Introduction to Social Marketing 101, presented by the Steamboat Springs Chamber of Commerce

1. Barbara Robinson
gm@steamboathi.com
Why and how is Social Media used in business and how to go about it.
Social media is grass roots marketing, giving direct response to clients. It gets the business name
out to a broad and interested audience. It is an opportunity to communicate with an audience that
wants to know about your business. It is a method of communicating and interacting through
advanced technology. It is still deemed, non-traditional, but not for long. While it might still be
seen as a novelty, it is actually nothing new, just a new medium. Similar to a Chamber mixers,
happy hours, networking, etc., just online.
Social media has now surpassed email, but can be used very effective in conjunction with email.
Social Marketing sites allow a business to develop a personality and grow its reputation. It is a
method to reach more people, it is quicker then mail-out, it is an alternate method to install
loyalty, to connect and to gain insight. Social Media is current, one can learn about
demographics of potential and current customers and best of all, they refer friends. 50% join
more then one Social Media site. Users tend to be motivated, vocal and spend more money, it
can be seen as mere social, but has already taken solid hold in the business world.
4 of 5 adults in the US are now online and 50% that are online, engage in some form of Social
Media. Retailers have first discovered Social Marketing and the leading site is now Facebook.
The four major Social Marketing Tools are Social Network Sites, Blogs, Micro-blogs and Online
Video.
Examples of these are:
1. Social Network Sites – Facebook, LinkedIn, My Space.
These are places on the Internet where people can meet, socialize, network, advertise, debate and
share photos.
2. Blogs – Wordpress.com, Digg and Googles Blogspot.com
One can attach links, photos, record thoughts, ideas and opinions on specific subjects, often
found prepared by experts or organizations.
3. Micro-blogs - Twitter, Jaiku, and Indenti.ca
Lets users post quick updates telling people in their social group what they!re doing and what is
relevant to them at the moment.
4. Online Video - You Tube, MySpace, Google Video
The popularity of online video has exploded as a result of social networking sites like YouTube
and Google video.
Four more tools are Widgets, a web based or desktop application, a small piece of software that
provides instant access to information, games or photos, like weather, stock info, or a flight
tracker.
Podcasts – is a series of digital media files, usually audio or video, that is made available for
download through the Internet, example could be TV news shows, college lectures, or NPR radio

2. shows.
Online Communities – A community or Internet forum is an online discussion site where
participants usually share an interest in a particular topic. Examples are flyertalk.com or
Tripadvisor.com, a site very popular with travelers.
Online Viral – Viral Marketing campaign consist of interesting or innovative content that
encourages people to voluntarily pass along the message. Great example of viral marketing – On
YouTube - Evian Water babies, with over 25 million views, or Miley Cyrus Video - Party in
the USA, with 138 million views.
To develop a social marketing plan one can approach it similar to one's traditional marketing
plan. Determine your projected goals, establish a budget that allows you to accomplish that,
implement your strategy, measure your results and make appropriate changes. Most importantly,
measure your return on investment. Social marketing is mostly free of charge, but requires a time
commitment and follow through. Once these channels are opened, one needs to attend to them
just like one attends to the current methods of communication, like checking voice mail, the fax
machine, answer mail and email.
In my opinion the simplest place to start is Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Very simplified,
Facebook is somewhat similar to one's website. Site visitors will find you on the Interet but if
nothing changes regularly, or captivates their interest, will probably not return again until they
need your services. On a personal Facebook page, we call our followers, friends and on a
commercial Facebook page, they are called fans and one needs to hit a “like” button to follow
that business.
Twitter is somewhat similar to emails, the persons reading your tweets are called your followers,
your collection of tweets is your Tweetstream. Your transmissions are restricted to 140
characters, or they will be cut off and a link will be added. One does not have to read the rather
fast stream of messages, and there is no obligation to do so, it is still an "opt-in" medium. One
chooses whom to follow and who follows you, so the steady stream should be highly relevant
information if followers are chosen carefully. Therefore the quality of fans and followers counts,
not the quantity.
There are many best practices on how to start. One such suggestion could be to have a unified
Social media name, so your clients do not have to search for you under different names on
different social media channels. Next would be to develop an editorial calendar, just like a to-do
list of ones items to update. Facebook should be updated at least three times per week and
Twitter probably daily, or depending on your business, even more often. This might sound
complicated, but it takes very little time and can be automated and pre-programmed through free
programs like HootSuite, Tweetdeck or Seesmic. Versions of these programs are available for
smart phones as well and uploads are easy.
To learn more about all this information, one can review, for free, an endless array of
information on the web. Just search for "Social Media" and one is entertained forever. There are
Videos on this Technology, on sites like commoncraft.com, where the information is in plain
English, one does not have to be a geek to understand it. It explains Social Media's role, teaches
us how to produce video or music for the web, explains how social media compares to traditional

3. media, it goes into how fans play a role in deciding what should be findable and what is popular.
It details the benefits of social media to individuals and organizations. Then venture into sites
like, my personal favorite, mashable.com a site that keeps me in total amazement. Technology
does move fast, but we all ventured into email and a website, so if one is new, it might sound
intimidating, but it shouldn't. If one does not feel prepared to write news all the time, consider
resending, or re-tweeting news you just learned. It strengthens your relationships with others,
allows you to sound witty or wise, and keeps you in front of your peers or customers.
Each Social Media channel has its etiquette, or as it is called on the web, netiquette. So as you
learn to use these new channels, learn the do's and don'ts as well.
At this point I would like to welcome you once again to Social Media 101, and wish you a very
fun morning.