You So Need to Leverage Social Marketing

Slide 1: OMG! U SO NEED TO LEVERAGE SOCIAL MARKETING ERIC WEAVER EDELMAN DIGITAL

Slide 2: DEAR ATTENDEES…  We got too rushed at the end to demo all of the best applications and talk about them. They are included in the deck with hotlinks. You can also learn more about social tools by checking out the fantastic videos created by fellow Seattleite Lee Lefever: http://www.youtube.com/user/leelefever  Of course, feel free to contact me with any questions. eric.weaver@edelman.com  Thank you for attending and thank you to Jen Maxwell-Muir and her team for inviting me!

Slide 3: Survey  Linked yourself in?  Publish a blog?  Put your Face in the Book (or Your Space)?  Tweeted?  Wikied?  Have cast a pod?

Slide 4: TODAY The Ramblings of a Reformed (M)adman  Let’s examine this business of marketing from 10000’  Look at the massive sea change in the way consumers seek out, study, and share offerings of value  Look at new tools for market engagement

Slide 5: But first…  Let’s look at the transformation brought about by the online world.

Slide 6: WHERE WE ARE YESTERDAY The State of the Outbound Voice  Highly refined  Entire industries built around channel tools Specialist agencies that gave way to the idea/promise of integrated marketing firms  Buzzword bingo  Effective voice + market impact = job security

Slide 7: The State of Your Market  Attention-deficit  Fragmented by niche interests  Feeling time-starved Girl Scouts merit badge Cell phone in the john  Distrustful  Spoiled by customization and media  “Snack-media” consumers

Slide 8: Tools of the Market  SEARCH lets them find things and people of interest; shared affinity and relevance  EXPRESSION through blogs, podcasts, opinion/ranking sites, online communities THE BIG DUH: To get what they  SHARING items of value or want, consumers interest; love….and hate generally don’t need marketing.

Slide 9: YET MARKETING TOOLKIT IS LARGELY UNCHANGED Tools of the Outbound Voice  Advertising  Direct Mail/Email Marketing  Events & Promotions  Online Ads/Sponsorships  Public Relations  Creative Services & Branding

Slide 10: HOW HAVE MARKETERS REACTED? Old-Skool Tactics to Get Noticed, Compel  Interrupt Telesales, blow cards, unusual placement  Shout Billy Mays, commercial volume, flashing LED billboards  Beg Offers, deals  Stalk Surveys, pref/behavioral tracking Beacon “I’LL MAKE YOU LOVE ME!!!” Visitor analytics Blogger monitoring

Slide 11: STILL NOT GETTING IT That’s some tasty Kool-Aid ®  RyanAir: “The Aeropanel® offers a unique and exciting advertising format in an uncluttered, relaxed and comfortable environment.”

Slide 12: STILL NOT GETTING IT Control issues  Display ads during TiVo FFWD  No FFWD for YOU! KFC McDonald’s?  When all else fails Ban TiVo H.R. 2391: Make it illegal to 

Slide 13: But you can’t control the customers’ voice.  Word of mouth is not some hot new marketing craze.  It’s been around since people began to speak.  Word of mouth is not something marketers do to consumers.  It’s what consumers do with each other.  Word of mouth is not a strategy. Nor a tactic. IT’S AN OUTCOME.

Slide 14: Understanding the Customer’s Voice Two-thirds of people’s conversations concern social issues. Or experiences they’ve had.* about what’s REMARKABLE Of course, companies, products and services often make their way into those What’s changed: technologies that conversations. speed up and spread the love. Or the love lost. (*) BRITISH SOCIAL SCIENTIST ROBIN DUNBAR, “Grooming, Gossip and the Evolution of Language”, 1996.

Slide 15: Example of love lost  Sometimes one consumer can change a mega corporation, within weeks  (LINK: Justine Ezarik and her iPhone bill)

Slide 16:  Sometimes one consumer can make you look bad, for years  Why so powerful? Because 1) the Net is the first place people look, and 2) search lurrrves conversations!  (LINK: Comcast technician sleeping)

Slide 17: The new reality: MANY VOICES. OLD SKOOL: the Pyramid of Influence NEW SKOOL: a Sphere of Cross-Talk Opinion-Forming Elite

Slide 18:  People turn to peers for word-of-mouth recommendations When there are  They also do this when: more voices in the  Risk is higher mix…  More choices to review and filter  They have less time to research

