The document discusses the significance of social media as a platform for two-way communication between companies and consumers, highlighting statistics that show high user engagement and the necessity for companies to participate actively. It reveals that while many companies acknowledge the importance of social media, a large portion do not engage regularly due to uncertainty about its effectiveness and lack of a social media policy. Best practices for creating and maintaining a social media presence, as well as crisis management strategies, are also emphasized, underscoring the need for active participation and dialogue in the digital space.

1. Online Social Media Kimberly Kayler, CPSM, CSI, President Stephanie Brown, Interactive Public Relations Specialist Constructive Communication, Inc.

2. Introduction Social media is about dialog, two-way discussions that bring people together in order to discover and share information. Users control the messages, companies can influence those messages Social media is anything that uses the Internet to facilitate conversations between people IF YOU DON’T ENGAGE, YOUR COMPETITION WILL!

3. Facts The top 25 social sites deliver in excess of 300 million users every month 6 out of 10 of the top internet sites are social On average, each adult with a social networking profile is on 1.6 sites and 39% of adults have profiles on two or more sites. 57% of adults have joined a social network, making it the number one platform for creating and sharing content

4. Outlets Wikipedia Facebook MySpace LinkedIn Blogs Twitter Technorati Digg Flickr YouTube Podcasts RSS Wikis SEO Google AdWords Google Alerts Ning Plaxo

5. CCI Survey Results 75% of respondents personally interact with online social media regularly, while 80% of companies rarely interact with online social media The most popular outlet for companies was LinkedIn with 62.5% 90% of respondents said their company does not have a social media policy 76% said online social media is a critical medium but 60% said they rarely participate from a corporate perspective.

6. SMPS Survey Of the 371 respondents 58% said they do not use social media to market but those that did, primarily used LinkedIn Main reason for not using social media: many are unsure of where it fits into the marketing mix and/or not convinced of its effectiveness 75% said that they never or randomly monitor online social media 97% do not measure ROI Survey conducted by Regina Connell, Saltcellar Group; Barbara Shuck, FSMPS, CPSM, Emc2 Group Architects Planners and Marion Thatch, FSMPS, CPSM, AMEC Geomatrix

7. B2B Magazine Survey 66 percent of marketers said they are now using social media, up 57 percent from the 2007 survey Among B2B, 57 percent are using social media 81 percent are using LinkedIn and 74 percent use Facebook 51 percent cited brand building as the objective Survey release July 20, 2009

8. How does this apply to B2B? 93% of Americans believe a company should have a social media presence 85% believe a company should not only be present, but also interact with its consumers via social media 56% of American consumers feel both a stronger connection with and better served by companies when they can interact with them in a social media environment 2008 Cone Business in Social Media Study

9. Consumers and journalists are increasingly going online to find news and information about products and services. 89% of Internet users worldwide used search engines to find information 76% look up news online “ Digital World, Digital Life,” December 2008 Changing World

12. Example: Employee for a mechanical engineering firm listed company on Facebook. Have since gone to jail for embezzling corporate funds from previous employer. Media used Facebook to learn more about this person, linked engineering firm in news stories. Changing World

13. Evolving eMarketing Search Engine Optimization Search Engine Marketing Social Networking Syndication Broadcasting Marketing is Changing Traditional Branding Advertising Direct Marketing Sales Promotion Collateral Trade Shows Events

14. But strategy is still needed Don’t jump to tactics Social media requires strategy like any other marketing tool

15. Tilt-Up Design Systems launching their new software at World of Concrete Used twitter to get editors to visit booth Got ENR’s attention and same-day coverage Case Study

17. H.R. Gray (www.hrgray.com) needs to get the word out fast about their ADA consulting experience 1) Google Adwords 2) SEO 3) Online PR 4) Traditional direct mail 5) Print publications Case Study

18. Case Study

19. American Concrete Institute (ACI) has 1,767 Facebook fans and 1,989 LinkedIn members Started Facebook group to attract students but later changed to reach a broader audience Results: tripled scholarship applications and facilitate two-way conversations ACI sends out emails to invite people to join LinkedIn and Facebook. Also, includes links on newsletters and website Case Study

21. “ Social Computing is not a fad. Nor is it something that will pass you or your company by. Gradually, Social Computing will impact almost every role, at every kind of company, in all parts of the world.”

