Meridian Social Media Style Guidelines by Fran Blumenfeld

Social Media Style Guidelines

meridian strategy

Overview 4 Meridian Strategy: LinkedIn When to Post on LinkedIn

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Meridian Strategy: Twitter When to Post on Twitter

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Using Hashtags

Meridian Strategy: Facebook When to Post on Facebook

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Meridian Strategy: YouTube

When to Post on YouTube Meridian Strategy: Instagram

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When to Post on Instagram

profile strategy

Choosing a Profile Picture Writing Your Bio/Summary Your Summary: The Meridian Way

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Overused Buzzwords Profile Anatomy: LinkedIn Profile Anatomy: Twitter

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employee strategy

Best Practices in Social Media Employee Strategy: LinkedIn Employee Strategy: Twitter Employee Strategy: Facebook Employee Strategy: Instagram

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Meridianâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Social Media and Your Role Social Media Glossary

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Last Update: FY2020 Q1 Social Media Guide | Meridian Group International

meridian strategy profile strategy employee strategy

Social Media Guide | Meridian Group International

meridian strategy

Getting Social Our goal on social media is to bridge the gap between our clients, our prospective audiences, and our companies through meaningful interactions on social media platforms. Content created and shared will reflect the capabilities, intellect and success of all Meridian Group companies and employees. By creating a strong social media presence, we will: Promote Meridian’s image as thought leaders Strengthen client relationships Start conversations with sales leads Get the names of our experts out there

Phase 1: Listen and Analyze Meridian has a good foundation for social media. However, it’s time to use our current accounts to effectively engage with our audiences. Social media is not meant to be a static reference, but a network of individuals, organizations and communities, constantly acting and reacting. Become familiar with different sites, groups, pages and participants. Explore areas connected to our industries and “read the room.” Which accounts seem to have energy? Why do some pages have a lot of activity and others don’t?

Social Media Guide | Meridian Group International

meridian strategy Phase 2: Standardize Platforms Standardizing our appearances and best practices for all of our social media sites is essential in order to create a digital brand recognized by our employees, clients and prospects. This includes cover photos, headers, logos and bios for both companies and employees. Make sure our presence on social media aligns with our Logo & Brand Styleguide.

Phase 3: Go Live Business executives and influencers are moving themselves along the buying cycle through social media. Listed in order of importance, we will focus our efforts on the following platforms: LinkedIn, our “Flagship,” is the most effective B2B social media tool. This is where we post major blogs and highlight Meridian accomplishments and awards. Twitter, our “Runner,” is for everyday interaction with clients, vendors and employees. We will also update our audience on daily news in the industry. Facebook, considered our “Swiss Army Knife,” is a combination of all the channels we are using. Here we showcase Meridian through a balance of professionalism and personality.

Social Media Guide | Meridian Group International

meridian strategy YouTube, our “Bull,” is a great tool to spearhead major campaigns. Video content is an easy and effective way to break through the clutter and engage with our audiences. Instagram, our “Wildcard,” is primarily photo-based but is becoming increasingly used as a video and story showcase. Google+ is closed.

Phase 4: Review and Evaluate Based on analytics and monthly reports, we will sharpen our focus and strategies to best fit the needs and goals of the company. We plan to continue to create resources for employees to manage their social media profiles, including post templates, image libraries, references and updates to this guide and other resources.

Success Starts Here!

Social Media Guide | Meridian Group International

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LinkedIn LinkedIn started as a social networking media site to help people search for jobs, which is still one of its most-used functions. With more than 500 million users, the professional networking site is now a powerhouse for B2B interaction. As such, LinkedIn is our FLAGSHIP social site.

80% of all leads generated on social media are from LinkedIn. From events and conferences to client interactions, LinkedIn allows users to connect with industry and thought leaders to continue the conversation. Evaluation Company pages have a good base of followers, but we haven’t updated them regularly. These pages are all branded differently, so they do not reflect the Meridian brand identity. Most employees are on LinkedIn but are not utilizing it to its full potential. Pages Each Meridian IT company has their own Meridian LinkedIn page. Meridian Group International — The Meridian Group International Page will be contributing industry specific content and posts about our services. It will also address company-wide news, not specific to the U.S. Meridian IT — This page connects to all Meridian IT companies: Australia, India, Singapore, United Kingdom, China, Hong Kong and USA. Meridian Leasing — The Meridian Leasing page is branded with the Meridian logomark and header picture. Legacy Mac Source — The MAC Source page will remain open for employees to maintain employment history. It will also help to redirect LinkedIn users to the Meridian IT LinkedIn page from the MAC Source page. Social Media Guide | Meridian Group International

