Social Media: Are you in the game?

Katie McDermottPublic Relations Specialist | Trilix

Who I am.Public Relations Specialist | Trilix

Our PR team does it all — internal and external communications, crisis communications, media and social media training, story pitching, event planning, writing and execution.

Trilix’s public relations team leads earned media and social media efforts for clients like Stine Seed Company, Vein Center at Iowa Heart and Missouri Valley Line Constructors.

Who are the major players? Facebook – Continues to be most-used

platform, over 1.1 Billion users

Twitter – Over 500 million users

LinkedIn – 225 million acquired users

Pinterest – More than 70 million users

Countless platforms continue to come out of the woodwork.Large user base, but not as popular with companies: Google+ – 343 million users Instagram – 130 million users Flickr – 87 million users and 8 billion photos shared

Lesser known, but with large user bases: Camera360 – 100 million users ooVoo – 75 million users Kik Messenger – 50 million users Bebo – 30 million users

FacebookA late 2012 Pew Research study finds that: 67% of internet users are on Facebook Most likely to use it: women, ages 18-29

Who does it benefit most? B2C companies – Coca Cola (69 million

followers) and Target (21 million) Locally: Iowa State Fair (135,000) and Raygun

(18,787)

Twitter Most likely to use it: both men and

women in urban areas, ages 18-29 Car companies, news outlets and

celebrities – Honda (128,290 followers) and NBC (310,334)

Locally: Des Moines Register (32,275) and Downtown Des Moines (9,233)

LinkedIn Most likely to use it: males, ages 25-34,

with high income levels, 3 out of 4 users want to be approached for job opportunities

B2B and companies with many employees – Adobe (189,948 followers) and Walt Disney (258,664)

Locally: Greater Des Moines Partnership (1,217) and Dwolla (1,349)

Pinterest Most likely to use it: women, ages 18-49,

with some college education and higher salaries – 5x more likely than men

Travel, food, DIY and homemade items – The Travel Channel (41,984 followers) and Etsy (308,077)

Locally: Des Moines Farmer’s Market (only 16!) and His & Hers Photography (3,810)

To get started:1. Define your purpose and know your goals.2. Understand your target audience.3. Don’t try to master all platforms at once.4. Be timely and consistent. 5. Use a personal, friendly voice. 6. Plan messaging, but stay flexible.7. Understand and review analytics. 8. Determine a measurement for each platform.

Examples of goals: Drive traffic to website

Increase newsletter subscribers

Get more applications via the website

Foster interaction among staff and clients

Reach a new population of clients

To improve your current strategy:1. Take time to listen to your target audience and provide valuable content. 2. Stop using posts as an ad medium.3. Utilize paid advertising options.4. Balance your content between direct, personal and industry-related content.5. Post pictures of people (real people).6. Integrate your platforms.7. Make it your brand’s behavior, not obligation.8. Focus desired results on quality, not quantity.

Does it really work?A Social Media Examiner 2013 survey of 3,000 companies finds that most value their social media marketing efforts:

86% believe it’s important to their business

89% list increased exposure as #1 benefit

75% claim positive results in increased traffic

62% saw increase in new business partnerships (when used for 3 years or longer)

69% plan to increase social media efforts

Why are we obsessed with it?“It may seem that all we’re doing is just capturing every mundane moment. But look closely. These everyday moments are shot, displayed and juxtaposed in a way that offers a new perspective. And then all of a sudden these everyday moments, place and things look … fascinating.”

- Abigail Posner, Head of Strategic Planning and Agency Development | Google

Questions?