Social Media Handbook

The Omobono
Social Media
Handbook
Social Media Marketing in B2B

#Contents
Introduction 3 Management Platforms 24 Content 40
Streams Planning and calendars
Strategy 4 Scheduling Relevance
Process and workflow Making the most of content – fragmenting
Why social media?
Offline notifications Blogging and content creation
What constitutes success?
Reporting ‘Think, think, think’
The B2B Stigma
Going mobile - smartphones, apps
Conversation and governance and rich media
Reporting 48
Approach 8 Listening 30
Introduction Introduction
Creating value Mapping the landscape and
Content segmenting the audience
Customer service How can it be done for free?
Community manager(s) Enterprise level and paid solutions
Thought leadership
Tools 36
The Three Cs 16
Browser extensions tools and time-saving tips
Why? In the cloud
Content Browser extensions
Conversation
Connections

The Omobono Social Media Handbook Page 3 of 51

Introduction
Social media is a relatively new phenomenon, with the first sites that were widely recognise
as social networks landing in the late 1990s. Mainstream offerings such as the now obsolete
Friendster and MySpace arrived on the scene in 2002/3 respectively and public adoption of
social media took off in a big way.

As a rule of thumb, a social network’s core and fast moving consumer goods, particularly same fashion as mainstream social media,
function is built on the capability of users to entertainment brands; they saw the market for LinkedIn’s growth began with individuals, who
create content and interact with each other. these sites as a channel to reach consumers on used the site to build a network of professional
Interaction is often based around a single topic their own terms. contacts, search for jobs and communicate across
such as sharing videos (YouTube), sharing the world of business.
photos (Flickr), or writing and sharing words The earliest marketing on social networks came
(blogs). Other networks, such as Facebook, in the form of banner advertising, hosted on Jump to 2012 and social media has moved
and increasingly Twitter, allow users to do user’s web pages, although it was not long before on significantly from when users simply built
all of this in one place. There are also many industrious marketers began to make use of a personal webpage and communicated with
sites that comprise a ‘social layer’, intended to sites in the way they were intended; by building others either in the public eye, using sites such
facilitate interaction around content owned by their own profiles. In the early days of social as MySpace, or behind a wall, as with LinkedIn.
the site. News sites such as The Guardian and networking, music was very much a driving force Whilst this core functionality has remained, the
prominent blogs including Mashable have built up behind adoption. MySpace in particular, which scope for business use, on a personal, campaign
communities in this fashion, allowing users almost offered bands and artists customisable profile and corporate level is now impossible to ignore.
the same functionality as a standalone social templates with music streaming functionality, Facebook, the world’s largest social network,
network, just excluding the ability to publish the saw incredible growth powered by musicians has more than 900 million users, and the current
site’s core content. using pages to interact directly with fans in a way number of connected internet users worldwide
that had never been done before. Comedians, stands at more than 2.27 billion, meaning that
Strictly speaking, social networks were not filmmakers, photographers and other high more than a third of people using the internet
originally intended to be marketplaces. In profile entertainment users were all critical in visit this one site. These figures are astounding
marketing terms, the first social networks allowed popularising the personal web. and grow all the time, arguably proving the social
users to market themselves, connecting with web to be the most important marketing channel
friends, family, colleagues and anyone they desired Business to business marketers were slower to available to us in terms of reach.
through the medium of their own website. The embrace the power of the mainstream social
earliest adopters of social media for business web, instead looking to LinkedIn, ‘the professional
came from the world of business to consumer social network’ launched in early 2003. In the

#Strategy

Why social media?
What constitutes success?
The B2B Stigma
Conversation and governance


Why social media?
As important as it is to start engaging in A good example comes from everyone’s favourite What constitutes success?
social media activity, it’s equally important corporate scapegoat, Ryanair, whose social media Early on in any social media strategy campaign
presence numbers more than 80,000 on Facebook plan, it’s important to consider what a successful
to have a clear idea of what you hope to alone. However, these ‘fans’ mostly use the page campaign will be. Or, to put it another way; what do
achieve from a business perspective. Social to complain about extortionate fees and poor you hope to achieve by engaging in social media?
media is not ‘the answer’ but it is a hugely customer service, unlike Ryanair themselves, who The answer might not be immediately obvious,
important channel and a clear strategy is haven’t used the page for anything since mid-2009. you don’t even need to finalise it before you start
essential in order to make the most of Fortunately, not every company is as unpopular strategising, but it should always be at the forefront
as Ryanair, but the message remains. Know what of your thinking and once established, should be at
social media. Equally, social media requires you want to achieve before you get started, and be the core of everything you do.
a significant commitment, not only in prepared to maintain your commitment to social
terms of human resource to manage the media channels, even if things don’t go according In strategic terms, it’s essential to not just
to plan at first. consider the ultimate aim of the campaign but
network, but also to allow time for the to put a strategy in place to actively achieve this.
campaign to have an impact. Historically There are dangers associated with social media Equally, as soon as it becomes evident, you’ll need
there have been many lazy attempts to and the need to have a process in place for to outline a set of goals and key performance
use social media without a strategy and dealing with them, a social media strategy is indicators that will help you gauge whether the
far too big of a concept to put on paper in a campaign is to be deemed a success. So what
a neglected social media presence is
single chapter. Every business is different, every are these KPIs? The size and rate of growth of
frequently far worse than no social media business’ marketing goals are different. The your audience? The number of retweets your key
presence at all. notion of ‘best practice’ in social media is so content receives? In short, yes; if these numbers
wide-reaching that it’s far better to aim for ‘good are key to your success in social media.
In the past, many brands engaging in social media, practice’ based on what has worked well for
without a clear strategy in place, have simply companies looking to achieve a similar goal. Ultimately, every marketing channel should be
ended up creating a large forum for untended tailored to achieve a positive return on investment,
public customer complaints. It’s a fear many A strategy needs to cover numerous areas or to gain enough benefit from a channel to
companies now have when entering the world including, but not limited to; content, approach, offset an un-recouped investment. In social
of social media. If time and budget constraints reasons for using social media, guidelines and media terms, we consider ‘return on engagement’
don’t allow you to address such concerns, serious the ultimate aim, that is to say what would be to be the key driver of any campaign. Broadly
thought should be given to whether or not to deemed a success. We will be touching on all this is the same concept as ROI, but tailored to
delay a social media push. these areas separately, but we will address some account for social media activity as an attempt
of the basics here. to achieve engagement.


