A balanced business case for social media

A balanced business case for social media

Jan Minihane

@janminihane

www.thenetadvantage.co.uk

Jan Minihane

• 8 years as Senior Corporate Tax Manager in London
• Andersen, Morgan Stanley

• ACA Chartered Accountant

• 7 years self-employed:
• Business advisor
• Last 2 years of which social media advisor

• Founder of Shropshire Jelly

www.thenetadvantage.co.uk 25 January, 2012

Or:

Social Media for Business Doesn’t Work.....


Social Media doesn’t work...

...unless you commit to doing it right ...unless you use the right tools

...unless you have the right people ...unless you measure and evolve


The Social Media landscape


The reality for most businesses.....


Social Media is EVERYWHERE …


Why is Social Media so important?

• Out of bad ….

…. Can come good ….



• It’s really ingrained in our everyday life now….



• You no longer get directed to websites…



• It’s around every corner …



90% of consumers trust peer recommendations online….

….Only 14% of consumers trust advertising



• The power comes from getting customers to be your brand advocates online

• The most successful social media campaigns are those where:
– the consumers do the talking
– the business provides the ‘social’ environment
– the business provides a ‘hook’ to entice you to follow them

Examples: Marmite, Old Spice, Crumbilicious, Hopton House BnB


Social Media: just for kids?


What do you look like online? (Good, Bad & the Ugly)


Why use Social Media for business?


The business case …

‘Free’ to use

“Simple” technology

Flexible – no more dead time!

Measurable

Best form of simple SEO you can do

A unique way to provide real time customer service

...........a new way to engage with customers, not sell!



Consumers don’t expect to have to search hard to find what they want….

….are you/is your business easy to find?

Where are you online?

Are you pushing information out there or expecting customers to find you?

When they find you, are you updating your online presence regularly?

If not, what does it say about your brand?


Risks and concerns

It takes too much time/ignore traditional marketing

Reputation at risk – sole trader vs staff vs outsourcing

Privacy

Get left behind as don’t understand it

Giving away too much information for free

Afraid of being boring or not having something to say

…..But most of all – where to start and how to do it right!


The balanced view


Blogging


Blogging

Benefits:
Good:
• Keyword rich - SEO • Fantastic for
• Demonstrates SEO
service/expertise through
case studies Resource • Demonstrate
• Share your business required: what you do
journey Knowledge of
• Easy to set up product, • Enrich your
service or website
business
• Develop an
Bad: easy two way
• If you don’t use it often, dialogue in a
send out negative controlled
connotations Cost: environment
• Driving traffic can take a lot £0
of time and effort


LinkedIn

Time Benefits:
involvement:
Good: 1hr per week • Connect with
• Professional CV online potential
• Testimonials from ‘real’ customers
people
• You can find out who Resource • Get advice
knows who required: from peers
• Use groups to develop Expertise for
relationships group • Ask and
discussions answer
questions

Bad: • Be an industry
Passive use reduces it’s impact expert
Cost:
£0? • Post or apply
for jobs


Facebook


Facebook

Time
Good:
involvement:
1-5hrs per Benefits:
• Custom built interactive
week
pages
• Advertising
• Advertising
• Build your brand
• Interactive engagement Resource • Share your product
• Building a brand required: and service
Someone who • Interacting across
“gets it” and is the web using
Bad: allowed time social plugins
to develop the • Targeted
• Low volume interactions page properly engagement
(EdgeRank) • Measuring and
• ‘Dull’ products or services testing
• B2B ? • Analytics
Cost:
• Building community
£0 - £2k


Twitter


Twitter

Time
Good: involvement:
• Becoming an industry 2.5-10 hrs per
expert week Benefits:
• Talking to peers, customers
and competitors • Search
• Showing your social side Resource
• Finding your target market required: • Create a very
Someone who social
“gets it” and is environment
allowed the to talk to your
Bad: time needed customers
• Measuring and recording and industry
• Takes a long/lot of time to
develop relationships • Keyword
• Benefits are intangible search
Cost:
£100


YouTube


YouTube

Time
involvement: Benefits:
Good: X to set up
• Demonstrating product or Y to maintain • Great for SEO
service
• Low cost • A picture paints
• Customer testimonials Resource a thousand
required: words....video
Not just the set even more so
up, also need
Bad: to drive traffic • Getting your
• Suggested content may to it. customers seen
conflict with your as your brand
product/brand advocates
• Static, once produced can’t
be updated Cost: • Demonstrating
£150 - £k’s product/service


Foursquare


Foursquare

Time
involvement:
Benefits:
Good: 2hrs set up
30mins per
• Something
• Manage loyalty easily week
different for
• Create positive customer customers
experience Resource
• Social ripple required: • Spread the
Manager or word via
owner, needs other social
to understand networks
Bad: the tech
• Real time
customer
• Relatively small user base
loyalty
• Reluctance to ‘check in’
scheme with
Cost:
no investment
£0


Google+


Monitoring


Monitoring

Time
involvement: Benefits:
Good:
• Understand what is being 0.5hrs per
week • You can see if
said about you
the reward is
• Monitor and manage your
worth the
impact Resource effort over
• Change and evolve your required: time.
strategies Manager or
owner, needs • If something
to understand isn’t working
the results and you can see it
Bad: impacts & change it in
• Takes time real-time.
• Numbers are only half of
the story • If it is
Cost: working, do it
£0 more/better
& revise goals


Resource & Staffing

The Good.....

- Can really help to bring a team together
- Allows social creativity in the workplace
- Puts a social face onto the business

The Bad.....

- Takes time
- Monitoring can be difficult

The Ugly.....

- Significant employee issues......is there a personal usage policy in place?


Is Social Media, in any form, being used in your
business?


Are you using social media for business?

Did you:

- Establish/review your online marketing objectives?

- See where your target/existing customers were online?

- See where your customers wanted to talk to you online, if at all?

- Review what your competitors were doing?

- Listen on social media sites first to gain ideas about style/tone/frequency?

- Expect low cost marketing to radically change your business?


Conclusions

• Social media is a great way to reach customers
– If they want to be reached

• Planning and executing takes time and effort

• It is NOT free

• Do it right or don’t do it at all

• It can be the single most effective way of targeting customers and
understanding a different perspective on your brand

• You are far better off doing 1 or 2 sites WELL than try to be everywhere

• If you’re going to ‘do’ social media, COMMIT to it, for at least 12-18 months.

Questions?

@janminihane


A balanced business case for social media

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