Hands-on description of Social Media Marketing strategies for businesses and startups. Do you know about these tools yet?

1. Social Media Marketing By Market Your Startup www.MarketYourStartup.com

2. Agenda Why should your company use Social Media for Marketing? Social Media Strategy Goals – CAPPSI Social Media Tools Blogging Twitter Social Networks Engage customers and fans Dos & Don’ts Social Media Action Plan

3. Why should your company use Social Media Marketing? Some Stats by Technorati (2008): Blogs are now used by 24% of Internet users, up from 13% in 2006 Social networks are now used by 26% of Internet users, up from 17% in 2006 Some Stats by MediaMetrix (2008) Blogs: 77.7 million unique visitors in the US Facebook: 41.0 million MySpace 75.1 million Total internet audience 188.9 million

4. Social Media Strategy Identify goals Define target market Create a Social Media plan Implement strategy Review performance

5. Goals - CAPPSI Connection -> Use Social Media to connect to customers Awareness -> Create awareness through increased online presence Personality -> Show customers the personal side behind your business and become a Trust Agent Participation -> Create engaging activities Sales -> Increase traffic to website Information -> Share valuable and relevant content

6. Social Media Tools The most important Social Media Tools: Company Blog Twitter Social Media Networks (Facebook, MySpace) Others (DIGG, StumbleUpon, Forwardtrack, Friendfeed, Technorati, MerchantCircle, Xing, Wikipedia, Travelwiki, Yahoo Answers, Meetups, Comments on Blogs, etc.)

7. Advantages of a Business Blog Creates awareness Draws visitors to the website SEO Keywords Valuable content and information Encourages communication and participation Personalizes the company

8. Blog Topics Company news: special offers, new products/services, company/employee activities, employee of the month etc. Be green: green companies are popular -> start a green initiative that your employees and customers care about and start saving the earth Good causes: support of charities, fundraisers etc.

9. Blog Topics Conferences/Fairs: information on upcoming conferences in the cities with locations, special rates for visitors, traffic advice, quickest route Feedback: answer to complaints, ask for ideas, communicate with customer Contests: offer contests to encourage participation and promote them, such as videos for Youtube, Writing contests, Twitter contests etc. Local news: input from different locations about local events

10. Advantages of Twitter Fast and timely Free Large audience Respond to feedback Communicative and informational Run Twitter promotions Promotion of other social media activities -> get traffic -> find supporters -> make sales

11. What to tweet Relevant content that is of interest for the target market, such as: Promotions New blog posts & other social media activities Local events Articles & blogs of interest Responses to feedback, customer interaction Ask customers what they want Personality of your company

12. Advantages of Social Networks Free Large audience Creates awareness and visibility Good customer participation Offers a platform for customers to discuss positive and negative aspects and gives your company a chance to respond

13. How to engage customers Contests: Let followers create some content and offer them freebies for it Applications: Create a useful or funny Facebook application Ask customers for their opinion: Make surveys, ask for feedback Listen to your customers Offer your customers what they ask for Be personal and social

14. Do’s and Don’ts in Social Media What to do What not to do Provide relevant information Be recognizable Produce quality content Be interesting Segment and target your audience Be responsive Accept feedback Pushy selling Over promoting Censoring Go for scale not quality Spamming Be dishonest

15. Social Media Action Plan Create profiles Create awareness and develop a strong user base Link building to drive traffic to website Develop personalized and relevant content Engage supporters (contests, applications, promotions) Update content regularly Respond to questions and feedback Promote other Social Media tools Review Social Media plan and adapt

16. Do you want to learn more? Contact Market Your Startup right now or check out our blog for further information! www.MarketYourStartup.com