A presentation I gave for a class to a group of wedding vendors.

1. Social Media Marketing
Taught by Naomi Bishop
www.socializemeseattle.com

2. What is Social Media?

3. What is Social Media?
• A tool, not a miracle
• A manner of communication: A hearing aid,
not a megaphone
• Content marketing

4. Is Social Media Marketing Free?
Yes:
• Tools are free
• Connections are free
• Talking is free
No:
• Your time is money
• Contest
prizes/discounts
• Designs/Strategy

5. Introduction
• Why use social media?
• How is it the same or different from
traditional media?

6. Why Use Social Media to Market?
• Direct connection to customers
• Find new clients
• Create a space for people to be in your
business when not physically there
– Or at a time when they aren’t looking for you

7. How is it Different from Traditional
Media?
• There is no right way to do it
• Fast moving

8. How is it Similar to Traditional Media?
• Awesome content wins
• Garbage product still means garbage
reputation

9. Planning a Social Media Strategy
• Making Goals
• Choosing Platforms
• Locating Target Audiences
• Choosing Tools
• Choosing Voice
• Creating a plan

10. Make Goals
• Long Term Goals
• Short Term Goals

11. Choosing Platforms
• Facebook
• Twitter
• LinkedIn
• Blog
• YouTube
• Yelp
• Citysearch
• Foursquare

12. Choosing Platforms
Twitter Facebook YouTube Blog Foursquare
Short bits of
content
required
Content
required,
needs to be
varied
Need video
capabilities
Involves a lot of
writing
Prize
donations/Spec
ials
Daily time
commitment
(20 minutes or
so)
Small, regular
time
commitments
Large amounts
of time, not
regularly
Weekly time
commitment
Minimal time
commitment

13. Locating your Target Audiences
• Poor users think their intended audience is not
on there
– CPA (Seattle Tax Man) says: my audience isn’t on
Twitter: http://twitter.com/seattletaxman
– IBS Company: nobody wants to talk about the shits
www.twitter.com/glutenfreedr
• Good users create an audience
– Example: Allium Restaurant—on Orcas, has
positioned itself as a draw for Seattleites:
http://twitter.com/alliumonorcas

14. Locating your Target Audiences
• Where are your current clients?
• Where are people talking about your industry?—
and you!
• Why are these people on social media?

15. Choosing Tools
• Applications
• Desktop
• Mobile
• URL Shortners/Picture Tools
• Other tools
• Follow finders: wefollow, twibes
• Unfollow Finders: twitterless, qwitter
• More: oneforty.com, web2review.com

16. Choosing Tools: Picking an App
• Why use an app?
• Easy interface
• Help save you time
• Notifications
• Mentions
• Searches
• Certain lists
• Tweet delays
• What App to use?
• Desktop
• Tweetdeck (Adobe
Air)
• Hootsuite (Web
based)
• Iphone
• Tweetdeck, Twitter,
Echofon
• Android
• Twidroid, Twitter,
Tweetdeck

17. Choosing Tools: URL Shortner
• Why use a URL Shortner?
– Save space
– Monitor stats
• Why use bit.ly?
– Retweeted more than others
– Bit.ly/+

18. Choosing Tools: What not to do
• Do not use any tool that will connect your
Facebook to your Twitter. In either direction
– Kills Kittens
• Misses the point of SM Marketing
• Tells audience you are not listening
• Very difficult to hide (though possible)
– Hashtags
– Links
– @replies

19. Choosing the Voice
• Brand yourself as an expert
– Will you give direction or offer suggestions?
• Answer questions
– Link to outside sources or on your own reputation
• Outlook
– Snarky or positive? Entertaining or earnest?
• One person or multiple?

20. Platform Specific Tools and
Techniques
• Twitter
• Facebook
• Foursquare/SCVNGR

21. What to use Twitter for
• Community
• Knowledge sharing
• For business
– Word of mouth
marketing
– Industry watching
– Customer Service
• Why does your
audience use Twitter?
– Support businesses—
and be rewarded for it
www.twitter.com/pacific
_place
– Keep up on news
www.twitter.com/cnn
– Entertainment/Friendshi
p:
www.Twitter.com/conan
obrien

22. A few of my favorite Twitter Analogies
• Cocktail Party
– Don’t just talk about
yourself
– Have multiple subjects
– Be concise, but get your
message out
– Don’t randomly add
unnecessary things (see
hashtags)
– Don’t be afraid to jump
into the conversation
• River
– Be quick, eye-catching
– Try to get tugged back
up stream
– Call to the shore