Concat AG — Concat AG will continue their current social media strategies. Key Metrics Meridian measures success through: Likes — when a follower likes Meridian content Comments — a follower shares their thoughts on a Meridian post Shares — when someone shares a Meridian post with their connections Followers — LinkedIn members opt-in to see Meridian’s posts Content The content Meridian posts on LinkedIn will be very similar to that of Facebook. These posts will consist of: • • • • •

Internal corporate events Events and conferences Videos from YouTube, including case studies Blog posts on industry topics Polling or questions for engagement

Timing and Frequency Quality over quantity. Although there are guidelines and best practices for social media, peak times vary by audience. As we learn about our audience and their habits, we will tailor our timing strategy.

meridian strategy

When to post on LinkedIn BEST DAYS TO POST M

According to LinkedIn, weekdays during business hours are the best time to post. The worst times are Monday and Friday (for U.S. based time zones).

BEST TIME OF THE DAY TO POST According to ‘FANNIT’ the best times to post are 7—8 am and 5—6 pm.

After analyzing data from 14 million users, AddThis stated that you get the most clicks and shares on TUESDAYS, 10—11 am.

93%

of B2B marketers rate LinkedIn as the top B2B social media lead generation source

Social Media Guide | Meridian Group International

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Twitter Twitter is Meridian’s RUNNER. It is the easiest way to communicate with an audience with engaging bursts multiple times per day. Because tweets are limited in length (historically 140 characters, but now 280), Meridian’s message needs to be to-the-point. Meridian will take advantage of the ease of brand-to-influencer communication tools to reach new audiences, stay connected with our existing followers, and generate new leads. Evaluation There are currently four different Meridian Twitter accounts (Meridian Group, Meridian IT, Meridian IT UK, MAC Source). Similar to Facebook, these accounts aren’t linked, regularly updated, or taking advantage of hashtags or links to vendors and industry experts. Each page has a different look and feel that is inconsistent with the brand. Our Strategy Twitter acts as our ground-level communication tool. While it excels as a B2C tool, Meridian will be using it for B2B communication to reach influencers and decision-makers in a quick and efficient way. Accounts We will keep the Meridian Group International account to maintain our global image. However, this will however be separate from Meridian Leasing, Meridian IT and accounts outside of the USA, as their markets and audiences are different both geographically and culturally. These accounts include: Meridian IT Australia, Asia-Pacific, UK, and Concat. Content With respect to a given marketing initiative, the length and types of content will always be changing. Generally speaking, Twitter allows 280 characters in a tweet, so brevity is our main priority.

Social Media Guide | Meridian Group International

Key Metrics Meridian measures success through: Followers — when accounts subscribe to Meridian content and activity Retweets — when users or brands repost Meridian tweets Likes — when users like Meridian tweets; formerly “favorites” Mentions — when users or brands specifically mention Meridian in tweets Retweets and Likes Meridian can stay involved by retweeting and/or favoriting the content of our audience. Frequency and Timing Quality over quantity. Although there are guidelines and best practices for social media, peak times vary by audience. As we learn about our audience and followers, and their habits, we will tailor our frequency and timing strategy. Interaction and Events Beyond sharing and creating content within a campaign, Twitter has remarkable success at events and trade shows. There are a number of benefits of being active on social media at trade shows, including: • Connecting with people in person and online to solidify the relationship • Reaching event-goers by using hashtags (#ConferenceX) • Mentioning and retweeting vendors at the event can show camaraderie 9

meridian strategy

When to post on Twitter BEST DAYS TO POST B2B M

B2C T

BEST TIME OF THE DAY TO TWEET Noon and 6 pm for highest CTR (Click Thru Rates)

5 pm for highest number of retweets

This could be due to lunch breaks and people looking for something to keep them occupied on the commute home after work.

B2B

B2C

Weekdays provide 14% more engagement than weekends.

Engagements and CTRs are highest on weekdays, especially Wednesdays.

Businesses work with other businesses during the weekdays, whereas consumers explore the brands during the weekend.

Social Media Guide | Meridian Group International

According to award-winning social, search, and viral marketing scientist Dan Zarrella, Twitter engagements for brands is 17% higher on weekends.

meridian strategy

Twitter (continued)

Using Hashtags #INDUSTRY HASHTAGS #CloudComputing #Data #ITsolutions #Network

#MERIDIAN HASHTAGS #MeridianIT #MeridianLeasing #MeridianNow

Industry hashtags are used by other Twitter users and competitors.