The B2B ‘Stigma’
Before we continue; a quick note on the inherent So, whilst B2B marketers are no longer facing an “ o longer does ‘liking’ a
N
differences between a business to business uphill battle when it comes to actually gaining
audience and a business to consumer audience an audience, there are still different approaches
business refer explicitly
and the ‘stigma’ that has previously surrounded for each audience, given the obvious differences to expressing a positive
social media activity in B2B. Much of the between customers. If anything, the B2B marketer sentiment, instead it is simply
terminology associated with social media (+1, does still have a harder job than their B2C
‘Like’…) is inherently positive in sentiment counterpart. As an example, the B2B audience recognised as a desire to hear
and was historically consumer focused in this is technically made up of consumers, just like from them”
sense. Fortunately, since common social media the B2C audience, however, these consumers are
terminology has been adopted into everyday in reality your customers, clients and numerous
conversation, so too, has the literal meaning of other stakeholders. Each of whom is interested in
these terms diminshed – in the digital language a specific part of your business and more than just
at least. No longer does ‘liking’ a business refer a short-lived discount from their preferred coffee
explicitly to expressing a positive sentiment shop or the release date for a new phone.
for the business, instead it is simply recognised
as a desire to hear from or speak with the
company. ‘Liking’ is now simply the process of
engaging with the company, for whatever reason.
Furthermore, recent announcements from
Facebook dictate that the ‘Like’ functionality of
the site will be replaced with a custom field that
allows the user or business to change the term to
better suit the action, audience or content.


Conversation and Governance
A one or two way street? good starting point would be to look at corporate to a level that if a community manager needs to
There is no denying the fact that social code of conduct, terms of employment and any think about their response, they need to approve it
media is a proverbial ‘two way street’, existing media strategy. with someone senior.
social media is built on the ability to These topics, depending on the nature of a
converse and a conversation cannot be business, could include competitor discussion,
discussing certain individuals, products, areas of
one sided - although a choice can be made
the business and much more depending on the
to not engage in a conversation. industry. In each instance it’s also important to
have a set of guidelines in place to dictate the
The approach chosen here is broadly a strategic
response that should be made.
decision as not responding to incoming messages,
a purely ‘push’ approach, alienates customers’ Governance
ability to resolve an issue through the channel When it comes to social media, governance is
– and their ability to subsequently compliment essential. Establishing a set of guidelines at an
you on a good service. Equally, responding to early stage will ensure you encounter far fewer
only certain messages will leave some users questions in your day to day activities. The idea
unsatisfied, which is potentially even worse. These of a ‘community manager’ or group thereof, is
are the key factors to consider at a strategic level. that they will be able to manage a community,
without having to stop and ask questions every
The approach that will ultimately be taken to
five minutes. It’s also important that community
conversation and responses will be covered in
managers know what their activities are intended
more depth below, as guidelines for responses,
to achieve, what boundaries they can and must
including times, tone and resolution an essential
not cross, what subjects are off limits and how to
part of any social media policy, especially in a
address or work around them.
business environment.
Social media guidelines stem from the social
The major concern with engaging in a two way
media strategy; once you outline what you intend
conversation is the possibility of ‘dangerous’
to achieve from social media, you can establish
topics coming up and these ‘no-go’ areas need
the means to get there. This goes all the way
to be defined and considered long before the first
back to the first step; ‘Creating value from social
post. Understanding what topics are dangerous to
media’. The basic aim of social media guidelines
the company is essential when it comes to social
is to allow a community manager to work
media - and communications generally - so a
unheeded on their own. The aim should be to get

#Approach

Introduction
Creating value
Content
Customer service
Community manager(s)
Thought leadership


Introduction
It’s important to realise the difference a user to ‘like’ a brand is therefore tantamount “ uch of the stigma associated
M
between strategy, guidelines and the overall to asking for a public personal recommendation
to all of their friends, family and colleagues. with ‘Liking’ a band on
approach taken to social media. There is Furthermore, in the world of B2B marketing, Facebook has now subsided,
some overlap, as each feeds into the other there’s a potential barrier between potential although it’s still a pressing
two, but what approach to take and how customers’ personal space and the businesses
to make that decision is a significant topic with which they work. Many would suggest users issue in many people’s eyes”
all on its own and there are a number of would be reticent to promote the businesses
they work with/for in their private life. Much of
considerations to be made. the stigma associated with ‘Liking’ a brand on
Before making any decisions, it’s important to Facebook has now subsided, although it’s still a
realise that social networks weren’t originally set pressing issue in many people’s eyes. With this in
up to be a marketplace and many users still see mind, you might be asking yourself;
them as an exclusively private space. A space ‘How can we connect with people using social
they don’t consider appropriate for businesses to media, without upsetting anyone and still make
target their attention. This applies particularly to any kind of impact?’
Facebook users, whose pages frequently contain
far more immediately personal data than a Twitter
feed. In fact, ‘Liking’ a brand or product on
Facebook publishes an update on the user’s feed
which can be seen by all their contacts. Getting


Creating Value
The ultimate aim in social media is to It may seem obvious, but knowing what your and what are they discussing? This is an audience
create value for your audience as an audience wants from you allows you to tailor your that is already in place, so it’s important to engage
social media activity to keep them engaged and these users first, in the manor by which they’d
engaged audience will deliver a far greater promote yourself accordingly and appropriately. prefer to be reached. Additionally, if there’s little
ROI. This means that the first point of call If your ultimate aim is to increase awareness, or no discussion of your business or products
must be to gain followers (ironic, I know), and increase sales, using ‘The 3 Cs’, the 80/20 on a particular social network, it’s unlikely your
allowing you to increase ‘true reach’, approach (more on this in a moment) and customers will be particularly receptive to your
establish a position of thought leadership engaging your audience will increase interaction efforts to engage them here.
across the board, including amplification of news
and a network of engaged followers. releases and company updates. The message
Without this, social media activity is simply here is that social media success is not an exact
an ‘also-ran’, rather than something that science; you will need to learn how to use it to
‘earns its keep’ or ‘pays for itself ’, so to reach the goals you set.
speak. An engaged audience, regardless Listen to your customers
of size, is far more beneficial than a large One way of establishing where the value might
audience with no interest in your company lie is through the study of analytics. One very
simple way to understand what your customers
– which is sadly far easier to achieve.
want is to look at what they look at. To be more
In order to maximise value for your audience, specific, studying website analytics to understand
consider what they would be most interested the pages of your website your external audience
to hear from you. Consider the areas of your most frequently reach from natural search terms,
expertise or campaign that you would most the user journey once they reach them and
intuitively imagine to be popular and you might the content they seek out. These are the parts
come up with discounts. But think between the of your business that your audience is most
lines about the audience you want to reach, actively interested in and these are the areas your
consider what you know about them, ‘listen’ and activities should initially be focused.
you might find that there’s a lot more interest in
In addition to studying web analytics, it’s equally
events and guides to using products and then, to a
important to ‘listen’ to the social media discussion
lesser extent, discounts – after all, why give people
when making these decisions, nothing is more
money off when they will happily pay full price.
valuable than understanding if people are already
This approach has worked very well for Apple
discussing you on social media, and if so, who
over the past decade.


