Social media basics for small businesses updated in March 2015. We cover social media strategy, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Blogging.

1. 1

2. 2
— Why
Use
it?
— We’ll
cover
• Facebook
• Twi9er
• LinkedIn
• Pinterest
• Google+
• Blogs
Social
Media

3. 3
Why use it?

4. 4
It’s
the
new
SEO
— Social
Media
OpJmizaJon
(SMO)
is
the
new
SEO,
or
rather
two
halves
of
a
whole.
— SMO
is
the
distribuJon
of
social
objects
(videos,
blog
posts,
tweets,
Facebook
updates)
so
that
they’re
opJmized
to
rise
to
the
top
of
any
related
search
query,
where
and
when
it
is
performed.
— Social
media
is
included
in
Google’s
algorithm
for
search
engine
results:
Google+
key
— SEO
+
SMO
=
Amplified
findability
in
the
tradiJonal
and
social
web.

5. 5
It’s
Huge
— Facebook:
1.15
billion
acJve
users
— Twi9er:
500
million
acJve
users
— LinkedIn:
238
million
users
— YouTube:
1
billion
users
(4
billion
views
per
day!)
— Pinterest:
70
million
users
— Google+:
300
million
monthly
users
— Blogs:
66
million
blogs,
346
million
people
readers
each
day

6. 6
www.marketingtechblog.com

7. 7
www.marketingtechblog.com

8. 8
www.marketingtechblog.com

9. 9
www.marketingtechblog.com

10. 10
It’s
Growing
— As
of
January
2014,
74%
of
all
online
adults
use
social
networking
sites.
— For
adults
ages
18-­‐29,
89%
of
them
use
social
networking
sites.
— For
adults
ages
30-­‐49,
82%
of
them
do.
— For
adults
ages
50-­‐64,
65%
of
them
do
— For
adults
ages
65+,
49%
of
them
use
social
networking
sites.
(Pew
Research
Center)

11. 11
It’s
Real-­‐Time
— Reveal
the
human
side
of
a
company,
give
it
personality
— Provide
useful
informaJon
that
people
won’t
get
elsewhere
(or
at
least
not
as
quickly)
— Respond
to
comments,
complaints,
requests
real-­‐Jme
— Have
a
plaeorm
for
announcing
news,
promoJons,
events
— Generate
new
business
leads

12. 12
Gefng
Started
— Map
out
your
strategy
— Define
your
business
goals
and
objecJves
for
social
media
— Increase
sales,
brand
awareness,
engagement,
drive
traffic
to
your
website,
create
a
community
on
your
page
— IdenJfy
your
compeJJon
and
what
disJnguishes
you
from
your
compeJJon
— Define
target
audiences
and
key
messages
— Define
categories/topics
for
social
media
updates

13. 13
Gefng
Started
— Create
your
plan
–
align
with
off-­‐line
markeJng
calendar
— IdenJfy
the
most
important
keywords
for
your
business.
Use
these
consistently
in
all
posts,
tweets,
updates.
— Set-­‐up
your
profiles
and
pages
and
start
posJng
— Ensure
you
have
a
consistent
design/branding
across
all
plaeorms
— Measure
and
adjust
–
traffic,
comments,
leads,
etc.

14. 14
Social
Media
Plan
— Listen
to
what’s
already
out
there:
— Set-­‐up
Google
Alerts
for
all
your
keywords,
your
compeJtors,
your
own
company
name,
your
personal
name,
etc.
— Use
Social
MenJon
to
search
social
media
for
menJons
of
your
organizaJon
/
compeJJon
— Use
Google
Search
and
Google
Blog
Search
to
find
bloggers
and
other
content
creators
in
your
space
— Use
Muck
Rack
to
find
journalists

15. 15
Social
Media
Plan
— Create
your
Content
Calendar
For
PosJng
— Define
5-­‐6
content
categories
— Set-­‐up
a
3-­‐month
calendar
— Add
your
key
offline
events
and
any
milestones,
holidays,
etc.,
— Align
with
your
markeJng
calendar
— Content
should
be
a
mix
of
original
content/images,
news
updates
and
curated
content/images

