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Social Media Playbook for Business, a video book review

Social Media Playbook for Business, a video book review:

The ideal companion for managers

Tom Funk’s Social Media Playbook for Business Reaching Your Online Community with Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and More is an all-encompassing social media book that covers various aspects of social media: From strategy to platforms to “next level” steps, successes, failures, and future predictions.

Managers who are not directly involved with day-to-day social media may find Funk’s explanations most helpful. He covers social media platforms, competitive analysis, setting up profiles on platforms, and monitoring blogs, etc… Unfortunately, Funk is not very in-depth when discussing what to expect when hiring consultants.

Funk’s book covers everything from

  • Listening
  • Ownership
  • Customer service
  • Legal rights
  • Establishing mission
  • Publishing a plan
  • Goals
  • Tracking
  • ROI
  • & Deciding if your company is right for social media

Funk succeeds in discussing the importance of writing a sound social media business plan.  He explains how to formulate a social media plan like a business plan by translating how social media can benefit businesses in a language more oriented to MBAs than marketing-communications specialists.

A social media business plan, like a business plan, should include

  • Competitive analysis
  • Operations plan
  • Goals
  • Objectives
  • ROI
  • Knowing the difference between earned vs paid media.

The chapter on the future of social media was highly engaging and scientific, covering the topics of

  • Social shopping
  • Neuro-linguistic programming
  • How social media is likely to integrate with our everyday expectations
  • How social becomes the new “normal”

Tom Funk’s Social Media Playbook for Business Reaching Your Online Community with Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and More combines the creative and analytical aspects of using social media to succeed in your campaigns.

Follow Tom Funk on Twitter

Social Media Playbook for Business Reaching Your Online Community with Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and More

By Tom Funk

Published February 2011

Best for:  Managers or business owners interested in learning more about how to combine social media into their businesses, or people who are generally curious about creating a successful social media campaign.

Nurturing Your Network With New Media | American Society of Picture Professionals

If “a picture says a thousand words,” shouldn’t you share it with a digital audience?

Nurturing Your Network with New Media | American Society of Picture Professionals

Photos courtesy of Carlton SooHoo of Panospin Studios

Pinterest, Google+, Facebook, LinkedIn, Flickr:  There are many new media platforms that you can use to share your work on the Internet.  How can you use new media to benefit your business?  Which platform should you use?  Can new media really help with art-oriented initiatives?

Boston University’s Photographic Resource Center and American Society of Picture Professionals asked Designated Editor President Suzanne McDonald to present how to use new media to grow and strengthen your photography business.

During this seminar, Suzanne taught the audience how to develop and maintain contacts, find influencers, what the best digital tools are and how to successfully integrate digital platforms for increased visibility.

Nurturing Your Network with New Media | American Society of Picture Professionals Seminar Presentation from Designated Editor

The following are key takeaways that you, as a photographer, can use in the digital world:

  • Start investing in a platform where you can control the content (owned media):  Create a website, write a blog, create a Twitter account
  • Generate strong content: Hook and learn about your audience, integrate key/buzzwords, update often,
  • Continuously add new content: The more content you have, the more feedback and analytics
  • Use titles and descriptions in all posts
  • Establish conversations: Circulate a newsletter, use social media, enable comments
  • WordPress and Wikis are two sites for creating a digital presence

  4 stages to new media effectiveness

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tools for optimizing content and growing your network

  • Google Alerts – Drive blogs/content
  • Wildfire – Find influencers/audience

Influencer tools

Social media campaigning

  • Create brand personality
  • Place your content in the channel(s) you share with influencers
  • Monitor, engage, integrate
  • Target and type your audience; then create Facebook ads directed at them, if you are looking for really good marketing an example is SPM Communications, a PR firm in Dallas, Texas.
  • Host events

Social media optimization and measurement

  • Look at your connections and conversations, and measure results
    • Measurement/comparison tools:  Curalate, Bit.ly, Klout, Twitter Counter
  • Calculate your ROI, are you getting desired results from your effort?
  • Maximize ROI: Focus keywords/vocab, connect with influencers, discuss new topics
  • Change your strategy: Engage more? Use more photos? Curate new content? Be timely.

The world of new media can seem daunting, but think of it as an art form that needs to be mastered: You have a blank canvas and a lot of ideas going on; sort through your options, be observant, smart and respond to your stimuli and audience.  Try it out: Strategize but have fun and be creative!

Nurturing Your Network with New Media | American Society of Picture Professionals

Photos courtesy of Carlton SooHoo of Panospin Studios