Social Media Marketing For Dummies®

Social Media Marketing For Dummies®

by Shiv Singh
Released October 2009
Publisher(s): For Dummies
ISBN: 9780470289341

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Book description

Learn how easy it is for your market to get your message

Nowadays, if you’re not tweeting, Facebooking, or blogging, what are you doing? Everyone has a Twitter account, a Facebook page, or a blog—even celebrities! With the popularity of social networking comes the need to learn about social media marketing. Social media marketing is a cheaper and highly effective way to spread up-to-the-minute news; an easy, inexpensive way to enlarge your audience, customers, and business.

Social Media Marketing For Dummies provides an indispensable resource for small businesses and start-ups looking for low-cost online marketing strategies, as well as for marketers in larger companies who want to be more involved with social media. Learn which social media site best fits you and your business and how to:

  • Use Twitter, blogs, Facebook, and other social media outlets to full advantage

  • Create your own online spokesperson for your brand

  • Identify social media sites that appeal to your target audience

  • Tell which social platform works for which objectives

  • Develop a unique, Google-able voice in social media

  • Optimize your page to attract clicks and customers

  • Set up a program to assess your success and measure your results

Social Media Marketing helps you learn the art of social media marketing to build your business to its full potential. Includes contributions by Michael Becker, Jeannette Kocsis and Ryan Williams

