7 Social Media Secrets

The 7 Social Media Secrets Every Corporation Should KnowPresented To: 2010 iStrategy ConferenceLocation: Berlin, GermanySusan Rice Lincoln

How we will talk todayLet’s try to be as ‘social’ as possibleWe’llreview 7 Secrets of Social Media I will presentmythoughtsYou addyoursThis is YOUR presentation, not mineWe can’t do everything in an hour and 15 minutes...

Social Media is a particularblend of magicTacticsStrategyDetailsTHE BIG PICTUREGetting the balance right is a big challenge

The Seven Secrets1. Big Picture2. Right Thoughts3. Fall Back4. SpringForward5 Observe6. Strategize7. Measure

Social Media Secret Number 1:Big Picture In the last 1460 days the world as we knew it exploded.Video – Social Media Revolution

The web’s top sites are full of companies who are younger than first graders…Top 10 Global Sites on Alexa:1. Google2. Facebook3. YouTube4. Yahoo5. Windows Live6. Wikipedia7. Blogger.com8. Baidu.com9. MSN10. QQ.com

If Facebook was a country it would be bigger than the USA Facebook 360 million active users worldwide

US population is 307 million Source: Facebook(er) Desktop Widget“Facebook(er) Users Worldwide”

Social Media Sites AlreadyExceedTelevision’sReachMonthly Global Unique Visitors (in millions)Source: comScore as reported in “Top Social Media Sites of 2008 (Facebook Still Rising),” TechCrunch Dec 31, 2008

And social media is not justabout the younggeneration…Source: Accenture, 2009

…or Americans….Social Media Grows Like Wildfire WorldwideInternet Users in Select Countries Who Have Created a Social Network Profile as of 2009Data provided from eMarketer article: Focusing on Social Networks.

240 million Europeans use Social Media**Source: Eranium. “Social Networking Map of Europe.” 3 Oct.. 2008. Online image. Flickr. 03 Feb. 2010. http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3276/2960555931_2ab7d5f171.jpg

While 92 million Europeans are on Facebook alone

This is a (consumer-led) revolution…

For a long time, there has been a growingdisconnect between companies and consumers 76% of customers don’tbelieve companies tell the truth in advertising. Yet, 78% rate the credibility of word-of-mouth as 7 or higher on a 10 point scale. Keller Fay Group 2006Consumers in the USA and Europe are 86% lesstrusting of companies than theywere five yearsago.Bain & Co. 2006

Fill the gap with Social Media… …

Social Media Secret Number 2:Right ThoughtsHaving the right attitude is half the battleMindwins over matter..Toomany people think social mediatoolsetToo few people think social media mind set

1. Thinkpersonal, not corporate..

Be Nice“It is Ryanair policy not to waste time and energy in corresponding with idiot bloggers and Ryanair can confirm that it won’t be happening again,” it told The Times.“Lunatic bloggers can have the blog sphere all to themselves as our people are far too busy driving down the cost of air travel”.

Social Media is a marathon, not a sprintFlickr/MarcosVasconcelos Photography

Social Media is not immediateYou are used to the high velocity of mass media:Turn on an ad or promotion and see immediate resultsThe slow and steady of social media may frustrate

Social Media is not efficientSocial media is the opposite of massLabor intensiveHighly involvingNon-standardized

Create a community…one connection at a time

Start with baby steps…Go slowExperimentwithlittle programmesLearnwhatworks and doesn’tworkExpect and embracefailuresDare to makemistakesKnow thatsuccess is around the cornerSocial media is one interaction and one contact at a time

You need to acceptyoucan’t do everythingSocial media is a blend of:Excellent StrategyUnderstanding of how your social media strategyfitsinto your overall business planSuperior knowledge of the toolsExperienceDo you really think you have all those qualities in-house?

