A presentation about Social Media and how businesses can use it to promote their businesses. Aimed at small business owners who don't currently use social media, the presentation gives a brief overview of social media and some of the most popular platforms. It also offers advice on how to plan your social media strategy and how to decide which platforms to focus on for your business.

1. Introduction to
Social Media for Business
12th January 2012
Maureen Wright, WSI Internet Consultant

2. Introductions
• Internet Marketing Solutions to Midlands based businesses
• Active FSB member, BLT committee member
• For business of all sizes and industries
• Our goal is to help businesses:
- Elevate their online brand reputation
- Generate more leads through the Internet
- Increase revenue and profit
• We started in 2004, building websites and optimising them
Social Media is now an essential part of
the marketing mix

3. What is Social Media?
social media is basically a
conversation
Did you You won’t
Hi! What’s up?
hear? believe...

4. What is Social Media?
Quick Poll: Do you use Social Media? Personal use?
Business use?

5. Social Media for Business
• What is Social Media and how you can use it
• Overview of some of the popular platforms
• Planning your Social Media Strategy
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6. Word of Mouth Trust

7. Why Is It Important?
Businesses static website & one way to be
Have: found
Social Media can provide: fresh Web Presence & many ways to be found
More Quality Content Published in More Places = More Customers

8. What are the Benefits?
Business Business
Listens & Publishes
Engages Content
Consumers Search
Discoverability Comment &
Share
Engines
Index Word of Mouth
Consumers
Discover
Reputation
More easily found in Increase online word of
Improve reputation by mouth by publishing
the search engines
actively monitoring quality content that is
with more pages and
and managing content shared by fans &
fresh content
& reviews followers

9. Why UK Companies Use Social Media
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10. UK Ad Spending on Social
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11. Top 6 Social Media for Business
Blogs, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn
and Google+
 How they work
 How they can be used to raise
your company’s online profile
There are many more – these are the most used and
with greatest business potential
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12. Blogs: Brief Overview
What is a Blog?
• A bit like a diary, geared towards specific topics with the goal of
providing frequent postings of information.
• In most cases, blogs are interactive, allowing visitors to leave
comments and messages; it is this interaction that distinguishes
blogs from static websites.
• Businesses can either incorporate a blog into their own domain
so that their site can benefit from the fresh and updated content
they add to their blog, which search engines love, or have it
located externally, on one of the many blogging platforms.
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13. Why Have a Company Blog?
1. Easier than “news” articles or newsletters
2. Invites a conversation
3. Easy to distribute
4. SEO – fresh content
5. SEO – “big” website (100+ pages)
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14. Most Popular: Facebook

15. Facebook – Brief Overview
What is Facebook?
• A social networking service that lets you connect with friends, co-
workers, and others who share similar interests.
• What makes Facebook different from other social networks is its
extensive privacy controls, its development platform, and its large and
quickly growing user base.
• With over 500 million active users worldwide, Facebook has even
surpassed email as the most frequently used tool online.
• Facebook allows users to exchange messages, receive notifications of
profile updates, upload & share photographs, organise events and more.
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16. How Can Companies Use
 Protect your brand – Anyone can create a facebook page about your company. If you
don’t create one yourself, then you leave the control up to your customers or even your
competitors to “create” your facebook presence for you.
 Engage your customers – Rather than waiting for customers to come to your website to
find out what’s new with your organisation, why not connect with them where they spend
their time? facebook is a great way to communicate promotions, contests and events.
 Optimise your online presence – facebook is considered a credible source, is frequently
updated and has millions of pages and links contributing to its high rankings in the search
engines, so links from fresh facebook content can help your website rankings.
 Generate leads – facebook can also be used as a potential lead generation tool and help
qualify your leads. You could view the profiles of your potential prospects to learn more
about them, to help you to build relationships
 Develop customer loyalty – Through ongoing communication and regular interaction
with your facebook fans, you will better retain your customers, increase referrals and
enhance overall loyalty.
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17. Set Up Your Profile on
• Create your Facebook personal profile.
• Your profile page is where you can create a story around your
brand and display what makes your products / services Take
advantage of all the content headings available: Personal Info,
Work Info and Photos.
• But be sure to keep the language Facebook-appropriate. In
other words, speak to your Facebook audience and avoid
unnecessary jargon.
• You can also create business pages which allow you to build a
community online, with the ability to customize the experience
fans have with your brand through a page. For example, you can
add HTML, Flash and applications to your page, allowing you to
create a unique experience for your fans.
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18. Get active on
• Post information and updates
• Join groups – search for relevant ones
• Answer questions – again search for relevant ones or
look at questions posted by your friends (these can be
liked – raising your profile)
• Encourage people to like your page and share your
information
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19. Summary –
why is Facebook so important?
It’s one of the most influential Social Media of today and:
1. Has 500+ million users
2. The preferred medium for a % of your customers
3. Segmented targeting
4. Even if you only have a personal and business
‘page’ at least you have a presence there
5. With the power of the consumer online, and with
Reputation Management becoming even more
influential in the buying decision, Facebook is the
preferred method of communication
for the under 30’s – who needs email?
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20. What is Twitter?
• What is Twitter?
• Online portal based on continual updates of your
personal or business activity.
• “What are you doing?”
• What Do Companies Use Twitter For?
• Customer service
• Public relations and news
• “Advertising” of new products
• Thought leadership and knowledge sharing
• Research and development (e.g. Ford Motor Car)

