Introducing social media for small business aug 2013

Introducing Social Media for Small BusinessNeil Infield – Manager Business & IP Centre

neil.infield@bl.uk - @ninfield (twitter) - www.britishlibrary.typepad.co.uk/business

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3Introducing Social Media for Small Business – Neil Infield 2013

Who is the British Library for?

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We are for anyone who wants to do research academic, personal or commercial

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Key Criteria Registered or trading in LondonTrading for at least a year with proven salesTurnover shows you cover the cost of one other employee

Innovating for Growth programme

A free business consultancy worth over £10,000 to help you expand your business through new ideas, markets and products

www.bl.uk/bipc/innovating.html

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Aims to stimulate the application of open innovation principles to create jobs and new businesses

Partnership of business support organisations, higher education institutions, local government

Diverse programme of activities

Funded by Interreg IVB NEW

OpenInnovationProject.co.uk

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I can’t cover everything in two hours

A gallop through key areas

Develop an “About Me” script

Start to develop a Social Media Strategy

My top tips for success

Question Time

Two hours to cover all of Social Media?

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What is Social Media?

Social media refers to the means of interactions among people in which they create, share, and exchange information and ideas in virtual communities and networks

Ahlqvist, Toni; Bäck, A., Halonen, M., Heinonen, S (2008)

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Characteristics

Free or very low cost

or Freemium model

Simple technology using web browser, or mobile Apps

Lots of online help and guidanceSource - http://www.sxc.hu/profile/garwee

What is Social Media?

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What is Social Media really?

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For the UK only…

Facebook – 33 million people

Sourcehttp://www.rosemcgrory.co.uk/2013/01/08/uk-social-media-statistics-for-2013/

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:AS-202_launch.jpg

Why all the fuss about Social Media?

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For the UK only…

Facebook – 33 million people

Twitter – approx 34 million active accounts

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:AS-202_launch.jpg

Why all the fuss about Social Media?

Sourcehttp://www.rosemcgrory.co.uk/2013/01/08/uk-social-media-statistics-for-2013/

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For the UK only…

Facebook – 33 million people

Twitter – approx 34 million active accounts

LinkedIn – 11 million (79% over 35 years)

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:AS-202_launch.jpg

Why all the fuss about Social Media?

Sourcehttp://www.rosemcgrory.co.uk/2013/01/08/uk-social-media-statistics-for-2013/

13Introducing Social Media for Small Business – Neil Infield 2013

For the UK only…

Facebook – 33 million people

Twitter – approx 34 million active accounts

LinkedIn – 11 million (79% over 35)

Pinterest – under 1 million (but growing fast and 29% in highest income bracket)

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:AS-202_launch.jpg

Why all the fuss about Social Media?

Sourcehttp://www.rosemcgrory.co.uk/2013/01/08/uk-social-media-statistics-for-2013/

14Introducing Social Media for Small Business – Neil Infield 2013

For the UK only…

Facebook – 33 million people

Twitter – approx 34 million active accounts

LinkedIn – 11 million (79% over 35)

Pinterest – under 1 million (but growing fast and 29% in highest income bracket)

Google Plus – unsure, but 135m globally active

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:AS-202_launch.jpg

Why all the fuss about Social Media?

Sourcehttp://www.rosemcgrory.co.uk/2013/01/08/uk-social-media-statistics-for-2013/

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Find out what your

Customers

Critics

Fans

…are saying about you online

Spot trends

Monitor your competitors

Example: www.wigglywigglers.co.uk

What will Social Media do for you?

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Allow you to engage with your

Customers

Critics

Fans

…in a transparent manner

Measure your impact

Crowdsource your products and services

Example: Dress designer Sabina Alli crowdsourcing on Facebook - www.facebook.com/MotasemDresses

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kryten/125710155/

What will Social Media do for you?

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Wikipedia definition:

“Blogs are frequently updated webpages which are easy to edit and to share. They allow readers to subscribe as well as comment on the posts.”

Tend to be informal in style and short in length.

An addition to main business website.

Blogging for Small Business

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Why you should blog?

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Why you should blog?

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To build trust – ‘real’ people vs anonymous business

To build an audience

Increase Search Engine Optimisation without the risk – Google loves blogs and hates cheaters

Why you should blog?

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Drive traffic to your website – see above

To act as your social media hub

Be seen as an expert in your field – requires insightful, quality content

Reach a wider market – word of mouth referrals

http://www.sxc.hu/profile/Kurhan

Why you should blog?

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With passion… and patience

For your audience

On your own or in a team

Mainly about things related to your business

Headings must be ‘Ronsealed’

How you should blog

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Regularly – minimum once a week

Content must be engaging / surprising / controversial / intriguing

Including images and videos

Length must be ‘just right’ – somewhere between Stephen Fry’s Blessays and Euan Semple’s The Obvious.

http://www.sxc.hu/profile/dspruitt

How you should blog

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Leveraging your other social media channels – Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, +Google, etc

Using your web domain if possible

Promote using contacts and ‘Blogroll’

Measure using built in tools or Google Analytics

How you should blog

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Not all spam is tasty

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Look out for Trolls

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Your “About Me”

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“The time has passed when Facebook was a "good idea" for businesses to try. It's now essential to your inbound marketing strategy.”

http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/5492/How-to-Create-a-Facebook-Business-Page-in-5-Simple-Steps-With-Video.aspx#ixzz2NMs3aw5H

Facebook for Small Business

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Do’s

Stay active

Post frequently

Post questions

Ask about your customers

Include photos and videos

Offers and promotions

Facebook for Small Business

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Do’s

Stay active

Post frequently

Post questions

Ask about your customers

Include photos and videos

Offers and promotions

Don’ts

Too much activity

Too personal

Only posting links

Only in selling mode

Facebook for Small Business

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What can you fit into 140 characters?