Content
Throughout this book we will continue to ultimately, boring. Reverse that ratio and things must be aware of the on-going conversation,
promote the importance of content and look a lot different. If your date subtly slips into ownership, relationship, past/pending timeline
conversation the fact that they recently bought and established tone. This is facilitated by the use
the approach taken to content. Content a new Ferrari, make a lot of money and used to of social media management platforms, which
creation, amplification and curation date a supermodel, you’ll likely be subliminally we covered in Chapter 5. When multiple account
is central to the day to day activity of impressed at how successful they are. In short; managers are used, which is an increasingly
your social media presence. Content is imagine you want to date your followers and you’ll popular approach, especially in the customer
covered separately later as part of ‘The be on the right track. service function, in much the same manner that
Tone of voice a call centre operative would, the conversation is
3 Cs’ approach to social media and also now being made in the public sphere, rather than
in Chapter 8, so we will stick simply to While we’re on the subject of talking to your
audience, it’s important to think about how directly to just one customer. As with strategy,
picking an approach to content in this you will be talking to them. Essentially, social goals and the overall approach, tone of voice
chapter, namely ‘The 80/20 Rule’. media is a channel that broadcasts an entire should be a constant, pre-determined from day
company/division’s opinion within a short one and central to all activities. Each and every
Most social media practitioners preach an 80/20 message, multiple times a day. It’s important to message is now a part of your brand footprint.
rule of 20% promotional activity against 80% understand that whilst an account may be solely
‘community management’. Whilst social media, used for a single campaign to promote a project
ultimately, is about promoting yourself, simply or report, audience segmentation means that
using it for that purpose will see your followers to any individual, your messages could be their
tire quickly. If you apply the 80/20 rule to a first only touch point with the company. It is therefore
date, which is ultimately what is happening when essential that this touch point delivers them
a user stumbles across your brand online, then appropriate content professionally and in line
you should end up with a phone number at the with policy and their expectations. If different
end of the night – or an email address/follow/like divisions run social media accounts that one user
depending on what social network/website the follows, this unified tone becomes arguably more
date is taking place on. important. There are many thoughts around the
Imagine, if you will, that you’re on real a first correct way to approach this but it should start
date with someone who spends 80% of the time with the business’ code of conduct and media
discussing how much money they make (business spokesperson guidelines.
results), their past lovers (deals and partnerships),
Tone of voice becomes even more important
and how fast their new Ferrari is (acquisitions),
when utilising multiple account managers to
you’re going to see them as shallow, boastful and,
run one account, as each account manager


Customer Service
When considering social media as a
channel, it’s important to understand and
consider all the options and variables.
Social media is a two way street, regardless
of how you choose to use it.
Adopting a broadcast mentality and strategy
does not mean that you will not receive incoming
messages. If your business provide a product or
service that requires customer support, there’s
a high probability that requests for support may
begin to come in via social media. Understanding
that this is part of the conversation will allow you
to deal with these enquiries appropriately and
swiftly. The approach you choose to take in this
manner will branch out into multiple different
aspects of social media as your use of the
channel continues to grow.
Many businesses have taken to social media,
particularly Twitter, as a means of providing
customer service in addition to a dedicated
call centre and email team. Microsoft has been
championing this approach since early 2009 using
the Twitter account @MicrosoftHelps to resolve
customer issues. The immediacy of Twitter as a
platform and the short-form messages makes for a
quick and efficient service – equally impressive is
the commitment to solving customer issues in the
public eye, rather than through offline, controlled
mediums such as telephone enquiries.


Community manager(s)
Social media is a time consuming activity, level is only made possible with the use of a
particularly when part of your strategy and social media management platform, which
we will cover in more detail later, allowing the
approach involves engagement. Running creation of a workflow process, assignments
a social media presence with multiple and ‘case ownership’ to streamline the activity.
account managers can be a great way to The additional benefit of this approach is that
solve some of the problems arising due additional team members can be brought into the
to time constraints, especially given the workflow through the use of offline notifications.
This means that a subject matter expert can be
immediate nature or social media and lack brought in as an additional community manager
of uniform ‘office hours’ globally. However, to generate relevant content, without the need to
when an account is being run by more be ‘online’ as much as other team members.
than one user, it’s important to understand Social media is free, in the sense that the networks
some of the risks, and considerations, from themselves can be utilised free of charge.
an audience perspective of conversation, However, the resource needed to run a social
‘case’ ownership, the previously discussed media presence effectively is anything but free.
So whilst social activity can be undertaken in
tone of voice and more.
many ways dependent on available time resource,
As a starting point, it’s worth considering whether budget and goals, it’s important to both get the
the account will be publicly operated by multiple most from the time available and also to ensure
account managers or whether this is a behind the activity, no matter how little or how much, doesn’t
scenes function and all messages are seemingly stray too far from the overall aims and goals of
sent by the same person. This will play into both the social media strategy. Multiple people acting
tone of voice and personality as whilst a unified as community managers can be a good way to
tone of voice is important, multiple community spread this resource requirement, although the
managers will offer different approaches, within optimum solution in the long term for businesses
the overall agreed approach, bringing a little looking to engage in extensive activity will always
variety into the content but also making the be to identify or hire one or numerous social
community manager role more straightforward. media specialists to fill the role.

Running an account with multiple community
managers to any kind of a guideline-compliant


Thought Leadership
Thought leadership as an approach to A good example is Cisco’s CTO Padmasree “ rends have moved from
T
marketing positioning is nothing new. Warrior, whose 1.3 million Twitter followers
are used to seeing opinion passed on new years, months and weeks,
Companies the world over have used technological announcements with the to days, hours and even
thought leadership to establish a position perspective of the head of technology in a world- minutes.”
of credibility and expertise around their leading technology company.
company, industry and amongst their
competition. In social media, thought
leadership comes with immediacy. Instead
of compiling ‘trends’ in a monthly or
quarterly report, we can comment, in real
time, on areas related to our industry.
Twitter’s ‘Trending Topics’ demonstrate that
‘trends’ have moved from years, months and
weeks, to days, hours and even minutes. In some
instances trends have become shorter lived, in
The potential downside to this fact is that
others they are on-going, the magic of social
employees, particularly more senior staff,
media comes in harnessing trends and discussion
referencing your business as part of their online
as a means for promotion and market positioning.
profile can be taken as thought leaders, even if
Thought leadership is a strategy that many this is not intended. This can be controlled as
companies utilise via social media, the aim is to part of your employee code of conduct, perhaps
establish themselves as leaders in a particular generating two tiers of social media regulation.
field by creating and sharing content around a One level for employees who cannot be identified
particular topic as well as passing opinion or as part of your business, another for those
statements on curated content. Many senior choosing to share this information. This kind of
executives practice this approach using a personal governance can allow additional control over
account on behalf of a company. your brand in the public sphere and safeguard
against negative impact from your staff ’s personal
internet activity.

