Social Media…
…the ordering, buying, reviewing, selling, customer retention,
brand-building, buzz-generating tool so you can make money in
the new century medium
Are you paying attention?
What is social media?
Internet- and mobile-based tools for sharing and discussing information among human beings. Wikipedia
What social media is not
Social networking Social networking has always existed Exchange of ideas between two or
more people
E-commerce Limited to online or mobile monetary
transaction between parties Can be a function, component or
result of social media
What is social media…to business?
The use of Internet- and mobile-based tools to engage customers, collect consumer data, share information and generate awareness.
Is social media relevant? Facebook.com- Social Network Site
150 Million Active UsersFastest growing Demo 30+
Flickr.com-Photo Sharing Apphosts more than two billion tagged images
Twitter.com- micro-blogging site5,979,053 people answering the question “What are you doing now?” in 140 characters!
Wikipedia.com- Information Sharing Source684 Million visitors/ 75K active contributors
Youtube.com- Video Sharing5 billion online US videos44% share of all online videos
Digg.com-Social News site#3 referring source of traffic to NY
Times.30K visitors/ month
Is social media relevant?
A.C. Nielsen created multi-million dollar company focused entirely on measuring social media Founded in late ‘90s, PlanetFeedback
was a website that attracted consumer opinions of products and services; earned revenue from advertising
Purchased by Intelliseek in 2004 Purchased by A.C. Nielsen in 2006
and combined with R&D company to become Nielsen BuzzMetrics
Focused entirely on online brand monitoring
Legitimizes and measures consumer response in a virtual world
Types of social media
Weblogs/Blogs—Blog.Wired.com, Okeeffepr, TwoBitsAndAByte
Microblogs—Twitter
News dissemination (Social Media Release)—PitchEngine.com, Google News, Twitter
E-Newsletters
Social media networking sites—Facebook, LinkedIn, Google Groups
Aggregators—FeedBurner, FriendFeed
Wikis—Topic-specific Wikipedia pages
Online photo/video sharing galleries—YouTube, Flickr
Podcasts
Text messaging
Internet forums
Event forums—Meetup.com
Custom Applications—Twit2Win
Strengths/Weaknesses
Strengths Real time Generates direct consumer demand Rapidly increasing usage Increases search engine rankings Accessible Easy-to-use Cost-effective Organic Strong…and growing…user base
Weaknesses Difficult to measure Time Consuming Still evolving
Social media for B2C
Cincinnati Sports Leagues (CSL) (gocsl.com) Objectives
Promote CSL activities Attract interest from advertisers
Social Media Components Facebook page—426 friends, Brian
updates and monitors, posts events Twitter profile—attract followers Soapbox.com—blogged daily 1 week to
promote CSL to older/business audience Results
Increased brand awareness Frequent customer interaction Personalization—strong friend base
Social media for B2C
Identifying the most useful tools to actively engage and measure your customer base
Striking a balance between ‘in property ‘tactics and ‘out of property’ tactics
Building value with ‘in and out’ of property SM tools!
Integrating SM into the operations of your business. Avoiding apathetic use!
Identifying what metrics you use to determine success/ failure of SM tool/ campaign
Social media for B2B
General Data Company (general-data.com) Objectives
Promote products to targeted healthcare prospects Build awareness as experts on healthcare data
capture/workflow Social Media Components
Healthcare blog Promote via FeedBurner, RSS feed, etc. “Live blogging”—Client interviews industry
authorities at conferences; streams/posts interviews via GD’s blog
Social media releases—all GD news YouTube Station—post video demos, etc. Soapbox.com—blogged daily 1 week to generate
Greater Cincinnati awareness Results
Increased awareness Recognized as industry authority by prospects Increased search engine rankings Network TV Coverage—Personal ID Patient
Wristbands featured on CBS’ The Doctors
Social media for B2B
Miller Electric Manufacturing Co. (millerwelds.com) Objectives
Preferred resource on all things welding Increased Web traffic
Social Media Components Website—content rich and SEO optimized Minisites—devoted to specific welding apps
and interests (e.g., motorsports) E-Newsletters RSS Feeds Blog—prominence on home page
Results Go-to site for welding information Website provides rich, relevant, fun
experience Drives e-commerce purchases
How not to use social media
Motrin (Johnson & Johnson) (motrin.com) Objective
Sell Motrin Social Media Components
Irreverent video designed to appeal to young mothers suffering from back pain associated with baby slings/carries
Posted ad to YouTube and Motrin.com Results
Small # of “mommy bloggers” were offended; posted scathing remarks on Twitter
Motrin apologized and pulled ad immediately Motrin pulled entire campaign Motrin wasted all money spent on campaign
Later Findings Motrin heard from same mommy bloggers that they
were disappointed video was pulled Mommies wanted their concerns addressed, not
dismissed Motrin failed to engage and befriend bloggers; lost
potential customers
Why does social media matter?
It’s the way people of all ages and demographics are communicating
Studies show consumers research products online before buying
True for B2C and B2B
Why wouldn’t you build your online relationship with them…NOW?
Website
Blog
Social networking profile
Wiki
Podcast
E-newsletter…
Its usage is growing rapidly
Vital part of marketing mix
Engages customers like no other medium
Natural evolution of marketing and PR
Traditional advertising isn’t working; declining usage/revenues
Questions?
Blog Example
Blog
Online mechanism for sharing information
More personal and dynamic than typical website
Can be separate from or component of corp website
Typically ties into overall marketing/PR strategy
Can allow comments from visitors; can monitor comments
Easy to create using free, downloadable blog software
Best used for sharing information of interest to or that specifically benefits targeted users
Serves as home page for many business websites
Microblog Example
Leading microblog
Limit of 140 characters per entry
Allows people to follow each other in real time from any location with Web/mobile access
Simple to use
Nearly 6 million users worldwide
Increasing usage among businesses, individuals, politicians and PR pros as news dissemination device
Growing number of reporters take story pitches from Twitter ONLY
Social Media Release Example
Social Media Release
Online news dissemination device
Immediate delivery to numerous social and business networks
Large and growing mainstream/trade media subscriber list
Often preferred means of receiving story ideas/pitches
Rapidly growing user base
Easy to use
Typically free of charge
Social Media Networking Site Example
Social Media Aggregator Example
Social Media Aggregator
Online tool
Enables users to publicize and “push” their content feeds (blogs, websites, podcasts, e-newsletters, etc. to numerous online audiences at once
Podcast Example
Podcast
Free video or audio series downloaded to and playable on iPods, computers, TVs, mobile phones, or similar mobile media devices
Enable users to view or listen to preferred content almost anywhere at anytime
Event Forum Example
Event Forum
Set up custom events online
Choose whom to invite
Allow others to join
Specific to topic, location, etc.
Custom SM Application Example
Social Media Application
Custom sweepstakes application driven by Twitter
Launched Jan 14, 2009
640 followers by Feb 4
Objective
Cascade: Gain Twitter followers to drive traffic to blog and then to website
Current Campaign
Freedom Center Family Membership
Launched Feb 3
30 followers in first 3 days
Campaign ends Feb 10