Social media can be a powerful marketing tool for entrepreneurs if used strategically. Key points include: - Research which social media platforms your target customers use most and focus your efforts there - Engage with customers by listening to them and having conversations rather than just broadcasting messages - Be prompt in responding to customer questions or complaints on social media - Monitor what is said about your business online and respond politely as needed - Consider offering promotions or deals for loyal customers through platforms like Foursquare or Facebook

1. Social Media for Entrepreneurs How to make the most of cyberspace to market your product, service or establishment.

2. What Is Social Media? An umbrella term that defines the various activities that integrate technology, social interaction and the construction of words, pictures, videos and music ~ Wikipedia.org (which is itself a social media site!)

3. Average user: 38 years oldMore than 55% femaleVery Social/Personal Friend Oriented4OO Million Active Users Worldwide500 Billion Minutes Per Month

4. Average user: 39 years old59% femaleBecoming More News-OrientedEstimated 18 Million Users, Dec. 2009High Abandonment rate

5. Average user: 44 years old52% femaleVery Business-OrientedPassed 50 Million Users in October 2009

6. Average user skews to 18-34 range58% maleGeo-Location Social Networking GameLaunched at SXSW in 2009Hit 1 Million Users In April 2010

7. Demographic data not availableGeo-Location Social Networking GameLaunched at SXSW in 2009Slugging it out with Foursquare for Geolocation MarketAustin-Based Company

8. Average user: 27 years old53% MalePhotostream, Sharing, Multiple UsesHosts more than 4 Billion image worldwide

9. Skews Younger, used by more African Americans, Asians and HispanicsEqual: 50/50Video Sharing, Multiple Uses12.2 Billion Videos Viewed per month, as of November 2009

10. Average user: 37 years old42% Female1.9 Million NetworksClosed, Invite-Only Group DiscussionAs of this month, switching to a pay modelGrouply planning to accept ning’s “refugees”

11. Skews Older: Users Typically 18-4955% FemaleOne of Many Business Review Sites26 Million Checks in December 20099 Million Reviews

12. Why Do You Need to Care? Because if you aren’t using social media, you are going to be left behind. 3 out of 4 Americans use social media, Forrester Research, 2008 2/3 of the global Internet population uses social networks Global Places and Networked Places, 2009, Nielsen Research 93% of social media users believe a company should have a social media presence Cone Business in Social Media Study 2008

13. Who is online: Pew Internet and the American Life Study, 2010

14. Why Bother? Marketing executives surveyed in 2008 saw the benefit: Engaging with customers and direct customer communication are benefits.

15. Chicks v. Dudes Women represent the majority of the online market Digital Divas By The Numbers • 22% shop online at least once a day• 92% pass along information about deals or finds to others• 171: average number of contacts in their e-mail or mobile lists• 76% want to be part of a special or select panel• 58% would toss a TV if they had to get rid of one digital device (only 11% would ditch their laptops)• 51% are moms Source: Mindshare/Ogilvy & Mather

16. Growth Over Time What started in the infancy of the Internet in the 1990s Has progressed beyond message boards Moved beyond instant messaging Become full-grown: Relationships Conversations Networks Sharing Word-of-Mouth

17. Social Networking Is the new Word-of-Mouth for Marketers A Nielsen report shows 90% of consumers trust recommendations from people they know, while only 41% trust sponsored ads on Web pages. The value of having a social media presence is in the trust you can create in current and potential customers. You also obtain constant contact with your client base. You can respond to their questions immediately, and even use a survey site like SurveyMonkey to do your own quick market research.

