A presentation delivered the Massachusetts Bay Organization Development Learning Group on how to join the social media marketing world spinning around us, creating a strategy, and managing a social media strategy.
This is a good introduction for those looking to understand some of the marketing changes and to look at which tools to manage your time effectively.
The presentation includes an introduction on how to blog and an overview of Digg, Twitter, Linkedin, RSS feeds, Google Analytics, Feedburner, and concludes with an example as well as recommended bloggers, websites, Twitter personalities, and books to further accelerate individual learning.
How to Launch And Manage Your Social Media Identity
1. www.TobyElwin.com
How to Launch and Manage
Your Social Media Identity
Tools, Tips, and Samples for All
Presented for
MassBay Organization Development Learning Group
2. Intro
• Marketing 2.0
• Inbound Marketing
• Persona (Non) Grata - Identity
• Break Out
• Who’s Going To Find You
• Tactics – Building Your Presence
Blog BREAK (Out)
• Tools – Connect and Collaborate
• Tools – Manage, Measure, and Modify
• Examples
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9. Marketing 2.0
• Marketing 1.0 the distribution is the value;
command and control
• Marketing 2.0 the content is the value;
contribute and collaborate
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13. Inbound Environment
In 2009 17,000 interviews across 29 countries revealed:
• 36% think positively about companies that have blogs
• 83% have viewed video on the social web
• 57% of Internet users have joined a social network
• 73% have read a blog
• 34% post opinions about products and brands on blogs/
social media
• 184 million people worldwide actively maintain a blog
• In the month of April, 2009, Americans conducted 13
billion searches using Google
Source: Universal McCann Report: Power to the People, Social Media Tracker: Wave 3: http://www.universalmccann.com/Assets/2413%20-
%20Wave%203%20 complete%20document%20AW%203_20080418124523.pdf
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14. This is Web 2.0
• Visitors can contribute content or comments.
• Visitors can subscribe to your content.
• Visitors can share your content easily with others.
• Visitors can rate your content.
• Visitors can form communities and collaborate with each other.
• Visitors can influence the opinions of others positively or negatively.
• Visitors can get engaged in productive ways before they are ready to
buy your widget.
• Visitors are not limited to your company website but can also link to
other destinations on the web that interest them.
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15. Persona (Non) Grata
• Identity
• Who are You Talking To
• What Interests Them
• Think Like a Publisher
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16. The Strategy
• Who are your clients? Prospects?
• What are they interested in?
• What do you want to hear from them?
• What do you want to talk to them about?
• Segmentation
• What value can you offer?
• What are your goals?
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17. I Don’t Have Time for This
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• 76% of broadband users are
active contributors to social
media
• Individuals who do 6 or more
social media activities
regularly are heavy
contributors
Upload audio
Upload video
Post to a wiki
Publish a blog
Upload photos
Upload podcasts
Publish a website
Tag articles, videos
Post to a micro-blog
Send/forward emails
Live in a virtual world
Post to a blog, forum
Rate or review a product
Share files in P2P network
Use SN sites/publish personal page
18. Who’s Going To Find You
• Google
• SEO
• Calls to Action
• Move the Conversation Along
• Invest in Your Community
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19. Tactics – Google and SEO
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• Google makes a copy of
the web
• Information is extracted
• An index is created
• Index is stored on servers
world wide
20. What Can You Say? Keywords and Phrases
• Search – by keyword on Technorati,
BlogSearch.Google.com
• Read – learn the language, read daily (aggregators)
• Subscribe – via RSS feed, READ DAILY
• Choose and commit – build a top 10 list
• Comments – add useful/informative comments, link
backs
• Write – start your own blog
• Blogrolls
• Guest Blog
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21. Blogging – What’s all the Hub-bub Bub?
In the 2008 Technorati Report: State of the Blogosphere, Technorati surveyed
1.2 million bloggers around the world who had registered with its service. Here
are some summary statistics:
• 133 million blogs are registered with Technorati
• These blogs are from sixty-six countries in eighty-one languages
• Blogs have representation in top 10 website lists in all key categories Blogs
are now a part of mainstream media
• Bloggers are savvy and sophisticated in driving traffic to their blog
• Bloggers are meticulous about tracking statistics about their blog
• Bloggers are successful—they are achieving career enhancement
opportunities including speaking engagements
• The majority of bloggers are advertising on their blog, producing an
income stream for themselves
• 90 percent of bloggers say they write about the products and services they
love or hate [take note of this!]
