Social media strategy in 7 steps

1. SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY
IN 7 EASY STEPS FROM
SUPER SMALL TO
SUPER BIG
So, for just about anybody.
BY MANOAH KLAASSE

2. Social media are media for social interaction, using highly
accessible and scalable publishing techniques. Social media
uses web-based technologies to turn communication into
interactive dialogues. Andreas Kaplan and Michael Haenlein also
define social media as “a group of Internet-based applications
that build on the ideological and technological foundations
of Web 2.0, which allows the creation and exchange of user-
generated content.” Businesses also refer to social media
as consumer-generated media (CGM). A common thread
running through all definitions of social media is a blending of
technology and social interaction for the co-creation of value.

3. CONTENTS
BEFORE WE START
STEP 1
FORGET WHAT YOU KNOW
STEP 2
FIND OUT WHAT YOUR CLIENTS WANT
STEP 3
START ENGAGING & ADD VALUE
STEP 4
BECOME A PLATFORM
STEP 5
TELL A STORY
STEP 6
START YOUR OWN SOCIAL NETWORK
STEP 7
GO AND DO IT!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR

4. Viral marketing and viral advertising, (buzzwords), refer to
marketing techniques that use pre-existing social networks
to produce increases in brand awareness or to achieve other
marketing objectives (such as product sales) through self-
replicating viral processes, analogous to the spread of virus
or computer viruses. It can be word-of-mouth delivered
or enhanced by the network effects of the Internet. Viral
promotions may take the form of video clips, interactive Flash
games, advergames, ebooks, brandable software, images, or
even text messages. The goal of marketers interested in creating
successful viral marketing programs is to identify individuals
with high Social Networking Potential (SNP) and create viral
messages that appeal to this segment of the population and

5. BEFORE WE START This is a guide which can be used by people with different levels of
experience with social media. To find out what steps are relevant
for you, please find out who you are, based on the list below.
BEGINNER REAL REGULAR USER
I DON’T HAVE SOCIAL MEDIA ExPERIENCE AT SOCIAL MEDIA IS PART OF MY COMMUNICATION
ALL. I DON’T EVEN HAVE AN ACCOUNT YET. AND EVERYDAY PRACTICE, BUT I WANT TO
ExTEND MY POSSIBILITIES.
Lucky you! Because you’re about to discover
something revolutionary. Start with step 1. Then You might want to start at step 4.
read step 1 again. Then again. It is really, really
important that you understand it. If not, contact EXPERIENCED
me on and I will explain it to you personally. I WANT TO KNOW WHAT COMES AFTER HAVING
The last steps will seem to be a bridge too far for A COMPANY ACCOUNT.
you, yet. Use it as a goal to focus on and base your
social media strategy on it. Start at step 6.
REGULAR USER EXPERT
I AM ACTIVE ON SEVERAL PLATFORMS AND I KNOW MORE OF SOCIAL MEDIA THAN YOU
HAVE qUITE SOME FOLLOWERS/FRIENDS, COULD EVER DREAM OF.
NOW WHAT?
Please contact me asap, and tell me everything you
See Beginner. Really, only opening an account and know.
having added peers to your network does not make
you a regular user.

6. Not convinced yet of the benefits of social media?
Perhaps this movie can change your mind.
Depending on your skills, you might encounter
terms or concepts that you don’t understand, for
instance ‘co-creation’ or ‘app’. This guide is too
short, though, to explain everything concerned
with social media. But here’s the good news: social
media takes place on the web, so everything that
has to do with it, is on the web too. So you can look
it up! Can’t find it? Contact me, and I’ll explain.
Additional note: everywhere ‘she’ or ‘her’ is used,
‘he’ or ‘him’ can also be meant.
Social Media Revolution 2010 by Social Media Energy

7. Twitter is a website, owned and operated by Twitter Inc., which
offers a social networking and microblogging service, enabling
its users to send and read other users’ messages called tweets.
Tweets are text-based posts of up to 140 characters displayed
on the user’s profile page. Tweets are publicly visible by
default, however senders can restrict message delivery to their
friends list. Users may subscribe to other users’ tweets—this
is known as following and subscribers are known as followers.

