Level 2 Award in Social Networking for Business Day 4 Tutor: Alan Jarvis

Recap Risks of Social Media and consequences of potential problems Workbook unit 1, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3 Following strategy How to develop a community by following people/groups Created a strategy document and recorded searches done to find: Twitter users to follow and relevant hashtags Facebook groups Linkedin groups Worked in groups to develop social media posts Completed review Today: More on Facebook and Twitter Complete workbook Unit 1 section 2 Catch up on anything missing

Facebook Edgerank Ever wondered why you see more of some friends posts in your newsfeed than others? Facebook doesn’t show you every post. It uses an algorithm which is sometimes called ‘Edgerank’ to decide which posts to keep in your newsfeed. Understanding how Edgerank works can help make your posts more visible.

Edgerank factors Edgerank is determined by 3 factors: Affinity, Edge weight and Time decay Affinity is a measure of how much contact you have had with another person. The more you comment, like or message another person you more likely your posts will show up in their newsfeed. However Affinity is a one way street. If you interact with someone a lot you will see more of their posts but they won’t necessarily see more of yours. You need to encourage them to interact with you in turn.

Edge weight In Edgerank terminology an ‘edge’ is any action on Facebook, a status update, comment, like etc. Each type of ‘Edge’ has a weighting. Photos are weighted more heavily than text The more interaction an ‘Edge’ has (e.g. likes, comments etc.) the more weight it gets So: Add pictures to your posts Post at a time when most of your audience is on line so they are more likely to interact with you post. Make your posts encourage interaction by asking questions

Edgerank – Time decay The older a post the less value it has on Facebook However this can be balanced against the fact that an older post might have more likes and shares. Therefore you must post at the times when your audience is most likely to be on line and therefore they will interact with your post before it dissappears

Tips to exploit Edgrank Post content which encourages interaction. Ask yourself ‘how engaging is this?’ ‘Here is our new xyz’  ‘Here is our new xyz, what do you think of it? Make sure your post is likely to be of interest to your audience. Add photos to your posts Post fairly frequently. How often depends on various factors. Be slightly controversial (but don’t alienate). This helps interaction. (e.g. I'm not sure if I like the new xyz, it’s a bit to fussy for me. What do you think?) Interact with your followers.

Practical task When are your followers online? Use Facebook Insights to find out Look at the last 3-4 status update you have made Did they include photos? How could you have made them more interactive? Discuss this in pairs

Twitter search Twitter has powerful search capabilities which can be used to help you find sales leads. Works particular well for businesses that solve a problem or relate to a specific event Broken boiler, leaky pipes Weddings and engagements Use the Advanced Search link which shows up when you do a search.

Unit 1 – final task 2.1 and 2.2 Write a brief report in which you list the major general social networking sites (Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin Google+, Pinterest) and the major specialist sites (Linkedin, YouTube, Flickr etc.). You need to say something about the popularity of each site and who the main users are in terms of age and gender. You can use this site as reference: /

Unit 1 – final task Explain what the benefits of using social media are to a business. Give example including your business. 2.4 – Briefly list the different types of business and say how they might used social media differently Sole Trader Partnership Private and Public limited company Franchise 2.5 – Explain why you have chosen to use the social media channels you are using (in preference to others). You must say WHY you chose them have how this relates to your target audience, business type etc. (relate to your marketing plan)

Google+ Google version of Facebook Not as big but it is growing in popularity If you have a Google account (Gmail, YouTube etc.) then you have a Google+ account already Links closely with your web site and has important SEO benefits Even if you don’t use Google+ extensively you should make some use of it because of the SEO benefits.

Google+ Main Features Like Facebook you can have a Google+ business page Google+ Circles are a convenient way to control the privacy of your posts. Circles allows you to place contacts into different groups (Circles) and you can control which circles can see your posts. Communities are Goolge+ version of Groups. Check to see if there are any relevant ones to join. Hangouts are like a video conference.

Set up a Google+ Business page Log into your Google account and go to Google+ Click the Home tab on the left and chose Pages Then click Create a Page (top right) Choose the category of the business. If you have Geographically limited business then choose ‘Local Business or place’. You may be asked to re-enter you password and agree to the Terms and Conditions. You then need to locate your business on the Google Map You may be asked to verify your buiness.

Google+ business page You can then run through the ‘Getting Started’ page set up. Add a description to your business (remember your keywords and mention why people should choose YOUR business) Edit your profile and include a profile photo and a cover (background) photo. These should be branded the same as your other Social Media accounts. Your profile picture will show up next to search results so make sure its either a clear headshot or a logo. As with Facebook you can swap between posting as your business page and you personal page by clicking the icon in the top right of the page

Integrate Google+ with your website Add a +1 button to your website. Its like a Facebook ‘Like’ button Anyone who clicks it will have that fact shared on their Google+ Wall (newsfeed). If someone in that person’s contacts searches on Google for a phrase relevant to your business your website will get a better placement in the results. Get the +1 button code here: If you use a Blogger Page then you can add a +1 button to your template.

Google+ communities Just like Facebook Groups However Business pages can join and post in communities As with Facebook groups it worth researching which ones to join

Home work Back on Monday 2 nd June In room QUE 117 (above Library) Post as per your posting schedule Update your social media activity log. Post the posts that you did the detailed plans for last week. Monitor the interaction on those posts and take screen shots as evidence.