Social Media Strategy - By Thabo Ntai

2011 Social Media Strategy - The New Age Online

Social Media StrategyThe New Age Online

Prepared by Thabo Ntai


Social Media OverviewThe social web – Web 2.0 – has given rise to a new way of marketing: people are engaged in conversations online and, as predicted by the Cluetrain Manifesto - markets have become conversations.

The most trusted form of advertising today is a recommendation from another person ‘just like me.’

Tapping into these conversations shows where your audience is spending time online and what subjects and issues are of interest to them.

Based on today’s ever-changing marketplace, companies can no longer just issue information to the media in hopes that they share our clients’ stories with the public.

A recent prediction from Forrester Research is that within two years, half of all U.S. newspapers will have ceased production.

By 2010 82% of all companies will be using social media marketing and their biggest barrier to success in this new medium is a lack of knowledge.

To reach your publics successfully you need to start telling your stories directly, and do it in a way that sparks conversations.

The value proposition of Social Media (Web 2.0) or online PR is:Sustained conversations that shape perceptions.


Goals for the campaign• Local outreach• Brand visibility• News gathering and dissemination• Community• Discussion of your content• Drive more traffic to The New Age Online

Available resources?

• Content• Ability to produce• Time• Existing social presence


Listen to the Online ConversationFor the past 100 years companies have had the luxury of deciding what they will produce and sell, what their brand message will be and how they will deliver it to their audience.

The Internet changed that.

We’re in the age of social media marketing. Strategy in this new business environment is just as vital as it has ever been. Don’t get distracted by the slewof new social media tools or lured into spending resources just because “everyone is on Twitter.”

Social media offers you the opportunity of doing in-depth research at virtuallyno cost. It is possible to set goals and get ROI, but you have to know whereyou’re going and what you want to achieve.

Tap into the online conversationsto find out:• who is talking about you• what they are saying• is it positive or negative• where are the conversations taking place• what communities talk about you• what are your competitors doing in social media• what’s the buzz about them• what content resonates with your audience• are there subjects of interest you could provide content for• what social sites have the most conversation• who are the “fire-starters” you need to connect with• who are the influencers in these blogs or communities• where are the opportunities and threats

Once you have this information you can allocate your resources wisely. You’ll know where to start and what social sites you should be concentrating on.

When you know the lay of the land it’s much easier to plot a path to your destination. A social media marketing strategy is your roadmap.


Find the right networksWhere are they?

• Find the networks people are already using• Take the conversation to the listeners• SocialMention.com, Twitterfall.com• Set up alerts• Reach out to other leaders

ToolsDIY – Free Tools

Brand mentions• Google News Alerts• Yahoo News• Moreover• How Sociable• Socialmention• RSS Reader like NetVibes

Blog Buzz• Google BlogSearch• IceRocket• BlogPulse• Backtype – for blog comments

Twitter• Twitter Search• Twilert• Twazzup• TweetBeep• Hashtags• Twitrratr

Trends• Google Trends• Google Insights for Search• Trendrr• Serph

Facebook• Lexicon

Message Boards and Forums• BoardTracker• BoardReader• Google Groups• Yahoo Groups


DemographicsThe NPR Facebook Survey

• The NPR Facebook Survey was conducted online and deployed July 12-19, 2010.• Respondents were recruited through messages posted on NPR’s Facebook page.• 33,304 respondents

Facebook Use and Online BehaviorFrequency of Facebook Use• Almost all respondents (96%) access Facebook at least once per day.

How Fans Access NPR:• About 3 of every 4 respondents listen to NPR on the radio.• 1 of every 5 respondents uses the iPhone app.• Almost 3 in 10 listen to NPR podcasts.• Fewer than 1 in 10 follow NPR on Twitter.

News online• About 3 of every 5 respondents get most or all of their news online.

News on Facebook• 3 of every 4 agree that Facebook is a major way in which they receive

news and information from NPR.• About half agree that Facebook is a major way for them to receive infor-

mation from news organizations in general.•NPR stories on Facebook• 84% have indicated that they often click through to NPR stories that are

posted on Facebook.


How do we get everyone on board?

Metrics• Regularly track site traffic and social media’s influence

Tweet ad share relevant content at the right time, e.g Sport and Entertainment (users want to see sport results and stories every morning when they arrive in the offices, Entertainment stories particularly are best in the afternoon when users are tired of work and are preparing to leave the office)

Ask questions• Users prefer interactivity with News Sources so embrace comments/feedback/dialogue as part of content in facebook and Twitter pages.

Don’t just share content• Respect your readers & engage with their viewpoints/ experiences• Engagement is constant, not sporadic• Craft your content for the delivery method•

Be authentic• No PR-vetted voice• Let audience talk to content producers/journalists

Run Social Media Competitions• We should regularly run competitions on Facebook and Twitter that will make users to “Like” our Facebook and Twitter pages and they stand a chance

to WIN a prize at the end of that campaign, this in return makes our Pages to be flooded with users and everytime we Retweet or share an article and more users can see the article and we have pretty good chances of users clicking throught to the article hence increasing our daily website traffic.


For content providers / Journalist

We create Twitter and Facebook accounts for all TNA Journalists, • They will regularly update their Tweets when they are at events and end the tweets with our official hashtag #thenewage• For every article written by an inhouse journo, it should also have his/her Twitter account link for users to comment and share views on the article

itself.

Interactivity• Journos should regularly retweet their articles and ask questions to their followers.

Sport Tweets• We introduce a new addition to our Twitter Page called #TNASPORT , it will mainly focus on LIVE sport coverage and our sport reporters will regu-

larly Tweet events at Sport stadiums and ofcource the LIVE feed will be linked to our website to drive more traffic to TNA.


Some Things We’ve Learned

• Multiple Tweets during a single program can cause more retweeting• Be Random---But Specifc• DON’T read listeners Tweets/ Postings on air• Direct Listeners to Conversation• Keep it Casual• Quick Contests Work


Questions

Any questions?

Social Media Strategy - By Thabo Ntai

Technology

Transcript of Social Media Strategy - By Thabo Ntai