Social Media for Business

Social Media Taster Course

July 2009

Introduction

• How can Social Media help?

• What is Social Media?

• How big is Social Media?

• Who is using it?

• How are businesses using it?

• What is Social Media Marketing?

• Does it make any money?

• Getting started

How can Social Media help?

• Engagement: Increase loyalty, foster word of mouth

• Research: Identify trends/niches, consultation

• Marketing: Promote business, brand awareness

• SEO: link building, content factors

• PR: Manage reputation, get news out

• Management: Collaboration, knowledge sharing

• Sales: Gain new business, new contact routes

What is Social Media?

• How people discover, read and share news, information and content.

• Mixture of sociology and technology

• Movement from monologues (one to many) towards dialogues (many to many).

• Shift from content readers into publishers.

• User Generated Content (UGC)

• Consumer Generated Media (CGM)

Adapted from Wikipedia entry for ‘Social Media’

What is Social Media? – In Context

• Web 2.0 follows on from Web 1.0

• Generation Y

• Faster broadband

• Computing power

• Driving social change

Social Media Platforms

• Blogs, Micro-Blogs and V-Logs• Social Networks• Social Bookmarking• File Sharing Sites• Podcasting / Video Podcasting• Wiki Sites• Forums• Instant Messaging• Virtual Worlds

How big is Social Media?

• Facebook has just reached 250m active users• More than 120m FB users log on every day• 8m+ FB users become fans of Pages every day• 77% of active internet users read blogs• 133m+ blogs indexed by Technorati• Time spent on Twitter has soared 3,702% YoY• LinkedIn gains 1 new user per second• Executives from all Fortune 500 companies on

LinkedIn• 10 hours of video uploaded to YouTube every minute

Who is using it? (Some Demographics)

• Highest indexing age groups on Facebook are those 25-34 (27%) and 35-49 (23%)

• Fastest growing user group on Facebook is 35+• The average age of a Twitter user is 31• The average age of a MySpace user is 27• The average age of a LinkedIn user is 41• The average earnings of a LinkedIn user is $109k• 46% of LinkedIn users are Decision Makers• ABC1s are more likely to have a Facebook profile • C2DEs are more likely to have MySpace profile

Who is using it? (User Types)

• Small to Medium Enterprises• Global Corporations• Media Companies• Non-Profits• Social Enterprises• Politicians• Education Providers• Students• And countless others

What is Social Media Marketing?

Social Media Marketing (SMM)

is an engagement with online communities

to generate exposure, opportunity and sales.

Does it make any money?

Some interesting case studies:

• Goldcorp Inc

• Dell

• UKNetWeb

• An Integrated Approach – Business Cornwall

Goldcorp Inc.

• “Goldcorp Challenge” launched March 2000

• Prize of $575,000 on offer

• Published 400mb of information

• Over 1,000 people from more than 50 countries took part

• Identified 110 targets (50% previously unidentified)

• Over 80% of targets yielded substantial quantities of gold

• Took company from underperforming $100m to $9bn

Source: Wikinomics

Dell

• Over 600,000 Twitter followers

• Used to message out coupons, clearance events and new arrival information to those looking for Dell technology at a discounted price

• Over $3m sales attributed to Twitter($2m Dell outlet sales / over $1m in other Dell.com purchases.)

UKNetWeb

• Utilises number of services

• Defined strategy

• 500 % increase in new business enquiries over social media this year

• 75 % of all enquiries now through SM

• Increased purchase order value

• Extended reach

An integrated approach

• Business Cornwall

• Stories uploaded to main website

• Syndicated to Twitter and Facebook

• Opportunities for engagement at all stages

• Easy to share and post content on to networks

• All magazines uploaded to web

• Free viewing / download of all content

Getting started - Planning

TechnologyCustomisation

Integration

Approach Strategy

Aims Objectives

PeopleTarget MarketsCommunities

Social Media Marketing

Plan

What are people saying about us?

Please click the logos to visit sites.

How do I identify my community?

Try using the following services to identify your community:

Please click the logos to visit sites.

Getting started - Services

• Blog with RSS

• File Sharing sites

• Facebook

• LinkedIn

• Twitter

• Google Profiles

Starting out – Actions

1. Create Accounts with the following services:

Please click the logos to visit sites.

Getting started - Tips

• Find your existing connections first

• Ensure alerts and analytics are working

• Listen to conversations first

• Engage in conversations / Engage with complaints

• Test, Monitor, Review and Tweak approaches

• ‘Content is king’

• Be ethical in your actions / respect etiquette

• Keep it relevant to your audience

• Be clear in your objectives

• Don’t overstretch

Need Help?

• Training and Coaching

• Marketing Plans & Strategies

• Registration and Setup of Services

• Content Production

• Advice and Consultancy

Resources

• tonickmedia.com

• tonickmedia.com/blog

• delicious.com/galileorm

Social Profiles

• twitter.com/arengrimshaw

• linkedin.com/in/areng

• facebook.com/aren.grimshaw

Thank you for viewing.

Please get in touch with your questions at

www.tonickmedia.com