Tips, Tools, & Takeaways Presented by: Daulton West - August

© 2011 ASocialMediaChampion4U2 Agenda Introduction Why Twitter? Tips Tools Takeaways

© 2011 ASocialMediaChampion4U3 Social media buzz for business Use social media to connect, engage, communicate who you are, what you do (brand awareness) Build relationships, share content, differentiate yourself Social networking rule of engagement – Find You  Follow you  Know You  Like You  Trust You Client Funnel - VCP (Visibility-> Credibility-> Profitability) Social networking  Relationships  Create value  Prospects  Drive traffic  ATTRACT CLIENTS

© 2011 ASocialMediaChampion4U4 Twitter thoughts … "Most Twitter users are hyper-connected … They are influencers and really want to share opinions with others…They are very different than the mainstream Facebook users.“ Companies that just push marketing deals or links to corporate press releases won't gain much traction, experts warn. "Twitter users said, 'we want a conversation with you, not faceless marketing.'" For example, Jetblue followers want to receive some promotions, but they also want to know about flight delays, cancellations, general information and what to expect from their in-flight experience.

© 2011 ASocialMediaChampion4U5 Why Twitter? What’s happening? / "What can I share of value?" Connects Like-minded People, Ideas, Companies Information Gathering - Listen & Learn Converse - Comment, Inform, Share, Get Feedback Increase Visibility & Brand Awareness Real-time Conversation Stay On Top of Industry Trends Build Relationships Very Open - Build Following fast Drive Traffic, Attract Clients

6 Twitter completes the “Power Trio” Use ‘Power Trio’ network to cast a wider net - acquire new contacts, attract new followers / potential clients, and gather information for relationship / business building Having thought leaders and like-minded professionals in your ‘Power Trio’ network enables one to use their knowledge, stay on top of the latest industry trends, tools, news, views Twitter FacebookLinkedIn

© 2011 ASocialMediaChampion4U7 Tips Effective communication is the key Remember: always keep your “audience” in mind. It’s not about YOU. Everyone's favorite radio station: WIIFM (What’s In It For Me?) Build relationships first - have a conversation to gain that all-important “know, like, and trust” from people Offer value - links to “free” offerings, discounts, giveaways, downloads Be a Resource, not a salesperson Twitter is a conversation, not a transaction! -- if you're selling, they're not buying Engage - your connections and customers frequently, recommend them, support industry & thought leaders

© 2011 ASocialMediaChampion4U8 Build your brand Build your brand as someone who shares valuable content

© 2011 ASocialMediaChampion4U9 Monitor your brand Google Alerts – set alerts, frequency for mentions of brand or keywords Google Analytics – add code to website to track site metrics ** visitor behavior stats **

© 2011 ASocialMediaChampion4U10 Monitor your competition Knowledge of competitor activities can be very useful Consider a competitive audit of your top five competitors in the social realm

© 2011 ASocialMediaChampion4U11 Attract and keep more clients People and businesses do business with people they know, like and trust!! Developing relationships should be first; the business will easily follow Remember: Social networking rule of engagement –  Know You  Like You  Trust You

© 2011 ASocialMediaChampion4U12 Who / What / What Who’s your target market? What’s your message? What’s your value proposition?

© 2011 ASocialMediaChampion4U13 Find your niche Find your niche Find a niche – your talent / a topic / unique value proposition Focus on giving and providing value Be customer focused! Customers want to hear what you can do for them, not a laundry list of all the stuff you want to sell them! Clients buy the “benefits” of your products or services

© 2011 ASocialMediaChampion4U14 Find your customers – “Fish where the fish are” Follow thought / industry leaders & interesting people - a great way to gather information about your industry, interests, hot topics, breaking news Use social networking sites to see where customers are “active”, and expressing a desire or need for services, products, or information Leverage popular social media sites such as Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube to see how your brand is being discussed, what is being said about your competitors, or by themTwitterLinkedInFacebookYouTube

© 2011 ASocialMediaChampion4U15 Find your target audience Use searches to find information in seconds by using a Keyword, Phrase or Category to see where customers are “active” Twitter enables us to find individuals and companies using search tactics that can be geographically targeted and used in “real time” Twitter tools can assist you in identifying influential industry thought leaders and power users by their klout (Hootsuite) influence as well as follower statistics

