Many Cisco partners have indicated they want to learn more about how to leverage social media to generate leads, to listen to customers, interact, and network. But you’ve also told us you aren’t sure where to start. We’re here to help!
How do you use social media not only to market your upcoming event, but also to manage your event as it happens? This white paper walks you through social media and event management procedures and best practices as an event producer as well as an attendee.
Social Media 101 - 2 Steps Before You Sign Up For You Social Media AccountsLouisa Chan 陈毅信
http://SynergyMarketingPro.com/1hoursocialmedia details Social Media 101 for newbies wanting to tap into the different Social Networking Sites for media coverage.
2 mandatory steps to note Before you start your social media plan. More details @ http://www.SyneregyMarketingPro.com
How do you use social media not only to market your upcoming event, but also to manage your event as it happens? This white paper walks you through social media and event management procedures and best practices as an event producer as well as an attendee.
Social Media 101 - 2 Steps Before You Sign Up For You Social Media AccountsLouisa Chan 陈毅信
http://SynergyMarketingPro.com/1hoursocialmedia details Social Media 101 for newbies wanting to tap into the different Social Networking Sites for media coverage.
2 mandatory steps to note Before you start your social media plan. More details @ http://www.SyneregyMarketingPro.com
In this Ebook, you’ll learn:
*How to build a network for your business
*How to create a social media marketing campaign
*How to attract new customers with social media
*Tips for social media marketing
*How to avoid costly social media mistakes
Busting the social media myths that keep people and companies from engaging in social media marketing. Published February 2010 by Beth Schillaci, VillageWorks
Social media marketing is more important than ever for nonprofits and businesses alike. Yet, social media engagement is on the decline. So what do you do, when it’s hard to gain followers; harder still to ensure that followers see your message; and you still have to deal with the limits of your time?
Are you a small business owner looking for ways to grow your business? Are you looking to attract more leads to your business, or have heard about Social Media Marketing, Here’s all you need to know as a small business owner to begin increasing revenues using social media.
What Are 7 Steps Every Social Strategist Must Take To Help Their Organization...Dr. William J. Ward
Whitepaper from Spreadfast here: The 7 Whiteboard Sessions Every Social Strategist Needs To Have
- Understanding your social customer
- Adopting social companywide
- Developing workflows and processes
- Maximizing content
- Creating meaningful engagement
- Integrating social with other channels
- Proving social ROI
Using Social Media to Manage Your Conference Rachel Yeomans
How do you use social media to manage a conference? Read this white paper to learn how you can use social media at your next conference (for both conference managers and attendees) to boost your social presence and improve your business prospects.
This best practices guide focuses on helping you organize, harness and capitalize on the information, buying signals and qualified prospects identifying themselves to you online every single day. With a mix of strategies, tactics and tools, the following pages will give you a head-start towards filling your sales pipeline with more qualified prospects and conversion opportunities.
In this Ebook, you’ll learn:
*How to build a network for your business
*How to create a social media marketing campaign
*How to attract new customers with social media
*Tips for social media marketing
*How to avoid costly social media mistakes
Busting the social media myths that keep people and companies from engaging in social media marketing. Published February 2010 by Beth Schillaci, VillageWorks
Social media marketing is more important than ever for nonprofits and businesses alike. Yet, social media engagement is on the decline. So what do you do, when it’s hard to gain followers; harder still to ensure that followers see your message; and you still have to deal with the limits of your time?
Are you a small business owner looking for ways to grow your business? Are you looking to attract more leads to your business, or have heard about Social Media Marketing, Here’s all you need to know as a small business owner to begin increasing revenues using social media.
What Are 7 Steps Every Social Strategist Must Take To Help Their Organization...Dr. William J. Ward
Whitepaper from Spreadfast here: The 7 Whiteboard Sessions Every Social Strategist Needs To Have
- Understanding your social customer
- Adopting social companywide
- Developing workflows and processes
- Maximizing content
- Creating meaningful engagement
- Integrating social with other channels
- Proving social ROI
Using Social Media to Manage Your Conference Rachel Yeomans
How do you use social media to manage a conference? Read this white paper to learn how you can use social media at your next conference (for both conference managers and attendees) to boost your social presence and improve your business prospects.
This best practices guide focuses on helping you organize, harness and capitalize on the information, buying signals and qualified prospects identifying themselves to you online every single day. With a mix of strategies, tactics and tools, the following pages will give you a head-start towards filling your sales pipeline with more qualified prospects and conversion opportunities.
This Social Media 101 presentation will help you get started using social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram for business. Using these 8 simple steps outlined in the presentation, you will maximize your online social media presence, get more engagement on social media, and understand how to effectively use the platform to grow your business online and off. Do you need help creating your social media strategy? Schedule an initial consultation call with us: https://calendly.com/marketinggemsolutions/social-media-for-business
Connecting and Communicating in the New Media Landscape – all the tools you need to succeed in the world of Twitter, Facebook, Linked in and more.
Also visit: http://masstrafficleads.com
Slides from the Social Media Workshop delivered on behalf of Thornbury Volunteer Centre for community groups in South Gloucestershire on 12th September 2013.
Getting started with Social Media StrategySorel Denholtz
A presentation covering the basics of SM strategy, with plenty of examples of successful tactics. Email me for the list of links referenced within.
Presented to Women Who Wine San Francisco February 22, 2011
Using Social Media To Grow Your BusinessMandy Fard
HOW GROW YOUR BUSINESS THROUGH SOCIAL MEDIA
Information on "Growing Your Business Using Social Media" brought to you by https://www.market-connections.net for small business owners.
For additional detailed information on #PersonalBranding and #CareerDevelopment contact www.market-connections.net
Developing your social media strategy in 7 stepsAudacious Leap
A good marketing strategy helps you define your business goals. You have one?
In this presentation we present some steps to developing your social media plan
Twitter Ads Guide :: Guía de Anuncios de TwitterRicardo Llera
Los Anuncios de Twitter son herramientas de marketing muy efectivas y fáciles de usar que elevan tus Tweets a otro nivel. Básicamente, muestran tu empresa a la gente adecuada en el momento justo.
¿Cuánto Tiempo Debe Dedicar Mi Organización A La Gestión De Las Redes Sociales?Ricardo Llera
Los social media han cambiado de posición en las prioridades de muchas empresas… han pasado de la lista de los deseos a la lista de las necesidades.
Con el tiempo, las empresas han aprendido a aceptar que los social media son una necesidad más que un deseo o un pasatiempo de fin de semana. Ya hemos dado un pequeño pasito. Pero ahora les toca entender qué recursos son los que necesitan para implementar una estrategia de social media con éxito.
Manual de Introducción al Social Media #SocialAst #AsturiasRicardo Llera
Este Manual, pretende dar las pautas a seguir para transformar la labor del Community Manager como gestor de Comunidades al Social Media Manager, una figura más amplia, con más valor añadido, que incluya la elaboración de estrategias, el trabajo SEO, SEM y SMO y la redacción de Informes.
Este Ier. Informe TOP250 Empresas de Asturias y presencia en Redes Sociales es propiedad de Cámara Gijón y Comunicación Profesional y ha sido realizado en el marco del Master Social Media Management, que organizan conjuntamente.
Community manager: Gestión de Comunidades VirtualesRicardo Llera
El libro está compuesto por 13 capítulos, donde se explican temas como marketing online, estrategia 2.0, gestión de comunidades, las habilidades y el trabajo diario del Community Manager, los departamentos de social media en las empresas, incluyendo casos de éxito.
La invitación es a compartir en todas las plataformas sociales, foros, comunidades virtuales, emails y cuanto medio digital exista, a fin de que todos los profesionales del área de los medios sociales y otros relacionados, lo utilicen como un referente fundamental del Social Media español. Desde aquí queremos agradecer las colaboraciones de cada uno de los profesores que forman parte de la producción de Gestión de Comunidades Virtuales.
Escribir en Internet. Guía para los nuevos medios y redes socialesRicardo Llera
El manual nace con el objetivo de ayudar y orientar al usuario profesional y no profesional sobre cómo debe desenvolverse con el idioma en Internet.
