SacProNet Sacramento Professional Network 1 Social Media Networking SacProNet Marketing Committee

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Social Media Networking SacProNet Marketing Committee


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What is Social Media Networking?



Social media networking is the process of interacting with other individuals through the specific social media tool or community.



For example, you could talk to people with similar interests in

a forum or communicate with them through a more fragmented platform like Twitter, Facebook, Bing, Digg, etc.



Whatever method you choose,

there are usually four main goals:





1. Increased brand awareness






2. Improved reputation







3. Personal development







3. Personal development

4. Relationships with benefits



Social Networking ROI is Difficult to Quantify



Measuring the ROI for social networking can be a little difficult because the returns you’ll get out of networking via social media are not direct and immediate.



Chatting with another person on Twitter does not always give you an immediate benefit: however, you are building a relationship which you can leverage in the future.



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The marketplace is filled with thousands of individuals, organizations, products and services —

All claiming to help other people and organizations with directions on how to use social media.



The problem is that not all directions will take you to the place you want to go.



The market fails to recognize that 96% of all online advertising doesn’t get the audiences attention and thus no engagement is accomplished.



In order to get anywhere efficiently people and businesses need to first know (knowledge) of where they want to go and how (by what methods) they will get there.



Time and productivity are elements you must know (knowledge) “how” to use in your favor. Consider:

.



It is easy to build thousands of connections or followers but not so easy to build relevant and relative relationships



unless you're providing content that is in context to your Communities interest.



You can spend hours doing the wrong things and doing them wrong only to waste time and productivity.



You can write great content but if it isn’t showing up “where” your market is it won’t produce the results you want.



How to use social media isn’t about the technology rather it is about where, when and what conversations add the most value to your market.



If you don’t know why you're using social media then there is no need to have clear directions aimed at taking you somewhere. A system without an aim produces nothing.



Understanding the lay of the land, the roadblocks, traps, traffic patterns, new roads and where they take you is something that requires knowledge and wisdom.



Copying and following others doesn't require either.



How to Maximize Your Social Networking Efficiency



How to Maximize Your Social Networking Efficiency

Record the amount of time you spend on each social website.



Use tools like Rescue Time or Mee Timer

(firefox extension) to track time spent in a week.



Do not restrict yourself for one week in order to estimate

your level of interest in each social media channel.



You’ll naturally find yourself spending more time

on the social channel which interests you.



Record these figures and split them up in terms of percentages.



After which, determine how much time you want to spend on social networking in general and apportion that time according to the amount of time you naturally spend on each site.



For example, if you only want to spend 2 hours everyday on social networking and have previous natural rate of 20% for StumbleUpon, you should probably spend 24 minutes on StumbleUpon everyday.



Operate with this time system initially and adjust the time spent on each individual social channel according to your level of interest or the benefits you receive.



This is one way to limit your time cost and make sure that your ROI stays efficient, even if the returns may be vague.



After which, you need to focus on the networking process itself.



1. Start by determining what you can offer in a mutually beneficial relationship with an influencer, community or individual.



2. Make a list of questions you have for your community or individual. Use them during your conversations in order to extract specific knowledge.



3. Focus on specific benefits you want to receive from an individual or group. The best and most meaningful relationships occur when you genuinely respect the other party.



4. Share Networking Duties If you’re working in a group blog or own a company, split up the focus by assigning a specific community to a specific person and get him/her to focus on it.



5. Cross-leverage your social media profiles. Some people use multiple social media websites while others usually stick to one or two.



5. It is always helpful to set up social media profiles even for sites you don’t use, because you’ll increase your points of possible interaction.



POSTStrategic Processes


www.sacpronet.com Page 64PP is People. Don’t start a social strategy until you know the capabilities of your audience and your market.

If you’re seeking a job, you can use social networks.


www.sacpronet.com Page 65PIf you’re reaching out to peers in your field, consider networking with them.


www.sacpronet.com Page 66OO is objectives. Pick one. Are you starting an social media application to listen to your network contacts, or to talk with them?


www.sacpronet.com Page 67OTo support them, or to energize your best followers to influence others?

Or are you trying to collaborate with them?


www.sacpronet.com Page 68ODecide on your objective before you decide on a technology. Then figure out how you will measure it.


www.sacpronet.com Page 69SS is Strategy. Strategy here means figuring out what will be different after you’re done. Do you want a closer, two-way relationship with your audience?


S www.sacpronet.com Page 70

Do you want to get people talking about you?


S www.sacpronet.com Page 71

Imagine you succeed. How will things be different afterwards? Imagine the endpoint and you’ll know where to begin.


T www.sacpronet.com Page 72

T is Technology. A community. A wiki. A blog or a hundred blogs.


www.sacpronet.com Page 73TOnce you know your people, objectives, and strategy, then you can decide with Twitter or Facebook.



Thank you

Documents

SacProNet Sacramento Professional Network 1 Social Media Networking SacProNet Marketing Committee