Get a view of the current and future landscape of social media trends, benefits, and tools. The social media universe is vast and constantly changing. Understanding which platforms are best for you to connect and engage with customers and prospects is critical. This session will introduce you to some of the most popular social networks and tools in use today and provide insight as to where these tools are moving. What does the landscape of social media look like in the near and long term? How can small businesses and organizations harness the power of these social platforms in a meaningful way to drive real business results? What tools and approaches are going stand the test of time? Learn the answers to these questions and more!

1. Presenting Brian Solis
“The State of Social Media”
It’s Time To Go Social!

2. Mark Schmulen
General Manager of Social Media
Constant Contact
Email: mschmulen@constantcontact.com
Blog: http://blogs.constantcontact.com/
mschmulen
@mschmulen
markschmulen
Welcome!

3. www.constantcontact.com/socialmedia
We’re Making Social Simple

4. Join The Twitter Chat
CCSMM
http://tweetchat.com/room/ccsmm

5. @briansolis
TheBrianSolis
BrianSolisTV
Meet Brian Solis

6. What is Social Media Marketing?
• An introduction to a new “type” of consumer
• A window into the thoughts and experiences of
customers
• Insight into new channels and incentives to
reach and motivate customers
• A dedicated approach that complements existing
marketing practices
• An opportunity to connect with prospects and
customers to build meaningful relationships
• The ability to turn social networking into
commerce, loyalty, and advocacy

7. Social vs. Traditional Marketing
Social Marketing
• Social
Reviews/Ratings
• Conversations
• Networking
• Advertising
• Group couponing
• Checking-in
• Web video
• Word of Mouth
Traditional Marketing
• Reviews
• Local directories
• Online guides
• Advertising
– Cable/Local/Broadcas
t
• Mail/Email
• Lists
• Coupons/Flyers
• Display
• Word of Mouth

8. Social vs. Traditional Marketing

9. Social vs. Traditional Marketing

10. What are the Benefits of SMM?
• A greater community of advocates who engage
online and in the real world
• Insight into developing better products and
services
• Platforms to communicate value, expertise and
differentiation
• Empathy…the ability to feel a consumer
experience and to live a “day in the life of”
• Increased social capital online and stature offline
• New customers and commerce
• Goodwill, recognition, reciprocity

12. Social media adoption among U.S.
small businesses doubled in the
past year from 12% to 24%

15. Facebook

16. Twitter

17. The State of Popular Social Networks
Facebook has over
500MM users
Mobile has over 100MM users
YouTube is the world’s second
largest search engine
Over 9B streams per month
Twitter has over 160MM
registered users with over
100MM tweets a day
Foursquare has 3.5MM users
adding 20,000+ every day

18. If a
Conversation
Takes Place
Online &
You’re Not
There to
Hear It,
Did It
Really Happen?

19. It’s not what you say, it’s what
they say that counts.
Engagement steers perception and
experiences, drives word of mouth, and
increases sales…

20. Customers Become
Your Advertisers

22. 63% of small businesses
say word-of-mouth
marketing is the most
effective way to market
their business and find
new customers

23. 80% of consumers stated that
following a brand on Twitter results
in referrals

25. 60% of online shoppers already use social
media sites and networks regularly

26. 56% of those online
shoppers friend or follow
retailers…
Hello, are you there?

27. Why do consumers follow
businesses online?
1. Affinity
2. Allegiance
3. Invitations to special events
4. Exclusive offers/promotions

29. Facebook is Your Brand’s New Website
in Social Media

30. The Wall is “The Conversation” and a
Source of the Social Effect

31. Tabs are the “Web Pages” for
Facebook

32. F-Commerce (Generate Revenue)

33. Custom Tabs/Applications Encourage
Interaction

34. Photos Bring Your Business to Life

35. Twitter Connects You to the Now Web

36. Search Uncovers Experiences and
Opportunities

37. Influencers Drive Activity

38. FourSquare Connects Online + Offline

39. Special Offers Drive

40. Mayors are Your New Ambassadors

41. Tips Help Consumers Enliven Your
Business and Everything Around It

42. Introduce a Click to Action
Customers are Rewarded by
You to Encourage Interaction

43. • Most recent visitors
• Most frequent visitors
• Times of day for
check-ins
• Number of unique
visitors
• Histogram of daily
check-ins
• Gender
• Check-ins also
broadcast to Twitter
and Facebook
Learn More About Who’s
Checking-In

44. Blogs Are Your Place to Shine
• Demonstrates expertise and what makes you special
• Boosts SEO
• Guides decisions
• Helps consumers gain insight and answers

45. Establish Expertise and Leadership

46. Establish Expertise and Leadership

47. Blogging Tips
• Brand the blog as an extension of the site or as a
distinct entity
– Yourdomain.com/blog
– BriansTipsforSmallBiz.com
• Demonstrate expertise
• Use posts to help people answer questions or
make decisions
• Keep it relevant, not commercial
• Make it a hub for all you share on the social web
– Videos
– Pictures
– Deals
• Connect posts to other bloggers
• Pitch your stories!

