Social Media:
The Next Steps
Taking your social media program to the next level
Overview
Developing a Social
Media Strategy
• Am I on social media for the right
reasons?
• What do I want to get out of it?
• Why do I need a social media
strategy?
• What should be included?
• Example of a social media strategy
outline
Taking your social media program to the next level
Let’s Talk Content
• Where can I find content ideas and
content already created?
• Is it ok to automate my social media
posts?
• What’s the best way to share various
types of content?
• What content is the most engaging?
• How do I bring all my profiles
together?
www.sbxmarketing.com
Tracking Your Results
• How do I know if my social media
efforts are working?
• What can I do with my social media
statistics?
• When should I post to ensure
maximum exposure?
• What factors go into creating a
posting schedule?
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Overview
Integrating Social Media
Within Marketing Mix
• How does social media fit into my
existing marketing?
• What are some ways to integrate it
with my other activities?
• How can I engage bloggers?
• What are QR codes?
Taking your social media program to the next level
Emerging Social Media
Trends
• How will the next generation of
mobile devices change the way
brands interact with people in real
life?
• Why is quality content more
important than ever?
• Is it time to rethink my social media
program?
www.sbxmarketing.com
Tools, Tips and Tricks
• How can I get the most out of my
social media efforts?
• What is Facebook Timeline?
• What is EdgeRank?
• What other technologies and
services should I consider to expand
and assist my program?
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What Are Your Goals?
Generate Revenue
High Visibility
Attract Followers
Stimulate Sharing
Create a Community
Increase Conversions
Increase Reach
Increase Retention
For most companies, the goal of social media is to ultimately increase revenue.
So how does it all fit together?
Increase conversions – Turning more leads into sales by attracting the right
audience and helping them down the path to purchase. Maximizing social media
resources and optimizing landing pages can also help to increase conversions.
Increase reach – Attracting a larger social media following will help increase
your online reach. The viral nature of social media helps stimulate content
sharing between your fans and their friends.
Increase retention – Building a community around your brand through social
media helps turn a one time customer into a repeat customer. Social media
allows brands to connect and engage with their customers.
Tools of the Trade
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Google Analytics
Link Shortener
Listening Sites
Mobile Device
Camera/Video Camera
Social Media Dashboard
Time
~Ernest Barbaric
The average Facebook user has 130 friends and is connected to 80 pages, events and groups. - Social Media Examiner
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Social Media Strategy
Developing a social media strategy is an important part of your program. This is a fluid
document and will need to be reviewed and revised on a regular basis.
Sections to Include
• Program goals – Why social media? What do you want to accomplish? How
are you going to get there?
• Polices and procedures – Dealing with “charged” posts, understanding tone
of posting, chain of command, identifying gatekeepers and responsibilities.
• Social media map – Outline profiles being used and how they all fit together.
Identify social media “hub” and the pieces around it.
• Content plan – Details on content topics, content types and content sources.
This is the section where you list your content creators. Also include a
posting schedule.
• Tracking and reporting – Tracking and recording results, creating
benchmarks and setting social media goals.
Nearly 40 percent of social media users access social media content from their mobile phones. - Nielsen
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Social Media Strategy – Resource
University of Oregon
• Developed a “Social Media Checklist” for departments to review before
engaging in social media. This is the perfect blueprint for the creation of a
strategy and policy document.
• The checklist is part of a much larger brand document and helps ensure all
university social media activities stay consistent with the brand.
• Fantastic guide for a small business to review – whether you’re already active
on social media or you’re considering getting involved.
• View the full checklist here - http://webcom.uoregon.edu/socialchecklist
Covered In Checklist
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Resources
Strategy
Measurement
Audience
Engagement and
Listening
• Content
• Evaluation
Social networks and blogs account for nearly a quarter of time spent on the Internet by Americans. - Nielsen
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Let’s Talk Content
Content is the ammo in your social media gun. Quality content drives your profiles and helps
spread your message.
Create Your Own
Share Content From Others
Creating content is often easier said than done. It can
put a strain on the limited marketing resources of
many businesses. Here are a few things to keep in
mind:
Sharing content created by others is another way to
engage and inform. Use a service like Google Alerts to
help mine content created by others. Here are a few
places you might want to look:
• Play to your strengths. If you’re a good writer, create
written content. If you enjoy photography, create a
photo blog.
• Online newspapers and magazines
• Keep content short and to the point.
• Blogs and guest bloggers
• Images and videos typically work well on social
media.
• Social media listening sites (Socialmention.com,
Samepoint.com)
• Look at your website analytics for content ideas.
Give the people what they want.
• Source information from your own social profiles
through questions and polls
• Social media profiles of others
One-third of companies have a senior executive who is responsible for social media company-wide. - Booz & Company
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Layered Content Approach
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Base Layer
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Real - Time
Organizing your social media content into a few different layers can help you
create an effective deployment plan:
Base Layer - These posts ensure consistency and frequency. They are non-time
sensitive posts designed to engage at key times during the day. These posts can
be created as you go or can be scheduled ahead of time. (Events, product
information, company news, informational posts).
