A couple of weeks ago I was invited to speak at the first ISES STL “learning lunch” of 2010. ISES is an international organization of special events planners, so as you can imagine, the setup and coordination of this speaking engagement was handled flawlessly. Audio, video, blazing fast wireless connection, nametags, extra writing utensils, table décor, Oreo cookie cake – check. The topic of the presentation was how event planners can leverage social media for business, a topic ISES had identified as a growing interest amongst their members. ISES noted that many of their members were currently utilizing Facebook, LinkedIn, Youtube or Twitter for their business; but felt that they needed some insight into how to build a marketing strategy around social media, and they were hungry for some social network-specific tips as well. We kicked off the meeting with a fun Social Media Personality Quiz that Lisa created to allow the attendees to gauge their social media personality (ranging from a Social Media Butterfly to a Fail Whale) based on their current level of engagement with social media. Wondering who you are at the Social Media Cocktail Party? Take the quiz for yourself:
Social Media Personality Questionnaire
We had a lot of fun with that exercise, and I offered some tips for each personality type to step up their social media game. Next, we moved into a section dedicated to dispelling some common social media myths, because I find that many businesses limit their potential with social media due to a few common misunderstandings. Specifically, we dispelled the following social media rumors:
- Blogs are dead
- Social media strategy only works for “fun” products or services
- Social media marketing is a “new thing” or “early mover” strategy
- Social Media isn’t measurable
After destroying those nasty rumors, we moved on to a discussion about content strategy, and why it is a core component of any successful social media plan. We were only able to cover the basics on this rather deep topic during the allotted timeframe, but I felt a couple “Ohhh…” moments during this discussion as the pieces started to fall into place as to why content strategy is so vital to success. To help ISES members build their content strategy and stay on track, we offered 7 steps to building your content strategy, and a free downloadable social media editorial calendar template. The final section of the presentation was focused on delivering a few delicious tips, tricks and examples for blogs, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Based on audience feedback, I think the following social media tips were the biggest eye openers for this group:
- Most blogging platforms have time scheduling capabilities
- How and why businesses should get a Facebook vanity url
- Twitter is not the most efficient platform for managing Twitter
- You need to fill out your LinkedIn Profile 100%
- Remember to listen
And speaking of eye openers, after watching this video I realized I delivered a large amount of “ums” along with my social media tips. My public speaking teacher at Wash U is cringing right now. #notetoself Thanks again to ISES for the invitation to speak to such a fun and professional group, to Highlands Golf & Tennis Center for hosting the event and to Lisa for recording the session and giving me the old “cut throat” signal as I was approaching my time limit. What did you score on the Social Media Cocktail Party Quiz? What are some other rumors about social media you often hear? Tell us in comments!
Beyond The Cocktail Party – Making Social Media Work for You
About the Author Erin Steinbruegge is a Partner at The Loud Few who specializes in interactive marketing strategy. You can learn more about her here or follow her on twitter at twitter.com/steinburglar.
Romona says:
Surprisingly, I scored 12 on the Social Media Cocktail Party Quiz? I don’t know how as I have been engaging in Social Media for less than a month. LOL!
Other rumors that I hear about social media are that Facebook is only for b2c businesses, therefore I have stayed away from it for some time. I am now trying to figure out how I can incorporate it into the social media mix.
May 12, 2011 @ 3:52 pm