Carefullydecidewho is going to help you..Do you really have the capabilities in-house?Chances are your agency hasn’t figured it outSocial media is not in their DNAStill trying to sort out SEM and displayMany social media consultant have little experienceDon’t understand strategyDon’t understand companies

4. Think Consumer to ConsumerThe goal is to facilitate conversations BETWEEN your consumers rather than between YOU and YOUR consumer…

You don’t manage the conversation. Your customerdoes!

“You can’t just say it. You have to get the people to say it to each other, says James Farley, CMO Ford.“

10. Learn how to respondwhen people saynegativethings about youListenRespondFix things

Negativecomments are a necessaryevilRespondRespond quicklyRespond politely Transform your enemies into advocatesDon’t review your blog’s commentsAllow people to say negative thingsReviewing comments is poorly received by the blogosphereIt is better you know what people are saying than to ignore itEnter into the dialogueTell your side of the story

A recentstudy shows thatmostreviewsaren’t as negative as feared90% of reviewers said they wrote reviews to help others make better purchasing decisions70% said they wrote reviews to help companies improve their products79% wrote reviews to reward the company87% wrote reviews that were generally positiveSource: BazaarVoice, a website authored by Marketing Charts

Criticism is not your enemy…your FEAR of criticismmay be..A negative response is a cry for help AND an acknowledgement they care

New technologycanre-define interactions between brands and consumersGet rid of old thinkingChange the advertising paradigm of the 20th centuryYou need to innovate as much as technology hasBe respectful of digital touch points and community sensitivities

Let’s look at some out of the box examples…

Missouri BankMobank serves an eclectic customer base of visionaries and artistsDoesn’t use social media to sellUses social media to build community philosophyCool image on FacebookAn online neighborhoodCustomers interact like they do at the branches

Video - Wear & Compare from Nedap

Hyatt’svirtual concierge service…

@CoffeeGroundz was one of the first to start taking orders to go on Twitter

Kogi BBQ transformed the mundaneinto a big business….. Mobile Korean BBQ that travels around LA selling Korean tacos. Now has 45,000 followers on Twitter by tweeting where the truck is going to roll upRan a t-shirt competition with fans voting on their favorite t-shirt designThe now-famous taco truck has reached cult status

1-800-Flowers links rewards programme to FacebookUses Gimme Love, an application from Loyalty Lab Connects customer loyalty programmes to Facebook applications and widgetsRewards customers for activities they do on Facebook with the brandFor example, members of the 1-800-Flowers.com loyalty programme are rewarded when they refer friends to the company.

H&R Block put the fun back into taxesEngage with taxpayers by setting up a presence in many different parts of the social webDepending on the audience/platform, made taxes funny, interesting, informative or personal. MySpace and YouTubeCreated spoof character Truman Greene who sang parody songs about his love of taxesFacebookUseful fools for peopleTips EducationTwitterExperts available 24/7 to answer questions

Aleksandr Orlov and Compare the Meerkatre-defined car insurance

This car insurance programme has enjoyed a wildsuccessThe official YouTube video 80,00 views + Over 320,000 Facebook fans Hugenumber of comments and likescustomized photosPetitions to getcuddlytoysAlsoloved on Twitter

This car insurancecompany has enjoyed a wildsuccessIn first 3 days of programme, ¾ of monthly quotes target was achievedYear on year uplift was 45%Success due to Great on and offline synergyIntegration of offline direct marketing campaign with a strong social media programme

Think out of the box with your choices of social media toolstooFlickrSlidesharePodcastingYelpFoursquare

7. Think social OUTSIDE your company and selling INSIDE your company

Find the sweet spot between selling and social… Social media networks are fragileThey don’t like commercial promotionDon’t hawk your products Selling on social media is a turnoffTalk about your products only in the spirit of conversationYour selling should be about 10% of your contentNetwork through social mediaSell elsewhere

“It's not the typical one-way push kind of conversation. You wouldn't burst into a cocktail party and just start handing your business card to people and leave. The online space is no different.“Scott Monty, Ford