23. A Few Twitter Basics
• Short, concise username
• Fill out your bio/pic about yourself and what you
tweet about, location
• Get a background going: utilize the space
• Reach out
• Be yourself
• Don’t be afraid: There is no wrong answer!
• Fail and fail fast with few followers
• Use your manners

24. Using Twitter
• Impersonal, shotgun approach=impersonal
followers
– www.twitter.com/Rainshadowmeats
• Thought, effort, advice,
engagement=engaged, loyal followers
– www.twitter.com/sassyfitseattle
• Put out value (in knowledge, goods, time
etc.)=Receive etc.
– www.twitter.com/herbguy

25. Twitter Tips
• Think about when your audience will be on
Twitter
– Most retweeted is at noon
• Use your manners
– Please (retweet)
– Thanks (for talking me up, following, whatever)
• Participate
– In chats in your industry (or out of it)
– #FollowFriday, etc.

26. How to best use Facebook
• Front Page
• User Generated Content
• Posting Content

27. Facebook
• Create an online version of your business
– They can’t come to you everyday, but they can
come here
• Posting is like putting up a sign
– Don’t have too many (too often)
– Make sure it gels with your message/image
• You would invite your friends into your
business, so why haven’t you invited them to
your page?

28. Facebook
• Create a front page that makes you stand out
– They’ll get to the wall later
– Present your content
– Show off on your terms
• If you don’t know FBML hire someone—
simple design should be less than $200

29. Facebook
• If you post content to your wall your fans will
see it (~50-200+)
– For each fan who then likes or comments on the
post, all their friends see it (~200+ each)
– Post interesting things by you, about you, related
to your industry and occasionally (not too often!)
totally random
• Even better, get tagged in their post or photo
(User Generated Content) and it goes on your
wall

30. How to use Fourquare (or similar)
• Figure out whether you want to reward loyalty
(mayor) or multiple check-ins (10th
check in recieves)
or numbers (check in to receive)
• Register
• Check in—but always add extra info (value!)
– Encourage users to as well
• Add tips (and have others do so as well)
• Leave tips at various places
– Photogs leave at venues
– Caterers at preferred place

31. Creating a plan
• Create new goals
– What will you do to achieve them
– How will you measure them
– Short and long term

32. Creating a plan
• Design Path
– Where is ultimate goal?
• On your website
– Making purchase
– Browsing
• Physically in your store

33. Creating a Plan
• Choose Platforms
– Format purpose for each outlet
• i.e. Facebook as online version of physical space
– Geared toward current clients
– How often will you post on each platform
• What type of post?
• When will you design, write, and/or post?

34. Creating a Plan
• Create Schedule
– Specify what day/where content will go
– Specify what type of content
– Specify who will post it

35. Schedule Example: Single Platform,
goal event

36. Planning for things you can’t plan for
• How to respond to negative blog comments or
Facebook posts
– Keep or delete?
– Respond or ignore?
• What to do with positive posts
– Retweet
– Thank

37. Measuring Your Social Media
• Fans/Likes
– Go for increases, not hard numbers
• User Generated Content
– Separate comments from user initiated
• Retweets
• @Replies
• Positive/Negative
• Link clicks (bit.ly)

38. Other Business Uses of Social Media
• Reptutation Management
• Customer Service
• Feedback
• Contests/Promotions
• Industry Networking and B to B trades

39. Reputation Management
• People are talking about you on the web, you
need to be listening!
– Social Mention
– Twitter Search
– Google Alert

40. Reputation Management
• People are reviewing you
– Yelp
– Google Places
• Free tools exist
– Don’t leave info entry to public
– Start the page with YOUR message
– Respond to criticism
• Determine if it is factual (are you dealing with a sane person)
• Apologize either way
• See if you can somehow fix it/get them back in for a better
experience

41. Contests
Facebook
• Involve posting content
– Photos
– Videos
– Blogposts
• Post rules directly in FB
– On wall
– In note
• They’ll have to ‘like’ to
enter
Twitter
• Require use of a unique
hashtag to track
• Make it easy to retweet
(short)
• Ask for comment-use to
gain insight
• Have a static page with
rules
– FB, blog or website
• Push multiple times

42. Next Steps
• Get going: Follow your plan
• Experiment
• Monitor what works, what doesn’t
– Think about why
– Edit plan
• Twit-Twitter Class
• Hire Socialize Me
– www.socializemeseattle.com