photos by lindentreephoto.com
The inaugural SMB Social Media Makeover Forum here in Atlanta is in the books.
Small businesses from a cross section of industries came out during Digital Atlanta to learn from social media experts as they helped High Road Craft Ice Cream and Sorbet, Hannah Solar and Clickscape with their social engagement strategies.
Over the next week, we will be sharing key insights from the half day discussion, but I think we accomplished what we set out to do.
The idea behind the Forum was to create an interactive, dynamic discussion where the audience could experience their
very own social media AHA moments. I didn’t want to present completed case studies, which lacked some of the drama of seeing companies discover a new or better way of doing social media.
Like social media itself, I wanted the process to be open and transparent. High Road Craft Ice Cream and Sorbet, Hannah Solar and Clickscape deserve a lot credit for candidly discussing the challenges they face.
Like many of the attendees, they have created Twitter accounts, Facebook pages, YouTube Channels and blogs, but don’t feel they are maximizing their efforts and achieving they results they want.
Debbie Curtis Magley (UPS) and Seth Miller (Turner)
Many of the makeover consultants came from some of top national brands. I wanted a mixture of big companies who have the resources to experiment on a large scale and small companies whose experience more closely resembles those of the makeover candidates.
In the end, the social media makeovers were not about trashing what exists and starting anew; they were about helping small businesses learn from their mistakes, redirect their efforts, recalibrate their strategy and ultimately achieve results that meet their business objectives.
Networking
Over the next 6 to 9 months, we will track the progress of the makeover candidate, see what worked, what didn’t and why. Follow their progress on @listeningpoints (hashtag: #socialmediamakeover) on Twitter, SMB Social Media Makeover Forum Group on Linkedin and Listeningpoints blog.
For now, I wanted to take a moment to thank the attendees and the sponsors and partners for their participation and support.
Gold Sponsors: UPS, Cbeyond and Constant Contact
Silver sponsor: Vlink Solutions
Bronze Sponsors: Zoomerang, ATDC, Atlanta Daybook, Scoutmob
Partners: the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, TAG Marketing, and Referral Institute.
Follow