Edition 1: No Business Like Social Business

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EDITION 1 // SPECIAL INAUGURAL EDITION

Special Feature

7KEYS

FOR SOCIAL SUCCESS

Tennis Ace to Facebook Pro 14 Detailed Case Studies Melbourne Mums Unlocking New Culture with Social “Social Media is the only method of advertising that’s worked for us in the last 6 months” Ellen Pike, Tura Charters, Gladstone

….AND MORE on the thriving business of Social Media!

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B U S I N E S S

L I K E

S O C I A L

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NOW ON THE

APPLE NEWSTAND

The Magazine Social Media Success Magazine is a dual-format (digital and print) journal that profiles and analyses business owners and managers successfully using Social Media to promote their businesses.

If you know of a business that would be a great case study for Social Media Success Magazine, please email editor@socialmediasuccessmagazine.com.au

Message From The Editor To the inaugural edition of Social Media Success Magazine When I first started working with clients and leveraging their Social Media marketing to promote their business and products, I had no idea how far it would go. Since then I’ve worked with some great businesses and helped them get explosive growth in their Social Media and bring in some incredible results and benefits for their business.

Our dream behind publishing Social Media Success Magazine was to show business owners and managers the benefits behind using Social Media to promote their businesses, as long as it is used correctly. To help explain this we have included a variety of great case studies of businesses that are kicking goals on Social Media.

These case studies will show you the secrets behind successful campaigns. In each magazine we will also be sharing with you many bite-sized tips behind using Social Media from the businesses we interview, as well as from other experts in the Social Media field.

To your success on Social Media and in business, Dan Willersdorf Editor of Social Media Success Magazine

DESIGN: Gordana Brborovic COVER PHOTO: Mark Eaglesham Garage Photography PRINTING: Coral Coast Printers,

www.coralcoastprinters.com

TO ORDER SOCIAL MEDIA SUCCESS MAGAZINE:

Visit www.socialmediasuccessmagazine.com.au BUSINESS ADVISORS, WEB AGENCIES & MARKETING CONSULTANTS:

To enquire about ordering bulk copies for your clients email editor@socialmediasuccessmagazine.com.au

THE TEAM DAN WILLERSDORF Dan started working in the Social Media field way back when Facebook advertising first started, using Social Media to market his web design agency. As owner of Wide Reach Social Media he has worked with hundreds of businesses to get more leads and sales from their Social Media.

He started Social Media Success Magazine in order to showcase the great results the best businesses are getting on Social Media and inspire others to learn from this.

In his spare time he Stand-up paddle boards, surfs and drinks lots of coffee. editor@socialmediasuccessmagazine.com.au

FRANCE PINZON France is a writer and editor based in Manila, Philippines. She believes that the rise of things, such as Facebook and Twitter is the Universe’s way of telling her that genetic awkwardness isn’t meant to carry on. And that overexposure to dog (and cat) photos never hurts anyone.

When she is away from the computer, she’s either busy with her vintage LPs or trying out a new burrito-and-beer joint in the city – or doing both at the same time. deputyeditor@socialmediasuccessmagazine.com.au

SHANNON WOOLACOTT Shannon is in her third year of University studying a Bachelor of Arts degree. She has always shared a passion for writing with a love of people, making journalism a natural career choice.

She is an avid Social Media user with a proficient understanding of business management and marketing due to experience in retail management.

In her spare time you will find her buried in a book or spending time with family and friends at the beach. news@socialmediasuccessmagazine.com.au

KATRINA CAREY Katrina loves using Social Media to indulge her passion in women’s style and clothing and is happiest when her Facebook news feed is full of the latest season’s collections! Katrina rates Instagram as her favourite, most preferred platform followed closely by Facebook and then Pinterest.

Katrina is frequently called upon by family, friends and colleagues to assist them with their facebooking and other online social matters. Katrina looks forward to the day when people are more willing and less scared to share more with their friends via online tools and when people understand their privacy settings enough to be confident to do so! katrina@widereachsocialmedia.com.au

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CONTENT 03

The Magazine

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The Team

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Content

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Smashing the Competition

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Fish or Cut Bait

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Choosing the Right Social Network for Your Business

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Weddings, Chocolate & Love

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A Walk in the Park

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Social Media Catches Big Crowd

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for Fishing Competition

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An Open House Is Good For Business

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Facebook Posting Ideas

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A Perfect Place And Perfect Marketing

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Oh, So Delicious, Indeed

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Australia’s No. 1 Infants Product Goes

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Social and is Reaping the Rewards

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The 7 Keys for Social Success

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Outside the Box

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Social Media Helps Father Get Life Vest for Daughter

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Little Lucy’s Goes Big On Social Media

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Melbourne Mums Unlocking

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New Culture with Social

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Farm, Fun and Facebook Likes EDITION 1 // SPECIAL INAUGURAL EDITION

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SMASHING THE COMPETITION

A closer look at coaching business Ace Tennis, and how Facebook turned their double-faults and unforced errors in marketing to concrete business victories in no time INTERVIEW BY EDITED BY

OWNER: Head

Dan Willersdorf France Pinzon

Coach Luke Harvey

YEARS IN BUSINESS: 2011

to Present

WEBSITE: www.herveybaytennis.com.au

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ounded by Luke Harvey back in 2011, Ace Tennis are the resident tennis professionals for the area and are based at the Hervey Bay & District Tennis Association.

HITS AND MISSES BEFORE FACEBOOK Luke wasted no time in doing promotions when he first started Ace Tennis. From asking for assistance from his existing networks, to reaching out to various schools,

FACEBOOK PAGE: www.facebook.com/

AceTennisHerveyBay LIKES: 1,160

and counting

the business went all out before realising they should be taking another more cost-effective approach.

Just six months in, Ace Tennis Hervey Bay decided to open their Facebook business page, which has now become more important than a website for the club.

FINDINGS Why Facebook 1. CUSTOMER CARE One of the many valuable things that Ace Tennis has gotten from Facebook has been extending their means to provide customer service. “I try and update it, if not every day, every second day,” Luke shares. “Because I’m coaching every day, I don’t get to see every one of our customers that comes into the tennis centre. I’m often tied up doing a lesson while they’re there having a lesson with another coach, so by having a Facebook page, at least those people can communicate with me

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THE CHALLENGE

THE ACTION

THE RESULT

Get customers for a new tennis coaching business

Regular use of Facebook including paid Facebook advertising

New customers coming via Facebook, Facebook reaching more customers than their website

by just sending a message or just interacting through a post on the page.”

“We try and highlight some kids that have done well or doing well or even give away prizes, something like that just to engage the people there more,” he adds, “So it really bridges the gap between the customer and the service provider. And if you want to promote an event and get people excited about the event [you post it on Facebook].”

2. BUDGET-FRIENDLY, FOCUSED ADS

same time,” Luke narrates, “It kept not just promoting our page, but it kept promoting that post in people’s newsfeeds, so we had something like 80 comments on one post, which, you know, that’s way above what we normally have.”

When You DO Get Your Business On Facebook…

1. BACK-AND-FORTH THE CONVERSATION SHOULD GO!

Are Facebook ads really all that effective?: “We’re using ads for things like cardio tennis to try and get it out there and get people interested in it.” Luke suggests.

“It’s really about promoting the page in general and getting people to like the page and then they see those events and products coming up all the time.”

“Try and be really engaging to your customers.

Obviously, answering or recognising their comments, I think, is a good thing,” Luke says. “Like their comment or comment to show you’re interested in what they’re saying as well.”

“Facebook is way more important to us than our website”

Trying out Facebook Advertising? Luke shares some tips on how to run ads better: “Run ads around times that you think your business would benefit from it. In our case, around the seasons of tennis,” he adds, “maybe running just on the weekends or something.”

“At the Australian Open we were doing about $10 a day and we just figured for that month—30 days—at $10 a day it’s only $300. Compare that to a newspaper ad in The Independent at $400 or $500,” he explains. “In the 30 days it was probably four or five new likes a day.”

3. TO ATTRACT MORE ATTENTION “I took a picture of our basket with all the balls in it, and I did a guessing competition and an ad at the

2. USE IT - WISELY AND REGULARLY

“Facebook is way more important to us than our website. It’s reached many more customers for tennis than our website,” Luke reveals, “and it’s so much easier to keep updated as well than a real website.”

Ace Tennis offers Private and Semi-private Lessons for children (as young as 3 years old) and adults, group lessons, squad sessions, has a fully-stocked pro shop for all your tennis needs, and even provides restringing of racquets.

ACE TENNIS HERVEY BAY OPENING HOURS Mon - Tue: 3:00 pm - 7:30 pm Wed - Fri: 3:00 pm - 7:00 pm For access to new case studies each week visit www.socialmediasuccessmagazine.com.au and enter your email to subscribe

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Fish or Cut Bait INTERVIEW BY

Shannon Woolacott

EDITED BY

France Pinzon

How long-range fishing charter business Tura Charters was able to recover from the downturn in business from the Global Financial Crisis thanks to the smart use of Social Media FOUNDERS/OWNERS: Chris YEARS IN BUSINESS: 2000

and Ellen Pike

to Present

WEBSITE: turacharters.com FACEBOOK PAGE: www.facebook.com/turacharters LIKES: 2,199

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or years, Gladstone-based fishing charter business Tura Charters relied on the good ol’ word-of-mouth to get their name out to potential customers. Their vessels that would cross the expanses of the Swain Reefs, Coral Sea, Capricorn Bunker Group and Shoalwater Bay have offered fishing, diving, cruising and research services to their passengers for over 14 years. Promotion during the developmental years of Tura Charters via word of mouth and all the regular types of advertising; fishing magazines, yellow pages and web page was good enough.

“we needed to adjust our thoughts on advertising” In fact business was so good that in 2007 they made the big decision to purchase a second charter boat, a significant investment but, one they felt confident doing as “business was fine.”

But then the global financial crisis hit in 2008 and the charter industry crashed hard as people cut down on their discretionary spending. All of a sudden Tura Charters were struggling to fill one boat, much less two.

and counting

found that our webpage and usual advertising wasn’t enough.”

“We had been doing this for a long time, and we were slowing down and thinking, ‘Where are we going and what are we going to do to improve all of this’,” Ellen explains. “So to keep up with today’s trends we needed to adjust our thoughts on advertising to fit in with the usage of phone apps, iPads and all the different tools we needed and we thought Social Media will be the way to get it out there.”

