Dell Social Media Toolkit

Social Media Toolkit
Guide to how small and medium businesses

can make the most of social media
#dellsmb
01
About this guide

Dells Social Media team has produced this guide for any small or medium
businesses who are looking to embrace or further develop their use of
social media.
What is it?
Who is it for?
This guide looks at social media through

the lens of small and medium business,
with the core principles of online sharing
and collaboration. Its designed to be a
practical resource for not only using social
media professionally, but also personally
in the context of how your employees
can represent your company.
This guide is designed to provide you with

a good basic knowledge of the social
media landscape, an understanding of how
businesses and consumers are using social
media, and best practices and trends.
In creating this guide, weve drawn on

experiences and insights from the Dell
Small and Medium Business team and
many of our friends and followers online.
We hope you find it a useful resource
and see your business grow through your
efforts in social media.
It will help:
People who are new to social media
engagement
Users who are already engaged with other
people via social media and who want to
take their participation to the next level
Business owners who are looking for some
no-nonsense tips and best practices
02
Objectives of the guide

1. Support small and medium business owners and entrepreneurs with a
simple guide on the fundamentals of social media.
How we communicate has fundamentally changed. The informality of social communication
has brought about a new playing field with five key principles:
1. Channels have fragmented.

Its not just the traditional media anymore.
And the word media doesnt mean the
same as it did. Its no longer just about
newspapers, TV and radio, but also the
Internet, mobile and interactive.
2. The customer is in control.
In reality, when were talking about
messages and communication, no ones
really in control. But if we consider control
as meaning who can influence the opinion
of others through word-of-mouth and make
it happen online faster than you can say
customer, then the customer is in control.
4. Content creation and
distribution have been democratized.

Today, anyone has the tools to voice an
opinion, ask a question or criticize your
brand anywhere at any time 24/7 if he
or she has a connection to the Internet.
And consider, in 2011, the first students
to grow up with the Internet graduated
from university.
5. Sources of trust have

shifted. Authority figures
are less trusted. Today, people look
more to their peers, friends, colleagues
and subject matter experts for news,
information and knowledge. So a major
challenge for companies is how to be
part of such informal networks of trust
and influence, where word-of-mouth is
the unwritten rule.
3. Social media has arrived.

It started among the early adopters with
blogs in the early part of this century.
Then came podcasts, YouTube and the
social networks that are ubiquitous today.
03
Objectives of the guide

2. Offer general guidance on how to engage responsibly and effectively for
both professional and personal purposes.
Getting started with social media doesnt mean you have to create a Facebook business
page or open a Twitter account.
On the contrary,
your first step isnt

talking, its listening.
When you listen carefully, youll know your
customers online world. That information
will help you focus on insights, which can
inform your planning. That will help you
identify who drives share of conversation.
In other words, who you should pay
attention to.
You will be able to focus on your

planning by asking yourself some
specific questions, such as:
In addition to texts and rich content, this

guide contains worksheets and checklists
that will help you develop effective plans
to help you make your business case for
using social media, developing a clear and
measurable objective and showing how
your use of social media will help you
achieve that business objective.
How do you want to do it?
What do you want to achieve?

Who do you want to reach?
What social media tools will you use?
How does social media integrate

with your overall communication plan
in the long term?
04
Why use it?

Social media is a collective term that describes a means of communicating
and engaging with people. Its something many people see as evolutionary,
if not revolutionary, in helping people connect with each other in genuine,
authentic and informal ways.
This guide will help you engage and

interact more effectively online, by
showing you how to:
Leverage best social media practices
Learn from the experiences of
businesses that have leveraged
social media
Link online engagement to measurable
objectives specific to your goals
However you see it, social media usage is increasing rapidly and dramatically in all levels of
society and in more countries around the world. It isnt merely the domain of geeks and the
young. Increasingly, businesses of all shapes and sizes are embracing it.
Whats important isnt so much the tools and the channels: Its about people and new,
simpler and more effective means of connecting with other people.
Now, online sites like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and many others attract hundreds of
millions of people every day, who share their lives and experiences. More businesses are
developing homes in those places too.
05
How do you use it?

Because this guide is presented in a modular format with easy-to-find
sections that address the topics in an easy-to-understand manner, you
will be able to adopt and adapt these practices, strategies and tactics in a
manner consistent with your personal interests, objectives, planning and
business needs.
06
Ch.1
Building strong
social media
foundations for
business success
Why social media matters for
business success Ch1-03
Creating employee
guidelines Ch1-08
Tips for employees Ch1-10
Dealing with a crisis Ch1-11
Please note the following about your use of the Social Media Toolkit.
All information you see in this publication is provided as is, with no warranty or guarantee of accuracy. While we have taken care in our research when preparing this
content, it is your responsibility to satisfy yourself of any regulatory, legal or other issues that should be addressed in or prior to your use of social media. Dell cannot and
does not take responsibility for how you use the information presented here.
Finally, note that the information in this publication does not reflect the opinion, business policy, practice or any other aspect of business activity of Dell Corporation or its
employees, unless otherwise stated.
For more information about the Social Media Toolkit, and for additional and updated content, please visit http://www.dell.co.uk/business/socialmedia.
Copyright 2012 Dell Corporation. Except where noted otherwise, content in this publication is licensed under a Creative Commons License.
Soci al Media Toolkit
This Social Media Toolkit does not cover all social media channels and networks. Instead it focuses on the essential ones for small and medium-size businesses seeking
effective engagement with their stakeholders via social media. While we have researched and used publicly available information available at the time of preparing
this content (January 2012), we would point out that social media tools and channels and information change, services will evolve and, in some cases or circumstances,
cease to be available or continue availability in a form or manner different to how this material portrays them.
Building strong social

media foundations for
business success
If you are trying to put some structure around social media as well as
mitigate risks for your business and employees, then setting out some
simple social media guidelines is a good place to start. In this chapter, we
run through some of the basics of why social media increasingly matters
to small-and midsized businesses and highlight best practices for using
social media guidelines as a foundation for success.
How effective is social media?*
47%
Twitter
82%
Facebook
86%
Spring 2011
47%
LinkedIn
55%
*eWeek, Social Media Marketing Grows Among Small Businesses, Nov. 16, 2011
60%
Fall 2012
Ch1-02
Seven reasons why social media

matters to business success
1. Social media can help foster a genuine connection
between a company and its customers.
Usage is increasing rapidly and dramatically; businesses of all shapes
and sizes are embracing it. Why? Because they see measurable
benefits from directly connecting with other businesspeople in ways
that are more natural and authentic than the traditional marketing-led
approaches of the past.
2. Increasing importance of word-ofmouth on purchasing behavior.
Much customer purchasing behavior online is research finding out
what others think about Brand X, reading product reviews, asking
questions on social networks all the activities that involve active
word-of-mouth engagement with other people online.
By the time a customer takes the concluding step and actually makes
a purchase, decisions and expectations about that brand have already
been made, shaped and influenced by the consumers peer network
and online community.
3. By 2014, 20% of all business users will rely on

social media rather than email for personal communication.1
Gartner, Top Predictions for IT Organizations and Users, 2011 and Beyond, Nov. 2010
Social media has begun to threaten the effectiveness of the inbox.

Faster, more up-to-date, easier to interact with and share (with any
connected device wherever you happen to be), this up-to-the-minute
communication poses a serious threat to emails relevance as a
personal communication method.
Ch1-03
Seven reasons why social media

matters to business success
4. A fifth of journalists access Twitter at least
once a day as part of their story sourcing.2
The microblogging service has found an important place in the
reporters toolbox as an effective way to research stories. If something
just happened that is newsworthy, someone is probably talking about
it on Twitter. For reporters, its foolish not to monitor it.
5. Build relationships with online influencers.
They can generate positive word-of-mouth among online communities
about your brand or a new product or service. They can also share
thought leadership to demonstrate that your company is innovative,
helping to put an attractive name and face on your business.
6. Manage issues and crisis situations by
responding quickly.
The 24-hour news cycle is a reality around the world, with commentary,
opinion and discussion online rapidly affecting the spread of news.
This means that talk about you and your business can happen at any
moment, anywhere in the world. You need to be paying attention 24/7,
not just 9 to 5. Social media can work well for you in this regard by
acting as an early-warning alert system, giving you minutes or hours in
advance to be prepared.
7. Influence mainstream media coverage.
Cision, European survey highlights journalists increasing dependency on social media, Sept. 2010
Social media extends and expands the news cycle, giving you a
highly effective, rapid and low-cost means of getting your perspective
and views out in the mainstream in ways that get attention and can
influence opinion.
Ch1-04
Lets be clear about

social media
With all the talk you hear about Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn and
other online social meeting places, it wouldnt be too difficult to think that
social media is all about Facebook, Twitter and the others. Yet its not.
Whats important isnt the tools and the channels. Its the people and new,
simpler and more effective means of connecting with other people.
Click to watch the video:
Social Media Revolution

2011. Based on the book
Socialnomics: How Social
Media Transforms the Way
We Live and Do Business
by Erik Qualman.
Ch1-05
We define social media

like this:
The term social media can mean different things to different people. We
want to be sure were all clear as to what the term means in our context.
Social media is any tool or service that

facilitates conversations over the Internet.
Social media applies not only to traditional
big names such as Facebook, Twitter and
Renren, but also to other platforms you
may use that include user conversations,
which you may not think of as social
media. Platforms such as YouTube, Flickr,
blogs and wikis are all part of social media.
Social media is a collective term that
describes a means of communicating
and engaging with people. Its something
many people see as evolutionary, if not
revolutionary, in helping people connect
with each other in ways that are genuine,
authentic and informal.
The Conversation Prism is a living, breathing

representation of social media that evolves as
services and conversation channels emerge,
fuse and dissipate.
Creator Brian Solis explains,
We view conversations
across the networks through
the prism of our social
dashboard. Each shade of
color represents an entirely
unique reflection of light,
meaning separating context
and intention by network.
The Conversation Prism 3.0 by Brian Solis and JESS3.

