This document provides an overview of various social media platforms and how businesses can utilize social media for marketing purposes. It discusses popular social networks like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. It also covers other social media tools like blogs, microblogging, video and photo sharing sites. The document provides tips on how businesses can connect with customers, build their brand and promote events using these social media tools.

1. Q-school

2. Social Media for Business What is Social Media? Using Social Media Connecting with Customers Bringing It All Together Q & A

3. What is Social Media?

4. Funny Comic

5. Social Media Social media is content created by people and distributed via the Internet using tools like social networks, micro-blogs, social news services, wikis, and video and photo sharing sites.

6. Types of Social Media Blogs Directories Discussion Groups Events Forums Micro-Blogging Photo Sharing Social Networks Social News Social Bookmarking Video Sharing Wikis

7. Popular Social Media Social Networks - Facebook, MySpace Micro-Blogging - Twitter, Plurk Blogs - Blogger, WordPress Video Sharing - YouTube, Vimeo Photo Sharing - Flickr, Photobucket Wikis – Wikipedia Social News - Digg, Reddit Social Bookmarking - Delicious, StumbleUpon Directories - Google Local Events - Eventful, Meetup.com Old School - Forums, Discussion Groups

8. Social Network A social network service focuses on building online communities of people who share interests and/or activities, or who are interested in exploring the interests and activities of others. Most social network services are web-based and provide a variety of ways for users to interact.

9. Social Brand Your social brand is the collective online response to your business or organization.

10. Top 25 Social Networks

11. Are You Social? LinkedIn - Work Facebook - The bar after work Twitter - The water cooler MySpace - The bar after midnight Source: @KarlBimshas

12. Google Trend

13. Social Facts 1.5 billion people worldwide use the Internet Social networking and blogs now more popular than email Visited by 67% of the global online population 49% of Americans have a Twitter, MySpace or Facebook account 48% of adults have either a MySpace or Facebook page 16% of adults update their pages daily

14. Social Media Use

15. Why Use Social Media Commitment of Leadership Build Loyalty Connect with Customers Improve Image “ Halo” Effect Enhance Customer Service Grow Business Increase Accessibility Get Ahead of the Curve Beat Your Competition to the Punch

16. Facebook

17. Facebook “ Facebook helps you connect and share with the people in your life” More than 200 million active users More than 100 million users log on daily 600,000 new users each day More than 2/3 of users are outside of college Used in more than 35 different languages and 170 countries and territories Growth is 228% in the US now 65 million users Fastest growing segment is 35 years and older

18. Why Use Facebook? Communicate with customers, contacts, peers Build relationships Marketing Promote events Raise visibility Develop your brand Your competition is there Low cost, high return on investment

19. Google Trend

20. Young at Heart The number of Americans over 35, 45, and 55 on Facebook is growing fast In the last 60 days alone, the number of people over 35 has nearly doubled Developers and marketers may want to think about how to serve this group of new users Source - Inside Facebook, March 2009

21. Your Father’s Social Network Women over 55 remain the fastest growing group with nearly 1.5 million new users monthly There are now even slightly more members between the ages of 45 and 65 than there are 13-to 17-year-olds The biggest growth in terms of absolute new users over the last six month came amongst users 35-44 Source: Wired

22. Facebook growth

23. Facebook Page vs. Group Represent a real public figure, artist, brand or organization Maintain Facebook look Page actions appear to come from the Page Less restrictive Applications and rich media Messages appear as "Updates" section of fans' inboxes Groups can be created by any user and about any topic Have different layout Group actions come from you as individual Selective access Applications can't be added to groups Messages to group members that appear in inboxes

24. Facebook: Page

25. Facebook Page Pros SEO - Find your page outside of Facebook Applications (i.e. - Events, Discussion Boards, Photos, Videos, Notes/RSS, Twitter, Polls, etc.) Fan pages stand out Expanding functionality - Status, events Build a following (i.e. - Fans of fans) Share your company information Strengthen your brand Communicate in a personal way Measure traffic

26. Facebook Page Cons Messages go out as an update, not e-mail Little activity goes into the profile news feeds People will have to know in the business name when searching

27. Facebook Group Pros Messages appear in inbox Gain more exposure than a Facebook Page Promote a cause Create awareness Create better “stickiness” Start a group around any topic Open, Closed, and Secret groups Searchable by keywords. Actions come from you as an individual

28. Facebook Group Cons No applications Minimal customization Does not share as much information with friends of the group as fan pages

