Post on 16-Nov-2014
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Introducing Social Media for Small BusinessNeil Infield – Manager Business & IP Centre
neil.infield@bl.uk - @ninfield (twitter) - www.britishlibrary.typepad.co.uk/business
http://www.slideshare.net/infield/introducing-social-media-for-small-business-june-2014
3Introducing Social Media for Small Business – Neil Infield 2014
Who is the British Library for?
3
We are for anyone who wants to do research academic, personal or commercial
4Introducing Social Media for Small Business – Neil Infield 2014
Key Criteria Registered or trading in LondonTrading for at least a year with proven salesTurnover shows you cover the cost of one other employee
Innovating for Growth programme
A free business consultancy worth over £10,000 to help you expand your business through new ideas, markets and products
www.bl.uk/bipc/innovating.html
5Introducing Social Media for Small Business – Neil Infield 2014
7/10
A bit about you…
6Introducing Social Media for Small Business – Neil Infield 2014
I can’t cover everything in three hours
A canter through key areas
Start on your Social Media Strategy
Develop an “About Me” script
My top tips for success
Question Time with some ‘hands on’
Three hours to cover all of Social Media?
7Introducing Social Media for Small Business – Neil Infield 2014
Characteristics
Free or very low cost - Facebook
or Freemium model - LinkedIn
Simple technology using web browser, or mobile Apps
Lots of online help and guidance
Interactive Source - http://www.sxc.hu/profile/garwee
What is Social Media?
8Introducing Social Media for Small Business – Neil Infield 2014
What is Social Media really?
etc…
9Introducing Social Media for Small Business – Neil Infield 2014
For the UK only…
Facebook – 31 million
Twitter – 15 million active accounts
LinkedIn – 11 million
Pinterest – 4 million?
Google Plus – ? “the latest set of stats “would blow your mind” according to Google UK’s head of agency
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:AS-202_launch.jpg
Why all the fuss about Social Media?
http://www.rosemcgrory.co.uk/2014/01/06/uk-social-media-statistics-for-2014/
10Introducing Social Media for Small Business – Neil Infield 2014
Find out what your
Customers
Critics
Fans
…are saying about you online
Spot trends
Monitor your competitors
What will Social Media do for you?
11Introducing Social Media for Small Business – Neil Infield 2014
Allow you to engage with your
Customers
Critics
Fans
…in a transparent manner
Measure your impact
Crowdsource your products and services
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kryten/125710155/
What will Social Media do for you?
12Introducing Social Media for Small Business – Neil Infield 2014
Work out what you want to get out of Social Media
What are your goals?
More attention for your brand?
Customer service?
Customer interaction?
All of the above?
Define your audience and find out where they ‘live’
Developing your Social Media strategy
14Introducing Social Media for Small Business – Neil Infield 2014
Work with your neighbour to complete pages 1 and 2 of the hand-out
Developing your Social Media strategy
15Introducing Social Media for Small Business – Neil Infield 2014
Blogging for Small Business
Why you should blog?
http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/34209/93-of-Companies-Using-Inbound-Marketing-Increase-Lead-Generation-New-ROI-Data.aspx
To build trust – ‘real’ people vs anonymous business
To build an audience
Increase Search Engine Optimisation without the risk – Google loves blogs and hates cheaters
Why you should blog?
Google logo render - Mark Knol
19Introducing Social Media for Small Business – Neil Infield 2014
Drive traffic to your website – see above
Act as your social media hub
Be seen as an expert in your field – requires insightful, quality content
Reach a wider market – word of mouth referrals
http://www.sxc.hu/profile/Kurhan
Why you should blog?
