Social Media in Business Sue Ingram Director of Information Technology Services
Missouri State University-West Plains sueingram@missouristate.edu
Social Media… • Designed to create and build relationships – promote conversation, ask for feedback, and respond to questions and comments • Not social media marketing, but social media engagement • Should be part of your overall marketing plan • Tools may be free, but most require ongoing attention Missouri State University - West Plains
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Social Media Engagement • What are you trying to accomplish? • How will you measure your progress? • Will you commit to the time required?
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Getting Started • Create a Gmail account – Why? • Most social media sites require a login; use this email account to keep business separate from personal
– http://mail.google.com/mail
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Create a GMail account http://mail.google.com/mail
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Google Alerts http://www.google.com/alerts
• Find out what is being said about your company or product • Keep up to date on a competitor or industry • Get results via email – you select the frequency
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Google Alerts‌ http://www.google.com/alerts
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Google your business
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Why let others create your ad? Google Places
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Google Places‌ http://places.google.com/business
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Google Places‌ http://places.google.com/business
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Facebook • 500 million active users - 50% online on any day • Google and Facebook – neck and neck • Go where your customers are! • Promote conversations and interactions • Share, don’t sell!
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Facebook… A post on Delvin Farms’ Page
This is what a “fan” sees
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Facebook… • Personal profile (account) • Group • Page • Create Facebook personal profile (account) – http://www.facebook.com – Review / change settings
• Log in, then create Facebook Page – http://www.facebook.com/pages/create.php Missouri State University - West Plains
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Facebook‌ Create profile (account) http://www.facebook.com
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Facebook Page‌
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Facebook Page‌ Create Facebook Page http://www.facebook.com/pages /create.php
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Facebook Page‌ Create Facebook Page
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Facebook Page… • Select a shortened link name (must have 25 “fans”) – Example: www.facebook.com/DSIFarm
• • • •
Add link to your business cards and other advertising Add link to your Google Place and other online sites Add link to your email signature If you have a blog or web site: – Place links on your FB Page to your blog or web site • On the Info tab • In the left column below your profile picture
– Place a link to your FB Page on your blog or web site Missouri State University - West Plains
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Facebook Page Statistics‌
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Facebook… Advanced Create a Facebook Landing Page Set as default for all new visitors Include a “call to action” such as clicking the Like button or signing up for a newsletter
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Facebook…coming soon • Facebook Places and Facebook Deals – Facebook’s answer to location-based social networks such as Foursquare that allow users to check in and receive deals • http://www.facebook.com/help/?search=facebook+places • http://www.facebook.com/help/?page=18846
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Foursquare http://www.foursquare.com
• Users use their cell phones to “check in” to a business on foursquare to earn points, win Mayorships, unlock badges, and perhaps get discounts or specials • Users’ “check-ins” are shared with their friends via Facebook or Twitter
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Foursquare‌ http://www.foursquare.com
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Foursquare‌ http://www.foursquare.com
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Foursquare… http://foursquare.com/businesses/
• Claim your venue • Use foursquare’s simple self-service tools to create and manage different kinds of foursquare specials • Promote your participation • Track check-ins via foursquare-provided stats
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Foursquare‌ http://foursquare.com/businesses/
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Foursquare‌ http://foursquare.com/businesses/
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Foursquare‌ http://foursquare.com/businesses/
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Twitter http://www.twitter.com
• Broadcast (tweet) information 140 characters at a time • About Twitter – http://twitter.com/about
• Twitter 101 – http://business.twitter.com/twitter101/
• Use Fast Follow to receive tweets as text messages without a Twitter account – Text “follow *username+” to 40404 – http://support.twitter.com/articles/218610-new-fastfollow – http://media.twitter.com/859/fast-follows Missouri State University - West Plains
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Twitter‌ iPhone display
Create an account
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YouTube www.youtube.com
• Broadcast video • Edit and customize your channel – http://www.google.com/support/youtube/bin/an swer.py?answer=174555
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YouTube‌
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More to Explore LinkedIn – Professional networking www.linkedin.com
Yelp – Reviews of local businesses www.yelp.com
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Legal Implications • Minimize risk: Five social media best practices for business – http://www.westlawinsider.com/2010/10/minimize-riskfive-social-media-best-practices-for-business/
• Website terms and conditions: More important than you might think – http://www.westlawinsider.com/2010/10/website-termsand-conditions-more-important-than-you-might-think/
• Social media for business: Legal issues faced by employees – http://www.westlawinsider.com/2010/09/social-mediafor-business-legal-issues-faced-by-employees/ Missouri State University - West Plains
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Policies - Links • Should your business have a social media policy? – http://mashable.com/2009/04/27/social-media-policy/
• Ten must-haves for your social media policy – http://mashable.com/2009/06/02/social-media-policy-musts/
• Setting technology policies that make sense in a Web 2.0 World – http://thx4playing.blogspot.com/2008/09/setting-technology-policiesthat-make.html
• IBM social computing guidelines – http://www.ibm.com/blogs/zz/en/guidelines.html
• Social Media Governance – http://socialmediagovernance.com/policies.php
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Conclusion Building an external community on social networking platforms takes time and effort. The key is retaining this traffic and creating a social experience for the user that will (hopefully) lead to sales. Missouri State University - West Plains
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Questions? Sue Ingram Director of Information Technology Services Missouri State University-West Plains sueingram@missouristate.edu
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