SocialMedia.ie eBook 2012

Table of Contents PageIntroduction 3Authors 3Social Media Mashup 5Facebook 8Twitter 10LinkedIn 12Business Blogging 15Mobile Media 17Digital Video 19Online PR 21Social Events 23Social Media Tribes 25Strategy 27 © SocialMedia.ie Your Social Media Partner +353 (1) 804 4746 / team@socialmedia.ie 2

IntroductionSocialMedia.ie is a specialist social media business based in Dublin, Ireland. Weprovide a full range of services including training; consulting; campaigns; socialmedia management; blog and website design; and digital content development.This new eBook is a compilation of SocialMedia.ie’s article for the Institute ofDirectors in January 2012 and our ten article social media series in the SundayBusiness Post towards the end of 2011.AuthorsThe Social Media eBook 2012 was written by Conor Lynch, Cian Corbett andFiona Pope.Conor LynchConor Lynch is founder and managing director of SocialMedia.ie. He has over 12years online marketing experience gained while working in Asia Pacific, US, UKand Ireland with a wide range of companies including start-ups, SMEs and globalbrands.Conor has worked in most industry sectors on award winning projects for brandslike Vodafone, Nokia, Coca-Cola, Guinness, Toyota, Canon, Glanbia and muchmore. Conor has worked in senior roles at RaboDirect, Cybercom andeighty:twenty interactive. Industry recognition includes -2011 – Winner Irish Internet Association’s Award for ‘Best Use of Social Media’2011 – Judge in the Irish Social Media Awards2011 – Judge in the eircom Junior Spiders2010/11 – Judge in ’The Appys’ mobile application awards2010 – Chair of the IIA’s ‘Social Media Working Group’2005 – Winner IIA Award for ‘Internet Marketer of the Year’He graduated with an honours degree in Marketing, gaining the award ofAdvanced Diploma in Marketing Techniques (DIT) and B.Sc. (Mgmt) award fromTrinity College Dublin. He continued his studies at the UCD Michael SmurfitGraduate Business School, obtaining a Post Graduate Diploma in MarketingPractice. © SocialMedia.ie Your Social Media Partner +353 (1) 804 4746 / team@socialmedia.ie 3

Cian CorbettCian Corbett is social media trainer and strategist with a Marketing Degree andrecently graduated with a Masters in Marketing from DCU. Cian was a marketinglecturer for undergraduate students for the year in DCU.The Cork native has considerable experience in digital marketing having runcampaigns on behalf of clients as diverse as Sage, Fáilte Ireland and performerJack L. Cian has previous sales experience as a Business DevelopmentRepresentative with Diageo & O2.Outside of the business world he can be seen playing piano for The Frank andWalters band and hosting The Cork Music Show on Cork FM.Fiona PopeFiona Pope is a junior social media manger with a BSc in Business andManagement from DIT. Specialising in marketing, Fiona aimed her studies on theuse of social media as a marketing tool.She has worked in sales for Avon Cosmetics and more recently as a marketingand events assistant for The Social Media Academy in London. During her time inLondon she assisted in running social media events with delegates attendingfrom brands such as Royal Mail, Disney, Hilton and Kelloggs. © SocialMedia.ie Your Social Media Partner +353 (1) 804 4746 / team@socialmedia.ie 4

SOCIAL MEDIA MASHUP - 12 THINGS NOT TO LEAVE BEHIND IN 2012Social media is about people having online & offline conversations utilising user-generated content (UGC). Social media is online social interaction usingcomputers & mobile phones to turn person to person communication intointeractive open dialogues. Social media can take many different forms,including social networks, internet forums, blogs, micro-blogs, wikis, podcasts,digital photos & videos, gaming, customer ratings and social bookmarking.1. FacebookFacebook is a social phenomenon unlike any before it. An incredible 800 millionpeople around the world use the site regularly, creating a world of opportunitiesfor small businesses to build an online community and engage with potentialcustomers.2. TwitterTwitter is a micro-blogging service where you can communicate and stayconnected with the online conversation. These short messages are called“Tweets” and are composed of 140 characters or less. With over 100 millionactive users, it presents an opportunity for companies to keep up to date withindustry developments, competitor activity as well as interacting with currentand potential customers.3. LinkedInLinkedIn is a business-oriented social networking site. Launched in May 2003, itis the world’s largest professional network. It has over 100 million members in200 countries including 600,000 members in Ireland. LinkedIn manages youronline professional profile, connects you to trusted business contacts and helpsyou exchange knowledge, ideas, and business opportunities with a globalnetwork of professionals.4. BlogsBlogging should be an essential component of your social media strategy. Withalmost 182 million blogs worldwide, the size and scale of the bloggingphenomenon has resulted in it becoming a consumer communications channelthat cannot be ignored. Blogs give you and your company a way to create andsustain a relationship with your customers based on regular communication.There are many platforms available to develop a blog. The top bloggingplatforms include WordPress, Blogger, Tumblr, Movable Type and Posterous. © SocialMedia.ie Your Social Media Partner +353 (1) 804 4746 / team@socialmedia.ie 5

