Social Media…
…the brand-building, buzz-generating, ordering, buying, reviewing, selling, customer
retention, so you can make money in the new century medium
Are you paying attention?
What is social media?
Internet- and mobile-based tools for sharing and discussing information among human beings. Wikipedia
What social media is not
Social networking Social networking has always existed Exchange of ideas between two or
more people
E-commerce Limited to online or mobile monetary
transaction between parties Can be a function, component or
result of social media
What is social media…to business?
The use of Internet- and mobile-based tools to: Engage customers Collect consumer data Share information Generate awareness…
What is social media…to business?
…and Brand your organization, product, or service.
How social media delivers
Promotion Last minute promotion of
Montgomery Inn ribs to celebrate 20th anniversary of Montgomery Inn Boathouse
All You Can Eat for $19.89 Feb. 22-26, 2009
Actions Social media release Twitter “tweets” Facebook updates Blogs Traditional news release
Results:
Feb 22-26, 2009—Montgomery Inn sold 19,450 lbs (nearly 10 tons) of ribs
It’s the way people of all ages and demographics are communicating
Studies show consumers research products online before buying
True for B2C and B2B
Why wouldn’t you build your online relationship with them…NOW?
Website
Blog
Social networking profile
Wiki
Podcast
E-newsletter…
Its usage is growing rapidly
Vital part of marketing mix
Engages customers like no other medium
Natural evolution of marketing and PR
Traditional advertising is declining in usage/revenues
Is social media relevant?
Is social media relevant? Facebook.com- Social Network Site
400+ Million Active Users1.5+ million “local” businesses have active
pages
70% of users engage w/ Platform apps each mth
Twitter.com- micro-blogging site110.3 million people answering the question “What’s happening?” in 140 characters!
Wikipedia.com- Information Sharing Source684 Million visitors/ 75K active contributors
Youtube.com- Video Sharing5 billion online US videos44% share of all online videos
Digg.com-Social News site40 million active users
Is social media relevant?
A.C. Nielsen created multi-million dollar company focused entirely on measuring social media Founded in late ‘90s, PlanetFeedback
was a website that attracted consumer opinions of products and services; earned revenue from advertising
Purchased by Intelliseek in 2004 Purchased by A.C. Nielsen in 2006
and combined with R&D company to become Nielsen BuzzMetrics
Focused entirely on online brand monitoring
Legitimizes and measures consumer response in a virtual world
Types of social media
Weblogs/Blogs—Blog.Wired.com, Okeeffepr
Microblogs—Twitter
News dissemination (Social Media Release)—PitchEngine.com, Google News, Twitter
E-Newsletters
Social media networking sites—Facebook, LinkedIn, Google Groups
Aggregators—FeedBurner, FriendFeed
Wikis—Topic-specific Wikipedia pages
Online photo/video sharing galleries—YouTube, Flickr
Podcasts
Text messaging
Internet forums
Event forums—Meetup.com
Custom Applications—FourSquare
Strengths/Weaknesses
Strengths Real time Generates direct consumer demand Branding Rapidly increasing usage Increases search engine rankings Accessible Easy-to-use Cost-effective Organic Strong…and growing…user base Website Alternative/Replacement
Weaknesses Difficult to measure [but improving] Time Consuming Still evolving
Important points
You DO need to communicate your message
You CAN measure impact of social media
Content is King…for driving traffic.
You DO NOT need to be an active blogger But it helps!
Leadership should embrace social media, not fear it
Establish social media policy and best practices
If you don’t establish a representative voice for your organization, someone else will!
Dissenting voices can easily become “de facto” voices for your businesses
Purpose is not to “control” message, but to “guide” message and engage your publics
It all starts with your website!
The tools!
Website. It all starts here! The basis for all PR, branding, social
media Dynamic, functional, user friendly The face…and often first
impression…of your business Content rich—to drive search
engine results
Social Media Policy Establishes best practices and
procedures Ensures that entire staff is on
message Empowers staff to be proactive Positions social media as “means to
engage” rather than “distraction” Encourages customer participation
The tools!