Source: Technorati: The State of the Blogosphere: http://technorati.com/blogging/ state-of-the-blogosphere/
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22. Focus on the Keywords and Phrases Your Buyer’s Use
• What are their problems?
• What keeps them awake at night?
• What do they want to know?
• What words and phrases do they use to describe these
problems?
• Your buyer is faced with problems, develop topics that
appeal to them:
“Turn strangers into friends,
Turn friends into customers,
Turn customers into salespeople…”
Seth Godin
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23. Onsite Tactics – Host the Cocktail Party
Blogs
• Achieve expert status in your field
• Promote your name, brand, service
• Deliver traffic to your website
• Increase your SEO rankings
• Develop a community of prospects and brand
ambassadors
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24. Onsite Tactics – Host the Cocktail Party
SEO Tips
• Content is reached by search engines
• Content is fresh and added frequently
• Content is organized by themes, categories, topics
• Keywords exist in content and internal text links
• Quantity of quality sites linking to your site
(this show’s authority i.e.: .gov or .edu links to your site)
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25. Onsite Tactics – Host the Cocktail Party
Blogs
• SEO – Title tags
• SEO – Headings
• SEO – 1st Paragraph
• SEO – Keywords in body
• SEO – Anchor text in links
Focus on the keywords and phrases
that your buyers use
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What are their problems?
What keeps them awake at night?
What do they want to know?
What words and phrases do they use to describe these problems?
26. Onsite Tactics – Link
• Links build traffic
• Links provide meaning based on the text used in the link
• Internal links, to your other pages, are important
• Links from relevant, authoritative web sites show other
sources and alternatives to state your case
• Create links using keywords in anchor text:
q trend in turnover (yes)
q click here (no)
• Compelling content can lead others to link to you
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27. What’s in a blog?
Compelling content, needs to
be found, use this sample
checklist to see how your
blog meets search engine
optimization
Exercise: use this sample checklist
and look at the blogs on the next
two pages to see if they are, or are
not, search engine optimized to be
found
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28. Showing up at the party – a blog, SEO review
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q
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29. Showing up at the party – a blog, SEO review
q
q
q
q
q
q
q
q
q
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q
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30. q SEO – Title tags
q SEO – Headings
q SEO – 1st Paragraph
q SEO – Keywords in body
q SEO – Anchor text in links
q
q
q
q
q
q
q
Showing up at the party – a quick SEO review
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31. q SEO – Title tags
q SEO – Headings
q SEO – 1st Paragraph
q SEO – Keywords in body
q SEO – Anchor text in links
q
q
q
q
q
q
q
Showing up at the party – a quick SEO review
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32. Onsite/Offsite Tactics – Keep the Party Going
• The best social media strategy starts with ~3 to 6 months of
listening:
– go to other sites and seeing what they are talking about –
then comment
• COMMENT on influential blogs in your community,
industry, complementary industries, and prospective client’s
markets
• When you COMMENT, post informative, quality info to
position yourself as an expert – this is not a sales pitch
• Develop a community – allow COMMENT and respond to
them
• Incorporate subscription and user tracking tools
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37. Digg
• Create an account
• Add links you think are
interesting
• Comment on why you added
them
• Post them to your account
• Comment on other people’s
stories
• Move the conversation along –
DON’T SELL
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42. Offsite Tactics - Twitter
• A relationship building tool
• A way to increase your brand awareness
• To create a lead funnel of prospects to your business
• An un-ending resource for you
and your company
• A way to meet others across the world
in similar industries, likes, and
interests
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43. Offsite Tactics - Twitter
Steps
1. create a
user name
2. build your
profile
3. link to your
blog or
website
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44. Twitter – Manage Your Self
• RT
• link shortening
services
• @
• #
• FF
• d
• All this space to
add your logo,
• websites
• other detail
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45. Twitter – Manage Tweeting
• Twitter is not a phone text substitute
• Twitter can be used from a laptop,
desktop, TV, and smart phone
• Twitter is not a phone text substitute
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59. 3 – bit.ly (url/link shortener)
Sign up for a bit.ly
account
• use bit.ly to
shorten web
address or create
custom addresses
• add bit.ly account
to Twitter and
other social media
sites to
automatically
convert addresses
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62. Onsite Tactics – Action
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1. Create multiple
places for others to
share
2. Create integration
(with tools like
Feedburner and
your RSS feed) to
your social
media when you
update your blog
will automatically
post to social
media sites and
communities
64. Example
• blogpost
• digg
convert to bit.ly
• post to
LinkedIn
• post to
Twitter
• post to
Feedburner
• Track clicks
• Track trends
• Identify
potential
topics
• Feedburner
email
newsletter
• Post to
Twitter 2nd
time with
modified
teaser
