its consumers. Social media is a 24/7 channel. That does not mean that the Social Media Expert has to be monitoring all day long but your brand name can be mentioned at anytime.

I do understand that monitoring social media can be very daunting and even boring at times, especially when there are so many other things to be done in the marketing world. If you like the idea of social media but are unable to truly act on it, that is ok. Here are a few tips to get you started.

1. Focus on one site a day. Do not try to overload yourself with social media. Focus on your blog one day, the Facebook page the next and then do the same with Twitter, YouTube or any of the other sites your company uses to interact with consumers. This gives you a focus for that moment and opens you up to multi-tasking later when you feel more comfortable with the social media/work balance.

2. Take 30 min to an hour each morning. Set aside this time to write a blog post, check what happened on Facebook or Twitter. Use this alongside tip number one to increase productivity. Again once you are used to browsing and engaging on every site you will open up more possibilities for multi-tasking but remember to not let the updating of the SM sites to take over your whole day.

3. Bookmark searches. Go look at Technorati and Google Blog Search and enter your brand name into the search. Then subscribe to the RSS feed or just set up a bookmark in your browser. Check these everyday or every other day to monitor what is being said. Check Twitter Search for your brand to see what people have been saying. Also know that abbreviations appear frequently on Twitter so check a few variations of your name. There are other sites to help you along the way, like Google Alerts that can help as well. Check them out and see what you like.

4. Be interesting. You may think that no one will want to hear what you have to say, but that is the beauty of social media. There will always be someone out there that will appreciate your presence. Talk about what interests you and goes along with your brand. This is not a place to push your product... or at least not entirely. You need to actually interact with the customer.

These are just a few tips on how you can treat this pet as a real project and not just an idea. This is also a good time to plug the Social Media Consultant. Yes I have posted about why there should be no need for consultants but let's face it, there is definitely a need. Just like advertising or event marketing there will always be a need for someone specialized in social media to assist your organization. You need to be careful about who you hire but you can find someone who will actually work hard for you and help monitor the social web while teaching you how to take over control of your social media sites.

Do not let your social media profiles go the way of Molly. Appreciate not only the idea but the execution of the campaign. Social media, integrated with traditional media, will help your non-profit grow faster and raise more money than it previously has. If you need any tips, more advice or need help running the social media itself, feel free to comment or email us and we can work something out. We can also direct you to a resource for social media experts for your area.

Let us know if you have any ideas for making social media easier to handle!

This last weekend I had the pleasure of seeing much of my extended family. My Grandfather, who owns his own upholstery shop and never went to a single "business" class, and I were speaking about what it is I do. When I mentioned how much Social Media is like advertising, he gave me a quote that I loved. "Being in business without advertising is like winking at a girl in the dark. You know what you are doing but nobody else can see it."  While it is a funny quote, there is a lot of truth to it. Without promoting your organization no one will know that you are there.

This is the same for any business, for profit or not. If you are not promoting yourself, how are people going to know what you stand for? Growth will only take place once you get that through your head. Luckily there are many options that are low to no cost, i.e. Social Media (You knew I was going to go there).

My favorite quote comes from Jay Baer. He said, "Social Media isn't expensive, it's different expensive." Social media really does not need to cost you anything, anything that is but your time. It can be very time consuming to get going but well worth it in the end. It is a way to connect with so many people on so many different levels. The tools you can use are almost endless and all depend on what it is you need. Try Tweetgrid or Twitter Search for finding people to follow. Use Tweetdeck, Hootsuite or CoTweet to post to your many different networks. WeFollow is a great directory full of useful information on who to follow that may be in your geographical area and industry, as well as a spot to add yourself or your organization. Use Google Alerts to find blogs and news articles pertaining to your industry.

There are many tools you can use to help you on your way to conquering the Social Media kingdom. Did I miss any that you prefer? Tell me in the comments! Follow us on Twitter and we can continue the conversation there as well.

We will have a Facebook page soon!

So it has been a while since we last posted a blog update. Just know that we have not forgotten about the nonprofit sector but are truly trying to get this little company up and running to be able to help out with your social media needs.

Now you may be saying, "why does a nonprofit really need to use social media?" This is a valid question. Social media is something that many people do not understand or are actually a little afraid of implementing in the marketing mix because it is something you cannot control. Well hopefully this post will dispel a few of those fears for you.

Well first off, why do you need to use social media? My answer would be because it is a cheap and effective way to reach out to those who would actually help. Think about it, many people already use the RSS features of many news sites to keep up with what is going on in the world. Even if you just use Twitter like the RSS feeds, you are getting those who donate their time and goods to your cause. You can Tweet different needs your organization may have or even different events you may be having. Only those who know you and have had some contact with you will follow you. Same thing with Facebook. Set up a Flickr account to show the activities and service opportunities. There are many ways you can use social media to your advantage.

Next up, control. While yes it is technically true that you cannot control what is said about your brand on the various social media outlets, (and this is great for transparency) you still have a little control. First off you need to make sure what you are doing is ethical and the way your treat your volunteers is in line with how they should be treated. Of course you will still have some naysayers as that is just business but it is how you handle those negative remarks (and you MUST handle them) that will show your true worth as an organizational leader.

If you need any help, feel free to contact us at atsocialmarketing@gmail.com. More to come later.