The Digital Handshake: Seven Proven Strategies to Grow Your Business Using Social Media

The Digital Handshake: Seven Proven Strategies to Grow Your Business Using Social Media

by Paul Chaney
Released September 2009
Publisher(s): Wiley
ISBN: 9780470499276

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Book description

Practical applications for using social media to boost your business

Even today's most successful businesses are seeing shrinking returns on their advertising and marketing dollars. The Digital Handshake explains why advertising and marketing are losing their effectiveness and how to solve the problem using social media to corral elusive consumers. It explains the best practical business applications in current use and how you can use them to ramp up your business.

Using case studies gleaned from real businesses, author Paul Chaney shows you how companies both large and small that can tap social media to mitigate market changes and reap valuable business benefit in the real world.

  • Explains how you can use social media to grow your business and connect with consumers

  • Author Paul Chaney is a leading authority on blogging and social media

  • Covers practical, effective business applications for blogging, social networking, online video, microblogging and much more

  • Shows how to design a comprehensive marketing strategy using traditional and new media platforms

Today's technology can either undermine your marketing efforts or enhance them. The Digital Handshake helps you make sure the Internet grows your business for the long run.

Table of contents

  1. Copyright
  2. Foreword: Ann Handley, Chief Content Officer, MarketingProfs
  3. PREFACE: THE INSURGENT CONSUMER
  4. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  5. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  6. INTRODUCTION: A NEW COMMUNICATIONS PARADIGM
    1. PURPOSE OF THE DIGITAL HANDSHAKE
    2. WHAT IS A "DIGITAL HANDSHAKE?"
      1. Toby Bloomberg
      2. Zane Safrit
      3. Richard Nacht
      4. My wife, Amie
    3. WHAT'S IN THE DIGITAL HANDSHAKE?
    4. WHO THIS BOOK WAS WRITTEN FOR
  7. I. Five Consumer Trends Turning Theworld Upside Down
    1. 1. Consumer Skepticism Is at an All-Time High
      1. 1.1. THE INSURGENT CONSUMER AND THE INFLUENCE OF WORD OF MOUTH
      2. 1.2. BOURNE, NOT BOND: CONSUMERS WANT REAL EXPERIENCES AND PERSPECTIVES, NOT MARKETING SPEAK
      3. 1.3. WHY THE SKEPTICISM?
      4. 1.4. CONCLUSION
    2. 2. The Media Is Fragmented and So Is the Audience
      1. 2.1. MEDIA IN THE SIXTIES: WHEN I WAS MY FATHER'S REMOTE CONTROL
      2. 2.2. MEDIA FRAGMENTATION AND THE ATTENTION ECONOMY
      3. 2.3. AN AGE OF INFORMATION OVERLOAD
      4. 2.4. CONCLUSION
    3. 3. Who Is In Control of the Marketing Message?: (Guess What. It's Not You!)
      1. 3.1. FROM COMMAND-AND-CONTROL TO OUT OF CONTROL TO COMMUNITY CONTROL
      2. 3.2. THE EMPOWERED CONSUMER
        1. 3.2.1. Proctor & Gamble
        2. 3.2.2. Dustin Meyer Photography
      3. 3.3. CONCLUSION
    4. 4. Businesses, Improve Your Aim
      1. 4.1. BUSINESSES ARE BEING FORCED TO IMPROVE TARGETING, INCREASE RELEVANCE, AND MINIMIZE WASTE
        1. 4.1.1. Target Your Audience
        2. 4.1.2. Increase Relevance
        3. 4.1.3. Minimize Waste
      2. 4.2. THE FUTURE OF MARKETING IS IN THE NICHES
        1. 4.2.1. Penetrate Unfilled or Partially Filled Niches: The Wailing Wall Story
        2. 4.2.2. Social Media Marketing Can Help You Penetrate Marketable Niches
      3. 4.3. CONCLUSION
