The Power of Social Media
Hanzehogeschool University
International Business School
Matthew Vanderheide

Social media is content created by people using highly
accessible and scalable publishing technologies. At its
most basic sense, social media is a shift in how people
discover, read and share news, information and content.
It's a fusion of sociology and technology, transforming
monologue (one to many) into dialog (many to many) and
is the democratization of information, transforming
people from content readers into publishers. Social media
has become extremely popular because it allows people
to connect in the online world to form relationships for
personal and business.

FRUSTRATED YET?
DON’T WORRY, THERE’S HOPE!

You don’t need to be in every network!
Only those that are right for you!

Which network is right for me?
What are you interested in? Hockey Find
Selects Hockey Nation
\"Worldwide community for hockey players/parents to network,
share experiences and make new contacts/friends.\"
www.finadsocialnetwork.com

Why use social media?

What do they know that you don’t?
235,000,000 Facebook
253,000,000 MySpace
40,000,000 Bebo
35,000,000 Linked In
564,000,000 4 sites

Customer Potential
and its FREE!

Voice of the Customer
Reactive Proactive
1. Conversation is Key! 1. Costs money.
2. Understand the Customer. 2. Slow to change.
3. Adapt quickly. 3. You never get deep enough.
4. Less costly. 4. CRM systems always need enhancing.
5. No more CRM Enhancements.

Example: Dell
In 2005, the ‘Dell Hell’ website emerged where the public could respond
to product deficiencies and service complaints. Dell responded to the
blogs in a poor fashion, which caused an even larger firestorm.
As of 2009, Dell has listened to their customers and now responds to any
complaint, question, or comment, within 24hrs. However it doesn’t stop
there, they now invite the public to share their ideas and opinions on a
special dedicated Dell site: www.IdeaStrom.com
From 2005 to 2009 Dell has seen the number of product complaints drop
by more than 53%, whereas their customer loyalty has increased 34%.

Branding and Marketing
Know your reputation.
Know the marketplace.
Easy Research.
Test the waters.
Build awareness.
Stay ahead.

Example: Kryptonite
DAY 1 – Blogger writes about how easy it is to break the Kryptonite bike lock.
DAY 2 – The news is picked up and travels through the blogger sphere.
DAY 3 – QuickTime movies appeared with demonstration video on how a Bick Pen
could open the lock in seconds.
DAY 4 – The news went from the virtual world to the real world, Television and Print
media started to announce the story
DAY 5 – The company made an official announcement saying they will take 24hrs to
review the problem.
DAY 6 – The company began recalling their tube bike locks.
HOW MANY PEOPLE WERE REACHED WITH 450 BLOGS IN 6 DAYS?
MILLIONS!
Sites include: ePinions, RipOff Report, and the Consumerist

Innovate and Collaborate
One person knows everything
doesn’t compare
to everyone knowing something.
www.innocentive.com

Example: MyWorkButterfly
Prior to launching this social network site for mothers returning to the
workforce, the owners took to the social networking platforms to
collaborate with prospective users.
The owners became involved in discussions, surveys, and blogs, to listen to
the opinions and suggestions of their users. Users began collaborating
with the owners on nearly every aspect of the site, so that by the time it
launched it was already a success.

Recruitment
Find the “right” person.
From the “right” place.
Into the “right” position.
Their network becomes your network.

Example: Fortune 500
• All Executives from Fortune 500 companies are on LinkedIn.
• 70% of Fortune 500 companies are using social networking
platforms to recruit.
• LinkedIn has the highest recruitment ratio of all the social
networking sites.

Growing your Business!

Where do I start?
?

Think Strategically!
• Think before you act.
• Do some research.
• Choose your Network
– Business
– Marketing
– Collaboration
– Personal

Start Slow, but Start!
Consistency instead of speed.
No proof that quicker is better.
Think quality over quantity.
Be yourself.

Participate
ONLY be where you want to be.
People will notice if you are not Active.
Build a consistent image.
Be transparent and honest.
Reputation is the Key!

But Don’t….. Try to control it.

Interact
• Make it meaningful for the audience.
• Have an online presence, not a location!
• Keep it short and clear.
• Use proper grammar.
• Avoid traditional marketing.

Listen. Listen. Listen.
Enhance your product
Identify the unknown
Find new markets
Ability to act quicker

Tips, Tricks, and Trends

TIP: Use tools
Track your name
Track your company
Track your Industry
Track your competition
TRICK: Use specific search terminology

Trend: Who are they really?
TRICK: Find them and connect quickly

TIP: Find and Follow Information
TRICK: Search networks to expand yours!

TIP: Maximize your current network potential
TRICK: Start with friends, family, and coworkers.

Trend: New Users = Inexperience
Information is everywhere
Data is constantly flowing
Use this to your advantage!
Open the Door!
TRICK: Scan their personal information to make a
meaningful connection!

TIP: know your own security settings!
TRICK: Review the user privacy tutorials

Tip: Let employees guide policy
Happy Employee = Free Marketing!
Connect to a wider audience
Empowered to Promote
TRICK: Reward the promoters!

Evolution of Social Media
Everything will be connected
Social Influence will drive Markets
Your Profile will be Universal

Entrepreneurship & Business sites

THANK YOU!