En la obra se dan recomendaciones sobre el uso de símbolos, onomatopeyas o mayúsculas en las Redes Sociales, se explica cómo escribir una carta oficial en un correo electrónico, normas de cortesía en la red, la reputación online, la redacción de blogs, los emoticonos y se informa de lo que se considera un lenguaje descortés en los nuevos medios entre otras muchas cuestiones.
La guía de BBVA fundeú está coordinada por el periodista Mario Tascón y han colaborado unos cuarenta expertos en el empleo de la lengua española y en nuevas tecnologías.
El libro cuenta al final con un amplio anexo con el vocabulario básico para moverse por Internet. En él los menos iniciados se enterarán de que crowdsourcing es un neologismo para “referirse a la tendencia a generar grandes comunidades alrededor de un tema de interés”; emoji es un término japonés que designa los emoticonos o ideogramas que se usan en mensajería instantánea para teléfonos, y que trol denomina coloquialmente a los alborotadores que participan en foros cibernéticos.
Publicado por Galaxia Gutenberg/Círculo de Lectores, es, según los promotores, el primer manual práctico de uso del español en Internet y sirve tanto para expertos como para recién iniciados.
IV Estudio sobre Mobile Marketing de IAB Spain (09/12)Ricardo Llera
• El 59% de los internautas españoles tiene un ‘smartphone’ y el 77% de ellos se conecta a diario.
• El uso de tablets también crece, situándose en el 23% de penetración, 15 puntos más que en 2011 y un 46% de ellos se conecta a diario a Internet a través de este dispositivo.
• El 38% de los internautas españoles utiliza habitualmente códigos QR, un 110% más que hace un año (18% en 2011).
• Aunque la conexión más habitual es precisamente el lugar tradicionalmente vinculado al uso del ordenador, la casa (71% de conexión diaria), aparecen con fuerza contextos puros de movilidad: durante viajes (43%), en medios de transporte (41%), en la calle (38%), en el lugar de trabajo o estudio (36%), en bares y establecimientos (36%) o en casa de otras personas (28%).
• Aunque el acceso a Internet más habitual (76%) en usuarios de smartphones sigue siendo a través de páginas específicas (buscadores, favoritos, url…), la conexión a través de aplicaciones móviles gana terreno y pasa del 36% de 2011 al 41% actualmente.
• Recuerdo a una exposición publicitaria display del 74%.
• Uso de buscadores a través del móvil del 88%.
• En los últimos años se ha producido un elevado crecimiento del uso de los servicios de geolocalización: se ha pasado del 6% de 2010 al 15% de 2011 y al 25% en la actualidad.
• También se percibe un aumento del interés por recibir publicidad geolocalizada: ha pasado del 29% en 2011 al 37% en 2012.
¿Se puede encontrar empleo gracias a las redes sociales? ¿Se puede encontrar empleo en Twitter? Muchos son los que piensan que no, aunque como yo sabéis, yo soy un fiel defensor del Recruiting 2.0
Como nos dice Pedro Rojas en su libro Reclutamiento y Selección 2.0 (http://www.editorialuoc.cat/reclutamientoyseleccin20-p-652.html?language=es&cPath=1), "Si un tweet puede hacer que pierdas tu trabajo, ¿cómo otro tweet no puede hacer que encuentres uno?" Tiene lógica ¿verdad? Quizás la respuesta esté en cambiar el concepto, y aprender a "encontrar" antes que a "buscar". De hecho os habréis dado cuenta de que Twitter es brillante en "ofrecer" ofertas de empleo sin necesidad de "buscarlas".
Quizás solamente te sirva seguir estos sencillos pasos (http://www.seniorm.com/consejos-basicos-para-empezar-a-buscar-empleo-con-twitter.html) o, si eres aún un neófito en esto de los social media, te recomiendo descargarte, leer y poner en práctica esta sencilla Guía Twitter para la búsqueda de empleo que recientemente acaba de publicar el ayuntamiento asturiano de San Martín del Rey Aurelio.
En ella encontrarás muy bien explicados consejos de cómo abrir una cuenta en Twitter, cómo configurar tu perfil para que sea atractivo, qué es un RT, cómo hacer un retuit, qué son los hahstags, cómo hacer una mención, cómo hacer una lista, las aplicaciones que nos ofrece Twitter para la búsqueda de empleo y hasta un listado de los perfiles que hay que seguir para estar al tanto de todas las ofertas que aparecen en los principales portales de empleo.
Ahora solamente te falta ponerte al día. Ánimo!!!
55 brands rocking social media with visual contentRicardo Llera
La Importancia Del Contenido Visual En Los Social Media: 55 Casos De Éxito
Algo está cambiando… La interactividad que proporcionan los social media está cambiando radicalmente la forma de relacionarnos con las marcas que teníamos desde hace décadas.
Y es que en pocos años hemos pasado de ser meros receptores de los contenidos que emiten estas marcas a asumir el protagonismo, creando nuestros propios contenidos y decidiendo lo que queremos ver, oír o leer en cada momento. Los social media juegan un papel importante en la forma en que los consumidores descubren, investigan y comparten información sobre marcas y productos. Así han nacido y triunfado nuevos medios que dependen casi exclusivamente de los contenidos de la gente: Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram…
Estas redes abren nuevas incógnitas sobre el papel que la publicidad y las marcas pueden tener en ellas, pero viviendo el presente, las que saben aprovecharlo lo hacen de manera brillante. En el modelo tradicional, los anunciantes compran el espacio para colocar sus mensajes publicitarios, y los consumidores lo aceptan sin problemas como parte del contenido del medio. Pero eso forma parte del pasado. En esta Nueva Era el contenido lo hacen los propios consumidores, y la presencia de las marcas no siempre es bien recibida. En algunos casos son los usuarios los que deciden o no ver los mensajes de las marcas, marcando o no el “Me gusta” o viendo o no sus vídeos.
A diario aparecen nuevas fórmulas, como Pinterest y su contenido 100% visual.
Lo que está claro es que en social media a los consumidores se les puede y debe invitar a participar y jugar, y muchos desean interactuar y relacionarse con sus marcas preferidas. Los entornos visuales protagonizados por imágenes y vídeos cobran cada vez más fuerza, y las empresas lo saben.
Los consumidores estamos cada vez más comprometidos con las marcas, pero como bien dice Beatriz Navarro, Directora de Marketing de Starbucks en España, el error más grave que puede cometer una empresa es usar las redes sociales para vender productos. Los canales de social media no se han diseñado para vender, pero sí para escuchar y crear confianza.
Ejemplos de la excelencia en los social media como el de Starbucks hay muchos. Se trata simplemente de adaptar la estrategia de comunicación de la marca a los gustos y necesidades de los leads… en definitiva, darnos lo que queremos.
Hoy en día es una tendencia medir impresiones, tasas de rebote, CTRs, visitas, conversiones… Por eso IAB Spain ha lanzado un documento que define las variables básicas de las acciones en medios sociales.
La Comisión de Medios Sociales de IAB Spain establece un CMI que permite comparar los resultados de las acciones sociales para determinar su grado de éxito, identificando las variables cuantitativas básicas para tratar de definir con posterioridad unos KPIs para la medición de las acciones en los social media.
IAB configura este cuadro de mandos con base en las 4 Rs: Reconocimiento, Revalorización, Reacción y Recomendación. La intención de IAB Spain es conformar un documento vivo que se vaya alimentando con las aportaciones de expertos en la materia y que sea suficientemente flexible como para adaptarse a todas las empresas y sectores:
Reconocimiento
Es el primer paso a tener en cuenta en las redes sociales. Se trata de los datos y valores más reconocidos por todos (fans, followers, número de tuis…) y que nos permiten saber de un solo vistazo la situación de una marca en una red social.
Revalorización
Buscando la implicación y participación de los usuarios, es la estrategia para conseguir añadir valor a nuestra comunidad de manera constante.
Reacción
Todo lo anterior debe llevar a una acción concreta por parte el usuario.