Used with permission under Creative Commons license.
Social media usage is increasing rapidly

and dramatically at all levels of society
and in more countries around the world.
It isnt merely the domain of geeks and
the young. Increasingly, businesses of all
shapes and sizes are embracing it.
Ch1-06
So why should we care

about social media?
We care about social media because its changing how marketing and
communication work. Its an affordable way to get results, its rapidly
growing, and customers turn to you and their peers for answers.
Social media enables us

to engage in dialogue,
provide and exchange
information, and build
understanding.
At Dell, we believe that social media, when used properly, can be an effective business
tool. Were leveraging and experimenting with social media to build relationships and
better connect with consumers and key influencers. But there are responsibilities to
consider and practices we all must follow, as well explain.
Ch1-07
Why agree on social

media guidelines?
Weve all seen social media clangers, where a companys or individuals
reputation has been damaged by injudicious use of social media. Lack of
awareness of privacy settings has also led to oversharing of information.
In the most visible cases, individuals have been fired, arrested, sued or
burgled, and businesses have lost brand value, customers and revenue.
This is why guidelines are so critical for any company or employee
looking to engage in social media.
Best practices
Examples
As a business owner or employee, you engage in

conversations about your business every day. Joining
the conversation online really isnt all that different.
Much of what you do with social mediafor business
as well as for personal useand how you use it
comes down to common sense. Youll know, for
instance, that the kinds of things you would never
share with someone outside your company via email
or phone, you also wouldnt share via social media
channels like Twitter or Facebook.
Chris Boudreaux has collected

social media guidelines from
over 100 organizations.
In the online world, there are additional considerations

to be aware of, to enable and protect your employees
when engaging online. Well take a look at a few
example social media guidelines used today by
leading businesses. If you have not already created
a company social media policy, these will be useful
guidelines for what to consider.
Ch1-08
Why agree on social

media guidelines?
Dell social media principles
1. Protect information
For example, Dell has five Social Media Principles

that guide our employees when theyre engaging
in any type of online conversation. We think
these principles are equally useful in the wider
Dell community, enabling everyone to be clear
on what the rules are as well as providing you
with some practical advice to help you be
confident and effective in your online activities.
2. Be transparent and disclose

3. Follow the law, follow the
Code of Conduct
4. Be responsible
5. Be nice, have fun and connect
Guidelines dont have to be boring
4 minutes and 20 seconds

well spent. This example
from the Department of
Justice (Victoria, Australia)
explaining the key elements

of its social media policy
shows just how effective
video guidelines can be.
Ch1-09
Ten social media tips

for employees
Tips weve learned from engaging with our customers online
Be transparent
If you are commenting on someones
Facebook wall, tweeting to them on
Twitter, or writing a blog post, use your
real name. Identify your employer if a
post involves your company.
Apply your common sense

Always pause and think before
commenting or sharing an opinion. If
in doubt, dont do it stop and seek
advice from your manager or another.
Be human first
SPAM
Be respectful
When disagreeing with others opinions,
keep it appropriate and polite.
Dont speak out of turn

Dont assume the role of spokesperson
unless you are an official one for
your company.
Respect confidential content

Be smart about protecting yourself and
your privacy be selective in disclosing
your personal details.
Never use images, text or any other

content youve found on the Web
unless you have permission or the site
makes it clear that you may use such
content and under what conditions.
Get to know the community

Always listen first before diving in.
Consider how you are contributing to
the community and adding value to a
conversation.
Brand yourself well

Select a profile picture and screen name
(or handle) that best represents who
you are and topics others may want to
connect with you on.
Stay focused
Have a business objective when
engaging in social media and identify
what success will look like. Make sure
your objective is one that will both
benefit your company and the
communities you engage with.
Copyright applies
If you are engaging in a forum and posting

information about your company, dont
use the forum to sell your products and
services unless you are certain it will be
useful and appropriate.
Ch1-10
Tips for dealing with a crisis

Increasingly, social media is where people go for information in times
of crisis. From a crisis management point of view, its easy to update
that information. Social media means you can speak naturally with
other people, in a so-called human voice. Two-way communication
is transparent and credible. And importantly, keeping a record of
conversations is easy to do with social media.
Crises can take many forms. And sometimes, what appears to be a crisis turns out to be an
issue that requires management. Conversely, an issue can rapidly develop into a genuine crisis,
especially in this interconnected age of 24/7 online.
Ch1-11
Tips for dealing with a crisis
2. Do not respond
to negative
comments in a
way that is snide,
nasty, demeaning
or snarky because
you cannot win.
3. Humoror at
least a human
voicecan often
defuse or sidetrack issues.
4. Removing
negative comments
is pointless
they will appear
elsewhere.
5. Make the
companys official
position clear in
all online places
where conversation
is happening. Do
not bury it on the
company website.
6. Let people have

their say no matter
how negative.
7. Respond with
alacrity to customer
complaints online.
8. Dont assume
the mainstream
media are the only
influencers.
9. Recognize that
enthusiastsbrand
10. Realize that

Internet time
11. Always have

staff on hand to
12. Dont launch

a campaign right
evangelistsare
your powerful allies:
its not difficult for
them to become
powerful critics.
means, literally,
hours and
minutes, not days,
let alone weeks.
be prepared to
respond during a
weekend.
before a weekend
or public holiday
unless youre
prepared to
respond.
13. The participants

have the power, so
participate.
14. Dont dismiss

blogs and other
social media as
unimportant.
15. Engage
rapidly with your
community.
1. Acknowledge
that there is an
issue, and agree to
look into it.
Ch1-12

#dellsmb
Ch2-01
Ch.2
Planning your
social media
strategy
Know your audience Ch2-05

Make your business case Ch2-06
A framework for developing
a social media strategy Ch2-07
To sum it up Ch2-17
SMB Social
Soci al Media
Media Toolkit
Toolkit
Planning your
social media strategy
People often think of social media in terms of tools and channels, with
Facebook and Twitter being especially popular. But the truth is, social
media is about people and what they do with the technological tools
they have at their disposal.
Getting started with social media doesnt
mean you have to create a Facebook
page for your business or open a Twitter
account. On the contrary, your first step
isnt talking; its listening.
Why should you care about social media?
Its a good question. You should care
because social media is changing how
marketing and communication work and
how people connect with brands, whether
in a consumer or B2B setting. When

employed effectively, it presents your
business with an affordable way to
get measurable results quickly. Its
rapidly growing, and customers are
increasingly turning to their peers for
answers through social networks and
other online tools and channels. These
channels are precisely the places where
your business needs to be present. But
it has to be done the right way.
Ch2-03
Planning your
social media strategy
Its an unmistakable trend. You only need
to look around you to see it happening
right before your eyes.
Well help you answer some specific

questions that will be the key elements
in your strategy planning:
Social media highlights the increasing

importance of word-of-mouth in
regard to consumer behavior, including
recommendations and actual purchasing.
How do I make a business case for

social media?
Social media amplifies and accelerates

word-of-mouth, rapidly shaping and
influencing opinion.
Social media can help foster a genuine
connection between a company and its
stakeholders.
What is the framework for developing a

social media strategy?
What social media channels do I use?
Weve included a worksheet that will assist
you in piecing together all the elements
you need to develop your strategy plan.
Go to the strategy worksheet online.
Engaging in honest, direct

conversations with customers
and stakeholders is a part of
who we are, who weve always
been. The social Web amplifies
our opportunity to listen and
learn and invest ourselves in
two-way dialogue, enabling us
to become a better company
with more to offer the people
who depend on us.
Michael Dell
Ch2-04
Know your audience
The Social
Technographics
Ladder, Forrester
Research, 2010.
Many companies approach Social Computing as a list of technologies to be deployed as

needed a blog here, a podcast there to achieve a marketing goal. But a more coherent
approach is to start with your target audience and determine what kind of relationship you
want to build with them, based on what they are ready for. Forrester categorizes Social
Computing behaviors into a ladder with seven levels of participation; we use the term
Social Technographics, to describe analyzing a population according to its participation in
these levels. Brands, websites and any other company pursuing social technologies should
analyze their customers Social Technographics first, and then create a social strategy based
on this profile.*
*Charlene Li with Josh Bernoff, Remy Florentino, and Sarah Glass, Social Technographics,
Forrester Research, April 2007
Presentation on SlideShare
Ch2-05
Make your business case
In thinking about how you want to use

social media, whether launching a blog
to demonstrate your thought leadership
or creating a Facebook page or a Twitter
handle to engage with customers, there
are two essential elements to consider:
Make your business case to your
stakeholders to get their support. Discuss
your ideas with them.
Develop a strategy plan to get started (i.e.,
resources, content, budget, processes,
timing, etc.)
It will help you focus if you ask yourself

some specific questions such as:
Your getting
started checklist:
What do you want to achieve?

Who do you want to reach?
How do you want to do it?
What social media tools will you use?
How will social media integrate with your
overall communications in the long term?
Your objective should be

measurable.
Your use of social media
should help you achieve
your objective.
Once youve got the support you need,

youre ready to develop your strategy and
get started.
ou must have a clear

Y
objective.
Ch2-06
A framework for developing

a social media strategy
Social media is strategic when it is planned as a means of addressing
core business issues, and its impact on the business can be measured.
In your approach to developing a social media plan for your small-to
medium-sized business, there are five key elements to focus on:
1. Outline your objectives
5. Test and refine
3. Available resources
4. Plan your approach
2. Listening audit
Ch2-07
Step 1
Outline your objectives
What is the core business issue you want to address? Consider the
primary and secondary objectives you aim to achieve with social media.
How will you measure success? Set two or three SMART goals where SMART =
specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, timed.
Product Development
Sales
Marketing
Feedback loop
Collaboration
Demand forecast
Early warning
T
hought leadership
Lead generation
New product ideation
B
logs
Message reach
Online Presence
Customer Service
Communication
Ratings and reviews
Listening
Rich media
Communities
Support widgets
Brand reputation
Customer stories
O
utreach
Influence
R
esolution
Reputation
Ch2-08
Step 2
Conduct a listening audit
Above all else, listening is paramount. Its what you do before you start or
conduct any engagement activity online, from leaving simple comments
on a blog or posting your comments on Twitter, to performing a deeper
relationship-building exercise with a prominent influencer.
Listen to what your customers have to say, understand where they are as well as what
communication theyd welcome from your company. Learn from them constantly. One of
the best things about social media is that it enables you to connect and understand what
your customers need or would find useful. If you dont yet know with some precision what
your customers are saying about you, where and with whom, then you need to find that
out via a listening audit.
Listening is a monitoring approach that tells you:

Who is driving share of voice for your brand(s).
What the top issues are that matter to your customers.
Where your customers live online.
Where conversations that matter are occurring.
How news is shared and by whom.
How you can add value for your customers.
Why customers are passionate about certain topics.
When you should engage the community.
Ch2-09
Step 2
There are many tools and services you can choose from that will help
you conduct a listening audit and interpret the resulting data. Some are
paid for; many are free. Which you use depends on a number of factors
starting with how comprehensive you want to make your auditing.
You have these choices:
Paid for: Depth analysis across the social media universe, taking in all keyword-matching
conversations discovered on all social media platforms, from forums to video sharing to
popular social networks. Dell has been listening for six years and has built expertise in how
to decipher insights from the huge amount of data available. This includes how to best use
the tools, where to listen, who to listen to and much more. Dell can monitor conversations
relevant to your companys industry and competitors, provide business intelligence, improve
social media outreach and give you the detailed insight reports behind the data. If you are
interested in leveraging Dells listening capabilities, contact SM_Solutions@dell.com.
Free: Snapshot views across specific social media platforms that require manual setup
of keywords, specifying what to search and where. Typically used on the fly as the need
arises; more for temperature-testing goals than to conduct in-depth analysis or see detailed
reporting. No contracts, no commitments. Just use the services you need as you require
them. Most require significant time commitments, especially to set up your audit keywords
on each service you use and then to monitor the results. Products include Google Alerts,
Google Blog Search, Social Mention, TweetLevel and Technorati.
FREE
$$$
Ch2-10
Step 2
Audit framework
Questions to ask in your planning:
Where are people talking

about your brand and your
industry online? List the
top five opportunities.
Who are the influencers

related to topics that
matter to you? List the
top five opportunities.
What is your share of

conversation compared
to your competitors?
What are the top keywords

for your company? How do
they stack up against what
you see your customers
and others searching for?
What content do your

customers care about
most? List the top five
topics customers are
looking for from your
company.
Who is defining your