#The Three Cs

Why?
Content
Conversation
Connections
Content, conversation, connections


The Three Cs is an approach to social The 3 Cs work by making sure you always have avid brand advocates, users you’d like to amplify
media that factors in the major elements good Content to post, whether your own (blogs, your messages and anyone who communicates
videos, photos etc.) or borrowed (third party inwardly with you. Finally, Connections leads on
needed to drive a campaign. This content used to establish a position of thought from conversation, in that your network is your tool,
approach is intended to act as a safeguard, leadership). This will see your activity never gets not the platform itself. Once you have a network
ensuring a company engaging with social stale and boring. Conversation is all about, well, of engaged followers including thought leaders,
media doesn’t make the obvious mistakes. conversation, ensuring you engage your most ‘mavens’, media, local and industry advocates
your (subtle) promotional messages will travel
a lot further.
When it comes to content, it’s tempting to think
that the more you can put out, the better, and there
is power in numbers, but don’t lose sight of the
Content
Yours, mine ours
Curation
+
creation
reasons for engaging in social media; conversation,
analysis, feedback, CRM, the list goes on… Keep
them central to everything you do, in line with the
social media strategy, chosen approach and both
the policy and guidelines and finally, remember that
The social media is definitely one channel where the old

3Cs Conversation Collaborative adage of quality, not quantity is really true.
+
collective
Not control Why
The 3 Cs approach focus on the ultimate goal
of social media; Connections. Put differently,
‘connections’ could be as general as a company’s
Connections
Community
building ‘audience’, or as specific as ‘customers’, ‘clients’,
+ ‘media’ and many other things. However, the
Relationships drive your business story
sharing key thing is that these relationships drive your
business. The Three C model is at the heart of
social media interaction.


Content
The first thing to understand when Good content establishes thought experts to partake in the activity at the request
approaching social media as a business is leadership of an account manager, without the need to be
Social media represents an incredible outlet for ‘online’ 24/7 waiting for news to drop.
the importance of good content. Whether business, offering companies the opportunity
original or curated from other sources, to establish a position of thought-leadership by Regularity is key
social media activity is not possible sharing the considerable expertise that resides Content creation is time consuming, making it
within an organisation. A mixture of content unsustainable as the only source of social media
without content. activity for a business. Additionally, as discussed
discussing the relevance of current affairs to
Content drives search your business, innovations in relevant fields, staff previously, the 80/20 rule of social media
The content you create, particularly on company experiences, opinion pieces and, within reason, communication comes into play when creating
blogs, is indexed by search engines, meaning that almost anything that makes good reading, are original content. In order to be truly successful
any content you publish creates a new way for all excellent places to start and can often times and sustainable, content curation comes into
somebody to find your company online. Obviously lead to publicity for your business. Traditional PR play, the practice of sharing relevant third party
this means there’s a benefit to publishing the has shown that industry leaders commenting on content to further perpetuate a position of
aforementioned promotional content, but this relevant current affairs is a popular news format, thought leadership and understanding. Regular
is not necessarily the content that returning so creating timely content on a public blog and content is the key to successful social media
users and the people you want to work with are sharing via social media alongside your traditional activity in business and whether content is original
interested to read. It is also frequently not the PR activities can lead to unforeseen benefits. or curated from other relevant channels, it should
best-performing content when it comes to natural be correctly referenced (don’t steal it!) and remain
search traffic. Instead, a mixture of engaging Furthermore, the immediacy of short-form on topic. This approach doesn’t stop the need
content, from a number of sources, across a social media such as Twitter and Facebook for original content to be created regularly too,
number of topics, is the correct approach. Most allows subject matter experts to offer insight and following the 80/20 rule, even an account posting
experts preach the 80/20 rule with only 20% of comment in real-time on breaking news topics just 10 times a week will need new content
content actively promoting the business. For more and trends as they surface and peak. Making weekly. Upgrade that to 10 posts a day and
information and detail on blogging in B2B, see use of a social media management platform and that’s a daily need for fresh content, this is where
Chapter 8; ‘Content’. offline notifications, as detailed in Chapter 5, allow content calendars, planning and understanding


how to get the most from each piece of content ‘headlines’, i.e. things that will grab attention, and “ ven an account posting just
E
comes into play. We will be covering this in detail don’t forget the hashtag! That said, Live tweeting
in Chapter 8; ‘Content’. can, however, be a great way to accumulate new 10 times a week will still need
followers. Most people following an event hashtag new content weekly”
As a side note, content cannot get more regular are actually in the same room as you (Yes, this
than ‘live tweeting’, the idea being that through is the world we live in!) so users will often follow
the use of a #hashtag bookmark on Twitter, users those tweeting from events they attend, knowing
around the world can follow what’s happening they’re likely to be of interest in the future and as
at an event or users at an event can keep track a form of networking.
of other attendees’ thoughts. Live tweets usually
update with headlines from the on-going talks at
a conference or event, giving an ‘as-live’ view of
what’s happening, in real time. The truth of live-
tweeting is that it’s often superfluous to need and
irritates users who aren’t aware of or interested
in an event. As such, live tweeting should be
selective and akin to note taking. Make note of


