• Delmarva Native• Milford, DE• 20 Years in E-
commerce and Digital Marketing
It’s Great To Be Home
After 17 years away
I’m here to tell my story
Today’s audience spans a wide range.
400+ Attendees!
This can’t be one size fits all• Not a list of silver bullets• Personal lessons• Foundational experiences
Set the tone for a rewarding day of discussions!
An Age of Disruption: By The Numbers
Forrester’s social media ad forecast
If it feels like everyone is on Facebook, it’s because they practically are
Source: 2017 Edelman Trust Barometer
Source: 2017 Edelman Trust Barometer
13 years ago 11 years ago
Google “Collaborative Economy Honeycomb”
“The Uber/Airbnb of…”EducationWellness/BeautyMunicipalMoneyGoodsHealth CareSpaceFoodWorkforce
LogisticsServicesUtilitiesMobilityVehicle SharingPlatformsSupply ChainAnalyticsStorage
“WE’LL DO IT OURSELVES”
Companies have to work harder than ever to earn trust.
*There is still faith in the possibility
© 2016 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited 19
Social Stars
Demand social interaction with companies. Stars consider social media one of their first choices for interactions with companies
Social SavviesExpect social interactions with companies. Savvies consider social tools to be an everyday part of their lives
Social Snackers
Appreciate social interactions with companies. Snackers don’t shy away from branded social interactions, but they don’t seek them out.
Social Skippers
Spurn social interactions with companies. Skippers prefer to interact with companies through established channels.
31%
27%
20%
22%
Customers want you to connect with themon social media
78%
© 2016 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited 22© 2014 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited 22
Social networks are the preferred place for all customer social activity
Not your properties.
Now for some real disruption.
“ALL GROWTH FROM MOBILE”
Real mobile impact: People are talking with photos
Evan Spiegal
Google his video “What Is Snapchat”
• Film was expensive • Important moments• Identity = curation• “Everything I’ve ever done”• …That’s Facebook.
Photos were about saving memories
• Mobile photos are free. Instant. Disposable.
• We can take pictures constantly
• Identity has become “Who I am right now”
• …That’s SnapChat.
Now, photos are for… talking.
It’s happening with videos
Lesson #1: It’s Only The Beginning
Lessons over 20 years
Early Lesson: Small brands can innovate faster
• Director of E-commerce ‘98-’06• 125-year old catalog company• Innovative culture - plant breeder
Burpee Seeds - 1998
Online catalog archive Gets national attention
Easy win… 17 years ago…
• Customers sent us family photos.
• Built an online gallery, “Burpee Neighbors”
Instant and genuine community
• Embraced new social media –RSS product feeds
• NY Times• Relationship with
Dick Costello…
Burpee Seeds - RSS
The network you build now, pays off later.
• Launched product reviews • Client #4• Changed the worst to best-selling
product by LISTENING to reviews• BazaarVoice now has 5,000 clients• Burpee became known as launch partner
Burpee Seeds – 2006
Small brands are great launch partners and
innovators.
Be yourself…tell your story… your audience will find you
• Sr. Marketing Manager ‘06-’08
• Home shopping network
• Brand lagged behind the culture
• Gem experts
Jewelry Television - 2006
• Launched a blog• Office culture drove social media• Product reviews (again) • Social drove a brand that was more
than television could show.• High-end gem collectors LOVE JTV
Jewelry Television - 2008
Telling your brand story, like Burpee and JTV... Still
matters.
• Sr. Director of Marketing• 13M Facebook fans• 3M Instagram followers• 900k Twitter followers• 1000 stores• 39,000 employees• $3.5B public company
Frequent launch partner and beta-tester.
American Eagle Outfitters: 2009-2014
Social media companies fail
…a lot.
• Proud accomplishment in 2009
• We built national campaigns around it
…#cricketschirping
1st Retailer on Foursquare
Facebook Gift Cards
• Beta opportunity• One week’s notice• Launched…
…no more Facebook Gift Cards
Facebook Check-In Deals - 2011
• Secret project• 6 months• 1000 stores• Full integration• That’s MARK
…no more check-in deals
• Facebook Tabs• Facebook Contests
• Facebook Fan-gating• Shoppable YouTube
Beyond specific tricks… properties disappear!
Social platforms operate on their own time
Google Wallet - 2011
• Launch Partner• Anyone’s guess• Drove store traffic• Word of mouth
“Top 10 Apps of 2010” – WSJ
“The most widely used shopping app in the real world in 2012” – Neilsen
ShopKick - 2010
• Few adults knew it• High touch effort• Fit the brands• Behind the scenes• Still going strong• Cemented our reputation of
innovation
SnapChat - 2013
Experience pays off.Relationships matter.
