An Introduction to Social Media for Business
Jan 13, 2015
An Introduction to
Social Media for Business
Is it just a fad?
Where do I start?
Where’s the money?
What you stand to gain
• Cost effective marketing
• Brand trust & credibility
• Increased customer loyalty / retention
• Wider reach
• Insight into market opinion
• Improved collaboration
• Increased sales & profitability
Who am I?
• Marketing Director at Tonick Media
– Private, Public, Third Sector clients
– Publishers of Business Cornwall
• Co-Founder of Cornwall Social Media Café
• Lead Organiser of Cornwall Twestivals
• Background in sales, marketing and media
What is Social Media?
“Media designed to be disseminated through social interaction, created using highlyaccessible and scalable publishing techniques.”
Wikipedia Definition
or
“...it’s how people read, discover and shareinformation.”
Understanding Social Media
• Many to many
• Real time
• Community
• Authentic
• Conversational
• Sociological / Technological
• UGC and CGM
Who’s using Social Media?
Graphic created using http://www.wordle.net/.
The Technology
Social Media Platforms
Blogs Social Networks
Wiki Sites File Sharing Sites
Social BookmarkingLive Streaming
Virtual Worlds Aggregators
Credit: Brian Solis, www.briansolis.com JESS3, www.jess3.com
Some Statistics
• More than 300m active users• More than 150m log on every day• 10m+ users become fans of Pages every day• 27% are between 25-34 • 23% are between 35-49 • Fastest growing user group on Facebook is 35+
Some Statistics
• 77% of active internet users read blogs• 133m+ blogs indexed by Technorati• Websites with blogs achieve 55% more traffic
Some Statistics
• 24m unique visitors
• The average age of a Twitter user is 31
• Only 16% of users under 25
• Reached 10.7% of active internet users in June
Some Statistics
• 1 new user per second• 47m active users• Executives from all Fortune 500 companies • Average earnings of $109k (Approx £68k)• 46% of LinkedIn users are Decision Makers
How are others using it?
Case Study: Business Cornwall
Where’s the money?
0
2,000
4,000
6,000
8,000
10,000
12,000
14,000
16,000
18,000
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep
Visits
New Visitors
Page Views
Case Study: Business Cornwall
Case Study: UKNetWeb
Where’s the money?
Case Study: UKNetWeb
Case Study: UKNetWeb
• 500% increase in new business enquiries through social networks
• 2/3 of all enquiries through social networks
• Higher average order values
• Increased reach
More Examples
• Dell– $3m Sales attributed to Twitter
• Twestival– £2,644 raised locally
• Surfers Against Sewage– Hundreds of new members, increased
activity
• Tonick Media
Getting started
Planning an approach
Identify your community
Define your objectives
Decide your approach
Allocate resources
Link to technology
Identifying your community
Customers Influencers Partners
Demographics
Technical ability
Interests
Geographic location
Staff
Journalists
Suppliers
Politicians
Allied trades
Competitors
Funders / Investors
Other regions
Where do I start?
• Get started with social networks– Twitter
• Start writing a blog
• Engage in conversations with your ‘community’
• Attend events
• Build relationships online & off (blended approach)
Some tips
• Start with the people you know• Get your alerts set up• Think “Why would someone care?”• Remember your audience• Always be ethical and respect etiquette• Be clear in your objectives• Don’t overstretch• Quality over quantity
Measuring and Analysis
• Google Analytics
– Visitors
– New vs. Returning
– Time on site
– Keywords
• Google Alerts
• SocialOomph, TweetBeep & Twitter Search
– Mentions
– Sentiment
In Summary...
• It’s not just a fad – but it is.• Plan out your approach• Understand your objectives• Monitor and tweak regularly• Don’t start with the technology• Remember it’s Social Media• Quality over Quantity• Think ‘Why should they care?’
How we can help
• Planning & Strategy
• Advice & Guidance
• Research
• Bespoke Training– One to One
– For Teams
More information
• Message me on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or any other social network you find me on
• Check out the blog at www.tonickmedia.com/blog
• Give me a call – 01209 718688 / 07501 259000
• Send me an email - [email protected]
Thank you for listening