What is Social Media?And how best to use it

Agenda• Introduction• What is Social Media?• Why use Social Media?• Social Media Strategy and Integration• Measurability and KPIs• Useful links and documents

What is Social Media?

Social Media is a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0, and that allow the creation and exchange of User Generated Content

Source: Kaplan and Haenlein, 2010.

Hmm…• In English, social media is:

o Social Networkingo Video Sharingo Photo sharingo Blogging/Forumso Social Bookmarkingo Content Aggregators

Social Media enables:• Collaboration

o Users sharing with others from your website• Retweets and mentions on Twitter• Likes on Facebook• Sharing links of social bookmarking

• Interactiono Via comments on blogs, forumso Twitter, Facebook etc.

Social Networking• Social Networks are platforms designed for users

to interact with one another and allow people to create personal profiles in which they can communicate with fellow users.

• Social Networks allow users to chat and share content – be it through text, photo or video.

• Focus on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn for now.o Google+ should be included in later phase.

Video Sharing• Video is a content medium that can be uploaded

and shared online. • Users can comment on posted videos and

increase viewer numbers through links, word of mouth and by uploading the video to other online portals/sites.

• Focus on YouTube for now.• http://www.youtube.com/user/daveatzerowaste

Photo Sharing• Photo sharing sites are becoming increasingly

popular and allow users to upload and share their photographs or images online. These photos can then be shared across the web.

• A good example of a photo sharing website would be Flickr.

• Probably not required for now as photos can be uploaded to website. Phase 2

• Any photos on website can be shared via social networking channels

Blogs and Forums• Blogs and forums are usually maintained by an

individual, a business or an online community. • Allows interaction through comments left by users

and provides good archiving for articles.• Important to respond to the comments.

Blogs and Forums (2)• Main difference between Blogs and Forums:

o Typically a blogger has an area of expertiseo Forums are used for people to raise questions. Commonly called

discussion boards, bulletin boards.

• Usually incorporated into website. • Recommend at least a Blog is included in your

website. • http://www.ecoportal.org.uk/categoryuncategorize

d/

Social Bookmarking• Social bookmarking sites allow users to share

their thoughts on content across the web. They can comment of all types of content whether it is an overall website, a blog post, a news article or even a photo or video.

• By publicly bookmarking this content it becomes suggested to other relevant users who in turn read and can also bookmark the item spreading it across the internet.

Social Bookmarking (2)

• Popular social bookmarking sites include: Digg, StumbleUpon, Reddit and del.icio.us.

• Good tool for collaboration internally by sharing bookmarks.

• Recommend this is part of strategy as easy to implement.

• http://delicious.com/zerowasteuk

Content Aggregators• RSS Feeds • Paper.li

Content Aggregators (2)

• Why RSS? Benefits and Reasons for using RSSo RSS solves a problem for people who regularly use the web. It allows

you to easily stay informed by retrieving the latest content from the sites you are interested in. You save time by not needing to visit each site individually. You ensure your privacy, by not needing to join each site's email newsletter.

• Try Google Reader. Can be used to build social bookmarking for your group.

• RSS feeds from other websites can be included in your website

• http://www.zerowastenorthampton.co.uk/rss-feeds

Content Aggregators (3)

• Paper.li• Aggregation tool for twitter accounts• Creates a daily twitter newspaper from your own

tweets and selected users you follow.• Very simple to setup and can be integrated with

your website• Once set up you only need to review it once per

month• http://paper.li/0WasteNorthants/1310216913

Why use Social Media?• Internet usage is an everyday activity• Smart phones are becoming common place• Tablets and netbooks are up and coming

