Part two of my presentation series for the Intro to Social Media Tools class I teach at Carroll Community College. This presentation provides information on the benefits for business, content types and best practices of each social network, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Google+ and Tumblr.
Capstone slidedeck for my capstone final edition.pdf
Intro to Social Media Tools: The Social Networks
1. Intro to Social Media Tools:
The Social Networks
Mary Ann Davis
Carroll Community College | 2016
2. The Social Networks: An In-depth Look
Source: Pew Research, Social Media Update 2014
• Benefits for business
• Content types
• Best practices for
posting
4. Why Use Social Media?
• Market Research
Lets you get to know your customers.
• Customer Service
Allows you to address customer questions & provide
solutions to complaints.
• Relationship Management
Provides opportunities to form relationships with industry
experts and brand advocates, for promoting your business.
5. Why Use Social Media?
• Website Marketing
Offers linking functionality to drive traffic to your website & can
positively impact search engine optimization (SEO) as search
engines factor social engagement.
• Lead Generation
Helps to generate leads with the use of apps & attaching free
assets to content posts.
• Sales
Supports the purchasing of products & services through ratings,
reviews, recommendations, likes, shares and purchasing apps.
6. Shopping: Average Purchases
$65 $58.95 $55
$46.29 $44.24 $40
Source: HubSpot, Where Social Commerce Revenue Comes From, Jan. 14, 2015
7. Why Use It?
Builds awareness & engagement of local businesses
– from page likes or search
Users often provide product & service
recommendations
Provides higher impact on purchasing decisions than
other social media networks
Increases trustworthiness
8. Why Use It?
Fastest way to spread news.
Reaches audiences who seek late breaking news
Use of hashtags helps increase post visibility
Gives an impression of being a social savvy business.
Helps to stay on top of industry & market segment
trends.
Good for establishing relationships with expert
influencers & brand advocates
9. Why Use It?
Ability to visually showcase products & services.
Less cluttered feed – posts are more likely to be
noticed.
Character limits aren’t a factor.
Ability to search for content based on hashtags &
location interests.
Mobile friendly.
10. Why Use It?
Content has an evergreen value – discover & search
powers Pinterest
Pinners are open to business marketing & eager to
connect with brands – posts can serve as collectible
inspiring content
Influences purchases – majority of Pinners used
Pinterest to decide what to buy & it aids in-store
shopping
Pinners have larger shopping carts than Facebook
Provides insight on emerging trends
11. Why Use It?
More important for B2B
Effective for announcing B2B product launches
Most effective social network for lead generation
Third most used social network among business
owners
One of the most successful for recruiting talent
12. Why Use It?
Helps businesses rank higher in Google Search
Aids in boosting Google Adwords quality score
Posts are indexed in Google Search
Increases visibility to YouTube videos
Can be used as mini blog platform – 100,000 character
limit
Brands can participate in Communities
13. Why Use It?
Serves as a blog & social network – allows for
#hashtags, likes, shares and follows
Posts can feature images, video, audio & short pieces of
writing
Blog accessibility via the Web = search engine indexing
Mobile friendly publishing platform
15. Top Content Types
How-to posts – problem/solution related
Lists – supporting points on particular topic
What – information on a specific topic with details comparing
one point to another
Why – provide a reason or purpose with details that support a
focused conclusion
Videos – self-explanatory, providing the audience with a
dynamic visual of the topic
16. Content
Focus: Friends, Family & Community
Good for:
B2C
Photos, videos & image quotes
Website links
Simple targeted questions
Offers
Event registration
Information on local businesses & events
17. Content
Focus: News, Professional, Pop-culture, Real-time
Good for:
B2C & B2B
Events (e.g. live tweeting)
Real-time focused conversations (i.e. Twitter Chats)
Website links – used with a url shortening service
(e.g. Bitly, Tiny Url)
Photos & Video (60 seconds)
Second screening
24. Best Practices
Post 2 - 3 times a day
Keep text short – 40 characters
Check in & encourage others to check in
Tag other pages - @Name
Highlight important posts – Pin to Top and Milestones
25. Best Practices
Tweet 4 – 6 times a day
Follow character limits – 140, but it’s best not to max out
to allow commentary for retweets (RT)
Use URL shortners for links
Utilize #hashtags for increased visibility
Tag & direct message with @TwitterHandle
26. Best Practices
Use high quality images
Follow dimension size – 1800 x 1800
Improve photos with filters
Utilize #hashtags for increase visibility
Highlight user generated content (e.g. Repost app)
Add emojis - they’re searchable
27. Best Practices
Pin at least 1 – 5 times a day
Organize Pin Boards
Design visually inspiring Pins – taller is better for mobile
Craft thoughtful short descriptions & include appropriate
keywords
Link to a useful & relevant website
Create Rich Pins (e.g. app, movie, recipe, article, product &
place)
Repin others’ content & encourage Repins with “Pin for Later”
28. Best Practices for Pin Boards
Give boards clear names
Set a compelling cover pin
Use secret boards as a staging tool
Organize board from most – least relevant
Try to create boards that tell a story
29. Best Practices
Post 2 – 3 times a day
Concise intros & snappy headlines
Include a call to action
Add targeted audience filters – for reaching niche
audiences
Tag appropriate connections
30. Best Practices
Post 4 – 6 times a day
Tag with +Name
Format text
Add keywords to post titles
Include appropriate #hashtags
Use Collections as mini blogs
Engage with others in Communities
31. Best Practices
Post 1 – 3 times a day
Add fun engaging content – photos, videos, memes &
gifs
Include images – most popular for reblogging
Provide insightful commentary to content you reblog
Link to your website
Link images to your Tumblr Page
Use #hashtags
Tag with Tumblr usernames
32. Mary Ann Davis
Digital Marketer & Strategist
Providing business with strategic marketing
solutions, focusing on digital marketing that
compliments traditional marketing, and
teaching people how to use social media to
promote businesses.
about.me/mary_ann_davis
mary_ann_davis@outlook.com