Recomendación
Después de que el usuario lleve a cabo una acción, sólo queda un último paso que demuestra mayor implicación y fidelidad: la recomendación (compartir, mencionar, retuitear…), que lo convierte en embajador de la marca.
Guía Práctica Del Uso Del QR Aplicado Al Marketing Y La PublicidadRicardo Llera
Recientemente IAB Spain, la Asociación que representa al sector de la publicidad, el marketing y la comunicación digital en España, ha elaborado la Guía de Escaneo Móvil para Marketing y Publicidad.
Esta interesante guía recopila una serie de recomendaciones técnicas, comerciales y de comunicación a tener en cuenta a la hora de utilizar códigos QR como estándar de los códigos escaneables aplicados a acciones de marketing y publicidad.
En la guía podemos encontrar desde funcionalidades de los códigos, formatos, interactividad con los usuarios, elección de un proveedor o claves de éxito, pasando por preguntas habituales, especificaciones técnicas y ejemplos ilustrativos.
La guía se complementa con 13 casos de éxito de diferentes marcas como Coca-Cola, Taco Bell y Budweiser con el objetivo de ayudar a entender mejor las diferentes fórmulas que existen para aplicar esta tecnología.
Este trabajo ha sido liderado por Scanbuy y elaborado por las 29 compañías que forman la Comisión Mobile de IAB, que son: 101, AdTriple, comScore, Elogia, Google, Leo Burnett, Lumata, Mediamind, Microsoft, Mindshare, Mobiledreams, Movistar, Net Affiliation, Nielsen, On and Off, Orange, Pocketwidget, PRISA Digital, Qustodian, Razorfish, Scanbuy, Smartclip, TAPTAP Networks, Unidad Editorial, Unkasoft, Via Channel, Vodafone, Yahoo! y Yoc.
The 2012 digital marketer: benchmark and trend reportRicardo Llera
En toda estrategia de Marketing Digital y Publicidad Online el Social Media Marketing juega un papel “casi” imprescindible. Al fin y al cabo las marcas tienen que estar al lado de la gente, donde esté la conversación.
Toca replantearse el modo en el que vendemos a nuestros clientes y debemos tener en cuenta que, como consumidores sociales, preguntan, investigan, buscan recomendaciones de sus conocidos a través de las redes sociales…
Nuestro consumidor quiere participar en la creación de nuestra marca. Quiere formar parte de la misma. Y por ello es fundamental desarrollar estrategias que les permitan participar en el desarrollo de la misma. ¡Que se conviertan en embajadores de nuestra marca!
¿Estás preparado para ello? ¿Estás donde está el cliente?
Recientemente la conocida consultora de marketing Experian ha creado The 2012 Digital Marketer: Benchmark and Trend Report, que aporta datos sobre la vitalidad de los consumidores sociales y hace hincapié en la importancia de la usabilidad, el mundo móvil y la importancia de analizar bien los datos.
El Informe está lleno de sugerencias y de datos sobre consumo en Internet, como que el 91% de los adultos conectados estadounidenses utiliza las redes sociales y un titular que ha llamado poderosamente mi atención que viene a confirmar el tirón de Pinterest (http://pinterest.com/), que se convierte en la tercera red más popular de EE. UU.
Os dejo el Informe para que os lo podáis bajar.
Los que nos dedicamos a esto sabemos que la gestión de las redes sociales requiere una labor constante de conversación, actualización de perfiles, publicaciones, monitorización, etc. De no ser por la creciente cantidad de aplicaciones que simplifican y facilitan esta tarea nuestra labor sería imposible de realizar.
Puro Marketing ha realizado una selección de herramientas que ofrecen un valor añadido diferencial respecto a otras de su misma categoría: LAS MEJORES 60 HERRAMIENTAS DE SOCIAL MEDIA.
En Social Media Tools 2012 podemos encontrar herramientas para todos los gustos tanto de pago como gratuitas: acortadores de URLs, comparadores de RSS, medidores de influencia, herramientas para programar publicaciones en redes sociales, herramientas para Pinterest, Instagram, de monitorización...
Diccionario marketing, publicidad y social mediaRicardo Llera
El mayor Diccionario de Marketing, Publicidad y Social media (1211 términos) by Puro Marketing.
Versión on line en http://www.puromarketing.com/diccionario.php
Top Blogs de Marketing en español 2012 Ricardo Llera
Un año más y por cuarto año consecutivo, Puro Marketing regresa con su Top anual con los mejores Blogs en español.
Un Ranking de recomendaciones de descarga gratuita, con las publicaciones más destacadas que a modo de blog nos descubren las últimas tendencias, noticias y artículos relacionados con el mundo del marketing, publicidad y los social media.
La primera Guía en Español sobre la Red Social de moda Pinterest.
Descárgatela, léetela, apréndela, publícala, regálala, compártela pero sobre todo, apréciala: Es el trabajo de mucho tiempo (y eso no tiene precio).
Social media: una herramienta para su pymeRicardo Llera
Artículo en el diario argentino Ámbito Financiero escrito por los profesores de posgrado Domingo Sanna y Francisco Vacas donde explicaban el potencial de los social media en pequeñas y medianas empresas.
by Fundetec y la Dirección General de Industria y de la PYME (DGIPYME)
El Informe diferencia tres niveles tecnológicos:
• Nivel 1: Que las empresas dispongan únicamente de infraestructura básica.
• Nivel 2: Que utilicen también herramientas de gestión, presencia en Internet y comercio electrónico.
• Nivel 3: Que cuenten además con herramientas específicas para su cadena de valor, herramientas en movilidad, eAdministración y redes sociales.
A partir de 2.000 encuestas realizadas en 2011 a PYMES de toda España dedicadas a nueve sectores económicos que representan el 40% del PIB (logístico, transporte, hotelero, turismo rural, comercio minorista, agroalimentario, artesanía, instaladores de telecomunicaciones y, por primera vez, ingeniería de consulta), Ana Alcolea nos esgrimía, resumiendo, los siguientes datos relevantes:
• El ordenador (portátil o de sobremesa) alcanza una penetración del 100% en 5 de los 9 sectores analizados. En los otros 4 supera el 95%.
• Solamente el 64% de las PYME y el 25% de las microempresas disponen de página web corporativa, registrando aún así un crecimiento interanual del 3% y el 5%, respectivamente.
• Las Redes Sociales siguen siendo la asignatura pendiente: solamente las empresas hoteleras y de turismo rural tienen presencia (por encima del 50%) t existen sectores, por ejemplo el del transporte, que no pasan del 8,6%.
• El comercio electrónico sigue sin despegar en nuestro país: en el segmento empresarial que más se utiliza (empresas de 50 a 249 empleados) tan sólo alcanza a 3 de cada 10 empresas en el caso de las compras y a 1 de cada 5 en cuanto a ventas.
• El uso de los trámites telemáticos para relacionarse con la Administración Pública avanza en 2011. Por sectores, los más activos son el logístico, el agroalimentario, la ingeniería de consulta y los instaladores TIC, todos ellos por encima del 70%; en el lado opuesto se sitúan el comercio minorista, la artesanía y el turismo rural, todos por debajo del 36%.
• En cuanto a las aplicaciones informáticas más utilizadas por las PYME, en primer lugar siguen estando las ofimáticas, seguidas de las de facturación y contabilidad.
Securing your Kubernetes cluster_ a step-by-step guide to success !KatiaHIMEUR1
Today, after several years of existence, an extremely active community and an ultra-dynamic ecosystem, Kubernetes has established itself as the de facto standard in container orchestration. Thanks to a wide range of managed services, it has never been so easy to set up a ready-to-use Kubernetes cluster.
However, this ease of use means that the subject of security in Kubernetes is often left for later, or even neglected. This exposes companies to significant risks.
In this talk, I'll show you step-by-step how to secure your Kubernetes cluster for greater peace of mind and reliability.
Builder.ai Founder Sachin Dev Duggal's Strategic Approach to Create an Innova...Ramesh Iyer
In today's fast-changing business world, Companies that adapt and embrace new ideas often need help to keep up with the competition. However, fostering a culture of innovation takes much work. It takes vision, leadership and willingness to take risks in the right proportion. Sachin Dev Duggal, co-founder of Builder.ai, has perfected the art of this balance, creating a company culture where creativity and growth are nurtured at each stage.
