The main issues companies face when they start to grapple with Social Media

1. The Art of Authenticity

3. INTRODUCTION
Getting Social Media to work for your business requires a fundamental shift in the
way you interact with customers and prospective clients.
The old broadcast marketing approach only serves to alienate your target market.
Customers now demand more from companies - a two-way conversation, where
their thoughts and opinions are heard. Successful social businesses aren’t afraid to
open up and let customers behind the scenes.
This is why authenticity is so important. Overembellish your marketing messages
and customers will be quick to challenge – often very publicly, and with unwanted
results!
Sleeping Lion workshops take companies through a full process to help successfully
integrate Social Media into overall marketing and communications. The sessions
focus first on properly understanding Social Media, creating a cohesive strategy,
and the importance of great content and company-wide commitment. Then
each of the main areas are looked at in detail, including Blogs, Twitter, Facebook,
LinkedIn, and YouTube. All sessions are conducted in person by Sarah Duncan.
For more details visit sleepinglionworkshops.com.

4. COMMON ISSUES SURROUNDING SOCIAL MEDIA
The main issues companies face when they start to grapple with Social Media are:
1. Lack of Understanding
2. Lack of True Understanding
3. Lack of a Cohesive Strategy
4. Lack of Good Content
5. Lack of Company-wide Commitment

5. ISSUE 1:
LACK OF UNDERSTANDING

6. SOCIAL MEDIA - A USER’S PERSPECTIVE
So many individuals and companies go diving into Social Media before they have understood
how it really works - setting up Facebook pages and Twitter accounts, but using them in the same
way as old-fashioned brochures and advertising. Step 1 is to understand how your customers are
using Social Media and start talking their language.
> I’m eating a #donut
> I ‘Like’ donuts
> This is where I eat donuts
> Here I am eating a donut
> My skills include donut eating

7. SOCIAL MEDIA - POTENTIAL COMPANY RESPONSES
> Did you know 2 million donuts are consumed in Swindon everyday #donut
> We are looking for mystery donut shoppers today - click this link
> Thanks @donutlover - RT Can’t get enough of the new @donutcompany clotted
cream donuts
> What’s your favourite donut filling? a)Jam b) Custard c) Marmite
> Like our FB page and get a free donut voucher
> Give us your suggestion for a special Easter donut filling
> Check in here for a free donut
> Here’s a hilarious video of the winner of our recent donut eating competition
> Here’s a ‘how to’ make the perfect donut video
> We are great donut makers, but don’t take our word for it - check out our many
recommendations on LinkedIn

8. THE NEW RULES OF MARKETING AND COMMUNICATION
Customers don’t want to be shouted at, they want to be listened to. This is the basis of the new
rules of online marketing.
OLD RULES NEW RULES
o Broadcast marketing (shouting the loudest) o Conversation (listening the hardest)
o Competitiveness o Collaboration
o Secrecy o Transparency
o Embellishment o Authenticity
o Intrusion o Permission-based
o Them and us o Community
o Big brand dominance o Niche brands
o Marketeers o Business developers

9. ISSUE 2:
LACK OF TRUE UNDERSTANDING

10. Once a business has grasped the basics, it’s all too easy to revert to old ways. Step 2 is to
really work on your ‘authenticity’ and what that means to your company.
“I’M FAR TOO BUSY RIGHT NOW
CRAFTING THIS NEW BROCHURE COPY
TO BE AUTHENTIC!”

11. ISSUE 3:
LACK OF A COHESIVE STRATEGY

12. BASIC STRATEGY QUESTIONS
A classic mistake is to put the cart (activity) before the horse (strategy). Step 3 is to ask
yourself some basic, but very important, strategy questions before you dive in.
o WHAT ARE MY GOALS?
o WHAT PRODUCT/SERVICE AM I SELLING?
o WHO AM I DIRECTLY SELLING TO?
o WHO ARE MY OTHER ‘INFLUENCER’ GROUPS THAT CAN HELP ME GET THE WORD OUT?
o HOW DO I WANT TO COME ACROSS?
o WHAT TOPICS ARE APPROPRIATE FOR MY TARGET MARKET?
o WHAT RESPONSE DO I WANT TO ACHIEVE FROM EACH OF MY TARGET GROUPS?
o WHAT RESOURCES DO I HAVE?

