Sscc2

Create Momentum in

your Marketing with

Social Networking

Angela Rutzick October 6, 2009

prepared for the South Shore Chamber of Commerce

www.a-type.com

Some Social NetworkingTools

! Blogs

! Online Communities

! Forums / Discussion Boards

! Content Aggregators

! Social Bookmarking

It’s Here to Stay

! Eight in ten Americans are now online

"Yet, only 5-10% of marketing budgets are allocated to

social media

"Social network users represent 67% of all internet

users

! The fastest growing digitally mature industries

include:

"Technology, financial services, travel subscription

media & retail

Consumers

— the New Marketer

! Web 2.0 tools have upgraded their voice power

! Consumers are now Prosumers

(producer + consumer)

The New Marketer

—Technopologist?

!Technologist, sociologist and psychologist

!Usage behavior — watch and observe

What Will it Do for Me?

! Keep current with new trends

! Meet other like-minded individuals

! Expand opportunities / increase visibility

! Exchange ideas / find answers

! Establish yourself as an expert in your field

! Boost referral marketing efforts

! Free publicity, testimonials and reviews

And my Business…! Engage customers

! Improve customer understanding of products& services

! Increase customer satisfaction

! Bring referrals and recommendations

! Attract new employees

! Strengthen and enlarge your network of vendorsand partners

! Create evangelists

Facebook — Not Just for Kids

! Quickly becoming a powerful business tool

! Geared to using your profile page as a home

page for information being brought to you

! Facebook is usually an older audience with

more income

My Space

! Generally younger audience without deep

pockets

! Environment is one where you primarily visit

page of others as opposed to having info

brought to you

YouTube

! Upload and share video clips and across the

Internet through websites, mobile devices,

blogs, and email

Linked In

! Business site representing over

150 industries

! Find jobs / Recruit staff

! Research competitors

! Make business connections

Twitter

! Fastest growing social networking site

! Users send and receive tweets

! Follow and be followed

Blogs

! Search engines love blogs

! Link a blog to your website

! Respond to other blogs

! Write commentaries

! Hire a “ghost blogger”

Search Blogs on

Specific Topics

! technorati.com

! http://Blogsearch.google.com

! www.icerocket.com

LinkedIn

! Reconnect/Re-engage

! Strengthen relationships

! Find jobs and recruit employees

! Find resources for your customers & business

! Gather information

! Give and receive recommendations

! Get introduced to prospects

! Upload presentations and other documents

Create your Profile

! Decide what will be public information

! Complete your background

LinkedIn Blog

Upload applications to give more power to your page.

Always read the rules and be ready to

adhere to them before signing up.

Creating a Business Page

! Pick a business category

! Add information – similar to profile build

! Publish page

! Be sure to become a fan of your own page

! Invite others to become fans

! Write a ‘what’s happening note’

! Add applications (you can allow Twitter and

LinkedIn to receive updates)

! Post upcoming events / announcements

Creating a

Business Page

Market an event

on your “brand”

page.

Upload

presentations

and/or PDF files.

Upload videos

and photos

Event Marketing

— Drive Demand

! Direct mail as a starting point

! Boost registration though social media

! Create a special page on which you can put the

details and collect RSVPs

! Special introductory offer (use a code so you

can track where responses are coming from)

Members wanted

more from the current

website.

Industry Wiki

Forum

E-Learning

Surveys/Studies

Bookstore

Video

RSS Feed

Webinars

Job Bank

/

A meeting

planner

creates a

community

within a

website.

Blog gives members a voice

in upcoming conference.

LinkedIn helps find

appropriate Speakers

Post sample presentations ofprospective speakers via

YouTube

RSS feed is added to let

members know as new

information is received

Twitter helps keep members

updated while on the go

Post - Event Activities

! Invite attendees to join a group — create a

community

! Add a link to Flickr or other photo application

where attendees can upload photos

! Rally people around a cause

Results

! Increase in registration

! Execution: save money

! Collect hundreds of customer references

! Follow up – increase in leads, lowers

cost per lead

Blogs help take Brand

Awareness to Advocacy

! Collaborate with customers on product

development, service enhancement and

promotion

! Learn more about customer lifestyles.

Solicit opinions Learn about your audience

Establish price points

Traditional Approach: Focus Group

New Approach: Social MediaPoll consumers online using free analytic tools and surveys.

Collaborate with

customers on product

development, service

enhancement and

promotion

Learn more about

customer lifestyles.

By creating an online community

with “mommy blogs”, the mothers

connected to discuss options for

eyewear protection for their

children…. but they also found

common ground discussing their

home life and child rearing

problems.

Better understanding of price points

Insight for future products

Customers trust each other’s opinions

Interaction with the customer about their products led the

company to start developing prototypes for lighting fixtures.

Online Focus Groups

Keeping track of alumni and documenting their progress and

successes after leaving the program helped this non-profit

generate funding for future programs.

Widgets and Applications

Successful

viral

marketing

increase

Office Max

sales

Factors contributing to failure: No clear

way to invite friends, or view globes that

friends created. Instructions were too

long. No response from Sony’s agency.

Be Prepared…

! Take the good with the bad

! Be prepared to handle responses

! Never ignore an unfavorable comment

Why will they come?

! Provide incentives — both tangible and intangible

" Tangible — money, free samples, coupons

" Intangible — play on consumers’ emotions

! Create community

! Peer recognition

Recruit & Engage

Employees

! Carefully select employees to write blogs

"Social networking skills

"Shares company vision

"Knowledgeable about services and products

From Push Marketing to

Conversational Marketing

! Persuade don’t sell

! Be part of the conversation

! Facilitate

! Listen and respond to customers

What’s the Word

! You can’t completely control what’s being saidbut you can participate

! Find out who is “talking” about you Google Search Google Alerts

! Get notifiedwww.trackle.comwww.yacktrack.com

! www.yelp.com

How do I measure success?

! Number of referrals

! Site traffic / visitors

! Audience participating - quality of conversations

! Blog comments

! Content sharing (ie., email forwards)

! Follows, friends & fans

! Profile views

! Wall posts

Tips for Success

! Always use customer focused messages

! Take into consideration your overall marketingplan.

! Integrate traditional and online marketing toensure consistency across all media

! Simplify your efforts. Focus on the big picture.

! Reference: The New Rules of Marketing and PRby David Meerman Scott

Be Digital Savvy

! Align yourself with

"technology

"the right talent

"a company’s whose culture is progressive

! Create partnerships with agencies, media

companies and social media “technopologists”

Challenging Times Bring

Opportunities

Prepare Now…

! Develop new tools

! Time to reevaluate your Business

! Learn new skills to deliver more services to your

customers/clients

! Build a great team

Never Under Estimate

its Power

A campaign is short-term. A relationship with a

customer is meant to be long-term.