This document provides an overview of effective social media uses and practices for businesses. It discusses how social media has fundamentally changed connectivity, with people now separated by about 3 degrees, moving from the information era to the networked era. While social media gives companies a wider audience, companies that self-endorse are often kicked out of the conversation. The document recommends that companies create a personable online persona and get others involved through interactions, guest blogging, and leveraging office events. General social media guidelines include using discretion, being engaged and informed, and focusing outward rather than inward. The main social media sites - Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube and blogs - are also overviewed.

1. SOCIALMEDIA
Effective Uses and Practices
Presentation by:

2. Social Media
• A group of Internet-based technologies
that allows the creation and exchange
of user generated content.
• The No.1 Online Activity

3. Social Media Has Fundamentally Changed Our
Connectivity
Ever Heard of the 6 Degrees of Separation?

4. It No Longer Exists!
(Thanks primarily to Facebook)
We are now
Separated from
Each Person on
Earth by about
3 Degrees

5. This is being called the
Shift
From the
Information Era
To The
Networked Era

6. Increased Connectivity Gives
Companies a Wider Audience
Graph: 310 Active Twitter Users (out of 100 Million) over 2 days.
Created with NodeXL (http://nodexl.codeplex.xom) from the Social Media Research Foundation (http://smrfoundation.org). Some Roghts Reserved by Marc Smith. Image Obtained
from: http://www.flickr.com/photos/marc_smith/7435405092/

7. .
BUT
Time and time again,
Companies who Self-Endorse are
Kicked Out of the Conversation
(It’s called SOCIAL media for a reason)
Created with NodeXL (http://nodexl.codeplex.xom) from the Social Media Research Foundation (http://smrfoundation.org). Some Roghts Reserved by Marc Smith. Image Obtained
from: http://www.flickr.com/photos/marc_smith/7435405092/

8. Solution?
Create Your Company’s
Personable Persona

9. The Spontaneous & Upbeat Prankster

10. The Holistic & Inspirational Athlete

11. The Professional & Informed Industry Leader

12. How Social Media Benefits a Business
Percent of Companies who saw benefits from using Social Media-- Half of whom had been using
these platforms for less than one year

13. Get Everyone To
Help
• Interact with Sites
• Invite their business
contacts
• Ask others to guest blog
• Leverage office events into Stories
• Send Social Media Coordinator important articles

14. General Guidelines & Best Practices
• Use desecration; your posts reflect the company
• Be engaged and be informed.
• Be external- Don’t Be Self-Centered!

15. Using the Main Social Media
Sites

16. • A mirco-blogging service
• Twitter now reaches 1 of 10 internet users
worldwide and grew 59 percent in the past year
Tweet Half Life = 2.8 Hours

17. Reaches 71.2% of the world’s global audience
Accounts for:
-3 in every 4 minutes spent on social media
-1 in every 7 minutes spent online around the world
• Optimal Posting time: 1:00-4:00pm
• Ideal: Wednesday, 3:00pm

18. • Professional Networking Site:
• allows for business contacts to connect, find job, share insights,
etc.
• Create a company group to provide a forum for sharing insights &
knowledge, and networking with potential clients & employees.
• Transfer company recommendations to Linkedin
• 14% of people believe advertisements, 78%
believe the opinion of others.

19. Improve Your Profile!
• Improve SEO:
• Make a Vanity Url
• Use Keywords
• Show Your Skills
• Connect to Contacts
• Seek and Give Recommendations
• Share Knowledge in Groups

20. • Video sharing site
• Over 3 billion hours of video are watched each month
on YouTube
• In 2011, YouTube had more than 1 trillion views or
around 140 views for every person on Earth
• Optimal Posting Time: Sunday, Monday, & Tuesday,
between 7-10pm

21. Blogs Demonstrate Knowledge & Increase SEO

22. Social media has impacted everything:
―from business, to governments, to media... It now seems as if the
next frontier may be in applying the tenants of social media
— transparency, crowdsourcing and the democratization of
media —
to solve a wide array of global problems.‖
–Ted Ostrow on the subject of
TED Global 2012 &Radical Openness
http://mashable.com/2012/06/26/ted-global-radical-openness/

23. The End
www.istcl.com