Social Media TrainingTwitter & Google+

Ben Pindar, Communications Director@BenPindar @nlightspr

Introductions

•Who are you?•Where are you from?•What are your business goals?

The unstoppable rise of social media

Think like a search engine

What did you last search for?

Where should internal communications sit?

How can you do the same?!

How does Google work?

Identifying keywords

•What words might customers type in to search for you?•What questions could you

answer for them?• Discuss in pairs

Understanding Twitter

Twitter – Profile Page

Good quality background image with key info in the top left corner1500px in width X 500px in height

Clear, high quality profile photoMake sure it portrays a professional image (400x400px)

Twitter – Profile Page

• A 160-character description of who you are and what you do• Make it clear what you do and use keywords so people can find you• Include a location and links to your website

Twitter – Profile Page

Statistics bar about your activity and your network

Archive of your Twitter activity

Suggestions of people who you may want to follow

Option to update your personal information

Twitter – Profile Page

• Clearly identify who you are• People connect with people• Use keywords• Include hashtags (no more than three)• Demonstrate your expertise• Explain what you discuss on Twitter• Add locations• Include your website(s)• Do all of the above in 160 characters!

Profile Examples

Profile Examples

Profile Examples

Profile Examples

Profile Examples

Profile Examples

Profile Examples

Profile Examples

Profile Examples

Profile Example

Your turn

• In groups, develop a profile to share with room...

Key points – who are you, what do you do, keywords, demonstrate expertise, show personality, website, location and tell us what you tweet!

Twitter – Home Page

A list of the most talked about topics on Twitter

Search bar for finding people, topics and businesses

The list of tweets being posted by the people you follow

Twitter – Home Page

Direct message option – contact people who follow you on Twitter directly with private messages

Compose a new Tweet to send to your followers

Twitter – Notifications

• Page showing all the activity around your account• People talking about or to you (mentions)• People who have shared your Tweets (retweets / RT)• People who have started to follow you

Twitter – #Discover

A page created by Twitter showing you tweets, conversations and people you may be interested in

Twitter – Settings

A drop down menu allowing you to create new lists, seek help, sign out of the account and alter account settings around notifications, privacy etc.

Twitter – Composing a tweet• Short, relevant and no unnecessary words• Handle, hashtags and link• Driving traffic back to website• Includes extra content

• Include images with your tweet where possible• Images are now included in the Twitter timeline• Makes tweets stand out• People will share good quality images

Twitter – Handles & HashtagsHandles – eg. @BenPindarYour handle is your account username and is also mentioned in your urlEg. www.twitter.com/BenPindarUse it in tweets to contact someone or mention them

Hashtags– eg. #searchtoolA hashtag is used to mark keywords or topics in a tweet and are used to search for other tweets about the same topic.At events, a common hashtag will be used – eg. #BuyYorkshire – so people at the event can search to see what other people are saying

Jargon – RT MT #FF

Twitter – Engage peopleFollow people strategically – identify the people you want to do business with and follow them. Have a clear objective

Share insights – By joining their conversations you can start to build relationships

Create lists – Lists can be public or private but can be used to filter out the key people you want to do business with

Use lists – By making lists public under a specific heading – eg. “Property Leaders” – you can flatter your targets and also see exactly what they want to talk about

Discussion

What can you Tweet about from your business?• What do you say?• Use active words• Provide half the conversation• Ask questions• Be controversial

Twitter – Best PracticeKeep posts short – Tweets at around 100 characters allow for people to retweet (RT) and add their own comments

20% promo 80% conversation – Don’t just market yourself. Be generous and share your insights, opinions and expertise to create genuine relationships

Get a handle on handles – Use at the beginning of your post to tweet that person. Use anywhere else to mention them

Don’t be heavy on hashtags – Don’t use trending hashtags that have no relevance to you or the discussion. Also keep them to a minimum as it will make your tweet hard to read

