� Why Social Media Ma.ers � Planning � Op6mizing � Engaging and growing � Leveraging � Managing � Measuring
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Topics
Why Social Media Ma.ers � Social Media Op6miza6on (SMO) is the new SEO, or rather two halves of a whole.
� SMO is the distribu6on of social objects (videos, blog posts, tweets, Facebook updates) so that they’re op6mized to rise to the top of any related search query, where and when it is performed.
� Google uses SM content to determine your page rank � SEO + SMO = Amplified findability in the tradi6onal and social web.
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It’s Huge � Facebook: 1,000,000,000 ac6ve users
� 53% of US popula6on is on FB* � Twi.er: 175,000,000 ac6ve users � LinkedIn: 150,000,000 registered users � Pinterest: 26,000,000 unique visitors last month � Blogs: 346,000,000 people read blogs every day � YouTube: 160,000,000 unique visitors last month
* According to SocialBaker.com
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It’s Effec6ve
It’s Growing � Social media adop6on among U.S. small businesses doubled in the past year from 12% to 24% � 61% of small business owners use social media to iden6fy and a.ract new customers.
� 75% surveyed have a company page on a social networking site.
� 45% expect social media to be profitable in the next 12 months.
According to survey conducted by University of Maryland's Smith School of Business with Network Solu@ons
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Gebng Started -‐ Social Media Plan � Define the business goals for social media
� increasing sales, brand awareness / engagement or simply more people who “like” or “follow” your business
� Do research and make sure you understand your target market(s)
� Know your compe6tors � Iden6fy your top 10 – 15 keywords � Take 6me to determine your voice – humorous, instruc6ve, etc.
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Social Media Plan � Listen to what’s already out there:
� Set-‐up Google Alerts for all your keywords, your compe6tors, your own company name, your personal name, etc.
� Use Social Men6on to search social media for men6ons of your organiza6on / compe66on
� Use Google Search and Google Blog Search to find bloggers and other content creators in your space
� Use Muck Rack to find journalists
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Social Media Plan � Create your Content Calendar For Pos6ng
� Define 5-‐6 content categories � Set-‐up a 3-‐month calendar � Add your key offline events and any milestones, holidays, etc.,
� Align with your tradi6onal marke6ng calendar � Content should be a mix of original content/images, news updates and curated content/images
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Social Media Planning � Set-‐up your profiles and pages
� Ensure you have a consistent design/branding across all plamorms
� Op6mize profiles with keywords � Set-‐up Google Analy6cs to monitor web traffic � Set-‐up and use tools:
� Hootsuite to manage your social media updates � Onlywire for content distribu6on
� Gather info � Google Alerts, subscribe to blogs, muck rack
� Measure and adjust – traffic, comments, leads, etc. 11
Why Use Facebook � Increase visibility � Connect with customers � Increase engagement � Promote your brand � Create a community
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Engage and grow your following � Write interes6ng and relevant posts will encourage followers to engage with your posts � Liking, commen6ng and sharing are important � Facebook uses the level of engagement to determine how many people see your posts
� Reveal the human side of a company, give it personality � Provide useful informa6on that people won’t get elsewhere (or at least not as quickly)
� Respond to comments, complaints, requests real-‐6me � Have a plamorm for announcing news, promo6ons, events
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Engage and grow your following � Hold contests/sweepstakes/giveaways/refer-‐a-‐friend � Give back to loyal customers through special offers and discounts
� Promote and manage events � Upload and invite your email list � Invite your friends � Run Facebook Ads
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Contests
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Facebook Offers
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Engage and grow your following � Build community and it will grow organically
� Join relevant Facebook groups � Contact the group owners and ask if they’ll cross promote � Post on other relevant, related FB pages
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Op6mizing Facebook � Op6mize your Company’s Page � Op6mize your Posts � Op6mize your Images
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Twi.er � An informa6onal tool – provides informa6on to others � A conversa6onal tool – respond to other people’s tweets and engage in dialogue
� Great way to network and communicate with new and old contacts
� You choose the message, not the recipient
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Twi.er -‐ Defini6ons � Tweet -‐ When you hit send on your 140 characters on twi.er it’s called a tweet or twee6ng � Handle – your Twi.er name @GibbonsDigital – balance short with descrip6ve. � Follow – this is simply the act of adding someone to your list of people you are following – this
makes their tweets show up on your homepage. � Replies – this is what it is called when someone writes a tweet directly at your handle -‐
@GibbonsDigital cool post today blah blah – this is oqen an invite to engage with a follower. � Retweet – this is a tac6c of republishing someone else’s tweet – the original tweet along with
author stays in tact, but you are basically showing someone’s tweet to your followers – many people find this a great way to add content and acknowledge good stuff from the folks they follow
� DM – this is a message that is sent directly to another user. They must be following you for you to DM them, but this is a very useful tool for private messages and generally a good choice when you start going back and forth with someone on something your en6re base of followers might not find interes6ng.
