This document provides an overview of the social media sector in 2009. It discusses how social media has grown significantly and become a major part of online activity, with people now spending more time on social networks than email or porn sites. While this growth presents opportunities for marketers, it also poses challenges as consumers expect more control over their media and are able to widely share their opinions. The document then reviews popular social media platforms and provides statistics on Facebook's dominance in the UK market.
The Digital Media MBA Summit is a collaborative annual summit organised by MBA students from Judge Business School (Cambridge), Manchester Business School and Said Business School (Oxford).
This year the summit will be held on 7th of May in London.
The mainstream phenomenon of Social Media looks set to radically change the way businesses communicate. With corporations, global brands, governments, and newspapers embracing blogs and Twitter feeds as key elements in their communication strategies, Social Media is definitely no longer a fad.
The Digital Media MBA Summit 2010 will bring together industry experts from around the world to share their knowledge on this area and also explore interesting case studies. The conference aims to address core issues such as monetization, future technologies/services, engaging social groups with brands and how businesses can get the most out of social and business networks.
Following last year's successful trip, the third Digital Mission to New York takes place from 1st-5th November 2010 to coincide with ad:tech New York Conference and Expo, the city's largest gathering of digital marketers, where "brands, agencies, publishers and service providers come together to share, network, learn and do business".
The packed programme, massively supported by UK Trade & Investment, programme for the trip builds on the Digital Mission's momentum and relationships with New York-based entrepreneurs, agencies and digital practitioners to create a cracking line up of activities.
The 19 companies participating in the Digital Mission to New York 2010 were:
Adversion
Amaze plc
BrightLemon Ltd
Casual Films
Cube
Eresponse Media
HuzuTech
Lingo24 Ltd
Livestation
Nuji
Plancentric
Realeyes Data Services Ltd
Red Glasses
ShoutEm UK
Thrive Digital
ustwo
Videojuicer
Waspit Ltd
We Are Social
The Digital Mission series of trade missions was created by Chinwag for UK Trade & Investment and generously sponsored by Winston & Strawn.
http://chinwag.com/digitalmission/nyc10
Future Social Media Entertainment keynote presention by Gary Hayes at SPAA Fringe 2008, Sydney 25 October. Blog http://www.personalizemedia.com/the-future-of-social-media-entertainment-slides/
"Connecting With Your Audience on the Social Web"
Telling stories to each other has been the right of everyone but until the last few years the privilege of a 'broadcast' few. With the advent of quality production tools accessible to all and many new cross-media channels to connect your story world with everyone elses, there is a blurring between beginner, amateur and professional - everyone is now an independent producer. What will it mean for existing linear TV/film makers, how will they truly engage across the social web, YouTube, Virtual Worlds, Blogs, Online Games, Flickr and hundreds of other social media portals across a growing broadband web?
This talk looks at existing and future forms of entertainment that 'involves' the audience, that connects to them and from them and more importantly, builds mutual trust and respect. From the pushed web 1.0, to the sharing 2.0 to a live and immersive web 3.0, Gary looks at successful case studies of 'connected' entertainment around the world and some of his own work at BBC, game and virtual worlds and selected projects at LAMP and AFTRS.
The Digital Media MBA Summit is a collaborative annual summit organised by MBA students from Judge Business School (Cambridge), Manchester Business School and Said Business School (Oxford).
This year the summit will be held on 7th of May in London.
The mainstream phenomenon of Social Media looks set to radically change the way businesses communicate. With corporations, global brands, governments, and newspapers embracing blogs and Twitter feeds as key elements in their communication strategies, Social Media is definitely no longer a fad.
The Digital Media MBA Summit 2010 will bring together industry experts from around the world to share their knowledge on this area and also explore interesting case studies. The conference aims to address core issues such as monetization, future technologies/services, engaging social groups with brands and how businesses can get the most out of social and business networks.
Following last year's successful trip, the third Digital Mission to New York takes place from 1st-5th November 2010 to coincide with ad:tech New York Conference and Expo, the city's largest gathering of digital marketers, where "brands, agencies, publishers and service providers come together to share, network, learn and do business".
