In this episode of the Inside Social Media podcast, I welcome back Ford’s Global Head of Social Media, Scott Monty.

And today we’re celebrating episode #50!  Cue the french horns!

Someone recently asked me what my goal was when I first launched this podcast.

I told him my goal was just to even see if this format can work; can I get the biggest brands and social media influencers to come on the show every week to talk about what they’re doing well in social media with the angle of how small business?

So, that’s why this is such a big milestone here for the podcast — we’ve had some of the most successful brands here on the show including the likes of Ford, McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, Walmart, CNN, Whole Foods, Ben & Jerry’s, MTV, Red Bull and influencers like Gary Vaynerchuk, Ted Rubin, Neil Patel and others.

And we’ve been able to have this conversation week and week out.

So, I want to start by saying thank you.  Thank you for listening every week and supporting the show. 

I do this podcast for you and it’s when I get the tweets or emails or Facebook messages about how much you appreciate this show…that’s what makes it all worthwhile.

And to celebrate today?  I’ve invited Ford’s Global Head of Social Media, Scott Monty BACK to the show.

Scott’s my first returning guest as he was my very first guest in episode #1.  The episode with Scott is also the most downloaded of all the episodes.

So when I was thinking about ways to celebrate #50, I thought what better way than to bring back Scott and talk about how social media for small businesses has changed since we last spoke a year ago and also discuss what’s going on now in social and how you can benefit from it.

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Specifically, In this Episode You’ll Learn…

• How you can take advantage of the current trends in social media that most affect small businesses.


• Scott’s thoughts on all the changes with Facebook’s reach for businesses, or lack thereof, and how you should now be looking at Facebook’s place in your business’ marketing.


• We talk about the “Fingers on a 4×4” promotion that ran with Jimmy Fallon and the tonight show.  There are some great lessons here for small businesses.  You’ll hear that you don’t need to be a brand like Ford in order to do something like this.


• I also get Scott’s thoughts on the backlash around the well-intentioned but poorly executed New York City Police Dept’s Twitter initiative and what we can learn from that.


• And a whole lot more with Scott!

Episode Resources

Scott’s web site: http://www.scottmonty.com/

Scott on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ScottMonty

Ford’s Social Web Site: http://social.ford.com/

Ford’s Automotive Web Site: http://www.ford.com/

Ford on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ford

Ford on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Ford

Scott’s first appearance on Inside Social Media: https://rickmulready.com/scott-monty-ford-social-media-strategy/

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MP3 Download

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Insider Show Notes: Small Business Social Media Strategies with Scott Monty

Overview:

• The value in building relationships with your customers and staying connected to pop culture.


• Why the fundamentals of social media engagement are just as important to today’s success as they have been in the past.


• Why the smart place to invest your budget is in all aspects of content from creation to dissemination, no matter what social media platform you’re utilizing.


• How small businesses can make use of the collaborative economy to provide better value and a better overall customer experience for their clients.

On Trends Happening in Social Media In The Next 1-2 years…

• Content is absolutely key — quality OVER quantity. At Ford, they created behind-the-scenes videos for their Ford Mustang anniversary celebration, but not every week.


• As a small business, it is vital to use more data to drive your decision-making and content creation process. This is more important than it ever has been according to Scott.


• To find that data, take a quick readout of links to your web site, your videos and all the assets on your social channels. Look at what are people engaging with and what are they not.  Then use that data to drive your content creation and sharing.


• As you master using that data, find ways to provide personalized and or customized customer experiences for your audience based on that data and their past interactions with you. More and more people are looking for that kind of interaction with brands.

On Jimmy Fallon of The Tonight Show’s Fingers on a 4×4 Contest And How Small Businesses Can Model Similar Strategies… 

• It’s extremely important to build relationships with your followers, they can be your eyes and ears in the world and hear or see what you might miss. Ford discovered this when someone Tweeted them saying Jimmy Fallon of The Tonight Show was looking for a truck; Scott wasn’t watching that episode of The Tonight Show and would’ve missed the opportunity otherwise.


• Ford took advantage of the opportunity and connected quickly; another valuable lesson for small business owners. They sent Jimmy 3rd party content to prove to Jimmy why he should