Presented by

1. Social Media for Business: Designing Your Strategy
Taught by Tracy Samantha Schmidt, The Chicago Tribune

2. Social Media = individuals or brands
talking with each other, sharing content
and interacting with it online

3. What do you share online?

4. Why do we share online?
• To stay connected with our friends & family
• To celebrate our latest accomplishments
• To seek support during hard times
• To ask for feedback about an idea
• To laugh about something funny we found
• To raise awareness about an important issue
• To promote an upcoming event

5. Social Media’s Influence @ Your Business
Send new followers Build relationships & handle
directly to your website problems immediately
for more information
Customer
Traffic Service
Referral
Search Engine Promotions, events, sales
Create a link-building Marketing and news at your business
campaign to increase Optimization
your site’s SEO
Business
Development Monitoring
Identify and follow up on Analyze your competition, the
potential business leads market demand & who is talking
about your business

6. The Top Social Networks

7. FACEBOOK PAGES EXPLAINED

8. Why you should consider Facebook
• Facebook has 800+ million users--200 million joined in 2011.
• The average Facebook user has 130 friends and is connected to 80
Facebook pages, events & groups.
• You can create a Facebook Page for free and use it to talk directly
with your customers, as well as share information (status updates,
links, photos, videos) about your business.
• 56 % of consumers polled said they are likely to recommend a
brand after becoming a fan of it on Facebook.
• More than 3.5 billion pieces of content (web links, news stories,
blog posts, etc.) are shared each week on Facebook.
For more info, visit www.facebook.com/business

9. Facebook dominates in traffic
Source: Venture Beat, December 2011

10. Facebook Page
Highlights
•Can be created by a business, brand,
band or celebrity.
•Free to create, takes just minutes.
•You don’t need to have a Facebook
Profile to create a Page.
•As a Page, you can share info for free
about your business.
•You cannot “friend” users.
•Instead, they can “like” you and opt
in to receiving your Facebook posts.
Learn more at Facebook.com/Pages.

11. The Anatomy of
a Facebook Page
Facebook Likes =
The number of Facebook
users who opt in to hearing
news about your Page.
Only human users will
appear in this count.
“Like us on Facebook”
encourages a user to opt in
to a brand’s Facebook Page.

12. The Anatomy of
a Facebook Page
Facebook Wall =
The main area of your
Facebook Page where you
can post content.
Content can include status
updates, links, photos,
videos and polls.
Users can also post to your
Facebook wall unless you
restrict them from doing so.

13. The Anatomy of
a Facebook Page
Photo Strip =
A stream of all photos that
have been posted to your
Facebook Page.
Photos appear here in
reverse-chronological order.
You can prevent users from
posting photos to your
Page.

14. The Anatomy of
a Facebook Page
Applications =
Applications, or Apps, can
be added to your Page to
further customize it.
Thousands of apps are
available at
Facebook.com/apps.
Facebook Apps are available
both for free & a premium.

15. The Anatomy of
a Facebook Page
Page Likes =
Your Facebook Page can like
other Pages on Facebook.
You can like whatever Pages
you want to like.
As a Page, you cannot send
friend requests to users.

16. Applications
Welcome Tab =
An optional app that acts
like a mini web page within
your Facebook Page.
You can include links to
direct Facebook users back
to your website for more
information.
Learn more at
Facebook.com/apps.

17. Applications
Photos =
A free app that is included
with your Facebook Page.
You can post photos from
your business & ask
customers to tag
themselves.
Learn more at
Facebook.com/apps.

18. Applications
Contact Forms
Multiple apps are available
collect the contact info and
birthdays of your
customers.
Many of these apps can be
integrated into your own
databases for a fee.
Learn more at
Facebook.com/apps.

19. Applications
Questions =
A free app that is included
with your Facebook Page.
Use this app to take a
survey of or poll your
customers.
Learn more at
Facebook.com/apps.

20. TWITTER EXPLAINED

21. Why you should consider Twitter
• Founded in 2006, Twitter now has more than
300 million users—many of them influencers.
• Setting up a Twitter profile is free.
• As a business, you can interact with current
customers and potential customers.
• You can also monitor what is being said about
your business and respond in real-time.
• Twitter is a great way to improve your SEO.
For more info, visit www.twitter.com/business

22. Twitter Highlights
•Both individuals and businesses can create Twitter accounts.
•You can create several different accounts for free.
•Your tweets are limited to 140 characters.
•All of your tweets can be seen by the entire world.