The packed programme, massively supported by UK Trade & Investment, programme for the trip builds on the Digital Mission's momentum and relationships with New York-based entrepreneurs, agencies and digital practitioners to create a cracking line up of activities.
The 19 companies participating in the Digital Mission to New York 2010 were:
Adversion
Amaze plc
BrightLemon Ltd
Casual Films
Cube
Eresponse Media
HuzuTech
Lingo24 Ltd
Livestation
Nuji
Plancentric
Realeyes Data Services Ltd
Red Glasses
ShoutEm UK
Thrive Digital
ustwo
Videojuicer
Waspit Ltd
We Are Social
The Digital Mission series of trade missions was created by Chinwag for UK Trade & Investment and generously sponsored by Winston & Strawn.
http://chinwag.com/digitalmission/nyc10
Future Social Media Entertainment keynote presention by Gary Hayes at SPAA Fringe 2008, Sydney 25 October. Blog http://www.personalizemedia.com/the-future-of-social-media-entertainment-slides/
"Connecting With Your Audience on the Social Web"
Telling stories to each other has been the right of everyone but until the last few years the privilege of a 'broadcast' few. With the advent of quality production tools accessible to all and many new cross-media channels to connect your story world with everyone elses, there is a blurring between beginner, amateur and professional - everyone is now an independent producer. What will it mean for existing linear TV/film makers, how will they truly engage across the social web, YouTube, Virtual Worlds, Blogs, Online Games, Flickr and hundreds of other social media portals across a growing broadband web?
This talk looks at existing and future forms of entertainment that 'involves' the audience, that connects to them and from them and more importantly, builds mutual trust and respect. From the pushed web 1.0, to the sharing 2.0 to a live and immersive web 3.0, Gary looks at successful case studies of 'connected' entertainment around the world and some of his own work at BBC, game and virtual worlds and selected projects at LAMP and AFTRS.
Playgroup is an independent, creatively focussed, design agency based in Farringdon, London.
Creativity lies at the heart of everything we do, it is our lifeblood. As individuals we are naturally inquisitive, imaginative and collaborative and we use these characteristics to really understand the challenges that we’re presented with. Combining these playful traits with insightful thinking and a professional, can-do attitude enables us to craft effective and often surprising creative solutions, both offline and online.
We think that we’re a pretty nice bunch of people to work with.
360 thinking, experience designing, cross-media storytellingGary Hayes
360 thinking, experience designing, cross-media storytelling. A short presentation delivered to the Screen Producers Association of Australia in 2006. This looks at the gen y, x audiences consuming their media across many touch points, using BBC examples and recent LAMP ones to illustrate good experience design across all media platforms.
Introduction to Media Agencies, Planning and ResearchPatrick Melville
Presentation to agency planners about the advertising landscape is changing, basic for media planning and how research is used.
For more information please contact Patrick Melville, patrick@vision-network.co.uk / uk.linkedin.com/in/patrickmelvillemediaconsultant/
Here is a powerpoint presentation for my AS Media Coursework showing my research into two radio stations, Heart FM and BBC Radio 5 Live and Sports Extra
GCC Education Research Report - Sector ResearchAnis Chief
The demographic structure of Gulf Co-operation Council countries (Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and Bahrain) is titled towards young age population, making education an imperative. Even though the GCC region is blessed with oil resources and wealth, paradoxically it also suffers from a high level of unemployment, mainly due to disconnect between skill sets and market needs. The GCC countries have realized this gap and have effected reforms and established various governing bodies to improve overall education structure. The GCC governments, on average, spends about xx% of their GDP on education lesser than xx% of the world average. Saudi Arabia in particular – spending xx% of GDP on education – is leading the way by giving a plenty of emphasis to improvements in the education sector.
Published:13-January-2013
Total No. of Pages: 76
Total No. of Tables: 8
Total No. of Charts: 51
For more info, kindly log-on to:
http://www.e-marmore.com/offerstore/1432/store/66/1/gcc-education/
Playgroup is an independent, creatively focussed, design agency based in Farringdon, London.
