1. Social Media For UK Businesses May 2010 David Clarke Email david@dbs-uk.co.ukdavid@dbs-uk.co.uk www.dbs-uk.co.uk

3. 1 in 5 consumers surfs the internet to find a company YouGov poll of 2,266 people 21% said they would use search engines such as Google 10% said they would use specialist web directories 4% said they would ask their contacts on social media networking sites 16% said they would use Yellow Pages or another directory UK businesses cannot afford to ignore the internet Sites such as Twitter and Facebook that allow social interaction are gradually going to take the place of personal recommendations Getting a head start in these emerging fields is essential for any business,

4. The future of your site & online strategy People will expect to do more and more online Maintain and improve presence in natural listings Keep a close watch on pay per click advertising Take advantage of social media Online services should still be underpinned by a high quality service The internet shouldn’t be an excuse not to forge personal relationships Online strategy needs to be much more pro-active using database of existing clients Realise with the internet you have to kiss a lot of frogs before you get to a prince

5. How to use your database more effectively Get contact details including email address from all clients and prospects Preferably record in your db what services they have used and develop a profile Continue to send general newsletters to keep on “tip of people’s brains” Introduce targeted HTML emails for events and time related services

6. Use the newsletter transmission data DBS provides When we send out a newsletter DBS provides full stats. You can see: 1.Who receives the newsletter 2.Who opens it 3.Which stories they read

7. How can this information be used? You can send targeted emails and then follow up with a phone call You know if a person has opened the newsletter and read a specific article Call and ask “did you have the chance to have a look at our last newsletter?”...followed by “was there anything of interest to you such as XYZ?”

8. Advice on targeted emails Make sure the email links to a page on your site Make the theme of the email match the theme of the page the client will land on – even if it means adding a new page

12. Social Media Popularity I made a recent post on my blog about Top 10 Social Media sites

13. Social Media & Legal Services

15. What opportunities does social media give? Strengthen ties with clients Pass on news instantly to people who are interested in what you do Attract more clients based on the principle: “your friends are different to your friends’ friends” Be seen as an “early adopter” Let’s look at what is on offer...

16. Easy set up – just user name & password required You are the author of your own page - can add messages, photos, video and links You invite friends and get invited by others Groups, companies and organisations can also set up a corporate page and invite “fans” as opposed to “friends” “fans” see any posts that made when they log on to their facebook account If your fans have an iPhone, Blackberry, Android or similar phone they can be alerted by email when you make a post Vanity URL’s are available eg www.facebook.com/YourCompany

17. You are in instant, constant touch with people who are interested in you and what you do Facebook can be used to your advantage commercially to promote specific events, services and offers such as wills week can appoint more than one facebook page editor Because of the way social media works you will be exposed to a much wider market place than your clients due to the principle of “your friends are different to your friends’ friends” Be creative in acquiring facebook fans

22. Create an account Max 140 character “tweet” - same character limit as an SMS text Search for people or topics that interest you When you visit someone’s twitter page you can click on a button to follow them Similarly people can follow you If your followers have an iPhone, Blackberry, Android or similar phone they will be alerted by email when you make a tweet and vice versa Use twitter to encourage as many people as possible to follow you Notifications of tweets are sent instantly to your followers hand held devices so one tweet can go to thousands of people

24. Commercial opportunities on twitter..... Use tweets to promote specific events, services and time related offers Smart twitterers add a link to their tweets. Why? Gives followers the opportunity to click on the link to “the rest of the story on your blog or website” Every tweet should be seen as a way of driving traffic to the site Smart tweets sell the sizzle not the bacon eg:

25. Customise your twitter page to reflect your branding... Twitter page have several basic profiles or “skins”

26. Customise your twitter page to reflect your branding... Twitter page have several basic profiles or “skins” But you can customise your twitter page...

27. This is how UK Businesses are using twitter...

28. Some early adopters but no-one has really grasped the idea... Google is now starting to add tweets in its search engine results!

29. Use Ping FM to save time..... Create an account & whenever you make a post it feeds into facebook and twitter... I tend to add a blog post and then “Ping” it so it goes to 2 places at once

30. Valuable referral network Tweets feed into it Put logo and links on email letterhead

31. Social Media Summary You would be early adopters My guess is numbers of fans and followers would be low initially You might feel you are tweeting to no-one or, worst still... Tweeting to the converted - followers are competitors rather than clients and prospects Takes time and effort to build a social media network but can be done in 10- 15 minutes a week Be aware of advertising opportunities as social media grows & YouTube Adding facebook posts or tweets that are blatant sales messages will not add value and over time you will lose your happy band of followers

32. How can DBS help? We can build your facebook corporate page We can build your twitter corporate page We can train you how to use social media effectively