Social Media for SAS User Groups April 2010

Social Media forSAS User Groups
Dave Thomas
@DavidBThomas
SAS Social Media Manager
April 2010
#sgf10

Who is your audience now?
Who will be your audience in 2019?
What about 2029? 2039?

Social Media
Social media maybe a phenomenon,but it is not a fad.
It has already changed the way people(and companies) communicate.

Social Media
Social Media:
All the different Web-based tools people use to communicate, share and collaborate, including:
blogs
microblogging (Twitter)
social networks (LinkedIn, Facebook, Orkut)
video sharing (YouTube, Vimeo, Blip.tv)
Wikipedia and Google Knol
photo sharing (Flickr, Picasa)
podcasts
social bookmarking (Del.icio.us, Digg)

Social Networks
More than 400 million active Facebook users
(January 2009: 150 million)
About 70% of Facebook users are outside the United States
Active SAS groups on Facebook,LinkedIn, Orkut and more
Sources: Pew Research, Jan. 2009Facebook, Feb. 2010

752% growth in 2008 and131% percent growth inMarch 2009, with 9.3 millionunique U.S. visitors
Individuals, brands, journalists, political candidates, celebrities and more are “tweeting”
Source: Mashable.com, Jan. 2009

Dell has had sales of more than $3 million through its @DellOutlet Twitter account

Video
YouTube has more than 300 million viewers worldwide
83% of Internet users watch video online
In Sept 2009, there were more videos watched on YouTube in the US (10.3 B) than searches performed on Google (9 B)
Sources: YouTube, Oct. 2009Universal McCann, July 2009Search Engine Watch, Oct. 2009

“Meanwhile, within four days of the song going online, the gathering thunderclouds of bad PR caused United Airlines’ stock price to suffer a mid-flight stall, and it plunged by 10 per cent, costing shareholders $180 million. Which, incidentally, would have bought Carroll more than 51,000 replacement guitars.”
Times of London, July 22, 2009

“Google has quietly been launching a social network right under our own chins.”
Jeremiah Owyang

Google Wave

Google Buzz

Google Sidewiki

Location-based applications

So what?

Question: Which of the following Web sites do you visit to network with professionals?*
2008: n= 533 2009: n=265
Other sites were not included in the 2008 survey.

Social media at SAS

SAS fans are active in a variety of places online

What can you doto reach them?

Key Concept:
Home Base and Outposts

Twitter
Facebook
LinkedIn
YouTube
blog
Web page

Four keys to success in social media

Keep it up
Social media is not a quick fix. Establishing a presence takes time.

Keep it active
Social media is about community, sharing and immediacy. Contribute on a regular basis and keep your content fresh.

Keepit real
Social media is a toolbox, not a strategy. Your activities must tie directly to established goals and objectives.

Gear your efforts toward what your audience cares about...
Keep it relevant
…not what youcare about.

What exactly are we talking about?

Sources: Universal McCann, March 2008 BuzzLogic, Oct. 2008
Blogs
346,000,000 people globally read blogs
47% of online consumers read blogs
50% of blog readers find them useful for making purchase decisions

20+ customer blogs about SASin English

Blogs: the advantages
Personal and timely
Support your Web site
Build your reputation by providing value

Blogs: the challenges
Need to be active
Need to be promoted
Invite comments and sometimes criticism

What user groups can do
Search key terms on Google Blog Search.
Determine your unique value.
Find excited bloggers to contribute.
Repurpose content you’re already creating.
Start a free blog on Wordpress and try it out.

Social Networks
More than 350 million active Facebook users
About 70% of Facebook users are outside the United States
Active SAS groups on Facebook,LinkedIn, Orkut and more
Sources: Pew Research, Jan. 2009Facebook, Jun. 2009

The most prominent business networking site
More than 30 million active users
More than 100 SAS-related groups

Social networks: the advantages
Building relationships
Personalizing your business life, and vice versa.
Presenting your expertise (LinkedIn Groups and Discussions)
Creating a presence with global reach, with a minimum of resources.

Social networks: the challenges
Hard to prospect without sounding spammy
Some companies and government agencies block access to social networks.
It can be hard to stand out as reputable.
Lots of noise.

