Social Media:
Opportunities & Challenges
Presented at the 2009 Independent Photo Imagers Members Meeting &
Trade Show by Cheryl Bella

Debunking Myths – Social Media . . .
► Doesn’t cost anything
► Mustbe used by EVERY company that
wants to be successful
► Is all the marketing I need

Real Benefit
Provides a new way to engage
and communicate with your
customers

Examples of Social Media
► Blogs
 Corporate, Personal
 Typepad, Wordpress, iWeb, etc.
► Social Networking Sites
 Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, Plaxo, etc.
► Microblogging Sites
 Twitter, Plurk, etc.

Examples of Social Media
► Pod and Video Casts
 YouTube, Veoh, Vimeo, etc.
► Photo Sharing Sites
 Flikr, Photobucket, Zoomr, etc.
► Wikis
 Wikipedia, wikiHow, industry- company-specific

Examples of Social Media
► Forums, Ratings, Reviews
 Yelp.com, Rotten Tomatoes, Trip Advisor, etc.
► Tags
 Delicious.com, Digg, Stumble Upon, etc.
► Virtual Worlds
 Second Life, There.com, etc.
► Aggregating Sites
 Netvibes, Pageflakes, etc.

What Tools Have in Common
► Usingtechnology for social interaction –
sharing & discussing
► Provide
opportunities to build online
communities
► Incorporate or are based on user-generated
content

Social Media Must
► Include your customers in the discussion
► Add value
► Beintegrated into your current marketing
efforts

These may be Web 2.0
tools but the same basic
Marketing 101 rules apply

Survey
► Read blogs, watch videos, read ratings &
reviews
► Have a social networking page
► Use RSS feeds, add tags to Web pages or
photos
► Post ratings or reviews, comment on
blogs, add to online wikis
► Publish a blog, upload & share videos,
write & publish online at least monthly

Social Technographics Ladder
Publish & upload
Post ratings & reviews, comment
on blogs
Tag pages, use RSS feeds
Have social networking page
Read and watch
From Groundswell, Charlene Li & Josh Bernoff

Groundswell
Forrester Research
- Charlene Li
- Josh Bernoff
http://www.forrester.com/Groundswell/book.html

Profile of Online US Adults
► Creators – 21% (up from 18% in 2007)
► Critics – 37% (up from 25% in 2007)
► Collectors – 19% (up from 12% in 2007)
► Joiners – 35% (up from 25% in 2007)
► Spectators – 69% (up from 48% in 2007)
► Inactives – 25% (down from 44% in 2007)
From Groundswell, Charlene Li & Josh Bernoff; 2008 figures from
http://www.forrester.com/Groundswell/

Interesting Facts & Figures
Men & Women 18-27 yrs old
60
50
40
30
Men
20 Women
10
0
Creators Collectors Joiners Inactive
From Groundswell, Charlene Li & Josh Bernoff

Interesting Facts & Figures
Alpha Moms & U.S. Adults
60
50
40
30
Alpha Mom
20 U.S. Adult
10
0
Creators Critics Spectator
From Groundswell, Charlene Li & Josh Bernoff

Interesting Facts & Figures
Small Business Owners (2007)
► 25% were Creators (vs 18%)
► 31% were Critics (vs 25%)
► 17% were Collectors (vs 12%)
► 24% were Joiners (vs 25%)
► 53% were Spectators (vs 48%)
► 38% were Inactive (vs 44%)
From Groundswell, Charlene Li & Josh Bernoff

Podcast Facts & Figures
► Americans who downloaded & listened to
audio podcast – up from 13-18%,
2007-2008
► More likely to have college degree
► Household income > $75K/year
► 53% of podcast listeners are men; 47%
women
From Edison Research, The Podcast Consumer Revealed 2008

Podcast Facts & Figures
► Comfortable watching TV through non-
traditional means
► Active online purchasers
► Resistant to unwelcome advertising
From Edison Research, The Podcast Consumer Revealed 2008

Interesting Facts & Figures
Older Americans, 52-62
 8% are Creators
 8% are Joiners
 55% are Inactive
► 39% are Spectators
From Groundswell, Charlene Li & Josh Bernoff

Where to Start - #1
► Don’t
get overwhelmed - Focus on the
categories of social media, not the tools
themselves

Where to Start - #2
► Consideryour resources & commitment you
want to make

Where to Start - #3
► Find
experts who can keep you up-to-date &
summarize tools for you

Where to Start - #4
► Start by following what others are doing

Company Blogs
http://buildingabakery.blogspot.com/

Twitter (www.twitter.com)

Twitter (www.twitter.com)
http://twitter.com/photobabble

Video Casts (www.YouTube.com)
http://www.youtube.com/user/Blendtec

Tennessee Aquarium

Tennessee Aquarium

Afternoon Session
► How to use social media with no investment
in social media
► Review specific photo industry examples of
social media sites
► List of people/companies to follow
► How you can become a Spectator, Joiner &
Creator
► Challenges facing the industry
 Legal issues
 Competition

Additional Resources
► www.delicious.com
 cherylbella7
 Links to articles on using social media
► www.linkedin.com
► www.slideshare.net
 CherylBella

Questions?