http://www.bizgrowthnews.com This presentation was given on the 17 November 2009 at the Content is King conference in Dublin, Ireland. In the presentation Krishna shared case studies of brands and businesses using social media in Ireland and across the globe. This presentation summarises the key tips Krishna presented. Connect with Krishna if you have questions about the presentation or how to use social media as part of your marketing, communications and visibility programme: ==> http://www.twitter.com/krishnade ==> http://www.facebook.com/marketingmentor ==> http://www.bizgrowthnews.com

1. 20 Social Media Best Practice Tips in 20 Minutes
Speaker: Krishna De, BizGrowthNews.com
© Krishna De, BizGrowthNews.com

2. This is a summary of the key points of a
presentation given by Krishna De at
conference ‘Content is King’.
In the presentation, Krishna covered 20 social
media marketing and communication tips in 20
minutes covering specific case studies from
Ireland and across the globe.
BEFORE you develop your social media
marketing programme remember to:
1.Be clear about your marketing and
communication goals
2.Evaluate which social media channel could
support you in achieving those goals
3.Establish your key performance indicators
and what success will look like
for your business
Social media is free or low cost, but before ‘jumping in’,
make sure it is relevant to your communication goals
© Krishna De, BizGrowthNews.com

3. 1. START WITH LISTENING: You don’t need to actively participate in the social
scene to benefit from it - even if you never plan to write a blog post, publish a
Tweet or create a Facebook page, you can uncover great opportunities by
listening to the conversations taking place
2. SHARE YOUR BACK STORY: Platforms like Flickr.com enable you to share
information about your business, bringing your brand to life and importantly
start to help you start to build relationships with customers and clients
3. CROWD SOURCE CONTENT: Consider how you could encourage your
customers and clients to share their experiences of your business, product or
service e.g. run competitions where they share videos, photos and feedback
4. TARGET YOUR ADVERTISING ON FACEBOOK: Tap in to the growing
Facebook community by running targeted advertising to build visibility for your
business and bringing traffic back to your website
Even if you don’t plan to use social media, listen to what
people are saying about your brand, product or service
© Krishna De, BizGrowthNews.com

4. 5. DEVELOP A COMMUNITY ON FACEBOOK: Create a Facebook Group or a
Facebook Page for your business. Provide your community with a reason to join
you through offering unique, relevant content and an opportunity to engage
directly with you
6. CUSTOMISE YOUR FACEBOOK PAGE: Extend your visual identity to your
Facebook page using the FBML application
7. SHARE YOUR OFFLINE PROMOTIONS: Make sure you let your community
on your business blog, Facebook, Twitter or other social network know about the
offers and promotions you are making offline
8. RESPOND QUICKLY: If you decide to use social media platforms, assign
accountability and train a member of your team in the role of Community Manager
so they can monitor the conversations and respond as required to issues and
questions being raised
Take time to learn and develop your own and your
teams skills in social media communications
© Krishna De, BizGrowthNews.com

5. 9.LINK BACK TO YOUR WEBSITE: Use the opportunity to link back to your
main website so people can find out more about your products and services e.g.
add a link in your bio on Twitter or a link in the side bar of your Facebook page
10.CONTENT AND CONVERSATION TONE: Just as with your marketing
communication in other media, make sure that the specific tone and content takes
into account your target audience
11. BUILD RELATIONSHIPS WITH BLOGGERS: Take the time to research and
get to know bloggers who are interested in your products and services. Invest in
that relationship as you would with reporters, researchers and journalists in
traditional media
12. HAVE A STRONG VISUAL IDENTITY: Express your brand online ensuring
that it is consistent with your brand identity e.g. customise your Twitter page, use
a distinctive avatar on Facebook or Twitter
Nurture your community online by sharing
relevant and compelling content
© Krishna De, BizGrowthNews.com

6. 13. HAVE A CLEAR CALL TO ACTION ON TWITTER: As your messages have
to be 140 characters or less, it’s important to have a clear call to action to
encourage people to click on the link you share in your Tweets (of course this also
applies for any marketing copy)
14. CREATE ANTICIPATION: Use the opportunity of developing a community to
build anticipation of your new products and services and use the wisdom of your
community inviting them to offer views and participate in research when
developing new offerings
15. PROVIDE RELEVANT OFFERS: When offering discounts and offers to your
community, find ways to track the success of your promotions using reference
codes (Note: check the promotional guidelines relevant to the social media
platform you are using to ensure your competition or promotion is allowed under
their terms of reference)
16. ENHANCE YOUR CUSTOMER SERVICE: Consider whether you could use
your presence on social media platforms to enhance your customer experience for
example answering customer service questions
Engage your community online and find ways to
encourage their input and feedback
© Krishna De, BizGrowthNews.com

7. 17. FIND WAYS TO GROW YOUR ‘OPT IN’ LIST: Use the opportunity to add
the details of your ezine sign up box on social networking platforms or your blog
so that people can subscribe to your mailing list allowing you the opportunity to
communicate with them direct
18. SHOW YOUR ARE SOCIAL: Add code and links from your main web
presence to show your website visitors that you have a presence on social media
platforms and a reason for them to join your community
19. INTEGRATE ONLINE AND OFFLINE CHANNELS: Reference your social
media channels in your offline advertising from print to radio to TV
20. ENCOURAGE SHARING OF YOUR CONTENT: Even if you do not plan to
actively participate or publish content in social media channels, take the
opportunity to get your web master to add code to your website to encourage your
visitors to share your content (articles, online videos and promotions) with their
friends e.g. by email, on Twitter or Facebook
Measure and evaluate your experience on social media
platforms and refine your communication programme
© Krishna De, BizGrowthNews.com

8. Join Krishna’s marketing mentor page on Facebook
www.facebook.com/marketingmentor
Read Krishna’s marketing and social media tips at
www.bizgrowthnews.com
Find Krishna at LinkedIn
www.krishnaonlinkedin.com
Follow Krishna on Twitter
www.krishnaontwitter.com
Watch Krishna’s video’s on YouTube
www.krishnaonyoutube.com
Irish Social media case studies
www.socialmediaireland.com
Let’s keep in touch
© Krishna De, BizGrowthNews.com