Conversation
Conversation drives social media activity Most importantly, conversation is… leading to firstly trust and then business deals with
– it is the way a company can engage with conversation leading news and media outlets.
No one can dictate an outside and correct
customers – but what does it mean, and approach to the conversation a business will Regular conversation with fans providing data and
how do you achieve it? have on social media, just as no social media statistics on request has catapulted them into the
strategy can definitively predict what will come public eye as the most trusted source for fans to
Conversation is about content and read sports data, causing media outlets to rethink
up. However, a robust social media strategy can
connection their current providers and fans to question any
shape the approach to conversation, which should
As previously discussed, content can be industry news source not already utilizing Opta data in
include dialogue with customers and managing
news, current affairs, public opinion or popular their reports. This is particularly interesting, as
any criticism with acknowledgement and a
culture – all potential sources. Much of your they have engineered B2B success through a
response. Listening to customers will help to
content should be curated, as detailed above; predominately B2C approach to social media,
shape product and service development.
share the load by utilizing links to content ‘farmed’ communicating directly with the end customer
from relevant sources as a basis for discussion, Conversation fuels understanding; and using thought leadership in front of the
engaging followers and saving your company Talking to your customers and clients can middle-man.
from the need to create fresh content on a weekly, give insight into their buying behaviour and
daily, or even hourly basis. Connections allow the understanding the person behind the keyboard
passing of information to customers, potential and how they like to be communicated with will
customers and business partners through social allow a business to engage more effectively
delivery platforms, or listening to comments with a customer.
and suggestions and accepting criticism from
your audience. Whether potential, present, past or angry,
conversation with customers can have a strong
It’s important to understand the circular way in impact on future sales leads and company
which ‘The 3 C’s’ work. Conversation ties directly perception. An excellent example of a company
back both to content and connection and each using social media to develop conversation as a
comes directly back to the others, none works B2B promotional tool comes from sports statistics
on its own. It’s impossible to have a connection company Opta. Opta have built a social media
with your followers without conversation, just as following of more than 100,000 Twitter followers
it’s impossible to have a conversation with your across a plethora of accounts, 60,000+ on the
followers without content. Equally, you won’t have most popular account @optajoe alone. They have
many connections without any conversation. been able to successfully leverage social media
conversation into popularity with sports fans


Connection
Having gotten this far, it’s important to refer customers on to real people within the Recent studies from Neilsen have shown ROI
not forget about the person behind the organization through social media. A good delivered from branded communities to be higher
example of this comes from Microsoft. than through any other social channels. Whilst this
keyboard – your customers and those is a step above and beyond what many companies
within your business. As we’ve touched on As previously discussed, Microsoft’s @ may need, there’s a real benefit to such solutions,
above, the important thing to remember is microsofthelps twitter feed is managed by a team if you feel they could be of value to your
that content that engages us as humans is of customer services managers, each named audience, they can offer a far larger return than a
on the page. Each of the team has a unique ID, Twitter account.
what people find most interesting, but which they use to sign off every tweet. A potential
also to think about your connections; who customer looking at the feed will not only see Connections give you reach
they are and what they need and want a company that’s engaging in social media for It was recently reported that just 40% of US users
from you. good, by providing a free support service, they’ll actively follow a brand or company on Facebook,
also see a company with thousands of employees however, this 40% equates to more than 45 million
Relationships drive your business engaging publicly with customers on a one-to- people in the US alone. To further put this in
Customers like to deal with real people. Whether one basis. It takes some commitment but it is perspective, the average Facebook user also has
through email, call centre support or a sales valuable promotion and will be looked upon very 130 friends, each of whom will see the ‘story’
team, even when ending a relationship with a favourably by any customer engaged in the social published when a user begins following a brand.
company, it’s the human connection that makes a media world, even one choosing not to actively The number of potential customers a business
difference. Common sense tells us that customers follow your brand’s activity. can reach through social media is mind boggling
choosing to interact with a business on the and increasing by the day. Even the number of
web are therefore going to appreciate similar Connection means going beyond the new accounts Facebook rejects is astounding,
human interaction online. This is applicable for a obvious social networks recently reported as more than 20,000 every day.
business in two ways, firstly a potential customer Connection, in business, can mean more than
simply engaging ‘the big four’ networks. Bespoke The aforementioned approach of building a
researching a business will appreciate a business
solutions for businesses can include discussion bespoke community also comes back into the
communicating with personality. Secondly, when
forums and even customer-focused social numbers argument; quality vs quantity. The
creating a personal relationship with a potential
networks as have recently been implemented by impact of creating a collaborative business forum,
customer online, personality shines through. HSBC and American Express. HSBC’s community private social network or other community,
allows small businesses to share knowledge,
Connections can be personal perpetuated by one brand, which would serve to
engage with each other and share problems with
Be open about who you are and let the people attract a far smaller but highly relevant audience,
a like-minded audience. Amex’s ‘Open Forum’,
managing your accounts have a name and a can be huge.
which follows a similar principle, has enabled the
face. Let customers have access to real people, company to position itself as thought leaders
and encourage social media managers to Finally, It’s also important not to lose sight of
through the ‘resource’ element of the site. the impact a campaign or message can have


‘inside the walls’ of a social network, i.e. outside Content, Conversation, Connection “ imply seeing a company’s
S
of your tracking capabilities. This is the ‘invisible The simple activity of engaging in social media
audience’, those that you cannot track and those is potential promotion already and as with most
page and approach to social
that you cannot track viewing your content. things, the more you put into it, the more you’ll media may be a deciding
Numerous different levels of privacy settings on get back. So whilst not all web users may elect to factor in their decision to buy
Twitter and Facebook mean that it’s impossible directly ‘follow’ or ‘like’ a brand, simply seeing a
to track where and how far your content and company’s page(s) and approach to social media from or trust a business”
company name may be travelling outside of may be a deciding factor in their decision to buy
your immediate vision. There’s huge potential from or trust a business. The implied popularity
for recommendations, good customer service, of a brand amongst customers, i.e. the number of
company messages and news to spread without ‘likes’ or followers a particular brand has can be
further input. powerful. Numbers show a potential customer that
they’re not alone and that customers value and
The old customer service adage that ‘A customer respect a business or product.
will tell one person about a good customer
service experience, but they will tell four if they It is easy to get too caught up in the numbers
experience a bad one.’ springs to mind here, game though, and to forget that it’s quality, not
except in 2011 bad customer service can instantly quantity that’s important in the long run. The
be shared with an entire network of contacts. You underlying message here is that social media
never know who might be talking privately about is not a forum for promotion - but that’s not
your business, so treat your customers well, both quite true; of course it is. The simple activity
on and offline. of engaging in social media offers the potential
for promotion and, like all things, the more you
put into it, the more you’ll get back out. More
accurately then, the message is that the correct
approach to social media for business is not to
generate marketing messages day in, day out, but
instead to engage customers, potential customers,
complaints, partners, media, staff and the rest
of the world-wide-web on a daily basis. To put it
simply, the 3 C’s can be whatever you want them
to be, just please make sure it isn’t a press release!

#Management
Platforms

Introduction
Streams
Process and workflow
Going mobile - smartphones, apps and rich media


Introduction
Social media platforms contain numerous As such, social media management tools have
layers of functionality over and above what risen in popularity over the past couple of years, “ ocial media management
S
allowing social media community managers to tools have risen in popularity
the standard user may be familiar with, or create shortcuts, view multiple channels in one
interested in using. Most Twitter users, for place and operate social networks at a high level, over the past couple of years,
example, will never even have heard of getting the most from the network itself and allowing community managers
Twitter’s private lists function and wouldn’t allowing them to make the most of their time.
There are many platforms available, offering
to create shortcuts and view
have a clue why they’d want to use them, multiple channels in one
similar levels of service, but we’re going to be
yet this is one of the most important covering one in particular; Hootsuite. place”
tools for using Twitter as a business.
These different layers of functionality
are designed for ‘power users’ those who
spend hours every day using social media
channels for a variety of purposes. These
users are constantly on the hunt for new
tools that will make the management of
these accounts easier and allow them to
make the most of their time.


