Demystifying Social Media: Tools and Techniques

07/08/09 FastWonderBlog.com 1

Demystifying Social Media

Tools & Techniques

Dawn [email protected] Wonder Consulting

http://FastWonderBlog.com


Topics● Guiding Principles & Strategy for Participation● Social Media Activities / Tools

● Twitter● Facebook● LinkedIn● FriendFeed● Blogging

● Monitoring● RSS● Monitoring Twitter● Yahoo Pipes

● Managing your social media efforts


Social Media Takes Many Forms

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Guiding Principles: It's All About the People● Focus on the individuals: Participate as a person, not

a corporate entity● Be Sincere: Sincerity = believability & credibility● Not all about you: Community is about conversation,

which is by definition two-way● Be a Part of the Community: Don't try to control it● Everyone’s a Peer:

You are not the expert; knowledge comes from everywhere

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Building Your Social Media Strategy? Clear Purpose / Goals are Key

● Do you need to build new or can you join an existing site?

● What do you hope to accomplish and what are your goals for social media?

● What is your overall strategy and how do your social media efforts fit within it?

● What are your plans for achieving your goals and how will you measure it?

● Do you have the resources (people & $) to maintain it long-term?

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Answer these questions before you start


Play Nice

Translation:Play Nice: Be polite and respectful in your interactions with other members

"I'm the Lorax who speaks for "I'm the Lorax who speaks for the trees which you seem to the trees which you seem to be chopping as fast as you be chopping as fast as you

please. please.

NOW...thanks to your hacking NOW...thanks to your hacking my trees to the ground, there's my trees to the ground, there's not enough Truffula Fruit to go not enough Truffula Fruit to go

'round.'round.

And my poor Bar-bar-loots are And my poor Bar-bar-loots are all getting the crummies all getting the crummies

because they have gas, and no because they have gas, and no food in their tummies!"food in their tummies!"


Where and How NOT to Participate● Do not participate on

competitor's sites (considered slimy & bad manners)

● Do not participate in communities solely to pimp your products.

● Do not mention your products in every post. Talk about the industry first & your products second

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http://www.flickr.com/photos/victoriafee/2740896609

http://www.flickr.com/photos/victoriafee/2740896609


How to Participate ...Listen First: Understand the Norms● Each site has it's own norms

– Language and terminology– Acceptable behavior

● Participate gently at first– Pick one site to start– Spend more time listening– Take the time to understand how people participate– Participate with an individual account first– Engage in additional sites as you get comfortable– Begin participating for your organization

http://www.flickr.com/photos/niclindh/1389750548

http://www.flickr.com/photos/niclindh/1389750548


People are Watching You

Translation:People see everything you do in the community.Be a good example of the “right” behavior.

““My eyes see. My eyes see. His eyes see. His eyes see.

I see him. I see him. And he sees me.And he sees me.

And so we say, And so we say, ““Hooray for eyes! Hooray for eyes!

Hooray, hooray, hooray... Hooray, hooray, hooray... ... for eyes!”... for eyes!”


Twitter● Short messages (140 characters)

– Talk about interesting things, engage in conversations, and interact with others

– Be careful how often you promote your work (blog posts, community discussions, etc.)

– Not all about you● Following:

– You follow people to receive their messages– People follow you to receive your messages– Only as interesting as the people you follow.


Twitter Best Practices● Know what people are saying about you● Respond frequently and sincerely● Follow back where appropriate● Have a personality● Variety is important

● Don't be a link spam account● Don't go overboard with messages● Don't be self-promotional● Don't use direct messages to promote anything● Don't proactively follow too many people

What to Avoid


Twitter Language & Terminology● @reply: Reply to someone publicly on Twitter.

– @geekygirldawn thanks for the link● Direct Message: Reply to someone privately

– d geekygirldawn call me at 555-867-5309● OH: Overheard & not attributed to a specific person

– OH: I took shop & didn't lose fingers. I could use a chainsaw● RT: Retweet to re-send something from another user

with attribution it to the original author.– RT @geekygirldawn: Don't forget to RSVP for BarCamp!

● #: Hastags are used to tag Twitter posts. – The bubble tea has arrived. #barcampportland


Facebook● Personal Profiles (private)

– For real people– Not for your company

● Pages (public)– Used for products / companies / organizations– Fans, not friends (anyone can view a page)

● Groups– Often used to collaborate or organize– People become members of the group

● Applications


Facebook: Getting Started – Personal Profile● Build your personal profile first (people, not

brands)● Add a picture that helps people recognize you● Spend a few minutes on your information

(personal info, education / work, etc.)● Post status updates and add a few pictures.● Add a few friends (personal, work, past lives)● Go easy on your friends – save the poking,

zombie requests, etc. for close personal friends.


