PR and WOM on Digital Media: How Blogs and Social Media Benefit Business

Copyright, Shahzad Khan 2008
PR and WOM on Digital Media
Prepared and Presented By:
SHAHZAD KHAN TANWARSHAHZAD KHAN TANWAR

What is Social Media Marketing?
Blogs
Social Networking Websites
Search Engine Marketing
Corporate Website

Who should’ve had a blog:

Dell
In 2005, Dell didn’t have a blog. But one of
their customers did…

Dell’s customer strikes back
This customer was very upset with Dell’s
customer service.
He wrote about his experience on his blog.
So did another blogger, whose post was so
popular, it led to the creation of a new term
for Dell…

Dell Hell in Google
If you search for Dell Hell in Google, that
guy’s post is the first result.
As a result, Dell got negative press coverage
in the New York Times and Wall Street
Journal.

Dell couldn’t fight back
Dell didn’t have a blog, so they were unable
to communicate with the angry blogosphere.

But there was a happy ending. Dell set up
their own blog.

Happy ending
“In the age of customers empowered by
blogs and social media, Dell has leapt from
worst to first." – Jeff Jarvis, Business Week
First step: Dell dispatched technicians to
reach out to complaining bloggers and solve
their problems, earning pleasantly surprised
buzz in return.

Dell’s new blog

Measurable results
Dell saw a 27 point decrease in negative
blog posts, from 49 percent at the peak
of Dell Hell to the current 22 percent.
Cost would have been hundreds of millions
for similar ad campaign.
Source: ILLUMINEA Media

Apple lost billions
At the hands of bloggers…

May 2007: “…earlier yesterday technology blog
Engadget published what it claimed was an internal
email from Apple that stated the iPhone launch
would be delayed until October and that the
Leopard operating system would be delayed until
January 2008.
Six minutes after the post, Apple's share value
had sunk to $103.42, cutting Apple's company
value by $4bn. - TechCrunch
“Applegate”

“Applegate”
“Apple has received formal government
approval to sell its much-anticipated
iPhone in the US, just a day after a bogus
email, dubbed "Applegate", wiped $4bn
from the company's stock market value.“ -
Guardian

Target’s not on target

Target PR Nightmare
A rep from a non-profit concerned with media
and marketing’s impact on kids writes to
Target objecting to the ad on the previous
slide.

Target’s unfortunate response
Target: “unfortunately we are unable to
respond to your inquiry because Target does
not participate with non-traditional media
outlets. This practice is in place to allow us to
focus on publications that reach our core
guest.”

= PR nightmare

Target was publicly slammed for having
questionable advertising practices and elitist
public relations policies.
Story was picked up and repeated thoughout
the blogosphere
Target PR Nightmare

Target PR Nightmare
Shaping Youth is a small, grass-roots
organization - that has a blog.
Target is #33 in the Fortune 50 - with $59
Billion in revenue - but no blog.

Why blog? Visualization of the blogosphere
Because you
are already
there.

And you have no control

Today’s leading brand
Source: Millward Brown’s Brandz

Nature of advantage is shifting
Decades and billions on
marketing, branding and
advertising
$0 on ads
The big boys: Coke,
P&G
Google

The corporate website is
becoming irrelevant

The new corporate website
Websites are created with customers
(Un)filtered customer testimonials will appear
Content will have both negative and positive
views about your products
Your website will be a Community Resource

Outcome
Customers will make your site the first place
to go for information, trust will increase, you
may be able to build better products and
services with real-time customer feedback,
and most importantly, you’ll be a community
resource that will help you meet your
customer needs faster.
- Web Strategy: How to evolve your
irrelevant corporate website

What is social media?

Sites considered social media:
Blogs
Message boards
Forums
Social networks (Orkut
and Facebook)
Video sharing (You
Tube)
Professional
Networking (Linkedin)
Picture sharing
(Photobucket)
Podcasts
Vidcasts
Wikis
Groups
Virtual words or
communities (Second
life)

Examples

Common traits:
Editable
Participative
Connect people

The blogosphere is doubling in
size every 6 months

Blog Characteristics

RSS Feeds

Trackbacks
Tells other blogs
you linked to
them, and then
an excerpt of your
post appears with
a link back to
your blog in the
comments
section of their
post that you
linked to

Pingbacks
You get a
notification that
other bloggers
linked to your
blog, and an
excerpt of their
post appears on
your blog with a
link to their blog
(opposite of
trackbacks)

Example of Pingback

Comments

Pings
Blogs set up to ping send an automatic
message to tens or hundreds of blog
directories, telling them you just published
something new.
This not only spreads your blog further,
but Google is known to follow these blog
directories, and it helps Google pick up on
new blogs quickly.
Pingomatic.com is an example of a
pinging service.