But thinksell (inside your company)

Thinksellinside the company...Everyone needs to be a stakeholderLegalHRSalesLogistics Communicate social media objectives company wide Refresh objectives/strategies on regular basis

Build support anywayyoucanBuild support with1 on 1 meetingsLarger group sessionsMeet/convince key influencersManage expectations

Show why social media will help meet business objectives

Social Media Secret 3: Fall Back

Your blog should be your starting point

Your blog has infinitebenefits…Establishesyou as a thought leaderIncreases your credibilityAllowsyou to converse with consumers and prospectsGivesyou a veryclearidea of what is important to people in your marketIs a keylaunching pad into social media

Here are 10 possible ways to use a blog Provide resources/tips related to your industryEstablish yourself as an expert in your field Report back from an event or conferenceInvolve your staff and let them share their knowledgeProvide a place for consumers to share information Give your customers a place to voice their opinionShare your storyShare your clients’ stories Talk about your products (the good/the bad/the ugly)Discuss products/trends affecting your industry

Use your blog posts in multiple waysLink your blog with Facebook Use Facebook’s Notes featureLink to your personal profile page and/or your business fan pageTweet about your blog. Automatically send out a Tweet when you publish a new post Send a Tweet with an interesting statistic (from your blog post) and a link to the postIf your blog post answers a controversial question, ask the question in Twitter with a link to the post

Use your blog post in multiple waysEdit your blog post for article directoriesUpload your article on Ezinearticles.comPublishers of ezines/newsletters/blogs use content from Ezinearticles.com in their publications, giving credit to the author with a link to your websiteGreat way to drive traffic to your website and establish yourself as a thought leaderDepending on the size of your blog, you may be able to submit several articles from one blog post.

Use your blog post in multiple waysSubmit your blog posts to print publicationsNewspapersAssociation newslettersMagazinesRecord your blog postsTake your best blog postsRecord on a digital recorderOr record directly into computer with a microphoneUse free software Audacity.Post the recordings on your websiteBurn them onto CDS/DVDs and give them to prospects

Use your blog post in multiple waysCreate a video

Make a video of you reading a blog post

Show your face and let people get to know you

Divide your blog post into slides

Turn post into a book or Ebook

Put several posts together into an instructional booklet

Offer the book free off your website

Reformat your blog post into a press release

Publish OnlineRe-think the roleof your website

The most common user action on a Web site is to flee.““Edward Tufte, Information Design Guru

A bad web site is like a grumpy salesperson.““Jakob Nielsen, Web Usability Guru

The majority of websites are STILL likefancy business cardsfloating in cyberspace

There is a big difference between a Web 1.0 site and a Web 2.0 site

Your website is one of the biggeset social media toolsyou have Your website should be a place where:Prospects/Customers can join your networkProspects/Customers can talk to each otherProspects/Customers can access interesting contentProspects/Customers can promote your contentYou place links/buttons to other social media spaces: TwitterFacebookLinkedInYelp

Start thinking about your websitedifferently Build it not just from YOUR point of view, build it from your customer ‘s point of viewA customer comes to your site to solve HIS problem, not to find out about what YOU think about YOU. Let other people publish on your websiteCustomersProspectsPartnersOther members of the communityDare to incorporate negative and positive views about your product i.e. use unfiltered customer testimonials

Your websiteshould be a communityresourceBe a credible source of opinion and factBe the Oprah Winfrey for your industry Customers will make your site the first place to go for information in your industryYou can build better products and services with real-time customer feedbackYou will be a community resource that helps meet your customer needs fasterYou will build trust

Think about social media as a hub withspokes (not a two-way radio)Use one place as a launching point or hubYour blogYour website

Social Media Secret Number 4: SpringForward

Stepinto the future withvideo and mobile

By 2012, 40% of all videoconsumptionwilloccuroutside of the television set. Learmonth, M. Flickr/joelfrijhoff