Meridian hashtags are used by the company social media accounts and by employees of Meridian.

You can use these to engage with others in the industry, especially anyone else who uses these hashtags on Twitter.

As employees you can use these in any posts about Meridian or when Retweeting company tweets.

Social Media Guide | Meridian Group International

meridian strategy

Facebook Considered Meridian’s SWISS ARMY KNIFE, Facebook bridges the gap between business executive and stay-at-home blogger. On Facebook, Meridian has the ability to show both our business agenda and tone while channeling the unique and fun persona we exhibit within the company. Showing Meridian’s personality on social media means becoming an approachable, down-toearth group that can create personal engagement and still have a global reach. Evaluation Currently, there are separate Facebook pages for each company. These pages need to be linked together and updated regularly. Each page has a different look and feel that does not correlate with the others. Meridian Strategy An effective strategy on Facebook means balancing short content with longer, more informational content. Facebook users are not just looking for informational and business-centric posts, so playing to that audience is the key to reaching all potential audiences. Facebook is a great network in that it can bring all types of social media to a wide variety of visitors. While the Meridian strategy is about finding and reaching potential leads, it is also about establishing a personality and creating the persona of Meridian on Facebook. Content Meridian posts on Facebook will include content such as: • Internal corporate events • Industry events and conferences • Videos from YouTube, such as our case studies • Blog posts on industry topics • Polling and discussion questions for engagement

Social Media Guide | Meridian Group International

Pages To reach a wider audience on Facebook, the Meridian pages will be consolidating into one Meridian Group International, Inc. page. This page will represent all of the companies of Meridian, except Concat. The Concat page will remain open to overcome the language and cultural barrier. Key Metrics Meridian’s main Facebook goals are measured through: Page Likes — meaning the user is opting-in to see Meridian posts Post Likes and Comments — when a user likes the post and/or shares their thoughts Reviews — when someone shares their opinion of the Meridian organization Shares — when a user reposts Meridian content Frequency and Timing Quality over quantity. Although there are guidelines and best practices for social media, peak times vary by audience. As we learn about our audience and followers, and their habits, we will tailor our frequency and timing strategy.

meridian strategy

Facebook (continued) Interaction and Events On Facebook, it is best to always respond to people by replying to a comment or liking what they say. When posting an event on Facebook, Meridian will be including all details up front.

Social Media Guide | Meridian Group International

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When to post on Facebook BEST DAYS TO POST M

BEST TIME OF THE DAY TO POST 1 pm to get the most shares 3 pm to get the most clicks

Broader suggestion of anytime 9 am—7 pm The optimal time to post is early afternoon in the time zone with most of your audience.

86%

of posts are published during the work week with engagement peaking on Thursday and Friday

Engagement rates fall 35% below average for posts published Monday through Wednesday

Social Media Guide | Meridian Group International

In correlation, the “Happiness Index” on Facebook spikes by 10% on Friday

meridian strategy

YouTube Where sites like Facebook and Twitter derive engagement from pictures and blog-type posts, YouTube fills the gap with video; making it the Meridian BULL. Videos are the easiest way to break through the clutter of the Internet because they require minimal effort by the viewer. With more than one billion users, YouTube is the world’s largest video sharing site. From YouTube, Meridian can share videos with other social media pages, websites and emails. Evaluation With a good foundation of content and case studies, Meridian is on the right track. Meridian’s client success stories studies, holiday greetings, and social campaigns have not been promoted to properly reach our audience. Meridian Strategy Meridian’s primary strategy involves using client success stories and informational videos that highlight Meridian benefits. Tying in with current marketing and communication efforts, Meridian will be posting content much less often than other sites. The production costs of client success stories studies will prohibit Meridian from creating them on a regular basis, but short awareness videos will fill that content void. The content that Meridian creates though WebEx will also be on YouTube. Videos can be embedded and shared with other social media platforms to increase viewership Content Short 1–2 minute videos are the best way to grab and hold the attention of viewers. Videos will need to answer problems and speak to Meridian’s influencers quickly.

