Social Network Marketing: How Facebook and Online Social Networks are Changing the Face of Communication

Social Network Marketing: How Facebook and Online Social Networks are Changing the Face of Communication

©MarketingSavant™ | Green Bay, WI | All Rights Reserved

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Social Networks And the Future of Marketing

The Five Key Topics We’ll Explore:

1 | Why Social Networks, What Are They And Which Ones Matter

There are over 125 active social networks online today.

2 | Who’s On Social Networks

A look at the demographics, behaviors and brave organizations in the social web.

3 | The 5th P of Marketing

How marketers are leveraging social networks through participation.

4 | The Social Network Marketing Process

Getting in touch with your customers in the social network space.

5 | Where Do We Go From Here

A look into the near future where applications emerge to help users manage information and synchronize online activities with offline life.


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1 | Welcome to the Social Web

Social networks are online communities that allow users to create a web presence, manage their identities, and stay connected to friends and colleagues. Social networks like Facebook, MySpace, and LinkedIn, along with social networks setup by corporations, are among the most popular destinations on the web, with millions of users from around the globe signing up daily.

These sites are quickly evolving from mere public profiles into platforms for communication, creativity, advertising, and even commerce.


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1 | A Look at the Numbers

•During 2007, 37% of the U.S. adult Internet population used online social networking at least once a month. eMarketer expects that figure will rise to 49% by 2011.

•Currently, 70% of all U.S. teens visit social network sites on a monthly basis.

•Worldwide online social network ad spending will grow 82% from $1.2 billion in 2007 to $2.2 billion in 2008. In the U.S. alone, spending is projected to rise to $1.6 billion in 2008, from $920 million n 2007. Source: Williamson, Debra A. Social Network Marketing: Ad Spending and Usage. eMarketer. December

2007.

Facebook.com Demographic Profile

Unique Visitors (000)May 2007 vs. May 2006Total U.S. – Home/Work/University LocationsSource: comScore Media Metrix

Facebook.com Age Segment 6-May 7-May

Percent Change

0 0Total Audience

14,069 26,649 89%

Unique Visitors (000) Persons: 12-17 1,628 4,060 149% Persons: 18-24 5,674 7,843 38% Persons: 25-34 1,114 3,134 181% Persons: 35+ 5,247 10,412 98%

1 | A Look at the Numbers on Facebook.com

• More than 80 million active users• Facebook is the 6th most-

trafficked website in the world (comScore)

• Facebook is the 2nd most-trafficked social media site in the world (comScore)

• Over 55,000 regional, work-related, collegiate, and high school networks

• More than half of Facebook users are outside of college

• The fastest growing demographic is those 25 years old and older

• Maintain 85 percent market share of 4-year U.S. universities


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Source: comScore

Source: Facebook

1 | Social Networks and WOM Inspire Trust

©Future Think LLC | New York, NY | All Rights Reserved7

Social Networks 101

1 | Brands are Going Where Consumers Play


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1 | Brand Name Social Networks

•Disney DXD Disney Xtreme Digital is slickly designed, but a bit overwhelming on the senses of anyone past the tween Hannah-Montana-Vs-U2 years. Kids outside of the US will be disappointed, though, because the site won’t work for them. Perhaps Disney’s lawyers should have included an easy-to-understand primer of international copyright laws.

•GoRunEasy.com Run by the shoe company Reebok http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reebok , GoRunEasy is a site for runners to get together and discuss their runs and workouts, share photos and more. It seems like a fairly natural fit for the brand.

•MarthaStewart.com The Domestic Diva sets you up as a “contributor” where you have your own page, info on yourself, save your favorite recipes, and participate in the message boards. Probably one of the best fits for a brand to have a social network; it’s odd that Oprah doesn’t have one.

Source: Mashable.com | http://mashable.com/2008/04/06/brand-name-social-networks/


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1 | Brand Name Social Networks

•Toyota Hybrid - Do you own a Toyota Hybrid? Are you passionate about it? Then Toyota has the social network for you where you can share your love for your car and tell everyone your reason for being in love with your Hybrid. Great way to tap into the ‘next generation’ car culture.

•Pepsi.Youniverse.com - Powered by the Youniverse white label social networks, this Pepsi social network focuses on European football (soccer). Considering the passion for this game (everywhere but the USA), this one may seem an odd blend at first, but globally it could work.

