Beyond the Buzz: What can Social Media do for your business? VAWP

April 14, 2010

SugarBush Resort

Where we’re going today

• 10-12:00 Overview of Social Media. Getting in the groove.

• 12-1:00 Lunch

• 1-1:45 Breaking down blogging

• 1:45-2:45 Spotlight: Twitter

• 2:45-3:45 Spotlight: Facebook

• 3:45-4:00 Wrap up and Q&A

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Why do we care?

• Social media is growing exponentially, dubbed “Web 2.0.”• Facebook: Over 400 million active users (Source:

Facebook.com)• Twitter: 22 million visitors in January in the US and 75 million

worldwide. (Source: comScore and Compete)• LinkedIn has over 60 million professionals in 150 industries in

over 200 countries and is more of a pure-play business networking site. (Source: LinkedIn.com)

Social media is your brand, live and in motion.

What role does Social Media play?

• Saddle up: still a new frontier, early in the game.• Mindset: a new conversation. Part of the shift from “marketing

to” versus engaging, listening, watching and understanding.• Organic, live focus groups• A cultural pulse -- the good and the bad• A Razorfish study indicates that "social influencers," people

active on social platforms, tend to hold the most sway during the consideration phase leading up to a purchase. (Close family and friends play by far the biggest roles at the initial awareness and final "action" stages relating to a purchase.)

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What is social media?

• Media that is created to be shared freely. -- Wiktionary (part of Wikipedia)

• Examples: Twitter, Facebook, youtube, Flickr, Linkedin, Plaxo, wikipedia, blogs, Digg, and Delicious (social bookmarking sites).

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The old vs. new marketing funnel

No longer linear

More influencers growing by the minute

Customers are now bloggers and web

savvy people who can create

commentary about your product or

service at any time.

Whatever experience that you create (or

don’t’ create for your customers) can

immediately be shared online.

Both failures and home runs can be

discussed, digested and easily shared.

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Tearing Down the Walls

“That’s a clichéd phrase, but Twitter really is about tearing down the artificial walls between customers and the individuals who work at companies.”

–Morgan Johnston, JetBlue’s manager of corporate communications.

Source: http://business.twitter.com/twitter101/case_jetblue

Photo by Paul L. Baron

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The New Way to Mourn and Commune

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Jackson dies, almost takes Internet with himJune 26, 2009, CNN London

Tiger’s Tales bad news for golf…Good news for ‘Net

From www.tigerwoods.com

One of the top social media moments of 2009

US Airways Social Media Index Soared

At its peak on the Saturday following the Hudson River landing on 1/15/09, 215 people a minute were becoming fans of Capt. Chesley B. Sullenberger III on a Facebook page set up to honor the pilot of US Airways Flight 1549. www.mediapost.com

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Best Practices

Engage in new channels where your customers already are.

Be conversational from the start. Make social media part of the job, just like

email. Share the love – promote others. Synchronize content across channels. Emphasize quality, not just quantity.

Keep relationships alive and growing

• Don't neglect your fans once the connection has been made.

• The biggest mistake companies make with social media is that they slap it up and forget about it.

• Keep them engaged– Spark conversation– Share common interests– Avoid being "spammy”

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Putting it in Context:Source: from Hubspot Survey

Online spend 12% of total ad budgets, but projected to reach 21% by 2014. Source: Forrester Research

Of all Social Media, blogging leads in sales generation. Source: Mediapost.com

Research and listen to the Trends

• Are you listening?– Google Alerts and Twilert.com - target keywords that are

important to your brand and receive info either streaming or batched.

– Technorati - the leading blog search engine.– Trendwatching.com – web site that looks at trends globally.– Mashable.com – the social media bible.

Game changing questions

• What would be the killer app for your industry? • How does the fact that smartphones are in everyone’s hands

affect your customer base? • How could you make your web site a must visit, always book-

marked community?• What is the content your customer is hungry for? • How can you make it easy for them to interact with them on their

own terms?• How can you be a filter for what’s important to them?• Or can you entertain them?

Your web site’s role?

Think of your web site as your Times Square

Your mothership. Your hub.

