Social Media FAQs
Why is social media important?
Social media has become a part of daily life for many Internet users. Social media is primarily a venue for personal communication between individuals. However, many social media sites have evolved and people have found ways to use them for business purposes as well. Sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter can be a great way to generate new business by using your existing network of friends. Other sites such as social bookmarking sites (Digg, Delicious, etc.) can generate traffic to your website from articles that you post. If an article posted on a major social bookmarking site receives enough bookmarks to be listed on the front page, it could generate thousands of visitors to your website.
Blogs and forums are other types of social media. These types of social media provide you with additional content posted by yourself and by your users, which will result in more traffic to your website as well as more brand coverage.
Where can I find out what different social media terms mean?
Visit our Social Media Dictionary page.
What are the long term benefits of Social Media Marketing?
Why are blogs important?
- Blogs attract new visitors to your site.
- Blogs create additional content for your site and provide “spider food,” or content that search engines can index.
- Blogs emphasize your brand and identity. The more people see and hear about your brand, the more likely that they will become customers.
- Blogs give your brand an additional entry in search engines, and if any negative information exists about your site, blog entries can push that information down in the rankings.
Why is Twitter important?
- Twitter brings new visitors to your site.
- Twitter advertises your brand to a new audience.
- Depending on the username of your Twitter account, your Twitter page will naturally rank high in search engines for your company name or personal name. This gives you additional visibility and can push down sites that you don’t want showing up when someone performs a search query for your company name.
Why should iClimber manage my Twitter account?
A Twitter account can be set up by anyone, but it requires a good amount of free time to learn and to use, and most people don’t have the time or patience. The tools available that help manage Twitter accounts by automating posts from news feeds and generating more followers (friends) also require time to learn, and some may be technically challenging. However, when you hire iClimber to create and manage your Twitter account, you can avoid the hassle of learning and using Twitter while still reaping the benefits.
How do I know if social media marketing is working?
While it is hard to track the results of social media marketing, there are usually ways to tell if your campaign is working. There are several things you can do:
a) Check your website stats and look at your referring logs to see if you are getting any referrals from social media sites.
b) Ask your site visitors and callers how they found you.
c) Keep track of your referrals and see if you are being referred business as a result of your involvement in social media.
What kind of reporting does iClimber provide for social media marketing projects?
We normally provide monthly reports on all work performed. For example, if we post anything on any social media sites, blogs, or forums, we will send you a report detailing the posts and/or number of posts made on each site during that month, as well as links to the posts.
1] Do most companies seem to have clear strategies and direction with social media or does it seem like people are still trying to figure out what to do with it and how it can help them?
Some of the good companies have a clear strategy, while others are just dipping their toe in the water. The key with social media is to fail fast, fail forward and fail better. You aren’t going to get it right the first time, but you aren’t going to learn anything if you don’t take that first step. The beauty of social media is that your customers are very forgiving and at the same time, helpful at expressing exactly what they need from you as a company. It is the world’s largest focus group on Steroids.
2] Do you think most companies will go “in-house” with their social media, or will there still be a place to hire the freelance person who gets paid to Tweet, or the consulting firm?
Since social media touches ever facet of the business it inherently lends itself to most activity being taken in-house. Also, the conversations need to be genuine and it’s easier to establish that trust if it is coming from you, not a surrogate. Social media is not an ‘or,’ it’s an ‘and’ in marketing. Dell recently indicated that they originally had 40 people focused on social media. They soon realized it’s not just the 40 people that need to own social media, it’s the entire company. Every person, whether it’s someone on the phone answering customer service, or any other employee, these employees have a Facebook accounts, they have Twitter accounts, and they are representing Dell whether it is working hours or not.
While a majority will reside “in-house,” for certain components it still makes a world of sense to bring in help from a HubSpot, Mari Smith, Chris Brogan, Tamar Weinberg, Kami Huyse, David Meerman Scott, Charlene Li, Sarah Evans, Lee Odden, Brian Breslin, etc.
3] What, in your view, are the most common ways that corporations have embraced social media? Is it making a Facebook page, sending official Tweets, or maybe a mix of things?
The good companies know a sound social media strategy is much more than a Facebook Fan Page or setting up a Twitter Account. However, there are some companies that think putting up only a Facebook Fan Page is a sound social media strategy. The good companies know that social media has to be integrated into everything that they do – it is a part of their overall strategy since it touches every facet of the business.
