G5 Social Media Quick Start Guide

Y O U R C O M PA N Y E V E R Y W H E R E Facebook Twitter YouTube LinkedIn Yelp MySpace Blogger Flickr StumbleUpon G5’s Quick-Start Guide: Finding Local Customers with Social Media Version 1.0 / March 2009

Contact G5 Search Marketing at 800.605.2418 or www.G5searchmarketing.com G5’s Quick-Start Guide: Finding Local Customers with Social Media The rise of a “social” Internet is “We’re not interested in advertising ushering in a new era: marketing on social networks; we’re interested with customers rather than to customers. in getting in there and interacting This guide, the first in a series exploring the ever with people.” changing landscape of online marketing, is not about — Scott Monty, Head of Social Media, Ford Motor Company advertising to existing and potential customers on social networks but rather engaging with these targets to increase sales. T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S P A G E An Introduction to Social Media Marketing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Social Media Marketing Beneﬁts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Best Social Sites for Local Businesses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3-8 Social Action Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Key Strategies for Social Success . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 G5’s Quick-Start Guide: Finding Local Customers with Social Media i

Contact G5 Search Marketing at 800.605.2418 or www.G5searchmarketing.com Introduction Social Basics Definition of Social Media Marketing The process of promoting your business by building relationships with existing and potential customers through social media websites. BOOKMARKING SITES: Allows users to list favorite sites - StumbleUpon Social Stats NETWORKING SITES: • 35% of US adult Internet Allows users to share personal and/or professional information users have a profile on among various member communities a social network site, a 400% growth over the - Facebook past three years1 - LinkedIn - MySpace - Yelp % of US Adults by Age with a Social INTERACTIVE MEDIA SITES: Network Profile: Allows users to share and review video and pictures 75% 18-24 57% 25-34 - Flickr 30% 35-44 - YouTube 19% 45-54 10% 55-65 INTERACTIVE BROADCAST SITES: 7% 65+ Allows users to “blog” unfiltered content – user-generated commentary, news (business, industry, local), reviews, event descriptions, or other material • Nearly 40% of social such as graphics or video – with links to other sites network users visit their - Blogger profile daily2 - Twitter 1 Pew Internet Project Survey, December 2008 2 Pew Internet & American Life Project Tracking Survey, May 2008 G5’s Quick-Start Guide: Finding Local Customers with Social Media 1

Contact G5 Search Marketing at 800.605.2418 or www.G5searchmarketing.com Benefits Tangible and Measureable New Customers “Most people Almost 60% of Americans3 use social media sites – a potential gold mine for find- tend to interact ing new customers. Targeting social communities which are 1) highly relevant to your more and form business and 2) popular with your existing customers will increase the likelihood for conversion. Most people tend to interact more and form stronger social ties with those stronger social ties similar to themselves; members of these groups tend to influence each other through with those similar word-of-mouth communication and engage in collective purchasing behaviors. to themselves; Increased Awareness members of Content can be created and spread through social media to increase awareness of these groups tend your business by evoking specific qualities which make it distinct from the competition. Social media sites can quickly generate word-of-mouth and buzz. to influence each other through Improved Search Engine Rankings word-of-mouth Content can be developed to obtain links from the members of social news websites. communication Social site profiles can be created to attract links. Search engines trust websites that receive a large number of natural, permanent links from trusted domains. The more and engage in links to your site, the more search engine traffic to your site. collective purchas- Low Cost/High-Return ing behaviors.” Purchasing many links will cost thousands of dollars; social media has the ability to give — Dan Hobin, CEO you links for free. Expenses are limited to outside resources for website design and G5 Search Marketing programming; total benefits will likely far exceed costs. Reputation Management You can positively influence the way potential or existing customers perceive your business by creating social profiles that rank well on search engines for your business name. This also includes monitoring public forums and feedback channels to track and address what is said about your site and/or business. Awareness is key to keeping your online reputation as positive as possible. 3 2008 Cone Business in Social Media Study G5’s Quick-Start Guide: Finding Local Customers with Social Media 2