Process and Workflow
Streams incoming communication and impact to be conversations to be ‘assigned’ by a community
Probably the most significant capability of monitored, as well as audience segmentation. manager and also to allow certain user’s messages
Hootsuite and other management platforms is Hootsuite also offers a ‘Publisher’s view’ which to pass in front of an administrator before they
the ability to view multiple social networks in is built on another function of the platform, the are publicly posted. It’s also possible to view
one place and to segment your view of each ability to schedule activity. Alongside Twitter, it ‘conversation history’ between the account and
social network into different ‘streams’. This is possible to manage activity across numerous other users, in the instance of a conversation or
is particularly useful for Twitter as it allows a other social networks, each using a separate tab ‘case’ being assigned to a new user. This allows
community manager to follow individual topics, to segment the channel. Facebook, Linkedin, the new conversation owner to understand the
audiences, users, conversations, search terms, Wordpress and others are all supported allowing context, tone of voice and discussion, before
hashtags and more from one place. Each stream an ‘at a glance’ perspective on each network in attempting to take over.
within Hootsuite shows a timeline of posts, just one place.
like on Twitter.com, however, each stream can be A workflow process is a fantastic way to allow
dedicated to something specific. For example, if multiple users to collaborate on an individual
Scheduling account or campaign, even bringing an ‘offline’
your Twitter account follows 500 people, but you Another function that Hootsuite allows
want to follow 10 of those users more closely, benefit by alerting users that they have an
community managers to access above the basic assigned action in Hootsuite via email, negating
their activity can be isolated and viewed as a functions of social networks is the ability to
separate stream alongside the main content feed. the need for users to remain logged in at all times.
schedule forthcoming activity. Through the use of This can be an incredibly powerful asset to a
As more need to monitor specific topics, Excel spreadsheets, it is even possible to schedule social media team. Furthermore, users can build
keywords and increases, a management platform up to 200 updates at a time in advance. This is a a custom view, showing only the content and
becomes more and more valuable; streams can be fantastic tool when promoting an event or wish elements of activity that are of relevance to them.
set up to search for specific campaign keywords, to maximise the impact of a specific report, blog
brand names, competitor-related keywords and or other piece of content. The ability to schedule Offline Notifications
more. As many as six streams can be displayed activity adds an additional level of functionality to One of the many benefits of social media
on screen at any time, and dozens of separate community management allowing for the creation platforms is the creation of a workflow process
tabs comprising up to 10 streams each can be of a process and workflow capability. allowing ‘part time’ users to work as part of
allocated, making it far quicker to stay up to a social media team, without the need to be
Collaboration and Teamwork constantly switched on and monitoring the
date on the various elements of a social media Another significant benefit of Hootsuite is the
presence by campaign, audience and more. streams, Hootsuite and various mobile platforms
ability to create a workflow process to manage allow users to set up notifications to alert users
Streams work mostly in conjunction with basic accounts and campaigns with input from multiple to new activity. Notifications can be created for
Twitter functions including ‘saved searches’, account managers and subject matter experts, in new @mentions, Retweets, friend requests and
‘@mentions’, Retweets and lists, allowing the cloud. The creation of multiple team members more. Hootsuite can also be set up to notify ‘team
within Hootsuite allows actions, messages and


members’ of the need for an action relating to the Reporting
workflow previously discussed. If a part time team Built into Hootsuite at a core level is the ability
member is involved in a Twitter discussion the to generate detailed reports around social media
community manager can notify them of incoming activity, custom reports can be built featuring
responses by email, negating the need for them useful statistics such as the date and time of
to remain logged in and checking the account Tweets overlaid with Google Analytics, showing
for activity. the impact of particular messages and more.
There are also numerous ‘flash reports’ available
So as to manage email notifications effectively, on-demand or auto-generated on a regular
it is possible to create ‘rules’ and ‘filters’ in mail basis, including ‘click summaries’ on links you
clients to automatically place emails in different have shared, Facebook user insights and more.
folders, meaning you need not be ‘pinged’ each We cover reporting in much more detail in
time you get a new Twitter follower, but you get an Chapter 9; Reporting.
email to let you know someone has commented
replied to on one of your posts via the same
means. The ability to combine on and offline
team members to the management process of
an account can be invaluable when working
within guidelines that require speedy responses to
incoming queries.


Going mobile - Smartphones, apps rich media
Another key benefit to Hootsuite is the ability to old. Using a smartphone means events, meetings
replicate the desktop user experience on mobile and conferences all become possible social media
devices. As the platform is hosted in the cloud, content via the medium of live tweeting and there
the same tabs and streams can be viewed on are numerous applications allow for rich media
any device, allowing you to work in the same such as photos, video and even audio/podcasts to
environment across all devices you use, be recorded and uploaded over a 3G connection.
wherever you are.
Mobile smartphones are the perfective device
for social media – the ability to take and upload
photos, videos and even audio content without
the need for long loading, editing, buffering and
transfer times associated with digital media of

#Listening

Introduction
Mapping the landscape and segmenting the audience
Segmentation
How can it be done for free?
Enterprise level and paid solutions


Introduction
Social media works for business in two There are various types and levels of listening “ here’s really no excuse not
T
ways; firstly allowing a business to ‘listen’ that can be done, ranging from free tools that
cost only time, to enterprise level solutions that to listen both before you
to consumers’ opinions and secondly for run to thousands of dollars per month. Both ends speak and once you enter the
companies to voice their own opinions, of this spectrum produce valuable insight into conversation”
even affording the same opportunity the audience, what networks and channels they
to individual staff using subject matter use and what they are saying about your brand
experts and thought leadership techniques. and products so there’s really no excuse not to
listen both before you speak and once you enter
Corporate blogs and social media channels often the conversation. In addition to the social media
miss the point and are often just used as an outlet benefit of understanding what your audience
for product, hiring and service announcements, are talking about, there’s the added benefit for
publicity of awards and generally ‘shouting large companies to gauge interest and impact
from the rooftops’ rather than engaging their of marketing campaigns, product launches and
audience; completely missing the point of what impressions on their activities.
should be a hugely valuable asset. Listening to
the conversation already taking place on social
networks should be the first port of call for any
business looking to engage in social media, as we
outlined earlier in the chapter on Strategy.