TAKING ON SOCIAL MEDIA AND FACEBOOK Ellen wasn’t even using Social Media personally at that stage (and at present still hasn’t much), so once they decided to use Social Media, they sought professional assistance from Social Media experts and saw good results almost instantly upon implementation. “We’re uploading photos and videos and news on our latest

They tried every sort of traditional advertising to recover from the GFC, but to no great result. It was then that Chris Pike and wife Ellen decided that traditional advertising wasn’t going to cut it if they wanted their business to survive. “We needed a boost to improve our work in chartering for both our vessels and we just 8

For access to new case studies each week visit www.socialmediasuccessmagazine.com.au and enter your email to subscribe

charters [and] we found the responses really good,” Ellen shares. “People wanted to know about it and they loved to see the pictures.”

FINDINGS

from putting up pictures and the news that we had been putting on our website. We decided, ‘No we’ll put them on our Facebook page as well and we get more following from that than we do from our webpage’.”

1. WIDER REACH Despite initial worries about getting negative feedback online, Tura Charters eventually realised the fact that their business was able to reach out to far more people than normal advertising ever could. “My main concern was knowing that you could have a lot of negative comments maybe on your timeline from people. I now realise that you always get negative [feedback] from the public, I suppose, no matter how hard you try,” Ellen says. But she has discovered that the wide reach and the benefits they have received have far outweighed any risk of negative feedback.

2. ADVERTISING ON FACEBOOK The Pikes admit their age was one of the things that made them a little reluctant to embrace Social Media the first time, but Ellen with the right advice with things such as putting ads on Facebook it relieved them of the stress in running a business and trying to figure out their Social Media. “With our Social Media managers helping us in the advertising area, it has taken a lot of weight off of my shoulders and given me room to breathe and continue to do everything else within our business, without the overwhelming fact that I’ve got to be out there, I’ve got to be advertising, I’ve got to be trying to get in work all the time,” Ellen says of accomplishing such a task made possible by hiring trained Social Media managers.

“By advertising through Facebook and generally keeping up to that as much as I can has just lifted and helped me immensely. It can actually create a lot of health problems if you’ve got a lot of stress on you and it just uplifted that and it really is a big help for me,” Ellen explains.

When You DO Get Your Business On Social Media…

1. UPDATE IT REGULARLY “Get it set up properly, be consistent and make a habit out of viewing and responding to your page,” Ellen shares.

2. BE INFORMATIVE! “We found that pictures, videos and especially our news updates are always good and always get a good response,” she adds. “Look at what your business offers and post to suit.”

All of a sudden Tura Charters were struggling to fill one boat, much less two.

3. FACEBOOK KEEPS TRACK OF THE RESULTS • Facebook fans have grown from 209 to 2,021.

• Website visitors have increased from 1000 per month to 3,500 • 2500 people visit their website each month from Facebook (an increase of 350%) Ellen said that over the last 6 months, out of all of the advertising they had tried, Social Media was the only one that had worked for them. “The results were almost straight away,” she says of how they have been able to see and study the immediate effects of what they post on their Facebook page. “It was really good and we were quite surprised with the results we got, especially

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FACEBOOK FANS

WEBSITE VISITORS

209  2,021.

1000 per month  3,500 per month

867% increase

350% increase

3. GET PROFESSIONAL ASSISTANCE “I learnt a lot” says Ellen, “how to put things on there, how to set up the photo page for the business with the logo. Just all the little general bits and the privacy bits that I really wasn’t aware of, just lots of information that night and how to connect with other people and using the messaging if you didn’t want to go on timeline and how to do it privately.“

“The results were almost straight away”

to do it, enlist someone to help you with it because it certainly is a benefit to you.”

“With our Social Media managers helping us in the advertising area it has taken a lot of weight off my shoulders and given me room to breathe and continue to do everything else within our business that I do without the overwhelming fact that I’ve got to be out there, I’ve got to be advertising I’ve got to be trying to get in work all the time.”

Looking Back On It… “Being that little bit older and just getting into this type of thing we were a little bit wary,” Ellen realises.

4. DON’T BE AFRAID TO ASK FOR HELP – CONSIDER OUTSOURCING “It’s pretty constant so you’ve got to be on top of it all the time and if you aren’t able to do it then you definitely need some help running it as you do with most other things in your business,” Ellen suggests. “It’s an asset to have someone to help you, because it grows every day. I think if you can’t do it yourself, you haven’t got the time

But now, she says that it’s a sense of relief that they are using it well and it has worked so well in getting the business recognised. “And it has had this big effect on the business. Slowly filtering through with lots of people viewing the page, we’re now starting to get a lot of our enquiries actually from Facebook so it’s a big benefit to us,” she explains. “I think if you want to get your business out there, give it a go, because it’s definitely worth it; it’s the way to go. It’s what’s happening in this generation.”

Tura Charters offer fishing, diving, spearfishing, cruising, ecotours and research, among others. Visit www. turacharters.com for bookings and information regarding their vessels and charters.

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CHOOSING THE RIGHT SOCIAL NETWORK FOR YOUR BUSINESS

by Dan WiIlersdorf

A good question I was asked recently was: “Which Social Media do I use? I keep hearing about Facebook mostly. Does Facebook get better results? Just wondering why not LinkedIn,Twitter or blogging?”

The one platform we consistently see people getting the best results from is Facebook.

One of the main reasons for this is it has 4 times as many active users as the next largest platform, as shown clearly in this graph.

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SOCIAL MEDIA

12

PLATFORMS

10

IN AUSTRALIA

8

(Millions of Active Users)

6 4 2 0

Facebook LinkedIn

Twitter

Instagram Snapchat Pinterest Google Plus

Facebook also has the widest demographic of users, with as many people over 30 years of age on Facebook as people under 30 years. The over 50 years demographic is the fastest growing age group on Facebook. Even with younger users utilising Instagram heavily, the statistics show that they are using Facebook still as well.

WHEN CHOOSING THE RIGHT SOCIAL NETWORK FOR YOUR BUSINESS, CONSIDER THESE 3 FACTORS: 1. WHICH PLATFORM ARE THE MOST OF YOUR USERS ON? · Facebook has the most users and the widest spread · LinkedIn users are predominantly business people and professionals

2. WHICH PLATFORM ARE YOU MOST FAMILIAR WITH AND WILL YOU BE COMFORTABLE USING IT? · Choose one that you can and want to use

· Instagram’s user base is younger and more tech savvy

Consider the content you have available or can create and how suitable this is for each platform.

The content most suitable for each platform is: · Facebook: Text, images, video and links

· Twitter has generally a more tech-savvy, social media-savvy, and a younger audience. It is also widely used by those working in the media industry · Pinterest has a predominantly female user base (above 60%), mainly in the 25-45 year age group and are in the affluent and educated demographic group

3. WHICH PLATFORM BEST SUITS THE CONTENT YOU CAN CREATE

· LinkedIn: Text-based content and links If you follow this advice and choose the right Social Network for your business, you are one step closer to Social Media success!

· T w i t t e r : S h o r t t e x t - b a s e d content · Instagram: Image and video content · Pinterest: Image content (it is a very visual platform). If you have an online store that sells visually appealing objects, it can be a great way to drive traffic.

Weddings, Chocolate & Love A love of Chocolate, Weddings and a desire to “get it right from the start” is the recipe for Cha Cha’s success INTERVIEW BY

OWNER: Melanice

Jacobsen

YEARS IN BUSINESS: 2011

to present

WEBSITE: www.chachachocolate.com.au

Katrina Carey

FACEBOOK PAGE: www.facebook.com/

ChaChaChocolate LIKES: 3,802

and counting

Social Media Success Magazine recently caught up with Melanice to talk growing a brand new business using Social Media.

SMSM: Tell me about yourself and “Cha Cha Chocolate.”

Melanice Jacobsen: I’ve been in the confectionery industry most of my life because my Dad owned a chocolate factory from when I was born. Three years ago I was back working in the family business, and a lot of potential customers were coming in and talking about the new craze of candy bars. So I said to my sister that there might be a market for this, so I decided to set up a Facebook page, a business name and then off I went, that was three years ago next month.

The Social Media Efforts & Results Of Cha Cha Chocolate

SMSM: When you started Cha Cha, what platforms did you use to get your business out there?

Melanice: I researched what other businesses were doing in other regions. I didn’t send [my Facebook page] live until I was able to organise a professional photography shoot. I created four different designs of candy bars, set them up at a wonderful location and had some professional photos taken. I basically put 12

the photos on Facebook and sent it live, I think I had a hundred likes within an hour and I was so excited!

SMSM: Apart from Social Media, what other advertising did you do?

Melanice: To start with I was spending a lot of money on advertising in the wrong places. I had spent $1000 dollars on a local bridal magazine for 2 years but believe it didn’t generate much business at all. I also invested a lot of money into an Event Fair down in Brisbane, I quickly realised that promoting my business 5 hours from home would be costly and decided not to attend and losing money there also was frustrating.

For access to new case studies each week visit www.socialmediasuccessmagazine.com.au and enter your email to subscribe

SMSM: What is it that you like most about Social Media?

Melanice: The best part about Social Media is it’s easy, it’s affordable even if you’re paying to promote. It’s visual and my business is very visual. It’s easy,it’s fun and I love it. I enjoy it on a personal level so it doesn’t feel like a chore when I have to go on and post something.

SMSM: How do you find Facebook advertising?

Melanice: If I do pay to promote, it’s more of a targeted post for people within the region that will be potential clients. For only $22 to promote a photo, a special event or candy buffet – it’s affordable, if I get some interest or enquiry coming from that it was well worth it.

SMSM: Do you think that using Social Media is worth it?

Melanice: Absolutely. My business wouldn’t be where it is today without it.

Melanice’s Social Media Advice For Others SMSM: What general advice can you give to others about using Social Media?

Melanice: I think it is very important to get it right & to look professional from the beginning. I’ve researched a lot of companies like mine on Facebook & the ones that grabbed my attention were the ones that really look professional.

If you are selling a professional product or service it needs to be consistent with your Facebook page. It’s best to hire a professional for the right advice and tips, the original investment for this may make or break you.

