A concise list of 20 tips on how to use social media to become a social media savvy. Insight into how to harness the power of Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Yudu, Slideshare, among others to help you get your message out and be heard amongst all the noise. (published in 2011)

1. 20 Tipsfor Social Savvy’s
1. K.I.S.S.
Don’toverthink it,don’tovercomplicate it. Make friends. Playnice. Findwaystomake people
wantto become yourfan: share interestingandrelevantcontentthatmatterstoyouraudience,
be real,be sincere,have fun,show yourcompany’spersonality,andabove all, be true toyour
message – phoninesscomesacrossloudandclear,evenwhenyouare notphysicallystanding
rightin frontof someone.
2. Use yourplatform to be whereand when your customersare.
Use yoursocial medianetworkinginfrastructuretogetyourmessage out. By usinga
combinationof Facebook,Twitter,YouTube,andablog/site andanewsletter (Constant
Contact,Mad Mimiand Mail Chimp areall great options),youcan communicate yourmessage
to youraudience more effectivelyandefficiently –where theyare andin the formattheyare
searchingforinformation. Remember,justbecause someoneisyourFanon Facebookdoesnot
meanthat theyare automaticallyfollowingyouonTwitter. People choosetheirchannelbased
on theirpreferencesforreceiving(andsharing) information –forinstance,peoplewhofollow
youon Twitterare likelylookingforquick,shortburstsof informationwhereaspeople who
subscribe toyourYouTube channel are lookingformore in-depthinformationandwill spend
more time interactingwiththatinformation –of course,those people couldalsobe one andthe
same personas well.
3. Publish,promote,andpublicize togetthe mostmileage outof yourcontent.
Addingnewcontenttoyourwebsite andinturn,publicizingthat piece of contentoneachof
your social mediachannelshelpsyou‘covermore distance’onthe worldwide web. Getmore
ROI (‘ReturnOnInvestment’) outof eachpiece bycreatinga quickintroandthenpostingitto all
of yoursocial mediachannels. Use toolslike Hootsuite tohelpyou getyourmessage outacross
all your channelssimultaneously(justbe careful thatitdoesnot looktooautomated – be sure
that your‘voice’ispresentinyourmessage).
Newcontentcan come inthe formof an opinionpieceaboutsomethinghappeninginyour
industry,areview of anindustry-relatedarticle, offeringatipor advice,or even getting a
testimonialfromone of yourclients (people lovetobe talkedabout – the bonushere isthat
theywill alsoshare the contentforyouby tellingtheirfriendsto‘checkthemout’) ...The list
goeson and on,bottomline – postnew and fresh contentatleast2-3 timesperweektokeep
boththe searchenginesandusersinterested.
Use Google Alertstoget newsyou can use. Setup an alertfor each of your keywordsandfor
the namesof people importanttoyourindustry(use quotationsaroundpropernamestomake
sure you gettargetedresults). Getinspiredforyourownwritingforyourblog. Get an RSS-like

