This document discusses social media strategies for businesses. It defines social media as content created by people using accessible publishing technologies to connect and form relationships. It provides best practices for social media strategies, including developing an audience-focused strategy aligned with business goals, creating engaging "killer" content in various formats, listening to audiences, ongoing community management, and measuring results. Case studies of Edmunds.com, Sony, and BreakingPoint Systems demonstrate how their social media presences increased engagement, sales, and customer loyalty. The document concludes by advising businesses to get started with social media by listening to customers, aligning social efforts with goals, gaining legal approval, participating on social platforms, engaging with customers, creating quality content, and

1. Social Media – Where it Works in Business and Does it Fit in Automotive? October 14, 2009

2. What We’ll Cover What is social? What isn’t social Best practices Strategy Listening Great content Ongoing management / fostering of conversation Measurement Case studies Edmunds Sony Breaking Point Systems Getting started

4. Expertise in marketing, social strategy & community development

5. Full-service consulting & execution

7. What is Social Media?

8. It Feels Like it’s All About the Tools… Image courtesy Brian Solis

9. Definition According to Wikipedia Social media: content created by people using highly accessible and scalable publishing technologies. At its most] basic sense, social media is a shift in how people discover, read and share news, information and content. […] Social media has become extremely popular because it allows people to connect in the online world to form relationships for personal and business. […]

10. The REALLY Important Words Social media: content created by people using highly accessible and scalable publishing technologies. At its most] basic sense, social media is a shift in how people discover, read and share news, information and content. […] Social media has become extremely popular because it allows people to connect in the online world to form relationships for personal and business. […]

11. What isn’t Social Media?

12. This is NOT Social

13. This is ALSO Not Social

14. Nor is this Social

15. Some Best Practices

16. In “social,” there are2critical factors that separate: This…. & THIS Audience-focused Strategy It’s not about you. It’s about them. Killer Content NOT: ‘copy,’ messaging, press releases, product demos

18. Content map (what, where, how often, by whom)

19. User experience

20. Calls to action

21. Development plan

22. Social syndication & promotion

24. Content: Diversify based on audience needs Sample subject: Running Subject Breadth article tutorial video workshop Subject Depth If you don’t know your audience’s preferences, start small and test - or just ask them.

25. Content: The 7 commandments To create killer content, thou shalt….. never (ever, ever, ever) create infomercials. align content strategy to (community) business objectives. be realistic about the community’s propensity to contribute content and commune. offer depth and breadth of content topics. acknowledge differences in learning styles and diversify formats. keep the content fresh and relevant but create (some) content that will have a long life. listen to your audience and optimize to meet their needs.

26. Successful communities must be nurtured February 2008 Forrester: “Online Community Best Practices”

28. % More likely to purchase

29. % Planning to purchase

30. Community registrations

31. E-mail opt-ins

32. Time per visit

33. % more likely to recommend your brand

34. Community referrals

35. Social syndication

36. Actual online transactions & revenue

37. Reported purchases

38. % return visitors

39. % retention year to year

40. Share of household/wallet

41. Planned brand purchasesContent optimization measures: Views, clicks on calls-to-action, ratings, survey feedback

42. How About a Few Case Studies?

43. Edmunds.com Case Study Good example of a dealership using Dealer Ratings & Reviews. They regularly send out emails to new customers asking them to write a review. They currently have 22 sales reviews and 2 service reviews

44. Edmunds.com Case Study Where many salespeople engaging in conversations (not soliciting but really helping people understand pricing and packages). There are customers that actually go out of state to buy from a salesperson who's been a regular helper in the Forums. People go with who they trust!

45. Edmunds.com Case Study Customers can see profiles of the other customers or sales people from whom they are getting answers

47. Direct leads resulting from online relationship building

51. 34% growth in member registration / 31% increase in unique visits

52. 179% more repeat visits

53. 78% of users report that they are more likely to purchase a Sony product as a result of Backstage 101

55. Opportunity to engage in conversations with other customers & Sony employees

58. Triple digit growth in 2009

59. Loyal base of advocates

62. Getting Started

63. Getting Started Listen – what are your customers saying? Where are they saying it (think: Google Alerts, Radian6, Techrigy, BuzzGain) Align – What do you want to use social for? Customer research? Sales? Product innovation. Make sure your social efforts align with your corporate goals Include – Make sure you get Legal/Compliance on board early and often. They can help you guide & craft your social policy. Join – are your customers on Facebook? Twitter? Get Satisfaction? Sign up (but learn the etiquette first). Engage – Talk to your customers, prospects, partners and even detractors. Create – Don’t forget the “Killer Content.” Measure – Ignore this step at your peril. You may be doing a great job but you’ll never know if you don’t measure.

64. THANK YOU! Aaron Strout CMO, Powered Inc. Blog: http://blog.stroutmeister.com Twitter: http://twitter.com/aaronstrout E-mail: aaron.strout@powered.com