Social Media for DummiesThe idiot’s guide to communication via social media (strictly for internal use)

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Social Media guidelines

The world as we know it is going social. Social media is the next big thing. Conversation is everything. People are speaking in a language that is natural, open, honest, direct, funny and even often shocking. Organisations need to adapt.

“Organisations often make the mistake of talking in the same soothing, humorless monotone of the mission statement, marketing brochure and “your-call-is-important-to-us” busy signal. It’s no wonder people have no respect for companies unable or unwilling to speak as they do.” - The Cluetrain

The key to catering to the need of the audience is through conversation, speaking in a language that is both understandable and relatable to the audience.

In this document we will highlight the finer points necessary to better manage and engage audiences on Social Networking sites (and how to make your audiences like you)

The Basics

1. Sign up for every and any social media service to reserve your name. Identity theft is easy. Don’t let it happen to you.

Example of a stolen identity by the parody account Smrtsg

Profile Setup● Use company’s standard email address (an email that can be shared within the

company, not your personal email you block everyone out off when you leave/get fired)

● Add as much of your company’s information as possible (e.g. address, telephone number, website, etc.)

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● Profile photo and cover photo should be of high resolution. Blurred out photographs are not art. The recommended dimension of a profile photo is 200 x 200 pixels while a cover photo should be of 957 x 354 pixels.

An example of a well-written company information page by Social influence agency Goodstuph

● Set privacy settings to be as open as possible and still within the social rules of the community. Nothing is secret for us (the organisation), but sometimes "friends" or"connections" don't want their stuff out there, so respect that.

● Sign up for email notifications and RSS feeds and put them into the corporate RSS reader account. Status emails should go to RSS through the email-to-RSSbridge. (research , try out and then explain)

This will help to keep track of multiple social networking platforms at once.

● Above all, your communications with people should be honest and fair. Never post anything you would be afraid for your Mom to see. Respond to all communication within 24 hours.

Social media etiquette

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● Fix any problem, in any way, immediately that costs less than $50. More than $50 and it may come out of your pocket. ($50 dollars isn’t a big deal, but it can go a long way to improving your relationship with your supporters - especially if it goes viral)

PR gone right: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2094564/Giraffe-bread-Lily-Robinson-3-gets-Sainsburys-change-tiger-variety-viral-letter.html

● Engage customers in conversations where they are happening. You're representing your organisation and they trust you. Act accordingly. Word of mouth is extremely important to your organisation. If you can make the experience better than expected, do it.

● Try to add value. Provide worthwhile information and perspective. As a member of the organisation (especially if you’re in charge of social media) what you post on your personal page will reflect on the brand. Therefore, be mindful of your personal behaviour online.

● Make conversation. Avoid being pedantic and avoid using jargon. Encourage comments. You can also broaden the conversation by citing others who are talking about the same topic and allowing your content to be shared.

● Keep the tone of voice consistent that to maintain the brand image (they are talking to one brand, one tone, one personality, not one schizophrenic brand)

● Don't provide a client's, partner's or supplier's confidential or other proprietary information and never discuss the organisation’s business performance or other sensitive matters about business results or plans publicly.

● Don't cite or reference clients, partners or suppliers on business-related matters without their approval. When you do make a reference, link back to the source and do not publish content that might allow inferences to be drawn which could damage a between the organisation. and its partners.

● Respect your audience. Don't use ethnic slurs, discriminatory remarks, personal insults, obscenity, or engage in any similar conduct that would be deemed inappropriate.

● Don't misuse the organisation’s logos or trademarks and only use them if you have the authority to do so. (e.g. You shouldn't use the organisation’s logo in your screen name or other social media ID)

● Do not “broadcast” messages (do not tell them what they should do) and only police where necessary (i.e. do not delete comments without good reason)

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Example of poor social media management by Nestle http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2011/technology/1104/gallery.social_media_controversies/2.html

Content

The following is a series of guidelines addressing the content uploaded onto social networking sites by the Social Media manager.

