Using Social Media for Business

The New Consumer “The world has wised up. No one is going to be tricked into buying something by cute TV commercials. In the Internet Age, everyone has the ability to find out everything about your company, market, and products. If you want to sell, you’d better show customers that you care intensely about your product and what it stands for.” Bloomberg Business

Why Bother with Social Media? Overview Business/Stats

Social Media is Everyone’s Business!

Focal Points Social Media Focal Point

Why Social Media? 85% of all businesses that have a dedicated social media platform as part of their marketing strategy reported an increase in their market exposure. 58% of businesses that have used social media marketing for over 3 years reported an increase in sales over that period 87% of SMEs believe that social media has helped or somewhat helped their organisation 14% of people trust ads, 90% trust peer recommendations

Where does social media fit in your business? Who are you selling to? Where are your customers? (Geographically) Are you B2B or B2C? Do you sell online? Do you have a product or service? Do you have a premises? What is your current marketing activity?

What platforms are your customers using? Who are your customers? How old are they? Where do they live? What are their interests? What platforms are they more likely to use?

Social Media Strategy “Fail to Plan, Plan to Fail” It is vital that there is consistency across your online communications You need to agree the ‘party line’ and stick to it when using social media Your social media should fit with your company ethos, marketing, branding and communications

Strategy What are the pitfalls that impact a social media marketing strategy? Inauthenticity Impatience Lack of executive/ top level management buy in Improper goal setting Social media as a stand alone programme Lack of stakeholder engagement Undefined success

Strategy Begin with a clear vision Know Your audience Understand content creation as it relates to your audience Commit !

Goal Setting Social media can be used for a variety of business objectives including: Marketing Sales Customer service Research IT Human resources Executive management

Measurement Site traffic Number of fans/ followers Number of positive customer mentions Number of page views Number of mentions Engagement rate Facebook: talk about this and reach Twitter: retweets and impression reach Social clicks Conversion Rates Revenue Reduced call volume Increased channel sales

Content Ideas Subscribe to industry feeds- bloggers, s, google alerts Monitor social media conversations (Tools: Hootsuite, Tweetdeck) Repurpose content (video to blog, blog to tweet, etc) Become a video bug – answer questions Top 10’s Produce research (surveymonkey, surveygizmo) Inspiration and motivation

Strategy Worksheet Exercise

Outsource Vs In-house Time available Skills/resources available How much do you enjoy social media? Success to date Value-add to business

Outsource – what to ask When did you start in social media? Why? Where can I find you online? Do have a blog? Which social sites do you engage? What is your background other than social media? What social media marketing channels do you have the most expertise in? How will you help us determine our community influencers? What methods will you use to grow our audience? How do you handle legal risks? How will you coordinate social media with our other communication functions? How do you measure results and calculate ROI?

Green Businesses Doing It Right

Green Businesses Doing it Right

Facebook Facts There are currently more people on facebook than there were on the PLANET 200 years ago Facebook now accounts for one in every seven minutes spent online around the world. Facebook is the out and out leading social network in Ireland with 1.9 million users + Growing at a rate of 900 new profiles per day According to Ipsos MRBI, 1.75 million or 50% of the entire Irish population, over the age of 15 years, use Facebook.

Facebook Facts 77% of all Irish internet users use Facebook (Comscore) That average Irish person spends 4hours 10 minutes on Facebook per month 47% log in daily, 24% every few days, 12% weekly 175,000 new Irish users joined the site in the last six months.

Facebook User Demographics % % % % % 55+ 5%

Advantages of Facebook Immediate & interactive High share value Facility to sell direct Enhanced facilities for promotion Highly visual Social shares Very targeted advertising

Disadvantages of Facebook Difficult to get reach without paying Very cluttered Jaded consumer Not appropriate for B2B in the main

Understanding Edgerank

Profile V Business Page Profiles are for individuals to use in a non professional context Pages are for an organisation, business, celebrity, or band to maintain a professional presence on Facebook. The important thing to know is that if you have a business you should use a Page to promote your Business rather than a Profile.

The Grand Tour

Create a Page on Facebook

Create Facebook Page

Profile Picture Profile pics should be 160 pix x 160 pix

Fanbase

Tell Them About You!

Start Creating Content!

Admin Panel Quick view of activity on page Admin Menu

Let’s Go Online !

Making it Work for You Competitions Advertising Sponsored posts Events Groups Encourage users to post on your page Contribute to other pages Add Like button to your website/blog

Twitter – The Facts 385,000 Irish people have a Twitter account 60,000 users active daily 159,000 tweets per day 71% of journalists use Twitter as a news source

Twitter- The Benefits Drive traffic to your website/blog/offline business Sell lots more product (Dell made $2million in 12 months, purely from Twitter offers) Monitor what’s going on in your industry Listen to what people really think about your business or product (or you!) Provide instant customer service, wow your customers and nip problems in the bud fast

Twitter- The Benefits Find out what customers and prospects want Discover new opportunities –find people searching for what you offer Get the attention of the media and attract free publicity Spice up the attendance and the atmosphere at your events

Twitter – The Cons Time consuming Always on Can be difficult to gain visibility

The Grand Tour

Create a Twitter Page

Get Started

Get Following

Get Connected

Let’s Go Online !

Using It Listen - Talk Share relevant information Don’t be a Delboy! Be human Talk shop, talk home, talk social Ask questions Retweet Use it at events

Linkedin – The Facts 472,000 Irish users Ireland has 2 nd highest penetration of users in the world at 21% 33% of accounts are active on a monthly basis 31% of users use it weekly User profile largely aged 35-44, Dublin-based, employed and AB social class

Linked-In – What are they there for? Why do people use it? 50% networking 49% browse jobs 10% recruitment

Linked-In – The Benefits Targeted Cost effective Access to particular industries /groups (E.g. SME Links Ireland, SME Professionals, Pharma IQ, Banking Connects, etc.) Virtual networking and introductions Crossover events Flexibility of use – advertising, promotion, discussion and networking

Linked-in – The Disadvantages Penetration More appropriate for B2B

Linkedin – The Grand Tour

Create a Company Page

Create a Company Profile

Personal Profiles Profile picture - People are 10 times more likely to connect with you if they can see who you are Make sure your company website is listed Add any additional social media pages, maps, blogs, etc Create a vanity URL for your account Keep your history relevant Ask for RECOMMENDATIONS

Vanity URL Go to ‘Edit Profile’, scroll down to ‘Public Profile’ and click ‘Edit’

Managing Your Account

Making It Work! Groups Discussions Advertising Events

Let’s Go Online !

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