Social Media Marketing for Dummies

Make friends and sell things to people through social media

Social media technology is restlessly inventive, providing thousands of awesome ways for you to market your business inexpensively and on a large scale--often directly into the pockets of consumers. But in the proliferating, ever-changing world of tweets, influencers, handles, and alerts, it can be hard to know where to begin and then to evaluate what's actually working for you. In the new edition of Social Media Marketing for Dummies, leading SMM voices Shiv Singh and Stephanie Diamond clear away the confusion and show you the smartest, most effective ways to plan, launch, manage, and assess your campaigns--and then iterate and optimize for increased success.

Incorporating the latest trends and presented in a friendly, easily digestible step-by-step style, you'll find the ultimate blueprint for developing your best SMM strategy. In no time, you'll find out how to line up with Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and Google, develop a unique and compelling voice, and influence your key audience all the way to the bank.
* Choose the best SMM combination for you
* Avoid common mistakes and pitfalls
* Track your customers from awareness to retention
* Try out the latest stuff that really works

Whether your organization is large or small, it simply doesn't pay to be shy. Find your voice, get social, and chat your way to attracting and keeping new customers today!

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