16. 16

17. 17
Social
Media
Plan
— Set-­‐up
Google
AnalyJcs
to
monitor
web
traffic
— Measure
and
adjust
–
traffic,
comments,
leads,
etc.
— Set-­‐up
and
use
a
dashboard
(Hootsuite,
etc.)
to
manage
your
social
media
updates

18. 18
Why
Use
Facebook
— Increase
visibility
— Connect
with
customers
— Increase
engagement
— Promote
your
brand
— Create
a
community
— Promote
and
manage
events
— Give
back
to
loyal
customers
through
special
offers
and
discounts

19. 19
Engage
and
grow
your
following
— Write
interesJng
and
relevant
posts
will
encourage
followers
to
engage
with
your
posts
— Liking,
commenJng
and
sharing
are
important
— Facebook
uses
the
level
of
engagement
to
determine
how
many
people
see
your
posts
— Reveal
the
human
side
of
your
organizaJon,
give
it
personality
— Provide
useful
informaJon
that
people
won’t
get
elsewhere
(or
at
least
not
as
quickly)
— Respond
to
comments,
complaints,
requests
real-­‐Jme
— Have
a
plaeorm
for
announcing
news,
promoJons,
events

20. 20

21. 21
Engage
and
grow
your
following
— Hold
contests/sweepstakes/giveaways/refer-­‐a-­‐friend
— Upload
and
invite
your
email
list
— Invite
your
friends
— Run
Facebook
Ads

22. 22
Engage
and
grow
your
following
— Build
community
and
it
will
grow
organically
— Join
relevant
Facebook
groups
— Contact
the
group
owners
and
ask
if
they’ll
cross
promote
— Post
on
other
relevant,
related
FB
pages

23. 23
Facebook
-­‐
Gefng
Started
http://www.facebook.com/pages/create.php

24. 24
Facebook
-­‐
Gefng
Started

25. 25

26. 26

27. 27

28. 28

29. 29

30. 30

31. 31

32. 32
Twi9er
— Microblogging
site
that
enables
users
to
send
and
read
other
users’
updates
(known
as
tweets)
— Text
based
posts
— 160
characters
total
— 20
for
username,
140
for
message
text
— Updates
appear
on
the
user’s
profile
page
and
are
delivered
to
other
users
who
have
signed
up
to
receive
them
(followers)

33. 33
Twi9er
— An
informaJonal
tool
–
provides
informaJon
to
others
— A
conversaJonal
tool
–
respond
to
other
people’s
tweets
and
engage
in
dialogue
— Great
way
to
network
and
communicate
with
new
and
old
contacts
— You
choose
the
message,
not
the
recipient

34. 34
Twi9er
-­‐
DefiniJons
— Tweet
-­‐
When
you
hit
send
on
your
140
characters
on
twi9er
it’s
called
a
tweet
or
tweeJng
—
Handle
–
your
Twi9er
name
@GibbonsDigital
–
balance
short
with
descripJve.
— Follow
–
this
is
simply
the
act
of
adding
someone
to
your
list
of
people
you
are
following
–
this
makes
their
tweets
show
up
on
your
homepage.
— Replies
–
this
is
what
it
is
called
when
someone
writes
a
tweet
directly
at
your
handle
-­‐
@GibbonsDigital
cool
post
today
blah
blah
–
this
is
open
an
invite
to
engage
with
a
follower.
— Retweet
–
this
is
a
tacJc
of
republishing
someone
else’s
tweet
–
the
original
tweet
along
with
author
stays
in
tact,
but
you
are
basically
showing
someone’s
tweet
to
your
followers
–
many
people
find
this
a
great
way
to
add
content
and
acknowledge
good
stuff
from
the
folks
they
follow
— DM
–
this
is
a
message
that
is
sent
directly
to
another
user.
They
must
be
following
you
for
you
to
DM
them,
but
this
is
a
very
useful
tool
for
private
messages
and
generally
a
good
choice
when
you
start
going
back
and
forth
with
someone
on
something
your
enJre
base
of
followers
might
not
find
interesJng.
— Hashtag
–
this
is
a
way
people
categorize
tweets
so
that
others
might
use
the
same
tag
and
effecJvely
create
a
way
for
people
to
view
related
tweets
–
it
will
something
like
#markeJng
–
more
on
this
in
search.