5. Mobile MediaMobile media is the portability of media through devices such as smart phones,iPods, iPads and eBooks. Media such as music, videos, games and photos canbe downloaded onto the device using applications or it can be streamed over theinternet. Mobile marketing is becoming an important aspect of social media as itenables organisations to communicate and engage with consumers in aninteractive manner through any mobile device.6. Digital VideoDigital videos are extremely engaging and can often be more effective than textin explaining what you are trying to get across to an audience. Ireland has beenslow in the uptake of creating digital video content so building a video presenceonline today will be a great way to stand out from your competition.There are 5 reasons to use digital video to market your business: 1. The Internet is going video 2. Your consumers prefer video 3. Video is cost effective 4. Video is social 5. Video creates emotion7. Google+Launched in June 2011, Google+ is a social networking service operated byGoogle. The social network was relatively slow to take off as an invitation to joinwas needed. Now open to everyone, Google + has an estimated 62 millionusers and is expected to reach 400 million users by the end of 2012. Creating aGoogle+ business page allows your business to further develop its onlinecommunity.8. Social EventsIt is becoming increasingly popular to promote an event through various socialspaces. In 2009, there were 3 million events on Facebook every month and nowonly 5% of participants are not using social media to promote their event.According to a survey by Amiando, more than 80% of event hosts are usingFacebook to promote their event with 61% using Twitter as a promotional tool.9. Photo SharingPhoto sharing websites are used to store and share photos. When photos areuploaded to a photo sharing site, they are stored on the server and madeavailable to friends and family via personal web pages. Ofoto was the first photosharing website which was acquired by Kodak and renamed Kodak EasyShareGallery. Today there are many photo sharing websites available including Flickr,Instagram, Photobucket, Picasa and Shutterfly. © SocialMedia.ie Your Social Media Partner +353 (1) 804 4746 / team@socialmedia.ie 6

10. Influence Measurement ToolsAlong with the growth of Twitter comes the growth of influence measurementtools. These tools help personal and corporate brands capture how influentialthey are online, while spotting the key influencers in their industry. The morepopular influence measurement tools are Klout and PeerIndex. However, noneof these sites is perfect or complete yet and it is likely that more tools will enterthe market over the coming years.11. Social Media Monitoring ToolsSocial Media has the ability to facilitate and encourage brand conversations,capture research data, engage with customers and develop relationships. Withthese capabilities and data resources available, brands now have the potential toget closer to their customers than they have ever been before. Brandconversations occur on social media platforms every minute of every day drivingthe need for social media monitoring tools. The top social media monitoringtools include Radian6, HooteSuite, TweetDeck, Alterian SM2, Lithium andCrowdBooster.12. StrategySocial media can help your company to develop deeper relationships with yourcustomers and potential customers. However, it is vitally important that there isa social media marketing strategy in place. Without this, a company willstruggle to implement social media effectively.Our team use our own unique strategy framework called the “SocialMedia.ie10C’s Strategy Model”. The aim of our strategy model is to develop onlinemarketing strategies to help companies attract and retain clients via theirwebsite, email marketing, social networking and blogging. This step-by-stepplanning model includes C’s such as Concepts, Content, Connections andConversion.ConclusionSocial Media has been around for five years and its influence is growing. Makesure you become a social media expert in 2012! © SocialMedia.ie Your Social Media Partner +353 (1) 804 4746 / team@socialmedia.ie 7

FACEBOOKFacebook is a social phenomenon unlike any before it. An incredible 750 millionpeople around the world use the site regularly, creating a world of opportunitiesfor small businesses to meet and engage with potential customers.To get your business started on Facebook, you need to: 1. Set up a personal page 2. Create a business pageIt can be easy to confuse a personal page with a business page. To differentiatebetween the two, bear in mind that a personal page will have a +1 Add Friendbox at the top, while a business page will have a Like box at the top.To create a page, log on to http:www.facebook.com/pages/create.php. You willautomatically become the administrator of the page, but you will also have theoption of making other users administrators once they have become fans of thepage.When you, as the administrator, write on the wall of your page, your post willappear as though it is the business itself speaking. Comments from non-administrators will appear with their personal profiles.BrandingBranding your business page is important and you should treat it as you wouldyour official website. You can register your Facebook address to include yourbusiness name -- for example www.Facebook.com/socialmedia.ie.This facility is available to all businesses once they register a vanity URL atwww.facebook.com/username.Choose a distinctive picture for your profile and upload further visuals into analbum, featuring along the top of the page, to demonstrate and showcase yourproducts and services.NewsfeedThis is a personalised news stream featuring news from the Facebook friends,groups and businesses you have opted to like. Your aim, as the administratorof your business page, should be to feature as prominently as possible in thenewsfeeds of your target audience. Find ways to actively engage your fans -- beit by using special offers and discounts or entertaining them and making themlaugh. Ideally, you want to ensure they share your content with their friends.ToolkitFacebook has an array of tools available to help businesses build their fanbaseon the site. These include: © SocialMedia.ie Your Social Media Partner +353 (1) 804 4746 / team@socialmedia.ie 8

1. AdsFacebook Ads allows you to use demographic information -- such as age, regionand personal interests -- to target a specific audience.2. InsightsThis gives business page administrators insights into the demographics of theirfan base. Monitoring these insights can play a crucial part in helping to ensureyou are talking to the right audience.3. PlacesThe exponential growth of smartphone technology is driving demand forLocation Based Marketing Strategies. Put simply, this means that customersarriving at your premises can check-in online, letting their friends know exactlywhere they are. Using Facebook Places, you can register your business for theservice and, every time a customer checks-in online, you get free and immediateexposure.4. AppsBusinesses can install Facebook Applications to improve the functionality of theirBusiness Page. These apps can include anything from a welcome page to aFacebook store, embedded videos, blog and twitter feeds, data capture servicesand promotional applications. Here are details on some useful apps forbusinesses.Pagemodo.com -- allows you to redesign Facebook pages for your business. Itis free to create, but does have a Pagemodo footer on the page, which can beremoved at a yearly cost of $20.Involver.com -- offers a comprehensive range of free and professional tabs forFacebook business pages, including YouTube, Twitter and Flickr plus on pageservices, such as RSS feeds, sign-up, coupons, gifts, promotion gallery and storelocator.Northsocial.com -- offers a bundle of applications, such as competitions, sign-up, shop and many more.Constantcontact.com -- allows you to maintain regular contact with yourcustomers and clients using targeted e-mail newsletters, invites to offline eventsand online surveys.StrategyWe recommend integrating all of your digital media channels.You can use both websites and blogs to drive traffic and fans to a Facebookbusiness page by installing a Facebook Connect "Like Box". This willautomatically update your Facebook profile and appear in your friendsnewsfeeds. © SocialMedia.ie Your Social Media Partner +353 (1) 804 4746 / team@socialmedia.ie 9