Contact G5 Search Marketing at 800.605.2418 or www.G5searchmarketing.com Social Media Sites G5’s top six for local networking #1 When you join Facebook, you can list a hometown in your proﬁle – which automatically puts you in a “network” with everyone else in your hometown. This site has grown in such popularity that browsing through your local network can be time consuming but worth the effort to make local connections. You can identify the number of members in your local network: 1) click on the “Set- tings” button at the top of the screen and then 2) click the “Networks” tab. Website: facebook.com Location: Palo Alto, California Launch Date: February, 2004 # Unique Visitors: 69 million4 % Change vs. YAG: +126% User Gender: 64% female 36% male User Age: 52% 18-25 yrs You can use the panel on the right to further sort the members of your network based 21% 26-35 yrs on gender, age and relationship status. You can then add that member as a friend or 5% 36-45 yrs send a message to become a fan of your site. 5% >45 yrs Fan pages and groups are two networking tools that Facebook provides to its members. The major differences: QUICK FACT Fastest growing • Fan pages are visible to unregistered people and are thus indexed (important for reputation user segment: Women management and SEO) and are generally better for a long-term relationship with customers. Fan Pages tend to get more members than groups. over 55, up 175%5 • Groups allow “bulk invites” and are better for viral marketing (allows any group member to send bulk invites to friends/contacts.) Groups are better for hosting (quick) active discussion and attracting quick attention; people in groups tend to be more “engaged” than the people on fan pages. 4 TechCrunch, Monthly Visitors, 1/09 5 Inside Facebook, 2/1/09 (4-month average) G5’s Quick-Start Guide: Finding Local Customers with Social Media 3

Contact G5 Search Marketing at 800.605.2418 or www.G5searchmarketing.com Social Media Sites G5’s top six for local networking #2 This local review site aims to “connect people with great local businesses,” covers nearly 40 states and helps users ﬁnd just about anything in a local area that can be reviewed – from real estate to restaurants. Additionally, Yelp offers social networking through the ability to add friends, groups, events talk in forums or message contacts. The premise behind this site: users will trust their friend’s review more than others. Yelp has a separate registration and website (www.biz.yelp.com) for business owners and rewards members with access to tracking, private customer messaging and real- time page updates. Claiming a business page involves three steps: Website: 1. Create a business owner account yelp.com Location: 2. Answer a quick automated veriﬁcation phone call San Francisco, California 3. Go to Yelp for Business Owners (www.yelp.com/business) Founded: Yelp listings rank well with search engines and can even help with your Reputation July, 2004 Management by gaining another valuable spot in the Search Engine Result Pages (SERPs). # Unique Visitors: 23 million6 % Change vs. YAG: +192% User Gender: 60% female 40% male User Age: 3% 18 to 24 16% 25 to 34 32% 35 to 44 45% >45 QUICK FACT 85% of all reviews on Yelp are 3 stars and up7 6 TechCrunch, Monthly Visitors, 1/09 7 Yelp internal data, as of 9/1/08 G5’s Quick-Start Guide: Finding Local Customers with Social Media 4

Contact G5 Search Marketing at 800.605.2418 or www.G5searchmarketing.com Social Media Sites G5’s top six for local networking #3 This photo storage/sharing site has thousands of user groups, many which are local in nature. These groups offer a great opportunity to connect with your potential customers who might be interested in your business. If you’re looking for potential customers in Dallas you might want to join this group with 1,283 members (some will be inactive). These members are uploading local photos, but they’re also talking about local events, local news and local businesses on the group’s discussion board. Website: ﬂickr.com Location: Sunnyvale, California Launch Date: February, 2004 # Unique Visitors: 26 million8 % change vs. YAG: +25% User Gender: Only one of these discussions are active, with posts within the past 25 hours. 49% female 51% male User Age: 10% 18-24 17% 25 to 34 27% 35 to 44 34%>45 QUICK FACT Men and the 25-34 year old demographic Visit the Flickr Groups section and do a search for your city. You’ll ﬁnd a number of are more likely to use Flickr than other matches, but focus on those groups with recently active discussions. The number of demographics9 members is important, but not as important as joining an active group where your potential local customers are talking. 8 TechCrunch, Monthly Visitors, 1/09 9 Rapleaf Study of Social Network Users vs. Age, 6/08 G5’s Quick-Start Guide: Finding Local Customers with Social Media 5