8. STEP 1: FORGET WHAT YOU KNOW So you want to start using social media. Could I ask you why
exactly? Oh, let me guess. Because everybody does it? Come on, you
know that’s not the real reason. Ah, because you want to have more
customers. No?
Well then, perhaps because you want to sell more WHAT IS THE RESULT FOR YOU?
products. Wrong again? Let me think… because
you are looking for cheap ways for your marketing The answer comes from Stef de Jong:
communication? I knew it.
“In the Netherlands, products are priced on
Well, think again, because these are all the wrong Vergelijk.nl, rated on Kieskeurig.nl, judged on
reasons. Let me explain why. Radar.nl and sold on Marktplaats. John from
Rotterdam has a better online shop than the
Internet enables people to connect to each other advertiser, he sells through eBay. Pete from
on a huge, global scale. Okay, I hear you say, that’s The Hague replies quicker and more extensive
nothing new. It isn’t. But social media gives people than the customer service, she is on Tweakers.
miles and miles away from each other tools to Nu.nl loses the scopes to Twitter and there are
interact like they are in the same room, not only more people on Hyves (+/- 8,9 mln) than live
by clinical text messages, but with movies, pictures, in Switserland (+/- 7,3 mln). In other words:
games and blogs and forums full of discussions, the power lies at the feet of the consumer.“ [1]
experiences, opinions, news and facts. Almost like
real life. [1]
DE JONG (2010) SOCiAL MEDiA MARKETiNG: COMMUNiTY MANAGEMENT.

9. Tip: I’ve written a thesis which describes the history of social media
and 2.0. You can download it here.
Repeat that last sentence. Repeat it again. And
again. Now, take a black marker and write it on
your forehead. Record it into your clockradio as
a wake-up tune. “The power lies at the feet of the
consumer.“
Now you know why all the reasons on the top of this
page are not valid. They are about what you want.
SOCIAL MEDIA IS ABOUT WHAT YOUR
CLIENTS WANT.

10. Facebook is a social network service and website launched in
February 2004 that is operated and privately owned by Facebook,
Inc. As of July 2010 Facebook has more than 500 million
active users. Users may create a personal profile, add other
users as friends and exchange messages, including automatic
notifications when they update their profile. Additionally, users
may join common interest user groups, organized by workplace,
school, or college, or other characteristics. The name of the
service stems from the colloquial name for the book given
to students at the start of the academic year by university
administrations in the US with the intention of helping students
to get to know each other better. Facebook allows anyone who
declares themselves to be at least 13 years old to become a

11. STEP 2: FiND OUT WHAT YOUR CLiENTS WANT How do you find out what somebody wants? Well, she will probably
tell you, if you just listen. So start listening!
If you haven’t created one or more social media Who exactly is your client? What do you know about
accounts, for instance Facebook, Twitter or her? If you would sum up all characteristics of all
LinkedIn, this is the time to do it. Don’t bother your clients, take the average and thus combine
opening an account for your company yet, just start them into one person, who would that person be?
with a personal account for yourself. Search for the That is your key individual, your stereotype client.
online accounts of your clients and add them to Most companies do not have one key individual,
your network. Next to only adding your clients, it is they have several. You probably, too. Start making
also wise to add other parties and stakeholders to a list of them, and be as extensive in your details
your network with whom you have contact being a as possible: age, sex, educational level, political
company. Think of suppliers, developers, experts or interests, hobbies, social class, etcetera. We will use
advisors, local politicians or financial institutions, this list in the next step.
shareholders, people from your community,
colleagues and friends. Later we’ll see why this Now, find out what activity those people have online.
is important. First, let’s focus a bit more on your What are they doing? Where do they participate in
clients. conversations or post content? Find out what they
have to say and where they say it. First, this has to
be done manually. In later stages, you might want
to start using monitoring tools, programs which
automatically search for relevant interactions.
Tip: examples of monitoring tools are Google Blogsearch, Google Interactions about you, for instance!
Alert, Technorati or Backtype.com, just to name a few of the
many out there.