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal. (72) – Thomas Jefferson

Aim for the sky and you’ll reach the ceiling. Aim for the ceiling and you’ll stay on the floor. (95) – Bill Shankly

An iron curtain has descended across the Continent. Behind that line lie all the capitals of the ancient states of Central & Eastern Europe. (140) – Winston Churchill

Less is more

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What is Twitter?

Micro blogging – 140 character limit

The ‘Marmite’ of Social Media services

Love it or loath it – it does work

Twitter for Small Business

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What is Twitter?

Smaller numbers than Facebook – but bigger spenders

Unparalleled access to celebrities and decision makers

An opportunity to ‘go’ viral

The current reigning champion of social media for business

Twitter for Small Business

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“More companies should use Twitter than Facebook. Twitter is like a search engine, it drives people to your website…

It is somewhere to bring your brand to life, give it more personality and humanise it.”

Jon Clarke - CEO Space & Time Meida

56% of tweets to companies are being ignored - AllTwitter.com

Why you should use Twitter

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Short term promotions and special offers

Invite feedback / market research

Enhance your reputation

Improve your customer responsiveness

Build good relations

Protect your profile name

How to use Twitter

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Find trending topics

Find experts and evangelists for your brand

With caution – going viral could be a bad thing

Try to separate work and play

Be careful when re-tweeting (libel laws apply)

Think first – tweet second

How to use Twitter

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Create a tweet button on your web pages

Create and use lists to clean your stream

Learn the twitter lingo

@reply - Direct Message (DM) - Follower - Hashtag - Retweet (RT) - Trending Topics

Use tools to manage - e.g. Tweepi

Twitter top tips

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Customize your page:

Change default profile picture

Use 140-character BIO space, using keywords

Use # tags for searching - e.g. #thatchersdead

Shrink your links using Bit.ly etc

Install a mobile app

Twitter top tips

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Don’t start and then give up

Tweet throughout the day

Spread your tweets - up to 10 a day

Don’t ignore complaints - they are a test

Switch to direct message (DM) instead of email

Follow key tweeters including your rivals

Twitter top tips

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Tweet with less than 100 chars = +17% engagement

Limit account to one or two people - not a big team

Don’t forget to link to your website

Do let your personality shine through…

“People aren’t expecting you to be the voice of God. You need to be professional, helpful and polite, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have fun or tongue in cheek. Do social media with a smile.”

Twitter top tips

Top 4 ‘twits’ quiz

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The ‘grown-up’ Social Media channel

‘Your virtual CV’

2013 study by Hubspot - LinkedIn is 3 times more effective than Twitter or Facebook for converting website visitors into leads

LinkedIn for Small Business

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Good for consultants, trainers and professions

Research and engage with potential customers

Check out your competitors

Get connections to endorse your expertise

Get recommendations

Link to your other social media activities

LinkedIn for Small Business

Is Ben a clueless hippy or an industry expert?

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Pinterest is a pinboard-style photo sharing website that allows users to create and manage theme-based image collections such as events, interests, hobbies, and more.

Users can browse other pinboards for inspiration, 're-pin' images to their own pinboards, or 'like' photos.

The young upstart on the Social Media scene

…But very rapid growth last year

Pinterest for Small Business

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Use it to post images related to your business

Reach an affluent audience with high quality images

Benefit from visual content over text

Link to your website

and other Social Media activities

Pinterest for Small Business

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Still a pale shadow of Facebook

But is now incorporated in search results

So definitely worth adding your presence

One to keep an eye on

Google Plus for Small Business

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People love moving images

Google loves videos

Demonstrate how things work

Share your knowledge

Examples:

Blendtec and

Rasheed Ogunlaru

YouTube for Small Business

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Have a plan

Work out what you want to get out of Social Media

What are your goals?

More attention for your brand?

Customer service?

Customer interaction?

All of the above?

Define your audience and find out where they ‘live’

Developing your Social Media strategy

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Work with your neighbour to complete pages 1 and 2 of the hand-out

Developing your Social Media strategy

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Hootsuite or Tweetdeck to manage your posts

Google Analytics

Facebook Insights

Sprout Social

Wildfire Social Media Monitor

Monitoring-Social-Media.com

SocialMediaToday.com

Tools to help you

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Hootsuite for monitoring and scheduling

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Try to limit to 30 minutes a day

Keep it professional – you might go viral in a bad way

Keep an eye out for new services

Try to measure results

Cull any activities that don’t help your business

Try to stay focussed – keep away from the Lolcats

My top tips for Social Media success

Don’t get involved in flame wars

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Be a person online – but not too personal

Always try to add value

Don’t just lurk - contribute

Try to be ‘marketing lite’ - avoid spamming

Have a consistent brand / name across your social media platforms

Have fun with it

My top tips for Social Media success