A picture is worth a thousandwordsLet people see your productsLet people see YOUVideos (and photos) are:Easy to createEasy to publishAllow you to explain complex how-to concepts Explain step-by-step directions better than the written word Show your business is fun Make your company more approachable

There are manywaysyoucan use videoShow your productsInterview your clientsInterview key thought leadersHave someone interview youDo a visual walkthrough of your company or a productAnswer FAQsRead out your favorite blog postsShow you or a member of your team giving a public presentationVideo you being interviewed by the mediaUse video as a form of training for your real or virtual team

Getrelaxedwith a Flip Camcorder

Think about combininghigh-levelfootagewith your Flip footage

Use Tubemogul.com and move beyondYouTube

Mobile is about to stun us all…“With all the capabilities these phones that are coming out have like GPS, cameras - we think there is the potential to actually make this mobile Web better than the PC Web. - Google's VP of product development“

The increase in mobile phones is attracting companies to mobile social media

Facebookis the most favorite social media network for mobile applications

Mobile applications are proliferatinglikerabbits

Volkswagen goes 100% Mobile for launch of GTI Mobile drives social media usage

Social media usage drives mobileThink about offering your customers an exceptional product experience on the go.

FollowTasti D-Lite’s lead…The first restaurant to incorporate social media rewards into their loyalty programmeCustomers accrue extra points (and earn free frozen treats faster) for Foursquare check-ins and tweets automatically made when their TastiRewards cards are swiped.The exchange of goods for check-ins is a way of treating social media as currency

FollowTasti D-Lite’s lead…

Its social and its smart…and itsrevolutionising the waywethink.. The company will get accurate accounts on the quantity of tweets/check-ins with card swipesIt can quantify social media updates with sales figureIt can track change over time and assess the influence of the TastiRewards tweets and check-ins as it pertains to the growth of the programme

Social Media Secret Number 5: ObserveUnderstand your social media world beforeyoustepinto it…You must understand the social media conversation swirling around you..About youAbout your companyAbout competitorsAbout your spaceFlickr/Matt Hamm

You need to understandit all…What are your customers/prospects talking about?Where are theytalking?Whoistalking?What are the issues or problemstroubling people?Are therebreakthroughs in your field that are getting people excited?Whatdoes your consumer like?Whatdon’ttheylike?Where are you in all of this conversation?

You alsoneed to know everything about your competitorsTheir overall presenceWhere they areWhat they are talking aboutTheir tone of voiceWhat kind of activity they are engaging inHow their customers and prospects are speaking to themTheir problemsTheir opportunitiesHow effective they are

As well as identify and trackthe keyinfluencersWho are the influencers?What do they think is important?What do they think about you?Are they talking about you?What are the compelling issues?

Start by identifying your questionsFlickr/MyKPWedding

Key questions?Start with the basics:Where are people talking about me and my industry?Social Media Networking?Twitter?YouTube?Flickr?Groups?Social Bookmarking

Key questions? Who are theytalking about?CompaniesPeopleBrandsNo oneWhoisdoing the talking?Age groupSexLocationConsumersProspectsInfluencers

Key questions?Who are my influencers?Who is talking about my brand?Who is talking about my competitorsWho is talking about my industry? What is their social reach? (on Facebook/Blog/Twitter/LinkedIn/Forums) Who is listening to them?

Key questions?What are the types of subjectsdiscussed?New products?Problemswithcurrentproducts/service?New overall trends?Life?

What are your key questions?Whatis the tone of the conversation in terms of you/yourcompany?Satisfied?Complaining?Very interactive? Uninvolved?What is the tone of the conversation in terms of your competitors?Satisfied?Complaining?Very interactive? Uninvolved?

Key questions?Do youseeobvious areas thatneed to bechanged?Type of conversationSubject of conversationTone of conversationOverallpresenceImprovement in target audience

Thendecide how youwill monitorFree toolsPaid servicesOr a combination of the two?