brand, pro or con?
Go to the listening audit worksheet.
Ch2-11
Step 3
Define your available resources
Each social media channel has its pros and cons. You must consider the
benefits of each one as part of an integrated approach to connecting with
and influencing people where social media tools and channels are used
in tandem with more traditional marketing and communication activities.
Knowing which channel is likely to be most effective for what you want to achieve is an
essential step in your strategy planning. Lets look at eight areas online that have developed
powerful reputations as places where influencers gather or pay attention and where we find
influential opinions. Some descriptions may not mean much to you yet, but the specific
tools and channels will.
Wikis
Relevance:
Wikipedia is the public wiki with the greatest awareness. Theres a Wikipedia
entry for almost anything you can imagine, which means it could be the first
information people find about any topic they are seeking information about.
As a tool, a wiki enables communities to write documents collaboratively,
making it easy to create, edit and share content and increase opportunities
for knowledge sharing.
Trend:
Growing appeal within organizations for collaborative working tools that are
easy to use and support (browser-based) from anywhere (the cloud).
Twitter
Trend:
An effective way to alert and connect with influencers, help propel
news cycles.
Relevance:
A great opportunity to build a network of influencers who want to
share your news in real time.
Ch2-12
Step 3
Blogs
Relevance:
Stating an opinion, demonstrating thought leadership, providing a stimulus
for discussion, getting your voice into the conversation.
B
uilding a community, opportunities for citation being referenced by
and linked to by other people.
Trend:
W
ith over 200 million blogs globally, a trend in business is for multiple
blogs in multiple languages.
Social networks
Relevance:
Many peoples days often start and end with Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+,
XING, Viadeo and others, depending on where they live and their specific
personal and business interests.
If a social network is where our community of interest spends time and
shares opinions, thats where we want to be.
Trend:
Increasingly, the communities that are often the first place people go to online.
LinkedIns Groups feature is popular among business users for developing community.
YouTube
Trend:
Consumption habits are starting to favor video over the printed word.
Relevance:
V
ideo learning is increasing in importance visual information can
improve understanding of spoken words as much as sixfold.
Y
ouTube is the worlds second largest search engine opportunities
for your content to be discovered, cited, shared.
Ch2-13
Step 3
Document sharing
Relevance:
Services like SlideShare and Scribd are favored locations to share public
and internal presentations that become referenced and used by others.
Aids knowledge sharing and collaborative working.
Trend:
Increasing awareness and use in business; development of business channels.
Image sharing
Relevance:
Image sharing services like Flickr, Photobucket and others provide
opportunities to offer tagged images for other users and search engines
to find easily.
S
uch services enable others to share your images, thus increasing
exposure of your brand or product across the social Web.
Trend:
O
ffering images with clear copyright permissions for sharing by others;
tagging images in multiple languages to increase opportunities for
discovery and sharing.
Audio
Trend:
A favorite of sales force, customers and others on the go.
Download the planning worksheet.
Relevance:
P
odcasts of all types, plus audio tracks of video segments, have
growing utility as complementary communication and communitybuilding channels.
Ch2-14
Step 4
Plan your approach
The results you get from listening will enable you to identify the key
influencers, those whose commentary and opinions drive the attention of
others online. This is the key aspect in planning how you will develop your
action steps for engagement the heart of your social media strategy.
Ch2-15
Step 5
Test and refine
Be engaged.
Listen carefully.
Find ways to join the conversation.

You can start by leaving comments on
blog posts or responding to questions
in a forum or message board.
Listening to and learning from

the community is a great way
for us to better understand what
is important to our customers
and partners. Follow the
conversation. There are lots of
tools to help you do that.
Whats your POV?

Be relevant. Share information and
perspectives that are valuable to the
online community. If you focus only
on your own agenda, you will fail.
The power of your peers.

Expose brand evangelists within your
own company. Your employees are
likely some of your biggest fans.
Encourage them to participate in
online conversations, and make
sure your company policies allow
them to do so.
Get feedback.
Speak about what you know.

Especially if youre asked.
Listen, post responses and engage

in two-way conversations if you
have something to contribute.
Otherwise, just keep on listening.
Stay on topic.
Dont get caught up in tit-for-tat
dialogue. Respect the broader
conversation and ensure your
comments stay on topic.
Add value.
Give due attention to posts. Offer
thoughts or ideas when appropriate;
invite others to respond as well.
Treat people the way you

would want to be treated.
Be polite, mutually respectful,
and dont engage in negative,
inappropriate remarks. Being
vulgar or abusive doesnt work
in real life or in social media.
If you have new information to share

with an influential blogger, you can
email him or her directly. You may
even offer bloggers the chance to
review your companys product
or service and write about their
experience, no strings attached.
Get involved.
Ch2-16
To sum it up
Heres your starting guide:
1. If you understand the shifts in

behaviors we see all around us
and in our workplaces, it becomes
easier to understand why we must
adapt how we communicate and
connect with people online.
2. Understanding your audiences and

what they expect of you is crucial.
3. Be clear on
what youre
doing and why.
4. Commonsense rules.
5. Be clear on this point: Armed with

the knowledge from a guide like this
one, you can venture onto the web
openly as an ambassador of your
company and connect with anyone,
confident in the knowledge you are
empowered to do this.
Ch2-17

#dellsmb
Ch3-01
Ch.3
Engaging with
your audiences
Wiggly Wigglers Ch3-04
Jagex Ch3-05
Lonely Planet Ch3-06
ebookers Ch3-07
Endeavor Ch3-09
Sew what? Ch3-10
Dell Trade Secrets Ch3-12
Worth your attention Ch3-13
Ch3-02
Engaging with your audiences

Free your imagination in terms of what can be achieved with social media.
Get inspired by what others have achieved in this chapter, which includes
business case studies focusing on successful uses of social media and
engagement of online influencers.
Ch3-03
Wiggly Wigglers podcast

One of the pioneers of business podcasting (its first show was published
in 2005), organic farming and mail-order gardening firm Wiggly Wigglers
counts the first-ever Dell Small Business Excellence Award in 2008 among
its many recognitions and awards.
The Wiggly Wigglers podcast is a key element

of the companys social media engagement
within its community of customers and fans.
Published every Monday, content typically
embraces discussion of the environment,
wildlife, gardening, farming, biodiversity and
things everyone can do to make a difference.
With thousands of listeners from all around
the world, and over 100 5-star reviews on
iTunes, it seems that our audience enjoys
listening to the shows as much as we enjoy
making them, says Wiggly Wigglers founder
Heather Gorringe.
The companys use of social media, which

today also includes a blog, Facebook and
Twitter, has let the firm cut its advertising
budget by 90 percent. Today, the firm
counts over 100,000 customers worldwide.
The podcast is created and produced

in-house by the Wiggly Wigglers
team at the companys office in
Herefordshire, England. Its saved in
universal MP3 format and playable
on nearly any digital device, from
computers to music players to
smartphones. The podcast is also
available free via iTunes as well as
direct from the Wiggly Wigglers
website and its Facebook page.
Ch3-04
Jagex: Community development

Jagex is an independent developer and publisher of online games. It is the
largest independent games studio in the U.K. with 450 employees. It has
developed over 40 titles. Its best known for RuneScape, the worlds most
popular free-to-play, multiplayer online role-playing game, recognized as
such by Guinness World Records the last four years in a row.
Since its beginning a decade ago, RuneScape has reached more than 150 million registered
accounts worldwide, offering over 15,000 hours of free game content and many times more
in the paid members expansion. Providing a framework for online engagement with players
and fans is an important element in Jagexs community-development plans. The company
has embraced multiple social media tools and channels to further this goal, many of
them managed by the community:
A vibrant and lively Facebook community with more than 620,000 likes.
An active and engaged Twitter feed, commenting on matters of interest to fans, issuing
frequent responses and retweets, and providing links to other content.
A YouTube channel with over 100,000 subscribers and community-created videos.
A wiki with a wide range of game-related content, support advice, guides and how-tos,
tips and tricks, developed by the company and the community.
Traditional multilayer forum with 65 separate channels and millions of discussion threads.
In addition, Jagex runs a RuneScape merchandise store as well as a member loyalty program.
Ch3-05
Lonely Planet
Founded in 1973, Lonely Planet is the largest travel guidebook and digital
media publisher in the world, now owned by BBC Worldwide. It was one
of the first series of travel books targeting backpackers and other budget
travelers. By 2010, Lonely Planet published about 500 titles in eight
languages, as well as TV programs, a magazine, mobile phone applications
and websites. It has about 450 employees.
Clearly, community, storytelling and
engagement are key elements to Lonely
Planets success and appeal. Its online
community, Thorn Tree, is used by over
600,000 travelers for travel tips and advice.
Lonely Planets social media portfolio
includes the Lonely Planet website, RSS
feeds, community blogs, Facebook
Connect, Flickr photo sharing, a groups
platform, the ability to rate and review sites
and restaurants, as well as a trip planner tool.
While all its online activity encourages
interaction with and among their
communities, Twitter has proven to be
its most effective platform for community
engagement.
Since opening the @lonelyplanet Twitter

account in June 2008, Lonely Planet has
grown a community of more than 575,000
followers (and it follows some 464,000).
Lonely Planets Twitter proposition

is clear and clearly stated:
Tweeting (& retweeting) the best
in travel.
1. Follow us.
2. Tag your tweets with #lp
3. We read your posts
4. We re-tweet the best of them
Ch3-06
ebookers: iPad app

London-based ebookers.com is a pan-European online travel agency
specializing in worldwide travel. It offers a wide range of travel products,
including a choice of over 250 airlines, more than 100,000 hotels, holidays,
car rentals and insurance. A subsidiary of Orbitz Worldwide, a leading
global online travel company, ebookers.com operates local online travel
agencies across 13 countries in Europe.
ebookers.com is a travel company that has embraced the Internet, not the other way around.
It wanted to understand its user base and offer them a method of researching and sharing
information as well as a convenient way to book their next holiday or travel experience. So,
they introduced the ebookers Explorer iPad app, a unique experiential app developed by
digital agency Fortune Cookie.
Ch3-07
ebookers: iPad app

Heres what the app does:
ebookers Explorer pulls together socially

generated content from across the
Internet. The content is tailored to
the destination and activity the user is
looking to explore.
Flickr photographs, YouTube videos,

Twitter tweets, Google blog posts and
hotel information from ebookers are
combined, allowing users to access and
share all the latest information about
their chosen destination.
Socially generated content is pulled

from sites around the Web: photos from
Flickr, videos from YouTube, blogs from
Google, tweets from Twitter and hotels
from ebookers.
The groundbreaking (and free) app

delivers personalized content in an
easily digestible travel magazine format.
Ch3-08
Endeavor: Global connectivity