Slide 19: Social endorsement trumps marketing 60% believe what “a person like me” says about an organization (up from 51% in 2007) LEAST CREDIBLE: corporate or product advertising (22% of ages 25-34)… hey, that’s us! SOURCE: 2008 Edelman Trust Barometer

Slide 20: Word-of-mouth isn’t just influential. It’s widely shared. 56% of opinion elites aged 35-64 and 63% of elites aged 25-34 were “likely to share their opinions and experiences about companies they trust or distrust ON THE WEB.”* *SOURCE: 2008 Edelman Trust Barometer

Slide 21: Social tools drive research and consideration. 72%use social tools to research a company’s reputation for customer care before making a purchase* *SOURCE: 2008 UMass Study

Slide 22: Ultimately, social endorsement drives trust. 78%of opinion elites aged 35-64 and 83% of elites aged 25-34 were “likely to trust what they have seen, read or heard about a company if someone they know has already mentioned it to them.”* *SOURCE: 2008 Edelman Trust Barometer

Slide 23: And trust drives preference. 88% of opinion elites choose to buy from companies they trust. 85% refuse to The bottom line: buy from companies Trust drives transactions. they distrust.* *SOURCE: 2008 Edelman Trust Barometer

Slide 24: So what’s “Social Marketing?” The use of peer-to-peer engagement, dialogue and connective tools to help your offering be found, be relevant, be promoted and be purchased.

Slide 25: Six Social Marketing Tenets 1. BE FOUND  Search engine optimization  Participate in communities where offering would be of direct value  Video? YouTube. Podcasts? iTunes. Presentations? Slideshare. 2. BE PORTABLE  Nuggetize!  Full tagging of content  Value over slickness 3. BE AN ADVOCATE – no hint of self-interest 4. LISTEN AND ENGAGE 5. BE SHARABLE – leverage people 6. BE PROACTIVE – now’s the time!

Slide 26: MAKING THE MOVE TO SOCIAL MARKETING Social marketing toolkit SOCIAL MEDIA/CHANNELS VENUES  BLOGS  SOCIAL NETWORKS  MICROBLOGGING  ex. FaceBook, MySpace, Bebo  DIGITAL AUDIO/VIDEO  TOPICAL COMMUNITIES  PODCASTS (subscribable audio &  MEDIA COMMUNITIES video)  YouTube, Revver, iTunes  WIKIS  OPINION/RANKING SITES  Amazon, Digg  SHARING SITES  Del.icio.us, StumbleUpon

Slide 27: MAKING THE MOVE TO SOCIAL MARKETING Brand blogging – why do it?  CONVERSATIONS HAPPEN ANYWAY. Like a public figure that remains silent in the face of critique or attack, companies who do not participate in the continuing dialogue around their own brand risk damaging their reputation through a perceived tacit agreement. Better for companies to engage with both proponents and detractors rather than seeming out of touch or uncaring about customer opinion.  SHOWCASE TRANSPARENCY. Blogging allows company communicators to publish information in ways that promote transparency.  PUBLISH ON YOUR OWN TERMS. Traditional limitations of print and labor (online) have kept marketers from being able to inexpensively publish on a regular basis. Blogging software enables marketers to quickly place content online without engaging a programmer or generating printed material.

Slide 28: MAKING THE MOVE TO SOCIAL MARKETING Brand blogging – why do it?  ELIMINATE THE NEED TO RELY SOLELY ON MAINSTREAM MEDIA. Blogs are another mechanism to reach interested stakeholders without relying on mainstream media running the story.  OPPORTUNITY TO LISTEN. Blogging enables communicators to quickly obtain information from readers: New product ideas Perceived strengths and weaknesses in company offerings Potential market acceptance to product or service changes Advocacy messaging from customers Feedback from mainstream media

Slide 29: MAKING THE MOVE TO SOCIAL MARKETING Brand blogging – why do it? 71%of 16-34 year olds have participated in reading or writing blogs 50% of journalists use blogs daily 28% rely on them for day-to-day reporting

Slide 30: MAKING THE MOVE TO SOCIAL MARKETING Reasonable questions  What if my brand is being trashed in the blogosphere? Set and react with honesty, transparency, advocacy  What if I don’t get any traffic? Consider the content you are posting as well as venues Is it interesting? Is it easily referred to others? Is it an example of consumer advocacy?  What if the boss is demanding eyeballs and orders? Help them use new channels to truly understand customer desires and tweak the offerings… not to merely validate their existing strategy

