1. Social Media and Your Company Prepared by EquipmentFX

2. The Short and Sweet Version What it is Why it’s important What to look for What to avoid

3. What it is- A WIKI Definition Social media marketing is a term that describes use of social networks, online communities, blogs, wikis or any other online collaborative media for marketing, sales, public relations and customer service. Common social media marketing tools include Twitter, blogs, LinkedIn, Facebook, Flickr and YouTube.

4. Why it’s important It is a practically free promotional tool that allows people to communicate about how you do and what they like about your company.

5. Why it’s important cont… Remember the Internet 10 years ago… “In the equipment business, the prevailing thought was… oh, it’s not THAT important, we’re a relationship business”

6. Don’t Make The Same Mistake! Social Media is relevant It allows all generations to communicate in a way THEY Like about how YOU do It is also a potentially time wasting activity if overdone

7. It is important because… It’s great for communicating with your market online… It syndicates links to your stuff Blog posts can be syndicated to Facebook and Twitter It’s a great way to share URL’s with people But…

8. What about the ROI?! BAD ROI compared to other efforts! Yes, use it, but not for a lot of time Spend more time on other fundamentals

9. THE LESSON Social Media has it’s place in your marketing arsenal. But, there are many other strategies that will produce more traffic and sales for your company.

10. How it CAN benefit your business Great way to get feedback from your customers With constructive criticism, and if you act on the information, it is a great way to get feedback INTO your business

11. NEXT LESSON Use Social Media to carefully listen to your customers. Their feedback, as well as their needs, are what help you succeed. More often than not, you are simply giving them what they are asking for.

12. What to look for Negatives with the feedback Competitors Disgruntled customers Not everyone has good intentions of constructive criticism

13. Be careful what you post! Blogs: avoid being overly opinionated about “hot topics” UNLESS you want to get into long drawn out online battles It’s hard to separate out personal from business life! Some opinions have no business in your MARKETING!

14. Practical Social Media Blog Posting YouTube Facebook Twitter Fundamentals include posting PRACTICAL, USEFUL stuff, not trying to sell something

15. For Example YouTube A practical demonstration of a product or service, NOT a video of your employees doing stupid business tricks!

16. For Example cont… Blog Posting It is fundamental to creating and building text which integrates with our website and other Social tools It is a great way to build and promote your industry and ideas

17. For Example cont… Twitter: Posting of useful information designed to educate about trends or newsworthy events that affect YOUR CUSTOMERS Not a tweet about where you are and what you’re doing. Fewer people care than you’d like to admit

18. For Example cont… Facebook: Create a business account, update with business stuff, create a following and community about IMPORTANT STUFF!

19. What to Avoid TIME WASTING ACTIVITY… such as… Your employees spending too much time on THEIR personal accounts

20. What to Avoid cont… Getting caught up in the Social World, communicating with the wrong people or prospects that DON’T PROMOTE YOUR BUSINESS or IDEAS Or have anything to do with a “marketing effort”

21. Some Basics Three Basic Sources out of HUNDREDS YouTube Facebook Twitter Product and Service Information! For your customers BENEFIT, don’t just sell!

22. Some Basics cont… Focus on time wasters Careful of negative feedback Act on the good feedback Understand the basics of how the Social sources work together

23. The Bottom Line! Done well, it can dramatically enhance your organic rankings for search engines Make it a part of your culture, but LIMIT the effort to ONLY those parts which promote solutions

24. In Closing Great free tool, use it with caution and limits on your time Focus on the right media mix Act on the feedback! www.equipmentfx.com