� Hashtag – this is a way people categorize tweets so that others might use the same tag and effec6vely create a way for people to view related tweets – it will something like #marke6ng – more on this in search.
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Anatomy of a Tweet
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Engage and grow your following � Listen!
� Set up simple searches that allow you to hear men6ons of your company
� Twi.er is a real-‐6me opportunity to listen in on the conversa6ons of 200 million users
� Serve as a resource � Provide informa6on that helps your target audience in a quick, easy-‐to-‐use format
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Engage and grow your following � Listen!
� Set up simple searches that allow you to hear men6ons of your company
� Twi.er is a real-‐6me opportunity to listen in on the conversa6ons of 200 million users
� Serve as a resource � Provide informa6on that helps your target audience in a quick, easy-‐to-‐use format
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Engage and grow your following � Use your own style when engaging with others
� Provide guidelines for anyone twee6ng on behalf of the company but don’t underes6mate the value of having a “real person” online.
� Share the human side of your company and stories about the people doing the twee6ng for the business
� Seek opportuni6es to provide photos from events in the community where you or your employees are doing charitable work or even crea6ve promo6onal efforts that are fun or engaging
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� Ask relevant ques6ons on Twi.er and consumers are happy to share opinions
� People like being asked to provide input on topics of interest
� Thinking of offering a new product or service? Ask for input beforehand
� Take advantage of the online community to gain feedback and generate new ideas that will result connect with the audience served by your business.
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Engage and grow your following
Engage and grow your following � Tools that will automa6cally follow Twi.er users -‐ Twi.er Adder. Most people you follow will follow you back.
� Add Twi.er link to your website homepage � Include Twi.er icon on ALL materials that reach your target market
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Twi.er Op6miza6on � Op6mize your profile � Op6mize your tweets
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Connect Facebook and Twi.er
Facebook.com/twi.er
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LinkedIn � The world’s largest professional network with over 175 million registered members and growing rapidly.
� Connects you to your trusted contacts and helps you exchange knowledge, ideas, and opportuni6es with a broader network of professionals.
� h.p://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVlUwwgOfKw
Profiles � First step in controlling your professional iden6fy online. � Authorita6ve source on your career.
� Represents your career accomplishments and opens the door to new opportuni6es.
� Communicates your professional brand. � Enables people to connect and reconnect with you. � 100% complete profile contains an execu6ve summary, your skill set, educa6on, 3 recent posi6ons and 3 recommenda6ons.
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Engaging on LinkedIn – Status Updates
� Share links to interes6ng ar6cles, websites or video you have found that some individuals in your network might appreciate. Try to use words that grab the readers and encourage them to click the link.
� Pose a ques6on that could lead to solving a problem you have, like: "Anyone know about…?"
� Conduct an informal poll rela6ng to a topic that is of interest to you, such as: "What interest rates are you seeing for lines of credit in the current environment?"
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Engaging on LinkedIn – Status Updates � Men6on a person or a situa6on that might be helpful to some of your connec6ons, like: "I just met with John Jones from ABC Company and found out ….”
� Talk about an event you are a.ending or have a.ended to encourage involvement and/or ques6ons about what you learned there.
