Let’s get Social!

1. Let’s get Social! Social Media 101 Brought to you by the Oakville Arts Council and Town of Oakville

2. Presented by: Bernadette WardDirector, CommunicationsOakville Arts Councilbward@oakville.ca & Janine IvingsSenior Communications AdvisorTown of Oakvillejivings@oakville.ca

3. Show time! Social Media Revolution Search YouTube for more great videos and social media tutorials!

4. “Social media refers to the means of interactions among people in which they create, share, and exchange information and ideas in virtual communities and networks.” Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia What is social media?

5. People are talking. Why not be part of the conversation? Why use social media?

6. Did you know?Canada is one of the top ten most engaged countries for social networking. It’s not just another marketing channel. It’s so much more. * Public relations * Customer service * Loyalty-building * Collaboration * Networking * Thought leadership * And yes, some marketing as well. Why use social media?

7. Think about your social media options. Most commonly used are: * Twitter * Facebook * YouTube * LinkedIn * Instagram * Pinterest * Wordpress, Tumblr(Blog) * Flickr * Etsy What are my options? What are your goals and objectives? What are you trying to achieve? Online should support offline efforts.

8. Facebook represents the digital mapping of a person or organization’s real-world connections. Communicating with friends and other users is done through private or public messages (called status updates). Users can also create and join interest groups, and "like pages.” Facebook users want a story. They also love photos! Facebook (Family BBQ)

9. Twitter is a free social networking service that allows people to communicate in a short and simple way that can be broadcasted to the world. The platform enables its users to send and read text-based messages known as “tweets” of up to 140 characters displayed on the author’s profile page and delivered to the author’s subscribers, known as followers. Twitter(Cocktail Party)

10. YouTube is a video sharing website where users can upload, watch and share videos. YouTube has grown to become the second largest search engine in the world. With the popularity of YouTube and online video sharing growing, businesses and groups across Canada are beginning to take advantage of its many benefits. YouTube

11. LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network with over 175 million members and growing rapidly. LinkedIn connects you to your trusted contacts and helps you exchange knowledge, ideas, and opportunities with a broader network of professionals. LinkedIn serves as a great way to recruit new employees. LinkedIn is a social networking site designed specifically for the business community. The goal of the site is to allow registered members to establish and document networks of people they know and trust professionally. LinkedIn

12. A relative newcomer to the social media landscape, Instagram is a photo-sharing and social networking service. Incredibly popular (with reportedly over 100 million users), Instagram enables users to take photos, apply filters and share them on other social media platforms including Twitter, Tumblr and Facebook. Instagram

13. Pinterest is a pin-board style of social bookmarking site where users are able to collect and organize photos and videos into categories such as events, interests, hobbies. Users can visit other pinboards and “like” or “re-pin” images to their own boards. Pinterest

14. Flickr is a photo management and sharing site used for personal photographs and videos. Yahoo reported in June 2011 that Flickr had a total of 51 million registered members and 80 million unique visitors. As of August 2011, Flickr reported hosting more than 6 billion images. If you plan to publish a blog, you may find this site useful for hosting any images you use. Flickr

15. Blogging is form of social networking used to present information, create discussion and build relationships. Blogs can offer commentary on a particular subject such as health, politics, education or travel, function as a type of personal diary, or as a method of advertising (corporate or club blogs). There are currently over 150 million blogs in existence. Popular blogging tools include Blogger, Tumblr and WordPress. Blogs

16. “I don’t have time…” Determine the resources available, both in terms of tools and team. Be part of the discussion. Build social media into your day-to-day activities. It takes minutes per day to build your online presence. You don’t have to be online all the time. Resources

17. What is your biggest challenge? Fear, lack of knowledge, technology shock, cultural mindset, resources? Develop a strategy, guidelines and an editorial calendar. Think before you leap. Keep it simple and manageable. You communication and conversation should be clear and articulate. Otherwise, what’s the point? Getting started… Expect a few missteps. Train others to feed you content.

18. A good social media strategy recommends integrated use of online and traditional communications. By embracing the world of social media and creating a strategically planned approach to it, businesses and groups can capitalize on the opportunity to inspire, enable, nurture and facilitate more relevant, authentic and effective communications with their audience and other stakeholders to create a more informed and engaged community What’s your strategy?

19. To be successful, understand how messages should be shared in each medium. InvestListenShare How do I know what to say?

20. Your online community will only be as good as the amount of effort you put into cultivating one. Get involved in the conversation. Invest

21. Do your research. What are people talking about? Who is your target audience?Find out how your audience and competitors are using social media. Listen

22. You’re unique. Does the information you’re sharing convey that? Ask yourself. Is my content relevant, timely, useful, engaging, authentic, emotional, entertaining, outrageous? Give your community something to think about or enjoy! Share

23. Have fun! @SuburbiaYFC@mrmuzzdog Haven't seen any polar bears in Oakville…except this once. And on Jan 1 @PolarBearDip :) pic.twitter.com/GXCaNKrt

24. Recognize others! Thanks for your support @FordCanada@timhortons and Budds' Oakville! pic.twitter.com/RkAg1nOm

25. Take the bait! @Teemu_Favotberg@NBC is correct. Here's a pic of @vankayak & @OakvilleMayor following 2008 Olympics. So proud! pic.twitter.com/9IkUXzo0

26. Follow thought leaders Scott Stratten ‏@unmarketing@aekyo@dan_bowman @jamesrathwell I'm one of the few over here that knows Toronto isn't the center of Canada :) Oakville is. Town of Oakville ‏@townofoakville@unmarketing@aekyo @dan_bowman @jamesrathwellLove it :) Scott Stratten ‏@unmarketing@townofoakvillewell played

27. Think before you post. Once you click share, your comments will live forever in cyberspace. Be respectful and use common sense. Share useful information, images and perspective, but never post anything that you wouldn’t want repeated to your boss or to appear in the paper. Think about what might happen if your post goes viral. Social Media Tips Do you want to be a social media case study? Be kind to others; Use one toy at a time; Use your indoor voice; Play by the rules; Practice patience. - Laura Finlayson, Beckerman Communications

28. Be the expert! If you know something, share it. If content offers no value, then that’s how you will be perceived. Be yourself! Talk about things you care about and be true to yourself. People are hungry for knowledge, tips and trends. Think great content

29. Share complimentary posts or thank and share! Correct misinformation politely and with sources. Don’t be defensive Offer helpful information. If necessary, take the conversation offline. Be protective of your brands interests and ensure that all content is consistent with your values and professional standards. Social Media Etiquette Remember – you are representing your brand and everything you have worked for when using its social media sites. Customer service issue? Ask how you can help. Be nice and say thanks. Be accurate and make sure you can back up your posts. Ensure your message is consistent with other information released publicly via other channels. Don’t steal other people’s content. Source and share! Represent your brand well

30. Follow others! What’s working for them? What posts make you stop and read? Engage with followers and key trendsetters. Show them what you’ve got. Learn from the best Find your voice. The moment you do, speak up!

31. Start talking! Free tools can make it easy to monitor, listen and respond. Check out * Hootesuite* Facebook Insights* SocialMentions* Klout* TweetReach* TwentyFeet* Google Analytics…and more! Monitoring and Measurement What’s your ROI?Influence vs. Ignoring

32. Some Helpful Social Media Resources…* socialmediatoday.com* sproutsocial.com * prdaily.com* marketingprofs.com* mashable.com * socialmediaexaminer.com…and more! Helpful reference sites! When all else fails, Google it!

33. Let’s chat! Any questions? What’s your social media story? Thanks for joining us!