Communicating Through Social Media: Essential for RD's

1.Communicating ThroughSocial Media:Essential for RDs May 13, 2011 Presented at the New Jersey Dietetic Association 79thAnnual Meeting Elisabeth DAlto, RD DAlto Nutrition, LLC a nutrition communicationsand consulting company www. daltonutrition .com Presentation2011 DAlto Nutrition, LLC

Understand how the Internet has shifted towards Web 2.0, an interactive means of communication

Understand how to use Social Media efficiently and effectively by creating a Strategic Plan

Learn how to create opportunities for your career and business through Social Media

The Internet has evolved dramatically over recent years

Social Media has exploded.

We cannot ignore this.

We must adapt to change and grow with it, instead of fear the unknown.

Newspaper

Magazines

Newsletters

Brochures

Twitter

Facebook

Linked in

You Tube

Websites

E-zines

And many more!

One Way

Authoritarian

Passive

Static

Closed

Two Way

Democratic

Active

Dynamic

Collaborative

Communication Model

Listen

Create and transmit message

Get Feedback

Repeat with Changed Behavior

This is our basic structure of communication, no matter which method we choose. (traditional media or social media)

WEB 2.0aka Social Media Takeover

Now, its a place where people communicate and have conversations

Constant stream of communication

24/7/365

Expect Feedback (both positive and negative)

Social Media provides you the ability to self publish and promote yourself, your products, and your thoughts in real time to literally millions of people who can respond back.

Released April 2011

Sponsored by Social Media Examiner

By: Michael A. Stalzner

About how marketers are using social media to grow their businesses

Top Benefits of Social Media

#1 Advantage is Generating more business exposure

#2 Increased traffic

#3 Improved search rankings

Other Benefits of Social Media

Improved Sales

New business relationships

Generates qualified leads for opportunity

Reduce overall marketing expenses

Top Social Media Tools (in that order)

Facebook

Twitter

Linked In

Age Factor

People aged 20-29 spend more time than any other age group using social media marketing followed by 30-39 year olds.

There is a direct relationship b/w age and time spent on social media.

Time Commitment

The majority of marketers (58%) are using social media 6 hours or more each week.

More than 1/3 (34%) are using it 11 hrs or more/week

Video Marketing

77% of marketers plan on increasing their use of You Tube and video marketing

The Learning Curve

70% of marketers want to learn more about Facebook

69% of marketers want to learn more about Blogging

High Value on Social Media

90%of marketers indicate that social media is important for their business

Think about it

No longer are people calling up

1-800-customer service

They go right on their computers and post their feelings about a certain product or company online. For ALL to see, without giving the company a chance to defend themselves.

Brings word of mouth to a whole new level

Things can go viral in a matter of minutes (even seconds) on the internet.

Remember:

Better not to participate, than participate, and do a so-so job

Its a commitment to build and defend your brand.

Social Monitoring is VERY important.

Is anyone (current/potential clients) talking about you? your business? Your competition? The industry?

And it gives you a chance to correct what is wrong

Many tools available now for Social Media monitoring to help companies monitor conversations about products, competitors, and the industry.

Create a Social Media Strategy

Build Relationships

Deliver Great Content

Be Consistent and Follow Through

A Social Media Strategic Plan is a MUST

Ask yourself

What are your goals for becoming involved in Social Media?

(Ex. -Use social media to increase exposure and reach target audiences)

A Strategic Plan for your business and your career (even if you are an employee) is critical. Ask yourself where do you want to be in 5, 10, 20 years? And Social Media should be a part of that.

Generate awareness

Put yourself out there and have people talking about you

Build Loyalty among customers/clients

Have them trust you and come back to your business, good referral source as well

Driving Sales

Generate business $$$$

Ask yourself:

What do I want to accomplish?

Who is my target audience?

Where is my target audience?

How do I plan to reach them?

Facebook and Twitter are the most effective methods for reaching customers/clients

(and FREE!)

Central hub of all social media

Most visited and active social media networking venue

550 M + users on a global basis!

> 700,000 local business have FB

50% active users log on every single day

Tweets - 140 characters or less

Constant stream of communication available to the public

175 M users

Averages 50 M tweets everyday

2-3 new accounts are created every second

Tweetlater - set up scheduled tweets in advance

You can use Twitter to drive traffic to your other social media accounts

(ex. TweetDeck)

Great networking tool, tailored more for the business professional

Its another source of free marketing

Only can link up if you have a mutual acquaintance or a connection

This can help to grow your business because you are making connections with others who may make referrals to you once they trust you, understand you.

They will do this by visiting your other social media platforms.

