The Digital Handshake: Proven Strategies to Grow Your Business Using Social Media

The Digital
Handshake
Proven strategies to grow your business using social media
Presented by Paul Chaney
Internet Marketing Director, Bizzuka

Agenda
Adopting a social media mindset
Using the social media toolset
Creating a social media engagement plan

Five consumer trendsturning the world upside down

Consumer skepticism andresistance to advertising

Influence of word of mouth (mouse)
Which factors make you most comfortable purchasing a product?
Mediaedge
Best source for advice
on a new product:
Yankelovich
Among best sources for new ideas about products:
NOP

The Insurgent Consumer
By a 3 to 1 margin, people are far more likely to trust “average people like me”
67 percent of consumer goods sales are based on WOM (Word of Mouth)
Consumers trust WOM recommendations far more than they trust traditional marketing and advertising
People would rather hear about real experiences and perspectives than “marketing-speak”
Source: Edleman

From BOND…
…to BOURNE

Consumer skepticism and resistance to advertising
Media fragmentation is out of control

Daily advertising messages…
3000
274

ATTENTION ECONOMY
1960s… fewer ads… REACHED MORE PEOPLE… with undivided attention
2009… more ads… REACH FEWER PEOPLE… paying less attention
Percent of viewers who could name a brand advertised on TV program just watched:
1965= 35%
2000 = <10%
13, 500 radio stations… 4400 in 1960
17, 300 magazine titles… 8400 in 1960
82.4 TV channels per home… 5.7 in 1960
And the web… millions of sites, billions of pages

Information Overload

Increasingly the consumer is in control

Twitter
Hey, did you
hear about that
new restaurant?
SMS
Tell me
about it.
Blogs
I heard the
seafood was
great!
Social
Networks
When can
we go?!!
Wikis
Forums
Podcasts
Video

The pressure is on to improve targeting – to achieve relevance and minimize waste

Marketable
Niche
Marketable
Niche
Marketable
Niche

Companies held to new levels of accountability

Seen 5 million times in 1 month

Companies held to new levels of accountability

What’s a
marketer
to do?

Start a
CONVERSATION

www.conversationprism.com
Copyright © Brian Solis and Jess5

Authenticity
Spread
Openness
Transparency
Social Media: Mindset & Toolset

It’s not so much
about TECHNOLOGY

Social media is about PEOPLE

“First it’s an understanding that social media is about sociology and less about technology. It’s a mashup of new and traditional media that spans across advertising, PR, customer service, marcom, sales, and community relations.”
Brian Solis – PR 2.0

Social media is the
democratization of information,
transforming people from
content readers intocontent publishers.
It is the shift from a
one-way broadcast mechanism
to a many-to-many model,
rooted in conversations between
authors, people, and peers. (Wikipedia)

“MARKETS areCONVERSATIONS”
“PARTICIPATION isMARKETING”

We no longer simply TARGET AUDIENCES,
we PARTICIPATE in COMMUNITIES.

Search
Social
Information has to be “Findable” and “Shareable”

Every Voice Matters

Some Voices Matter More Than Others

WOM is More Important Now Than Ever

7/29/09
Listening is the New Marketing

Lose Control of Your Content

“For your ideas to spread and rise to the status of a World Wide Rave, you’ve got to give up control. Make your Web content totally free for people to access, with absolutely no virtual strings attached.”
- David Meerman Scott, author, World Wide Rave

More “Shared Connections,” Less “Destination Silos”

Skittles.com Bold Experiment

Website

Operating System of the Social Web

http://sn.im/twitterebook
Twitter is the New Email

It Doesn’t Have to be Expensive

The Way the Web Works…Today

Social Media Headquarters

Search engine marketing
Direct communications
Relationship marketing
Brand building
Competitive differentiation
Positioning as expert
Media and public relations
Exploiting marketable niches
Lead generation
Internal communications

Listings
Google
On
Better

PRINCIPLE:
Frequently-updated,
Keyword-optimized,
Thematically-relevant posts
= Better Returns on Google

Blogs allow organizations to…
Reach new audiences and build a loyal web following
Give your company its own unique voice on the web
Provide a place to collect and share ideas
Engage your customer in conversation
Get customer feedback
Enable a dialog between you and your customer

“It’s become an expectation that if you have a business, you have
a blog. Consumers are looking to find a community around your
service. They’re looking to have conversations with you about
the products they’re using.”
– John Jantsch, Duct Tape Marketing

"Anything which can get the right info to the right people at
the right time, empower your company to become a thought
leader, and let you know what your customers and the
industry are thinking about you in real time is something that
has massive value.“
– Jeremy Wright, CEO, b5media