21. Using Twitter for Business
• 8 Main Ways Businesses Use Twitter:
• To expand their customer database
• To increase their brand recognition
• To demonstrate their expertise
• To ask questions to a community
• To build trust and a loyal community
• To gain subscribers for permission based marketing
• As a customer service tool
• As a research tool

22. Twitter Summary
• Can work in a business context
• Good way to spread the word
• Use to link to longer posts or articles
elsewhere
• Get started by following people -
comment / retweet

23. Brief Overview
What is YouTube?
• YouTube is the leading video sharing website that allows registered
users to easily upload and share video clips across the Internet
through websites, mobile devices, blogs and email.
• It also allows users to conduct a keyword search to browse the video
database on their website.
• People can see first-hand accounts of current events, find videos
about their hobbies and interests and discover the quirky and
unusual.
• As more people capture special moments on video, YouTube is
empowering them to become the broadcasters of tomorrow
PEOPLE SEARCH FOR THINGS IN YOUTUBE ALMOST
AS MUCH AS THEY DO IN GOOGLE
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24. YouTube: How it Works
• Like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, YouTube is free to use.
• All you need to do is register with the site and create a profile if
you want to post videos or comments. The videos you publish -
which include tags, a category, and a brief description -can be
made public or restricted to members of specified contact lists.
• YouTube also allows videos hosted on its site to be embedded in
other Web pages, such as blogs or websites.
• Creating your own YouTube Channel gives you an opportunity to
showcase your brand, adding more credibility to your
commercial presence.
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25. YouTube: Getting Started
• Think about what you could make videos about
• Search in Youtube for your industry keywords, to see what’s
there already
• Videos don’t have to be expensive – try your mobile phone!
• Create a channel, upload videos, optimise for your keywords
• Embed the videos on your website
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26. Linkedin: Brief Overview
What is Linkedin?
• Business-oriented social networking site
• Over 100 million global users, about 5 million in UK, and growing
• Registered users maintain a list of people – referred to as
connections – who they know and trust in a business capacity.
• Linkedin incorporates a “gated-access” approach whereby any
contact with another professional requires a pre-existing
relationship, a shared connection or an introduction from a shared
connection.
• This level of privacy has led to its popularity amongst professionals.
• Additionally, it can be used to demonstrate your business’
competence and expertise, thereby establishing the integrity upon
which businesses depend.
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27. Linkedin for Business
• You need a strategy for your networking
• LinkedIn finds the right people and the
connections you have with them
• Ask who are the people who will be most likely
to be in the best position to help me?
• Join groups, answer questions
• Networking attitude needs to be to share
information in a reactive and proactive way
without expecting anything in return

28. SEO power of Linkedin

29. The Power of Connections

30. Linkedin Business Pages
• Create a Linkedin
Business Page
• Ensure that you create
a profile for your key
company employees,
such as your Directors.
• You can list all of your
services here – a bit
like a mini-website

31. Finding New Prospects
• Watch the Network Updates:
– Has someone changed position at a company?
– Has someone joined a new company?
– Who has joined your groups?
– Who is asking questions?
– Who knows a prospect you are trying to reach?
– Who is connecting to who?
– Who has viewed my profile?

32. Linkedin Summary
Linkedin is THE professional Social Media, Research &
Marketing tool:
• Builds and reinforces your reputation like no other tool can
• For B to B allows you to ‘deep research’ prospect customers
• Create demand to ‘buy from you’ rather than you ‘selling’
• Strengthens personal and company credibility
• Provides ability to quickly grow a powerful network
• For B to B it’s a good lead generation engine to use
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33. Linkedin - Getting Started
• Set up your profile
• Go through your email address book, invite people to connect
• Join groups
• Take part in the conversations
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34. Google Plus

35. What is Google +
• New Social network launched in June 2011
• Now has 40 million users
• Initially aimed at personal users
• Now has business pages too
• Rival to facebook
• You need a Google account to use it

36. Google + Features
• Put your contacts into
“circles” and decide what
information you want
them to see
• Separate business and
personal
• Hangouts are a way for
groups of people to have
online meetings
• Huddles enable you to
send text messages to
groups of people

37. Google + - Getting Started
• If you already have a
Google account you
may have been
invited to join
• Google “google +” to
sign up
• Set up your profile
and invite contacts to
join your circles

38. What is Your Online Reputation?
top 10 listings of search
can be seen as your
Online Reputation
Management
Bear in mind that some
of these may be out
of your direct control

39. Tips for using Social Media in
your business
• Think about what you want to get out of it
- Part of your marketing and communications plan
- How to reach the right audience
• Consistency of messages
- Your company “voice”
• We always recommend (if you have employees):
– You have a social media policy in place
– You identify staff to train up and act as leaders (if
appropriate)
– You document your training and turn it into your
own Standard Operating Procedures

40. Keys to using Social Media
• Social Media Marketing (as with all marketing):
– Be Authentic
– Be strategic
– Be engaging
– Be an expert
– One of the easiest ways is to have opinions on other
people opinions!
If you think your customers are using Social
Media, you should be using it too.
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41. Thanks for
listening – any
questions?