    5. 5. Customers Are Mad as Hell, and They're Not Going to Take It Anymore
      1. 5.1. KRYPTONITE: YOU CAN TUG ON SUPERMAN'S CAPE
      2. 5.2. BABYWEARING MOMS GIVE MOTRIN A HEADACHE
      3. 5.3. DELL HELL: FROM FIRESTORM TO IDEASTORM
      4. 5.4. CONCLUSION
    6. 6. What's a Marketer to Do?: Start a Conversation
      1. 6.1. WHY SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING IS AN ANTIDOTE TO THIS MARKETING MALADY
        1. 6.1.1. Social Media Is Both a Toolset and a Mindset
        2. 6.1.2. Social Media Is a New Way to Think about Marketing
        3. 6.1.3. Social Media Is Not Just a Marketing Channel
        4. 6.1.4. Social Media Is Not an Advertising Campaign
      2. 6.2. THE CONNECTED CONSUMER
        1. 6.2.1. Google Is the New Yellow Pages
        2. 6.2.2. Generation C
        3. 6.2.3. The Internet Is Not Just for the Young
      3. 6.3. ADVERTISING IN THE ERA OF THE WEB 2.0
      4. 6.4. SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING: MAKING A CASE FOR SMALL BUSINESS
        1. 6.4.1. Will It Play in Peoria?
        2. 6.4.2. From Bricks to Clicks
      5. 6.5. USING SOCIAL MEDIA TO INFLUENCE THE MARKETPLACE
      6. 6.6. NEW TOOLS REQUIRE NEW RULES
  8. II. Seven Proven Strategies To Grow Your Business
    1. 7. Business Blogging: Your Social Media Marketing Headquarters
      1. 7.1. BLOGS ARE PART OF OUR DAILY LIVES
      2. 7.2. TEN THINGS TO CONSIDER BEFORE YOU BLOG
        1. 7.2.1. Determine Why You Want to Use a Blog
        2. 7.2.2. Consider Your Blog's Core Message and Tone
        3. 7.2.3. Identify Who Will Write the Blog
        4. 7.2.4. Determine Whether Your Company Is Prepared to Engage in the Conversation without Attempting to Control the Communication
        5. 7.2.5. Establish a Company Blogging Policy with Posting Guidelines
        6. 7.2.6. Monitor What Is Being Said About Your Company and Your Industry
        7. 7.2.7. Decide on a Blog Platform
        8. 7.2.8. Identify Ways to Market Your Blog
        9. 7.2.9. Develop a Plan to Track Statistics
        10. 7.2.10. Be Sure to Know Your Keywords
      3. 7.3. BLOGGING IS ALIVE AND WELL, IN SPITE OF PREDICTIONS TO THE CONTRARY
        1. 7.3.1. Lightweight Content Management Systems
        2. 7.3.2. Social Media Headquarters
        3. 7.3.3. Content Marketing
        4. 7.3.4. Niche Market Penetration
        5. 7.3.5. Search Engine Magnets
          1. 7.3.5.1. Titles
          2. 7.3.5.2. Keywords
          3. 7.3.5.3. Recent Content
          4. 7.3.5.4. Lots of Content
          5. 7.3.5.5. Links
          6. 7.3.5.6. Relevance
        6. 7.3.6. Many More Reasons
      4. 7.4. THE MODEL SMALL-BUSINESS BLOGGER: J.D. ILES AND SIGNS NEVER SLEEP
      5. 7.5. INTEL'S INSIDE SCOOP: HOW LARGE CORPORATIONS ARE USING BLOGS
      6. 7.6. HOW TO CREATE A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS BLOG
        1. 7.6.1. Know Your Audience, and Write with Them in Mind
        2. 7.6.2. Write with Google (and Other Search Engines) in Mind
        3. 7.6.3. Find, Follow, and Communicate with Influential Bloggers in Your Niche
        4. 7.6.4. One Word About Influencers
        5. 7.6.5. Write "Top Ten" Posts on Occasion
        6. 7.6.6. Write Link-Bait Posts
        7. 7.6.7. Establish a Presence in the Social Mediasphere
      7. 7.7. WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD?
    2. 8. Social Networks Strengthen Your Social Graph
      1. 8.1.
        1. 8.1.1. You Never Know Where Leads Might Come From
        2. 8.1.2. Profiles Lend a Sense of Ubiquity