Creativity lies at the heart of everything we do, it is our lifeblood. As individuals we are naturally inquisitive, imaginative and collaborative and we use these characteristics to really understand the challenges that we’re presented with. Combining these playful traits with insightful thinking and a professional, can-do attitude enables us to craft effective and often surprising creative solutions, both offline and online.
We think that we’re a pretty nice bunch of people to work with.
360 thinking, experience designing, cross-media storytellingGary Hayes
360 thinking, experience designing, cross-media storytelling. A short presentation delivered to the Screen Producers Association of Australia in 2006. This looks at the gen y, x audiences consuming their media across many touch points, using BBC examples and recent LAMP ones to illustrate good experience design across all media platforms.
Introduction to Media Agencies, Planning and ResearchPatrick Melville
Presentation to agency planners about the advertising landscape is changing, basic for media planning and how research is used.
For more information please contact Patrick Melville, patrick@vision-network.co.uk / uk.linkedin.com/in/patrickmelvillemediaconsultant/
Here is a powerpoint presentation for my AS Media Coursework showing my research into two radio stations, Heart FM and BBC Radio 5 Live and Sports Extra
GCC Education Research Report - Sector ResearchAnis Chief
The demographic structure of Gulf Co-operation Council countries (Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and Bahrain) is titled towards young age population, making education an imperative. Even though the GCC region is blessed with oil resources and wealth, paradoxically it also suffers from a high level of unemployment, mainly due to disconnect between skill sets and market needs. The GCC countries have realized this gap and have effected reforms and established various governing bodies to improve overall education structure. The GCC governments, on average, spends about xx% of their GDP on education lesser than xx% of the world average. Saudi Arabia in particular – spending xx% of GDP on education – is leading the way by giving a plenty of emphasis to improvements in the education sector.
Published:13-January-2013
Total No. of Pages: 76
Total No. of Tables: 8
Total No. of Charts: 51
For more info, kindly log-on to:
http://www.e-marmore.com/offerstore/1432/store/66/1/gcc-education/
The presentation of my thesis "Perceptions of Online Radio Station Managers Regarding Advertising".
The aim of this dissertation is to shed light on the online radio advertising industry. The research focuses on owners and managers of web radio stations. The managers are usually the decision makers for the monetization of the station’s content. For this exploratory study, the managers contributed by giving their valuable insights.
UK Event - Dell B2B Social Media Huddle, London 2009Kerry Bridge
Neville Hobson from WeissComm Group and I have organised a free event to bring together senior communications and marketing professionals to exchange and share experiences on B2B social media.
This event has now sold out - however you can follow this event on Twitter using #dellb2b and we'll let you know where presentations from the day wil be posted.
http://bit.ly/4wCjbV
Established in 2009, Socialab is a digital-first ad agency, based in Athens.
With a dynamic team of 50 talented people, it provides services to national and international clients.
Our clientele over the years includes brands like Lego Group, Unilever, PepsiCo, Sarantis, Samsung, Wella, Beiersdorf, BMW Group, Fox Life, FrieslandCampina, Holmes Place and others. We’ve also worked with international organizations like the UNHCR, OECD, the World Economic Forum and the European Parliament.
Socialab has won numerous awards in Greece and it’s the only agency to win two European Business Awards. It has also had its work featured on Ads of the World and Best Ads on TV, after a vetting process from international judges.
In Greece, Socialab was the first agency to ever teach digital marketing in an organized manner. For that purpose, it has an exclusive partnership with ALBA, the American College of Greece and the Digital Marketing Institute in Ireland. Together, we have trained more than 1,200 executives in 5 years.
As of August 2018, Socialab has completed more than 400 projects encompassing the whole field of communications: above, below, PR, but most are digital-related. Most of these services are usually provided in-house, from idea to production.
How to web 2010 event presentation (short)How to Web
How To Web 2010 Conference is going to be the most important web entrepreneurship event for Eastern Europe. The Conference will take place in Bucharest 3-4 November 2010.
Planning and managing a digital strategy. This paper gives an overview of the steps, processes and thought required to plan, create, actualise and evaluate a digital strategy.