Tags
Good for search
engines; gives them
more info on what the
post is about
Good for Technorati
blog directory
Good for finer
categorization of posts

Social Bookmarks
Make it easy for people
to submit posts to
bookmark directories
This helps spread the
word, and if enough
people “vote” for your
blog, you can get tons
of traffic

Benefits: General
Low cost and fast to set up
Transparent and authentic
Information is always up-to-date
Blogging is innovative = you are
innovative

Benefits: Reach
Get the right information to the right people
at the right time.
Broad reach via RSS and email subscriptions
Opening a new marketing channel for
products and services

Benefits: Financial
Test out ideas on the blog before
development
Forrester research: savings from customer
insights

Benefits: Search Engines
Search engines like:
Sites that publish fresh content
Sites with inbound links
Keywords

Benefits: Thought Leadership
Position you and your company as thought
leaders in competitive markets
Establish a true, credible voice in the
marketplace
Tim Ferris launched The 4 Hour Workweek
to New York Times bestseller list through
blogging

Benefits: Branding
Strengthen and promote your brand
Give your company a human face
Forrester research: increased brand visibility
Forrester research: reduced impact from
negative user-generated content, and
increased sales efficiency

Benefits: PR
Free and controlled news desk
Damage control!
Rapid response tool
Create buzz - give small hints abt. new
products, generate press interest
Announce conferences/events

Benefits: Customer Relations
Customer queries answered leading to
reduced customer service or technical
support calls
Enhance customer loyalty
Build sense of community
Turn customers into your sales force
Reach an active, passionate consumer base
Reach people on their own terms

Benefits: Lead Generation
Better communication with prospects
Leverage existing customer base to spread
your message
Increased enquiries generated
A living white paper
Word of Mouth - 80% of online users trust
the opinion of a friend or acquaintance
more than any other possible web source

Benefits: Intelligence
GM's Fastlane Blog’s Bob Lutz, says he
receives better consumer intelligence from
reading the comments on his blog than those
from traditional market research channels,
like surveys and focus groups.
Quickly and easily poll your customers
Get feedback
Build better products from 2-way
conversation

GM leader in social media
GM launched blog in 2005 – Fastlane
Written by Vice Chairman
200 years: GM expanding social media
strategy to include GMNext
Isn’t that a waste of time?

GM says yes to SM
Forrester compared the results of GM’s
Fastlane blog to those of a focus group, and
since a focus group costs about $15,000 a
month, which works out to $180,000 each
year, GM has achieved similar results via
their blog, and saved itself $180,000 in
cash per year.

How do I socialize?

How to socialize over the net
Have a personality
Don’t be afraid of failure
Pick the right social media for your audience
Make friends
Add value to the community
Don’t self-promote

How to social (cont)
Be accurate
Be transparent
Be patient
Increase your linkability
Make tagging and bookmarking easy
Help your content travel

Getting to Work!
Observe
Participate
Read the patterns of behavior
Identify where your TG seek information from
Search for Keywords: Product & Company names
both yours and competitors’

Don’ts
Many marketers are merely engaging in
cultural voyeurism at best
They look from afar and roam the perimeters
of online societies without ever becoming a
true member of any society.
They don’t truly understand what, where, or
why they’re “participating,” only jumping in
because they have something to say and
have access to the tools that will carry their
messages into play

Search Engine Marketing

Components
Search Engine Strategy Formation
Search Engine Optimization
SE De-optimization
Engaging Consumers

If Social Media is so great, why aren’t
more brands and agencies using it?

Barriers to Online Investment
2007 McKinsey study of 410 marketing execs found
the primary barriers to online investment were:
52% insufficient metrics to measure impact
41% Insufficient in-house capabilities
33% Difficulty of convincing upper management
24% Limited reach of digital tools
18% insufficient capabilities at agency
2 of the top 3 relate to ROI measurement
Metrics
Convincing upper management (Business Case)

Tools and Measurements

Social Bookmarks
Ma.gnolia
Del.icio.us
Stumble upon

Crowdsourced Content
Digg
Yahoo Buzz
Reddit
Newsvine

Blogs/Conversation
Google Alerts
Blog Pulse
Technorati
Wordpress
Buzzlogic (Paid)

Social Networks
Orkut
Facebook
Linkedin
Youtube

Media Networks
Youtube
Flickr
Metacafe
Smugmug

Resources- Personal and Budgets
Measure:
The average frequency of relevant conversations
Identify the more active hubs and communities
The context of the conversations in order to
determine time and variety of resources required
(a community manager and an IT developer is
required at the very least.)

The Formula to calculate
The number of average relevant conversations per
day per community.
Multiplied by the quantity of relevant communities
Multiplied by 20 (minutes required to research and
respond and also monitor for additional responses),
variable +/- dependent on the case, usually +
Divided by 60 (minutes)
Equals the amount of time required and in turn, the
resources and associated costs required
depending on internal labor or external consulting
fees

Do
Keep a pulse on relevant conversations.
Feed them, intelligently, to the right people
internally.
Guide them on the required response.
Follow-up to ensure that the interaction is
more meaningful and helpful

ROI Methodology
Define the metrics that indicate intent
Project conversion rates and expected value
for each audience (and each action)
Existing customers
New customers
Use rates and values to project expected
revenue for each audience
Normalize by averaging expected values
© Shahzad Khan 2008

Developer and Presenter
Shahzad Khan (MICAShahzad Khan (MICA--EDC)EDC)

About the Author
Rank Holder in every semester
Best performer in Q3 at Dell Inc., Hyd (EMEA CC) in year
2004 and ditto in Kaizens at American Express, Gurgaon for
Credit and Disputes
Shahzad has always been the blue eyed boy of every
organization he has worked for
He stood first in "meet the press" competition conducted at
IIMA, by CII-Young India
He has earned a PG certificate from University of Essex, UK
for successfully completing the ‘Creative Women Project’
His interests include Psychoanalysis, Semiotics, Neuro-
linguistic programming, Brand-Building, Singing and Writing
Currently he’s working on his first book in which he tries to
understand the psyche of Indian consumers

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