Angela Crocker

Write. Teach. Organize.

Should I Play Pages Gone Wild?

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You meet all sorts of interesting folks through social media. About a year ago, I met Lori Randall Stratdman from Social Media Design. Lori’s based in Georgia (I think) and we’ve had many merry conversations on Facebook and Twitter. She writes for Social Media Examiner, is speaking at BlogWorld and has fun through social media every day. Recently, I got an invitation from Lori to attend a virtual event called Pages Gone Wild and I hestitated to participate. But why?

The premise of Pages Gone Wild is to quickly grow the number of people who “like” a Facebook page. Participants are required to “like” the pages of all other participants. Those who like all the participating pages by April 29 willl be featured in an epic blog post that will go out to 100,000 readers. With close to 400 people participating (so far) and significant visibility on offer, why would I hesitate?

I have always spoken openly about my desire for quality relationships over quantity relationships. I want people to interact with people and build relationships that go beyond just the click of a “like” button.  But in order to find the quality relationships I’m looking for I need a quantity of people to get to know, right?  With this program, will the folks dropping by be interested in my content or just seeking exposure through the event?  The truth is it will be some of each.  And it’s very likely that many participants will “unlike” my page after the event but that’s ok if I meet some great new folks.

Today, I had a look at the list of participating pages and there’s some really interesting work being shared. Check these out:

 Most of these pages are brands similar to my clients – heart centred entrepreneurs, commmunity organizations and business owners exploring social media to build an online community. I know my page would be a useful resource to them and there’s much I can learn from their examples not to mention their content. So, this morning, I’ve decided to join the fray and like a LOT of new pages. If you’re a Pages Gone Wild page owner please say hello in the comments. I’d love to get better acquainted.

Ways to bring social media to a presentation

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Is public speaking part of your marketing mix? I encourage any organization with a knowledgeable, articulate team member to book at least a few engagements each year. Your spokesperson must be passionate or  funny or eloquent or all three to represent  your brand well.

Now, take each speaking engagement to the next level using social media. Here are five ways you can enhance your presentation:

  1. Give away some prizes to randomly selected tweeps onTwitter who tag you (e.g. @AngelaCrocker) in their live tweets during the event.
  2. Schedule tweets during your presentation with links related to resources you mention. For instance, if I’m talking about Evernote, the tool I use as a digital notebook, then I might pre-schedule a tweet mentioning@Evernote.
  3. If you use Powerpoint, share your slides publicly on SlideShare following your presentation so your audience can refer to them again.
  4. Share step-by-step instructions for any multi-step task by posting a how-to video on YouTube for your audience to watch when they return to their desks.
  5. Invite the audience to post any un-addressed questions on your Facebook wall. And be sure to answer them!

Of course, if you’re going to bridge your online and offline interaction with fans, it’s a good idea to make it easy for them to find you online.  Here are some great examples I received at Blogworld last fall:

Cool Swag from Blogworld

I suggest you make your giveaway something affordable and recyclable like a sticker or a business card unless you’re willing  to spend a bit more on something people will keep like the iPhone cover or light-up pen. Whatever you choose, check and double-check the type to make sure your web address is listed correctly!

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Do you make it easy to connect?

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Any efforts using social media tools should be an integrated part of your overall marketing campaign including offline things like signage, posters and ads. One of the most common mistakes I see is companies announcing their presence on Facebook or Twitter by including these familiar icons but failing to be specific. Here’s an example of what not to do:

This advertiser wants to engage with customers through these social networks yet they expect the customer to do all the work. Why should they go to the trouble of searching for your brand? The reality is that people don’t do that. Worse still, if your brand name is similar to another company’s then you may drive traffic to those accounts. A better way to handle it is like this:

Muskoka Woods Example

Muskoka Woods included this information as part of a full page ad in the April 2011 issue of Canadian Family magazine.

This is exactly the right thing to do. The ad shows the child-friendly summer fun that Muskoka Woods wants to exude about their camp yet makes it easy for busy parents (and kids!) to receive further information in the way that works for them. Type in a brief URL and they connect to the company’s social network on Twitter or Facebook in no time.

So, how are you making it easy to connect?