18. Most Are Growing

19. It Is Going Mobile: Pew Internet & the American Life Data 2010 Some 39% of Americans have positive and improving attitudes about their mobile communication devices, which in turn draws them further into engagement with digital resources. Those who plug into the information and communications world while on-the-go are notably more active in many facets of digital life than those who use wires to jack into the Internet and the 14% of Americans who are off the grid entirely. As smart phones and tablets become more popular, this is only going to become more true. 8% of adults use mobile devices and broadband platforms for continual information exchange to collaborate with their social networks 7% of adults actively use mobile devices and social networking tools, yet are ambivalent about all the connectivity 16% of adults are active conduits of content and information for either fun or for personal productivity 61% are anchored to stationary media; though many have broadband and cell phones, coping with access is often too much for them Pew Internet and the American Life Study, 2010

20. How You Should Use It Talk with your customers. Don’t preach. Listen, relate, share. Use social media as a tool to connect with your friends, fans, customers. It is the Web 3.0 way of word-of-mouth advertising. Interact with your customers. It is public relations It is customer service It is marketing It is market research It is a loyalty-building program It is a way to network with other businesses

21. Make It Work For You Before you start: Consider your market Look at your demographics: Not all media are the best fit for your market It is a tool, not a miracle worker

22. Home Depot Does It; You Can Too

23. Small Business on Facebook & Twitter: Andy’s Frozen Custard Andy’s is based in SW Missouri and franchising in Arkansas and Illinois. When they open a new location, they tap into a Facebook friend/fan network that includes thousands of former college students who enjoyed Andy’s while at Drury, Missouri State or Evangel universities. They keep the chatting informal. Offer tips and head’s-ups on seasonal treats like Girl Scout Cookie Thin Mint custard and Ozark blueberry or blackberry custard.

24. Small Business Andy’s Frozen Custard

25. Andy’s on Twitter

27. Social Networking: One Experience This is my friend, Jack. This is his friend, John. This is the story of Jack’s move to Vermont, and their experiment with social networking.

28. What they learned in 950 miles from Chicago to Burlington, VT Ask An Interactivist: http://www.patchchord.com/blog/2010/04/21/ask-an-interactivist-goin-mobile-with-social/ They used Facebook to keep up with friends and notify some of us out of the loop that Jack was moving. They uploaded photos to Flickr.

29. What they learned in 950 miles from Chicago to Burlington, VT John, like me, is a four skeptic. As he was on the Red Line in Chicago on the El, he checked in at Wrigley Field. He instantly got a tip from a friend, who noted a good place to grab a hot dog. Like an Easter egg (real or cyberspace), it gave him a warm, fuzzy feeling.

30. What they learned in 950 miles from Chicago to Burlington, VT John tweets. A lot. As they crossed the border, Jason tweeted “Vermont, the Green Mountain State.” Within three minutes @VermontTourism tweeted back a welcome.

31. Vermont: Smart Tweeting John kept chatting with VermontTourism :

32. Vermont: Smart Tweeting John made one last tweet after he dropped off Jack. VermontTourism was paying attention.

33. Facebook: Ads & Coupons

34. Facebook Ads: Word of Mouth Spreads “A report from Nielsen shows that 90% of consumers trust recommendations from people they know, while only 41% trust sponsored ads on Web pages.” “The value of having a social media presence is in the trust you can inspire in current and potential customers.” “A second advantage -- constant contact with your client base. You can respond to their questions, and even use a survey site like SurveyMonkey to do your own market research.” http://www.socialnetworkingwatch.com/2010/03/how-is-social-networking-useful-to-your-business.html

35. Starbucks Brings Facebook Ads to a New Level with awards Program

36. & Application provides a virtual way to complete any card-related activity View a record of all transactions. Users can register (or unregister cards), check their balance, reload cards and edit profile information. The app allows frequent customers to check their status levels and benefits. What’s even cooler is that come summer time, Starbucks will let users reload a Facebook friend’s Starbucks card as a gift through the application.

