Beyond Fans & Followers discusses how search, social media, and customer relationship management are converging. It details how the author's company analyzed over 10 billion social media impressions on Facebook to learn lessons. Key findings include that search has changed, social media like Facebook is the new center of marketing but must be connected to other channels, and focusing on the right customers through social is important rather than just acquiring more customers. The document provides tips on optimizing campaigns, lowering customer acquisition costs, going global with social media strategies, and emphasizes developing robust customer relationship management tied to social media.

1. Beyond Fans & Followers—The Convergence of Search, Social and CRM What 10 Billion Social Impressions Taught Us at the Rosslyn Observatory Eric Ludwig Sr. Director Online Sales & Marketing

2. The View from atop Mt. Rosslyn (due west of DC) 2 Galileo Rosetta Stone’s Facebook Department(my office) Fellow Heretics Copernicus Ricky & Jean Girard Tesla

3. The Evidence

5. 68% of companies experienced negative growth in unique visits from 2009 – 2010[1] [1] Unique visits were monitored between Nov 2009 – Nov 2010

6. Visit Everyday 76% 50% FANS ARE HARDCORE FACEBOOK USERS Friend Network 310 130 Links Clicked Fans Avg. User 5.1 1

7. The Commerce Wave is Coming Analysts project $30 billion in Facebook store commerce by 2015, from $0 last year

8. Search (PPC, SEO, Typed/Bookmark) Performance is Shifting Rosetta Stone Inc. © 2011

9. We Hypothesized, We Learned

10. 9 “Are truths are easy to understand once theyare discovered; the point is to discover them” Be a Scientist, Challenge Belief Systems and Be Agile(or choose to have a lame career) 1)Search has changed forever. Major algorithmic overhauls indicate a war is underway. 2)We’ve been spoiled by PPC performance since the early 00s. Complacency is never good. 3)No matter where we look, it’s hard to see ROI from this new platform. This makes executives nervous. 4)Facebook sure looks like the most amazing database marketing platform ever developed. CRM is back! 5)Light viewed through a prism is a rainbow of colors. Your conversation will become stale, bland and boring unless you find interesting things to project. Your PQS will suffer, and your audience will decline. 6)Listen carefully to the conversation. Study the data. You WILL find new market opportunities pulling at you from the collective that is your Fan base. 7)Social is the center of your marketing system, but it must be bolted together with your Search, Display and Email programs. Optimize through the decline as you await the new maximum efficiency in Social. 8)If you’re buying CPM advertising on other ad networks but not Facebook, your job is at risk. 9)It’s not more customers, it’s the right customers. Just because you can doesn’t mean you should.

11. What happened when we started the machine?

12. Immediate signs of life! 11 Monthly Actives Since ‘10(is that 500k I see?) Stream Impressions are Nice(WOW! Free Fans!) Thousands of Interactions(Sure Does Help the PQS ) Fans Just Stick Around(That bottom line is “UnLikes”)

13. We Love Curves Shaped Like These Rosetta Stone Inc. © 2011

14. 13 Great! What about Sales and ROI? First Find your Happy Place(my team rakes the garden every morning at sunrise)

15. “Doubt is the Father of Invention” -Galileo 14 MANTRA: Time is non-linear. Business cycles repeat themselves. Google’s dominance since 2003 is waning. Energy in Social is organizing rapidly. THINGS TO REMEMBER 1)Machine driven algos dominated Search through ’09. Thermodynamics 2ndLaw: all things tend toward chaos. 2)Facebook’s lack of standard commerce tab artificially props up your Search campaigns. Clausius (Entropy is serious business!)

16. 15 Let’s Talk ROI and Effect on Sales LOOK FOR THE WOBBLES 1)Facebook increases Viewthrough conversions. (3X to 5X compared to direct ROI) 2)Facebook increases Search clicks and conversion rate (especially in Brand campaigns). (.3 to 1.0 ROI) 3)Facebook direct ROM (or ROAS or ROI) should be better than all your other Display media. If it’s not…it’s not them, it’s you. (Direct ROI .25 to 1.0) 4)Facebook increases lead collection and downstream conversions through CRM (Email is BACK! .30 to 1.0 ROI ) 5)Facebook leads to offline sales increases. Nurture this in your ads, posts and apps. (.1 to .5 ROI) HOW KEPLER DETECTS PLANETS (affect on stars they orbit)

17. Harvest Sales through Your Email Program 1)Think “Cultivating the Funnel” 2)Ask yourself, “Must I Hard Sell in PPC for all terms?” 3)Capture leads strategically, unlock the energy at the right time Rosetta Stone Inc. © 2011

18. Tips & Tactics

19. Maximum Social Revenue with a Multi-Channel Focus 18 BONUS TIP! (make up words) TIPS FOR TESTING AND SALES GROWTH 1)Test copy for use in Email, Display and Call Center scripting. Use CTR as proxy for likely success. Rapid iteration benefit is transformational. 2)If you have Call Center support, make your 800 number available and prominent. A good portion of buyers will not convert without it. 3)Drive them off Facebook. If you have special pricing options available in other channels, use Facebook to promote those response vehicles. 4)Soft sell (Mostly). Let AIDA draw the conversions (leads, sales, other outcomes) to you. Transform the energy at the appropriate time.

20. 19 Tips for Lowering Fan Acquisition Costs 1)FOF targeting is a must. Natural lookalikes. 2)Sponsored Stories. 3)Image first, then copy. Then look for resonance with targets. 4)Avoid burnout. Fight ad Fatigue. Change creative often. 5)Really think about the writing. PQS will give you free distribution. 6)Engagement apps (Talk to Webtrendsand Blitz). 7)Pulse your buying. ROSETTA STONE STARTING CPF = >$20 ROSETTA STONE CURRENT CPF = <$1 BONUS TIP #2 (pick talented friends)

21. 20 Tips for Going Global! 1)Manage the ad buying centrally, like you use your Google MCC. Make your country managers admins on your ad manager account, and you become admin of theirs. 2)Start with ads that are winners in the US. Create a new Campaign for each country, then ask the country admin to localize the ads. 3)Run the delivery management and optimization of the ads from the US. Math isn’t language specific. Work together to set budgets and goals. 4)Cross-Like your country Pages with your US site. 5)Deploy apps you’ve developed in the US to the other GEOs. Localize them, but reap benefit of reduced marginal cost/time to deploy. 6)Curate content that generates high Interaction rates in the US. They will likely resonate with INTL audiences too. Find the local language version and publish. 7)Leverage your Commerce work too. The INTL Geos are likely 6 months behind you.

22. 21 Wrap Up & Parting Thoughts Go Local and Global! Find new market opportunities from the conversation and campaign profile data. You are a Farmer, NOT a Hunter. Email is BACK! Develop robust triggered CRM linked to Social. Look for the unique wobbles in your business. Impact on sales is hiding there. Build a Storefront! Adopt a persona approach to your writing. Don’t be afraid to be a heretic! In general, healthy ROI now = >1, by end of 2011 expect >3+ to be the norm.

23. 22 Thanks! Who has a Question?