Social media is how people engage, participate, and share
online the experiences they leave behind. It is fundamentally
changing the way we communicate.
GETTING STARTED IN SOCIAL MEDIA
First…. a caveatThe first step in any marketing campaign
is to understand the strategic goals of the organization.
These are ideas, only ideas. A lot depends on your specific needs and goals.
Questions to consider: How does social media fit with goals of
organization? Who are the current customers? Who are the potential customers? What has worked and not worked in the past? The players – who does what?
Social media can help to…
Offer immediacy Build relationships Create opportunities for future face-to-
face interactions Bypass traditional media Provide customer service/ solve problems Encourage participation Monitor and manage reputation
Steps
1. Make sure your organization supports your efforts to explore the value of social media.
2. Give shareholders a chance to participate.
WEBSITE/
BRAND
More steps…3. Consider forming committees to explore
different aspects of social media.4. Determine policy and procedure, so
employees understand the rules and responsibilities for engaging in social media.
5. Determine the time and energy needed to properly maintain a social media campaign.
6. Allow employees to participate in Webinars or seminars to learn more about social media.
7. Experiment. See what works best for you. If it doesn’t work, regroup.
Creating a Presence What are the most relevant social media
tools for our goals? Echo current brand colors, style and
imagery in social media channels, to the degree possible
Cross promote with social media channels and with website, print collateral, business cards, articles, email signature etc.
Plenty of Social Media Options Facebook Twitter Flicker YouTube Blogging Web site enhancements
What is Facebook? Social media platform where users can
add friends and send them messages, and update their personal profiles to notify friends about themselves.
Originally created for college students, it is now open to all ages
45% of Facebook’s US audience is now 26 years old or older (according to insidefacebook.com)
Why Facebook?
Over 300 million active users, 50% of whom log in on any given day
Most popular social networking site Powerful for building relationships Inherently “sticky” with photos,
videos, pokes, etc.
Weekly + updates
Consider a fan page instead of group
Leverage multimedia opportunitieshttp://www.flickr.com/photos/88526923@N00/2114874155/
Leverage FB multimedia
Text Photos Video Links
Clayton PD, North CarolinaAug 12
Sept 1
Customer service example
Testimonial on Facebook
What is Twitter? The ability to send out text messages to a
broad audience of “fans.” Each message, or “Tweet” is no more than 140 characters, so you’ll need to be brief.
Many Tweets simply call attention to new postings on Web sites, and direct “fans” there.
Twitter users can “follow” you for ongoing updates
They also find you using search or “retweets” from other followers
Why Twitter?
“Noisy” but relevant Over 6 million users Solve problems in real time “Listen” with Monitter, Tweet
Deck etc. New apps coming all the time
Twitter Presence Lock up a “handle” even if you’re not ready to
use it Frequency? – start with daily? Add images/ avatar/bio to Twitter page – people
more likely to follow you Only tweet if it is useful, funny or related to an
event “Retweet” Use “#” to define tweet categories (#H1N1; #hurricanebill; #station) Consider TweetDeck to manage your Twitter (it’s free)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7son75/2573812829/
Twitter Identity-Michigan Health Dept.
Future directions? Retweets –
government, computer tips, follower content
Increase followers Tweet topical link of
the day Answer customer
service questions Submit Twitter name
to wefollow index
TweetDeck www.tweetdeck.com
What is Flickr
An image and video sharing Web site and community.
Users share and archive personal photographs, some of which can be used in not-for-profit settings under a creative commons license.
According to Wikipedia, Flickr hosts more than 3.6 billion images.
Why Flickr?
Builds community through sharing photosCan be integrated into blog and FacebookCan improve Search Engine Optimization (SEO)At events, photograph guests and invite them to download to their personal collections Archive team’s photos in central “location”
Station Fire on Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/karolfranks/
What is a blog? Simply put, a Web Log or Blog for short is
an online journal. Software today allows readers to comment, and thus a dialogue can ensue.
Blogs can include photos, video, links to other Web sites and more.
Blogs are usually personal opinion, but some businesses post blogs to field questions from the public. Your blog is what you make it.
Why Blog?
Easy web updates in real time
Improve SEO Drive traffic to site Cultivate relationships with
other bloggers Discover potential
evangelists through comments
Blog Presence Weekly (or more often) posts from team Authenticity is key, but use PR know-how to
help edit and pitch ideas for posts Include photos, mini videos, links Encourage readers to use RSS to post to Digg,
Facebook, etc. and to forward via email Comment on other blogs Connect to website at every opportunity
Everyone knows YouTube, right? A free and easy place to post videos and
“embed” on your own site. You can create “channels” which will
allow visitors to find all your videos in one easy place.
If YouTube is blocked from your workplace, you might be able to get IT to open up JUST your channel.
It’s not that hard Flip video cameras are $200 or less, and
come with all the software and easy instructions for posting.
Editing software makes putting videos together easy.
Videos will bring your website to life. It can also provide useful information to the public and press.
Viewers often prefer a short video to a long piece of text
Embedded video on Web site
Other Web tricks Podcast: Simply posting audio interviews or
conversations so users can download them onto their iPods, or listen to them as they use their computer.
Chat rooms: A place where conversation can take place.
Live chat: Technology that allows visitors to write questions that the moderator and/or guest can answer.
Slideshows, videos, photo galleries, surveys. All opportunities for multimedia and interactivity online.
Invite friends and cross promote at every opportunity
Add This http://www.addthis.com/
Cross promotion and sharing
Listen then Engage. Participate in social media, by
having conversations Encourage interactions (polls,
questions, retweets, commenting) Respond immediately Be prepared for involvement
across the organization – PIO, customer service, administration, “behind the scenes” folks
Getting in on the conversation
Influence the “Influentials” Mavens – experts others turn to
for recommendations Connectors- “masters of the weak
tie” Ambassadors – provide
introductions to new or hard to reach groups
Salespeople – charismatic personalities
Adapted from Malcolm Gladwell, The Tipping Point
Engagement Pyramid
Write a blog; upload a video
Rate a product or service; comment on a blog, write in a discussion forum
Share online video; update profile, upload photos
Watch online videos, read blogs, download podcasts
Charlene Li – It’s All About the Relationships, Marketingprofs.com
Curators
Producers
Commenters
Sharers
Watchers
Measure & Adapt
Net Promoter Score: How likely are you to recommend the library to a friend or colleague?
Traditional analytics: Page views, comments, friends, “retweets,” etc.
Plan for potential problems Explore new tools & dump those that don’t work
Resources Mashable: a blog/website with rich
collection of social media articles and “how-tos” www.mashable.com
Twitter guidebook http://mashable.com/guidebook/twitter/
Bit.ly: shortens URLs and allows you to track them http://bit.ly/
Compete.com: compare Web sites and blogs for traffic info using a panel of 2 million consumers http://compete.com/