TWITTERTwitter is a micro-blogging service where you can communicate and stayconnected with customers through the exchange of short and frequentmessages. These messages are called “Tweets” and are composed of 140characters or less. With over 100 million active users, it presents an opportunityfor companies to keep up to date with industry developments, competitoractivity as well as interacting with current and potential customers.Setting up a Twitter account is an extremely easy process. To get your businessstarted on Twitter all you need to do is go to http://twitter.com, click the sign upbutton and enter your details. When signing up, a shorter name is ideal due tothe 140 character restriction when someone is “Tweeting” to you.Followers:Once you have created your account you can start building your profile byfollowing people and other companies. Define your Twitter media strategy byfirst searching, following and evaluating existing Twitter content that is bestaligned with your business and online marketing objectives. Follow the keyinfluencers in your industry, your competition, your business partners, yourcustomers and new potential contacts and sales leads. Many Twitter users willfollow you back once you start following them.Tweeting:By tweeting a particular person or company, you can raise the number of peopleyour profile is visible to. Place the “@” sign before the person’s Twitter name topublicly post them a message such as @socialmedia_ie. When you Tweet aperson, you are making yourself visible to a wider community and canpotentially gain new followers.A Direct Message (DM) is a private message sent via Twitter to one of yourfollowers. You can only send a direct message to those who are following you.This is the only way to have a private conversation on Twitter, as Tweets can beviewed by anyone.RT stands for “Re-Tweet”. Retweeting is when you re-post other people’scontent to your Twitter network of followers. This is a great way to enhanceyour reputation by associating yourself with relevant content and information.By retweeting other users content, they are likely to return the favour for yourTwitter posts which will see your message be communicated to a largercommunity.Hashtags #:Hashtags or “#” is a really useful tool on Twitter that is used to categorise keywords or topics in a Tweet. The # symbol is placed before the keyword – for © SocialMedia.ie Your Social Media Partner +353 (1) 804 4746 / team@socialmedia.ie 10

example #SocialMedia. By clicking on a hashtagged word, you can see all otherTweets in that conversation. The Hashtag ensures that you are following andengaging in the right conversations.Twitter Tools:There are a number of free tools available that make Twitter more user friendly,spot opportunities and minimise your time spent using Twitter. These toolsallow you to measure the impact of your Tweets and other social media updates,monitor who is talking about you and manage your social media activity. Thefive tools that we would recommend are Hootsuite, Tweetdeck, Pluggio,Socialoomph and Twitterfall.Tips: 1. Integrate all marketing efforts – integrate your Twitter account with traditional media and other social media sites to make your company visible to more people interacting online. 2. Be interesting – it is important to make your Tweets exciting and to post photographs and videos to keep your followers interested. If your Tweets are boring, there is a risk of losing key followers. 3. Engage Communities – it is important to listen to the Twitter community to discover what is being said about your brand online. This will enable you to effectively engage in the conversations. 4. Don’t Spam - spammers don’t survive long on Twitter as they don’t build followers and those that do follow them will quickly change their mind and decide not to follow them any more. Spam, on Twitter, usually consists of a company constantly tweeting to promote its brand. While companies can promote their brand, it should not be all the time. 5. Don’t use poor grammar or spelling - In order to gain as many followers as possible, businesses need to ensure that they write in the correct manner. Twitter is not like sending a text, therefore you should spell each word correctly and not use abbreviations.This week Twitter announced the launch of a Twitter analytics which will be ofgreat benefits to business users. © SocialMedia.ie Your Social Media Partner +353 (1) 804 4746 / team@socialmedia.ie 11

LINKEDINMake the right business connectionsLinkedIn is a business-oriented social networking site. Launched in May 2003, itis the world’s largest professional network with over 100 million members in 200countries. LinkedIn manages your online professional profile, connects you totrusted business contacts and helps you exchange knowledge, ideas, andbusiness opportunities with a global network of professionals.Getting Started 1. Log onto www.LinkedIn.com and select the JOIN TODAY option 2. Complete your name, email & password to create your account 3. Build your profile completing all the relevant sections 4. Connect with your contacts and develop your LinkedIn network 5. Get active, keep your profile up-to-date and utilise LinkedIn’s social media features such as the “Network Activity” section.Optimising Your Profile1. Make sure your profile is 100% complete. Upload a professional, business style photograph and a well written biography. Spend time writing your LinkedIn summary section. Make sure it clearly explains what you do and highlights your experience. Ensure that it will attract the attention of your prospective contacts & potential customers and makes you stand out above your competition.2. Create a unique LinkedIn URL and add it to your business cards and email signature, for example, http://ie.LinkedIn.com/in/conorlynch.3. Add links from your Facebook, Twitter, Blog and web spaces to your LinkedIn profile.4. Every time you update your status on LinkedIn it shows up on your connections newsfeed. Relevant updates can ensure that you will not be forgotten by your connections.5. Transfer your offline business contacts to your online LinkedIn database. Update every relevant business card you receive. Make time each week to connect with new contacts on LinkedIn.6. Build up a number of quality recommendations. Ask every satisfied customer or client to recommend you.LinkedIn ApplicationsThere are many applications on LinkedIn that you can leverage to get moreattention, traffic and brand awareness. To add these applications click the‘More’ button and then ‘Get More Applications’. Three top applications to use areas follows: © SocialMedia.ie Your Social Media Partner +353 (1) 804 4746 / team@socialmedia.ie 12