48. YouTube Brings Your Story to Life

49. Thought Leadership and Expertise

50. Embeds Expand Reach and Your Story

51. Social Video Tips
• Customize a channel on YouTube
• Title, tag, and describe each video with
important keywords
• Engage inside and out of the YouTube Network
– Promote your videos in other mediums and networks
• Use the free analytics tools
• Make your videos useful and informative
– Keep a rhythm
– Quality is key
• Feature customers

53. Review Sites: Listen, Learn and
Become Part of the Process

54. Reviews Tell Your Story…How Will You
Shape them?

55. Reviews are Pervasive…

56. They Also Reveal Opportunities to
Improve Experiences

58. Craig Stoll, co-owner of
Pizzeria Delfina in San
Francisco, outfits his servers
in T-shirts emblazoned with
quotes from the restaurant's
harshest critics. A diner may
be greeted by a waitress
wearing a shirt proclaiming,
"This place sucks."
Eric Kirsammer, owner of
Quimby's Bookstore in
Chicago, avoids engaging his
critics openly online. Instead,
Kirsammer uses negative
reviews as a tool to improve
customer service.
Sarah Dunbar, owner of Pretty
Penny, a vintage clothing
boutique in Oakland,
California, makes a point of
responding privately to each
critical review.

59. Social Commerce Creates a Frenzy

60. Your Keys to Success in
Social Media

61. Top 10 Ways to Excel in Social Media
10. Competitive intelligence
9. Insight and performance
8. Development of relationships through engagement
7. Lead generation
6. Customer service
5. Coupons/Discounts/Promotion
4. Acquiring followers and growing communities
3. eCommerce
2. Increasing awareness and demand
1. Word of mouth

62. Special Offers
• California Tortilla (@caltort), a chain of
39 Mexican restaurants based in
Rockville, MD, sends coupon
passwords via Twitter
– Customers must say at checkout to redeem
the offer
• Chris Manna’s Woodhouse Day Spa
tweets special discounts and offers
for massages and manicures everyday
– Twitter is a popular source of new
customers

63. Sales
• Coffee Groundz (@coffeegroundz) uses the direct
message channel on Twitter to receive and
prepare orders
• Reports 20 to 30% increased sales and market
share

64. Word of Mouth Marketing
• Moonfruit offered 10 Macbook Pros and iPod
Touches to celebrate its 10th anniversary
– $15,000 investment
• Contestants were asked to send tweets using
the hashtag #moonfruit to enter the competition
– Randomness was encourage
• One month later, site traffic was up 300% and
sales increased by 20%
• Landed on the first results page on Google for
“free website builder”

65. Customer Service
• MightyLeaf Tea uses Facebook
and GetSatisfaction to answer
customer questions
• United Linen in Bartlesville,
Okla. manages expectations via
Twitter
– When a major snowstorm hit the
area, UL used Twitter to let
customers know deliveries would
be delayed

66. Direct Sales
• Brian Simpson (@BSIMI) helped The Roger Smith
in New York monitor dialogue related to NY hotel
stays and travel
• Offers specials to attract new guests
• Uses Twitter search to identify prospects and
offer them a 10 percent discount on the lowest-
rate rooms
• Twitter and other forms of social media have
netted between $15,000 to $20,000 in additional
revenue

67. Mobile and Geo Location Marketing
• Local businesses use social tools
to identify customers within the
area
• Kogi (LA) and The Crème Brulee
Cart (SF)broadcast mobile locations
and offers
– Each stop is greeted by lines of
customers
• Kogi is now considered the world’s
first “viral eatery” and has over
76,000 followers
• @cremebruleecart has over 14,000
followers

