Let’s get Social!

Social Media 101

Brought to you by the Oakville Arts Council and Town of Oakville

Presented by:Bernadette Ward

Director, CommunicationsOakville Arts Councilbward@oakville.ca

& Janine Ivings

Senior Communications AdvisorTown of Oakville

jivings@oakville.ca

Show time! Social Media Revolution

Search YouTube for more great

videos and social media tutorials!

What

is s

oci

al

media

?

“Social media refers to

the means of interactions among people in which they

create, share, and exchange information

and ideas in virtual communities and networks.”Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Why

use

soci

al

media

?

People are talking.

Why not be part of

the conversation?

Why u

se so

cial

media

?Did you

know?

Canada is

one of the

top ten

most

engaged

countries for

social

networking.

It’s not just another

marketing channel.

It’s so much more.

* Public relations

* Customer service

* Loyalty-building

* Collaboration

* Networking

* Thought leadership

* And yes, some

marketing as well.

What a

re m

y

optio

ns?

Think about your social media options.

Most commonly used are:

* Twitter

* Facebook

* YouTube

* LinkedIn

* Instagram

* Pinterest

* Wordpress, Tumblr (Blog)

* Flickr

* EtsyWhat are your goals and objectives?

What are you trying to achieve?

Online should support offline efforts.

Face

book

(Fam

ily B

BQ

)

Facebook represents the

digital mapping of a person

or organization’s real-world

connections. Communicating with friends

and other users is done

through private or public

messages (called status

updates). Users can also

create and join interest

groups, and "like pages.”

Facebook users want a story.

They also love photos!

Twit

ter

(Cock

tail

Part

y)

Twitter is a free social networking

service that allows people to

communicate in a short and

simple way that can be

broadcasted to the world.

The platform enables its users to

send and read text-based

messages known as “tweets” of

up to 140 characters displayed on

the author’s profile page and

delivered to the author’s

subscribers, known as followers.

YouTu

be YouTube is a video sharing website

where users can upload, watch

and share videos. YouTube has

grown to become the second

largest search engine in the world.

With the popularity of YouTube and

online video sharing growing,

businesses and groups across

Canada are beginning to take

advantage of its many benefits.

Linke

dIn

LinkedIn is the world’s largest

professional network with over 175

million members and growing rapidly.

LinkedIn connects you to your

trusted contacts and helps you

exchange knowledge, ideas, and

opportunities with a broader network

of professionals. LinkedIn serves as a

great way to recruit new employees.

 

LinkedIn is a social networking site

designed specifically for the business

community. The goal of the site is to

allow registered members to

establish and document networks of

people they know and trust

professionally.

Inst

agra

m

A relative newcomer to the social

media landscape, Instagram is a

photo-sharing and social

networking service. Incredibly

popular (with reportedly over 100

million users), Instagram enables

users to take photos, apply filters

and share them on other social

media platforms including Twitter,

Tumblr and Facebook.

Pinte

rest Pinterest is a pin-board style of

social bookmarking site where

users are able to collect and

organize photos and videos into

categories such as events,

interests, hobbies. Users can visit

other pinboards and “like” or “re-

pin” images to their own boards.

Flic

kr

Flickr is a photo management and

sharing site used for personal

photographs and videos. Yahoo

reported in June 2011 that Flickr

had a total of 51 million registered

members and 80 million unique

visitors. As of August 2011, Flickr

reported hosting more than 6

billion images. If you plan to publish a blog, you

may find this site useful for

hosting any images you use.

Blo

gs

Blogging is form of social

networking used to present

information, create discussion and

build relationships. Blogs can offer

commentary on a particular

subject such as health, politics,

education or travel, function as a

type of personal diary, or as a

method of advertising (corporate

or club blogs). There are currently

over 150 million blogs in

existence.Popular blogging tools include

Blogger, Tumblr and WordPress.

Reso

urc

es

“I don’t have time…”

Determine the resources

available, both in terms of

tools and team.Be part of the discussion.

Build social media into

your day-to-day activities.

It takes minutes per day to

build your online presence.

You don’t have to be online

all the time.

Gettin

g

starte

d…

What is your biggest

challenge?

Fear, lack of knowledge, technology

shock, cultural mindset, resources?

Develop a strategy, guidelines

and an editorial calendar.