1. WordPress Blog - Link your blog to your LinkedIn profile. Blogging about your market, your products and services or sharing research insights will not only strengthen your profile but it will also help drive more traffic to your website. 2. Slideshare - SlideShare is the world’s largest community for sharing presentations. Through this application, you can share presentations & documents with your LinkedIn network. 3. Twitter – Tweets is a Twitter client that you can use on LinkedIn. Through this application you can access the most important parts of the professional conversation. You can also display your most recent tweets on your LinkedIn profile while having instant access to the updates of people you are following on Twitter and the power to tweet, reply, and retweet.LinkedIn GroupsJoin and participate in LinkedIn Groups. For example, if you are selling servicesto IT managers, use LinkedIn to find relevant Groups in that category. You willnever get noticed unless you participate in the group. Start discussions, shareyour blog posts, ask questions and comment on other people’s posts.Demonstrate your capabilities and experience by answering questions posted inthe group. Standout as an industry expert and showcase your expertise.LinkedIn CompaniesCreate your own company profile and showcase your products and services.Click on the COMPANIES button in the main menu. Rename the “My Company”section to the name of your company, e.g. socialmedia.ie. You can also embedyour Blog and Twitter feeds into your company page which helps build yourfollowers.Search for and follow LinkedIn Companies relevant to your industry sector. Tofollow a company simply visit their LinkedIn profile and click the ‘follow’ button.Once you have done so, you will receive updates regarding recent hires andpromotions, new job opportunities and company profile updates.LinkedIn AdsLinkedIn Ads are performance based advertising which you can set up to targetusers of LinkedIn based on their user profiles. Set your daily budgets and whoyou want to reach, upload an image and text and start your campaign. Youshould monitor the activity and optimise the ads you set up based on yourobjectives.What not to doToo many updates can have a negative effect and may irritate the very peopleyou are hoping to impress. The general rule of thumb for updating your profile isanytime you feel you can add value by rewording or adding more information, © SocialMedia.ie Your Social Media Partner +353 (1) 804 4746 / team@socialmedia.ie 13

for example, posting a recent PowerPoint presentation using Slideshare.Making connections offlineRemember you can use LinkedIn to find business events in your area so you canmake offline connections in the real world! © SocialMedia.ie Your Social Media Partner +353 (1) 804 4746 / team@socialmedia.ie 14

BUSINESS BLOGGINGBlogging should be an essential component of your social media strategy. Withalmost 173 million blogs worldwide, the size and scale of the bloggingphenomenon has resulted in it becoming a consumer communications channelthat cannot be ignored. Blogs give you and your company a way to create andsustain a relationship with your customers based on regular communication.What is a Blog?A Blog (short for web log) was originally a personal online journal by opinionatedwriters/bloggers which were frequently updated and open to anyone on theinternet to read.A typical blog combines text, images, video and links to other blogs, websitesand other on-line media related to its topic. Blogs are often arranged in reversechronological order from the most recent blog ‘post’ (or ‘entry’) appearing at thetop of the web page.Blogging creates new and updated content for your website which will improveyour overall search engine marketing by providing Google with material topresent in search engine results. This will drive more traffic to your website orsocial spaces.As Blogs are designed to have user friendly content management systems(CMS), they have now been adopted by web designers as a platform for buildingentire web sites.Getting StartedIdeally your blog should sit on your website, for example,http://www.socialmedia.ie. However when starting your blog it may be an ideato experiment with a separate blog first containing URL links to your website.More and more websites are being built using easy to update blogging platformslike WordPress, Blogger and Tumblr.If you are designing & building a new website, we advise incorporating a blogfrom the outset. Alternatively a blog can be added to your existing website.What to blog about?Ok, so now you are ready to blog, what are you going to write about? We adviseyou look at your target market or audience and think about what interests them.What interesting angle can you come up with that can also include your productsor services?On SocialMedia.ie we regularly give away free advice to readers in the form ofblogs and eBooks to demonstrate our expertise. What do you want your readers © SocialMedia.ie Your Social Media Partner +353 (1) 804 4746 / team@socialmedia.ie 15

to see you as an expert in?You can add in content from other sources like YouTube, Slideshare and Twitterso you have a nice mix of multi-media content on your blog.Blogging TipsBusiness blogging is growing fast and here are some tips - 1. Be authentic - Blogs are built on the principal of authenticity and honesty and should not be used to just push marketing messages onto customers. 2. Regularly update your blog - Be consistent and commit to a minimum number of posts per month. The more you update your blog, the more traffic you will get from search engines and social media. 3. Engage customers - Encourage readers to join in the conversation on your blog posts, listen to what they have to say and reply to them. 4. Monitor competitor activity – use the blogosphere to monitor what your competitors are doing and what their customers think of them.Promoting your Blog 1. Allow sharing your posts. To do this use the “Share” button at the bottom of your Blog page to link your post to LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. This will make your blog visible to more people. 2. Add your blogs RSS feed to your LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter accounts and add URL links back to your social media sites on your blog. 3. Add relevant tags (keywords) to your blog posts to make it easier for Google to find your content. 4. Include a link to your latest blog post on your email signature. 5. Use your company newsletters and emails to link to your blog posts. 6. Read other blogs - Follow, participate and comment on other 3rd party blogs and discussion boards as these are great ways to get your name out there. © SocialMedia.ie Your Social Media Partner +353 (1) 804 4746 / team@socialmedia.ie 16

