Pinpointing A Moving Target: Doing Social Media So It Matters

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Notes on slide 1

You’ll grow your fan base organically, which means they’ll stick around.

You’ll stay current on what’s important to your fans (also called “market research” ).

Make sure you have everything you need in place or it’s going to be a wasted effort

Social media is not a silver bullet. No magic! Social media is a tool, just like email is a tool, and just like a web site is a tool.

Transparency Empowering your patrons Losing congrol over the message! But you gain credibility If you can’t handle either of these or your administration can’t, don’t bother. Your efforts will die, quickly.

The goal doesn’t need to be a sales figure, it could be something as simple as number of @ replies on Twitter or Facebook fans. By analyzing your current standing, your goal, and your % change, you can decide what has been working and what hasn’t. Without these numbers you can neither optimize your campaign nor determine success. THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT SLIDE!

You have to understand who you’re sending stuff out to in order to do social media well

They want to look good; what do you have that they can pass along to their friends, so they look like they’re in the know?

They’re darned busy—don’t make them do work or go searching and don’t bombard them with too much at once

They’re putting stuff out there BECAUSE they want a response. Social media is a two-way conversation. Forget that at your peril. This also means when someone comments on your Facebook wall, you need to comment back.

Sharing well means

Sharing good stuff Steer away from negative stuff

Sharing diversely (different kinds of media)

And yes, please share good stuff from your “competing” non-profit friends None of us can or should operate as an island in social media. Transparency means creating community, giving credit, and being caring.

Share promptly Because social media is so immediate, you need to start or participate in conversations as they happen. Recently, a fairly high-profile Twitter user was in Miami for a business meeting. The meeting was extended and he needed to find a hotel for the night. He sent out a Tweet asking for hotel recommendations and got very limited response from local hotels. Since I live in the area, I retweeted it for him, and three days later a Miami hotel got in touch to ask how they could help me. Major FAIL. If you are going to be a part of social media, then remember that timeliness can often mean the difference between success and failure. http://mashable.com/2009/09/30/business-transparency/ In social media 24 hours is a long time. Really long. What hurt brands like Motrin and Dominoes was simply delaying their responses. In the old days of offline media, if something happened on a Friday, you could think about it all weekend before the Monday business press hits. Not in social. You’ve got hours not days. So have a plan in place. Then listen, respond, engage accordingly. In all likelihood you’ll get credit for confronting the situation head on.

Poor execution can lead users to consider you as being spammy and can tarnish your brand. The purpose of these sites is to network, not to promote in a one-way fashion.

Leave Your Name, Location, Avatar and/or Bio Blank You would think that those of us who are using Twitter to connect with others (which is just about everyone, isn’t it?), would take time to fill in some basics about who we are and what we do. I have seen so many Twitter accounts that don’t even provide a name. And worse, some that don’t have an avatar. Ideally, your avatar will be an actual photo of you, but at a minimum, you need something there (a logo, business name, etc.) to replace the default no-avatar graphic. The burden of credibility is on you!

I always wonder what the deal is when I see Twitter accounts that have thousands of followers with only a handful of tweets posted. Sure, this is the norm for many of the celebrity Twitter accounts, but what’s the point? All this says to me is that you are playing a numbers game and most likely not willing or interested in getting to know any of your followers. One of the biggest benefits of using Twitter is the ability we have to use it to build relationships. If you’re not tweeting and engaging in conversation with anyone, you’re not getting to enjoy any of these person-to-person benefits.

We all put links on Twitter; it’s a great way to share information and spark conversation. But take a look at your linking history. If the majority of your links are self-promoting (i.e. they go directly to your website or focus only on your own accomplishments), you may be missing the point. Sure, people want to hear about what you’re doing and things you have available, but that can’t be the only side of your Twitter persona. Don’t forget to share information others might find useful, retweet, and read and comment on what your followers are posting. And when you get comments and retweets, please, acknowledge them and say thank you!

