Who are you and what does your company do?
I am Danielle Vincent, the Public Relations & Community Manager at Adwerx. The company was founded in 2013 and we’re headquartered in Durham, NC.
Our mission is to democratize digital advertising thereby enabling small businesses including real estate agents, insurance agents and mortgage lenders to access the same powerful and proven advertising technology as big businesses.
How and why did your company get started with social media?
Social media services two purposes for us. One, it’s an organic channel in which to engage with our customers and audiences. Two, it’s a paid channel in which we can target specific audiences with our offers.
What do you believe the benefits of using social media for business are?
The key to success in social media is understanding your audience. Who do you want to reach and what do you want them to do? But social media is social before it’s media. It’s an engagement platform, not a selling platform. If you don’t seize the opportunity to create connections with your customers and prospects, you are missing the point.
What do you think are common mistakes business owners make when building brand awareness through social media?
Many business owners view social media channels as soap boxes and bullhorns. You should think of them as coffee shops. It’s a chance to get one on one with the people you want to work with. What are they talking about? How can you contribute to the conversation? You should follow the 80/20 rule, meaning that 80% of the content you share should be non-sales related.
Think of social media as coffee shops where you get to chance to meet your prospects one on one. - Danielle Vincent
What qualities do you think social media managers should have?
Social media managers need to be able to think in four directions at once. The job is a combination of being the host of a party, a media distributor, a careful listener and a strategic planner. Social media managers need to think in advance and yet also be in the moment. Organization is critical.
How do business owners know if their social media campaign is working?
Before you ask if something is working, you need to define success. What does it look like for you? More followers? More engagement? More sales? That will dictate the analytics you look at.
Think about overlapping measurement systems, as well. And think longer term. A month of tweets or Facebook posts won’t give you a significant lift, but six months just might. Also look at the impact social has on other channels, including search and email. No one channel should work in a vacuum.
How do you see social media evolving over the next 5 years…what do you hope to see?
Businesses are going to have to be selective in choosing which channels to focus on. Just when we think we know social, the paradigm changes. For example, it's not quite clear how brands can drive value from Snap Inc (formally Snapchat) and best practices are being developed as you are reading this social media interview. Social media is also more of a science than something you throw at the youngest person in your office. The ability to market on social media is going to be required across career levels, rather than being a nice to have.
You risk becoming irrelevant by not getting on-board with social media. - Danielle Vincent
What do you think are some of the consequences of not getting on-board with social media?
Irrelevance. Choosing to ignore the places where you customers spend their time and choosing not to take part in conversations about your brand and product is the equivalent of choosing not to use email.
What are your thoughts on social media versus more traditional marketing activities?
Everyone's marketing mix is unique, from the small business owner who is doing everything themselves, to the enterprise with a full team dedicated to each channel. If you don't play, you can't win. But if a channel doesn’t feel right or your aren't hearing your audience's voice there, it’s worth walking away from it. Our social network preferences vary based on the verticals with which we interact.
If a channel doesn't feel right or your aren’t hearing your audience’s voice there, it’s worth walking away from. - Danielle Vincent
Which one best practice would you recommend about using social media to grow a business?
Think about how social drives your business. Go back to the start: who are you trying to reach and what do you want them to do? As long as you have that as your true north, you’ll have a strong strategy for social media.
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