#10000hours
Social mirror is a mirror of your culture.#1 LESSON
• Clearly defined brands soar on social.• Campaigns must align with culture
• Unretouched models• Positive and heartfelt• Models loved it• In our employee DNA• In our customers’ DNA
Aerie Real Campaign - 2014
• Social media led the effort at all times
• Transformed the role of social media internally
• Withstood critics because it was real
• Continues to this day…
Aerie Real Campaign - 2014
User-generated content on Twitter and Instagram can
drive business
Sadly, not all love is real
• Social talent agencies• Instagram posts• Tweets• Pinterest boards
Influencer Marketing Is An Industry
Nothing beats earned media
Years ago with a national agency, talking Twitter…
Not everyone “likes” what they like…
• Facebook Numbers • Very few likes• Very few comments
• Tracking Link• Most clicked post
Justin Bieber Candid
Listen more
• I created an account to listen• Customer service complaints• Started fixing them• Never marketed to it…• 10k followers, 30k, 100k…
@AEO Twitter - 2009
• Employee driven account• Stories from the field…• Still there: 5,932 followers• 26k Tweets!• Instagram: 6300 followers• “No photos rule”• Did not shut it down
We did the right thing… felt great.
@AEOProblems - 2012
• AEO has 39,000 • Right demographic• Know and love the brand• “Talking with photos and videos”
Biggest win – we let them enter our model contestsNo precedent!
Remember this?
Silence Is Golden
Real Time Marketing – 2013
• Celebrity deaths• Movie premieres• Cupcake Day• Pizza Day• Donut Day• Sibling Day
Brands are not obligated to post about:
With rare exception, no one misses a brand…
Lesson: Monetization is coming
• #1 Site on internet• Charging brands a lot
A familiar story…. 2009
• Fastest growing site• FREE
Brands pack up and head to Facebook
Brands look and act like people
• Brands start bugging the property…• We need reporting• CRM and systems integration• “Evolve for marketers”
Phase 1: Product Built for Consumers
Early years on calls (across brands) reporters discuss the # of Facebook fans as a measurement of brand strength
Wall Street Starts Talking “Likes” - 2010
• Brands start to buy fans to boost their numbers…
• A race to have the most fans• Quantity over quality• Facebook likes become “table
stakes”…
Phase 2: Ads - Buy Facebook Likes
• Facebook starts to charge to reach fans
• Paid already to get the fans• Paying again to reach the fans
Part of the “innovation curve”
Phase 3: Maturity - Ad Units For Reach
Start-ups go for market share, then they monetize…
Downside = no free lunch on Facebook
We have to work harder for “earned” media… Fans decide quality, relevance, sharing.
Upside = World-class marketing platform
Phase 4 (unicorn): Mature advertising
• Email lists• Segmentation• Lookalikes• Location• Demo, etc.
Social = Direct Response
Social Audience Targeting WORKS
Forrester’s social media ad forecast
Remember this?
It’s all intertwined… social, display, data
Social media is more than cat videos. It is Ad Tech.
https://adexchanger.com/
Social has changed the way people reach websites
Source: Business Insider/Parse.ly
Facebook Driving More Site Traffic Than ALL Google Combined
Waterskiing squirrels are the enemy.
• Banner ad models depend on page views
• Publishers cave to pressure- don’t!
• “You’ll never believe what happens…”
Social referral dependency = clickbait
Native advertising is disrupting social media.
This is an ad for Goldman
Sachs
Source: Contently
This is an ad for Firehouse Subs
Sometimes, there IS no playbook.
Which brings us to social and legacy convergence.
• News and content• Technology platforms• Sales and revenue
WBOC – Digital Director 2014- Present
• TV = “We need 30 minutes at 6:00 PM
• Social Media = “How do we best tell each separate story?”
“TV builds shows. The web tells stories.”
• Pony swim is smack dab between AM and noon show
• Live streamed coverage to social media
• Air, land, and sea• Used the Newsplex
2016 Chincoteague Pony Swim – A First for WBOC
Lean into your strengths
WBOC Fully Integrated Facebook Live - 2016
The Full Power of WBOCStreaming LIVE on Facebook and YouTube:Control room Newsplex (six shows per day) Studio D (DelmarvaLife)Chopper 16Microwave/SAT truckTVU (mobile broadcast units)TSL 1-4 (live feeds and remotes)
Serves our community
• Tornado warnings and weather• Breaking news from Chopper 16• Sports coverage• Political convention coverage• Events and parades
The power of social media:
Dover Downs race coverage with an iPhone:Reached 560,000 people…we only have 160k fans.
Recent breaking news cut-in:178,378 minutes viewed…that’s 123 days!
Facebook Live Viewers are Locals • 90% of viewers are in Delaware, Maryland, and
Virginia• Watching from work• Across the world, at airports, and on vacation• Some are out of state second-home owners
“Thank You WBOC for going Live, being in the Army and away from home is not easy. Hands down the
Best News Team on the East Coast!!”
Express yourself in a way that fits each social media
channel
WBOC Outdoors Delmarva Chopper 16
The news is serious business… we can’t break character on air.
Social media can help internal communications.
workplace.fb.com
• Less than six months old• An alternative to email• Great for sharing links and ideas• Threaded conversations• Exactly like Facebook but only for
your employees
Two more lessons
People are mostly positive…
No one believes this until they see it.
16 years of reviews data 5000 clients
“People are more likely to share praise”
Good ideas grow out of networks
• Ideas move one step at a time• Ideas evolve as they move across
people• Idea need a fertile network to
flourish
You are sitting in a giant network of smart people - just like you
“The Adjacent Possible”
• Don’t forget the most important network... All of us here on Delmarva.
• The people we meet on our journey lead to our success.