B2B & Social Media: Marketing & Beyond

Are You Ready for Social Media? Presented by: Sandor Kiss June 11, 2009 TeamThink Inc. kiss@teamthink.ca (E) www.teamthink.ca (W) 403.809.3488 (M) 1

Today’s Discussion • Overview of Social Media • Social Media Tools (Blogs, LinkedIn & Twitter) • Marketing Case Study • HR Considerations • Self Assessment & Taking Action www.teamthink.ca 2

You will be able to take action after today’s meeting. 1. Framework to conduct a self-assessment on your social media readiness. 2. You will be provided with suggestions on next steps you can take to address social media for your organization. www.teamthink.ca 3

Social Media Can Chuck Nasty Curveballs @ Your Business www.teamthink.ca 4

Dominos employees making you think twice about eating there. • The situation: April 15 Two Dominos employees video themselves doing disgusting things to food The videos are posted to YouTube Nearly 1 million people viewed the video within 24 hours www.teamthink.ca 5

You’re the President of Domino’s – What Do You Do? www.teamthink.ca 6

The Response • Dominos didn’t issue a press release or respond online just a small statement on their web site • Concerned that a strong response would only raise awareness • Next day they posted a YouTube video with a President’s message and how they were addressing the situation • Set up a Twitter account to begin influencing discussion • Employees were fired and this was noted in their communication • Pending Actions: Have talked about removing video cameras from its store to prevent this Filing criminal charges Considering civil suit for brand defamation Sources: Marketing VOX, Web Pro News www.teamthink.ca 7

So what’s the potential damage? Source: Read Write Web www.teamthink.ca 8

The Good vs. The Bad: Domino’s Handling of the Situation The Good • Didn’t project a stuffy image • Made themselves “smaller” with a personal message • Delivered a message that would resonate with the public – focused on 160,000 employees impacted by the company For Improvement • Needed to move even faster – they were not prepared • More authentic response, less scripted • Influence the conversation on Twitter more quickly Didn’t have an active account to wade into discussion Didn’t have experience with the tools • Utilize all tools at their disposal – offline/online. www.teamthink.ca 9

Social media cannot be ignored by business leaders. “Nearly 3 out of 4 adults currently participate on the social web compared to 57% in 2007.” Source: Forrester www.teamthink.ca 10

Social media should not be confused with social networks. • Social media relies on information created by people using popular, low cost technologies • Often referred to as user generated content (UGC) • Popular tools include: Wiki’s Podcasts Blogs Video & photo sharing Tag Sharing Social networks www.teamthink.ca 11

Social Media is not just about marketing. Marketing Customer PR/ Service Reputation During our discussion today, think about the implications Social Media to your business beyond marketing. Sales HR Knowledge Transfer www.teamthink.ca 12

Tools you should become familiar with. • Blogs* • LinkedIn* • Twitter* • YouTube • Facebook * For review during today’s discussion www.teamthink.ca 13

“The blog is the Swiss Army knife of social media.” LinkedIn Twitter Facebook Blog • Demonstrate thought leadership using text, video, audio, images, presentations Email RSS • Blogs can be the focal point of your marketing activity www.teamthink.ca 14

If you think blogs are passé think again. They are not even mainstream. Hurdles • Conservatism • Companies cutting costs • Unsure how to measure ROI Source: Forrester www.teamthink.ca 15

Blogs may not seem that sexy– but they carry a lot of weight. • Credible among business and IT 57% of business and IT professionals rated blogs professionals equally or more credible than vendor white papers, • Creates communities of interest – news outlets, industry associations and analyst buyers more willing to listen to reports. peers than sales reps • Can improve natural search results 32% of 273 decision makers said that blogs • Generate insights for corporations were 1 of 3 top resources to support decisions. • Shortens sales cycles & generates leads Source: Forrester www.teamthink.ca 16

Success Story: Network Appliance • Industry: Data Storage Results • Competition: HP, EMC • Challenge: Seeking non-traditional methods for PR • 4600 visitors during first month of blog launch Solution: • C-Level Blog • Sought strong communicator & • 19,000 visitors in Month 2 respected technologist (EVP) • Visitors could not publish to blog but could email the executive • Typical monthly visits: • Presented thought leadership & 17,000 to 19,000/month “controversy” • Marketing gave executive 5 blogs as homework to prepare • Didn’t promote blog Source: Marketing Sherpa www.teamthink.ca 17

