A conceptual strategy for personal or professional marketing through social media.

Social media can take many different forms, including Internet forums, message boards, weblogs, wikis, podcasts, pictures and video.

Technologies include: blogs, picture-sharing, vlogs, wall-postings, email, instant messaging, music-sharing, crowdsourcing, and voice over IP, to name a few.

Definition source: www.wikipedia.com

Wha

t is

Soc

ial M

edia

?

≈90% of B2B decision makers

≈80% of internet users ages 18 to 26

≈50% of internet users ages 27 to 50

≈30% of small business owners

Statistics courtesy of Warrilow & Co., KnowledgeStorm, and Forrester Research

Who

is P

arti

cipa

ting

(U

.S.A

.)

Soci

al M

edia

Pro

cess

Eval

uate

the

Lan

dsca

pe• Identify relevant topics• Identify influential users• Identify influential channels

• Set expectations• Predict challenges

Dev

elop

a S

trat

egy

• EngageIncrease brand loyaltyWOM & viral marketing

• CommunicateVoice of the customerPulse of stakeholders (employees, investors,

customers)

• ExposeAdd visibility and transparency to your brandGive your brand presence and personality

• CollaborateProduct developmentCreative direction

Set

Spec

ific

Goa

ls

Dev

elop

a S

trat

egy

• FearLack of controlFear of criticismFear over privacy concerns

• Resource scarcitySubject matter experts have primary business

goalsThere is a required minimum investment to

succeed

Now develop guidelines to help control the risks & challenges.

Iden

tify

Cha

lleng

es

Dev

elop

a S

trat

egy

• Positive / negative coverage• RSS subscriptions• Bookmarks• Presence on other sites

digg FacebookTechnorati del.icio.us

• Message amplificationMention on other blogsReferrals Wiki entries

• Visitors

Esta

blis

h M

etri

cs

Build

a R

elev

ant

Pres

ence

• Share expertiseInvite other professionals in your organization

to share in content creation. Make them

marketers.

• ParticipateEstablish profilesComment, comment, commentShare well with others

• Reach outBuild relationships with influential users.

There are many options.

Start small.

Choose your targets.

Dev

elop

the

Com

mun

ity

• Decide on your mix• Build your own platforms

Public / Private Online CommunitiesBlogs VlogsForums PodcastsNetworking groups (on existing platforms)

Dra

w in

Par

tici

pant

s• Leverage influential stakeholders• Use existing infrastructure

Website Email SignaturesNewsletter Business CardsTradeshows Brick & Mortar Presence

• IntegrateSocial Media NewsroomSocial Media Relations with Media Relations

Use

You

r In

fluen

ce• Leverage

You now have stakeholders who are easyto communicate with. Ask them questions.

• Monitor & moderateHarvest the ideas and feedback availableKnow what is going on in your community

• Maintain momentumDon’t treat your social media presence as an advertising opportunity.Keep feeding relevant content if you have chosen platforms such as blogging. Provide atransition if you plan to change venues.

Repe

at• Adapt

Things may change along the way.

• EvolveFollow the community. It will continue to change.

• Your work is never doneTactical roadmaps have a short lifespan.Update constantly.

Developed and written by

Ben Littlebenlittle.vox.com

with the help of bloggers everywhere.

Public domain map image from first slide courtesy of the US Library of CongressCollection of Web 2.0 logos on slide 11 were collected at http://www.go2web20.net/