Use Facebook? Have a blog? Tweet? Post pictures online? Post YouTube videos? Don’t know what I’m talking about? Disclaimer - speak from my experience and philosophy. Hold all questions to the end. Write in note section on handout. Interactive - get your pens out
Social media are works of user-created video, audio, text or multimedia that are published and shared in a social environment, such as a blog, wiki or video hosting site. www.capilanou.ca/help/active-cms/glossary.html
Blog is short for weblog. A weblog is a journal (or newsletter) that is frequently updated and intended for general public consumption. Blogs generally represent the personality of the author or the Web site. www.bytowninternet.com/glossary Wiki: A collaborative website which can be directly edited by anyone with access to it; To research a topic on Wikipedia or some similar wiki; To ... en.wiktionary.org/wiki/wiki
In the 1999 book ” The Consumer’s Guide to Effective Environmental Choices: Practical Advice from the Union of Concerned Scientists”, Michael Brower, PhD, and Warren Leon, PhD write: The average American is exposed to about 3000 advertising messages a day, and globally corporations spend over $620 billion each year to make their products seem desirable and to get us to buy them. How do we respond? Have laws in lake county that severly limit billboards Sign up for the Do Not Call Registry, we have Tivo and DVR recorders, we enact Spam laws and demand easy opt out of mailing lists, we ask for anti-spam and pop-up blockers for our browsers, If you have to interrupt or annoy me, how good can your offer really be? If you think I’m dumb enough to fall for this, how can I trust you? Which leads on to the case for social media…
1.Walmarting across america - Rver’s Jim and Laura Trust takes time - rewarded by deep, loyal and faithful relationships (just like real life) 2. Negative comments are a GOOD thing - you’re getting them anyway. Why not get them in a place you can do something about them. Customer Service is the new PR - do you see customer service as a valued part of your marketing quiver? 3. Bringing your customers together in a place is risky - what if they say stuff about me I don’t like? What effect will all this have on my brand image? What if the discussion gets out of hand? You never had any control - people will always redefine your product as to what it means to them. This “tribe” of people coming together around your service or brand is looking for leadership - you can make a difference by providing guidance and support. Seth Godin’s book - Tribes.
Improved SEO through Frequency of change on your website Writing keyword rich information Bloggers are now sought out as sources for TV and Radio. A good blog says you know what you are talking about and is a way for people to quickly “get” what you’re about. Good content - people will spend time on your site and buy…
Yelp is a local review site quickly overtaking citysearch (staying longer, viewing more content, and returning more often) over 10.6 million users every month - in top 100 of US websites.
Authenticity - Be yourself. Don’t try to be somebody you’re not. My avitar (consistent across all my social media marketing) Transparency - always expose yourself! Responsiveness - if you are using social media, make sure you’ve got mechanisms in place to respond quickly to all comments requiring response - you’ll soon learn what “quickly” means to you… Sustainability - all business. Not just out for the quick buck, but built to last. Thinking of the needs of others ahead of the needs of yourself. Putting service ahead of growth or greed.
Groundswell by Forrester Researchers Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff Creators make social content go. They write blogs or upload video, music or text. Critics respond to content from others. They post reviews, comment on Blogs, participate in forums and edit Wiki articles Collectors organize content of themselves of others using RSS Feeds, tags and voting sites like Digg.com Joiners connect in social networks like MySpace and Facebook Spectators consume social content including blogs, user-generated video, podcasts, forums, or reviews Inactives neither create nor consume social content of any kind
Yes, but knowing what you DON’T do is as important is knowing what you DO do!
SM is an element of your total marketing plan. How many of you have a marketing plan? Defined your target market, know your competition, decided your marketing spend and know the marketing strategies you’re going to use, or do you just have a knee-jerk response when the Record Bee calls with an advertising special? Brand - what is the brand you want to portray online? Make sure you know what this is and be consistent Who are you going to reach? Very important, as this will decide where and how you are going to plan
What are possible purposes for your social media participation? Traffic, both online and offline Conversion rate: People are taking a desired action on your website: Signing up for your newsletter, downloading a free report, buying something
How does SMM relate to offline marketing plan - independent of offline activities? Support offline activities? Who is going to do this - in-house or outsourced? This is not a job for an 18 year old with some computer experience, though youth is on your side if this is your target. This will take time on a regular basis - how much do you have regularly (10 minutes a day, 1 hour a week, whatever) How much can you spend? Most is free - can improve (ad-free or domain pointing on Ning for $24 a month)
As Forrester - Joiner, Critique, Creator, etc. and what type of sites will you choose (video posting, pictures, reviews, etc) KEY - many tools you can use, many things you can measure. Google Analytics a good place. Absolute numbers not as important as change over time. Once you have all this, then you can:
Tactics: Comments posting, blog writing, contests Campaigns - specific programs you’ll adopt. A plan may even consist of one campaign done well Set up and track Know when you’re going to do what you said you were going to do