Mike Schlossberg
Pennsylvania State Representative
Former Vice President, Greater
Lehigh Valley Chamber of
Commerce
@MikeSchlossberg – #ACCE2014
 Chambers
of Commerce facilitated
networking before any other opportunity
existed.
 That was the original selling point for
Chambers of Commerce: it brought
people together.
 That’s what social media does now. It
brings people together and helps make
connections when none existed.
@MikeSchlossberg
 The
fundamental truth on social media
for a Chamber of Commerce, or any
business, is this:
@MikeSchlossberg
@MikeSchlossberg
 Facebook
• 1.28 billion members, 1.23 billion who
use monthly, 757 who use daily.
• However, younger users (<24 year olds) is
dropping.
 Twitter
• About 1 billion accounts, 255 million
monthly users.
• Majority of use comes from a mobile
device.
@MikeSchlossberg
 LinkedIn
• 300 million users, 100 million of which
are in the United States.
• 120 million daily users.
 Instagram
• 200 million monthly active users.
• 60 million photos uploaded daily.
 Vine
• 40 million total users, and rising.
• Five vines are tweeted every second.
@MikeSchlossberg
 Social
Media Manager: One person is in
charge of all social media, including all
aspects of content creation, all pages,
member sales, retention, etc.
 Hub & Coordinator: One person
coordinates but each staffer manages
their own pages, does their own
sales/communications, etc.
 Best fit? Likely in the middle of these.
 Above all else: HAVE A PLAN.
@MikeSchlossberg
 Regardless
of your model, track social
media interactions and contact
information in your CRM.
 Set up custom fields for this and display
social media in your member directory.
 Great argument here for the “social
media manager” model.
• Manager can track all interactions.
@MikeSchlossberg
 Social
media presents a wealth of
information about potential new
members.
 From a sales perspective, how are you
using this information?
@MikeSchlossberg
@MikeSchlossberg
 Compile
the key information on a business
or prospect before you meet them.
Examples of such info include:
• Recent events, as told by recent posts.
• Information on key decision makers (educational
background, interests, etc).
• Business size, other groups they belong to, etc.
 All
of this will enable you to hold a more
productive meeting.
 The information will help you better
determine how you can serve that potential
member’s needs.
@MikeSchlossberg
 As
a potential new member is
considering joining the Chamber, what
do you think they are doing? Looking you
up on the internet – and social media!
 Always make sure you put your best foot
forward:
• Keep your social media platforms updated with
fresh, interesting and relevant content.
• Above all else, keep the content member-centric.
@MikeSchlossberg
Member of the Day: Start every day by posting
about today’s “Member of the Day” – allow each
member an opportunity to plug a sale, promotion
or announcement.
 Retweet/sharing: Retweet or share interesting
content from your Members, or allow your
members to Email you/text you pics or Vines that
you can upload directly to your profile.
 Guest blog entry:
Allow a member to
make a blog entry on
a subject of their
expertise on your blog.

@MikeSchlossberg
 Welcome
new members: As you get new
members, welcome them on Twitter, or
take a picture of their shop/staff and
upload it.
 Job Openings: Post when your
members are hiring.
 Members in the news: Post
news stories that feature Chamber
members – even if the story has nothing
to do with your Chamber.
@MikeSchlossberg
 Post
value-added content: You can’t just post
about yourself. Post interesting articles that
relate to subjects that businesses will find
useful.
•
•
•
•
Business news.
Policy news.
Local news.
Social media information (instructional, how-to, etc).
 Multi-media
content: Make sure to post
images, videos, links & questions.
• Helps you break through Facebook’s algorithm.
@MikeSchlossberg
 It
should be sparse; one out of every ten
pieces of content, if that.
 However, it’s foolish to avoid.
 Testimonials:
• Facebook/Google+/Blogging: Picture of member
with text.
• Twitter: Mention the business/person, a brief quote
and link to a longer quote.
• YouTube/Vine: Brief video with the member
testifying about the benefits of Chamber
membership.
@MikeSchlossberg
 Member
benefits: This is great for
existing & future members.
• Stress the specific benefit: how much money the
member can save/new business it can gain, etc.
• Make sure to have a specific call to action: “Click
here to learn more”
@MikeSchlossberg
 Screencast: www.screenr.com
• Using just what is on your computer and a
microphone, you can create a screencast – a
Powerpoint, for example – on the benefits of
membership.
• You can also use this tool to show people how to
use various member benefits, etc.
• You can then record the screencast and put it on
YouTube – and then to all of your social media.
• Yes, this is free!
@MikeSchlossberg
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Formalize: Like, follow, connect, etc.
Track: Add relevant information to your CRM.
Engage: Comment on information they post, like
their status, etc.
Turn: At appropriate time, turn the conversation to
a subtle sales pitch. Don’t be overt.
Pitch: Have a real world conversation about the
benefits of Chamber membership.
Sometimes, this can occur exclusively online – other
times, any of these steps will stop and become
integrated into the real world.
 Do this for as many businesses as you have the
capacity for!

