Getting Started with Social Media Marketing

Eric KrockPrincipal Consultant and Trainer, 280 Group

Founder, AIDSvideos.org

© 2011-2012 Eric Krock Marketing Services Inc. All rights reserved.

About Me19 years of experience in software product management

& marketing.Business experience at 280 Group, Voximate, Zvents,

VeriSign, Kontiki, Netscape, Interleaf ...Social Media Marketing magazine named Eric one of the

top 85 CMOs on twitter in April of 2011.AgileScout.com named Voximate Agile Product and

Project Management blog at http://www.voximate.com/blog/ one of top 200 Agile blogs to follow in 2011.

Founder of AIDSvideos.org, a project that is the world's leading provider of multilingual HIV/AIDS prevention education videos.

Tweet @aidsvideos; see http://www.youtube.com/aidsvideos


Social Media Success Stories


Coke AdvertisementGoal: “build deeper connection with

consumers especially teens” to Coke brand1

Strategy: “leverage digital media to connect globally”1

Approach: 7 competitive teams of employees with $50k seed funding each1

Results: Winning video “Happiness Machine”

reached 2 million people in 2 weeks with 95% favorable comments1


Sources: 1 – Jennifer Aaker, Ph.D., http://www.slideshare.net/DragonflyEffect/creating-infectious-action-innovation-uncensored. For more info, see her book The Butterfly Effect.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqT_dPApj9U

American Airlines “Tweet to Win 30k Miles”Goal: promote new “Deal 30” daily deal

micrositeStrategy: offer chance to win 30,000 miles to

people who registered AAdvantage #number at microsite, filled out application, tweeted #Deal30 hashtag, and followed @Aadvantage

ResultsOver 18,000 clicks on microsite bit.ly link70% increase in followers for @AadvantageRetweets up 43%27,000 entries at microsite


1 - http://mashable.com/2011/07/06/twitter-campaigns/

“Team Sameer” Seeks Marrow DonorsProblem: need marrow donor for leukemia

patient Sameer Bhatia, who is South Asian, but there are few registered donors in that group1

Solution: Viral email campaign to friends & family1

Purchase of traditional phone list, direct calls2

Wordpress blog helpsameer.org, & helpvinay.org1

Tweeting3

User generated YouTube videos3

Hold donor drives at high-tech companies1


Sources: 1 - http://www.gsb.stanford.edu/news/bmag/sbsm1008/feature-aaker.html, 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBUrlyh4ivI, 3 - http://www.slideshare.net/DragonflyEffect/creating-infectious-action-innovation-uncensored. For more info, see Aaker’s book The Butterfly Effect.

“Team Sameer” Seeks Marrow DonorsResults after 11 weeks:1

150,000 web site visits480 bone marrow registration drivesOver 24,000 new registered donorsMatches found for both Sameer & Vinay

Following year:1 266 donors registered through these

efforts matched other patients in need


Sources: 1 - http://www.gsb.stanford.edu/news/bmag/sbsm1008/feature-aaker.html, http://www.slideshare.net/DragonflyEffect/creating-infectious-action-innovation-uncensored. For more info, see her book The Butterfly Effect.

Social Media Strategy


What Are You Working On?Personal brand?Own company or consultancy?Employer’s brand and web site?Not-for-profit?


Who Are Your Audiences?Company’s customers, prospects,

potential hiresConsultancy’s clients and prospectsNot-for-profit’s donors, prospects,

volunteersPolitical campaign’s donors, prospects,

and volunteersOpinion leaders in your area of workGeneral public


Where Are Your Audiences?Browsing the Internet: Google, Bing ...Visiting your web site alreadySocial networks: Facebook, Google+,

LinkedIn ...Reading blogsReading microblogs: TwitterAnswer services: Yelp, Quora ...Subscribed to your email newsletter

already


What Are Your Goals?Attract new customers?Increase revenue per customer?Retain existing customers?

Improve customer service and satisfaction?

Build a brand?


How Do You Want to Pursue Goals?Traditional web site content

Improve site or increase traffic?Traditional email newsletter?Launch blog or promote existing blog?Launch Twitter feed or improve existing

one?Launch a presence on YouTube or

promote existing videos on it?Launch Facebook and Google+ Pages?


