This document provides an overview of using social media for business purposes. It discusses the top social media platforms of Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. For each platform, it provides statistics on user numbers, tips for how businesses can engage on each platform, and suggestions for types of content and metrics to measure engagement. The overall message is that social media takes consistent time and effort but can provide great returns in terms of new connections, ideas, and exposure for a business with little monetary investment. Regular posting of various types of content is recommended to keep current and attract new customers.

7. There’s no better time to immerse yourself in
social media than right now. Even if you
think “the facebook” is a frivolous waste
of time, you don’t have the slightest clue
what “a twitter” is, and you don’t know
what it means to “link-in”… Fear not!
Once your business takes the plunge
into social media you will be amazed at
the ideas, insights, and new connections
you will gain. By merely engaging in the
three basic social media levers covered in
this magazine you will see results with little
monetary investment. Beyond covering
Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn this magazine
is full of tips and ideas for your best social
media marketing plan. However, social media
does take time, so take the time to do it right.
Get started today, this magazine will lead the way.

9. “Social media is engaging with the masses. It's
about creating excitement and buzz around
your product. It's about acknowledging and
listening to your awesome fans. It's about
being active, involved, personable, and
connected... And it's fun!
Social media is also incredibly valuable. It can
expose your brand to new audiences, funnel
online discussions into a medium you can
control, and get results faster and in a more
measurable way than with traditional media.”
-Katy Lynch, Social Katy LLC
Chicago-based Social Media Strategist

11. 11

12. So long to the
days of big
ad marketing
campaigns.
Now instead
of marketing
to your
customers,
businesses and
consumers will
interact with
one another.
Social media is
transforming
marketing from
a message into
a conversation.
Be sure to send
your message,
but also take
time to listen
to consumers’
responses.

13. Regardless if your company has individual employees
fulfilling each of these functions or you single-handedly
maintain them yourself—this building is a essentially
map describing how each function should think within
the social media world. After you learn the basics
don’t be afraid to try out the less familiar venues.
Graphic from oneupweb.com 13

14. It’s
not
too
late
to
“Social media is hot.
And for businesses it
represents a marketing
opportunity that
transcends the
traditional middleman
and connects
companies directly
with customers.
This is why nearly
every business on the
planet – from
giants like
Starbucks
and IBM–
to the local
ice cream
shop are
exploring
social
media
marketing
initiatives.”
-Michael A. Stelzner
Founder, SocialMediaExaminer.com
you
can
do it
yourself!

15. Source: SocialMediaExaminer.com via
Take
the time
to make
an impact
returns
can
be
huge!
15

17. WHERE ARE
YOUR
CUSTOMERS?
Social Media is like
any other marketing
plan—defining your
target market and
how to reach them
is key. These
demographics will
help you define which
social media venues
will be most valuable
to your business.
From there defining
your business’s social
media plan of attack
will be much easier.
In this magazine we
will cover the sites
that are most popular
overall. But don’t
let that deter you
from diving into
the others!
17

18. The Hard Facts
Social Media Type:
The Social
Network
Active Users:
500 million
worldwide
Launched:
2004
Viral Value:
Facebook is
the #1 place
people spend
time on the
web
The
shear
number
of people and the frequency with
which they are on Facebook is astounding.
How will your business connect?

19. Why Users Engage with
Companies on Facebook
40% to receive discounts and promotions
39% to show my support for the company to others
36% to get a “freebie”
34% to stay informed about the
activities of the company
33% to get updates on
future products
30% to get updates on
upcoming sales
29% for fun or entertainment
25% to get access to exclusive content
22% someone recommended it to me
21% to learn more about the company
13% for education about company topics
A Fan page
builds your
reputation and
expands your
network within
minutes. By
having lots of
fans visiting
your page, you
are able to
make money by
putting more
advertisements
and promotions
on your page.
So, start
designing one
today!
19

20. Facebook Insights
User Insights
Total page likes, or a number of fans, daily
active users, new likes/unlikes, like
sources, demographics, page views and
unique page views, tab views, external
referrers, media consumption
Interactions Insights
Daily story feedback (post likes, post
comments, per post impressions), daily
page activity (mentions, discussions,
reviews, wall posts, video posts)
What will you Measure?
There is a lot of data offered, but you
want to sort through it and identify what
information is meaningful and will help
you make decisions about your
engagement and content strategy.You will
want to document monthly growth and
activity, and identify spikes in user activity
and what may have caused them.
Here are a few simple metrics:
Monthly fan size growth:
Record the number of fans (or “likers”)
you have on the first of every month
to see what your growth looks like.
The average number of likes/comments:
This is your best measure of fan
engagement. Increase the number of
posts around the topic your fans are
more engaged with and decrease the
number of posts around topics they
are not interested in.
Unlikes and attrition rate:
Loss of fans is inevitable, watch for
spikes in the unlike numbers.You want
to try and correlate these spikes with
the activity on your page and
understand why people are leaving
your page.

