This document discusses social media strategies for small businesses. It begins by defining what social media is and is not, such as not being intended for advertising. It then covers various social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn, providing details on their user bases and best uses. It discusses the importance of metrics, content, and community building. It emphasizes focusing on valuable, authentic content and engaging with followers to build connections. The goal is to use social media to build awareness and promote a brand in an organic way.

1. Social Media For Busy
Entrepreneurs and Small
Businesses

2. Introduction
James’ Background
Random House
Mark Bittman
Jodi Picoult
Karen Slaughter
Janet Evanovich
Small Business
Meurice Garment Care
Delezhen Jewelry
Big Business
Ford, Amtrak, Colgate

3. Social Media Is…
– a platform for making connections
– authentic reflection of consumers’ values
– built on the passions of users
Introduction

4. Social Media Is NOT
– intended for advertising
– impressed by glossy production
– quick or easy
Introduction

5. Social Ecosystem

6. Social Ecosystem
Facebook
§ Lowest Common Denominator
§ Close to 200 Million US users
§ Strict privacy settings
§ Very low organic reach
§ Many active niche communities

7. Social Ecosystem
Twitter
§ Small minority of very-active users
§ Most ethnically diverse network
§ Connections to strangers encouraged
§ Don’t fear the stream
§ Connections more important than
hashtags

8. Social Ecosystem
Instagram
§ Highly visual network
§ Nearly mobile-exclusive
§ Business + personal content
§ Comparable users to Twitter
§ More sharing than conversation
§ Spontaneous, experience driven

9. Social Ecosystem
Pinterest
§ Heavily female network
§ Third largest site (by traffic)
§ Users open to strangers
§ Great for SEO & ecommerce
§ Look for relationships with big
influencers

10. Social Ecosystem
YouTube
§ Perfect forum for experts
§ Pay attention to tags & categories
§ Goal is to funnel traffic
§ Less crowded by businesses
§ Avoid the comments

11. Social Ecosystem
LinkedIn
§ Tremendous networking resource
§ Active discussion groups
§ Choose connections wisely
§ Surprisingly good content platform
§ Consultants, professional services
thrive here

12. Social Ecosystem
The lesser networks…
Google+
Vine
Yelp
Foursquare
Snapchat (no!)
Tumblr
Medium

13. Metrics And Reporting

14. Metrics And Reporting
Reach Fans Clicks Shares Likes
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þ þ þ þ
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þ þ þ þ
þ þ þ þ

15. Metrics And Reporting
Less-Tangible Metrics
§ Social Proof
§ Modern Perception
§ Direct Feedback
§ Demographic Stats
§ Email Signups

16. Metrics And Reporting
Measurement Considerations
§ social is not transactional
§ analytics aren’t standardized — or available as a native feature
§ keep goals reasonable
§ not always possible to tie social to offline actions
§ advertising can help squeeze maximum value from content
§ please don’t buy followers

17. Metrics And Reporting
Native Analytics Facebook
YouTube
Twitter
Pinterest
LinkedIn
Scheduling Hootsuite
Buffer
Sprout
Crowdbooster
Twitter TweetReach
Follower Wonk
Instagram Iconosquare
Extra Credit Hashtagify.me
pinterest.com/source/yoururl.com

18. Content Content Content

19. Content
Getting Started
§ narrow down your channels, save ones you don’t need
§ build out profiles
— you’ll need your graphics person for images / color palates
— consistent URLs
§ plan your content calendars and set goals

20. Content
Post Anatomy
§ Hashtags
§ Call To Action (CTA)
§ Replies / Mentions
§ Links
§ Photos / Video

21. Content
Building A Content Strategy
§ Find your competition. Follow them before posting yourself.
§ Ration your updates by the rule of threes:
— Content of value all on it’s own
— Links, commentary, re-tweets, replies to other accounts
— Updates on your brand
§ You can’t post too often. J

22. Content
Where Does Content Come From?
Insider Knowledge:
Blogs do you follow? (Feedly,
Pulse, Flipboard)
What projects are you
working on?
Neighborhood alliances /
trade associations.
As-They-Happen:
Press mentions
Web and social alerts: Topsy,
Google Alerts, Hyper
In-person events you come
across: Take photos!
Mentions to accounts you’d
like to befriend (keep lists!)
Saved searches in social
apps
Evergreen posts:
Link your full social
presence / newsletter
Blog posts you’ve written -
any age
Fun facts about your
organization / awards
Holidays
Occasional product / service
mentions

23. Community Building

24. Community Building
Finding Your Tribe
§ go easy on the hashtags
§ bleed the feed
§ look for ongoing conversations / groups to follow
§ being helpful is the fastest road to followers
§ keep a consistent, natural tone / voice – no press releases!

25. Community Building
Engaging Your Audience
§ Prepare for customer service issues
— Reply within four hours
— Be open, honest, warm – never defensive
— Negative feedback often leads to the best clients
— Blocking / deleting is a last resort
§ Ask plenty of questions
§ Experiment with topics, and compare results against calendar
§ Influencers have a ready audience to borrow

26. Community Building
Blogger Outreach
§ Start by identifying a few key users you respect.
§ Build your outreach pool through accounts key users follow.
§ Keep a detailed list of everyone you’d like to connect with.
§ Rotate follow-up with a few minutes of your time each day.
§ Volunteer answers, advice, always like and share.
§ When you directly contact, be sure to mention their social activity

27. Community Building
What Do Influencers Offer?
Reviews / blog coverage
Social endorsement
Ad space
Newsletter placement
What Can You Offer?
Services / goods (solutions)
Connections
$$$
Exposure

28. Comedy troupe creating social
issue based satire.
Soon to premiere on popular
Netflix original show “Orange is
the New Black”.
DNA Comedy

29. Growth!
à What does it look like?
à Quantify and be Specific
Networking! à Get on influencers radar
à Producers, TV personalities, people
in the biz you’d want to work with in
the future.
Goals

30. Finding content and
keeping on brand.
ISSUE SOLUTION
Mood Board Time!

31. DNA Comedy Mood Board

32. ISSUE
Post to
personal or
business
page?
SOLUTION
Squat.
You can use your personal
page to promote your
business.
Handy Tip
Write in bio of less
active profile to
follow your active
profile.

33. ISSUE
Multiple
admins in
charge on
page
SOLUTION
Editorial Calendar

34. DNA
Comedy
Editorial
Calendar

35. Discussion
Art: Unsplash blog: jfwhite.org @jamesfacts james@jfwhite.org