Social Media Marketing All–in–One For Dummies

Jan Zimmerman owns Sandia Consulting Group and Watermelon Mountain Web Marketing, where she both practices and provides support for social media marketing techniques. Deborah Ng is a freelance writer from central New Jersey. She blogs about books at BooksAndChardonnay.com and shares tips and job leads for telecommuters at Telecommunity.net.

Introduction 1


About This Book 2


Foolish Assumptions 2


Icons Used in This Book 3


Beyond the Book 4


Where to Go from Here 4


Book 1: The Social Media Mix 5


Chapter 1: Making the Business Case for Social Media 7


Making Your Social Debut 8


Defining Social Media Marketing 9


Understanding the Benefits of Social Media 13


Understanding the Cons of Social Media 19


Integrating Social Media into Your Overall Marketing Effort 20


Developing a Strategic Social Media Marketing Plan 22


Chapter 2: Tallying the Bottom Line 33


Preparing to Calculate Return on Investment 34


Accounting for Customers Acquired Online 35


Establishing Key Performance Indicators for Sales 39


Tracking Leads 43


Understanding Other Common Business Metrics 44


Determining Return on Investment 45


Chapter 3: Plotting Your Social Media Marketing Strategy 53


Locating Your Target Market Online 54


Segmenting Your B2C Market 54


Researching B2B Markets 64


Conducting Other Types of Market Research Online 65


Setting Up Your Social Media Marketing Plan 67


Chapter 4: Managing Your Cybersocial Campaign 77


Managing Your Social Media Schedule 78


Building Your Social Media Marketing Dream Team 85


Creating a Social Media Marketing Policy 87


Staying on the Right Side of the Law 90


Protecting Your Brand Reputation 95


Book 2: Cybersocial Tools 99


Chapter 1: Discovering Helpful Tech Tools 101


Keeping Track of the Social Media Scene 102


Saving Time with Content-Distribution Tools 104


Snipping Ugly URLs 106


Using E-Commerce Tools for Social Sites 108


Keeping Your Ear to the Social Ground 118


Measuring the Buzz by Type of Service 124


Chapter 2: Leveraging SEO for Improved Visibility 127


Making the Statistical Case for SEO 128


Thinking Tactically and Practically 130


Focusing on the Top Search Engines 131


Knowing the Importance of Search Phrases 132


Maximizing Metatag Muscle 138


Optimizing Your Site and Content for Search Engines 142


Chapter 3: Optimizing Social Media for Internal and External Searches 159


Placing Search Terms on Social Media 160


Optimizing Blogs 161


Optimizing Images, Video, and Podcasts 166


Optimizing Specific Social Media Platforms 167


Optimizing for Mobile Search 173


Gaining Visibility in Real-Time Search 175


Gaining Traction on Google with Social Media 177


Monitoring Your Search Engine Ranking 178


Chapter 4: Using Social Bookmarks, News, and Share Buttons 181


Bookmarking Your Way to Traffic 182


Sharing the News 185


Benefiting from Social Bookmarks and News Services 186


Researching a Social Bookmark and Social News Campaign 187


Submitting to Bookmarking Services 190


Submitting to Social News Services 192


Using Application-Specific Bookmarks 194


Timing Your Submissions 195


Encouraging Others to Bookmark or Rate Your Site 201


Using Social Media Buttons 202


Chapter 5: Making Social Media Mobile 207


Understanding the Statistics of Mobile Device Usage 208


Reaching People on the Move with Social Media 212


Harvesting Leads and Sales from Social Mobile 216


Measuring Your Mobile Marketing Success 220


Counting on Tablets 221


Using Mobile Social Media for Advertising 222


Book 3: Content Marketing 225


Chapter 1: Growing Your Brand with Content 227


Introducing Content Marketing 228


Determining the Best Content Platform for Your Needs 231


Selling Your Brand through Content Marketing 232


Making Your Content Stand Out 233


Chapter 2: Exploring Content-Marketing Platforms 237


Building a Blog 238


Using Podcasts and Video on Your Blog or Website 243


Sharing Images 249


