Presented by Sally Witzky, Owner & Chief Strategist, Traction Group LLC, Richmond VA. This PowerPoint slide presentation was first delivered at Business Solutions Group Member meeting, held in September 9, 2009, at the Virginia Center for Architecture. http://businesssolutionsgroup.org

1. Making sense of it all for YOUR business. Business Applications of Social Marketing. Sally Witzky All slides © 2009 Traction Group LLC. All rights reserved.

2. Why are youhere? Why did you come today? To learn? To network? To converse? To socialize? Other?

3. Social networking… Works the same way Provides opportunity to learn, network, converse, socialize online In essence, build relationships and stay in touch when you can’t be there in person all the time (leverage) But has deeper applications

4. What is social marketing? Social vs. Commercial It’s more about our target audience and their wants & needs and less about what our business has to sell Social vs. Traditional Interactive, engaging and ongoing connectivity Relationship building, more like CRM Online activity dominates

5. Social Marketing uses… Social Media Content generated BY USER Appears on websites, blogs, social platforms Social Networking Common bond, community, engagement Social Networking Platforms or Sites LinkedIn, Facebook, MySpace, YouTube Create the “space” for content & community & connection to happen

7. The big four… Facebook: Size & impact LinkedIn: Highest demos Twitter: Fastest growing YouTube: Video haven

8. Why you should embrace social marketing. Doesn’t make sense for everyone, but certainly most Personal and business brands For business owner – large or small, employee and job seeker Even more critical for job seeker

9. Proof positive. From a small business perspective, I am my own testimony. And so are my clients. Just ask those attending the Social Media Club of Richmond

10. Random stats… 54% of Fortune 100 companies are choosing Twitter as social network platform of choice Of top global brands, media and technology companies ENGAGE in social media much more than lagging financial services segment

11. Engagement = increased financial performance Source: The World’s Most Valuable Brands: Who’s most engaged? Wetpaint & Altimeter. http://engagementdb.com July 2009 Revenue Growth (last 12 mos.) Gross Margin Growth (last 12 mos.) Net Margin Growth (last 12 mos.) Mavens Mavens Mavens Butterflies Butterflies Selectives Selectives Butterflies Selectives Wallflowers Wallflowers Wallflowers

12. Twitter?(growing the fastest of all sn’s) What’s this thing called

13. Twitter and social media growth From Forrester Research… In last year, young people almost universally used social media. Only 3 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds do not use social tools online. What is driving growth? Use among those 35 to 54 jumped 60 percent in last year. Half of online adults in U.S. interact on social networks and more than three-fourths used social media in the last month. The number of adults who joined social networks last year grew almost 50 % from the year before. Today, only 18 percent of online adults do not use social tools, down from 25 percent last year. TWITTER ALONE http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/26/why-adults-have-fueled-twitters-growth/

14. Twitter basics. Micro-blog @ 140 characters A real-time, short messaging service Works over multiple networks / devices Around the world, people follow the sources most relevant to them and access information via Twitter as it happens—from breaking world news to updates from businesses and friends

15. Very similar to… LinkedIn: “What are you working on now?” Facebook: “What’s on your mind?” Only that’s all it is…nothing more. Or is that all there is???

17. OrganicBlueprints.comTwitterpage. @fastcoach

18. Twitter 101 terms. Handle, i.e. @sallywitzky Tweet (140-character message) Retweet (tweeting others’ message) @reply (reply, not private) Direct Message or DM (private) Bio (important – target audience) URL (to send ppl for more info) Hashtag (#RVA, #SMCRVA)

19. Sweet tweets.

20. Hootsuite tweet statsCopy test. Know results.

21. Twitter 101 managers. Tweetdeck (most popular) Hootsuite (multi-accounts, tracking) CoTweet (esp. for larger companies) Seesmic Desktop (fun) PeopleBrowsr (more advanced) Twitterberry (Blackberry) Tweetie & TwitterFon (iPhone) Digsby (IM, eMail + social networks)

22. Digsby all-in-one

23. What do I tweet? Not your meals or where you are unless tres cool What relevant content is on your blog or on your website? Challenge yourself to engagewith others vs. always talk about you Find a style that works for you

24. @HomeInsteadRVAtweets… Relevant articles, tips & point of view RTs (retweets) others Events / activities Community partnerships Focused on RVA / local Goal: build local brand awareness & consideration to generate opportunities and targeted leads

25. What’s the use? Many reasons to tweet… To learn, fast To converse, quickly (kind of like working a room only at warp speed) To help others by promoting them To build awareness, consideration To drive traffic to blog, site, articles To show appreciation; thank publically To ENGAGE with target audience To provide customer service

26. Art of ENGAGEMENT. There is both an art and science to conversation: Listening (requires patience) Learning (keeps ‘ole ego in check) Sharing (what value do I bring?) Promoting (how can I help others) Twitter only one small puzzle piece

27. Twitter is where to get… Your news, local and global To know people better in shorter time To connect before youknow people Creates deeper conversations when you both meet; no intros needed Strange at first; much appreciated though Creates ability to know and connect with people you wouldn’t otherwise

28. Tweeting barefoot… Carrie Wilkerson @barefoot_exec or http://twitter.com/barefoot_exec 67,000 followers (her peeps) She’s tweeted over 25,000 times She knows many of them personally Very loyal brand following who buy