2. feedof otherpeople’swritingsona particulartopic– use thislistas a place to start sharing
otherpeople’sinformation –especiallyonTwitter.
4. Be methodical withregardtosharingcontent.
Developanduse aneditorial calendartohelpyouorganize yourcontentpostingstrategy. Think
aboutusinga ‘theme’foreachmonthanddevelopyourideasforblogposts,videos,twitter
polls,facebookdiscussions,pressreleases,etcaroundthe same theme. Doingthiswillhelpyou
avoidan ‘all-over-the-board’appearance and ensure thatyoudon’trepeatyourself andthat
youcover all the importantpoints. Lay itout forat least3 monthsat a time (ideallyforthe
year),andincorporate majorholidaysandyearly(orone-time) eventsthatimpactyourindustry
to use as themes[e.g.usingValentine’sDayasa jumpingpoint,tailoryourmessage aroundlove
and tie itin to yourbusiness]. Bottomline,the more plannedoutyourstrategyis,the more
clearlyyouwill be able tocommunicate yourmessage andinthe mosttimelymanner.
Don’tbe bashful aboutridingthe wave whenthere issomethinghappeninginthe mediathat
everyone istalkingabout,use thatstoryandfinda wayto tie it inand make it relevanttowhat
youare doing. Readthe headlineseverydayandfindwaystotie itback intoyourmessage...
evenif it’sjusta retweetwithyourintro.
5. Followthe 80/10/10 rule on Twitter.
Promote informationsharing,promote others,andmentiononlyhighlightswithregardtoyour
business. Talkaboutyourindustryorrelatednews80% of the time,share yournews10% of the
time,relate the newstowhatyourcompanyoffersthe other10%. Thishelpstosolidifyyouas
a resource andhelpyougarner more followerssothatwhenyoudo have somethingto‘sell’ –
theywill be more likelytolisten.
6. Videodoesnothave tobe perfect aslongas there isvaluable informationcontainedinit.
Don’tspenda lot of moneyon videoproduction,people donotvisitYouTube oranyothervideo
sharingsite andexpecttofindprofessionalqualityvideo. Investabout$150 in a flipvideo
camera (orjustusing the video camera on yourSmartPhone willdo too) and filmshortvideo
clipswheneveryouare outand about or while youare at work ... learnhow to doa ‘one-take’
videosothat youdon’thave to spenda lotof time editing(otherthantrimmingthe beginning
or the endof a video). The editingsoftware thatcomeswiththe FlipVideocamerashoulddo
the trick,or youcan use somethinglike WindowsMovie Makertotake it to the nextstepand
add musicif youwant to getsnazzy.
7. Make relevantandinterestingvideosthatare shortand to the point.

3. Notsure whatto film? Askyouraudience whattheywantto see. Take a lookat what your
competitionisdoingandwhatisgettinga lotof views – thentake those ideas,putyourown
spinon it,getcreative andhave funwithit. What wouldyouwantto see? Bottomline,unless
there isa good reasonforit, a videoshouldnotbe more than2-3 minuteslongforuploadto
YouTube – ideally,yourvideosshouldbe 60secondsor lesstogain andholdthe usersinterest.
Still notsure whatto film? Everthoughtabout doinga videoresponsetoa popularvideothatis
relatedtowhatyour companydoesor offers? Be sure to playnice,thisisa greatway to be
‘social.’
8. Share your videoeverywhere.
Uploadyour videosto YouTube,Vimeo, Google Video andMetacafe forstarters. You can add it
to yoursite by usingitin a blogpost(avoidembeddingvideoonyoursite,thatjustslowsyour
site down,rathertake an image,adda ‘playarrow’ andlinkitto the videoonyourYouTube
channel [popa newwindow!]).
Be sure that youraccounts are all ‘connected’andthatyoushare themacross different
channelstogetthe wordout that youhave a new and awesome videothatpeople are sure to
wantto watch. Write a catchy title thatsummarizesthe benefitsomeone will getfrom
(differenttitleforeachplace youuploadit) andbe sure to use your keywords (alsocalled‘tags’)
and offera linkbackto yoursite. Be sure to take advantage of includingakeyword-rich
description.
For evenmore placestoshare your videos,refertothe listhere:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_video_hosting_websites
9. Create a visual presentationusingPowerPointandshare itonSlideshare.
The presentationcouldbe somethingsimple like Top10 Tipsfor x,y, or z. The beautyof
Slideshare isthatyoucan share itvia yoursocial mediachannelsanditbecomesanother
channel toget yourmessage out,ultimatelyone more waytogetyour contentouton the world
wide web. Youcan alsoembedthe presentationonyourwebsite andhelptomake yoursite
come alive withmovable content. Forevenmore pizzazzyoucanadd audioto your
presentation(musicand/orrecordedcontent).
10. Get involvedinagroupon LinkedIn,Facebook...orstart one yourself.
Life isaboutsharinginformationnowadays. The more informationyoushare,the more likelyit
isthat someone will runintoyourbrandonline,andinturndo businesswithyou.
11. Buildlinksforstabilityandauthority.