Hailed by New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman as the best antipoverty program of all, Endeavor is a nonprofit organization that supports
high-impact entrepreneurs in emerging markets to fuel economic growth.
Endeavor connects entrepreneurs to what they need most: experienced mentors, timely
connections to smart capital and the inspiration to think big. With Endeavors help, these
entrepreneurs break down barriers, creating thousands of jobs and millions in revenue
over 156,000 jobs and over $4.5 billion in revenue in 2010. Headquartered in New York,
Endeavor currently operates in 15 countries throughout Latin America, Africa, Southeast
Asia and the Middle East.
Endeavor uses social media in the following ways to engage with its mentor network
and help entrepreneurs:
H
igh-Impact Entrepreneurship blog featuring original content highlighting
entrepreneurial successes worldwide, and guest content syndicated from around the Web.
F
acebook page for community-building featuring content highlights from blog and
YouTube channel, additional photos and video and information on community events.
Twitter account to build a network of influencers who want to share Endeavors
news in real time.
YouTube channel with original video, TV interviews and community-generated content.
Ch3-09
Sew what?
Blog for thought leadership
If you can dream it, we can sew it! is the motto of California-based Sew
What? Inc. Since its founding in 1992, Sew What? has grown to become
the premier provider of custom-sewn theatrical drapes/curtains and fabrics
for the entertainment and special events industries.
Weve manufactured drapes and soft

goods for numerous major artists,
including Maroon 5, Slipknot, Green Day,
Sting, James Taylor, Dave Matthews Band,
Madonna, Rod Stewart and Don Henley,
says Founder Megan Duckett. In addition
to the big stuff, we also manufacture
stage curtains for elementary, middle
and high schools, community theaters,
churches and college auditoriums. And
thats not to mention providing drapes and
soft goods for special events, trade shows,
fashion shows, conferences, even the
occasional inaugural ball.
Katy Perry dropped into
VH1s Salute the Troops
TV show in 2010 as she
descended onto stage in
a giant parachute in the
form of the U.S. flag
made by Sew What?
Sew What? capitalizes on its leadership

position in a highly specialized
marketplace, demonstrating its thought
leadership via Its All Sew Biz, a blog
about theatrical drapery and stage curtains
for production managers, set designers,
custom drapery resellers and local/school/
church productions.
Ch3-10
Sew what?
Blog for thought leadership
Having such a niche audience presents Sew What? with a great opportunity to showcase its
knowledge of the industry in ways that engage with that audience, offering them content
that specifically addresses their needs. For example, recent posts discussed such topics as:
Tips on getting color right.

...Some people think just because you
assign a Pantone color in Photoshop it will
automatically print that Pantone color on
press. Actually, if you want to give your logo
the best chance of printing correctly, get
a conversion book, look up your desired
Pantone color and dial it in by the numbers
based on what [the] Pantone conversion
book tells you.
Case study example of using

Cambio projection screen
material.
This summer and fall, we worked
with Faith Bible Church of The
Woodlands, Texas, on just such a
project. We created a 19 h x 32 w
Projection Screen in Cambio!,
accompanied by three Triangle
Shapes, 18x 18, also in Cambio!.
The pieces worked great for the
church, and we were so pleased
to be mentioned in the churchs
blog. Want to see a Cambio!
Projection Screen in action?
Check out their blog.
Expert opinion on how lighting can affect

the look of Austrian drapes.
...With a slight change in the angle of the
lights, lighting color, and stage design, we
can help create a unique and exciting look
for any event. Some of our satisfied clients
have been the Jennifer Hudson/Robin Thicke
Tour, Maxwell, Foo Fighters, the Glee Live
Tour, and an amFAR Benefit starring Lady
Gaga, the queen of fresh and innovative
style herself. Each Austrian Drape has such
a wonderfully rich and special look to them,
that you can use them for practically any
event you can think of where you may need
to add a little touch of wow-factor.
Ch3-11
Dell #tradesecrets:
Influencer outreach
To support the introduction in 2011 of a new business laptop computer,
the VostroTM V130, Dell launched Trade Secrets, a marketing campaign
hosted on the Dell SMB Facebook page and under the Twitter hashtag
#tradesecrets.
The campaign included a significant element of influencer outreach where bloggers and
others formed part of the conversation through using the computer and talking online about
their experiences with the Vostro V130 via tweets, Facebook posts, blog posts, video and
other channels.
In this interview with the For

Immediate Release podcast,
co-host Neville Hobson
talks with Laura Thomas at
Dell about the campaign,
its objectives, outcomes,
expectations and more.
Listen to the interview
See the Trade Secrets:
First Impressions 2011
presentation deck
The 2011 Trade Secrets campaign won the Business

to Consumer North America: Listening Groundswell
Award from Forrester Consulting. The campaign is
evolving and continues into 2012.
Ch3-12
Worth your attention

There are many other examples of imaginative uses of social media by
small and medium businesses. Weve added this collection of pointers that
we think are worth looking at to see what they do and how they do it.
Cakelove
Good Energy
Lighting the LED

Revolution
Cakes from scratch, seven

locations in Washington, DC;
Maryland; and Virginia.
Renewable electricity supplier

in the U.K.
B
log
Facebook
T
witter
YouTube
F
acebook
iPhone app
T
witter
B
log
T
witter
F
acebook
YouTube
U.S. lighting manufacturer

Cree started a contest in
2009: If youve been living or
working under the oppression
of inferior lighting, we want
to know. We also want to see.
Submit your photos of dismal
lighting here. Each month,
well give away five Cree
CR6 recessed downlights to
revolutionize one persons
poorly lit space.
Ch3-13
Worth your attention

There are many other examples of imaginative uses of social media by
small and medium businesses. Weve added this collection of pointers that
we think are worth looking at to see what they do and how they do it.
Five small
Nine small business
small businesses
businesses using
social media
to use LinkedIn
Twitter right
success stories
Writing on the LinkedIn blog,

entrepreneur and author
Guy Kawasaki says, Many
small-business people are
using the site in ways youd
commonly imagine: finding
leads, growing their business
globally, or finding the right
vendors. My buddies at
LinkedIn recently provided
me a list of ten additional
ways small businesses can
use LinkedIn.
Here are five examples

of small businesses using
Twitter effectively. From
sales to research, wordof-mouth marketing to
localization, and everything
in between, Twitter can
help you reach your target
audience in ways you
probably never thought of
before.
This article highlights nine

small businesses of various
sizes and industries that have
transformed their online
presence with innovative
social media marketing
practices. These tactics
will work for just about any
business, from solopreneur
to multi-employeemanufacturer.
Ten ways for
Ch3-14

#dellsmb
Ch4-01
Ch.4
Social media
best and next
practices
LinkedIn best practices Ch4-04

Twitter best practices Ch4-07
Facebook best practices Ch4-09
Google+ best practices Ch4-11
SEO best practices Ch4-12
Social media measurement
best practices Ch4-14
Social media next practices Ch4-16
SMB Social
Soci al Media
Media Toolkit
Toolkit
Social media best and next

practices
Practical how-tos and advice on using social media tools and channels
are always helpful. You can find such advice in this toolkit. In this chapter,
we offer some tips and tricks on current best practices for social media
across a number of channels to help you get the most from your use of
social media in business. On page 16, hear what some expert voices have
to say on next practices.
Ch4-03
LinkedIn best practices:

5 tips to engage your followers
Mike Grishaver, senior product manager for Company Pages at LinkedIn,
shares a few tips to optimize your company status updates, a LinkedIn
feature that allows companies to engage directly with its LinkedIn
followers.
Take an audiovisual
tour of company
status updates with
LinkedIn in this
short video.
Ch4-04

This powerful new tool isnt just a way for companies to recruit talent,
market goods or sell stuff. Think of it as an engagement channel to build
long-term relationships with your followers be they potential customers,
employees or advocates who can help your business succeed.
Not sure how to start? Or maybe you feel a little nervous about what to say to your followers
on a professional social network? Well, here are a few easy ways to start the conversation.
1. How do you start a relationship? Say hello.

Introduce yourself. Describe who you are and why you and your
business are here. Get to know your audience. An IT services firm
would tailor messages to its tech-savvy followers differently than to,
say, marketing executives.
Remember: Your followers are already interested in hearing what you
have to say, so be succinct, authentic, genuine and relevant.
2. Mix it up. Vary your status updates.
In one post, share a link to press coverage or industry news; in another,

highlight a new product release or a list of hot jobs. Photos are great.
A YouTube video, infographic or poll? Even better.
Ch4-05

3. Think quality, not quantity.
Offer news, tips and other insightful, relevant information about your
industry or business. Get your followers engaged and build relationships.
Dont just sell all the time or blast them with promotional messages.
$$$
Become friends first! If you build it, the business results will come. A
pithy, punchy status update can go viral and expose you to a broader
audience as your followers share, like, or comment on companydriven content with their own professional networks.
4. Be part of the conversation.

Solicit feedback from your followers; find out what they want from
your company. Ask questions, watch how they respond and interact
with users who are commenting. Answer their questions, highlight
insightful comments and show your followers that youre listening.
5. Analyze your engagement.
First published on the LinkedIn blog.
How do you know if youre doing well? Check the stats that appear on
your posts about 24 hours after your status update goes live, and see
what types of information and links create the most likes, comments
and clicks. Use this data to understand who your followers are, refine
your strategy and optimize the conversation.
Ch4-06
Twitter best practices:

Build your following,
reputation and customers trust
Twitter for Business: Let your brand take flight with the faster, easier,
simpler Twitter. Learn more.
1. Share.
Share photos and behind-the-scenes info about your business. Even better, give your
followers a glimpse of developing projects and events. Users come to Twitter to get
and share the latest, so give it to them!
2. Listen.
Regularly monitor the comments about your company, brand and products.
4. Respond.
Repond to compliments and feedback in real time.
3. Ask.
Ask your followers questions to glean valuable insights and show you are listening.
Ch4-07
Twitter best practices:

Build your following,
reputation and customers trust
5. Reward.
Tweet updates about special offers, discounts and time-sensitive deals.
6. Demonstrate wider leadership and know-how.
Reference articles and links about the bigger picture as it relates to your business.
7. Champion your stakeholders.
Retweet and reply publicly to great tweets posted by your followers and customers.
8. Establish the right voice.
Twitter users tend to prefer a direct, genuine and, of course, a likable tone from your
business, but think about your voice as you tweet. How do you want your business to
appear to the Twitter community?
Useful resource:
Download Twitters small business one-pager
(PDF) for more tips and best practices including
the following:
How to get started with Twitter
Ideas for great tweets
More
Visit Twitter for Business for a wide range of

free resources, information, guides and tips to
help you understand more about what Twitter
can help you do for your business.
Ch4-08
Facebook best practices:

5 guiding principles
Facebook allows marketers to stay connected with people throughout
their day, whether they are on their computers or mobile devices, at
home or at work, watching TV or shopping with friends. This enables
businesses to create rich social experiences, build lasting relationships
and amplify the most powerful type of marketing word-of-mouth.
Ch4-09
Facebook best practices:

5 guiding principles
Build a strategy that is social

by design. Social media should
be baked into everything you do, not added
at the end of a campaign or done on the
side. Facebook should be integrated with
your broader marketing efforts and part of
how you reach your business objective.
Create an authentic brand voice.

People on Facebook are clear and
open about who they are. Be the same by
providing straightforward information about
your business. Facebook is an ideal place to
bring your brand personality to life through
an authentic and consistent voice.
Keep learning. Facebook

allows you to get feedback from people in
real time, giving you the ability to learn on
the fly. Use reporting tools to learn about
your fans and the content and products
they find most interesting.
These tips appear in Facebooks Best
Practice Guide: Marketing on Facebook
(PDF), available for free download.
Make it interactive. People spend

time on Facebook communicating and sharing
with others, so always engage in two-way
conversations. Think about the aspects of your
brand that are inherently social and create
content people will be excited to pass along.
Nurture your relationships.