LinkedIn Usage and Features● Not just for job seeking / finding employees● Get introductions to people thru mutual contacts● Learn more about your colleagues● Use groups to discuss topics with peers● Get answers to questions


Doing More with LinkedIn● Start by completing your profile

– Picture, jobs, education, websites, interests, summary● Add applications

– Slideshare, blog posts, events, etc.● Make recommendations

– Recommend some past colleagues that you respect● Add contacts

– Take advantage of the 'people you may know' feature– Only add people you know

● Join groups & answer questions


FriendFeed● Aggregated life streams

– Twitter, blogs, bookmarks, pictures, events, and more. Add anything with an RSS feed.

● Share your info● Keep up on news● Search for topics● Group your friends● Tools

– Get info indifferent formats


Should You Have a Corporate Blog?● Can you commit to at least one post per week? ● Do you have people who have interesting

things to say and with good writing skills?● Can someone manage the process and make

sure that the blog never gets neglected?● Tips for making it easier

– Group blogs with many authors (not just execs)

– Short posts are great– Manage the process and

have a content roadmap


Blogging Best Practices● Be a thought leader in your industry● Talk about ideas, passions, industry trends● Be conversational. Personal posts are interesting● Manage your content roadmap for variety● Integral part of social media strategy● Avoid:

– Do not focus on product updates– Do not regurgitate press releases– Do not sound like a corporate drone


Make it Fun

Translation:Have fun! Lighten it up occasionally!

Why do you sit there like that?Why do you sit there like that?I know it is wet.I know it is wet.

And the sun is not sunny.And the sun is not sunny.But we can have lots of good But we can have lots of good

fun that is funny!fun that is funny!

I know some good games we I know some good games we could play.could play.

I know some new tricks.I know some new tricks.I will show them to you.I will show them to you.

Your mother will not mind at Your mother will not mind at all if I do. all if I do.


Monitoring● Social media is about conversations – you need

to know what people are saying● Know what people say about you, your industry,

your competitors: critical element of community management, blogging, and social media

● Information can be used as ideas for blog posts, marketing messages, competitive analysis, etc.

● Become more responsive to feedback by proactively monitoring conversations


RSS / News Readers● RSS: Really Simple Syndication

– A way to have information that you want to see pushed to you in a news reader

– Subscription service for online content● Subscribe to blogs in your industry & interest

areas● Subscribe to competing efforts● Examples: Netvibes, iGoogle, & Google Reader


Monitoring Twitter● Don't Underestimate Twitter Search

– Complex search operators, shows new results● My Favorite Twitter Monitoring Tool: TweetDeck

– Desktop application – sync across mult computers– Searches with notifications, groups, replies

● Browser-based Twitter Monitoring: Monitter– Dashboard-style monitoring with searches

● My WebWorkerDaily post with more details:– http://bit.ly/jkbkT


A Few Great Uses for Yahoo Pipes● Monitoring social media sites with a list of

keywords across many sites.● Combining groups of RSS feeds into a single

feed.● Uber feed of your posts across blogs.● Filtering feeds to find relevant content.● More info and how-to videos:

– http://fastwonderblog.com/yahoo-pipes-and-rss-hacks/


Many Other Social Media Monitoring Tools


Community Managers Help Ensure Success

What do we do?– Ongoing Facilitation– Monitoring Conversations– Content Creation / Mgmt– Evangelism– Strategy

What Skills do we need?– Patience– Networking– Communication– Facilitation– Technical Skills– Marketing– Self-Motivation– Workaholic Tendencies– Organization

““Jobs of the future, #1: Online Jobs of the future, #1: Online Community Organizer Community Organizer

...... If you were great at this, I'd imagine you'd If you were great at this, I'd imagine you'd never ever have trouble finding good work.” never ever have trouble finding good work.”

--Seth Godin--Seth Godin


Incorporate into Existing Efforts● Look at your overall corporate business strategy● Find where community / social media fits in● Articulate a clear purpose for the efforts● Use the right tools

and technology toachieve your goals

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Be Flexible

Translation:Be flexible. Improvements and ideas come from unexpected places.

Never budge! Never budge! That's my rule. That's my rule.

Never budgeNever budgein the least! in the least!

Not an inch to the west! Not an inch to the west! Not an inch to the east! Not an inch to the east!

I'll stay here, not budging! I'll stay here, not budging! I can and I will I can and I will

If it makes you and me and the If it makes you and me and the whole world stand still.whole world stand still.


Q & ACompanies and Communities Book● Available for purchase / signing $15● http://fastwonderblog.com/eBook

Additional Resources:● Monitoring with Yahoo Pipes Training

About Dawn:● Online Community Consultant● http://fastwonderblog.com/consulting● [email protected]● @geekygirldawn on Twitter

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Demystifying Social Media: Tools and Techniques

Technology

Transcript of Demystifying Social Media: Tools and Techniques