SMSM: Do you have any tips about what to post on Social Media?

Melanice: Most of the time it has to be a post with photos. It should be unique, even funny. I think it’s important to post daily or every second day. Create a bit of excitement with whatever it is you’re doing - people like to smile when they see a post and if you get a smile you will get a “like”, even a “share”.

There are 3 interests that people enjoy on my Facebook page – weddings, chocolate and dogs. I have just found that those obviously reflect through me [my interests]

- I know that those three things are going to get me quality likes.

Also if I do post something, I normally post it towards a person. Not a particular person [but what I mean is], when they read my post, I want them to think I’m talking to them.

SMSM: Do you have any tips for people who feel they don’t have time for Facebook?

Melanice: I remember in one of the seminars about Social Media management, it said that you can pre-set your post to come out every day in a week so that really works for me. You have to think of your Facebook page like opening your front door to your business, every post is a potential client connection. Keep your posts short and interesting, it doesn’t take a lot of time at all.

What’s Next For Cha Cha Chocolate?

SMSM: So moving forward with Cha Cha into the future, do you see Social Media as an important part of your business?

Melanice: Definitely. Definitely.

I would like Cha Cha to be selling our personalised chocolate bars all over Queensland and interstate. I plan to open in other regions down the track, maybe franchising. Going forward, I’d love to see Cha Cha connecting with more of a direct client base through my Facebook page. I would like to link some of my other Social Media sites together such as, Twitter and Pinterest. I’d like to create more orders from my Facebook site and would love to have a successful online business without having the overheads or a retail shop.

Our hand made chocolates are certainly gaining interest also and plan to make these a big part of my business in the near future. I have some dreams, some big dreams!

SMSM: Is there anything else you would like to add?

Melanice: I think it’s quite impressive with what I achieved from the council seminar of our Social Media manager. I think before setting up a Facebook site, everyone should get some advice about Social Media because these days it really is the “face” of your business. If anyone talks to me about starting a business I’m say straight away “take the time, get it right from the start!”

For more information, visit the Cha Cha Chocolate Facebook Page For more about Cha Cha Chocolate connect with them on Social Media! They specialise in Luxury Candy Buffets for all occasions. Also known for their wide selection of personalised wedding favours and corporate gifts.

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A WALK IN THE PARK

Platypus Park Riverside Retreat had its share of business struggles even before it formally opened. But with proper Social Media assistance, Facebook advertising and by simply letting nature take its course, it has now become one of the musttry vacation getaways in Bundaberg, making it a certified Social Media success.

INTERVIEW BY

Shannon Woolacott

EDITED BY

OWNERS: Col

France Pinzon

& Julie Pearson

YEARS IN BUSINESS: 2012

FACEBOOK PAGE: www.facebook.com/

PlatypusParkRiversideRetreat

to Present

WEBSITE: www.platypusparkriversideretreat.com.au

C

ol and Julie Pearson met some Social Media experts for the first time a few months after opening the 50-acre property Platypus Park Riverside Retreat to vacationing couples, families, recreationists and nature lovers. Based at their beautiful organic farm, which went under in the massive floods of 2010 and 2013, it was only able to fully recover recently.

Located on the banks of the Burnett River, the goal for Platypus Park is to become a second source of income for the owners.

LIKES: 2,472

and counting

Like other people who have just started a business, Col and Julie initially tried out all sorts of ways to promote Platypus Park, from running ads on radio and television, to magazine features, store signage and brochures, to simple word-of-mouth.

And then they encountered Social Media through Dan Willersdorf.

“if you’re not savvy with Facebook, get professional help” Under the guidance of the Social Media managers, Col gave Facebook Advertising a shot for its costeffectiveness and the way it targeted their market.

He said that with the paid advertising on Facebook “you could target a particular market, age group or demographic at an affordable price. Rather than when you just blanket advertise by going out there to the masses and you’re really not hitting that target market. So that was one of the main things, but it really came through just learning and getting to know what Facebook could actually do,” Col explains.

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FINDINGS Why Facebook?

1. MORE CONVENIENT “You can manage it on your phone wherever you are just to put a new post up or put a photo up,” Julie says. “And to send messages to people if they’ve had an enquiry.

It’s just really convenient I feel.”

2. WIDER REACH Julie attests to Facebook as a big platform that caters to what businesses and customers both look for. “I think because it’s out there all the time. It’s constantly reminding people. It’s not something that you have to wait for it to be played on the radio,” she adds. “And as a visual thing, too, you can constantly put your photos up, and I think people get a lot more out of looking at something rather than reading through information.

And yes, it’s just a great thing that’s always out in front of people, so it just acts as a constant reminder of what you have to offer.”

3. INTERACTION AT ITS BEST For Col, Facebook has become a tool to interact with people (who are potential customers) whom they share common interests with, whether it’s interest in wonderful vacation spots, wildlife or even flood recovery.

When you DO get your business on Facebook…

1. GET PROFESSIONAL HELP – HIRE A MANAGER “Our Social Media manager was really helpful and setting it up initially, getting us off the ground. And a few times, he was only a phone call away with things. And he’d help with this, and bang, it was done,” Col shares. “Julie would say, ‘Oh, the manager put this up,’ or, ‘He has done this and that, and it’s already up there.’ And it was just like quick and easy, especially from my perspective that I had no idea what to do. It was really beneficial.”

2. FEEDBACK IS ALWAYS A GOOD THING Just like any business owner, no one wants to hear someone say something negative about their product or service. But the people behind Platypus Park, which has

a 4.7-star rating on Facebook, have learnt to work every bit to their advantage. “We try to encourage everybody who is on Facebook to go on and leave a review on our page or post photos or even check in,” Col says.

Final words regarding Social Media for Platypus Park Riverside Retreat…

“In all honesty, I was probably the biggest skeptic. And I guess because not having any real knowledge of Facebook, I didn’t realise the power of Social Media. It’s quite amazing the power of it,” Col shares.

And on seeking Social Media assistance, Col stresses: “Giving a comparison to a haircut and a bad haircut, whereas if people try and do things off their own bat, often, if you’re not a hairdresser, you shouldn’t cut someone’s hair. And if you’re not savvy with Facebook, get professional help. That’s what they’re there for.

They’re professionals at their job for a reason. Seek the help because it is there and it’s affordable. You reach your target market and get the results.”

THE CHALLENGE • “We had our first booking for the Australia Day weekend, which was when we were flooded, so the people didn’t turn up of course” • “Since the floods it’s been a bit of a battle to get back to where we were” • Platypus Park tried most methods of advertising

THE RESULT • Successful use of Social Media and occupancy rates for the park on the rise.

• “The biggest benefit is just reaching so many people that you wouldn’t normally reach just on your own.”

• “I would recommend it 100 percent.”

• (with Social Media) “my expectations weren’t very high initially”

For more information, visit Platypus Park Riverside Retreat Facebook Page Only a short drive from Bundaberg, Platypus Park Riverside Retreat has villas that can be booked for couples or families wanting that special getaway. Contact them at info@platypusparkriversideretreat.com.au For access to new case studies each week visit www.socialmediasuccessmagazine.com.au and enter your email to subscribe

15

Social Media Catches Big Crowd for Fishing Competition For its annual fundraising event to raise crucial funds , VMR Bundaberg uses Facebook to launch the annual Family Fishing Classic event, meeting its fundraising target and more despite limited resources INTERVIEW BY

Shannon Woolacott

ADDITIONAL QUOTES BY

Dan Willersdorf

OFFICERS: Graeme

Morely, VMR Secretary, Fishing Classic Co-ordinator & Senior Skipper/Senior Vessel Commander; Graham Kingston, VMR Vice-President & Publicity Officer, Skipper/ Vessel Commander; John O’Callaghan, VMR WHS Officer & Unit Training Officer, Skipper/Vessel Commander

YEARS ACTIVE OF THE ORGANISATION: 1972

to present

WEBSITE: www.vmrbundabergfishingclassic.

com.au

FACEBOOK PAGE: www.facebook.com/VMR.

Bundaberg LIKES: 737

and counting

V

MR (Volunteer Marine Rescue) Bundaberg’s Family Fishing Classic first began in 2002, but officially became an annual charity event under VMR in 2006, in which local businesses in the Wide Bay area immediately showed support for the dedicated volunteer rescue group.

Every year since that, VMR held the Family Fishing Classic, which has become the largest fishing event in the region.

The 2014 edition of the event was very special as it helped raise money to go towards the upgrade of their main rescue boat which is 19 years old.

According to VMR secretary Graeme Morely, who has organised and managed the event for the past years, utilising marketing tools such as television, radio and print advertising is an integral aspect of creating

16

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“The results we got overall were phenomenal” awareness of the event. To further engage and assess interest in the Family Fishing Classic, Social Media was used to inform and direct the target audience to the VMR website and encourage early registration.

Graeme then decided to hire a Social Media manager to successfully advertise an event on Facebook.

The results were over whelming as the days led up to the weekend affair. Excitement built up also, especially since enquiries about the restrictions and accommodations where asked online by interested parties. Even after the event was done and the prizes were given away, the momentum online kept up as those who were at the event shared their photos on Facebook.

How To Successfully Promote An Event On Social Media, Step-By-Step: 1. Ensure the page is set up correctly – visitors must be able to see what the organisation is about, they must be able to find your contact details, and you must select the correct category.

2. Collect all the images, videos and stories you can leading up to your event. In the two weeks or so leading up to the event you must post once/day. You will need a reserve on content/information to be able to do this.

3. Schedule posts for once/day leading up to the event.

These posts should build anticipation for the event, as well as communicate important information to people coming. Ideas for what to post: · This was last year’s winner (photo)… do you think you can beat that this year? · Only x days to go to register! Tag a friend in the comments below to remind them to register. · What are you looking forward to doing at this year’s event? · What was your favourite part of last year’s event?

4. Ensure that any members of your organisation that know how to use Facebook have installed the “Facebook Pages Manager” on their phone so they can take a photo and directly post it to your Facebook page.

5. Monitor enquiries and questions on the page and respond to them.

6. Be ready to “adjust course” if people request it. For the VMR fishing classic people that couldn’t attend were requesting regular photos of the leader board. We were able to provide this, which meant more engagement and interaction on the page.

7. Consider how to get all the attendees to the event to “Like” your page on the event day. This will set you up well for getting more people to next year’s event.