Table of contents

  1. Copyright
  2. About the Author
  3. Author's Acknowledgments
  4. Publisher's Acknowledgments
  5. Introduction
    1. About This Book
    2. Conventions Used in This Book
    3. Foolish Assumptions
    4. How This Book Is Organized
      1. Part I: Getting Social with Your Marketing
      2. Part II: Practicing SIM on the Social Web
      3. Part III: Old Marketing Is New Again with SIM
      4. Part IV: The Part of Tens
    5. Icons Used in This Book
    6. Where to Go from Here
  6. I. Getting Social with Your Marketing
    1. 1. Understanding Social Influence Marketing
      1. 1.1. Defining Social Influence Marketing
        1. 1.1.1. Understanding the fundamentals of influence
        2. 1.1.2. Considering the types of influencers
          1. 1.1.2.1. Referent influencers
          2. 1.1.2.2. Expert influencers
          3. 1.1.2.3. Positional influencers
        3. 1.1.3. Influencing on digital platforms
      2. 1.2. Comparing Social Influence Marketing with Other Marketing Efforts
        1. 1.2.1. Direct mail
        2. 1.2.2. Public relations
        3. 1.2.3. Display advertising
        4. 1.2.4. Promotions
      3. 1.3. Taking Social Influence Beyond Marketing
        1. 1.3.1. Using social influencers to mobilize
        2. 1.3.2. Marketers as better corporate citizens
        3. 1.3.3. Social graphs for social change
    2. 2. The Lay of the SIM Land
      1. 2.1. Measuring the Size of the Social Web
        1. 2.1.1. Measuring blogosphere activity
        2. 2.1.2. Social network usage
        3. 2.1.3. Measuring YouTube, Flickr, and Wikipedia popularity
      2. 2.2. Identifying High-Traffic Sites
        1. 2.2.1. Measuring traffic across the mainstream Web
        2. 2.2.2. Measuring traffic on the social Web
        3. 2.2.3. Measuring Internet usage on mobile devices
      3. 2.3. Classifying Consumer Activities
      4. 2.4. Researching Your Customers' Online Activities
      5. 2.5. Analyzing Competitor Efforts
        1. 2.5.1. Setting up Google Alerts
        2. 2.5.2. Setting up Twitter alerts
        3. 2.5.3. Monitoring blogosphere conversations
        4. 2.5.4. Monitoring social networks
        5. 2.5.5. Tracking competitor Web sites
      6. 2.6. Researching Your Competitor's Campaign Support
        1. 2.6.1. Conducting qualitative research
        2. 2.6.2. Running surveys and quantitative research
      7. 2.7. All Consumers Are Not Created Equal
    3. 3. Getting in the Social Influence Marketing Frame of Mind
      1. 3.1. Putting SIM in the Context of the Marketing Funnel
        1. 3.1.1. SIM at the awareness stage
        2. 3.1.2. SIM at the consideration stage
        3. 3.1.3. SIM at the preference stage
        4. 3.1.4. SIM at the action stage
        5. 3.1.5. SIM at the loyalty stage
      2. 3.2. Treating SIM Differently from Brand Marketing
        1. 3.2.1. SIM in the context of brand marketing
        2. 3.2.2. SIM in the context of direct response
        3. 3.2.3. Tying SIM with brand marketing and direct response
  7. II. Practicing SIM in the Social Web
    1. 4. Launching SIM Campaigns
      1. 4.1. Discovering the Types of SIM Campaigns
        1. 4.1.1. Blogger outreach
        2. 4.1.2. UGC contests
        3. 4.1.3. Sponsored virtual gifts
        4. 4.1.4. Brand utilities
        5. 4.1.5. Podcasting
        6. 4.1.6. Sponsored conversations
      2. 4.2. Recognizing What Makes a Good SIM Campaign
        1. 4.2.1. Define your objectives
        2. 4.2.2. Execute for influence
        3. 4.2.3. Create partnerships
        4. 4.2.4. Track the results
      3. 4.3. Participating — Four Rules of the Game
        1. 4.3.1. Be authentic
        2. 4.3.2. Operate on quid pro quo basis
        3. 4.3.3. Give participants equal status
        4. 4.3.4. Let go of the campaign
      4. 4.4. Killing the Campaign Expiry Date
      5. 4.5. Monitoring Brands and Conversations
      6. 4.6. Responding to Criticism
    2. 5. Developing Your SIM Voice
      1. 5.1. Figuring Out Why You Need a SIM Voice
      2. 5.2. Defining SIM Voice Characteristics
        1. 5.2.1. Multiple and authentic
        2. 5.2.2. Transparent and easy to find
        3. 5.2.3. Engaging and conversational
        4. 5.2.4. Social Web savvy
        5. 5.2.5. Unique to the person
      3. 5.3. Distinguishing Between SIM Voices and Brand Voices
      4. 5.4. Outlining SIM Voice Objectives
      5. 5.5. Choosing the Owner of Your Organization's SIM Voice
        1. 5.5.1. Twintern
        2. 5.5.2. CEO
        3. 5.5.3. CMO
        4. 5.5.4. Social media lead
        5. 5.5.5. PR manager
        6. 5.5.6. Agency
        7. 5.5.7. Other external voices
      6. 5.6. Crowdsourcing SIM Voices with Guidelines
    3. 6. Reaching Your Audience and Their Influencers on the Major Social Platforms
      1. 6.1. Finding the Right Platforms
      2. 6.2. Looking at Marketing Strategies for Facebook
        1. 6.2.1. Traditional banner advertisements
        2. 6.2.2. Social advertisements
        3. 6.2.3. Sponsored stories
        4. 6.2.4. Gift sponsorships
