Social Media : What,When...How ? Service Development Team - May ‘16

Frightening or Exciting?

So, what is out there?

Peer to Peer 990 million users worldwide 70% of users use it daily -> Requires you to know phone numbers!

146 million users Build your own pinboard of images based on interests Share with others, explore their boards -> Powerful for sharing visuals, not text ‘Your catalogue of ideas to make you go out and do’

B2B, professional relationships 433 million users worldwide -> As of 2015, most of the site's revenue came from selling access to information about its users to recruiters and sales professionals ‘The World’s Largest Professional Network’

1.4 billion users 20,000 people on FB every second -> 4.75 bn stories shared on FB everyday

Estimated 1.3 billion users 100 million users everyday Percentage of users logging in more than once a day : 34%

● Adverts often before and after video. May be of competitors ● Some businesses block YouTube ● Users can leave comments! ● Potentially smaller audience, not as widely known ● Searches may not rank as highly as YouTube ‘A picture paints a thousand words’ ● 1 billion unique views per month ● Free to use ● Google owned - high in search rankings ● Users can leave comments ● No opening or roll-on advertising ● Deemed to be a more professional approach ● A governed level of moderation over comments

Multi-function platform Communicate directly with the people who want to hear from you Will be LTC Branded!

Which platform is best for me? I want to share advice and professional opinion I want to speak directly to a select number of people I want to showcase new products or services, or grow awareness of my team I want to build professional networks, with people sharing the same interest

Engaging Content ● Good news stories - from yourselves or peers ● Tweets and Re-tweets from people / topics trending in your subject area ● Links back to products - that you have already introduced! ● Ask Questions - Do you know how to … Click here to find out more ● Follow those who support your message Be careful about giving opinion! Message 140 characters - do you need that many? Leave space for people to retweet, and add their own notes. Images Why describe when you can show? Twitter photos earn an average of 35% additional retweets over traditional text

What are my next steps?

A starter for 10 What do I need to consider next? 1)Who are your target audience? Who do you want to hear, and spread your message? 2) Where do they spend their time? What behaviours do you know of? Do they share information, Or build networks? 3) What is your goal? What do you hope to gain from doing this? 4) What platform(s) should you explore? What resonates with your customers? 5) Content What are you going to share? What messages do you want Your audience to hear? 6) Commitment Who is going to lead this? How much time can you invest? ** Discuss in pairs **

What are the competition doing? What social connections are they making?

Key Considerations... ● Social Media is not the holy grail of sales ! Aim for engagement first ● Effective social media is not passive, it is active and reactive ● You will not see success overnight. But… your patience and persistence can reap rich rewards ● Remember, there is a big difference between talking to your audience and knowing what they want. Follow their behaviour. Are they sharing your message? Look for the Likes! ● People buy into people, not machines. Humanise your brand / service, show the people behind the name ● Help people ‘experience’ your brand. What captures your attention more, A boring bunch of words like this slide Or watching a 30 second clip of a service in action ?

And don’t forget... When you are using social media, remember, you are a spokesperson for the Local Authority. You also open yourself up to comments, positive and negative Carefully Consider Content ! Don’t follow the leads of these people: #HasJustineLandedYet

When it works, it can be brilliant...