12. LinkedIn is a business-oriented social networking site. Founded
in December 2002 and launched in May 2003, it is mainly used
for professional networking. As of 2 November 2010, LinkedIn
had more than 80 million registered users, spanning more than
200 countries and territories worldwide.The site is available
in English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish.
Quantcast reports Linkedin has 21.4 million monthly unique
U.S. visitors and 47.6 million globally. Unregistered users can
watch the videos, while registered users are permitted to upload
an unlimited number of videos. Videos that are considered
to contain potentially offensive content are available only to
registered users 18 and older. In November 2006, YouTube, LLC
was bought by Google Inc. for $1.65 billion, and now operates

13. STEP 3: START ENGAGiNG & ADD VALUE Now that you have located the places where your clients interact,
start engaging in these interactions. Add to the conversation! But
how? And how often? What are the rules of engagement?
Well, you have to understand that social media is Of course, telling people about yourself and
pretty much a digital version of real life. Really, your activities is a good idea. However, it’s very
exactly the same rules apply. For instance, imagine important to not only do that, a mistake made by
yourself going to a bar. You enter the bar, step lots of companies (“I use Twitter to keep my clients
inside and shout something to the crowd, then informed”). People will start to ignore you if you
walking out the door again. It’s pretty unlikely you only talk about yourself, even if the content is of the
will get the message across, let alone make any utmost relevance. Compare it with somebody with
friends [2]. Only when you visit the bar more often the greatest job in the world always talking about
and start talking with people, people will start to her own life. Despite the fact that she probably
recognize you and become friends with you. So delivers very interesting content, people will feel
there’s your answer. Act online like you would do ignored in conversations with her. People who only
offline. Translate your offline social behavior to an talk (about) themselves are considered annoying,
online one. Every time you use social media, think of and will be ignored themselves in the long run.
yourself being in bar. Engage in conversations and Successfully engaging in conversations is two-way,
add value by helping people out, sharing expertise not one-way.
or knowledge, amusing them with videos or photos
or linking them to other people.
[2]
BELLEGEM, VAN S. (2010) WHEN ON TWiTTER, ACT LiKE YOU’RE iN A BAR.
Tip: You can download an example of the
mentioned list here. Feel free to use it yourself!

14. Do you have accounts on multiple platforms? Then a social media
aggregation tool is what you need! Yoono is probably the most well-
known. Xobni integrates social media with your e-mail (Outlook).
Just like in real life, in order to have a successful
interaction you need to adjust yourself to the one
who is opposite you. This is a good time to start
using your list of key individuals. Expand the list with
an overview of dos and don’ts per key individual.
Also, on the list indicate which tools are suitable for
interacting with each key individual, and how these
tools can be used.
All these engagements will build your online identity
and attract more and more peers towards you,
thus building your online network. In this phase,
you will be the face of the company. Once you have
established a firm identity and have a significant
network, you can start building the online identity
of your company or brand by creating its social
media account and directing your peers to that
account.

15. YouTube is a video-sharing website on which users can upload,
share, and view videos. Three former PayPal employees created
YouTube in February 2005. The company is based in San Bruno,
California, and uses Adobe Flash Video technology to display
a wide variety of user-generated video content, including
movie clips, TV clips, and music videos, as well as amateur
content such as video blogging and short original videos. Most
of the content on YouTube has been uploaded by individuals,
although media corporations including CBS, BBC, Vevo and
other organizations offer some of their material via the site,
as part of the YouTube partnership program. Unregistered
users may watch videos, and registered users may upload
an unlimited number of videos. Videos that are considered

