6 Tips for a Great Social Media Marketing Campaign

By smallbiztrends, Guest Blogger
Published: SBA March 17, 2016

“Social media can be a huge driver of website traffic, awareness of your brand and, of course, new business leads, and online and offline sales.

Social media can also be a time suck that eats resources but doesn’t yield results.

How do you prevent that from happening?  Simple: treat social media marketing with the same discipline and level of planning as any other marketing.  Don’t just engage in random sharing and chatting. Instead, plan and execute real campaigns.

Here are 6 tips for a great social media marketing campaign:

1. Define your goal – in detail

What’s the one goal you want out of your campaign? Is it to drive people to fill out a lead form on your website? Are you trying to increase e-commerce sales? Do you want to drive in store traffic?

Define it as an action you want people to take. Be specific. “I want people to [insert verb].”

If you aren’t clear about your goal, the rest of your campaign is likely to be vague and may disappoint you. Get this step right and the rest falls into place easier.

2. Specify a measurement

The next step is to define a number that you would consider a successful result. This could be a flat number such as adding 500 email subscribers. Or it could be a dollar number, such as driving $20,000 in online sales.  Your number could be a percentage growth as well, such as driving 15% growth in new leads.

Assigning a numerical goal gives you something to drive toward and later measure your success against. Just as important, it serves as a gut check to assess whether the resources you are about to devote will be worth the desired outcome, and whether the goal is a stretch yet attainable. If not, it’s better to set a different goal for your campaign.

3. Focus on one platform

Unless you’re an accomplished marketer, you’re going to want to focus on a single social media platform. By focusing on a single platform you can devote more effort to understanding the platform features and implementing the techniques to leverage them well.

More campaigns fail through poor execution than any other reason, in my experience.  Often that stems from not understanding the right steps to take or not knowing the social platform well enough to use advanced features that really can move the needle.”

View the rest of the tips by clicking here.

Minnesota Named Best State For Job Creation…

Research company Gallup gave Minnesota the nation’s top slot in its job creation index for 2015. Minnesota dethroned North Dakota, which has taken top honors in the annual study each of the last six years.

“This is the first time Minnesota has ranked number one in this reputable study,” said Governor Dayton in a statement. “I congratulate the hard-working people and businesses of Minnesota for achieving this national distinction.”

Read the full article by clicking here.

Minnesota Grants

Looking to help fund a project?

Grant seekers can search for grant opportunities by state agency or by subject area on the MN Office of Grant Managements website. Please read grant announcements carefully as some state grant opportunities are only open to certain types of organizations, such as units of government. For more details click here.

GrantWatch.com provides subscribers with the most grants for nonprofits and small businesses. Find GRANTS for your nonprofit, 501c3, NGO, education, religious or community organization, municipal government agency or small business in MN by clicking here

Guide to Starting a Business in Minnesota

The 2016 edition of “A Guide to Starting a Business in Minnesota” is now available from the Small Business Assistance Office at the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) in St. Paul. The popular guide, which is now in its 34th edition and free of charge, provides a concise summary of the major issues faced by anyone starting a business in Minnesota.

“To best prepare business owners for the constantly evolving entrepreneurial environment, we continually update and expand the guide’s content,” said DEED Commissioner Katie Clark Sieben. “The 34th edition is a comprehensive and timely approach to planning, forming and running a business. Business owners and entrepreneurs will find expanded sections on business entity choice, changes in employment law and unemployment regulation, financing and taxation in the new edition.”

The guide includes information on the newly revised Limited Liability Company Act, which changes Minnesota’s current corporation-based model to a partnership model found in about 38 other states. The new model provides flexibility in areas like the standards of conduct required of Limited Liability Company members, managers and governors.

The guide also can be found on the DEED website by clicking here.