23. Anatomy of a Twitter Profile
Handle - Your handle is the name people refer to you by on Twitter. My
handle is @tracysamantha. All handles are limited to 13 characters.
Display Name - This is the name associated with your account. You should
use your full name or business name here. My bio appears below it.

24. Anatomy of a Twitter Profile
Following- These are the Twitter users that have opted in to receiving your
tweets on their personalized Twitter homepages.
Followers– These are the Twitter users whose tweets you have opted in to
receiving on your personalized Twitter homepage.

25. Anatomy of a Twitter Profile
Tweets –These are my most recent Tweets, listed in reverse chronological
order.
@ Replies – These are tweets that are directed at one or more specific Twitter
users. The tweets are still public and anyone can join our conversation.
.

26. Anatomy of a Twitter Homepage
Recent Tweets –These are the most recent tweets of the users I am following.
Trends– These are the trending topics that Twitter users in my area are
discussing right now.
.

27. Anatomy of a Twitter Homepage
Hashtag - A tag attached to a tweet (with a #) that allows users to talk about a
topic together in real-time. Anyone can create a hashtag by adding # to a word
or phrase.
Popular hashtags include #Oscars #SOTU #Japan #Fail #Winning

28. As soon as I tweet, it
appears instantly on
my profile & on my
friends’ feeds.
Always use caution: All tweets can be captured by search engines.
Even if you delete them, they can still be found by other people. Remember Anthony Weiner?

29. LINKEDIN EXPLAINED

30. Why you should consider LinkedIn
• Largest social network for professionals.
• More than 100 million users worldwide.
• Highly optimized for search engines.
• The neatest way to display your resume.
• You can easily showcase client testimonials.
• You can also create a company page for free.
For more info, visit www.linkedin.com/business

31. A completed profile – Includes your full name, headline, photo, work history,
education, recommendations, and links to your website (if applicable).

32. A completed profile – You should also include a detailed summary of your work
history. Be sure to include key phrases you want to be found for in your summary.

33. Status Updates– Are an easy way to share your latest accomplishment or just an article
you think will be of interest to your LinkedIn connections.

34. A LinkedIn Group– Is an easy way to meet other people in your industry, learn the
latest trends, discuss ideas and build your own professional reputation.

35. A Company Page– Is a free way to share information about your business, including
linking together your employee’s profiles and detailing services that you offer.

36. FLICKR EXPLAINED

37. Why you should consider Flickr
• The largest photo-sharing social network.
• Flickr is owned by Yahoo, making it also one of
the world’s largest search engines.
• For free, you can upload 300 MB of photos per
month. For $25/year, you have unlimited
uploads.
• Flickr is an easy way to store your photos
online and increase your SEO.
For more info, visit www.flickr.com/tour

38. A Flickr Profile– Let’s you share information about your business and group together all
photo albums you’ve created, as well as your favorites of other Flickr users.

39. A Flickr Collection– Let’s you group together individual albums around a theme. You
can also include more information about your business & direct users to your website.

40. A Flickr Album– Let’s you group together individual photos around a specific theme or
event. Like a collection, you can include additional info and direct users to your website.

41. Flickr Photo– You can include caption and licensing information with each photo. Each
photo also has a unique url, so you can link directly to the photo and use it to improve your SEO.

42. Group Pool– You can encourage your customers to post photos of your business and
attach it to your Group Pool. With permission, you can repurpose these photos offline.

43. FOURSQUARE EXPLAINED

44. Why you should consider Foursquare
• Largest social network for check-ins.
• Every time a customer checks in to your store,
their personal networks can be notified.
• Your store/brand thus gets free publicity.
• Customers can also leave tips on Foursquare
for future customers to your store.
• To reward loyal customers, you can create
Foursquare specials for free.
For more info, visit www.foursquare.com/business

45. Offer loyalty & check-in specials

46. Encourage customers to leave tips

47. And ask for photos, too.

48. GOOGLE+ EXPLAINED

49. Why you should consider Google+
• Social network owned by Google, the world’s
largest search engine.
• Google+ launched in summer 2011 and now
has an estimated 62 million users worldwide.
• Google+ results are integrated into users’
searches through a new feature called Search
+ Your World.
• It’s free to create a brand page for your
business on Google+.
For more info, visit www.google.com/+/business

50. Google+ Profile – As a brand, you can share status updates, links, photos and videos as
you would on a Facebook Page. Users can also comment on what you’ve shared, as well as give
it a +1 and reshare your content with their own Google+ circles.

51. SEO & Google+ – While it doesn’t have the engagement of Facebook, Google+ is an
easy way to increase your business’ search results. Include plenty of key phrases and info about
your business throughout your profile. Learn more at google.com/+/business.