16. STEP 4: BECOME A PLATFORM Okay, so you have opened a social media account for your company.
And your personal peers are slightly leaking in. What are you going
to do with it?
Sure, you could start by posting news and updates After a while, hundreds of people contribute to it,
about your company. Or, a step further, post content resulting in the topic hitting a top-10 place in Google
like, for instance, videos giving a look behind the rankings. People are starting topics theirselves, in
scenes, or interesting pictures or information. which they post and discuss everything of relevance
for painters and painting.
But remember from the previous step that only
posting content is not enough. The idea is that you This goes on and on until, after a while, your page
start with interaction, or: facilitate it. How could is known as the place to be when it comes to
you do that? everything having to do with painting. Great, you
probably say, what’s in it for me?
Image being a painter, opening a social media page.
Imagine starting a forum on that page and inviting a Well, if you think people will leave it to only
few people to discuss on the first topic. Apparently, exchanging knowledge, think again. Ever heard
it’s a hot topic because the discussion is lively and of top-of-mind position? (No? Google it, quick!)
more and more others are invited to join, causing You will become the first they’d call for a paint
the number of replies to grow rapidly. job. You have earned the status of expert, people
trust you because of that and trust is the basis of
doing business. This is new marketing: attracting
customers by giving them something first. Welcome
to the Pull era, say goodbye to good old Push.

17. Being the center of information exchange can Also, co-creation is a great way to come on one Tip: this step doesn’t have to be limited to the digital domain
easily be linked with facilitating ways for people level with clients and make them feel part of the
to meet each other, on basis of what they do or company. It really puts the customer in control. only. Rent a space somewhere and start organizing inspiration-,
know. Something that enhances this even more, It generates many ideas from all corners of the
is for instance interviewing business relations or world, is not bound to place or time, consults
information and discussion evenings! And: co-creation can
putting spotlights on customers in newsletters or hundreds at once which all, in turn, are… possible
blog posts. Also, sorting all network-relatives into clients. It thus saves costs on development and on
become a lively happening, if you announce (ideas for) new
disciplines might be a good idea, making it easy for marketing(communication).
people to see who does what.
products or services at those evenings and give room for feedback.
Either way, it’s important that the online identity
of your company or brand grows. The more fans,
You can even divide people into think-tank groups and let them
followers or peers, the bigger the identity. This can
be sped up even more by telling a story.
come with solutions, improvements or elaborations. The result
will be an optimal win-win situation:
• Your client feels like she has worked with you on the product (which actually is true)
• Because of that, she gets a custom-made product for the price of a mass-product;
• Your client will therefore long for the moment that it becomes available;
• They’ll tell others out of enthusiam;
• You get to have valuable customer feedback for free.

18. Co-creation is a form of market or business strategy that
emphasises the generation and ongoing realisation of mutual
firm-customer value. It views markets as forums for firms and
active customers to share, combine and renew each other’s
resources and capabilities to create value through new forms
of interaction, service and learning mechanisms. It differs from
the traditional active firm - passive consumer market construct
of the past. Co-created value arises in the form of personalised,
unique experiences for the customer (value-in-use) and ongoing
revenue, learning and enhanced market performance drivers
for the firm (loyalty, relationships, customer word of mouth).
Value is co-created with customers if and when a customer is
able to personalize his/her experience using a firm’s product-

