The other day, Beth Bridges from the Clovis (CA) Chamber of Commerce had a nice post about an unexpected benefit of social networking: increasing links to your site (and maybe site traffic).
From Beth’s post, regarding a social networking event she recently attended:
“This valuable lesson was worth every minute I spent: Get on Social Networking sites and link them to your blog or website to increase ranking, relevancy, and traffic.”
I discussed the same thing during a recent presentation to the Florida Association of Chamber Professionals. Surprisingly, about one-third of the audience said neither their chamber nor their staff had a professional profile on ANY social networking site!
Go to Facebook and LinkedIn now and have all of your executives and managers (if not all your staff) create profiles on these sites. Have everyone:
· Create profiles with their current title and add a photo
· Spell your chamber's name exactly the same way
· Add keyword-rich descriptions for each of their past descriptions (use the business words you want to be known for)
· On LinkedIn, create a “vanity” URL for their profile (free and easy to do. Example: http://www.linkedin.com/in/curtmoss)
· Include links to your website and blog.
· Join groups and ask/answer questions
· Search for members and connect to them and invite other members to join the network. (Export your member emails from your membership management software to get a good list.)
· Ask for (and give) recommendations
· Link to your profiles from blog pages, your staff contact page on your website and in your email signatures. Let your members know they can find you on social media sites.
On LinkedIn (and maybe Facebook, too) add a slide presentation to your profile using Slideshare, Google Presentations or similar application. The presentation can be about the reasons to join your chamber, recent accomplishments or use it to promote an upcoming event (be creative).
You can also create a profile for your chamber on LinkedIn. Again, add a keyword-rich description and include links to your sites. If you have a young professionals group, create a profile for it on both LinkedIn and Facebook and invite your members to join these groups. Engage them using media that they are probably already using. Doing so can show your members that your chamber is evolving with the technology trends and looking for new ways to connect with local businesses.
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Posted by: Beth Bridges on Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Curt, We need to do this as Chambers of Commerce not only to take advantage of every possible marketing tool out there, but also to help our members. Unless you are the Redmond CofC (home of Microsoft), chances are the majority of your members are using social networking in very limited ways depending on who they are: Under 30 years old: they are on MySpace or Facebook, talking about their social life. 31 to 45: they are on LinkedIn but not really working on it regularly 46+: They aren't online and they don't know anything about social media. Which of these groups are the majority of your members, board members, and active participants? Mm hm, they really need you to set the example and show them how their bottom line will benefit. These are generalizations! so don't be offended if you are 47 years old and working LinkedIn like a pro ... if you are, call your Chamber office and offer to help your fellow members. Regards, Beth at the Clovis (California) Chamber of Commerce
Posted by: Curt Moss on Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Thank, Beth. Excellent comments. Yes, it can be VERY powerful if the chamber has success in using social media. 1) they get the benefit of engaging more members (and prospects) in more conversations and 2) they can then share that expertise with their small business members to help them reach into social media as well. BTW, I'm in that 21-45 range and I'm using LinkedIn regularly! (and I didn't take any offense to your comments) :)
Posted by: Karen Bennett on Monday, May 18, 2009
Is weblink planning to add social media tools this summer? I remember reading a headline but never followed-up on the story. Can't find more information but would love to know if there is an opportunitity that can be added to our social media plan.