Using Social Mediato Promote YOUR Business

Introduction

This PowerPoint Presentation will be available at Cornerstone Solutions

Websitewww.CornerstoneSolutionsofNY.com

Agenda

1. What is Social Media and Why is it important2. Five key Social Networks for your business

1. Twitter2. Blogging3. LinkedIn4. Facebook5. YouTube

3. Social Media tips for Your Business4. Case Study – 6 days for success5. Monitoring & Analytics6. Questions

Is This Your Business?

What is Social Media?

Wikipedia:

“Social Media are media for social interaction, using highly accessible and scalable communication techniques. Social media is the use of web-based and mobile technologies to turn communication into interactive dialogue.”

Think . . . Business Cocktail Reception. . . Without constraints of time or space

• We meet people and start conversations• Ask questions – trust others’ advice• Answer questions – help others• Save business contacts as a resource for

later

Why You Should CareQuick 2 minute video

May 2010

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwmJ9CFBIks

Social Media not Social Marketing

Social Media is NOT a marketing medium, it’s a conversation medium.

When brands try to use it as a direct marketing medium, they fail.

Social Media is NOT a fad, it is a fundamental shift in the way we communicate.

That being said . . .

Rethinking MarketingOutbound Marketing

• Telemarketing

• Trade shows

• Print Ads

• Radio / TV ads

• Direct Mail

• Fax blasts

• Email blasts

Inbound Marketing

• SEO / SEM

• Blogging

• Social Media

• RSS

• Free tools / trials

• Viral videos

• EngagementInte

rruptio

n

Permis

sion

The Social Web

Sharing: How Social Networks Work

Your Valuable Content

Some Social Media Features

Sharing: Allows you to distribute content to your social networks in batches.

Profiles: Allow you to position your expertise and qualifications to the social networks. The keywords in your profile(s) are vitally important. They have a strong impact on your search results.

Pages: Allow you to create specific content based on interest. This helps when you want to build targeted campaigns.

Groups: Allow you to engage with your potential clients based on their areas of interest. A great way to target specific markets for any campaign.

Search: Allows you to find and rank for specific keywords. Keywords are indexed by the search engines.

Messages: Allow you to privately engage with specific prospects with excellent response rates (typically 6% to 30% depending on message format and goal.)

Events: Allow you to promote events and see attendees to create follow-up strategies. Helps to create the ‘viralness’ desired by having attendees also promote the event through sharing.

Voting: Allows you to take the pulse of your market place, at little or no cost.

Applications: A wide variety of applications exist to customize almost any aspect of your Social Media strategy.

What is Twitter?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddO9idmax0o

Quick Look at the Basics

140 characters Concept of “Followers” @name # tags (hash tags) Short URLs (http://bit.ly or http://ow.ly) RT (Re-Tweets) DM (direct message) – only to followers Etiquette Thank You is important.

Twitter Uses

• Branding• Hiring • Traffic Building• Professional

Networking • Publicity• News• Prospecting• Feedback• Peer relations• Competitive tracking• Search engine

optimization• Mobile visibility

$• Quick Communication• Distributing Content• Connecting• Promoting SM efforts• Real Time Search

Don’t wait, just get started.

•Find people with Common interests and follow them.

•Find businesses in your field and follow them.

•If you want followers, decide what you want to give them.

Twitter Tips & Tricks

Follow key players in your industry Read some of the posts daily When you follow someone or they follow you, read their

bio completely and maybe do a bit more searching Twellow.com is “The Twitter of Yellow Pages.” Select a good Twitter name, preferably business name Connect your Twitter updates to your other Social Media

accounts. Search for more Tips & Tricks on the internet

What is Blogging?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NN2I1pWXjXI

About Your Blog

• Pick the right tool – i.e. Wordpress• Get your own URL (www.TomBrownBlog.com)

• Set up RSS (Rich Site Summary, a format for delivering regularly changing web content)• Write about WHAT YOU KNOW• Pick the Right headline or title

• The Secret of . . .• Top 10 tips for . . .• The best way to . . .• A new way to . . .

• Join in the conversation• Follow a few blogs yourself – Think industry magazines• Keep a schedule. Blog regularly. Once a week, Bi-monthly• Spend more time talking about the culture that SURROUNDS people

that buy your products, instead of the product(s) itself.

Blog Etiquette

Attribute your sources (called Trackbacks). Hot links are great. Don’t copy someone else’s blog verbatim and attribute it as a source.