Social Media Guide | Meridian Group International

Key Metrics Meridian’s main goals are measured through: Views: how many times a video has been watched Likes: when a user likes a Meridian video Subscriptions: when a user opts-in to seeing Meridian videos on their feed Comments: when a user shares his or her thoughts on a Meridian video Timing and Frequency Since videos take more time, money and effort to produce, Meridian will not be posting them too frequently. Client success stories will be produced and shared as they pertain to Meridian’s marketing initiatives. Fortunately, the shelf life of a video on social media is longer than that of a normal post. Meridians can share the same video multiple times throughout a given timeframe/marketing campaign, within reason.

meridian strategy

When to post on YouTube BEST DAYS TO POST M

According to entreprenuer.com, viewership generally begins to ramp up on Thursday and Friday, peaks on Saturday and then tapers off on Sunday afternoon

BEST TIME OF THE DAY TO POST 2—4 pm Monday through Wednesday. Noon—3 pm Thursday to Friday Posting on the weekend, 9—11 am is optimal

68%

of YouTube users watched a video to help them make a purchase decision

Social Media Guide | Meridian Group International

meridian strategy

Instagram Instagram is Meridian’s WILD CARD. As a social network based almost entirely on photo and video posts, formulating visual engagement for a tech business isn’t always easy, and will require some real creativity.

Evaluation MGI has an Instagram account, but we have used it infrequently so far.

Key Metrics We can measure Meridian’s success in reaching main goals through:

Meridian Strategy and Content Despite its challenges, Instagram could be a key player in promoting Meridian’s brand. Posts should emphasize profiles of our people, exciting new products available for lease or IT upgrades, and views from all the exotic locales where Meridian operates.

Follows — users add our posts to their own feeds Likes — users note their approval of posts Share — users can’t repost in Instagram, but can share posts to Facebook, Twitter or send via email Comment — an image or video can spark a lively discussion among commenters Save — users can save posts to find again more easily

Social Media Guide | Meridian Group International

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When to post on Instagram BEST DAYS TO POST M

According to Sprout Social, Wednesday through Friday are the best days to generate engagement.

BEST TIME OF THE DAY TO POST 10 amâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;3 pm during weekdays generate engagement

Posting on the weekend, Saturdays around 11 am generates more engagement

80%

of accounts follow a business on Instagram â&#x20AC;&#x201D; 200 million visit a business profile every day

Social Media Guide | Meridian Group International

meridian strategy profile strategy employee strategy

Social Media Guide | Meridian Group International

profile strategy

Choosing a Profile Picture

Your profile picture should: Be recent (taken within the past 12 months). Have good lighting (and no hiding behind things). Be just you! Group photos force viewers to guess who you are. Look good at reduced size. Your audience may be viewing your photo on a smartphone. Plus, most social media sites include your photo as an avatar (a small version) with content when you post or comment.

Users are 11 times more likely to view your profile if it has a photo.

Social Media Guide | Meridian Group International

profile strategy

Choosing a Profile Picture (continued) What your profile picture should NOT be:

The Default Silhouette

The Partier

The “Coachella”

The Vacation Selfie

Your Children

Your Pet

Cartoons or Illustrations

Your Favorite Sports Team Logo

These profile pictures may be personally meaningful to you and your expression on social media. But if you are posting as a Meridian representative your profile should reflect the professional competency we like to convey. If you feel you’d like to maintain a more personal social media account you may consider creating one for your professional connections and another for your personal use.

Social Media Guide | Meridian Group International

profile strategy

Writing Your Bio/Summary Facebook Facebook lets you include an incredible amount of information in your profile. Start with work, education, where you live, or any other details you’d like to share, and then move to your Story. Let your audience know who you are and what interests you. For work, you can use the same first paragraph that you used for your LinkedIn account. Facebook lets you add links to other pages: Use them! Include a link to your LinkedIn or to Meridian’s website.

If you mention that you work for Meridian, or post about Meridian, then you must add a DISCLAIMER such as:

“The views expressed are my own and not of my employer.”

Social Media Guide | Meridian Group International

profile strategy

Your Summary the Meridian Way Here are some suggested paragraphs to include in your profile

“Meridian is uniquely suited to help your company optimize the value of your IT and equipment leasing investments. Our experience, combined with our multi-vendor, multi-platform heritage, gives us the skills and independence to move your business forward based on what’s most important to you. “As _(title)______ , I work to ___(insert your main responsibilities/how you help clients)____.”

“At Meridian, we pride ourselves on taking time to understand each customer’s individual business needs. As a vendor-independent company with multiple deployment models, we have considerable flexibility when integrating IT systems and services.” “In the past ____ years, I have ___(insert how you help customers, what challenges you’ve helped them overcome, etc.)___.”