52. PINTEREST EXPLAINED

53. Why you should consider Pinterest
• Pinterest is a virtual pinboard built around a
social network. Users can “pin” images they’ve
found online, as well as upload their own images.
• Pinterest launched in March 2010. By December
2011, it had 7.5 million users—up from 418,000
users in May 2011.
• Retailers are using to Pinterest to create a “social
shopping” experience.
• Pinterest now matches Twitter’s rate of traffic
referral to publishers’ sites, according to the WSJ.
For more info, visit www.pinterest.com/about

54. How Pinterest Works – Users find or upload images to their own Pinterest
boards. Other users who like the images can “like” the image, comment on it or repin
the image on to their own boards.

55. How Pinterest Works – Users can create unlimited boards. Other users can
then choose to follow an individual board or all of the user’s boards.

56. How Pinterest Works – Each photo posted to Pinterest includes a link back to
the site that owns the image. This creates huge SEO potential for a business whose
images are repinned frequently on Pinterest. Learn more at www.pinterest.com/about

58. 1.Update 2.Improve 3.Research
your website your SEO competition
6. Enlist 5. Decide on 4. Establish
resources platforms guidelines
7. Train your 8. Test the 9. Evolve &
employees waters first Adapt
Your Road Map
DESIGNING YOUR STRATEGY

59. Your social media road map
1.Update 2.Improve 3.Research
your website your SEO competition
6. Enlist 5. Decide on 4. Establish
resources platforms guidelines
7. Train your 8. Test the 9. Evolve &
employees waters first Adapt

60. 1. Update your website
• Your website should be easy for customers to
navigate and find what they’re looking for.
• Display calls to action throughout your site.
• Also include all essential information about
your business, including:
• Business name
• Goods or services offered
• Contact information
• Store hours and/or address

62. 2. Fix your SEO
• Next, make sure your web site can be found.
• At the minimum, customers should be able to
Google your business’ name to find your
website.
• To do this, claim your Google Place listing.
• Consider hiring an SEO consultant to improve
your overall search engine results.

64. 3. Research the competition
• Analyze your competitors online.
• Ask yourself:
What’s the focus on their website?
How do they show up in Google?
What are they doing in social media?
What are their customers saying online?

65. 4. Write your social media guidelines
Before you even begin, make decisions about
how your company will act online. These
decisions include:
• Your “personality” across the social networks
• What information you will & will not share
• What you will do to satisfy an unhappy customer
• How to handle a crisis when it strikes

66. 5. Decide on a platform

67. 6. Enlist resources to help you.
People Content
• Look for employees who love • Look for content that can be
using social media.
– Ask them for feedback on your reused via social media.
strategy – Old company photos
– Encourage them to act as brand – Short videos of your team
ambassadors
– Consider changing their job – Upcoming event calendars
description to include – Printed newsletters
executing your social media
strategy – Letters from your executives
• Do NOT give full control of – Annual reports
your profiles to an
unsupervised intern or entry-
level employee.

68. 7. Train & encourage your employees
• Teach all of your employees how to use the
social networks your company will use.
• Create an employee social media policy.
• Be sure to monitor your employees online.
Look out for:
• Negative comments about your company
• Inappropriate behavior online
• Leaking of proprietary information

69. 8. Test the waters first
• Start with the social network that is the
simplest for you to use & fits your business.
• Spend at least a month building that profile
and getting comfortable in social media.
• When you’re ready, add another social profile
and make sure your profiles are connected to
each other & to your website.

70. 9. Evolve and adapt
Give your social media strategy at least three
months to show results.
• Use the social networks’ reporting tools to
measure what is and is not working.
• Ask your followers for constructive feedback
right on your social media profile.
• Be willing to adapt and make changes to your
strategy if needed.

71. Your social media road map
1.Update 2.Improve 3.Research
your website your SEO competition
6. Enlist 5. Decide on 4. Establish
resources platforms guidelines
7. Train your 8. Test the 9. Evolve &
employees waters first Adapt

72. Social Media for Business: Part Two
Building an editorial strategy for your profiles
Setting up a free social media dashboard
Setting up Google Alerts for your business & field
Actively engaging your followers
Quickly responding to questions & comments
Handling negative reviews in a positive manner
Monday, Feb. 13| 6 p.m. | Tribune Tower | $75

73. Thank you for joining us!
Tracy Samantha Schmidt
Manager, Educational Programs
Tribune Media Group
312-222-3099
tsschmidt@tribune.com
Register for upcoming classes at www.chicagotribune.com/classes