Intro Social Media for Small Business

Introduction to Using Social Media in Small Business
Anne Mims Adrian
blog.anneadrian.com
aadrian@auburn.edu
July 15, 2009

“Today, if you're not staying current with Web 2.0 technologies' impact on business, then you're just not staying current. Period.”Sarah Perez of ReadWriteWeb
flickr.com/photos/rambleon/2384382498/in/set-72157604099911780/

Where to begin? Pick 1, 2, or 3.

Social media is not about tools & technology
flickr.com/photos/nycarthur/2489426482/

Social Media
Online technologies and practices that people use to share opinions, insights, experiences, and perspectives with eachother.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social media

Wikipedia
75,000- active contributors
13 million– number of articles contributors have worked on
thefuturebuzz.com/2009/01/12/social-media-web-20-internet-numbers-stats/
49 Amazing Social Media, Web 2.0 And Internet Stats
& thefuturebuzz.com/2009/07/10/future-marketing-trends/
Future Marketing Trends – By The Numbers

Wikipedia
~57 million 2008monthly visitors
~65 million 2009 monthly visitors

YouTube
70 million– videos (March 2008)
95.4 million – videos (May 2009)

Blogosphere
346 million– people read blogs (comScore March 2008)
900,000 - average number of blog posts in a 24 hour period
77% - active Internet users read blogs

1 trillion- unique URLs in Google’s index

Facebook
200 millionactive users
blog.facebook.com/blog.php?post=72353897130

Facebook
Facebook is the largest social networking site, passing MySpace in 2008
www.mashable.com

Facebook
Women older than 55 make up the fastest-growing age group on Facebook
cnn.com/2009/TECH/04/13/social.network.older/

Twitter stats
3 million- Tweets/day (March 2008)
Tuesday – most popular day
Wednesday – close 2nd popular day
techcrunch.com/2008/04/29/end-of-speculation-the-real-twitter-usage-numbers/
sysomos.com/insidetwitter/Inside Twitter An In-Depth Look Inside the Twitter World

Twitter stats
2.62 billion- number of Tweets as July 14, 2009
Twitter is the fastest growing (752% increase in 2008!)
http://popacular.com/gigatweet/
www.mashable.com

What is the point?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/skipnclick/2945026921/

Go where the people are
flickr.com/photos/mcgarry/111003432/

Listen
flickr.com/photos/joyoflife/23724427/

Google Alerts
What is being said on the webgoogle.com/alerts

Know what people are saying search.twitter.com/
Twitter Searches

Connect & build relationships

Try Explore LearnParticipate by DOING
flickr.com/photos/aafromaa/3027002824/in/set-72157608631840641/

Define your goals
blog.k1v1n.com/2008/10/defining-freerange-enterprise.html
flickr.com/photos/tomoski/2688883653/

Facebook’s strength
lies in its ability to help people connect and stay connected.
(www.iconspedia.com , Jeremy Roux)

Create an accountwww.facebook.com
Add friends (Must have friends to connect, converse, learn and have fun).
Search Facebook for high school and college peers and by location.

Facebook

Facebook lists
Divide friends into categories

Facebook privacy
Is a relatively “closed” network, BUT:
Adjust privacy settings.
Anything electronic is portable. (Nothing electronically is entirely private, i.e. copy and paste works for everyone).

Facebook pages and groups
Groups interaction or discussion (planning high school class reunion).
Pages usually for an organization.
much like an individual’s account.

Facebook group

Facebook page

Facebook pages
Create as a stand-alone account and then assign administrators (who must have their own login accounts, i.e. individual accounts).
OR
Create from your individual account, making your account the page owner.
Do NOT let an employee create a page from their individual account without making more than one trusted, senior associate or owner an admin for that page.

Facebook pages
Those who follow a page are “fans”—not “friends”.
Page administrator does not see individuals’ updates, only what theycommenton your page updates or write on your wall.
Change settings for what areas of your page your fans can write on.
Promoteyour page to your friends, get others to share it, put a badge on your website, and/or buy paid ads in Facebook.

Example Facebook badge

Facebook advertisements

Facebook pages
Update to a page fairly frequently without annoying fans.
Page fans are most likely to be strong acquaintances, customers, and others with a strong feeling about your organization.

Twitter
Started in 2006.
Based on the architecture of SMS (text) messages.
Messages are 140 characters or less, generally visible by anyone.
Jack Dorsey, twitter founder (www.wikipedia.com)

Twitter
Updates public by default.
Play around and learn on your own.
Only a loose “network”. Those you “follow” don’t necessarily follow you back and vice versa.

What is the point?

Twitter
Twitter is great for …
searching
listening
conversing
…to large groups of people you may not know in small sound bites.
(www.iconspedia.com , Jeremy Roux)

Twitter
Keep up with friends, customers, potential customers and news.
Learn.
Followconsumer brands and competitors.
Facilitatefeedback to brands, media and celebrities.
Ask questions.
Answer questions.
Converse in the small sound bites.
It’s fast!

Twitter search
Very fast – are close to real time.
Use twitter search to find out what people are “buzzing” about.
Trending topics shows the most popular keywords appearing in the Twitter timeline
Click on a keyword to get a refreshable timeline.

Create a Twitter account www.twitter.com
Account comes pre-populated with some others you’ll be following – feel free to unfollow any of those.
Make some updates before adding people.

