This document discusses using Facebook for business and dispels common myths about social media. It recommends businesses experiment with social media to understand the tools and participate in discussions to leverage word of mouth marketing. The key lessons are to make a plan, listen to customers, contribute meaningfully and transparently, and accept that social media requires resources and can't be controlled entirely.

1. Putting Your Best “Face” Forward How to Use Facebook for Business

2. “Social media is just a fad – it will go away.” THE MYTHS

3. Social media is changing our world The power to define and control a brand is shifting from corporations and institutions to individuals and communities. SOCIAL MEDIA DEFINED

4. “Social media is for kids.” THE MYTHS

5. SOCIAL MEDIA DEFINED Leveraging social media Social media can help you in all stages of marketing, self-promotion, public relations, and customer service: research strategic planning implementation evaluation

6. “Social media might work for certain industries and business models but it won’t work for us.” THE MYTHS

7. Social media is practical Learn what people are saying about you Create buzz for events & campaigns Increase brand exposure Identify and recruit influencers to spread your message Find new opportunities and customers Support your products and services Improve your search engine visibility Gain competitive intelligence Get your message out fast Retain clients by establishing a personal relationship Be an industry leader – not a follower SOCIAL MEDIA DEFINED

8. “I’ve started a Facebook page so I’ve got social media covered!” THE MYTHS

9. The social media conversation The conversation is not: controlled organized “on message” The conversation is: organic complex speaks in a human voice Social media is not a strategy or a tactic – it’s simply a channel. SOCIAL MEDIA DEFINED

10. THE MYTHS “If we put our content online we’re just giving our expertise away for free!”

11. Facebook Fastest growing social network in the world (500 million members) Powerful tools to engage and understand your audience: Brand pages Custom applications Targeted advertising Audience insights/metrics Opinion polls THE TOOLS

12. “Tell the programmers to setup that social media thing….and get them to make it viral while they’re at it!” THE MYTHS

13. Facebook Pages Your brand’s homepage on Facebook. Allow you to post photos, videos, events and other messages. Users interact with you by Liking the page Commenting on your posts Participating in discussions Post photos to your page Likers see your page updates in their newsfeed THE TOOLS

14. “We can’t measure social media results.” THE MYTHS

15. Social media is measurable Reach Website visits / views volume of reviews and comments Incoming links Action & Insight Sales inquiries New business Customer satisfaction and loyalty Marketing efficiency Engagement & Influence Sentiment of reviews and comments Brand affinity Commenter authority/influence Time spent Favourites / Friends / Fans Viral forwards Number of downloads SOCIAL MEDIA DEFINED Source: The Digital Influence Group, Measuring the Influence of Social Media

16. “If we build it they will come.” THE MYTHS

17. Make a plan 1. Discovery(people, competition, and search engines) 3. Skills(identify internal resources and gaps) 5. Maintenance(monitor and adapt) 2. Strategy(opportunities, objectives) 4. Execution(tools, integration, policies, and process) KEYS TO SUCCESS

18. Listen Find where your audience is participating and indentify the influencers Read industry blogs (including comments) Google your company name & your competition Find tools that can help you listen KEYS TO SUCCESS

19. “Social Media is easy.” THE MYTHS

20. Crowd Sourcing – Submit, Discuss, Vote Tap into the wisdom of the crowd to access a wider talent pool and gain customer insight Companies that use crowd sourcing include: Starbucks (MyStarbucks) Dell (Ideastorm) DuPont Netflix Wikipedia iStockphoto.com Threadless.com Mechanical Turk (Amazon) KEYS TO SUCCESS

21. Be transparent & honest Avoid puffery(people will ignore it) Avoid evasion and lying(people won’t ignore it) Companies have watched their biggest screw-up's rise to the top 10 of a Google search Admit your mistakes right away KEYS TO SUCCESS

22. “Social Media is hard.” THE MYTHS

23. Contribute in a meaningful way Think like a contributor, not a marketer Consider what is relevant to the community before contributing Don’t promote your product on every post Win friends by promoting other people’s content if it interests you KEYS TO SUCCESS

24. Be proactive Don’t wait until you have a campaign to launch - start planning and listening now Build relationships so they’re ready when you need them KEYS TO SUCCESS

25. THE MYTHS “Social media is inexpensive.”

26. SOCIAL MEDIA DEFINED Social Media is not free Resources required for social media may include: Strategic consultation Training Creating content Integrating tools Distributing content Relationship management Measuring value

27. Accept you can’t do it all yourself You need buy in from everyone in the organization Convince your CEO that social media is relevant to your organization Outsource the campaign to a professional who knows your industry and has experience in social media. KEYS TO SUCCESS

28. THE MYTHS “If we just delete all negative comments no one will see them.”

29. Social networking sites Do establish a presence on the social networks your customers and colleagues use create a page to promote your brand point your liker’s to your company blog or contest encourage a discussion and participate frequently explore targeted advertising opportunities Don’t create a page and fail to maintain it try a hard sell approach censor comments spam your fans/friends with frequent private messages – you’ll drive them away post false information THE TOOLS

30. Summary of Keys to Success Make a plan Listen Be transparent & honest Be personal and act like a person Contribute in a meaningful way See criticism as an opportunity Be proactive Accept you can’t do it all yourself KEYS TO SUCCESS

31. THE MYTHS “We have to figure this all out before we start using social media.”

32. KEYS TO SUCCESS Experiment with social media Experiment personally before professionally Try a variety of social media tools Be yourself, make some friends, and share

33. 3 take away messages Word of Mouth peer-to-peer discussions are more influential than the mass media Participate by enabling and feeding the conversation Be transparent & honest 3 TAKE AWAY MESSAGES