Social Media for BusinessMaine Telecommunications Users Group • 5.28.09

Michelle Riggen-Ransom (@mriggen)

Communications DirectorBatchBlue Software (@batchblue)

Adam Darowski (@adarowski)

User Experience DesignerBatchBlue Software (@batchblue)

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Agenda• Part I: Types of social media sites• Part II: How we’re using social media• Part III: What can YOU do with social media?

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Types of Social Media Sites• Social Networking• Blogs• Microblogging• Social Bookmarking & News• Photos, Videos & Podcasts

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Types of Social Media Sites• Social Networking• Blogs• Microblogging• Social Bookmarking & News• Photos, Videos & Podcasts

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Social Networking• The players: MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn

MySpace Facebook LinkedIn

Traffic Rank 9 4 96

Avg Time on Site 20.2 min/day 25.0 min/day 6.7 min/day

Data from alexa.com

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MySpace• “A place for friends”• Friends network, personal profiles, blogs,

groups, photos, music, and videos

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MySpace• “A place for friends”• Friends network, personal profiles, blogs,

groups, photos, music, and videos

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MySpace• “A place for friends”• Friends network, personal profiles, blogs,

groups, photos, music, and videos

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Site Traffic

Reach: Percentage of global Internet users who visit the site.

Pageviews: Percentage of global pageviews on site.

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Age Demographics

MySpace Facebook LinkedIn

Figures relative to general internet population (green = more common, red = less common)

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Education Demographics

MySpace Facebook LinkedIn

Figures relative to general internet population (green = more common, red = less common)

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Niche & DIY Social Networks• Niche networks: Smaller communities focused

around a very niche topic. - Less quantity, more quality

• DIY networks: Sites like Ning allow you to create your own social network.

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MySpace• “A place for friends”• Friends network, personal profiles, blogs,

groups, photos, music, and videos

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MySpace• “A place for friends”• Friends network, personal profiles, blogs,

groups, photos, music, and videos

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Types of Social Media Sites• Social Networking• Blogs• Microblogging• Social Bookmarking & News• Photos, Videos & Podcasts

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Blogs• DuctTape Marketing• Small Biz Survival• Small Business Trends• BatchBlue blog

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Blogs: ShareThis

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Blogs: Alltop Small Business

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Types of Social Media Sites• Social Networking• Blogs• Microblogging• Social Bookmarking & News• Photos, Videos & Podcasts

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Microblogging• The player (really, just one): Twitter

Twitter

Traffic Rank 47

Avg Time on Site 9.2 min/day

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Twitter

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Site Traffic

Reach: Percentage of global Internet users who visit the site.

Pageviews: Percentage of global pageviews on site.

2323

Twitter

Everyone else

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What’s so special?• Short format makes it easy to take part• A way to get into the minds of industry experts,

celebrities, or just your friends & acquaintances• Third party clients with various features & UIs• Easily searchable• Hashtags for topic-based searching, events and online

"Tweetchats"- ex: That pitch was way low! #redsox

- ex: We use MailChimp for email marketing. #sbbuzz

- ex: We’re presenting at #MTUG09 tomorrow. Come say hi!

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Types of Social Media Sites• Social Networking• Blogs• Microblogging• Social Bookmarking & News• Photos, Videos & Podcasts

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Social Bookmarking• The players: Digg, Delicious, StumbleUpon

Digg Delicious StumbleUpon

Traffic Rank 181 958 440

Avg Time on Site 4.6 min/day 2.6 min/day 4.2 min/day

Data from alexa.com

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Types of Social Media Sites• Social Networking• Blogs• Microblogging• Social Bookmarking & News• Photos, Videos & Podcasts

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Photos, Video, Podcasting• Photos: Flickr, Picasa, SmugMug• Video: YouTube, Vimeo• Podcasting: iTunes

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How BatchBlue is using Social Media to Win Friends and Influence Customers

• Twitter (sbbuzz, cs, blog links, news, promotions)

• Blog (Company news, product updates, community events/contest promotion)

• YouTube (presentations, behind the scenes, Realtors Using Social Media)

• Flickr (behind the scenes, presentations and conferences)

• Facebook (connecting with “fans”, company info, blog feed)

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BatchBlue on Twitter

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More BatchBlue on Twitter

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BatchBlog

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Social media are just the tools. You grow your network.

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What YOU can do with Social Media?

1. Identify and most relevant social network(s); start exploring

2. Decide on your brand: you, yourself, company, combo

3. Create a page for your business

4. Create a Twitter account

5. Twitter search on topics, products, etc. to find people to follow; look at their followers' list

6. Twellow.com/twellowhood to find local Tweeters

7. Read blogs in your industry. Find some favorites, leave comments, engage with pre-existing community

8. Have fun!

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Contact information

Michelle Riggen-Ransom @mriggenAdam Darowski @adarowskiBatchBlue.com @batchblue