Social networks cannot be ignored by marketers. “35% of adult Americans now use a social network such as LinkedIn or Facebook.” Source: Marketing VOX www.teamthink.ca 18

2009 • 38 million members in 200 countries • New member is joining every second • Executives from all Fortune 500 companies are members Source: LinkedIn www.teamthink.ca 19

Considered the Facebook for business professionals. Key features include: • Contact management & ability to view “contacts of your direct contacts” • Info about companies • Job postings • Discussion groups • “Answer” feature: Pose questions to entire LinkedIn network - you often receive rapid responses to your questions • Send status updates to your network • Manage a profile of your work experience www.teamthink.ca 20

LinkedIn is a sales, marketing and recruiting weapon. • Sales Get access to prospects to shorten sales cycles Research that can improve conversion rates Partnership Development • Marketing Set up a company page Create discussion groups and demonstrate thought leadership • HR Research prospective employees during reference checks www.teamthink.ca 21

7/11 of us could probably have introductions facilitated that would yield a conversation. Board Total Degrees of Separation Member Connections to Sandor Roger K. 5 3 Eppo 10 3 Brad 1 - Why the low Judy 2 3 adoption? Ed (Profile 1 3 not updated) Scott 29 2 Mike 31 2 Note: Yesterday only 3/12 board members used LinkedIn? www.teamthink.ca 22

Slide inserted to provide board member responses to: “Why the low adoption?” • Receive too many solicitations once your profile is live • Uncertainty whether business results can be derived from using the tool • Takes too much time to use the tool (with unknown benefit) • Uncertainty how to use the tool www.teamthink.ca 23

• Launched in March 2006. • January 2008: 500,000 unique visitors • December 2008: 4.43 million unique visitors (An increase of 752% compared to the previous year) Source: Mashable www.teamthink.ca 24

Twitter is a “microblogging” tool. • Similar to Facebook but is a more straightforward approach • Users build a network by following friends, family, colleagues, professionals or brands • You can also be followed • Allows you to update your network from a mobile phone or computer with short concise messaging and direct links to content • Messages are restricted to 140 characters www.teamthink.ca 25

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Twitter can be used in a variety of ways. • Companies Boost search engine rankings Promotions Recruiting Customer Service • People Networking Professional Learning www.teamthink.ca 27

Many brands are failing at using Twitter to their benefit. • Twitter squatters are camped on their domain • No clear strategy on how to add value • Too personal or not personal enough • It feels a little “odd” when a brand starts following you • Cannot demonstrate ROI or cannot agree on how to measure ROI • No one cares about the brand • No due diligence to determine if their customers use Twitter www.teamthink.ca 28

Success Story: Dell Computers Approach Results • Set up multiple Twitter addresses • 50,000 followers • Identified an individual who is • Attributed $1 million in Dell’s “face” for social media sales to Twitter • Pace communications: • Intercept online @DellOutlet about 2 tweets/week conversations/ • Tweet during peak business hours comments that can be • Not driven by building followers detrimental to brand and volume of content published • Low key approach – build 1 to 1 relationships with consumers and bloggers Source: Dell blog coverage www.teamthink.ca 29

Marketing Case Study www.teamthink.ca 30

Social Media Case Study: Breaking Point • Industry: IT (Networking Equipment) Start Up Company • Challenge: Limited Budget Target market skeptical of marketing Niche market of hard to find professionals • 6 point solution Source: Marketing Sherpa www.teamthink.ca 31

Breaking Point used a targeted approach to starting conversations. #1: Created a blog to start and join conversations. • Set up a blog to attract an audience • Used tools to scan the web to locate conversations relevant to their industry Tweetscan Google Alerts Boardtracker.com • If a relevant conversation was located, team members weighed in Source: Marketing Sherpa www.teamthink.ca 32

Breaking Point sought to add value with their tweets. #2: Created a Twitter account. • Posted notices of new blogs, webinars, polls, trivia and informal group questions • Used Tweetscan to locate professionals looking for advice on equipment testing • Retweeted interesting information their audience would find useful Source: Marketing Sherpa www.teamthink.ca 33

