1. +
Social Media for Business
Use
Tuesday 8 July 2014

2. +
This Session
 Briefly Revisit Twitter
 Using Facebook for Business Use
 Break
 Using Google + for Business Use

3. +
Social Media for Business Use
 Yesterday we covered how businesses or freelance
professionals can use LinkedIn or Twitter to enhance their
opportunities.
 Today we will cover Facebook and Google +.These
strategies are equally applicable to professionals who want
to network with people in their field.
 In addition, we will recap blogging because producing good
content is at the core of a successful promotional strategy.

4. +
TASK
 Log into Twitter.
 Search for businesses – they can be favourite brands, or local
businesses that you know.
 Either send them a tweet, or mention them in a tweet of your
own.
 Take a screenshot and post to your blog.

5. +
Example
 Simply go onto
your profile,
and press Shift
+ Cmd + 4 to
draw a
screenshot.
 Use the
‘Upload
Media’ button
on Wordpress
to add to a
post.

6. +
Facebook for Business Use
 Many businesses now also use Facebook to market
themselves.You can keep your personal profile and your
business Page separate.
 You can run the Page within your personal account, allowing
you to invite your existing Facebook friends to like your
Page.
 You might think they won’t be interested but it’s good to keep
existing friends and contacts up to date on what your
business is doing, and they might be able to recommend you
to others.
 If you do set up a Page, bear in mind a few things.

7. +
Facebook for Business Use
 If you’re a business, include an image related to what you do,
or use your logo.
 If you’re a freelancer, try to use a welcoming, smiling photo
of yourself – use the same one across all of your sites.
 Begin filling the Page with content even as you’re inviting
contacts – they’ll be more likely to investigate if you’ve
already got images or videos online.
 Keep your description brief, include links to your other
online platforms (Twitter, LinkedIn, website etc).

8. +
Facebook for Business Use
 Log in to Facebook and look up three brands that you like.
 It could be an online business that you use, a favourite place
to go in Newcastle, or a brand that you use a lot.
 If they have a Page, click on ‘Like’ to subscribe to their
updates.
 You can see all recent content from your page by clicking on
your Pages Feed from the main sidebar.

9. +
TASK
 Once you have found three businesses and clicked ‘Like’,
go to your profile, and click on ‘Likes’ to see them in one
place.
 Take a screenshot and post to your blog.
 In addition, look at what content they have posted, and
underneath your screenshot, write a short summary about
the type of content they have.
 Is it images, videos, links etc.?

10. +
Facebook for Business Use
 As already stated, one of the main benefits of social media is
that it can be cheaper than traditional methods of marketing.
 However, Facebook is making it increasingly difficult to use
its platform, particularly if businesses want to do so without
paying for services.
 It used to be the case that a user simply had to ‘like’ a
Facebook Page in order to see its updates in their news feed.
 In order to avoid overwhelming users with content, Facebook
began to prioritise content from those pages with which the
users had regular interaction.
 Now it prioritises content that has been paid for.

11. +
Facebook for Business Use
 One key aspect of using Facebook Pages is that your
audience gets to ‘opt-in’ to receiving content.They "Like"
your page.
 However Facebook won't let most of them see it organically
in their news stream.
 They can still visit your page to see content, but few users
have the time or the energy to visit every single Page to see
if there have been more updates.
 One solution would be to pay to promote your Page and
reach more of your audience.

12. +
Facebook for Business Use
 One strategy can be to manually direct people to your
Facebook URL.
 It's no longer enough for us to tell our audience to "Like" us
on Facebook. Now we have to ensure they know that we offer
great content there but Facebook won't let them see it unless
they go to the Facebook page.
 The disadvantage with using Facebook Pages is that your
audience can see your Page even if they don’t have an
account, but they do have to actually be on Facebook in
order to interact.

13. +
Facebook for Business Use
 We’ve already discussed the benefits of online communities,
and you can use Facebook Pages as part of this approach.
 If you post great content, then users are more likely to share
it with others – when they click ‘Share’, it places that content
on their timeline as if posted by them.This recommends that
content to their friends and followers.
 Facebook treats these posts as being from an individual user,
not a Page, and thus it isn’t ‘hidden’ in the same way.
 It relates to the word-of-mouth concept – people will pass
along things that they see as being of benefit, and those who
see this benefit will in turn pass it along.

14. +
Facebook for Business Use
 There are ways that you can get users to interact.
Competitions or giveaways are a good start.
 You can encourage users to ‘like’ your page, share a
particular post, and comment on something.
 This way you get your content in front of more users, and
when they comment, Facebook assumes they want to interact
with you and you have more chance of getting more content
into their news feed.
 Ensure you post content that benefits or helps your audience
in some way!