22. Years to reach 50 million users Radio: 38 years TV: 13 years Internet: 4 years iPod: 3 years Facebook: added 100 million users in less than 9 months! iPod Application downloads: 1 billion in 9 months! In the future, we won’t search for news and products….they will find us

23. If you decide to start up a social networking page for your company you need to: Maintain constantly Update regularly Invite others to join Facilitate conversations Post jobs and internships Post news links Upload pictures Getting Started

24. How to gain followers Add to your business card Add to end of email signature Add to company website Add to blog Add to Newsletter Add to advertising efforts Share all outlets that you are using on each

25. If you create a page, provide a link to it on your website Stay active with your audience DAILY Alternate option is to advertise on these sites, then you don’t have to regularly update Disclosure is permanent We are still in infantile stage Losing by not contributing. Don’t be private Getting Started

26. Getting Started Engage and personalize = Dialogue Join online communities where you want to talk (community, sports club, recent grads) Like a dinner party, don’t talk the whole time, listen and participate, too! Dive in! The more we dive in, the less unfamiliar it feels!

27. 7 Characteristics for a good profile Strong profile visibility: develop brand recognition Active participation: have continuous presence Practice reciprocity: win-win outcomes Effective communication: conversations Support the community: put before self Provide value above all: gain trust and attention Demonstrate Integrity

28. Best Practices Employees need to understand that what is posted out there can not be taken back Talk to your employees and remind them that they are representing you If you do create a page for your company, monitor it regularly, start discussions, add events…etc.

29. Policies Educate employees and self Policy should state how employees are expected to engage. Stay transparent by using real name and the company. Write what they know, stay consistent, join in the conversation, add value, create excitement and be a leader.

30. Policies Continued Employee should stick to their area of expertise and provide individual perspectives on what is going on at the company Post meaningful and respectful comments Always pause and think before posting

31. Policies Continued Respect proprietary information and content Respect confidentiality When disagreeing with others, keep it polite and appropriate When in doubt about posting content, get permission

32. Monitor Online Conversations Vocus: $1,250 per month. Includes all monitoring, news clipping and distribution of press releases Radian6: $600 per month. Allows monitoring of blogs, news, twitter and working on Facebook. Cision: $695 per month. Uses Radian6 platform PR Newswire: $450 per month and includes blogs, news, forums, Twitter, photos and video sites and Social Media such as Facebook

33. Monitor Online Conversations Backytype.com: sends alerts when a comment is made that includes company name or brand Blogpulse.com: searches blogs for your company Boardreader.com: searches message boards, forums, videos and Twitter icerocket.com: searches blogs, news, MySpace, Twitter, images Socialmention.com and Collecta.com are great tools

34. Crisis Management Actively monitor Respond quickly: within hours Respond at the flashpoint: where audience is communicating before anywhere else Educate employees: all employees should have online social media training Foster a positive culture: if employees are happy, they’re less likely to tear down the company Set clear guidelines: create a policy

35. The New Press Releases Use share this tools including links to Digg, Technorati, Facebook, LinkedIn Twitter. Link within the document to other press releases, published articles, company website Share YouTube videos including interviews Have all contact information on release

37. Your competition may not be active on online social media, so take leadership Facilitate conversations, post jobs, start groups and become the expert in the industry. Add associations that you are a part of and join the conversation. Final Thoughts

38. It’s All About Dialogue “ If you’re not part of the conversation, then you’re leaving it to others to answer questions and provide information, whether it’s accurate or incorrect. Or, even worse, you may be leaving it up to your competition to jump in to become the resource for the community. Yes, there will be negative comments. Yes, you’ll invite unsolicited feedback. Yes, people will question your intentions. Negativity will not go away simply because you opt out of participating. Negative commentary, at the very least, is truly an opportunity to change the perception that you did or didn’t know existed.”

39. Thank you! Kimberly Kayler [email_address] 614.873.6707 Stephanie Brown [email_address] 513.469.0030