Presentation from the 2010 DATIA Conference on the basics of Social Media (Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Blogs, Vlogs, YouTube) for the drug testing industry.

2. What Is “Social Media”?
Why Is Social Media Useful In Business?
Overview
◦ Twitter
◦ Facebook
◦ LinkedIn
◦ Blogs and Vlogs
◦ Other Forms of Social Media
◦ M
Management T l
Tools
Time Management – How It All Works Together
www.expertox.com

3. Definition by
“Duct Tape Marketing”
“Th use of technology combined with social
The f h l bi d i h i l
interaction to create or co-create value.”
www.expertox.com

4. www.expertox.com

5. A medium for in-your-face
advertising
Another method to “spam”
prospective customers
All about you, all the time
A replacement for your current
strategic marketing practices
An alternative to personal
visits or telephone
conversations
www.expertox.com

6. Generate and Grow
Recognition
Strengthen Your Brand
Search Engine
S hE i
Optimization (SEO)
Client Acquisition
Customer Retention
Other Unexpected
Opportunities
Generate Referrals
www.expertox.com

7. Microblog
Converse in 140
characters or less
24 hhours a d
day, 7
days a week
international
“cocktail party”
www.expertox.com

8. Demographics
◦ As of Oct 2009, 250 m
users, of which 120 m
log in daily
g y
◦ Largest demographic age
group: 35 – 40
◦ 53% female
◦ 63% college and post-
graduates
www.expertox.com

9. Twitter is a place to
be yourself so
others get to
Know you
Like you
T
Trust you
www.expertox.com

10. Use the 80/20 Rule
Forum for:
Conversation
Funny Stories and
Pictures
Share Links
Share Educational
Sh d l
Information
Quotations
Q&A
www.expertox.com

11. How to Get Started
◦ Set up a Profile at www.twitter.com
◦ Choose a Name, called a “Handle”
Recognizable
Searchable
◦ Create a Background for Your Profile
Standard in Twitter
Custom/Branded
www.twitbacks.com or www.twitterbackgrounds.com
◦ Be Transparent and Authentic
Complete Bio
Think about Searchable Keywords
www.expertox.com

12. www.expertox.com

13. #Parents think of
drugs as the only
form of substance
abuse. Be wary of
inhalants
http://ow.ly/1gnys
htt // l /1
Example of an
@ p
@expertox tweet
that directs to its
blog
www.expertox.com

14. Must Follow “Rules”
◦ Be A Person, Be Yourself
◦ Be Transparent and Authentic
◦ Be Conversational
◦ Educate
◦ Connect
◦ No Foul Language
◦ No Direct, In-Your-Face
Advertising
◦ No “Spam”
◦ Be Consistent and Frequent
www.expertox.com

15. How To Create A Following of
Potential Customers
◦ Follow Local “Peeps” using
www.twellow.com
www twellow com or
www.search.twitter.com
◦ Who Are Your Clients?
◦ Who Are Your Prospective Customers?
◦ Who Are Your WOM Advocates?
◦ Connect With Members of Your Networking
Groups
◦ Connect With Each Other – Power in
Numbers f Viral Marketing
N b for Vi l M k ti
www.expertox.com

16. Twitter Basics
◦ “RT” = Retweet, Helping Your Followers to Spread
The Word Virally
◦ “DM” = Direct Message – Can Only Be Seen Between
DM
You and Follower
◦ Hashtag = Tracking and Trending
#drugtest #DATIA
#d t t
Follow @hashtag
◦ Try to Keep Tweets to 120 Characters – Better
Retweeting
www.expertox.com

17. Started as a social communication mechanism
for college/university students
2008 – surpassed MySpace as the most
popular social network
Fastest-growing demographic on Facebook –
over age 35 crowd
250m+ active members
Fan Page Content is fully indexed by Google
It’s all about relationships!
www.expertox.com

18. Why use Facebook for Business?
◦ Individual Profile Page Required
◦ Company Fan Page
◦ Gift Certificate Application
f f l
◦ Advertising
Strong d
St demographic t
hi target capabilities
t biliti
Reasonable cost
◦ Did I say “Search Engine Optimization”?
www.expertox.com