• Track clicks
• Track trends
• Identify
potential
topics
Day 1 Day 2 Beyond
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65. Your Presence on the Web
• GoDaddy – buy a domain name and host your domain
• Weebly – designs are simple and clean, good option for
sites, that do not require robust e-commerce
• Yola – design and host your site, with a large amount of
templates and widgets to customize or use your own
graphics
• Blogger – blogging site totally free to build a regular
website
• Wordpress –blogging site totally free to build a regular
website
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66. Launch and Learn Your Social Media Identity
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Vloggers and the art of writing consistently good blogs:
Seth Godin - http://sethgodin.typepad.com/
Mike Volpe - http://www.mikevolpe.com/
Corvida Raven - http://shegeeks.net/
Chris Brogan - http://www.chrisbrogan.com/
Sources to learn:
SEO - http://www.seomoz.org/
Inbound Marketing – http://www.hubspot.com
Marketing - http://www.davidmeermanscott.com/products.htm
twitter:
@hubspot @incentintel
@socialmedia247 @socialmedia630
@briansolis @pistachio
@socialmedia club @mvolpe
@steinarknutsen @jblossom
Part I: Outbound vs. Inbound Marketing The Internet has changed the dynamics of the business world. For the past decades, marketers have used “outbound” marketingng techniques such as trade shows and print advertising, where marketers push out a message far and wide hoping that it resonates with a few individuals. These outbound marketing methods are becoming less and less effective for two reasons:People are getting beBer at blocking out interruption‐based marking messages. The average person is inundated with thousands of outbound marketing interruptions per day and is figuring out more creative ways to block them out, including caller ID, spam filtering, and on‐demand TV and radio. The Internet presents quick and easy ways for consumers to learn and shop. Instead of flying to a trade show across the country, for example, a consumer can go the Internet to research and purchase products or services. Today, consumers are going to the Internet to start their purchasing process. In order to remain competitive, businesses need to utilize “inbound” marketing techniques to “get found” by the consumers searching for their products and services online.
73% of all purchase decisions are now researched first online73% of online users read blogs57% of online users join social networks83% of online users have viewed a video online39% of online users subscribe to RSS FeedsSource: Universal McCann International Social Media Research
understand your audience has the same distribution as you do, they can blog and Tweet faster than you or your hierarchy can edit and control spin;understand who your audience is, don't try to own your audience provide value to your audience; understand what your audience values, not the features or benefits you want to sell; lose control (a); if you want us to sign up, we move on;lose control (b), stop asking for a wall of information that you want to build your leads database;if you provide valued content and there is a link and contact information, people will find and recommend you [would you rather have 100 leads of dubious quality or 10,000 downloads and 50 responses? Know what Google search engines value];think like a publisher and make all content valuable for every flavor of your customer; make sure it is easy for us to forward your information, if we find it valuable, we will distribute it for you, when it is really valued we even recommend it; make sure there are always links back to a source or call to action, always make it easy for us to dig deeper; stop spamming press releases, journalists Google you, they don't look at a stack of your jargon-filled press releases; post all your news and press releases on your website, that's where we go for your news and that is where Google goes to index your information; go where your audience is or provide all the tools for your audience to build their own happening; stop co-opting Twitter, You Tube, and Facebook, we are faster than you; when you provide content you build organically: become the source for information and problem solving and you and your company will become known;ask permission; forget about your viral campaign, provide value and we make your content viralwe don't care about you or your product, we care about how you or your product makes our life better - so get to the point without jargon, better yet, if you come recommended, I will find you
Provide value – you’ll gain trust and attentionSupport the community – put others above yourselfCreate conversationsRequest and listen to feedback; let other users of the site be your teachers and informantsDemonstrate integrity – you are transparent on the web and integrity mattersHave fun – don’t prejudge connections – you never know where someone will lead you
How important are these services to your business 2009 vs. 2010
Compelling ContentYour Internet strategy has to start as a dialogue and rely on value-added content as the source and substance of all you present.A second strategy that is particularly important is to provide multiple “calls to action” on each and every communication. An invitation or “call to action” includes: commenting, forwarding, referring, and signing up.Neither an inbound strategy nor a call to action matter much without remarkable content. Content is remarkable when someone defines it as remarkable, not when your marketing or product manager define it as remarkable. This is the greatest challenge in today’s world of marketing. You really have no control over your product’s value, however, you do have control about hosting and socializing with people who will advocate, refer, and recommend your service or product. So, your strategy relies on enabling others.