Allow comments. When you comment, stay relevant. You can disagree with the message without attacking the blogger. Don’t Spam

Respond to your commenters. Only speak the truth. And beware what you speak. It is all searchable

and permanent. Check your facts, don’t just repost. Keep it simple and short. 250 – 600 words is great. Promote regularly on Twitter. Use hash tags.

What is LinkedIn?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzT3JVUGUzM

Quick Look at the Basics

101 Million members Targeted toward the business professional Resume Recommendations / Referrals Connections Expertise Executive Level Search Link to your company and blog

Connecting with people you don’t know is not as important as connecting with people you NEED to know.

LinkedIn Personal Example

LinkedIn Business Example

LinkedIn Tips & Tricks Complete your ENTIRE profile, make it PUBLIC Have a good profile picture Start your connection collection with your Email addresses Looked at your connections’ connections Absolutely join groups (min 5), and be active in at least one Get Your RECOMMENDATIONS Ask questions to start conversations Answer LinkedIn questions, it builds your credibility & leadership Search for business profiles / pages, see if anyone is within your

network already Use Keywords in your status updates It’s OK to ask for help from your contacts Search for more Tips & Tricks on the internet

Facebook!!

• 690+ million users world wide

• Average person is on Facebook :55 minutes per day

• People spend over 700 billion minutes per month on Facebook

• Average user has 130 friends

• Over 900 million pages/groups/events/community pages

• 70+ language translations available

• Over 250 million active users access Facebook from a mobile device

Optimizing Facebook• A PROFILE is a personal page and must be held by a

PERSON

• Businesses should (must) use a PAGE or GROUP

Pages Privacy: Page information and posts are public and generally available to everyone on Facebook.

Audience: Anyone can like a Page to become connected with it and get News Feed updates. There is no limit to how many people can like a Page.

Communication: Page admins can share posts under the Page’s name. Page posts appear in the News Feed of people who like the Page. Page admins can also create customized tabs for their Pages and check Page Insights to track the Page’s growth and activity.

Groups Privacy: In addition to an open setting, more privacy settings are available for groups. In secret and closed groups, posts are only visible to group members.

Audience: Group members must be approved or added by other members. When a group reaches a certain size, some features are limited. The most useful groups tend to be the ones you create with small groups of people you know.

Communication: In groups, members receive notifications by default when any member posts in the group. Group members can participate in chats, upload photos to shared albums, collaborate on group docs, and invite all members to group events.

PAGES vs GROUPS

Facebook Tips

• Choose a good vanity URL. It can never be changed• Beware, Facebook blurs the line between personal and

professional.• Audit your Facebook profile and security settings• Facebook can be used for more than connecting with friends or

people you know from now or your past• Use the NOTE screen for more detailed stuff. You can write more

and it stay’s on peoples screens a bit longer.• Use status updates as reminders during your job search• Post content 2-3 times per week.• When posting, use images as much as possible.• Anything posted, can and will be available on the internet forever.• Analyze & optimize using Facebook’s, Insight Tool.

YouTube?

YouTube is the largest worldwide video-sharing website which users can upload, share, view, comment, and rate videos. Created in February 2005.

• YouTube Statistics here, (http://www.youtube.com/t/press_statistics) &

(http://www.reelseo.com/youtube-statistics/)

• Google owns YouTube, so posted videos are almost immediately searchable and it improves your rankings .

• Approximate 10% of your traffic will generate sales.

• What is a Viral Video? (http://www.TomBrownBlog.com)

YouTube Tips & Tricks.• Create a YouTube account. Be sure you pick a business related username.

• Create and customize your Channel. You channel is your Username and can NOT be changed

• Create a video. Do NOT go too professional.

• Have a gimmick. Be entertaining. “Will it Blend, 1:37” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qg1ckCkm8Y)

• Videos typically fall into three categories: Informational, Educational, Entertainment

• Get your channel/video noticed

• Participate in the YouTube community

• Direct viewers to your website

• Have a good script, keyword heavy

• Invest in a decent microphone

• Twitter/LinkedIn/Blog/Facebook

•Use Tags - keywords

•Remove offensive comments

• Measure – YouTube has free analytics tools.

SM tips for Your Business

No-Cost Marketing Ideas

• Create the event. Share it. Publicize it everywhere.

• Add an in-store sign that says “Become a fan of Company Name on SM platforms

• Prominently display your SM logos on your website

• Add SM logos to all your printed marketing material, including Business Cards

• Once you have fans, start offering promotions/incentives

• Use free 2D barcodes

• Email your existing email list

• Occasional Blog about your Facebook page, Tweet about your video, etc. Cross promote.

• Free search engine submission tools

• Be active on a few Social Media forums.

