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Jason Cormier is one of the co-founders and managing partners of Room 214, a social media agency that leverages marketing automation, research, social networking, and online advertising. His background is in web development, and his partner’s background is in public relations; They worked together in 2003 to find a new way of marketing. Between SEO, Google AdWords, and other communications strategies, they realized they could combine their backgrounds to form one cohesive company dedicated to leveraging online tools to benefit the online visibility of businesses. Now, social media plays a primary role in their ability to help companies extend their reach. Jason recently joined AMP UP Your Social Media’s host Glenn Gaudet to discuss ways in which a company can utilize social media to connect and engage with more users.
“It’s always easier to join a conversation than to start one, and I believe that there’s a general lack of social listening that’s happening. Pay attention in order to recognize conversations and have that help shape your social media strategy.”
Jason discusses tips for using social media marketing as a way to generate traffic:
- The real value in Public Relations is Media Relations. Community management and content calendar editing and creation is important, but if the PR firm couldn’t drive hits on major social media sites that were relevant to the company, then they didn’t provide much value. Companies that can, for instance, provide a press release and keyword optimize it to generate search engine visibility are the ones that make the biggest impact and create the most value in social media.
- Social media is now about distinguishing your company among the social noise. Most companies now produce their own content and know how to navigate social media, so companies are now focused on how to overcome the social noise, and it begins with social listening. Whether it’s a small company or a fortune 500 company, you need a strategy that connects with your other marketing channels. People are looking for agencies that can connect the dots, so to say.
- Know your goals. This sounds basic, but many companies aren’t entirely sure of their goals. Broadly, you may want more awareness or to use social media to help drive leads, but you need a more quantitative assignment to go with your goal.
- Understand your existing team and the roles within the team. This helps you to better understand your process and procedures as well as the tools you have available to achieve your social media goals. Also, make sure that whoever is in charge of marketing is implementing systems that can be used by others should they happen to leave your company.
- B2B is generally more focused on lead generation and longer sales cycles. B2C can be quick purchases that are less expensive, and that separates the way that marketers may approach social media depending on the type of business they’re marketing for. B2B offerings are oftentimes approached via software platforms and really gets into the lead lifecycles. Another big difference is in the type of content that’s being produced.
- Your themes need to relate to existing conversations. Your brand message can be shaped by the current conversations on social media, and those conversations need to play an integral role in your social presence and the way that you create content.
Jason would love to hear from you! Connect with him on LinkedIn or Twitter.
About Jason Cormier
Hailing from Boulder, Colorado, Jason spends his free time on the Board of Advisors for Give Hope Global, a non-profit corporation which is involved in 5 specific activities in SW Haiti. All of these activities are aimed at realizing the organization’s vision which is “To see the young people we serve become able to help others both physically and spiritually.”
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