Smart TV Buyer Insights Survey 2024 by 91mobiles.pdf91mobiles
91mobiles recently conducted a Smart TV Buyer Insights Survey in which we asked over 3,000 respondents about the TV they own, aspects they look at on a new TV, and their TV buying preferences.
Connector Corner: Automate dynamic content and events by pushing a buttonDianaGray10
Here is something new! In our next Connector Corner webinar, we will demonstrate how you can use a single workflow to:
Create a campaign using Mailchimp with merge tags/fields
Send an interactive Slack channel message (using buttons)
Have the message received by managers and peers along with a test email for review
But there’s more:
In a second workflow supporting the same use case, you’ll see:
Your campaign sent to target colleagues for approval
If the “Approve” button is clicked, a Jira/Zendesk ticket is created for the marketing design team
But—if the “Reject” button is pushed, colleagues will be alerted via Slack message
Join us to learn more about this new, human-in-the-loop capability, brought to you by Integration Service connectors.
And...
Speakers:
Akshay Agnihotri, Product Manager
Charlie Greenberg, Host
State of ICS and IoT Cyber Threat Landscape Report 2024 previewPrayukth K V
The IoT and OT threat landscape report has been prepared by the Threat Research Team at Sectrio using data from Sectrio, cyber threat intelligence farming facilities spread across over 85 cities around the world. In addition, Sectrio also runs AI-based advanced threat and payload engagement facilities that serve as sinks to attract and engage sophisticated threat actors, and newer malware including new variants and latent threats that are at an earlier stage of development.
The latest edition of the OT/ICS and IoT security Threat Landscape Report 2024 also covers:
State of global ICS asset and network exposure
Sectoral targets and attacks as well as the cost of ransom
Global APT activity, AI usage, actor and tactic profiles, and implications
Rise in volumes of AI-powered cyberattacks
Major cyber events in 2024
Malware and malicious payload trends
Cyberattack types and targets
Vulnerability exploit attempts on CVEs
Attacks on counties – USA
Expansion of bot farms – how, where, and why
In-depth analysis of the cyber threat landscape across North America, South America, Europe, APAC, and the Middle East
Why are attacks on smart factories rising?
Cyber risk predictions
Axis of attacks – Europe
Systemic attacks in the Middle East
Download the full report from here:
https://sectrio.com/resources/ot-threat-landscape-reports/sectrio-releases-ot-ics-and-iot-security-threat-landscape-report-2024/
Dev Dives: Train smarter, not harder – active learning and UiPath LLMs for do...UiPathCommunity
💥 Speed, accuracy, and scaling – discover the superpowers of GenAI in action with UiPath Document Understanding and Communications Mining™:
See how to accelerate model training and optimize model performance with active learning
Learn about the latest enhancements to out-of-the-box document processing – with little to no training required
Get an exclusive demo of the new family of UiPath LLMs – GenAI models specialized for processing different types of documents and messages
This is a hands-on session specifically designed for automation developers and AI enthusiasts seeking to enhance their knowledge in leveraging the latest intelligent document processing capabilities offered by UiPath.
Speakers:
👨🏫 Andras Palfi, Senior Product Manager, UiPath
👩🏫 Lenka Dulovicova, Product Program Manager, UiPath
DevOps and Testing slides at DASA ConnectKari Kakkonen
My and Rik Marselis slides at 30.5.2024 DASA Connect conference. We discuss about what is testing, then what is agile testing and finally what is Testing in DevOps. Finally we had lovely workshop with the participants trying to find out different ways to think about quality and testing in different parts of the DevOps infinity loop.
The Art of the Pitch: WordPress Relationships and SalesLaura Byrne
Clients don’t know what they don’t know. What web solutions are right for them? How does WordPress come into the picture? How do you make sure you understand scope and timeline? What do you do if sometime changes?
All these questions and more will be explored as we talk about matching clients’ needs with what your agency offers without pulling teeth or pulling your hair out. Practical tips, and strategies for successful relationship building that leads to closing the deal.
2. “
inTroduCTion
Social media can help you
If you’re looking to amplify your company’s presence
create new channels for online, lure in new business, and expand your reach,
communicating with your then there’s really no easier way to achieve your goals
than to get into social media.Social media can help
existing customers while you create new channels for communicating with your
existing customers while engaging new ones, generate
engaging new ones. leads, and listen to what your customers are saying.
While it might seem daunting to get started with social
media, we’re here to help. Here at Cisco Channels,
we have marshaled our resources and developed this
ebook, “The Cisco Channels Guide to Social Media” to
help Cisco partners develop a strategy, set goals, and
launch a presence.
After all, we know that our partners are busy closing
deals and generating leads, but with this book, which
offers concise, easily executable advice, you’ll be up
and running with your social media plan in no time.
With chapters on setting the social media stage,
blogging, Twitter (or microblogging), Facebook, and
video, we’ll walk you through the process of getting
into social media, and before you know it, you’ll
become an expert yourself.
The Cisco Channels Guide to Social Media | 2
3. How to Use This Book
We’ve divided our chapters into Basic and Advanced
sections—those of you new to social media can
read background information and develop a solid
understanding of how a particular social media vehicle
works. The advanced information can help you launch
your social profiles and provides guidelines on how to
get the most out of the various tools.
Not sure whether you’re basic or advanced? Use the
handy checklists in each chapter to determine your
skill level.
This ebook features tools that our team has used
extensively, but in future versions of this book we plan
to include chapters on additional tools such as live
streaming video and LinkedIn.
Our Advice
Whether you are a new or advanced user, remember:
Social media is evolving. If you start using a social
media site and it doesn’t work, or doesn’t take off with
your users, adopt a new strategy or change course.
Social media also requires time: You can’t expect
results overnight, so think of doing a little bit every
day. You will see results, but only after putting in the
effort.
The Cisco Channels Guide to Social Media | 3
4. When thinking up your strategy, first think about your
overall goals and what you want to achieve. Do you
want to listen to what customers are saying? Establish
your company as a data center expert? Generate
social media is
more leads? Map out very specific goals so you can
apply the right tools and metrics.
casual Another point to remember: Social media is not one
size fits all, and you shouldn’t conduct your efforts
in a vacuum. What works for some might not work
for others—for instance, if your staff is full of great
writers, maybe a blog would be suitable. If you want
to engage with your customers on a daily basis, then
Twitter would likely be a great tool. It’s up to you to
figure out what will be best for your company.
And lastly: Social media is casual. Throw out those
stuffy old approaches you see in whitepapers and
case studies. Social media means you can let your hair
down and have fun.
Now go forth and launch your social media plans!
The Cisco Channels Guide to Social Media | 4
6. one: esTablishinG Your soCial media plan
So you want to get into social media—great! But
before you get up and running, you should set aside
some time to think through some basic points and
create a social media plan. Once you’ve established
that, you should be ready to launch your social media
vehicles of choice.
Step 1: Identify Your Goals
Defining what you want to achieve is the major
starting point—if you haven’t used social media before,
ask yourself: What is my goal?
Social media can help amplify your company’s
message, help you engage with your customers, start
conversations, and deepen relationships. So keeping
that in mind, you should develop a list of clear goals.
Remember to aim for more than just gaining followers
and fans. While gaining followers is one metric, the
conversation, interaction, and even leads you generate
are important ways of measuring success.
Once you have that list of goals (our rule of thumb is
two or three), your next step will be to identify which
social media vehicles align with those goals.
You definitely shouldn’t just decide, for instance, that
you want to set up a Facebook fan page because
everyone else has one. Before making that decision,
you should ask yourself, “What is the purpose?
The Cisco Channels Guide to Social Media | 6
7. Who am I trying to reach, and why? What sort of Listen to customers and those in your field first, then
information would I share? Why would people become engage directly based on what you hear. That way,
fans?” You need to define what you want to achieve in you develop a conversation based on what’s being
social media, and align your goals with that purpose. discussed and earn trust and respect in the process.
