Social Media best practices, presented by Jessica Best on the August 2014 NAGW webinar. In 2014, social media is no longer optional. At the very least, business leaders have to understand its impact and how it works. At its best, it's an impactful part of an integrated marketing strategy. This session is perfect for marketers who are already trying a social media channel or two or who are just dipping their toes into the social media water. Learn 10 things you should always do in social media and and 10 things you should never do, plus see great ideas from those who are innovative in social media and do it well.

1. Social Media:
The Good, the Bad and
the Wow!
Jessica Best
jbest@emfluence.com
@bestofjess or @emfluence

2. #NAGWwebinar
What is Social Media?
Web- and mobile-enabled marketing &
engagement channels that allow groups to
generate content and engage in peer-to-
peer conversations and exchange of
content (examples are Facebook, YouTube,
Twitter, blogs, email, etc.).

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The Draw of Social Media
• Low barrier to entry
• Immediate
• Trackable
• Cost-effective
• Sharable
@

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The Draw of Social Media
• 60% of marketers say they have generated
leads from social media sites, with over 50%
of those having generated revenue from social
media leads.
• Because of this success, 65% of respondents
plan to increase social media marketing
budget in 2014.
Source: webmarketing123

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What Social Media Isn’t
• A strategy
• A stand-alone channel
• A magic pathway to
success
Social Media + Digital Marketing + Traditional combine
to create successful communication.
Marketing Strategy
Digital
marketing
SEO
Social
Email
PPC

6. #NAGWwebinar
What Social Media Isn’t
• FREE
– It always costs your time, invested by you or your
marketing/PR/customer service department
– Budget $5K for paid/promoted posts, prizes for
giveaways, message management tools and
measurement tools
– Budget $25K to hire a consulting firm for market
and competitive research, social media strategy
and execution and targeted paid ad placement

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Understand why you want to utilize these channels
and what you want to accomplish.
• Sales and Marketing
• Branding
• Web Traffic
• Customer Support
• Reputation Management
• Hiring
• SEO
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What you’ll learn about Social Media if you stay awake
The Good = YES
10 things you should always do
The Bad = NO
10 things you should never do
The Wow That Kicked Ass

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What you’ll learn about Social Media if you stay awake
The Good = YES
10 things you should always do

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The Good
10 things you should always do
Focus on the majors.
• Facebook: 1.3 billion users spend 640 million
minutes on Facebook each month
• Twitter: 58 million tweets per day
• LinkedIn: 2 new users every second
• YouTube: 1 billion unique visitors each
month
Source: eMarketer, Socialnomics, LinkedIn, etc.
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The Good
10 things you should always do
Focus on the majors.
• 75.3% of B2C companies are the most active
on Facebook, followed by 8.4% on Twitter
and 6.2% on LinkedIn.
• B2B companies are active more evenly
across all three leading networks: 34.6%
Facebook, 25.6% Twitter, and 25.3%
LinkedIn.
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Source: Social Media Examiner

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The Good
10 things you should always do
Focus on the majors.
What do you want to accomplish? Which
channel(s) fit that goal best?
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@

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The Good
10 things you should always do
Know your audience.
• Where are your prospects in Social
Media?
• How do they use Social Media?
• Use Insights Tools on Facebook and
Google Analytics & Alerts.
2

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The Good
10 things you should always do
Know your audience.
• Alerts.2

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The Good
10 things you should always do
Listen first.
• How are your customers/prospects
using social media in your industry?
• What do they pay attention to?
3

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The Good
10 things you should always do
Engage. Have conversations.
• Tweets and posts don’t have to stay on
topic all the time.
• Keep topics light.
• Learn what gets people talking.
• You want people to always pay
attention to what you’re saying.
4

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The Good
10 things you should always do
Engage. Have conversations.
4

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The Good
10 things you should always do
Build relationships.
• This is relational marketing.
• Develop long-term relationships.
5

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The Good
10 things you should always do
Be timely
• Follow the trend,
if/when it’s relevant
to you.
6

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The Good
10 things you should always do
Learn from the success of others.
See how partners and competitors
have successfully utilized social
media to engage their customers.
Every social media plan is unique.
7

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The Good
10 things you should always do
Partner with others
• Who else suits your audience and how
can you play nicely together?
8

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The Good
10 things you should always do
Share good “stuff” – Jason Falls
• Share your own messages
– Entertain, inform, engage
• Share others 4-8x more than yourself
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The Good
10 things you should always do
Go beyond promotion.
• Social media provides easy access to
reputation research and management.
• Cast a wider net (think viral) for your newest
rockstar employee. (or your next employer?)
• Social media customer service can turn
squeaky wheels into evangelists.
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The Good
10 things you should always do
Go beyond promotion.
10
Within five minutes, @DunkinDonuts was following me on
Twitter. Five more minutes and they had tweeted at me to
send a direct message with my phone number. Five minutes
later they called, asking to know which Dunkin' Donuts this
happened at and what my experience had been. They took
my address and a week later I received a $10 gift card.