I was fortunate to share the stage with Alan Mulally (CEO of Ford) and they have used social media as a driver to help not only change the external perception of the Brand, but it has helped change the internal culture – he mentioned this in his speech. He was also a recent keynote at CES (Consumer Electronics Show) – this spot is normally reserved for Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, etc. not the CEO of a car company – that is a radical change in a short period of time. They have shifted their spend from 10% digital to 25% digital. Historically their competition spends less than 10% of their marketing dollars are digital initiatives. It is no coincidence that they haven’t had to take out a government loan and that their Stock Has increased from $1.5 to $11. In fact the Altimeter Group did a study that showed Companies actively engaged in Social Media had higher revenue increases than those that weren’t active. Also it has flowed downstream to production to where their cars are enabled with WiFi, MP3 Synch Technology, ability to tweet & status update via voice commands while driving, etc. This is a reflection of the great work that James Farley, Scott Monty and others are doing there.
4] Where do you see the future of social media?
Much will be around data aggregation and the sharing of this information amongst the social graph. What have my friends purchased? What services or restaurants have they rated highly? You will see search and social media begin to merge with the end result being we will no longer search for products and services via a search engine, rather they will find us via social media. This is one of the true powers of social media! I care more what my friends and peers link than about what an algorithm or opaque rating system spits out.
Also, users will demand more control of their privacy. In a simplified example some photos a user doesn’t mind sending to the universe, while others they only want to send to 5 select people.
Q: Are marketers betting already for social media marketing? If they aren't, what do you think they are afraid of?
A: Marketers are afraid of the unknown and also giving up control of their brand. They are also afraid of making mistakes. That is why it's important to fail fast, fail forward, and fail better. You aren't going to get it right the first time so be quick to listen, interact, react, and repeat.
Q: Why do you believe social media is so important?
A: As human beings, we have the dichotomous psychological need to be our own individual, yet we also want to feel like we belong to, and are accepted by, a much larger social set. People are willing to have an "open diary" as a means to stay connected -- as their ultimate desire is to feel accepted.
Part of this lies in a yearning to have a clear understanding of what the majority is doing. It was much easier to know what the majority was doing when all one had to do was tune into Casey Kasem's "American Top 40" to find out the latest and greatest in music or to flip through "Vogue" magazine to quickly grasp every fashion trend. Social media help us make sense of information overload by quickly seeing what our friends find important, helpful, or interesting. It also helps eliminate people performing the same tasks -- if three of your friends have already performed the task (finding a good hotel in Bermuda), why should you be redundant?
Q: Which is the best business model for social media? Is advertising the only way?
A: That is one revenue stream, but there are many more. Think about people exchanging gifts in social media, small businesses setting up their businesses and using PayPal-type functionality (mircopayments), and craigslist-type interplay. There is also search revenue to be had, as people care more about what people think about products and services than an algorithm.
Q: Who is going to lead this new marketing? Big agencies? Specialized agencies? Media agencies? Brands themselves?
A: It's a people-driven economy, stupid -- people will lead the charge. People that shepherd brands (e.g. Scott Monty, Morgan Johnston, Barry Judge) will also play leading roles. Technology development (application development, etc.) will continue to be outsourced to specialists/agencies.
Q: How will social media force the hyper-acceleration of better search results?
A: You're already seeing this. Google recently launched four products that are social in nature: Google Sidewiki, Google Searchwiki, Google Hot Trends, and Google Wave. Google understands its main competition will come from social media. That is why in October we already started to see search deals being cut between Microsoft and Twitter/Facebook. This is only the beginning, but it's happening much sooner than I thought.
Q: Who helps you stay informed?
A: Lee Odden (TopRankBlog) Jeremiah Owyang (Altimeter Group), Mashable, Charlene Li & Josh Bernoff (Groundswell), Chris Brogan & Julien Smith (Trust Agents), Shel Israel (Twitterville), Steve Levitt (Freakonomics), Dale Carnegie books, Laurie Sullivan (MediaPost), Mark Walsh (MediaPost), Dan and Chip Heath ("Made to Stick" and Fast Company), Silicon Alley Insider, David Meerman Scott (The New Rules of Marketing & PR), Abbey Klaassen (AdAdge), CNET "Buzz Out Loud" Podcast with Tom Merritt, Molly Wood, and Jason Howell, Buckhead Church Podcasts, ESPN Fantasy Football Today Podcasts, and of course anything Michigan State Hoops related.
Q: There are many social networks nowadays. Should advertisers try each one, or how should they choose the right ones?
A: Start with the placements that have the best chance for success and progressively grow from there -- eventually you should be everywhere that is contributing to success (however you determine that). If you're engaged and using the tools, it's pretty easy to determine which social media tools your customers are on. If you can't figure this out, Forrester has a good Social Technology Profile Tool that will help direct you to where your customers are.
