This document discusses using social media to market businesses. It defines social media as permission-based marketing where consumers choose to learn about businesses. The goals of social media for businesses are to create connections, establish expertise, manage brands online, and grow faster than competitors. Some key tools mentioned are search engines, blogs, forums, social networks, and content publishing platforms. The document provides strategies for determining target audiences, creating content, and measuring success through analytics. It emphasizes using social media to form relationships and build trust in a business over time.

1. Joining the conversation Using Social Media to Market your Business

2. ‘Your brand is what Google says it is, not what you say your brand is’ Chris Anderson, Wired Magazine Editor

3. What is web 2.0 (aka the Social Web)?

4. The Social Web is…. Permission marketing (not interruption-based) Consumers/Clients chose to learn about you The 4 Ps: People, Participation, Publishing and Page Rank Strategies: SEO (Search Engine Optimization), PPC (Pay per Click), Adsense, blogging, social media, content publishing (audio, photos, videos), website development, analytics A new element in the marketing mix

5. Goals for the Social Web for businesses Create connections and build relationships Establish yourself as an expert , a thought leader or an innovator Manage your brand online Grow smarter and faster than your competitors

6. Tools of the trade

7. Tools of the trade Monitor Participate Find and share great content Publish www.search.twitter.com

8. Building your strategy

9. Building you strategy Who will you reach? What will you publish? How will you measure success? How do you get started?

10. 1) Who will you reach? Audiences segments Customers Prospects Social Media (other bloggers, forums participants, social networkers) Employees Community members Suppliers/vendors/affiliates Buyer personas What are their aspirations? What are their problems? What media do they rely on for answers? How can you reach them? What’s important to them? What words and phrases do they use? What sort of images and multimedia appeals to them?

11. 2) What will you publish? Blogs Press releases Case studies E-books White papers Photos Podcasts Videos

12. 3) How will you measure success? Inbound links to your site/blog Site analytics Visitors Page views Bounce rate Time on site Referrers

13. 4) Steps to get started Conduct social media searches of blogs, forums, and social networks relevant to your company and expertise 2) Monitor news , trends , blogs and forums through RSS feeds , Twitter Search and Google alerts 3) Become a part of the community Read and comment on blogs & forums Join a variety of social networks Use social bookmarking sites such as Delicious , Digg or StumbleUpon 4) Create a content marketing strategy and start publishing great multi-media content that’s highly relevant to your audience

14. In a nutshell… Use your business profile to form relationships, put a face to your business and start building demand for, and trust in the services or products you offer Don't be nervous about trying to become an expert blogger Look at existing conversations that are relevant to your business and start interacting Don't expect immediate results Building relationships takes time, but maintaining a presence and regularly updating your contacts on what you're doing, will bear fruit soon enough

15. In a nutshell… (cont) Other than making your business visible, use your conversations to explain what makes your service or product unique or what you can offer that your competitors can't Use this time to get to know your customers and what their needs are Asking questions can be a good way of assessing how to align your product or fulfil a need You can use these sites to provide good customer service to existing clients by following up with them and answering questions they may have about your products

16. Want to know more?

17. Thanks for listening www.laurenceborel.com