        3. 8.1.3. Search Engines Include Profiles in Blended Search Returns
        4. 8.1.4. Profiles Are the Starting Point on Social Networks
      2. 8.2. SOCIAL NETWORKING BEST PRACTICES
        1. 8.2.1. Come Dressed for the Occasion
        2. 8.2.2. Work the Room
        3. 8.2.3. Ask for a Business Card
        4. 8.2.4. Use Social Networks to Win Friends and Influence People
      3. 8.3. THE THREE MOST POPULAR SOCIAL NETWORKS FOR BUSINESS, AND WHY YOU SHOULD USE THEM (A CORD OF THREE STRANDS IS NOT EASILY BROKEN)
      4. 8.4. LINKEDIN IS YOUR BUSINESS SUIT
        1. 8.4.1. Charles Lauller's LinkedIn Strategy
      5. 8.5. FACEBOOK IS BUSINESS CASUAL
        1. 8.5.1. Facebook Is a Social Utility
        2. 8.5.2. Why "Business Casual?"
        3. 8.5.3. Facebook Public Profile
        4. 8.5.4. Facebook Events
        5. 8.5.5. Facebook Groups
        6. 8.5.6. Facebook Ads
        7. 8.5.7. Facebook Apps
        8. 8.5.8. Facebook Lexicon
        9. 8.5.9. Facebook Share
        10. 8.5.10. Facebook Connect
        11. 8.5.11. Personal Profile
      6. 8.6. TWITTER IS THE SOCIAL NETWORKING COCKTAIL PARTY
      7. 8.7. OTHER BUSINESS-ORIENTED SOCIAL NETWORKS
        1. 8.7.1. Plaxo
        2. 8.7.2. Ecademy
        3. 8.7.3. Biznik
        4. 8.7.4. MySpace
      8. 8.8. TEN COMMANDMENTS FOR EFFECTIVE ONLINE SOCIAL NETWORKING
        1. 8.8.1. Pull, Don't Push
        2. 8.8.2. Win the Right to Be Heard
        3. 8.8.3. Content Is STILL King, but Conversation Is Queen (and Conversion Is the Prince)
        4. 8.8.4. Authenticity and Transparency Are Social Networking Cornerstones
        5. 8.8.5. You Don't Have to Be on Every Social Network
        6. 8.8.6. Give, and You Shall Receive
        7. 8.8.7. Don't Throw the Marketing Baby Out with the Bath Water
        8. 8.8.8. Social Media Is a Mindset, Not Just a Toolset
        9. 8.8.9. Be Yourself, Whomever That May Be
        10. 8.8.10. Social Media Is Not a Religion
      9. 8.9. CONCLUSION
    3. 9. Niche Online Communities Can Benefit Your Business
      1. 9.1. THREE TYPES OF ONLINE COMMUNITIES: WHICH ONE IS RIGHT FOR YOU?
        1. 9.1.1. Customer Communities
          1. 9.1.1.1. Customer Support: VerticalResponse Marketing Lounge
          2. 9.1.1.2. Customer Engagement: Abbot Laboratories' Diabetes Control for Life and Strong Moms Communities
        2. 9.1.2. Employee Communities
        3. 9.1.3. Vendor/Partner Communities
      2. 9.2. COMMON COMMUNITY-CREATION MISTAKES
        1. 9.2.1. Mistake #1: Lack of Adequate Planning and Research
        2. 9.2.2. Mistake #2: Putting an Undue Focus on Technology
        3. 9.2.3. Mistake #3: Not Putting Resources Where They Are Best Utilized
        4. 9.2.4. Mistake #4: Making the Community Fit the Company, Not the Other Way Around
        5. 9.2.5. Mistake #5: Measuring the Wrong Things
      3. 9.3. KEYS TO SUCCESSFUL COMMUNITY CREATION AND MANAGEMENT—ONLINE COMMUNITIES NEED A PERSONAL (EVEN "PASTORAL") TOUCH
      4. 9.4. THE SOCIETY OF WORD OF MOUTH
      5. 9.5. TWITTERMOMS: KITCHEN EXPERIMENT TURNED FULL-TIME BUSINESS
      6. 9.6. INEXPENSIVE TOOLS TO USE IN CREATING YOUR OWN COMMUNITY
        1. 9.6.1. Ning: The Most Popular Hosted Community Platform
        2. 9.6.2. KickApps: Put the Community on Your Web Site
        3. 9.6.3. CollectiveX Groupsites
        4. 9.6.4. Open Source Options
      7. 9.7. WHITE-LABEL COMMUNITY PLATFORMS
        1. 9.7.1. WordFrame
        2. 9.7.2. Mzinga
        3. 9.7.3. Awareness Networks
        4. 9.7.4. Jive
        5. 9.7.5. Lithium
      8. 9.8. ONLINE COMMUNITIES FOR LEAD GENERATION