“As an independent solutions company, Meridian can select from the best manufacturers in the industry, giving you a broader choice of options and features. Our goal is to provide a total solution that promotes long-term business success.”

“Meridian provides superior technology and services that simplify operations and maximize profit to businesses from a variety of industries. Our team of expert consultants is well-seasoned in the areas of equipment upgrade, data center optimization, IP communications, information management and more. Through the utilization of rigorous methodology, we balance the requirement for innovation with the discipline required for superior results. We translate your business needs into flexible technology solutions that we deliver on time and on budget.”

Social Media Guide | Meridian Group International

profile strategy

Your Summary the Meridian Way (continued) 5

6 7

“Meridian helps businesses move in and out of evolving technologies at a pace that fits their culture and budget. We bring a deep portfolio of IT solutions and services, along with flexible lease financing options for any manufacturer and the ability to incorporate related costs like software and services into a single schedule.” “One source for all your finance, equipment and technology needs. Meridian designs our services to meet your business’ demands, while avoiding financial strain. We offer some of the most flexible terms and financing programs available anywhere.” “Meridian Leasing enables ultimate business flexibility. We offer competitive leasing options with a single point-of-contact, efficient “back office” administration, customized documentation and the ability to incorporate related costs like software and services. As part of Meridian Group International, Meridian Leasing can leverage the expertise of a global provider of IT solutions and services.” “Meridian Leasing can customize a leasing program for your business model. As one of the largest technology leasing companies in the USA, we deliver cost-effective finance solutions for businesses in a variety of industries: healthcare, education, finance, manufacturing and more.”

Tip* Remember to add your own voice to your profile!

Social Media Guide | Meridian Group International

profile strategy

Overused Buzzwords Top 10 Overused Buzzwords (Use sparingly) X

Synergistic

Streamlined

Visionary

Essential

Data-driven

World-class

Holistic

Innovative

User-centric

Dynamic

Tie words to actual results

Instead of using weightless words, link your skills to specific results that demonstrate your competence.

Use active language

Rather than saying you are responsible for something, demonstrate how that responsibility helped you deliver results.

Let others vouch for you

Seek out endorsements or recommendations from other reputable sources who can verify your talents.

Social Media Guide | Meridian Group International

profile strategy

Profile Anatomy: LinkedIn

Johnathan Smith

Account Manager with Meridian Leasing. Financial solutions that meet your business goals and budget. Greater New York Area, New York

See 1,400 connections

Title

Use your title to stand out to the world of LinkedIn. With more than 500 million members, there are bound to be A LOT of “Product Managers”. Make your title unique and add a customer-related benefit. Including your location, your company and/or one of your strongest abilities helps you to stand out.

Experience

Include all of your professional experience. Draw attention to major accomplishments and the roles you played in specific initiatives. More importantly, talk about the impact of your experience and your employment for each example. Speak in short bulleted points not in long-winded paragraphs.

Summary

Paragraph 1: Talk about what you do now with Meridian. This is your chance to talk about specific skills, certifications, and job-specific abilities. Paragraph 2: Talk about yourself: where you’ve been and what you have done in previous job/life experiences. Paragraph 3: Talk about Meridian. Check out the suggested company paragraphs to include in your profile and change them to suit your role in the company wherever you can. This should be unique to you and not a straight cut-and-paste content.

Social Media Guide | Meridian Group International

profile strategy

Profile Anatomy: LinkedIn (continued)

Skills and Endorsements

Always include your skills, certifications, and strengths. List everything you can think of, and don’t be afraid to ask your connections to endorse you — that’s how you gain credibility and trust among potential audiences.

LinkedIn and Chatter

This will help other employees find you by your title and skills.

Social Media Guide | Meridian Group International

profile strategy

Profile Anatomy: Twitter

Johnathan Smith @johnathan_smith_ny

Avid mountain biker, foodie, and Brooklyn Nets fan. Account manager at Meridian Leasing. Views expressed are my own.

750 Following

589 Followers

Handle

Make your handle (username) as close to your name as possible. Don’t use “MERIDIAN” in your name.

Bio

160 characters max. Let your personality shine and talk about your interests. Tell your audience how you can help them and if you want to mention “MERIDIAN”, add the disclaimer, “Views expressed are my own.”

Location and Links

Include your primary location for potential clients. Include a link to Meridian’s website or to your LinkedIn profile.

