An Introduction to Social Media

An Introduction to Social Media

How can Social Media help?

• Engagement

• Research

• Marketing

• Search Engine Optimisation

• Raised Awareness

• Management

What is Social Media?

• How people discover, read and share news, information and content.

• Mixture of sociology and technology

• Movement from monologues (one to many) towards dialogues (many to many).

• Shift from content readers into publishers.

• User Generated Content (UGC)

• Consumer Generated Media (CGM)

Adapted from Wikipedia entry for ‘Social Media’

What is Social Media? – In Context

• Web 2.0 follows on from Web 1.0

• Generation Y

• Faster broadband

• Computing power

• Driving social change

Social Media Platforms

• Blogs, Micro-Blogs and V-Logs• Social Networks• Social Bookmarking• File Sharing Sites• Podcasting / Video Podcasting• Wiki Sites• Forums• Instant Messaging• Virtual Worlds

How big is Social Media?

• 200m+ active users on Facebook• 100m+ use Facebook every day• 4m+ become ‘Fans’ on Facebook every day• 77% of active internet users read blogs• 133m+ blogs • 3,702% YoY increase in time spent on Twitter • 1 new user added to LinkedIn per second• All Fortune 500 companies on LinkedIn• 10hrs+ of video uploaded to YouTube every

minute

Who is using it? (Some Demographics)

• Facebook users 25-34 (27%) and 35-49 (23%)• Fastest growing user group on Facebook is 35+• The average age of a Twitter user is 31• The average age of a MySpace user is 27• The average age of a LinkedIn user is 41• The average earnings of a LinkedIn user is $109k• 46% of LinkedIn users are Decision Makers• ABC1s are more likely to have a Facebook profile • C2DEs are more likely to have MySpace profile

Who is using it? (User Types)

• Small to Medium Enterprises• Global Corporations• Media Companies• Non-Profits• Social Enterprises• Politicians• Education Providers• Students• And countless others

Case Study: Recent Events

• Cornwall Council Logo

• Chinese Earthquake

• Hudson Plane Crash

• Iran Election Riots

• Chinese Riots

Case Study: Surfers Against Sewage

• Customised Facebook Page

• Use of causes

• 300% Increase in ‘Online Action’

• 3,000 Page Views in first 48 hours

• 100s of new members in first 3 months

• Top 10 petition on 10 Downing Street website

Saving time with an integrated approach

• Business Cornwall

• Information uploaded once

• Shared over Twitter and Facebook

• Taking the story to the reader

• Opportunity to engage and add to the story,

How do I identify my community?

Try using the following services to identify your community:

Starting out – Actions

1. Create Accounts with the following services:

What are people saying about us?

Getting started - Tips

• Find your existing connections first

• Ensure alerts and analytics are working

• Listen to conversations first

• Engage in conversations / Engage with complaints

• Test, Monitor, Review and Tweak approaches

• ‘Content is king’

• Be ethical in your actions / respect etiquette

• Keep it relevant to your audience

• Be clear in your objectives

• Don’t overstretch

Thank you for listening.