Makes the business case for organizations to invest at least some time and effort in a social media strategy, development of policies, and discusses best practices for beginning to engage with customers, employees, prospects and the community. Presented by Firecat Studio's CEO and Chief Web Strategist Susan Price to New Braunfels Chamber of Commerce, October 2009.

1. Social Media for Business
Waste of Time or Winning Strategy?
New Braunfels Chamber of Commerce

2. Do You Have Time for This?

3. Have you heard this one?
• “Social media is a fad. Like CB Radio.”
• “Our CEO wants a blog.”
• “Make sure our employees can’t access Facebook.
Or YouTube. Or LinkedIn.”
• “We need a Facebook fan page.”
• “Just put it out there, they will use it.”
• “Which of you whiny, ungrateful $#@ posted this?!”

4. Riding Technology Waves

5. Here Comes Everybody
Adults Using Social Networking Sites, 2005–2009
50
45
46
40
35
33
35
30
29
25
27
20
19
Ever Used
15
16
17
13
Yesterday
10
11
9
8
5
3
0
2
Pew/Internet

6. WHY SOCIAL MEDIA MATTERS
• 57% of all adults have a social media profile
• 50% of all social networkers check sites every day
• Twitter use growing at 400% per year
• Facebook is #2 destination on the web
• Average Facebook user has 120 friends
• 850 million photos updated to Facebook each
month
• YouTube serves a BILLION videos a day
Numbers we can’t ignore

7. Exercise:
Google Yourself

8. Substance or
Snake Oil?

9. Inside the Organization
“Social software is a trend that cannot be
ignored. It is bringing about fundamental
Jakob
change to the way people expect to
Nielsen, communicate with one another.
Nielsen
Norman
Group
Companies cannot use social tools with
their customers and not also allow their
employees to utilize them.”
Users spend most of their time on other sites

10. Social Media Players: Internal
• IT
• Employees
• HR and Benefits
• Departments
• Training
• Project Teams
• Governance
• Vendors / Contractors
• Management
Role-based personalization

11. Social Media Players: External
• Marketing
• Customers
• Communications
• Prospective customers
• Public Relations
• Press
• Community Affairs
• Industry analysts
• Customer Support
• Prospective employees
• HR/Staffing

12. Wikis
47
33
20
Blogs
45
35
20
Have Now
RSS
37
51
12
Considering
No Interest
Podcasts
23
47
30
Social Networking
19
71
10
0
20
40
60
80
100
Global Intranet Survey

13. Choices, Choices, Choices

14. The Big Three

15. Leverage LinkedIn
• Create or update your professional profile
• Create a company profile
• Reach out to your network(s)
• Ask and answer questions
• Join Groups
• Look at LinkedIn Advertising

16. Have Fun in Facebook
• Create or update your profile
• Create a company fan page or group
• Organize your friends
• First to know, first to tell
• Try some applications

17. Try Twitter
• Start with searches
• Practice active listening
• Follow your gurus
• Retweet stuff you like and find useful
• Talk about your passions

19. Remember, They’re Listening

20. Takeaways
1. Claim your profiles.
2. Friend and follow.
3. Lurk and learn.
4. Set up watch lists / keywords
5. Share with a STRATEGY

21. • Try it out, small steps
• Be authentic
• Set boundaries
• Subscribe to your mindfeed
• Listen, share, care
• Pilot, fail fast
• Measure your results
• Get help when you need it

22. • Ping.fm
• tatus updates across social media
S
• ocialOomph.com
S
Time-delayed Tweeting and more
• r. Tweet, Tweepler, Twellow
M
Find and follow, directories, publicizing
• weetDeck, Twhirl, Hootsuite, Seesmic
T
• ultiple accounts, organizing large accounts
M
TOOLS you can USE

23. @firecatsue
susanprice
http://profile.to/susanprice
firecatstudio.com
susan@firecatstudio.com

24. QUESTIONS DISCUSSION
Thanks for inviting me!