Introducing social media for small business

Introducing Social Media for Small Business

Neil Infield – Manager Business & IP [email protected] - @ninfield (twitter) - www.inoutfield.com

We are for anyone who wants to do research academic, personal or commercial

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Introducing Social Media for Small Business – Neil Infield 2013

Who is the British Library for?

We are for anyone who wants to do research academic, personal or commercial

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The first place to come for entrepreneurs, innovators and business researchers

Get inspiration

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Get inspiration Protect your ideas

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Get inspiration Protect your ideas Develop your business

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Key Criteria Registered or trading in London Trading for at least a year with proven sales Turnover shows you cover the cost of one other employee

British Library - Innovating for Growth programme

A free business consultancy worth over £10,000 to help you expand your business through new ideas, markets and products

www.bl.uk/bipc/innovating.html 7


Open Innovation Project

Aims to stimulate the application of open innovation principles to create jobs and new businesses

Partnership of business support organisations, higher education institutions, local government

Diverse programme of activities

Funded by Interreg IVB NEW

http://openinnovationproject.co.uk/dev/index.php/home

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Success Story - Guy Jeremiah - ohyo bottle


What is Social Media

Social media refers to the means of interactions among people in which they create, share, and exchange information and ideas in virtual communities and networks

Ahlqvist, Toni; Bäck, A., Halonen, M., Heinonen, S (2008)

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What is Social Media

Characteristics

Free or very low cost

or Freemium model

Simple technology using web browser, or mobile Apps

Lots of online help and guidanceSource - http://www.sxc.hu/profile/garwee

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What is Social Media really

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What is Social Media really

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Why all the fuss about Social Media

For the UK only…

Facebook – 33 million people

Sourcehttp://www.rosemcgrory.co.uk/2013/01/08/uk-social-media-statistics-for-2013/

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:AS-202_launch.jpg

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For the UK only…


Twitter – approx 34 million active accounts



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For the UK only…



LinkedIn – 11 million (79% over 35 years)



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For the UK only…



LinkedIn – 11 million (79% over 35)

Pinterest – under 1 million (but growing fast and 29% in highest income bracket)



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For the UK only…



LinkedIn – 11 million (79% over 35)

Pinterest – under 1 million (but growing fast and 29% in highest income bracket)

Google Plus – unsure, but 135m globally active



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Business & IP Centre page - 2,462 likes

Business & IP Centre and Social Media

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BIPC TV channel - 851 subscribers - 378,267 views


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4,372 followers on Twitter


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6,372 members


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6,372 members

The Patent Blog – 1,200 views a weekIn from the Outfield – 1,000 views a week


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What will Social Media do for your business

Find out what your

Customers

Critics

Fans

…are saying about you online

Spot trends

Monitor your competitors

Example: www.wigglywigglers.co.uk

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What will Social Media do for your business

Allow you to engage with your

Customers

Critics

Fans

…in a transparent manner

Measure your impact

Crowdsource your products and services

Example: Dress designer Sabina Alli crowdsourcing on Facebook - www.facebook.com/MotasemDresses

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kryten/125710155/

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http://www.facebook.com/MotasemDresses


Blogging for Small Business

Wikipedia definition:

“Blogs are frequently updated webpages which are easy to edit and to share. They allow readers to subscribe as well as comment on the posts.”

Tend to be informal in style and short in length.

An addition to main business website.

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Blogging for Small Business

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Why you should blog

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Why you should blog

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Introducing Social Media for Small Business – Neil Infield 2013 30

To build trust – ‘real’ people vs anonymous business

To build an audience

Increase Search Engine Optimisation without the risk – Google loves blogs and hates cheaters

Why you should blog


Drive traffic to your website – see above

To act as your social media hub

Be seen as an expert in your field – requires insightful, quality content

Reach a wider market – word of mouth referrals

Why you should blog

http://www.sxc.hu/profile/Kurhan


With passion… and patience

For your audience

On your own or in a team

Mainly about things related to your business

Headings must be ‘Ronsealed’

How you should blog


Regularly – minimum once a week

Content must be engaging / surprising / controversial / intriguing

Including images and videos

Length must be ‘just right’ – somewhere between Stephen Fry’s Blessays and Euan Semple’s The Obvious.

How you should blog

http://www.sxc.hu/profile/dspruitt


Leveraging your other social media channels – Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, +Google, etc

Using your web domain if possible

Promote using contacts and ‘Blogroll’

Measure using built in tools or Google Analytics

How you should blog

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Not all spam is tasty

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Look out for Trolls

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My favourite blog post


Your About page

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http://wordpress.com/


Twitter for Small Business

What is Twitter?