Internet usage by gender and social

grade

All ages 15-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+

Males 82 94 89 94 85 77 52   80-100%

Males AB 94 100 98 98 100 93 78   50-79%

Males C1 90 99 98 99 89 84 60   0-49%

Males C2 75 92 83 90 83 69 38

Males DE 62 84 76 83 52 54 23

Internet usage by gender and social

grade

All ages 15-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+

Females 73 90 91 87 84 66 34   80-100%

Females AB 89 100 100 97 97 90 57   50-79%

Females C1 83 95 97 95 92 84 39   0-49%

Females C2 71 94 87 87 83 44 35

Females DE 48 75 79 61 52 30 16

Internet Connection type

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

% Connect Method 2010% Connect Method 2011

iYC8EnqfHyIngnlchvQRuT

Smart Phone usage

All Male < 35 Male 35+ Female < 35 Female 35+ 0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Smartphone ownership Jan 2010Smartphone ownership Jan 2011

2wZDhKBJf3u0aj7yCI2UtF

Tablet Usage

All Male < 35 Male 35+ Female < 35 Female 35+ 0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Tablet Ownership 2011

mrPICMviJGZNYMsLW2XJsb

Social Media Strategy• Based on business case of organisation• Understand your target audience• Investigate where they are “social” on the web

i.e. Facebook, Twitter etc.• Website is the core of the strategy• Social Media is integrated with website

Social Media Strategy (2)

• Decide on a web browser and everyone uses ito Enables better collaboration within groupo Google Chrome works for me

• Don’t forget email as part of your strategy

Social Media Strategy (3)

• Phased approach is best. Examples:o Website, Twitter or Website, Facebooko Website, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.o Website, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Blogo Website, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Blog, YouTubeo Website, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Blog, YouTube and Social Bookmarkingo Website, Facebook, Twitter, Blog, LinkedIn, YouTube, RSS, Paper.li and Social

Bookmarking

• Possibly target this as a final solutiono Website, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, Blog, YouTube, RSS, Paper.li

and Social Bookmarking

• Learn as you go – Don’t try and do too much in one go

• Enjoy it!

Online Strategy creation process

Successful Strategies are measurable

• Use website and social media tools to measure the success of your strategy

• Websiteo Google Analyticso Search Engine Optimisation (SEO): This is key!

• Twittero Twittercounter.como SocialBro

• Best time to tweeto CoTweet

• Allows multiple users and buffering of tweets to your “Best time to tweet” schedule

• Facebooko Insights

Successful Strategies are measurable

• Integrate website and social networks so updates automatically appear in your other accountso Tweetdeck and Google+ are good for this

• Remember not to try too much at once• An account needs to be maintained and then

tools used to measure success.• Phased approach may work best

Integration from website to Group’s

accounts

Visitor on

Group Website

Group Facebook Page

Group LinkedIn

Group YouTube

Group Twitter

Group Google+

Group RSS feed

Integration from website to Visitor’s

accounts

Visitor on

Group Website

Visitor’s Facebook Page

Visitor’s LinkedIn

Visitor’s YouTube

Visitor’s Twitter

Visitor’s Google+

Visitor’s RSS

reader

Social Media Behaviour

• Unwritten laws?• Treat the user community like you would your

bosso No dirty jokeso No swearingo Don’t tell them what you had for breakfasto Keep the content relevant to your audience

• To follow or unfollow, like or unlikeo If you have a common interest then follow/likeo Don’t over tweet in a given space of time. Use bufferingo You can’t follow everybody as you can’t read every tweeto Use lists in twitter for your favourite users you follow o Favourite a tweet from a user you’d like to follow you as this shows up

on their notifications

KPIs• Website

o Number of visits• New Visitors• Returning Visitors

o Bounce Rate• This is key. !00% means people get to the site and leave without

clicking to another page.o Visits per source

• SEOo Google your own site via a keyword search and see where you are on

the listo Goal is first page – achievable?

KPIs (2)• Twitter

o Mentions and Retweetso Don’t get hung up on number of followers. Reciprocation following

means everyone has lots of followers but most people use mute.

• Facebooko People talking about this and Total reacho Again total Likes isn’t necessary what to measure success by.

Google Analytics

Google Analytics (2)

Google Analytics (3)

SocialBro: Best time to tweet

Twitter Counter

Facebook Insights

Useful Docs/Links• 10 Fundamental Tips for Social Media Community

Managers• Good Blog to follow• Download this• How to use Facebook for business• 25 website must haves ebook

Thank you for listening

Any Questions?