@MikeSchlossberg
Have ambassadors? Train them for social media
use – or, even better, have an exclusive set of
social media ambassadors!
 Assign your ambassadors a group of members,
give them their social media contact information,
and have them connect and comment.

 This can be for existing or future members.

Training is necessary: Offer your ambassadors
free training in how to use social media,
including technical and “cultural” aspects.
• This is an added benefit to being an Ambassador and will
surely be useful to them in the real world.
@MikeSchlossberg
 Facebook
and Twitter are both testing
“Buy Now” buttons.
 In the future – sell memberships,
sponsorships, event tickets & more.
@MikeSchlossberg
 Like
EVERY business: Even those that
are future members.
• Gives you insight into what these
businesses do and what they are
looking for.
• Creates opportunity for interaction.
 Events: Advertise
your free/low cost events.
• Use the invite function from your personal profile.
• Fill out all relevant information and add pictures
from previous events, if possible.
@MikeSchlossberg
 Facebook advertisements
• Can offer on a Pay Per Click basis.
• Can target based on demographics
(age, gender, sexual orientation and
keywords like “business owner” and
“entrepreneur”)
• NO extra cost associated with
creating different ads based on
targets (women/minorities, LGBT,
young professionals).
 Cost per click may differ.
• Can create extremely targeted, hyper-
relevant ad campaigns.
@MikeSchlossberg
 Retweet
relevant local content: Your goal
is to appear useful and valuable; not just
to make a sale.
 Follow and engage: Find every business
owner possible and follow them. Engage
as appropriate.
 Not just to make a sale – have a
conversation. Think Dale Carnegie!
@MikeSchlossberg
 Appropriate
hashtag use: Multiple
studies show that tweets that use
hashtags get more retweets and
click-throughs. Use (appropriate)
local hashtags.
 Lists: Can create Twitter lists based on any
subject that you want.
• Lists can be public or private; as such, you can
create a private, “future member” list.
• Use these functions to organize
prospects/members, and view these lists
periodically.
@MikeSchlossberg
 Connect
with anyone who wants, but
actively seek connections with prospects.
• Do not automatically move into a sale pitch!
• Use the information in the contact’s profile to see
if you can’t build a relationship later down the
line.
 Before
actively using LinkedIn for sales,
determine activity levels.
• Many people have a profile because they’ve
been told they have to have an activity
level…and then never use it again.
@MikeSchlossberg

Create a Chamber group and invite all Chamber
members to join.
• Keep an eye out for excessive self-promotional material
and set guidelines – some people will spam your group
all day!
Use “looked at your profile” to build connections.
 Join local groups and make positive
contributions.

• Helps can your name – and the name of your Chamber –
out there.
@MikeSchlossberg
 ROI
is notoriously difficult to measure in
social media and sales.
 Tracking sales made by social media
alone isn’t enough.
• Like any other marketing: People have seen your
social media updates and been influenced to
join your Chamber without even realizing it.
@MikeSchlossberg
 Size
of groups is important, but…
 …interactions is much more important.
 Track likes, mentions and conversations.
 Track conversations, in particularly, in
your CRM.
 Staff perspective: Track time spent
managing social media.
@MikeSchlossberg
@MikeSchlossberg
Mike Schlossberg
michaelschlossberg@gmail.com
@mikeschlossberg
Facebook.com/mikeschlossberg
Visit http://politicalfails.wordpress.com for more
information, or if you want to talk further.
BLATANT SELF-PROMO: Keep an eye out for my book,
Tweets and Consequences: 60 Social Media Disasters in
Politics and How You Can Avoid a Career-Ending Mistake,
coming out in late August/early September. And please
reach out if I can be helpful to you or your Chamber when
it comes to social media!
@MikeSchlossberg