Our June meeting covered a requested topic from our Uservoice forum: Comparative SM Models. We were asked to take different types of companies and delve a little deeper into how social media could be used to address their specific needs and challenges. To that end, we created four very different business profiles, which you can review here, defined their goals and explained their challenges for our panelists.

Our first business was a start up looking to not only expand their business but also expand their customer base into a different demographic. Pat Harter gave us some tips and tricks to get a fledgling business off in the right direction; how to manage your web presence and maintain your identity and how you could use YouTube and internet based radio program to implement a focused communication campaign.

Next up Heather Herr took us through how you’d approach a new brand being test marketed locally. Heather’s solutions focused on not only building brand awareness and achieving the test marketing goals but also positioning the brand for its next stages of release; how to use Facebook as a primary portal, creating outreach programs to build brand ambassadors and how a video platform such as 12seconds could be used to capture consumer thoughts, opinions and testimonials.

Our third business on the agenda had a different problem – how do you use Social Media to create a community based program for a larger corporation to effectively change public opinion. Jenn Maggiore discussed how best to tap into LinkedIn to build partnerships with local municipalities and how traditional public relations strategies can be combined with tools like Twitter and Facebook to reach your audience, assuage fears and educate the population about your business.

We closed out the evening with a non-profit organization looking to build awareness of services, increase their volunteer base and donations. Chad Swaney gave us some strategies to meet all the needs of this non-profit; using Facebook as a content tool to reach potential clients as well as volunteers, focusing your event based organizing around Twitter and build additional event buzz in the community by leveraging geolocation applications like Foursquare to generate interest through event check-in’s and badge rewards.

We covered a ton of ground on how to take your marketing strategies and apply them through the use of social media tools. While no single tool is the panacea for all businesses, matching the right tools with your goals will make all the difference on how successful your strategy is. Many thanks to our panelists for providing us with a wealth of ideas and taking the time to explain the thought process behind their solutions.

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The February 11th topic for Social Media Club Phoenix is a look at Government Uses of Social Media, which was taken from our Uservoice forum.  .

BY THE PEOPLE, FOR THE PEOPLE: How Social Should Governments Be Online

On one hand, Governments exist to serve the people, so you might expect Social Media to be an easy engagement for them to make.  Unfortunately, things like open meeting laws, limited budgets, and stressed resources can make it a challenge.  We’re seeing unprecedented use of Social Media at the National level, both in the Presidential Campaigns and with a growing number of officials, but is it starting to trickle down to the local level?  YouTube has pulled together videos for the President to answer – could virtual town halls become the norm?  What about using Social Media for greater access to Government information and resources?

This is a huge topic, and I encourage everyone to come down and participate in this discussion. You do not need to be personally working with Government entities to have good ideas and input for the panel. This is an area of Social Media that does not get as much discussion as business applications, but is in some ways even more important to all of us.

If you have specific topics you would like to cover, leave a comment here.

Moderator:

Panelists:

• Charlie Meyer, City Manager – City of Tempe,  charlie_meyer@tempe.gov, Charlie Meyer City of Tempe
• Samuel Richard, Founder & Columnist – Downtown Phoenix Journal, Spirit of Service Coordinator – ASU, Board Member – YNPN,  sam@samuelrichard.org, @samuelisaac
• Onnie Shekurjian, City Councilwoman – City of Tempe,  onnie_shekerjian@tempe.gov Onnie Shekurjian City of Tempe
• Matt Wynn, Senior Data Reporter -The Arizona Republic, Matt.Wynn@arizonarepublic.com, @mattwynn

Social Media 101

Evo Terra will be hosting Social Media 101 at 5:30 — sharp! This month Evo will tie into the Government theme with Internet Privacy and Security. We all have an incredible amount of information available online, and protecting it is critically important.

Because he only has about 45 minutes for the class plus a Q & A session, please be on time. The class will end at 6:15, giving everyone plenty of time to make it to the main SMCPHX meeting that starts promptly at 6:30.

Feel free to come to either or both talks, at the Jobing.com offices!

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