Micro blogging – 140 character limit

The ‘Marmite’ of Social Media services

Love it or loath it – it does work

Smaller numbers than Facebook – but bigger spenders

Unparalleled access to celebrities and decision makers

An opportunity to ‘go’ viral

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How to use Twitter

Short term promotions and special offers

Invite feedback / market research

Enhance your reputation

Improve your customer responsiveness

Build good relations

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How to use Twitter

Find trending topics

Find experts and evangelists for your brand

With caution – going viral could be a bad thing

Try to separate work and play

Be careful when re-tweeting (libel laws apply)

Think first – tweet second

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Twitter top tips

Customize your page:

Change default profile picture

Use 160-character BIO space, using keywords

Use # tags for searching - e.g. #thatchersdead

Shrink your links using Bit.ly etc

Install a mobile app

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Twitter top tips

Create a tweet button on your web pages

Create and use lists to clean your stream

Learn the twitter lingo

@reply - Direct Message (DM) - Follower - Hashtag - Retweet (RT) - Trending Topics

Use tools to manage - e.g. Tweepi

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Twittertop of the pops quiz

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http://www.twitter.com/


Facebook for Small Business

“The time has passed when Facebook was a "good idea" for businesses to try. It's now essential to your inbound marketing strategy.”

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http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/5492/How-to-Create-a-Facebook-Business-Page-in-5-Simple-Steps-With-Video.aspx#ixzz2NMs3aw5H





Do’s

Stay active

Post frequently

Post questions

Ask about your customers

Include photos and videos

Offers and promotions

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Do’s

Stay active

Post frequently

Post questions

Ask about your customers

Include photos and videos

Offers and promotions

Don’ts

Too much activity

Too personal

Only posting links

Only in selling mode

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Create a Facebook Pageto build a closer relationship with your audience and customers

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https://www.facebook.com/BusinessandIPCentre


LinkedIn for Small Business

The ‘grown-up’ Social Media channel

According to a study by Hubspot in 2013, LinkedIn is almost 3 times more effective than Twitter or Facebook for converting more website visitors into leads.

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LinkedIn for Small Business

Good for consultants, trainers and professions

Research and engage with potential customers

Check out your competitors

Get connections to endorse your expertise

Get recommendations

Link to your other social media activities

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Is Ben a clueless hippy or an industry expert?

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Is Ben a clueless hippy or an industry expert?

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Pinterest for Small Business

Pinterest is a pinboard-style photo sharing website that allows users to create and manage theme-based image collections such as events, interests, hobbies, and more.

Users can browse other pinboards for inspiration, 're-pin' images to their own pinboards, or 'like' photos.

The young upstart on the Social Media scene

…But very rapid growth last year

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Pinterest for Small Business

Use it to post images related to your business

Reach an affluent audience with high quality images

Benefit from visual content over text

Link to your website

and other Social Media activities

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http://pinterest.com/britishlibrary/made-with-the-bl/


Google Plus for Small Business

Still a pale shadow of Facebook

But is now incorporated in search results

So definitely worth adding your presence

One to keep an eye on

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YouTube for Small Business

People love moving images

Google loves videos

Demonstrate how things work

Share your knowledge

Example Blendtec

Example Rasheed Ogunlaru

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Developing your Social Media strategy

Have a plan

Work out what you want to get out of Social Media

What are your goals?

More attention for your brand?

Customer service?

Customer interaction?

All of the above?

Define your audience and find out where they ‘live’

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Developing your Social Media strategy

Work with your neighbour to complete pages 1 and 2 of the hand-out

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Tools to help you

Hootsuite or Tweetdeck to manage your posts

Google Analytics

Facebook Insights

Sprout Social

Wildfire Social Media Monitor

www.monitoring-social-media.com

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Hootsuite for monitoring and scheduling


My top tips for Social Media success

Try to limit to 30 minutes a day

Keep it professional – you might go viral in a bad way

Keep an eye out for new services

Try to measure results

Cull any activities that don’t help your business

Try to stay focussed – keep away from the Lolcats

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Don’t get involved in flame wars


My top tips for Social Media success

Be a person online – but not too personal

Always try to add value

Don’t just lurk - contribute

Try to be ‘marketing lite’ - avoid spamming

Have a consistent brand / name across your social media platforms

Have fun with it


Question time

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Introducing social media for small business

Education

Transcript of Introducing social media for small business