19. STEP 5: TELL A STORY A step further in engaging in conversations and interactions, is to
tell a compelling story of yourself, or create one around you.
An example comes from David Perez, creative There are numerous ways to get attention online.
recruiter at advertising agency. To get attention The ultimate would be to become viral, which means
on the Lion’s Festival in Cannes, he invited people that people automatically forward and distribute
through Twitter to give him all kinds of assignments your message for you. David Perez’ action is a good
to do at the Film Festival. Everything Perez would example of that.
do, was filmed from his point of view by a camera in
his glasses, and put online. This was a huge success: Another nice example of a viral is a Youtube movie
he got more than 20.000 assignments including called ‘Hunter Shoots Bear’ [3], with as description:
taking a tattoo and making a helicopterflight (he ‘A huge bear attacks after being shot by a hunter’.
has fear of heights). In reality, it is nothing more than a commercial
from Tippex. The viewer gets to choose whether
the hunter shoots the bear who, in the end, refuses
to shoot him. He erases the ‘shoot’ from the title
with a huge Tippex unit. Then it’s possible to type in
something that the hunter should do with the bear,
and, if possible, the command is being executed.
The movie has over eleven million views up until
now.
[3]
HUNTER SHOOTS BEAR ON YOUTUBE
Hunter Shoots Bear by Tipp-ex

20. A similar example is on http://theuglydance.com/. You could think of a similar thing. Perhaps a small
It’s from the Swedish band Fulkutur. On the site is application could be made with which users can play
an extremely funny dancing person, which you can with something that has to do with your company.
give your own face by uploading a picture. After that This could also be an app. The app must however
you can choose from three sorts of clothing, and be more than just product portfolio and be useful
then a song starts making the person start to dance in some way. It’s a waste of money if people would
in a way that you can choose by clicking different install the app, use it only once, and then delete it.
dance moves. Fulkutur claims to ‘want to release an Also, it would be even better if the app went viral.
EP’ so ‘are in need of new equipment’, and after the This can only be the case if it’s worth sharing, for
song, the viewer is given the possibility to donate. instance because it has a ‘fun factor’. Also, the app
could provide people with news or updates from
the industry. In any case, the app should be worth
while checking regularly.
The Ugly Dance by Fulkutur

21. Top of mind awareness (TOMA) is ”When people think of you
first to fulfill their product or service needs.” Traditionally,
TOMA has been achieved through traditional channels such as
newspapers, television, and magazines. Increasingly companies
of all sizes are moving towards social media like Twitter and
Facebook over against traditional channels. Chicago Now
reports, “Close to four-in-ten employers (37%) plan to put a
greater emphasis on social media in 2010 to create a more
positive brand for their organization.” Therefore, TOMA refers
to percent of respondents who name a brand or product first
when asked to list companies in that industry sector—including,
but not limited to traditional advertising channels. TOMA has
traditionally been defined as “the percent of respondents who,

22. STEP 6: START YOUR OWN SOCiAL NETWORK So now you have your own social media place on the web.
Congratulations! But did you ever realize that none of the media
you investigate so much time in, is your possession? You are hiring
it. What if Facebook or LinkedIn go bankrupt one day?
There goes your five years of building your precious on social media, he built his own network
network, gone in a flash. Oh no! What to do? MyBarackObama.com. Members of the network
could share, interact and engage with each other, in
Again, compare social media to real life. It is other words do quite the same they could do when
perfectly normal for new companies to start Obama would have had a Facebook or LinkedIn page,
out in rented buildings. Renting however means but in a self-designed, self-controlled surrounding,
depending on an external party, which can always and with great added features like the possibility to
decide to sell the place or end the contract. This sign up for campaign activities and keeping track of
is not such a problem with small companies as your personal ‘making a difference’-index.
they are flexible and have a small reputation. But
imagine a company doing business for years and Your owned, closed social media world can become
years in a certain building, suddenly not being there a place of exchange between you and clients, or
anymore. Especially if the building is a place where clients and clients, but also between all peers as
clients do lots of transactions, for instance a bank described in step 2. It should become a platform
or a shop, this could be a disaster. This goes the which creates an experience for its members.
same for social media. When having established a Something that will take this experience another
significant online identity, it’s time to buy your very step further, is making it into a co-creation
own office on the web: start your own network. So platform, a Second Life-like virtual environment
a platform like Hyves, Facebook, or LinkedIn, but where participants can move around with their
then not hired, but owned and controlled by you. online identity and are able to choose what project
What are examples? The most outstanding one they want to contribute to. This way you create
comes from Barack Obama. Being the first US a total online experience, which ensures that the
president ever who based his election campaign right people add value in the right places and can
MyBarackObama.com

