SOCIAL MEDIAan introduction

An overview

This presentation will give a brief overview of social and digital media and how it has become a major part of our lives, businesses and ecosystem. It is important to understand how it affects our daily lives, and also how media and the way we communicate has changed (and still is changing) drastically.

“WHAT IS

social media?It is a set of technologies and channels targeted at forming and enabling a potentially massive community of participants to productively collaborate. IT tools to support collaboration have existed for decades. But social-media technologies, such as social networking, wikis and blogs, enable collaboration on a much grander scale and support tapping the power of the collective in ways previously unachievable.

-Anthony J. Bradley

watch this videois social media a fad?

Common social media tools that most of us are familiar with, amongst others are: Facebook,

Twitter, Flickr, YouTube, LinkedIn, MySpace and Friendster. The following slides will explore their

function and importance.

Arguably the most popular social network that connects friends, family members and business colleagues/networks. With more than 500 million users to date (January 2011), Facebook continues to expand its activities via Profile, Pages, Groups, Ads, Insights – to help connect people and make businesses grow.

Good – great networking tool and suitable platform for brand exposure.

Not so good – search engine does not pick up posts, pages, status; and can be a hindrance to brand awareness.

Twitter is a ‘microblogging’ website - users log into Twitter to post messages, also known as tweets, of up to 140 characters. It has more than 105 million users (April 2010), with 300,000 new users signing up per day. This rapid growth translates into 55 million tweets a day.

Twitter began in 2006, but shot into rapid growth after 2008. Users do not just tweet on their social life, but to also network with potential customers or with industry peers. Popular twitter-ers are like @guykawasaki, @chrisbrogan and @lancearmstrong. Other organisations that tweet to engage with their members are @cnnbrk (CNN), @thestaronline (The Star Newspaper, Malaysia), @AirAsia (Air Asia) and @SouthwestAir (Southwest Airlines)

Good – Ability to engage with new user database through networking and virality.

Not so good – Promotion via Twitter is part art, and part science. Too much promotion can turn off followers, yet not promoting enough may not do well for the brand.

Launched in 2005, YouTube is commonly known as a video-sharing website where users upload, share and view videos. This phenomenon has propelled many ordinary people to popularity because of the videos they posted.

Good – Posting videos on YouTube is a great way for brands to promote and is a highly interactive tool to engage with customers or users. It is also great for building links and boosting search engine rankings.

Some YouTube examples:

Gary Brolsma’s lip syncing and weird dancing entertains his audience..

Some YouTube examples:

Kev Jumba, a YouTube celebrity, was inspired to post comedic videos which often show him ranting about life with his dad. The resulting notoriety gained the two a spot in season 17 of the reality show The Amazing Race. Kevin also uses his popularity and his YouTube channel to raise funds for charity.

Some YouTube examples:

The footage of Neda Agha-Soltan’s death during Iran’s 2009 elections captivated an international audience after it was captured by a passerby and posted on YouTube. Iran drew much criticism for its lack of protection of human rights and freedom of speech.

Linkedin is a business oriented social networking site. It has 90 million users (January 2011) and functions to connect individuals and companies for the purpose of job or business opportunities, networking, and recommend individuals. Users are also able to follow different companies for updates.

Good – very niche social networking site and effective for personal branding. Employees are also encouraged to keep an up-to-date profile to strengthen their reputation.

Not so good – unlikely to drive traffic to your site and also unable to track who has viewed your profile, unless you are a paid/premium member.

In June 2006, MySpace was the most popular website in the United States. Two years later, Facebook trumped MySpace as the social network with the most monthly unique visitors.

MySpace is a social networking site which has the ability to create blog posts, videos and music. Several successful international music artists today started off with a MySpace account, notably Colbie Calliat.

It is a social bookmarking website where users can store and share websites and links. Users are able to tag bookmarks which help other users or followers find good or interesting categories.

Good – when your site is bookmarked, users are able to visit.

Not so good – you are not able to personally engage with your users.

There are hundreds if not thousands of social networking sites. Amongst others: Foursquare, Digg, Friendster and Stumbleupon. Other geo-specific social networking sites would be Ren Ren (China), Orkut (India), Vkontakte (Russia) and Cyworld (South Korea).

