Social Networks: Facebook, LinkedIn, Ning (build you own) – spend a day with us exploring social networks including managing Facebook accounts, pages vs. groups, advertising, insights or learn how to build your own with the free tool Ning!
Vertical Networks: Youtube, Flickr, Technorati, Digg, Delicious, Slideshare, Scribd, iTunes – harness the viral nature of these vertical networks and receive an SEO lift in the process. Utilize these channels for product demonstrations, presentations, images of trade shows and product shots, allow customers to support your blog(s), post your documentation and user manuals, even aggregate your podcasts so that more customers can find your brand.
Blogging & Microblogging: Wordpress, Blogger, Twitter – build credibility for your company by blogging about current events, future projects, an interesting customer application, expertise in a particular field … in other words, talk to your customers. Use your twitter stream for timely notifications and allow multiple staffers within your organization to twitter about their respective areas. Spend a day with us exploring these powerful, free products.
Customer Service: UserVoice & Forums – more companies are harnessing the power of social media to help tell the story of product or service. It’s one thing for a salesman to promote a product and another for a customer to discuss a unique application, problem-solve an issue openly with transparency, suggest improvements to research & development. Word of mouth, particularly your customer’s mouth is far more powerful and, free. Spend the day with us exploring these tools and how easy they are to use.
Public Relations: the social media channel is the new PR and while all of the above applies, the social media release and event specific promotion are specifically covered here in this day long class. The SMR is today’s press release and should not only tell the immediate story but the story of the company as well via all of its channels. Leverage event promotion via social media outlets, microblogging, rss, and even website widgets. And don’t forget, the lowly email newsletter should make the recipient aware of your presence in your respective networks.
