How many are using social media? Which channel? When? How? Why?

According to Wikipedia: Social media is the social interaction among people in which they create, share or exchange information, ideas, and pictures/videos in virtual communities and networks.  The power of social media now resides in your hands and everyone can express themselves to the world and carve out and create their own corner of influence.

 year olds have an 89% usage  The bracket sits at 72% 60 percent of 50 to 60 year olds are active on social media  70% of brands have a presence on social media  Research done indicates 83% of marketers say that social media is important to their business  23% of Facebook users check their account at least 5 times a day.  4.2 billion people access social media sites via mobile devices with 189 million Facebook users being ‘mobile only’.

 91% of mobile Internet access is for social activities with 73% of smartphone owners accessing social networks through apps at least once per day.  60% of Google+ users login at least once a day.  Despite privacy concerns, only 25% of social media users utilize privacy settings.  Around 46% of web users will look towards social media when making a purchase.  The average social user has 195 friends.- potential customers

 Why do you want to get into it?  Clearly define your purpose on social media?  Which channels do you want to use? What suites you best?  How many have access to the channels?  Control measures  Look around, research, peek at what others are doing  Refrain from personal/confidential information

 increases brand visibility, engagement and conversations.  Direct relationship with your customer  Its mobile  Its multimedia rich  Its free  Build networks  Opens up business opportunities

 Increase in sales  Reputation management  Free market research  It’s the cheapest way to advertise-reduce marketing expenses  Increased business exposure  Competitive advantage-everything happens in real time  Strengthens customer loyalty  Increased website traffic

Interactive session and group work Lessons learnt The Do’s and Dont’s

 Who is responsible for the posts?  Who is coordinating between channels?  Who is allowed to post to each channel?  Who is contributing the information to be posted? What topics work? What doesn’t?  For those allowed to post, what type of things should they be posting about?  What topics require approval before posting?  What topics shouldn’t be discussed?

 Have a complete profile  Take time before responding to posts  Don’t pick a fight, respond to your mistakes  Empower your employees  Keep it simple  Be authentic  Be careful when sharing information  Be responsible for what you write and share  3Rs, Retweet, Repost, Respond, (Responsible)  Offer value-give people a reason to follow or like your page

 Respect copyrights, give credit where its due  Interact, ask questions, LISTEN  Exercise good judgment-Refrain from comments that can be interpreted as slurs, demeaning, inflammatory, etc.  Build trust, Earn respect  Content is ‘King’-content will determine how you get traffic, how you will keep your customers/clients loyal and happy  Maintain your presence-be active-post regularly

 Be yourself, Stand out  Cross promote on networks  Know the difference between tone and voice  Interact and respond  Be helpful  Have an attractive profile  Always remember that what you say is permanent…the internet remembers, its public space  HAVE FUN!