One of the great joys of social media is that it's truly a city that never sleeps. However, one of the downfalls for brands is that means your customers always expect a quick, responsive user experience. Are you prepared to provide that on social? Are you actively listening to your customers, monitoring and moderating conversations, and providing value where they don't even know they need it? Are you enabling customers to participate in telling your brand's story?
In this webinar, learn from our panel of experts:
-How to integrate monitoring and moderation into your business strategy to accommodate customers and social needs
-Platforms and services that can help you provide a 24/7 customer experience
-Best practices for acting and reacting in a way that enhances continuous customer engagement
Your messages are important, yes?
Well, Effective can make them powerful.
Public relations, tweets, media campaigns, blogs, events, SEO, press releases, social media banter, PR strategies, YouTube clips ... we create them, your clients will love them.
Effective will save you masses of effort; our creativity will get you noticed. Whatever your audience.
At Techbox Square, in Singapore, we're not just creative web designers and developers, we're the driving force behind your brand identity. Contact us today.
Implicitly or explicitly all competing businesses employ a strategy to select a mix
of marketing resources. Formulating such competitive strategies fundamentally
involves recognizing relationships between elements of the marketing mix (e.g.,
price and product quality), as well as assessing competitive and market conditions
(i.e., industry structure in the language of economics).
Business Valuation Principles for EntrepreneursBen Wann
This insightful presentation is designed to equip entrepreneurs with the essential knowledge and tools needed to accurately value their businesses. Understanding business valuation is crucial for making informed decisions, whether you're seeking investment, planning to sell, or simply want to gauge your company's worth.
B2B payments are rapidly changing. Find out the 5 key questions you need to be asking yourself to be sure you are mastering B2B payments today. Learn more at www.BlueSnap.com.
RMD24 | Debunking the non-endemic revenue myth Marvin Vacquier Droop | First ...BBPMedia1
Marvin neemt je in deze presentatie mee in de voordelen van non-endemic advertising op retail media netwerken. Hij brengt ook de uitdagingen in beeld die de markt op dit moment heeft op het gebied van retail media voor niet-leveranciers.
Retail media wordt gezien als het nieuwe advertising-medium en ook mediabureaus richten massaal retail media-afdelingen op. Merken die niet in de betreffende winkel liggen staan ook nog niet in de rij om op de retail media netwerken te adverteren. Marvin belicht de uitdagingen die er zijn om echt aansluiting te vinden op die markt van non-endemic advertising.
[Note: This is a partial preview. To download this presentation, visit:
https://www.oeconsulting.com.sg/training-presentations]
Sustainability has become an increasingly critical topic as the world recognizes the need to protect our planet and its resources for future generations. Sustainability means meeting our current needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs. It involves long-term planning and consideration of the consequences of our actions. The goal is to create strategies that ensure the long-term viability of People, Planet, and Profit.
Leading companies such as Nike, Toyota, and Siemens are prioritizing sustainable innovation in their business models, setting an example for others to follow. In this Sustainability training presentation, you will learn key concepts, principles, and practices of sustainability applicable across industries. This training aims to create awareness and educate employees, senior executives, consultants, and other key stakeholders, including investors, policymakers, and supply chain partners, on the importance and implementation of sustainability.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
1. Develop a comprehensive understanding of the fundamental principles and concepts that form the foundation of sustainability within corporate environments.
2. Explore the sustainability implementation model, focusing on effective measures and reporting strategies to track and communicate sustainability efforts.
3. Identify and define best practices and critical success factors essential for achieving sustainability goals within organizations.
CONTENTS
1. Introduction and Key Concepts of Sustainability
2. Principles and Practices of Sustainability
3. Measures and Reporting in Sustainability
4. Sustainability Implementation & Best Practices
To download the complete presentation, visit: https://www.oeconsulting.com.sg/training-presentations
Digital Transformation and IT Strategy Toolkit and TemplatesAurelien Domont, MBA
This Digital Transformation and IT Strategy Toolkit was created by ex-McKinsey, Deloitte and BCG Management Consultants, after more than 5,000 hours of work. It is considered the world's best & most comprehensive Digital Transformation and IT Strategy Toolkit. It includes all the Frameworks, Best Practices & Templates required to successfully undertake the Digital Transformation of your organization and define a robust IT Strategy.
