Social Media For Small Businesses

social mediafor small businesses

jenni lloyd

hope you enjoyed lunch…

hello!

i’m a consultant with social media agency nixonmcinnesone of the UK’s largest dedicated teams of social media specialists

I’m Jenni Lloyd

hands up who…

is on Facebook?

uses social media?

knows what social media is?

is on LinkedIn?

is on Twitter?

but these things are just tools

if they don’t last the course will social media then be ‘finished’?

the tools are a product. of fundamental, long-lasting change

No.

brought about by cheap, easy, mass access to a global publishing platform

we’re seeing a fundamental shift

from a time when we saw our websites as a destination

where we could present ourselves how we wanted

to a recognition that our customers are playing elsewhere

if we want to talk to them we need to be where the conversation is

we need to be useful

and we need to be wherever they want us to be

what does this mean?

anyone can have a voice

individual experts can build up global influence without the mediation of publishers

ex-employees with insider knowledge can expose uncomfortable facts

how should you respond?

cease and desist doesn’t work in this environment

groups of people can quickly organise themselves: for, or against

Source: eBay.com; Amazon.com

customer opinions about products & services are freely available

average rating = 4.3authentic ratings increase conversion ratesreturns rate goes down

hands up…

if you’ve ever used Trip Advisor or read a review on Amazon?

welcome to the world of empowered consumers

how can we capture their attention?

buy it?

Jan 2008, BIGResearch

Rank ordering of activities engaged in by people while ‘using media’ in order of declining popularity:

1. eating

2. doing housework

3. doing laundry

4. cooking

5. talking on the phone

mobile text ads scored 18%

banner ads 26%

search 34%

TV and magazines 56%

word of mouth 78%

DoubleClick, via The Guardian, May 2008

earn it!

5 tips to get you started

who are they?

where are they online?

what are they doing?

what tools are they likely to use?

know your audience

find out who’s saying what about you

set up Google alerts

use addictomatic / twitter search

listen

what is it you’re trying to achieve…

know your objectives

to listen and understand?

to engage in conversations?

to generate buzz?

to encourage participation?

offer value

be authentic, transparent and helpful

link to those that disagree

disclose your position/interests

match your message to the environment -these are social spaces…

follow the rules of engagement

a facebook fan page?

a blog?

ratings and reviews on your site?

twitter?

choose the right tools

an island in second life?

use what’s right for your audience and objectives, not the big new thing

a few examples of how we’ve been applying this approach

we helped T-Mobile get the über geeks on board for the launch of the first Google phone

network mapping & influencer engagement

we are helping Chelsea FC find out where their global fan-base congregate online so they can market to them more effectively

network mapping & community engagement

we helped Oxfam and CAFOD centralise petition sign-ups across their partner sites through building widgets

strategy and widget design, build & deployment

we helped C4’s PR team more effectively promote programmes to niche audiences through social media training

training & consultancy

we helped MORE TH>N compete for niche longtail search terms by building a blog around issues that their customers care about

consultancy, design & build

finally...

we can all learn from this man

widgets

blog

facebook

you tube

twitter

podcasts

hands up who…

wants to be more social now?

I’ll get my coat!

any questions?

[email protected]

nixonmcinnes.co.uk

nixonmcinnes.co.uk/ebooks

twitter.com/nixonmcinnes

get in touch

[email protected]

nixonmcinnes.co.uk

nixonmcinnes.co.uk/ebooks

twitter.com/nixonmcinnes

some must reads…

The 17 Rules of Social Media Optimization

The New PR Wiki

Any online marketing blog (Seth Godin = v.good)

The Cluetrain Manifesto by various

The Long Tail by Chris Anderson

The Wisdom of Crowds by James Surowiecki

Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell

Anything by Seth Godin

Image credits

hands up 1http://flickr.com/photos/mic_n_2_sugars/564570276/sizes/o/shifthttp://flickr.com/photos/sanbeiji/220645446/sizes/l/disneylandhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/denn/160596269/sizes/l/playing elsewherehttp://flickr.com/photos/mugley/2227098069/sizes/o/conversationhttp://flickr.com/photos/emdot/32179191/sizes/l/toolshttp://flickr.com/photos/22280677@N07/2504310138/wonderwomanhttp://flickr.com/photos/bbaltimore/10566018/sizes/o/