How Brands Can Harness Social Networks

Jamie Riddell Director [email_address] How brands can harness social networks

Introducing Cheeze
UK based Digital Direct Marketing Agency
Part of Digital Marketing Group plc
Offices in London & Ipswich
£20m billings
IPA, DMA & SEMPO Accredited
Clients including Budget Car Rental, BUPA, Pokerstars, AXA, Canterbury of NZ, Monarch Airlines, CAF

What is a Social Network?
“ a social structure made of individuals or organizations that are connected through various familiarities ranging from casual acquaintance to close familial bonds. In the Internet, social networking refers to a category of applications that connect friends, business partners, or other individuals together using a variety of tools. “
But what does it mean for you and your brand?
http://opencontent.wgbh.org/report/glossary.html

Why should brands be interested in social networks?

Social Networking is international Map courtesy of http://www.oxyweb.co.uk/blog/socialnetworkmapoftheworld.php

They are highly consumed across Europe “ Thinking about using the Internet, which of the following have you ever done?” – “Create a profile on a new social network” Wave 3 Universal Mcann Across Europe, consumer take up of social networks is on the rise. In some countries including Hungary, nearly 80% of all online users have registered with a social network.

Consumers spend time here & connect with others
Consumers are spending increasing amounts of time on social networks.
Over half Facebook users return daily, spending an average 20 minutes per session* The average session on a social network is 79 minutes .
These consumers are actively creating, consuming and sharing content. They could be interacting with your brand and content.
With an average friendship 75 friends per person on social networks & the potential uplift for a brand that harnesses social networks is huge
*Facebook ** Pew

So how can we harness them?

Two initial routes
Build your own social network
Use tools like ning.com to create your own branded social network
Manage all elements of the design, and interaction
BUT
Build an audience from scratch
Continually promote
Harness an existing social network
Take advantage of existing networks with large audiences
Work to integrate your brand within the confines of each network
BUT
Compete with other brands for audience
Develop different strategies & invest in different networks

Dedicated Social Networks

Create your own social network www.ning.com www.techcrunch.com/2007/07/24/9-ways-to-build-your-own-social-network/

http://www.imsaturn.com/ US Social Network on the Ning platform

Work with existing social networks

Different Types of Online Social Networks Friends Photos Business Music Videos

Least Consumer Engagement Greatest Consumer Engagement Brand Monitoring Targeted Advertising Partnership Dialogue Contribution Integration

Brand Monitoring
Being part of a social network will help you to understand consumer opinion in a way a basic advert will never achieve.
This gives brands the opportunity to fast track product testing and learn more unprompted brand information

Targeted Advertising
Consumers are actively telling you what they like and don’t like.
Brands have an opportunity to understand this and harness this.
Myspace launches Hypertargeting – the ability to target advertising based on multiple consumer provided details including music preference.
We have the opportunity to target not just location but also emotionally – an important step for online advertising.

Sponsorship
Nikon partnership with Flickr.
Taking the relation between cameras and photography to the next level.
Fully branded space allows users to share pictures and learn about the latest models.
This page demonstrated obvious benefits for both brand and consumer.
Currently 21,650 members, updating content every hour.
http://www.flickr.com/groups/nikondigitallearningcenter/

Dialogue
A presence on a social network offers the opportunity for brand dialogue. This dialogue can help fast track promotion activity but combining the marketing and the dialogue in the same place.

Royal Navy
Royal Navy Recruitment on Bebo
Royal Navy pilot Brendan Spoors became the face of Navy Pilots on Bebo.
Connected with friends and started sharing information about life as a pilot.
Open channel for people to ask questions and for Brendan to answer them.
This page has been the single biggest traffic driver to the Royal Navy recruitment site.
http://www.i-level.com/case-studies/only-a-sailor-can-recruit-a-sailor

Contribution
Social Networks have the opportunity to empower the consumers to work with the brand.
In this case, the TV programme has become interactive offering the consumer the opportunity to share their content and experience with the show.
This opportunity harnesses the ‘two way’ nature of web 2.0.

Integration
Harnessing all elements of social networks
PDSA Facebook Fan Page has become the central channel for supporter communication
Additional content is now channelled through YouTube and Flickr
Planned rollout to other networks in 09

Accountability
Working with social networks can remain fully accountable.
External tracking from network to size will help understand traffic and business generation.
On site tracking will help understanding KPI’s relevant to each network.

What are the risks?
Unleashing your brand to social networks means you become the shepherd of the brand no longer brand guardian
Consumers may start to discuss your brand in negative ways
Once you start on this path, you may not be able to stop
With careful planning, none of these risks are a problem

5 Tips for Brands & Social Networks
Pay attention to what is being said about your brand. Use Google Alerts ; Blogpulse and search on Facebook, Myspace etc.
Look for a reason why your business should be in social networks. What can you offer the consumer.Review what content can be used within a social network. Do you have content, can you easily create some?
Plan for the downside - this is important before you go live!
Buy some ads on Facebook - low cost, easy entry.
Consider building a Facebook Fan Page - a basic one is free - BUT consider this for the long term

Further Reading http://www.universalmccann.com/Assets/wave_3_20080403093750.pdf http://www.slideshare.net/agentwildfire/agent-wildfire-cheat-sheet www.cheeze.com/blog

Get the presentation, connect with me!
An electronic copy of this presentation is available at www.cheeze.com/blog
Connect with me:
www.twitter.com/jamieriddell
www.linkedin.com/in/jamieriddell

Any Questions? www.cheeze.com [email_address]

http://www.cheeze.com	31
http://www.slideshare.net	8
http://www.jamieriddell.net	6
http://www.cheezedmg.com	3

How Brands Can Harness Social Networks

by Jamie Riddell on Nov 05, 2008

Accessibility

Categories

Tags

Upload Details

Usage Rights

4 Embeds 48

Statistics

How Brands Can Harness Social Networks — Presentation Transcript