A good starting point is Google AlertsScans the internet for important keywords Keeps you up-to-date on new developments related to those keywords. Allows you to reduce information overload while remaining informedGives you a good idea about where you are placed in the social media space Delivers all this timely information into your e-mail box

Technoratiwill help yousearch blogs

Monitterhelpsyoutrack conversations on Twitter

Who’s talkin.com is another option

Social Mention is a free keywordtrackerDisplays key stats like sentiment in a nice dashboardDoes not store data for youAn instant snapshot of the last 30 days activity

Here are somepaid monitoring toolsRadian 6 Techrigy SM2ScoutlabsTrackur

Radian6 ExpensiveMultiple dashboards: Conversation Clouds, Rivers of News, Topic Trends.. Tutorial videosSimple,intuitive, easy to set upDetailed reporting Pricing $500 for up to 10,000 search results/month $1500 for 50,000 search results/month..

TechrigySM2Not as intuitive as Radian6Good, solid productVideo tutorials$600/month for 20,000 results $4800 for 5000,000 stored results

ScoutlabsSimple to use setting up searches is easyLess complex but just as useful asRadian6 or SM2 ; a useful stripped down version Easy-to-use overlay feature so you can compare data trends$99 per month for 5 concurrent searches$749 per month for 125 concurrent searches

TrackurVery basic app which will give you a simple viewSearch by influenceApply a simple sentiment ratingView simple graphs$18/month for 3 searches updated 2x a day$197/month for 150 searches updated every 30 minutes

Social Media Secret 6:StrategizeRememberthatusing a social media tool is NOT a strategy…

Whatis a strategy?Flickr/Army.mil

Forget about tools - Think about purposeYou can’t possibly use ALL the tools we have discussedFigure out what you want to do firstThe question isn’t what tool should we useThe question is what do we want to achieveImagine someone asking, Ï just got a screwdriver..what should I fix?” You don’t get a tool and look for a problem. You isolate a problem and then select the appropriate tool to fix it with

Your strategycomes as a direct resultfrom your assessment…Through the assessment (Step 4) you have done the following:Discovered where your supporters/potential supporters are in the social media spaceSeen/heard/read what they are discussingUnderstood their concernsBeen inspired by their dreamsNow it is time to figure out how to ENGAGE those supportersPlan your objectivesDecide on your goalsFigure out what you want to achieveBe clear about how you want to measure it

There are four distinct steps in the creation of your strategyCreate a social SWOTs analysis (on the basis of your assessment) Social StrengthsSocial WeaknessesSocial OpportunitiesSocial ThreatsChoose your strategy (goals/objectives) on the basis of the social SWOTsSelect the tools you will use to achieve your strategyDecide how you are going to measure your programme’s success/failure

1.The SWOTsanalysisshould be easy…

2. Pick your strategy on basis of your SWOTsanalysisHere are someexamples:Increase brand awarenessBuild your communityGenerateleadsManage brand perceptionDeal withcustomer service issuesEstablish yourself as a keythought leaderGet to know the influencers in your field Give your social media community a set of specialperks (coupons/discounts/special products) Stimulateexcitement and interest in your categoryIncrease traffic to your blog and/or websiteTalk more intimatelywith niche audiences

Use your brand promise as a guidingprincipleacross social media efforts

Understand the value a companyoffers a communityGo back to the core value your organization offersThis is the heart of your social media strategy beginsDon’t use tools just because they are ‘hot’; this is putting the cart before the horse.