21Introducing Social Media for Small Business – Neil Infield 2014
With passion… and patience
For your audience
On your own or in a team
Mainly about things related to your business
Headings must be ‘Ronsealed’
How you should blog
23Introducing Social Media for Small Business – Neil Infield 2014
In combination with your other social media channels – Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, +Google, etc
Using your web domain if possible
Promote using contacts and ‘Blogroll’
Measure using built in tools or Google Analytics
How you should blog
Publicise your blog posts
25Introducing Social Media for Small Business – Neil Infield 2014
Regularly – minimum once a week
Content must be engaging / surprising / controversial / intriguing
Including images and videos
Length must be ‘just right’ – somewhere between Stephen Fry’s Blessays and Euan Semple’s The Obvious.
http://www.sxc.hu/profile/dspruitt
How you should blog
Not all spam is tasty
28Introducing Social Media for Small Business – Neil Infield 2014
Your “About Me”
30Introducing Social Media for Small Business – Neil Infield 2014
“The time has passed when Facebook was a "good idea" for businesses to try. It's now essential to your inbound marketing strategy.”
http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/5492/How-to-Create-a-Facebook-Business-Page-in-5-Simple-Steps-With-Video.aspx#ixzz2NMs3aw5H
Facebook for Small Business
Facebook for Business gives you the latest news, tips, and best practices to
help meet your business goals: www.facebook.com/business
32Introducing Social Media for Small Business – Neil Infield 2014
Sabina on Facebook
34Introducing Social Media for Small Business – Neil Infield 2014
Do’s
Stay active
Post frequently
Post questions
Ask about your customers
Include photos and videos
Offers and promotions
Facebook for Small Business
35Introducing Social Media for Small Business – Neil Infield 2014
Do’s
Stay active
Post frequently
Post questions
Ask about your customers
Include photos and videos
Offers and promotions
Don’ts
Too much activity
Too personal
Only posting links
Only in selling mode
Facebook for Small Business
I_3_you_too_(Explored)_Flickr_-_Photo_Sharing!_-_2014-07-15_16.27.29
37Introducing Social Media for Small Business – Neil Infield 2014
Please accept my resignation. I don't want to belong to any club that will accept people like me as a member. Groucho Marx(109 chars)
What can you fit into 140 characters?
38Introducing Social Media for Small Business – Neil Infield 2014
Please accept my resignation. I don't want to belong to any club that will accept people like me as a member. Groucho Marx(109 chars)
Aim for the sky and you’ll reach the ceiling. Aim for the ceiling and you’ll stay on the floor. Bill Shankly (95 chars)
What can you fit into 140 characters?
39Introducing Social Media for Small Business – Neil Infield 2014
Please accept my resignation. I don't want to belong to any club that will accept people like me as a member. Groucho Marx(109 chars)
Aim for the sky and you’ll reach the ceiling. Aim for the ceiling and you’ll stay on the floor. Bill Shankly (95 chars)
I can resist everything except temptation.Oscar Wilde (41 chars)
What can you fit into 140 characters?
40Introducing Social Media for Small Business – Neil Infield 2014
What is Twitter?
Micro blogging – 140 character limit
The ‘Marmite’ of Social Media services
Love it or loath it – it does work
Twitter for Small Business
42Introducing Social Media for Small Business – Neil Infield 2014
Why Tweet?
Smaller numbers than Facebook – but bigger spenders
Unparalleled access to celebrities and decision makers
An opportunity to ‘go’ viral
The current reigning champion of social media for business
Twitter for Small Business
44Introducing Social Media for Small Business – Neil Infield 2014
“More companies should use Twitter than Facebook. Twitter is like a search engine, it drives people to your website…
It is somewhere to bring your brand to life, give it more personality and humanise it.”