Real - Time Layer - These posts are created and shared “on the fly”. Having a
real-time presence is important and can help increase engagement. (Time
sensitive content, content created during events).
Engagement Layer - This is the most important aspect of social media. Content
in this layer includes responses to questions, sourcing user generated content,
and asking questions.
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Engagement
What’s Engaging?
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Whitepapers
Lists (Top 10, 5 Best, etc)
Questions and polls
Images and video
How-to’s
Presentations
Audio/podcasts
E-newsletters
Ninety-five percent of Facebook Wall posts are not answered by brands. - All Facebook
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Content Mapping
Hub and Spoke Model
Possible Content Hubs
The Hub – The place where content is originally posted and shared. The hub should
feature some sort of call to action and have analytics code installed on it.
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The Spokes – These spokes represent any content distribution channel. They have a two
way relationship with the hub. Comments, suggestions and user generated content can
also flow from the spokes to the hub. Each spoke will have a slightly different audience.
Understanding the likes and dislikes of each group will help determine what content is
shared where.
Blog
Website
Facebook page
Wiki
Microsite
Landing page
Nearly every large charity and university in America is on Facebook. Less than 60% of the Fortune 500 are. - Grow
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Tracking Your Results – Time of Day
Facebook Engagement
Tracking clicks and engagements will help
identify the best time of the day to post
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Time of day tracking can help maximize
your social media resources and ensure
your content is viewed by the most people
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• Daily engagement tracking can be done
with tools like Facebook Insights and
Bitly.com.
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Clicks
Likes
Comments
Shares
• Test posts are various times of the day
and record the click through rate and
engagement.
• Monitor patterns over a number of days
and trends will begin to emerge.
Time of Day Tracking – Things to Consider
• Pay attention to holidays and local events. (Edmonton social media
channels are flooded with hockey updates during Oilers games).
• Time of day and demographics can go hand in hand. (Parents with young
children are more likely online in the evenings).
• Go with your gut. Statistics are a guide but not the be all and end all.
• Posting patterns may vary by day of the
week (weekday vs. weekend).
There were an average of 10 000 Tweets per second during the final 3 minutes of Super Bowl XLVI - Twitter
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Tracking Your Results – Resource
Creating a Tracking Spreadsheet
Things to Track
• Tracking and recording your social media results will help identify trends and audience
preferences.
• Record each post – when posted, where posted, title of the post, number of clicks,
number of engagements, and overall sentiment.
• Use these results to develop a content plan and post schedule. The idea is to gather
information to help you work smarter and maximize your resources.
•Further A/B testing can be done to track the effectiveness of post titles and rich media
types.
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50% of Pinterest users have children – Mashable.com
Title of post
Time posted
Location of post
Number of clicks
Number of engagements
Overall sentiment
Engagements by key
influencers
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Social Media Integration
Basic Integration
Some businesses wrongly view social media as a separate marketing silo. Integrating social media into your overall
marketing efforts can increase the effectiveness of your campaigns and help you reach new audiences.
• Include your social media profile information on all marketing collateral.
• Encourage customers, employees and suppliers to join your networks.
• Offer incentives for those that join. Empowering your first few followers can help speed up your social media growth.
• Use the integration applications provided by sites like Facebook and Twitter when adding social media to your website.
Nearly every large charity and university in America is on Facebook. Less than 60% of the Fortune 500 are. - Grow
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Social Media Integration
Blogger Outreach
QR Codes
Mining Your Own Content
Combining social media and PR
Combining social media and print media
Combining social media and print media
• Adding QR codes to print materials
is a simple way to connect your
offline and online media.
• Try to connect to an engaging piece
of media like a video or an image
instead of your homepage or wall.
•Bitly.com will create and track QR
codes for you.
• Creating content can be a struggle.
• Many business owners fail to see the
content that they’ve already created.
• Use content from brochures,
advertisements and product catalogs.
• Tailor this content to fix your social
media audience (create Top 10 lists,
“How to” articles, etc).
• People often underestimate the
power of bloggers.
• Bloggers are always looking for fresh
and unique content.
• Companies are starting to reach out
to these individuals with exclusive
content or products.
• Most established bloggers have a
strong social media presence.
In January 2012, Pinterest drove more referral traffic than Google+, LinkedIn and YouTube combined. - Shareaholic
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Social Media Integration – Brainstorm
How can you integrate social media into your current marketing? Here are some relatively low cost ideas that we’ve
thought about, seen and/or tried:
• Encourage customers to review your business and products online.
• Stream an event live on your website or social media channels.
• Include a Twitter hashtag on your marketing materials. Monitor the hashtag for mentions and be sure to interact with
those using it.
• Invite a local blogger for a tour of your business. Offer them a unique experience that is worthy of a blog post.
• Encourage visitors to “check-in” at your location using Facebook Places or Foursquare.
• Offer deals or specials exclusively to your social media followers.
• Loan video cameras to your customers. Use the footage they collect to create videos for your social media channels.
Google + is predicted to top 400 million users by the end of 2012 – seoconsult.com
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Emerging Trends
Near-field Communications
Personalizing Content
The Honeymoon is Over
NFC is coming in new mobile devices
Consumers will have more options to filter
Now what?