29. Twitter… Doesn’t replace in-person connections; makes them richer Keeps your name in the minds of others; and their names in yours Get to know each other over time…that’s the basis of any advertising/marketing campaign

31. Create Ping.fm groups to send the update where you want it to land

33. A great ad campaign… Advertising campaigns measured w/ reach, frequency and GRPs include direct mail, email, banner ads Keys to success are… Relevancy, consistency and emotional tie… whether to make one laugh or cry creates memorability and desire for product or service

34. Social marketing works the same way. Reach Are you reaching your target audience and advocates? How many followers or fans do you have? Frequency How often do you tweet? Relevancy What is your content? RU providing value? Consistency Can y0u be counted on to always provide good content?

35. But the difference is… There’s no media cost (that doesn’t mean it is free) You must consistently create content There’s the ability to converse One person or more at a time, quickly Critical piece remains: Search Engine Optimization Google “senior home care richmondva”

36. Social networking is not “holy only.” Part 1. Use as part of marketing strategy With other online efforts Paid media (Google AdWords…) Online business directories Google / Bing recommendations Blogs (have at least one; write in blocks) Websites, particularly e-commerce Events (online or off) Public Relations (the social friendly kind) Video and podcasts

37. Social networking is not “holy only.” Part 2. Use as part of marketing strategy With other offline efforts Community or industry sponsorships Events and / or trade shows Email and phone Calls Especially to current customers Direct mail Advertising, trade or general

38. LinkedIn?(most upscale demos of all sn’s) What’s this thing called

39. LinkedIn can be… A provider of SEO value Static or active; you decide. Active = frequent updates Change your status (include links); comment on others’ status updates Add books to your Amazon read list or a presentation to your SlideShare account Ask or answer question

40. Are you using LinkedIn? Add connections or introduce others Join and be active in groups Use LinkedIn profile to begin to create your multi-media VisualCV resume / online profile at http://visualcv.com/yourname

41. Lauren Solomon’s LSImage.com LinkedIn Page

42. Guy Kawasaki’s VisualCVSocial profile or resume

43. Facebook?(the largest and mother of all sn’s) What’s this thing called

44. Facebook’sstaggering stats. General Growth More than 250 million active users More than 120 million users log on to Facebook at least once each day More than two-thirds of Facebook users are outside of college The fastest growing demographic is those 35 years old and older User engagement Average user has 120 friends on the site More than 5 billion minutes are spent on Facebook each day (worldwide) More than 30 million users update their statuses at least once each day More than 8 million users become fans of Pages each day

45. Facebook’sstaggering stats. Applications More than 1 billion photos uploaded to the site each month More than 10 million videos uploaded each month More than 1 billion pieces of content (web links, news stories, blog posts, notes, photos, etc.) shared each week More than 2.5 million events created each month More than 45 million active user groups exist on the site Mobile There are more than 30 million active users currently accessing Facebook through their mobile devices. People that use Facebook on their mobile devices are almost 50% more active on Facebook than non-mobile users. There are more than 150 mobile operators in 50 countries working to deploy and promote Facebook mobile products

46. Tips for using Facebookfor business… Keep your personal profile private Use Fan page for business Integrate blog posts, Twitter updates into your FB stream Draw people back to content on your blog or website Promote others w/ relevancy

47. Integrated marketing example: Home Instead Senior Care of Richmond Virginia Just launched!

48. Home Instead Senior Careof Richmond, Virginia Photo Shoot! Two Twitter Background Pages Torsten Steinfatt @HomeInsteadRVA Teresa Steinfatt @TeresaSteinfatt Two LinkedIn accounts Facebook Fan Page Local Blog Local Website (plus corporate)

49. Two Twitter accounts.

50. Local blog @homeinsteadrva.com

51. Blog post content – Local eventhttp://homeinsteadrva.com

52. Facebook Fan page

53. Websites - local & rebranded home office

54. Plus ancillary services… FriendFeed StumbleUpon Digg Tumbler Delicious NetworkedBlogs Hootsuite Google Analytics Twellow Technorati TwitPic YouTube BlogCatalog Ping.fm SlideShare And more…(x 2)

55. PeoplePond.com/sallywitzkySEO value, online “social” biz card(recommend paid version for better SEO)

57. Write content that is relevant and makes sense to customers and prospects

58. OK to include offers and announcements

59. Include the key words for SEO value

60. Blog often, up to 3 times per week if possible

62. Parting thoughts. Social networking and social media aresimply social marketing, as opposed to traditional advertising, PR and direct response marketing The core elements of traditional don’t go away; simply shift

63. Parting thoughts. A business still requires an acquisition, retention and cross-sell strategy that includes event and product promotion The way in which a business overlays the marketing tactics to meet goals won’t change; What tactics or tools and frequency one uses will change; higher engagement tools and staff required to implement

64. Questions? Thank you. What’s on your mind?

65. Where to find me? Google Sally Witzky Twitter.com/sallywitzky Twitter.com/tractiongroup PeoplePond.com/sallywitzky Find me on peoplepond and find me everywhere sally@tractiongroup.com 804.402.0804 TractionGroup.com