What We’ll Touch OnBranding & TrademarkingBasic Search Engine Optimization (SEO)Blogging: Tools, Tips, SEOTwitter™ : Tools, TipsFilming Low Cost VideoYouTube™ Video Search Engine

Optimization (VSEO)Facebook PagesGoogle+ Pages


Branding & TrademarkingWhat is it that you want to promote?


Naming: Trademark or Generic?Trademarkable: coined term, not in use

already (e.g. “Xynga”), or non-obvious combinationBenefits: build brand & defensible trademarkDrawback: costs money to build awareness,

page rankNot trademarkable: generic terms, personal

name, place nameBenefits: may rank very well in search engine

result pages (SERPs) (e.g. “AIDSvideos.org”)Drawback: not trademarkable at all, or until

establish a reputation in some cases


Your Name May Be Used For …Legal company nameWebsite domain nameBlog name & Feedburner™ URLTwitter usernameYouTube channel nameFacebook Page nameGoogle+™ business page


Trademarking a NameNolo Trademark PDF eBook for $23.99:

http://www.nolo.com/products/trademark-TRD.html

Do your own initial searches:http://tess2.uspto.gov/

Have trademark attorney finalize your best candidates:Price for formal search: $750 / mark searchedAdditional price for handling official USPTO

application: $1250International trademark filings cost extra per

region & country




http://tess2.uspto.gov/

SEO Basics


Search Engines & Page RankSearch engines:

Take static snapshot of the web & index itDetermine authority & rank for each page

On-page factors: structure, text, image names …

Number of incoming links to page Text of each link Links weighted by authority of source page

When given a query (e.g. “project management software”), return the pages in order it deems most relevant to that search term


Many Inputs to Relevance for Search Term!Number of times target term appears on pageWhere on page it appears: URL? Page title?

H1 – H3 headers? P? List items? Emphasized text?

Where in each element it appears: near front?Click-through rate of users clicking on that

page from that termTime users spend on page after clicking

through to it from that termHow many pages with authority for that term

link to page, and text of links


Search Engine OptimizationYou are writing blog posts & web pages

for TWO readers:Human beingsSearch engine indexing robots (esp.

Google)Goals:

Enable search engines to understand page’s content and focus

Get search engines to assign high relevance to page for target keywords

Don’t annoy human readers in the process© 2011-2012 Eric Krock Marketing Services Inc. All

rights reserved.

Target Keywords & Key PhrasesCreate list of keywords / phrases you

want to rank well for in search results. Tools:Google AdWords (free to use tool)Wordpress.com: Stats feature (free)Wordpress.org: Google Analytics (free)SEOmoz.org Keyword Tools ($99/month

Pro membership)Targeting niche keywords with less

competition may be more successful.


Where to Use Keywords?“On-page SEO”Domain name1

Account names on twitter, YouTubeFacebook Page name, Google+ PageBlog title, category names, tag names1

Page URL (68-74 characters) 1

Page TITLE (60 characters), especially at start2

Sources: 1 – All-in-One SEO for Dummies, 2 - Hubspot, “The Essential Step-by-Step Guide to Internet Marketing,” p.8


Where to Use Keywords?“On-page SEO,” continued …1

H1 – H32

Image file name & ALT textFirst sentence of paragraphBullet itemsStrong / emphasized text (EM, STRONG)Text of links to your own pages (e.g.

when one of your blog posts cross-links to another one)

Sources: 1 – All-in-One SEO for Dummies; 2 – HubSpot Essential Step-by-Step Guide to Internet Marketing


Where to Use Keywords?“On-page SEO:”Wordpress.org:

“Excerpt” (i.e. summary)Influences presentation to user only, not

rank: META Description (160 chars) (used by Google

in creating snippets only, not for page rank)Doubtful usefulness:

META Keywords Google’s Matt Cutts: “Google doesn’t use the

keywords meta tag in web search”


Avoid “Duplicate Content”No “Google penalty,” but:

If same content is on two pages, they divide links, clicks, and “page equity.”

Single page will rank higher in Search Engine Result Pages (SERPs) than two pages.