Mapping the Landscape and Segmenting the Audience
There is a different audience on each Segmentation Additionally, there are many pitfalls associated
social network, each audience is used Your audience can be all over the world and some with simply copying everything from one stream
things don’t apply to everyone; local news and to another site - automated updates, for one, don’t
to getting information in a way tailored geographically-specific offers, for examples. In provide the same functionality on all networks.
to them. For example, Facebook is some instances messages about these things can The ‘@’ symbol on Twitter denotes the a user
traditionally a place where users can be directed at just certain users; Facebook geo- has been tagged or is being talked at, likewise,
view rich media (videos, images, widgets) location allows you to make updates visible only the same technique is used to ‘tag’ users on
without having to leave the page, but to users in a certain territory, even users isolated Facebook, but using a third party platform such as
by the language they speak, but in others you may Hootsuite to update Facebook doesn’t allow users
Twitter users are far more used to have to directly reference that a special offer is to be tagged in this manner.
scanning headlines, ‘hashtags’ and short- available in just one territory (Twitter).
links. As Twitter continues to evolve,
however, they too are moving in the ‘rich
media’ direction.
Whilst each social network’s audience is different,
many platforms and services allow automation
across numerous sites. Linkedin, for example, will
allow users to re-post content from Twitter in their
feed. Equally, Twitter allows Facebook users to re-
post their content on the micro-blogging site.
Automation is a great technique when it comes to
time-saving, especially with regard to posting one
piece of content on multiple networks, but there’s
also a strong case for utilising the tools given to
you from each website, in order to best reach
each audience. We’ll get onto this later, but part
of understanding how to best use social media
involves mapping the landscape, understanding
who and where your audience may be and this is
done through listening.


How can it be done for free?
The first port of call, before committing to you have typed it. There are many tips and tricks One thing that often baffles new Twitter users is
a significant spend on a listening solution, in this vein, including the ability to search for a the sheer number of people that they can ‘follow’,
word but only when another word doesn’t appear especially given that one approach to gaining to
might be to test the water with some free on the same page. It is also possible to search for followers is to follow people and hope that they
listening tools, luckily there are numerous a keyword within one website or even within a will reciprocate. The best way of ensuring that
good tools available free, some of which URL itself. For example, it’s possible to search for you stay on top of the tweets from users you are
are scalable to provide valuable insight at a keyword only appearing on a page for which the most interested to follow (sources of good third
all levels. The first tool at your disposal and URL contains the word ‘blog’ or ‘news’, therefore party content, users you want to engage with etc.)
isolating very specific content and audiences. is to use Twitter lists.
one of the most valuable tools at any level There are dozens of advanced search strings and
is no secret, it’s Google, the world’s largest they can all be found, surprise surprise, with a Twitter lists allow you to create a new,
search engine and second most visited quick Google search. supplementary timeline from specific users, they
can be either private (only you can see them)
website. The first, if you were wondering, Google is far from the only free tool available or public (any user can follow them). Lists can
is Facebook. when listening via social media. We mentioned also be generated as new tabs within Hootsuite,
‘saved searches’ on Twitter previously and these allowing you to follow tens of thousands of
Much the same as Twitter has numerous features can be set up on the main website, without the accounts (if you want to) yet still keep tabs on a
above and beyond the needs of the standard user, need for Hootsuite or a similar platform, allowing number of important accounts. Private lists can
Google has many capabilities that can make your you to follow key terms in real time and see who be a great way to keep tabs on competitors (You
listening efforts easier and more effective. Google is talking about you on Twitter. Additionally, sites don’t have to follow an account to add it to a
Alerts, for example, allow you to create a saved such as Social Mention and Topsy also provide list) without anyone knowing and give individual
search for certain keywords and receive an email free platforms to search social media keywords, users the feeling that you’re interested in their
every time Google finds a new instance of the the former can even provide some insight tweets (because you follow 1000 people and
words. This can be invaluable when posting press into the sentiment of the discussion around picked out their message). This is often at the
releases and news, setting up Google Alerts in your keywords. centre of a good audience engagement strategy;
advance for key product and campaign text can identifying influential users and people interested
help understand the reach of your messages. One final searching tool that can be invaluable to engage with you and ensuring you tweet with
is Boardreader, a tool that allows you to search them regularly can work wonders in terms of
Another invaluable trick is to learn and master for keywords solely on forums and message
advanced Google ‘search strings’. Many users are amplification and earning brand advocacy.
boards, as often forgotten but hugely valuable
aware that a search for multiple words will identify source of user-generated content and discussion.
instances of both words, but by putting the same Other tools include private Twitter lists and page
search term between two apostrophes you will bookmarking tools, the latter of which we will
cause Google to search only for the exact term as cover in more detail in the next chapter.


Enterprise level and paid solutions
Above and beyond the various free listening options manual basis, this can be accurate and useful, but It’s a strategic decision whether comments
available online, there are a number of advanced as volume picks up, manually studying mentions are responded to and in what terms responses
solutions available to provide bespoke listening and then a user’s timeline is not a sustainable will and won’t be posted, but when comments
capabilities within a single dashboard. Solutions approach. Various paid solutions offer advanced are posted directly at you, you’ll know anyway,
such as Radian6, Meltwater Buzz and Alterian all sentiment analysis, although most only claim through the use of saved searches and incoming
provide advanced listening capabilities across a their results are only guaranteed with about 35% messages and these messages are not to be
variety of websites, social networks and forums. accuracy – so be careful how religiously this ignored and should be covered in guidelines,
There are additional capabilities based on advanced sentiment is taken into account. Where possible regardless of approach. What’s most important is
machine-learning algorithms, meaning that the community managers should look to mine this to understand what is ‘noise’ and what is valuable;
longer these solutions are used, the more valuable information manually, perhaps picking comments indexing the number of times your brand or
they can be. However, this capability comes with a from users with perceived influence, such as a product is mentioned online is of limited value,
price tag and to operate these systems at their most high Klout score, number of followers, numerous whereas recognising when a key social media
advanced level will require a capable community web profiles – this information is all aggregated influencer compliments your brand or product
manager putting in some significant work, so the into solutions such as Hootsuite and available with and amplifying these messages or making a
commitment can be significant. one click. connection to a powerful advocate can be a
great asset.
Differing businesses have different requirements
for listening based on their customers and Eavesdropping In addition to eavesdropping on the general
products. As an example, for a business with In many ways, ‘listening’ via social media is public, there are many tools available to facilitate
a popular customer-facing product, there’s a tantamount to eavesdropping. This is due to the secret monitoring that can be used to track
likelihood that the product can cause a large public nature of social media, especially Twitter, competitors’ activities online. Sites such as
number of posts around the business - imagine where discussions can be monitored and tracked watchthatpage.com will send you a notification
Microsoft, Apple or Google trying to track every using keywords. Using a social media monitoring each time a website is updated, allowing you to
instance their name is mentioned - monitoring all platform to engage users discussing your business track competitor blog and news feeds without
of these is impossible. However, looking at just or products can be a dangerous game, if not having to publicly subscribe to their content.
some comments can be even worse; everything done properly. The public nature of social media This approach can also be taken on Twitter with
has context and it’s important to understand means that simply monitoring keywords and the use of private lists; users can be added to a
the context in which things are posted, before responding automatically to everyone mentioning private list without it being their knowing; allowing
considering crisis management or responses to your brand is not much different from walking up you to track their daily activity without publicly
every comment. to somebody in a coffee shop who you overhear subscribing to their accounts
mentioning your brand and offering your opinion.
The above considerations also apply when Yes, it happens, but the person who you were
studying sentiment around your keywords. On a eavesdropping on probably won’t like it.

