A presentation to facilitate a discussion about the benefits of social media for SMEs at a meeting of the North Midlands Group of the Institute for Independent Business (IIB)

1. Getting you social!
Institute for Independent Business
North Midland Group
2 February 2012

2. Popular social media sites
• 30 million unique UK
Facebook users
• 26 million UK Twitter users
• 10% of UK population on
Linkedin
• Brits watch more than 5.5m
online videos a month
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3. Social media marketing can
help
• Reach new customers
• Keep existing customers connected
• Drive traffic to your website
• Improve your reputation
But you must have a strategy or plan…
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4. Set goals
Set specific, measurable, achievable,
realistic, time-specific objectives in line
with your marketing and business
objectives:
• Market share – sector/country specific
• Increase profit – reduce costs
• Survival - growth
• Awareness
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5. Build your online community
• More than 70% of organisations worldwide
are active on social media
• Majority of Britons now use social
networking (ONS – 57% of adults up 14%
on last year)
• Network with your target audiences online
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6. Monitor conversations
• Complaints – If you catch something
early, you can demonstrate good
customer service
• Compliments – Great source of
testimonials to help persuade other
people of the value of your service
• Expressed needs – Respond
sensitively to requests for help
• Competitors – Keep your friends close,
& your enemies closer!
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7. Monitor conversations
(cont...)
• Crowds – Following the crowds gives
you a great insight into current thinking
on certain topics
• Influencers – Know who they are and
their opinion of your service to help you
decide who to choose as advocates
• Crisis – Tracking “crisis” keywords
serves as an early warning system
before an issue goes mainstream
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8. Interact with your community
Useful tools Recommended application
Twitter Posting links to websites, Dealing with customer enquiries and
images, comments complaints, driving sales, raising
product awareness
Facebook Posting images, videos, Dealing with customer enquiries and
comments, links complaints, driving sales, raising
product awareness
YouTube Posting videos and Raising product awareness, driving
comments sales
Linkedin Posting links to websites, Raising product awareness, driving
images, comments sales
Blog Posting images, videos, Raising product awareness, driving
comments sales
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9. Integrate all your marketing
• Links in your e-mail signature
• Links on your website
• Interlink all of your social media channels
• Send an update to your e-mail list
• Use quotes from your social media
community in your other marketing
materials
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10. Some examples…
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11. Ramsdens Solicitors
www.ramsdens.co.uk
• Links to social media on
website homepage
• Twitter (plus box on website
showing recent tweets)
(www.twitter.com/ramsdens)
with over 1,600 followers
• Blog (accessed via website)
regularly updated original
content
• Linkedin
(
www.linkedin.com/company/ramsdens-solicitors-llp
) Company page with 200
followers
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12. Kingspan Insulated Panels
www.kingspanpanels.com
• Links to social media on
website homepage
• FB page (
www.facebook.com/Kingspan-Insulated-Panels-UK
) with interesting content and
some engagement
• Active Twitter profile (
www.twitter.com/Kingspanpanels
) with almost 600 followers
• YouTube channel (
www.youtube.com/kingspanpanelsUK
) where 18 videos have had
over 12,500 views
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13. Screwfix
www.screwfix.com
• Links to online community on
homepage
• Community forum
• Very active Twitter (
www.twitter.com/screwfixdotcom
) with almost 7,500 followers
• Very popular FB page (
www.facebook.com/screwfix)
with over 31,500 “likes” & lots
of comments
• YouTube channel (
www.youtube.com/screwfix)
where over 500 videos have
had over 500,000 views
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14. Useful resources
• Going Social: How businesses are making the most of social media
KPMG, 2011
http://www.kpmg.com/Global/en/IssuesAndInsights/ArticlesPublications/Documents/going-social.pdf
• UK social media statistics as we enter 2012
http://www.business2community.com/social-media/uk-social-media-statistics-as-we-enter-2012-0115548
• 25 business-tastic b2b social media case studies
http://econsultancy.com/uk/blog/8148-25-business-tastic-b2b-social-media-case-studies
• UK b2b social media case studies
http://www.slideshare.net/IFslideshares/uk-b2b-social-media-case-studies
If you would like more tips on social networking, why not connect with me:
Twitter - @HelenKitchen_PR LinkedIn – Helen Kitchen PR
Facebook – HelenKitchenPR Blog – www.helenkitchen-pr.co.uk
Give me a ring 07870 213974 or drop me an email
helen@helenkitchen-pr.co.uk
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