Twitter
Those you follow will get a message that you are following them. And likely they will:
Look at your ratio of “followers” to “following”.
Read some of your posts.
Look at your biographical info.
Then decide whether to follow you or not.
Unlike Facebook, it’s acceptable to follow people you’ve never heard of.

Twitter
Following is notnecessarily reciprocal.
Don’t be offended and don’t feel obligated.
Avoid spam/”robot” twitter accounts by not following them and block them.
My personal rule of thumb, I don’t block anyone who seems like a real person – what’s the point? (but “to each his own”)

Twitter
Twitter is very open.
Don’t post anything sensitive at all.
Anyone in the world can read it; searches will find your messages.

Twitter
Set up an organizational account like an individual account.
There are no “admin” account settings; use a company e-mail or a free web account, not an employee’s personal account.

Twitter
#tags facilitate search.

Twitter @ replies
Indicate a reply or a reference to someone.
Create a sort of “conversation”.

Twitter @ replies
Make your message show up in a special kind of search by user.
Creates a sort of ‘conversation”.

Twitter @ replies
Make your message show up in a special kind of search by user.
Creates a sort of ‘conversation”

Twitter direct messages
Are private (still electronic).
Must be following each other to send them.

Example of effective use

Example of spam account

Twitter applications
Use different applications to keep the flow in small bits through out day and on different devices.
Send and receive SMS (text messages).
iPhone and other mobile phone apps
uberTwitter
Tiny Twitter
Tweetie
Mobile browser version

3rd Party desktop applications
Tweetdeck
Twhirl
Tweetie
(There are many and more keep getting developed so this list will change).

Twitter tips for business
Push Twitter updates to Page or Status updates

Integration of communities
Twitter Facebook LinkedIn

Local Twitter examples
Sandy Toomers
twitter.com/toomerscoffee
Heath Cates
twitter.com/heathcates

Other considerations
Example your web page.
Do you offer ways for people to keep up with information about products and services?
Do you have ways for customers to comment?
Is your web information mobile accessible?
Look for other groups, forums, social networks that are being used by your customers.

Collaborate smarter

Sharing

Blogs & Microblogs

Podcasts
flickr.com/jschneid

Instant Messaging

Feed (RSS) Readers

Texting
flickr.com/jswaby

What is the point?

Choose the right tool.
flickr.com/photos/geishaboy500/100043823/

Google me
Anne Adrian
blog.anneadrian.com
aadrian@auburn.edu
Twitter: aafromaa
delicious: aafromaa
AIM: aafromaa
Slideshare: aafromaa
Flickr: aafromaa
YouTube: aafromaa

Resources
Social Media Marketing Guide. How To Use Twitter, Facebook, YouTube And MySpace To Grow Your Internet Marketing Business
small-business-articles.com/social-media-marketing-guide-how-to-use-twitter-facebook-youtube-and-myspace-to-grow-your-internet-marketing-business/
Ohio Farm Bureau Social Media Guide ofbf.org/uploads/social-media-guide.pdf
10 Privacy Settings Every Facebook User Should Know
http://www.allfacebook.com/2009/02/facebook-privacy/

Resources
How to Use Twitter for Business flyte.biz/resources/newsletters/08/06-twitter-for-business.php
Twitter Guide: How to, Tips, and Instructions mashable.com/guidebook/twitter/
Deciding who to follow in Twitter (and Friendfeed) and who to friend in Facebook
blog.anneadrian.com/2009/07/decide-who-to-follow-in-twitter-and.html

Resources
RSS in Plain English, a video introduction to using news readers from Common Craft commoncraft.com/rss_plain_english
Use a newsreaderblog.anneadrian.com/2007/05/how-to-use-news-reader.html

Resources
Clay Shirky "It's not information overload. It's filter failure" at Web 2.0 Expo NY web2expo.blip.tv/file/1277460/
Not information overload--filter failure blog.anneadrian.com/2008/10/not-information-overload-filter-failure.html
Misconception about web technologies blog.anneadrian.com/2009/06/misconception-about-web-technologies_26.html

Resources
Engaging Communities on their on Turf: Secrets of Social networkers hconnect.extension.iastate.edu/p79426457/
Feeding FrenzyeXtension 30-Minute recording by Beth Raney, connect.extension.iastate.edu/p51525211/
Beginner’s Guide to Social Media in Extension
collaborate.extension.org/wiki/Beginners_Guide_to_Social_Media_in_Extension

Resources
Poscente, Vince. The Age of Speed.
Aral, Sinan and Van Alstyne, Marshall W., "Network Structure & Information Advantage: Structural Determinants of Access to Novel Information and Their Performance Implications" (January 18, 2007). Available at SSRN: ssrn.com/abstract=958158
Hampton, K. (2002). Place-based and IT mediated “community.” Planning Theory and Practice, 3(2), 228-23.
Hampton, K. & Wellman, B. (2003). Neighboring in Netville: How the Internet supports community and social capital in a wired suburb. City and Community, 2(4), 277-311.
Ellison, N. B. Steinfield, C., and Lampe, C. (2007). The benefits of Facebook “friends”: Social capital and college students’ use of online social network sites. Journal of Computer Mediation Communication, 12(4), Article 1.

Introduction to Using Social Media in Small BusinessJuly 15, 2009
Anne Mims Adrian, PhD
Alabama Cooperative Extension System at Auburn University
aadrian@auburn.edu
blog.anneadrian.com
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 United States License. To view a copy of this license, visit creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/us/or send a letter to Creative Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA.

Intro Social Media for Small Business

by Anne Adrian

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