#Tools

Browser extensions, tools and time-saving tips


Browser extensions, tools and time-saving tips
In addition to social media management be used to determine which users carry the Google Reader/RSS
platforms such as Hootsuite, which we’ve most social media influence and suggest times Similarly to Readitlater, Google Reader allows
to schedule tweets to reach the most receptive users to view content from an archive, but also
already covered, there are numerous tools audience (based on past activity) respectively. gives the ability to subscribe to content and have
available to make managing your social There are also numerous ‘Twitter directories’ that all new posts visible in one place with incoming
media presence easier. From account list users that tweet around various topics and content added as and when it is posted at the
management platforms through to time their perceived popularity (followers), Wefollow is original source. http://google.com/reader
saving tricks and products that can be probably the best known. Google Alerts and Social
Mention are probably the last two major tools RSS – RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication
every bit as useful in making your own that you can benefit most from from day one, and allows users to add a website feed to an
life on the web easier. From browser allowing you to set up alerts for when a keyword is archiving platform, allowing them to view all
extensions to content aggregation, making used online. Finally, Watch That Page also allows new stories as they’re posted. RSS feeds can
you to monitor a particular website for changes also be generated for your own content, allowing
the most of what the web has to offer has
to keep tracks on sites you have an interest in other users to subscribe to your posts. You can
never been easier. even import your RSS feeds into Hootsuite to
(competitors and so on). These tools have all been
covered in more detail in the previous chapter automatically generate a new social media post
Despite the importance of tools, platforms and
but the following additional tools can be used in each time you post something to your blog.
processes to simplify your social media existence,
sometimes visiting the website itself is the best addition to other tools specifically intended for Email Alerts
approach. As an example, Facebook has the listening to increase your productivity across all Alongside the previously mentioned Google
ability to use the site ‘as a page’ meaning it’s parts of the social web. Alerts, many websites with regularly updated
possible to ‘tag’ a user or company in a post, content offer their own email alerts and
Pocket
but this is only possible from the website itself. newsletters. These can be a great way to keep
This is a cloud-based platform and bookmarking
Additionally, as this approach allows you to track of the latest content from the site without
tool which allows users to archive web pages they
engage in conversation and interact with other needing to check back regularly.
don’t have to time read immediately. Being based
posts as a business, it can be very powerful when
in the cloud, the service works across all browsers,
referencing other businesses featured in news
computers and devices and there’s even a browser
stories and blog posts, as well as giving feedback
extension button for most popular browsers
to other user’s posts, showing you read them.
allowing users to bookmark a page to read later
Tools with one click. http://getpocket.com
When it comes to social media ‘power users’,
there are many tools online that can make your
life easier. Tools such as Klout and timely.is can


Bit.ly Silver Bird
A tool to shorten URLs with an additional A simple management tool, trimmed down to
capability for branding via a ‘vanity URL’ (Such as work as a Google Chrome browser extension,
our own, http://omobo.co). Bit.ly also provides allowing users to view elements of twitter
track-able data on who has clicked your links and streams, post and respond within a browser
automatically generates QR codes for any links window as well as receive pop-up notifications of
you shorten. There is also a browser extension new mentions and messages – all without opening
available to shorten the current page URL with Hootsuite or visiting the main Twitter website.
one click. http://bit.ly http://chrome.google.com/webstore

Hootsuite There are many alternatives to the services
We’ve already covered Hootsuite and what a mentioned above offering a similar mix of
fantastic social media management tool it is, functions but these are some of our favorites.
however there are browser extensions for most
popular browsers, allowing users to tweet from
any page, including a shortcut to link to the page
they’re currently reading, without leaving it.
Hootsuite also includes its own URL shortner;
ht.ly, which can also be accessed from the
extension. http://hootsuite.com

#Content

Planning and calendars
Making the most of content – fragmenting
Blogging and content creation
‘Think, think, think’


Planning calendars
As we outlined in the chapter on The 3 and key points in the financial year (end of the
Cs, content is the key to social media, tax year, etc.) This would give them underlying
themes on which to base blogs, scheduling and
whether self-generated or curated from thought leadership pieces, as well as ensuring
third party sources, without content, there they identifying lulls ahead of time and schedule
is nothing to post and without anything something to fill the void.
to post, there’s nothing to discuss and,
Relevance
consequently, no one to discuss it with. Whilst the occasional off-topic blog is harmless
We’ve covered Audience (Connections) and - in one respect it’s a great way to keep content
Conversation previously, but as Content is the main fresh and an audience interested via the ‘human
factor in social media activity, we’ve dedicated a element’, a content calendar allows you to keep
whole chapter to the pursuit of good content. content relevant by tying it back in to past and
future activities. Different networks have different
One way of keeping on top of the need for audiences and different expectations. Whilst
fresh content is to operate a marketing calendar Twitter is generally regarded as a high-volume
completed to include key events, announcements, network, platforms such as YouTube and Flickr,
awards, results and similar milestones. Operating which are based on rich media such as images
a timeline of events allows posts to be scheduled and video, need not be tended to everyday,
ahead of time, repeated as necessary and particularly given the increased difficulty of
content to be scheduled and planned around pre- creating regular new content for these networks.
determined topics. You will also foresee peaks and
troughs in activity and identify periods in which
extra content creation will be needed.

A marketing plan should be a working document,
split into manageable segments to give sufficient
notice of key events and a timeline for completion
of tasks to be completed in line with events.
For example, a financial institution looking to
engage with social media might identify 12
monthly events to attend, the dates when 15
major companies release their annual results

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