Avoid “Duplicate Content”Ideal: one content = one page = one

URLBlog post lives at pretty permalink URLBlog home page, category page, tag

pages show excerpt only (Wordpress.com “Gallery” option) and link to full blog post at permalink URL

If syndicate articles, ensure each syndicated copy includes link back to original so Google knows


Put Images in Blog PostsPosts with images rank higher than

posts without themUse stock.xchng (sxc.hu) for royalty-free

imagesUse iStockPhoto, etc. for for-pay imagesUse image editor (e.g. Mac Paintbrush)

to compress image to small JPEG so don’t increase page load time

Give image SEOed file name, SEOed ALT text


Google Search Plus Your WorldIf you’re logged in, adds content shared

privately with you on Google+ into your SERPs

Effects:Changes weighting of web SERPs by using

your behavior & connections as signals1

Incents content providers to build Google+ circles and post content to Google+ so it will show up in others’ results

Means ordinary web content will be pushed down further below Google+ content than before


1 - http://searchengineland.com/googles-results-get-more-personal-with-search-plus-your-world-107285

Gift Economy BasicsBlogs, Twitter, Quora™, LinkedIn™

Answers, and YouTube operate primarily as gift economies

You freely give something of value (information, teaching, entertainment, answers to questions, follows, subscriptions, retweets) and often get something of value in return (references in blog posts, tweets, retweets, mentions, #FF mentions, inclusion in “best of” lists, registrations for your product, conversions …)


Social Media ValuesHonesty Tell the truth!

Transparency

Be honest about who you are and your interests.

Engagement

Post, tweet, and retweet frequently. Respond promptly to comments, tweets, direct messages.

Giving Give more than you get: knowledge, blog posts, retweets, ideas, feedback.

Respect Always cite sources in blog posts, tweets, retweets.

Originality Create something new.


Blogging


Why Blog?Raise awareness of company and

offeringEstablish credibility in target audienceDraw traffic via organic search engine

resultsRaise relevance ranking of your domain

on GoogleAttract prospects who may convert and

become customers


General Blogging TipsWrite well!

Read book: “Elements of Style” by Strunk & White

Share useful knowledgeGain audience by teaching

Use catchy titles; they should be “hooks!”Humor and irony work well

Publish new articles frequently


Use Wordpress™ to BlogWhy Wordpress?

Leading blog softwareFree and open sourceSupports Search Engine Optimization wellExtensible via large plug-in libraryMany predesigned templates

Your choices:Hosted SaaS: Wordpress.comSelf-Hosted: own site, plus Wordpress.org

softwareRead book: “Wordpress in Depth”


Recommended Plug-ins (Wordpress.org)Plug-in Purpose

Akismet Spam filter: $5/mo. single site, http://akismet.com/

All-In-One SEO Pack

Optimize Search Engine Optimization of blog

cbnet Ping Optimizer

Prevent duplicate pinging of blog syndication feeds

Google XML Sitemaps

Automatically generate map of site for Google

Widget Logic Enable conditional content in sidebar

Enable Media Replace

Enable easy inline updating of images• Get plug-ins from http://www.wordpress.org/extend/plugins/• Back up your Wordpress installation (HTML files) and database instance before installing or upgrading any plug-in!


Other Wordpress.org ConfigurationsHave static company home page, put blog at YourDomain/blog/

http://codex.wordpress.org/Creating_a_Static_Front_Page

Pretty permalinks http://codex.wordpress.org/Using_Permalinks

Show only excerpt from post on blog home page to avoid duplicating content

http://themehybrid.com/support/topic/show-only-excerpt-in-homepagehttp://themehybrid.com/themes/structure

Put link to post at end of excerpt

http://themehybrid.com/support/topic/how-to-change-at-end-of-post-and-make-it-an-active-link

Hardening security. (Update both Wordpress & plug-ins promptly!!!)

http://codex.wordpress.org/Hardening_WordPress


Blog Post URL Best PracticesAll-lowercase file namesSeparate words with hyphens (-), not

underscores (_)Terminate URL with a / character (not .php,

.asx, etc.) so can switch CMS laterKeep page name short enough that Google

won’t split page name (last part of URL) when it compresses the URL for display

Ideally, keep total URL 68-74 characters (less important now due to URL compression)


Blog Social Media Integrationhttp://feedburner.google.com/

Wraps your RSS feed in easy-to-use URLHave your blog’s RSS icon point at

Google FeedBurner URLUse royalty-free icons for RSS Subscribe

and twitter Follow linksAddThis.com to provide social media

Share link


Site & Blog Promotion TipsRegister your blog in technoratiCross-post blog posts to Facebook,

Google+, LinkedIn (unless you’re tweeting links & cross-posting tweets automatically)

Submit posts to Digg™, Reddit™, StumbleUpon™, TechCrunch™, etc.

