Social Media: Communicating Your

Message

November 8, 2010> Tina Lambert, CAE | VSCPA Vice President of Member & Public Relations

What the heck is social media?

SOCIAL MEDIA IS AN UMBRELLA TERM…

THAT DEFINES THE VARIOUS ACTIVITIES THAT INTEGRATE TECHNOLOGY, SOCIAL INTERACTION AND THE CONSTRUCTION

OF WORDS, PICTURES, VIDEOS AND AUDIO.

http://www.wikipedia.org

It’s also a fancy

way to describe

PEOPLE

having

CONVERSATIONS

online.

Photo by Kris Hoet

•Blogs•RSS •Online Chat & Listserves•Wikis•Social Networks•Podcasts & Videocasts•Photo & Video Sharing

Sites•Virtual Worlds

The CONVERSATIONS are powered by…

A shift in COMMUNICATION &

CONVERSATION

Traditional Model Social Media Model

People are consuming

information differently…• 92 % use multiple platforms

each day to get news• 60 % get news from online

and offline sources each day

• 33 % of cell phone owners access news on mobile device

• 80 % of online news consumers get or share links via emails

Source: Pew Research Center

Is social media a fad? You decide! Socialnomics.net

How do I get on thesocial media highway?

A. Listen• Immerse yourself in

conversations• Monitor trends &

competition• Google alerts, Twitter

searches• Determine process

for responding

B. Participate• Set up a profile• Friend 25 people• Comment on

blogs• Answer questions• The rule of thirds:

personal, professional, profitable

C. Drive• Share your expertise• Create content/ideas• Write a blog

• Create home for news, opinion, content

• Establish as experts• Promote• Connect with

community• Drive conversations• Think MULTIMEDIA

D. Obey Traffic

Signs• Privacy: Customize what

others can see about you (professional v. personal)• Create ‘Friend’ groups• Edit privacy settings

• Etiquette: Once you’re riding the social media highway, remember to obey common Internet traffic rules of thumb.

• Policy: Obey or set company guidelines for participation.

socialmediagovernance.com/policies.php

What social media tools are right for me?

• Communicate short (140-character) bursts of information to the people that subscribe to your updates (tweets)

• Monitor trends• Thought leadership• Industry news• Tools

> HootSuite.com> TweetDeck.com> Mobile apps

• Commentary on topics important to citizens, industry/local info, conversational

• Share news, info advice• Link to website• Tools

> WordPress.com> Blogger.com> TypePad.com

• More personal interactions

• Groups, pages, updates (customizable)

• Links social networks• Large audience, activity• Robust privacy settings• Feed RSS and blog• Multimedia friendly

• Professional outlet• Job lists, referrals• Groups, networking• Discussion boards• Links social

networks• Elevates firm in

search lists

• YouTube is 2nd largest search engine

• Video is viral• Plug into other social media

platforms• Multimedia brings

voice to your brand• Think informational,

educational, entertainment• K.I.S.S. > Keep it short

& sweet

Repurpose Content Across Channels

CONNECT with me!

Tina Lambert, CAEVSCPA Vice President, Member & Public Relations

• Phone: (804) 612-9416• E-mail: tlambert@vscpa.com • LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/tinalambert • Facebook: www.facebook.com/TinaLambert1

• Twitter: www.twitter.com/TinaLambert

THANK YOU very, very much!