Viral marketing is to word of mouth what social media is to networking. These are not new Who is Participating?
Social Media Road Map
phenomena or strange blips of human activity; they are old concepts on new platforms. The
hundreds of thousands of new users per day ocking to a variety of social media platforms are not Not every industry will be revolutionized by social media. Some parts of the world are not as connected as others and some industries
exhibiting a new trend of consumer behavior, they are simply illuminating human behavior in an do not have as much relevant discussion as others. However, social media usage continues to increase and there is a groundswell of
environment where we can nally measure networking activity. And, of course, the ease with which participation starting with consumer markets and spreading to business markets. It may not be industry standard yet, but it seems clear
users can network has made this human activity faster, more constant, and more likely to mutate at that one direction social media is not moving in, is away.
the drop of a hat.
So, when dealing with a mutating, super dynamic, and very demanding environment, you do not want Large Corporations
to develop a strictly tactical roadmap. What you need instead is a social media marketing philosophy, 12% of Fortune 500 companies run a corporate blog as of June 2008. Blogging arguably began in the mid 90’s, but the spread of
and a nimble, dynamic, modern approach to content creation and management. Once your team has corporate blogs among large corporations has been rapid, with the earliest Fortune 500 blogs cropping up within the past 2 to 5 years.
adapted to the idea of adaptability, your marketing presence will evolve alongside the market.
Small Business
Goal 2008 research by Warrilow & Co. shows 28% of all small business owners participating in social media. The research also showed 67% of
fast growth companies (that is companies with annual revenue growth of 20% or more) participate in LinkedIn.
The best place for you to be in the social media landscape is leading the conversation. Though the
current environment may be intimidating to the uninitiated, it is actually far easier to establish yourself
now than it ever was before. Content is currency in the social media world and your way of thinking B2B
will be rewarded more than your budget or your one great idea. 2007 research by KnowledgeStorm shows 69% of B2B buyers participating in social networks, 80% participating in blogs, and 80%
participating in wikis. It also shows 90% participating in online video and 53% listening to podcasts.
The biggest challenge for corporate marketers and business leaders as they enter new media will be
the seeming lack of control. User generated content not only avoids the checks and balances of
scholarly research, but far worse, it avoids the boundaries of marketing speak and key message Consumers
alignment. Do not despair; savvy consumers and business decision makers don’t want to hear savvy Improvements to mobile platforms, cheaper mobile data packages, and increased access to WiFi are making mediums such as vlogging
marketers. The new tone for e ective marketing is frank speech with interested audiences. and microblogging more in uential. The next generation of content is already waxing, and many marketers have yet to indulge in
existing opportunities. Keep an eye on trends and try your best to know what is happening now, and what will happen next.
The goal of your social media strategy should be to lead the conversation. The corporate website is no
longer in control of the online brand presence, and the websites not part of the conversation are
withering with a lack of interest. Here are the options ahead of you:
End users are talking End users are not
Source: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_24/b4038405.htm
about you. talking about you.
You are talking about Conversational marketing. Perhaps you and your
you and your industry. You can take a proactive industry are just not that
approach to the negative interesting. Perhaps you
and you can promote the are not talking in the right
positive. place.
You are not talking about If you are not part of the Silence.
you and your industry. conversation, you either do
not know what is being
said or do not care what is
being said. End users
won’t like either.
The reality is, marketers should only despair for lack of participation. Control was always an illusion
maintained by strictly adhering to a set of narrowly de ned variables, and in times of great demand
the fact may be obscured, but never changed, that the end user (consumer or decision maker) is
Data: Forrester Research
always ultimately in control. When you accept that, you are ready to perform social media market-
ing, where the goal is to converse with your audience, not control messaging through soliloquized
delivery. Social media is like a kitchen table, and most
companies are accustomed to a podium.
Use your in uence wisely
Once you are ready to be a part of the social
media landscape, you have four basic
Develop the community
Chart by: Arno Ghel
activities ahead of you that you need to
consider not only to develop a social
media presence, but to maintain Build a relevant presence
and continually improve your
social media strategy. Evaluate the landscape
Pamphlet created by Benjamin Little of benlittle.vox.com. Cover image is public domain courtesy of the United States Library of Congress.

2. Build a Relevant Presence. With unprecedented access to industry
1. Evaluate the Landscape. To truly be an e ective social media 2. Build a Relevant Presence. Your organization, if it is any
experts, online community building o ers
marketer you have to be an e ective social media participant. Just as with traditional marketing mixes, good at what it does, has some very skilled and specialized knowledge stored away. To be successful
social media has di erent mediums and combining them in di erent manners will create di erent at using social media, you need to make it a priority and create relevant content. Ambiguous great opportunity to pierce the corporate veil
textures. Blogs tend to be directed conversations where forums are more collaborative conversations. marketing promises have their place, but in the world of social media, people want to get to the and show absolute transparency. Because of
Networking communities have unique cultures and di erent platforms have di erent opportunities to point. Any lack of honesty, lack of interest, or lack of expertise can de-motivate your stakeholders as
this, be sure to establish proper boundaries.
engage community members. Not all social media outlets will be right for your message, but you should much as compelling content and expertise will motivate them.