Comment on relevant blogs & include a link back to your own site (won’t affect PageRank because of NoFollows, but humans will click)


Inbound Link CampaignGet other relevant blogs & sites to link to

youHave them use targeted keywords in

their link text1

GOOD: project management solutionBAD: click here to see a project

management solutionGoogle only looks at text of first link on

a page to a given URL2

BAD: click here to see a project management solution

Sources: 1 – All-in-One SEO for Dummies 2 - Olivier Vit, personal conversation © 2011-2012 Eric Krock Marketing Services Inc. All

rights reserved.

Blog Mistakes to AvoidNever pay for a link or for inclusion in a

directory or blog directory! Will get you banned from Google directory.

Most “blog directories” (except technorati) are a waste of time.


Iterative Content CreationStudy your blog’s reporting data.

Which blog posts get the most: page views? time on page? inbound links?

Which keywords drive the most traffic to blog?

Which posts get the most comments? (unscientific)


Iterative Content Creation

Voximate.com AIDSvideos.org Product Management Tip:

How to Piss Off Engineering Product Management Tip:

How to Piss Off Customers Product Management Tip:

How to Piss Off Sales Sales Tip: How to Piss Off

Product Management Engineering Tip: How to

Piss Off Product Management

“Did I Just Contract HIV? Symptoms of Primary HIV Infection” 470,000 views / 4 years

“Do I Have AIDS? Symptoms of AIDS” 319,000 views / 3 years

Study which blog posts or videos get the most interest, and create riffs on the theme.


Twitter


Twitter TipsGreat tool for:

Listening and learning from othersFinding your audienceFinding prospects, beta testers,

evangelistsEngaging with customers, prospects,

othersPromoting blog postsPosting shorter comments


Twitter BasicsUse URL shorteners (goo.gl, tinyurl.com,

bitly.com)Use search.twitter.com or topsy.com to identify

hash tags used by your audience: #agile, #pmot, #prodmgmt …

Keep tweets less than 120 characters so others can re-tweet easily

Embed relevant hash tags within your tweetsUse HootSuite™ or TweetDeck™ to schedule

tweets in advance and follow relevant hashtagsFollow people with similar interests & see if

they follow you back; give them time to decideTweet Tue – Thu between 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.

Pacific Time to maximize chance of retweets


Key Twitter RulesNo “aggressive following”No “mass unfollows”Don’t follow the same person repeatedlyCan follow maximum of 2000 people;

after that, can only follow 10% more people than follow you back

No inappropriate (spammy) use of hashtags

No excessive @username tweetingAvoid high ratio of follows to followers


More Twitter RulesHourly usage limits (tweets, follows,

unfollows per hour) are enforced automatically

Don’t hit the Twitter API too intensively (i.e. harder than a real human would)


Unofficial Twitter Good PracticesNot official rules, but:

Only follow people likely to be interested in your feed!

Don’t follow more than 125 people per dayGive people 7 days to follow you back

before unfollowingShould get at least 1 new follower for

every 4 follows if you are targeting correctly & active

Don’t “autofollow” followers, at least at first. Pick and choose who you follow.


Unofficial Twitter Good PracticesDon’t send automated thank-you message to

new followers unless it’s a real call to action.

Not official rules, but:Not all tweets should be blog postsRetweet more than you tweetThank people for retweetsCreate useful lists to categorize users on

twitter


How to Find Potential Followers?Tweet & retweet great tweets!Follow opinion leaders, who they follow,

their followers, and users on their relevant lists

search.twitter.com and topsy.com:Who’s posting using your target hash tags?Who’s posting using your target keywords?

WeFollow.comTlists.comListorious.com


Two Approaches to Getting Followers#1: Passive

Follow small number of tweeps (twitter users).