Just like in the real world, building
relationships with people on Facebook
takes time and requires a long-term
investment. Keep content fresh and easy
to consume, use ads to stay in touch, and
reward people for their loyalty through
deals and promotions.
Ch4-10
Google+ best practices:

Promote your Google+
Business page
Try these different strategies to promote your Google+ page and gain followers.
1. Spread the word. While on your
2. Post updates
3. Link your Google+
Google+ page, click Spread the

word on the side of the stream.
This will allow you to share your
page in a post with people from
your personal Google+ profile. The
sharing action will come from your
personal Google+ profile, not from
the Google+ page. For instance,
lets say your friend has a page for
his band. If his page spreads the
word, the people shared to will see
the update as coming from Raj,
not from the page.
frequently and keep

your profile fresh.
People are more
likely to engage with
a page that contains
fresh posts and a
complete profile.
Learn about sharing
in Google+ and how
to edit your page.
page with your

website. This is a great
way to drive traffic
to your page and it
provides an excellent
opportunity to engage
with your customers
and fans in an intimate
fashion. Learn how to
link your page and
website.
4. Link your Google+ page with your Google

AdWords campaign. Connecting your page to
your campaigns allows your advertising and page
to share +1s. Any +1s on your ads will increment
the count on your page and vice versa. Learn
more about social extensions.
This Google+ best practice tip is one of many helpful texts published by Google to aid
businesses in getting the most from their Google+. See more in Google+ Help.
5. Link your Google+ page with your AdWords

Express campaign. You can set your AdWords
Express destination page to be your Google+
page. Learn more.
Ch4-11
SEO best practices:

6 ways to optimize your content
If you rely heavily on search engines for page views and sales, as many
businesses do, Google search results will drastically affect how your
customers find you. If your business needs to be seen and clicked, Erin
Everhart, director of web and social media marketing at 352 Media Group,
explains six search engine optimization (SEO) tips that will help you.
1. Local SEO is taking over.
If your business relies on local listings,
concentrate on scoring a seat at Google
Places. You can do this by using:
Citations: Ensure your correct business
information is listed in as many (reputable)
sources as possible around the Internet.
As always, consistency is king. If you write
Blvd. instead of Boulevard on your
Google Places page, make sure your other
listings reflect the same.
Reviews: Google will only display reviews

from Google, but getting reviews from
aggregators like Yelp, Superpages or Trip
Advisor will help increase your presence.
Google Places page optimization: Just

like your website, make sure your Places
page is properly optimized. Include
categories that match exactly, and point
your Places page back to a city-specific
landing page if applicable.
2. You cant have search without

social media.
The separation of search and social media
has officially ended. Social media cues
such as Twitter shares, Facebook likes
and social bookmarking heavily influence
search rankings. Essentially, search results
are personalized for each person. With any
SEO campaign you put into motion, include
a social media aspect to it to facilitate
information sharing. Superpages or Trip
Advisor will help increase your presence.
Ch4-12
SEO best practices:

6 ways to optimize your content
3. Think of people, not robots, when
optimizing brand keywords.
People search in Google because they
have a question. Your keywords and
the content on your pages should
reflect the answers to those questions.
Keyword research is tedious, but its
arguably the most important aspect of
SEO. Transition away from thinking of
keywords like data, and put more of an
emphasis on the person who will be
typing in that keyword.
4. Content links are king; good writers
are sorcerers.
Google is not stupid it can spot paid
and spam links. For the most effective
long-term SEO strategy, move the
focus back to great content, both
on your website and across other
sites. Guest blogging is great, for
instance, but to get a leg up on your
competition, target blogs that arent
direct matches to your industry.
6. It doesnt mean anything without data.

Whether youre a one-man SEO show for
your company or working in an agency
with several clients, your site needs to see
results. While ranking reports of keywords
is still a great indicator of progress,
personalized searches make it difficult to
get the most accurate readings. Plus, when
Google defaulted to private searches for
users signed into their Google accounts,
the company made it harder to track how
people arrive at your site.
Adapted from 6 Best Practices for
Modern SEO, published by Mashable. See
Mashables SEO resource center for more
best practice advice.
5. Check your back end: Schema.org

microformats and rich snippets.
The Big Three (Google, Yahoo! and
Bing) have worked together to develop
Schema.org, a set of website standards
that will tell search engines what your
site is about, making it easier for those
engines to read the sites data and index

accordingly. By using rich snippets, for
example, youre able to tell Google what
information to feature in search engine
results pages: product reviews and prices,
upcoming events, etc. The added data will
increase your click-through rate because
users are able to preview more about the
link before they commit to the click.
Ch4-13
Social media measurement best

practices: 5 tips for measuring
social media campaigns
Running successful social media campaigns is not just a matter of creativity
and good execution. Getting the measurement right is a key part of
a successful campaign, as David Vinjamuri, founder and president of
ThirdWay Brand Trainers, explains.
2. Talk to PR.
Your next step should be a check-in with your
PR or corporate communications counterpart.
Social media works more like PR than traditional
advertising. A PR expert can help you understand
the portfolio nature of social media (placing lots
of little bets so one can pay off). In addition, there
may be a system in place for measuring earned
media that already has senior management buy-in.
1. Align your goals.

Traditional marketing initiatives
can have vastly different goals.
So, too, with social media. Are
you trying to reach your brand
evangelists or consumers who
are not aware of your brand?
Are you looking to develop
prospects or increase awareness
of a new product launch? Do you
want loyal customers to engage
more deeply with your brand or
purchase more often? These are
all different goals and will require
different measurements. Are you
looking for brand awareness,
lead generation, prospects, sales,
increased customer loyalty, new
product awareness or evangelist
engagement? Different goals
require different measures.
Ch4-14
Social media measurement best

practices: 5 tips for measuring
social media campaigns
3. Know what you can measure.
As a marketing leader, youll probably never look at a Facebook Insights dashboard. If you
understand the types of measurements each social media platform can provide, however,
youll be better equipped to discuss measurement with your agency. Some (but not all) of
the information you can get from four common platforms is as follows:
Facebook: likes, impressions, demographics, sign-ups, links clicked, purchases
Twitter: followers, retweets, links clicked
YouTube: plays, pauses, mutes, hot spots, stops, view time, full screens
Foursquare: check-ins by time, top users, gender breakdown, broadcasts to Twitter
and Facebook
5. Negotiate.
Negotiate a set of measures that is
both objective and reasonable now.
Push your agency to find comparable
programs for which some measurements
are known. If youre making a big bet,
it is fair to have higher expectations. If
youre just putting a toe in the water,
understand you may need to do a lot of
experimenting before you find success.
Adapted from Whats it Really Worth to

You? 5 Tips for Measuring Social Media
Campaigns, published in Forbes.com.
4. Create a feedback loop.

With traditional promotions, we often
wait until after a program ends to analyze
it and learn from our mistakes. Social
media requires us to make frequent
adjustments and measure the effect of
each change. Many brands are not set up
to do this. Make sure you have a process
that requires the agency to monitor the
performance of your campaigns on a
daily or hourly basis and empowers them
to make adjustments. Make sure both
your approval process and your crisis
management plan are nimble enough to
respond quickly.
Ch4-15
Social media next practices

If a best practice is focused on what has developed and evolved in
recent years to bring us to the state of how we do things today, then next
practice is all about whats coming during 2012 and over the next few
years. Listen for actionable insights in the words of these opinion leaders
as they talk about the evolution of best practices.
Brian Solis
What do you think is

the most important
thing small and midsize
businesses should do in
2012 in order to make the
most of social media to
support their objectives?
Will this be the same thing
23 years out?
Play audio from
Brian Solis.
Brian Solis is principal at Altimeter Group, a

research-based advisory firm. Solis is globally
recognized as one of the most prominent
thought leaders and published authors in
new media. A digital analyst, sociologist,
and futurist, Solis has studied and influenced
the effects of emerging media on business,
marketing, publishing, and culture. His
book, Engage, is regarded as the industry
reference guide for businesses to build and
measure success on the social Web. His
latest book is The End of Business As Usual.
He blogs at www.briansolis.com. You can
also follow him on Twitter @briansolis,
Facebook or Google+.
Ch4-16

Philip Sheldrake
What do you see as the

role of PR in a digital age,
looking to 2012 and the
following 23 years?
Play audio from
Philip Sheldrake.
Philip Sheldrake is a chartered engineer,

founding partner of Meanwhile, founding
partner of Influence Crowd, main board
director of Intellect and board director of
6UK. His expertise spans business strategy,
IT and Web strategy, engineering and
technology consultancy, public relations
and social Web analytics. He wrote The
Business of Influence Transforming
Marketing and PR in the Digital Age (Wiley
2011) and the digital marketing chapter of
The Marketing Century, a book celebrating
the centenary year of the Chartered
Institute of Marketing.
Jason Falls
What do you see as a

major trend in social
media marketing for the
B2B marketer in 2012?
Play audio from
Jason Falls.
Jason Falls is an author, speaker and CEO,

the latter for Social Media Explorer, which
is not only an internationally recognized
blog, but also a digital marketing education
and information products company. He is
co-author of the book No Bullshit Social
Media: The All-Business, No-Hype Guide
to Social Media Marketing. He can be
found online at SocialMediaExplorer.com
or on Twitter @JasonFalls.
Ch4-17

Letha Wicker
Letha Wicker has been driving B2B and B2C
conversation for more than 15 years. She
currently manages the Facebook page for
Dell SMB.
What is best practice

when using Facebook
to engage with your
customers?
Play audio from
Letha Wicker.
Katie Paine
What are the key trends in

social media measurement
in 2012 and over the next
few years?
Play audio from
Katie Paine.
Katie Delahaye Paine is the founder of

KDPaine & Partners LLC, a New Hampshirebased research consultancy. She is the
author of Measure What Matters, Online
Tools for Understanding Customers,
Social Media, Engagement, and Key
Relationships and popular textbook,
Measuring Public Relationships. She is also
the publisher of the first blog and the first
newsletter (The Measurement Standard)
dedicated entirely to measurement and
accountability. Prior to launching KDPaine &
Partners in 2002, Paine was the founder and
president of The Delahaye Group, which she
sold to Medialink Worldwide, Inc., in 1999.
Ch4-18

#dellsmb
Ch5-01
Ch.5
Practical advice:
getting started
with social
networks
Using Twitter Ch5-03
Using Facebook Ch5-12
Using LinkedIn for
business Ch5-23
Engaging with circles
on Google+ Ch5-29
Ch5-02
Using Twitter
This chapter focuses on the best practices for getting your business
acclimated to social media with advice on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn
and Google+.
What is it?
Founded in 2006, Twitter was originally
used by early adopters as a simple and
informal way of answering the question:
What are you doing? Today, Twitter
is a sophisticated social tool boasting
over 100 million users worldwide in
September 2011.1
Plan and objectives defined

Listen
Essential reading
1. How to customize your
Twitter design
Advice from Twitter on making your
presence on Twitter personal to you.
2. How to create a custom
Twitter background
A step-by-step guide from HubSpot
on creating your own custom
background. Includes a video tutorial.
3. Twitter for business
Published by Twitter, this Web guide is
a foundational reference that is packed
full of advice, case studies, and tips
and tricks on using Twitter effectively.
Understand Twitter etiquette

