SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING BASICS

About Kristin Warner

13 years of agency and corporate branding, advertising & PR experience.

Co-founder & Vice President of FirePath Communications, a social media marketing agency.

Worked with start-ups to public corporations on communication, social media & brand strategy.

Social media strategy & execution since 2006.

About the Class

Build a social media foundation. Interactive. Ask questions. Start discussions. Have fun!

Today’s Agenda

9am-10:30am

Social Media Review: Definitions & Uses

Social Media by the Numbers

Social Media Best Practices

Types of Social Media

10:30am-10:45am: BREAK

10:45am-12pm

Blogs 101

Facebook 101

Facebook Exercise

Twitter 101

Twitter Exercise

12pm-1pm: LUNCH

1pm-2:45pm

YouTube 101

LinkedIn 101

SEO

Promoting Your Social Media Profiles

2:45pm-3pm: BREAK

3pm-4pm

Strategy, Tracking & Measurement

Social Media Tools

Q&A

What is Social Media?

DEFINITIONS:

Online tools that people use to share content, profiles, opinions, insights, experiences, perspectives and media itself, thus facilitating conversations and interaction online between groups of people. These tools include blogs, message boards, podcasts, micro blogs, bookmarks, networks, communities, wikis, and vlogs. (WebProNews.com)

Media designed to be disseminated through social interaction, using highly accessible and scalable publishing techniques...They support the democratization of knowledge and information and transform people from content consumers to content producers. (Wikipedia)

A new set of internet tools that enable shared community experiences, both online and in person. (Technology in Translation)

Social Media is NOT

A bulletin board for marketing & PR messages.

One-sided. All about self-promotion. A place for you to vent about your

competition. Immediate. The only way to market your business. The answer to your prayers.

Social Media Uses for Business Awareness. Word-of-mouth. New people willing to consider doing business with

you. Website visitors coming from social media stay TWICE as long and

view 3X more pages than organic and PPC visitors

Customer satisfaction. Research & Insights. Positioning. Recruitment. Promotion. Audience building.

Social Media Today

Social Media Today

Social networking accounts for 11% of time spent online in the US. (comScore) 

74% of marketers who have been using social media for years report it has helped them close business (a 12% increase from 2009). (Social Media Examiner)

53% of people who've only invested a few months with social media marketing report new partnerships were gained. (Social Media Examiner)

89% of online shoppers read consumer reviews before making a purchase.

  93% of people believe companies should have a presence in social

media.

Courtesy of FlowTown

Social Media Myths

MYTH: Social media is free.  TRUTH: Most sites are free to participate, and there are a lot of free tools, but

you still need to invest in advertising to drive traffic. You should also plan to invest a considerable amount of time into building your social media presence…and time=money.

MYTH: Social media will give my business an immediate boost. TRUTH: For almost all businesses building a loyal following takes time.

Monetizing the following takes even longer. Plan on no monetization for at least 6-12 months.

MYTH: Your number of Fans and Followers matters.TRUTH: Quality, not quantity, means business. Just because you have a big

number of followers doesn’t mean they are engaged with the brand and interacting with it, or considering doing business with you.

Social Media Myths

MYTH: If you build it they will come.TRUTH: Just like a website, until you promote and drive traffic to your

social media, your content is a ‘tree falling in the forest.’

MYTH: Social media isn’t measurable.TRUTH: There are a variety of tools and methods to measure

mentions, sentiment, comments, traffic and click-thrus to your website, among other metrics.

MYTH: Social media killed traditional marketing.TRUTH: People still watch TV, visit websites, read email, etc. You need

these media to inform your audience of your social media profiles. You need social media to support your other marketing efforts.

The Truth(why all this is important)

Your customers are using social media to make buying decisions, with or without your participation.

Social media content—both personal and business related—is “permanent.”

Social media can hurt and help you. It takes a lot of time and a lot of effort.

Mission: ENGAGEMENT

Join the conversation.

Etiquette

Be selfless. Be genuine. Be conversational. Be consistent. Be useful. Be a good listener. Be responsive. Give credit. Cite your sources.

Do…

Listen. Respond. Give. Keep it real. Think like your followers. Make sure your website is current. Think about what’s next.

Do Not…

Be a robot. Sell. Sell. Sell. SPAM. Abandon your audience. Put up a social media profile without

content. Believe if you build it they will come.

It’s more than just social networking sites.

Types of Social Media

Social Networking Sites

Websites that allow users to build online profiles, share information and connect with people who share interests. Sites usually consist of a profile of each user, his/her social links, and a variety of other services.

Blogs

Short for ‘web log’, a blog is an online diary—a website maintained by an individual that features regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video.