Contact G5 Search Marketing at 800.605.2418 or www.G5searchmarketing.com Social Media Sites G5’s top six for local networking #4 The use of video on social sites has been linked to some of the highest conversion rates from trafﬁc to sales, and YouTube is the leader in the online video sharing com- munity on the Web. YouTube allows members to easily upload and share video clips across the Internet through websites, mobile devices, blogs and e-mail. Search the site for your industry and city or state – your competitors may already be video sharing. After you’ve set up your YouTube account, follow the site’s procedures for uploading video (taken by anything that records video - digital or video camera, web-cam, cell phone). An ancillary website (TubeMogul.com) will distribute your videos to nearly Website: 20 other sharing video sites simultaneously. You will need to set up a separate account youtube.com (free). Location: San Bruno, California Launch Date: December, 2005 # Unique Visitors: 73 million10 % change vs. YAG: +33% User Gender: 49% female 51% male User Age: 35% 18 to 34 23% 35 to 49 19%>50 QUICK FACT In December 2008, over 100 million viewers each watched an average of 59 videos on YouTube11 10 TechCrunch, Monthly Visitors, 1/09 11 comScore Video Metrix, 12/08 G5’s Quick-Start Guide: Finding Local Customers with Social Media 6

Contact G5 Search Marketing at 800.605.2418 or www.G5searchmarketing.com Social Media Sites G5’s top six for local networking #5 This social networking and micro-blogging site is all about conversations, allowing users to post their latest updates. An update is limited by 140 characters and can be posted through three methods: Web form, text message, or instant message. This site is possibly the best place to reach out and ﬁnd people in your area. Twitter’s Advanced Search page (www.search.twitter.com/advanced) includes a geo-search option; list your city/state or zip code and receive a list of messages (“tweets”) from people in that area. Website: twitter.com Location: San Francisco, California Launch Date: July, 2006 # Unique Visitors: 6 million12 % change vs. YAG: +813% User Gender: 37% female 63% male User Age: 4% 18 to 24 11% 25 to 34 42% 35 to 44 40% >45 QUICK FACT The most popular TwitterLocal offers a similar service to Advanced Search, but it doesn’t update as quickly. days of the week to Tweet are Wednesday and Thursday (2008) 12 TechCrunch, Monthly Visitors, 1/09 G5’s Quick-Start Guide: Finding Local Customers with Social Media 7

Contact G5 Search Marketing at 800.605.2418 or www.G5searchmarketing.com Social Media Sites G5’s top six for local networking #6 This professional networking website allows members to create business contacts, search for jobs and find potential clients. Individuals have the ability to create their own professional profile that can be viewed by others in their network, and also view the profiles of their own contacts. LinkedIn offers one of the simplest methods of inviting and maintaining your social network; by simply uploading an exported file from your contact manager, LinkedIn can immediately identify which of your contacts are members of the service. Advanced Search lets you look for other members in your area. Here’s a search for of- Website: fice managers in the San Francisco Bay Area: linkedin.com Location: Mountain View, California Launch Date: May, 2003 # Unique Visitors: 11 million13 % Change vs. YAG: +146% User Gender: 39% female 61% male User Age: 9% 18-25 yrs 49% 26-35 yrs 24% 36-45 yrs 16% >45 yrs QUICK FACT A majority of LinkedIn’s users make $75k+/year 13 TechCrunch, Monthly Visitors, 1/09 G5’s Quick-Start Guide: Finding Local Customers with Social Media 8