Other social networking sites

Social Media is more than just your personal profile.

It is for business networking, playing games, sales and development, marketing, running loyalty programmes and acquiring talents.

Business NetworkingThe opportunities for business networking via social media are endless. There are many benefits to networking on social media, one of the most important being visibility. For start-ups and emerging brands, leveraging on social media is essential, yet there are many companies still slow to jump on the bandwagon. Online networking is also quicker and a much more efficient way to make contact with your customers.

From there, you will be able to build a community within your organisation or industry.

Playing GamesSocial gaming has made a huge impact in

recent years. In 2009, users bought USD2.2 billion worth of virtual goods all

related to gaming, and that number is expected to rise to USD6 billion in 2013.* One in five Americans above the age of 6

has played games on social network at least once – that would be about 60

million Americans.

Examples of popular social games are Farmville, Social City and FIFA Superstar.

* http://mashable.com/2010/08/11/social-gaming-business/

Loyalty ProgrammesForget loyalty cards or the point system! Running loyalty programs via social media not only gains instant market

share for new business, but also reinforces the point that your brand is up-to-date and evolving.

Tools like Foursquare and Twitter enable organisations to run effective online programmes for their loyal customers. Businesses creatively reward them for spreading the word

about their products or brand. Have a look at some cool examples:

Starbucks: http://socialmediainfluence.com/2010/05/19/starbucks-serves-up-loyalty-program-for-foursquare-mayors/

Tasti D-lit: http://mashable.com/2010/01/13/tasti-d-lite-tastirewards/

Customer Service

Using social media for customer service brings great benefits, and if done the right way reduces manual labor, phone billing and excessive stress!

Twitter, Facebook and customised websites have emerged as the main tools to drive customer service.

Examples:DiGi (telecommunications company in Malaysia) and

AirAsia (budget airline in Asia) uses Twitter to engage and answer queries from their customers.

MoGo (a financial savings company in Canada) uses a custom app to engage with and gain feedback from their Facebook users: http://www.facebook.com/mogomoney?v=app_137710302916296

Acquiring TalentMore and more companies are using social

networks to hire the best talents for their organisations. Through social networks, companies are able to do initial screenings of their candidates, read their blogs, see their recommendations from previous employers or peers, know their social life and understand their abilities.

From there, they can then contact the right people for an interview before taking it forward.

Take a look at the following two case studies on social media

Case Study 1:

Dell is often known for its cost effective method of selling computers and electronics – in fact, they were the first company to sell computers online.

In December 2009, they claimed that more than USD3 million of their total USD16 billion revenue came from their Twitter account. It may seem like a small amount, but it was definitely helpful during the economic downturn.

Watch the video: http://www.web-strategist.com/blog/2008/11/25/video-interview-how-dell-is-benefitting-from-social-media/

Case Study 2:

Blendtec CEO Tom Dickson had a habit of blending wood pieces to test the toughness of every blender, as a kind of quality control testing. He was then encouraged to blend anything, film it, then post it online. The videos have shown the blenders crushing an iPhone, iPad, glowsticks, Transformer figurines and even golf clubs! It went viral, and quickly became an Internet sensation.

After 186 videos:

•700% increase in retail sales.•Over 700,000 subscribers on YouTube.•Mileage in mainstream newspapers.

see videos on www.willitblend.com

Social media isn’t a fad anymore, or a separate entity on its own. It is now very much a part of our social context. Running a business these days without a social media presence would leave you struggling.

However, the importance of being responsible on social networks cannot be overlooked, as there are always consequences (both positive and negative) that will leave a huge impact on you personally and professionally.

Always keep things professional online, and treat your customers with respect - one foul move, and it could be the end of your business.

Your next step:Learn about communicating via Social Media during

a crisis

201 Jalan Datuk SulaimanTaman Tun Dr Ismail60000 Kuala Lumpur

Malaysia

Tel: +6 03 7726 9078www.saltmediaschool.com

CreditsSlide 5: Image from http://www.itrainingexpert.comSlide 16: Image from www.mashable.com Slide 17: Image from http://businesssocialnetwork101.blogspot.com/Slide 18: Image from http://www.zippygamer.com (Farmville)Slide:19: Image from http://ellymamashop.blogspot.com (money)