This class was originally presented as part of General Assembly Boston's Summer Startup Series. It covers the basics for individuals within organizations to start building a social media strategy, managing platforms, and building a digital marketing team: This fall the Boston Public Library will open its doors to General Assembly on the 3rd Monday of each month. We will host some of our most popular classes on Digital Marketing at the Central Library’s Commonwealth Salon to give you the practical, hands-on training you need to pursue work you love. Social media has evolved into a necessary element of any marketing plan. Consumers are on social networks and expect to be able to find and connect with you. In this class, you’ll learn about the role of key social platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest and how to start engaging consumers on these platforms.

1. SOCIAL MEDIA FOR
BUSINESSES
Steph Parker, Activation Strategist

2. AGENDA
‣ Quick Introductions (5 minutes)
‣ Why Social Matters (5 minutes)
‣ Getting Started (30 minutes)
‣ Tools & Hacks (10 minutes)
‣ Staffing a Social Team (10 minutes)
‣ Q&A (30 minutes)

3. ‣ I work on the digital strategy team at allen &
gerritsen in Seaport.
‣ I help clients navigate through the social space &
act as a strategic partner for platforms, content,
and innovation.
‣ I’ve worked on international stuff like Liberty
Mutual & local stuff like WBUR.
‣ I live & breathe digital because I’m a nerd.
HELLO!
I’M STEPH.

4. SOCIAL MEDIA FOR BUSINESSES – AUGUST 28, 2014
TELL ME ABOUT YOU.

5. SOCIAL MEDIA FOR BUSINESSES– AUGUST 28, 2014
WHY DOES SOCIAL MEDIA
MATTER TO MY BUSINESS?

6. SOCIAL MEDIA FOR BUSINESSES – AUGUST 28, 2014
Social media is your brand’s voice. It personifies your
business. It allows you to have a conversation with
people instead of just talking at them. It’s a customer
service tool. It’s an education platform. And, when
harnessed the right way, it creates awesome
opportunities.

7. SOCIAL MEDIA FOR BUSINESSES– AUGUST 28, 2014
HOW DO WE EVEN GET STARTED?

8. SOCIAL MEDIA FOR BUSINESSES – AUGUST 28, 2014

9. SOCIAL MEDIA FOR BUSINESSES – AUGUST 28, 2014
HERE’S THE PLAN TO BUILD YOUR PLAN.
‣ Define your business goals.
‣ Prioritize them for social media.
‣ Talk to the right people about getting a budget.
‣ Know your audience. Find out where they are.
‣ Pick your platforms. Start building.
‣ Know what to say.

10. SOCIAL MEDIA FOR BUSINESSES – AUGUST 28, 2014
DEFINE YOUR BUSINESS GOALS.
More traffic to the website. Increased brand awareness. Customer loyalty. Brand
advocacy. Email sign-ups. $$$. Better customer service. Customer education.
Finding talent to work here. Broadened messaging reach.

11. SOCIAL MEDIA FOR BUSINESSES – AUGUST 28, 2014
PRIORITIZE FOR SOCIAL MEDIA.
What’s most important?

12. SOCIAL MEDIA FOR BUSINESSES – AUGUST 28, 2014
TALK TO THE RIGHT PEOPLE ABOUT GETTING A BUDGET.
Social media isn’t new anymore. Customers expect you to be there, somewhere.

13. SOCIAL MEDIA FOR BUSINESSES – AUGUST 28, 2014
KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE. FIND OUT WHERE THEY ARE.
Unfortunately, even if you build it, they still might not come. Align your goals &
audience per platform. You don’t need to be everywhere (forget FOMO).

14. SOCIAL MEDIA FOR BUSINESSES – AUGUST 28, 2014

15. SOCIAL MEDIA FOR BUSINESSES – AUGUST 28, 2014
PICK YOUR PLATFORMS. START
BUILDING.

16. SOCIAL MEDIA FOR BUSINESSES – AUGUST 28, 2014
FACEBOOK.
Source: Facebook
‣ Almost a billion daily active users = everyone (but
even then, sometimes it doesn’t make sense to be
here)
‣ More than half a million mobile daily users
‣ Global audience reach
‣ Robust organic & paid media targeting
‣ Strong paid media placement options

17. SOCIAL MEDIA FOR BUSINESSES – AUGUST 28, 2014
TWITTER.
‣ Almost 300 million monthly active users
‣ Wide variety of audience interests
‣ Global reach
‣ 78% of users access via mobile
‣ Flexible paid targeting
‣ Audience skews slightly younger & male; majority
of users are between 18-29
Source: Twitter, Pew Internet Research

18. SOCIAL MEDIA FOR BUSINESSES – AUGUST 28, 2014
LINKEDIN.
Source: LinkedIn, Quantcast
‣ Talent & recruiting; small business & entrepreneur
audiences comprise the majority
‣ 45% access via mobile (and the mobile experience is
nicer!)
‣ Global reach
‣ More than 100 million U.S. users
‣ Majority of users are male; between 25-64

19. SOCIAL MEDIA FOR BUSINESSES – AUGUST 28, 2014
INSTAGRAM.
‣ 200 million international users
‣ Global reach
‣ Obviously, a visual mobile platform
‣ Can’t post links in posts
‣ Design, food, fashion, and travel-based content
captivate large amounts of engagement
‣ Video limited to 15 seconds, highly underutilized
feature
Source: Instagram, Pew Internet Research