29. Facebook Stories: Muskegon Lumberjacks

30. Facebook Group: Amnesty International

31. Facebook Group or Page? Messaging - Group Everything Else - Page

32. Twitter

33. Twitter “ What are you doing?” More than 10 million active users Twitter use up 1382% to 7 million US users Up 77% from February to March alone 735,000 access through mobile phones monthly Majority visit Twitter while at work Educated, slightly more female than male audience Fastest growing segment is 35 years and older

34. Twitter Muskegon CVB

35. Why Use Twitter? It’s Informative Simple Quick Immediate Feedback Expert Opinions Resource Expand Audience

36. Top Entrepreneurs Twitter Users

37. What to Tweet Company news Personal information Press releases Breaking news Expert insight Events Raise money Sales and specials Run a contest Advertise a job Answer a customer service question Recommendations Link to videos, blog posts, etc. Reply to others Live Tweet Retweet Participate in #FollowFriday or #MusicMonday

38. How to Tweet Keep it short and sweet 140 characters or less Be interesting Find people Customize your page Join a conversation Identify a problem Solicit feedback Building a following Drive traffic to your Web site

39. Twitter Syntax Tweet - Text-based posts of up to 140 characters in length displayed on user's profile page Reply - @username + message Direct Message - D username + message Hashtag - #tags Retweet - RT @username + message

40. Twitter Stories: Pete Hoekstra

41. Twitter Apps TweetDeck Twellow TinyURL Twitter SMS Tweetie (iPhone) Twitterrific (iPhone) TwitterBerry (Blackberry)

42. Twitter Stories: Muskegon

43. LinkedIn

44. LinkedIn “ Professionals use LinkedIn to exchange information, ideas and opportunities” Traffic is up in the recession 36 million members Adding members at a rate of about one member per second Up from 3.6 million unique monthly visitors a year ago to 7.7 million US Users

45. LinkedIn: Dynamic Conveyor

46. Why Use LinkedIn? Networking Recommendations Quick Lookup Q&A Introductions Background checks Check out the competition

47. How to Link In Facebook for business Make and ask for Recommendations Update you company profile Make connections Post a job Find a job Join a Group Answer questions Try Applications Pay to play $24.95-$499.95 monthly!

48. Using Social Media

49. Social Media v. Traditional Media (The Shift in How We Communicate) Reach Both traditional and social media technologies provide scale and enable anyone to reach a global audience

50. Social Media v. Traditional Media (The Shift in How We Communicate) Accessibility The means of production for traditional media are typically owned privately or by government; social media tools are generally available to anyone at little or no cost. With mobile devices access is becoming nearly instantaneous

51. Social Media v. Traditional Media (The Shift in How We Communicate) Usability Traditional media production typically requires specialized skills and training. Most social media does not, or in some cases reinvents skills, so anyone can operate the means of production

52. Social Media v. Traditional Media (The Shift in How We Communicate) Recency The time lag between communications produced by traditional media can be long compared to social media which is capable of virtually instantaneous responses; only the participants determine any delay in response

53. Social Media v. Traditional Media (The Shift in How We Communicate) Permanence Traditional media once created cannot be altered whereas social media can be altered almost instantaneously by comments or editing

54. Significant Time Commitment to Social Media Marketing

55. Social Media Tools Social Networks Blogs Micro-Blogging Video Sharing Photo Sharing Wikis Social News Social Bookmarking Directories Events Forums Discussion Groups

56. The Conversation

57. Utilizing Social Media Tools to Promote Your Business Traditional marketing principals apply Start a following around your cause Know your audience / be a consumer Utilize the diversity of tools available

58. Commonly used social media tools

59. Content is Key Social Content These are sites where users create and manage the content from photos to videos, information on a topic, and everything in between Think Flickr, YouTube, and wikis to name a few

60. Content is Key Give your audience something to talk about Nothing works better than word of mouth—one friend telling another, "Hey look at this!” Save time Be on message Repurpose content.

61. Video Content for Social Networking (Case Study)

62. Will it Blend? Blend-Tec Since the video series debuted on YouTube, retail sales of the company's blenders have grown fivefold, to an estimated $10 million, up from $2 million in 2006. The original run of five videos cost only $50 to produce and has been viewed more than 35 million times on YouTube.

63. Online Video Tips Submit your video to YouTube Statistics show that on average, a YouTube video will get 4 times as many views than a video on it’s nearest competitor

64. Online Video Tips Create short, content-rich videos According to a TubeMogul study, most online video viewers do not watch for longer than 1 minute.

65. Online Video Tips Name your video correctly Name your video based on the search you expect people to type in when looking for the information in your video.