Editable Toolkit to help you reuse our content: 700 Powerpoint slides | 35 Excel sheets | 84 minutes of Video training
This PowerPoint presentation is only a small preview of our Toolkits. For more details, visit www.domontconsulting.com
Cracking the Workplace Discipline Code Main.pptxWorkforce Group
Cultivating and maintaining discipline within teams is a critical differentiator for successful organisations.
Forward-thinking leaders and business managers understand the impact that discipline has on organisational success. A disciplined workforce operates with clarity, focus, and a shared understanding of expectations, ultimately driving better results, optimising productivity, and facilitating seamless collaboration.
Although discipline is not a one-size-fits-all approach, it can help create a work environment that encourages personal growth and accountability rather than solely relying on punitive measures.
In this deck, you will learn the significance of workplace discipline for organisational success. You’ll also learn
• Four (4) workplace discipline methods you should consider
• The best and most practical approach to implementing workplace discipline.
• Three (3) key tips to maintain a disciplined workplace.
1. Netimperative Sector Report: Social Media 2009 1
Netimperative Sector
Seminar: Engagement
through Social Media
Sponsors of today’s event are:
2. Netimperative Sector Report: Social Media 2009 2
Netimperative Sector Seminar: Engagement through Social Media
With Social Networks becoming the day to day norm and a way to communicate to your networks both through work and
personally. We talk today about how we can harness the power of the social networks to promote and advertise our
businesses. How communicating with your customers day to day can achieve a higher return on investment, trust, generate
great ideas and place you at the top of your game .
2:00pm – 2:30pm Registration
2:30pm – 2:35pm Chair‟s Introduction & Overview
Andrew Gerrard, Consultant, D-marketing
2:35pm – 2.55 pm How to advertise using Social Media
Simon Podd, Head of Sales UK & Ireland, Bebo
2.55pm – 3:15pm Case Study: Targeted Advertising Campaigns through Social Media
Oisin Lunny, Country Manager, UK & Ireland, Sulake Corporation & Emily
Knee, Senior Digital Account Manager, NSPCC
3:15pm – 3:35pm Successfully tracked results for your Social Media Campaigns
Paul Taylor, Managing Director and Matthew Brazil, CEO, 6 Consulting
3:35pm – 3:55pm Your customers are your best sales channel: How to use social media to build
reputation and advocacy
Ivan Croxford, General Manager, BT Tradespace
3.55pm – 4.15pm Coffee & Networking
4:15pm – 4:40pm Reach is now irrelevant and engagement is key to brand value
Katy Howell, CEO, immediate future
4.40pm – 5.00pm Case Study: Yomego works with Eircom to create a new home for Irish
Soccer
Steve Richards, Business Director, Yomego
5.00pm – 5:25pm Panel Debate: Do social media ads work or just wind users up?
Andrew Gerrard, Consultant, D-marketing
Simon Podd, Head of Sales UK & Ireland, Bebo
Oisin Lunny, Country Manager, UK & Ireland, Sulake Corporation
Emily Knee, Senior Digital Account Manager, NSPCC
Paul Taylor, Managing Director, 6 Consulting
Ivan Croxford, General Manager, BT Tradespace
Katy Howell, CEO, immediate future
Steve Richards, Business Director, Yomego
5:25pm- 5.30pm Chairman‟s Closing Remarks
5.30pm – 6.00pm Wine Reception & Networking
3. Netimperative Sector Report: Social Media 2009 3
Speaker Biographies
Andrew Gerrard, Social and Digital Media Consultant Oisin Lunny, Country Manager, UK & Ireland, Sulake
Corporation
Andrew Gerrard is a Social and Digital Media Consultant,
As UK Country Manager of Habbo UK, Oisin combines 19 years of
helping clients understand how to take part in the
experience in the media, music and technology industries to lead the
conversations that their audiences are having, and
growth of the UK site. In addition to the day-to-day running of Habbo
converting them through social and digital channels into
UK Oisin oversees the deployment of strategic marketing and
mutually profitable long-term customer relationships. With integrated advertising campaigns to encourage site visitors and user
nearly 20 years of unparalleled experience in the digital, activity. Prior to Habbo Oisin was Global Product Manager, Online
online and social media industries, Andrew provides his Distribution and Media Services for Interoute Communications
clients with a wealth of strategic and tactical knowledge that Limited, owners and operators of Europe's most advanced voice and
data network. Their products and services include bandwidth, virtual
lead to effective and practical business activities that create
private networks, high speed internet access and transit, managed
opportunies and produce measurable results. With a strong
hosting, communications services and media streaming. Oisin is a
background in technology and the internet, and a career that
successful musician in his own right, having worked as a
spans senior marketing roles with Microsoft,
professional DJ and producer, and continues to explore his passion
CompuServe/AOL and DoubleClick, Andrew was also for music in his spare time.