20. SOCIAL MEDIA FOR BUSINESSES – AUGUST 28, 2014
PINTEREST.
Source: The Next Web
‣ 70 million users
‣ Overwhelmingly female (80% of users) & a bit more
affluent
‣ Fashion & beauty dominate the platform, as well as
recipes
‣ Just because you have online retail doesn’t
necessarily mean Pinterest is for you

21. SOCIAL MEDIA FOR BUSINESSES – AUGUST 28, 2014
YOUTUBE.
‣ The leader in social video
‣ Humor + thought-provoking + artistically beautiful
content = some of the most successful
‣ Like Facebook, everyone’s here
‣ More than 1 billion unique monthly users
‣ Mobile represents about 40% of a user’s time on the
site
Source: YouTube, Pew Internet Research

22. SOCIAL MEDIA FOR BUSINESSES – AUGUST 28, 2014
GOOGLE+.
‣ Great for Hangouts, not so great for anything else
‣ No consistent proven impact on SEO/search
‣ 343 million monthly users*
‣ Users tend to skew male, a bit younger, more tech
& news focused
Source: Mashable, Social Media Today

23. SOCIAL MEDIA FOR BUSINESSES – AUGUST 28, 2014
OTHER PLATFORMS TO CONSIDER:
‣ Snapchat
‣ Vine
‣ Tumblr
‣ Spotify

24. SOCIAL MEDIA FOR BUSINESSES – AUGUST 28, 2014
KNOW WHAT TO SAY.

25. SOCIAL MEDIA FOR BUSINESSES – AUGUST 28, 2014
What’s most important to your brand? What’s most
important to your audience? Where do these things
meet in the middle? And, what can you get away with?

26. SOCIAL MEDIA FOR BUSINESSES– AUGUST 28, 2014
WHAT TOOLS CAN MAKE US
SUCCESSFUL?

27. SOCIAL MEDIA FOR BUSINESSES – AUGUST 28, 2014
MEET THE EDITORIAL CALENDAR.

28. SOCIAL MEDIA FOR BUSINESSES – AUGUST 28, 2014

29. SOCIAL MEDIA FOR BUSINESSES – AUGUST 28, 2014
AND GET AN SMMS.

30. SOCIAL MEDIA FOR BUSINESSES – AUGUST 28, 2014

31. SOCIAL MEDIA FOR BUSINESSES– AUGUST 28, 2014
WHO SHOULD WE HIRE TO MAKE
THIS SUSTAINABLE?

32. SOCIAL MEDIA FOR BUSINESSES – AUGUST 28, 2014
Someone who knows enough about digital and content
creation to challenge you & lead you. Who is willing &
excited to be the living, breathing embodiment of the
brand. An excellent communicator. An even better
learner.

33. SOCIAL MEDIA FOR BUSINESSES – AUGUST 28, 2014
DO YOU NEED SOMEONE TO
EXECUTE, OR SOMEONE WHO
CAN ALSO PROVIDE A VISION?

34. SOCIAL MEDIA FOR BUSINESSES – AUGUST 28, 2014
Community managers can be fresh out of school. The
strategic thinking that comes along with a marketing
manager, on the other hand, comes with a few years of
experience.

35. SOCIAL MEDIA FOR BUSINESSES – AUGUST 28, 2014
MUST-HAVES, NO MATTER WHO WHO YOU HIRE:
‣ Curiosity.
‣ Excellent written & oral communication skills.
‣ Work ethic.
‣ Typically, a background in marketing, sales, PR, communications, or
journalism.
‣ The ability to articulate why social media for personal use is different than
social media for businesses.
‣ A social presence of their own - duh.

36. SOCIAL MEDIA FOR BUSINESSES – AUGUST 28, 2014
THINGS THAT SEPARATE THEM FROM THE REST:
‣ A working knowledge of social analytics - Google, Facebook Insights, etc.
‣ Design experience to make imagery look great on the fly
‣ Working knowledge of HTML or a CMS
‣ Experience with user behavior or social psychology

37. SOCIAL MEDIA FOR BUSINESSES– AUGUST 28, 2014
WHAT DO I GO BACK & TELL
PEOPLE I LEARNED TONIGHT?

38. SOCIAL MEDIA FOR BUSINESSES – AUGUST 28, 2014
‣ Social media is the two-way channel your customers & clients want - and expect
to be able to communicate with you in.
‣ It’s an investment that takes time & resources to build & maintain.
‣ A business doesn’t need to be on every network to be successful; it needs to be
in the right channels to have an impact.
‣ Social media shouldn’t go to the Millennial in your organization by default.
When done right, it’s a full-time responsibility for a talented candidate.
‣ Plan. Build. Test. Learn. Optimize.

39. SOCIAL MEDIA FOR BUSINESSES– AUGUST 28, 2014
Q&A

40. THANKS!
STEPH PARKER
@stephparker
stephparker.com
@allengerritsen
a-g.com
‣ Body Level One
‣ Body Level Two
‣ Body Level Three
‣ Body Level Four
‣ Body Level Five