1. Social Media 101 Reuben Jackson Web Widgets Ltd twitter.com/webwgt facebook.com/webwgt

2. Overview

Why use social media?

What makes a website social?

What social networks exist?

How best to use them?

Measurement of Success

Common Pitfalls

Vocabulary

What now?

3. What makes a website social?

Typically that users rate or comment on or share information. All for the purposes of making good information rise to the top.

Typically requires a login, but some information may be made public.

Typically connections are made between users and are followable links.

4. Why use social media?

To reach new audiences

Word of mouth in the modern world

Encourage other people to talk about us

Making business fun

Research customer feedback just because we're not reading it, doesn't mean they're not talking about us.

5. Popular Social Networks

Facebook.com most popular, media rich, feature rich, almost universal participation, dual opt in friendships

Twitter.com follow anyone, be followed by anyone. Purpose to retweet relevant timely information, to gather market intelligence, to listen to comments about your brand

LinkedIn for businesses and professionals. Dual opt in connections. Recomendations. Basically this will replace CV's and testimonials, as the data is more trustworthy.

YouTube.com mainly videos and not often thought of as a social network, but there is a lot of blogging and rating of content. 2 ndhighest searched website.

Mobile Apps not to be underestimated. Location aware devices connected to an internet, only requiring a user to rate the restaurant/hotel in which they stay. Eg Ocarina, FourSquare

6. More Social Networks

TradeMe.co.nz Lots of blogging going on in here.

Google.com believe it or not, it is quite hard to leave google these days. Many links on google direct back to google pages, e.g. google map searches for hotels, might take 4 clicks to get to the destination website, past google controlled forums.

SlideShare.net sites you once thought were just for storing slideshows, now they are a place to make ratings of others slides, and upload all sorts of content..

Ning not so popular in NZ, but does have strong usage in the SEO / SM space..

Blogs anywhere users can comment on and link to each others content, exists a social network, there is no real rule.

7. How best to use Social Media

Generate discussion about you

Ask questions (comments)

Encourage participation (polls, wall posts)

Spread information that you believe people would genuinely want to share/retweet with their own friends/fans/followers (FFF)

And do as you expect others to do

8. Measurement of Success

That you understand market sentiment

That your customers are happy

That good will is being generated

That public links are being made (in time)

That traffic is increasing to your website (but don't expect sales for 3+ months)

9. Common Pitfalls

To pushy on your sales message

Trying to convert FFF to sales

Trying to control it

Limiting the customer access (you can't limit what people say on Twitter, so why limit friends on Facebook?)

Not participating regularly

10. Vocabulary

Friends / Fans / Followers (FFF)

Like / Share / Retweet (RT)

Trends #w2e #nz #dog

Comment

@username

/username

11. What now?

Pick one, dedicate 15 minutes per day

Eg Facebook

Create a personal login profile

Tighten your privacy

Create a business fan page

Ask your customers 1 really engaging question

Publish a link to your facebook page on your website, in your emails, on your business card etc.