19. www.expertox.com

20. Facebook Reminders:
◦ First impressions are everything
◦ Brand Consistency
◦ What you write and post is there for history
◦ What you write and post affects your credibility
and value
◦ Be selective when choosing or approving friends,
fans, groups to join and applications
◦ Ask questions – participative v directorial
v.
www.expertox.com

21. As with any social media
post, you must be:
◦ Transparent
◦ Authentic
◦ Conversational
◦ Educational
◦ Interesting
◦ Consistent and Persistent
www.expertox.com

22. ◦ Professional and business-
oriented
i d
◦ Average Age: 41
◦ Good way to stay connected with
business clients, vendors and
advocates
◦S t
System to find and get
t fi d d t
introduced to people you need
to know
◦ Forum for getting answers,
feedback and recommendations
www.expertox.com

23. How You’re Connected
to Noor
Maher Matt Daoudi
Terri Stromatt-McCulloch
www.expertox.com

24. www.expertox.com

25. It’s All About
Relationships
Keep up with
what is going
on with your
connections
www.expertox.com

26. g
Blog
◦ “Weblog”
◦ Type of Website
WordPress most common
W dP t
Blogger
Vlog
◦ Video Blog
YouTube
◦ 100m+ viewers
◦ Video way of the future
www.expertox.com

27. Purpose
◦ Educates
◦ Creates Conversation and
Participation
◦ Creates Interest
◦ Creates a Following
g
◦ Creates Viral Marketing
Effect
◦BBecomes a part of th
t f the
“Chorus”
www.expertox.com

28. Best Practices
◦ Short Content
◦ Encourages Interaction Through Posts
and Viral Sharing
◦ Update Weekly
◦ Approve Posts to Protect Image
pp g
◦ Do Not Use as a direct, in-your-face
Advertising Campaign
◦ Add A
Appropriate H
i t Humor and P
d Personall
Opinions
www.expertox.com

29. Best Practices
◦ Be Interesting!
◦ Write Important Keywords into Title
and Blog Intro Paragraph
◦ Link Generously
◦ Invite Guest Bloggers
gg
◦ Ask Questions
◦ Post on Others’ Blogs
Wh Y
What You Gi
Give, Y
You G
Get
www.expertox.com

30. Viral Video Tips
◦ Be uncommon
◦ Use great characters
◦ Be
B comical
i l
◦ Integrate your community
◦ Be compelling
◦ Be creative
◦ Limit to 1 ½ - 3 minutes in
l
length
h
www.expertox.com

31. Blog Talk Radio
Podcasts
Digg
StumbleUpon
RSS Feeds
Wikis
Wiki
BizNik
New Things Coming Out
All The Time!
www.expertox.com

32. People End Up
At Your
Website
www.expertox.com

33. Advertise and Spam
Messages From @MariSmith
Do Not Target Their “Genuine, Authentic,
, ,
Audience/Followers
A di /F ll Passionate, Caring =
Profitable Relationships”
Lack of a Viable Strategy
Lack f Quality Content
L k of Q lit C t t
Fail to be Consistent and
Frequent
Lack of Patience
www.expertox.com

34. ◦ Use tools such as
HootSuite
TweetDeck
TweetLater
◦ Build a “Chorus”
◦ Use Google Alerts for latest news
related to your i d
l d industry
◦ Devote 15 – 45 minutes per day to
social media activities
◦ Better to interact less and more
frequently, than more with sporadic
activity
www.expertox.com

35. Do
◦ Focus on authenticity and transparency
◦ Be yourself
◦ Build d
B ild and grow relationships
l ti hi
◦ Use the 80/20 rule
◦ Become viewed as a credible expert
◦ Be consistent and patient
◦ Share and connect
◦ Participate
www.expertox.com

36. Don’t
◦ Advertise Profusely
◦ Spam
◦ Post P i
P t Prices
◦ Follow Everybody
◦ Follow Nobody
◦ Forget Your Image and Brand
in the Community
www.expertox.com

37. Twitter Power by Joel
Comm
Inbound M k i
I b d Marketing b
by
Brian Halligan and
Dharmesh Shah
The Social Media Bible by
Lon Safko and David K.
Brake
www.expertox.com

38. Question and Answer
Terri McCulloch
Director of Sales & Marketing
tmcculloch@expertox.com
www.expertox.com
www.facebook.com/expertox
@terrimcculloch and @expertox
www.expertox.com