Think integration

Apply Facebook’s mission to your web strategy

What to think about as you evolve your site

• Stop thinking of it as “done!”

• Instead think of it as your adaptive marketing hub.

• The good news: it was designed to change!

Key Questions to Ask

• Do you have analytics on your site and if you do, who’s looking at them?

• Do you have a content management system?• When was the last time you looked at your web site’s

usability, i.e. are your colors web safe? Are you optimized for all the browsers?

• Have you looked at Search Engine Optimization or Google Adword or Facebook campaigns?

• Do you have content that is valuable?• Do you have a digitally savvy person on your team – at

least one?

The World of SEO (as of this second)

• Constantly changing because there are over 1 trillion pages indexed on Google and it keeps growing.

• Keywords now matter more in your content versus “under the hood.”

• Video (because there is less video than text content) helps you in the search engines.

• SEO likes action, links, relevant key words, frequent updates.

• SEO doesn’t like flash, anything that smells of gaming the system, untagged photos.

• ROI of web usability versus ongoing SEO efforts.

Web Site Makeovers

• Usability. Don’t just update the design and not look at the content, the usability and your overall marketing strategy.

• Design: if it looks like it hasn’t changed in five years, it sends a signal that you are out of date and out of step. Refreshing your look is important because people now judge you more by your web site than by your office.

• Content: you’ll be reading a lot this year about “content being king.” Think about what content you have to offer that could be invaluable.

Using online productivity tools to serve your customers or work with partners or vendors

• Google sites or Google groups

• GotoMeeting or WebEx

• Skype or ichat

• IM

• Doodle.com for setting up meetings or scheduling events or conference calls.

Top 20 Websites of 2009 from Time magazine

1. Flickr

2. California Coastline

3. Delicious

4. Metafilter

5. Popurls

6. Twitter

7. Skype

8. Boing Boing

9. Academic Earth

10. OpenTable

11. Google

12. YouTube

13. WolframAlpha

14. Hulu

15. Vimeo

16. For a TV

17. Craiglook

18. Shop Goodwill

19. Amazon

20. Kayak

You can find this list on www.marketingcharts.com

Breaking down blogging

What makes a good Blog?

• Candid, authentic voice that is uniquely yours• Can also be a group of voices like the

Huffingtonpost.com• Often edgy, raw, opinionated -- perfection is not as

important as point of view• Regular posting – 2 or 3 times a week is ideal for SEO,

but not recommended if the posts are not compelling.• Think short paragraphs versus long blocks of prose• Some bloggers only blog a paragraph or two a day

Why Blog?

• Sanitized marketing messages no longer work – especially for Gen Y

• Blogs are opportunities to put context around your products and services and to tell interesting back stories

• Myth: You have to be cool to blog.• You just have to have something to say.• According to a Hubspot survey, blogs generate the

most leads in the social media realm.

Why Search Engines like Blogs

• The content is changing regularly – or should be. • You can embed video and photos and tag them. • You can link to lots of other sources. • Your meta tags are built in.• It’s important that you understand your key word

strategy. Key words are more important now in the copy versus as meta tags.

What every Blog page should have

• About – this is your creds and your back story, include pictures and bios of all bloggers

• Info about products and services• Contact info• Ability to subscribe• Driving back to your website (if separate)• Integrating with Twitter, Facebook and other

social media platforms

Blogs vs. newsletters

• As email continues to get overloaded, blogs which users subscribe to may overshadow traditional enewsletters or they could cross-pollinate.

• Just like a good newsletter, you need compelling content.

• Ask yourself how can your blog be a filter of information that is useful to your customer?

• Ultimately, you want to become a “go to” for your area of expertise.

Top Blogs

Source:

http://technorati.com/blogs/top100

Search for Blogs by topic and industry

• Technorati’s top five small business blogs

Blogsearch.google.com – blog search engine

How often to Blog?

• Hotly debated topic• Many in the blogosphere say 2 to 3 times a week• But, the question is how often do you have something compelling to

say?• HP’s Eric Kintz kicked off a wildfire with this provocative post:• Daily posts are a legacy of a Web 1.0 mindset and early Web 2.0

days (meaning 12 months ago!). The pressure around posting frequency will ultimately become a significant barrier to the maturity of blogging.