Tweet well.Passively wait for followers.Advantages:

High following:follower ratio gives automatic credibility.

Disadvantages Takes time to build audience.


Two Approaches to Getting Followers#2: Active

Follow good tweeps, and tweet well, but also proactively follow other relevant tweeps in hope they will follow back.

Advantages Builds following faster

Disadvantages 1.1:1 following:follower ratio Many followers with low engagement Small minority will protest if you later

unfollow them


Unfollowing UsersOnce you’re following 2000 users, you

can’t follow any more until you have 2000 followers.

Your options:1. Stop following and wait for followers.2. Unfollow those who aren’t following you

back, and follow some more.Make sure you don’t unfollow people

you really want to follow!


Blog Post + Tweet SequencePick blog post page nameCreate draft blog post in WordpressShorten URLDraft 120 character tweet, including

hashtags & shortened URLWrite postFind relevant image, retitle it, upload it,

make it featured image for the post


Blog Post + Tweet SequenceUse Wordpress to schedule post for next

day @ 9 a.m.Use HootSuite or TweetDeck to

schedule tweet for next day @ 9:15


Twitter Policy QuestionsWill you automatically follow new followers?

PRO: Avoids time to review new followers before

following. Avoids losing new followers when you don’t follow

back soon enough.CON: Without knowing, your account will

autofollow spammers, multi-level marketing, people who post in languages you can’t read, people with offensive beliefs …

Alternative: autofollow, but periodically review and winnow your following list.


Twitter Policy QuestionsWill you take time prove that you’re not

a bot?PRO: Build following fasterCON: Takes time to respond to TrueTwit

emails, or must sign up & pay to become TrueTwit member


Twitter Policy QuestionsWill you sign up for TrueTwit?

PRO: Screens out bots trying to follow youCON:

If free member, would-be followers must respond to TrueTwit email, which burdens them and reduces following rate. Better: Pay $20 to become TrueTwit paying

member. Automatically accepts verified TrueTwit

members as followers. Enables you to turn off challenge email. Optionally, automatically follows verified

followers.


Twitter MistakesUsing FourSquare™ in “post my location

by default” mode. (Do followers care?)Using single Twitter account for

personal and professional purposes. If I want to hear about your cat or child or political beliefs, I’ll follow your personal account!


Twitter Mistakes to Avoid“HootSuite

disasters” – posting a tweet to the wrong account by mistake

HootSuite now has professional mode to preventImage © Huffington Post, “The Red Cross' Rogue Tweet: #gettngslizzerd On Dogfish Head's Midas Touch,” http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/16/red-cross-rogue-tweet_n_824114.html, used under Fair Use provision of U.S. copyright law


Twitter Basic MetricsTotal FollowersNew Followers Per DayFollowers : Following ratioRetweets / tweetReplies / tweetFavorites / tweetClickthroughs / tweet


Twitter Derived MetricsEngagement rate = (retweets + replies

+ favorites + clicks) / tweetTwitter stated average: 3-5% 1

80% of engagement is clicks on tweets20% is tweet or retweet 2

Conversion rate from clickthroughs


1 - http://www.mediabistro.com/alltwitter/uk-promoted-trends-see-engagement-rates-as-high-as-11_b15694, 2 - http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2011/06/07/bain-80-of-twitter-engagement-is-link-clicking/

Twitter Measurement TechniquesUse bit.ly URLs to enable tracking of

clickthroughs on URLs in campaignsUse topsy.com to study historical tweets

(search.twitter.com only has 3 day archive)



Filming Low-Cost Video: Equipment$350: Consumer HD camcorder with

Flash memory and audio input port$630 Sennheiser wireless microphone /

receiver set$837 Lowel™ Rifa eX 44 Pro, TO-83

Hard Case lighting kit (two lights, plus hard carrying case)

$1099 PrompterPeople.com Flex Series Teleprompter (or newer iPad/iPhone-based solutions)


Filming Low-Cost Video: Equipment$162 Libec™ T68 75mm 2-Stage

Aluminum TripodMacintosh™ computer or PCAdobe™ Premiere (Express or Pro) for

editing


Notes on Guerilla VideoGood lighting critical for people to look

good.Use at least 2-point lightingFill background with light to prevent

shadows behind speakerTry reflecting fill lighting off ceiling or

wallAvoid reflective objects in background

(picture frames, mirrors)Trace frame of camera with eye to find

anything that intrudes on camera frame© 2011-2012 Eric Krock Marketing Services Inc. All

rights reserved.

