Recap: Social Media Essentials at Leading Spas of Canada

This post is a recap of a talk I did in Montreal yesterday on social media for the Leading Spas of Canada, an organization that provides support for the development of the Canadian spa industry.

Spas, social media and speaking..three of my favorite things combined!

Most of the attendees were aware of social media and understood that they need to be a part of it. What they did not quite grasp yet is the new culture of a consumer driven economy and how to use it to its maximum potential to grow their business.  (And have fun while doing it!) In this talk, we covered how to get started, how to join the conversation and attract new clients.

The group was very curious and interactive and asked questions throughout the presentation.

You can view the slides below:

Some comments and questions:

• Learning Curve: People who were not that familiar with Twitter made comments that it ‘looks like code‘.  Seeing as how I’m used to being around a more tech crowd, getting this perspective was insightful and something I will keep in mind when working with and speaking to businesses who are less tech-savvy.
• Trends: Group buying was a HOT topic since many of the spa owners had been approached or tried it with their business. As a consumer, I’m drawn to these deals (it’s market research ..) but presented to them my thoughts from the business aspect, which I have discussed here and here.
• Time Management: There was also concern around time-management and social media. Business owners are concerned by how much time it involves and potentially take away from core business activities. One key point I stressed was that if you are just starting out with social media, you can’t do it all at once. You need to start with a strategy and social media should be integrated within your marketing plan/strategy.
• Dealing with negative feedback: There was a question about how to deal with negative feedback, for example, on Twitter. People wanted to know if they could possibly delete it or ‘make it go away’. I told them the best thing would be to respond and see if there was a way to improve the situation and use Twitter as way to do customer service and get feedback. These conversations will happen with or without you, listening and being part of them is to your advantage.
  
• Foursquare: only 1 out of the approximately 40 people had heard of it. And the same goes for Facebook Places.

Bottom line: The online landscape is changing everyday and business owners need support and guidance when it comes to choosing and implementing technologies that will help grow their business.

Thoughts?