In the VMR Bundaberg case we ran a competition that encouraged people to post a photo of themselves having fun at the event. This requires a suitable prize to give away and you must post flyers around letting people know about the competition. But it will get excellent results because you will get more people to the page and more likes.

This was what Graeme had to say about the results: “The results we got overall were phenomenal, having increased our Facebook ‘Likes’ some 20% and they are still growing. Importantly, we were able to get the word out there of what we do, not only for the Fishing Classic fundraiser but also our core service, that is safety of life at sea with search and rescue activities.”

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17

An Open House Is Good For Business Passionate young property educator avoids using Social Media as a sales tool, but it helps his business grow anyway INTERVIEW BY

A UNIQUE BUSINESS Tyson Clarke is a miner that retired early - not as a result of his mining though - but instead through his own successful property investment efforts. His business teaches others how to do the same but he does not use traditional sales and marketing.

As the owner of Queensland Property Advice, which is part of the larger The Australian Property Panel group, he has 3 main roles: 1. As mentor or coach, helping people to identify their goals, when they want to achieve them and most importantly what drives them to achieve these goals.

2. Educating people about investing, to build a property portfolio, whether individually or through a larger workshop format.

3. Providing and project managing a team of independent service providers (brokers, accountants, builders, property managers, solicitors, etc) for his clients, to take the stress and time out of identifying and organising investment properties. One of his client’s holidayed around Europe whilst his 4th property was being organised. “We helped with everything from the idea of wanting to get an investment property, to the rent showing up in your account,” Tyson adds. “It’s a complete one-stop service.”

A Unique Sales & Marketing Approach “I don’t like using the term ‘sales and marketing’” says Tyson. “For me it’s just about having a conversation with people and seeing if we can work together.”

“I don’t use traditional marketing at all – I know when I read the paper I don’t take any notice of the ads in the newspaper, so I think, why would my customers read my ads?” he admits. “99% of our business comes from wordof-mouth, by delivering on what we say every time. We take the attitude that we have to over deliver on what our clients expect, provide exceptional service, plus have some fun. If we get all these aspects right, clients are likely to be very happy and ask for our help next time while passing on the good word of how we have helped them.”

AND… Unique Use of Social Media Australian Property Panel does not see Facebook as a traditional sales and marketing tool. They use it for two main purposes: 1. To communicate and educate our fans. “If I see an article or some information that I think would be of 18

Dan Willersdorf

value to our fans I will post it on the page. It doesn’t matter if they don’t know us at all and our potential or who our current clients are, we are using it to share the best education we can share.”

2. As an interaction tool. “I encourage people to get involved and share their experiences. There are some sharks in the property market so new people can be very cautious and want to make sure they can trust us. I send them to the Facebook page and this gives them a feel for what we do. I also encourage them to ask our current clients questions on the page. With nothing to hide, we want potential customers to ask past customers the hard questions. This gives people honest information and helps give potential customers peace of mind. People want more proof to be 100% sure.”

TYSON’S TOP TIPS

1. Be open 2. Be honest 3. Be transparent Tyson gives the example when you are thinking about visiting a new restaurant: “you ask your mates first or jump on the internet and look at reviews. Social Media these days is an extension of word of mouth and it works the same way as this for us.”

Final Words Regarding Social Media For Australian Property Panel…

Tyson said that using Social Media has been good for spreading the reach of the brand on a state and national scale. They are able to measure where new customers come from and Facebook has achieved new clients for them. One client, for example, saw that a friend was going to one of their events on Facebook and then decided to go along himself.

Does Tyson think all businesses should be using Social Media? “Yes I think they should, now days if you don’t have a Social Media presence it raises the question why not? Plus it’s a load of fun and a great tool for us,” Tyson believes.

Click here to visit the Australian Property Panel Facebook Page Queensland Property Advice currently operates in Cairns, Townsville, Mackay, Moranbah, Rockhampton, Blackwater and Brisbane. If you want to have a chat about investing in the property area, get in touch with Tyson Clarke via tyson@qldpropertyadvice. com.au.

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POSTING IDEAS

By Katrina Carey

„

Idea #1: What To Post To Your Facebook Page When You Don’t Know What To Post

„

One of the most common things we hear when working with clients is – “I just need more ideas on what to post about.”

I think the problem comes when you realise that after you have done a couple of week’s worth of posting to your Facebook page and you realise – holy moly, I have to do this every week, I need to keep on posting, this is an ongoing job!! What on earth am I going to post about – I’m worried I’m going to run out of ideas VERY soon at this pace!

Being able to create content for our online presence in this day and age has become quite important.

Businesses need to be able to create good content, regularly. This involves generating ideas, text AND creating images (let’s face it – finding images from Google just doesn’t cut it and is could be breaching copyright laws!). To be able to create this content, you need to have the ideas, skills and tools to be able to produce and coordinate all of this.

When you don’t know what to post, I want you to remember the following 3 points:

1.

What Is Boring, Repetitive And Everyday To YOU, May Not Necessarily Be For Your Customer. Because you live and breathe your business - day in, day out you become so used to hearing and thinking about your top 2 flavours of donuts, your bestselling magazine

or the product that just walks out the door for you.

THESE are the things, however, that your customers are NOT living and breathing everyday. Sometimes they don’t even know you offer these products or services, sometimes they just forget because they are doing so many different things in their day.

A great example of this is why your business has the name it has – if you started the business, you most likely came up with the name, you know all about it – the story, the history, or the choices you made, behind the name. But for your customers – do they know the story? Do they know why your unique business name is what it is? This could be a great post idea for you!

POINT: Good content can come from the most basic elements of your business that may seem everyday or run-of-the-mill to you. Just take a look around you – what’s on your shelves, what do your signs say, what is your bestselling product or service?

Start there. This should give you some great ideas for some posts for your Facebook page!

2.

What Are The Questions You Are Asked Most From People? Whether it’s people ringing you up on the phone, coming inside your store to ask you or the questions people ask when you’re at a BBQ or a party when you talk about your business - these Frequently Asked Questions are content gold!

You can also imagine it this way – if you have a few people here and there asking you questions about your business – chances are there are another 10 people out there, at least, who are wondering the same thing!

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19

POINT: Use the Frequently Asked Questions you getasked regularly, to hone in on the areas in your business that you could create content about. Social Media is so ideal for building relationships that you can use these topics to help you start to build those relationships with customers past, present and future.

3.

People, As In Your Fans, Followers, Etc, Are NOT Reading Your Every Word! Each time you do a post – don’t stress – not everyone out there is going to read it. Don’t take it too seriously. We get that each time you put a post up on your Facebook page it is going ‘out there’ into the big wide online world, but let’s face it – there is so much content going round these days that quite

simply not everyone is going to read everything that we write.

So relax, let your ideas flow, post what you want to post and whoever likes it then – great, whoever doesn’t – it doesn’t really matter – they’re probably already a happy customer or someone who may never be your customer! Have some fun with it, relax and the ideas will flow.

Why not grab a piece of paper or open your notes on your iPad and start writing down the ideas that have sprung to mind with the above 3 points? If you’re in for more tips, read on to Idea #2.

Idea #2: Ideas For Posting To Your Facebook Page Picking up from the above points, you may have some new ideas for the types of things you can post on your Facebook page for your fans to read.

Here are some tips to help you when you sit down to write your post. These tips are designed to help you reach the most number of people and get people liking, commenting, and sharing your post:

1.

Turn your post into a story, a very short one at that. Instead of writing down a few dot points about a product – how can you turn that into something interesting to read? That is, a little, mini-story! Use people and their experiences in your story where possible, too. So, for example, here is a post: • Chia seeds are high in fibre, you can use them in smoothies.

2.

Be personal. Facebook is all about people, their interests and events in their lives.

How can you bring the PEOPLE out in your business? Rather than focusing on products and services alone, how can you tie these in to the people that you help everyday (your customers) or the people who help get them to your customers (your staff)? If you are a 1 or 2-man-band – how can you incorporate yourselves into your Facebook posts to bring some personality?

Example:

Compared to: • When we discovered that Chia seeds were high in fibre, we started to look at how we could have them at breakfast time. When Susie came in to the store today, she told us that she puts a tablespoon in her smoothies each morning, great idea Susie, thanks for the idea! Can’t wait to try this!!

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You can see how the second post is much more interesting and easy to read as it tells a story. People will easily forget that Chia seeds are high in fibre, but they probably won’t forget Susie putting them in her smoothies in a hurry! Add a photo of Susie getting her Chia seeds and ‘voila!’ you have an interesting post that people will engage with.

• Our new wall – what do you think?

Compared to: • Max decided he wanted to re-create the colour of the ocean in our cafe so he decided to use the Oceana blue on our main wall. He’s stoked and loves the end result – what do you think? (include a Pic of Max doing thumbs up in front of wall)

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3.

Be conversational when you write your posts (similar to Point 1). Don’t just list out facts or make statements in your posts – write them as though you were talking to somebody. Include in any words you would use when talking and use punctuation to help you get your message across.

When people start to read your post it feels as though you are talking to them and they will usually read on.

Here’s an example: • You can get a building inspection done in 24 hours.

Call us now!

Compared to: • A lot of people don’t realise that we can do a building inspection in 24 hours, so if you are looking for someone, you can call us and we can go from there.

Because we’ve brought Max into the equation, it makes it more personal and people can learn something new about Max or see it from Max’s perspective. This makes for much more interesting Facebook reading! Try it on your next post and see what happens to your engagement on the post.

The second post is much easier to read and doesn’t seem as ‘salesy’ even though you are essentially getting the same message across. Write like you would talk to someone – it works a treat!

We hope you have gained some new tips from this post. It should help to make your posting easier and help you achieve better results!

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21

A Perfect Place And Perfect Marketing Smart coordination and outsourcing ensures the marketing success of a new initiative INTERVIEW BY

Shannon Woolacott

PRIORITY PROJECTS OFFICER (WIDE BAY BURNETT

WEBSITE: www.theperfectplace.com.au

REGIONAL ORGANISATION OF COUNCILS INC):

FACEBOOK PAGE: www.facebook.com/

Peta Jamieson YEARS ACTIVE: 2014

WideBayBurnett to present

LIKES: 1,546

and counting

Social Media Success Magazine recently caught up with Peta Jamieson, the Priority Projects Officer for the Wide Bay Burnett Regional Organisation of Councils Inc. SMSM: Can you tell us about “Perfect Place”?

