Presentation slides from the social media introduction workshop as part of Destination Digital business support programme from Connecting Cambridgeshire.
Want more information? Small businesses across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough can currently get free business support on using digital technology until March 2015.
More information here: http://destinationdigital.info/advice/
2. Title to go hereComing up
• The benefits of social media
• Which platforms to go for?
• Fitting it in around your business
• Measuring results
• Case studies
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WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS?
Social media
4. Title to go hereWhat are the benefits?
• Raise profile
• Maintain brand reputation
• Better communications
• Drive website traffic
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WHICH PLATFORMS SHOULD YOU
GO FOR?
Raise profile – make a noise! Make sure people know about you. Create your own original content
Brand reputation – keep on top of what people are saying about you, and get your answer in first! Encourage brand loyalty.
Enhanced communication – people can reach you straight away, helping them make swift decisions to buy before they change their minds. Engage with customers
Website traffic – a whole new avenue for getting people to your site. These large platforms do well in search results, so if you have a quality feed it will reflect well and drive visitors to your site.
Beyond the more obvious uses, such as tweeting about your day or sharing baby photos on Facebook, social media is increasingly being used as a research tool.
Always recommend that you pick a couple to start off with and do them WELL, rather than spread yourself too thinly. Otherwise that blog you don’t keep updated will rise to the top of the search results and look bad.
Going to run through the most popular ones.
This can be the cornerstone of your social media efforts. It’s your place to share your thoughts, company news, your angle on industry developments, post content about your brand.
GOV.UK here have found that lots of people are saying hang on, if you tell everyone to write URLs in lowercase, how come the logo is in capitals, eh? So they answer the question on their blog.
Would always strongly suggest getting a blogging plan together. What content are you going to write, and when? Think seasonally – what’s coming up that you can write about? New offers or products and services?
It doesn’t have to be you writing it either, it can be an eager junior who wants a chance to shine. It doesn’t have to add to your own workload.
Twitter is a great place to tell people about news and offers, recommendations, engage with customers.
If you’re a small business it’s amazing how easy it is to fit a few tweets in. Set it up on your smartphone and tweet when you’re sat on train journeys…pick a quiet day like Monday and schedule some tweets for the week ahead. You can use these as building blocks and add the more spontaneous ones on top.
It IS the most time consuming of the platforms
Great for showing the human side of your brand, more conversational, good place to share images and video.
If you just post links to your site it gets a bit boring. People like to stay in Facebook.
Fitting it in
Scheduling
Get Facebook Pages on your phone and update from there
LinkedIn is more for engaging with people in the industry.
Doesn’t take loads of time to update.
Useful for recruitment if you’re a large chain.
And of course you can post company updates presenting your side of the story.
Probably have a sizeable budget, but very good for inspiration! Fun, engaging, lots of video
If your brand is right, you could add something visual into the mix such as Instagram – great if you’re in food, fitness, travel, retail
Instagram videos
Flickr for good quality images
Pinterest for mood boards about particular subjects.
YouTube or Vimeo for interviews
When working with people new to social media I usually suggest just starting off with a few platforms then branching out once you get confident.
If your brand is right, you could add something visual into the mix such as Instagram – great if you’re in food, fitness, travel, retail
Flickr for good quality images
Pinterest for mood boards about particular subjects.
YouTube or Vimeo for interviews, show the interior of your restaurants
When working with people new to social media I usually suggest just starting off with a few platforms then branching out once you get confident.
Fitting it in
Even a serious tech/engineering company can use visual platforms well – it doesn’t have to be just for showbiz/fashion/food
YouTube is brilliant for How to videos.
Vango demonstrate how to put their tents up. It’s this kind of thing which will help a customer decide to buy your product rather than a competitors. If they can see how easy it is to put up and put away, they’re most likely to buy. Demonstrating value, removing the headache factor.
https://www.youtube.com/user/vangotents
Always recommend that you pick a couple to start off with and do them WELL, rather than spread yourself too thinly. Otherwise that blog you don’t keep updated will rise to the top of the search results and look bad.
Going to run through the most popular ones.
Scheduling content – use something like Hootsuite
Getting the apps on your phone so you can update on the go
Getting other people to contribute eg guest bloggers
Get a plan together – talk about blog schedule
Always recommend that you pick a couple to start off with and do them WELL, rather than spread yourself too thinly. Otherwise that blog you don’t keep updated will rise to the top of the search results and look bad.
Going to run through the most popular ones.
Google Analytics
Google alerts
Cyfe
Simple growth of followers
Having access to the data helps you convince others of its value
Facebook Insights. One of many free tools out there – you don’t have to pay the earth to get good analytics.
Website talks directly to the customer, has a clear tone of voice which is carried through to the social platforms.
Note prominent links to social channels at the top. If you make all this effort on social, you should make sure people find you
Quick point on SEO – Ms Cupcake is a vegan bakery in Brixton, South West London so they make sure these keywords are on their homepage.
Facebook: updated regularly with industry news, seasonal items and of course, pictures of a good few of their own vegan cupcakes! Lots of positive engagement.
Facebook: lots of pictures of the product, plus smiling team members. Shows the human face, makes you want to be part of it. These people take pride in their product.
Twitter – pushing the human factor like on Facebook. Lots of interaction too with customers and other businesses. Lovely picture of product in the background.
Don’t look at their Instagram feed as it will make you want to eat ALL of their lovely-looking cupcakes!
Don’t forget that people will be talking about your business whether you like it or not!
This is an online directory which shows your opening hours and contact details, and lets people write reviews about your business. A bit like TripAdvisor.
Worth keeping an eye for this kind of thing. Particularly on TripAdvisor where the restaurant owner or hotel manager can respond to negative reviews
A nice positive review, hurray.
Google Places is the information that a search engine receives and uses when listing your business. A search engine will probably already have your business listed in results, but your Google Places page allows you to control what information Google has and presents to searchers about your business. You can fill in your Places page with information like a description, images, hours of operation, and contact information.
You manage all of this information in your Google Places dashboard, so you can change it anytime you wish. You have to sign up for Google Places here, fill in your information, and then verify your account – you have to verify either by phone or by mail, which Google will walk you through, and then you're set to go and start taking control of your brand.
Professional looking website that’s very spaced out in blocks of text/pictures and easy to read
Also note the social sharing buttons, picture of David, the human face of the business. Prominent link to blog.
Facebook: Professional shot of the business as the cover photo. Recipe suggestions, offers, their attempt to win a butchery competition
Engaging with other businesses, talking positively.
Tweeting usually 1-2 tweets a day, or when there’s a big event to promote up to 6 times a day
Pinterest: foodie ideas, shop design, Yorkshire!
Lovely how-to films, showing him in action. He looks like an authority, a specialist, an enthusiast. You know when you buy his meat it’ll be good quality.
Plus video about the business itself.