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The Good
10 things you should always do
Go beyond promotion.
10

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What you’ll learn about Social Media if you stay awake
The Bad = NO
10 things you should never do

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The Bad
10 things you should never do
Don’t post without a plan
• Define your goals up front
• Where/when can you find your
customers or prospects in social?
• How do you plan to interact with
them?
• How will you handle a crisis?
1

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The Bad
10 things you should never do
Don’t post without a plan
• Measure growth/engagement
– Google Analytics, Facebook Insights,
Crowdbooster Follower trends, click-throughs
1

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The Bad
10 things you should never do
Don’t anticipate mega $$.
• Social Media likely won’t
be a cash cow. Dell’s old
story is the exception.
• Definitely consider ROI in your efforts if
it’s part of your social media goals.
• Customer happiness > revenue
2 $6MM

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The Bad
10 things you should never do
Don’t ignore negative feedback.
• Engage with your current customers as
well as your prospects.
• If one person asks, there are likely
others watching to see your answer.
• Respond to questions and feedback in
a timely fashion.
3

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The Bad
10 things you should never do
Don’t ignore negative feedback.
3
Source: Shel Holtz, 2011

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The Bad
10 things you should never do
Don’t ignore negative feedback.
Etsy’s blog: “If you see any offensive material on here,
please let us know,” adding that comments are
welcome.
Comment: “If that’s the case, why is every single post
related to this person gone? There have been multiple
posts that I have personally viewed…and they have all
been deleted…The way Etsy is responding to this issue
is leaving a lot of your customers feeling as though
their thoughts and feelings do not matter.”
3

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The Bad
10 things you should never do
Don’t ignore negative feedback.
That comment was deleted, too.3

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The Bad
10 things you should never do
Don’t force the relationship.
• Keep your audience aware of your
presence, but don’t force the issue.
• People are looking to be your ‘friend.’
• But, don’t get too personal.
– Avoid inflammatory topics (politics,
religion, etc.)
4

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The Bad
10 things you should never do
Don’t do social media in a vacuum.
• It works best as part of a larger
marketing mix.
• Strategy should come from the
same main hub as other media.
– Don’t make a Social Media strategy. Make
a marketing strategy with a SM “spoke.”
5

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The Bad
10 things you should never do
Don’t do social media in a vacuum.
5

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The Bad
10 things you should never do
Don’t repeat others’ mistakes.
• Don’t repeat what others have
already done.
• Understand WHY the mistake was
made.
6

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The Bad
10 things you should never do
Don’t treat people like dollar signs.
• People engage because they are fans.
Help them become your advocates.
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The Bad
10 things you should never do
Don’t treat people like dollar signs.
• If you’re B2B,
be an expert!
Educate your
audience.
7

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The Bad
10 things you should never do
Don’t be forgettable.
• The second your posts get boring,
people will begin to ignore you.
8

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The Bad
10 things you should never do
Don’t ignore what employees.
• Are employees positive or negative
about your business?
• Use social to create an online sense of
community as your IRL business grows.
• Find willing representatives.
9

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The Bad
10 things you should never do
Don’t ignore what employees.
9

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The Bad
10 things you should never do
Don’t go on the defensive.
• Take feedback to heart.
• Kill ‘em with kindness instead.
• Legal action will confirm you as the
“bad guy”
10

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The Bad
10 things you should never do
Don’t go on the defensive.
10
Source: CNET, 2010

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The Bad
10 things you should never do
Go on the defensive.
10 A provocative Web video campaign
on behalf of Greenpeace's U.K. arm
targeted the food manufacturer as a
threat to the livelihoods of
orangutans, and according to
Greenpeace, Nestle lobbied to have
the video removed from YouTube,
citing a copyright complaint.
Cue plenty of free press for
Greenpeace.

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The Wow,
That ROCKS!

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Wow
H&R Block
Social Media is
year-round.
• Despite their
seasonality, email
and social don’t
stop in summer &
winter months.
$

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Wow
Downtown Council of Kansas City
Comment bait
is the new
link bait.
• Promotions that
gain interactions
keep you at the top
of the news feed.
$

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Wow
Donna’s Dress Shop
Tell stories. Use images!
$

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Wow
Donna’s Dress Shop
Extend the customer experience.
$

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Wow
Country Music TV
Behind the scenes at events
• CMT’s website has a page that
aggregates tweets from artists and
event hosts on the night of the event. It
provides awesome content that users
want from CMT artists on the CMT
main website to drive traffic “home.”
$

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Cross promote to grow.
Wow
Multi-media
$Invite your email subscribers to find you in
social media & vice versa. Tell them WIIFM?

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Wow
American Century Investments
Augment existing sponsorships.
With all the industry regulations,
American Century legally
prohibited from discussing $$.
$

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Ready for 2.0?
Don’t Just Add Social Media – Integrate It!
In 2014, you can't just launch a social media profile or assign it to the person
who is least busy in the office. Social media should be fully integrated into
your business, from research & development to customer service to
awareness and advocacy. Learn how to seamlessly integrate current and
emerging social media channels into your organization's plan for success.
3 key takeaways:
1. Integrating for branding and advocacy
2. Integrating for better customer service & consistent customer
experience
3. Learning to listen for more successful campaigns & outreach
Speaker: Jessica Best Session time: Wed, Sept. 10 @ 1:30-2:45PM
Venue: Breakout Room 2

55. Social Media:
The Good, the Bad and
the Wow!
Jessica Best
jbest@emfluence.com
@bestofjess or @emfluence