Social Media Workshop

SOCIAL MEDIA WORKSHOP bWEST Interactive http://www.bwest.ca Lead with strategy. Exploit technology. – bWEST Interactive | 250-508-7761 –

Social Media Workshop Getting your website social media ready Websites have evolved beyond being a one-way source of information to its visitors. They have become hubs of conversation and information sharing. There are a number of simple things you can do to make sure your website is ready for the social media age. Doing so also makes it easy for bloggers to create and publish a story about your company and products. In this session you will learn • how to integrate SM bookmarks to enable visitors to easily share your site with others • how to promote and cross-pollinate your social media channels • how to create a SM friendly media page Best practices • Create a rich “media” page • Provide head shots in both low and high res • Provide product shots and website screen shots • Videos are also good if you have them. Provide the YouTube embed code to make it easy to embed on their blog • Link to downloadables if you have them (PDF info sheets) • Link to aggregated news stories, press and third-party reviews • Provide other useful links to help bloggers complete the story (del.icio.us, etc) Is your website social media ready? Task. Review your site and identify up to 5 things you can do to improve social media readiness: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. – bWEST Interactive | 250-508-7761 –

Blogging Your blog is the foundation of your social media strategy. A blog characterizes your company through its content and demonstrates thought-leadership / expertise in your field. In this session you will learn • the different types of blogs (integrated / separate) • how to create a WordPress.com blog • how to create a content plan • how to use tags and why • how to create “Google juice” with your blog • how to use RSS feeds for your blog Task: Brainstorm with a partner to come up with 5 content “buckets” or themes around which you can develop valuable compelling blog content. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Best practices and opportunities: • Compelling titles pull readers in. Top (10) lists are good • Use images – they draw the eye in Flickr Creative Commons • Encourage dialogue/comments: open and close with a question • Break up long posts with sub-heads and bold or quotes • Be brief – people scan vs. read • Make it easy to subscribe to your blog via email and/or RSS • Don’t force people to register in order to comment on your blog • Share your posts via social media (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn) • Answer comments on your blog Resource: • Copy Blogger – copywriting tips for online marketing success – bWEST Interactive | 250-508-7761 –

Twitter Twitter is a micro-blogging social media site. Growing by millions of users every month the Twitter community has become an incredible resource and marketing vehicle. In this session you will learn: • to create a Twitter account and set up a your profile • what to tweet about • find people to follow • engage people and start conversations • drive traffic to your site • the Twitter lexicon: replies and mentions, direct messages, #hashtags, shortened URLs, tweetups, etc. • retweet, respond to comments and use DMs • use Advanced Search for keywords, places, etc. • use Twitter management tools, such as Hootsuite Resources: • Twitter 101 – a business guide – bWEST Interactive | 250-508-7761 –

Facebook With more than 350 million users Facebook is the world’s most popular social networking site. Facebook offers a suite of options for engaging and staying connected with your customers and prospects. In this session you will learn: • to create a Facebook page • what’s a vanity URL and how you get one • integrate your blog into your Facebook page • create a Facebook event • invite people to your Facebook page and event • create custom “boxes” for additional content and things like “welcome pages” Best practices and opportunities: • Send updates to friends/fans • Page vs. Group • Insights • Update page status • Encourage fan participation • Facebook advertising • Upload pictures and video • Leverage viral nature of the medium Dos and Don’ts DO • Be helpful…provide your expertise as you would with a friend. • Add value and be creative • Share…what valuable information you learn or find • Stagger the timing of your posts so they’re not coming all at once DON’T • Share too much. People don’t need to know what you had for lunch. • Pitch or hard sell your business. Resources: • How to create a Facebook page – bWEST Interactive | 250-508-7761 –

LinkedIn Has been described as Facebook in a suit. LinkedIn is one of the oldest social networks with more than 50 million members. In this session you will learn: • to build your LinkedIn profile • make connections • integrate your blog and presentations • join groups and discussions • leverage LinkedIn questions to demonstrate your expertise and hunt leads • create an event • using updates • giving and receiving recommendations • create polls • create your company page • screen candidates Resources: • LinkedIn in Plain English – bWEST Interactive | 250-508-7761 –

Tracking results and measuring success Now that you have a website, blog, Twitter account and Facebook page there’s no shortage of data coming in. The challenge is knowing which data, how to manage it effectively and more importantly how to make sense of it so you are able to turn that data into insights that will improve your business. In this session you will learn how to: • register for Google analytics • install Google analytics on your website • get started with Google analytics • track links in your tweets using Hootsuite • use Facebook “Insights” to analyze the level of engagement on your Facebook page Resources: • Installing Google analytics – bWEST Interactive | 250-508-7761 –