responsible for launching LunarStorm, a
major social network for young people, and has advised
numerous clients on how to adopt and integrate social media
into their day-to-day business and company culture. He is
currently working on a project using social and digital media
to drive and effect a measurable and sustainable real-world
behaviour change within local communities.
Emily Knee, Senior Digital Account Manager, NSPCC - National
Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children
Emily joined the Digital Communications team at the NSPCC in
Simon Podd, Bebo, Head of Sales UK & Ireland
February 2007. A key part of her role is reaching and engaging with
children and young people through digital channels in order to raise
Simon took up the role of Head of UK Sales. Simon joined Bebo at awareness of ChildLine and educate about issues of abuse. Prior to
the launch of its commercial operations in January 2007 as a UK joining the NSPCC she was Programmes Manager at the Internet
Sales Manager. In his position, Simon is responsible for working Advertising Bureau (IAB) where she ran their programme of industry
with clients and advertising agencies alike through sponsorship of working groups.
Bebo's engagement marketing solutions and original commissions
while managing the UK sales team and UK revenue. During his first
year at Bebo Simon secured large scale 'media first' sponsorships
with multinational brands including Disney, Cadbury and Toyota.
Bebo‟s first, and the Internet‟s most successful serialized drama,
KateModern was nominated for two BAFTA (the British Oscars)
awards and generated over 70 million views. KateModern was
followed by Sofia’s Diary, the first online show to cross over to TV in
the UK, The Gap Year, the most successful reality show not on TV
and The Secret World of Sam King, the first co-production between
Universal Music and a social network. Podd previously worked at the
London Evening Standard as Head of Agency Sales, in a
challenging and demanding market. Simon was responsible for
creating and managing excellent and ongoing client relationships
while overseeing the entire agency sales process. More recently,
Simon worked on the launch of News International‟s first ever
newspaper launch in the UK with the London Paper and was part of
the management team responsible for devising, planning and
shaping the commercial launch proposition.
4. Netimperative Sector Report: Social Media 2009 4
Ivan Croxford, General Manager, BT Tradespace
Ivan Croxford is the Head of BT Tradespace
http://www.bttradespace.com, a place for small businesses to
promote themselves using social media and business networking
tools. Ivan has seen BT Tradespace grow from the spark of an idea
to a flourishing community of over 350,000 members and rising.