MOBILE MEDIASocial media is about people communicating online and offline using theinternet. The phenomenal growth in smartphone adoption has been matched bythe explosive growth of social networks like Facebook.Today, many of us are using smart phones for a multitude of tasks as they areconstantly connected to the internet and with us everywhere we go. Modernmobile phones are used for accessing information and entertainment online andeven making the odd phone call!While out and about many consumers are sharing their good and badexperiences of products and services they encounter. Social media is thereforeessential for businesses as 90% of people trust product/servicerecommendations from people they know opposed to 14% trusting advertising.Whether you are a business professional or a business owner, if you’re not usingsocial media and mobile media youre in danger of being left behind.What is mobile media?Mobile media is the portability of media through devices such as smart phones,iPods, iPads and eBooks. Media such as music, videos, games and photos canbe downloaded onto the device using applications or it can be streamed over theinternet. Mobile marketing is becoming an important aspect of social media as itenables organizations to communicate and engage with consumers in aninteractive manner through any mobile device.In Ireland around 700,000 people use the internet on their phone andcollectively they have downloaded approximately 8 million applications. It isexpected that by 2013, more people will access the internet from mobile devicesthan computers and by 2012 almost 60% of digital advertising worldwide will bedirected to mobile platforms.With statistics like these it is imperative that companies become involved inmobile media.Mobile Applications to Enhance Your BusinessThere are many applications available that businesses can utilise to improvemarketing, increase sales and lower costs - 1. Social networking – There are great applications for popular web sites like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. 2. Digital photos and videos – At its most basic your mobile phone is a great devise for creating high quality digital content like photos and videos for sharing online. Share photographs using Facebook, Instagram or Flickr. 3. QR Codes - QR codes are a two-dimensional version of bar codes that send information to mobile devices using its camera. In order to read the © SocialMedia.ie Your Social Media Partner +353 (1) 804 4746 / team@socialmedia.ie 17

codes, users need a QR reader app which will return the decoded text or web URL. 4. Qik – This is an application that allows you to capture moments on video using your mobile phone that you can share with anyone at anytime. 5. AudioBoo – This app helps users to post and share sound files, known as ‘boos’ to Facebook, Twitter, Posterous, Tumblr and Friendfeed. 6. Wordpress – Use the mobile app to manage your blog as it allows you to stay in touch with your readers by editing posts or replying to comments on the go. 7. Location Based Services (LBS) is a way to send custom advertising and other information to cell-phone subscribers based on their current location. Applications such as Foursquare, Facebook Places and Google Latitude allow you to check-in to your current location for others to see. These applications provide a way for peers to recommend businesses to their friends which carries more weight and trust than expensive advertising campaigns. 8. Augmented Reality (AR) – AR is when you super-impose computer generated content over a live view of the world. An augmented reality application is a combination of the real scene viewed by the user and a virtual scene generated by the computer that augments the scene with additional information. This concept of AR allows you to share content such as photos and videos with your customers while involving them in the process.Create your own mobile appCompanies must have the technology available to enable them to engage withtheir customers in real time across the entire customer life-cycle. Businessesnow have an opportunity to leverage mobile devices and create or use apps toprovide the best customer experience. Mobile apps can create an enrichingcustomer experience while being profitable for their business.Many companies are currently building their own applications for smartphoneslike iPhones and Android devices. So you can develop your own application butcreating a worthwhile app is challenging enough and getting users is an eventougher task. Make sure you have a clear digital strategy before you startinvesting in apps. © SocialMedia.ie Your Social Media Partner +353 (1) 804 4746 / team@socialmedia.ie 18

DIGITAL VIDEODigital videos are extremely engaging and can often be more effective than textin explaining what you are trying to get across to an audience. Ireland has beenslow in the uptake of creating digital video content so building a video presenceonline today will be a great way to stand out from your competition.YouTubeYouTube is a video service that was founded in 2005. Google was quick to spotits potential and acquired the company in 2006 for $1.65 billion. YouTube is theworlds most popular online video community, allowing millions of people todiscover, watch and share originally-created videos. After Google, YouTube isthe second largest search engine on the web.With 3 billion daily views and 48 hours of video uploaded every minute, it is easyto believe experts when they say that virtually every Internet user has visitedYouTube at least once. YouTube is quickly positioning itself as a social mediamarketing site for businesses as it allows them to create viral videos that canspread around the world in seconds.5 Reasons to Use Digital Video to Market Your Business 1. THE INTERNET IS GOING VIDEO Digital videos are experiencing explosive growth. It is thought that digital video will account for 50% of all consumer Internet traffic by the end of 2012. The web is rapidly moving from text to video, meaning that small businesses need to adapt for consumers who expect to see video everywhere online. 2. YOUR CONSUMERS PREFER VIDEO Video is much more effective than text as a marketing tool. Nearly 60% of viewers watch video before reading text and they are more likely to make a purchase as a result. 3. VIDEO IS COST EFFECTIVE Video production is extremely affordable! Business owners can buy a quality video camera for approximately €500 and with high quality video functionality on smartphones, you can film your digital content wherever you are. Most computers come equipped with video editing software and smartphone applications allow you to edit you product videos anytime, anywhere. 4. VIDEO IS SOCIAL The Internet is going social and video is quickly becoming extremely popular. Both Google and Facebook have recently launched programmes that allow you to integrate video into social media. By incorporating video into social media you can engage your existing and new consumers by offering resources, sharing your expertise, industry tips, product demonstrations and best practices. In doing so, you can build followers and consumers. © SocialMedia.ie Your Social Media Partner +353 (1) 804 4746 / team@socialmedia.ie 19

