2. Introduction
• Face Forward Media is a full-service Internet
marketing firm, specializing in Search Engine
Marketing & Optimization, Web Development,
and Sales & Conversion Consulting.
3. Social Media Overview
• Why is social media important?
– Connect with and engage target audience
– Build company credibility & personality
– Company updates, news, reviews,
experiences
– Maximize online presence
4. Presentation Overview
• Today, we will cover:
– Twitter
• How to utilize Twitter with best practices
– LinkedIn
• How to use LinkedIn to build a network
– Blogging
• Why blogs are effective for SEO
– Facebook
• How to promote activity and client connections
– Google+
• Search Engine meets Social Media
5. Twitter Overview
• Twitter is a micro-blogging site that allows users to broadcast
content in the form of “Tweets”.
• Originally designed for text-messaging platforms, “Tweets” are
public messages consisting of 140 characters or less.
• Collectively, your “Tweets” form a timeline, which other Twitter
users can “Follow” to stay up to date with your content.
• Twitter allows businesses to quickly and easily share valuable
information in a real-time setting.
• Businesses should also utilize Twitter to build an online
personality through sharing engaging content that initiates
conversation.
6. Twitter
• The significance of Twitter…
– 9th most popular website in the world
– 106 million active users
– 200 million Tweets per day
– 460,000 new Twitter accounts created everyday
– 25% of users follow a brand
• 67% of brand followers will purchase that specific brand
– Dell reported $3M+ in revenue in 2007 due to Twitter
7. Twitter
• How to use Twitter
– How to set up an account
• Visit www.twitter.com
• Under “New to Twitter?” enter name, email, and password
• Confirm your email address
• Complete your profile by adding your bio, location, and picture
under “Settings”
• Be sure to add www.ecolink.com to your profile!
• Begin posting tweets!
8. Twitter
• Tweet Features
– #hash tags
• #’s are inserted into Tweets before relevant keywords to
emphasize them for Twitter Search
For example, “The Best Industrial #Degreasers And #Solvents."
– @mentions and @replies
• Place an @ before any username on Twitter to target other
users
For example, “@EcolinkInc – Industrial #Degreasers and #Solvents"
– ReTweets
• Use the RT button located below Tweets to quickly share
another user’s Tweet with your followers
9. Twitter
• Best Practices
– Share relevant up-to-date information about your business.
– Initiate conversation by using your Tweets to ask questions, or
directing comments to other users.
– Reference your website’s content and blog posts in your
Tweets, and provide links to relevant pages.
– Relate current events to your business. This is an excellent
way to generate discussion.
– Use the “Search” function to find other users and tweets similar
to your business, and engage with them to build a network.
– Develop “Tweet Variety”: don’t only post links or @ replies, and
do not post too many similar types of tweets consecutively.
– Use your voice and be unique. Don’t duplicate content!
10. LinkedIn Overview
• LinkedIn is a Social Media site designed for professionals.
• For individuals, LinkedIn serves as an online resume displaying
professional experience and other related career information, as
well as a hub for managing and expanding your professional
network.
• For companies, LinkedIn is a valuable resource for the following:
– Establishing credibility by information contained in online profile
– Displaying the company’s employees and network
– Allowing others to follow your company’s developments and offerings
– Resourcing experts in your field, and developing a professional network
– Utilizing the internal Job Posting feature for hiring professionals in your
industry
11. LinkedIn
• Significance
– Statistics
• Largest professional network on the Internet
• 120 million members in over 200 countries
– Roughly 56% of users are outside of USA
• 2 billion searches on LinkedIn in 2010
• Most represented industries are hi-tech, finance, and manufacturing
• Able to view users visiting your company profile, who is following your page, the
industry, careers, promotions, etc.
12. LinkedIn
• Basic LinkedIn Features
– Manage your contacts and connections
– Create or join Groups
– Search for, or post Jobs
– Follow company pages
– Share news with your contacts
13. LinkedIn
• How to use LinkedIn
– Set up an account
– Basic vs. Premium
– Adding Contacts
– Joining Groups
– Company Pages
14. LinkedIn
With a Basic Account…
•Build & maintain a large professional network
•Find & reconnect with colleagues and classmates
•Request/provide recommendations
•Create professional presence on web
•Search for/view Profiles of other users
•Receive unlimited InMails
•View 100 results per search
•Get weekly alerts/updates on up to 3 searches
16. LinkedIn
Add Contacts and Make Connections
•Use your Email list to find connections on LinkedIn
•Browse colleagues’ networks to find more connections
•Maintain connections with your classmates
•“People You May Know” suggests users based on your
existing network and credentials.