Breaking Point quickly found that LinkedIn provided a better vehicle than Facebook to reach its audience. #3: Created a LinkedIn group. • Established a group related to network test equipment and security – not the company products or services • Group members led conversations and added value by: Providing vendor advice Reviews/suggestions for industry events Feedback on testing approaches/programs • Ongoing moderation and contributions Source: Marketing Sherpa www.teamthink.ca 34

Breaking Point was more strategic with online press release efforts. #4: Modified press release strategy to obtain blogger coverage. • Increased frequency of releases to 1x/week • Shortened releases and included many links to specific portions of the web site • Changed release time from 8AM to early afternoon to target West Coast bloggers • Plugged releases using Twitter, LinkedIn group and PitchEngine Source: Marketing Sherpa www.teamthink.ca 35

Simple tactics were used to increase connection to the brand. #5: Promote social media on web site and email. • Email signatures included links to Twitter, blog and LinkedIn group • News section included “Join Us” links to set up Twitter feed and join the LinkedIn group Source: Marketing Sherpa www.teamthink.ca 36

Measured results to assess effectiveness. #6: Measure growth of social media accounts and web traffic. • Social Media Channel Growth Blog page views Twitter followers LinkedIn group members • Compared marketing metrics Unique site visitors Leads Leads by source Marketing influenced pipeline activity Source: Marketing Sherpa www.teamthink.ca 37

The company’s social media strategy showed a correlation between the use of social media and the company’s web traffic and leads. Campaign Results Leads by Pipeline • 10,230 unique blog page Source Influencer views in months 4-6 Web 55% 75% • 280 Twitter followers • 141 members in their Trade 23% 4% LinkedIn Group Shows • 155% increase in unique Email 20.5% 17% web site visitors Seminars 1.5% 4% Source: Marketing Sherpa www.teamthink.ca 38

Putting it all together. “Think about integrating social media campaigns into your marketing mix – not just experimenting with tactics in a one-off manner.” www.teamthink.ca 39

HR Considerations www.teamthink.ca 40

Recruiting: The majority of companies are using social networks to recruit employees. Source: Jobvite Social Recruitment Survey; 2009 www.teamthink.ca 41

Recruiting: Employers are using social networks as they provide targeted search opportunities and it saves $$$. Source: Jobvite Social Recruitment Survey; 2009 www.teamthink.ca 42

What kind of culture do you want to create? Open Restrictive “No restrictions” “Outright Ban” • Fosters culture of trust • Selective use of • No Value • We need to recognized tools • Kills productivity Gen Y adoption of • Recognition the social media tools play a role in • Typically organizations people’s lives that have younger staff or focus on recruiting younger audience www.teamthink.ca 43

Social Media Readiness Assessment Are we taking advantage of opportunities? Are we managing the risks? www.teamthink.ca 44

Corporate Readiness Essential Questions Yes/No Is our management team up to speed on social media? Have we developed corporate strategies to respond to opportunities and risks associated with social media? Do we have an internal policy for personal vs. corporate use of social networks? Have we educated our staff on how to separate their personal and private activities on social networks? Can our staff use social media tools productively? Do we utilize social media for recruiting and researching candidates? Are we prepared to market and sell using social media? www.teamthink.ca 45

Marketing/Sales Readiness Essential Questions Yes/No Do we have a social media marketing strategy? Is someone on our marketing team responsible for social media? Have we integrated social media with your marketing strategies? Do we know what social media tools our customers are using? Are we using LinkedIn to support the sales process? Can we prepare an online response rapidly to a PR threat? Do we actively monitor our reputation online? Have we reserved Twitter addresses for your organization? www.teamthink.ca 46

Don’t sit still! 1. Conduct a self-assessment. 2. Add social media to the leadership team’s agenda. 3. Access subject matter expert to facilitate the dialog. 4. Treat this like a strategic planning exercise. 5. Identify priority areas to address. 6. Start with low risk activities and experiment to build success stories. 7. Hold an executive sponsor accountable. www.teamthink.ca 47

Thank You! If you have questions please contact Sandor Kiss 403.809.3488 kiss@teamthink.ca www.teamthink.ca 48

B2B & Social Media: Marketing & Beyond

by TeamThink Inc. on Jun 20, 2009

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B2B & Social Media: Marketing & Beyond — Presentation Transcript