5. CREATE EMOTION Digital video captures the marketer’s imagination and can interact and communicate messages of any length to current and potential consumers. Digital video can be used to show your personality and tell your story. You can create a series of digital videos which will bring your audience back for more.Getting Started 1. Write a storyboard for your video shoot 2. Decide who will appear in the video, who will film it and who will edit it. 3. Once the digital video has been made, upload it to video sharing platforms such as YouTube (www.youtube.com), Qik (www.qik.com), Vimeo (www.vimeo.com), Facebook (www.Facebook.com) and Dailymotion (www.dailymotion.com). 4. You can setup a branded YouTube Channel and broadcast your latest vacancies, introduce your team, share the latest industry news and “favourite” relevant 3rd party videos that you think your target audience will watch. Use the embed code to share your videos on as many relevant websites as possible including links from Facebook, Twitter & your Blog. This will help in your quest to you’re your video go viral. YouTube has great analytics so you can monitor who is viewing videos, these can be found under the ‘Insights’ button on your YouTube channel. 5. Broadcast your latest news to the world by streaming “live” on Ustream Broadcast. This video website allows you to send out invitations to your network of contacts before you start broadcasting, field questions via the live Twitter feed and record the show so viewers can watch again at a later date (www.ustream.tv).As is the case with all marketing efforts, your digital video content should beintegrated with your online and offline marketing strategy. Marketing haschanged and it’s time to move beyond text and static pictures. Digital video foryour business? Click play!Watch our latest digital video on www.socialmedia.ie © SocialMedia.ie Your Social Media Partner +353 (1) 804 4746 / team@socialmedia.ie 20

ONLINE PROnline PR sits squarely between PR and Online Marketing as a discipline. OnlinePR involves activities geared towards influencing media, communities andaudiences that exist solely on the Internet using online channels. Offline PRdeals with the same things except with print, radio, TV, conferences/events andother “real life” venues. Online PR requires a mix of social, creative, persuasiveand technical skills.Benefts of Online PR 1. Enhances brand awareness 2. Provides an avenue for improved customer relations by allowing a company to directly engage with individuals interested in their brand or product 3. Provides a platform to communicate information and/or company insights to target audiences 4. Positions a company as an authoritative voice in their industry 5. Increases traffic to a website 6. Contributes to search engine optimisation by generating links back to a website as well as enhancing website authorityResearch Your AudienceIt is vital that you research your target audience. You can do this using: 1. Search engines, i.e. Google 2. Twitter influence tools, i.e. Klout, Peer Index 3. Social networks themselves, i.e. Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube 4. Online monitoring services e.g Radian 6, Market Sentinel 5. Blog search engines e.g. Technorati, Blogpulse, Google blog search 6. Social Media databases e.g. Social Media LibraryCreative ConceptsAt the core of an engaging online PR strategy is creativity. It must be a newidea and be sufficiently interesting for someone to want to take their ownpersonal time to talk about it.It must be relevant and simple - key messaging must come through instantly.Make it easy to find as online influencers are extremely time poor.Grab attention! Try Humour, Innovation, RisquéGet to the core of the campaign by describing it in one sentenceand then build associations. © SocialMedia.ie Your Social Media Partner +353 (1) 804 4746 / team@socialmedia.ie 21

Focus first on concepts before considering the best social media platforms,platforms should fall naturally from creative concept.10 Tips for Online Press Release 1. Meet audience demand. In order to accomplish this you must know your audience and what they are interested in, provide them with relevant content and satisfy customer demand. 2. The most important points of your press release should go at the top as you want the person reading it to be interested from the beginning. 3. Write in the third person. Press releases should be written in the third person. Instead of writing we, us or ours, you should use they, them and theirs. 4. Do not use adverbs and adjectives. This is a press release, not an advertisement, so delete any unnecessary adverbs and objectives. 5. Avoid clichés. 6. Avoid exclamation marks!!! 7. Get your spelling and grammar right. Poor spelling and grammar will damage the credibility of a press release, and your company. 8. Keep it short. Get straight to the point and do not add any unnecessary words or phrases, remember it’s quality over quantity. Once you reach 300 words, you should stop and begin to edit. 9. If you wish to use acronyms, place these in brackets after full spelling. For example Sunday Business Post (SBP). 10.Always spell check. Don’t just rely on the spell check on your computer because that does not always spot a mistake. Read through it yourself and ask a colleague to do so too as they might spot something that you missed.Writing Press ReleaseThe most important online PR resource you can have is a talented PR pro thatcan research story opportunities and persuasively pitch both online journalistsand bloggers accordinglyA big difference between online and offline PR is in pitching. For example, beforepitching a print journalist, the publication’s editorial calendar is researched tosee if there are any planned story opportunities. The subsequent pitch is specificto the upcoming story.Keep in mind your key messages, key media & key timings. © SocialMedia.ie Your Social Media Partner +353 (1) 804 4746 / team@socialmedia.ie 22