In the same vein, don’t start blasting out one-way
Step 2: Identify Who Will Manage Your
marketing messages, which is usually treated as
Presence
spam. Social media is a dialog. So go ahead and listen,
Don’t set up your social media presence and expect
then start discussions, ask questions, and join the
that people will be interested just because of its mere
discussion.
existence. Cultivating a social media following takes
time, trial and error, and patience. And that’s really the purpose of social media—to
create trust and foster conversation. You have to
Before you start, identify who will manage your social
engage, be willing to listen, and willing to interact.
media presence. Will you appoint a marketing person?
Do you have multiple people who will post? You should You should also have a workflow in place to route
make these decisions up front, because you want to comments and questions to those who can provide the
make sure that you have the right folks in place to appropriate answers. Make sure you always close the
ensure deep, two-way conversations. loop with your fans and followers.
Getting into social media cannot be a passive Step 4: Start Small
exercise—you have to be willing to devote time and Our final piece of advice: It’s best to use one tool
energy to it, in order to see results. really well than to do everything at once. Don’t create
a blog, Facebook page, and Twitter account in one day
Step 3: Listen First, Then Talk
and try to manage those singlehandedly. Start out with
You should always start by listening, then jumping into
one tool, learn how to use it well, build relationships,
the conversation. Using Twitter or any social media
and only then branch out in something else.
platform without first listening to the discussion is the
equivalent of going up to people at a cocktail party
and yelling in their faces without introducing yourself
or listening to their discussion first. The Cisco Channels Guide to Social Media | 7
8. W hat is a Blog? Two: bloGGinG
A blog, also known as a web log, is a web
site that contains ongoing commentary and
links.
STOP Before you continue, we want to know
W ho Should Blog?
Anyone in your company can contribute to your blog— • Are you familiar with what a
ideally the more contributors, the more variety of content blog is, and how to set one up?
you will have. You can even ask guests to contribute
• Have you contributed content
(outside experts, analysts, or partners, for example).
to a blog before?
W here Should the Blog be Located?
• Do you understand how a blog
You should provide a link to your blog on your company
website (or host it there, if possible). Giving it some
can help you drive sales?
prominence will ensure that visitors will see it. (See below for
platform suggestions.) If you answered no, go to blogging basics
W hen Should the Blog be Updated? If you answered yes, go to Advanced
Often—several times a week is ideal.
Blogging Tips
W hy Should You Blog?
Studies show that approximately 91% of IT B2B decision
makers use search on Google or other sites when they
are going to purchase a product. Chances are that
prospects that have not yet engaged are more
likely to read your blog than they are to open
those emails you send on a quarterly,
The Cisco Channels Guide to Social Media | 8
monthly, or even weekly basis.
9. Two: bloGGinG
blogging basics
Your prospects are looking for information, they want
to solve problems, research technology solutions, and
figure out which companies offer what they need. Your
challenge is getting in front of them, the moment they
are looking for you. A blog promotes your thought
leadership, whether it’s your knowledge of network
management, security, or Cisco solutions specifically.
People may not need your products or services at this
point in time, but when they do they will think of you
first or find you via search by searching on Google or
other search engines.
People want to read about things they find interesting
or things that make their lives easier, so do not
hesitate to give away free consulting in your blog. If
you tell a prospect how to decrease TCO, give them
more information about IPv6, or ways to extend their
security policy across their entire company on their
own, they will remember you when it’s time to reach
out to a solution provider around Cisco solutions.
Want to tell a customer success story? Need to spread
information about an upcoming company-sponsored
event? A blog can serve those needs, and more.
The Cisco Channels Guide to Social Media | 9
10. In our view, a blog should lie at the center of your If your company would rather have more control over
social media strategy. Post a blog, then tweet it, where your blog lives, a self-hosted or standalone blog
publish it on Facebook, or use another tool to help is the answer. The best options for this are WordPress,
amplify it. A blog enables you to set the narrative for which is free, and MovableType, which is subscription-
your company in a way that no other Web 2.0 tool can. based.
Furthermore, companies that blog get 55% more web
Both platforms are fairly easy to customize with set-
traffic and 70% more leads than those that don’t.
up, design, and widget options, and can be changed
Choosing a Platform very quickly and easily.
When choosing a blogging platform, keep a few things
in mind:
• You want something easy to update
• A hosted platform is the best way to get started
• The name of your blog should reflect its connection
to your company
Some platforms (such as Blogger) are free, while
others (such as MoveableType) will cost you a monthly
or yearly subscription. The one downfall to these
hosted options is that the URL of your blog includes
their site, such as www.yourblog.blogspot.com, which
would be a Blogger address. This can very easily be Photo Credits: flickr
remedied by purchasing the URL you want, such as
www.yourblog.com and have it forwarded to the actual
blog address. (Blogger offers help on how to do this).
The Cisco Channels Guide to Social Media | 10
11. Two: bloGGinG
Advanced Blogging Tips
Once you’re up and running, it’s good to follow a customer need on your blog, show customers how to
few guidelines for shaping the content that you’re do something, or lend your expertise, customers will
presenting. look to you as a trusted source. (And this can also
have the added benefit of boosting sales.)
Choose Your Topics Wisely
Not certain what to write about? One of the best You can blog about a news story by putting your own
places to start is by introducing your company blog twist on it and why it’s important to your readers.
as a place to share ideas. Readers will be encouraged Another thing you can do is link out to another blogger
to hear that your blog is a place they can respond and credit them with sharing something interesting,
to—literally, with comments on your content. Inviting and offer your thoughts on the topic.
feedback is a great way to establish customer
You can also take a company whitepaper and spin it
conversations.
into five or six blog entries. Or you could blog live from
a company event to create buzz. The possibilities for
Thanks! What Nice Blog! content are endless.
topics would you Be Casual and Show Personality
like to see in Blogs tend to have an informal style by nature, so
upcoming blogs? try not to present your company’s information in a
manner that is stiff and official-sounding. (Issuing
press releases over your blog is definitely not advised,
but taking a press release and giving it a more casual,
conversational presentation would work.) You want
From there, you can host a company-wide brainstorm prospective customers visiting your website and
session to see what topics customers ask about and reading your blog to really understand the nature of
where their pain points are. If you can address a your company and what you do.
The Cisco Channels Guide to Social Media | 11
12. Keeping that in mind, think about how you would that once you have committed to a company blog, you
talk with one of your customers—how would you post several times a week.
characterize what you are focusing on, if you were
chatting over the phone, for instance? Write your
blog entries as you would talk (fixed for grammar, of
course) and you will have a blog that without question
shows some personality.
You can also show flair by including photos and video
9am-Blog
links—those provide color to complement your text.
3pm-Blog
Don’t Write Sales Pitches
1pm-Blog
You definitely want customers to know about the
solutions that your company can offer. But you 3pm-Blog
don’t want your blog to become overrun with sales
pitches. Rather than focusing on what you can do for
customers, think about what you have accomplished Blogging can take a little time, because once you
and share that information on your blog. Prospective decide about what to write, you need to take the time
customers may be intrigued reading a story about to craft your entry, and then post it. But dedicating
your previous customer wins; those will provide that time a few times a week can have a big payoff if
concrete examples of your company’s success as well prospective customers not only get a sense of your
as an interesting narrative. company culture, but also how your business will help
Post Often them.
Nothing looks worse than an untended blog. Dated Worried about how to track what you’re working
blog entries will undoubtedly demonstrate to on? Creating a very basic content calendar using a
customers that you tried something, but gave up, and
that’s the last message you want to send. So be sure The Cisco Channels Guide to Social Media | 12
13. spreadsheet can help you stay on target. Set aside a
reasonable amount of time, say a three or four hours
each week, to write, edit, and plan your blog entries.
