Social Media: Keys to Success

Presented by: Anthony TrollopeDirector, TheWholesaleForums.co.uk

anthony@thewholesaleforumsTwitter.com/atrollopeTwitter.com/wholesaleforumsFacebook.com/thewholesaleforums

The Off-Price Show, 11-12 September 2011

A bit about me…

Five years ago: Studied E-commerce at the University of Portsmouth Interests switched to online media In 2005, while at Uni began developing The Wholesale Forums

A decade or so ago: Started my first business selling DVDs on eBay at 13 Became an underage Powerseller within 3 months Grew the business to over 8,000 feedback

Today: Director of The Wholesale Forums - leading networking community & advice forum for buyers and suppliers with over 95,000 members across the world

What to expect from this seminar… Good old fashioned honesty. No jargon or fluff Actionable Social Media tips you can take away and

implement Everything I preach, I’ve already practiced….

… not like this guy!

Holly social media,

Batman!

So, why leverage Social Media anyway?

“We don’t have a choice on whether we DO social media, the question is how well we do it.” – Eric Qualman, Socialnomics

So, why leverage Social Media anyway?

Some stats (as if you needed convincing): Facebook now has over 750 million active users 30 billion pieces of content are shared per month on Facebook More than 10,000 new websites integrate with Facebook daily Twitter has over 200 million registered users, 100 million are

“active” 140 million tweets are made by users on Twitter every day There are more than 20 million LinkedIn users across Europe

Social Media is big, it’s getting bigger, and as a broad digital marketing channel, it’s not going to disappear anytime soon.

So, why leverage Social Media anyway?

Bring on the goodies….

Quick show of hands...

How many of you have Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn accounts for your business?

Influencing Twitter

Follow interesting and influential people & brands

Scan daily news for inspiration & newsworthy content

Read publications & popular blogs

Use Delicous, Reddit, Digg and others

Tweet great content 3-4 times a day

All of us read content online everyday, make social media part of your routine from today!

Join conversations by offering opinion, information, answers to questions etc

Demonstrate your knowledge & resourcefulness

Be willing to help and offer expertise to others

Build a reputation around topics that matter to your business objectives

Influencing Twitter

Reply to conversations

Acknowledge peers who demonstrate market insight or expertise

Get used to recommending your peers and praising high quality content

Embrace the culture of sharing

…..But don’t overdo it, else it loses impact

Influencing TwitterRetweet other people’s content

Power users leverage search to influence trending topics

Find people talking about your brand, your market, your competitors – what can you gleam?

Use #hashtags effectively (especially at events)

Influencing TwitterUse search to meet objectives

Influencing Twitter

Sharing great content is key

Stick to around 120 characters rather than 140 (give people a chance to add their own commentary)

Add banners & buttons to your website, emails, newsletters, email signatures, business cards, stationary and invoices

Be easy to retweet and follow

Use tools like Hootsuite.com to manage & schedule your tweets like a pro:

Twitter PRO TIPS:

Use tools like Crowdbooster.com and Klout.com to measure your reach and help shape your content strategy:

Twitter PRO TIPS:

And breathe….

Facebook: Strategy

Get found by people who are searching for your products or services

Connect and engage with current and potential customers

Create a community around your business

Promote other content you create, including webinars, blog articles, media

Basics:

Optimise your Page

Add a profile picture

Create an about page

Develop a custom landing page

Grab your vanity URL (when it becomes available)

Dominating Facebook

Highlight your products/services

Review products/services

Run competitions

Get people talking

Incentivise your fans

Dominating Facebook

Be personable…. BE REAL

Upload photos from within your organisation

Inject personality and character

Think how you want your brand to appearto your community

Some of the most engaging content are realworld examples of you being human

Dominating Facebook

Use tagging effectively

Tag top influencers and industry peers in updates or photos

Leverage events like trade shows & the people you meet

Connect with them & share content/resources

Dominating Facebook

Produce & share video, photos & premium content

As a direct marketing tool

Raise awareness about your products& services

Demonstrate you are an expert

Showcase customer testimonials

Promote events & offline activities

Dominating Facebook

Promoting your PageCreating an engaging page

Discussion boards

YouTube or other video content

Give users a reason to like your page

Use incentives or premium content

Strive to create that warm & fuzzyfeeling among your fans

Leverage the viral nature of Facebook

The news feed is the hub of viral elasticity

Activity by fans is published to their news feeds

Offers great opportunities to capture friends or peers who happen to stumble across a recommendation

Promoting your Page

Draw on your existing network

Email subscribers and blog readers already love you, urge them to become a fan on FB

Include your FB page details on all internal and external communications

Promote your FB page on your website and other customer facing channels

Promoting your Page

Make your page publicly searchable

Drive organic search traffic to your page for searches on your brand/company

Optimise your page as you would your website

Promoting your Page

Facebook PRO Tips: Introduce your page to influential brands

in your industry by engaging on their wall, asking questions, posting comments.

Seek business deals, partnerships and leverage biz-dev opportunities

Consider using Facebook Ads for an extra push

LinkedIn TipsYour Profile

Great brand asset

Make it informative and optimised for search

Add a real photo

Get a vanity URL

Use links with anchor text for backlinks to your site

Keep it active

Link to it

Give to get

Acquire some recommendations from people you’ve worked with

LinkedIn Tips

Show what you’ve got

Jump in and answer questions

Demonstrate expertise

Conversations and engagement usually lead to new connections

Lead a group

Anyone can launch a group & lead discussions

Join existing groups in your industry & within your interests

LinkedIn Tips

Repurpose contentBlog link: displays your latest posts on your profileBox.net: allows you to create links to files and mediaSlideshare: embed your presentations and demosCompany Buzz: scrapes Twitter for mentions of your brand

LinkedIn Tips

... a few recommended resources

http://mashable.com – latest social updates and news http://socialmediaexaminer.com - useful guides & tips on SM http://copyblogger.com – for writing effective content http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/blog/ - marketing

resources http://www.briansolis.com/ - top social media influencer ... And finally, a shameless plug

Join The Wholesale Forums @ http://twf.to

Thank you!

Slides available via:@atrollope or @wholesaleforums

Facebook.com/thewholesaleforums

anthony@thewholesaleforums.co.uk