Social media trends and best practices.

1. Social Media Trends
What’s New Now?
Monday, November 21, 11

2. Agenda
๏ Social Now
๏ The Big 6
๏ Google +
๏ Google Panda Update
๏ Best Practices
๏ Newest Trends
๏ Take Aways
Monday, November 21, 11

3. Social Sharing
“I would expect that next year, people will share twice as much
information as they share this year, and next year, they will be
sharing twice as much as the year before.”
Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook Founder
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Monday, November 21, 11

4. 10 Million Users
Facebook
852 Days G+
16 Days
Twitter
780 Days
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5. Cause & Effect
Today, consumers choose when they want
to interact with a brand. And they interact
with a brand in various ways and through
various devices.
Forrester projects that by 2015
smartphone adoption will grow 150% and
82 million consumers will own a tablet.
Because of this mobile evolution, social is
more accessible and user friendly.
Everyone has a story to tell, they just tell it
over different social channels.
But before you dive in, figure out where
your audience is having the conversation,
and define the goals for each channel.
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Monday, November 21, 11

6. The Big 6
๏ Facebook
๏ Customer retention tool. Start with the people you know to build a following.
๏ Twitter
๏ This is the best listening tool you have... do a little research and find a few specific
terms, and follow them.
๏ LinkedIn
๏ Best known for business networking, group discussions.
๏ You Tube
๏ Second largest searchable site next to Google. Non-editorial approach.
๏ Slide Share
๏ Best for sharing PowerPoints and brand recognition; SS is well ranked in Google.
๏ Google +
๏ Pretty new, but could be leveraged as a customer retention tool to assist with
getting your content recognized.
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Monday, November 21, 11

7. Google + It’s New!
Reasons It's Revolutionary
• Leverages FB’s framework, but is better designed - more white space.
• Less content saturation, better chance you’ll be read.
• Circles:
• G+ allows you to group people in "circles" and only push content to those specific
groups - like work, church, family, friends, networks.
• Hangouts
• Games
• 4 different types of posts:
• Link
• Video
• Photo
• Location
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Monday, November 21, 11

8. Google Panda Update
How this could affect you!
• Google Panda* is all about original content; it's king, and gets you ranked higher.
• Content needs to be original.
• Content needs to be submitted to 1 location.
• Content should come first on a page, ads come below.
• Create content pages for each targeted keyword.
• Vary content! PR, Article, Video, Webinar.
* Note: Google Panda created a 20 point list of qualifications to rank well with google.
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9. What Works?
๏ Content must be interesting, engaging, and must make a difference in your
customers’ lives.
๏ Focus on what you can do with the resources you have.
๏ If you think FB & Twitter are going to be important, focus on those; check the
other social arenas when you have time.
๏ Use the social & web to humanize your brand.
๏ Talk the talk that is relative to the social channel & end audience.
๏ People are always talking, whether you listen or not.
๏ If your users are taking the time to post, we should be taking the time to
respond.
๏ Be who you are respectfully: less corporate, more human, but respect the brand.
๏ Having a social media policy allows you to align your communication efforts.
๏ Mary Henige, Director of Social Media, GM: If you call everything a pilot, people
won't argue with it as much because they'll know you're starting small, adjusting,
etc.
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Monday, November 21, 11

10. Best Ways to Increase Traffic *SEO Engine Journal, by Loren Baker
• People Love Lists & Linkbait
• Having a “101” list, a top ten list, or a list of tips for a specific niche category can
help generate readers, links and bookmarks.
• Blog for Links
• Blogs are rapidly gaining in popularity and can help your business website become
popular too. The great thing about a blog is the content publishing is instant and so
is the recognition.
• News and Fresh Content
• You can write an article or blog post on a regular basis will rank your website higher
in search and generate more links to your site.
• Directories Will Help Create Links
• Submitting your site to free sites is one way of developing links; however, keep in
mind that you should go for quality, not quantity.
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Monday, November 21, 11

11. Best Ways to Increase Traffic *SEO Engine Journal, by Loren Baker
• Network With Your Local Community
• Your own local community can be a source of links. Get a link from your Chamber
of Commerce or join the Better Business Bureau.
• Link Trading
• Swap with relevant partners and get linked in the content of relevant pages.
• Experts
• The Internet loves expertise and becoming an expert on your subject matter will
generate interest, which leads to more links.
• People Love Contests and Freebies
• Spending a little money on a cash prize can save you money on advertising. Free
samples, exclusive giveaways, and other items will attract people, and then your
content can get them to stay and link.
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12. What Keeps Customers Coming Back
๏ Engagement
๏ People are engaging because they have
questions, want to share pictures, are
adopters of the brand.
๏ Just counting fans doesn't mean anything
๏ The people who keep coming back shows
success.
๏ Don't treat social media like texting...it's
not just how many likes you have on FB
or followers on twitter, your objective is
quality.
๏ Rule of three
๏ No more than 1/3 of your social media
should be focused sales.
๏ 1/3 should be problem-solving.
๏ 1/3 should be conversational.
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Monday, November 21, 11

13. Newest Trends *from the November 2011 INC. Magazine
๏ Instant Twitter Followers
๏ Paying for Twitter followers via eBay or Craig’s list.
๏ Different price tags = different follower amounts. Be cautious - what you see
isn’t always what you get.
๏ Ex: $20 for 1,000 followers, $35 or 3,700 followers.
๏ Facebook Promotions
๏ Go Beyond “Like”. Require people to do more than “Like” your company to
take part in a promotion.
๏ Ex: Win a dress from Five Bamboo - posted on a fashion blog. 1. Check out
Five Bamboo's product line online. 2. “Like” Five Bamboo. 3. Leave a
comment on the blog and share your favorite item.
๏ Get Personal. Instead of a generic sweepstakes, implement a user-generated
photo or video contest.
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14. Newest Trends *from the November 2011 INC. Magazine
๏ Foursquare Specials
๏ A case study: a restaurant leveraged Foursquare to reward loyal customers - aka
"Mayors" (patrons that checked into a given location the most times in the
past 60 days) with a 10% discount.
๏ Cross Platforms - encourage your customers who take part in Foursquare
specials to post their check-ins on Twitter and include a hash tag.
๏ Run concurrent specials - run multiple promotions to see what works best.
๏ YouTube Promotions
๏ A case study: Orabrush video project - paid $100.00 for starring role, $300 for
a script, $50 for a rented video camera, 80 hours all together = “How to Tell
When Your Breath Stinks”. Purchased $30 a day YouTube’s Promotional Video
Ad.
๏ Within 6 weeks, about 900,000 people had viewed the video and 20% had
clicked on the link to the website. Roughly 10,000 products were sold
during that period.
๏ Make it useful. Videos should be entertaining and useful. Include a call to
action.
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Monday, November 21, 11

15. Take Aways
๏ Google
๏ Create your personal profile & enter your information into Google Places &
create a QR Code.
๏ Goals & Policy
๏ Make a decision of which social channels are right for your business, create
goals & a calendar on a quarterly or yearly basis, start to compile a policy.
๏ Content
๏ The more proof you have the better. Make it a part of your strategy to collect
case studies and testimonials when possible.
๏ Leverage other online sites that provide reviews, such as Yelp (for local
businesses), or industry specific directories like Capterra (for software
providers).
๏ Competitive Assessment
๏ Focus on social shares- compare how many shares socially you have vs. your
competitors.
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Monday, November 21, 11

16. Statistics to Chew
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Monday, November 21, 11

17. Contact Idea Engine for our service offerings or
assistance in growing your business!
Idea Engine Inc.
440/356-1903
Monday, November 21, 11