35. 35
Anatomy
of
a
Tweet

36. 36
Twi9er
-­‐
Gefng
Started
— www.twi9er.com
— Set-­‐up
profile
— Add
branding
(logo,
custom
page)
— Search
for
relevant
people,
follow
them
— Start
tweeJng
— Retweet,
tweet
about
products,
tweet
relevant
news
arJcles

37. 37
— Ask
relevant
quesJons
on
Twi9er
and
consumers
are
happy
to
share
opinions
— People
like
being
asked
to
provide
input
on
topics
of
interest
— Thinking
of
offering
a
new
product
or
service?
Ask
for
input
beforehand
— Take
advantage
of
the
online
community
to
gain
feedback
and
generate
new
ideas
that
will
result
connect
with
the
audience
served
by
your
business.
Engage
and
grow
your
following

38. 38
Engage
and
grow
your
following
— Follow
people
–
they
might
follow
you
back
— Add
Twi9er
link
to
your
website
homepage
— Include
Twi9er
icon
on
ALL
materials
that
reach
your
target
market

39. 39

40. 40

41. 41

42. 42

43. 43
LinkedIn
— The
world’s
largest
professional
network
with
over
175
million
registered
members
and
growing
rapidly.
— Connects
you
to
your
trusted
contacts
and
helps
you
exchange
knowledge,
ideas,
and
opportuniJes
with
a
broader
network
of
professionals.

44. 44

45. 45

46. 46
46

47. 47
Engaging
on
LinkedIn
–
Status
Updates
— Share
links
to
interesJng
arJcles,
websites
or
video
you
have
found
that
some
individuals
in
your
network
might
appreciate.
Try
to
use
words
that
grab
the
readers
and
encourage
them
to
click
the
link.
— Pose
a
quesJon
that
could
lead
to
solving
a
problem
you
have,
like:
"Anyone
know
about…?”
47

48. 48
Engaging
on
LinkedIn
–
Status
Updates
— MenJon
a
person
or
a
situaJon
that
might
be
helpful
to
some
of
your
connecJons,
like:
"I
just
met
with
John
Jones
from
ABC
Company
and
found
out
….”
— Talk
about
an
event
you
are
a9ending
or
have
a9ended
to
encourage
involvement
and/or
quesJons
about
what
you
learned
there.
— Use
the
"Like"
feature
when
you
see
a
helpful
update
from
one
of
your
connecJons.
Doing
this
shares
that
update
with
your
enJre
network.
This
is
a
great
way
to
give
the
writer
of
the
helpful
update
exposure
to
your
network
that
he/she
wouldn't
normally
have.
48

49. 49

50. 50
Groups
— Quickly
discover
the
most
popular
discussions
in
your
professional
groups.
— Have
an
acJve
part
in
determining
the
top
discussions
by
liking
and
commenJng.
— Follow
the
most
influenJal
people
in
your
groups
by
checking
the
Top
Influencers
board
or
clicking
their
profile
image
to
see
all
their
group
acJvity.
— See
both
member-­‐generated
discussions
and
news
in
one
sefng.
— Easily
browse
previews
of
the
last
three
comments
in
a
discussion.
— Find
interesJng
discussions
by
seeing
who
liked
a
discussion
and
how
many
people
commented.
50

51. 51
Groups
— Click
on
Groups
Directory,
search
for
your
industry
or
a
career
keyword,
and
find
a
group
that
fits
your
interest.
— Once
you’ve
been
accepted
to
the
group
you
can
share
relevant
content
by
starJng
a
discussion
or
posJng
a
link
in
the
share
box.
— Sharing
consistently
is
a
good
way
to
quickly
idenJfy
yourself
as
an
expert
in
your
field
or
industry.
— Click
on
your
photo
to
see
your
updates
as
well
as
what’s
changed
in
the
discussions
you’ve
started,
joined
or
followed.
— Good
way
to
keep
track
of
discussions
most
important
to
you
and
your
career.
— Aper
sharing,
check
out
the
newest
discussions
in
the
slide
show
below,
and
cast
your
vote
by
liking
or
commenJng.
— Under
each
discussion
you’ll
see
the
last
3
members
who
have
commented,
click
on
the
headline
to
see
all
comments.

