Social media is how people engage, participate, and share

online the experiences they leave behind. It is fundamentally

changing the way we communicate.

GETTING STARTED IN SOCIAL MEDIA

First…. a caveatThe first step in any marketing campaign

is to understand the strategic goals of the organization.

These are ideas, only ideas. A lot depends on your specific needs and goals.

Questions to consider: How does social media fit with goals of

organization? Who are the current customers? Who are the potential customers? What has worked and not worked in the past? The players – who does what?

Social media can help to…

Offer immediacy Build relationships Create opportunities for future face-to-

face interactions Bypass traditional media Provide customer service/ solve problems Encourage participation Monitor and manage reputation

Steps

1. Make sure your organization supports your efforts to explore the value of social media.

2. Give shareholders a chance to participate.

WEBSITE/

BRAND

More steps…3. Consider forming committees to explore

different aspects of social media.4. Determine policy and procedure, so

employees understand the rules and responsibilities for engaging in social media.

5. Determine the time and energy needed to properly maintain a social media campaign.

6. Allow employees to participate in Webinars or seminars to learn more about social media.

7. Experiment. See what works best for you. If it doesn’t work, regroup.

Creating a Presence What are the most relevant social media

tools for our goals? Echo current brand colors, style and

imagery in social media channels, to the degree possible

Cross promote with social media channels and with website, print collateral, business cards, articles, email signature etc.

Plenty of Social Media Options Facebook Twitter Flicker YouTube Blogging Web site enhancements

What is Facebook? Social media platform where users can

add friends and send them messages, and update their personal profiles to notify friends about themselves.

Originally created for college students, it is now open to all ages

45% of Facebook’s US audience is now 26 years old or older (according to insidefacebook.com)

Why Facebook?

Over 300 million active users, 50% of whom log in on any given day

Most popular social networking site Powerful for building relationships Inherently “sticky” with photos,

videos, pokes, etc.

Facebook

Weekly + updates

Consider a fan page instead of group

Leverage multimedia opportunitieshttp://www.flickr.com/photos/88526923@N00/2114874155/

Leverage FB multimedia

Text Photos Video Links

Clayton PD, North CarolinaAug 12

Sept 1

Customer service example

Testimonial on Facebook

What is Twitter? The ability to send out text messages to a

broad audience of “fans.” Each message, or “Tweet” is no more than 140 characters, so you’ll need to be brief.

Many Tweets simply call attention to new postings on Web sites, and direct “fans” there.

Twitter users can “follow” you for ongoing updates

They also find you using search or “retweets” from other followers

Why Twitter?

“Noisy” but relevant Over 6 million users Solve problems in real time “Listen” with Monitter, Tweet

Deck etc. New apps coming all the time

Twitter Presence Lock up a “handle” even if you’re not ready to

use it Frequency? – start with daily? Add images/ avatar/bio to Twitter page – people

more likely to follow you Only tweet if it is useful, funny or related to an

event “Retweet” Use “#” to define tweet categories (#H1N1; #hurricanebill; #station) Consider TweetDeck to manage your Twitter (it’s free)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/7son75/2573812829/

Twitter Identity-Michigan Health Dept.

Future directions? Retweets –

government, computer tips, follower content

Increase followers Tweet topical link of

the day Answer customer

service questions Submit Twitter name

to wefollow index

TweetDeck www.tweetdeck.com

What is Flickr

An image and video sharing Web site and community.

Users share and archive personal photographs, some of which can be used in not-for-profit settings under a creative commons license.

According to Wikipedia, Flickr hosts more than 3.6 billion images.

Why Flickr?

Builds community through sharing photosCan be integrated into blog and FacebookCan improve Search Engine Optimization (SEO)At events, photograph guests and invite them to download to their personal collections Archive team’s photos in central “location”

Station Fire on Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/karolfranks/

What is a blog? Simply put, a Web Log or Blog for short is

an online journal. Software today allows readers to comment, and thus a dialogue can ensue.

Blogs can include photos, video, links to other Web sites and more.

Blogs are usually personal opinion, but some businesses post blogs to field questions from the public. Your blog is what you make it.

Why Blog?

Easy web updates in real time

Improve SEO Drive traffic to site Cultivate relationships with

other bloggers Discover potential

evangelists through comments

Blog Presence Weekly (or more often) posts from team Authenticity is key, but use PR know-how to

help edit and pitch ideas for posts Include photos, mini videos, links Encourage readers to use RSS to post to Digg,

Facebook, etc. and to forward via email Comment on other blogs Connect to website at every opportunity

Everyone knows YouTube, right? A free and easy place to post videos and

“embed” on your own site. You can create “channels” which will

allow visitors to find all your videos in one easy place.

If YouTube is blocked from your workplace, you might be able to get IT to open up JUST your channel.

It’s not that hard Flip video cameras are $200 or less, and

come with all the software and easy instructions for posting.

Editing software makes putting videos together easy.

Videos will bring your website to life. It can also provide useful information to the public and press.

Viewers often prefer a short video to a long piece of text

Embedded video on Web site

Other Web tricks Podcast: Simply posting audio interviews or

conversations so users can download them onto their iPods, or listen to them as they use their computer.

Chat rooms: A place where conversation can take place.

Live chat: Technology that allows visitors to write questions that the moderator and/or guest can answer.

Slideshows, videos, photo galleries, surveys. All opportunities for multimedia and interactivity online.

Invite friends and cross promote at every opportunity

Add This http://www.addthis.com/

Cross promotion and sharing

Listen then Engage. Participate in social media, by

having conversations Encourage interactions (polls,

questions, retweets, commenting) Respond immediately Be prepared for involvement

across the organization – PIO, customer service, administration, “behind the scenes” folks

Getting in on the conversation

Influence the “Influentials” Mavens – experts others turn to

for recommendations Connectors- “masters of the weak

tie” Ambassadors – provide

introductions to new or hard to reach groups

Salespeople – charismatic personalities

Adapted from Malcolm Gladwell, The Tipping Point

Engagement Pyramid

Write a blog; upload a video

Rate a product or service; comment on a blog, write in a discussion forum

Share online video; update profile, upload photos

Watch online videos, read blogs, download podcasts

Charlene Li – It’s All About the Relationships, Marketingprofs.com

Curators

Producers

Commenters

Sharers

Watchers

Measure & Adapt

Net Promoter Score: How likely are you to recommend the library to a friend or colleague?

Traditional analytics: Page views, comments, friends, “retweets,” etc.

Plan for potential problems Explore new tools & dump those that don’t work

Resources Mashable: a blog/website with rich

collection of social media articles and “how-tos” www.mashable.com

Twitter guidebook http://mashable.com/guidebook/twitter/

Bit.ly: shortens URLs and allows you to track them http://bit.ly/

Compete.com: compare Web sites and blogs for traffic info using a panel of 2 million consumers http://compete.com/