15. +
Facebook for Business Use
 But what if you’re not a business? If you’re a professional, do
you still need a Page?
 If you’re marketing your services as a freelancer, then yes.
They’re free to set up and if used correctly, can act as a
calling card across Facebook.
 If you’re using Facebook to interact with others in your field
and you’re simply sharing knowledge, then you’re probably
better off joining groups relating to your interests, and
connect immediately with individuals in this way.
 However, freelancers can still join groups – posting good
content and answering questions can help establish you as
an authority.

16. +
TASK
 In your blog post, write a title ‘Using Facebook as a
business/professional/freelancer’ (choose the aspect
that suits you).
 Write a short list of bullet points around how you might use
Facebook.
 Could you run competitions on a Page, or create a group
around your field/industry to share knowledge with others?

17. +
Google + for Business Use
 We covered Google + for personal use last week, exploring
its capacity for forging new connections and meeting new
people.
 Google+ has the second most active user base of all social media
sites, with Facebook being number one.
 Yet businesses and freelancers are missing the opportunity
to use Google+ to meet potential future customers or clients,
and to get others to engage with what they’re posting.
 The solution to both problems is Google+ communities.They
can help you to grow your platform.

18. +
Google + for Business Use
 Use communities to find new ideas for blog posts.
 Following communities can help you to find out what are your
potential future readers already talking about and interested
in.
 If you use these topics as the basis of your blog, you'll be
able to find things to write about, as well as knowing that
people will want to read your posts.
 You might not be able to directly post links to your blog in
the community forums, but if you get to know other users,
you can add them to your circles, and once you’re in their
circles, they’ll see your status updates.

19. +
Google + for Business Use
 Establish yourself as an expert (and as interesting) by
starting valuable discussions.
 Anyone can start a discussion in a Google+ community, and
topics are organised by categories for easy access.
 The best discussions result in active conversations, as well as
people sharing it to their own circles. If people see your
name attached to great conversations often enough, they’ll
add you to one of their circles so they can see everything you
post.

20. +
Google + for Business Use
 Get an inside look at what your potential future readers love
or hate.
 If you're a business that provides a particular service, or a
freelancer with a specific skill, then you can find out what
potential customers or clients want - and don't want.You can
listen to their likes and dislikes that they express in
communities.
 A large part of success is knowing the expectations of clients
or customers and exceeding them. Once you’re educated on
the expectations, you’ll be able to meet them…or choose to
forge a new path, while making it clear to others what they’ll
be getting. Knowledge is power.

21. +
Google + for Business Use
 If you’re an established business, build a community for your
customers.
 Google+ communities definitely have a forum feel.
 Host chats with customers based around what your business does.
 Encourage reviews.
 Answer commonly asked questions.
 Provide 'behind the scenes' coverage to make customers feel
closer to your business.
 If you already have an established audience, Google+
communities provide a low maintenance option for you to
encourage conversation among your customers and to be
accessible to them.

22. +
Google + for Business Use
 However you can also set up a Page and allow people to
interact with your business that way.
 Some successful businesses also run Communities to allow
users to share knowledge and tips, relating to your brand.
 For example, Cadbury’s use their Page to share recipes that
use their products, or images of new products, or cool things
that their fans have sent, as well as featuring ‘behind the
scenes’ videos, or videos of product launches.
 In addition, they have a Community where fans of the brand
can share their own images and recipes.

23. +
TASK
 Log into Google + and search for one of the following;
 Cadburys
 CostaCoffee
 Penguin Books UK
 Cambridge Satchel Company
 Have a look at what content they include and how they
promote themselves.
 Do the Pages also have Communities?

24. +
Social Media for Business Use
 Hopefully now you can see why businesses and freelancers
need to have good content in order to have something to
share on social media.
 A strong blog, containing useful articles, tutorials, tips or
product information, should be at the centre of an online
strategy.
 This can be supported by sharing posts across Facebook and
Google + Pages, tweeting links on Twitter, and promoting
posts on LinkedIn. In addition, extra content can be shared
through videos on YouTube, images on Pinterest, or tutorials
on sites like Instructables.

25. +
TASK
 At the bottom of your blog post, write the title
‘How a business uses different types of social media tools
to engage with their audience’
and write a short summary of what we’ve covered in the last
two days.
Publish!
Google + Pages, tweeting links on Twitter, and promoting posts on
LinkedIn. In addition, extra content can be shared through videos on
YouTube, images on Pinterest, or tutorials on sites like Instructables.