The guide includes: Benefits of Social Media Choosing the Right Social Media Networks 3 Tips for Social Media Success Ready to rock ‘n roll? Start by reading our Beginner’s Guide to Social Media, and if you have any questions about how to take your digital marketing to the next level, we’re here for you. We’d be happy to help you build a strategy that best fits your brand’s needs.

1. THE BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO
SOCIAL MEDIA
MARKETING
CREATED BY:

2. 340 Reading Rd.
Suite West
Cincinnati, Ohio 45202
emediadesign.co
@emediadesignco
866.700.8585
THE BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING
Social media is an essential tool for marketing success.
There are many ways you can use different platforms for
lead generation, finding potential employees, building brand
loyalty, engaging with consumers and so much more! While
skeptics originally believed social media would be a fad, it
has truly become its own marketing medium that’s here to
stay.
With so many networks and features to accompany each
platform, it is very easy to feel overwhelmed and confused.
Our team of social media and marketing experts put
together this Beginner’s Guide to Social Media Marketing,
designed to help you better understand the benefits of
social media. The guide comes straight out of our very own
playbook, so we’ve even included some of our own eMedia-
trusted best practices – go ahead and grab a pen, you may
want to take notes.
.........................................................................................................................
THE BENEFITS OF SOCIAL MEDIA
What makes social media marketing beneficial for a
business?
• Advertising to specific audiences
• Content distribution to large groups at one time
• Builds brand awareness for your company
• Increases brand loyalty by showing customers your personality
• Networking & engagement with key influencers
• Reputation management
• Improved and immediate customer service
• In-depth consumer insights
When done well, utilizing social media can support and
increase brand awareness, generate website traffic, and
funnel leads to increase sales. With these benefits, it’s hard
to imagine a business that wouldn’t want to take
advantage of utilizing social media.

3. 3
340 Reading Rd.
Suite West
Cincinnati, Ohio 45202
emediadesign.co
@emediadesignco
866.700.8585
PROFESSIONAL VS. PERSONAL USE
One of the most important aspects to consider and
understand are the differences between personal and
professional use of social media. In an era of instant
connections and increased engagement, it is very easy to
get carried away or make a marketing mistake on these
networks. The two main differences between professional
and personal use are:
• How you spend your time
• The voice you use
For businesses, it’s important to be able to differentiate
between time spent personally and professionally on social
media. For your personal use, you are spending time to
socialize, share content, entertainment, and to keep in
touch with friends and family. When using social media for
a business, professionals must see it as investing time to
maintain or increase their brand awareness, manage online
reputations, network with industry professionals, engage
with customers, and search for opportunities to build new
partnerships and connections.
Brand messaging and voice is extremely important when
it comes to using social media for a business. The type of
content you share for your business should ALWAYS be in
line with your company’s message, services, and culture.
Keeping a strong filter on social media content can save
you time, money and embarrassment from having to save-
face from a potential blunder. Companies big and small
have been known to commit social media faux-pas, but
they can be avoided given a keen eye and smart (business-
appropriate) messaging.

4. 4
340 Reading Rd.
Suite West
Cincinnati, Ohio 45202
emediadesign.co
@emediadesignco
866.700.8585
SETTING GOALS & OBJECTIVES
Social media is a great way to help you reach your business
goals. Social media marketing shouldn’t be your only
marketing campaign, but works best when integrated
with your current marketing efforts. A strong social media
presence supports any search engine optimization (SEO)
strategy, and is a great balance to any traditional marketing
campaigns including print, media, and email marketing.
Setting goals at the beginning of your plan will help you
determine the direction of your social media campaign.
Figuring out what action you want customers to take when
they connect with your brand and set up goals that will
help you measure your efforts and reach those important
benchmarks.
To help you set up measurable goals, use the S.M.A.R.T
method, an acronym which stands for:
• S - Specific
• M - Measurable
• A - Attainable
• R - Relevant
• T - Timely
These goals will help you determine which social media
networks are a good fit for you. There are tons and tons
(and tons) of social media networks out there that you can
join, but if you’re just beginning, you’ll want to choose the
ones that will help you accomplish your objectives. This will
also help you save a great deal of time and money.

5. 5
340 Reading Rd.
Suite West
Cincinnati, Ohio 45202
emediadesign.co
@emediadesignco
866.700.8585
.........................................................................................................................
CHOOSING THE RIGHT NETWORKS FOR YOUR COMPANY
There are many different types of social media networks,
and each one is unique. When you are deciding which ones
to join, it helps to look at the different options out there.
Having a foundational understanding of the different types
can help you put your social media strategy together.
The most popular platforms are the best place to start
doing some research. Here’s our breakdown of the seven
most popular social media networks, as well as some
up-and-coming ones you should keep an eye out
for… because we are!
.........................................................................................................................