Social Media Guide | Meridian Group International

meridian strategy profile strategy employee strategy

Social Media Guide | Meridian Group International

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Social Media Best Practices The “Dos” of Social Media

Do Do Do Do Do Do Do

#Hashtag. Tell the world what you’re talking about so they find your tweet! Join Groups, Communities and make lists. You have common interests and this is how you make connections last. Contribute to the conversation. You’ve joined a group, now talk to people and get involved! Ask questions and give answers. This will give you credibility. Mention and Tag brands and Meridian vendors. They may even Tweet back at you. Remember to always keep it positive. Include images and videos. Social media is visual so grab their attention! Share your awards and accomplishments. Brag a little and let people know what makes you awesome! Have fun! This is social media. It’s for business but it’s also your personality. Share what you love, what you do for fun and what you did this weekend. You’re not a robot, right? (If you are a robot, be sure to mention that in your profile.)

The “Don’ts” of Social Media

Don’t Don’t Don’t Don’t Don’t Don’t Don’t

Forget to share, retweet and like. Hate on vendors or competitors. No need to be negative on here; take it offline. Spam your audience. Value your audience’s time and attention. You don’t have to post ten times a day. Be controversial. This will reflect on Meridian’s brand and your professionalism. Forget who you work for. Make sure your content aligns with Meridian policies. Friend anyone and everyone. If you don’t want to get to know them, don’t add them, follow them or connect with them. Ignore your audience. Talk to them and engage with them. If they post questions, comments or mention you, make sure you reply back to them. Make sure you value your audience’s time and attention.

Social Media Guide | Meridian Group International

employee strategy

Employee Strategy: LinkedIn

Why You Should Be on LinkedIn

LinkedIn is the number one social media B2B site. It is the best way to grow your professional network and to establish yourself as an industry leader. We want every employee to have the opportunity to showcase his or her experience, skills, volunteer work, awards and/or certifications.

Who to Connect With

Connect with your coworkers and clients. Follow industry leaders and mentors. On LinkedIn, make sure that you have had some form of interaction with a coworker or client prior to connecting.

Joining Groups

By joining groups, you can contribute to the conversation. This establishes you as an industry leader and consequently, Meridian as an industry leader. This is a fun way to connect and share on a professional level. You can search for groups by topics that interest you.

members use LinkedIn globally 500 Million according to Fortune magazine.

40% of monthly active users use LinkedIn daily 61 Million

LinkedIn users are senior level influencers and 40 million are in decision-making positions

social traffic to B2B websites were 50% offromall LinkedIn Source: foundationinc.co/lab/b2b-marketing-linkedin-stats/

Social Media Guide | Meridian Group International

employee strategy

Employee Strategy: Twitter

Why You Should Be on Twitter

Twitter can connect you with vendors, partners, competitors and potential leads, if you use it effectively. In fact, leads generated from social media are seven times more likely to convert than traditional methods. Twitter is the place to get to know someone and his or her interests. It’s the place to see what your audience says every day and his or her view of the industry.

Who to Follow

Finding the right followers can be tough. Start by seeing who Meridian follows, and who follows us. This will give you a solid foundation for potential audiences. Search for companies and find their employees with advanced searches, or use LinkedIn to find more information about them before coming to Twitter. You can search by real name or username to find someone.

Lists

Lists are a great way to organize what you see on your feed. Since anybody can add you to a list, you can also see who’s added you to a list of his or her own. This is an easy way to keep track of who not only follows you, but also wants to single you out of all their followers. If you’re worried about privacy, you can make your lists private and nobody will know that you’ve added them or anyone else to your list.

Content

Choosing the right content means first choosing a message. Before you tweet, you must ask yourself: what am I trying to say, and who am I trying to say it to? Visual content is the most effective way to grab the attention of your audience. Try to include a relevant image or video to accompany your content. This is particularly helpful if you’re going to link to an article. Don’t forget to retweet. The content that you retweet oftentimes comes from the people you follow, so find people who share common interests by searching for hashtags and topics.

75%

of B2B businesses market on Twitter

small/medium-size businesses say 85% ofproviding customer service on Twitter is important

Source: blog.hootsuite.com/twitter-statistics/

Social Media Guide | Meridian Group International

employee strategy

Employee Strategy: Twitter (continued)

Using Images in Twitter

150% More Retweets Allie Jones

@a_jonesny

89% More Likes Sam W

@sam-w-ny

18% More Clicks

Source: buffer.com

Social Media Guide | Meridian Group International

employee strategy

Employee Strategy: Twitter (continued)

Hashtags

Think of a hashtag as the subject of an email. It helps people find you by topic or keyword. You can search hashtags to find top tweets, and relevant accounts. When you click on a hashtag, you see all recent activity with that topic. Using one or two hashtags will result in 21% more engagement than those with three or more. As always, use in moderation!

