Social Media:
For Your Business
Sarah Evans
Sevans Strategy
sarah@sevansstrategy.com
Twitter: PRsarahevans
Skype: Prsarahevans
AIM: Prsarahevans
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/prsarahevans

CAUTION: You may feel overwhelmed.
(that’s okay)

Online Communities & Social Media
• Social networking (i.e. Twitter, Facebook)
• Social bookmarking (i.e. Digg, Delicious)
• Broadband content
• Gaming (i.e. video games, entertainment)
• Blogs (i.e. Wordpress, Blogger, TypePad)
• Consumer generated media
• Mobile content or gaming access
• Wikis (i.e. Wikipedia)
• Video sharing (i.e. YouTube)
• Photo sharing (i.e. Flickr, Photobucket)
• Presentation sharing (i.e. Slideshare, Scribd)

Social Media (the social part)
• YouTube - More than 100M video uploads, daily
• Facebook -200M active users
• Twitter -3 million + posts per day
• Blogs - 133M indexed by Technorati since 2002
• News bookmarking sites -“regular” people shaping
news THEY deem important (e.g. Digg, Delicious)
Every major social network has developed a
mobile component (original basis for Twitter)

It’s not joining
Twitter and Facebook.

Going online means an
integrated approach.
• Media strategies
– Talking to reporters via social networking sites
– Reading, commenting and monitoring news
articles and blogs
• TIP: When posting include your name, email address,
Web site, Twitter ID, etc. in your comment
• Builds your visibility
• Determines prominence of an article
• Marketing strategies
– Facebook ads
– Google Sponsored Links

It’s ANOTHER
tool

So, what are they all “doing” out there?
(Remember, it’s the social part.)
• Instantaneous • Want it now
• Conversation • Let’s chat/sharing
• Community • I’m a part of something
• Transparency • Putting it out there
• Listen • Someone heard me
• Participatory • Join in/make friends
• Monitor • Find others like me
• Respond • Follow up

What are you doing out there?
making your business or
brand more personal.
Connecting on a new
level.

• Customer
support forums
• ID E A S T O R
M (grew out of
negative response)
• Blogs
• Community
driven ratings
and reviews

• @ScottMonty
• Drilled down to
w h e r e their
audience is
• Easily “shareable”

CDC – Swine Flu
• #SwineFlu
• Message
• Engage
• Monitor
• Promote

How are you going to use
social media?

Your plan s tarts he re .
• Who are you/your brand?
– Connector: knows lots of people
– Maven: trusted expert who seeks to pass
knowledge along
– Salesman: charismatic people skills with
powerful negotiation skills
• Who do you want to communicate with?
– Clients, like-minded people, friends
• What are you looking to gain?
– Increased brand visibility, build a large network

W h o is g o in g t o b e
“ yo u r” fa c e ?
W h a t is g o in g t o b e
“ y o u r ” v o ic e ?
• Do you have a beloved leader or employee
already identified with your brand?
• Online name and imagery
• Make sure your presence is sustainable
– If this person(s) went away tomorrow would your online
presence remain?
• Likeable and rational
• “Gets” social media
• Communications/PR background (if appropriate)

Id e n t it y : C o lo n e l T r ib u n e
“Humanization of the Tribune and engaging bloggers/readers
in their territory on their terms.” Facebook
Twitter
Tribune.com flickr

What are your
C O N V ROERRe turn on Eng ag eN ntgoals?
Think E – S A T IO me
• Incoming traffic from links
• Number of people subscribed to RSS
• Track backs or linked conversations
• Comments
• Increase in anything
• Survey

What tools are you going to use?

It’s going to…
• Take time
(building a following doesn’t happen overnight)
• Require you to be “social”
(it’s not a one-way street, listening is valued)
• Mean integrating traditional with the “new”
(social media isn’t a magic pill)
• Encourage you to look internally, too
(happy employees can share some of the best stories)
• Have a learning curve
(you may make mistakes, quality not quantity)

New communication cycle

W h o is
t a lk in g
?