Complete account profile
Brand profile
Infographic Labs
Your first tweet
Ch5-03
Twitter elements
If youve never seen a Twitter page before, take a look at the Dell SMB team page below.
Lets look at the major elements that form a Twitter page:
1. Profile: Bio information about the owner
of the account. Together with a photo or
other relevant image, this is an essential
element because it lets others know a
little about you. Its also important in the
decision-making process when deciding
whether to follow someone or not.
2. Following: This element shows who

DellSMBnews is following, as well as
DellSMBnewss followers. When you click
on each link, you can see every Twitter
handle. Overall, it gives you a good sense
of the community surrounding a particular
Twitter account.
3. Lists: Individual Twitter accounts can

be added to lists of Twitter accounts that
other people create and curate, usually
built around a certain topic. This also
shows the lists the account subscribes
to. Lists give you a strong sense of the
community and interests surrounding a
particular account.
4. Timeline: The conversation, collectively

known as tweets. This is the reverse
chronological view of DellSMBnewss
tweets, as well as those made by others
referencing DellSMBnews. In this way,
you can track and join in conversations if
you wish.
Ch5-04
Twitter on mobile
Twitter looks good on your smartphone as well (as these examples from an Android device
show), making it easy to use and interact with Twitter wherever you are.
There are many things you can do with Twitter other than write 140-character posts. For
example, Twitter is a great listening tool, enabling you to pay attention to topics and people
of interest in this social channel. And sometimes youll see a tweet that you just have to
share. Twitters retweet feature helps you quickly share that tweet with all your followers.
The message will then be marked with

the retweet icon or preceded by the
letters RT. It will also carry the original
tweeters username at the beginning of
the tweet, as this example shows. RT
your colleagues for added company
exposure and relevancy in your tweets.
Ch5-05
Setting up your Twitter account

Although the process is simple, its worth spending a little time setting up your account to
get it right from the outset. To get started, go to twitter.com. Add your name, email address
and a password in the New to Twitter? box, and click Sign up for Twitter.
Once youve set up your

account, you can begin
building your profile in a
more effective way. To
give you an idea, lets
look at the settings of a
sample Dell account.
Upload a picture or other

professional image that
will be your avatar the
visual representation of
you on Twitter.
Add a brief bio. Include a

link to a website your
LinkedIn, Facebook or
Google+ profile, or an
external blog you write.
This link enables others to
verify you an important
element in building trusted
relationships online.
Ch5-06
Twitter branding
Decide whether you want to change the design, colors and background image to match
your companys branding on the Design tab in Settings.
Once you decide on

your page design,
youre set. You can
start tweeting and
engaging with your
customers. But
before you do, we
recommend you
explore some good
advice and howtos that you will
find helpful in using
Twitter effectively.
Public or private?
small group of people, for instance, where
you manually approve each request to
follow you, and where your tweets dont
appear in Twitter Search results, then private
would be your choice.
The point is, you do have a choice. For
more information, see the Twitter Help page
About Public and Protected Tweets.
There are two types of Twitter accounts:

public, open to the online world; and private,
where your content known as protected
tweets can be seen only by those you have
granted access. If you intend to use Twitter
as a means of openly engaging with others
online and sharing comments, opinion and
links, then a public account is your obvious
choice. If you wish to engage only with a
Ch5-07
Setting up
Twitter
dosyour
and Twitter
donts account
There is no right or wrong way to use Twitter. But there is a more effective way, from a
business perspective. If youre using the service to build your brand and business, here are
best practice tips from Twitter to build your following, reputation and customers trust:
1. Share. Share photos and behind-thescenes info about your business. Even
better, give a glimpse of developing
projects and events.
2. Listen. Regularly monitor the comments

about your company, brand and products.
3. Ask. Ask your followers questions to glean
valuable insights and show you are listening.
4. Respond. Respond to compliments

and feedback in real time.
5. Reward. Tweet updates about special

offers, discounts and time-sensitive deals.
6. Demonstrate wider leadership

and know-how. Reference articles
and links about the bigger picture as
it relates to your business.
7. Champion your stakeholders. Retweet

and reply publicly to great tweets posted by
your followers and customers.
8. Establish the right voice. Twitter users tend to prefer a direct, genuine and, of
course, a likable tone from your business, but think about your voice as you tweet. How
do you want your business to appear to the Twitter community?
You can find more

useful tips and advice
in 50 Power Twitter
Tips by social media
expert and author
Chris Brogan. Read
the article or watch
the video.
Ch5-08
The vocabulary of Twitter

Although many terms are used on Twitter, Tweet, @ and DM are the three most
common. Use this concise guide of some common Twitter expressions and definitions
to help you understand what to use and when.
Twitter - The name of the service, as in

Im logging in to my Twitter account.
Tweet - A short text message of up

to 140 characters that you type and
post. It may just be text, but it can also
contain links to content outside of
Twitter (e.g., photos, blog posts) as well
as links to other tweets and users.
Tweeter - An individual who uses

Twitter and posts tweets.
Twitter handle - An informal term for a

users Twitter account. For example,
@DellSmbUK.
Tweet chat - An online conversation in

which a group of people all tweet about
a topic using a specific hashtag. By

following the hashtag, you can follow
and participate in (or just listen to) the
conversation.
Ch5-09

Common Twitter expressions and definitions.
@ - The universal at symbol has

different meanings on Twitter:
Used to identify the name of a Twitter
account (e.g., @DellSMBnews)
Used when you wish to publicly reply
to a specific tweeter
When @ is used in a reply, the reply will
always begin with @username (insert
the username of the person you are
replying to). Anyones tweet that is a
reply to you will show up in your
@Mentions tab on your homepage.
(@Replies are considered @Mentions.)
# - People use the hashtag symbol

(#) before relevant keywords in their
tweets to categorize those tweets in a
Twitter Search. Some hashtags may be
promoted through paid media and will
appear with the text Promoted under
them. Clicking on a hashtag in any
message shows you all other tweets in
that category and displays them all in
a single view. For instance, searching
for the hashtag #dellcap will show all
tweets that include that hashtag. (See
also tweet chat on the previous page.)
Ch5-10

Common Twitter expressions and definitions.
RT - Short for retweet, this is how you

share a tweet with your community:
1. Click the Retweet icon on any tweet
on the Twitter website and the tweet is
immediately retweeted.
2. If you use an external program such as
TweetDeck to interact with Twitter, you
can edit the retweet before its posted.
The tweet is preceded by RT, and you
can add any additional comment if the
character count total permits.
letters DM (without the quotes). You

must be following a user to DM them.
DM - Short for direct message, a

DM is a tweet that goes privately to
the tweeter named in your message.
Instead of the @ preface, though,
you must start your message with the
Ch5-11
Connecting on Facebook
What is it?
Although Facebook started in 2004 as an informal online networking site for U.S. college
students, the community today comprises people from every walk of life, 75% of whom
are outside the U.S. Increasingly, businesses and brands are developing presences on
Facebook as an effective means of engaging with fans and others, especially since the
network is often the primary place online where those fans are found.
But the real power of Facebook? The trust factor. Facebook users are more likely to like and
buy the things their friends buy, listen to the music they listen to, and engage in the same
activities they engage in.
Essential reading
Plan and objectives defined
Listen
1. Facebook for business

Published by Facebook, this comprehensive
Web-based guide will help you learn how
to grow your business with Facebooks
powerful marketing tools.
Understand Facebook etiquette

Complete account profile
Brand profile
Your first Facebook post
2. Facebook 101 for business:

your complete guide
Published by SocialMediaExaminer.com,
this guide is designed to help you
understand what Facebook can do for
your business and lead you through a
step-by-step process for getting started.
Ch5-12
Superlatives abound
about Facebook
Facebook is the largest social networking site in the world.

As of January 2012, it had more than 845 million active
users and is projected to have 1 billion by August 2012.
Facebook says half of those active

users log in every day.
If Facebook were a country, it would

be the third largest in the world.
350 million users

access Facebook through a mobile device.
Those users are twice as active as other users.
90
30 billion
average number of
friends per user.
pieces of content
each month.
pieces of content
shared by Facebook
users each month.
This chart was built with statistics from allfacebook.com, insidefacebook.com, facebook.com, internetworld.com
and Erik Qualman.
170
Ch5-13
Superlatives abound
about Facebook
Theyre your friends, family, co-workers. At some point in your life, they meant enough
to you that you went to the trouble of finding them on Facebook or accepting their
friend requests. Youre connected to these people, and they influence you (and vice
versa) because of that connection.
It is the prospect of this network the

implications of the ease with which you can
stay in touch with hundreds or thousands of
people that has captured the imagination
and interest of businesses, evangelists,
advertisers and activists.
The reason Facebook, like all forms

of media, evolves is because it must.
Every day, new entrepreneurs explore
the social space looking to invent
new innovative offerings. Because of
this, competition for your attention is
relentless, whether the focus is personal
or business, and companies are looking
for an edge on the competition.
Since early 2011, users have had the ability

to make live voice calls via Facebook Chat,
allowing them to chat with others from all
over the world. This free feature (available
only in the U.S. at present) lets the user
add voice to the current Facebook Chat
as well as leave voice messages within the
site. In mid-2011, Facebook launched its
video-calling services using SkypeTM as its
technology partner.
Facebook is constantly evolving. It has

expanded from the Web to mobile
devices through applications, mobileformatted sites and location-based
networking, allowing users to check in
at shops and restaurants and update their
statuses and photos on the go.
Ch5-14
Getting started with Facebook
Your account
To join Facebook, all you need is your name and an email
address. When you join the service, use your real name, not
an alias. Facebook is vigilant about identifying and removing
what it regards as fake accounts.
Do not create a personal profile for your business. Profiles
are for people; pages are for businesses. Facebook has built
significant functionality specifically for businesses, and all
this functionality is only available for pages.
Page vs. Groups