Likes

A Twitter like is the equivalent of a “LIKE” on Facebook. The more likes and retweets you have, the higher you’ll rank on Twitter search results

Retweets

Don’t forget to retweet. The content that you retweet oftentimes comes from the people you follow, so find people who share common interests by searching for hashtags and topics. A retweet is like sharing someone else’s post. When a tweet gets retweeted it becomes more popular. When someone retweets you, their entire audience will see it. Retweets are a great way to reach an entirely new group of users. It is common practice to ask for a “retweet” from your audience. Using “RT” or “Retweet” can result in 12 times as many retweets!

Social Media Guide | Meridian Group International

employee strategy

Employee Strategy: Twitter (continued)

Getting Social at an Event

Using Twitter at an event is a great way to stay connected with vendors, partners and event-goers. Meeting in person and then connecting online can solidify the relationship and put a foot in the door for further conversation. Live-tweeting the event can allow you to give insight into event topics and conversations. By using hashtags, you can target event topics and engage those attending the event.

The Picture

Johnathan Smith

@johnathan_smith_ny Lots of trinkets to give away! Visit our booth! #MeridianIT #SUNYTechConference

Choose a picture that shows Meridian at the event. A picture of your booth and any promotional materials are good examples.

Hashtags & Mentions Hashtag the event. This lets people who are attending and following the event on social media see what you have to say. Example: #ConferenceXYZ www.meridianonline.com

Hashtag Meridian. This helps us track Meridianâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s popularity and helps your tweet reach more people. Mention and retweet vendors, partners and other attendees at the event. This shows camaraderie and your audience will oftentimes mention or retweet your posts.

Social Media Guide | Meridian Group International

employee strategy

Employee Strategy: Facebook

Why You Should Be on Facebook

Facebook is a great way to learn more about Meridian’s partners and vendors. Vendors will post about their upcoming events and new products and services. You can comment, share and like vendor posts. You can also keep an eye on the competition. The competition will be posting about upcoming events, their success, and other news. Facebook will allow you to get this information quickly and share it.

Who to “Like” and “Friend”

Pages that you “like” are typically businesses or industry leaders. “Friends” are typically people that you have a relationship with.

Joining Groups

Joining groups is a great way to share your expertise and learn more about a given topic. These groups can be public or private.

active users on Facebook 2.38 billion monthly with consistent growth yearly a week — that’s how much time 760 minutes B2B decision-makers spend on Facebook

66% of Facebook users visit daily marketers think Facebook offers the 30% ofhighest digital ad ROI

Source: statista.com/statistics/346167/facebook-global-dau/ Source: foundationinc.co/lab/b2b-marketing-stats/

Social Media Guide | Meridian Group International

employee strategy

Employee Strategy: Instagram

Why You Should Be on Instagram

Instagram is a place where you can show as much as tell.

Who to Follow

Look at businesses and people that you would like to follow, and put them in your feed. You can also import your contacts and look at people who have linked themselves to your organizations, school, work, etc.

Content

Your content should be a balance of your personality and professionalism. This can include pictures of nearby events and landmarks, meeting participants, recommendations, and more. In addition, Instagram now includes Stories, just like parent company Facebook.

Video

Video posts on Instagram receive 38% more engagement than image posts, and more than double the comments. The fact that video stands out among the more common static images may account for some of that attention, but that’s still a lot of eyeballs. This includes Live videos, with 100 million users watching or streaming daily.

users on Instagram with 50% 1 billion monthly scrolling through their feed everyday accounts follow a business on 80% ofInstagram a day — that’s how long users spend 53 minutes on Instagram each day

4.2 billion likes every day on Instagram Source: sproutsocial.com/insights/instagram-stats/

Social Media Guide | Meridian Group International

employee strategy

Meridianâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Social Media and Your Role

WHAT MERIDIAN DOES

Find and extract relevant content for campaigns and post Join and contribute to industryspecific groups and communities Create and maintain the Meridian branding and images on all social media sites Retweet, share and like posts from employees