4. Make connectionswithotherpeople inyourindustry –yes,even yourcompetition. Reachout
to relevantandauthoritativesitesandaskthemforlinksbackto your site – offertoadd them
to the ‘linkswe like’sectiononyour site (youdohave one,right? :)) – andalwayspopit ina
newwindow. Of course,like everything,doitinmoderation –it won’tmake sense tohave
hundredsof outboundlinks,withoutthe reciprocal inboundlinksoaddthemslowlyand
methodically. Make ita goal to adda new inbound/outboundlinkcombotoyoursite weekly.
12. Above all,have funandbe yourself.
Remember,above anythingelse,buildrelationships. Be consistent,present,real,andgenuine
inall of your communication. If youcrack jokesat the office,it’soktoletyour personalityshow
online andcrack a joke or two(or start a segmentede-newsletterdedicatedtojokes) once ina
while. People appreciate “real.”
13. People dobusinesswithpeople theytrust.
Refertothe principles setforthinDale Carnegie’sHow ToWinFriendsandInfluence People and
applythemto yourbusiness.
14. Cater toyour audience.
Be a flyon the wall anduse the intel thatis readilyavailable toyou. Share informationthatis
useful andrelevantby payingattentiontowhatpeople are sayingaboutyourbrand and your
industry. Remember,social mediaissimplyawindow intoaconversationthatisalready
happeningandyouare beinggivena‘pass’to listenin(andparticipate where appropriate). So,
be sure youaren’tjusttalkingtoyourself –listenfirst,thenparticipate –don’tjustwalkintothe
room andstart talking.
15. Your brand shouldbe reflectedinyouronline presence.
Your online presence shouldsimplybe anextensionof whatyourcustomerwouldexperience
‘outhere’ inthe physical world. Ultimately,the realmof yoursocial mediaplatformissimply
anotherstage where youare interactingwiththe public. Thinkof itas an extensionof the
physical worldwhere itdoesnottake gasoline oracar, a telephoneorevenapiece of paperto
getin frontof yourcustomer...theyare theirof theirownaccord, now it’sup to youto keep
themthere andto keepthemcomingback.
16. Testand tweak,re-test,tweak,repeat.
Use a service like TinyURLorbit.lytoput some analyticsonyourefforts. AddGoogle Analytics
to yoursite and yourblog. Use the informationtotweakyoursite (nomore than 2 changesat a

5. time please) andworktoimprove youruser’sexperience withyourtechnologyand withyour
brand ingeneral.
17. Stay topof mindwithyourcurrentcustomersand buildyourcommunity.
Share a newslettereachmonththatincludesvaluableinformationforyourcurrentcustomers.
It doesnotnecessarilyhave tobe directlyrelatedtoyourproductor service. Askapoll
question,share informationaboutthe originof Valentine’sDay,includeone of yourfavorite
quotes,include astoryfrom‘behindthe scenes’atone of yourrecentphotoshoots(of course,
withpermissionfromthatclient!).
The bestway to figure outwhatmakesyour fans‘yourfans’isby askingthem...social mediais
a two way conversation,getyourfansinvolvedbyaskingalotof questions...findwaystolet
themparticipate inwhatyourbusinesshasgoingon... askthemfor theiropinions!
18. Don’tneglecttraditional mediatactics,justmodernize them.
Distribute apressrelease onone of the distributionservicesthatincorporatessocial media(like
BusinessWire ora free service like PRBuzz).
19. Repurpose content.
I’ll sayit again, repurpose contentshamelessly. A PressRelease canbe repurposedinto5
piecesof contentforyouwhenyousocialize it:tweetit,make avideoaboutthe subjectof your
PR (releasingwithvideoisaplusfor mediarelations!),addablogpostabout itwithan opinion
aboutit, addthe pressrelease toyournewsroom, andmake a mentionof itinyournewsletter.
20. Slowandsteadywinsthe race.
Sure,youcan have everyone atyourpartyby offeringx, y,andz...but will anyof themhelpyou
cleanup inthe morning? :)
Getting1000 TwitterFollowersinaweek
or 5000 FacebookFansina month,
or 20,000 newslettersubscribers
or 100,000 website visitors,
or even1 millionhitsonavideoonyour YouTube channel ...
...doesnot happenovernightandtakesaconcerted,consistentandpersistenteffort. It’sjust
like makingfriends –the bond couldbe sealedinone night,buta true friendship,justlikeany
relationship,takesalongtime tobuild.