Developing An Effective Strategy for Interactive Marketing

Developing an Effective Strategy for Online Interactive Marketing Shailesh Ghimire Director of Interactive Marketing AIR Marketing airmarketing.com/blog

Success Hinges On
Social Media Mantra:
Honesty, Authenticity, Transparency and Passion
Being more human and less corporate

Remember What "Social" Means
Positioning for avenues of connection:
Post teaser links, articles, videos to drive traffic to your web-hub (blog or website)
Need to network and develop meaningful connections
Don't be like an Amway salesman at a neighborhood party

Pre-requisites to success
Exceptional product/service
Transparency
Willing to be open
Accessiblity
Respond to every social interaction in a timely fashion

The Three Keys to Success
Passion
About your company and industry
Passion
From your customers
Passion
About the new medium

Where are we today?
Play >>

It's reached a tipping point
60% of Americans interact with companies on a social media website
One in four interact more than once per week
93% of Americans believe a company should have a presence in social media
85 % believe a company should also interact with its consumers via social media.
Boston consultant firm Cone, Boston Globe, September 25, 2008

What they want from you…
43% said companies should use social networks to solve their problems
41% said companies should solicit feedback on their products and services
37% said companies should develop new ways for consumers to interact with their brand

Our Goal Today
Developing a strategy:
Where are your customers
Classify your customers
Define objectives/goals
Develop the right strategy
Count the cost
Case studies
31 Days of the Dragon
Wiggly worm
FedEx

The Audience
Discover:
Where are they on social networks
What are they doing
Observing, spreading, commenting, creating, enhancing
Information seekers vs. Engagement seekers
Using:
Online surveys
Social Footprint (using eMail database)

Classify Customers
Read blogs, comments, reviews
Watch videos, download etc.
Somewhat inactive
Share via bookmarks, links
Join Social Networks
Tag content
Leave comments, reviews
Rate services/products
Participate in forums
Write blogs, create videos
Write Wiki pages
Moderate forums
Manage groups

Goals / Objectives
Thought leader (be an expert)
Develop awareness
Generate leads
Put human face on company
Market research
Influence the Influencers
Support customers
Enchanced SEO
Drive revenue

Audiece + Goals  Strategy
Example 1
Audience = Primarily commenting
Goal = Generate Leads
Strategy = Engage via blogs, feedback options on produc pages and create avenues for data capture
Example 2
Audience = Primarily observing
Goal = Thought leader
Strategy = Develop content rich blog, supply ample photos and videos, weekly podcasts

Case Study 1 31 Days of the Dragon

31 Days of the Dragon
Flagship HDX Dragon notebook wasn't selling as expected
Sales were flat over the first 9 months
HP turned to bloggers
Selected 31 bloggers
Provided them with one laptop each
Week long contest started every day

Strategy Breakdown
Audience = Commenters
Technology enthusiasts
Goal = Increase awareness and sales, influence the influencers
Strategy = Engage target via blogs and gain trust of bloggers (influencers)

The Dragon Delivers
Sales of the HDX Dragon increased by 84%
Overall 10% increase in PC sales
14% increase in traffic to hpshopping.com
Tracked over 380,000 backlinks
48 million collective views from 31 blogs and surrounding buzz
Source: http://moblogsmoproblems.blogspot.com/2008/09/blogger-campaign-case-study-hps-31-days.html

Case Study 2 Wiggly Wigglers

Wiggly Wigglers
Sells compost worm kits in the UK, started in 1995
Based in a town with less than 70 people
Target audience: farmers
Less than 25,000 farmers in the UK
Deployed podcasts, blog posts and social networking
Sources:
http://money.cnn.com/2008/03/17/smbusiness/Facebook_marketing.fsb/index.htm
http://flooringtheconsumer.blogspot.com/2008/04/blogher-business-2008-hats-off-to.html

Strategy Breakdown
Audience = Observers
Gardening enthusiasts and farmers
Goal = Increase awareness and generate sales
Strategy = Engage via podcasts and interactions in social networks

Worm Success
Now a multi-million dollar company
Growing robustly at 10% per year
Growth attributed to a combination of Podcasts, Blog posts and social networking
Now even has a developed a thriving catalog business

Key: Passion and Expertise
Blogger said:
She has a strong voice. It’s genuine and personable.
She is passionate about what she writes.
She informs and educates her customers.
She offers applicable tips.
She keeps in touch.
She encourages product trials with discounts and give-aways.
She welcomes new friends.
Source: http://www.nextfiftyyears.com/2008/04/wiggly_wigglers_gardening_thro.html

Case Study 3 Enhancing Facebook

FedEx Ehances Facebook
Facebook eMail does not allow you to send attchments
FedEx created an application that would enable this
FedEx is known for:
Reliable, fast, overnight deliveries
Source: http://blog.buddymedia.com/blog/?p=58

Strategy Breakdown
Audience = Spreading and Commenting
Young social networkers
Goal = Increase brand awareness, solve problem
Strategy = Engaged via social network application

Brand Awarness Success
100,000 installs in less than 48 hours
Over 50% of those users returning more than 10 times since their initial install
3,092 monthly active users
The audience is global
Slight weighting towards female users (53%).
74% of the audience is in the coveted 19-34 age demographic.

Fedex Takeaway
Thought beyond company presence
Leveraged their offline persona to solve an online problem
Created virtual usage
Which has a high probablity of creating real usage

Your Strategy
Audience = ________________
Goals = ___________________
Strategy = ________________
Passion index = ____________

Execution

Time and Resources

Success Hinges On
Social Media Mantra:
Honesty, Authenticity, Transparency and a Passion about the topic
Being more human and less corporate
Can't fake it!
Need to find the right strategy for target audience to meet the objectives set forth

Next..
Understanding engagement
Refining strategy
Developing a ROI model

Questions? Shailesh Ghimire (480) 748-2694 [email_address] Airmarketing.com/blog

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Developing An Effective Strategy for Interactive Marketing

by Shailesh Ghimire on Oct 15, 2008

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