6. 6
340 Reading Rd.
Suite West
Cincinnati, Ohio 45202
emediadesign.co
@emediadesignco
866.700.8585
THE SOLID SEVEN
FACEBOOK
Facebook, the monster social media network, allows you to
create a business page to connect with an audience, engage with
customers, and share content. It has many unique features for
businesses including customer reviews, call-to-action buttons to
encourage goals like driving traffic to your website or increasing
email newsletter sign ups. You can also invest in pay-per-click
advertising, or boost your posts to increase the reach of your
content to new audiences -- and potential customers.
GOOGLE+
Google+ has many benefits, including its direct relation to Google
and potential correlation to SEO. Similarly to Twitter, Google+
also allows you find content and conversations categorized by
hashtags. When building your profile or followers, Google+ also
allows you to post content to specific communities you have
joined, or to segmented followers called Circles. If you categorize
your lists strategically by areas of interest, posting content
geared to these different groups will increase the chance of it
being read and (more importantly) shared.
INSTAGRAM
Instagram provides a unique, yet genuine channel for brands and
their followers to connect online. It is an image-sharing network
that allows companies to build a visual landscape for their brand.
Many companies have jumped onto the Instagram bandwagon,
because it gives their followers to experience behind-the-scenes
access, and get a better feel for a brand’s company culture.
LINKEDIN
LinkedIn is the largest professional social network. The biggest
aspect of this network is that it aims to connect, engage and
promote companies and employees. You can set-up a Company
Page that showcases your brand, along with products, services
and content you want to share. Individuals can create profile
pages, and link their job titles to their employer’s Company
Page. Individuals can also share or publish content, so this can
be a great medium to share your messaging with like-minded
individuals and brand advocates.

7. 7
340 Reading Rd.
Suite West
Cincinnati, Ohio 45202
emediadesign.co
@emediadesignco
866.700.8585
PINTEREST
Pinterest took the online community by storm, by providing a
new way for users to connect with brands online. Users create
“Boards” and build collections of content. Boards are built and
added to by “Pinning” all types of content that has been shared
or that they found online. Any company with images or content
on their website can add Pinterest share buttons to increase the
chance of users sharing content from their website. Recently,
Pinterest even added the feature that allows users to buy
products directly through Pinterest with with their new “Buy
Button” feature––a HUGE benefit for eCommerce companies and
websites.
TWITTER
Twitter is a microblogging site that allows users to Tweet (post
a message) to their audience in 140 characters or less. A special
feature of Twitter is the use of hashtags. You can use hashtags
to find trending topics, conversations, and to connect with
individuals discussing that keyword or phrase across the globe.
It also allows you to categorize your messages so that anyone
searching for content relating to a hashtagged keyword may find
your Tweet.
YOUTUBE
Believe it or not, YouTube is the world’s second largest
search engine and a major force behind today’s strong digital
culture. Companies can use YouTube to create their own
channel and upload branded videos. From “How-To” videos, to
“Informational” videos, YouTube is fully integrated with Google
AdWords to help users find the most relevant content for their
search terms. Even parodies and commercials are seeing huge
success. The SEO value behind creating optimized videos and
allowing them to live online can exponentially increase a brand’s
exposure and reach.

8. KEEP YOUR EYE ON...
MEDIUM
Medium is a microblogging platform that lets you publish
stories and ideas. Users can also recommend stories with
their networks and curate their favorite posts. If your goal
is to improve SEO and build a content strategy, you may
want to consider using Medium.
PERISCOPE
Periscope is a live video streaming app. Users get the
opportunity to see the world through someone else’s eyes.
Its an app to discover new events and places from the
comfort of your own home.
.........................................................................................................................
8
340 Reading Rd.
Suite West
Cincinnati, Ohio 45202
emediadesign.co
@emediadesignco
866.700.8585
PERISCOPE
“You can’t tiptoe into social
media. You have to jump
into the pool. People have
a natural fear of it. But the
scary part is not being there.
Your customer is already
there.”
-Dave Saunders

9. 9
340 Reading Rd.
Suite West
Cincinnati, Ohio 45202
emediadesign.co
@emediadesignco
866.700.8585
TIPS FOR SOCIAL MEDIA SUCCESS
Social media marketing takes time and effort to build and
manage. There are tons of tools and ways you can post and
interact with your followers, but how do you use social media
to it’s fullest potential?
Here are some tips from our team of social media experts
to help you successfully captivate your audience on social
media:
• Engage with your audience - Don’t just be a logo on a screen,
be a voice for your brand. Social media is not just a channel
for people to blast sales-oriented information. It was created
for collaboration, interaction, and genuine participation.
Respond to posts, messages and questions. Always thank
people for their positive reviews and make sure to respond to
every negative review promptly. You may just be able to
convert those customers with negative reviews into brand
advocates.
• Quality content - A good social media strategy starts with a
good content strategy. Create content (on your blog,
newsfeed, calendar, etc) that is relevant, original and provides
value. The more you can share with your audience that will
keep them interested and excited to read your content, the
more likely they will become brand advocates by sharing your
content and continue to follow your accounts.
• Be genuine - When you establish a genuine voice across your
social media networks, you establish an emotional connection
with your customers. Don’t be afraid to show your company’s
personality. Companies that overload their audience with
sales-only information sound desperate and insincere. While
companies that stray away from spamming their audiences
have better engagements and are able to create better-quality
connections.
The process above has done wonders for not only our
clients, but our own social media presence as well. We
encourage you to start building your own strategy, and see
what new levels of achievement you can reach! If you have
any questions about how to take your digital marketing to
the next level, we’re here for you! We’d be happy to help
you build a strategy that best fits your brand’s needs. Keep
an eye out for our Intermediate Guide to Social Media
Marketing.

10. innovation by design