Social Media
Marketing

Big Questions
! How is Social Media different from Traditional
Media?
! What tactics make sense for businesses?
! Where do I start?
• Strategy before tactics

Social Media Defined
! Social Media is made up of online content created
using a variety of publishing technologies. Social
Media facilitates connections between people,
both personally and professionally, allowing
them to create, read and share content.

Social Media &
Business Objectives
! Doing more with less
• Efficiency
• Free or low cost
! Micro-targeting
• Build communities
• Relationships through conversation
! Go where the people are spending their time

Growth of Social Media
! “The meteoric growth in social media is the
single most significant story in the online media
space today.”
- Nielsen, “Global Online Media Landscape” (April 2009)
• Exponential growth in
- Reach of social networking sites
- Use of blogs, microblogs

Growth of Social Media
! 67% of the global online population visits social
networks and blogs. (Nielsen Online, March 2009)

Growth of Social Media

Growth of Social Media
! Share of adult Internet users who have a profile on a social
networking site has more than quadrupled in the past four years.

Social Media
Investment

How is Social Media
Different?
! Consumer control of message and exposure
! Time vs. dollars
! Measurement

Control
! Technology allows consumers to:
• Pull content to themselves: RSS
• Create and share content about brands,
products and services: Blogs, Social
Networking

Control

Control

Control
! This requires new forms of transparent
marketing that reach those who want to hear
our messages and who will share and
contribute to spreading messages.

Time vs. Dollars
! 64% of marketers spend 5+ hours per week on social marketing
! 39% spend 10+ hours per week

Measurement
! “The goal is to track qualitative and quantitative
impressions because there is no industry
standard for an ROI metric for social
media.”
- Craig Howe, CEO of RocketXL

Top Tactics for
Business
! Twitter
! Blogs
! LinkedIn
! Facebook
- Stelzner (2009)

LinkedIn
! A business oriented social network used for
professional networking.
• Build networks for prospecting and sales
initiatives
• Build authority in your industry
• Recruitment

LinkedIn

LinkedIn
! Build your expertise and authority through the Q& A
functions

LinkedIn
! Connect with groups to build a larger network
! Integrate other tools like blogs, status updates and
Web sites

Blogs
! A Web site in the form of an online journal, with
posts displayed in reverse chronological order.
• Focus your topic
• Foster conversation and subscription (RSS)
• Search engine benefits

Blogs

Blogs

Blogs

Twitter
! Free microblogging platform where users post short
updates (or tweets) of up to 140 characters.
Tweets are displayed to followers on the user’s
profile page.
• Monitor conversations about your brand
• Promotions or coupons
• Engage with people
! Twitter awareness doubled in 1st qtr. 2009, reaching
52% of online Americans (NDP Group)

Twitter

Twitter

Twitter

Twitter
! Transparency is vital - brand or person
! Follow people to get followed
! Provide content, not just advertising
! Use third party applications to monitor and manage
• Tweetdeck
• CoTweet
• Monitter

Facebook
! A large, free social networking site that allows
users to join networks organized by city, workplace,
interest and more. Users interact by establishing
profiles, building networks of friends and joining
groups.

Facebook
! 89% of adults use online social networks to stay in
touch with friends.
- Pew Internet and American Life Project (2008)
! This is a very personal medium. You must provide
content that is relevant to your target market.
Remember, one way we connect with people is
through shared interests, which included brands,
products and services.

Facebook
! Fan pages
• Build a community of fans
• Raise awareness and engage
• Publicize events
• Solicit feedback

Facebook

Facebook

Building a Strategy
! The P.O.S.T. Method
• People
- Know your audience and what SM they use
• Objectives
- Drive revenue, increase brand equity, reduce costs
• Strategy
- Tactical decisions that will lead to desired outcomes
• Technology
- Executing through the right tools
- Forrester Research and Breed & Meyer

Questions?
! Connect with us:
• Armstrong|Shank Web site
- www.armstrongshank.com
• IDEA|S Blog:
- www.armstrongshank.com/blog
• A|S Webstratics Group Web site:
- www.webstratics.com