Social media - @pulsetoday

@psmith4/7/12

HEALTH WARNING

The two-minute guide

(er… this isn’t a very good slide. I’ll email the guide and put it on Yammer)

Barriers to using social media

1. What’s the point?2. Don’t have time, too busy3. Our readers don’t use Twitter and Facebook

etc4. Don’t have the technology

Reasons you should use itre: What’s the point?

Team-related reasons:• Get more traffic to the site– More people to read a specific story?– “ “ “ “ section of the site?

• More registered users• Get more signups to newsletters• Sell more Pulse Learning subscriptions

Reasons you should use itre: What’s the point?

Personal reasons:• Be a better journalist/sales person• Get better contacts, sources• Get better and more stories/sales leads• Get questions answered quickly• Have fun (no, really)

*** Real answer = more engaged users ***

Real-time conversationYou need to know what readers are saying, so you can:-- REACT with relevant content-- ENGAGE them in conversation-- BE the centre for debate-- Talk about your PRODUCTS in an organic way

@psmith

Tweeting matters!

• Take your official account seriously• TWEET OFTEN! 10/15 a day minimum• Have variety, personality, interest• Reporters should engage and promote their

own stories – there is an audience out there• Have a policy – even a simple one

– e.g. Humour is fine within limits– Standard structure for tweeting link– Spelling/factual errors – don’t do it!– Be careful mixing personal and professional

@psmith

“But our readers don’t tweet”

“Those who believe that Twitter is mainly about “broadcast” for mainstream organisations are not just wrong, they are wilfully ignoring the successes and failures of many others… Some people will work very hard to exclude the experiences of others that challenge their own preconceptions of their working environment. I’ve called this “special pleading” in the past. Every single market we serve at RBI has given me reasons why social media won’t work in their market… Every single piece of special pleading has been proved to be false.”

- Adam Tinworth, RBI, Onemanandhisblog.com

@psmith

Strat!

1. Setting goals2. Measurement3. Think personality4. Think timing5. Think conversation and content6. Think product

Setting goals

• Replenishment or growth?• Newsletter signups, unique users?

• Set and review targets regularly– just as you would with site traffic.– New followers, unfollows, replies,

@psmith

Think measurement

Tweetstats.com

** DON’T DO IT IF YOU CAN’T MEASURE IT**

Why not say more during these crucial times?

Drs are busy working here

Big opportunity for weekend tweeting

This means robots are doing the talking

Measure individual stories

Topsy.com

Think personality** IT’S NOT JUST A NEWSFEED! **

-- Sure, tweet headlines and links but not JUST headlines-- For every headline, think of something else to say or RT

-- Use the old RT function (sometimes called “quote tweet” to add comments to links

-- Talk about where staff are and what they’re doing today e.g. reporting from conferences, what they’re writing.

-- Perhaps consider whether “breaking news” and “exclusive” drive usage. Trial period of using other words?

Think Timing** TIMED TWEETS ARE YOUR BEST FRIEND **

-- What are you saying to readers at 7am, 1pm, 5pm, 10pm? That’s when people go on the internet.-- Make full use of the timed tweets-- Don’t worry too much about overtweeting: people have signed up for your updates (but 4 or 5 an hour is probably the limit)

Think conversation and content** YOU ARE WHAT YOU TWEET **

-- Not just about your content – send people to good stuff elsewhere-- Including your rivals-- EVERYONE LIKES PICTURES, LISTS, GRAPHS, GUIDES, REPORTS…. And it doesn’t matter if they’re yours.

Think product ** PROMOTE STUFF THAT MAKES MONEY **-- Collaboration between sales, marketing and editorial-- Journalists can chip in to help promote events, subscriptions, signups – it helps everyone.-- Real missed opportunity not to promote products

Ask…

And you will receive!

(Apart from this guy)?

Read these slides in full, plus lots more slides on journalism, marketing and social media, at…

Slideshare.net/patricksmithjournalist