21. Tab views:This metric will tell you which tab gets what percentage of traffic.
This will help you prioritize content on your page.
Referrers:This metric specifies where the traffic to your page comes from.You want to
increase exposure to your page on the sites that bring you the most traffic.
Demographics: No matter what your
objectives are, you can always find
the demographics data useful:
the gender of your fans, their ages,
and where they are from.
Page views: This will help you
identify the number of returned fans.
If you take the number of page views
and subtract the number of unique
page views, you will have a measure
of your returning fan base.
Mentions:This is the number of times
someone tagged you in their post.
This metric is important because it is
the easiest way for your fans’ friends
to click through to your page. Every
time someone tags you, the name of
your page appears as a link. Users are more likely to click on that link than to search for
your page manually. Increasing mentions should be a main goal for your page.
Don’t ForgetYour Facebook Page
Facebook fans expect consistent activity on your page. If you neglect your page, it will die.
Furthermore, monitoring the metrics specified here will help you understanding how to get
the most out of your page. This can seem like a lot of work, but if you keep up with these
metrics, or even a few you find particularly important, you will be able to adjust your strategy
to maintain traffic growth. Having a successful Facebook page is your window to overall
social media success. By measuring your metrics and remaining engaged with your fans
you will manage the greatest impact on your
business’s bottom line overall.
Adapted from “A Beginner’s Guide to Facebook Insights,”
Mashable/Business, September 2010.

23. 23

24. The Hard Facts
Social Media Type:
Micro-Blogging
Active Users:
190 million accounts
Launched:
2006
Viral Potential:
Real-time information
sharing with people
interested in your
products and services.
Gather real-time
market intelligence
and feedback, and
build relationships
with customers,
partners and
influential people
*taken from Twitter.com
“About: Twitter for Businesses”
How to
Tweet
Think about
Twitter as a
place to build relationships
Use a casual, friendly tone
in your messages.
Don’t feel compelled to follow
everyone who follows you, but
do respond promptly to
concerns, offer customer service,
and thank people for praise.
Filter for tweets that mention
your company, brand, service
and/or products. Check out
third party applications like
TweetDeck or HootSuite
to get started.

25. Retweet cool stuff—this will
show others you are reading their
tweets and people will appreciate
amplification of their ideas.
Post links to articles, sites,
and photos you think folks would
find interesting—even if they’re not
your sites or about your company.
Make sure your tweets provide
some real value. Here are a few examples:
 OfferTwitter exclusive coupons or deals
 Facilitate an engaging contest
 Take people behind the scenes of your
company—Post pictures from your
offices, stores, warehouses, etc.
 Share sneak peeks of projects or
events in development
 Use personality to let followers know
there is a human behind the tweets
Adapted from Twitter 101 for Business, “Best Practices” twitter.com
25

26. Only 12% of
marketer
tweets
represent active
dialogue with
consumers.
Meaning most
companies are
not harnessing
Twitter’s full
potential.
Statistics from 360i Digital Marketing Agency, July 2010.

27. -Katy Lynch, socialkaty.com
-Customize! Use a
personalized background,
add a bio and a profile photo,
provide your main website link
-PostTwitter updates daily:
Links, jokes, insights, photos,
or even opinions on current
happenings—it shouldn’t
always be about you!
-No spam! Every
tweet should be unique.
-Integrate your social
networks: UseTwitter to
direct followers to your other
social media levers
-Remember to
keep it fun!
Keep in mindTwitter is
a consumer dominated
medium
More than 90% of
tweets are from
consumers
Never force topics, go
with the flow and
engage with your
followers about what
they are interested in.
27

28. Online social
media
destinations
arranged by
popularity!

29. Social media is about returns over
time. You must engage with
consumers consistently to keep
current customers involved and also
attract new fans and followers. Be
sure to switch up how you are
approaching fans. Promotional
offers, product updates,
announcements concerning future
plans, photos, and videos are all
great ways to keep your fans
interested. Switch up the content
and utilize your different social
media levers to maximize your
influence and prevalence in the
social media realm.
followers can connect with,
comment on, and share with friends.
Furthermore, be sure to react to the
moves of your fan base. The game is
about both acting boldly and
reacting confidently. With social
media there are very few rules, dead
ends, or standards about how
Interactions begin, sustain, or end.
Just keep playing the game and you
will continue to see returns.
The Game Plan
Remember to Play Nice
Like in a board game, each move will
be counteracted by the
opposing player. Be sure to plan your
moves both in reaction to
others and as bold new strides on
your own terms. Put new material
into the socialsphere, make sure they
are topics fans and
This graphic illustrates the interactions
between businesses and consumers
through social media. If engagement
falters on one side, so will the overall
flow of content and brand development.

30. Why you need to be part
of the LinkedIn network
Calling into a company?
-you can find an
individual and brush up
on their history, you
might have something
in common
Selling a product?
-search for new contacts
in your target market
-find buyers/customers
Looking for an employee?
-find recommendations
-browse candidates that
aren’t actively seeking
work at the time
The Hard facts
Social Media Type:
Social Network
for Professionals
Active Users:
85 million worldwide
Launched:
2003
Viral Potential:
Unlike Facebook,
LinkedIn is strictly
for networking.
Most useful in B2B
interactions: increase
your company’s
exposure, broaden
and maintain your
personal network.