      9. 9.9. CONCLUSION
    4. 10. Microblogging: Social Media Marketing in 140 Characters or Less
      1. 10.1. TWITTER: A LITTLE BIRD THAT STARTED A REVOLUTION
      2. 10.2. WHAT IS TWITTER AND HOW DOES IT WORK?
        1. 10.2.1. High Latency Instant Messenger
        2. 10.2.2. Presence Application
        3. 10.2.3. Best Definition (my opinion)
        4. 10.2.4. More from Wikipedia
        5. 10.2.5. Twitter's Evolution
      3. 10.3. TWITTER RULES OF THE ROAD
        1. 10.3.1. Rule #1: You Must Earn the Right to Be Heard
        2. 10.3.2. Rule #2: Don't Follow if Only to Pitch
        3. 10.3.3. Rule #3: Provide Value to the Community
        4. 10.3.4. Rule #4: Mix Business with Pleasure
      4. 10.4. YOUR TWITTER BIO AND AVATAR
      5. 10.5. TIPS ON USING TWITTER
      6. 10.6. HOW TO GET STARTED USING TWITTER FOR BUSINESS
        1. 10.6.1. Listen
        2. 10.6.2. Follow
        3. 10.6.3. Engage
      7. 10.7. TWITTER CASE STUDIES
        1. 10.7.1. How Dell Uses Twitter
        2. 10.7.2. Zappos CEO, Tony Hsieh (@zappos)
        3. 10.7.3. Amy Wood, Television News Anchor (@tvamy)
      8. 10.8. OTHER MICROBLOGGING PLATFORMS
        1. 10.8.1. Jaiku
        2. 10.8.2. Plurk
        3. 10.8.3. Yammer
      9. 10.9. WHEN DOES THE "MAGIC" HAPPEN?
    5. 11. Lights! Camera! Action! Use Online Video to Market Your Business
      1. 11.1. THE SMALL-CAMERA REVOLUTION
        1. 11.1.1. Bizzuka's Recession Marketing Story
        2. 11.1.2. Mojitos as a Social Object
        3. 11.1.3. Blendtec's "Will It Blend" Success Story
        4. 11.1.4. Gary Vaynerchuk, Wine Library TV (www.winelibrary.tv)
      2. 11.2. BENEFITS TO USING ONLINE VIDEO
      3. 11.3. GOALS FOR BUSINESS USE OF ONLINE VIDEO
        1. 11.3.1. Use Video to Drive Additional Traffic
        2. 11.3.2. Use Video to Create a More Engaging Experience
        3. 11.3.3. Use Video to Increase Rate of Conversions
      4. 11.4. SIX WAYS BUSINESSES CAN USE ONLINE VIDEO
        1. 11.4.1. Video Blogging/Podcasting
        2. 11.4.2. Product Demonstrations
        3. 11.4.3. How-to Videos
        4. 11.4.4. Streaming Video
        5. 11.4.5. Online Video Ads
        6. 11.4.6. Viral Videos
      5. 11.5. EQUIPMENT NEEDED TO CREATE VIDEO CONTENT
      6. 11.6. YOUTUBE AND OTHER VIDEO SHARING SITES
      7. 11.7. CONCLUSION
    6. 12. Podcasting: Overlooked, Underutilized Marketing Tool
      1. 12.1. WHAT IS A PODCAST?
      2. 12.2. A BRIEF HISTORY OF PODCASTING
      3. 12.3. BENEFITS TO USING PODCASTS
      4. 12.4. PODCASTING RESOURCES
        1. 12.4.1. Podcasting Software
        2. 12.4.2. Podcasting Sites
        3. 12.4.3. Links to Sites Containing an Aggregate of Podcast-related Resources
        4. 12.4.4. Podcasting Equipment
        5. 12.4.5. Professional Podcasting Services
      5. 12.5. EASY WAYS TO CREATE A PODCAST
        1. 12.5.1. Blog Talk Radio—Live Internet Radio
        2. 12.5.2. Audacity—Easy to Use Desktop Recording/Editing
        3. 12.5.3. Using Your Blog to Publish Podcasts
        4. 12.5.4. Submitting to iTunes
      6. 12.6. THREE EXAMPLES OF BUSINESS-ORIENTED PODCASTS
        1. 12.6.1. Paul Dunay, Buzz Marketing for Technology
        2. 12.6.2. Wayne Hurlbert, Blog Business Success
        3. 12.6.3. Susan Bratton, Personal Life Media
      7. 12.7. CONCLUSION
    7. 13. PR 2.0: Introducing the Social Media News Release
      1. 13.1.
        1. 13.1.1. Press Releases as SEO
        2. 13.1.2. Press Releases and Direct Marketing
        3. 13.1.3. Press Releases and Social Media
