2011 Publishing Social Media Strategy

1. Social Media Strategy
The New Age Online
Prepared by Thabo Ntai
2011 Social Media Strategy - The New Age Online

2. Social Media Overview
The social web – Web 2.0 – has given rise to a new way of marketing: people are engaged in conversations online and, as predicted
by the Cluetrain Manifesto - markets have become conversations.
The most trusted form of advertising today is a recommendation from another person ‘just like me.’
Tapping into these conversations shows where your audience is spending time online and what subjects and issues are of interest to
them.
Based on today’s ever-changing marketplace, companies can no longer just issue information to the media in hopes that they share
our clients’ stories with the public.
A recent prediction from Forrester Research is that within two years, half of all U.S. newspapers will have ceased production.
By 2010 82% of all companies will be using social media marketing and their biggest barrier to success in this new medium is a
lack of knowledge.
To reach your publics successfully you need to start telling your stories directly, and do it in a way
that sparks conversations.
The value proposition of Social Media (Web 2.0) or online PR is:
Sustained conversations that shape perceptions.
2011 Social Media Strategy - The New Age Online

3. Goals for the campaign
• Local outreach
• Brand visibility
• News gathering and dissemination
• Community
• Discussion of your content
• Drive more traffic to The New Age Online
Available resources?
• Content
• Ability to produce
• Time
• Existing social presence
2011 Social Media Strategy - The New Age Online

4. Listen to the Online Conversation
For the past 100 years companies have had the luxury of deciding what they will produce and sell, what their brand message will be and how they will
deliver it to their audience.
The Internet changed that.
We’re in the age of social media marketing. Strategy in this new business environment is just as vital as it has ever been. Don’t get distracted by the slew
of new social media tools or lured into spending resources just because “everyone is on Twitter.”
Social media offers you the opportunity of doing in-depth research at virtually
no cost. It is possible to set goals and get ROI, but you have to know where
you’re going and what you want to achieve.
Tap into the online conversationsto find out:
• who is talking about you
• what they are saying
• is it positive or negative
• where are the conversations taking place
• what communities talk about you
• what are your competitors doing in social media
• what’s the buzz about them
• what content resonates with your audience
• are there subjects of interest you could provide content for
• what social sites have the most conversation
• who are the “fire-starters” you need to connect with
• who are the influencers in these blogs or communities
• where are the opportunities and threats
Once you have this information you can allocate your resources wisely. You’ll know where to start and what social sites you should be concentrating on.
When you know the lay of the land it’s much easier to plot a path to your destination. A social media marketing strategy is your roadmap.
2011 Social Media Strategy - The New Age Online

5. Find the right networks
Where are they?
• Find the networks people are already using
• Take the conversation to the listeners
• SocialMention.com, Twitterfall.com
• Set up alerts
• Reach out to other leaders
Tools
DIY – Free Tools
Brand mentions Twitter
• Google News Alerts • Twitter Search
• Yahoo News • Twilert
• Moreover • Twazzup
• How Sociable • TweetBeep
Facebook
• Socialmention • Hashtags
• Lexicon
• RSS Reader like NetVibes • Twitrratr
Message Boards and Forums
Blog Buzz Trends
• BoardTracker
• Google BlogSearch • Google Trends
• BoardReader
• IceRocket • Google Insights for Search
• Google Groups
• BlogPulse • Trendrr
• Yahoo Groups
• Backtype – for blog comments • Serph
2011 Social Media Strategy - The New Age Online

6. Demographics
The NPR Facebook Survey
• The NPR Facebook Survey was conducted online and deployed July 12-19, 2010.
• Respondents were recruited through messages posted on NPR’s Facebook page.
• 33,304 respondents
Facebook Use and Online Behavior
Frequency of Facebook Use
• Almost all respondents (96%) access Facebook at least once per day.
How Fans Access NPR:
• About 3 of every 4 respondents listen to NPR on the radio.
• 1 of every 5 respondents uses the iPhone app.
• Almost 3 in 10 listen to NPR podcasts.
• Fewer than 1 in 10 follow NPR on Twitter.
News online
• About 3 of every 5 respondents get most or all of their news online.
News on Facebook
• 3 of every 4 agree that Facebook is a major way in which they receive
news and information from NPR.
• About half agree that Facebook is a major way for them to receive infor-
mation from news organizations in general.
•
NPR stories on Facebook
• 84% have indicated that they often click through to NPR stories that are
posted on Facebook.
2011 Social Media Strategy - The New Age Online

7. How do we get everyone on board?
Metrics
• Regularly track site traffic and social media’s influence
Tweet ad share relevant content at the right time, e.g Sport and Entertainment (users want to see sport results and
stories every morning when they arrive in the offices, Entertainment stories particularly are best in the afternoon when users are tired of
work and are preparing to leave the office)
Ask questions
• Users prefer interactivity with News Sources so embrace comments/feedback/dialogue as part of content in facebook and Twitter pages.
Don’t just share content
• Respect your readers & engage with their viewpoints/ experiences
• Engagement is constant, not sporadic
• Craft your content for the delivery method
•
Be authentic
• No PR-vetted voice
• Let audience talk to content producers/journalists
Run Social Media Competitions
• We should regularly run competitions on Facebook and Twitter that will make users to “Like” our Facebook and Twitter pages and they stand a chance
to WIN a prize at the end of that campaign, this in return makes our Pages to be flooded with users and everytime we Retweet or share an article and
more users can see the article and we have pretty good chances of users clicking throught to the article hence increasing our daily website traffic.
2011 Social Media Strategy - The New Age Online

8. For content providers / Journalist
We create Twitter and Facebook accounts for all TNA Journalists,
• They will regularly update their Tweets when they are at events and end the tweets with our official hashtag #thenewage
• For every article written by an inhouse journo, it should also have his/her Twitter account link for users to comment and share views on the article
itself.
Interactivity
• Journos should regularly retweet their articles and ask questions to their followers.
Sport Tweets
• We introduce a new addition to our Twitter Page called #TNASPORT , it will mainly focus on LIVE sport coverage and our sport reporters will regu-
larly Tweet events at Sport stadiums and ofcource the LIVE feed will be linked to our website to drive more traffic to TNA.
2011 Social Media Strategy - The New Age Online

9. Some Things We’ve Learned
• Multiple Tweets during a single program can cause more retweeting
• Be Random---But Specifc
• DON’T read listeners Tweets/ Postings on air
• Direct Listeners to Conversation
• Keep it Casual
• Quick Contests Work
2011 Social Media Strategy - The New Age Online

10. Questions
Any questions?
2011 Social Media Strategy - The New Age Online