An Introduction toSocial Media

Presented byWolf Hoelscher

Bull's-Eye Writing & Editing Services

Is Social Media Worth It?

Time Commitment Requires Patience & Dedication

Planning Put it in writing

Self-Education No school for social media Technology is constantly changing Learn from others (online and in person)

What Are the Rules?

Nobody Knows! No firm

benchmarks for success

Hard to find objective data Often comes from

companies in the business of social media marketing

Inbound Marketing

Marketing is no longer a one-way street Customers expect:

Engagement & interaction (listening) Transparency Positive referrals Valuable content

No more salespeople? The Gift of the Soft Sell

Karma

So Many Sites, So Little Time

Where Should Your Focus Be?

“Seventy-five percent of your focus should be on what is happening off your web site concerning your brand, your industry, and your competitors.”

Source: Halligan, Brian; Shah, Dharmesh; Scott, David Meerman (2009-10-02). Inbound Marketing: Get Found Using Google, Social Media, and Blogs (New Rules Social Media Series) (p. 12). Wiley. Kindle Edition.

What works best for you?

Know who you want to target What platforms do your customers use? What are your competitors up to?

Which sites fit your personality? Social media allows you to put a human face

on your business

The Players

Facebook

History Founded in 2004 by Mark

Zuckerberg “The Social Network” Began in a Harvard dorm room Designed for Harvard students Gained popularity among

college students around the country

Gains disgruntled MySpace users

Stats

More than 800 million active users (largest social network)

Average users has 130 Friends

Average user spends an average 15 hours and 33 minutes on Facebook per month

Average user visits the site 40 times per month

Average user is connected to 80 community pages, groups and events

200 million people access Facebook via a mobile device each day

Users that access Facebook on mobile devices are twice as active on Facebook compared to non-mobile users

Stats

Other stats: http://diigo.com/0kwcj http://www.kenburbary.com

Platform

Page Types Personal Business/Fan Groups

Apps Increase interactivity with your page

Events Video Contests Landing Pages

The Open Graph

Facebook’s reach extends far beyond its website Social Plugins Likes Mobil apps

Ties into search engine visibility

Pros

Search engine visibility Detailed demographic insights Viral potential 800 million potential customers Buying decisions now based on referrals Free

Cons

Frequent changes to the interface You are at their mercy

Top Stories feature Unfair advantage to larger corps?

Competition Average user is connected to 80 community

pages, groups and events

History

Founders: Developers Noah Glass, Jack Dorsey, Evan Williams, and Biz Stone

created Odeo, a podcasting platform iTunes made this irrelevant

Brainstorming session led to an idea to bring text messaging to the web (text a small group of people at once)

Introduced to the public in 2006 Took off at the SXSW Festival in 2007

Stats

140 - # of characters allowed per Tweet 42.3% - percent of users between ages

30 & 49 1 billion - # of tweets posted every 5

days 100+ million - # of active users 182% - Increase in number of mobile

users over the past year.

Third-Party Clients

Hootsuite Schedule your Tweets & access multiple

accounts TweetDeck

Easier for reading streams Timely.is

Calculates for you the best time to Tweet Provides analytics

Twellow Yellow Pages for Twitter

Pros

Send 140 character updates to people who want them.

Free. Publicize blog posts, organizational news, special

offers... Engage with potential donors and generate buzz. Get feedback. Ask & answer questions (twtpoll,

Twithelp). See what people are saying about you and your

company. Follow trends and act on them.

Cons

Noise! (Pear Analytics Survey: 40% of Tweets = Pointless babble)

Will anybody hear you? Learning curve – What’s a hashtag? RT?

