bake - February 2012 - 10

management

The Buzz Stops Here: In the Mind of a Social Media Coach
You may have heard of Facebook and Twitter, but are you aware of the mind boggling statistics? If Facebook were a country, it would be the third largest in the world; there are about 200 million tweets a day; there is a century worth of video uploaded to YouTube every 10 days...and the list goes on. If you are looking for access to a huge market — and moving your company to China or India doesn’t appeal to you — social media is your ticket. Use Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, YouTube, Pinterest — and possibly a dozen other specialty sites — and you can have your own guerilla marketing machine. Like the proof box you bought on eBay, social media outlets are great deals, but they don’t come with manuals. Managing all of these can be a daunting task. That’s when a social media coach can steer you in the right direction and make it all seem like a piece of cake. LinkedIn Social media is about engaging your customer. The consumer of today wants coupons, new products and, of course, the latest gossip. They will often volunteer as much input as a disgruntled spouse. The following are some no-nonsense, hands-on pointers for the best results possible: Facebook A post or two a day is sufficient; posts that are short and sweet are more likely to attract likes and comments. Stay away from automated posting, as they decrease the response rate by up to 70%. Create “Fangates” and other custom content. For example, rather than your wall, users who have not “liked” you are directed to a page that asks them to “like” you. Facebook developers can help you add contests, menus and coupons, as well as supersize your proﬁle picture and much more at a reasonable rate. Twitter Limited to 140 characters, “tweets” are shorter lived than Facebook posts. During prime time, you can tweet every 20 to 40 minutes without risk of offending your followers. Automated posting decreases response rates here as well. Most social media consultants can point you to tools that allow you to have automated postings while keeping up the appearance of Pinterest Pinterest is a virtual pin board that lets you organize and share all the things you ﬁnd on the Web. However, be careful not to turn Pinterest into your own commercial space. There is no problem with pinning pictures of your own bakery products, but be sure to have plenty of other “pins” to go with them. If you don’t want to pin pictures of competing bakeries or other bakeries from across the country, pin things like inspirations, art, wedding consultants you work with and the like.
TOB IAS WILHELM IN DEPEN DEN T SA LES CON SU LTA N T

INVITE ONLY
While most social media outlets are open to join, Pinterest still requires an invitation from a current user. So be sure to have a friend, staff member or colleague (like a wedding consultant you do business with) send you an invitation.

a manual post. You should customize your proﬁle page and always “follow back,” meaning follow those who follow you.

Fairly easy to maintain yourself, this is your “business card” to the business-to-business world. LinkedIn is often the ﬁrst point of contact with bridal consultants, wholesale customers and other professionals. Make sure you have at least an updated picture and a brief bio, as journalists tend to use LinkedIn for research. Google+ A recent addition to the social media world, Google+ is not optional, but more like a requirement, especially in bigger markets. Google+ customers are generally quick to engage. It often takes only weeks to build up a followership.

10 < FEB 2012 | bakemag.com

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bake - February 2012

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