Denver’s premier social media marketing group, Social Marketing for Business – Join the Conversation!, registered 101 attendees on Friday, February 15, 2013, for Developing, Communicating & Understanding Your Brand Experience on Social Media. This was Chapter Two in the customized Social Media Marketing Strategy Plans the group is creating in its monthly sessions.
Webolutions, a Denver web design and SEO company, CEO John Vachalek imparted his company’s definition of a brand—a memory bank created over time–and how successful brands are developed in this era of social media marketing. Vachalek explained the biology-based reasons brands like Coca-Cola, Apple and Whole Foods Market are able to generate loyalty among customers and genuinely succeed at building community. They do this, Vachalek advised, by constructing and delivering content based on “why” rather than “what.” In this way, an emotional connection is achieved with people most likely to drive referrals and become brand champions.
Video courtesy Kevin Campbell Films
Here’s a partial recap of the conversation, built mostly from live tweets from the event!
What if you manufacture scientific instruments? Is touchy-feely, experience & emotion still important?
Your “why” may not be “touchy-feely.” Not all emotions are. Leading with your desired brand experience is closer to the type of content people engage in Internet social networks to consume, it also communicates much more meaningfully to those who share your values. Focusing on your instruments limits your long-term profitability and makes social media marketing success impossible.
Developing your content? Answer this question: What do you stand for?
Define your brand experience! There is a reason you do what you do instead of anything else. Why have you chosen this, of all things, to do in the world? What is it about this particular thing that drives you? Share your passion with the world. “I believe ______.”
Content marketing is your opportunity to add value to your community and attract people to it.
Anymore, it’s also essential for search engine marketing. Sharing your content on your Facebook Page and Twitter feed are starts. Research and identify influencers who share your values and whose audience is interested in similar content to yours.
First step in successful #SocialMedia content creation: Make sure it adds value to people’s lives.
Touch the heart. Provoke thought. Impart knowledge. In these ways, brands are built.
Using email marketing? DON’T — unless you can truly add value.
Here are two ways of asking the same question:
1. “Can I send you my enewsletter?”
2. “Would you be interested in receiving free tips and information on current marketing trends once a month?”
Now, the enewsletter must carry emotional, intellectual and/or tactical appeal. It works the same for content on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Pinterest…
Join the conversation on Twitter! Just use Hashtag #SMGDenver when you tweet! The group also maintains Denver social media marketing conversations on Facebook.
Social media marketing is not a replacement for eye to eye; it is an extension thereof. Social media marketing is relationship marketing. Just as we choose, in the offline world, to spend time with people and at places that make us happier, smarter and more capable, so it is with social media and the online world.
Now well into its fourth year, Social Marketing for Business – Join the Conversation! is the largest Meetup in the world focused on Generating ROI from Social Media Marketing. The group meets at the South Metro Denver Chamber on the third Friday of each month. Everyone is welcome. There is no cost to attend. Doors open at 7:00 AM for business networking and breakfast provided by My Favorite Muffin and Peet’s Coffee SouthGlenn.
Here’s what others are saying about the group:
What I have learned here has really helped me over the last year and a half to implement more effectively Social Media Marketing into my business plan. – Garland T.
These meet-ups do a great deal towards catching me up with the whole concept of Social Marketing for Business. – Brad N.
Who Should Attend: Executives and Business Owners interested in improving their social media marketing acumen and Return On Investment (ROI) from social media marketing
Where: South Metro Denver Chamber, 2154 E. Commons Ave., Suite 342, Centennial, CO, 80122, in the Streets at SouthGlenn.
Upcoming Events
Friday, March 15, 2013, 7:30 AM – 9:00 AM Chapter Three: Legal & Copyright Considerations for Social Media Marketing – Guest Expert Speaker: Jim Thomas, Attorney/Owner at Minor & Brown
This event precedes St. Patrick’s Day weekend so wear some green and come get your Irish on! It’s also the final opportunity to collect a binder and all materials from January and February—essential fundamentals for a Social Media Marketing Strategy Plan.
Friday, April 19, 2013, 7:30 AM – 9:00 AM
Chapter Four: Social Media Marketing and SEO – Get a top rank for my website!
Friday, May 17, 2013, 7:30 AM – 9:00 AM
Chapter Five: Effective Use of Video to Drive Social Media Engagement
Make it a priority to get this recurring event on your schedule. Build your social media marketing strategy plan and improve your ROI from social media!