DM? Hard to quantify results

History

Founder = Reid Hoffman Oxford-trained philosopher Started in his living room in 2002 along with

five other team members Went live in 2003 Focus = professional networking &

career building Became profitable in 2007 (designed to

be a subscription service)

Stats

131.2 million members Third quarter growth 2011 = 126% 58.5% of users = male Almost 50% of the users have titles such

as managers, principals, owners, CEOs or vice presidents

Platform

Profile Create your own personal brand (mega-

resume) Get recommendations Pick keywords Add a profile pic Incorporate apps (Slide shows)

Platform

Connections Network with colleagues, classmates, and

friends Get introduced to connections outside your

network

Platform

Groups Join in discussions with others who share

interests related to your business Create your own groups Post discussion questions

Platform

Groups Join in discussions with others who share

interests related to your business Create your own groups Post discussion questions Great opportunity to build new connections

and demonstrate expertise.

Platform

Answers Show off your knowledge Business karma!

Pros

Devoted solely to business – great for B2B.

The average age of users is 41 (Hubspot).

It's a powerful networking tool for landing a job, recruiting, or building exposure for your organization.

Groups and Answers are great features for demonstrating your expertise and building business relationships.

Cons

Mostly a job-finding tool Does anyone read the status updates? Company pages lack apps and

functionality found on Facebook Not a great B2C tool.

History

New! Took the place of Google Buzz Positioning itself to take on Facebook

Stats

Too early to tell ~30 million users? Cost $585 Million to build

Stats

Platform

Circles Choose people to follow and assign them to

circles People you follow will be notified & can add

you to their own circles. See their posts on your stream.

Hangouts Interact online with up to 9 people at once

Google+ Pages

Debuted 11/7/11 Alternative to Facebook Pages Links to Google Places Post a profile pic Post updates as yourself or your business

(like Facebook, but easier) Use “Hangouts” for product demos or

webinars?

Pros

Higher search engine rankings? User-friendly interface? Categorize the people you follow Intertwined with other Google apps like

Gmail and Google Docs GooglePlus Button – better than the

Facebook Like button for visibility?

Cons

New territory – hard to develop a strategy

Low membership (it’s still new!) Few apps for Plus (but it’s coming!) Currently lacks analytics

Other Players

Quora Ask and answer questions Get votes for your answers Gain followers

Other Players

StumbleUpon Like a page…share it Earn followers Promote your blog

Other Players

YouTube Go viral Owned by Google Great way to show off your business or

service Create channels Embed video on your own site without using

storage space Build search engine visibility

Other Players

Yelp Generate reviews (friend referrals) Great for brick & mortar stores, especially

restaurants Opportunity to respond to negative feedback

Other Players

Google Places The new Yellow Pages – make it a priority to

get your free listing Add coupons & special offers Post hours and contact info Get listed on Google Maps

Finding Content to Share

Blogs and the RSS Feed Google Reader Google News Alerts Podcasts Listen to your social media accounts

Connecting & Engaging

Getting Found Add buttons and plug-ins to your website in a

visible spot Display your social media accounts in your

email signature line Business cards, print collateral, signage

Connecting & Engaging

Content Curation vs. Conversation Share links or talk to people? The verdict is still out, but the tide seems to

be shifting toward content curation. Find what works best for you. Mix it up!

Time Management

Google Calendar Toggl.com Create an editorial calendar Brainstorm a list of update ideas Set reasonable time goals (set a timer if

you have to) The Pomodoro Technique

Get help if you need it.

Metrics

Google Analytics Clicky Facebook Insights Hootsuite

Keys to Success

Avoid Sales Speak Learn Effective Copywriting Techniques

Strong Headlines! Benefit-oriented copy

Share Your Story Let your personality shine through Engage!

Learn from Your Mistakes Stay Up to Date!

Social media is constantly evolving

Keys to Success

Make a Commitment Be patient Be realistic

Don’t overextend yourself Write out your long-term goals Focus on 2-3 social media accounts

Follow the $$$ If it’s not leading to sales, re-evaluate your

approach

Thanks!

Wolf Hoelscher

Bull's-Eye Writing & Editing Services

www.bullseyewriting.com

whoelscher@bullseyewriting.com

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