Prior to joining BT Ivan worked in the wireless and broadband
services business in both the UK and France. A keen (though
somewhat irregular) blogger [link http://www.fumoir.com] he can also
be found on Twitter - http://twitter.com/croxy
Katy Howell, Managing Director, immediate future
With over 20 years‟ industry experience, Katy is renowned for her
insight and knowledge of online PR and social media. Highly-
respected in her field, she manages the online PR diploma module
for the Institute of Direct Marketing and the Institute for Sales
Promotion. She is an active member of the social media council at
the Internet Advertising Bureau and is invited to speak at many
conferences including Marketing Week and CIPR. immediate future‟s
client experience includes; Sony Europe, BT, Diageo, PSP, NSPCC,
BBC, Cancer Research, Boxed up, Kinder Bueno, CW Jobs, Mirror
Group, Hotel Chocolat, Sara Lee, bmibaby
www.twitter.com/katyhowell www.linkedin.com/in/katyhowell
Paul Taylor, Managing Director, 6 Consulting
Managing Director of 6Consulting, Paul Taylor has a process
improvement management consultancy background. Paul
has extensive experience working with a number of
marketing, brand, digital and PR agencies as well as leading
corporate organisations implementing applied social media
monitoring campaigns
Steve Richards, MD, Yomego
Steve Richards is managing director of social media agency
Yomego; a position he took up in July 2008 to drive the growth of the
company‟s work across virtual worlds, user generated content
platforms and social networks. Steve began his career client-side
with HSBC before moving on to sales promotion agency, IMC. In
1998, he co-founded award-winning London agency, Swordfish,
working with clients including BBC, Channel 4, First Direct, Reckitt
Benckiser, Sony and Warner Bros. Over 50% of Swordfish‟s output
was across digital media. Since joining Yomego, he has overseen
the development of groundbreaking community sites including
Ruumz, Soccer Republic and the soon to be launched virtual world
Matthew Brazil, CEO, 6 Consulting
dPals.
Matthew has over 18 year‟s commercial experience and is a
respected consultant who has led a number of software as a
service (SaaS) projects. Matthew regularly works with a
number of major marketing agencies to shape the digital
offering. His understanding of the processes and
methodologies behind social media are frequently used by
agencies across a range of clients from different sectors.
5. Netimperative Sector Report: Social Media 2009 6
Introduction
Welcome to Netimperative‟s Sector Report on Social Media 2009. With social networking and user generated
content an established part of the digital landscape, rules for marketers have well and truly changed.
In this report, you'll find an overview of the social media sector as it stands, supported by trends from recent months
and some future predictions. Next, we have commentary from number of industry experts offering their views on the
pitfalls and opportunities of social media. We have also included a comprehensive arsenal of data to help decipher
some key trends from the early part of 2009, before concluding with some case studies from recent social media
campaigns to get your creative juices flowing.
We’d like to thank our co-sponsors, Yomego and BT Tradespace for their help in putting this report together.
Social media and Web 2.0 is fast becoming crucial to
Yomego is a social media agency working with brands
every business's marketing strategy. And tools such
to build, retain and monetise digital communities. It
as blogs, podcasts and videos play a critical part in
works closely with broadcasters, brand and media
building trust online and getting that all important sale.
owners and their agencies to design and build social
Understanding what Web 2.0 is and how you can
networks, UGC platforms, virtual worlds and other
make the most of the tools on offer to help promote
bespoke digital applications that engage audiences.
and grow your business is essential. BT Tradespace
Yomego‟s client list includes MTV, Eircom, Durex,
is one of them: a thriving online community for SMEs
Entertainment Rights, Five, GMTV, Ladbrokes and
to meet like-minded people - whether you're buying,
ITV. To find out more about Yomego visit
selling or just networking. If you're looking for an
www.yomego.com or contact Steve Richards on 0141
opportunity to get your business noticed - this is it,
582 0600 or steve@yomego.com.
www.bttradespace.com. To find out more contact
team@bttradespace.com
6. Netimperative Sector Report: Social Media 2009 7
YouTube video showing Domino‟s employees
Social Media- A Sector Overview „tampering‟ with food).
So with this in mind, just how are marketers supposed
to target consumers in this new user-controlled
environment that can be very hostile to ads? With this
level of control, will consumers want any place for
adverts in their own media world?
Since the likes of Flickr, YouTube and Facebook
caught the public‟s imagination back in the mid- The social media landscape
noughties, social media has fast become a major
part of the online landscape, bringing with it new
Social media is now the forth most popular activity
challenges and opportunities for marketers.
online, following search, portals and PC software use,
and ahead of email (Nielsen Online, March 2009). In
Spurred on by the young and the geeky, the medium fact, the same research found that Brits typically
now touches upon nearly all aspects of modern life, spend one of every six of their minutes online visiting
from politics and business, to celebrity culture and a social media site. This growth trend is set to
breaking news. At the time of writing, a Facebook app continue. eMarketer estimates by 2013, the social
is mapping the swine-flu outbreak based on user networking population in the UK will reach 21.9 million
comments, Ashton Kutcher has just become the first and represent 50% of Internet users.