The best web strategy positions your web page not as a brochure or an advertisement, but a rich source of content. The best web strategy, like the best magazine, provides content over just look – form over function. Not all of your site’s visitor’s have to be buyers, but they should leave as advocates.Today’s marketing relies less on information (a one-way flow of thoughts and ideas) and more than ever on communication (a two-way flow of thoughts and ideas). Social media and the Internet are conversations, referrals, and filters. Like a dinner party, no one on the Internet will tolerate an individual who monopolizes the conversation or directs others to talk about only their interests.
http://www.buyerpersona.com
http://www.buyerpersona.comTipsHow can you reach each buyer personadevelop compelling messagesinterview themidentify the buyer problems your product/service solvesfind out the media your buyer persona uses – where do they hang outIdentify any gaps in your initial buyer persona Identify the ways you’re your buyer speaks and match thatyour online presence should not be a one-size fits all productwrite for the buyer, not for what you want to sellunderstand the words or phrases of your audience (buyer persona)
only 14% of people trust advertisements78% trust the recommendations of other customers
73% of online users have read a blog post
Google Trends and Yahoo Buzz to see what people are talking about onlineTwitter trending topicskeyword tools like WordStream, SEO Book
Identify buying persona: who needs your solutioncontent that describes issues and problems they have faced an then provides details on how to solve these problemsOffers solutions for each buying personaShow off your expertiseLink content to the place where action occurs
Identify buying persona: who needs your solutioncontent that describes issues and problems they have faced an then provides details on how to solve these problemsOffers solutions for each buying personaShow off your expertiseLink content to the place where action occurs
Find keywords. Pick a list of words relevant to your business. Think about which words are most likely to get people to do what you want them to do (convert into leads) and focus on those words. Then pick one word (or phrase) to use on one page of your site. For more detailed info, read: Detailed Internet Marketing Keyword Tips.Put keywords in Page Title. The Page Title is one of the most important things that Google and other search engines evaluate to determine what is on a web page. Put your keyword or phrase in the title, keep it short. For more detailed info, read Why a Web Page By Any Other Title Would Not Rank As Well.Put keywords in Page URL. Google and other search engines also use the text of the URL of the page to determine the content of the web page. You should use your keyword or phrase in the URL of the web page - either the folder/directory structure or the HTML file / page name itself.Put keywords in Meta Data. While the page metadata (Page Description and Keywords) are not nearly as important as they used to be, they still count. Take advantage of them by putting your keyword or phrase there. The description should be readable by a person and make sense and the keyword metadata should focus on your keyword or phrase - do not make it long, less is more. For more detailed info, read Understanding the Magic of Meta-Data.Put keywords in your H1 text. The H1 text is usually the title of an article or some larger bold text at the top of your page. Google and the smaller search engines can see this and they put extra importance on the words in the H1 text. Make sure your keyword or phrase is there.Use keywords in the page content. Putting the keyword in your page content also signals to search engines that the page is actually about the keyword and should show up in search results. I have heard from "experts" that you should use your keyword anywhere from 4-6 times to 10-12 times. My advice is to just write naturally.
Create content worth linking toPromote your content via distribution channelsCreate links using your keywords as anchor textFocus on relevant, authoritative link sources
RSS feeds from online news sites display your press release contentMany press release distribution services also offer RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds of their press releases,which they make available to other sites, blogs and individuals. What this means is that each time you publish apress release with them, the press release is seen by thousands of people who have subscribed to the RSS contentfeeds. And online news services such as Google News have RSS feed capability too, allowing people to receive feedsbased on keywords and phrases. So each time your release includes a word or phrase of importance, people willreceive your press releases directly and in near real-time.
LinkedIn users tend to be more senior: 46% are management or executive director/VP level and aboveThe majority, 66%, aredecision makers or have influence in purchasedecisions at their company
ListenFollow and be followedSay something worth listening to. Nobody wants to hear your sales pitch!You don’t push yourself on othersYou engageYou find common interestsYou listenYou shareLinkTo your blogTo an article you publishedTo an article someone else publishedTo something funny, interesting, or inspiringTo information that supports your case