Freestyle Interactive (Andy Wood & Angel Gibbons), speaking at the 2011 Oxford Brookes University lectures on social media for business.

1. Social Media Marketing Oxford Brookes Lectures

2. Brand sites are part of a much bigger landscape Forums, blogs, media & review sites, social media Anyone can publish content & have a voice If it’s relevant to enough people… It will gain momentum AND affect Google results! The Digital Landscape has changed…

3. Media Fragmentation Direct Mail Print & Press Brand Website Forums & Review sites Blogs Media sites Banners Email PPC/ SEO Affiliates

5. Content tailored to different audiences Twitter - 1.7m followers Foursquare - 260,000 followers Facebook - 25.5m Likes Instagram - 160,000 followers App – More than 3 million customers paid through the app YouTube - 7m views

6. Multi platform approach.Mobile, social, geo-location & photo. Early adopter experiments with new platforms like Instagram & Foursquare. Content specific to each platform & audience.Think about what the audience wants e.g. Twitter for customer service, Instagram for high quality photos & Foursquare for loyalty rewards. Engages & listens to the customer rather than broadcasting at them. Use offline stores to promote their social activity – free WiFi, rewards loyalty/check-ins. Why does Starbucks Social Media work?

7. John Lewis SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY

8. John Lewis on Twitter Supports conversation with engaging content – user generated content in video, images, blogs. Open & transparent response to complaints. Fast response time. P2P conversation. Engaging with audience, listening to @mentions & RT’ing positive tweets Broad content focus – e.g. using National Literacy week to promote childrens books & content

9. Content: John Lewis has a healthy balance of content creation and curation. Utilises a wealth of rich and engaging video and photo content – doesn’t sell with prices/deals but with content. Tone: The tone of the Twitter account is personable and friendly, avoids being too brand focussed and feels like an actual person (helps create better relationships with the customers) Timing: Regularly updated and responds to queries and complaints quickly, but at the same time doesn’t over-tweet and flood customers timelines. John Lewis formula for success @johnlewisretail Tweets: 2264 Following: 7,567 Followers: 11,728 Klout: 60 56% positive sentiment 23% negative sentiment (Social Media Monitoring tool Brandwatch)

10. Illegal Jacks SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY

11. 48% of small and medium enterprises (SME’s) use social networks to help establish future growth for their business Mexican restaurant in Edinburgh ‘Illegal Jacks’ that incorporates Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare to market their brand and speak directly to customers: SME: Illegal Jacks restaurant 2,934 Likes 2,919 Followers 2,057 Check-ins

12. BUT it isn’t about the numbers game, it’s the content they use to engage their community. LEFT: Great example of community engagement – suggest an idea, earn feedback and then act on that. This makes the community feel more affinity to the business. Don’t force content, don’t shout – converse. Create an engaging community and you’ll create an engaged customer/brand advocate. Engage with your community

13. Have conversations Don’t talk about yourself – listen to others – ask your customer what they want. Keep talking – don’t fall victim to a half-dead Twitter feed/Facebook page. Reward loyalty from customers who help raise your profile Be honest, friendly and helpful – treat social media as you would treat a customer in store. Lessons to learn, be social!

14. NatWest SOCIAL MEDIA CHAOS!

15. Social media chaos Fail to secure brand – NatWest have failed to secure the @natwest account, which is owned by a 21 year old which leaves them open to a potential PR disaster. Account is increasingly mistaken for the bank: Confusion – NatWest have fragmented their social presence into 14 different accounts based on region and past marketing campaigns, thereby confusing the user and this creates doubt about the validity/security of these accounts. No cohesive strategy in place. ?

16. Inactive, confusing & broadcast NatWest broadcasting No engagement - Content from regional accounts is broadcast, infrequent and only ever brand promotion. Failure to listen - NatWest doesn’t appear to employ active listening, as such complaints and queries are ignored. Negative response - According to Brandwatch, 63% of all mentions in relation to NatWest are negative. Brandjacked NatWest account Angry customers left unanswered

17. Business context

18. Manage TNT’s online reputation during fulfillment of iPad & iPhone. Provide a round the clock customer service through social channels and a programme of monitoring, customer outreach & engagement, crisis planning reputation and SERPs management

26. In crisis…Lufthansa

27. In Crisis…BP } Branded PPC }Social Properties }News Sites } Videos (non-brand) }Brand .Com

28. Owning the search page!

29. Topman – T-Shirt Design Case Study

30. Issue Topman’s clothing range included t-shirts with ironic slogans General public felt the slogans were offensive and criticised Social media was where the criticism started

31. Response

32. Topman issued an official statement – within 24hrs Apologising Taking responsibility Taking action Thanking Reputation Management

33. Twitter Timeline Women’s rights and pressure groups pick the story up. 14th 09.06. Story Tweeted by influential comedian. RT 200+ times 13.20 First tweet 13th 21.52 266 Tweets referring to Topman and T-shirts 14.31 22.40 Design site created parodies of shirts. RT 271 times Guardian journalists tweet story 11,000+ followers

34. Don’t underestimate the little guy Started by one person with 435 followers Pushed on by pressure groups and individual journalists Active community management & monitoring integral to make quick informed decisions in the face of PR mishaps Topman are pro-active listeners in social media channels Brand clearly deployed a crisis management plan Quick communication links between community managers and key decision makers Reacted quickly & effectively to mitigate Lessons

35. Barriers to change?

36. Social Media & Big Business

37. Unsure of what investment to make & how to measure ROI Lack of experience Lack of benchmarks Lack of staff Inability to specify infrastructure Inability to train staff No business process Why big business has been slow to SMM

38. Often Crisis! - Product or service issue that explodes online - Effects SERPs - Impacts on brand reputation Once you’ve seen the power of social to create & resolve crisis issues, it’s easier to understand the positive opportunities Drivers for getting involved

39. ROI Understand that social is a relationship channel… sCRM Brand affinity Reduced marketing spend Increased rev over time (lifetime value)

40. Know your business objectives Understand your audience People engage with themes, topics & issues, not brands (there are exceptions!) Think about how you can add value to your audience communities? If you don’t have interesting, useful, engaging content, you can’t build relationships Social media cuts across business function, your audience consider your brand online as one entity Search is heavily influenced by social media activity Understand your influencers & treat them with respect Remember you don’t own the channel, you’re a voice in a community Dialogue & collaboration NOT broadcast Top 10 key principles

41. Twitter: @1AndyWood Blog: blog.freestyleinteractive.co.uk, andywoodsblog.com Facebook: facebook.com/freestyleinteractive Website: freestyleinteractive.co.uk