• Same technology used in PayPass
• Many see it becoming a standard in
mobile devices
• NFC would change how consumers
interact with brands in the “realworld”
• Would also have an impact on
checking in and sharing in a social
media setting
• People are becoming overwhelmed
with content
• Social sites are developing new ways
to deliver the most relevant content
to users
• More filtering options put a stronger
emphasis on creating quality content
and better understanding the needs
and wants of your audience
• Companies are starting to take a
hard look at their social media
presence
• Most understand the need but few
have a plan
• Being “on” social media isn’t good
enough anymore
• 2012 will be a time for companies to
get serious, get a plan or get out
11 new Twitter accounts are created every second – Twitter.com
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Tools, Tips and Tricks - Tools
Storify
Google Analytics – Real Time
Knowem.com
Using social media to tell a story
See what’s happening right now
Stake your social media claim
• Storify allows you to tell stories
through mining, selecting and
organizing social media posts
• Create, share and then embed your
story on your website
• Effective service to show buzz
around events or news
• Drag and drop interface is very user
friendly
• Google Analytics Real-Time gives
you new insights into your visitors
• Monitoring stats in real-time can
give you instant feedback on your
social media campaigns
• Use stats to identify popular
content, content holes and landing
page effectiveness then make changes
on the fly
• Knowem.com helps companies stake
their claim online
• Allows you to search your name or
brand name across a list of social
media sites
• Shows you where your profile name
is available and where it is already in
use
Students and recent college graduates are the fastest-growing demographic on LinkedIn. – LinkedIn.com
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Tools, Tips and Tricks - Tips
Facebook has rolled out a number of changes lately. EdgeRank and Timeline are changing
how businesses use the site. Are you up to speed?
Get to Know EdgeRank
Get to Know Timeline
EdgeRank is the secret formula behind being seen on
Facebook. Think of it as Facebook’s version of the
mysterious Google Algorithm. It determines what you
see on your Facebook wall.
Timeline is more than a change in the look of your
page. This new layout completely changes how a
company uses Facebook and it promotes the idea of
telling your brand story.
EdgeRank is based on three key factors:
Here are a few key changes:
•Affinity – the strength of the relationship between
the user and the page or person sharing the content.
•No branding or calls to action are permitted on the
cover image.
•“Milestones” can be added to highlight important
moments in company history.
•Engagement and quality content are even more
important now.
•The default landing tab feature is gone and the ability
to “fan gate” has been limited.
•Weight – the type of content being shared. Facebook
values certain types of content more than others. It
appears images and video are valued higher than
other forms of content.
•Time – how recent the content was shared.
The first video posted on YouTube was 19 seconds long and was called “Me at the zoo” – Mashable.com
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Tools, Tips and Tricks - Tricks
Geo-target Facebook Posts
Leverage Partners
Identify Influencers
Target by location or language
Get active on other profiles
Others can help with the heavy lifting
• Facebook allows you to target your
posts by geographic location and
language.
• This is a useful tool for pages with a
wide reaching audience.
• Targeting posts is an excellent way
to increase your post count without
overwhelming your followers.
• Don’t go at social media alone.
• Leverage the profiles of your “real
life” allies.
• Develop contests and promotions
that incorporate multiple profiles and
websites.
• Be an active member of other
groups, forums, pages and websites.
• Watch for individuals that engage
with you on a regular basis.
• Nurture these online relationships
and consider extending them offline.
• Offer your key followers promotions,
opportunities and products.
• Make them feel like they’re part of
the business.
Students and recent college graduates are the fastest-growing demographic on LinkedIn. – LinkedIn.com
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The SBX Media Team
Trevor Tessier
@TrevTessier
Trevor discovered the
wonderful world of emarketing while working as
Owner of Panther
Management Group and as
Marketing Manager for
Hostelling International
Northern Alberta. In 2007,
he also joined Travel Alberta
Regional, where his
leadership and skills
helped mold the Travel
Alberta e-Marketing team
into one of the finest in all
the land.
Brian Siddle
Duncan McGillivray
@bsiddle
@DuncanSBX
The idea of working in emarketing and social media
wasn’t on Brian’s radar back
in 2004. Fresh out of
university, he created
SirShanksAlot.com as a way
to better serve those
customers he met during his
day job at a local golf shop.
Brian was able to parlay the
knowledge and skills gained
from building the site into an
e-Marketing Specialist
position with Travel Alberta
Regional in 2008.
Need some e-marketing help
and a golf lesson at the
same time? Duncan is your
man. This former golf
professional got his online
feet wet when he created
TheGolfDrillGuru.com… a
golf instruction website.
Thanks to a lot of hard work
and determination, Duncan’s
site quickly gained a loyal
following as it shot up the
search engine rankings.
www.sbxmarketing.com
Bryan Leung
@Bryanytl
Having been raised in an
entrepreneurial household,
Bryan has no fear of diving
into new things. He is also a
principal and director
for totalBarça, a global
volunteer-based
organization focusing on
news and fan community
around the Spanish soccer
(ahem, football) club, FC
Barcelona.
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