• Link or “Like” swapping

• Embed Widgets on your website

• Add to your Email signature block

• Try some SM Apps

• Get Fans to “Tag” photos

• Load Videos and embed on your site

• Run a Contest

• Cross link to other SM platforms

• Get fans to Join Via SMS (“32665 (FBOOK) fan username”

• Add a link on your personal profile

• Use Badges or Buttons

• Share the Button

• Google AdWords promos*

It is NOT “if you build it, they will come.” People must be lured or invited to your page.

SM Tips for Your BusinessPaid Advertising

• Use Facebook Ads

• Google Advertising Programs (2 types)

• Twitter Business Site

• LinkedIn Direct Ads

• Paid Discovery on StumbleUpon

• Digg Ads

• Mobile Advertising

TIPS

• Set up campaign goals

• Targeting demographics

• Buy direct from Social Networks and not search engines

• Set a budget

• Run two or more ads simultaneously

• Test CPM (cost per 1000 impressions) vs. CPC (cost per click bidding) to find best value

• Monitor, track, analyze and optimize

• Continually tweak

Case Study – Big Flats Community Days

• Big Flats Community Days had NO web presence

• Cornerstone Solutions of NY was asked to create a Social Media campaign in six days.

• Campaign included traditional media, creating website, manage Facebook profile, creating Facebook page, non-paid advertising, and paid Google AdWords campaign.

• Website was purely informational for the first year. http://www.bigflatscommunitydays.com

Metrics– Big Flats Community Days

In 1 week, these are the results

Metrics– Big Flats Community Days

In 1 week, these are the results

Metrics– Big Flats Community Days

In 1 week, these are the results

Metrics– Big Flats Community Days

In 1 week, these are the results

Metrics– Big Flats Community Days

In 1 week, these are the results

Metrics– Big Flats

Metrics– Big Flats Community Days

In 1 week, these are the results

Monitoring & AnalyticsThere are multiple free tools to start

• Google Analytics (http://www.google.com/analytics/)

• Google Alerts (http://www.google.com/alerts)

• 10 free social media monitoring sites you should try (http://bit.ly/mJxd70)

• 11 Leading Tools for Free Website Analytics (http://bit.ly/jP5Shr)

Recap

So, let’s recap the reasons why your business benefits from Social Media:•Economical •Great additional way to build relationships •Extends consumer reach beyond your local region •Aids word-of-mouth referrals •Easy to track – metrics!•New tools to build rapport •Builds up reputation •Lets you put your business face in front of more customers •Although using social media can be scary at first, once you realize the benefits, I bet you’ll wonder what took you so long! •Your customers are already there, it is time you joined them•To get you started, here are 10 reasons for participating in social media to benefit your business.

Recap

10 (Business) Reasons to Participate in Social Media by Christine Whittemore

1. You demonstrate to potential customers that you are human and care about their world.

2. You bring to life an externally focused mindset. (See Retail Outward Not Inward: Time To Refocus.)

3. Social media allows you to bring to life your otherwise static brochure-like website with a dynamic presence.

4. You address in a public forum the questions and concerns your customers have about your products and services—which are being asked anyway without your participation.

5. You participate in the conversations taking place that relate to your business, products, industry … and have the opportunity to shape the agenda.

6. You manage your reputation.

7. You build a customer community

8. You direct prequalified prospects—with whom you’ve already established a relationship—to your website, so you can engage in business.

9. You build your digital visibility and online presence.

10. You remain relevant to customers.

Whereas traditional advertising attempts to bypass the brain and go straight to the heart, social media addresses potential buyers’ needs for intellectual satisfaction with specific knowledge (i.e., content and context). The result: You build a business brand that customers not only feel is great, but know it is, too.

A Thought & Some Resources

• Study: Small business benefits most from Social Media

• 10 Examples of B2B Facebook Pages

Final Thoughts

• A successful Social Media presence for businesses is more than creating a presence on the Internet.

• It requires a strategy fully integrated with your business goals, including your marketing plan, implementation, ongoing maintenance, monitoring, analyzing metrics & repeat.

• Facebook OWNS the website and can make ANY change at ANY time. It should NOT replace your company website.

• Connecting with people you don’t know is not as important as connecting with people you NEED to know.

• “Once you start down this path, forever will it dominate your destiny.”

Mark Twain Quote

“The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one.” -Mark Twain

Welcome to the world ofSocialnomics

“Social Media is overthrowing governments. You don’t think it’s gonna impact your business? You idiot!” -Gary Vaynerchuk, Author, “The Thank You Economy”

4:15http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0EnhXn5boM

Thank You & Questions

Tom BrownOwner & Social Media Specialist