• Kintz says he had no idea his post would have such an impact. It has been linked to more than 200 times, vs. an average of 0-30 links to other posts on his blog, and has been translated into several languages. It generated hundreds of comments, vs. the typical 0-10 comments made on his blog's other posts.

Blogging Platforms

• WordPress

• Blogger

• Posterous

• Tumblr

• Livejournal-- Mashable readers

• Typepad

• Squarespace

• AOL Journals-- http://blog-services-

review.toptenreviews.com/

Where do you begin?

• Look at your competitors and see what they are doing.• Look at thought-leaders you admire and check them out.• Go to Technorati link in this presentation and click and explore.• Define your objectives and set some metrics:

--we’re going to blog twice a week and by the end of the year we want to have100 people subscribed to our blog.

• Integrate your blog into your marketing strategy--think of your web site as a hub and then all of spokes that connect back to it, i.e. Twitter, Facebook, your blog, etc.

• Develop an editorial calendar for a couple of months to get you going.• Consider having more than one person blogging on your blog.• Interview clients and thought-leaders you admire• Put your blog URL on biz cards. • Use your blog to let customers know info that they care about.

If you’re cautious or concerned…

• Do a soft launch, get a blog up and just write and experiment for awhile before you begin marketing.

Let’s look at some of your blogs

• http://paintedtulipvt.blogspot.com/

• www.video-vermont.com/blog

• lisaflute.com/weddingblog

• weddingresourcepublishing.wordpress.com

• http://eveevent.blogspot.com

Put the top down, enjoy!

Facebook

Facebook & Social Sharing

Who’s on Facebook

Women are 56.2% of facebook population

Women age 55 and over are fastest growing group

Source: Mediapost.com

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Facebook population breakdown

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Source: Mashable.com

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What pages are leading on Facebook?

Source: Statistics.allfacebook.com

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Facebook stats relevant to businesses

More than 5 billion pieces of content (web links, news stories, blog posts, notes, photo albums, etc.) shared each week

More than 3.5 million events created each month More than 3 million active Pages on Facebook More than 1.5 million local businesses have active

Page on Facebook More than 20 million people become fans of Pages

each day Pages have created more than 5.3 billion fans

Using Facebook for Business

Post business oriented updates on your wall Share articles and information relevant to your clients or

prospects Post information about events (this then goes out to your

network) Drive people to your web site re: more info regarding a specific

event, new product or service Post discounts or special offers specifically for your facebook

network Join network, industry and alumni groups related to your

business

Use Facebook to target your audience

• Ad programs can target a specific geographic area and age

• Photographer targeted women ages 22-28 who listed their marital status as engaged in Minneapolis St. Paul

• Spent $300 in advertising that generated $60,000 in business over two years. (Source: NY times 11/12/2009 how to Market your Business with Facebook.)

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Current Facebook Campaign

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A Look at some of your Facebook pageshttp://www.facebook.com/boltonvalley?ref=ts

http://www.facebook.com/pages/South-Burlington-VT/Top-Hat-Entertainment/311296998636?ref=ts

http://www.facebook.com/roundbarnfarm?ref=search&sid=674810076.3307461359..1

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Manchester-VT/Equinox-A-Luxury-Collection-Golf-Resort-Spa-Vermont/88859867202?ref=ts

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Farmhouse-Truffles/77134471444?ref=search&sid=674810076.2435653083..1

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Essex-Center-VT/Silver-Toad-Floral-Design/410511933975?ref=search&sid=674810076.3621124011..1

http://Www.facebook.com/pages/CharlotteColchester-Vermont/Just-Weddings-Where-your-flower-dreams-come-true/259722903955

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Twitter

What is Twitter?

Twitter is an instant messaging application that limits you to140 characters in length, with a culture that encourages people to spread news to friends in their own network.

The Global Language monitor ranked “Twitter” as the top word of 2009.

Twitter valuation at 1 billion.

Both Google and Bing incorporate Twitter and other real-time feeds into search results.

Source: vatornews blog

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Basic Twitter Symbols@earlegurl

Public message sent to earlegurl

RT is short for retweet, and indicates a re-posting of someone else's tweet. 