Peta Jamieson: We’ve been doing a lot of initiatives to improve the economic outlook for the region, particularly in the context of trying to change the demographic for the region to a younger, skilled population. And as part of that attraction and retention push, we’ve been progressing with a range of initiatives, hence, why we went down the path of engaging with a Social Media agency.

SMSM: Why did you want to try Social Media?

Pe t a Jamie s on: We ha d re cog nis e d t ha t t he demographic that we wanted to be able to target, 25 to 45 year olds, mainly females, from South East Queensland, are heavily into Social Media and that we needed to look at creating a website and Facebook page.

22

SMSM: So did you have any expectations for Social Media?

Peta Jamieson: We particularly wanted to be able to see Facebook likes increasing as a KPI. We had an expectation that the content would be such that it would be therefore appealing to the right target market, and that has proven to be positive with over 1,400 likes, and majority of those likes being within that target market, so that’s great.

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SMSM: What do you think are the benefits of outsourcing to a company for your Social Media?

SMSM: When you get that negative feedback does it taint the experience having the page?

Peta Jamieson: The reality is while everyone likes to think they’re an expert in Social Media or IT, and because of the extra workload to manage the Facebook page or in the other case, it’s better to have experts being contracted in to give good, clear advice, and guidance on this marketing approach, because it is really important as part of our attraction strategy.

Peta Jamieson: No. No. There has been only one real negative comment. That’s all we’ve really had.

“The Page has helped build the profile for the region in a really, really short period of time” SMSM: How do you think that this compares to managing Social Media in-house?

Peta Jamieson: My view has always been: “We shouldn’t do that in-house unless we have a dedicated resource to manage the website, the Facebook, and any other social mediums that we want to develop and create,” so it’s really much smarter to outsource.

SMSM: What do you find works best on your page?

Peta Jamieson: The fact that the Social Media agency we outsourced to are doing posts. The fact that now we’ve got a presence for a region that’s been severely under-recognised, and we know now not only through the likes and sort of the target market we are reaching, we know more broadly that that Facebook page isn’t the be all and end all. But we’re also getting more attention from government, and so they’re starting to recognise the leadership role in that regard, so it’s worked. The Page has helped build the profile for the region in a really, really short period of time, and that’s been really, really important.

SMSM: As the council’s a fairly formal institution in society, how do you think Social Media has helped to reach members of the community, particularly your target audience?

Peta Jamieson: I think the reality is, yes, councils are formal entities, they do have a responsibility to be marketing their area, but traditionally, the general community doesn’t really like the council spending money in that regard. It’s good that the councils are embracing Social Media, because it provides them a mechanism to market their area and not receive a lot of negativity about doing so.

SMSM: Do you think that they’re reaching a different audience to traditional methods of marketing?

Peta Jamieson: Yes. Definitely. Particularly in the sense of the young generation, whether they are on holidays or actually looking at a tree change or a sea change, they’ve got access to information that they would’ve had to source through six different mechanisms previously, six different council websites just to source information.

Now, they’ve got it at their fingertips in a one-stop shop.

SMSM: So do you think that Social Media has played an important role in the project?

Peta Jamieson: Yes. Definitely. I’ve always strongly held that view and continue to do so.

SMSM: Have you encountered any negativity on the page at all? How do you manage that?

Peta Jamieson: There’ve been a couple of posts but they weren’t that related to the page anyway.

Our Social Media manager advises when there are posts that are not appropriate, I then advise the CEO and have a chat with them and let them know. And so that’s my job, is to coordinate and have that direct relationship and let them know.

For more information, visit The Perfect Place Facebook Page The Wide Bay Burnett provides an enviable work life balance and is a great place to raise and grow a family.

It truly is “the perfect place at your perfect pace” www. theperfectplace.com.au

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23

OH, SO DELICIOUS, INDEED

FOUNDERS/OWNERS: Tracey

McPhee and husband Michael McPhee YEARS IN BUSINESS: December

Present

2011 to

WEBSITE: www.alowishus.com.au FACEBOOK PAGE: www.facebook.com/

AlowishusDelicious LIKES: 3,419

and counting

In just over two years, from what came in as merely a rookie testing out the waters as a small scale business, Alowishus Delicious has lived up to its slogan of being “the change” around town, becoming a familiar landmark for quality coffee and sandwiches, and not without valuable help from friends, the community, and Facebook INTERVIEW BY

Dan Willersdorf & Katrina Carey EDITED BY

France Pinzon

IDEA PHASE Tracey McPhee, formerly in retail banking, recollects how her brainchild was conceived in 2004. “My husband (Michael) and I went on a holiday to the UK and we saw a shop called Prêt A Manger, which means ‘ready-to-eat’, in French. It’s a big franchise in Europe,” she says. “My husband is a big ideas man. He was like, ‘Oh, we’ve got to open one of these. We have to do this’.”

“They had sandwiches and cakes, and things. And they had coffee. It was sort of an in-and-out place,” she adds.

BREWING AND LAUNCH PHASE With much encouragement from her peers and loved ones, Tracey realised the time to fulfill the dream was fast approaching. She also took into account the business opportunity beyond 3 o’clock in the afternoon, as the town didn’t have many shops open over the weekends and at night back then.

At the start, Tracey recounts how her confidence in her products and services ultimately overshadowed any kind 24

of doubt she had upon launching Alowishus, particularly its location. “I just always had this thought in my head: ‘Just open and the people will come’,” admits Tracey.

THE FACEBOOK FACTOR “Facebook’s been a big tool in us getting as successful as we did so quickly – just getting the word out there,” says Tracey.

Compared to the traditional ways of promoting a brand, getting promoted via Facebook brings a different sense

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of credibility to the table. “It’s friends telling their friends.

It’s not someone just on the television going: ‘You should come here because they’ve got great coffee’,” she explains, “I think the powerful thing with Facebook is the recommendations from friends.”

3. MORE PERSONAL “Mum said to me the other day, ‘Well, what’s wrong with a friend just seeing someone in the street and telling them?’ I said ‘Well, they can do that too, mum. But on this, someone checks in and then, bang! They’ve got 500 people that have seen that straight away’,” Tracey shares.

What If Facebook Never Happened?

“I don’t know. I probably still would have done word-ofmouth,” she admits on the thought of a world without Facebook, “I was just thinking about that on the way because I’ve always said – I’ve never – like when I first started I thought if they charge for it I wouldn’t do it, but it’s become sort of an invaluable tool now. And I think even if they did start charging, I think we would stick with it depending on what the costs were.”

FINDINGS Why Facebook?

1. CHEAPER “We ran a little Facebook Check-in promotion. I got some branded pens made. There were 50-cent pins and we’d put a sign up in the shop: ‘Check-in and get your free gift.’ Someone checked in and 500 people saw it,” Tracey narrates, “That’s cheap advertising.”

On the contrary, Tracey cites another instance in which she gave the conventional method a shot just to see the difference.

“We ran an advertising campaign on the radio for three months and it cost me $880 a month. I asked on Facebook: ‘Has anyone heard my radio ad?’ Not a big percentage said yes,” she adds.

2. NOT TIME CONSUMING Tracey appreciates how scheduling posts on Facebook is much easier than running an ad somewhere else, since you are doing it yourself and in your own free time.

“I couldn’t imagine that it’d be more than 20 minutes a day,” says Tracey, “effort versus the reward – it’s very minimal effort for what you get out of it.”

“Facebook’s been a big tool in us getting as successful as we did so quickly - just getting the word out there” When You DO Get Your Business On Facebook…

1. BE ACTIVE - POST REGULARLY “Make sure that you post several times a day,” Tracey says, “but [don’t] post like a gazillion tons a day because then people get sick of seeing you.”

2. ADD YOUR PERSONAL TOUCH – BUT KEEP THE POSTS FUN AND LIGHT “Share an interesting feel-good thing that someone might like,” the proud owner recommends, “like I posted the other day and it was an old dog with a coffee cup sitting on his head holding the coffee. So yeah, just different things like that.”

Alowishus Delicious Open Hours: Mon-Wed, 7am to 5pm Thurs, 7am to 9pm Fri-Sat, 7am to 11pm Sun, 7am to 10pm

At present, Alowishus Delicious also prides itself of its impeccable catering services, and has recently launched a gelato bar – pay them a visit in Earls Court 4/176 Bourbong Street, Bundaberg, Queensland.

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25

Australia’s No. 1 Infants Product Goes Social and is Reaping the Rewards When Neil McPhillips, Director of Infants’ Friend, first began to utilise Facebook as a marketing tool he was astounded by the power of Social Media and the positive effect it has had on his business.

INTERVIEW BY

Shannon Woolacott

F

or over 80 years Infants’ Friend has been a staple in any new parent’s reserve of baby supplies. A trusted and valued product, it has provided relief from the symptoms of colic for many unsettled babies and their sleep deprived parents. First developed in the 1930’s by JC Minnis, a chemist in Ipswich, Queensland, the liquid, made mostly from Essential Oils, has grown to become Australia’s No. 1 Baby Product for colic and wind.

Neil McPhillips, co - Director of the company, acquired the business thirteen years ago. He describes it as “a nice little business that rolled along”, however with his experience in marketing and advertising and expertise in economic development, saw the potential to expand it further. Both he and his business partner decided to purchase the company, taking a chance, as neither of them had any experience within the pharmaceutical industry.

relevant in the competitive world of baby products. The labelling remains the same as it did 80 years ago and they will only retail the product through pharmacies in order to preserve its credibility.

“If you want to be a successful retailer these days, you must have a presence and it’s got to be a strong presence”

It has paid off as Neil discusses how, although it has been a bit of a learning curve, overall it has become “a very good success story”.

Recognising What Works & When to Change Neil’s vision for the business saw a more targeted marketing plan, focused on taking the product to new levels of exposure. By mixing the traditional with the contemporary, the company has ensured that the brand has remained easily recognisable and yet is still

26

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“We’ve retained it looking like the old bottle used to because that’s what people recognise.”

Neil believes that it is these things that have helped to keep the product alive, with word-of-mouth playing a large part in the success of the business.