● Post frequently but aim for quality and not quantity. Content should be uploaded regularly. It is key to avoid irregular postings (e.g. Don’t post to your blog then leave it for two weeks, readers won’t have a reason to follow your organisation on Twitter or check your blog if they can’t expect new content). Make your content rich and interesting for others to read.

● Post a variety of content on your organisation’s page. A page is only interesting if there’s variety. (i.e. Don’t upload nothing but text)

● If your organisation operates in any language other than english, it would be recommended to also upload a translation of the content so as not to alienate english speaking target audiences.

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Facebook specific rules

● Research has shown that on Facebook, it is advisable to post 1 - 4 times a week as it drives greater engagement. We recommend posting at least once every two days and no more than two posts a day.

(Source: Jeffbullas.com)http://www.jeffbullas.com/2012/02/29/10-powerful-tips-to-increase-fan-engagement-on-facebook/

● If there are events, it would be good to create event pages and invite followers (only applicable to Facebook)

● Do not like or comment on your own statuses (unless in response to a conversation) as it lowers your credibility. Liking yourself is like giving yourself a pat on the back. Leave the patting to others. This also applies to liking and commenting on the statuses with your personal account.

● Research has also shown that “fill in the blank” posts and question posts generally generate greater engagement than other posts.

● It is also important to link all other social media sites (i.e. YouTube, Twitter, Blogger) to your Facebook page.

● As far as possible, keep your posts simple. Simple video, photo or text based posts are better received than more complicated posts i.e. posts with links, attachments or thumbnails.

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Not cool: Honda’s overzealous product manager praises Honda’s latest product on Honda’s official Facebook page

Uploading photosWhen uploading pictures onto Facebook, all pictures should be of high quality. Albums should avoid going beyond 40+ pictures. The ideal number of pictures in an album should be around 30.

Twitter guidelines

Due to the immediate nature of Twitter, it is not recommended to use Twitter unless your organisation has a lot of content to share.

● Limit your tweets to 5 times a day and no more than 6. You should tweet at regular intervals.

● You should also tweet live at organisation events, you’re essentially a reporter for your company

● You should also make sure your tweets are of value, don’t tweet unless you’re sure you have something to say. (nobody cares about you drinking coffee or getting caught in a jam)

● You should also answer feedback as soon as possible, within 24 hours, but ideally within 4 hours.

● You should always reply and retweet (RT) your followers as it helps build relationships with them. It’s not difficult to send a “thanks, much appreciated!” and it’ll help you earn karma points in the Twitterverse!

● If you intend to get a lot of followers, follow your supporters. This way, they will be able to “direct message” and it’ll help you communicate better with them. Research has shown that nonprofits with the most followers follow closely on a 1:1 ratio.

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● Don’t just tweet about your own content. Tweet articles or blog posts that are relevant to your organisation.

● Don’t ever use auto-responders. It’s lazy marketing. Be human. Be authentic.

I think this cartoon sums up auto-responders perfectly.

● Create a Bit.ly account as it will help you shortern links you want to share on Twitter (which allows you to stay within 140 characters). It will also allow you to track how many people click your link.

● Inspiring quotes and fun facts generally get more retweets than other updates which helps increase exposure for your organisation. One quote per week is ideal. (do not spam them)

● Hashtags should be used strategically. An organisation should have no more than 3 hashtags.

● Do not sync Twitter with Linkedin and Facebook. Make sure every tweet is personally crafted out. This will help create authenticity and prevent your posts from being seen as spam.

● Your twitter profile picture/avatar can be a good marketing tool to use for special events. However, you should ensure that your logo can be seen in all these pictures.

● Do not put your Twitter “operating hours” on Twitter. You should be working round the clock, 24/7. Putting your operating hours will only make things worse during a crisis when people need to contact you!

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Smrt: How you should NOT use Twitter (its not very smart to follow nobody either)

Blogs

A blog is a good platform for your organisation to have as it gives you a platform to provide detailed content (detailed content on every other social media site is considered spam) A blog lends credibility to your organisation and creates the impression that your organisation is an “expert” in your field (a.k.a “thought leader”)

● Just like Facebook, your blog should include all of your organisation’s relevant information and links.