66. Online Video Tips Send your viewers to your website You can generate tons of online video traffic to your website using video. Make sure to mention your Web site

67. The Future of Social Media Tools New tools will continue to be developed at a rapid rate New uses for existing tools are being discovered every day Do not be afraid to try new distribution channels

68. Who Else is Doing This? “… the recent terrorist attacks in India and the speed of critical information reported on the incident through Twitter [is] a potential networking power that could also be used to strengthen national security. “ Source: National Defense University

69. Who Else is Doing This? “ The CDC and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services are working together to provide consumers and partners with social media tools that access information about the ongoing 2009 H1N1 Flu outbreak.” Source: www.pandemicFlu.gov

70. Twitter Stories: CDC

71. Connecting with Customers

72. Proactive Customer Service with Jeremy Cyr Production Director Qonverge

73. Comcast Has A Problem…

74. Comcast Customer Service Sucks.

75. How bad does it suck? In 2007, Comcast had the worst customer satisfaction rating of any company or government agency in the country, including the Internal Revenue Service . Source ACSI

76. How bad does it suck? Comcast’s Customer Satisfaction Rate: 30% (2007)

77. What Did Comcast Do? Hired Frank Eliason in 2007 Searched the Internet for Disgruntled Bloggers Proactively Engaged those Users Can I Help?

78. An Amazing Result Reaching out changed the tone immediately Customers were satisfied Customers were excited Customers spread the word

79. Comcast Expands Their Efforts Targets Blogs, Forums, Social Networks Increased team to 7 members (Comcast Customer Connect, C-Cubed) Established a Twitter account (@comcastcares) and later a twitter team

80. Examples

81. Examples

82. The Result

83. Customer Service is Changing Sometimes it’s Bottom Up (Company Seeks Customer) The request and the result may be public Benefits and pitfalls of good and bad customer service are amplified.

84. Customer Service is the New Marketing The transparency and reach provide a new marketing opportunity Create fans of your customers Let your customers evangelize your brand for you

85. Video – Lane Becker Get Satisfaction

86. In Summary Customer Interactions have fundamentally changed Forced transparency means customers are in control Business now have the power to proactively respond Good customer service is a powerful marketing tool.

87. Many Traditional Rules Apply Relationships over Transactions Personal over Standard People value honesty and transparency Reps must be empowered to solve the problem People want to interface with people, not workflows

88. Proactive Customer Service in Social Media—the steps Monitor your Brand Listen First Participate Be Proactive Reach Out

89. Proactive Customer Service in Social Media—the steps Provide valuable tools / information Continue Listening Learn from Feedback Love Negative Feedback Grow

90. Monitoring Your Brand—The Tools Legacy Search / Notifications Works well for small companies Easy, no software to install http://search.twitter.com

91. Monitoring Your Brand—The Tools Tracking with SMS Setup SMS in Twitter Text “Track YourKEYWORD” to 40404 You’ll receive a text whenever the term is mentioned Don’t use with highly popular terms http://www.lagesse.org/twitter-and-track/ for more info

92. Monitoring Your Brand—The Tools TweetDeck tweetdeck.com Powerful Tool PC / Mac / Linux Real Time monitoring of search terms Group Users Carry on conversations easily

93. Monitoring Your Brand—The Tools

94. Monitoring Your Brand—The Tools TweetGrid Tweetgrid.com Web Based Simple Real Time monitoring of search terms

95. Monitoring Your Brand—The Tools

96. Monitoring Your Brand—The Tools Pay Service Web Based Very Powerful Strong set of notification tools Ideal for power users

97. Monitoring Your Brand—The Tools easytweets.com

98. Monitoring Your Brand—The Tools tweetscan .com Web Based Saved Searches Email Notifications $20 per year

99. Monitoring Your Brand—The Tools twitscoop .com Trend Monitoring Visual Tag Cloud Free Web Based

100. Secrets to Success Stick With It Engage Often Produce Results

101. Secrets to Success Personalize the Voice Give the profile a Name, Face, Personality (real) Include Personal Trivia Use a real profile picture Use separate accounts for each rep

102. Bringing It All Together

103. Personal or Professional? Lines between business and personal have become blurred You can reveal as much or as little about yourself as you wish Allows you to personalize your brand The reality is your social brand is both personal AND professional

104. It’s Always On Computer Smartphone SMS Video camera Digital camera Mobile social networking is up 156% in the US and 249% in the UK

105. Social Media Tips Have a policy Be genuine Ignore the clutter Master your domain Join the conversation Personalize Tinker away Stay active Drive traffic Get mobile Inside scoop Don’t sell Polished presentation vs. home grown

106. It’s Part of the Mix Doesn't take that much time Part of your day Make social media part of your plan Appoint a “social evangelist” Activity is key Not that hard It’s fun!

107. Social Media for Business What is Social Media? Using Social Media Connecting with Customers Bringing It All Together Q & A

108. Thank You Questions Answers Visit www.qonverge.com