E-newsletter Ensures regular contact Promotes/strengthens brand Delivers timely, relevant content Easy to monitor Measurable Call to action Entertains Can be self administered Inexpensive—no printing, nominal monthly fees
to manage (e.g., ConstantContact.com) Example: City of Sharonville (Ohio)
Implemented Fall 2008 to bridge gab b/t business and residential communities
Partnered with Chamber to get subscribers Doubled subscriber list in 6 months Receives e-mails thanking them for newsletter
The tools!
Blog
Enable direct communication with and feedback from audiences
Can be monitored and managed by staff
More personal and dynamic than typical website
Can be separate from or part of main website
Typically ties into overall marketing/PR strategy
Can allow comments from visitors; can monitor comments
Easy to create using free, downloadable blog software
Best used for sharing information of interest to or that specifically benefits targeted users
Serves as home page for many organizations—growing trend
The tools!
Social Media Release
Online news dissemination device
Immediate delivery to numerous social and business networks
Large and growing mainstream/trade media subscriber list
Often preferred means of receiving story ideas/pitches
Rapidly growing user base
Easy to use
Typically free or low cost
The tools!
Microblog—Twitter
Limited to 140 characters per entry
Allows people to follow each other in real time from any location with Web/mobile access
Simple to use
Increasing usage among businesses, individuals, politicians and media/PR pros as news dissemination device
Bridging gap between traditional and social media
Growing number of reporters take story pitches from Twitter ONLY
The tools!
Social Networking Communities What are you doing?
Who do you know?
Fan pages
Groups of common interest
Photo/Video Sharing Sites Personalized albums
Share via invitation, e-mail
Showcase events, demonstrations
The tools!
Social Media Applications—FourSquare
Encourages people to explore their communities
Rewards people for doing so
Heavy mobile phone usage
What’s next?
Google Wave Collaborative tool
Equal parts “conversation” and “document”
People communicate and work together with richly formatted text, photos, videos, maps, and more
Evolved from Google Maps
Google Buzz Conglomeration of social
network, micro-blog, photo gallery, e-mail,…
Social media for B2C
Cincinnati Sports Leagues (CSL) (gocsl.com) Objectives
Promote CSL activities Attract interest from advertisers
Social Media Components Facebook page—426 friends, Brian
updates and monitors, posts events Twitter profile—attract followers Soapbox.com—blogged daily 1 week to
promote CSL to older/business audience Results
Increased brand awareness Frequent customer interaction Personalization—strong friend base
Social media for B2B
General Data Company (general-data.com) Objectives
Promote products to targeted healthcare prospects Build awareness as experts on healthcare data
capture/workflow Social Media Components
Healthcare blog Promote via FeedBurner, RSS feed, etc. “Live blogging”—Client interviews industry
authorities at conferences; streams/posts interviews via GD’s blog
Social media releases—all GD news YouTube Station—post video demos, etc. Soapbox.com—featured growth company
Results Increased awareness Recognized as industry authority by prospects Increased search engine rankings Network TV Coverage—Personal ID Patient
Wristbands featured on CBS’ The Doctors
How not to use social media
Motrin (Johnson & Johnson) (motrin.com) Objective
Sell Motrin Social Media Components
Irreverent video designed to appeal to young mothers suffering from back pain associated with baby slings/carries
Posted ad to YouTube and Motrin.com Results
Small # of “mommy bloggers” were offended; posted scathing remarks on Twitter
Motrin apologized and pulled ad immediately Motrin pulled entire campaign Motrin wasted all money spent on campaign
Later Findings Motrin heard from same mommy bloggers that they
were disappointed video was pulled Mommies wanted their concerns addressed, not
dismissed Motrin failed to engage and befriend bloggers; lost
potential customers
Questions?
513.221.1526
[email protected] / linkedin.com/in/danokeeffepr / Twitter.com/danokeeffe
www.okeeffepr.com
Who’s telling your story?Social Media = New Business
Dan O’Keeffe & Jill DunneO’Keeffe PR
Daniel GraffGraff Designs