Social Media Marketing For Dummies

Shiv Singh is the Chief Marketing Officer at Eargo Inc. He was formerly an SVP of Marketing at Visa Inc. and prior to that was the Global Head of Digital for PepsiCo Beverages. He is a leading voice in social media marketing.Stephanie Diamond is president of Digital Media Works, a firm offering e-commerce and branding assistance to businesses. She is also the author of Content Marketing Strategies For Dummies.

• Introduction 1About This Book 1Foolish Assumptions 2Icons Used in This Book 2Where to Go from Here 3Part 1: Getting Started with Social Media Marketing 5Chapter 1: Understanding Social Media Marketing 7Defining Social Media Marketing 8Learning about the Roles People Play 9Changing roles of the social media marketer 10Understanding the role of the influencer 12Considering the types of influencers 14Influencing on digital platforms 16Comparing Social Media Marketing with Other Marketing Efforts 18Direct mail 18Public relations 19Online advertising 20Promotions 22Taking Social Influence Beyond Marketing 23Using social influencers to mobilize 24Marketers as better corporate citizens 25Social graphs for social change 27Chapter 2: Discovering Your SMM Competitors 29Classifying Consumer Activities 30Researching Your Customers’ Online Activities 34Identifying Personas 38Analyzing Competitor Efforts 40Setting up Google Alerts 41Setting up Twitter alerts 43Monitoring social networks 44Tracking competitor websites 44Researching Your Competitors’ Campaign Support 44Conducting qualitative research 44Running surveys and quantitative research 45Seeing why all consumers are not created equal 46Dipping into Hot SMM Concepts 48Discovering gamification 48Choosing localized marketing 49Creating an app for that 49Chapter 3: Getting in the Social Media Marketing Frame of Mind 51Putting SMM in the Context of the Marketing Funnel 52SMM at the awareness stage 53SMM at the consideration stage 56SMM at the preference stage 59SMM at the action stage 60SMM at the loyalty stage 61Deepening Your SMM Relationship 63SMM for customer service 63SMM with offline marketing 65SMM in the world of real-time marketing 66Treating SMM Differently from Brand Marketing 68SMM in the context of brand marketing 68SMM in the context of direct-response marketing 69Tying SMM with brand marketing and direct response 70Part 2: Practicing SMM on the Social Web 71Chapter 4: Launching SMM Campaigns 73Discovering the Types of SMM Campaigns 73Influencer outreach 74UGC contests 75Brand utilities 76Podcasting 77Sponsored conversations 77Recognizing What Makes a Good SMM Campaign 78Creating Your SMM Roadmap 79Define your objectives 80Develop a powerful story/experience 80Create an action plan 81Craft the content path 82Execute for influence 83Create partnerships 83Track the results 84Participating — Four Rules of the Game 85Be authentic 85Give participants equal status 88Let go of the campaign 88Killing the Campaign Expiry Date 88Monitoring Brands and Conversations 91Responding to Criticism 92Chapter 5: Developing Your SMM Voice 95Figuring Out Why You Need an SMM Voice 96Defining SMM Voice Characteristics 97Multiple and authentic 97Transparent and easy to find 97Engaging and conversational 98Social web savvy 98Unique to the person 98Distinguishing Between SMM Voices and Brand Voices 99Outlining SMM Voice Objectives 100Choosing the Owner of Your Organization’s SMM Voice 102CEO 103CMO 104Social media lead 105PR manager 105Agency 106Other external voices 107Crowdsourcing SMM Voices with Guidelines 107Chapter 6: Understanding a Marketer’s Responsibilities 111Recognizing Who You Serve 112Employees 112Suppliers 113Communities 113Shareholders 113Practicing Socially Responsible Marketing 114A commitment to the truth 114Five ways to encourage truthfulness 115Accountability to Your Own Company 116Part 3: Reaching Your Audience Via Mainstream Social Platforms 119Chapter 7: Finding the Right Platforms 121Choosing Social Media Platforms 122Learning about your customers 123Addressing your industry influence 125Preparing Your Employees for Social Media Networking 126Evaluating Your Resources 127Assessing What Each Social Network Offers You 129Using platforms as audience research tools 130Getting niche-savvy 132Chapter 8: Exploring SMM Strategies for Facebook 135Looking at Facebook Basics 136Starting with Search 138Facebook pages 139Facebook groups 140Facebook events 141Facebook applications 142Login with Facebook 143Using Ads on Facebook 144Sponsored stories 145Other advertising formats 145Chapter 9: Marketing on Twitter 147Figuring Out the Basics of Twitter 148A Twitter handle 149Searches 150Responses 151Following and followers 151Marketing via Twitter 152Using Promoted Accounts 153Making Use of Promoted Tweets 154Using Promoted Trends 157Working with Sponsored Tweets 158Tips and Tricks 159Chapter 10: Creating a YouTube Strategy 