● You should blog 1-2 times a month.

YouTube guidelines

YouTube is a popular platform that allows your organisation to share video content. It is especially useful for performing arts groups. YouTube is the second most popular search engine and creating a YouTube account will help your organisation raise awareness.

● Display picture should be your brand’s logo and relevant information should be included in your profile

● Videos should be of high quality and tags should be added to each video to improve video ranking in search results

● Subtitles are recommended if your videos are in a non-english language

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● Videos should ideally be engaging and visually appealing, videos should be easy to understand (nobody wants to watch still images of graphs or listen to jargon)

● All videos should also include your organisation’s logo. This will help branding.

● You should also prevent ads from showing up on your video (unless your purpose is to monetize your page)

● You should also have your featured video play automatically when visitors visit your organisation’s channel

● You should also enable “always take subscribed users to the feed” tab to allow your existing subscribers to see your latest activities you have participated in on YouTube. E.g. latest videos, comments you made on other YouTube channels and videos, etc.

(http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/5-ways-to-brand-your-new-youtube-profile/#more-13992) Promotion:

● Embed the YouTube video on your organisation’s website homepage● Provide link to the video by including it on promotional materials (e.g. e-newsletters)● Share the video on your organisation’s official Facebook and other social networking

pages. Engagement:

YouTube is also a social networking site. With that being said, solid engagement is necessary to build rapport with its viewers and subscribers.

● Reply to any enquiries ● “Vote up” viewer’s comments

Sources

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:oXGGdVwamJoJ:www.cdc.gov/socialmedia/tools/guidelines/pdf/onlinevideo.pdf+&hl=en&gl=sg&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESgKFIsIZvhMooZrpIsH0AVCQK3OYVfoF3omISl8O5JKGsI4J1yzyz7wRrL3ZBJb_pr28Qv2zDMpAgLnihSlUZeRnNAR0JVZF8sCLvGgWTWqTxiOYGVDI_lKKKUzNHlC5dZ8OUi6&sig=AHIEtbRh5x3ZlSMGAO7U1FB8oRE3bize1g

Tumblr guidelines

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Tumblr is blogging platform with a strong potential for awareness and marketing. Tumblr’s appeal lies in its easy-to-use interface which makes it easy to follow (i.e Keep track of) and share content from other Tumblr users.

Another feature of Tumblr is the variety of posts you can upload onto the site.

You can upload text statuses, photos, quotes, links, chats (discussions), audio and video clips

Tumblr also allows the “queuing” and “drafting” of posts, allowing you to publish your posts at later or at a specified time, which means content should be planned in advance. It is recommended to do so if you are the only person maintaining the account as it will help to “lighten your work”.

The “queue” function is especially useful as you can plan and schedule your posts in advance, making the platform easier to maintain.

Finally, Tumblr allows the tracking of tags (keywords people attach to information and search for)This allows you to keep track of topics of interest and helps you source for content.

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Each time a new post is “tagged” with a tracked tag, it shows up on the tracked tags sidebar, up to a maximum of 10 tags. This will allow you know whenever there’s a new update on that particular topic of interest.

**Tumblr is not recommended for all types of businesses. It is more suitable for businesses whose goods and services are “photo-worthy”. Any brands that can create thematically interesting visuals have the potential to do well on this platform.

Create a great Tumblr name for your business. A good one is short, catchy and easy to remember.

Tumblr is not a marketing dumping ground. Do not post all the content that you have in hand. Instead, figure out what your followers want and work from there.

Always tag your posts with words related to the subject of your post which allows filtering and to help to rank up its search results which makes your post easily discoverable.

But… avoid overtagging as it irritates Tumblr users and will affect your brand personality

Research has shown that photo-based posts get the greatest number of reblogs/likes (notes), Source: Mark Coatney

Compelling pictures including a short description work best on Tumblr.