17. LinkedIn
Join Groups
•Use the groups directory
– Enter Specific Keywords; i.e. degreasers, Solvents,
industrial chemicals
– Browse categories: Alumni, Corporate, Conference,
Networking, Nonprofit, Professional, Other
– Use “Groups You May Like” to consider suggestions
•Create a Group
– For networking with contacts who have similar interests
– Post company updates, promotions, job listings, articles, etc.
18. LinkedIn
Company Pages
•Provide information on products and
services, job opportunities, and
company culture
•Can be followed by any LinkedIn
member, similar to “Fans” on Facebook
•Company Pages are searchable by
Location, Job Opportunities, Industry,
Company Size, Number of Followers,
Fortune, etc.
19. LinkedIn
News
•LinkedIn Today
– Integrated with Twitter and StumbleUpon
– Latest updates, news, information, headlines from multiple
industries
– Sources include CNN, New York Times, Bloomberg, NPR,
Wall Street Journal, Mashable, Entrepreneur, BBC,
AllThingsD.com, Business Week, CNBC, Forbes, and many
more
•Save and share articles with contacts, group members,
and company followers
20. LinkedIn
Applications
•Enrich company or personal profile
•Share and collaborate within your network:
– Events
• Find conferences, local meet-ups, seminars your contacts are attending
– Blog Link
• Connect a company or personal blog to a LinkedIn profile
– Tweets
• Twitter account integration with LinkedIn
22. SEO Overview
• Search Engine Optimization is important
to…
– Ensure visibility of your website, products, and
services.
– Drive targeted traffic to informative content
– Convert browsers into buyers
Blogs play an integral role in Search
Optimization
23. Blogging and SEO
• Significance
– Blogging is an excellent way to add
engaging content to your site, regularly.
– Search engines tend to favor sites that are
periodically updated with valuable content.
– Blog posts can “inter-link” related content
throughout your site, guiding the reader as
well as the search engines
24. Blogging and SEO
• Statistics
– Statistics
• Websites with blogs attract 55% more visitors
• …have 97% more inbound links, which search
engines use to determine your site’s importance
• …and have 434% more indexed pages, which
means more web “real estate”, leading to better chances
of being “found” in the search engines
25. Blogging and SEO
• Basic Blog Optimization
– Ideally, a single post should be 400-600
words.
– Write concisely, and focus on a single
topic. Posts can cover multiple topics when necessary.
– Develop a regular posting schedule.
26. Blogging and SEO
• How to optimize your blogs
– Create Keyword-rich Content
– Identify and incorporate key words and phrases that will
help people find your post in search engines.
– Use Keywords, and related keywords in your post titles,
URLs, tags, category, and content
• Focus on themes or niche topics, covering a wide range
of information across many posts.
• DO: Use links in your blog to direct the reader to related
information contained throughout your site
• DO NOT: Over-use linking. Ideally, each post should
contain 2-3 links: one directed to your home page, and
another to a page within your site.
27. Blogging and SEO
• Best Practices Checklist
– Post regularly
– Approximately 400-600 words
– Specific, relevant, targeted topics; one topic per
post
– Compelling content; engage readers
– Use keywords, key phrases
– Avoid duplicating content
– Clean formatting: use relevant images & concise
language
28. Facebook Overview
• Founded February 4, 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg
• Free social networking with friends, family, and
coworkers
• Personalized news feeds, profile pages,
applications
• Share photos, events, videos, groups, pages,
messages
• 800+ million active users
29. Facebook Overview
Significance of Facebook
•Enormous global reach – 70% of the Facebook user base
resides outside the USA
•Most visited social networking site on the Internet
•72% of the U.S. web audience is on Facebook
•48% of young Americans get their daily news through
Facebook
•200 million people access Facebook via mobile device
everyday, and are twice as active as non-mobile users
•Facebook generates 770 billion page views per month
30. Facebook
Facebook Business Pages
• Create a page for a company, local business, brand, or
product
• Reach out to customers in a more personal way to build
relationships and create opportunities
• Post company or product updates, share company
information, promote special deals or events
32. Facebook
Start the Conversation
• Know your business; create a unique voice, bring your
brand story to life in a compelling, authentic, and personal
way
• Know your customers; who are they? How will they
connect with your company? What content is important and
engaging?
• Know your goals; define the relationship you want with
your customers, prioritize your goals to help develop a
strategy
33. Facebook
Best Practices for Posting
• Find the right rhythm for posting; know when and
how often your customers what to hear from you
• Set aside 5-10 minutes each day to monitor your
page and post updates
• Be conversational, personal, and authentic.