Q: Do you know an agency that is doing it right in social media? Or a brand?
A: Zappos, Comcast, Ford, JetBlue, Skittles, Starbucks, Ben & Jerry's, Best Buy, Dell, and Virgin are leaders in the space. Crispin Porter + Bogusky and Razorfish have been progressive in this area as well.
Q: What is the "next big thing" in social media marketing?
A: The merging of search and social.
Q: What about those who just want to say, "Enough of this online chatter, I just want to connect with people in the real world"?
A: Social media isn't a zero sum game. Just because you can stay connected with your daughter in college via social media doesn't mean that there isn't a need anymore to meet face to face. Social media is great at keeping people connected when distance/time is a hurdle or limiter. Also, remember that sometimes the opposite can occur -- meeting offline after first meeting online. Think about Mashable's popular Tweet-ups or that one out of eight couples married in the U.S. met online.
Q: Are there things that should always or never be done in social media, things to consider or options to weigh when deciding which one to join (or stop using!)?
A: Fun and common sense -- have plenty of both.
Q: Are marketers betting already for social media marketing? If they aren't, what do you think they are afraid of?
A: Marketers are afraid of the unknown and also giving up control of their brand. They are also afraid of making mistakes. That is why it's important to fail fast, fail forward, and fail better. You aren't going to get it right the first time so be quick to listen, interact, react, and repeat.
Q: Why do you believe social media is so important?
A: As human beings, we have the dichotomous psychological need to be our own individual, yet we also want to feel like we belong to, and are accepted by, a much larger social set. People are willing to have an "open diary" as a means to stay connected -- as their ultimate desire is to feel accepted.
Part of this lies in a yearning to have a clear understanding of what the majority is doing. It was much easier to know what the majority was doing when all one had to do was tune into Casey Kasem's "American Top 40" to find out the latest and greatest in music or to flip through "Vogue" magazine to quickly grasp every fashion trend. Social media help us make sense of information overload by quickly seeing what our friends find important, helpful, or interesting. It also helps eliminate people performing the same tasks -- if three of your friends have already performed the task (finding a good hotel in Bermuda), why should you be redundant?
Q: Which is the best business model for social media? Is advertising the only way?
A: That is one revenue stream, but there are many more. Think about people exchanging gifts in social media, small businesses setting up their businesses and using PayPal-type functionality (mircopayments), and craigslist-type interplay. There is also search revenue to be had, as people care more about what people think about products and services than an algorithm.
Q: Who is going to lead this new marketing? Big agencies? Specialized agencies? Media agencies? Brands themselves?
A: It's a people-driven economy, stupid -- people will lead the charge. People that shepherd brands (e.g. Scott Monty, Morgan Johnston, Barry Judge) will also play leading roles. Technology development (application development, etc.) will continue to be outsourced to specialists/agencies.
Q: How will social media force the hyper-acceleration of better search results?
A: You're already seeing this. Google recently launched four products that are social in nature: Google Sidewiki, Google Searchwiki, Google Hot Trends, and Google Wave. Google understands its main competition will come from social media. That is why in October we already started to see search deals being cut between Microsoft and Twitter/Facebook. This is only the beginning, but it's happening much sooner than I thought.
Q: Who helps you stay informed?
A: Lee Odden (TopRankBlog) Jeremiah Owyang (Altimeter Group), Mashable, Charlene Li & Josh Bernoff (Groundswell), Chris Brogan & Julien Smith (Trust Agents), Shel Israel (Twitterville), Steve Levitt (Freakonomics), Dale Carnegie books, Laurie Sullivan (MediaPost), Mark Walsh (MediaPost), Dan and Chip Heath ("Made to Stick" and Fast Company), Silicon Alley Insider, David Meerman Scott (The New Rules of Marketing & PR), Abbey Klaassen (AdAdge), CNET "Buzz Out Loud" Podcast with Tom Merritt, Molly Wood, and Jason Howell, Buckhead Church Podcasts, ESPN Fantasy Football Today Podcasts, and of course anything Michigan State Hoops related.
Q: There are many social networks nowadays. Should advertisers try each one, or how should they choose the right ones?
A: Start with the placements that have the best chance for success and progressively grow from there -- eventually you should be everywhere that is contributing to success (however you determine that). If you're engaged and using the tools, it's pretty easy to determine which social media tools your customers are on. If you can't figure this out, Forrester has a good Social Technology Profile Tool that will help direct you to where your customers are.
Q: Do you know an agency that is doing it right in social media? Or a brand?