Other than pharmaceutical brochures and wordof-mouth, a system which has worked because of the respect the product has received due to its effectiveness; few avenues of marketing were sought until a few years ago.

Neil explains that “whilst the word-of-mouth advertising was working for a long time, business has become more competitive, especially over the last few years with online retailing.”

Finding New Means of Marketing With both Neil and his business partner consistently analysing the various demographics, two main methods of advertising which directly target their market became evident, V8 Supercars and Social Media.

“If you want to be a successful retailer these days, you must have a presence and it’s got to be a strong presence.”

With the V8 Supercars not only engaging the targeted market but also providing television advertising, Neil and his partner turned their attention to Social Media.

Creating a page in 2010 and not having the time to maintain it, it sat stagnant until the company

“outsourcing the management of our Facebook page is the smartest thing we have done”

outsourced the management of the page to a Social Media management company. In just three months, page ‘Likes’ have increased from 600 to over 3,500.

“The results are just amazing…outsourcing the management of our Facebook page is the smartest thing we have done,” Neil reveals. “We are over the moon with how it has grown our prospective market and prospective audience!”

Sales have increased since utilising the Facebook page and Neil is sure that it is due to the wider reach that Social Media offers. This has, in turn had a substantial impact on the business and provided a cost effective method of advertising.

“Our sales, since we’ve been working the Facebook page over the last three months have increased dramatically.

We can’t put this down to anything else other than the Facebook because that’s the only thing we’ve done differently.”

Neil and his business partner are advocates of spending money on marketing, taking the approach that it is a vital part of keeping any business alive and well, yet he is amazed at how affordable it is to outsource and promote through Facebook.

“You can spend tens of thousands of dollars on glossy brochures and that sort of thing but here we can be attracting anybody in the world, through a bit of smart marketing and branding.”

Neil also values the monthly analysis report provided to him by the Social Media managers.

“We can actually see the target market we’re hitting, we can see how strong we are on the site…there’s no other form of advertising I know of where you can do that.”

The Proof Is On the Page Although there were some initial concerns regarding possible negative comments, for Neil and his business partner, the positives far outweigh the negatives. Not only is it the exceptional results they have seen, but the uplifting feedback and testimonials on their page which have left them both certain that Social Media is well worth the effort.

“Apart from the business component where you do this to make money, it gives you a really good feeling when people enjoy what they’re buying off of you…personally, for myself, it’s gratifying.”

The client feedback and testimonials play an important role in the success of the business. By referring potential stockists to the Facebook page, it is the consumer which provides the most valuable marketing by demonstrating the value they themselves place on product.

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27

TIPS FOR SOCIAL MEDIA SUCCESS So would Neil recommend using Social Media to other businesses? Absolutely! Here are some tips and advice he has recommended to ensure that you get the most out of your Facebook page: · Don’t skimp on advertising and marketing.

When times get tough often the first thing to get cut back is the advertising budget. Neil believes that this is a big mistake stating that this is the time that “You should be out there trying to get more clients.”” · Outsource the management of the page.

Often Social Media can seem like another job to do on top of an already full workload. By outsourcing the management of the page, this allows you the opportunity to promote efficiently and effectively, without it imposing on your schedule.

· Engage the audience.

This can be done in a variety of ways including “Did you know?” teasers and asking the audience to share their experiences. · Cross promote.

Use Social Media to promote any deals or offers.

· Have professional photos and graphics.

· Work the page.

Having everything branded the same helps the audience recognise your product or service. Looking professional is also an important priority when advertising.

In order for it to be successful you have to really manage and work the page. Post regularly, respond to questions and ensure that you are engaging your target audience.

The company is continuing to expand with a second product, Comfy Baby Cream with Aloe Vera proving very successful. They are also in the process of developing a new range of eagerly anticipated baby products. This, along with a new app on their Facebook page to help parents determine if their child has colic, are just some of the latest ventures being undertaken.

For more information on Infants’ Friend please go to infantsfriend.com.au Or visit their Facebook Page www.facebook.com/ InfantsFriendAustralia

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The 7 KEYS for Social Success

by Dan Willersdorf

Why do some businesses succeed on Social Media and others try and fail? There are certain things you must do with your Social Media marketing efforts in order to succeed. In this article I’ll share the Keys for Social Success.

KEY #1: UNDERSTAND WHY YOUR CUSTOMERS USE SOCIAL MEDIA WHY DO PEOPLE USE SOCIAL MEDIA • keep up to date with what friends are doing • for news • entertainment • distraction • information and news related to their interests

WHY DO PEOPLE USE OTHER MEDIA?

They can, of course, also keep up to date with their friends which they can’t do with traditional media.

For the most part however, it’s the same across all forms of media which means that when you are creating content for your Social Media, imagine you are publishing your own magazine. Your content must be newsworthy, entertaining, distracting, and/or interesting.

Many people forget this when using Social Media as a marketing tool. They are posting the equivalent of a magazine that is filled with ads. This is also called a brochure! Your Social Media is not a brochure, it is a magazine!

If you get your content right, it’s like having a magazine where your business is featured every day. If you get it wrong it’s like junk mail turning up in someone’s letter box and they throw it out without reading it.

• for news • entertainment • distraction • information and news related to their interests

Why do people use traditional media such as reading the newspaper, watching TV or buying a magazine?

For news, entertainment, a source of distraction and information.

People use Social Media for the same reasons as traditional media.

KEY #2: START WITH THE RIGHT ADVICE Most business owners and managers are already very busy and are wearing various hats. They are required to be experts in many areas of their business already, and then they are trying to learn and master Social Media as well!

Consider hiring experts for their advice and also to save you time. If you start on the wrong Social Media platform, for example, you could be destined to fail before you have even started.

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Get expert assistance to show you the way, save you from making mistakes and help improve your results quickly.

KEY #3: MAKE SURE YOUR BUSINESS ACCOUNT IS SET UP CORRECTLY & IS OPTIMISED First impressions matter. You only get one chance to convert a visitor to your Social Media profiles into a fan/ follower, and then potentially a customer. If they don’t hit the like/follow button, chances are you’ll never get another chance to convert them into a customer. If your Social Media page does not look professional and does not reflect well on your business, then your chances of attracting new customers are dramatically reduced!

Compare this to walking past a shop that doesn’t even have a sign out in front, or even if it has one, it looks terrible. Will you bother to even walk in? Probably not.

Hence your cover photo is crucial. A poor quality photo as your cover image is a killer. Get a professional photo or a professionally designed image.

This is especially important when you are paying to use the paid advertising on Facebook – if people click on your ad but don’t click ‘Like’ - you have wasted your money.

Of course if you post too often or you post the wrong things then your fans may get sick of you and ‘unlike’ your page. How often you post depends upon your industry, your business, and your customers. It’s usually in the range of a couple of times a day to a couple of times a week. Most people we see are not posting often enough.

If you are not posting regularly enough you are missing out on opportunities to market your business and brand.

KEY #5: POST TO ADD VALUE, BUILD TRUST & FAMILIARITY If your content is boring, does not add value to your fans, does not entertain or engage, is not conversational or is too “sales-y,” then you are in trouble.

You like to buy from people you know and trust right?

Your customers are the same. So build trust and familiarity by adding value – helping your customers out with free information, telling them more about you and your business. · Explain what your product does. Show it using photos. · Give stories of customers. Ask customers to leave recommendations on your Social Media profiles (you must turn this on for your Facebook page). · Answer the questions you get asked most frequently by customers before they buy when they ring up or come into the store.

KEY #4: POST REGULARLY The more often you post, the more often your fans hear from you, the better chance you have in developing a relationship with them. This is key to helping you get new customers via Social Media.

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This might sound like a lot but if you have a “posting plan” which has different types of content listed that you post each week, then these “content categories” will make it easy for you by keeping you on track and keep you posting the right sort of content.

Once you start posting to add value and build trust and familiarity you will increase your chances to receive more enquiries and results from your page.

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However, these will not result in rapid fan growth so you will also need to utilise Facebook advertising, which is great because it is still very inexpensive, it’s very targeted and it gets super fast results.

KEY #6: REACH ENOUGH PEOPLE TO MAKE IT WORTHWHILE

It is important that you select the best type of Facebook advertisement for your objective, set your budget correctly, and select the correct targeting options when creating your advertising campaigns so that you get the best results for your dollar spent.

Consider these rough benchmarks: · If you are a small business and you have less than 200300 fans or followers · If you are a larger business and you have less than 1000 fans or followers If you are falling into either of the above categories then you are currently wasting your time as your content is having a very limited reach! Additionally, with the limited statistics you have from the results on your page it is hard to identify if there are other areas that you can improve on.

To get more fans you should implement all of what we consider the ‘free’ methods such as email signatures, website links, flyers and contacting current customers.

KEY #7: THE CRITICAL MASS OF EFFORT Successful Social Media Marketing requires an investment of time and money in order to get your strategy right, reach enough people and convert them into customers.

Remember there is a critical mass of effort that will be required to make it worthwhile and get results. If you don’t reach this, you could be better off not using it at all! But if you do reach the critical mass, then you will get a positive return on your investment of effort.

For more great resources visit SocialMediaSuccessMagazine.com/blog

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31

Outside the Box

How local organic food retailer, Fraser Region Organic Goodness used the power of Social Media and the Internet for their one-of-a-kind business, and become one of the region’s most popular organic providers in just two years INTERVIEW BY

Shannon Woolacott

EDITED BY

WEBSITE: OWNER:

Celine Louie

YEARS IN BUSINESS:

2012 to Present

www.frogshop.com.au

FACEBOOK PAGE: LIKES: 3,398

S

lowly but surely, going organic has become “the healthy choice” for many households to make. The opportunity to promote healthier lifestyles in the region eventually led to the organisation of a small co-op in Hervey Bay to push reasonably priced organic vegetables and fruits to families and individuals. “It’s just a way of making it more affordable for people – the more people that can eat organic fruit and vegetables, and give them to their children without breaking the bank is definitely a good thing for everyone and our planet,” says Celine Louie, who was an active member of the co-op during its early stages.

France Pinzon

https://www.facebook.com/frogboxes/

and increasing

Social Media to market the business. With the other advertising they had tried Celine said “Nothing’s really been all that successful to be honest. I found Facebook is the word-of-mouth [used by people nowadays], so especially for a unique business like mine, it’s a good way to get the word out,” she finds. “I’ve definitely focused on Social Media as being the main form of advertising.”

