A look at successful social media implementation, strategy, maintenance, and analysis

1. Social Media in Marketing How the Internet is shaping future marketing

2. What is social media? Social Media is non-traditional marketing practice of letting others spread a marketing message for you.

3. What qualifies as social media? Blogs - E-Blogger, Wordpress Forums - Yahoo Groups Media - YouTube, Flickr Micro-Blogs - Twitter Reviews - Gear Junkie, Epinions Social Networking - Linked In, MySpace, Facebook Data Organizing/Bookmarking - Digg, Technorini, Wikipedia Co-Created Content – Second Life, My Idea

4. Why would businesses use social media?“One in five tweets is brand-related” External use: PR Credibility (become the expert) Announce sales/product releases Immediate news feed Obtain customer feedback Internal use: Platform for disseminating information to distant or telecommute employees

5. What are the benefits of social media? Establishes credibility / trust Puts a “voice” to the brand Educates consumers Targeted, intimate audience Gain unsolicited endorsements from others Personalized relationship Creates ambassadors Low Cost Stimulates sales

6. What are the downsides of social media? Little control over the message Permanent record Little understood by businesses

7. What should I know before I jump in?50% of Social Media Campaigns Fail Misunderstanding of what social media is and how to use it Controlling content Unwillingness to be transparent (pretending to be something your not) Misleading or lying Unethical behavior (posting own reviews, paid bloggers/tweets) Only talking about self Lack of commitment to posting / follow through Lack of understanding of own customer and corporate culture (interns vs. professionals)

8. What are Ruff Wear’s social media practices? Dog Blog Establish credibility as industry expert Facebook Customer service, consumer research, brand loyalty Twitter News feed, announcements Flickr Build community You Tube Build community, customer service LinkedIn Networking

9. How do I connect with an audience on social media? Subscribe to others blogs/microblogs Reference back Build links / pingbacks Engage those who are already talking about your products/services Engage connectors Polls PPC / Advertising

10. What makes good content?Easy, Interesting, Targeted, Credible Have a platform (stance) Don’t just talk about self Give proprietary info Cater to audience Update regularly Team up Respond to comments Track popular posts Good Keywords Make pages accessible to one-another

11. What is a Blog?“Social Media Articles” Terms to understand: Pingbacks Dashboard Click Through RSS Feed / Subscribe Posts Tags Keywords Referrer Avatar

12. What is Facebook?“Social Media Email” Terms to understand: Page Friend Fan Wall Friend Request Notification Ads

15. What’s in the future for social media? Micro-blogs to replace older forms of media Newspapers Blogs Email Integration of multi-media platforms Computer, television, cell-phone, MP3 “Bubbly” Consumer will seek out non-pay-for-play options Increasing popularity of (geographical and like-interest) community-based media Foursquare, Loopt

16. Questions?