37. Foursquare: Make it work for You!

38. Foursquare & Gowalla: Word-of-Mouth to Build Client Base Mayor Specials: unlocked only by the Mayor of your venue. Who's the Mayor? It's your single most loyal customer! (the user who has checked in the most in the last 60 days)"Foursquare has deemed you the Mayor! Enjoy a free order of french fries!" Check-in Specials: unlocked when a user checks in to your venue a certain number of times."Foursquare says you've been here 10 times! That's a free drink for you!" Frequency-based Specials: are unlocked every X check-ins."Foursquare users get 20% off any entree every 5th check-in!") Wildcard Specials: always unlocked, but your staff has to verify some extra conditions before awarding the Special."Show us your foursquare Swarm badge and get a free drink!"

39. Plan How to use it Hope is not a strategy. Research who your customers are. Find out which social media platforms they are likely to use. Don’t be afraid to be quirky or push the envelope a little Talk with them, not to them. Don’t be afraid to have a conversation. Share. Play nice – take difficult issues off social media and into private discussions by e-mail or private message if you have customer complaints. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Experiment. Don’t think social media will be the answer to all of your marketing/advertising/customer service prayers.

40. Create a Personal Following with Your Customers

41. Create a Personal Following with Your Customers

42. Use Other Sites as Tools YouTube: Post fun video your followers might like. Flickr: Post photos of events. Yelp: Find a good review? Tweet about it! Link to these in Twitter and Facebook; this type of interaction will drive users of one platform to another.

43. Potential Pitfalls: Listen and Be Polite Listen! Respond immediately (Google Alerts, TweetDeck and HootSuite are your friends.)

45. Company name

46. Industry trends

47. Local events

48. Products you offer

49. Competitors

50. Blog comments

51. Companies you aspire to be like

52. Respond when:

53. A post is left on Facebook/Twitter or other platform

54. You learn of a complaint

55. New information is available

57. Potential Pitfalls: Listen and Be Polite Be honest. Never lie. Never argue. The customer is right. If you need to take a longer discussion off the social network, do so.

58. Potential Pitfalls: Don’t Waste Time. Use Metrics to Find What Works. Metrics help sell social media: Count your friends. Count your fans. Count your interactions. You want: Influence (on market and on message) Engagement (with audience and customers) You can use programs to help track how far your message reaches. Objective Marketer Facebook Ad Campaign Facebook Page Metrics Understand: Unfiltered messages can be brutal You can spot trends (good or bad) very early

59. Potential Pitfalls: Geolocation As more sites link together, more information is shared publicly. Be careful. Two Web-savvy wise guys created this site to prove a point to obsessive Twitter, Gowalla and Foursquare users:

60. Potential Pitfalls: “Friend” Be careful about your privacy. Once you put it on a social network it is “out there.” As an administrator of a page, be careful who you friend or follow. Who you follow may reflect upon you. Cautiously block or defriend. FriendFeed.com and GoogleBuzz make your networks an open book. Be cautious. If you are trying to avoid someone in real life, it may be impossible to do so online. GoogleBuzz inadvertently told a prominent blogger’s ex (against whom she had a restraining order) how to find her. Mobile networks can allow you to be tracked if you don’t go “off the grid.”

61. Other Practical Considerations Determine early on how much time you will devote to maintaining your sites. Most of us devote 5-10 hours a week, in small bits in between other tasks. Set up one e-mail account just for social networking. Have multiple administrators with access, just in case something happens to you. Don’t go silent; you’ll worry your followers! Be cautious in linking accounts. Consider each market; what you do on Facebook may not work for your Twitter followers!

62. Become an Evangelist: Go Forth and Be Social! From the Lost Remote Blog By Steve Safran, April 24, 2010 1. Denial: “This is useless.” “It won’t make money.” “It’s for narcissists!” “It’s for people with too much time on their hands! 2. Disbelief: “People are using this cr@p?” “This isn’t news!” “What we do is SO much better.” “This is creeping me out.” 3. Trial: “Well, I guess everyone else is doing it. I might as well try it – but just to see what the fuss is all about.” 4. Acceptance: “I just became mayor of Dunkin’ Donuts!” “Everyone in the newsroom must use this now!” 5. Piousness: “You just don’t get it. This is a game-changer!”