•Think.MTV.com - Run by MTV, their Think social network is mainly about motivating their youth demographic to care about politics and knowing that their voices do count. Probably the most noble of the offerings.

Source: Mashable.com | http://mashable.com/2008/04/06/brand-name-social-networks/

1 | The Many Opportunities for Marketers

• Advertising– Banner Ads – Contextual//NewsFeed/Flyer Ads– Social Ads

• Marketing– Facebook & MySpace Pages and Sponsored Groups– Causes

• Word of Mouth/Interaction– Applications– Widgets

• Intelligence– Profiles and Network information– Public Groups– Polls & Research

1 | What Are You Trying to Accomplish?


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Creators

Critics

Collectors

Joiners

Spectators

Inactives

Publish a blogPublish your own Web pagesUpload video you created Upload audio/music you createdWrite articles or stories and post them

Post ratings/reviews of products/servicesComment on someone else’s blogContribute to online forumsContribute to/edit articles in a wiki

Use RSS feedsAdd “tags” to Web pages or photos“Vote” for Web sites online

Maintain profile on a social networking siteVisit social networking sites

Read blogsWatch video from other usersListen to podcastsRead online forumsRead customer ratings/reviews

None of the above

Groups include people participating in at least one of the activities monthly.

Taken together, these groups make up the ecosystem that forms the social networks.

By examining how they are represented in any subgroup, marketers can determine which sorts of strategies make sense to reach their customers.

2 | Social Network Technographics™

Source: Forrester Research


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2 | Who’s On Social Networks?


Base: US online adult social networking site users, Source: North American Technographics Media And Marketing Online Survey, Q3 2007

See what my friends are up to: 86%

Sent a message to someone: 79%

Posted/updated my profile: 70%

Looked at profiles of people I didn’t know: 65%

Searched for someone that I used to know: 59%

Send a friend/connection request: 53%

Listened to music: 47%

Read a blog or journal: 51%

Wrote on someone’s profile page (e.g. wrote on a wall, posted a testimonial):

55%

Watched a video: 40%

2 | Members Communicate on Social Networks

©Future Think LLC | New York, NY | All Rights Reserved17


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3 | The Fifth P of Marketing: Participation

Where do Social Networks and Social Media Marketing fit into the classic “4 Ps of Marketing” model?

The traditional 4 Ps of Marketing encompass Product, Price, Place and Promotion.

Social Media as well as social networking sites enable the Promotion aspect, especially the Word of Mouth part of it. Subsequently, the Word-of-Mouth and ‘connectedness’ component enables the 5th P of Marketing Participation.

As Social Network users begin to amass more connections on social networking sites, it is becoming increasingly difficult to separate friends and family from acquaintances, commercial interests and professional contacts. It’s not uncommon for the average Facebook or Myspace user to have thousands of ‘friends.’ You need to Participate to join that conversation


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4 | The Social Network Marketing Process – L-A-M-P





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3 | The Process for Social Network Participation

Social Media Awareness


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L | LISTEN:

Where are your customers online/offline?

• Blogs, Social media tools (e.g. LinkedIn Answers), Discussion Forums, Twitter, etc…/Events

Monitor these conversations:

• Find your brand using Google Alerts, Keotag.com, Boardreader.com and Technorati.com

• Use a central tool to track the different conversations happening around your company. Most online conversations are RSS enabled, barring a few Yahoo! groups that don’t support RSS. Use a RSS reader (e.g. Bloglines.com) to gather all these conversations into a central repository and create a folder that you check on a daily basis.


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A | AWARENESS:

Calculate Brand perception within these conversations

• News & Blogs (Google search, Google Blog search, technorati search)

• Keyword mentions & incoming links

• Corporate Blog (Unique users, hits, trackbacks, comments)

• Brand Scoring system (how much buzz are you getting vs. competition)

• Assign a marketer to staying aware and alert to what’s going on in social networks and social media

– Around your company

– Around your competitors

– Around your industry


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M | MEASURE:

The value of social media presence can be calculated by simple methods:

• ReachHow many people are influenced by our social networking efforts?

• AcquisitionHow much of their attention have we acquired through connections, website visits, and time spent engaging with us?

