10 Steps to Become a Social Media Power User – Part 2

This is Part 2 in a Series.  To view Part 1 click here.

Looking back over time, Social Media is a relatively new yet powerful way to do business.  From its infancy when MySpace was all the rage, but mostly derided and overlooked by business owners, it has expanded so dramatically that now the problem is not acceptance, but rather deciding upon which Social Media venue to use.

We are asked repeatedly which venue is best, and how an effective business should allocate its time and resources among them.  The purpose of this post is to give our customers and followers an answer to this question.

To become a true Social Media Power User, you should take the time, and expend the effort, to expand your reach into as many of the following ten venues as practicable.  We have ranked each venue with 1 to 5 stars, based upon its overall value to your business, and have given our reasoning for the ranking in each case.  We consider these 10 steps crucial to all comprehensive Social Media strategies.

It is axiomatic in marketing that “a picture is worth a thousand words.”  How much more effective and efficient is the use of video?  Tremendously.  The effect can be astounding!

It is also well documented that online visitors are unlikely to buy from a company they don’t trust.  Trust requires connection, and there is no more powerful medium for connecting with your audience than unscripted, sincere, and humanizing video.  It’s not advertising, it is engagement.

This leads us to the second step of becoming a Social Media Power User, the use of YouTube.

Step 2: YouTube

 

The key to Social Media success is to stand out. With all of the noise associated with Social Media, you must use every powerful tool to be compelling enough to attract attention, engage your audience and inspire trust.  YouTube provides the ability to inform, entertain, or both, and is a powerful venue when used consistently and professionally.  It is also a very important venue for international exposure.

Beyond these important characteristics, YouTube also stands out as a robust medium with huge power to gain exposure for your brand.

Consider the following facts as of early last year:

• YouTube generates more than 2 billion views per day, or nearly double the prime-time audience of all three U.S. broadcast networks combined.
• 24 hours of video are uploaded every minute.
• The average Internet user spends 15 minutes per day on YouTube.
• More video is uploaded to YouTube in 60 days than all three broadcast networks generated in 60 years.
• If you are a multinational company this next fact is illustrative:  70% of viewers are from outside the United States.
• 94 of Advertising Age’s 100 Top Advertisers use YouTube and Google’s Content Network.
• Mobile devices are the growing edge of Social Media, and YouTube videos are watched by hundreds of millions of viewers from their mobile devices every month.
• YouTube is a very practical and inexpensive way to gain exposure over multiple Social Networks, including Facebook, MySpace and Orkut, and it is increasingly popular as a link posting on Twitter.

YouTube should be another core marketing strategy for all businesses and should be incorporated into every modern marketing mix.

Perhaps most importantly, YouTube has the power to humanize your company.  As can be seen in the last video below, Ford Motor Company has brought together the perfect mix of exceptional talent, strong Social Media savvy and humanizing content.

Caveats:  Since web traffic follows the link to YouTube, care needs to be taken to link back to your website via a link in the video description.  A more fruitful approach is to create the video, post it to YouTube and then embed it within the confines of your website.

Illustrative Videos

1. An example of one of Jericho Technology’s video presentations, Top 7 Reasons for Lackluster Social Media Results, which was published on YouTube but also embedded on our website, can bee seen below.  This is a video of a BrainShark presentation and illustrates how the same information can be communicated across multiple venues.
2. The second video is a Fox News interview with Scott Monty, the Social Media head of Ford Motor Company, (and in our view one of the wisest Social Media strategists in American business).  This video explains succinctly why Ford has been so successful.
3. The final video, shows Scott Monty introducing Twitter to Ford’s able CEO, Alan Mulally.  This video demonstrates, in a very compelling way, how senior executives can be drawn into successful Social Media campaigns.   Is it any wonder, after watching Mulally’s reaction to and engagement with Ford’s Twitter followers, that Ford is one of the most successful Social Media case studies in the country?  As we have said many times on this blog, our hats go off to Ford, Scott Monty and Alan Mulally.

 

Getting in touch with me is very easy

Have a question? Or just want to chat about your business? Simply call the number below. During normal business hours (8 AM – 5 PM Scottsdale, Arizona time) it is my direct line. Otherwise, just leave a message. If you would prefer to exchange email I would love to here from you. Just email michaelstewart@jerichotechnology.com or click the email badge below. I promise I will get back to you within 24 hours.

 

 

 

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