161Looking at YouTube Basics 162Benefitting from SMM marketing on YouTube 162Attracting subscribers 163Promoting on YouTube 164Always create a customized channel 164Creating custom content for YouTube 165Tagging and categorizing all your clips 166Leaving video responses 166Including a call to action 167Have some fun, too 168Seeding a Viral Campaign 168Advertising on YouTube 171Chapter 11: Considering LinkedIn 173Getting Started 174Creating a New Profile 176Preparing a content strategy 177Covering what matters first 178Accessing LinkedIn from your mobile devices 180Finding connections 180Choosing to advertise 180Participating in Groups 183Benefitting from joining groups 183Starting your own group 184Leading a successful group 185Using LinkedIn to Answer Questions 186Finding a Job 187Chapter 12: Delving into Instagram 191Recognizing the Basics 192Signing up 192Sharing photos or videos for the first time 193Using filters 195Getting Found on Instagram 196Structuring Instagram for Business Goals 197Creating content for your business 197Curating and sharing 199Using tools to manage your account from your computer 201Chapter 13: Discovering Snapchat 203Exploring Snapchat 204Looking at Snapchat’s unique features 204Getting to know the Snapchat user 205Advertising on Snapchat 206Choosing an objective and format 206Reaching your customers on Snapchat 208Measuring Results on Snapchat 208Chapter 14: Marketing with Pinterest 211Recognizing Pinterest Users 212Exploring the interests of users 213Pinning as a social activity 214Focusing on Strategy 214Becoming a Business Pinner 215Setting up your profile 216Starting a group board 218Creating secret boards 220Developing Credibility with Your Boards and Images 220Drilling down with Guided Search 223Experimenting with promoted pins 224Tracking your results 224Chapter 15: Interacting with Tumblr 227Setting Up Shop on Tumblr 227Finding and Sharing the Good Stuff 230Using your dashboard 232Observing other blog successes 238Looking at Paid Media 239Tracking Your Users 240Chapter 16: Engaging Customers Using Other Platforms 241Blogging on Medium for Your Business 241Looking at the pros and cons 243Making a choice 244Utilizing analytics 245Delving into Medium content 245Discussing Ideas On Redditcom 248Marketing on Reddit 248Setting up 249Knowing the lingo 249Analyzing content 250Sharing Video on TikTok 252Getting in on the action 252Experimenting with TikTok 252Part 4: Getting Your Message to Connectors 255Chapter 17: Marketing to Millennials 257Learning About Millennials 257Technically savvy 258Seek a balanced life 258Follow influencers 258Look for recognition and feedback 259Prefer to share or barter 259Understanding What Millennials Want from Brands 260Trustworthiness and authenticity 260Cause-minded attitude 261Respectful of privacy concerns 261Open to collaboration with customers 262Recognizing Millennials Shopping Habits 262Succeeding with Millennials 264Hitting the target 264Appreciating the convenience of subscription services 265Chapter 18: Accounting for the Influencers 267Knowing the Expert Influencers 268Reaching the Expert Influencers 270Tapping into the Referent Influencers 272Anonymous referent influencers 273Known referent influencers 273Reaching the Referent Influencers 273Cookie data 274Website behavior 274Tapping into the Positional Influencers 275Understanding the circles of influence around your customers 276Letting consumers shape and share the experience 276Articulating your product benefits for multiple audiences 276Fishing where the fish are 276Offering friends and family incentives 277Translating Influence to the Offline World 278Putting your customer reviews in your stores 278Marrying social media marketing with events and PR 278Measuring online buzz and offline influence 279Connecting influencers at meet-ups 279Treating your stores as cafés 280Putting Twitter on the big screen 280Chapter 19: Disrupting with Voice Search 281Understanding Voice Search 281Benefitting from voice searches 282Reviewing smart speakers 282Interacting with Voice Assistants 283Discovering What Customers Want 284Providing Answers 284Creating flash briefings and Actions 285Looking at brand examples 285Developing your apps 286Getting Your Content Ready 288Chapter 20: Utilizing Messaging Apps 291Looking at Messenger 291Reviewing benefits for brands 292Learning what users want when messaging brands 292Setting Up Messenger 294Understanding Chatbots 295Classifying chatbots 295Dipping into chatbots 296Deploying WhatsApp from Facebook 298Communicating with users 299Creating mobile messages with WhatsApp 299Using the WhatsApp Business App 300Part 5: Old Marketing Is New Again with SMM 301Chapter 21: Practicing SMM on Your Website 303Focusing on the SMM-Integrated Website 304Making the Campaign and the Website Work Together 305Treating your website as a hub, not a destination 305Linking