Jon Clarke - CEO Space & Time Meida
56% of tweets to companies are being ignored - AllTwitter.com
Why you should use Twitter
45Introducing Social Media for Small Business – Neil Infield 2014
Short term promotions and special offers
Invite feedback / market research
Enhance your reputation
Improve your customer responsiveness
Build good relations
Protect your profile name
How to use Twitter
47Introducing Social Media for Small Business – Neil Infield 2014
Find trending topics
Find experts and evangelists for your brand
With caution – going viral could be a bad thing
Try to separate work and play
Be careful when re-tweeting (libel laws apply)
Think first – tweet second
How to use Twitter
49Introducing Social Media for Small Business – Neil Infield 2014
Create a tweet button on your web pages
Create and use lists to clean your stream
Learn the twitter lingo
@reply - Direct Message (DM) - Follower - Hashtag - Retweet (RT) - Trending Topics
Use tools to manage - e.g. Tweepi
Twitter top tips
51Introducing Social Media for Small Business – Neil Infield 2014
Customize your page:
Change default profile picture
Use 140-character BIO space, using keywords
Use # tags for searching - e.g. #thatchersdead
Shrink your links using Bit.ly etc
Install a mobile app
Twitter top tips 1
54Introducing Social Media for Small Business – Neil Infield 2014
Don’t start and then give up
Tweet throughout the day
Spread your tweets - up to 10 a day
Don’t ignore complaints - they are a test
Switch to direct message (DM) instead of email
Follow key tweeters including your rivals
Twitter top tips 2
56Introducing Social Media for Small Business – Neil Infield 2014
Tweet with less than 100 chars = +17% engagement
Limit account to one or two people - not a big team
Don’t forget to link to your website
Do let your personality shine through…
“People aren’t expecting you to be the voice of God. You need to be professional, helpful and polite, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have fun or tongue in cheek. Do social media with a smile.”
Twitter top tips 3
Top 5 ‘twits’ quiz
64Introducing Social Media for Small Business – Neil Infield 2014
The ‘grown-up’ Social Media channel
‘Your virtual CV’
2013 study by Hubspot - LinkedIn is 3 times more effective than Twitter or Facebook for converting website visitors into leads
LinkedIn for Small Business
66Introducing Social Media for Small Business – Neil Infield 2014
Good for consultants, trainers and professions
Research and engage with potential customers
Check out your competitors
Get connections to endorse your expertise
Get recommendations
Link to your other social media activities
LinkedIn for Small Business
Is Ben a clueless hippy or an industry expert?
70Introducing Social Media for Small Business – Neil Infield 2014
Pinterest is a pinboard-style photo sharing website that allows users to create and manage theme-based image collections such as events, interests, hobbies, and more.
Users can browse other pinboards for inspiration, 're-pin' images to their own pinboards, or 'like' photos.
The young upstart on the Social Media scene
…But very rapid growth last year
Pinterest for Small Business
73Introducing Social Media for Small Business – Neil Infield 2014
Use it to post images related to your business
Reach an affluent audience with high quality images
Benefit from visual content over text
Link to your website
and other Social Media activities
Pinterest for Small Business
75Introducing Social Media for Small Business – Neil Infield 2014
Still a pale shadow of Facebook
But is now incorporated in search results
So definitely worth adding your presence
One to keep an eye on
Google Plus for Small Business
http://techland.time.com/2011/07/11/a-brief-history-of-googles-social-networking-flops
Google’s previous attempts at social media…
79Introducing Social Media for Small Business – Neil Infield 2014
People love moving images
Google loves videos
Demonstrate how things work
Share your knowledge
Examples:
Blendtec and
Rasheed Ogunlaru
YouTube for Small Business
80Introducing Social Media for Small Business – Neil Infield 2014
Hootsuite or Tweetdeck to manage your posts
Google Analytics
Facebook Insights
Sprout Social
Wildfire Social Media Monitor
Monitoring-Social-Media.com
SocialMediaToday.com
Tools to help you
Keeping up to date
Have a good website
“In case you are just skimming this article for a quick answer, here it is: It comes down to two options: WordPress & Squarespace.”
86Introducing Social Media for Small Business – Neil Infield 2014
Try to limit to 30 minutes a day
Keep it professional – you might go viral in a bad way
Keep an eye out for new services
Try to measure results
Cull any activities that don’t help your business
Try to stay focussed – keep away from the Lolcats
My top tips for Social Media success
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Don’t be a victim of Godwin’s Law
Source: Wikimedia Commons
"As an online discussion grows longer, the
probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler
approaches 1
88Introducing Social Media for Small Business – Neil Infield 2014
Be a person online – but not too personal
Always try to add value
Don’t just lurk - contribute
Try to be ‘marketing lite’ - avoid spamming
Have a consistent brand / name across your social media platforms
Have fun with it
My top tips for Social Media success
Source:@DaveFriedel