Twitter – Best PracticeJoin the conversation – search for people already talking about your subject and get involved rather than put out a cold tweet

Keep it real – Sales-driven tweets are a turn-off. Keep conversation natural and generous

Focus on your passion – Tweet about what you know best and you will soon be recognised as an influencer in your industry

Include links – share interesting content people by adding web links to your tweets. URL shortening services like bitly.com are useful

Add personality – Be professional, but add some personality to keep your tweets interesting

Useful management tools

• Bit.ly / Ow.ly / tinyurl• Hootsuite / Tweetdeck• Twilert / TweetBeep / TweetAlarm• Klout• Paper.li• SocialOomph• CoTweet

And finally...

• Consider cultural differences

• It is public and can’t be deleted

• What do you do if it goes wrong?

10 minute break...

Google+ OverviewPlatform for sharing blogs, images, websites, videos etc

Option to like content with

Option to comment on content and share with your network

Important for Google search rankings

Find and interact with businesses or individuals using Circles

Google+ Benefits

• Build +1 into website content

• Build social evidence of quality of offer

• Improve search rankings and profile

• Drive new business and traffic

Google+ ProfileLanding page for people searching about you or the business

Quality profile photo and background image – same brand?

Key information about who you are and what you do

Information about who is in your network

Contact information

Location, work and personal details

Links to other platforms

Personal URL – 10 followers needed!

Google+ Business Pages

Google+ Home

• A constantly updating feed of the posts by people and businesses you follow

• Can be filtered using circles• Like, comment on or share

posts• View ripples to see who is the

biggest influence in your network

• Use content in your own site or blog

Google+ ToolbarProfile - Amend your profile and view what it looks like to others

People - Search for people you know or want to follow

Photos - Search and share images

What’s Hot - Look at what top topics are being talked about

Communities - Join communities. Groups for like-minded people

Events - Seek events,

create your own and send invites

Hangouts – An enhanced video communication tool superior to Skype

Pages – Create an individual page for your business or interests

Local – Recommend local businesses or write reviews

Settings – alter your account preferences

Google+ People• Identify key targets

using search terms and keywords

• Include in circles to deliver targeted messages

• Find colleagues or classmates

• Search by location• Seek suggestions

based on your profile

Google+ Local

• SoLoMo• Identity on Google

Maps• Linked Social

Content• Improved rankings• Improved

marketing

Google+ Communities

• Discussion groups for key sectors and industries

• Consumers engaging with brands

• Focussed and great source of targets and information

Google+ Ripples

See who the key influencers in your network are and then engage with them

Google+ Share content

• Write an article, comment or opinion directly into text box – keep short and relevant• Add links, photos, videos or event invites and information• Decide who it can be shared with – everyone, circles and individuals• Use @handles and #hashtags to engage with people and topics

What makes a good post?• Share news articles, images, videos,

websites, blogs etc• Use a bold headline and exciting

introduction• Insights, something new, opinion,

learning points• Controversy• Vulnerability, half the conversation• Include image and/or link to further

information• Drive traffic back to your website

and other social media platforms• Makes you want to comment • You want to share the post

Be strategic

• Business and marketing goals – how and where will social media add value?• What do we want to achieve?• Who are we targeting and where are they?• What keywords do we need?• What image – photos?• What expertise/insights can you share?• How will we measure success?

Be strategic

• Follow key targets and engage• Set realistic goals• A community takes time to build• Identify the questions you can address• Plan how to answer them• Plan a series of promotional messages• Plan your own questions to engage people

Next steps...

• Identify and follow 10 people a week• Pick three questions your customers are

asking• Create suitable answers with links to online

resources – your own site or others• Post to Twitter daily, Google+ bi-weekly• Answer a post from one of your targets• Post something with personality once a week

Discussion and any further questions?

Future workshops on using LinkedIn and blogs for business development planned for September and October 2014

Please email sue@northernlightspr.com to arrange free follow-up phone session