Social Media overview for Positively Cleveland

SOCIAL MEDIA FOR POSITIVELY CLEVELAND 12/16/08

Web 2.0 overview
Why is it important?
Guidelines and applications
Case studies
Key takeaways
TODAY’S DISCUSSION

18% 25% 12% 25% 48% 44%

Projected growth of CGM
Spending on social media and
“conversational marketing”
– albeit still in their nascent stage –
will surpass traditional marketing spend
by the end of 2012
- TWI Surveys, Inc

Communications landscape
New sources of information and influence
We are no longer in control
Authenticity and openness are essential
Business conduct must be ethical and transparent
Social media/Web 2.0/CGM is here to stay

Continuing evolution
Lines blurring between:
Converging marketing disciplines
Online/offline reputation management
Public and private communications
“ Pros vs. Joes” (journalists and bloggers vs. anyone with a computer)

Social media is even more important in the travel, tourism and hospitality business

Social media even more important in the travel, tourism and hospitality business!

Social media guidelines
This has become part of how we do business
Balance emphasis on social media with expertise in content
Incorporate social media strategies and tools the way we would any other
Deliver the right message to the right audience via the right medium
Unique opportunity to listen to, learn from and influence the consumer-led conversation
At the end of the day, it’s still about telling our stories!

Basic social media strategy
Listen to the conversation
Review and analyze learnings
Engage if and when it makes sense
Monitor and adjust
Measure results

Top 10 reasons to monitor social media
Complaints – catching something early shows responsiveness
Compliments – capture and share via Del.icio.us
Expressed need – monitor key words, offer assistance
Competitors – reach out to customers proactively
Crowds – watch for trends, spikes

Top 10 reasons to monitor social media
Influencers – easy to identify via social media
Crises – watch for triggers
ROI – measure impact of efforts over time
Audit – analyze sum of online communications
Threads – conversations across different platforms

Social search
Aggregators
Del.icio.us , Shadows , Yahoo's MyWeb , Furl , Digg
Collaborative directories
Prefound , Zimbio , Wikipedia
Taggregators
Technorati , Rojo , Bloglines
Social Q & A sites
Yahoo Answers , Google Answers

Blogs
Every niche and destination has online influencers
Online buzz about a site or brand is priceless
Blogs deliver invaluable market research
Blogs can create a community of brand ambassadors
But… you do need a thick skin and/or a sense of humor at times

The big picture

Blogger relations best practices I
Subscribe to the blog’s RSS feed or e-mails
Read your target blogs and their comments
Join in the dialogue by commenting appropriately
Develop a relationship with the blogger around other topics besides what you want to pitch
Never send form pitch letters or news releases

Blogger relations best practices II
Don't pressure bloggers or ask them to write
Respect their blog and their time
Search the blog for content related to the story you are pitching
Offer the blogger topic suggestions only if you’re sure they’re on target
If you can’t do blogger relations right, don’t do it

Why blog?
Blogging nets invaluable insights
Serves as a home base for all social media activity
Facilitates two-way conversation
Helps you interact with bloggers more effectively
Delivers search engine optimization benefits
Acts as powerful market research tool
Gives voice and personality to your brand

Top social networking sites
Myspace
Facebook
Flickr
LinkedIn
Fastest growing: Twitter, Tagged, Ning

Niche social sites
Tripadvisor
IgoUgo
Virtualtourist.com
Chowhound
Guidespot
GoSeeTell
Yelp
MyTravelGuide
RealTravel
Epinions
DontGoThere.org

Social networking fundamentals
Profile
Content
Contacts/friends
Search
Know your key words/search terms
Know where to search (e.g., Twitter searches on Summize.com)
Etiquette/best practices: 70/20/10
Other functionalities vary by site

Online reputation management
Google is your true home page
Show your best face online
Check entries on Wikipedia, travel Web sites
Monitor and participate in blogs and message boards
Respond when it makes sense
Reach out and fix problems where possible

Personal brand management
How are you connecting?
How much is too much?
Define role and value of social media for you as well as your brand
Know that what you say online to one person, one time … you’re saying to everyone, all the time

CASE STUDIES

Experience Columbus
Launch of edgy new destination marketing campaign
Goal: get local ambassadors talking and engaged
Hosted blogger event 7/31
Invited 50 and 35 bloggers attended – all 35 blogged
Results: overwhelming response, BUT not all positive about new ads!
“ The campaign may not have received four-star reviews. But Experience Columbus certainly did.” ~Advergirl
Results saved online at http://delicious.com/LaraK/ExperienceColumbus

Caminito Argentinean Steakhouse
Single-location restaurant in Northampton, Mass
The Prime Cuts Blog shares cooking and kitchen tips, tricks, recipes and more
Prime Cuts TV channel on YouTube and Viddler for weekly/bi-weekly how-to videos
Social monitoring and response program
Active on Yelp.com; encourages visitors to leave reviews there
Presence on MySpace , Upcoming , Facebook , Twitter , Plurk , FriendFeed , LinkedIn and Flickr
Results: 30% increase in sales when competitors are flat or down

GETTING STARTED

Joining the conversation: Listen
Observe online communities where your brand is actively discussed
Participate in conversations as if with someone in real life whom you respect
Pay attention to how community members interact with each other
Reach out to people as a person NOT as a marketer or communicator

Joining the conversation: Engage I. Listen IV. Evaluate III. Contribute II. Participate

Create content
Make it easy for people to connect to you
Participate in larger conversations
Integrate into social networks
Provide a valuable application
Build relationships on and off-line
Remember: 70/20/10
Contribute to the community

Blogs: Blogpulse, Google, IceRocket, Technorati
Podcasts: Digg
Twitter: Summize, Twittergrader
Tags: Del.icio.us
YouTube and Flickr: Rankings/counters on-site
Forums: Board Tracker
Web Stats: Compete, Alexa, Google Analytics
Wikipedia Edits: Wikiscanner, wired.reddit
Paid Services: Radian 6, CustomScoop, Nielsen Buzz Logic, Cyber Alert, Andiamo Systems
Measurement tools

Emerging PR2.0 resources
Blogger relations: engage with influential bloggers
Targeted outreach via comments, trackbacks, tagging
Microblogging/micro pitching
Twitter, Friendfeed, Ning socnets
Strategic use of social bookmarking sites
Delicious, StumbleUpon, Digg
Online content placements
Yahoo, Google, AOL
Social media news releases
PitchEngine, PRweb
News release SEO tools
HubSpot’s pressreleasegrader.com

Benefits of social media
Deeper relationships with visitors/guests
Increased awareness for brand
Better communication with audiences
Broadening of professional network
Search engine prominence
Increased web or blog traffic

Join – and really maximize – LinkedIn and Facebook
Use RSS feeds to bring your news to you daily
Join Technorati – aka blog central
Start a del.icio.us page for your brand and/or yourself
Read travel blogs and join relevant socnets/communities
Join Twitter and try microblogging (70/20/10)
Expand social media monitoring/listening program
Seven things to take away

QUESTIONS? [email_address] @LaraK on Twitter Blog at www.larakretler.com 614-383-1618 (w) 937-271-9151 (c)

Social Media overview for Positively Cleveland

by Fahlgren Mortine on Dec 19, 2008

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Social Media overview for Positively Cleveland — Presentation Transcript