Social media has not only changed the way people interact with each other, it has also had a significant impact in the way businesses operate. However, while many start-ups have embraced social media as a way to interact with customers and boost growth, there are plenty of companies that apply outdated thinking to their online conversations or, worse, don’t engage with social media at all. Lara Solomon is the founder of Social Rabbit, which educates businesses of all sizes on the advantages of social media. If you don’t have a social media strategy, or if you’re simply not engaging the public in the way you’d like, Lara will have some invaluable advice on how to harness the power of social media to benefit your business.

1. Social Media for
Start-ups
Lara Solomon
Social Rabbit
Oliver Milman
StartupSmart.com.au
Sponsored by:

2. Oliver Milman
Editor
StartupSmart.com.au
Sponsored by:

3. Lara Solomon
Chief Rabbit
Social Rabbit
Sponsored by:

4. What is social media

6. Social Media is…. Social Media is NOT….
- Part of your business’ marketing - A silver bullet
- Hard work - FREE (unless you count your time as
- As effective as you make it free)
- Not a replacement for other ways to - A way to make $millions$ overnight
promote your business - Easy – have you ever known anything
- Is a way to promote your business to a easy to get you amazing results
large number of people - A one size fits all approach, you need to
- Great for SEO experiment
- A way to drive traffic to your website
- A way to get more bang for your buck
from your offline marketing
- A way to listen to your audience
- A way to get feedback from your
audience

7. What social media are you using to
promote your business?

8. Business use in Australia
34% of SMBs use social media, with a further 15% planning to use it in future.
The top three sites used are:
1. Facebook 75%
2. Twitter 47%
3. LinkedIn 42%
Comscore estimated that 90% of Australian Internet
users visited social media sites in February 2010
FACT: Australian small businesses that use social
media as part of their online business strategy are more
likely to achieve bigger revenue returns from their
websites.
Source: Melbourne IT eBiz Review 2010

9. Internet Use in Australia
Source: Comscore.com: whitepaper
State of the Internet Australia Feb 2011

10. Internet Use in Australia
Source: Comscore.com: whitepaper
State of the Internet Australia Feb 2011

11. In Australia Facebook
is the 3rd MOST
VISITED website!!!
Source: Comscore.com: whitepaper
State of the Internet Australia Feb 2011

12. Why is social media important for your business?
• It spreads your message to a wide audience
• It is a cost effective way to promote your business
• Builds long term relationships
• Increases traffic to your website
• Helps with SEO
• To play where your audience is
• It improves your business’ digital footprint
• To increase sales
• To tell customers about new products/services
• To get feedback on products/services
• To engage your customers
• To make your customers feel loved!

13. The benefits of having a good social media
presence
Find out what your audience actually wants
(rather than guessing!)
To build TRUST

14. People Trust People more than Ads
Title tag
URL Meta Description
Nielsen Social Media Report 2009

15. People Want to Communicate Online
Title tag
URL Meta Description

16. The downsides of not using social media
• People can’t find you
• You miss out on sales
• You miss out on SEO advantages
• Your business is seen as ‘old fashioned’
• People don’t get in touch because they can’t
Facebook you!
• Missing out on a marketing opportunity
• Missing out an audience

17. Businesses that have used social media to
their advantage
Title tag
URL Meta Description
Dropped Email Marketing in
flavour of social media…..

18. Businesses that have used social media to
their advantage
Over 12,000 Fans in 3
months tag
Title = Doubled online
sales
URL Meta Description

19. #CrustFreePizzaFriday
Title tag
URL

20. Title tag
URL
Book review = Free book Friday

21. Red Bull engaging customers
Title tag
URL

22. How social media can level the playing field
with large companies
• You Don’t need a BIG budget to
play
• You can make your business look
BIG easily
• You can give awesome customer
service

23. First social media steps for start-ups
start-
1. Know who your target audience are

24. First social media steps for start-ups
start-
2. Find out where your audience are playing

25. First social media steps for start-ups
start-
3. Work out who will drive the social media in
your business

26. First social media steps for start-ups
start-
4. Work out how much time you have daily to
give to it
POLL

27. First social media steps for start-ups
start-
5. Decide WHAT you want to achieve from it
1. Goals
2. Objectives
Sales
Brand Awareness
Education
Trust
Insights
Website traffic

28. First social media steps for start-ups
start-
6. Work out how you will measure your goals &
objectives so that you know it is working

29. First social media steps for start-ups
start-
7. Synchronise it with your offline marketing

30. First social media steps for start-ups
start-
8. Plan your attack!

31. Use your keywords in your social media
Use the same keywords that you use on your website in your
social media…..
Find out your keywords with the Google Keywords tool

32. Helpful links and social media tools
Links
www.SocialRabbit.net
www.Mashable.com
www.SocialMediaExaminer.com
www.Technorati.com
www.Hyperarts.com
Social Media Tools
Tweetdeck (Tweetdeck.com)
Hootsuite (Hootsuite.com)
Sendible (Sendible.com)
iPhone apps
http://www.socialrabbit.net/shop/free-ebooks - free resources to help you
with your social media

33. Thank you
Sponsored by: