“The great French Marshall Lyuatey
once asked his gardener to plant a tree.
The gardener objected that the tree
was slow growing and would not reach
maturity for 100 years. The Marshall
replied, “In that case, there is no time
to lose; plant it this afternoon.”
‐ John F. Kennedy

Social Networking
What Is It and Why Should I Care?

A New Way of Thinking
Social Networking vs. Sales Marketing
Why Now? Economics
Technology
People

The Strategy
1. Who are your Clients? Prospects?
2. What are they interested in?
3. What do you want to hear from them?
4. What do you want to talk to them about?
5. Segmentation
6. What value can you offer?
7. What are your goals?

The Basics
1. Change Your Thinking
2. Take a Good Look at Your Website
3. Figure out what you want to say, how it
makes you different, and who you want to
say it to.
4. Start the Discussion

Only 14% of People TRUST
ADVERTISEMENTS
78% TRUST the
Recommendations of OTHER
CONSUMERS

Implications
• A New Paradigm for conducting business
• Companies no longer in control of their
Brands
• People depending on other people for the
information that informs their buying
decisions. “Human beings listening to human
beings, not ads”

Caution
• It is not about the
technology
• It is about how to build
the relationships USING
the technology
• Tactics vs. Strategy
• Teens and Young Adults

P.O.S.T.
• People
• Objectives
• Strategy
• Technology

“but really, what IS it?”
(in a nutshell)

It is….
• Blogs Micro‐Blogging
•
• Discussion Groups and • Viral Video and Photo
Forums Social Networking Sites
•
• Wikis Social Bookmarks
•
• RSS
• Widgets
• Podcasts
• Virtual
Worlds

From Soup to Nuts

“I don’t have time for all
that. I have a business
to run…”

SOCIAL NETWORKING IS NOW
MORE POPULAR THAN EMAIL
According to Nielsen Online’s 2009
study, 66.8% of Internet users have used
social networks, while only 65.1% have
used email.*
*Mashable.com
57% of U.S. Adults have a Profile on a
Social Networking Site.

How Long Does It Take To Reach 50 Million People?
Facebook
2 years
Internet 4
years
Television 13 years
Radio 38 years

You Can’t Afford To
Ignore Social
Media

“so how do I get
started?”

BLOGGING 101
There are 200,000,000 blogs
on the Internet.
73% of Online users have read blog
posts, even if they aren’t aware of it.

Blogging
Why It Is Crucial to Online Marketing
1. Achieve Expert Status in your field
2. Promote Your Name, Brand, Product/Service
3. Deliver Traffic to your Website
4. Increase Your SEO Rankings
5. Develop a Community of Prospects and
Brand Ambassadors

“wait, you want me to
give away FREE advice?”

Blogging
How To Get Started
1. Search – by keyword on Technorati, Google blog
search
2. Read – learn the language, choose wisely
3. Subscribe – via RSS feed, read daily
4. Choose and Commit – build a Top 10 list
5. Comment – add useful/informative comments, link‐
backs where applicable
6. Write – start your own blog, write weekly/daily

Blogging
How To Get Started
7. Build a Custom Blog using Template Software
a. A web designer and/or programmer can easily customize
your blog to meet your needs, without having to recreate
the wheel
8. Incorporate Subscription and User Tracking Tools
9. Post informative, quality info to position yourself as
an expert – this is not a sales pitch
10. Develop a community – allow comments and respond
to them
11. Comment on influential blogs in your community,
industry, complementary industries, and prospective
client’s markets.

Corporate Blogging
• Hosted by GM Executives
• Showcases “cars of the
future”, the company’s
move toward energy-
efficient vehicles, and
videos of prototypes.
• Allows consumers to
become part of the
conversation.
• Includes “Fact or Fiction”
commentary

Who’s Blogging about YOUR brand?
• Grassroots effort to
expose wrongdoings at
Wal-Mart
• Includes a “Call For
Activists”, “Tell Your
Friends”, and “Request for
Employee Whistleblowers”
• Encourages supporters to
feed via their websites
• Goal: To inspire real,
lasting change in Wal-Mart
Communities

Who Do You Want to Talk To?
Blog For Mom’s, Written by a Mom • 5 million monthly views
• Featured on Oprah
• Advertisers include:
• Sears
• Weleda
• Hoover
• Dish Network
• Seventh Generation
• Moms listening and
sharing with moms –
product reviews, stories,
real-life experiences,
community

LINKEDIN 101
LinkedIn users tend to be more senior:
46% are Management or Executive
Director/VP Level and above.
The majority (66%) are decision makers
or have influence in purchase decisions
at their companies.

LinkedIn
• The First step to joining the Social Network
• Connect with past contacts, new prospects,
industry insiders, referral sources
• Stay in touch with your network of contacts as
they transition; be the first to know of new
moves, promotions, career changes
• Make introductions within your newly
expanded network

LinkedIn Continued
Discussion Forums
•
Status Updates
•
Event Listings
•
Links – to blog, website, articles, books, etc.
•
Job Posting and Job Search
•
Referrals
•

Status
Updates:
let people
Target
know what
Advertising
you’re
by job title,
doing
location, size
of firm, etc.
Incorporate Complete
your Blog your profile to
100%

Discussion Forums
• Research:
Industry Groups,
Competitor Groups,
Industry and Market
Information
• Prospecting:
Networking Groups,
Prospective Client
Groups, Specific
Audiences and
Target Markets
• Education:
Organizations and
Affiliations, Learning
Tools, Workshops
and Seminars

Email Updates
HomePage
Network Updates
Delivered via
LinkedIn and Email
• Every update is
delivered to your
network,
recommendations
are delivered to
BOTH parties
networks, as are
event attendance
notifications, links,
articles, books,
videos,
presentations, etc.
• Share your
message without
saying a word.

FACEBOOK 101
Facebook has grown from 100 million to
200 million users in less than 8 months.
If it were a country, it would be bigger
than Brazil.*
*Mashable.com

Facebook Statistics
The fastest‐growing demographic is the 25+ age group.
•
Facebook is the sixth‐most trafficked site in the United States.
•
Users spend an average of 20 minutes on the site daily.
•
Over 1,800 applications have been built on the platform.
•
The number of US women over age 55 using Facebook grew
•
by 175.3% since September 2008, making mature females one
of the fastest growing demographic groups on the social
network, according to usage statistics released by
independent blog Inside Facebook.
• Visitors to the sites who are age 35+ have increased 23%
in February 2009 compared with February 2008.

Facebook
• “It’s Not Just For Your Kids Anymore”
• Participate, don’t sell. Facebook is a social community
and users will be turned off to anything that sounds
like a “pitch”.
• The “Cocktail Hour” of online networking
• Build your community, participate in discussions,
update your status regularly with new projects and
comments.
• Where applicable, provide links to your blog, new
projects, upcoming events. Build a company Page, and
link to it from your personal profile – work on
developing a fan base there.

Creating a Facebook Business Profile
• Advertising:
Target Ads by
Demographics,
Geography, and
PSYCHOGRAPHICS
• Community:
Discussion groups
and fan messages,
allow fans to “write
on your wall”, creates
a strong community.
• Showcase: Upload
photos and videos of
your work, link to
charity and industry
events, send
invitations, link to
website, link to PR
articles and company
news, and more….

Facebook: Ernst & Young

Facebook: Victoria’s Secret

Facebook Analytics

VIRAL
MARKETING
101

Viral Marketing
• Viral = to spread quickly across multiple access
points
• How sites such as YouTube and Flickr have
transformed the media industry, advertising,
and the way consumers access messaging.
• The elimination of a cost barrier to advertising
• Case Study: Comcast
• Case Study: BlendTec

TWITTER 101
Twitter currently has 7 million unique
monthly visitors. If it keeps growing at [a
consistent] rate, it’ll have nearly 100
million visitors same time next year.*
*Mashable.com

Twitter Statistics
• Twitter experienced 1,382% year‐over‐year growth in
February 2009, with the number of total unique
visitors increasing from 475,000 in February 2008 to
seven million last month, according to Nielsen
Online.
• In February 2009, adults ages 35‐49 had the largest
representation on Twitter, with nearly 3 million
unique visitors from this age group. This comprises
nearly 42% of the site’s audience.

Twitter
• Similar to Facebook, but provides a more
immediate, straight‐forward approach.
• Allows you to update your network from a mobile
phone or computer, with short, concise
messaging and direct links – immediately
showcase the new project you’ve completed,
research study you’re promoting, or exciting
news in your industry.
• Reach is expanding, now being used by Congress,
Executives, and the Media to announce updates
and gather feedback.

Even the Boston Police are
tweeting…

How To Tweet
1. Listen!!!
2. Follow and Be Followed
3. Say Something worth
listening to. Nobody
wants to hear your
sales pitch.
4. LINK
1. To your blog
2. To an article you
published
3. To an article
someone else
published
4. To something funny
or interesting
5. To info. that
supports your case
5. Street Cred and “Giving
Props”
6. Track everything, brag
to your boss.

Great Twools and TwApps
Search Applications
Tools

DISCUSSION
GROUPS,
FORUMS,
& USER REVIEWS

Industry Forums and Discussions
• Join the Community!
• Use these networks as a place to bounce ideas
off industry counterparts, generate interest,
ask and answer questions, gather feedback.
• The more questions you answer, the more you
will be seen as an expert.
– Experts receive incoming sales calls.
– Experts don’t have to haggle over their prices.
– Experts don’t cold call.

User Reviews
• Users are 7 times more likely to believe a
review written by a customer than to believe
the company’s claims.
• Easily found in the search engines.
• Monitor conversations, understand user
experiences, resolve problems immediately.
• Example: hotels.com

“ok, so how will this
work for me?”

Tying it All Into Your Online Strategy
Blog – utilize RSS
tools to subscribe
to multiple posts,
and automatically
update LinkedIn
and Facebook
profiles with your
updated blog
posts.

Tying it All Into Your Online Strategy
• Ping – one‐stop updating for your Blog, Facebook,
Twitter, LinkedIn updates
• Priorities of these programs should be to deliver qualified
traffic to multiple areas of your website, generate
exposure for your brand, and leverage yourself.
• You can’t personally talk to everyone, but you can use
these tools to simulate 1 on 1 conversations.

Social Networking at it’s Finest
November 2008
John McCain Barack Obama
• Facebook Fans: 620,359 • Facebook Fans: 2,379,102
• Twitter Followers: 4,603 • Twitter Followers: 112,474
• YouTube Views: 2,032,993 • YouTube Views: 18,413,110
• MySpace Friends: 217,811 • MySpace Friends: 833,161
Winning The Presidential Election
= PRICELESS

How To Run a Grassroots Campaign & Win An Election

Tying it All Into Your Online Strategy
• By increasing your presence online, and utilizing a
targeted Keyword strategy to build traffic back to your
website, all of these campaigns will work together to
INCREASE YOUR RANKINGS IN THE SEARCH ENGINES.
• Increase Exposure and Reach
• Join, and lead, the conversations.
• Make it easy – download the available applications for
your Blackberry or iPhone, upload desktop applications,
and update from anywhere.

Community, Blog
Brand
Awareness,
Sales
Facebook
Website &
Search
Engine
Rankings
Reviews Twitter
Forums &
LinkedIn
Discussions

Contact Us
• Blog:
www.discoverycomm.com/dcgblog
• LinkedIn
– George Wallace
– Melissa Albano
• Facebook
– Search:
The Discovery Communications Group
• Twitter
– @DiscoveryCG
– @MelissaDCG
– @GEW