Utilize Your Subject Matter Experts
Your company blog doesn’t need to have only one
contributor—after all, each individual within your
organization has different expertise that can contribute
to your blog’s overall success. So solicit blog entries
from different members of different groups, whether
marketing, engineering, or sales, and help make them
evangelizers for your company. Utilizing this type of
cross-functional content will further demonstrate your
company’s versatility and help show the personality
and diversity of thought within your organization.
get your blog noticed and make some new blogging
Promote Your Content
friends, too. Plus, reading other blogs gives you great
It’s great to post a blog entry, but now it’s time to
content ideas. You can also ask the blog owner if you
get readers’ eyeballs on it. This is where Twitter and
can contribute content as a guest blogger and vice
Facebook can serve as useful tools to help promote
versa.
your blog to customers. And make sure you promote
your blog on your website’s home page, too. That’s Video Resources
guaranteed to drive customers to read it.
Social Media Spotlight: Eight Tips for Writing an
In addition to promoting your blog via social media and Engaging Blog Entry
your website, reading and visiting blogs in a similar
niche as your own and leaving thoughtful comments
(with a link back to your own blog) is a great way to The Cisco Channels Guide to Social Media | 13
14. W hat is Twitter? Three: TwiTTer
Twitter is a microblogging service that
enables you to send and read text-based
posts of up to 140 characters, known as tweets.
STOP Before you continue, we want to know
W ho Uses Twitter?
Anyone and everyone uses Twitter, from celebrities • Are you familiar with Twitter?
like soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo, to politicians • Have you set up a Twitter
such as President Barack Obama, to prominent figures in
account, and tweeted before?
technology such as Cisco CTO Padmasree Warrior.
• Do you understand how to
W here Should I Use Twitter? write in 140 characters?
You can access Twitter via at http://www.twitter.com, to set up
an account and get started.
If you answered no, go to Twitter Basics
W hen Should I Use Twitter?
If you answered yes, go to Advanced
Any time—tweets are shared round the clock globally, so
Twitter Tips
whenever you feel like tweeting is up to you.
W hy Use Twitter?
Twitter enables you to share small bits of information,
links, photos, videos, and even random thoughts in real
time with a multitude of people. That sharing can help
you drive eyes to your website content, but it can
also help you develop and deepen relationships
with others. Yes, that is possible to do, in
140 character-bits!
The Cisco Channels Guide to Social Media | 14
15. Three: TwiTTer
Twitter Basics
Creating Your Profile
To set up your profile, go to www.twitter.com and sign
up. For a quick Twitter tour, go to page 19.
If you’re using Twitter primarily to engage with people
for business, your username should be something
professional. A fun nickname or something that is hard
to understand will only confuse people and make you
harder to find.
Your Twitter handle should use your actual name (or
as close to your actual name as possible in the fewest
amount of characters). This is how many people
will find and identify you if they do not know your
username. Your Twitter handle will be repeated if
your message is retweeted (more on that below), so
keeping it as short as possible will help. If you have a
common name, it’s important to use a middle initial or
some way to differentiate yourself.
For your profile picture, you can either use a branded
profile with your company logo, or add a picture of
yourself. If you do use a personal picture, choose a
headshot that clearly shows your face--nothing blurry
or too small.
For your bio, you have 160 characters to tell people
about yourself, so use them wisely. If you are
The Cisco Channels Guide to Social Media | 15
16. representing your company, be sure to include the reply. Example: @Cisco_ Channels Looking forward
company name and perhaps your role. Personal to using Managed Services Channel Program!
details are fine, especially if they identify you, such • RT = Retweet. You can “retweet” other users’
as “Red Sox fan, father of two” but stop short before messages to share the information with your
discussing religious or political opinions that may followers and acknowledge that what they tweeted
offend. These keywords also act as Twitter search is important. Retweeting is encouraged as it builds
engine optimization (SEO), so if you’re a data center connections with other users. Example: “RT @
architect, CEO, or engineer, those words will help Cisco_Channels: How to Join the New Breed of
others with common interests find you. If you’re using Profitable Partners http://is.gd/6YYszJ”
Twitter primarily to engage with people on behalf of
Know Your Goals
your business, your profile should clearly identify that.
Not all brands utilize Twitter the same way:
Also, be sure to add a link to your company’s website
• Comcast uses @ComcastCares to provide their
or blog.
customers with support.
Learn The Lingo
• @Cisco_Channels is used to keep their partners
To engage other users, learn the Twitter lingo and
abreast of the latest developments, connect, and listen
common commands.
to what partners are sharing.
Here are some basics to get you started:
• Tweet = A message sent on Twitter Many companies utilize their accounts to promote and
• DM = Direct Message, a private tweet to one of sell products. It’s important that you’re always adding
your followers. Type D @username + message. value and giving away useful information and advice.
This will send your direct message to their device/ It is important to think about what you’re trying to
twitter inbox. Example: “d @krissy let’s meet at 4?” achieve with your account and your content should
(Someone must be following you in order to receive follow suit.
a direct message from you and vice versa.)
• @ = Also known as a “mention,” is used to reply
and always include preceding a Twitter ID in a The Cisco Channels Guide to Social Media | 16
17. Three: TwiTTer
Advanced Twitter Tips
So you’re up and running and ready to tweet. But Now you might begin looking for ways to spice up your
now what? Will anyone listen? They certainly will, but tweets. To help you along, here are some tips on what
not instantaneously—you need to work at cultivating do you need to do to use Twitter effectively.
followers.
Think Like a Headline Writer
Think extremely catchy—use plays on words, for
instance. Anything that uses creative wording is likely
to catch eyes. You can even draft different versions of
tweets and send them out throughout the day to see
which ones get the most attention.
As an example, here is a tweet that was sent out from
@Cisco_Channels: Ghosts, routers, zombies, oh my!
The easiest way to gain followers is to follow others.
Get top Cisco headlines w/ Partner Update, Halloween
Find key players in your field and follow them. Follow
Edition cisc0.ly/6014RjQO
business leaders, thought leaders, executives you
admire. Then read their tweets closely—what are they Rather than this, which is bland in comparison:
saying? What are they linking to? Do you like their Watch this video with some news for partners. cisc0.
content? You can start by retweeting the messages ly/6014RjQO
that other people are sending, and then dip your toe in
the water of sending tweets yourself. Observe Grammar Rules, and Watch
Your Spelling
And remember: Promote yourself! Put your Twitter Nothing can throw readers off more than seeing a
handle in your email signatures, on your website, mistake in your tweet. Avoid mistakes by reading your
business cards, presentations, and anywhere else it tweets carefully before hitting the Send button. (You
fits. That’s an easy way to show others that you’re can even plug tweets into Microsoft Word to spell and
on Twitter, and to give customers (and potential grammar check them first.)
customers) the means to learn what your current
The Cisco Channels Guide to Social Media | 17
thoughts are.
18. Don’t Abbreviate Too Much Use Hashtags
Sure, you need to abbreviate some words to make Hashtags are essentially a simple way to catalog and
your tweet fit (to = 2, or for = 4, for example), but connect tweets about a specific topic. They make
over-abbreviation will cause readers to have to stop it easier for users to find additional tweets on a
to interpret what you’re writing. And if your audience particular subject, while filtering out the incidental
is global, abbreviations that might make sense in one tweets that may just coincidentally contain the same
country will go over the heads of those in another part keyword. Create a hashtag simply by appending
of the world. So, aim for consistency, seek brevity, and the hash symbol to a word, like this: #hashtag. For
abbreviate really obvious words when necessary. example, at Cisco Partner Summit in 2011, our team
used the hash tag #ciscops11 to sort all of the tweets
Also make sure that your call to action for your
from the event.
followers is clear—too many abbreviations will be
confusing here, as well. Take Time, Think About It
Sure, 140 characters is brief, but shaping that
Shorten Your URLs
sentence or statement isn’t easy. So think about it,
Don’t use your whole 140 character count with a
take your time, don’t rush it. Sometimes the best
lengthy URL. Many of the Twitter management clients
tweets develop over the course of an hour.