It is recommended to have 1 to 5 posts per day. Sourceshttp://mashable.com/2011/08/17/tumblr-marketing-guide/http://www.webaholic.co.in/blog/the-marketers-guide-to-tumblr/

 Instagram

Instagram is a free photo-sharing program and social network that was launched in October 2010. The service enables users to take a photo, apply a digital filter to it, and then share it

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with other Instagram users they are connected to on the social network as well as on a variety of social networking services.It largely relies on immediacy which could help Walk Japan raise awareness of its tours with its photosharing and trending function.HoweverInstagram is also largely limited to smart devices, as such, Walk Japan might not be able to target those without smart devices, especially Walk Japan’s older clientele who make up a majority of their customers. Nevertheless, instagram would serve as a good platform for Walk Japan to raise awareness on their tours.

Guidelines1. Pick a series of hashtags and focus on theseCreate an official hashtag for Walk Japan and each tours. E.g. #walkjapan, #bashosteps, #walknakasendo/#nakasendotrail

2. Feature your customersThere’s nothing like seeing a friendly face on social media when you’re looking at a company’s page! Customers are your brand’s greatest advocates.

One great example of using instagram to help increase popular for your company is Virgin America Airlines. The company uses Instagram to showcase their brand experience. They frequently post pictures of surprises they give to their customers, where their customers are going, snapshots of their customers with celebrities including the CEO, Richard Branson and shout-outs to sponsors that make their brand experience even more memorable.

How you can use Instagram

What sets Instagram apart from other photos sharing sites is its emphasis on the experience rather than the photo itself. Instagram’s polaroid style pictures makes it personal and friendly (who could possibly hate polaroids?)

Just like Virgin America Airlines, you can use Instagram to share special moments and memories. The following are http://socialmediatoday.com/sendible/1075136/7-tips-using-instagram-business

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1. Showcase Your Products

If you’ve got it, flaunt it. Promote mobile window-shopping by using instagram to showcase your products/services. Snap photos of new products or featured products to build a buzz or get your followers to guess your product.

If your business is service oriented, show off the services you provide. I.e. if you’re a travel company, showcase pictures of your tours.

2. Introduce Your Employees

It’s all about the people. Introducing your followers to the people who keep your company going humanizes your brand. Cast the Instagram spotlight on special employees, and use the caption to share a bit about the employee. If you have different departments, you can always feature staff from different departs within your company to put a human face on your brand.

3. Expand your audience.

Connect Instagram to your other social networks and use relevant hashtags (#yourbrandhere) to make it easier for people to find your account.

Hashtags are used to track posts, by making your company’s hashtag simple and memorable, This will also help in branding efforts if it trends.

4. Engage directly with users. Ask questions in your photo caption, and respond to comments.

It is a good opportunity for you to engage with clients who are already talking about your products on the platform. Feature photos from customers and use the comments feature to answer questions they may have.

5. Show How It's MadeCuriosity kills the cat, or does it? Customers have a natural curiosity about where your product comes from and what goes into creating such a product. Your job is to reward them by showing them what goes on behind the scenes. From planning to delivery. For WJP: This can be used to showcase the preparation of what goes on behind the tour or the planning of new tours.

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6. Display pictures from your clients

With consumers now doing research online before they purchase a product, brands shouldembrace reviews and comments about its products as a marketing opportunity. The best way to to help your potential customers/clients in their research is to show happy customers using yourproduct.

Brands should integrate their Instagram photos on to their product page, e.g. website and Facebook. Featuring your existing clients on your page helps to increase their loyalty and therefore repeated sales.

7. Instagram competitionHost photo contests on your brand’s Instagram, which can be fun and interactive for your clients and help to attract potential clients to follow your instagram. Ask your instagram followers to submit their best personal photos, including a caption,  of your products. Pick weekly or monthly winners, depending on the number of participants, and reward them with prizes.Make the contest light and fun.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/6-steps-for-marketing-on-instagram-2013-1#ixzz2JcCUvR5zhttp://www.businessinsider.com/6-steps-for-marketing-on-instagram-2013-1#ixzz2JcJ9tRXf

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