� Use the "Like" feature when you see a helpful update from one of your connec6ons. Doing this shares that update with your en6re network. This is a great way to give the writer of the helpful update exposure to your network that he/she wouldn't normally have.
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Engaging on LinkedIn -‐ Groups � Quickly discover the most popular discussions in your professional groups.
� Have an ac6ve part in determining the top discussions by liking and commen6ng.
� Follow the most influen6al people in your groups by checking the Top Influencers board or clicking their profile image to see all their group ac6vity.
� See both member-‐generated discussions and news in one sebng. � Easily browse previews of the last three comments in a discussion. � Find interes6ng discussions by seeing who liked a discussion and how many people commented.
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Engaging on LinkedIn -‐ Groups � Click on Groups Directory, search for your industry or a career keyword,
and find a group that fits your interest. � Once you’ve been accepted to the group you can share relevant content by
star6ng a discussion or pos6ng a link in the share box. � Sharing consistently is a good way to quickly iden6fy yourself as an expert
in your field or industry. � Click on your photo to see your updates as well as what’s changed in the
discussions you’ve started, joined or followed. � Good way to keep track of discussions most important to you and your
career. � Aqer sharing, check out the newest discussions in the slide show below,
and cast your vote by liking or commen6ng. � Under each discussion you’ll see the last 3 members who have
commented, click on the headline to see all comments.
Engaging on LinkedIn – Company Pages � Central hub where millions of LinkedIn members can go to keep in the loop on company news, products and services, business opportuni6es, and job openings.
� Also perfect place to start conversa6on with your customers, prospec6ve clients, job seekers, post company updates.
� Post industry ar6cles and fun facts. � These updates appear on your company page and also the pages of your followers.
� Analy6cs pages to see ac6vity on the page.
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Op6mizing LinkedIn � Op6mize your profile � Op6mize your status updates � Op6mize what you post in any group � Op6mize your company page
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What is Pinterest? � Pinterest is a “virtual pinboard” that lets businesses share images and content that are relevant to their customers
� Conceptually similar to social bookmarking sites. � Content is organized in “Boards” and organized in categories.
� Each piece of content is called a “Pin”
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Examples of Pins
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Pinterest is one of the largest social media networks on the web. The network saw +4377% growth between May 2011 and May 2012.
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75 Mashable, 2012
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Engaging on Pinterest � Build your brand out, share interes6ng and relevant content, create engagement
� Add products with prices to drive awareness � Service businesses can create pos6ngs with infographics that contains useful informa6on or a graphic with a quote
� Post videos (hosted on YouTube) � Add links to your pins’ descrip6ons giving your business the benefit of your links carrying over with your pins when users re-‐pin them
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Engaging with Pinterest � Run compe66ons where the winner is the user who pins the best pictures or has the Pinterest board with the best collec6on of pins.
� Run offers -‐ Pin images of offers, giveaways, discounts from your website and detail your offer in the descrip6on, or you can create images exclusively for Pinterest where everything about the offer is wri.en on the image.
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Engaging with Pinterest � So make sure you add at one or more shareable image to every page of your website so your readers get to choose their favorite image to pin.
� Find the most shared images on Pinterest and get to know who’s sharing them. You need to do this regularly to improve your own Pinterest marke6ng strategy.
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Pinterest � Op6mize your Profile � Op6mize your Pins � Op6mize your website for pinning
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Google + � Google+ offers features like that of Facebook � Allows businesses to set up pages, and develop rela6onships with prospects and clients
� Individuals can add brands to specific Google+ Circles, share a Google+ page with their network, intereact with the content posted, click the +1 (endorse) company updates, etc.
� Hangouts feature enables companies to engage with fans, prospects, customers through video conference calls.
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Google+ Page – Gebng started � h.ps://plus.google.com/pages to create your page � Follow the wizard and choose the most appropriate op6on to classify your business
� Customize your page’s profile � Promote your page – first complete the profile, share some updates
� Op6mize your page
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Google+ -‐ Gebng started � Circles -‐ When gebng started, you can organize those you’re connected to in different circles. This allows you to tailor your company’s posts to specific people who are interested in that topic. Now your page looks rela6ve to a user who enjoys nature, as well as another user who enjoys technology.