Little did she know that their conscious effort would eventually lead to the local favourite Fraser Region Organic Goodness -- FROG for short – to become a certified organic produce seller to Hervey Bay and Maryborough residents (and Bundaberg in October 2014), thanks largely to Social Media.

THE ‘NEW’ WAY FOR THE NEW BUSINESS A mother of two, Celine recalls how the small cooperative officially became a retail shop in 2012, running solely online. Although FROG also tried other ways to advertise – flyers and moving billboards – Celine believes nothing has been as effective as using 32

Along with the decision to put up a Facebook business page, Celine sought the expert opinion and guidance of a Social Media consultant, which immediately helped bring in positive effects on the business. Although people can worry about the time and money investment as well as the kinds of reactions you can receive online – the positive and the negative, Celine swears by the success of Social Media in advertising FROG. “Once I

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made that choice, that conscious decision that ‘okay, I’m going to put some money into this and see where it will take me’, the results have been amazing,” she shares.

“It’s really, in the last 4-5 months, we’ve got so many more ‘likes’ and definitely, you can feel that the word is out and people are aware of us.”

FINDINGS Why Facebook?

1. EASY AND INEXPENSIVE For Celine starting a business page went smoothly and with little to no spending involved. “Even though I was on Social Media for quite a long time, I suppose for at least the first year I didn’t spend a cent on Social Media, yet it was a huge benefit for my business,” she says. “I love the fact that you can do as little or as much as you want and that’s great, too.”

2. BETTER AND LONGER RECALL “We’re all so busy and we all live such busy lives [so] if something’s not in the forefront of our minds, we can easily forget it,” Celine says. “I guess Facebook is that way of staying in people’s minds.”

What was done Celine sought expert opinion and guidance The result Immediate positive effects on the business. Celine swears by the success of Social Media in advertising FROG. The Numbers 79.60% 6 month revenue Increase “and I really actually enjoy writing so I find that posts are like a tiny little mini blog sometimes. I enjoy it for that but it was also hard at times, so they were really able to put me back on track and I’ve got printouts all around my office around me and they just helped me stay focused.”

2. IT’S OK TO GET PERSONAL

“It’s about community, which I love,” Celine adds. “For me, community is a really big part of any business and Social Media allows it. It’s an avenue of creating community.”

“People just want to know who’s behind the business and I guess that’s what my Social Media coach taught me,” Celine admits. “In the beginning, I didn’t put myself out there and show that this is my own business. I guess in some ways, it is because of me [that people support my business]. So it’s building up that trust and just being yourself that people will fall in love with [you and your business].”

When you DO get your business on Facebook…

Facebook: the best kept business secret at present?

3. SENSE OF COMMUNITY

1. TO BE SURE, GET SOME ASSISTANCE – HIRE A MANAGER! Celine felt that in order to really accomplish doing the Facebook posts, she needed to get help from Social Media experts, for more strategic and creative posts, as well as to get some general tips about Facebook and Social Media.

Soon enough the changes showed the results she wanted. “I’m using Facebook more productively and it’s given me more ideas on what to post and removed the doubts I had.”

“When I first contacted them I was feeling a bit stagnant about posting and I was feeling a bit negative about it because I just didn’t know what to do,” Celine admits,

“A lot of people disregard Facebook as a good advertising option. But you know, I really think that it can work so well with businesses,” Celine believes. Since budgeting for paid advertising on Facebook Celine’s page has grown and grown. [pull quote]: A lot of people disregard Facebook as a good advertising option. But …it can work so well with businesses

FROG’s increase in revenue: 79.60% from Dec 2013 to June 2014 (6-month increase), since increasing her efforts on Social Media, budgeting more for paid advertising and consulting with Social Media experts.

For more information, visit the Fraser Regional Organic Goodness Facebook Page FROG Boxes can be delivered or be ready for pick up every Thursday in Maryborough and Hervey Bay (and Bundaberg as well soon). View FROG Organic Boxes’ full range of organic products at www.frogshop.com.au or email orders@frogshop.com.au with any enquiries.

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33

Social Media Helps Father Get Life Vest for Daughter Nothing was going to stop Vincent Zwarts from getting the life-saving percussion vest for his daughter Sabrina. So he enlisted the help of Social Media and with the help of the local community, he succeeded!

We recently interviewed Vincent about his successful campaign.

SMSM: Tell us about “Helping Sabrina Breathe.”

VZ: Sabrina and I are a Father/Daughter team. “Help Sabrina Breathe” started because I want my daughter Sabrina, who has Cystic Fibrosis (CF), to live life to the fullest and have treatments available to her that are not available in Australia. These treatments give quality of life and had to be imported from America. I lost my daughter Jessica to CF in May 2013 at 18 years 6 months and I want for Sabrina to live life. Sabrina is 17 years old.

In Australia, a person that has CF is lucky to make it to their mid to late 20s and early 30s. In countries overseas the life span of a person with CF is late 40s to early 50s.

SMSM: Why did your fundraising campaign start?

VZ: I have always been able to look after my children but the treatments we are talking about are in the $20,000 range and being a sole parent I needed help to buy the percussion vest for Sabrina. I asked around and once I found out the Australian government was not able to help with the cost I started a fundraiser on the Go Fund Me website.

Through the Go Fund Me account I posted a link to mine and Sabrina’s timelines on Facebook so we could share it with family and friends. That’s how I came into contact with a Social Media manager and made an appointment

34

to have a chat. After talking with him, we decided to make the Facebook page “Help Sabrina Breathe” and asked our family and friends to share the page to not only raise awareness of Cystic Fibrosis, but to also help with the fundraising. I also started sharing our page with other CF chat sites in the hope they would share.

Sabrina says to post updates regularly, like every day if possible and do photo updates every second day as they get the most views.

Social Media has been worthwhile in the way of raising awareness of Cystic Fibrosis and the treatments available in Australia compared to overseas. We got the word out there about CF but no donations coming in because as we found out it is very hard to get a donation of someone you don’t know.

SMSM: Was your fundraising successful?

VZ: Through determination our fundraising was successful. Money-wise we only raised about $1,000 online and that was mainly through family and friends.

We then received a $12,000 donation from a Smart City College initiative. We were $7,000-short, but the

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VINCENT AND SABRINA WOULD LIKE TO THANK THE FOLLOWING:

· Craig Carson (Blooms the chemist at Sugarland)

· Noel Gallagher (played for Bundaberg Brothers, Cronulla Sharks and represented Australia in rugby league and is a pastor now)

· Billy Healy (Local 4BU radio station)

· Peter Sawyer (board of directors at The Friendly Society Private Hospital) · Kathy Goleby (local nurse who has always supported us) · Doctors, nurses and staff from the children’s ward at the Bundaberg Base Hospital

Friendly Society Private Hospital came on board and helped out.

Using online methods have been good to raise awareness and we steadily grow in numbers with people following “Help Sabrina Breathe”. We educate people about CF and the treatments available.

SMSM: What are some of your approaches on Social Media that have helped Sabrina’s cause?

VZ: We have had a lot of views lately since Sabrina started using the salt rooms and her gym sessions are posted on her page regularly. We have had messages asking about the salt room and how it works to also getting messages that Sabrina inspires other people by her dedication in staying fit and doing the treatments she has to do to stay healthy. People that have messaged us on advice on how to go about fundraising and we told them what we did and to not to give up. We hit a stalemate for a few weeks, but in the end we got what we wanted to achieve.

Sabrina is now the healthiest I have seen her in her 17 years of dealing and suffering from Cystic Fibrosis.

SMSM: What is next for you and Sabrina?

VZ: To keep raising awareness of Cystic Fibrosis and the treatments available in Australia compared to other

· Ross Gray (Ross Gray Motor City) · Evan Martin (Car Mad Club) · Tammy Vaughan (former manager of Spotlight) · Smart City College · Stuart Bonnet (and the team at The Friendly Society Private Hospital) · Simply Salt (salt rooms in Bundaberg)

developed countries in the world. To keep our followers up to date on Sabrina and her battles with Cystic Fibrosis and to fight and raise awareness until CF no longer stands for Cystic Fibrosis but CF will stand for Cure Found.

We will keep raising awareness and we are now lobbying the Health Minister Peter Dutton and the Australian Government to put a new wonder drug “Kalydeco” on the PBS list. Other western developed countries have it readily available for their CF citizens but in Australia it has been approved but is not subsidised and it comes with a cost of over $300,000 a year. Sabrina needs Kalydeco in combination with Lumacaftor for her to live her life as normal as possible without the need for hospital admission, antibiotics, weight supplements etc. This drug is not a cure yet but we are getting closer to finding the cure for Cystic Fibrosis.

SMSM: Sabrina’s top tips for using Social Media for fundraising and raising awareness?

VZ: Sabrina says to post updates regularly, like every day if possible and do photo updates every second day as they get the most views. The views also depend on the photos and the comment that goes with the photos.

For more information on Help Sabrina Breathe: www.facebook.com/HelpSabrinaBreathe www.gofundme.com/Sabrina17 www.gofundme.com/CureForSabrina www.cysticfibrosis.org.au www.cfqld.org.au

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35

Little Lucy’s Goes Big On Social Media From starting out as a mere hair accessory-making pastime for her child, Little Lucy’s has turned into a personalised baby items store born and still growing bigger on Facebook INTERVIEW BY

Katrina Carey

OWNER: Shan

Boston

YEARS IN BUSINESS: August

FACEBOOK PAGE: www.Facebook.com/LittleLucys

2011 to present

I

LIKES: 3,032

and counting

am a wife and mother of four. I am actually a nurse by profession, which I do first and foremost. Little Lucy’s is a business that I started three years ago we just celebrated our third birthday - It originally started with hair accessories for little girls. I was making hair ties for my daughter Caitlyn. Then I was getting asked questions about making them for friends. We started our Facebook page three years ago.

SMSM: When it came to promoting your venture, what did you start with?

SMSM: What does Little Lucy’s specialise in?

“There are Little Lucy’s pillows in five countries”

SB: I mainly do personalised pillows now. But that said, I always am trying to diversify the range of items that I make. Recently, I’ve gone from the personalised pillows and added quilted cot blankets. They match the pillows perfectly, so they can just buy it as a whole package for their bedroom, which has been quite popular.