Create a LinkedIn group.
Connect with your members.
Connect with other user groups.
Watch what organizations like yours are doing.
Share news and information.
Do the same thing on Facebook.

752% growth in 2008 and131% percent growth inMarch 2009, with 9.3 millionunique U.S. visitors
Individuals, brands, journalists, political candidates, celebrities and more are “tweeting”
Source: Mashable.com, Jan. 2009

Lots of SAS people on Twitter

SAS GlobalForum 2009
Twitter hashtag (#sgf09) saw more than 500 tweets during the event and more than 1,000 total. Majority of tweets came from non-SAS people.

Twitter: the advantages
Short, quick and immediate
Supports other channels (web site, blog)
Hashtags allow for events, conferences and issues.
Twitter search can show you who’s talking about what.

Twitter: the challenges
Twitter can’t be your only social media channel.
It’s not the place for hard sell and marketing.
It’s a firehose.

Create a Twitter account.
Connect with your members.
Connect with other user groups.
Watch what organizations like yours are doing.
Share news and information.
Promote your other online presences.

Video
YouTube has more than 300 million viewers worldwide
83% of Internet users watch video online
In Sept 2009, there were more videos watched on YouTube in the US (10.3 B) than searches performed on Google (9 B)
Sources: YouTube, Oct. 2009Universal McCann, July 2009Search Engine Watch, Oct. 2009

SAS New Media and country offices are uploading video to YouTube

Video: the advantages
YouTube is becoming a major search tool.
Video can be a personal, immediate and enjoyable way to communicate.
Small, inexpensive, simple-to-use video cameras make it easy to capture and share events.

Video: the challenges
It’s easy to make videos; it’s hard to make good videos.
It’s nearly impossible to make a video “go viral.”
Video is not a good medium for sharing extensive, in-depth information.

Think about the search aspect – what do you want someone to find if they search for you?
Shoot video highlights of your meetings.
Interview your members.
Shoot promotional videos for your events.
Promote videos in other channels.
Leverage the video SAS creates.

Social search
“… the most relevant content presented by the search engines will include, and perhaps prioritize, recommendations and referrals from our social graph. What social search means for marketers now, however, is this: If you do not start now building a network of fans, followers and friends who trust you, your company or your brand, you may quickly become irrelevant in not just social media, but in search too.”
“What social search means to your business”by Jason Falls, Nov. 2009

Where to now?

Ask your users where they are.
Join LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and find the relevant blogs in your area.
See what other user groups are doing.
Connect with them.
Read, follow, listen and understand.
Start to participate.
Let us know how it goes.

Questions?

Connect with me
http://dbthomas.com
Dave.Thomas@sas.com
Twitter.com/DavidBThomas
LinkedIn.com/in/dbthomas
Blogs.sas.com/socialmedia
Delicious.com/davidbthomas
Photo: Re-ality, http://www.flickr.com/photos/re-ality/

Other than my own, the photos in this presentation were sourced via www.creativecommons.org and Flickr, and are licensed under Creative Commons. My sincere thanks.
Cambridge Horizon by Andrew Stawarz
The Boy with the BlackBerry by David B. Thomas
Happy 50th birthday hula hoop by Tony the Misfit
My Social Network by Luc LeGay
Metro Audience by liz noise
RaygunGothic Rocketship by greenmelinda
Solar System Montage of Voyager Images from NASA/courtesy of nasaimages.org
Keys by Bohman
Juggling Swords and Chainsaws by morbuto
Active Boy by David B. Thomas
Beautiful Tools by geishaboy500
Bullseyeby jessehogie
Apples and Oranges by thebusybrain
Keyboard Blur by striatic
The Real Impact of Social Networking at Work by Robert S. Donovan
YouTube and Joost by thms.nl
Speedy’sat the Grand Canyon by David B. Thomas
PuntoInterrogativo by Silgeo
Too Many Cables by re-ality
TahbesSyncro Camera by John Kratz
Photo credits

Social Media for SAS User Groups April 2010

by David B. Thomas on Apr 11, 2010

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Social Media for SAS User Groups April 2010 — Presentation Transcript