Managing your Social Conversations

David Duncan

Social Media: Fundamental Principles

Users...

Consumers Rule.

control their own online experience influence the experiences of others expect brands/companies to be accessible, authentic... 

Small to Midsize Businesses Say...

Social Media has:

Reduced

my

marketin

g

expense

s

Helped us rise in the search engines Helped me close business

Resulted in new

business

partnerships

Generated exposure for my business

Generated qualified leads

Increased my

traffic/subscribers/opt-in

list

Managing your Social Conversations

• Social Media is social not technical– Social Marketing starts with observing human

behaviour and interacting with online communities

– It’s not about technology or the tools• Technology simply provides the tools to facilitate the

conversation

– Humanise your story by matching it to the culture and the people in the communities you are trying to reach

Conversations

• Conversations are trackable and are the basic ingredient– Blog posts and comments– Social network comments – Reviews– Events and meetings– Bookmarks– Videos and pictures– Tweets– News or story aggregation

Why should I bother?

• The value of Networking• Winning by sharing – openness, honesty,

transparency• Helping one another• Do people want to know you?

– Are you a radiator or a drain?– Not caring “what’s in it for you?”

• Connecting People

Demonstrate capability

• You get the relationships you deserve– Listen and participate– Be an expert – find conversations – find key

influencers – be honest– Do not spam – be proactive– Do connect influencers to other influencers– Use social bookmarks like delicious to save posts

relevant to specific topics, organise content– Record and measure conversations

What works

• Tell your personal story on your profile • Join specific targeted groups• Create useful content, tips, tricks, tactics• Post your content on all groups• Follow up on every comment• Make friend connections with the respondents• Comment on other discussions, be part of the

community• Invite friends to webinars

Word of Mouth

• Identify satisfied customers with surveys• Collect reviews and testimonials• Publish these on shopping or review sites,

and social networks like Twitter, Facebook, and blogs

• Share promotional offers to drive leads• Answer questions and boost confidence• Track results• Answer Questions on LinkedIn to build

reputation

Social Media Action Plan• You need a goal

– Write down three reason you are on the network– Determine what actions will support each reason

• Participate– Over 41M on LinkedIn you need to be active– Schedule a weekly update session per network– Add this to your calendar

• Improve your profile– Learn from others– Add targeted keywords and applications

Social Media Action Plan

• Share information and add value– Post two articles or messages a week– Answer three questions each week– Recommend others as appropriate

• Build Credibility– Try to get recommendations – Help others, – Join groups and take part

SMO, What is it Good For...?

Services Offered

• Social Network Profile creation either education or set up on various networks

• Article and press release submission• Content creation services and optimisation• Post some of the content pages in summary

on social networks and link back• Flag the pages on bookmark sites• Video optimisation

Any Questions?

David Duncandavid@wsisoutheast.co.uk