68. Advice, Help, Direction
• @homedepot seeks individuals who are
tackling home projects to offer tips and
instructions
• BestBuy’s @Twelpforce helps consumers
with decisions related to consumer
electronics
• H&R Block helps people seeking tax and
finance advice
• @NAKEDPizza offers advice, answers
questions, related and unrelated to pizza
– Twitter made “the cash register ring”
• The Wydler Brothers Realty Team offers
insights in the Washington, D.C. market

69. Events
• Coffee Groundz hosts "tweetups”
– Attracts hundreds of customers
• RedWire, an online collaboration provider, uses
Twitter to spread the word about Wired
Wednesdays
– A weekly gathering of entrepreneurs looking to share
ideas
• Milwaukee burger joint AJ Bombers hosts
Tweetups and FourSquare events to get
customers Tweeting and Checking-in

70. Rewards
• Berry Chill (@YogiJones) uses “Sweet
Tweets” to reward its followers with
free yogurts
• Monique’s Chocolates in Palo Alto
acquired 50 new customers and over
100 redemptions for a special “buy one
get one” for truffles via FourSquare
– Redemptions converted into 25% repeat
business
– Compared to an ad in a local paper, it earned
1 new customer for the cost of $300

71. Bringing the Experience to Life
• Umi Restaurant in San Francisco tweets
about the fresh fish of the night with
colorful hunger-inducing descriptions
– Gets five new customers a night from Twitter
• Scott Seaman’s Bed and Breakfast
operates in a town of 1,500 residents
– Uses TweetDeck to talk to people who tweet
with keywords related to this business
– Shares experiences to lure new customers

72. A 360 Approach to
Social Media

73. Tom Bihn: A Look at a Complete
Approach
• Seattle-based Tom Bihn is a small business that
makes and sells travel bags
– Competes against very big companies
• Uses social media and engagement spur word of
mouth
• Uses profiles in multiple networks to connect
with customers and prospects
• “Anytime a company is given more ways to
directly communicate with customers, it’s an
opportunity for growth”

74. Tom Bihn: Blogs
• Blog provides a centralized
source for information
• Features customer stories
• Spotlights real world use
• Solves problems and answers
questions through posts
• Demonstrates expertise

75. Tom Bihn: Flickr
• Not just a catalog
• Showcases products and uses
– Packing techniques and tips
• Involves customers in feedback and design
– Creates products based on insight
• Tagging, describing and titling pictures helps
them show up in customer searches

76. Tom Bihn: Facebook
• Invites people to join them on Facebook
• Interacts with the community
• Offers specials/deals
• Shares reviews
• Spotlights customers
• Hosts scheduled chats to answer questions

77. Tom Bihn: YouTube
• Shares videos of products and demonstrates
usefulness
• Uses “story telling” to describe products

78. Tom Bihn: Twitter
• Includes a nice mix of
– Retweets
– Customer experiences
– Company mentions
– Thank you messages for customers
– Announcements of new products and updates
– Travel regulation notices from the Transportation Safety
Administration
– Links and photos from the company’s blog

80. Use keywords related to your business (not just company & competitor names
Local merchants…include location in your search

81. Research

83. Run a search for keywords in Facebook to see what turns up

86. Engage outside of
your domains

87. Word of Mouth doesn’t work,
tell everyone you know

90. Reach Out to Bloggers and
Tastemakers
• Find bloggers who write about your space or
related experiences
• Assess their “angle”
• Create a story that’s special to them
• Package an experience that inspires them to
share with their audience
• Create “social objects” that help them tell their
story
– Video
– Pictures
– Customer story

91. A Word About Your Website

92. Website 2.0
• Social media is only part of the story
• The website is a reflection of your business and
quality of service/products
• You only get “one click” to make a first
impression
• Complement your social activities with a site
that completes the experience
• Make it easy to buy
• Make it easy to contact you
• Include links to social presences

93. Learn from the
Source

94. Communications Tools/Dashboards

95. Learn from the
Source
NutshellMail Email Alerts

96. Learn from the
Source
Engagement Dashboards

97. Learn from the
Source

98. Learn from the
Source

100. Identify ways to provide
value…

102. Become the people we
want to reach…

103. #ThisisYourTime

105. @briansolis
www.briansolis.com
www.future-works.com
http://bit.ly/engageme
http://bit.ly/prbook
www.nowisgone.com

106. Join Our Live Twitter Chat
Friday
October 15, 2010
11:00 a.m. ET
CCSMM
http://tweetchat.com/room/ccsmm

107. www.constantcontact.com/socialmedia
We’re Making Social Simple