13. CREATING A STRATEGY
Once you have answered these questions, it is important to ensure that all the
appropriate infrastructure is in place to support your Social Media activity - starting with your
Website and Blog.
YOUR WEBSITE:
•Is it exciting and dynamic enough to encourage people to explore once you get them there?
•If appropriate, do you have the functionality to accept bookings/product sales online?
•Do you have appropriate mechanisms to accept online payment?
•Does it encourage data capture appropriately?
•Does it track how your web customers heard about you?
•Are you tracking web traffic effectively (google analytics)?
YOUR BLOG:
•If you have a blog, does it serve a specific purpose?
•Does it properly express your personality?
•Do you have an effective and trackable RSS feed embedded?
•Are you sharing your blog with your online networks and Twitter?

14. This is your basic online infrastructure and needs to be working effectively before you go out and
get proactively ‘social’.
1.YOUR WEBSITE SEO, SEM, Advertising, Adwords, etc
(Primary Sales Platform INFLUENCERS
Your Foundation) Reciprocal Links WORLD WIDE WEB
(Customers, Prospects,
Ambassadors, Referrers,
Industry, Employees,
Stakeholders, Media)
Tangible Results: SALES, Subscribers, Hits, PR
2.YOUR BLOG THE BLOGOSPHERE
(Personality, thought Expertise, Interest, Bloglinks, Comments
leadership, engagement, INFLUENCERS
debate, transparency,
feedback)
Subscriptions, Bloglinks, Feedback, Reviews, Links

15. CREATING A STRATEGY
Your subsequent Social Media activity provides you with the opportunities to expand your
network of influencers. They offer you powerful platforms to get your company in front of new
customers and potential clients, to show your expertise and ultimately market your products.
The key to successful Social Media is to drive these new connections back to your Blog and your
Website (your online infrastructure).

16. SOCIAL MEDIA FLOW SCHEMATIC
1.YOUR WEBSITE SEO, SEM, Advertising, Adwords, General Marketing
(Primary Sales Platform WORLD WIDE WEB INFLUENCERS
Your Foundation) Reciprocal Links (Customers, Prospects,
Ambassadors, Referrers,
Industry, Employees,
Tangible Results: SALES, Subscribers, Hits, PR Stakeholders, Media)
THE BLOGOSPHERE
2.YOUR BLOG Expertise, Interest, Bloglinks, Comments
(Personality, thought GROWING
leadership, engagement, INFLUENCERS
debate, transparency,
feedback) Subscriptions, Bloglinks, Feedback, Reviews, Links
3.SOCIAL & BIZ Groups, Fan Pages, Q & A, Events SOCIAL & BUSINESS
NETWORKS GROWING
NETWORKS
*Closed
INFLUENCERS
(Facebook, LinkedIn,
Fans, Weblinks, Recommendations, Attendees
Plaxo, etc)
Follow, Retweet, Learn, Survey, Promotions WORLD OF TWITTER
4.YOUR
MICROBLOG GROWING
*Open INFLUENCERS
(Twitter)
Followers, Retweets, Links, Reviews, Feedback

17. ISSUE 4:
LACK OF GOOD CONTENT

18. You can entice thousands of fans and followers, but if your content is poor or irrelevant, they will
soon go elsewhere. Step 4 is to carefully decide what topics are of interest to your target
audience and design your content strategy around them.
WE NEED TO STOP INTERRUPTING WHAT
PEOPLE ARE INTERESTED IN AND BE
WHAT PEOPLE ARE INTERESTED IN.