SOCIAL EVENTSIn 2009, there were 3 million events on Facebook every month and now only 5%of participants are not using social media to promote their event. According to asurvey by Amiando, more than 80% of event hosts are using Facebook topromote their event with 61% using Twitter as a promotional tool.Before Event • Promote your event through social networks. Set up event on your Facebook business page and LinkedIn company profile. • You should also blog about the event. This gives you an opportunity to provide a detailed description of the event while providing links to your events page for people to sign up. • Share this blog post to your social space through Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn. • Use sites like Meetup.com, Tweetup.org and other relevant event listings for your target market. • Use Google Maps to help attendees find the venue and obtain directions. • Create QR codes before the event and place them around the venue. This will create intrigue with attendees and get them involved with your brand. • Use a social registration service like EventBrite, Plancast and Twtvite. These services makes registration easier and more streamlined, while allowing attendees to share their event activity with friends. Most of these services are integrated with social networking platforms and can require attendees to give access to their Facebook wall. This which will automatically check them in at the event and post photos or status updates. This can be a bit of fun but make sure not to annoy people by spamming their wall with information they may not want up.During Event • Use Location-Based Services and encourage with apps like Foursquare, Facebook, Twitter and Google +. • Take photos and capture videos and post them to your social spaces throughout the event. • Write a blog post from the event to entice the people reading it to come along. • Hand out goodie bags with good contents which will make people want to Tweet, Facebook or blog about it. • Create interaction between yourself and your guests through Twitter. It is important that you have the right balance of the content of your Tweets. Retweet any content from influential people, post interesting photos from the event, reply to those who tweet you. It is important © SocialMedia.ie Your Social Media Partner +353 (1) 804 4746 / team@socialmedia.ie 23

to monitor the conversation about the event. This can be done by creating a # Hashtag before the event. This will enable you to tap into conversations from people around you, as well as contribute to the collective conversation stream yourself. Hashtags also allow people who could not attend to monitor the topics being discussed and take part in the conversation. Create a Twitterwall (Twitterwall.me) which you can be displayed on screens around the venue so everyone to view the conversations. • Use live streaming with services like Ustream.tv or Livestream.com.After EventAfter the event you should upload the content to your social media accounts.Edit the videos you captured during the event into one continuous video whichcan be uploaded the YouTube and Qik. Upload any photos taken to Facebookand Flickr. Tag people in your videos and photos to encourage sharing andinteraction.Write a post event blog post, or a series of blog posts depending on the size andscale of the event, with details from the event and thanking attendees forcoming. Place a few photos and a video in the post. Photographs and videosare extremely important as they automatically make your content moreengaging. This can be shared to Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. © SocialMedia.ie Your Social Media Partner +353 (1) 804 4746 / team@socialmedia.ie 24

SOCIAL MEDIA TRIBESIn recent years changes in communication technology and growing cynicism ofcorporate marketing have forced brands to rethink how they send theirmarketing messages to their target audience. Concurrent with Neilsen researchfindings that only 14% of consumers trust advertising but 90% trust peerrecommendations, brands can no longer rely on traditional one way marketingcommunication. There has been a seismic shift in the way brands communicatewith consumers from brand-to-consumer communication to consumer-to-consumer conversation. So how can brands encourage consumers to share theirmarketing messages for them? They engage with Tribes.What are Tribes?Marketing guru Seth Godin describes a Tribe as “any group of people, large orsmall, who are connected to one another, a leader, and an idea.” Social Mediahas provided a platform for these users to meet, converse, share and discusstheir common interests online. These social media users are connected by theseinterests forming online communities or Tribes. These tribes communicate witheach other through several social media platforms: Facebook groups andbusiness pages, Twitter Hashtag conversations, Linkedin Groups, InternetForums and Blog Communities.Many brands have expertly identified and engaged with these tribes bysponsoring or advertising in the space where these tribes congregate andcommunicate. Heineken’s promotion of global music events has earned themconsiderable brand strength a loyalty with a young and affluent music tribe.Toyota’s sponsorship of the Munster Rugby has ensured their brand is carriedwith pride by the Munster Rugby Tribe. Carlsberg have positioned their brand byengaging with Comedy Tribes through their live comedy events. Throughsponsorship of these offline events these brands are creating brandedexperiences and shareable Digital Content which are passed betweenconsumers. This effectively positions their brand within the tribe.Engaging with TribesSocial Media greatly complements a brand’s marketing mission to positivelyinfluence a tribe online. Through sponsorship of an event or experience brandscan ensure their marketing message is at the heart of the tribe’s activities whichare then shared through Social Media channels. Companies need to research andidentify different tribes to see which are more popular and relevant to theirbrand.As is common in both online and offline groups, every community or tribe haveprominent and influential members who can be identified as tribe leaders or © SocialMedia.ie Your Social Media Partner +353 (1) 804 4746 / team@socialmedia.ie 25