There is a difference between a Facebook Fan Page and a
Group Page:
Pages allow real organizations, businesses, celebrities and
brands to communicate broadly with people who like them.
Groups provide a closed space for small groups of people
to communicate about shared interests. Groups can be
created by anyone.
Anyone can start a Facebook page or group. If you start a page for your business, Facebook
will verify the authenticity of the page ownership. Anyone can start a group about anything,
regardless of his/her relationship to the subject matter.
Fan pages (called pages) are pages you like, while group pages (called groups) are pages
you Join. At Dell, we prefer to create pages because these permit more open engagement
and community-building opportunities than groups do. (Groups also have size limitations that
pages dont.) Unlike groups, anyone can like a page to become connected with it and get
updates posted to his/her News Feed. There is no limit to how many people can like a page.
Ch5-15
How to create a
Facebook Fan Page
1. To begin, you must already have a Facebook account. If you dont, you can easily set one
up with your personal email account, if you have one. (Fan Pages keep your personal account
information private, just as they do for any other person liking your page). You can also set
up the account with your business email account. Go to www.facebook.com and fill out the
form on the homepage to set up a new account.
2. Once youve set up your Facebook account, go to www.facebook.com and log in to your
profile with your username and password.
3. Go to www.facebook.com/pages/create.php.
4. Choose an appropriate category from the drop-down list of choices, e.g., Computers/
Technology, Consulting/Business Services or Internet/Software.
For Name of Page, insert the name of your business.
5. Click on the Create Page button.
6. Add initial descriptive content. Complete the information page, for instance, with a
description of your company and what your business is about. Then add your House Rules.
Ch5-16
How to create a
Facebook Fan Page
7. Start adding community content to your Page. Here are some ideas to help you build it:
Avoid sending too many updates to your fans. Too many updates may cause your fans to
unlike your page.
Highlight new Facebook features when and if they are added. Talk specifically about how to
use new features and ask others to share their experiences with the new features.
Mention when your primary website is updated with new content, an upcoming event, etc.
Add links to connect visitors to your business website and your accounts on other social
sites (e.g., Twitter and YouTube).
Like other business, e.g., Dell and Dell Partner Facebook Fan Pages as well as third-party
fan pages that have topics similar to your page.
Monitor comments on your wall daily and respond to those posts that warrant it.
Encourage two-way communication. Delete comments that include personal attacks,
vulgarity or racial slurs, or that violate your pages House Rules (see separate guidance text).
But dont delete comments simply because they are critical rather, respond on the wall or
message the individual directly with additional information.
Ask staff and co-workers to Share or Post to your Facebook page. Ensure their
comments also follow the House Rules.
Include a link to your fan page in your email signature.
Include your social media information in promotional materials.
How to Create a
Facebook Business
Page HubSpots
step-by-step guide
to creating and
managing business
pages on Facebook.
Ch5-17
Elements of a successful
Facebook Fan Page
Consider the Dell Social Media for Business Facebook Fan Page shown below. Think
about the look and feel of your fan page. Put your design team to work. Have them
design the perfect profile picture for your page that reflects the combined personality
of your particular business and location, and your brand. Keep in mind most fans of
your page will interact with it from their own news feeds. Your profile image should
be clear and identifiable in its smallest form.
Not enough can be said about how much people judge your company by its online
appearance when it comes to online engagement. The look of your Facebook presence
extends beyond the profile image. The Share Preview is the content people see on their
news feeds when someone shares an article or page he/she "likes" with his/her friends.
The text on this preview should be compelling and the image enticing. The application
Facebook uses to generate these often pulls from the description metatag of your site
into Facebook. You should optimize this metadata for sharing on Facebook and also add
Facebook Share and Like buttons to your own website so you have a high level of
integration and cohesion between your website and your Facebook presence.
Ch5-18
Connecting on Facebook
Landing pages for fans vs.
How you get there can be as
non-fans
important as the destination
Facebook has made it possible to customize

the content served to your fans versus what
new users encounter. For instance, many
businesses have enabled their fan pages so
that when you visit for the first time, youll
be redirected to an [Action] tab that lets you
sign up for email updates and additional
external content. Once you become a fan
of the page, youre redirected to its news
feed so you can see the latest updates about
the organization. This level of customization
is very appealing to most Facebook users.
It can improve your rate of likes while
ensuring your existing fans have the best
experience possible.
If you have at least 100 fans, you can get a

unique address for your fan page.
This means that instead of this:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/the-longname-you-chose/the-id-facebook-gave-you
You can have this:
http://www.facebook.com/xyzcompany
Thats far easier for people to remember. Plus,
it adds to your communitys overall Facebook
presence and online brand identity for all your
community-related pages. To set up your
unique address, visit www.facebook.com/
username/.
Networking with other platforms

Leverage the traffic to your website and push it to your fan page by connecting both places.
On your website, share connections with all your social presences. Make it as easy as possible
for your fans to find you online and give them the opportunity to express their enjoyment of
your presence or simplify the process through which they learn about what youre up to.
Ch5-19
Its all about Facebook content

Do you have a schedule set up for regularly sharing content? Do you have someone engaged
in searching the Web for news and information that might be relevant to your fans? Create a
calendar for content updates. This way, youll have something to say on a regular basis and
wont be forgotten by your fans. A calendar also helps you track insights like click-through
rates. For instance, if you see a spike in traffic to your website, you can compare it to your
calendar to see what content is working for you.
Your content should be interesting and engaging. Look for things that are easily consumable,
like videos, since youre more likely to get shares out of them. If you want to take a bold
approach aimed at community-building, focus on user-generated content and leverage your
fan base for photos, videos, reviews and commentary.
Ch5-20
Facebook is constantly evolving

At the end of March 2012, a big change will take place on Facebook as all business pages will
be using the new Timeline feature that Facebook announced in 2011.
Key benefits:
Brand your Page
Add a unique cover photo and showcase your most important news on your Page timeline.
Highlight what matters
Pin a new post to the top of your Page each week so people notice whats important.
Manage everything in one place
See and respond to your recent activity and private messages right from the top of your Page.
For full details and tools to help you make the most of the new features for business,
visit Introducing New Facebook Pages and the related Help Sections.
Ch5-21
Facebook tips
The adage keep it simple goes a long way. With that in mind, here are six ways for small
businesses to maximize their Facebook presences with minimum resources, prepared by
All Facebook: The Unofficial Facebook Resource:
1. Manage expectations. Set realistic goals

for your approach to social media and
you wont be disappointed. Dont expect
to get thousands of fans within your first
month, but think more along the lines of
a two- or three-digit number. Then if you
hit something larger than you originally
anticipated, youll be pleasantly surprised
and that will give you momentum.
3. Ask. Ask your followers questions to glean
valuable insights and show you are listening.
2. Learn as much as you can. Take

notes based on your experiences with
Facebooks pages and other business
services at the very least, write down
questions about things you dont
understand so you can make a note to
look them up later. Youll find just about
anything youre curious to know within
the sites official help center. Make a
habit of reading as much as you can on
this part of the site, without overdoing it.
7. Encourage check-ins. Wherever your

business operates, it counts as a place on
Facebook. Check in at your workplace
every day you are there, even if youre
operating out of a home office. This will
put your companys name into peoples
news feeds every time you punch in.
6. Have one-on-one conversations.

Send a thank-you message right after
someone clicks like on your page, and
make a point of responding to messages
and wall posts within 24 hours. Pay careful
attention to whatever fans tell you on your
page, and try to respond to their needs.
5. Create a page, not a profile. Dont open

a second account on the social network to
make a profile for your business. Not only
does that go against Facebooks rules, but it
also moves you away from the people who
are already on your friend list. These are the
first people you want to invite to become
fans of your businesss page.
4. Make time. Unless you can find

an intern willing to plan your media
campaigns for free, cultivating a Facebook
presence doesnt have to be a full-time
job or something that eats up all your
free time. Try to set aside an hour a day
to work on your businesss page, post
updates and communicate directly with
customers and fans.
Ch5-22
Using LinkedIn for business

What is it?
LinkedIn is a business-related social networking site. Launched in 2003, it is mainly used
for professional networking. In November 2011, LinkedIn reported it had over 135 million
registered users in more than 200 countries.
LinkedIn counts executives from all 2011 Fortune 500 companies as members, and more
than 2 million companies of all sizes have LinkedIn Company Pages. The social network
represents a valuable demographic for marketers, with an affluent and influential membership.
LinkedIn Company Pages
Company pages are a companys profile of
record on LinkedIn and a powerful way to
speak to millions of professionals through
word-of-mouth recommendations and
trusted testimonials.
For LinkedIn members,
company pages are a great way to research
companies youre interested in. You can
follow them to stay updated, see what kind
of people work there, and even review the
products and services you use.
1. Company pages
frequently asked questions
Published by LinkedIn.
2. Guide to your company page
Download PDF how-to,
published by LinkedIn.
3. Groupsfrequently asked questions
Download PDF how-to,
published by LinkedIn.
For companies,
company pages present an opportunity to
reveal the human side of your company.
They provide a peek at the individuals behind
your brand and highlight how members use
your products. Your company page offers
tools to bring your brand to life.
Essential reading
Ch5-23
How to set up a
LinkedIn Company Page
1. Log in to your account on LinkedIn, click on the Companies link on the menu and
select Add a Company.
2. Complete the details requested to add your company name and email address. Note
the verification text you have to check to indicate your agreement (and see also
LinkedIns more detailed Requirements to Add or Edit Company Pages), and then
click Continue.
4. Once youve completed LinkedIns initial steps, your company profile will be visible to
the public.
3. Follow the rest of the LinkedIn wizards setup procedure to add a company description,
location information, a logo and more.
Ch5-24
How to set up a
LinkedIn Company Page
Your company page will present information in tabbed sections:
Company status updates Engage and message your

followers and potential
customers.
Analytics tab - Learn about

your followers.
Overview tab Introduce your company to

professionals.
Products and services tab Build your showcase of

recommendations.
These pages are likely to appeal to larger companies in particular. For an example, see the
screenshot of the Dell career tab on its enhanced company page above.
A basic company page is free of charge as a benefit of your LinkedIn membership. LinkedIn
also offers premium (paid-for) company pages known as Custom Company Profiles that
offer you additional features, including adding videos, interactive polls and several
customization options for recruiting.
Ch5-25
How to set up a
LinkedIn Group
LinkedIn Groups provide a place for professionals in the same industry or with similar
interests to share content and find answers. Other options include posting and viewing
jobs, making business contacts, and establishing themselves as industry experts.
Unlike Company Pages, anyone can create a LinkedIn Group. Think of a LinkedIn Group
as similar to Facebook Fan Pages a key benefit of both is building community. You
can start a new group by filling out the fields on the Create a Group page. Youll be the
owner and manager of any group you create, but you can also assign other members to
be managers or moderators. To create a group, the steps are simple:
1. Click Groups in the menu at the top of your homepage. From the drop-down list,
select and click Create a Group.
2. Complete the fields on the setup page. A red asterisk means the information is
required.
3. As the final step, choose whether you want to create an open group or a membersonly group.
Ch5-26
LinkedIn tips
Venture capitalist, blogger, author and former Apple evangelist Guy Kawasaki offers 7 ways
to use LinkedIn. They include:
1. Acquire new customers through online recommendations and word-of-mouth.
Satisfied customers are the best source of new customers. Increase your
word-of-mouth referrals by asking your happy clients to write you a
recommendation, which will be published on your LinkedIn profile and
broadcast to their entire LinkedIn network.
2. Keep in touch with people who care most about your business.
Sites like LinkedIn help keep your business alive in the minds of the people
who care most about your business. LinkedIn is effective for two reasons:
the business intent of LinkedIn users and fewer status updates, which means
your business stays top of mind. Tip: You can also increase the impact of
your status updates by syncing your LinkedIn and Twitter accounts.
3. Build your industry network online and in person.
Search LinkedIns Groups Directory to find industry associations and
networks to take part in. For example, if youre in the event planning or
wedding industry, there are over 530 groups. In addition, LinkedIn also
publicizes popular events in your industry by calling out local events
that your connections are attending. Imagine being able to find industry
events that your prospective clients are attending.
4. Keep your friends close and your competition closer.
Over 150,000 companies have a company profile on LinkedIn, the public

profile for companies. These pages surface key stats on companies; recent
hires as well as movers and shakers. Not only do company profiles give you
unique insight into your competition, they also give you an opportunity to
stumble upon potential hires by browsing through company pages.
Ch5-27
LinkedIn tips
5. Get answers to tough business questions with a little help from your real friends.
Small business owners deal with challenging questions on a slew of
topics each day. LinkedIn Answers and Groups let you find answers
to those vexing questions quickly by tapping into the wisdom of your
network. (LinkedIn tells me there are over 200 different categories
on Answers, including one dedicated just to small business and over
2,000 groups on small business-related topics.) Wondering whether
your recent office purchase is tax deductible? Check out hundreds of
questions on related topics here.
6. Network with peers in your industry for repeat business referrals.