New Business in Baudette: Wash-N-Go

Selling Suds. Wash-N-Go offers beer, laundry and shower facilities

Article Credit: Northern Light Region, Feb. 18, 2016

Smaller classrooms in the schools and an increasing number of retirees in the area are a clear sign of an aging population in Lake of the Woods County. That’s the reason that a young entrepreneur like Nels Holte, a 2005 Lake of the Woods High School graduate,  stands out in the community.
Like many graduates, Holte left the area after high school but found himself back ‘home’ shortly after graduating from Bemidji State University. When asked why he returned to the area and began investing in the community, Holte responded, “My love for the outdoors brought me back. Family also played a big part of it.”
Holte has recently opened his second business venture.
Wash-N-Go opened in phases during the month of January with all aspects of the business now up and running.  The unique new business offers a full line of beer, wine and spirits in a spacious bottle shop that sits between a full-service laundromat and shower facilities all under one roof.
The laundromat currently features six washers and dryers along with a snack machine with a very comfortable waiting area with television.
The shower area consists of four full bath facilities with shower, toilet and sink.  Showers are paid with tokens that are purchased from the bottle shop or an automated machine. Showers are complete with towels, soap and shampoo.
“Originally the idea started with the showers, a need for my other customers,” said Holte.
Holte’s other customers are from his first business venture, Fred’s Beds. The 28-year old is currently in his fifth year of that sleeper ice house business.
“After the shower idea, then the laundry idea came up, then I realized an off-sale liquor license was available through the county in this area,” said Holte.
“I felt there was a need for that in the Bostic Bay area.”
As with most entrepreneurs, Holte is looking ahead as well.
“Depending on how things go, I’m looking at putting up a convenience store with gasoline and a possible car wash next door,” Holte said.
Holte also said he hoped to add additional washers and dryers, including commercial sized machines, to the laundromat over time.
The new business currently employs five people in one full-time and four part-time positions.
The newly constructed 40 foot by 60 foot  building that houses Wash-N-Go is located north of Baudette at 3391 42nd Avenue NW or what is  more commonly referred to as the Morris Point Road. It’s about a half mile north of County Road 8.
Currently the laundry and shower facilities are open daily from 9 a.m. until 10 p.m. Holte said he hopes to make those available 24 hours a day at some point.
The bottle shop is open Monday-Saturday, 9 a.m. until 10 p.m.

Wash-n-Go Baudette

It’s More Than Just Ice

PRESS RELEASE

A new arena in Baudette? Is the typical response when the discussion starts.   Afterwards there are a plethora of questions to be answered. Ultimately the answer is yes, a new arena in Baudette, what a great thing for the communities’ future and its children. For large and small employers in the County it is a huge benefit to have new and up to date facilities for families of potential employees or anyone who is considering moving to the area. To small business and retailers in the area it can generate more traffic. Every small town needs growth or they fade away, here is an opportunity to keep forward progress. “It’s more than just ice” has become the motto. In addition to moving the community forward it opens the door to opportunities beyond ice skating and hockey.

But what is wrong with the existing arena? Face facts the existing arena will still have a purpose and continued use is part of the plan. We cannot hide the fact there are problems with the existing arena. Those problems have been identified and are being worked on in the best manner possible within its operating methods. Their Board does a great job with what they have to work with.

Is ice time shortage the issue? No, not yet anyway. Having a new up to date facility with great amenities will bring many other opportunities to the area. It will provide a year around venue currently not available in Baudette. With a new facility the opportunity for tournaments sparks a whole new interest. There are seasonal down times when plenty of lodging is available in Baudette and the hockey crowd is going full swing.   With fulltime planning and actions towards taking advantage of these opportunities everyone in the community benefits.

How is it possible, how can Lake of the Woods build another arena? Due to an extremely generous and anonymous donor, it is possible. There is $5,000,000.00 set a side and ready for the project to begin. There is an estimated $1,500,000.00 still needed for the project to be completed. But the generosity continues, there is already a trust set up which will cover any shortages of yearly operating costs. The new facility will be managed by a board. It will be run as a business and have a fulltime onsite manager employed year around to create opportunities and manage schedules.

Who will own it? The 501c3 organization will manage the facility. The Lake of the Woods International Arena Board Inc will have the ownership of the facility. EIN# 47-2602214. Current board members are Mike Shulz, Derek Olson, John Sonstergard, Nick Anthony and Keith Block. There is some great hockey knowledge and business leadership on the board and they are ready to make this go.

When can this happen? Based on the results of fund raising ground breaking could happen this spring and games and events would start this fall.

What will it look like, what’s in it? Final designs are not yet complete, although it is looking great. The current plan is to build the new facility adjacent to the softball fields of the school. There will be plenty of locker rooms and a great indoor viewing area with unobstructed views of the rink. It will be built with the option of adding a second rink at a later date. The bleacher area in the rink will be heated. There are possible plans for a workout room with rink side viewing so parents would be able to get their own workout while the kids are enjoying the ice.

How can I help? As we pointed out earlier fund raising is yet to be done.   There is also a lot of work to be completed. The generous start to the project covers 77% of the money needed for this great facility. Not only are donations an investment in the community, whenever feasible donated funds will be spent with local contractors. There will be many items like ground work, parking lots, landscape, parking lot lighting, painting, flooring, signage and other potential items to be done locally.

How do I find out more? An open house will be held on Thursday February 25th at The Moose Lodge in Baudette. From 4:30 to 7:00 PM the Lake of the Woods International Arena Board will be there with plans and information. Also they will answer any questions or help with donation paper work. Border View Lodge will be providing Ceasar salad, pasta salad, Walleye Chowder, Duck and Wild Rice soup, French Dip Sliders, Smokey Chicken Sliders, Cuban Sliders, mini cheese pizza’s and desserts for all who show up. See ya at the Moose!

For more details, visit there website by clicking here.

Baudette Hockey Arena   Hockey Arean MN