Social Media Guide | Meridian Group International

WHAT YOU DO

Share, like and retweet what Meridian posts Join groups and communities that Meridian contributes to Check in often, stay active and be Meridian brand advocates on all social media sites Post and tweet content that is relevant to you and valuable to your audience

glossary

Meridian Glossary avatar — small version of account profile photo that appears with posts or comments for easy identification Bit.ly — takes long URL links and condenses them to share on Twitter or other sites blog — a regularly updated website or web page, typically one run by an individual or small group, written in an informal or conversational style blogger — a contributor to a blog blogosphere — all blogs on the Internet and the conversations taking place within those blogs – including posts and comments click-through rate (CTR) — a common metric for reporting on the number of people who viewed a message or piece of content and then actually performed the action required, such as clicking on the ad or link in an email marketing campaign comment — an in-post response to a social post communities — similar to groups, communities are organized by topic or interest; there are public communities that anyone can join and private communities that you need approval by the owner of that community to join connections — (LinkedIn) anyone you have connected with can see your posts and you can see theirs; similar to friends on Facebook and followers on Twitter and Instagram crowdsourcing — gathering information or feedback on a particular topic from followers, or other group members Direct Message (DM) — a private message on Twitter; no other users can see when and what you DM another user; oftentimes, before you can DM another user, they must follow your account, and you can also choose to not accept messages from users e-book — an electronic book, typically in PDF form; you can print e-books, but they’re designed for ease of reading on a computer or cell phone screen embedding — as opposed to linking to another website, post or social site, embedding a video or other media allows the user to view content in one place (i.e., embedding a video in an email instead of linking the user to YouTube) Facebook — social network that connects people with friends and others who work, study and live around them; Facebook is the largest social network in the world with more than 2.38 billion users 1st-Degree connection — (LinkedIn) members with whom you have a direct connection

Social Media Guide | Meridian Group International

glossary forums — online discussion site where users can post their opinions and ask questions friends — Facebook users who you approve to see your posts on their timeline; friends are similar to connections on LinkedIn, or followers on Twitter Google+ — Google’s now-defunct social media network that promoted social sharing through communities and circles handle — a username on Twitter and YouTube; a handle appears as @[USER]; accounts are searchable by full name or handle hashtag — (#) a way to denote a topic or keyword(s) of conversation; you can include more than one hashtag in a post or comment; search hashtags to find other popular tweets with that same hashtag (i.e., #CloudComputing, #programming, #TopHashtags) infographic — Infographics are graphic visual representations of information, data or knowledge intended to present information quickly and clearly Instagram — photo blog sharing social media application that lets users share photos and videos, usually with a minimum of commentary like — marking content to show approval of the message; likes are a part of Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn LinkedIn — business-oriented networking site; users can connect with coworkers, friends and industry leaders meme — used to describe a thought, idea, joke or concept that is often widely shared; typically an image with text above and below it Pinterest — media sharing website that allows users to create and share “pins” on “boards,” somewhat resembling an online scrapbook retweet — (Twitter) sharing another account’s tweet with your own followers; similar to shares on LinkedIn and Facebook RSS feeds (Really Simple Syndication) — a family of web feed formats used to publish frequently updated content, such as blogs and videos, in a standardized format; users can subscribe to feeds to see content in one place, rather than each site or blog; portal websites and programs such as Feedly are an easy way to organize the blogs and sites you subscribe to Search Engine Optimization (SEO) — improving the organic search to a website or other social site; for personal accounts, optimizing and standardizing your social media profiles is a great way to improve your personal search engine results 2nd-Degree Connection — (LinkedIn) in plain language, these are friends of a friend, designated by a 2nd-Degree icon on the profile, near the name and photo

Social Media Guide | Meridian Group International

glossary social media monitoring — administering, monitoring and responding to submissions and mentions related to a business that occur in social media; users can set up notifications for alerts when you or your page has been mentioned subscriber — (YouTube) user who has accepted videos posted by a particular account to appear in their own feed tag — tagging or mentioning a user in a post or tweet means specifically calling for their attention; you can tag a user in a tweet as to start a conversation, or to associate them with a photo or post 3rd-Degree connection — (LinkedIn) a contact of one of your 2nd-Degree connections timeline — similar to a feed, a timeline on each social media site organizes the posts from users you follow by time or popularity trend — popular topic or keyword on social media; a trending topic is one that a lot of users are talking about at a given time wall — (Facebook) a wall is the user’s own timeline where their posts appear, organized by recent activity; users can post messages, links and photos to a user’s wall; similar to the profile pages of a user on Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram WordPress — free blogging tool YouTube — world’s largest video-sharing website where users can view, share and comment on videos; Google owns YouTube

Social Media Guide | Meridian Group International

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Social Media Guide | Meridian Group International