Leveraging Facebook & Twitter for Your Small Business

Jonathan Arehart, President & CEO, Cavendo

Erin DeWaters, VP, Communications, Fairfax Chamber

The Business Case

What the Statistics Say…

• 67% of Internet users are using social networks

• 59% are on Facebook

• 16% use Twitter

– Highly educated; opinion leaders; urban

Source: Pew Internet Project

What It Means for Marketers….

• New pathways to customers

• Timeless/searchable

• More interactive/dynamic/real time

• More linked and social

• Conversational model

Rules of the Road

Twitter– Tweet = 140 characters or less– @= people, businesses, non-profits, products, etc.– #= discussion topics. The list of top trending topics is available

from the home screen in the left column – RT = Retweet. This is a way to share something that someone

else has posted– MT = modified tweet. You have retweeted what someone else

has posted, but made changes.– Reply = reply. You can reply directly to a specific tweet posted by

someone else. The conversation becomes viewable.– Direct messages: You can send direct messages via Twitter. You

can use this if asked a question you feel more comfortable answering privately.

– Twitter automatically shortens hyperlinks now, but if you ever need to do it manually, use www.tinyurl.com.

Facebook– There is not a limit to the length of content– There IS a big difference between your profile and the ECW Fan

page• Profile = personal• Fan page = primarily business/event-related• For your particular business, however, the lines are a little more

blurred– Evaluate whether your Twitter will go to your profile or your fan

page • Recommendation: send it to the fan page

– Multimedia is king on Facebook. • Use the camera on your phone and post the photos. • Facebook is also a great place to post audio/video

Growing Your Pages

TwitterObjective 1: Increase number of followers

– Tactic: Golden Rule: do unto others as they would do unto you. Follow others to be followed

– Tactic: Add content consistently. Tag others’ handles (@) and contribute to conversations (#)

Objective 2: Tweet with existing & potential clients– Tactic: Every time you get a business card, check Twitter and hit follow– Tactic: Follow & communicate with your current clients (something as simple as wishing

them luck on a presentation or meeting they’ve posted about is an interaction you didn’t have before)

Objective 3: Capitalize on your affiliations and activities – Tactic: Follow and communicate with groups you belong to. If they re-tweet you, you

have reached more people and likely gained followers– Tactic: Follow and communicate about/with news and industry outlets you read

regularly. – Tactic: If you do a TV interview, post about it! If you make a presentation, post about it!

Volunteering? Post about it!

FacebookObjective 1: Increase number of friends

– Tactic: Upload contact list to Facebook

– Tactic: “Friend” current clients and contacts regularly (and accept their requests)

Objective 2: Increase number of fans pages

– Tactic: Feed Twitter feed to this page for consistent content updates

– Tactic: Link from your website and marketing emails to this page rather than your profile

Objective 3: Utilize Facebook as a place for multimedia content

– Tactic: Upload photos

– Tactic: Upload audio segments

– Tactic: Upload video

Content & Upkeep

• Don’t let your sites go dormant

• Respond to questions/feedback/interactions

• Promote your sites!– Website

– Email signature

– Marketing products

Advertising Options

• Facebook

– Geographic targeting

– Industry targeting

– Demographic targeting

– “Likes” = communication channels

• Twitter

– New analytics

– New sophistication

Thank you!Jonathan Arehart, President & CEO, Cavendo

jarehart@cavendo.comErin DeWaters, VP, Communications, Fairfax Chamber

edewaters@fairfaxchamber.org