Intro to Social Media Tools: The Social Networks

Intro to Social Media Tools:
The Social Networks
Mary Ann Davis
Carroll Community College | 2016

The Social Networks: An In-depth Look
Source: Pew Research, Social Media Update 2014
• Benefits for business
• Content types
• Best practices for
posting

Why Use Social Media
for Business?

Why Use Social Media?
• Market Research
Lets you get to know your customers.
• Customer Service
Allows you to address customer questions & provide
solutions to complaints.
• Relationship Management
Provides opportunities to form relationships with industry
experts and brand advocates, for promoting your business.

Why Use Social Media?
• Website Marketing
Offers linking functionality to drive traffic to your website & can
positively impact search engine optimization (SEO) as search
engines factor social engagement.
• Lead Generation
Helps to generate leads with the use of apps & attaching free
assets to content posts.
• Sales
Supports the purchasing of products & services through ratings,
reviews, recommendations, likes, shares and purchasing apps.

Shopping: Average Purchases
$65 $58.95 $55
$46.29 $44.24 $40
Source: HubSpot, Where Social Commerce Revenue Comes From, Jan. 14, 2015

Why Use It?
 Builds awareness & engagement of local businesses
– from page likes or search
 Users often provide product & service
recommendations
 Provides higher impact on purchasing decisions than
other social media networks
 Increases trustworthiness

Why Use It?
 Fastest way to spread news.
 Reaches audiences who seek late breaking news
 Use of hashtags helps increase post visibility
 Gives an impression of being a social savvy business.
 Helps to stay on top of industry & market segment
trends.
 Good for establishing relationships with expert
influencers & brand advocates

Why Use It?
 Ability to visually showcase products & services.
 Less cluttered feed – posts are more likely to be
noticed.
 Character limits aren’t a factor.
 Ability to search for content based on hashtags &
location interests.
 Mobile friendly.

Why Use It?
 Content has an evergreen value – discover & search
powers Pinterest
 Pinners are open to business marketing & eager to
connect with brands – posts can serve as collectible
inspiring content
 Influences purchases – majority of Pinners used
Pinterest to decide what to buy & it aids in-store
shopping
 Pinners have larger shopping carts than Facebook
 Provides insight on emerging trends

Why Use It?
 More important for B2B
 Effective for announcing B2B product launches
 Most effective social network for lead generation
 Third most used social network among business
owners
 One of the most successful for recruiting talent

Why Use It?
 Helps businesses rank higher in Google Search
 Aids in boosting Google Adwords quality score
 Posts are indexed in Google Search
 Increases visibility to YouTube videos
 Can be used as mini blog platform – 100,000 character
limit
 Brands can participate in Communities

Why Use It?
 Serves as a blog & social network – allows for
#hashtags, likes, shares and follows
 Posts can feature images, video, audio & short pieces of
writing
 Blog accessibility via the Web = search engine indexing
 Mobile friendly publishing platform

Top Content Types
How-to posts – problem/solution related
Lists – supporting points on particular topic
What – information on a specific topic with details comparing
one point to another
Why – provide a reason or purpose with details that support a
focused conclusion
Videos – self-explanatory, providing the audience with a
dynamic visual of the topic

Content
 Focus: Friends, Family & Community
 Good for:
 B2C
 Photos, videos & image quotes
 Website links
 Simple targeted questions
 Offers
 Event registration
 Information on local businesses & events

Content
 Focus: News, Professional, Pop-culture, Real-time
 Good for:
 B2C & B2B
 Events (e.g. live tweeting)
 Real-time focused conversations (i.e. Twitter Chats)
 Website links – used with a url shortening service
(e.g. Bitly, Tiny Url)
 Photos & Video (60 seconds)
 Second screening

Content
 Focus: Inspirational Photos & Videos (60
seconds)
 Good for:
 B2C
 Evoking emotion & action = engagement
 Hobbies & interests
 Storytelling – Instagram Stories
 Photo contests
 Video (60 seconds)

Content
 Focus: Inspiration & DIY
 Good for:
 B2C
 Photos & image quotes
 Videos – YouTube & Vimeo
 Demonstration & storytelling
 Website links
 Inbound/content marketing

Content
 Focus: Businesses/Organizations, Career & Groups
 Good for:
 B2C & B2B
 Website links
 Inbound/content marketing – lead generation (e.g.
LinkedIn Publisher)
 Articles, company news & industry trends
 Photos, videos & SlideShare presentations

Content
 Focus: Topic & Communities
 Good for:
 B2C & B2B
 SEO & SEM
 Photos & video (YouTube)
 Polls – classic version only
 Alternative to blogging (Collections) -
inbound/content marketing

Content
 Focus: Tight Niche Markets
 Good for:
 B2C
 Showcasing creative work - photos, video & audio,
writing
 Blogging with social network features
 Inbound/content marketing
 Hobby & interests

Best Practices
 Post 2 - 3 times a day
 Keep text short – 40 characters
 Check in & encourage others to check in
 Tag other pages - @Name
 Highlight important posts – Pin to Top and Milestones

Best Practices
 Tweet 4 – 6 times a day
 Follow character limits – 140, but it’s best not to max out
to allow commentary for retweets (RT)
 Use URL shortners for links
 Utilize #hashtags for increased visibility
 Tag & direct message with @TwitterHandle

Best Practices
 Use high quality images
 Follow dimension size – 1800 x 1800
 Improve photos with filters
 Utilize #hashtags for increase visibility
 Highlight user generated content (e.g. Repost app)
 Add emojis - they’re searchable

Best Practices
 Pin at least 1 – 5 times a day
 Organize Pin Boards
 Design visually inspiring Pins – taller is better for mobile
 Craft thoughtful short descriptions & include appropriate
keywords
 Link to a useful & relevant website
 Create Rich Pins (e.g. app, movie, recipe, article, product &
place)
 Repin others’ content & encourage Repins with “Pin for Later”

Best Practices for Pin Boards
 Give boards clear names
 Set a compelling cover pin
 Use secret boards as a staging tool
 Organize board from most – least relevant
 Try to create boards that tell a story

Best Practices
 Post 2 – 3 times a day
 Concise intros & snappy headlines
 Include a call to action
 Add targeted audience filters – for reaching niche
audiences
 Tag appropriate connections

Best Practices
 Tag with +Name
 Format text
 Add keywords to post titles
 Include appropriate #hashtags
 Use Collections as mini blogs
 Engage with others in Communities

Best Practices
 Add fun engaging content – photos, videos, memes &
gifs
 Include images – most popular for reblogging
 Provide insightful commentary to content you reblog
 Link to your website
 Link images to your Tumblr Page
 Use #hashtags
 Tag with Tumblr usernames

Mary Ann Davis
Digital Marketer & Strategist
Providing business with strategic marketing
solutions, focusing on digital marketing that
compliments traditional marketing, and
teaching people how to use social media to
promote businesses.
about.me/mary_ann_davis
mary_ann_davis@outlook.com

Intro to Social Media Tools: The Social Networks

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Intro to Social Media Tools: The Social Networks