Social media profiles, (like Facebook, Twitter, and Linked in) rank high with major search engines

Google yourself, and see what pops up first

Blogging helps build your brand

Over 200 M blogs and >50% post daily

~1/3 of bloggers post opinions about brands

Choose a platform (wordpress, blogger)

Helps increase visibility

Blog 3x/week, or be consistent in whatever amount you choose

Best time of day to update posts either

6:30 - 8:30 AM or 8:00 - 10:00 PM(my experience)

4th most visited site on the Internet

#2 search engine on the web (Google is #1)

Video Marketing is on the rise

Be the nutrition expert

Share your knowledge and expertise

Give people a taste of what you have to offer

Create a mini-commerical about You or Your Company (a sound bite)

Very important to be visible on the web

Provide an About Me page, Contact page, Services page, etc

After people see your social media platforms, they will go to your website for more info.

Then take business to another medium to close business (phone, email, in person meeting)

Enjoy a social media balanced diet of Facebook, Twitter, Linked In, blogs and whatever the next big thing is. Participate in all of them but, do not neglect your real personal relationships.

Social Media can help businesses build trust with customers/clients

It gives a place for customers totalk back(remember web 2.0)

If they trust you, understand you, know you, then they will buy from you

Social Media is about creating a conversation about your brand

Take the message directly to consumers (engage them in conversation directly)

Build trust by adding value to the community consistently

Find new customers through friends/family

Do not neglect your personal social media platforms either

These too can be potential avenues that drive business to your company

Its a great referral source too

Content is king when it comes to Social Media

Keep it timely and relevant

Important to reach customers wherever they are

Consumers have 24/7 access to Social Media via cell phones. Be sure they can access your info via mobile phone.

Keep content professional and avoid mistakes

Biggest fault of the internet - once its out there, IT IS out there.

Google Never Forgets.

Always post to strengthen your brand

Its good to take a stand on a topic and be controversial ONLY if you are truly passionate about that topic

Do NOT stir the pot for no reason

Advice to RDs -

Sign up for ADA Daily News, several newsletters, listservs, e-zines, and other daily news listings.

This is where you pull your content from.

What is going on in the world today, see what the trends are, what are people talking about

Use this information as conversation starters for your social media platforms

Being part of SM is essentially like having your own show. You are communicating thru mass media and reaching many people, and your audience has chosen to tune in to your channel.

Use your social media platforms consistently

Dont start it and forget it

This is a commitment

Follow through or your brand looks less credible

Be consistent in branding

Consumers get bombarded with millions of messages and advertisements daily

Keep your message clear to help it break through the clutter

Ask yourself: Why should they remember ME?

Studies suggest that people need to hear companies name at least 7 times before they trust and respect it enough to become a customer

7 times!

So be consistent in your social media activity so people will see you themselves and then also hear about you from others

Do your research

What is my competition doing?

Who is my competition?

Where are they on the internet?

How often do they update their social media platforms?

What are their fans saying? (FB)

Linked In, Facebook, and Twitter have all allowed me to easily connect with people and companies that would have been nearly impossible for me to do before.

People need to be aware that you exist

Follow up with people who leave comments to you on Facebook, Linked In, Twitter

Write back and start a conversation.

Then move it to another medium for the potential business transaction (phone, email, in person meeting)

Social Media conversations can help to grow your business

Maybe not directly but definitely indirectly

Helps with customer retention (if you are talking to your customers and answer their questions, then they will come back to your site)

Food companies that we have relationships with look to team up with us to help disseminate their messages by posting on our Facebook and Twitter accounts.

Ask yourself these questions

Are you willing to let misinformation multiply?

Is the debate winnable?

Can you offer credible information in quick bites?

Do you support other credible voices?

Do you document your position or stand on a given topic?

How do you distinguish yourself from the NON-RDs out there giving out nutrition information?

Flaunt your credentials and expertise.

Networking with ideal client prospects via SM is a must!

Thenon-RDfood, nutrition, fitness services are very successfully carving out their expert status in the eyes of consumers via SM.

Turn your virtual connections into clients and income.

(the RD)

Being out there is all that counts.

Be everywhere.

I believe that blogging, having a website, and participating in social media all increase your changes of being found.

Be the nutrition expert

Visit other forums and participate in Q&As

For example, forums for people who enjoy cooking, weight loss support groups, food allergy groups, diabetes groups, the list goes on and on

Do not just network within our profession because guess what?

Thats your competition!

Network with other professionals (doctors, chiropractors, dentists, endocronologists, podiatrists, etc)

They are the ones who will refertheir clientsto you.

Social Media can help your business grow if you:

Build Trust with Clients

Create and Maintain Your Brand

Provide Relevant Content

Reach Your Target Audience

Follow Through on Promises

Web 3.0

Web 3.0 is already out there - smartphone apps, mobile websites, and text campaigns

To come..Web 4.0? 5.0?

Next big trend: Video marketing (more use of You Tube among self-employed and small companies)

Social Media has gonemainstream .

We have to learn how to use this medium to grow our business by finding opportunities and capitalizing on them.

Thank you!

Questions?????

Business

Communicating Through Social Media: Essential for RD's