52. 52
Company
Pages
— Central
hub
where
millions
of
LinkedIn
members
can
go
to
keep
in
the
loop
on
company
news,
products
and
services,
business
opportuniJes,
and
job
openings.
— Also
perfect
place
to
start
conversaJon
with
your
customers,
prospecJve
clients,
job
seekers,
post
company
updates.
— Post
industry
arJcles
and
fun
facts.
— These
updates
appear
on
your
company
page
and
also
the
pages
of
your
followers.
— Have
followers
Like
your
post
so
it
goes
viral.
— AnalyJcs
pages
to
see
acJvity
on
the
page.
52

53. 53

54. 54

55. 55

56. 56
56

57. 57

58. 58

59. 59
What
is
it?
— Pinterest
is
a
“virtual
pinboard”
that
lets
people
share
anything
and
any
topic
on
the
web
that
they
find
interesJng
and
beauJful
–
e.g.,
pictures,
quotes,
recipes,
etc.
— Centered
around
the
social
discovery
of
objects
(as
opposed
to
friends
and
family)
— Content
is
organized
in
“Boards”
and
organized
in
categories.
— Each
piece
of
content
is
called
a
“Pin”

60. 60
60
Examples
of
Pins

61. 61
Pinterest
is
one
of
the
largest
social
media
networks
on
the
web.
The
network
saw
+4377%
growth
between
May
2011
and
May
2012.

62. 62
62
Mashable, 2013

63. 63
Pinners
don’t
just
shop,
they
spend
— The
average
social
shopper
(that
is,
a
shopper
who
discovers
an
item
on
the
plaeorm
and
clicks
off
site
to
buy
it)
spends
an
average
of
$60
to
$80
when
coming
from
Facebook
— The
average
social
shopper
spends
more
like
$140
to
$180
when
coming
from
Pinterest

64. 64
Engaging
on
Pinterest
— Build
your
brand
out,
share
interesJng
and
relevant
content,
create
engagement
— Add
products
with
prices
to
drive
awareness
— Service
businesses
can
create
posJngs
with
infographics
that
contains
useful
informaJon
or
a
graphic
with
a
quote
— Post
videos
(hosted
on
YouTube)
— Add
links
to
your
pins’
descripJons
giving
your
business
the
benefit
of
your
links
carrying
over
with
your
pins
when
users
re-­‐pin
them
64

65. 65
Engaging
with
Pinterest
— Run
compeJJons
where
the
winner
is
the
user
who
pins
the
best
pictures
or
has
the
Pinterest
board
with
the
best
collecJon
of
pins.
— Run
offers
-­‐
Pin
images
of
offers,
giveaways,
discounts
from
your
website
and
detail
your
offer
in
the
descripJon,
or
you
can
create
images
exclusively
for
Pinterest
where
everything
about
the
offer
is
wri9en
on
the
image.

66. 66
Engaging
with
Pinterest
— So
make
sure
you
add
at
least
one
or
more
shareable
image
to
every
page
of
your
website
so
your
readers
get
to
choose
their
favorite
image
to
pin.
— Find
the
most
shared
images
on
Pinterest
and
get
to
know
who’s
sharing
them.
You
need
to
do
this
regularly
to
improve
your
own
Pinterest
markeJng
strategy.

67. 67
67
Gefng
Started
67

68. 68

69. 69

70. 70

71. 71
71

72. 72

73. 73

74. 74
What
is
it?
— Google+
is
a
social
networking
that
is
owned
and
operated
by
Google
Inc.
— Like
Facebook
–
personal
profiles
and
business
pages

75. 75
Why
use
it?
— No
one
loves
Google
more
than
Google.
And,
let’s
be
honest,
you
want
Google
to
love
your
business
and
the
content
you
produce
too.
If
that’s
not
reason
enough,
I
don’t
know
what
is.
— Increase
your
visibility
and
reach
by
offering
great
content
on
Google
Plus
that
people
will
like
and
want
to
share
— This
will
help
with
search
engine
opJmizaJon
(SEO)

76. 76
Google+
Terms
— Profile:
This
is
the
landing
page
that
shows
your
profile
picture,
informaJon
you’ve
provided,
and
the
content
you’ve
posted
to
Google
Plus
— Page:
Google
Plus
Page
is
created
by
a
business
or
a
brand.
— +1
bu6on
–
FuncJoning
like
a
Facebook
“Like”
bu9on,
the
+1
bu9on
allows
users
to
indicate
they
appreciated
your
content
— Circles:
When
gefng
started,
you
can
organize
those
you’re
connected
to
in
different
circles.
This
allows
you
to
tailor
your
company’s
posts
to
specific
people
who
are
interested
in
that
topic.