• ConversionHow many have we ‘converted’ toward the ultimate goal (subscription, sales, leads, registrations, evangelists, etc.)?

• RetentionAre we reducing customer churn, lowering our overall cost to serve, increasing the purchase value/volume/frequency, and growing the lifetime value of our customer base?


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M | MEASURE:

Another take on the process of measuring social media value



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P | PARTICIPATE:

Create a strategy around how you wish to participate!

You have the following options:

• Be where the users are

• Facilitate easier means of communication with them

• Create brand evangelists

• Be a source of information on the company

• Respond swiftly and honestly

• Start publishing content

• Stir internal company conversations

• Improve product and user experience


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5 | Where Do We Go From Here?

Social networks are challenging MSN, AOL, Yahoo, and Google as our favorite starting point for navigating the web. For many social network users, the majority of their online communication and web surfing happen from within a social network. But one simple fact remains: users can generally only access their social networks through a Web browser such as Mozilla Firefox or Microsoft Internet Explorer, and many users receive notifications and updates from their social networks through their email accounts or on their mobile devices.

There are also millions of other Internet users who have thus far shunned social networks and are looking for ways to benefit from social network activity without having to create a traditional social networking account. For these users, the most important tool is not the Facebook homepage, but their trusted web browser (e.g. Firefox or Internet Explorer) and email inbox (e.g. GMail). Not wanting to get left out of the social networking world completely, these users will begin to install applications that add social elements to their existing web accounts.


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• Web users are already connected – they now seek simplicity and synchronization across multiple accounts both online and off.

• Every company on the Web holds mountains of data about the people that visit their sites – all this data can be used to create “smart” applications that make our Web experiences more seamless.


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5 | The Web Browser and Email Get Social

• Social networks will gradually begin to lose user’s attention as Web browsers and email applications integrate social networking features directly within their interfaces.

• Web users who want to avoid the social networking space will be able to passively keep up with friends and family without having to officially join a social network.

• Users who struggle to manage multiple social networking accounts will turn to centralized applications that allow for easy updates, communication, and management across networks.

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What does it mean for you? Ask Yourself:

• How can you create a Web experience for your customers that both respects their privacy and reduces redundant/unnecessary behaviors?

• If the Web evolves into a place where applications are automatically suggesting content to users, how will you ensure that you can still connect with potential customers and partners? How will you stay relevant in the Semantic Web?


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5 | Homework!

• Get acquainted with blogs and the consumer media spacewww.technorati.com

• Setup a LinkedIn profile and connect to your co-workers and friendswww.linkedin.com

• Setup a FaceBook profile page and look for your friends/classmates/kidswww.facebook.com

• Explore RSS and Newsfeeds (look on your favorite sites for the RSS button)www.bloglines.com


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Final Thoughts

Social networking is still in its infancy, but it is definitely a Web phenomenon that deserves your attention. As we’ve seen, it is far bigger than a passing trend or technology flash in the pan—and its implications around connectivity, commerce, and community are far reaching and long-term.

Microsoft established itself in the PC/Desktop age as a platform for other companies to expand the use of desktop operating systems—but today, the Web is replacing the PC/Desktop as the center of technological innovation.

Industry leaders speak confidently about Web-based software and services that will make applications more scalable, personal, and portable. MySpace, Facebook, and LinkedIn are already being described as platforms and social utilities based on Web services that function across all networked devices.


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Final Thoughts

Over the next few years, we expect to see a rise in familiar brands, such as WebMD, Nike, ESPN, or the FoodNetwork, building applications within the Facebook or OpenSocial platforms. Watch for new companies, applications, and uses to emerge in the coming months.

Looking ahead, we encourage you to avoid the short-term “put-a-banner-ad-on-Facebook” strategy. As we’ve pointed out, there are a number of longer-term directions you should consider in order to effectively leverage this nascent platform as a real business opportunity.


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Final Thoughts

“Every brand needs to be relevant and part of a community. They need to open a dialogue with their consumers, but they also need to be prepared for what could be negative feedback and I don’t think all marketers are ready for that.”

- Bob Ivins, EVP, comScore


Q & A

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Thank You!

Need help after the presentation? Email [email protected]

Documents

Social Network Marketing: How Facebook and Online Social Networks are Changing the Face of Communication