      2. 13.2. PITCH ENGINE MAKES SMR CREATION SIMPLE
      3. 13.3. PRWEB COMBINES TRADITIONAL, SOCIAL, AND SEARCH
      4. 13.4. USE PITCH ENGINE AND PRWEB IN TANDEM
      5. 13.5. CREATE A SOCIAL MEDIA NEWSROOM
      6. 13.6. CONCLUSION
    8. 14. Other Social Media Marketing Tools
      1. 14.1. SOCIAL MEDIA TAGGING AND BOOKMARKING
        1. 14.1.1. Delicious (www.delicious.com)
        2. 14.1.2. StumbleUpon (www.stumbleupon.com)
        3. 14.1.3. Make Your Content Sharable
      2. 14.2. CUSTOMER REVIEWS AND RATINGS
        1. 14.2.1. Reviews Increase Sales
        2. 14.2.2. Other Benefits of Ratings and Reviews
      3. 14.3. CUSTOMER SERVICE APPLICATIONS
      4. 14.4. RSS: THE PLUMBING SYSTEM OF THE INTERNET
      5. 14.5. PHOTO-SHARING
      6. 14.6. A WORD ABOUT WIKIS
      7. 14.7. MOBILE MARKETING: THE AGE OF THE IPHONE HAS ARRIVED
      8. 14.8. CONCLUSION
  9. III. Putting The Tools To Good Use: A Social Media Marketing Plan Of Action
    1. 15. A Brief Word About Web Sites, E-mail Marketing, and Search Engines
      1. 15.1. CREATE AN ENGAGING WEB SITE
        1. 15.1.1. The Day of the Online Brochure is Over
        2. 15.1.2. The Internet Is More About Connections and Less About Destinations
        3. 15.1.3. Creating an Engaging User Experience
        4. 15.1.4. Blogs Are the New Web Sites
      2. 15.2. DON'T FORSAKE THE USE OF E-MAIL
        1. 15.2.1. E-mail Is Still a Very Potent Form of Online Marketing
        2. 15.2.2. E-mail and Blogs: A Marketing One-Two Knockout Punch
        3. 15.2.3. How Does E-mail Marketing Fit in with Social Media?
      3. 15.3. MARKETING VIA SEARCH ENGINES
        1. 15.3.1. One More Time with Feeling: Google Is the New Yellow Pages
        2. 15.3.2. Search Is Now Universal
      4. 15.4. CONCLUSION
    2. 16. Listening Is the New Marketing
      1. 16.1. MONITORING AND MANAGING YOUR ONLINE REPUTATION
        1. 16.1.1. Why to Listen
        2. 16.1.2. What to Listen For
      2. 16.2. BENEFITS TO MONITORING YOUR ONLINE REPUTATION
      3. 16.3. TWO WAYS TO MONITOR YOUR ONLINE REPUTATION
        1. 16.3.1. The DIY Approach
        2. 16.3.2. Hire the Pros
          1. 16.3.2.1. Lower Cost
          2. 16.3.2.2. Moderate Cost
          3. 16.3.2.3. Higher Cost
      4. 16.4. CONCLUSION
    3. 17. Now That You've Listened, It's Time to Engage
      1. 17.1. JOIN THE CONVERSATION: GET A SEAT AT SOMEONE ELSE'S TABLE
        1. 17.1.1. Four Ways to Respond
      2. 17.2. START A CONVERSATION: SET A TABLE OF YOUR OWN
      3. 17.3. CONCLUSION
    4. 18. Measuring the Effectiveness of Your Social Media Marketing Plan
      1. 18.1. HOW SOCIAL MARKETING MEASUREMENT DIFFERS FROM OTHER FORMS OF ONLINE MEASUREMENT
      2. 18.2. DON'T MEASURE EVERYTHING; DO MEASURE THE RIGHT THINGS
      3. 18.3. QUANTITATIVE VS. QUALITATIVE METRICS
        1. 18.3.1. Standard Measures
        2. 18.3.2. Social Media–Specific Measures
        3. 18.3.3. The Three "Outs"
      4. 18.4. SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING MEASUREMENT TOOLS
        1. 18.4.1. Google Analytics
        2. 18.4.2. Online Reputation Monitoring Software
        3. 18.4.3. Website Grader (www.Websitegrader.com)
        4. 18.4.4. Tealium Social Media (www.tealium.com)
        5. 18.4.5. Twitter Influence Tools
      5. 18.5. CONCLUSION
  10. Conclusion
  11. NOTES

Product information

  • Title: The Digital Handshake: Seven Proven Strategies to Grow Your Business Using Social Media
  • Author(s): Paul Chaney
  • Release date: September 2009
  • Publisher(s): Wiley
  • ISBN: 9780470499276