Using Social Media Platforms for Online Content 254


Guest Blogging to Grow Awareness and Expertise 258


Chapter 3: Developing a Content-Marketing Strategy 263


Determining Content Goals 263


Putting a Strategy on Paper 270


Chapter 4: Getting Your Content to the Masses 275


Creating an Editorial Calendar to Keep Content Flowing 276


Finding the Right Mix between Evergreen and Timely Content 278


Executing Your Content Strategy 279


Sharing Your Content with the Public 280


Measuring the Success of Your Content Strategy 281


Book 4: Twitter 285


Chapter 1: Using Twitter as a Marketing Tool 287


Deciding Whether Twitter Is Right for You 288


Communicating in 140 Characters 290


Promoting without Seeming like You’re Promoting 291


Researching Other Brands on Twitter 296


Knowing Quality Is More Important than Quantity 297


Chapter 2: Using Twitter as a Networking Tool 299


Finding the Right People to Follow 300


Finding Out Who Is Talking about You on Twitter 301


Responding to Tweets 302


Searching on Twitter 303


Tweeting like a Pro 304


Sharing on Twitter 305


Following the Twitter Rules of Etiquette 310


Hosting a Tweet-Up 311


Chapter 3: Finding the Right Twitter Tools 313


Customizing Your Twitter Profile Page 314


Pinning Tweets 317


Using a Twitter Application 318


Chapter 4: Social Listening with Twitter 321


Using Twitter to Listen to Your Customers 321


Chapter 5: Hosting Twitter Chats 327


Benefiting from Twitter Chats 327


Finding a Hashtag for Your Chat 328


Keeping Track of Who Says What 329


Finding Guests for Your Twitter Chat 331


Promoting Your Twitter Chat 332


Hosting Your Twitter Chat 333


Book 5: Facebook 337


Chapter 1: Using Facebook as a Marketing Tool 339


Understanding the Appeal of Brands on Facebook 340


Branding with Facebook Pages 341


Examining the Components of a Facebook Page 342


Making the Most of Your Facebook Page 345


Understanding Your Facebook Administrative Functions 348


Filling Out What You’re About 349


Using a Custom URL for Your Page 350


Inviting People to Join Your Community 351


Liking Other Brands 353


Creating Facebook Events 354


Chapter 2: Creating and Sharing Content on Facebook 357


Creating a Facebook Content Strategy 358


Sharing Your Brand’s Story 359


Creating Content That Sings 361


Sharing and Being Shared 362


Bringing Your Community into the Mix 365


Using Closed or Secret Groups 368


Learning through Insights 370


Chapter 3: Advertising on Facebook 373


Reaching More Fans with Ads 374


Measuring Your Ad’s ROI 379


Chapter 4: Streaming Live Video on Facebook 381


Understanding the Benefits of Live Streaming 382


Setting Up Your Live Stream 384


Engaging with Your Community via Facebook Live 388


Brainstorming Ideas for Live Videos 389


Book 6: LinkedIn 391


Chapter 1: Promoting Yourself with LinkedIn 393


Exploring the Benefits of Using LinkedIn 394


Creating an Online Resume 395


Understanding Recommendations and Endorsements 402


Using LinkedIn Messages 407


Chapter 2: Promoting Your Business with LinkedIn 409


Exploring the Benefits of a Company Page 410


Creating a LinkedIn Company Page 410


Selling and Promoting with LinkedIn Showcase Pages 414


Chapter 3: Starting a LinkedIn Group 417


Exploring the Benefits of LinkedIn Groups 417


Growing a Community with a LinkedIn Group 418


Growing Your Group 422


Moderating Your LinkedIn Group 424


Chapter 4: Using LinkedIn as a Content Platform 429


Blogging on LinkedIn 430


Promoting Your LinkedIn Posts on Other Social Channels 433


Book 7: Getting Visual 435


Chapter 1: Pinning Down Pinterest 437


Understanding Pinterest 438


Getting Started 439


Joining Pinterest 441


Getting on Board 445


Pinning on Pinterest 448


Following on Pinterest 452


Sharing on Pinterest 453


Driving Traffic with Pinterest 455


Building Your Pinterest Community 459


Chapter 2: Snapchatting It Up! 463


Getting Started with Snapchat 463