© 2011 ASocialMediaChampion4U16 6 Twitter Tools 1.Twitter Advanced Search Search window  Refine results - go to Advanced Search Words, phrase, hashtags –Hashtag example: #twitter, #rva, #biztips Plug in Words, People, Places  Near this place (zip code)  Within this distance (miles/kilometers)

17 Twitter Advanced Search Twitter Advanced Search

© 2011 ASocialMediaChampion4U18 6 Twitter Tools 2.Hootsuite A dashboard to help you manage and control the Twitter fire-hose Has a schedule feature to ‘Tweet later’ Can add social streams to select which networks to post tweets – Facebook, LinkedIn, FB Business page Searches, Feeds, Keywords, Lists can be added and stored as a stream to dashboard

19 Hootsuite Hootsuite

© 2011 ASocialMediaChampion4U20 6 Twitter Tools 3.Twellow Target by “categories” similar to the “Yellow pages” rather than tags or phrases. Use to research companies or individuals of interest, “follow” them and monitor relevant conversations to see what is being discussed about your industry, brand. Recently upgraded - now much faster to use with a better user interface.

21 Twellow Twellow

© 2011 ASocialMediaChampion4U22 6 Twitter Tools 4.Topsy Use keyword and phrase search according to parameters, e.g., last hour, past 24 hours, past 30 days. Look for “Experts” that mention keyword, set alerts

23 Topsy Topsy

© 2011 ASocialMediaChampion4U24 6 Twitter Tools 5.WeFollow Either “Most Influential” by their ratings or “Most Followers” views provided Provides statistics and means to identify & target the influential people or brands View top Tags, Cities, Twitter users

25 WeFollow WeFollow

© 2011 ASocialMediaChampion4U26 6 Twitter Tools 6.Just Tweet It Choose a directory category, list your name, and find other Tweeters in your profession. –Twitter User Directory –Twitter Tools Directory –Ex: Twitter Tools Directory / Twitter for Business / 50 IDEAS ON USING TWITTER FOR BUSINESS

27 Just Tweet It Just Tweet It

© 2011 ASocialMediaChampion4U28 Takeaways “Quality”, not “quantity”, “Less is more” for messages Be someone who educates and “shares” -- not “sells” or “spams” others with constant sales fluff WIIFM (What’s In It For Me?) [client's favorite radio station]  Keep audience in mind -- Its not about YOU! Build relationships first - have a conversation to gain that all-important “know, like, and trust” from people Offer value - links to “free” offerings, discounts, giveaways, downloads Be a Resource, not a salesperson Twitter is a conversation, not a transaction! -- if you're selling, they're not buying Engage - your connections and customers frequently, recommend them, support industry & thought leaders

© 2011 ASocialMediaChampion4U29 Resources 50 IDEAS ON USING TWITTER FOR BUSINESS (by Chris Brogan) How and Why to Launch a Business Presence on Twitter (by C.G. Lynch )How and Why to Launch a Business Presence on Twitter Companies use social media to boost e-Commerce sales (by Daulton West)Companies use social media to boost e-Commerce sales 6 social media marketing tips for e-Commerce (by Daulton West) How social media helps technology firms attract new business (by Daulton West)How social media helps technology firms attract new business 5 best practice tips: use social media to engage, not enrage followers (by Daulton West)5 best practice tips: use social media to engage, not enrage followers

30 Contact Information Daulton West, Jr. Social Media Strategist, Trainer, Coach, Twitter Specialist, Online Writer / Blogger Website: ASocialMediaChampion4U.comASocialMediaChampion4U.com Blog posts: socialmediatodaysocialmediatoday Online articles: Richmond Social Media ExaminerRichmond Social Media Examiner Twitter: LinkedIn: daultonwestjrdaultonwestjr Facebook: dwestjrdwestjr Facebook: ASocialMediaChampion4U (Business page)ASocialMediaChampion4U © 2011 ASocialMediaChampion4U. All rights reserved. Do Not Copy or Distribute.