        5. 6.2.5. Facebook pages
        6. 6.2.6. Facebook events
        7. 6.2.7. Facebook applications
        8. 6.2.8. Facebook groups
        9. 6.2.9. Facebook Connect
      3. 6.3. Discovering Marketing Strategies for MySpace
        1. 6.3.1. MySpace ads
        2. 6.3.2. MySpace Apps
        3. 6.3.3. MySpace Music
        4. 6.3.4. MySpace profile
        5. 6.3.5. MySpace & OpenID
      4. 6.4. Marketing on Twitter
        1. 6.4.1. Twitter handles
        2. 6.4.2. Searches
        3. 6.4.3. Responses
        4. 6.4.4. Following and followers
        5. 6.4.5. Sponsored tweets
      5. 6.5. Creating a YouTube Strategy
        1. 6.5.1. Always create a customized channel
        2. 6.5.2. Create custom content for YouTube
        3. 6.5.3. Tag and categorize all your clips
        4. 6.5.4. Promote your video with YouTube E-mail and Bulletins
        5. 6.5.5. Video responses: The social currency of YouTube
        6. 6.5.6. Joining YouTube Groups
        7. 6.5.7. Have some fun, too
        8. 6.5.8. YouTube subscribers
    4. 7. Marketing via Niche Networks and Online Influencers
      1. 7.1. Exploring the Niche Social Networks
      2. 7.2. Finding the Right Social Platforms
        1. 7.2.1. Classifying the social platforms
        2. 7.2.2. Understand your customers
        3. 7.2.3. Research the platforms
        4. 7.2.4. RFP the vendors
        5. 7.2.5. Evaluate and plan strategically
      3. 7.3. Moving Beyond the Platforms and the Blogosphere
        1. 7.3.1. Social advertising network
        2. 7.3.2. Appvertisement providers
        3. 7.3.3. Blogger networks
      4. 7.4. Taking Care of the Unpaid Media Basics
        1. 7.4.1. Wikipedia
        2. 7.4.2. Flickr
        3. 7.4.3. Delicious
        4. 7.4.4. Digg
        5. 7.4.5. Message boards
    5. 8. Accounting for the Influencers
      1. 8.1. Knowing the Expert Influencers
      2. 8.2. Reaching the Expert Influencers
      3. 8.3. Tapping into the Referent Influencers
        1. 8.3.1. Anonymous referent influencers
        2. 8.3.2. Known referent influencers
      4. 8.4. Reaching the Referent Influencers
        1. 8.4.1. Social graph analysis
        2. 8.4.2. Cookie data
        3. 8.4.3. Web site behavior
      5. 8.5. Tapping into the Positional Influencers
        1. 8.5.1. Understand the circles of influence around your customers
        2. 8.5.2. Let consumers shape and share the experience
        3. 8.5.3. Articulate your product benefits for multiple audiences
        4. 8.5.4. Fish where the fish are
        5. 8.5.5. Badges and promotions
        6. 8.5.6. Friends and family incentives
      6. 8.6. Translating Influence to the Offline World
        1. 8.6.1. Put your customer reviews in your stores
        2. 8.6.2. Marry social influence marketing with events and PR
        3. 8.6.3. Measure online buzz and offline influence
        4. 8.6.4. Connect influencers at meet-ups
        5. 8.6.5. Treat your stores as cybercafés
        6. 8.6.6. Put Twitter on the big screen
  8. III. Old Marketing Is New Again with SIM
    1. 9. Practicing SIM on Your Web Site
      1. 9.1. Moving Away from Microsites
      2. 9.2. Making the Campaign and the Web Site Work Together
        1. 9.2.1. Treating your Web site as a hub not a destination
        2. 9.2.2. Linking prominently to your presence on social platforms
        3. 9.2.3. Promoting campaigns on your Web site home page
        4. 9.2.4. Encouraging deeper interaction through your Web site
        5. 9.2.5. Asking customers to critique the campaign
      3. 9.3. Rethinking Your Web Site
        1. 9.3.1. Product pages
        2. 9.3.2. News and events pages
        3. 9.3.3. About us and contact us pages
        4. 9.3.4. Private online communities
      4. 9.4. Bringing the Social Graph to Your Web Site
      5. 9.5. Tips and Tricks for Web Site SIM
        1. 9.5.1. Aggregating information for your consumer
        2. 9.5.2. Articulating product benefits better
        3. 9.5.3. Amplifying the favorite business stories
        4. 9.5.4. Aligning your organization into multiple, authentic voices
    2. 10. Becoming an Authentic and Engaged Advertiser
      1. 10.1. Social Advertising: A Potential Online Advertising Game Changer
      2. 10.2. Appvertisements and How They Can Work for You
        1. 10.2.1. Emotional
        2. 10.2.2. Engaging
        3. 10.2.3. Social
        4. 10.2.4. Simple
      3. 10.3. Getting Your Appvertisement Noticed
        1. 10.3.1. Joining an appvertisement network
        2. 10.3.2. Seeding your appvertisement
      4. 10.4. Making Paid and Earned Media Work Together
        1. 10.4.1. Working harder to gain attention
        2. 10.4.2. Making paid media jump-start earned media initiatives
          1. 10.4.2.1. Build awareness
          2. 10.4.2.2. Jump-start engagement
          3. 10.4.2.3. Promote interaction
          4. 10.4.2.4. Win friends and influence
        3. 10.4.3. Tips and tricks for campaigns
      5. 10.5. SIM Working with TV