Please don’t send every little app you try. If you’re not aware that you’re doing it, you probably still are. Be sure to click “no” or “skip” or whatever lets you not invite me to yet another little green patch, zombie biting experience, or buy my friends experience.

Promoting yourself before you have engaged, joined or built a community This would be like showing up at a social event and pitching yourself to any stranger in the room. This is the classic mass media way of thinking. OK, there’s an audience here, I’ll broadcast a message. Doesn’t work that way out here. You have to bring something to the party, make friends, perform a few favors before you can even think about asking for anything in return. If you come to social media with a traditional media way of thinking you’ll be worse than invisible.

Don’t Fake It — Talk About What You Know Web designer Jeffrey Zeldman talks about web design. That’s it. And, he’s good at it. If you want to know about web design news and info, he’s the king. Literally: Business Week even dubbed him the “ King of Web Standards .” Zeldman’s example teaches us that transparency is about being who you are. Talk about the things you know and can do well. You can actually enhance your personal/company brand by sticking to what you know. Then make sure you have a list of go-to people or lifelines that specialize in related areas. For example, I’m a human resources consultant. I’m not an employee benefits consultant. So, when my clients ask about employee benefits, I refer people to one of my colleagues. This makes me look good, because I’m not trying to be something I’m not, and my clients get the right services and information they need. http://mashable.com/2009/09/30/business-transparency/

Imagine a consumer, that is both a Facebook fan and Twitter user, discovers the brand Facebook page. If the page doesn’t cite the brand’s Twitter account, this would be considered a lost social conversion. You didn’t convert the consumer into a Twitter follower because they didn’t know it exists. Giving consumers multiple ways to connect with the brand increase the likelihood that they will.

Think of social media as something you do every single day. Social media is 24/7/365. Be there or be square.

Understand prime tweet hours for conversations and traffic Recommended Prime Tweet Hours : Twitter has replaced the morning email time for some. Between 7:30 A.M. to 10:00 A.M. EST Mon. - Fri. most twitter users are at work, reading tweets, tweeting, checking rss feeds and sharing information. However, this can vary when it comes to your followers and followings.

Google Alerts and search.twitter.com and Tweetdeck are your friends. Track your reputation online.

One of the forgotten, yet most important aspect of social media is to have fun . Brands forget that they’re engaging consumers, talking to them instead of broadcasting a message. By having a good time yourself and staying upbeat, consumers enjoy interacting with you. The brand must set the mood for the engagement, just like in offline relationships, online consumers will take cues from the brand on how the interaction should occur.

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Pinpointing A Moving Target: Doing Social Media So It Matters - Presentation Transcript

Pinpointing Effective Social Media Doing Social Media So It Matters Laura Solomon Library Services Manager OPLIN
Today we’re covering:
- What can you get out of social media?
- Before you start
- Understand who’s out there
- Sharing effectively
- How to FAIL at social media
- Other things on the “To Do” list
- Questions
What will you get out of it? ?
Grow supporters organically
Identify your biggest supporters
Stay current with your fans
Before you get started…
Be realistic
Understand what social media really means for your library
Set goals
Understand who’s getting the message
- List five-year goals.
- State specific, measurable objectives for achieving your five-year goals.
Help them look good
They’re busy
It takes two two
Share well
- Summarize the risks of the proposed project and how they will be addressed.
- Estimate expected rewards, particularly if you are seeking funding.
Share the good stuff
Share diversely
Karma counts
Share promptly
How to fail at social media
Leave blank spots
Sit idle
Exemplify narcissism
Clean up the apps
The biggest mistake
Other items to do
Be authentic
Link your profiles
It’s a daily task
Know when prime time is
Monitor
Be human
Have fun
Questions?
- [email_address]
- http://www.oplin.org/meanlaura
- http://www.facebook.com/laurasolomon
- http://www.twitter.com/laurasolomon