Social Media - What? Why? How? Where?

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Written by Ryan Hegreness Friday, 29 January 2010 23:38

The following article was re-blogged from http://www.catamountwebsolutions.com. Though this was a recap of a class for small businesses, the information is useful to parks and recreation departments and other organizations as well.

The following is the outline and brief recap of the Social Media for Small Businesses class that was held on Thursday, November 5 in Essex Junction, VT. Most websites/resources have been linked. Feel free to share this resource.

What is Social Media?

Welcome to Scoopville Video by Common Craft
Media designed to be disseminated through social interaction
Highly accessible & scalable
Supports human interaction through technology
User generated content
A move from people being content consumers to becoming content producers

Why use Social Media?

Make business personal again
Word of mouth marketing
Viral growth
More ways for potential customers to discover your goods/services

What are my options?

Blogs: Blogger, Wordpress
Podcasting
Micro-Blogs: Twitter (140 characters or less), Tumblr
Social Networks: Facebook (friends/contacts/business fan pages), Linked-In (business/professional), Ning (topic-specific, custom social networks)
Digital Video: YouTube, Vimeo
Bookmarking: Digg, Del.icio.us, Stumble Upon
Photo Sharing: Flickr, Photobucket
Presentation Sharing: Slideshare, Scribd
Wikis: Wikipedia, Wikispaces
Local Search/Directories: YellowPages, Local.com, Citysearch

Does it work?

Yes and No
Services may be free, but your time is not.
Successfully using social media takes time and commitment.
A few Examples: Dell, Moonfruit, NakedPizza, Street Vendors, Berry Chill

How Do I Start?

Find your target market
Determine the appropriate direction
Create demand
Make it personal / Be authentic
Keep the information coming
Be focused and consistent
Ask for feedback
Run promotions
Create a community
Integrate your efforts

Where Do I Start?

We focused on a few popular options:

Sources

What is social media: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_media
What is social media: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpIOClX1jPE
How to start: http://mashable.com/2009/07/17/twitter-street-vendors/
How to start: http://mashable.com/2009/02/27/social-media-for-business-2/

Additional References (examples used in presentation, quotes, ideas, etc.)

http://www.bizreport.com/2009/11/study_small_businesses_may_not_fully_understand_social_media.html
http://www.marketingpilgrim.com/2009/06/social-media-and-small-business-getting-acquainted-slowly.html
http://www.marketingpilgrim.com/2009/07/twitter-can-be-good-for-business.html
http://www.marketingpilgrim.com/2009/05/twitter-local-business-and-results.html
http://mashable.com/2009/07/28/social-media-small-business/
http://searchengineland.com/social-media-marketing-for-small-business-10850
http://smallbiztrends.com/2009/08/social-media-mistakes.html
http://social-media-optimization.com/2009/10/social-media-and-small-business-not-connecting/
http://societrends.com/2009/10/12/citibank-survey-question-muddies-water-for-small-businesses/
http://www.rescuemarketing.com/blog/2009/05/08/social-media-mistakes-small-business-owners-should-avoid/
http://www.wilsonweb.com/newmedia/social-media-sme.htm
http://www.slideshare.net/kara_atDELL/tap-into-twitter-social-media-guide