prominently to your presence on social platforms 306Promoting campaigns on your website home page 307Encouraging deeper interaction through your website 308Asking customers to give you feedback on your content 309Rethinking Your Website 309User experience 309Simple design 309Conversational user interface (CUI) 310Content marketing 310Customer reviews 311About Us and Contact Us pages 313Tips and Tricks for Website SMM 315Aggregate information for your customer’s journey 315Amplify business stories 315Align your organization into multiple, authentic voices 316Apply share buttons 316Chapter 22: Becoming an Authentic and Engaged Advertiser 317Social Advertising: An Online Advertising Game Changer 317Native Advertising and How It Can Work for You 319Emotional 320Engaging 321Simple 321Making Paid and Earned Media Work Together 322Working harder to gain attention 322Making paid media jump-start earned media initiatives 323Tips and tricks for campaigns 325Making SMM Work with TV 327Awareness through TV; engagement via the Internet 327Awareness, engagement, and conversion with television 328Measuring the effectiveness of TV and the second screen 329Chapter 23: Building an SMM Mobile Campaign 331Looking at Consumer Trends in Mobile 332A telephone and much more 332The release and adoption of smarter phones 333Understanding the Many Paths within the Mobile Channel 335Keeping in Mind Mobile Phone Capabilities 337It’s a snap: Using the camera 338Location, location, location 338Near-field communications and RFID 339Phone interaction 339Fitting Mobile into Your Social Media Practices 340Defining mobile marketing and its place within the social media context 341Uniting mobile marketing with social media 342Supporting a cause 343Building Your Own Mobile-Enabled Communities 345Leveraging existing online communities 345Creating your own social offerings: applications and widgets galore 346Adding Social Media Elements to Mobile 347Portable social graphs 347Searching with mobile 347Harnessing Mobile to Support Social Media 349Deciding When to Build a Mobile App 350Chapter 24: Encouraging Employees to Advocate for Your Brand on Social Media 353Embracing the Idea of Employee Collaboration 354Rewarding teams 355Treating everyone equally 355Trusting your employees 355Creating the right culture 356Placing a premium on groups with a purpose 356Avoiding excessive snooping 356Picking Social Software for Social Influence 357Rethinking the Intranet 359Getting rid of the buzzwords 359Don’t try to control too much 360Surfacing the connections 360Taking search social 360Allowing alternative access 361Promoting the value of historical record 361Giving your intranet a pulse 361Aiming to destructure 362Giving employees other choices 363Chapter 25: Changing Tactics and Metrics 365Correlating Data with Business Objectives 366Focusing on the Tactics That Count 367Rethinking the Customer Experience 368Personalizing the CX 368Measuring your customer experience 370Analyzing the customer journey 371Integrating Marketing Technology with Analytics Systems 372Facing data problems 372Preparing your data 373Deploying AI Tools 374Chapter 26: Understanding Social Media Governance 375Recognizing How SMM Impacts Other Company Functions 375Public relations 376Customer support 377Sales 377Legal 378Introducing Social Media Governance Models 378Social media policies and guidelines 380Tips and tricks for social media governance 381Dealing with a Social Media Crisis 382Chapter 27: Using Real-Time Marketing 385Introducing Real-Time Marketing 385Real-time insights 386Real-time response 387Real-time “on the fly” 388Real-time co-creation 388Real-time distribution 389Real-time engagement 390Organizing for Real-Time Marketing 391Taking TV into Real-Time Marketing 393Chapter 28: Data and Privacy 395Knowing What Data You Have to Play With 395Harnessing Data & Privacy Best Practices 397Understanding New Data and Privacy Laws 398General Data Protection Regulation 398California Consumer Privacy Act 399So What Does This All Mean for Your Marketing Effort? 400Part 6: The Part of Tens 401Chapter 29: Ten SMM-Related Must-Read Blogs 403Brian Solis 403Content Marketing Institute 404Convince and Convert 404Copyblogger 404Marketing Profs 404Neil Patel’s Blog 405Razor Social 405Seth Godin 405Shiv Singh 405Social Media Examiner 406Chapter 30: Ten Top SMM Tools 407Buffer 407BuzzSumo 408Facebook Insights 408Followerwonk 408Hootsuite 408Later 409Mention 409SproutSocial 409Tailwind 410Tweepi 410Chapter 31: Ten Tips to Navigate Fakeness 411Create Shared, Mutual Goals 412Use Reflection to Override Bias 412Engage Openly with Dissent 412Challenge Opinion and Ask for Facts 412Encourage Those Who Don’t Conform 413Ask Yourself “What if the Opposite Was True” 413Engage in Active, Critical Analysis 413Question Morally Dubious Directives 414Seek Out Allies 414Focus on Building Trust First 414Index 415