influencers. These influencers can be engaged with as a means ofcommunicating a brands marketing message to a particular Tribe.Identifying InfluencersSocial Media has made identifying these influencers considerably easier bymaking their reach and influence transparent by rating and ranking theircontributions and influence within these tribes or communities.Followers: A very simple way of estimating a Social Media user’s influence overa Tribe is looking at the amount of followers they have on Twitter. Similarly youcan investigate how many visitors or subscriptions there are to their blog. SomeBloggers proudly demonstrate how many visits their blog has earned which canbe viewed on their homepage. Otherwise brands can consult websites such asComscore or IrishBlogs.ie to identify which Blogger is more prominent in acertain sector.Klout: Klout credit themselves as “the standard for influence”. Simply put, Kloutmeasures a users activity on social media and determines their influence fromthe reaction created by their broadcasts. Brands will typically search for a userwith a high Klout rating before engaging with them as a means of influencing theentire Tribe. At this year’s New York Fashion Week Journalists and Bloggers hadto have a Klout score rating of 45 or higher before gaining entry into certainevents. The organisers realised that engaging with these influencers was themost efficient way of engaging with the Fashion Tribe.Peer Index: Peer Index also seeks to measure Social Media Influence, however,many claim it provides a deeper demonstration on influence by rating Activity,Audience and Authority. Peer Index provides analysis on a user’s influence oncertain topics which is very beneficial for brands wishing to influence certaindistinct tribes.Engagement through Blogger Outreach ProgrammesBloggers have spearheaded the Social Media revolution by replacing traditionalmedia in many areas of expertise. Many Tribes look to certain Bloggers forinformation on products and services and their input can carry significantinfluence over the Tribes purchasing decisions. Brands actively conduct BloggerOutreach Programmes which attempt to engage with bloggers with the aim ofinfluencing the Tribe. In January 2011, Ford engaged with Bloggers fromTechSavvyMomma.com with a view to engage with the Tech Savvy ParentsTribe. Bloggers were given VIP treatment at the press preview at the NorthAmerican International Auto Show to demonstrate their new Driving GreenTechnology.To conclude, SocialMedia.ie advise that your Social Media strategy include aTribe engagement identification and engagement strategy. Successful Tribeengagement will lead to more developed consumer-brand relationships andcommunication. © SocialMedia.ie Your Social Media Partner +353 (1) 804 4746 / team@socialmedia.ie 26

STRATEGYThe success of social media has helped many companies develop newdeeper relationships with their customers and prospects. However, forother companies it has not been as easy due to the lack of a socialmedia marketing strategy.Many experienced marketing managers (digital immigrants) are often notfamiliar with the tools while the younger marketers (digital natives)are comfortable with the tools but may lack the strategic marketingexperience.The resulting trend in companies is that while many managers realisethat social media is something they should be involved in, they giveresponsibility to junior staff. These social media enthusiasts areoften left to work away without a carefully planned social mediamarketing strategy.The importance of having a social media marketing strategy cannot beoverstated. It provides a roadmap to be followed as an organisationtraverses the social media landscape. Our team use our own uniquestrategy framework called the “SocialMedia.ie 10C’s Strategy Model”.The aim of our strategy model is to develop online marketingstrategies to help companies attract and retain clients via their website, email marketing, social networking and blogging. Thisstep-by-step planning model includes C’s such as Concepts, Content,Connections and Conversion and here is a quick overview:ConceptsMarketing guru Seth Godin has stated that Marketing’s cardinal sin isbeing boring and this is certainly true when it comes to devising aconcept for your social media strategy. Companies need to createinnovative ideas to promote their business and get theirproducts/services noticed by their target audience. Regardless of yourbusiness sector or product, there are always creative concepts toengage your target audience such as events, awards, stunts,narratives, competitions and partnerships.ContentIn order for your social media connections to pass on your marketingmessages you need to make your content shareable. Shareable digitalcontent can take the form of blogs, digital video, tweets, apps, webinars,podcasts, games and much more. A key consideration here must be that the © SocialMedia.ie Your Social Media Partner +353 (1) 804 4746 / team@socialmedia.ie 27

content is actually worth sharing. To assess this, companies should questionshould ask the following questions: • Is their content entertaining? • Does it provide value to the viewer? • Will that viewer be moved to share the content?Many companies have created valuable and entertaining content whichviewers have gladly shared with their connections. Carlsberg’s recentdigital video of Bikers in a Cinema attracted 9.3 million views andYouTube sharing figures indicated 630,000 Facebook shares, 13,500tweets and 530 blog posts. Their video was extremely entertaining andthe resulting shares made their content into a viral hit. Blogs are often a greatway for companies to host their original content and they can enable readers toshare that content more easily using social network sharing buttons.ConnectionsCreator of Facebook Mark Zuckerburg noted the importance of connections inSocial Media with regards to advertising and marketing. “In the next hundred years information won’t be just pushed out to people, it will be shared among the millions of connections people have. Advertising will change. You will need to get into these connections.”A social media marketing strategy will make an accumulative effort toconsistently build your friends, followers and fans online and offlinein a bid to increase your marketing reach. The chosen strategy shoulduse an optimised mix of • Bought media – e.g. paid for advertising such as Google or Facebook Ads • Owned Media – e.g. web site, blogs and email/sms databases • Earned Media – e.g. social media digital content sharingEarned Media is of particular importance in Social Media whereby thecustomers and connections you make become ambassadors for the company.A social media strategy must build and engage connections to increasemarketing reach from ‘fans’ to ‘friends of fans’.ConversionManagement gurus preach that “If you’re not measuring it, you’re notmanaging it” and this is especially true in a social media strategy.You should incorporate a measurement system to ensure that youractivity is both relevant and effective. © SocialMedia.ie Your Social Media Partner +353 (1) 804 4746 / team@socialmedia.ie 28

Key indicators are web site traffic, the amount of friends, followers, fans,retweets, shares and views etc. The goal is often having shareable contentappearing in lots of newsfeeds and you can monitor progress with free tools likeFacebook Insights.At SocialMedia.ie we encourage companies to note key performance indicatorseach month to monitor the progression and effectiveness of their social mediaactivity.In conclusionWe advise your key team members are properly trained and armed with a socialmedia strategy. Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end and we arenow finished our series of 10 Social Media articles. We hope the sharing of ourknowledge will help you on your way to social media success! © SocialMedia.ie Your Social Media Partner +353 (1) 804 4746 / team@socialmedia.ie 29

SocialMedia.ie eBook 2012

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