31. 31
How to Join In
Keep it Professional
-Make a profile that
resembles your resume
Catch Everyone’s Attention
-Update your status at
least once a week
Make Connecting Easy
-Post your contact
information
LinkedIn Groups
-Engage with new people
-Demonstrate expertise
-Find new clients
Create Discussion
-Post questions, answer
existing posts
Make ifValuable
Exchange Information
-Be an expert
-Find an expert when
you need one
Take Connections Offline
-Find an introduction, make
an offer to connect and foster
real, offline relationships
LinkedIn provides
connections never
before available,
so take advantage
of the network at
your fingertips!

32. Photo sharing
Video sharing

33. Write a blog to keep
customers up to date
on your business. It
is a way for your
customers to connect
personally with the
business, and opens a
venue for their
comment as well
Viral potential: placing
the delicious icon on your
site will allow users to
share the site’s
bookmark with friends
Use Yelp to read reviews from your real customers—
use the complements and criticism to evaluate and
adjust your business practices
Allow users to add your site to
their RSS feed—the feed will
automatically post updates
from your site to users’
personal news feeds
Keep up with
today’s hot
topics
according to
the public, not
the media
Add personality to your site by
linking company video and
photo links. Add media from
company events, about new
products and services,
commentary from employees,
the possibilities are endless!
33

35. 35

36. Crowdsourcing is harnessing the
power found in a community to
solve problems or facilitate
processes that normally require
great specialization. Jeff Howe
who coined
the term
describes the
p h e n o m e -
non as “outsourcing on steroids.”
The trend is possible because of the
connections facilitated by social
media and the internet. These
mediums provide a space to form
communities around problems and
processes. A better solution that
possible with a select team is usu-
ally discovered within the masses.
As specified by Howe, “the crowd
will almost always outperform any
number of employees.” It is possible
that crowdsourcing will change
business and specifically the creative
process, forever. It is important as a
business owner you understand
where it is being used and why it
works. The driving force of crowd-
sourcing lies in the merit of partici-
pation for the big-thinkers and has
changed the game for them and
businesses alike. Designers and big-
thinkers are given the opportunity
to participate in real life challenges
and businesses are given a breadth
of fresh ideas for their most pressing
and most tedious developments.
“outsourcing
on steroids”
What is it? Why is it Important?

37. CrowdSPRING is a crowdsourcing
website for design. Projects include
logo design, web design, product
name, company name, and packag-
ing design. As stated by
crowdSPRING founders the site is
“helping buyers reach countless
creatives across the globe, we're
c h a n g i n g
the game for
the little
guy.” In-
deed they
are, crowd-
sourcing provides small businesses
the ability to hone talent for even
projects of the smallest scale. Give
it a whirl for your next creative
“changing
the game for
the little guy”
project, statistics show
the results are over-
whelmingly positive.
110 entries per project,
on average
100% satisfaction
guaranteed on every
single project
96% of buyers would
recommend
crowdSPRING
78,039 designers and
writers ready to create for
your project
37

38. thecloud Cloud Computing
#thecloud the growing phenomenon of users who can access their data
from anywhere rather than being tied to a particular machine.
crowdsourcing Jeff Howe
taking a job traditionally performed by a designated agent and outsourcing
it to an undefined @lotsofpeople in the form of an open call #jeff_howe
hashtag TwitterTool
@twitter community-driven convention for adding additional context
& #metadata to tweets. add by prefixing a word with hash symbol
MetaData Web 2.0Tool
information about information — including titles, descriptions, #tags and
captions — that describes a media item such as a video, photo or blog post
RSS Really Simple Syndication
aggregated delivery of content — blog entries, news stories, headlines,
images, video — into one feed, eliminates browsing from site to site
SEO Search Engine Optimization
the process of arranging your website to give it the best chance of
appearing near the top of search engine rankings
Social Media Glossary

39. SocialBookmarking OrganizationalTool
@delicious a method by which users locate, store, organize, share and manage
bookmarks of web pages without being tied to a particular machine: example of
#thecloud
socialmedia Social Media
media + social interaction, highly accessible & scalable publishing techniques -
web-based tech turns communication into interactive dialogue
Tags Web 2.0Tool
keywords added to a blog post, photo or video to help users find related topics or
media, when browsing on the site or using search engines relevant #metadata
TheFutureNow Web 2.0
2nd
generation of the Web, enables people with no specialized tech knowledge
to create their own websites, create/upload media & share info
UGC User Generated Content
an industry term that refers to all forms of user-created materials—part of
#thefuture— such as #blogposts, reviews, podcasts, videos, comments and more
Widget MiniWeb-Application
small block of content, typically displayed in a small box, w/a specific purpose,
such as weather forecasts or news, that constantly updates itself
wiki Collaborative Creation
collaborative website that can be directly edited by anyone with access to it—
best example @Wikipedia , can be used for #crowdsourcing
39