Using Social Media for Business

Why social media?

• Your customers want and expect easy access to information about you

• SM gives you the opportunity to network on your terms at convenient times

• Done well and with a clear strategy, social media can save you time and money

What can I use it for?

• Promoting your personal brand• Improving client relationships• Setting your brand apart• Business networking• Customer service• Market research• Recruitment

Where do I start? Setting realistic, achievable goals

What are your business goals?

• Selling products through your website

• Increasing donations• Increasing your network of clients• Improving your customer services• Streamlining your business processes• Disseminating campaign messages

Which platform?

Where are your target audience & are they open to

listening to you?

?

Not even mentioning

…

Personal branding

• Think about how having an influential personal profile online can have a direct impact on your business

• Do an online audit, what is already out there? What do people see when they Google you?

• Having strong personalities which are visible on social platforms can be great for your business

Branding your business

• Become an information hub not just a broadcaster• Create reasons to share • Why are you growing

followers? Have a game plan

Don’t forget:

Any online activity that can link back to your web content (not just your website)

is important for SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) and brand visibility. Social

sharing is increasingly important for search rankings so make your content

easy to share!

3 tips to maximise your LinkedIn profile

1. Design with visitors in mind

• Decide on your target audience• Check Google Insights for relevant

search terms• Use your profile as a showcase for

the position you’re in now.• Customise web links• Use SlideShare / Amazon apps to add

personality• Link social profiles like twitter & filter

using #in

2. Have a networking game plan

• Start with the end goal in mind• Search potential client profiles for

appropriate groups• Look at group statistics before joining• Schedule group activity and build

credibility• Make contact with moderators and offer

content• Start your own group and include a link

on your email signature

3. Grow your contacts strategically

• Numbers are not the end goal• Use groups to gain credibility then

invite to connect• Get introduced through existing

connections• Regularly update your connections

with business cards from networking events

Who does Facebook well?

Plan with a goal in mind

• Getting a user to “like” your page is just the first step – only interaction ensures future impact

• Use facebook Insights to inform future posts. What has worked well before?

• Photo & Video tagging• What is the optimum time for posting

(to your audience)?• Use Questions & prompts

Where does twitter fit in?

Lead the conversation

• Keep an eye on trending topics and if they are relevant to you, get involved

• Use a popular # strategically to get more clicks on links

• Mention @ prominent figures within your industry

• Don’t be a broadcaster, be a conversationalist

What do I share?

Measuring success

• Be agile – act on the information you gather to improve your offering and outcomes

• Use tools like Bitly and Storify to collate and evaluate a campaign’s success

• Use Google Analytics to set and track specific goals (this could be time on page, ecommerce or increased visitors)

Running an integrated campaign

Case study

• 25th May, 2011 - International Missing Children’s Day

• Raise awareness and increase supporters

• Tweeted a different missing child appeal every 30 mins for 24 hours

• Scheduled tweets• Team of tweeters • 6 weeks of planning

• 5,500 new followers in one day

• 8,000 RTs and mentions

• 600% increase in website traffic

• Trended in UK

• Significant press coverage

Don’t forget…

Impact on SEO

• Google likes content that is widely shared

• Off the page SEO is vitally important to Google search rankings

• Integrating a blog onto your website is a great way to update your content, offer opportunities to network with clients and get people talking about you (all good for SEO)

Influence & Engagement(what does it all mean?)

Integration(making your life easier & more effective)

BufferApp

Hootsuite

Tweetdeck

SproutSocial

Troubleshooting(when it all goes terribly wrong…)

3 choices! •Reply•Delete•Ignore

Social Media Guidelines

• Encourage staff to engage and talk about your brand

• Be clear about your company caveats• Keep your community rules simple &

share them with everyone• Don’t be afraid to let your staff share

on their personal accounts. If they’re passionate about what you do, it can only help your brand

Useful websites

• Mashable.com• TheNextWeb.com• Techcrunch.com• Technorati.com

Questions?