Chris Reimer and Dora Smith spoke at the IABC St. Louis April Writing Seminar on the best practices of communicating on social media platforms. Chris is a renowned St. Louis Twitter user and the new vice president of social media at Falk Harrison. Dora directs social media for several business units at Siemens. Together they shared recommendations for entrepreneurs, independent consultants, agencies and corporations. Learn how the constraints of time and space can force you to be better communicators. Leave with a strong understanding of the microblogging community - what you can and should do and what you should avoid. Follow @DoraSmith and @RizzoTees for more.

1. BUSINESS
COMMUNICATIONS IN THE
“LOL” AGE
Dora Smith, Director Global Social Media, Siemens IA
Chris Reimer, VP Social Media, Falk Harrison

2. About Us
.
@DoraSmith || @RizzoTees

3. About you?
•Anyone using social media?
•Facebook? Twitter? Foursquare?
•A blog?
•LinkedIn...
•Where do you work?
•Social media interest?
@DoraSmith || @RizzoTees

4. Who’s Your Daddy?
?
@DoraSmith || @RizzoTees

5. I meant “Big Brother”
•He's watching what you say and what others say about you
•Every person & business in this room needs Google
•To land in the top 20 search results
•Content and credibility are key
@DoraSmith || @RizzoTees

6. What determines what's on
top?
.
@DoraSmith || @RizzoTees

7. Content & Credibility
•Enterprise-generated content
•Media and influencer reactions
•Customer-generated content
@DoraSmith || @RizzoTees

8. What you need to know to be at
the tip of the iceberg
An art and a science...
•Art (70% of your success on Google)
•Science (The other 30% - the part that feels like it’s under our
control)
@DoraSmith || @RizzoTees

9. The Science
•Truly excellent writing is required, but it’s not enough.
•The LOL age requires the use of best practices
@DoraSmith || @RizzoTees

10. Timing
•STL tweets study
•Tweetpeat often?
•Beware the latest study....
•Blog early and/or weekends
•Tweet late in the day and week
•Tweetwhen.com
@DoraSmith || @RizzoTees

11. Frequency
•Different rules for Twitter and Facebook
•Times are changing - you can tweet more than you used to
•10-50 times per day, unless....
•Don't crowd content
@DoraSmith || @RizzoTees

12. Search / SEO
•Links, keywords, not written by a robot. You are writing for
human beings
•YouTube has little to do with writing, but....
•What are the keywords your company is targeting? Ask.
@DoraSmith || @RizzoTees

13. Bridging the
micro to macro gap
•Blog is your hub - the most important
•Other communication channels can feed into your blog, where
you can control the message.
•Visitors to your blog can also be sent to your social media
channels.
•You can say things on Twitter or Facebook that you won’t blog
about. That’s the power of multiple communication channels
@DoraSmith || @RizzoTees

14. Do’s and Don’ts
•Think b4 u tweet
•Telstra's 3 Rs: representation, responsibility, respect
•Chrysler - tweet from the right account
•You are not two separate people - no need for two Facebook
accounts
•Be nice everywhere; don't disparage competitors
•Don’t knee-jerk react to one dissenter
•Don’t delete content!
@DoraSmith || @RizzoTees

15. A few fun examples

16. More shenanigans...

17. The Art
•70% of Google’s algorithm
•REPEAT: 70%
•Companies are still working to grasp this
•“We’ll lose control of our message” (hasn’t that train already left
the station?)
•This is where media and influencer reactions and customer-
generated content come from
@DoraSmith || @RizzoTees

18. Voice
•Finding the right people
• See Chrysler and Straits Times
• “Grey hair”
•Either say LOL or don’t
•Be yourself
@DoraSmith || @RizzoTees

19. Relevancy
•Twitter is not just about lunch. Facebook is not just about
pictures of your children. These are excuses. To connect...
•If you’re not finding relevant content, you are at the wrong party.
•It's all what you make of it.
@DoraSmith || @RizzoTees

20. Dialogue
•Yes, answer your customer’s questions. This is two-way
•A blog with no comments is not a blog. It’s a website
•“I don’t have time to moderate it” = “I don’t care what my
customers think.”
•If you don’t have time for dialogue, consider not using the
medium
@DoraSmith || @RizzoTees

21. Personal - The Right Mix
•A proper mix - a diversified stream of content - the 80/20 rule
•This makes your sales & marketing content more digestible
•Why the 80?
•trust, knowledge, getting to know someone - “shake hands
before you ever meet”
@DoraSmith || @RizzoTees

22. Less Is More
•More participants = more noise
•Spammers, and companies that don’t know what they’re doing
•Quality > Quantity
•Don’t talk until you have something relevant to say
@DoraSmith || @RizzoTees

23. Ask Away
? @DoraSmith || @RizzoTees

24. Find Us
Dora Smith
dora.smith@siemens.com
http:www.linked in.com/in/dorasmith
dorasmith.x.iabc.com, siemens.com/plm/blog
314.264.8480
Chris Reimer
creimer@falkharrison.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/rizzotees
rizzotees.com/blog, blog.falkharrison.com
314.283.0458 @DoraSmith || @RizzoTees