Slide 31: MAKING THE MOVE TO SOCIAL MARKETING Working the Social Mesh: Facebook  DEMO: Facebook  Idea behind Facebook: a social utility/dashboard  60MM users (12/07) On track to reach 200MM users by 12/08  2.1BB pageviews per day  Media site  Growth curve nearly vertical for 35+ That demo is now 45% of membership  Can broadcast some brand choices to friends

Slide 32: MAKING THE MOVE TO SOCIAL MARKETING Content Distribution: Podcasting  Portable audio or video, saved as MP3 or MP4 files  Usually topical a la radio or TV shows  Available on a server  Available as part of a feed Feed is online, findable  18.5MM listeners in 2007  This will become ubiquitous  DEMO: Podcasting in Plain English  DEMO: Whirlpool podcast  DEMO: Utterz podcasting tool

Slide 33: MAKING THE MOVE TO SOCIAL MARKETING Easy Outreach & Connection: Twitter  Originally for status sharing  Now a way to IM “followers”  Three types of Twits “Having a sandwich”, “look at my content”, thought leaders  Strong sense of community  Brands GM, Intel, H&R Block, Aston Martin, Delta, Carnival Cruise Lines  Event-friendly  Public, stored forever

Slide 34: MAKING THE MOVE TO SOCIAL MARKETING An idea of Scope: TwitterVision  Twitter conversations are happening right now, all over the world.  ADDICTIVE DEMO: TwitterVision

Slide 35: MAKING THE MOVE TO SOCIAL MARKETING When in the online social space…  MONITOR THE DIALOGUE. Listen daily. React quickly to curtail doubt.  COMMIT TO YOUR CONTENT. Once you begin blogging/podcasting, commit to providing regular, timely and valuable updates. Do not let your content become stale.  MAINTAIN PROPER EDITORIAL AND TECHNICAL SUPPORT. The content is an expression of your firm. Ensure that content is well-written and properly edited, and that the site will maintain acceptable uptime.  PROMOTE OPEN, HONEST DIALOGUE. Straight talk is important. Text can often be misunderstood. Be consistently plain and truthful.

Slide 36: MAKING THE MOVE TO SOCIAL MARKETING When in the online social space…  ACCEPT THE GOOD WITH THE BAD. Some comments will be gushing with praise; others will feel like a punch to the gut.  DON’T BE TIMID. When encountering a detractor, do not back down. Silence is often perceived as a sign of guilt.  SET UP GUARDRAILS. Set and stick to brand boundaries – rules of engagement in open conversation  NO NEED FOR CONSTANT ANSWERS. If talk is within the boundaries, leave it alone! This isn’t about control as much as it is confidence.  MINIMIZE LEGAL INTERVENTION. Make sure legal guidelines are well understood but don’t run every post through the Legal Department. The posts will carry an overly cautious tone that will invite suspicion.

Slide 37: MAKING THE MOVE TO SOCIAL MARKETING Creating internal alignment  Arm marketers, management with knowledge of trends, case studies  Show examples of low $ investment, high buzz/WOM value  Make sure they have brand and message benchmarks to start with What are you coming to the party with? Market needs something to react to  Present a strategy to engage customer base without pandering to them No MySpace for MySpace’s sake

Slide 38: MAKING THE MOVE TO SOCIAL MARKETING With social marketing, everyone wins  Marketers can more fully engage markets, have customers become advocates, show innovation, forward thinking, extend brand without increasing marketing spend  Content appears in more channels Lives on your sites, on enthusiasts’ sites, on cell phones, PSPs  Inexpensive market test compared to traditional marketing efforts  Co-created brands can have additional “enthusiast inertia”

Slide 39: To recap  Traditional monologue is not working. It often spreads distrust.  People are talking outside of your control. By acting as their advocate, you will be part of their conversation. Leverage them!  Word-of-mouth activation leads to trust, trust leads to revenue.  So recognize the changing realities of the customer & influence.  Adopt methods that make it easy to be recommended.  Effort spent on engagement and dialogue will pay off in social upside.

Slide 40: QUESTIONS? BFFs! HTTP:// PROFILE.TO / WEAVE SLIDES: HTTP:// SLIDESHARE.NET / WEAVE STATS: HTTP:// WWW.EDELMAN.COM / TRUST ERIC.WEAVER@EDELMAN.COM THANK YOU.