Build CommunityTrafficSocial Net. SitesSocial BkmarksConverse withCommunities of PassionThoughtLeadershipBlogsPodcastsVideosMicroblogsHigh Emotion/ImmediacyBrand Awareness3. Pick the toolthat matches your strategywith the Web Wheel

4. Defineexactly how youwillmeasuresuccessOn a piece of paper, write down whatyouwant to achieveBe specificIncrease number of followers on Twitter by 500Increase number of fans on Facebook fan page by 35%Increase contacts in your LinkedIn Network by 350i.e. increase sales by $10,000i.e. increase comments on blog by 20%

Social Media Secret Number 7: Measure Your Movement

MyVouchers.co.uk shows us a new wayUse Facebook and Twitter to notify followers of discount voucher codes (for online sales)Search function within Facebook group for codes and discountsConstant feed of best discounts Offering followers something for nothing, rather than hard sellLeap in traffic and money spent The results for MyVoucherCodes.co.uk? Facebook and TwitterMore than £21.4m sales 12% total sales in fourth quarter 2009 12,000 fans on Facebook and 2,600 Twitter followers averaging 6 visits/month to site4,070,000 visitors courtesy of Facebook and Twitter

“I’ve seen many people say that having apresence on social media networks doeslittle more than improve brandawareness for companies – but ourexperience really proves that socialmedia really can be a worthwhile form ofmarketing, said Managing Director ofMyVoucherCodes.co.uk, Mark Pearson“

Gary VaynercukGrew his business from 4-50 millionWine TV LibraryShowed off Gary’s personality and knowledge Gary experienced the followingresults:$15000 in Direct Mail=200 new customers$7500 Billboard=300 new customers $0 Twitter = 1,800 new customers.

Companies who engage in social media are more successfulWetpaint/Altimeter Study found companies deeply engaged in social media:Have better revenues Enjoy better profitsCompanies with highest levels of social media activity grew on average by 18%Companies with least amounts of social media activity sales declined by -6%

Lenovo achieved big costsavings20% reduction in call center activity as customers go to community websites for answers

Burger King Whopper Sacrifice Facebook programmeAsked users to give up 10 of their Facebook friends in exchange for a free Whopper$50,000 programme32 million media impressions (t $400,000 in press value equivalent of the population of 19 states)

The Blendtec Will itBlendvideoincreased sales 500%

Dell sold $3 million worth of computers on Twitter

Intuit’s Live CommunityIntroduced Live Community into TurboTax products 2 years agoLive Community allows customers to ask each other questionsUnit sales increase +30% each yearNow integrated Live Community into other products (Quickbooks, Quicken) .

BarackObama5 million fans on social media5.4 million clicked on an “I voted for Obama” Facebook button.3 million online donors contributing $500 million in fundraising92% of donations in increments less than $100

MoonfruitWeb host provider got back $15,000 social media investmentWebsite Traffic soared +300% while correspondingly sales increased +20%. Huge lift in search engine rankings

How do youmeasure social media success?

Social optimisation is the keywordYou want people to make a noise. You want people to store and share things. You want people to love your website.You want people to visit more frequentlyYou want people to refer your company to their friends.You want people to buy into your brand. You want people to buy your products.

Decide the ultimateaim of a social media programmeProduct awareness (measured in conversational terms)Real sales (measured by actual sales figures)Something else Need a clear picture in order to track results

The best way to manage measurementis to separate out social from mediaQualitative (Social)Customer satisfactionLoyaltyInteractionFeedbackQuantitative (Media)Sales revenueNew leadsNewsletter subscribersDecide what you want to trackMeasure the metrics that matter to you

Social (Qualitative) MeasurementExamplesExample #1: Rackspace IT Hosting campaign to build loyalty and trust. Idea: Be nice to customers who mention your company and/or product name on TwitterSuccess Metrics: Amount of positive comments sent to customers per week within a given time Amount of conversations that started from the commentGoal: N amount of positive conversations about your company or product per week

Social (Qualitative) MeasurementExamplesExample #2: Starbuck’s Campaign to increase customer satisfaction.Idea: Engage with customers and prospects using social media and ask what they would like from you.Success Metrics:Amount of good suggestions Amount of the good suggestions received that your company actual implementsGoal: N amount of suggestions collected per month and N amount that you actually implement.

7 Social Media Secrets

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