Contact G5 Search Marketing at 800.605.2418 or www.G5searchmarketing.com Getting Started – Socially G5’s Social Media Action Plan 1. Assign someone within your company to Social Stats spearhead social marketing efforts • 10% of US adults blog14 • 57 million Americans are 2. Visit the sites blog readers15 3. Set up accounts on all six G5-recommended sites: • Social site users tend to fall into five distinct Facebook, Yelp, Flickr, YouTube, Twitter and LinkedIn groups based on their Membership is free and the registration process is similar across the various sites. behaviors and attitudes16 Secure your company name (user id) and unique URL on each site; if you don’t 1. Alpha Socializers: protect your name, someone – including a competitor – just might beat you to it. Use sites in intense • List basic demographic information: First/last name, gender, birth date, city/ short bursts to flirt, state or country, and zip code meet new people, • Create a user id (company name) and password and be entertained 2. Attention Seekers: 4. Create your company identity/social profile on at Crave attention and least the top three G5-recommended sites: comments from others, often by posting photos Facebook, Yelp and Flickr and customizing • Brand Your Profile: Makes it clear to site members that this is a their profiles company profile 3. Followers: Join sites to • Link to your Company Site: Increases the profile’s authenticity and keep up with what their generates traffic peers are doing • Include Unique Content: Gives site members a reason to “friend” 4. Faithfuls: Typically use your company profile and return to your page. Examples: short-form social networking sites to videos, photos rekindle old friendships, often school classmates • Develop Interactive Content: Encourages site members to engage with your company page versus a static branded message. 5. Functionals: Tend to be single-minded Examples: E-cards, video/audio clips in using sites for a 5. Locate your target markets on social sites particular purpose 6. Listen to and interact with targeted communities • Set up Google Alerts (http://www.google.com/alerts), notifications that you receive via e-mail when a particular search query you have pre-set gets found by Google • Include alerts on your company name as well as specific search phrases for your business category. These alerts will allow you to listen to what is being “said” online - perhaps about your company or by someone making inquiry about a specific need that your company can address with a timely response. 14 Universal McCann’s Media in Mind Study, 2008 15 BlogWorld, 2008 16 Ofcom Qualitative Research, UK, 2008 G5’s Quick-Start Guide: Finding Local Customers with Social Media 9

Contact G5 Search Marketing at 800.605.2418 or www.G5searchmarketing.com Getting Started – Socially Key Social Strategies Start Connecting “Social media Survey your customers and find out who belongs to social networks and if so, is about building which ones. Send e-mails inviting them to become your friend and/or fan. Hard selling is discouraged; social media is about building relationships and developing relationships and trust. Position your company as the best solution for stated needs. developing trust. Start Sharing Position your Share (www.addthis.com) is an online tool that makes it easy for users to share Web company as the information. A “share” button added to your home page allows your site visitors to best solution for share content via the top social networking sites or personal e-mail contacts and allows you to track where and how information from your site is being used. The stated needs.” service is free for registered members. — Dan Hobin, CEO Start Linking G5 Search Marketing Garnering good quality, relevant and “natural” inbound links to your site is critical to drive your search engine ranking efforts. Participation in social communities relevant to your business will build your site’s inbound link-profile. Additionally, using your company website to link to your social site profiles will place your company “everywhere” in the social sphere. G5’s Social Skills G5 can assist with your social media marketing plan • Social site integration • Social management • Analytic tools and measurement 800.605.2418 G5searchmarketing.com G5: The expert at driving local online searchers to your site and converting them into customers. ©2009 G5 Search Marketing, Inc. All Rights Reserved. G5’s Quick-Start Guide: Finding Local Customers with Social Media 10

G5 Social Media Quick Start Guide

by G5SearchMarketing on Aug 10, 2009

Accessibility

Upload Details

Usage Rights

1 Embed 8

Statistics

G5 Social Media Quick Start Guide — Document Transcript