Microblogs

Like blogs, microblogs are platforms for people to post thoughts about topics but on a much smaller scale. A microblog entry could consist of nothing but a short sentence fragment, or an image or embedded video.

Social Bookmarking

Sites where a user can share, organize, search, and manage bookmarks of web resources. Unlike file sharing, the resources themselves aren't shared, merely bookmarks that reference them.

Video & Photo Sharing

Websites or software that allow users to share and distribute video clips and photos. Videos/photos can be associated with a “channel” or “album” by user or company name.

Forums

An online message board or an online discussion site where users gather to discuss subjects or topics. There can be hundreds of topics being discussed on one forum and there is usually a moderator that sets guidelines for posting.

Examples: Fodors, The Fashion Spot, Mac Rumors, Bodybuilding.com

Review & Opinion Sites

A site where users can post product or service reviews and share personal experiences they’ve had with companies.

Article Distribution Sites

A directory or collection of topical articles posted for other sites to use and distribute as content. Articles normally include a slugline at the end that includes a description of the author and link to their site.

Wikis

A website that allows the easy collaborative creation and editing of information on a topic, list or any number of interlinked web pages via a web browser.

The Big 5

BLOGS

Blog Platforms

TIP: HOST your own.

WordpressPosterousTypePadBloggerTumblrLiveJournalMoveable Type

Blogging 101

Be interesting. Have an opinion. Offer something unique. Find a niche. Do it regularly…at least 2-3x per month. Find a voice and be an authority. Be transparent. Be honest. Reveal

sources & partnerships. Use keywords and tags for every entry.

Comments

Allow comments Don’t delete negative comments—it’s

okay if people have a different opinion than you.

Respond. Comment on other blogs (& include a

link to yours).

Case Study: Harry Potter Theme Park

Universal sought to communicate the new theme park to ensure acceptance and buy-in by the loyal fan base.

Identified top 7 webmasters & owners of the biggest Harry Potter fan sites and message boards.

"Secret" email invited them to a live webcast at midnight with Scott Trowbridge, SVP of Creative Services at Universal, and Stuart Craig, production designer of the Harry Potter movies for an announcement.

After the webcast, news spread immediately across fan sites, online news sites, blogs and social media. This intensified after the original participants received video highlights. 

The results:

• Over 1,000 pieces of coverage within 24 hours

• More than 18,000 blog posts

• 350 million impressions

All from 7 bloggers.

Case Study: Wal-marting Across America

In 2006, a blog called Wal-Marting Across America was born. It featured the journey of Laura and Jim, a couple on a trip in an RV, capturing lives and stories as they journey across the US, and park for free at Wal-Mart stores.

Jim turned out to be a photographer for the Washington Post. Laura was a writer.

The blog was funded by a fake organization created by Wal-mart's PR agency.

Bloggers called them out. The media crucified them. Stories appeared in Business Week, Fortune, Washington Post, Associated Press, Advertising Age, Media Daily, PR Week, Dow Jones and more.

The agency behind it, Edelman, had their membership in the Word of Mouth Marketing Association placed in review.

They have since started a real blog, but it took years to gain back credibility with their influencers and consumers in social media.

“Last week, Wal-Mart took a hit when bloggers on the Internet attacked the behemoth’s effort to burnish its image via its own bloggers, who were receiving compensation from the retailer for their efforts. The episode may turn out to be an even bigger public relations disaster for Edelman, the retailer’s PR firm.” [Business Week, 10/17/06]

Now the No. 1 site on the Internet. Google is No. 2.

500 million active users. 120 million local

businesses have Pages. 50% of users login every

single day. Avg. user spends 55

minutes per day, and becomes a Fan of 4 Pages per month.

Facebook Pages

Profiles are for people. Groups are for causes. Communities are out of your control. Pages are for companies.

If you create a Profile for your business and Facebook finds it, they will delete it forever.

If you use your personal Profile to market your business, Facebook will delete it.

Page Best Practices

Create good content before promoting your Page. Photos, videos, blog feed, links, discussions, polls,

etc. Pick your Page name wisely…you cannot

change it. Set username at facebook.com/username. Make it memorable, simple & searchable.

Absolute Resorts vs. Absoluteresortsthailand Brand Tango vs. Brand Tango a marketing, technology

firm

Settings

Edit Page (left nav) to add Apps, change settings, add Admins.

Use Facebook ads to drive traffic and add Likes (Fans).

Use Insights to learn about your Fans and their actions.

Facebook Apps

Polls for Pages YouTube for Pages Twitter for Pages Reviews Photos Links Events FBML (html for Facebook) Wildfire, Context Optional or Votigo:

For contests, sweepstakes, coupons

Facebook Best Practices(for businesses)

Post engaging content regularly. Your goal is interaction.

Respond to questions in a timely manner—within hours or 1 day at most.

