Social Media: Your Business Tool for Growth

Transcription

1 Social Media: Your Business Tool for Growth Presented by: Melodie Tao Social Media Strategist, Educator & Speaker October 14 th, 2010: INET Beirut

2 Professional: My company: Social Media Strategist, Speaker & Educator Online Marketing Educator Platt College San Diego Background: About Melodie Tao Interactive and marketing : Radio, outdoor, events, promotions Online and interactive agency experience Featured speaker at marketing and online conferences/events Expertise: Community Building Brand Development Location: San Diego, California

3 Presentation Overview Getting Started in Social Media Social Media Monitoring Strategy Design Promotions Facebook Facebook For Business Page Customization Welcome Profile Photo Privacy Settings If tweeting about the event on My Twitter handle LinkedIn Company Profiles Business Benefits Title & Heading Profile Info Summary & Specialties Recommendations Applications

4 Getting Started in Social Media

5 Social Media Monitoring Social Media monitoring is the first step in creating an effective Social Media Strategy. It s important to LISTEN and LEARN about your consumers needs and concerns before diving into social media: Educates you on what questions and concerns your consumers have about your business Provides you with knowledge to lead conversations Allows you to locate and reach out to bloggers and industry leaders who are creating buzz around your industry Empowers you with information to customize content that is engaging, compelling and educational for your audience.

6 Social Media is a long term engagement. This ensures an ongoing strategy with campaigns and promotions working toward the overall marketing goals. A solid strategy is the foundation for success. After listening to your audience there are still things to consider when creating your Social Media Strategy: Consistently post useful tips Be an industry leader status by writing relevant articles and blogs Ask your community questions that prompt replies and encourage user generated content Create buzz through strategic promotions Overall strategy- With the continued changing landscape in social media your strategy must constantly be reviewed and modified to meet the needs of the consumer

7 Social Media Design & Setup Your Social Media design will strengthen your brand recognition around the web. It s important that your business is branding itself consistently throughout all networks. Design elements are consistent with the look and feel of your website Design elements drive traffic back to your original website/blog to increase conversion Design elements encourage and prompt user generated content and participation Cross promotion of your other networks, blogs, websites, etc

8 Social Media Promotions Social Media promotions will create buzz and provide value to your consumers. The following are social media promotional ideas: Contests that give away cash/gift card prizes Contests that request consumers to submit photos and videos on a specific topic regarding your business (user generated content) A charity campaign that results in your company donating money by users participating. allowing the winner to donate money to their charity of chose Blogger outreach by rewarding bloggers for their contribution

9 Facebook

10 Facebook for Business When reaching out to consumers through Facebook your interaction should be personal. Think about how individuals you re targeting will benefit from using your products or service. Examples on how to personalize your Facebook interaction: Photos of employees in casual office settings Photos of employees and customers interacting. Trade show photos Pictures of employees working on community service projects Company executives speaking, accepting awards, etc Photos of facilities Photos taken with resellers or channel partners

11 Facebook Page Tabs Facebook is one of the most flexible networks for customization. Although it does not accept all codes, a maximum of 6 tabs can be viewed and many customized Recommended all 6 be visible and optimized to serve your audience Application tabs allow 3 rd party programs such as YouTube FBML tabs (Facebook Markup Language)- Developed and designed to match your audience s needs To change your page s tabs add FBML application to your page. Then, go to your page manager, find the FBML tab and click edit. Within the box that opens, you will be able to change the tab name and add code Default Tabs FBML Tabs Application Tabs

12 Facebook Page Customization Your custom Facebook page should be designed to educate your audience on important matters about your industry, and build relationships that lead to your Facebook audience to convert to customers Review, define, and improve content organization of the tab structure. Review, define, and improve content layout of the various page types under each tab. Branding of Fan Page assets (images, placement, multimedia) that appeal to the intended target audience. Editorial review, widget creation and/or refinement of content used throughout the Page. Cisco incorporates videos into their Facebook Page

13 Customization (Example) International Delight understands that drinking coffee is an expensive habit They understand many consumers want to save money They customized their page to provide an interactive calculator to show your savings Savings is something that fans want and appreciate

14 Facebook Page Welcome Have a landing/ welcome page for new visitors to see and experience first. Set this up in your admin page People who are already fans of your page, will see the wall first when they enter the page The welcome page is an informational page for new visitors that should provide an incentive for joining

15 Facebook Page Profile Photo Your profile photo for your page can be as large as 200 x 600 pixels. A larger picture offers more visibility. You can include a logo or promotional banner Preview ideas to decide what s best for your goals Important to have your name displayed in the thumbnail (200px by 200px) because this icon is your brand image on Facebook comments and posts.

16 Create lists Sort new friends as you add them Customize who can view your wall post Account > Privacy Settings > Search Account > Privacy Settings > Applications and Websites > What your friends can share about you

17 LinkedIn

18 LinkedIn Company Profiles LinkedIn Members can Follow companies Company information, location, website, etc Make sure your profile is linked to your company when adding your work information to LinkedIn Connect your company blog or news to update prospective customers and partners

19 Business Benefits of a Personal LinkedIn Profile Business owners and employees who have personal LinkedIn Profiles are demonstrating that their company understands social media. When potential customers or clients do their research for your company they will search for you on LinkedIn. This will give them a more personal connection and understanding of who they re working with. Individuals can utilize LinkedIn to promote your company s accomplishments, events, blogs and news Provide more credibility to fellow colleagues and partners through LinkedIn recommendations

20 LinkedIn Title & Headings Public Profile Full Profile Under your name list your title(s) Keyword focused List your city so people know where you re based Industry- Many people search by industry

21 LinkedIn Profile Info Status Updates- Allow others to gain insight on your professional developments: Focus on updates that provide value about your expertise and company Showcase other websites relevant to your business Many use the default listings: My website, My blog etc. Instead of using these you want to customize the links Opportunity to highlight your company website Opportunity for keyword focused anchor text Choose Other when listing websites and write in keyword to link directly to your site Customize your profile link URL

22 LinkedIn Summary & Specialties Summary & Experience- List specific accomplishments Rather than just listing tasks of your job, list how you made an impact Designed websites vs Designed interactive websites that lead to 20% increase in conversion rate from new visitors. Specialties: Keyword focused. This is picked up by LinkedIn search results. Include service offerings for your current business or company

23 LinkedIn Recommendations Peer recommendations are a trusted source Demonstrates your credibility through real life work experiences Don t be afraid to ask for recommendations Make sure to give recommendations to colleagues, partners, etc.

24 LinkedIn Applications Add applications that optimize your profile by showcasing your professional development to create networking opportunities and cross promote your other social networks. Wordpress: Live feed to enhance your blog community and get your posts across to a new audience Tripit: Lets others know your travel plans so they get a sense of your upcoming conferences, networking events. This creates opportunities to set up in person meetings and shows that you re actively attending events for professional development Amazon Reading Lists: If you read books on business, professional development, etc, this shows your initiative for learning.

25 LinkedIn Application Examples

26 Thank You