Think before you leap. Keep it simple and

manageable. You communication and

conversation should be clear and

articulate. Otherwise, what’s the point?

Expect a few missteps.

Train others to feed you

content.

What’

s yo

ur

stra

tegy?

A good social media strategy

recommends integrated use of

online and traditional

communications. By embracing the world of social

media and creating a

strategically planned approach to

it, businesses and groups can

capitalize on the opportunity to

inspire, enable, nurture and

facilitate more relevant,

authentic and effective

communications with their

audience and other stakeholders

to create a more informed and

engaged community

How

do I k

now

w

hat

to s

ay?

To be successful, understand how messages should be

shared in each medium. InvestListenShare

Inve

st

Your online community

will only be as good as

the amount of effort you

put into cultivating one.

Get involved in the conversation.

List

en

Do your research. What are people talking

about?Who is your target

audience?Find out how your audience and competitors are using

social media.

Share

You’re unique. Does the information

you’re sharing convey

that? Ask yourself. Is my

content relevant, timely,

useful, engaging, authentic, emotional,

entertaining, outrageous? Give your

community something to

think about or enjoy!

Have

fun!

@SuburbiaYFC @mrmuzzdog Haven't

seen any polar bears in Oakville…except

this once. And on Jan 1 @PolarBearDip :)

pic.twitter.com/GXCaNKrt

Reco

gniz

e

oth

ers

!

Thanks for your support @

FordCanada @timhortons and

Budds' Oakville! pic.twitter.com/RkAg1nOm

Take

the b

ait

!

@Teemu_Favotberg @NBC is correct.

Here's a pic of @vankayak & @

OakvilleMayor following 2008 Olympics.

So proud! pic.twitter.com/9IkUXzo0

Follow thought leadersScott Stratten @unmarketing

@aekyo @dan_bowman @jamesrathwell I'm one of the

few over here that knows Toronto isn't the center of

Canada :) Oakville is.

Town of Oakville @townofoakville

@unmarketing @aekyo @dan_bowman @jamesrathwell Love it :)

Scott Stratten @unmarketing

@townofoakville well played

Socia

l Media

Tips

Think before you post. Once you

click share, your comments will live

forever in cyberspace. Be

respectful and use common sense.

Share useful information, images

and perspective, but never post

anything that you wouldn’t want

repeated to your boss or to appear

in the paper. Think about what

might happen if your post goes

viral.

Do you want to be a social media case study?

Be kind to others; Use one toy at a time;

Use your indoor voice; Play by the rules; Practice patience.

- Laura Finlayson, Beckerman Communications

Thin

k gre

at

conte

nt

Be yourself!

Talk about

things you care

about and be

true to

yourself.

People are

hungry for

knowledge,

tips and trends.

Be the expert!

If you know

something,

share it.

If content

offers no value,

then that’s how

you will be

perceived.

Repre

sent yo

ur

bra

nd w

ell

Social Media Etiquette

Remember – you are

representing your brand

and everything you have

worked for when using its

social media sites.

Customer service issue?

Ask how you can help. Be

nice and say thanks.

Be accurate and make sure

you can back up your

posts. Ensure your

message is consistent with

other information released

publicly via other channels.

Don’t steal other people’s

content. Source and share!

Share complimentary

posts or thank and share!

Correct misinformation

politely and with sources.

Don’t be defensive Offer

helpful information.

If necessary, take the

conversation offline.

Be protective of your

brands interests and

ensure that all content is

consistent with your

values and professional

standards.

Learn

from

the b

est

Follow others! What’s

working for them? What

posts make you stop and

read? Engage with

followers and key

trendsetters. Show them

what you’ve got.

Find your voice.

The moment you do, speak up!

Monito

ring a

nd

Measu

rem

ent

Start talking!

Free tools can make it easy to monitor,

listen and respond.

Check out

* Hootesuite

* Facebook Insights

* SocialMentions

* Klout

* TweetReach

* TwentyFeet

* Google Analytics

…and more!

What’s your ROI?

Influence vs. Ignoring

Help

ful

refe

rence

sites!

Some Helpful Social Media

Resources…

* socialmediatoday.com

* sproutsocial.com

* prdaily.com

* marketingprofs.com

* mashable.com

* socialmediaexaminer.com

…and more!

When all else fails, Google

it!

What’s yo

ur

socia

l media

story?

Let’s

chat!Any questions?

Thanks for joining us!