Social Media for Business 101

David Shipley

Saturday, 6 April, 13

Main teaching points

Defining social media

Evolution of social media

Social media in Canada

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Session One - Intro to Social Media - Goals

• Understand what is meant by social media

• Understand how social media has evolved and continues to evolve

• Understand how social media is being used in Canada

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Defining Social Media

Social media is the combination of technology and human interaction in a way that creates valuable connections and exchanges of information.

From a business perspective, social media can be distinguished from industrial media (print, television, radio) by referring to it as consumer-generated media.

- Adapted from Wikipedia - Social Media

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Defining social media technologies

• Collaborative projects

• Blogs & Microblogs

• Content Communities

• Social networking sites

• Virtual Game Worlds

• Virtual Social WorldsCredit: Andrea M. Kaplan / Michael Haenlein, Definition and classification of social media

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Social media myth #1

It's just Facebook, Twitter, YouTube right?

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Saturday, 6 April, 13

Social Media Myth #2

Social media is revolutionizing everything. It's the biggest thing since the Industrial Revolution.

Social media is not revolutionizing business.

Business fundamentals are the same today as they were 10 years ago.

If you have a good business, social media will help you.

If you have a bad business, social media will hurt you.

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Play Video

Saturday, 6 April, 13

Social Media History

• BBS rise (and fall) in the 1990s

• Web gains steam in mid-1990s - Rise of chat

• Wikipedia launches in 2001

• MySpace begins its rise - 2003

• Facebook launches in 2004

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Social Media History (cont)

• YouTube launches in 2005

• Twitter launches in 2006

• Pinterest begins in an apartment in 2009

• Google Plus launches in June 2011

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Play Video

Saturday, 6 April, 13

Social media in Canada

• 50% of all Canadians have an online social networking profile

• 86% Canadians aged 18-34 have a social networking profile

• The majority (62%) of Canadians aged 34 to 54 now have profiles

• 43% of Canadians aged 55 and above have profiles

Ipsos-Reid, 2011

Saturday, 6 April, 13

Social media in Canada

• Nearly one-half (45%) of online Canadians visit a social network site at least once a week.

• 30% visit daily. That's up from 19% in 2010.

• Females tend to visit social networking sites more than males. Also more likely to be daily visitors (37%)

• While absolute numbers of Canadians may be peaking, engagement continues to increase

Ipsos-Reid, 2011

Saturday, 6 April, 13

Social media in Canada

• Canadians are the second highest consumers of online videos (25 hours per month) of anyone in the world, out-Tweet Americans and visit Facebook more than American users.

• Canadians aged 18-24 spend an average of 360 minutes watching YouTube videos every month. Usage declines with age.

• 83.1% of Canadian net users now visit Facebook. (Only 71.5% of Americans visit Facebook).

Market Watch / Digital Journal, 2011, ComScore 2013

Saturday, 6 April, 13

Social media in Canada

• 13.7% of Canadians use Twitter, compared to 11.3% of Americans.

• 62% of mobile subscribers in Canada now have smartphones

• About 58% of Canadian smartphone users visit a social networking site or blog every day. 25% do so at least once a week.

• Social media usage overall continues to grow in Canada, up 3% in 2012.

ComScore 2013, Market Watch / Digital Journal, 2011Saturday, 6 April, 13

Top social media sites in Canada

Facebook - YoY Growth - 8%

Twitter - YoY Growth - 28%

LinkedIn - YoY Growth - 38%

Tumblr - YoY Growth - 96%

Pinterest - YoY Growth - 792%

ComScore 2013

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Top 10 Websites in Canada

1. Google.c

2. Facebook

3. YouTube.com

4. Google.com

5. Yahoo!

6. Windows Live

7. Wikipedia

8. Kijiji

9. LinkedIn

10. Bing

alexa.com / March 2013

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Other fun facts

• Twitter is 11th most popular

• Pinterest is the 18th most popular

• WordPress is the 21st most popular

• CBC is the 34th most popular

• CNN is the 43rd

• The Globe and Mail is 61st

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Social media in New Brunswick

• Say No to the sale of NB Power site grows to 30,000 members in a few weeks (14,000 in the first 5 days)

• When two boys and a girl were lost in the woods in Rusagonis in September, word spread quickly via social media. Within three hours of the news hitting Facebook and Twitter, more than 300 volunteers showed up to help at the scene, with dozens more searching on their own.

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Social media is about making connections

That's why it's valuable to business, non-profits, government and government agencies.

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Social media is changing education

Watch Video

Saturday, 6 April, 13

Case Study: Sobey's and Social Media

Let's explore how this iconic Maritime company is using social media.

Saturday, 6 April, 13