A: Zappos, Comcast, Ford, JetBlue, Skittles, Starbucks, Ben & Jerry's, Best Buy, Dell, and Virgin are leaders in the space. Crispin Porter + Bogusky and Razorfish have been progressive in this area as well.
Q: What is the "next big thing" in social media marketing?
A: The merging of search and social.
Q: What about those who just want to say, "Enough of this online chatter, I just want to connect with people in the real world"?
A: Social media isn't a zero sum game. Just because you can stay connected with your daughter in college via social media doesn't mean that there isn't a need anymore to meet face to face. Social media is great at keeping people connected when distance/time is a hurdle or limiter. Also, remember that sometimes the opposite can occur -- meeting offline after first meeting online. Think about Mashable's popular Tweet-ups or that one out of eight couples married in the U.S. met online.
Q: Are there things that should always or never be done in social media, things to consider or options to weigh when deciding which one to join (or stop using!)?
A: Fun and common sense -- have plenty of both.
What is social media?
The Internet tools that people use to publish, converse, and share content. These include blogs, wikis, podcasts, and also sites where you might share photos, bookmarks and videos. Traditional media (television and radio) is main one-way ... broadcaster to audience. Social media is low-cost and allows many-to-many connections. It's called social media because it supports conversations, connections and the development of new relationships. There's a jargonbuster A-Z of key terms here.
Why is social media important for community groups?
It can give individuals and small groups a strong voice, better ways to communicate and collaborate, and find out what's happening. Social media is not a substitute for meetings or printed material - but increasingly important for anyone wishing to serve their community. There are articles on what social media means for different interests here, and some of the main ideas here.
How do I decide which social media tools to use?
You can find a long list of different tools here, covering the main online activities you may be involved in: finding and listening; communicating and conversing; publishing and sharing; connecting and collaborating. The Social by Social team have developed a card-based game that groups can use to choose and plan their use of tools: you can find examples of the game in use here, and download the cards.
Where can I find some simple guides to the different tools?
Tim Davies has produced a set of one-page guides. Where appropriate we have linked these to the cards in the Social by Social game, as you can see here. This should provide a quick route into what tools may be useful to you.
How do I keep track of what is happening online - and help others do that too?
You can use a social bookmarking tool like delicious.com to save useful web links you want to share with others, and a "dashboard" like Netvibes to bring content together from different sites, updated automatically. Tim Davies provides one page guides here and here. See also How to find and join the conversations that are already happening in Social by Social.
What's the easiest way to do video, audio?
Here's some tips:
- Plan and shoot a video - one pager
- How to make and publish quick videos for the web from Social by Social
- Use an online tools to edit video yuou have shot - one pager
- Upload and share your videos on YouTube - one pager
A blog is best for one person or a small group, with a focus on publishing short items and/or long articles with opportunities for comment. You can also add photos, videos and display content from other sources. An online community provides a much larger number of people - possibly thousands - with these facilities, and scope for profiles, messaging, and discussion.
See Blogs and microblogging in Social by Social
See Online Communities in Social by Social
How do I set up somewhere for my group on Facebook, and Linkedin?
See Social networking in Social by Social
See Social networking in Social by Social
How can I join up the different tools I use - so that content from one appears in another?
You can do that using tags and RSS feeds. Simon Berry explains here how he did that for the Colalife campaign.
How much time is it likely to take to run a community site?
If you create a static site, where content doesn't change, you may only need to update occasionally - but you may not get much attention. A blog requires updating regularly ... and you'll also need to look and listen for what's happening in your community or area of interest. You'll need to check comments, and respond where necessary. The success of the blog will depend on how much time you spend: anything from a few hours a week, to some time each day. It becomes easier if you can make it part of the way you keep in touch with people, rather than an add-on, and also find others to contribute. If you are not familiar with the technology, help on that front will save frustration. An online community - where everyone has the chance to contribute - reduces the time you have to spend developing content, but increases the time spent on welcoming, managing, hosting and encouraging. It could requires several days a week for a big community - so best shared among a group.
Can one person do everything?
Blogs are ideal for one person to manage, although it always helps to have help from someone with complementary skills. If you are running an online community, you may need more help or develop new skills. See Emerging roles in Social by Social.
A blog looks like too much work, and Twitter too limited. Is there anything in between?
Take a look at Posterous.com and Tumblr.com
What should we use to help a group collaborate on projects?
See Project Management resources from Social by Social including How to set up a virtual office.
How can we use social media to get more value from our events?
See Events and facilitation in Social by Social
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thank you for giving us your valuable comments. Please send your suggestions to improve this blog at latestmedia@gmail.com.
~Social Media Blog Team.