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Engaging with Google+ � Share lots of photos
� Think about your business – what images, charts, slides can you share to ignite conversa6ons
� Share fresh content, interact with fans, etc. � Promote your Google+ page on your blog and website � When you post a message, photo or link, ask your subscribes to share the content with their Circles
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Google+ � Op6mize your Profile � Op6mize your Posts
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Blogs � Blog = ‘web log’ � An online diary or journal � Anybody can be a content generator and an expert in their field
� Can be setup within minutes online using WordPress
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Blogs � Install WordPress � Design – use Theme or designer for custom look � Configure content categories � Develop library of content � Post on a scheduled basis – 2 6mes per week
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Engaging Customers with a Blog � Answer industry ques6ons � Comment on industry news � Provide how-‐to based content � Encourage readers to comment � Post consistently – 3 to 5 6mes per week
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Engage and grow with a Blog � Pose Engaging Ques6ons -‐ At the end of a post, pose a brain-‐s6mula6ng ques6on.
� Get readers to offer 6ps -‐ It could be a problem that you’re facing, or something your customer is facing. Make it a contest; publicly credit the reader with the best 6ps on your blog so that everyone can see.
� Start With An Engaging Opener – Your opening should engage the reader from the word go, something that’ll ignite their curiosity, mo6vate their thought process and get them engaged. Make your opener funny, insighmul, poky, wi.y and outrageous if need be.
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Engage and grow with a Blog � Make The Content Graphically Vivid -‐ Paint a picture with your words, and draw people into the scene you’re pain6ng.
� Write in your speaking voice, as though you’re chabng with friends.
� Provide A Conclusion – sum up the essence of your ar6cle in a short conclusion. Your conclusion should ideally 6e up your points together and provide a short glimpse of what the ar6cle is all about.
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Blogs � Op6mize your Blog � Op6mize your Posts – content, images, videos, etc. � Distribute Posts with link back to website
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YouTube � YouTube is a video sharing website on which users can upload and share videos
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YouTube -‐ Gebng Started � www.youtube.com � Set-‐up account, link to Google account � Customize your channel (logo, colors, etc.) � Post your own videos – short, 1-‐2 minutes only � Subscribe to other channels � Share videos
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Engaging with YouTube � Powerful, on-‐demand communica6on channel � Market your business to millions of people at virtually no cost
� Build more personal rela6onships with your current client base
� Inform, Educate, Entertain � Good content, plan ahead, don’t blatantly market, keep it short
� Curate exis6ng videos if you don’t have your own
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Engaging with YouTube � Setup a branded channel using your colors and logo
� Allows users to subscribe to your content and the op6on to search just your uploaded content
� Engage With the YouTube Community � Check out other videos, favorite appropriate videos and make suitable YouTube “friends.”
� Promote your videos elsewhere (blog, FB, etc.) � Run contests, giveaways, have calls to ac6on � Keep your channel current
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YouTube � Op6mize your Channel � Op6mize your Videos
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YouTube -‐ Examples � h.p://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PHnRIn74Ag&feature=player_embedded
� h.p://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTog_wApYMc � h.p://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9prcUCHlqM
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Tools � Google Analy6cs � Facebook Insights � Hootsuite � Google Alerts � Blog Search, All Top, Technora6 � RSS Reader
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Google Analy6cs
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Facebook Insights
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HootSuite
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Google Alerts
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Blog Search
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Google Reader
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Demographics
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Demographics -‐ Facebook � 86% of Facebook users are age 25 and older � 81% have some college educa6on or bachelors/graduate degree
� 58% earn $50,000 or more
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Demographics -‐ Twi.er � 81% of people on Twi.er are age 25 and older � 83% have some college educa6on or bachelors/graduate degree
� 47% earn $50,000 or more
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Demographics -‐ LinkedIn � 96% of people on LinkedIn are age 25 and older � 87% have some college educa6on or bachelors/graduate degree
� 71% earn $50,000 or more
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Thank You! Bridget Gibbons
[email protected] Gibbonsdigital.com @gibbonsdigital
�.com/gibbonsdigital
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