#wedding #VT – hashtags are central to the twitterverse because they aggregate content around specific topics and key words.

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Twitter Demographics

At the end of 2009:

30% under 25

20% 25-34

20% 35-54

15% 45-54

10% 55-64

5%: 65+

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Connecting Twitter and Linked In Updates

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Twitter and Linked In Accounts

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http://localtweeps.com/

Also check out: tweetfind.com

Teusner Wines, boutique wine biz in AustraliaEight Tips that You Can Do Too

1. Followed @Starbucks, so he could see what the big guys were doing.

2. Searched for wine-related terms (search.twitter.com) and began following people talking about the business.

3. Use www.twilert.com to receive alerts about your company, your competitors or anything you want to watch.

4. Began conversing with people he’s following.

5. Reached out to people talking about his wines.

6. Focused on building trust versus pushing sales.

7. Posted third-party reviews of his wine.

8. Shared information about tastings and dinners featuring his wines.

Results so far: more people coming to his winery for tours, and getting customer feedback on specific wines has been very valuable to how he thinks about his business.

Additional benefit: no cost marketing while building relationships and seeing what customers respond to.

Source: Twitter 101

http://business.twitter.com/twitter101

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Small Business Twitter Apps to Explore

Small Business Twitterers to follow

Adam Ostrow http://twitter.com/adamostrowEditor, Mashable

J.K. Glei http://twitter.com/the99percentEditor of 99% blog about making ideas happen

Tony Bacigalupo http://twitter.com/tonybgoodeMayor of New Work City, a coworking space in NYC

Jon Stokes http://twitter.com/hannibalrexEditor of Ars Technica, a popular technology news site

Anita Campbell http://twitter.com/smallbiztrendsEditor and Founder of Small Business Trends

For more: http://www.openforum.com/idea-hub/topics/money/article/80-small-business-twitterers-you-should-be-following-gregory-go

ChrisBrogan.com

Twitter Tips from Brogan

• Have more than one twitterer at the company. People can quit. People take vacations. It’s nice to have a variety.

• When promoting a blog post, ask a question or explain what’s coming next, instead of just dumping a link.

• Ask questions. Twitter is GREAT for getting opinions.

• Follow interesting people. If you find someone who tweets interesting things, see who she follows, and follow her.

• Tweet about other people’s stuff. Again, doesn’t directly impact your business, but makes us feel like you’re not “that guy.”

• Promote your employees “outside of work” stories.• Share links to cool stuff in your community and

industry.

Great blog posts on 50 Ideas on Using Twitter for Business

http://www.chrisbrogan.com/50-ideas-on-using-twitter-for-business/

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Twitter accounts in the room

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https://twitter.com/vivinspiredhttps://twitter.com/roundbarnfarmhttps://twitter.com/silvertoadvt

Wrap Up & Q&A

Social Media Policy

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A clear philosophy – promoting use among employees with guidelines or something that is more private and separate from the company

How are you defining social media and what do you want to achieve?

Identifying employees as being part of your company

Recommendations or referrals – think through liability

Don’t reference clients, customers or partners

Reiterate confidentiality polices in light of social media

Disciplinary action

Consult your attorney

Source: http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/10things/?p=875

Social Media Policy links

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http://mashable.com/2009/06/02/social-media-policy-musts/ http://socialmediagovernance.com/policies.php http://www.pr-squared.com/index.php/2009/07/corporate-

social-media-policy-top-10-guidelines

Other Sites and Sources mediapost.com thesocialmediabible.com Mashable.com socialtimes.com thefuturebuzz.com dmwmedia.com web-strategist.com/blog http://twitter.pbworks.com/Trends-Apps http://twitter.pbworks.com/ Twittergrader.com Websitegrader.com http://blog.linkedin.com/category/success-stories/ social-media-optimization.com http://www.facebook.com/marketing www.insidefacebook.com

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Thank you for having me!

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www.twitter.com/earlegurlwww.linkedin.com/in/greenapplehttp://www.facebook.com/carey.earle

carey@greenapplemarketing.comwww.greenapplemarketing.com