Use contests, sweepstakes, exclusive offers and coupon codes.

Ask questions. Use polls & surveys. Don’t go dark on the weekend.

Facebook Plug-ins

Use to syndicate your Facebook Page interactions.

Use to connect Facebook to your website.

Find at http://developers.facebook.com/plugins

Su

ccess o

n

Face

book

Su

ccess o

n

Face

book

Brainstorm your first 5 Facebook Page Wall posts. Would you become a Fan?

Exercise

107 Million Users

300,000 New Users per Day

180 million Unique Visitors per Month

Tweeting

Message length: 140 characters or less including spaces.

Using numbers instead of spelling out is ok.

Abbreviations are common. Always cite your sources. Casual, friendly tone. Provide value. Use shortened URLs (bit.ly, ow.ly,

tinyurl).

Twitter Cadence

Tweeple, Tweeps, Twitterers: People using Twitter

Twittering: The act of using Twitter

Tweet: A message or status update

Tweetup: A gathering of Tweeple offline

FF: Follow Friend or Follow Friday (used in tweets as #FF) You

telling your followers to follow someone else. It’s an endorsement.

Via: Used to site sources. Used as “via @username”, “via

Company/Name” or “via website URL”

Visit: http://business.twitter.com/twitter101

Twitter Cadence(the language of Twitter)

RT=Retweet

Resend a tweet from another user out to your followers.

@username

Message to a user or citing a user, which will show up in your feed and theirs.

#: Hashtag

Calling out a topic for others who may be searching for that topic. Great way to attract new followers.

D: Direct message

A message that goes to another user’s inbox. It will not show up in their feed so no one else will see it.

Twitter Best Practices

Listen first. You can do this for awhile. Follow the leaders. Keep following. Talk to people. Don’t just broadcast. Respond when someone tweets you. Thank users for Retweets. ENGAGE with content that isn’t all about

you. Ask questions. Complete your profile!

Anato

my o

f Twitte

r Fe

eds

Do’s and Don’ts of Twitter

DON’T follow spammers. DON’T just Retweet. DON’T get caught up in the number of

followers. DO respond. DO have an opinion. DO follow back IF they are of interest to you. DO leave room for a Retweet (less than 140

characters).

Make the most of Twitter with… Saved Searches Lists Organization tools Search.Twitter.com (Advanced search) Daily tweets (one per day is bare

minimum) Directory Listings in WeFollow, MrTweet

and Twellow

Twitter Apps & Tools

Bit.ly, Ow.ly, TinyURL: URL shorteners with tracking

twtpoll.com: Create Twitter surveys Social Oomph: Autoresponder and schedule

tweets Social Identities:

custombackgroundsfortwitter.com Twitpic: Share photos on Twitter Twtvite: Create invitations for Tweetups Twitterfeed: Feed blog entries to Twitter,

Facebook

Su

ccess o

n Tw

itter

Tell us about your company in 140 characters or less.

EXCERCISE

Second largest search engine. But is underutilized by brands and small businesses.

420 million unique visitors every month. 20 hours of new video uploaded to

YouTube every minute. Google likes videos. (SEO) Category leadership is ripe for the

picking.

YouTube Channels

Channel is your branded profile on YouTube.

Background/colors can be customized.

Pick user name wisely. Tag EVERY video. Use the

word “video” in your tag. Find favorites to fill out your

channel. Use YouTube Insights (in your

profile) to view user stats. Complete your profile!

Su

ccess o

n

You

Tub

e

Case Study: United Breaks Guitars Musician Dave Carroll said United Airlines’ baggage handlers broke his $3,500 Taylor guitar.

He went through the proper channels to be compensated but three employees he dealt with showed complete indifference.

His fruitless negotiations with the airline lasted 9 months.

So he wrote a song and recorded a video for YouTube.

The YouTube video amassed 150,000 views within one day and over 8 million by March 2010. United contacted Carroll and said it would do the right thing.

Attempting to put a positive spin on the PR nightmare, a United spokesman called the parody "excellent" and asked Carroll's permission to use the video internally for training. They also issued a public apology to him and paid him $3K.

WATCH THE VIDEO: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YGc4zOqozo

Brands in Online Video

Starbucks Fair Trade http://www.youtube.com/user/starbucks?

blend=1&ob=4#p/u/8/9hapVwQrL38

Diet Coke & Mentos http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKoB0MHVBvM

Smirnoff Tea Partay http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTU2He2BIc0

Dove Evolution http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYhCn0jf46U

T-Mobile Dance http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQ3d3KigPQM

Heineken Italy http://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=tEqJV1acgN4&feature=related

Largest B2B social networking site. Used for finding: Jobs Strategic partnerships Clients

65 million users in 200 countries. A new user joins every second. Executives from all Fortune 500

companies are on LinkedIn.