19. WHAT MAKES PEOPLE SHARE CONTENT?
If you want your content to ‘go viral’ it has to be distinctive.
o It’s incredibly funny
o It’s totally unbelievable
o It’s deeply emotional
o It’s in agreement with our world view
o It makes us stop and think
o It isn’t covered by mainstream media
o It will make someone else smile
o It’s dramatic
o It’s embarrassing
o It’s provocative

20. SOCIAL CONTENT - BASIC RULES
Keep monitoring your content to ensure you are not going off topic and falling into the mundane
(“I’ve just had cheese and pickle for lunch”). Remember, if you have nothing to say, say nothing!
KEEP IT ‘ON TOPIC’ - 70%
AVOID BEING TOO PROMOTIONAL - 20%
ADD A SPLASH OF PERSONALITY - 10%

21. ISSUE 5:
LACK OF COMPANY-WIDE COMMITMENT

22. WHERE DOES SOCIAL MEDIA SIT IN AN ORGANISATION?
A common misconception in companies is that Social Media is all about marketing. Step 5 is to
ensure you get company-wide buy in. Social Media is more of a cultural shift than a
technological one.
SALES
HR
MARKETING
CUSTOMER SERVICE

23. ONLINE REVIEWS
Many businesses remain concerned about potential malicious reviews or underhand tactics by
competitors posting bogus comments, but by and large Social Media is self-regulartory and if
your followers and fans feel a comment is overly harsh or incorrect, they should be quick to
defend you.
IF YOUR PRODUCT OR SERVICE IS
CRITICISED ONLINE (OR IN PUBLIC) AND
NO-ONE IS LEAPING TO YOUR
DEFENCE, THEN YOU PROBABLY HAVE
A PROBLEM.

24. SOME SOCIAL MEDIA BASICS
TO WHET YOUR APPETITE
There are many social and business networks, but here we focus on the current leaders in the UK.
Here are some facts, figures and basic tips.

25. Facebook is a social network with over 995 million users.*
1 milliion links are shared on Facebook every minute.
50% of users log in to Facebook everyday.
The average Facebook user has 130 friends.
• Facebook is a social network. It is a good platform for Business to Consumer networking (B2C).
• Take time to investigate which companies and brands are already featured on Facebook.
• Businesses can set up ‘pages’ including graphic/logo, company description and a timeline
where users can post comments.
• Additional elements can then be added via Applications such as photos/videos, discussion
boards, review, notes, polls and events.
• Users can then associate themselves with your company/brand by ‘Liking’ your page.
• Pages are also promotable within the network via Facebook Ads.
*Source: Wikipedia 2012

26. Twitter is a micro-blog that allows short update messages of no more than 140 characters.
Twitter has over 500 million active users.*
Over 340 million tweets are generated every day.*
• Start by simply following people you find interesting (celebrities, industry leaders, prolific
Tweeters) and get a feel for what’s being shared.
• Think about your Bio and make sure it is instantly understandable and interesting.
• It is perfectly acceptable to set up a Twitter account under a company name (with your logo
as your photo), but do consider giving it a personal touch by introducing the names of the
individuals Tweeting in the Bio field (or by customising your home page).
• When you have established the people you find interesting (or appropriate for your potential
influencers) check out their followers and follow them – many will then choose to follow you
back and your network will start to expand.
• Retweet often – it is the joy of Twitter that so many great articles and so much interesting news
can be shared so easily.
• Vary your tweets – share your own articles, share breaking news, Retweet others, give the odd
personal update, offer great promotions (if appropriate).
• Twitter is a giant Q&A machine and this is also a great way for people to connect.
• Take time understanding Twitter: how to use @links, Retweets(RTs) and #hashtags.
*Source: Wikipedia 2012

27. LinkedIn is a business network (B2B).
LinkedIn has over 175 million users in over 200 countries.*
One person joins LinkedIn every second.
• Complete your profile in as much detail as possible.
• Include a photo.
• Use LinkedIn to network with and re-contact old work colleagues.
• Ask for recommendations.
• Search for and find interesting potential ‘influencer’ groups – join and start engaging in their
debates and conversations.
• Use the Question and Answer area to showcase your expertise.
• Feed in your Blog stream.
• Set up a company page and include all your Products and Services (and asked for specific
recommendations).
• Start up your own group/s (i.e. interest based, fan based or ex-employee based).
• The more groups your join, the more access to new people you have.
*Source: Wikipedia 2012

28. Sarah Duncan
sarah@sleepinglion.co.uk
M: 07904 437119
Tw: @sleepinglion888
W: sleepinglion.co.uk
W: sleepinglionworkshops.com