1. This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication [communication] reflects the views only of the
author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
http:www.learning2gether.eu
Module 3 - Introduction to
Using Social Media for SMEs
How to start to use
Social Media in SMEs

2. This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication [communication] reflects the views only of the
author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
http:www.learning2gether.eu
Clarify first
 What do I want to achieve? (targets)
 Who do I want to address? (target group)
 What messages do I want to convey? (topics)
 What will be my main channel?
 How often do I want to post?
 Which channels does my target group use?
 How can I manage the channel (s)? (staff)
 How can I measure the success?

3. This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication [communication] reflects the views only of the
author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
http:www.learning2gether.eu
Checklists
http://alexisgrant.com/wp-content/uploads/201

4. This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication [communication] reflects the views only of the
author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
http:www.learning2gether.eu
Mistakes to be avoided
1. Starting without having a strategy
2. Using too many different sites/channels
3. Writing too many promotional messages
4. Not answering your followers
5. Not considering critics
6. Pushing employees to use social media
7. Not respecting the law
8. Not seeing it as an integral part of your daily
marketing work

5. This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication [communication] reflects the views only of the
author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
http:www.learning2gether.eu
Possible Social Media
Applications
• Networking
• Relationship management
• Topic and trend scouting
• Competition analysis
• Public relation & marketing
• Service - esp. complaint management
• Recruiting
• Distribution

6. This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication [communication] reflects the views only of the
author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
http:www.learning2gether.eu
Social Media - tools to get start with

7. This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication [communication] reflects the views only of the
author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
http:www.learning2gether.eu
“A blog is a discussion or informational site published on the World Wide
Web and consisting of discrete entries ("posts") typically displayed in
reverse chronological order (the most recent post appears first).“
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blog)
Popular systems:
Blogger – offered by Google as a hosted system
http://blogger.com
WordPress – offered by WordPress
http://wordpress.com
Blog

8. This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication [communication] reflects the views only of the
author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
http:www.learning2gether.eu
Blog
• Increase of traffic to the main website
• Other people can directly be involved through the comment
function
• Can replace a newsletter as readers can follow your posts
• All Social Media channels can link to the blog, can
automatically generate news, messages from the blog
• Get an expert role in a specific topic
• Keep your customers easily up to date
-> The Blog can be the hub of the companies‘ Social Media
activities

9. This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication [communication] reflects the views only of the
author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
http:www.learning2gether.eu
Twitter
• Microblogging service with
max. 140 characters
• Approx. 600m. users / accounts worldwide –
not all actively used
• Often used as information and service channel
• Live communication during events
• http://twitter.com

10. This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication [communication] reflects the views only of the
author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
http:www.learning2gether.eu
Twitter
Pros:
•Many multipliers and media/
press get their information through
Twitter
•Fast communication
•Relevant information, presented in a short, precise
way
•Tweets can easily be integrated on your website

11. This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication [communication] reflects the views only of the
author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
http:www.learning2gether.eu
Twitter
Cons:
•Fast moving communication:
Posts can quickly become
invisible due to high levels of information
•Limited amount of signs: no long messages possible
•A large network of followers creates automatically a
big information flood
•You need to get used to the Twitter language first
•It can be quite time consuming

12. This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication [communication] reflects the views only of the
author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
http:www.learning2gether.eu
Facebook
• Largest Social Network with over
1 bn. users worldwide
• Suitable for establishing a dialog,
community building, publishing of
interactive content
• Often used in private context to communicate with
friends by using the news, pin board or chat function
• Companies can set up Facebook Fanpages to interact
with customers or potential employees
• http://www.facebook.com

13. This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication [communication] reflects the views only of the
author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
http:www.learning2gether.eu
Facebook
Pros:
• Free of charge
• Membership in the current biggest network in the world
• Possibility to make your own activities and interests public
• Content can easily be spread further through „friends“
(virality)
• Easy, direct contact with your customers
• Fan pages: are accessible to everyone – also non facebook
users
• Detailed page statistics are easily retrievable

14. This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication [communication] reflects the views only of the
author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
http:www.learning2gether.eu
Facebook
Cons:
• Privacy issue
• Terms of use are changing constantly
• Time consuming to keep staying in touch with your
„friends“
• You can‘t see who watched your profile
• Not search engine friendly

15. This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication [communication] reflects the views only of the
author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
http:www.learning2gether.eu
• International business network with personal profile
• Approx. 170m. users worldwide
• Possibility to set up company profile
• Possibility to create groups around specific topics
• Companies can post jobs
• Basic version for free
• Premium account with a monthly fee
• http://linkedin.com
LinkedIn

16. This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication [communication] reflects the views only of the
author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
http:www.learning2gether.eu
LinkedIn
Pros:
• More professional
• Serious social network
• Good to find experts, expert group
Cons:
• Premium account is quite expensive – min.
15€/month

17. This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication [communication] reflects the views only of the
author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
http:www.learning2gether.euGoogle+
• Google‘s Social Network with
approx. 360m users
• Similar to Facebook - get
connected with others to
exchange news, information
• More serious than Facebook
• Based on “circles“ to organise your friends
and topics
• https://plus.google.com

18. This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication [communication] reflects the views only of the
author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
http:www.learning2gether.eu
Google+
Pros:
• Additional service, e.g. Hangout on Air, using all the
Google drive features
• Search mode by topics
• Setting up of pages, e.g. on your business
Cons:
• Privacy issue
• Not as widely used yet as more established networks

19. This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication [communication] reflects the views only of the
author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
http:www.learning2gether.eu
YouTube
• Biggest Internet video portal
• Videos can be uploaded,
embedded and watched for free
• 4 bn. daily views, 24h videomaterial/min
uploaded
• Average person spends 15 min/day on
YouTube
• http://www.youtube.com

20. This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication [communication] reflects the views only of the
author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
http:www.learning2gether.eu
YouTube
Pros:
• Easy to set up
• Personalised channels, logo, colours
• Embed function on your website
• Comment as well as “Like“ or “Dislike“ function
• Statistic tool to easily evaluate your channel
Cons:
• Video production can be quite time consuming
• Virals and Campaigning only successful with a
professional strategy which can be cost intensive

21. This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication [communication] reflects the views only of the
author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
http:www.learning2gether.eu
Flickr
• Flickr is an online publication platform for pictures
and videos
• Pictures can easily be integrated on websites as
slideshow and makes your website more attractive
• Suggestion to upload material to Flickr
– Set tags per album
• Add album description and image subtitles
– Add the source to each
– Possibility to add licences, e.g. Creative Commons
• http://flickr.com

22. This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication [communication] reflects the views only of the
author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
http:www.learning2gether.eu
Digital Communication
Architecture
Communication Corporation Hosting
Video
Audio
Brochures
Pictures
Presentations

23. This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication [communication] reflects the views only of the
author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
http:www.learning2gether.eu
Further Reading
and Listening
Reading:
• http://www.socialquickstarter.com/
Listening:
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?
feature=player_embedded&v=iqaFuAsTjjo
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=Li79SoUaq5k&list=UUpgOA_2PgxytY095LqoOkug&index=2
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?
feature=player_embedded&v=HxqEENfdCJs