Your LinkedIn Profile

Use keywords to highlight skills, accomplishments.

Do not repost resume. Include professional photo – no

cocktails or sunglasses. Stay current. Ask for Recommendations! Use apps to connect to other social

media profiles like Twitter, blog and SlideShare.

LinkedIn Best Practices

Don’t try to connect with strangers. Tell them how you know them.

Be transparent. Tell them why you are connecting.

Don’t oversell. Think mutual benefits. Contribute to Groups and Answers. Be professional. This is a different tone

than Facebook. Add Company Profile.

LinkedIn Groups

Find your customers and business partners in Groups.

Daily or weekly alerts via email that show excerpts from discussions within the group.

Start and participate in discussions. Post events. Find events. Find new connections. Ask for advice. Start your own niche Group.

LinkedIn Answers

Discussion board where users ask questions in different subject categories.

Establish yourself as an expert. Find people who need your services (or

need a good partner).

Business Tactics for LinkedIn Create a Group for a specific topic. Invite

members from your other Groups. Answer questions relevant to your

business and then invite them to connect. Start and participate in Discussions. Add contacts from offline events. Learn from your peers. Find strategic partners. Add LinkedIn URL to email signature.

Niche Sites

Find hyper-targeted audiences on industry or topic-specific social sites.

There’s at least 1 or 2 sites for any industry or topic.

Find them at http://www.Traffikd.com

RSS

Really Simple Syndication Content in. Content out. Subscribe to feeds through a

feed reader like Google Reader, My Yahoo, NewsGator, Pageflakes, NetNewsWire

Your best friend because it: Automates content distribution Brings you good content for status

updates, blog, etc.

Promote Social Media Profiles Widgets/Links on your website & blog. Links in email signature. Cross pollinate: Links on all social sites

to your other social sites. Links in email newsletter. Promote in-store. Use in traditional ads (print, TV, radio,

etc.). AddThis & RSS buttons on every page.

Search Engine Optimization

Robot spiders are constantly crawling around the web looking for keywords.

Use Title, Descriptions & Keywords on every page.

2-3 good keywords per page. 300-500 words of copy per page. Long keywords are better. Specific

keywords are better than general. i.e. large silver heart necklace VS. silver jewelry

Good SEO

Text on every page. Links with keywords in them. (No ‘click

heres’) Videos with tags. Photos with “alt tags”. New content (keep it fresh with your

blog!). Press releases. Build links from other sites to yours.

Organization Tools

Hootsuite Tweetdeck CoTweet EchoPhone (iPhone) TwiDroid (Android) Objective Marketer

Strategy Basics

Social media strategy should support your overall business goals.

Social media should support other marketing efforts.

Define what and how you will measure.

Own a concept. Write a 12-month

plan.

What to Measure

Traffic Comments Shares Offer code redemption Engagement / Interactions Sentiment (positive, negative, neutral)

Buzz volume (how much conversation, is it up or down)

Conversions (sales, leads/inquiries, downloads, subscriptions, calls, etc)

Tracking & Conversion Tactics Google Analytics Landing pages with unique URLs. (Google Analytics,

Bit.ly)

Offer codes that you ONLY use in social media. Website Sales & Traffic Stats—compare to

social media activities… Unique visitors Length of stay Page views per visit Average sale Repeat customers

Measurement & Monitoring Tools (Free)

Alexa.com Compete.com Google Alerts SocialMention.com TweetLevel Heardable HowSociable Blogpulse

Other Great Tools

Addictomatic.com: Find topical related discussions

SEOBook.com: Great free SEO & keywords tools Google Trends Mashable.com: The best info on social media SM Monitoring Tools (paid): ScoutLabs,

BrandsEye, Radian6, BuzzMetrics, Trackur, Sentiment Metrics, BuzzLogic, Guest Pulse (restaurants)

Smart Brief (news curator) Alltop (news curator)

5 Key Takeaways

Provide value. Have a strategy & plan. Always ask yourself, “what do I want

them to do?” Use the social sites that will provide the

best opportunity for return. Use a couple sites consistently rather

than many sites inconsistently.

Q&A

FirePath Services for Small Businesses

Social Media AuditWe’ll look under the hood of your existing social media program and analyze your profiles, content, videos, photos and all other assets you currently have in place. Then we will create a report with critical findings, recommendations, optimization and enhancement opportunities. We’ll present this report with you in detail in an hour-long consultation call where you can ask questions, voice concerns or gain insights into social media.

$425 ($375 for students)

Presented by

13830 Oneida Dr. Suite F2Delray Beach, FL 33446

561.404.1097www.firepathcommunications.com

kwarner@firepathinc.comTwitter: @firepathinc

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/kristinwarner