        1. 10.5.1. Awareness through TV, engagement via the Internet
        2. 10.5.2. Awareness, engagement, and conversion with television
    3. 11. Building a SIM Mobile Campaign
      1. 11.1. Looking at Consumer Trends in Mobile
        1. 11.1.1. It's more than a telephone; it's a portal to the world and the consumer
        2. 11.1.2. The release and adoption of smarter phones
      2. 11.2. Understanding the Many Paths within the Mobile Channel
      3. 11.3. Keeping in Mind Mobile Phone Capabilities
        1. 11.3.1. It's a snap: Using the camera
        2. 11.3.2. Location, location, location
        3. 11.3.3. Near-field communications and RFID
        4. 11.3.4. Phone interaction
      4. 11.4. Fitting Mobile into Your Social Media Practices
        1. 11.4.1. Defining mobile marketing and its place within the social media context
        2. 11.4.2. Uniting mobile marketing with social media
        3. 11.4.3. Supporting a cause
      5. 11.5. Building Your Own Mobile-Enabled Communities
        1. 11.5.1. Leveraging existing online communities
          1. 11.5.1.1. Facebook
          2. 11.5.1.2. Twitter
          3. 11.5.1.3. Other social media communities
        2. 11.5.2. Creating your own social offerings: applications and widgets galore
          1. 11.5.2.1. Applications
          2. 11.5.2.2. Widgets
      6. 11.6. Adding Social Media Elements to Mobile
        1. 11.6.1. Portable social graphs
        2. 11.6.2. Searching with mobile
      7. 11.7. Harnessing Mobile to Support Social Media
    4. 12. Energizing Employees within Your Company for Social Influence
      1. 12.1. Encouraging Your Employees to Collaborate
        1. 12.1.1. Rewarding teams
        2. 12.1.2. Treating everyone equally
        3. 12.1.3. Trusting your employees
        4. 12.1.4. Creating the right culture
        5. 12.1.5. Placing a premium on groups with a purpose
        6. 12.1.6. Avoiding excessive snooping
      2. 12.2. Picking Social Software for Social Influence
        1. 12.2.1. Enterprise software
        2. 12.2.2. Emergent enterprise social software
        3. 12.2.3. Small-scale social software
        4. 12.2.4. Consumer social software
      3. 12.3. Using Prediction Markets to Pick Winners
      4. 12.4. Rethinking Intranet
        1. 12.4.1. Getting rid of the buzzwords
        2. 12.4.2. Don't try to control too much
        3. 12.4.3. Surfacing the connections
        4. 12.4.4. Taking search social, too
        5. 12.4.5. Allowing alternate access
        6. 12.4.6. Promoting the value of historical record
        7. 12.4.7. Giving your intranet a pulse
        8. 12.4.8. Making the goal to de-structure and de-organize
        9. 12.4.9. Giving employees other choices
    5. 13. Applying Metrics to the SIM Realm
      1. 13.1. A Core Measure of Social Influence Marketing
      2. 13.2. Considering Influencer-Specific Metrics
      3. 13.3. Evaluating Each Platform's Metrics
        1. 13.3.1. Facebook
        2. 13.3.2. YouTube and video clips
        3. 13.3.3. Twitter
        4. 13.3.4. The blogosphere
        5. 13.3.5. Widgets and social applications
        6. 13.3.6. Website community metrics
        7. 13.3.7. Other metrics to consider
  9. IV. The Part of Tens
    1. 14. Ten SIM Best Practices
      1. 14.1. Open Up Your Brand to Your Consumers, and Let Them Evolve It
      2. 14.2. Develop a SIM Voice without Silencing Other Voices that Support Your Brand
      3. 14.3. Respond to Everything, Even If It Means You're Up All Night
      4. 14.4. Think Beyond the Obvious and Use SIM to Evolve Your Business
      5. 14.5. Focus Not Just on Social Media but on Social Influencers
      6. 14.6. Structure Your Marketing Department for This Social World
      7. 14.7. Take Your Organization with You, from the CEO to the Field Representative
      8. 14.8. Conduct Many Small Tests Frequently and Build on Each One
      9. 14.9. Capture Every Single Piece of Data that You Can
      10. 14.10. Make Mistakes, but Make Every Effort to Correct Them as Well
    2. 15. Avoiding Ten Common Mistakes
      1. 15.1. Encroaching on Customers' Time
      2. 15.2. Your Customers Don't Want to Hear You
      3. 15.3. Choosing the Wrong SIM Voices
      4. 15.4. Not Being Patient
      5. 15.5. Treating SIM in Isolation
      6. 15.6. Having Only One Approach
      7. 15.7. Thinking of SIM as a Channel
      8. 15.8. Don't Plan for the Worst
      9. 15.9. Focusing on One Large Campaign
      10. 15.10. Forgetting to Reward Your Participants
    3. 16. Ten SIM-Related Must-Read Blogs
      1. 16.1. Web Strategist
      2. 16.2. The Steve Rubel Lifestream
      3. 16.3. Chris Brogan
      4. 16.4. Logic + Emotion
      5. 16.5. Conversation Agent
      6. 16.6. Influential Marketing Blog
      7. 16.7. The WOMMA Word
      8. 16.8. Advertising Age's Digital Next
      9. 16.9. Apophenia
      10. 16.10. Going Social Now

Product information

  • Title: Social Media Marketing For Dummies®
  • Author(s): Shiv Singh
  • Release date: October 2009
  • Publisher(s): For Dummies
  • ISBN: 9780470289341