Observe Your Own Twitter History
Go back and look at your previous tweets—which ones
generated a ton of buzz, getting a lot of retweets?
such as HootSuite or TweetDeck have a built in URL Which ones zipped past without notice? Your followers
shortener, or you can always use the TinyURL or Bit. will give you a good indication of what works, so follow
ly website and plug in your long URL to get a shorter their lead when crafting your tweets.
one. The short URLs will also make it easier for other
Video Resources
users to retweet your tweets. Bit.ly and some of the
URL shorteners offer trackable links so you can see Social Media Spotlight: Six Rules for Minding Your
how many clicks your links receive. Twitter Manners
The Cisco Channels Guide to Social Media | 18
19. Three: TwiTTer
Twitter Tour
Tweet Often
Link to your company
website/blog
Tweet pictures
Follow People with
Similar Interest
Shorten URLs
The Cisco Channels Guide to Social Media | 19
20. W hat is Video? four: video
Videos is any content you’ve captured with
a video camera—maybe you want to share
footage from a recent company event, or one of your
executives wants to address customers. Video is a great STOP Before you continue, we want to know
tool for delivering these sorts of messages.
• Are you familiar with video?
W ho Should Use Video?
• Have you set up a video
Video is suitable for just about anyone—its easy accessibility
before?
makes it ideal for any audience.
• Do you understand the basics
W here Should I Post Video?
Video can be posted to your website, embedded on your blog, and
of video production?
linked to via your Twitter and Facebook account.
If you answered no, go to video basics
W hen Should I Use Video?
When you have a message that might you want to deliver in a If you answered yes, go to Advanced
particular manner, video can be the perfect vehicle. Video can be Video Tips
shot anywhere, using even your smartphone: That’s what makes it
so versatile.
W hy Use Video?
Video adds a human dimension to your communications;
text might appear flat, whereas video can add emotion.
It can also give customers a good feel for who your
executives are, and what your company culture is
all about.
The Cisco Channels Guide to Social Media | 20
21. four: video
video basics
Polished, professional videos can help promote your
company. You can feature your videos prominently on
your website to help amplify your company’s message
and entice customers. You can also post your videos
on Facebook to garner even more views.
But here’s the thing: Nothing can ruin a video more
than poor setup. If you invest some time and thought
in lighting, staging, and audio, your video will come
out so much better than if you just shoot in front of a
window without regard to your light source, or if you
film outside with loud cars driving by that drown out
your audio.
Here are our Top 10 Tips for Setting Up the Perfect
Video.
1. Visit other video blogs to gather
inspiration.
Find successful video blogs, study them to see what
works, and what doesn’t. For instance, look at where
the subject is sitting, how the lighting is set up, and
what color clothing the talent is wearing. Does it
work? Here are some links to video blogs that we like:
Sometimes Daily, freddiew, and ChurchMediaDesignTV.
The Cisco Channels Guide to Social Media | 21
22. When looking at videos, pay attention to the pattern Optimally, three-point lighting, or lighting that comes
of the subject’s clothing—for instance, checked in from three sources will provide even coverage for
shirts with a small design look weird, often creating subjects. Here’s how it works: a key light goes in
moiré patterns, and some colors can conflict with a front, shining directly on the subject. The fill light also
background. If your talent is standing in front of a illuminates the subject, but is off to the side and fills
white wall, you wouldn’t want them wearing a white in, as the name suggests. (This light is placed at about
shirt. Conversely, if you have a dark background, the face level.) You can use a reflector or a large white
talent should wear a lighter shirt. poster board as a fill light if you don’t have an actual
light. Remember, the fill light must be half as strong
And if you’re using a green screen, definitely make
as the key light, otherwise the lights will compete,
sure the talent is not wearing green, or they will be
causing the video to look really washed out. The final
invisible.
light, the back light, shines on the subject from behind
2. Never place the talent in front of a
window.
Placing the talent with light coming in from behind
(called backlighting) can cause harshness on the
subject’s face or back of the head. The subject
should be looking into the light source, so have the
videographer’s back be to the window.
3. Lighting is key.
Don’t stop at natural light. Buying one studio light
source to illuminate the subject will go a long way,
whether you pick LEDs, soft box, flood lights, or
craft your own using construction lights from a local
hardware store.
The Cisco Channels Guide to Social Media | 22
23. and serves to separate the background from the 8. Monitor your mic feed.
foreground. Sometimes lavaliers can scrape against clothing or
hair, and there is nothing worse than not monitoring
4. Set up your tripod at your talent’s
audio and realizing there was an issue when you’re
eye level.
already home (or at the office) and editing. To avoid
Let’s face it, no one wants the focus on a forehead.
that problem, plug some headphones into your
5. Tripod levels are your friend. camera’s headphone jack and listen carefully while
If your tripod has a leveler, which is essentially similar you’re filming to make sure you have placed the mic
to a bubble leveler that’s used in construction, use it. properly and adjust accordingly.
Fixing a crooked shot will only eat up precious editing
Also, by monitoring audio, you can check for
time.
interference. Devices like cell phones can create
6. Invest in lavaliers, if possible. buzzing sounds and interfere with audio, so ask
Your camera’s onboard microphone will pick up all subjects to turn off their phones before filming.
the background noise, not just your talent’s voice.
Lavaliers, microphones that clip onto a shirt, will
ensure quality audio for your video and pick up just
your talent’s voice. While they require a bit of an
investment (they can range from US$150-$600), they
can help your talent’s voice come in loud and clear.
Get a wireless set so you can use the lavs anywhere.
7. Run lavaliers under clothing.
Lavalier cables look tacky if you can see them, so have
your talent run the cable through their shirt and clip
the receiver onto a belt loop.
The Cisco Channels Guide to Social Media | 23
24. 9. Make your talent comfortable.
Sometimes putting the camera at a slight angle
will make the talent less conscious than if you were
to place the camera facing them directly. You can
also ask someone to sit next to the camera and ask
your subject to talk to that person. It can feel more
comfortable talking to another person than looking
into an unfeeling camera.
10. Use a teleprompter.
If the option is available to you, invest in a
teleprompter set up. Reading off of a teleprompter
can greatly help your video subjects sound crisp and
rehearsed, even if they haven’t practiced their material
extensively. We here at Cisco Channels use the Pro
Prompter HD with an Apple iPad.
Your talent can also copy your script into CuePrompter,
a free online tool that enables your browser to work
like a teleprompter.
The Cisco Channels Guide to Social Media | 24
25. four: video
Advanced Video Tips
Now that you’ve unleashed your inner producer and
become a pro at set up and filmed your video, the
next step is to edit (here’s a link to our iMovie tutorial,
which walks you through the editing process step-by-
A platform for professional and up-and-coming
step).
videographers to showcase their self-produced,
Once your video is ready, it’s time to share it with an independent web series.
audience. With so many video hosting services out
Audience: Independent web series producers,
there, it can be overwhelming deciding which one to
distributors, advertisers, and viewers.
use. Here’s a list of the top video hosting services
available along with their capabilities, restrictions, and Cost: Free
other useful information.
Pros: By enabling the optional advertising feature,
Once you’ve chosen a hosting service, you’ll be able content contributors get paid for the views (revenue is
to embed your videos on your blog, on Facebook, or split 50/50 between the content contributor and blip.
other spots where your audience may be. tv).
Cons: Lots of restrictions around what can and cannot
be uploaded. Only accepts web series and not one-off
videos.
Cool feature: The Dashboard lets you know who your
audience is, where your audience fast forwards, where
they rewind, and where you lose them.
Sharing: Embed (on a blog or website), share via
Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, StumbleUpon, MySpace.
The Cisco Channels Guide to Social Media | 25
26. A platform for filmmaking enthusiasts to showcase
Customizable and flexible online video platform
their original videos.
for video publishers producing personal and/or
commercial content. Audience: Independent video producers and viewers.
Audience: Independent and commercial video Cost: Basic account is free. Vimeo PRO for business
producers and viewers. and commercial use is US$199 per year.
Cost: Personal accounts are free. Business accounts Pros: Free tutorials on how to make better videos.
start at US$100 per month. Super-customizable and brandable video player
available for Vimeo PRO account.
Pros: Customizable video permalinks and ability
to brand your video player with an overlay of your Cons: Basic account not for commercial use and has
company logo. a maximum of 500MB of uploading per week. Cannot
subscribe via RSS.
