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Social Media for Business UseTuesday 8 July 2014

+This Session

Briefly Revisit Twitter

Using Facebook for Business Use

Break

Using Google + for Business Use

+Social Media for Business Use

Yesterday we covered how businesses or freelance professionals can use LinkedIn or Twitter to enhance their opportunities.

Today we will cover Facebook and Google +. These strategies are equally applicable to professionals who want to network with people in their field.

In addition, we will recap blogging because producing good content is at the core of a successful promotional strategy.

+TASK

Log into Twitter.

Search for businesses – they can be favourite brands, or local businesses that you know.

Either send them a tweet, or mention them in a tweet of your own.

Take a screenshot and post to your blog.

+Example

Simply go onto your profile, and press Shift + Cmd + 4 to draw a screenshot.

Use the ‘Upload Media’ button on Wordpress to add to a post.

+Facebook for Business Use

Many businesses now also use Facebook to market themselves. You can keep your personal profile and your business Page separate.

You can run the Page within your personal account, allowing you to invite your existing Facebook friends to like your Page.

You might think they won’t be interested but it’s good to keep existing friends and contacts up to date on what your business is doing, and they might be able to recommend you to others.

If you do set up a Page, bear in mind a few things.

+Facebook for Business Use

If you’re a business, include an image related to what you do, or use your logo.

If you’re a freelancer, try to use a welcoming, smiling photo of yourself – use the same one across all of your sites.

Begin filling the Page with content even as you’re inviting contacts – they’ll be more likely to investigate if you’ve already got images or videos online.

Keep your description brief, include links to your other online platforms (Twitter, LinkedIn, website etc).

+Facebook for Business Use

Log in to Facebook and look up three brands that you like.

It could be an online business that you use, a favourite place to go in Newcastle, or a brand that you use a lot.

If they have a Page, click on ‘Like’ to subscribe to their updates.

You can see all recent content from your page by clicking on your Pages Feed from the main sidebar.

+TASK

Once you have found three businesses and clicked ‘Like’, go to your profile, and click on ‘Likes’ to see them in one place.

Take a screenshot and post to your blog.

In addition, look at what content they have posted, and underneath your screenshot, write a short summary about the type of content they have.

Is it images, videos, links etc.?

+Facebook for Business Use

As already stated, one of the main benefits of social media is that it can be cheaper than traditional methods of marketing.

However, Facebook is making it increasingly difficult to use its platform, particularly if businesses want to do so without paying for services.

It used to be the case that a user simply had to ‘like’ a Facebook Page in order to see its updates in their news feed.

In order to avoid overwhelming users with content, Facebook began to prioritise content from those pages with which the users had regular interaction.

Now it prioritises content that has been paid for.

+Facebook for Business Use

One key aspect of using Facebook Pages is that your audience gets to ‘opt-in’ to receiving content. They "Like" your page.

However Facebook won't let most of them see it organically in their news stream.

They can still visit your page to see content, but few users have the time or the energy to visit every single Page to see if there have been more updates.

One solution would be to pay to promote your Page and reach more of your audience.

+Facebook for Business Use

One strategy can be to manually direct people to your Facebook URL.

It's no longer enough for us to tell our audience to "Like" us on Facebook. Now we have to ensure they know that we offer great content there but Facebook won't let them see it unless they go to the Facebook page.

The disadvantage with using Facebook Pages is that your audience can see your Page even if they don’t have an account, but they do have to actually be on Facebook in order to interact.

+Facebook for Business Use

We’ve already discussed the benefits of online communities, and you can use Facebook Pages as part of this approach.

If you post great content, then users are more likely to share it with others – when they click ‘Share’, it places that content on their timeline as if posted by them. This recommends that content to their friends and followers.

Facebook treats these posts as being from an individual user, not a Page, and thus it isn’t ‘hidden’ in the same way.

It relates to the word-of-mouth concept – people will pass along things that they see as being of benefit, and those who see this benefit will in turn pass it along.

+Facebook for Business Use

There are ways that you can get users to interact. Competitions or giveaways are a good start.

You can encourage users to ‘like’ your page, share a particular post, and comment on something.

This way you get your content in front of more users, and when they comment, Facebook assumes they want to interact with you and you have more chance of getting more content into their news feed.