be aware of them all. Create a set of communications guidelines
Where you have found relevant conversations or communities, participate. The environment does before unleashing your newly expanded
The rst phase of your strategy is to build your own awareness of the landscape. not have to be yours for it to carry your brand. IBM has more than 100,000 employees registered
marketing force. You are welcoming a lot
Discover and monitor what is being said, and where it is being said. Use on LinkedIn, making them much more accessible on a personal level and placing their
tools like Google blog search, Technorati, Summarize, and other blog brand name into thousands of connected pro les. Your employees are an important more voices to speak for the company, and
aggregators to nd the threads of conversation. Seek out back part of your brand. Encourage them to participate and allow some time to be you want to be sure your team members
channels where thought leaders and bloggers might be spent on work hours updating their professional online presence. This could
te co
know what the company is prepared to share
connecting through social networking sites or the now old be as simple as a networking pro le, or as involved as commenting on
ua
and what it is not (for example, competitive
n
fashioned list-serv. blogs and forums.
information or internal politics should still be
Goals for this phase: l Commenting is extraordinarily important in social media. Not
only does it show that you are a community member rather than
kept internal. Text can last a long time.)
simply a speaker, but it also allows you unique opportunities. Sharing expertise boosts your authority on the topic.
tri
a
» Identify in uential channels
» Identify in uential users Leaving links back to your blog or community drives tra c when people are interested in what you have to say.
ev Responding to negative coverage gives you an opportunity to be proactive with your community, and people appreci-
b
» Identify important industry topics
ate being answered.
ute
The beauty of sharing your expertise via social media is: people are reading because they have interest. In the
classic marketing sense, your job is to match supply with demand, whether you nd demand or generate demand.
The new arrangement with consumers who have integrated their lives with the internet is one where they will
nd you some of the time, if you are there to be found. What you are seeking now is an intersection of interest
and information, and you are responsible more for the information than the interest. Certainly do not plan to
abandon your demand generation e orts, or assume that interest will spontaneously manifest in the market-
place; but in social media you can set aside your demand generation mode of thinking and focus on really
connecting with your constituency.
4. Use Your
In uence. Nobody
needs a new 75¢ ashlight or another
cheap pen with your logo on it. In a
world full of data and laden with 3. Develop the Community. In a 2006 Roper report titled “Public Pulse,” the
3. Develop the Community.
ge
advertising, your brand will nd the most e ective method of in uencing others was identi ed as listening. Authority, status, and, experience are
most traction through good ideas and better for the ego, but do not develop communities where emotionally invested stakeholders are created. Organiza-
interesting content. The more people tions with online communities are seeing a trend of increased loyalty associated with engaged stakeholders, and that
ra
that identify with your brand and nd your creating that engagement is exactly what you want to do. Provide opportunities for your community members to
online presence interesting, the more settle into the level of participation they are most comfortable with.
ve
in uence you command.
re
lat » Draw in existing stakeholders using the methods available to you. Email signatures, corporate newsletters, and
Measure your in uence by looking at metrics corporate websites are great ways to start bringing tra c to your social media network.
such as RSS subscribers, bookmarks, digg presence,
technorati presence, Facebook fans, and the time
le e » Direct your customers to increasingly more detailed content by connecting your blog, forum, newsletter, corporate website,
tested measure of unique visitors. Anything to amplify and micro-blogging e orts into a marketing mesh so that one can smoothly navigate from one outlet to another.
your message, such as mentions in blog posts, wikis, or » Consider establishing a social media newsroom and juxtapose user generated content with corporate messaging.
end user referrals, should be considered valuable. Your social
media mesh will develop ideas and brand awareness, but when it Social media provides a leveling e ect where the
comes time to measure results, the ROI may not be directly associ- There is Opportunity Everywhere
voices of all stakeholders are given equal attention
ated. You are not guiding people down a particular path or putting forth and customers, employees, and investors of any size or Population Population Internet Usage, % Population Usage Usage Growth
particular calls to action in your conversational tone, so think of your measure of ( 2008 Est.) % of World Latest Data ( Penetration ) % of World 2000-2008
status become your business partners. The only di erence is Africa 955,206,348 14.30% 51,022,400 5.30% 3.60% 1030.20%
in uence in the same way you might measure public relations e orts. how much they want to participate, and it is up to you to provide those Asia 3,776,181,949 56.60% 529,701,704 14.00% 37.60% 363.40%
Europe 800,401,065 12.00% 382,005,271 47.70% 27.10% 263.50%
di erent opportunities and empower your advocates. In the end, the reference from a Middle East 197,090,443 3.00% 41,939,200 21.30% 3.00% 1176.80%
One of the greatest bene ts of social media marketing is an integration of the voice of the friend or an articulate online community member will do more to convince a prospect of North America 337,167,248 5.10% 246,402,574 73.10% 17.50% 127.90%
customer with the voice of the company. Your brand’s stakeholders will become an your good qualities than any amount of ad copy. Part of encouraging that personal
Latin America/Caribbean 576,091,673 8.60% 137,300,309 23.80% 9.80% 659.90%
Oceania / Australia 33,981,562 0.50% 19,353,462 57.00% 1.40% 154.00%
integral part of product development, messaging, and, at times, will even vet your brand reference and in uential community message is having in uential, objective, brand Global Totals 6,676,120,288 1,407,724,920 21.10% 290.00%
to prospects. Past, present, and future of the company will become a wonderfully evangelists. You will have succeeded in developing your community when there is NOTES: (1) Internet Usage and World Population Statistics are for March 31, 2008. (2) Demographic (Population) numbers are based on data from the US Census Bureau . (3)
jumbled mess and your job in this phase is to pick and choose where you pay the most momentum for conversations without your participation. Internet usage information comes from data published by Nielsen//NetRatings, by the International Telecommunications Union, by local NIC, and other reliable sources. (4) This
attention. Focus your e orts on continued development of the community, and harvest information was gathered at www.internetworldstats.com. Copyright © 2001 - 2008, Miniwatts Marketing Group. All rights reserved worldwide.
good ideas from the conversations taking place about your brand or industry.