• Share videos, photos, links, and other information
about your business, your community, and your
customers
34. Facebook
Start the Conversation
• Share news and exclusive content
• Encourage fan participation with clear calls-to-action
• Reward fans with special discounts and promotions
• Handle negative feedback honestly and openly
• Develop a conversational calendar; post content when
engagement is highest
• Start building connections using email lists, personal
contacts, and coworkers
• Leverage your existing marketing strategy by adding the
Facebook logo
35. Facebook
Expand Your Fan Base
• Encourage visitors to like your Page
• Partner with other brands or local organizations
• Expand the reach of your posts
• Use social plug-ins on your website
• Encourage physical check-ins at your business
• Promote with ads and Sponsored Stories
Analyze and Optimize using the free Facebook
Insights tool
36. Google+ Overview
“Real-life sharing, rethought for the web.”
• Makes connecting on the web more like connecting in
the real world
• Create specific “Circles” of contacts with whom you will
share certain information
• Play games, video or group chat, create “Hangouts” with
circles
• “+1” and share articles, photos, videos, and information
• Customize your profile and company page
37. Google+ Overview
Significance of Google+
• 90+ million users
• One of the fastest growing social network sites
• Posts, shared information will be archived in search
index for years to come
• Increase your chances for being found on Google
SERPs
38. Google+
Features
• +1 button
• Profiles & Pages
• Circles & Streams
• Games, Chat, and Hangout
• Photos & Videos
• Search
• Account Settings and Privacy
• G+ for Mobile
39. Google+
Features
• +1 button
– Publicly recommend pages across the web
– Share with certain Circles
– Improve Google Search experience
– Similar to “Like” or “Share” on Facebook
• Profiles & Pages
– Represent yourself and your company on Google
products across the web
– Photos, videos, Bio, contact information, links to other
sites
40. Google+
Features
• Circles & Streams
– Organize everyone according to real-life social
connections
• i.e., Family, Friends, Coworkers, Clients, Colleagues, etc.
– You will have the option to share specific information
with certain circles
– Define which Circles will appear in your Stream to
customize your feed
• Similar to Facebook’s “News Feed”
– Limit visibility of certain posts
41. Google+
Features
• Games, Chat, and Hangout
– Start conversations and interact with friends surfing
the web
– Use live video chat
– Coordinate plans, work on projects, set meetings
• Photos & Videos
– Upload photos and videos to your profile, tag people
in your circles
– Appear in Posts on your stream and on streams of
people in your circles
42. Google+
Features
• Search
– Results in Google+ search are delivered from:
• Google+ posts - including both public posts and posts
shared with you
• People – results from people’s suggestions
• Sparks – Trending content found elsewhere on the Web
• Account Settings and Privacy
– Adjust notification settings, visibility limitations, and sharing
options
• G+ for Mobile
– Available on Droid, iPhones, and Blackberry
– Share locations, instantly upload photos, get updates, check into
a place
43. Conclusion
- Use Social Media and Blogging to compliment each other.
- Create unique content on each platform, and inter-link.
- Do not duplicate content.
- Always link social media profiles back to your company
website.
- Use keywords related to your business that people would use
to find your products and services.
- Post Blogs regularly, maintaining a schedule is beneficial for
SEO.
Editor's Notes
Use your existing email lists, direct mail and personal contacts to promote your Page and begin building your fan base. Ask your contacts to like your Facebook Page to stay connected to your business for updates. Leverage your existing marketing Add a Facebook logo with a call to action on your in-store signs, newsletters, emails, fliers, menus and business cards. Install social plug-ins which are buttons you can place on your website to encourage interactions and Page likes
Encourage visitors to like your Page by working with a developer to create a special landing page tab. Partner with other brands or local organizations to create co-promotions and encourage viral sharing with incentives. When you mention a person or organization you are connected to in a post on Facebook, type the @ symbol, begin typing the name, and then choose them from the dropdown menu. Your post will automatically post to their Wall. Install a Like box on your homepage and a link on your newsletters and emails to drive people to your Facebook Page. When people check-in at your business, the post will appear in their friends’ News Feeds and provide additional exposure for your business. Facebook Ads are the best way to build awareness of your Page and drive new fans. Sponsored Stories harness the power of recommendations, and they’re a great way to spread your content further. Stories are served to friends of those who have liked your Page or your content. Facebook offers tools to help you analyze what’s happening on your Facebook Page so you can monitor key metrics, get insights about who visits your Page and what they do on it, and develop a plan to get more fans and increase interactions. Download the Facebook Insights Guide for an in-depth look at how to use the free tools available to you on Facebook.