Building Communities: Search and Social Hawaii

This session welcomes L.P. Neenz Faleafine (@Neenz) talking building community. Let’s get right to it.

Step 1 with clients:

Do an assessment of the client, interview end user, find out what they want, research the brand, don’t assume what you want is what the users want.

This is very important if you’re a consultant. A lot of times, people love the brand and don’t like the CEO. Do an assessment on all the principles in the company. Do an assessment of the industry. The conversation.

After the assessment:

Which social networks will you be using? Go where your target audience it. There are other places other than Facebook. Make a strategic plan. Don’t just set up your accounts and leave them there. It makes it look like you (the brand) don’t care. Create a sustainable content marketing schedule.

Listen:

Talking is not the first step. Listening is. Figure out how they like to be approached. It’s about the people, not the products.

Invite:

You will be invited to the conversation once you’ve done all the steps prior.

Provide value:

What does your community find valuable? It’s not what you find valuable. Be a resource for your community for industry news. What are your competitors doing that is worth sharing?

Enchant:

You become an influencer in your industry and in the community. People will dub you the person to listen to.

Takeaway: Listen to your community and your customers before you come up with a strategy, before you launch a product or service. They might want something totally different than what you are providing.

Tools for monitoring

• Radian6 (fee-based)
• Google Alerts (free)
• Use the 30-day trials as much as you can if you’re on a budget

Jessica Lee is the founder and chief creative for bizbuzzcontent Inc., a marketing boutique that focuses on digital content strategy and professional writing services for businesses.

See Jessica's author page for links to connect on social media.