LinkedIn Groups is a powerful medium to find peers in your respective
industries to network with and find complimentary businesses to share
referrals with. For example, mortgage brokers can find real estate agents
to partner with on relevant groups, and as most small businesses know,
these partners are your best source of referrals that can turn into repeat
business. With over 2,000 groups dedicated to small business topics,
youre sure to find a relevant group to network.
7. Convince potential customers of your expertise by sharing unique blog content.
Source: http://blog.linkedin.com/2010/04/12/linkedin-small-business-tips/.
Small businesses smart enough to create unique content on their

expertise (either with a blog or Twitter account) should link to it from
their LinkedIn profiles. Or take it one step further by promoting featured
blog content to LinkedIn members on the site (e.g., with small text ads).
You can specify exactly who will see your adsexecutives or VPsand
include a link to your profile so they know whos behind this content.
Ch5-28
Engaging with circles

on Google+
What is it?
Google+ (pronounced and written as Google Plus, often abbreviated as G+) is a social
networking and identity service launched publicly by Google in September 2011.
In December 2011 just three months after its public launch it was reported that
Google+ had more than 60 million registered users.
Although Google hasnt stated so itself, Google+ is widely regarded as a direct competitor
of Facebook. In the broadest sense, it is. As online social networking services, both enable
their respective users to build and interact with other people on the services who, for
example, share interests and/or activities, and build communities.
Google+ integrates its existing social networking services such as Google Profiles and the
now-discontinued Google Buzz, and introduces new services such as Circles and Hangouts.
Like Facebook, LinkedIn and other online social networks, Google+ is available as a website
and on mobile devices.
Essential reading
1. Google+ your business
Download PDF guide published
by Google.
See also A quick look at Google+ by Google.
3. The pros & cons of Google+

for small business
Analysis by Mashable.
For an easy-to-understand visual overview

of Google+, see The Google+ Start-Up
Guide 2.0 by Saidur Hossain.
2. Google+ pagesconnect with

all the things you care about
Blog post by Google
announcing Pages.
Ch5-29
Google+ for business

For small- to medium-sized businesses, Google+ offers some compelling benefits. Three
specific elements of the service help promote your business and engage with customers
and other people of interest:
Google+ Circles is the foundational element of your engagement with others on Google+.
Circles lets you organize people that follow you on Google+ into groups called Circles.
You could have circles for friends, co-workers, customers, business partners or whatever
label you wish. One big advantage of this segmented approach to managing your connections is the control it gives you over which group can see what content of yours. For instance, you could share a new product feature only with current customers and news of a
forthcoming event at which youre speaking with influencers and reporters you know. You
can choose multiple circles as well.
Google+ Circles also provides you with control over what you see, rather than the content
firehose (known as the Stream) thats typical when seeing everything from everyone.
Instead, you can focus on specific circles of people to see only what the people in those
circles are talking about.
You can also decide to customize your personal profile information for your circles. For example, your contact details, location and relationship information would be visible to your
friends circle, while your employment history and education would be visible to your business partner circle.
One additional business benefit of using Google+ is that Google indexes Google+ posts.
They do not index private Facebook posts or Twitter hashtags.
Ch5-30
Google+ for business
Google+ Pages: Announced in November

2011, Google+ Pages can showcase your
business and get your brand in front of
Google+ users.
Google+ Pages provide businesses,
products, brands and organizations with a
public identity and presence on Google+.
Pages are similar to profiles, but they do
have some key differences, most notably,
all information is public by default. You can
also have multiple administrators for pages
(see the details of all the differences).
When you enter a hangout, youll see the

current participants, broken down
according to who is in your circles and
who isnt.
Hangouts are created by one person, but
everyone in the hangout shares the ability
to invite others. Each hangout has a
specific URL. That URL can be shared
as a link to invite others. However, only
Google+ users are able to join.
You can add pages to one of your circles.

Theres a new built-in circle called
Following that you can use to follow
pages. The circle is used to automatically
follow pages if you enable that option.
Google+ Hangouts are a great new way

to conduct a live video call or conference
call online in real time with co-workers,
business partners or friends, or anyone
you care to chat with. Your webcam and
Google+ are all you need. You can invite
up to 10 people, including yourself, and
keep the meeting going for hours without
cost the service itself is free.
Ch5-31
Getting started with

business on Google+
4 Steps to success
Step 1: Join Google+
If you havent yet set up a profile in your own name, do this now. You cannot add to circles,
create pages or participate in hangouts unless you have a Google+ profile.
1. Go to https://plus.google.com/ and click the Sign in button to join Google+ with your
Google Account then follow the instructions.
2. Check your Google+ Profile information, update/edit as appropriate. (If youre already a
Google+ user, skip Step 1.)
Ch5-32

business on Google+
Step 2: Create a Google+ Circle and add people
1. Click the Circles link in the menu at the top of your Google+ screen. You can also easily
create a circle using the Google+ mobile app.
2. Select the people you want to include in your circle. You can select more than one person
at a time by either clicking on more than one name tile or by highlighting multiple tiles using
your cursor.
3. Drag and drop them to the blank circle that says Drop here to create a new circle.
4. If you dont have anyone to add to your circles yet, try using the Find people tab for
people suggestions.
5. To name your circle, click Create circle. A pop-up box will appear for you to edit the
circle name. Circle names are visible only to you. You can put the same person into as many
circles as you like.
Ch5-33

business on Google+
Step 3: Create a Google+ page
1. In your stream, click the link on the right side of your screen to get started.
2. Pick the category of the Google+ page you want to create. Currently, you can choose
from five categories:
-Local Business or Place
-Product or Brand
-Company, Institution or Organization
-Arts, Entertainment or Sport
-Other
3. Complete the concise form and click Create.
4. Once youve selected your pages category, you can start customizing its public profile:
adding your profile photo and a tagline (10 words that best describe your page).
5. After you have added these items and clicked on Continue, you will be asked to spread
the word about your new page through your personal Google+ profile. If youre not ready
to do that yet, click Finish to be taken to your new page.
Ch5-34
15 Google+ tips for small- and

medium-sized businesses
Learn from these tips for increasing your brand on Google+ from Inc. magazine:
1. Use your real name when

you register. This creates
an authentic presence on
the service; investors can
look you up by name, and
customers want to know its
really you. Later on, you can
create a business page thats
less personal.
2. Create Google+ Circles in

a logical fashion. Business
partners, employees, friends,
investors. That way, as you
start using the service, you
can keep people organized.
You can then choose only
a select group to view a
new post.
5. Send private messages

to people who look
interesting. You can just
type the message, then
remove the public circle
and add just one name.
6. Check your
notifications on the
upper right side of the
screen. Look for the red
notification alert. You can
see who is following you,
any new comments, and
whether those you follow
are following you back.
7. Dont stop using

Facebook. There is a lot of
cross-pollination between
the social networks. When
you follow someone on
Facebook or they follow
you, check Google+ to see
if they are using that service
and follow them there.
8. Go ahead and think big.

When Michael Dell makes
a post, feel free to post a
comment and see if he
replies. You can even send
a direct post.
9. Dont be afraid of
negative attention.
Posting a counterargument,
especially when it is
something you feel strongly
about, can generate some
buzz. When you do, be
ready to support your
position with facts and welldeveloped opinions.
3. Engage with other

business professionals in an
authentic way. Read what
they post, make comments
and follow their links. When
you follow links, comment on
them so that everyone knows
you read the article.
4. Post occasional
coupons and specials.
That way, you can see if
people are engaging with
your posts. Be careful
about how often you post
specials or you may raise
the ire of the Google+
team, who discourage
blatant promotion.
Ch5-35
15 Google+ tips for small- and

medium-sized businesses
Learn from these tips for increasing your brand on Google+ from Inc. magazine:
10. Make sure you have entered

detailed information about
yourself and add some humor.
There's a section in your profile for
adding something unique about
yourself. Include a recent photo
that's bright and colorful.
13. Try holding your own hangout.

Pick a topic that is related to your
business if you run an ice-cream
shop, try holding a hangout on the
cost of supplies or retail trends.
11. Use the Sparks feature to track

trending topics. Just click Sparks
and add a search term. Track
these topics and re-post the most
engaging stories.
14. Set aside Google+ time each

day. Make comments and post new
entries, but also search for people to
follow. When someone follows you,
its polite to send a quick thank-you
to acknowledge their interest.
12. Make use of the +1 feature

that is now cropping up on many
websites, including Inc.com. When
you see a story you like, click +1
so that everyone knows you read
the story and liked it. This increases
engagement with like-minded users.
15. Stay focused on the task at

hand, which is to increase brand
awareness. It takes time. You might
not see engagement levels rise in
just one day or a week, but track
how many people comment on
your posts over a month.
Source: http://www.inc.com/articles/201109/can-google-plus-help-your-business.html.
Ch5-36

Dell Social Media Toolkit

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Social Media Toolkit

Guide to how small and medium businesses

About this guide

This guide looks at social media through

This guide is designed to provide you with

In creating this guide, weve drawn on

Social Media Toolkit

Objectives of the guide

1. Channels have fragmented.

4. Content creation and

distribution have been democratized.

5. Sources of trust have

Social Media Toolkit

3. Social media has arrived.

Objectives of the guide

your first step isnt

You will be able to focus on your

In addition to texts and rich content, this

How do you want to do it?

What do you want to achieve?

What social media tools will you use?

Social Media Toolkit

How does social media integrate

Why use it?

This guide will help you engage and

Social Media Toolkit

How do you use it?

Social Media Toolkit

Soci al Media Toolkit

Building strong social

How effective is social media?*

Soci al Media Toolkit

Seven reasons why social media

3. By 2014, 20% of all business users will rely on

Soci al Media Toolkit

Social media has begun to threaten the effectiveness of the inbox.

Seven reasons why social media

Soci al Media Toolkit

Lets be clear about

Soci al Media Toolkit

Social Media Revolution

We define social media

Social media is any tool or service that

The Conversation Prism is a living, breathing

The Conversation Prism 3.0 by Brian Solis and JESS3.

Soci al Media Toolkit

Social media usage is increasing rapidly

So why should we care

Social media enables us

Soci al Media Toolkit

Why agree on social

As a business owner or employee, you engage in

Chris Boudreaux has collected

Soci al Media Toolkit

In the online world, there are additional considerations

Why agree on social

For example, Dell has five Social Media Principles

2. Be transparent and disclose

Guidelines dont have to be boring

4 minutes and 20 seconds

explaining the key elements

Ten social media tips

Apply your common sense

Dont speak out of turn

Social media highlights the increasing

How do I make a business case for

Social media amplifies and accelerates

What is the framework for developing a

Many companies approach Social Computing as a list of technologies to be deployed as

ou must have a clear

New product ideation

Why customers are passionate about certain topics.

When you should engage the community.