Notes on Guerilla AudioGood audio is MUCH harder than good

video!Film in room with closed door.Put sign on door to prevent interruptions.Use lavaliere microphone!

Use wireless connection if possible. Make sure microphone turned on &

battery charged!Do test take, play back, and listen for

problems.


Notes on Filming VideoWon’t look like Francis Ford Coppola

filmed it.Doesn’t have to; costs much less!!

Don’t want to film and edit yourself? Use a service provider, e.g. in Bay Area:GekkoVideo.comLectureMaker.comTimKentVideo.com


Notes on Making VideoUnless your name is Steven Spielberg,

you can’t reliably predict what will be successful.Read: Black Swan by Nicholas Nassim

TalebBe Agile. Film and publish many videos

cheaply, see what draws interest, and iterate!Example: Old Spice™ viral video

campaign filmed 100 clips in one day and published them all.


Video SEO ResearchGo to YouTube.comMake sure you’re logged out!Search for each target keywordStudy # of results and which videos /

playlists make the top 10 (or 20)Study highly-ranked videos and their

view counts, titles, descriptions, tag lists, and number of comments


Video Search Engine OptimizationWhat to SEO?

YouTube account nameVideo title (50 characters to display

without break)Video description (make long and

detailed, and include links to your site!)Video tag list (up to 500 characters total)Script for video (upload transcript; for

English, YouTube will automatically synchronize)

Playlist title, description, tag list© 2011-2012 Eric Krock Marketing Services Inc. All

rights reserved.

Video Search Engine OptimizationWhat to SEO? (continued)

YouTube profile and channel description


To Learn More About Videohttp://techcrunch.com/2010/01/30/

context-is-king-how-videos-found/http://heidicohen.com/old-spice

%E2%80%99s-viral-social-media-drives-sales/


LinkedIn


Key LinkedIn FeaturesLinkedIn Share ButtonsIndividual profile

Include links to company website, blog, twitterfeed

Configure to automatically repost your tweets

Company profileInclude links to company website, blog,

twitterfeedFollow your competitors’ company

profiles!© 2011-2012 Eric Krock Marketing Services Inc. All

rights reserved.

Key LinkedIn FeaturesGroups

Create generic or company-specific groups

LinkedIn Answers (see next section of presentation on Q&A services)


Facebook


Facebook PagesMany corporate sites have few “Likes”

and are fairly uselessReserve Facebook Page with your name

earlyConsider making it live later on when

you have enough genuine interest and users

Have a strategy for your Facebook Page, not just a page for the sake of having a page


Google+New kid on the block in social networkingGrowing rapidlyGoogle badly wants to succeed“Circles” give better way to organize who

you followYou don’t know who follows you backGoogle+ shared content will now show up

in your connections’ Google search results when they are logged in to Google


Google+ Resourceshttp://heidicohen.com/google-plus-

resources/


Google+ PagesVery similar to Google+ Profiles1 and

Facebook PagesNo connection to Google Places2

To create, must have Google+ account, log in, and click “Create a Page” 2

Can act as yourself or as a Page (similar to Facebook) 2


1 - http://support.google.com/plus/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=1713824 2 - http://searchengineland.com/google-pages-now-open-for-businesses-brands-places-more-100217

Evaluating Your WorkScore your social media marketing work

with websitegrader.com from HubSpot™Check your Klout, PeerIndex, and

TeraMetric scores for fun, but don’t take them too seriously yet.


To Learn More: WebsitesHubSpot.com Many good presentations,

tutorials, videos on SMM.

SEOmoz.org Good material on SEO

smmmagazine.com Social Media Marketing Magazine

http://startup-marketing.com/ Read everything Sean Ellis writes.

http://heidicohen.com/ Actionable marketing blog.


Questions?


Stay in Touch!http://www.linkedin.com/in/krockhttp://www.slideshare.net/ekrock/My email list: http://eepurl.com/[email protected]