Ensure you post content that benefits or helps your audience in some way!

+Facebook for Business Use

But what if you’re not a business? If you’re a professional, do you still need a Page?

If you’re marketing your services as a freelancer, then yes. They’re free to set up and if used correctly, can act as a calling card across Facebook.

If you’re using Facebook to interact with others in your field and you’re simply sharing knowledge, then you’re probably better off joining groups relating to your interests, and connect immediately with individuals in this way.

However, freelancers can still join groups – posting good content and answering questions can help establish you as an authority.

+TASK

In your blog post, write a title ‘Using Facebook as a business/professional/freelancer’ (choose the aspect that suits you).

Write a short list of bullet points around how you might use Facebook.

Could you run competitions on a Page, or create a group around your field/industry to share knowledge with others?

+Google + for Business Use

We covered Google + for personal use last week, exploring its capacity for forging new connections and meeting new people. Google+ has the second most active user base of all social

media sites, with Facebook being number one. 

Yet businesses and freelancers are missing the opportunity to use Google+ to meet potential future customers or clients, and to get others to engage with what they’re posting.

The solution to both problems is Google+ communities. They can help you to grow your platform.

+Google + for Business Use

Use communities to find new ideas for blog posts.

Following communities can help you to find out what are your potential future readers already talking about and interested in. 

If you use these topics as the basis of your blog, you'll be able to find things to write about, as well as knowing that people will want to read your posts.

You might not be able to directly post links to your blog in the community forums, but if you get to know other users, you can add them to your circles, and once you’re in their circles, they’ll see your status updates.

+Google + for Business Use

Establish yourself as an expert (and as interesting) by starting valuable discussions.

Anyone can start a discussion in a Google+ community, and topics are organised by categories for easy access.

The best discussions result in active conversations, as well as people sharing it to their own circles. If people see your name attached to great conversations often enough, they’ll add you to one of their circles so they can see everything you post.

+Google + for Business Use

Get an inside look at what your potential future readers love or hate.

If you're a business that provides a particular service, or a freelancer with a specific skill, then you can find out what potential customers or clients want - and don't want. You can listen to their likes and dislikes that they express in communities.

A large part of success is knowing the expectations of clients or customers and exceeding them. Once you’re educated on the expectations, you’ll be able to meet them…or choose to forge a new path, while making it clear to others what they’ll be getting. Knowledge is power.

+Google + for Business Use

If you’re an established business, build a community for your customers.

Google+ communities definitely have a forum feel. Host chats with customers based around what your business

does. Encourage reviews. Answer commonly asked questions. Provide 'behind the scenes' coverage to make customers feel

closer to your business.

If you already have an established audience, Google+ communities provide a low maintenance option for you to encourage conversation among your customers and to be accessible to them.

+Google + for Business Use

However you can also set up a Page and allow people to interact with your business that way.

Some successful businesses also run Communities to allow users to share knowledge and tips, relating to your brand.

For example, Cadbury’s use their Page to share recipes that use their products, or images of new products, or cool things that their fans have sent, as well as featuring ‘behind the scenes’ videos, or videos of product launches.

In addition, they have a Community where fans of the brand can share their own images and recipes.

+TASK

Log into Google + and search for one of the following; Cadburys CostaCoffee Penguin Books UK Cambridge Satchel Company

Have a look at what content they include and how they promote themselves.

Do the Pages also have Communities?

+Social Media for Business Use

Hopefully now you can see why businesses and freelancers need to have good content in order to have something to share on social media.

A strong blog, containing useful articles, tutorials, tips or product information, should be at the centre of an online strategy.

This can be supported by sharing posts across Facebook and Google + Pages, tweeting links on Twitter, and promoting posts on LinkedIn. In addition, extra content can be shared through videos on YouTube, images on Pinterest, or tutorials on sites like Instructables.

+TASK

At the bottom of your blog post, write the title

‘How a business uses different types of social

media tools to engage with their audience’

and write a short summary of what we’ve covered in

the last two days.

Publish!

Google + Pages, tweeting links on Twitter, and promoting posts on LinkedIn. In addition, extra content can be shared through videos on YouTube, images on Pinterest, or tutorials on sites like Instructables.