The document outlines seven best practices for using social media effectively. The first is to listen to what customers are saying online to understand their needs and concerns. The second is to engage customers by posting relevant content that sparks conversations. The third is to position your business as a valuable source of information on your industry or products. The remaining best practices discuss being transparent about your identity, responding to customers in a timely manner, empowering supporters to promote your brand, and archiving social media posts for legal and data protection purposes.

1. Social Media Best Practices By Carmen Shirkey Collins a.k.a. The Social Media Butterfly

2. Best Practice 1 LISTEN! Comments included job inquiries, fun interactions and positive experiences Unsolicited testimonials from fans look great and can b used as recruiting tools Fun posts get fans engaged with the page and the brand. The first step in any successful social media campaign is active LISTENING Basics: Set up a Google alert ( www.google.com/alerts ) Use Listening Tools Use a social media platform (TweetDeck/HootSuite) and set up search terms Purchase a low-cost listening platform – many options to chose from Purchase an enterprise (and more costly) listening platform Find out what your customers are talking about ALREADY!!! It’s a perfect way to know what content to post to engage in conversation Go where they are, find out what they’re saying Listen even to your critics - Let them know you heard them! See if you can help in a constructive manner Company Competitors Industry Products

3. Best Practice 2 Engage and Be Relevant Comments included job inquiries, fun interactions and positive experiences Unsolicited testimonials from fans look great and can b used as recruiting tools Fun posts get fans engaged with the page and the brand. Post content that is relevant and engaging (it’s not about marketing or PR messages) Posts are prioritized by Facebook Edgerank. Edgerank is an algorithm that determines relevancy; whether or not your posts should appear in your fans’ news feeds. To increase your Edgerank, make your posts RELEVANT Tips to post relevant content: Post pictures, videos and links – things that make people take an action (though these have the lowest values in Edgerank, they’re still important) Get people to “like” a post. The easiest way to get a like is to ask for it! Example: “Tonight it’s GLEE’s prom night! Click “like” if you remember your prom” The biggest value in Edgerank is a comment. To get comments, ask questions! Example: Do you remember your prom dress? Tell us all about it! 3

4. Best Practice 3 Be a Source Unsolicited testimonials from fans look great and can b used as recruiting tools Fun posts get fans engaged with the page and the brand. What is your business in the business of doing? Become the go-to source for information about that! Position yourself through content on blog posts, Facebook notes, etc. as THE place customers can come for information about your product, service or industry Remember, this isn’t about pushing a marketing message. This is about being a source for your customers. Creating content is a great way to drive engagement!

5. Best Practice 4 Be Transparent Comments included job inquiries, fun interactions and positive experiences Unsolicited testimonials from fans look great and can b used as recruiting tools Fun posts get fans engaged with the page and the brand. When participating in, or maintaining a social media site on behalf of a company clearly state who you are, and your affiliation. Never hide your identity – be as transparent as possible If more than one person posts to the same account, suggest “sign on/off” Example: “TGIF! Who’s up for Friday? Me! ~Lynn (or use initials ^LS) When creating a social media channel, indicate that it is an official presence in the description Never pretend to be something you aren’t!

6. Best Practice 5 Be Present & Respond Comments included job inquiries, fun interactions and positive experiences How often you should post depends on the channel and how much content you have Twitter users are used to more frequent updates Facebook users get annoyed at more than 2-3 times per day. The best times of day to post is determined by testing different posts at different times, using analytics to see results Consider evenings, weekends It’s okay to use schedulers to post, however, social media is 24/7. If you post, expect responses. If you’re not there to respond, it diminishes your brand. Try and respond to ANY post in 24 hours.

7. Best Practice 6 Create Super Users! Comments included job inquiries, fun interactions and positive experiences Unsolicited testimonials from fans look great and can b used as recruiting tools Fun posts get fans engaged with the page and the brand. Create super users – customers that do your viral marketing FOR you: Follow the first three best practices Listen – if you post what they want, they’ll share it Engage – If someone posts something great about your company Share it! (ReTweet, Like the post on FB, etc.) Make your customers feel special, they’ll think YOUR COMPANY is special! Be transparent/honest Social media customers are savvy If you try to be something you’re not, social media can turn on you quickly Disarm negative posters using the same techniques! Listen – an opinion is valid. Don’t argue. They want to know they’ve been heard. Engage – ask what you can do to make a situation right. How can you help? Be honest – did you make a mistake? Admit it. Be humble. Have a plan for a crisis

8. Best Practice 7 Archive Comments included job inquiries, fun interactions and positive experiences ?????? What happens if Facebook crashes, and you lose all the comments you wanted to keep?? ?????? What if a hacker usurps your Facebook page and posts spammy posts? ?????? What if a user sues over a post? All these things can be managed if you archive your social media posts! FACEBOOK Facebook allows you to download all info you share – posts, photos, videos, etc. --- Account – Account Settings – Download Your Information – Download TWITTER There’s no official Twitter solution, but there are several third-party apps that archive Backupify Twistory

9. Thank you! @socialmedbtrfly http://www.facebook.com/thesocialmediabutterfly http://thesocialmediabutterfly.blogspot.com / Find more tips/tricks from The Social Media Butterfly here: