Intro to Social Media for Business

April 14, 2010Tina Merritt, Wolkia.com

How the Internet Has Changed Marketing

"Old Marketing" = Outbound Marketing With this old type of marketing, your are trying to reach a broad audience and hope a small percentage (1%-3%) respond.  In other words, at least 97% of your marketing efforts are wasted.

• Newspaper ads• Ads in

magazines• Cold calling• Door knocking• Direct Mail

Examples of Outbound Marketing

"Now the problem is to get people under 40 or so to pick up a newspaper. Damp or encased in plastic bags, or both, and planted in the bushes outside where it's cold, full of news that is cold too because it has been sitting around for hours, the home-delivered newspaper is an archaic object"... - Time Magazine

"New Marketing" = Inbound Marketing

The way people shop has changed drastically. 

 People are much more in control of

what information they receive & how they receive it.  By the time they

reach the merchant, they are much farther along in the sales process but we know much less about them.

 

• Search engine optimization (SEO)• Pay per click (PPC) advertising• Blogging • Buzz marketing - Social Networking• Targeted landing pages• Conversion tools• Sophisticated analytics

Examples of Inbound Marketing:

"Finding new ways, more clever ways to interrupt people doesn't work"

“A phone call is an interruption”

“Selling to people who actually want to hear from you is more effective than interrupting strangers who don't”

Seth Godin Quotes:

Rules of Internet Marketing

• The Internet = the Unselfish Sharing of Information

• SEO (Search Engine Optimization) Means Nothing Unless you have YEO (You Engaging Others)

• Must be Consistent• Must not be Self-Promoting (it's about

"we" not "me")• The power is in the numbers

 

In general, you have 5 seconds to engage someone once they come to your site.

Advantages to Internet Marketing

• Build loyalty • Reach consumer without interruption

 • Cost for advertising/exposure is very low

 • Easily can be done at any time

 • Leads come to you

• Easy to shift gears & try new campaigns

 

Internet Marketing for Business

• Website/Blog • Facebook business page

 • Twitter

 • Google business directory

 • Search engines love Blogs so a blog helps increase

Google ranking. • Foursquare 

A Few Internet Marketing Tips:

• Make it about “THEM”

• Give visitors a reason to return

• Offer buttons to "tell a friend“ and “share”

• IF you capture information, use that information wisely!

Email Marketing

• NEVER EVER SPAM!!  • Have a professional email signature • Organize contacts • Respond promptly • Get email on your phone • Use a drip email campaign

Create Valuable Content

• Be Interesting, Be Real, Be Humble• Commenting to drive traffic• Forums• Use photos• Use videos• Use maps • Use online coupons 

Creating a Digital Footprint

Think of social networking as leaving breadcrumbs all over the internet.

Be careful what you say because it will NEVER go away.

Professional vs. personal social networking.

• Facebook• Linkedin• Myspace• Foursquare• Twitter• Flickr• Youtube

Video is EVERYTHING!

• Do-it yourself - the public likes raw video because it is believable.

 • Low cost with MANY options.  Flip cameras are approx.

$99. • Allow the consumer to "see the inside".

 • Beyond the photo....showing your personality and

engaging. • Video blogging - how to videos, information, and more.

 

Analytics

The internet is TRACKABLE.

Ability to:  see results, modify strategies, know what works.

• Google Analytics• Facebook Ads• Lead conversion rate• Sign-up forms • Websitegrader.com

• Google yourself regularly.  It's like looking into the "Mirror of the Internet".  

• Use Google Alerts to track yourself, your competition, your farm, your sphere, etc.

• When someone mentions you, whether positive or negative, respond.

Use Google to Your Advantage

• Keep up to date on all industry news with Google reader.

Know What's Going On.....

What is LinkedIn.com?LinkedIn is a business-oriented social networking site. Founded in December 2002 and launched in May 2003, it is mainly used for professional networking. As of February 2010, LinkedIn had more than 60 million registered users, spanning more than 200 countries and territories worldwide.

Source: Wikipedia

Benefits of Having a LinkedIn Presence

• It’s an “international on-going business meeting”

• Opportunity to collaborate with customers, thought leaders and colleagues

• GREAT SEO• Increased visibility• LinkedIn Groups• Connect with former classmates and

colleagues

Establishing Your LinkedIn Profile

• Use a professional photo• Add links to your website and other

profiles• Recommend others & get recommended• Only invite people you know as contacts• Fill out the profile accurately and

completely• This is an online bio – have someone

proofread it• Also be sure to add a company profile!

Facebook

• Over 400 million users worldwide!• 50% of FB users check in at least once per day• Average FB user spends almost 1 hour on FB each day

• More than 1.5 million businesses have FB pages• More than 20 million users “FAN” pages each day

• The average user has 130 friends• There are almost 111.5 million FB users in the U.S.A.

Facebook Profiles vs. Pages

Profiles are personal, Pages are for business

It is a violation of Facebook’s terms of service to use your personal profile page for business and/or advertising

Pages are indexed by Google

Facebook Advertising

• Pay Per Click (CPC)/Pay Per Impression (CPM)

• Set up in 10 minutes• Cancel or change at anytime• Instant analytics• Try multiple or different campaigns• Target by demographic, location,

workplace, etc.

What the Heck is Twitter?

Twitter is….

Twitter is a social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read messages known as tweets. Tweets are text-based posts of up to 140 characters displayed on the author's profile page and delivered to the author's subscribers who are known as followers.

- wikipedia

Twitter Applications

The best way to use Twitter is not necessarily through Twitter.com, but through one of the many applications developed for Twitter users.

A few of these applications include: seesmic, hootsuite, tweetdeck, twitpic, tweetie, twellow, friendorfollow, twitterfeed and many more.

My Definition of Twitter…

Twitter is an ongoing cocktail party where you can jump in and out of the conversation when you see fit. The challenge is to be a part of the conversation and not just someone who pops in the door and yells something out and leaves.

No one likes the guy at the cocktail party who only talks about himself. And keep in mind that it is impolite to talk religion, politics, sex or money.

FOURSQUARE

Foursquare for Business

Foursquare can tell you how many times a customer has been to your venue or the frequency of their visits. Many venues are now using this data to reward their most loyal customers with freebies or discounts.

There’s No Such Thing As Too Much Exposure!

• Yelp• Tripadvisor• Yellowpages• Myspace• Streetadvisor• Ehow• Meetup• And many

more!

Thank You for Inviting Me!

Tina MerrittWolkia.com

757-287-6338tina@wolkia.com

Twitter: @wolkia @tinainvirginia