Creating a system to maximize your time online As a businessperson you’re already busy enough. Adding social media to your list of things to do may seem overwhelming. The good news is that it doesn’t have to be. The tools & systems we have recommended and set-up will help maximize your time online and ensure your social media strategy is efficient as well as effective. In this session you will learn how to: • use social media management tools like Hootsuite to maximize your efficiency • schedule tweets and manage multiple accounts • create columns and groups • track clicks on links in tweets Daily: each morning spend about 30 minutes • Monitor/Listen: o Check all SM sources for comments, replies, DM,s etc. o Check RSS feeds / Google alerts (news, blogs, searches) for content opportunities • Engage: o Reply to blog / Facebook / Twitter comments o Comment on interesting / relevant blog posts from other bloggers o Check new followers/friends, follow as necessary • Publish: publish the day’s planned content – bWEST Interactive | 250-508-7761 –

The Tools Tool Description Features & Benefits Twitter Micro blogging Engage/interact with targeted audience Hootsuite Twitter tools Multiple columns. Schedule tweets. Multiple editors/authors Shorten and track URLs Efficiency, save time. Tracking analytics Twitter Real time search of Search twitter / RSS feed Search Twitter conversations Powerful information gathering, trend monitoring Facebook Social Network Engage, share and communicate with friends and colleagues (Personal/Business) LinkedIn Social Network Professional social network (Business) Engage/interact with a targeted audience RSS News feed. Track Feed a variety of content (web, blogs,) in multiple formats Feeds and monitor Stay on top of your brand, products, competitors and industry Social Link icons enable Allows users to share web content in multiple formats Bookmarks visitors to set a public Extends your content and drives website traffic bookmark Blogs Wordpress Web publishing platforms focused on aesthetics, web Blogger standards and usability. Both are free. TypePad – bWEST Interactive | 250-508-7761 –

Twitter A communications tool that allows you to interact with people around the world in 3 ways: 1. Send a short message to a bunch of people publicly 2. Send a short message to a specific person publicly e.g. @b_west message goes here 3. Send a sort message to a specific person privately - DM Vocabulary • Tweet: Your 140-character (or shorter) message • Twitter handle: AKA username. This is the name you select to represent yourself • To Follow: subscribe to someone’s updates in Twitter. You do this by clicking the “Follow” button on that specific person’s twitter page. When you follow someone, their updates will be displayed on your Twitter page so you know what they are doing • Follower: a person who has subscribed to receive your updates. You can see you total number of followers on your twitter profile page • A DM or direct message is a private message on Twitter • RT or retweet is to repost a message from somebody else on Twitter • Trending topics are the most-discussed terms on Twitter at any given moment • @username is a public message to or about an individual on Twitter • List: create a list of twitter users e.g. Victoria, Sports, Clients, etc • A hashtag—the # symbol followed by a term and included in tweets—is a way of categorizing all the posts on a topic • Shortened URLs. To fit links into the short messages, Twitter shrinks some URLs down automatically • Tweep: Someone you know on Twitter • Tweeple: See “tweep” • A Tweet-up is an event specifically organized for Twitter users to meet up and network, usually informally. Best Practices • Listen and learn o Use search.twitter.com to track brand, company, product mentions o Create RSS feeds for popular searches • Build relationships on Twitter o Ask questions. Respond to comments and queries o Post links to things people would find interesting o Retweet messages you would like to share o Use a friendly, casual tone • Leverage the real-time nature of Twitter o Float ideas, solicit feedback – and expect fast feedback most of the time o If you launched a new product, store or campaign, search Twitter for comments o Respond to customer service issues quickly o Engage in discussion on a tricky public issue your company is dealing with • Measure the value of Twitter o Keep a tally of questions answered and customer problems resolved o When offering deals, use a unique coupon code or separate landing page – bWEST Interactive | 250-508-7761 –

Types of Tweets 1. An observation: tweet about what you’re doing thinking or feeling 2. What you’re reading: post a link to an interesting blog post or article 3. What you’re watching: post a link to a video from YouTube / Vimeo 4. What events you’re going to: share a link to conferences you plan to attend 5. Promote your content: post a link to a recent blog post 6. Promote other’s content: post a link to a someone’s blog or article as a helpful resource 7. Chat with someone: send messages using the @ sign e.g. @b_West will show up in my “Mentions” column 8. Retweet what someone said: use the RT at the beginning of a message Dos and Don’ts DO • Be yourself • Be helpful…provide your expertise as you would with a friend. • Add value and be creative • Share…what valuable information you learn or find. (People will thank you and appreciate you) • Retweet (RT) other tweets you find interesting or helpful. • Stagger the timing of your tweets so they’re not coming all at once and filling someone’s screen DON’T • Share too much. People don’t need to know what you had for lunch. • Tweet too much at one time of the day so you don’t bombard followers with 10 tweets in a row. Spread the love…and your Tweets! • Follow massive amounts of people all at once. You’ll look like a spammer and nobody will follow you back. The goal is to grow your network, but by actually building relationships, which require time to learn about who you’re connected with. • Pitch or hard sell your business. – bWEST Interactive | 250-508-7761 –

Social Media Workshop

by BWEST Interactive on Jan 15, 2010

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http://www.bwest.ca	5
http://www.linkedin.com	1