Cons: Pricier than other options.
Cool feature: Join a group to share and discuss
Cool feature: Viewers can add tags and comments at
videos, photos, music, and events with other people
specific points in your video.
that share the same interests.
Sharing: Twitter, Facebook, StumbleUpon, Reddit,
Sharing: Share via email, Facebook, Twitter, Delicious,
Tumblr, Digg. Distribute to iTunes, mobile. Numerous
Digg, StumbleUpon, MySpace, or Flickr.
embed options, including Flash with HTML5 and
iframe.
The Cisco Channels Guide to Social Media | 26
27. With more than 3 billion videos viewed per day,
YouTube is the most popular site for watching and
sharing videos.
Audience: From individual video producers to large
corporations and everyone in between.
Cost: Free
Pros: Videos can be viewed without logging in and can
easily be embedded on other sites.
Cons: Lots of competition (35 hours of video are Video Resources
uploaded to YouTube every minute).
Social Media Spotlight: iMovie Tutorial
Cool feature: As long as the owner of the video has
the embed feature enabled, YouTube generates the
embed code so that you can post the video on your
website or blog.
Sharing: Share your video publicly or use the
private sharing option to control who can watch your
video. Share via email, Facebook, Twitter, MySpace,
Orkut, hi5, Blogger, Live Spaces, Bebo, Buzz, or
StumbleUpon.
The Cisco Channels Guide to Social Media | 27
28. four: video
YouTube Tour
Never Place Talent In
Front of a Window
Set Tripod at Eyelevel
Invest in Lavaliers and
Run Under Clothing
Lighting From Three
Sources
The Cisco Channels Guide to Social Media | 28
29. W hat is a Facebook fan page? five: faCebook fan paGes
Facebook allows brands and companies to create
a fan page, which is a public profile that enables sharing
information with Facebook users and the general public.
Fan pages are publicly visible, meaning they can be seen by
STOP Before you continue, we want to know
unregistered users, so companies often include a link to their
Facebook fan page on their website.
• Do you have a Facebook
W ho Uses Facebook Fan Pages? profile?
Just about any brand you can think of, from Coca-Cola, BMW, and Hershey’s
Chocolate, to tech companies such as Citrix and Cisco, of course. (And many • Have you visited a Facebook
Cisco partners as well!) fan page before?
W here are Facebook Fan Pages located? • Has your company already set
Fan pages are hosted on Facebook (which require an account), but are publicly
visible, so users searching on Google or other search engines will find your page
up a Facebook fan page?
if they search for it. You don’t need an account on Facebook to view a fan page,
but you do need one to comment.
If you answered no, go to facebook basics
W hen Should I Create a Facebook Fan Page?
If you answered yes, go to Advanced
A fan page can be created at any time—and because Facebook is used
globally by millions of users, it will be searched for and viewed at all hours of Facebook Tips
the day, at any given time.
W hy Create a Facebook Fan Page?
There’s a multitude of reasons—a fan page enables you to connect with
users, interact with them, and educate potential customers on your
company’s offerings. It’s an easy to way to forge relationships,
and it’s also another vehicle you can use to help amplify
your company message. Best of all: It’s free to create a
basic page. (You may want to spend money to hire a
developer to do the coding however.) The Cisco Channels Guide to Social Media | 29
30. five: faCebook fan paGes
Facebook Basics - Welcome Tab
While it might seem a little daunting to create and custom-design a Facebook fan page, we’ve got it covered: Here’s a link to
our step-by-step instructions on how to do it.
And below is the Cisco Channels fan page, with helpful callouts on our page’s features to guide you through the design of your
page.
These links identify the tabs on your
Facebook page, enabling visitors a quick
glimpse into what information you have
available, whether links to news, photos,
or events.
This page is programmable, so you can design
it as you wish. In our case, we inserted a
“welcome mat” as it were, thanking visitors for
stopping by, and letting them know a little bit
about us and what we do.
This indicates the total number of people
that have “liked” your page. As you
continuously post content, and comment on
other pages, the number of people who “like”
your page will continue to grow.
The Cisco Channels Guide to Social Media | 30
31. five: faCebook fan paGes
Facebook Basics - Fan Page
Below is the wall of the Cisco Channels fan page, with callouts on our page’s features. This page is the hub for all of your
activities—most of your users will engage with you here.
One of the easiest ways to drive engagement
on your page is by uploading photos—these
appear on your wall when you post them,
and also display on top.
Use your wall to post interesting tidbits,
news, links and more. Keep your posts short
and fun—your fans are more likely to “like”
and comment when they feel engaged.
When you “like” other pages, they will show
up here. Be sure to like others in your field,
pages you admire, and so on. Liking others
shows that you are engaged, and will help
increase the number of likes that your page
receives.
The Cisco Channels Guide to Social Media | 31
32. five: faCebook fan paGes
Facebook Basics - News Tab
An RSS feed on your Facebook page enables you to syndicate content that you might have on your company blog, or news
articles that you would like to share. Installing an RSS feed requires a little programming expertise and an app—on the Cisco
Channels page, we use an app from Involver.
Once you’ve added in your RSS feed, it will
automatically update, so you won’t have to
manually program this page.
The Cisco Channels Guide to Social Media | 32
33. five: faCebook fan paGes
Advanced Facebook Tips
Looking for ways to generate content and drive new
users to your fan page? Here are some of our tips and
tricks.
Put All of Your Company’s Information
in One Place
Integrate an RSS news feed from your blog (or another
site), Flickr photos, YouTube videos, and Twitter feed
on your Facebook fan page. Your customers can see
all of that activity in one place, giving them a great
snapshot of everything going on with your business.
Enable Group Discussions
When multiple users are engaging with the content on
your fan page, they can interact not just with you, but
with each other, creating a community around your
business. When they post on your page, all of their
friends see it, too. This helps you forge relationships
with your customers in a way that you couldn’t using
an email newsletter, or even Twitter.
Be sure to respond to users who post questions and
comments on your wall—this shows that you are
engaged and committed to developing relationships
with customers.
The Cisco Channels Guide to Social Media | 33
34. Grow Your Reach Video Resources
Be sure to encourage users to “like” your page—when
someone clicks that little “thumbs up” icon your Facebook Fan Page Tutorial for Partners
page, all of their Facebook friends in their network
are able to see that, exposing them to your page,
and potentially drawing in new fans. (And potential
customers.)
Get Instant Feedback
Curious about whether a new product or new company
initiative will gain traction? Create a poll on your
Facebook page enables you to solicit feedback from
your fans, giving you a quick idea of what works and
what doesn’t.
Create Promotions
One of the best ways to generate interest on your
Facebook page is through creating a promotion, or
contest. Facebook has many specific rules to follow
about using their platform for promotions, so be sure
to review those before designing yours. Many sites
have contests to drive engagement and gain new
viewers, and while a contest can take a significant
amount of time to launch and run, the benefits it can
yield are big.
The Cisco Channels Guide to Social Media | 34
35. six: ConneCT wiTh CisCo Channels
We’d love to connect with you—we’re here to share
interviews, videos, executive insights, tips, and Cisco
announcements. Whether you’re a Cisco partner,
solution provider, customer, or someone with an
interest in tech, we welcome your participation. Here
are the links to the various Cisco Channels social
media vehicles. Follow us, share your insights and
stories, post on our Facebook wall, and we’ll follow
back, and post on your Facebook wall, too.
Was this ebook useful? Let us know what we missed
and what we should cover in updates and new editions.
And be sure to share your social media best practices
and tips, too.
Cisco Channels Blog
Cisco Channels Twitter Feed
Channels Chat on Ustream
Cisco Channels YouTube Channel
Cisco Channels Facebook Page
Cisco Channels Flickr Photostream
The Truth About Marketing
The Cisco Channels Guide to Social Media | 35
36. Credits
Book edited and compiled by Kalpana Ettenson, with content from
Alexandra Krasne, Andrew Phillips, Anna Sui, and Matt Wass de Czege
Book layout designed by Anna Sui