23. also invite other people to do so. This can have a So, what are we waiting for? I hear you say. Let’s
high entertainment value (and therefore could start this network! Sorry, but I must disappoint
grow very fast) but at the same time, it’s just tough you. At this moment, starting your own network is
community building. An example is IKEA’s Design something financially not possible unless the name
Your Own Life, a site on which you can make a of your company is CocaCola, Nike or Virgin. The
picture of rooms in your home, and then place IKEA reason that I am telling you is because technology
furniture in it. After that, you can invite others to develops in such a rapid pace that it won’t be long
look at it, or visit others yourself and comment on before it will be available for SME’s as well. And good
their furnishing. for you, because it is essential for a sustainable
social media approach. The most important is, that
Another example is Amstel Teamlink, a kind of now you got the picture of what social media can
‘online soccer canteen’ in which you gather with do for you.
your friends to discuss team results.

24. App is the cool way of saying cell phone application. These
applications are add-ons or bits of data added to a cell phone
so it can perform functions usually unrelated to making
a phone call. Cell phones always did come with a few extra
things unrelated to making phone calls, but these have greatly
expanded, and now many people download the extra the apps
they want. Many of the early cell phone app programs were
designed to make a cellphone more like a computer. They often
integrated some of the computer elements into the phone.
While many of these early programs continue to be updated
and used to track things like business performance or email,
they are only the tip of the iceberg in modern cell phone app
offerings. Applications on a cellphone can provide the phone

25. STAP 7: GO AND DO iT! Like everything in life, beginning is the hardest part. Start by
making it an everyday practice to spend time on social media by
implementing it in your planning. Find the places where the
interactions take place that you can add value to.
After a while you will recognize patterns and logic
in it, which makes things easier. The advantage of
the strategy in this document, is that you can start
really small. Every tiny step that you undertake,
every minute that you spend on social media will
bring you slightly closer towards step 6. There is no
hurry. And yet there is. The world is changing fast.
So get out there and claim your online space!

26. Pay-What-You-Want is a new participative pricing mechanism
whereby consumers have maximum control over the price
they pay. Previous research suggests that participative pricing
increases consumers’ intent to purchase. Sellers using PWYW
face the risk, however, that consumers exploit their control and
pay nothing at all or a price below the seller’s costs. The authors
find in three field studies that prices paid are significantly
greater than zero. They analyze factors influencing prices paid
and show that PWYW can even lead to an increase in seller
revenues. Participative pricing mechanisms, such as auctions
and Name-Your-Own-Price, can be seen as innovative, here in
the sense of unconventional, by involving consumers in the
price-setting process. Hence, innovative pricing models can

27. ABOUT THE AUTHOR I am fascinated by the 2.0 revolution because I think it makes this
world a better place . It is therefore my personal goal to inspire
people from all over the world to embrace the new mindset that
comes with it.
I love adding value by participating in everything
that has to do with 2.0, social media and lifehacking.
So don’t hesitate to contact me!
In case you want to hire me for a longer period of
time, to develop strategies or even set things up for
you, then this is also possible. I work according to
“Pay what it’s worth” (“Waardebepaling achteraf”).
This is a Dutch system which is not yet used much
outside of Holland, so unfortunately the best
information is only in Dutch, but here is also some
in English.
Good luck!
MANOAH KLAASSE
manoahklaasse@gmail.com
Tip: Please see my next e-book called ‘How to become This eBook is designed by Bernard Westerdijk, a
stunningly good graphic designer whom I recommend
entrepreneur of the year 2021 in 7 simple steps’ (working title). working with. Go and check out his website:
bernardwesterdijk.nl.
Contact me if you’d like a copy.

28. AUTHOR MANOAH KLAASSE
DESiGN BERNARD WESTERDIJK