The Power of Social Media

Presented by:Lisa Thiessen

SWOSU Small BusinessDevelopment Center

The Power of Social Media• Clear Strategy & Goals

– Requires a process of planning, implementation, monitoring, analysis, and making adjustments before you repeat the cycle again.

• Ideal for growing your network and for spreading the word.– Convince others of your skills by sharing value, and

they'll be happy to connect and spread the word as well. – The more authority businesses have online, the stronger

their influence on their followers.

Today’s Social Networks

Each social network offers its own benefits. What's happening on some of today's most

popular platforms and what can you accomplish on each one?

Twitter

Facebook

Facebook Page vs. Profile  Friend Fan

Method ofConnection

One person sends an invitation to connect and the other accepts it.

A person clicks on the Like button of a Fan page.

What They See You can see their updates and they see your updates.

They see your updates but you don't see their updates.

Number YouCan Have You can have 5,000 Friends. You can have an unlimited number

of Fans.

Access toYour Profile

They can see all your personal details. (You can limit this by

adjusting your privacy settings.)

They cannot see your personal information.

Google Plus

YouTube

LinkedIn

Foursquare

Pinterest

Today’s Social NetworksWhile these are the highest profile networks right now, they should not be the extent of your social outreach.

There are plenty of niche platforms, blogs, and forums that cater to users interested in specific subjects, from a certain location, or both.

Seek out these networks to extend your reach and you may be able to create even stronger ties with followers already familiar with your area of expertise.

Things to Consider• Have you joined any of the social networks mentioned?

• Upon visiting these networks, have you noticed the similarities and differences between each one?

• Have you accessed and posted to these networks from a mobile device?

• Have you joined other networks that are more relevant to your products, services, user base, or geographic location?

Social Strategy

Now that you know some of the big social networks out there, how

do you get started?

Social StrategyAn important part of an effective online presence is consistency, especially in branding.

Social Strategy• Example: t-shirt store. • Opening for the first time, want to

get the word out across social media. – publish information on our website or

blog– link to this content on social networks:

fan page on Facebook, notifications on Twitter, pictures on Pinterest.

Social Strategy• Know what each platform is for;

Don’t publish duplicate content

• Post content that is relevant to the site where it is posted– Videos on YouTube– Deals & Special Offers on Twitter– Photos on Pinterest

Social Strategy• Put yourself in your customer’s

shoes.• Consider a phased approach.• What do you hope to accomplish?• Always direct customers back to your

website!

Things to Consider• What specific business-related goals are you trying to

accomplish through your social media efforts? How are you trying to reach these goals?

• If your company is present on more than one social network, do you have the same name and branding on each one?

• Do you post the exact same content across multiple networks? If so, is there a way you can alter your content to better fit each one?

• Do you have a content calendar for posting to each social network? If not, how do you decide when and what to post?

• How do you know if people came to your site through social networks? Do you have stats that show this data?

Conversations & Communities

As you begin to gain followers on your site and social networks, you may find new ways to effectively

communicate.

Conversations & Communities

• Always respond—it lets people know you are listening.

• 2 way conversations are important.

• Avoid push-only approach.

Conversations & Communities

• Listening and responding fosters an environment where users can speak amongst themselves and allows different sides of an issue related to your company to be heard and explored.

• Innovation isn’t is generated by keeping the status quo

• Authenticity and transparency are key to building trust.

• Be yourself!

Things to Consider• After you publish posts to social networks, do you

review the responses they receive?• Do you provide a variety of posts to each network,

such as news, video, pictures, and links to interesting content?

• How many different people post on behalf of your company?

• Do you have a forum or central location where your customers/users discuss topics related to your company? Is it a space you provide, or is it located on a social network (e.g. Facebook group)?

Public Relations

Public relations has been around for a long time. Its value is just as strong

today!

Public Relations• Large & small companies can benefit.• Sharing across the web improves

your SEO.• Editorial calendars• Guest blog posts

Public Relations• Maintain your reputation; thank

supportive users, address concerns quickly

• Google alerts• Use various apps to respond swiftly

and show you are listening.

Social Analytics

Measuring the interactions you have across each network by using their

built-in notifications and tools is a good way track your social media success.

Social Analytics• Stay active, create content, make

connections.

• Measure interactions.

• Compare different types of updates.

• When are the best and worst times to post social media updates?

Social Analytics• Pay attention to stats to adjust

publishing schedule.• Track where your users come from

and where they go.• Knowing how many users interact

with your content can allow you to set prices for prospective advertisers.

Conclusion• Identify a clear strategy & set goals.

• Communicate effectively.

• Maintain your online reputation via public relations.

• Measure your interactions to track your success.

Lisa ThiessenSWOSU Center for Economic & Business Development100 Campus DriveWeatherford, OK 73096580-774-3039lisa.thiessen@swosu.edu