Three Types of Blogs
Personality (CEO, C-level execs)
Company (News and Events)
Topically-focused (SEO)

After much personal research and experience, I've found that a genuine, helpful, humanized blog, combined with the art of cultivating and building relationships, can forge real connections, shape perception, improve customer service, and also enhance brand loyalty, reach, and resonance.
The truth is that a thoughtful and well-cultivated corporate blog can yield many benefits that not only help PR, but also enhance every facet of corporate communications along with improving sales cycles, customer service and ultimately loyalty.
Blogging is about extending a voice, connecting people, and nurturing relationships. This is the only foundation for which any blog strategy should be built.
Brian Solis
www.briansolis.com

A cord of three strands…
…is not easily broken

Charles Lauller’s LinkedIn Strategy
Drop all of the bogus I'm pimping me and my company bologna.
Be yourself. Honest, sincere, authentic (assuming that's you)
It's cliche, but “seek first to understand, then be understood.”

Ways to Use Facebook
Personal Profile
Public Profile
Events
Groups
Ads
Apps
Lexicon
Insights
Search
Share
Connect

Twitter growth since June 2008 = 1,500%
Over 22 million visitors in May 2009
Over 44.5 million visitors in June 2009
Site attracts more people than Ticketmaster, Wall Street Journal and LinkedIn
Latest craze? Cultural Phenomenon? Tool for Business?
Twitter’s Explosive Growth
Yes!

Twitter’s Explosive Growth

Celebrity Adoption Fuels Growth

How Business is Using Twitter
A recent survey said that most users (89%) of Twitter agree that companies should engage their customers there.
Over 80 percent indicated they also have a better impression of companies that use Twitter for customer service (81%). http://tinyurl.com/twitterusersurvey
Survey of 700 Twitter users, 56 % use Twitter for business purposes. http://bit.ly/JqChq

Network with others in their industry or community
Stay connected to customers and prospects
Monitor what is being said about their company, products, services, industry &
Gather valuable feedback about products or services
Raise awareness about the company, product or service
Find answers and get advice
Offer proactive customer service
Promote events, products and services
Drive traffic to the company website or blog
Incite word of mouth among customers and others
Share helpful content such as articles or blog posts
Generate leads

Major Companies Using Twitter

Twitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging service that allows its users to send and read other users' updates (otherwise known as tweets), which are text-based posts of up to 140 characters in length. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twitter
High latency instant messenger
Presence application
Social instant messaging application
Search engine
Whatever you need it to be!
What is Twitter?

What is Twitter?

The Infamous Question
What does the community care about?
What resources would they find valuable?

Five Things to Consider
Username
Avatar
Bio
Link
Custom Background

Customizing Twitter Backgrounds
Photoshop (or other image editor)
Powerpoint (save as jpeg)
Online Tools
TwitterImage.com
TwitterPatterns.com
Twitbacks.com
iStockPhoto.com

Common Twitter Shortcuts
@username – Sends reply to individual, but in public timeline
dusername – Sends private, direct message to individual
RT = Retweet – Forwarding someone else’s tweet
# = hashtag – Used with Twitter search for keyword/topic
Other shortcuts – Refer to Twitter help

Twitter Rules of the Road
You must win the right to be heard
Don’t follow, if only to pitch
Provide value to the community
It’s okay to mix business with pleasure

Twitter eBook
Complete Guide to UsingTwitter for Business
http://sn.im/twitterebook
@pchaney

Social Networking Best Practices
Online social networking just like other forms; similar rules apply
Come dressed for the occasion
T-shirt/shorts; business suit; business casual
Same true online social networks
Profile and avatar (photo) serves that purpose
Work the room
Face-to-face networking “work the room”; shaking hands, introducing yourself
Online, participation is your price of entry
Leave comments on blog posts; join a Twitter chat; friend others on Facebook
Ask for a business card
Common practice to share business cards
Friending someone is online equivalent

Web Site Strategy
Social Media
Marketing Strategy
Online Marketing Strategy

Social Media Marketing
STRATEGY

Paul Chaney
Internet Marketing Director
Bizzuka, Inc. (www.bizzuka.com)
www.thesocialmediahandyman.comwww.thedigitalhandshake.com
www.facebook.com/thedigitalhandshakewww.twitter.com/pchaney
pchaney@bizzuka.com

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The Digital Handshake: Proven Strategies to Grow Your Business Using Social Media

by Paul Chaney on Sep 17, 2009

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