Taking Your First Snap 470


Telling Your Snapchat Story 471


Chapter 3: Getting Started with Instagram 477


Promoting Your Brand on Instagram 478


Creating and Using Your Instagram Account 479


Determining What Is Photo-Worthy for Your Brand 484


Using Hashtags in Your Instagram Posts 485


Finding Friends and Fans on Instagram 487


Using Instagram Stories 488


Book 8: Other Social Media Marketing Sites 489


Chapter 1: Weighing the Business Benefits of Minor Social Sites 491


Reviewing Your Goals 492


Researching Minor Social Networks 493


Assessing the Involvement of Your Target Audience 496


Choosing Social Sites Strategically 498


Chapter 2: Maximizing Stratified Social Communities 503


Making a Bigger Splash on a Smaller Site 504


Taking Networking to the Next Level 504


Selecting Social Networks by Vertical Industry Sector 506


Selecting Social Networks by Demographics 510


Selecting Social Networks by Activity Type 512


Finding Yourself in the Real World with Geomarketing 515


Spacing Out with Twitter 517


Finding Your Business on Facebook 518


Making Real Connections in Virtual Spaces 521


Making Deals on Social Media 523


Setting Terms for Your Coupon Campaign 526


Comparing LivingSocial and Groupon 531


Diversifying Your Daily Deals 533


Chapter 3: Profiting from Mid-Size Social Media Channels 535


Deciding Whether to Invest Your Time 535


Spotting Your Audience with Spotify 536


Turning Up New Prospects with Tumblr 538


Promoting Video with Vimeo 540


Live Streaming with Periscope 542


Chapter 4: Integrating Social Media 545


Thinking Strategically about Social Media Integration 546


Integrating Social Media with E-Newsletters 547


Integrating Social Media with Press Releases 551


Integrating Social Media with Your Website 557


Chapter 5: Advertising on Social Media 561


Integrating Social Media with Paid Advertising 561


Advertising on Facebook and Instagram 564


Advertising on Twitter 568


Advertising on LinkedIn 573


Advertising on Pinterest 576


Book 9: Measuring Results and Building on Success 581


Chapter 1: Delving into Data 583


Planning a Measurement Strategy 584


Selecting Analytics Packages 589


Getting Started with Google Analytics 594


Integrating Google’s Social Media Analytics 596


Chapter 2: Analyzing Content-Sharing Metrics 599


Measuring the Effectiveness of Content Sharing with Standard Analytics 599


Evaluating Blog-Specific Metrics 603


Visualizing Video Success 605


Understanding Podcast Metrics 606


Measuring Your Results from Pinterest 609


Comparing Hard and Soft Costs versus Income 614


Chapter 3: Analyzing Twitter Metrics 617


Tracking Website Referrals with Google Analytics 618


Tracking Shortened Links 618


Using Twitter Analytics 619


Using TweetDeck 622


Using Third-Party Twitter Analytics Applications 622


Tracking Account Activity with the Notifications Tab 623


Using the Hashtag as a Measurement Mechanism 625


Calculating the Twitter Follower-to-Following Ratio 626


Chapter 4: Analyzing Facebook Metrics 627


Monitoring Facebook Interaction with Insights 627


Using Page Insights 628


Exploring the Insights Overview and Detail Pages 630


Chapter 5: Measuring Other Social Media Networks 635


Plugging into Social Media 635


Measuring LinkedIn Success 636


Monitoring Social Mobile Impact 640


Chapter 6: Comparing Metrics from Different Marketing Techniques 643


Establishing Key Performance Indicators 644


Comparing Metrics across Social Media 646


Integrating Social Media with Web Metrics 653


Using Advertising Metrics to Compare Social Media with Other Types of Marketing 655


Juxtaposing Social Media Metrics with Other Online Marketing 658


Contrasting Word-of-Web with Word-of-Mouth 660


Chapter 7: Making Decisions by the Numbers 663


Using Metrics to Make Decisions 663


Knowing When to Hold and When to Fold 664


Diagnosing Problems with Social Media Campaigns 669


Fixing Problems 670


Adjusting to Reality 675


Index 677