77. 77
Engaging
with
Google+
— Share
lots
of
photos
— Think
about
your
business
–
what
images,
charts,
slides
can
you
share
to
ignite
conversaJons
— Share
fresh
content,
interact
with
fans,
etc.
— Promote
your
Google+
page
on
your
blog
and
website
— When
you
post
a
message,
photo
or
link,
ask
your
subscribes
to
share
the
content
with
their
Circles

78. 78
Google+
Page
–
Gefng
started
— h9ps://plus.google.com/pages
to
create
your
page
— Customize
your
Page
— Promote
your
page
-­‐
share
some
updates
— Make
connecJons,
grow
your
circles

79. 79

80. 80

81. 81

82. 82
Blogs
— Blog
=
‘web
log’
— An
online
diary
or
journal
— Anybody
can
be
a
content
generator
and
an
expert
in
their
field
— Can
be
setup
within
minutes
online
using
WordPress

83. 83
Blog
Content
— Answer
industry
quesJons
— Comment
on
industry
news
— Provide
how-­‐to
based
content
— Encourage
readers
to
comment
— Post
consistently
–
3
to
5
Jmes
per
week

84. 84
Engaging
Customers
with
a
Blog
— Answer
industry
quesJons
— Comment
on
industry
news
— Provide
how-­‐to
based
content
— Encourage
readers
to
comment
— Post
consistently
–
3
to
5
Jmes
per
week

85. 85
Engage
and
grow
with
a
Blog
— Pose
Engaging
QuesJons
-­‐
At
the
end
of
a
post,
pose
a
brain-­‐
sJmulaJng
quesJon.
—
Get
readers
to
offer
Jps
-­‐
It
could
be
a
problem
that
you’re
facing,
or
something
your
customer
is
facing.
Make
it
a
contest;
publicly
credit
the
reader
with
the
best
Jps
on
your
blog
so
that
everyone
can
see.
— Start
With
An
Engaging
Opener
–
Your
opening
should
engage
the
reader
from
the
word
go,
something
that’ll
ignite
their
curiosity,
moJvate
their
thought
process
and
get
them
engaged.
Make
your
opener
funny,
insigheul,
wi9y
and
outrageous
if
need
be.
—

86. 86
Engage
and
grow
with
a
Blog
— Make
The
Content
Graphically
Vivid
-­‐
Paint
a
picture
with
your
words,
and
draw
people
into
the
scene
you’re
painJng.
— Write
in
your
speaking
voice,
as
though
you’re
chafng
with
friends.
— Provide
A
Conclusion
–
sum
up
the
essence
of
your
arJcle
in
a
short
conclusion.
Your
conclusion
should
ideally
Je
up
your
points
together
and
provide
a
short
glimpse
of
what
the
arJcle
is
all
about.

87. 87
Blogs
–
Gefng
Started
— Install
WordPress
— Design
–
use
Theme
or
designer
for
custom
look
— Configure
content
categories
— Develop
library
of
content
— Post
on
a
scheduled
basis
–
3
to
5
Jmes
per
week

88. 88
88

89. 89

90. 90

91. 91

92. 92

93. 93
Demographics
-­‐
Facebook
— 86%
of
Facebook
users
are
age
25
and
older
— 81%
have
some
college
educaJon
or
bachelors/graduate
degree
— 58%
earn
$50,000
or
more

94. 94
Demographics
-­‐
Twi9er
— 81%
of
people
on
Twi9er
are
age
25
and
older
— 83%
have
some
college
educaJon
or
bachelors/graduate
degree
— 47%
earn
$50,000
or
more

95. 95
Demographics
-­‐
LinkedIn
— 96%
of
people
on
LinkedIn
are
age
25
and
older
— 87%
have
some
college
educaJon
or
bachelors/graduate
degree
— 71%
earn
$50,000
or
more

96. 96
Thank
You!
Bridget
Gibbons
bridget@gibbonsdigital.com
Gibbonsdigital.com
@gibbonsdigital
•.com/gibbonsdigital