36

SB: Originally, it was word-of-mouth, because I was just doing it for friends of friends, and people would order items for birthdays and Christmas, it wasn’t really a business as such then. It was just something I was doing on the side, sort of a hobby. But then I decided to open up a Facebook page.

SMSM: Why did you go and start the Facebook page?

SB: People would always be asking me what I do. They would want to see photos of what I’ve made and that was a really good way of showing them

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because I would just say, “Go and have a look at my page, and you can see photos of what I’ve done.”

just find it easier to message on the Page. And I get a lot of questions on the posts and items on the page.

SMSM: So would you say your Facebook page has been absolutely critical in building your Little Lucy’s as a way of getting your products promoted, but also in building the business and having access to your networks and contacts?

SMSM: So moving forward, how do you see Social Media promoting your business into the future?

SB: Yes. Little Lucy’s wouldn’t be Little Lucy’s without Facebook.

SB: Oh, I think it will always be the main part of it because that’s how I originally started the business, and to me it’s the only way I’m going to be able to maintain it.

Little Lucy’s wouldn’t be Little Lucy’s without Facebook SMSM: What have been your achievements with Little Lucy’s?

SB: Well, I guess my biggest achievement would be where we are now, I have sold internationally, and there are Little Lucy’s pillows in five countries. So that, for me, was probably one of the biggest!

SMSM: If you didn’t have a Facebook page, do you think that would have happened?

SB: No. Never. I don’t think I would have even started pillows if it weren’t for my page, because I was just always trying to look for avenues to build.

SMSM: So has your Facebook page helped you to hone in on a particular product that you’re working on?

SB: Absolutely. The reason that I originally started pillows was because I had an unusual name, so, from my growing up, I would always see everybody else’s name on those little license plates and cups, etcetera.

SMSM: What’s something that you like about using Facebook for your business?

SB: It’s so easy. I have the app (Facebook Page Manager) on my phone, so I can do it wherever I am. There are limits to what you can do with the phone, but still, I do most of it on there. Yes, it’s easy, and you can have a bit of fun as well.

SMSM: What is your business model and do you take orders on Facebook?

SB: Yes. I have an email address for Little Lucy’s, but it’s mainly just done through Facebook messaging. People

LITTLE LUCY’S TOP TIPS FOR USING SOCIAL MEDIA FOR YOUR BUSINESS: 1. Ask for help – “Get as much help as you can to build it up because it is hard to do it by yourself. It is good to network with other businesses, but that might not work for some businesses, but for me it has,” Shan shares.

2. Keep learning – “I’m slowly learning all the time. I’ve recently learnt that if I was to get a picture from someone - with their Little Lucy’s pillow - I tag them in it because then it goes to their audience,” Shan adds.

For more information, visit Little Lucy’s Facebook Page For enquiries on how to order personalised items for the little one in your life, contact Little Lucy’s littlelucys@bigpond.com

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37

Melbourne Mums Unlocking New Culture with Social Two Melbourne mums break new ground by making it easy for new parents to experience arts and culture with their children, with Social Media providing the key to reaching their audience INTERVIEW BY EDITED BY

Dan Willersdorf France Pinzon

Claire McClelland WEBSITE: www.culturemamas.com.au and Rebecca Asp FACEBOOK PAGE: www.facebook.com/CultureMamas YEARS IN BUSINESS: 2012 to Present LIKES: 1,581 and counting FOUNDERS/OWNERS:

B

ecoming a parent is an exciting time, however the first couple of years can often be isolating with a lack of adult cultural events that are also welcoming to babies or small children.

After identifying a gap in the market for these cultural events that were interesting for adults while also being kid friendly, proud mothers Claire and Rebecca decided to join forces and launch Culture Mamas in Spring of 2012. “Often the mum (or the dad) is neglected,” says

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Claire. “We wanted to create a community of events that mums could go to and enjoy that wasn’t all about the kids. The kids could come along of course, but our point of difference was that the mums could enjoy the events.”

Culture Mamas carefully curate “a unique program of events designed to give mums, dads and carers a break from the daily grind and re-connect them with the adult world of ideas.”

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THE SOCIAL MEDIA FACTOR Initially conceived as a “hobby” business, Claire and Rebecca’s brainchild quickly became bigger when they saw the potential in the ever-growing community of parents. “Initially, it was just about getting the idea out there and building our email list and Social Media followers,” says Claire.

Although they debated investing in print advertising, they quickly dismissed this idea and opted to focus solely on Social Media for the greater reach it provided for their investment. Claire attests to the advantages of promoting Culture Mamas on Social Media as it is more flexible and customisable, which allows them to appeal directly to their targeted audience. “There is a lot of competition in the ‘mums’ space so we need to highlight that we are unique to stand out,” she shares.

“Word-of-mouth is huge, but all our Social Media efforts really help this along.”

Many of Culture Mamas Social Media followers subsequently join their email list, allowing Culture Mamas to directly reach their potential customers in order to invite them to their ticketed events. “Without Social Media, we wouldn’t be able to reach our audience at all,” Claire believes.

Unlike other traditional ways of marketing such as giving out pamphlets and relying on word-of-mouth, Culture Mamas swears they get so much more traffic (and faster, too!), through Social Media and Facebook, especially through other pages. According to Claire, when other sites post about their events, they gain 50 more likes on average.

When You DO Get Your Business On Social Media…

1. BE VERY CLEAR ABOUT YOUR BRAND AND TRANSLATE IT ON SOCIAL MEDIA “Look at the [Social Media] sites you like and want to emulate,” Claire adds. “Work out who your audience is and what they want to know. It’s not just getting them to like you.”

2. SCHEDULING IS CRUCIAL! Claire is very strict about keeping time. “It’s all about it scheduling – come up with five things you need to post each week – then monitor it. I’m all about restricting the time you spend on it. The world won’t end if you don’t respond immediately,” she says.

3. BUY LIKES – USE THE FACEBOOK ADS MANAGER

OTHER FINDINGS Why Social Media?

1. IT FINDS YOUR AUDIENCE “We had paid for a listing site and it did not work, because there was too much noise,” Claire reveals the lack of attention an ad can get when promoting via something on a broad platform such as a national listing website as they attempted. But she said in their case as their business is local and very specific Social Media provided far greater targeting and value.

Opted to focus solely on Social Media to save more money

2. HIGHER LEVEL OF NETWORKING

“Do a strategic likes campaigns to get going, especially the first 0 to 1000,” Claire advises. “We spent $300 on a Facebook Likes campaign to help get to 1000 Likes.”

She says they made sure their campaign was set up and targeted correctly.

For high quality events for culture-hungry mums and dads, contact Culture Mamas via info@culturemamas.com.au or connect with them on Social Media!

For more information, visit the Culture Mamas Facebook Page

“Without Social Media, we wouldn’t be able to reach our audience at all”

Do a strategic likes campaigns to get going, especially the first 0 to 1000

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Farm, Fun and Facebook Likes Fifth generation organic farm and tourism business Gleneden Organic Farm and The Gleneden Bullock Team celebrates a century-old family tradition through their newfound success in the period of Social Media INTERVIEW BY

OWNERS: Rohan

Dan Willersdorf

& Fiona Morris

YEARS IN BUSINESS: 2011

to Present

WEBSITE: www.glenedenbullockteam.com.au

FACEBOOK PAGE: www.facebook.com/

glenedenbullockteam LIKES: 483

and counting

a variety of animals, plants and things to do. In addition to food and fibre production, we offer farm tours, a camping ground and activities including bush walks and camp-oven cooking. Secondly, the Gleneden Bullock Team is a tourism business, based on the displays that I do with my bullock team and other old-bush skills.

They are listed together on Facebook under our page Gleneden Organic Farm and The Gleneden Bullock Team.

Social Media Success Magazine recently caught up with Rohan the Bullocky to talk about his successful marketing using Facebook.

SMSM: Tell me about yourself and “The Gleneden Bullock Team.”

Rohan Morris: Our business has two parts. Firstly, Gleneden Organic Farm is a family run, mixed farm with

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The Morris Family – my wife Fiona, children Eden and Jethro and I – now run the farm, which was started 104 years ago by my great grandfather in Gleneden, between Gayndah and Mundubbera. Eden and Jethro are the fifth generation of the Morris Family to live and work here. I am a farmer, bullock driver, and teacher.

Fiona is a farmer and environmental scientist working in sustainable agriculture.

“We rely completely on word-of-mouth from happy customers and social networking for our marketing”

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SMSM: Why did you consider using Social Media for your business?

RM: We are not conventional farmers, who send their produce to market and then take whatever price it brings on the day. We like to meet our customers at the farm, if possible, and show them what we are doing and develop a relationship with them. Visitors to the farm for our displays and activities are also important to our business. Our business needs people and Social Media is an effective and economical method of finding them.

“Our business needs people and Social Media is an effective and economical method of finding them”

SMSM: Do you do any other marketing?

Rohan: We rely completely on word-of-mouth from happy customers and social networking for our marketing.

SMSM: What do you use the Facebook page for?

RM: We try to post a regular stream of photos showing our farm activities and letting people know what is available for sale. Facebook is a good way for us to show people that our farm is an interesting and beautiful place to spend time and a source of very healthy and nutritious food.

SMSM: Has Social Media been worthwhile?

RM: Using Social Media has connected Gleneden Organic Farm and The Gleneden Bullock Team with local customers and interested people from further afield.

Gleneden Organic Farm and The Gleneden Bullock Team’s top tips for using Facebook: 1. Carry a camera and look out for interesting things and beautiful images to share, and 2. Post regularly, but make sure quality always comes before quantity.

For booking enquiries andother information on tour offers, call 0429 137 224 during normal office hours, or email: rohan@ glenedenbullockteam.com.au.

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Social Media Success Magazine is a dual-format (digital and print) journal that profiles and analyses business owners and managers successfully using Social Media to promote their businesses.

If you know of a business that would be a great case study for Social Media Success Magazine, please email editor@socialmediasuccessmagazine.com

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For access to new case studies each week visit www.socialmediasuccessmagazine.com.au and enter your email to subscribe

For access to new case studies each week visit www.socialmediasuccessmagazine.com.au and enter your email to subscribe

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