Twitterer to gain one million followers and Gordon
Brown is in trouble for opting to break his MP expense
So what are the most popular forms of social media in
reform plans on YouTube (he‟s just been forced to
the UK? The eMarketer poll, conducted in April 2009,
disable viewer comments due to abuse).
found that 37% of UK adult Internet users had visited
a social networking site in the previous month, while
The phrase „social media‟ means more than just 29% had viewed or contributed to an online forum,
online networks of friends and associates. The and 26% had visited or posted a comment on a
medium encompasses a range of platforms, including message board. Fewer than one in five had visited or
blogs, photo and video sharing sites, wikis and social added to a wiki (19%) or a blog (16%), or checked
bookmarking tools. All are linked by the concept of into a chat room (13%). One in ten (10%) said they
user participation helping to shape and distribute the had visited a business networking site.
content on display.
In terms of social networks, industry stalwart
The popularity of social media is at least one area of MySpace remains the most popular in global terms
growth that looks recession-proof, even if only in and goes toe-to-toe with Facebook in the US, buoyed
terms of scale rather than sterling. According to by its highly successful music platform. However,
Datamonitor, by 2012, 70% of online content will be Facebook currently leads the UK market in terms of
user-generated. Technorati estimates that there are users, along with much of Europe.
171 million blogs worldwide. In fact (and perhaps
most tellingly) Brits are now more likely to visit social
Looking at stats on Facebook‟s market leading status
networks than porn sites (Hitwise, October 2008).
in Blighty shows just how deeply entrenched social
media has become in the UK online sector. According
This surge in „people-power‟ has marked a to Hitwise, Facebook is not only the most popular UK
fundamental shift in the industry. The traditional media social network, it has also become the most searched
model of „one-to-many‟, where controlled editorial for brand in the UK, ahead of YouTube, eBay, Bebo
content is posted on a specific timescale, has mutated and the BBC, attracting 2.39% of all searches on
to a landscape where publishing becomes a Google (Hitwise, March 2009).
constantly evolving, „many-to-many‟ conversation.
The rules have changed, and consumers now expect
Facebook also accounts for one third of all social
this level of control as standard, be it online, via
networking in Europe (Comscore April 2009)
mobile devices, and even via TV as interactive
representing 1.1% all online time in Europe, and a
technology becomes more prevalent.
massive 4.1% of all time spent online in the UK. The
site also commands a lead in nearly all European
For marketers, this elevation of social media in the countries with the notable exceptions being Germany
th th
public consciousness has so far presented a double- (4 ) and Russia (7 ). In the UK, nearly 23 million
edged sword. The medium offers unprecedented people visit Facebook a month, representing more
insight into consumer attitudes and behaviour, while than a third of the country‟s population, according to
at the same time leaving brands more vulnerable than comScore.
ever to bad publicity (as exemplified in the recent
7. Netimperative Sector Report: Social Media 2009 8
The rise of the Twitterati those ads (63%) were integrated as part of a wider
campaign. The majority of those interviewed forecast
their social media marketing budgets to grow and take
While Facebook remains top, Twiiter has undoubtedly
between 20- 40% of their total online marketing
been the social media success story of 2009 so far.
budget in 2009.
The micro-blogging site has been bubbling under the
mainstream since its inception in 2006, yet recent
celebrity endorsements have boosted its popularity to Outside of social networking ads, media sharing sites
over 5 million users worldwide (comScore, April (such as YouTube and Flickr) were the most popular
2009). If it‟s good enough for Stephen Fry, it seems, form of social media-based advertising (62%). This
it‟s good enough for the rest of us. was very closely followed by micro-blogs (such as
Twitter) with 60% of votes, and corporate and
campaign blogs (59%).
Crucially, the site has found its own niche within the
social media sector, straddling both the personal
space offered by Facebook and the professional So what are the typical UK marketing budgets for
space offered by business-based social networks social media? A recent eConsultancy report found
such as LinkedIn, Xing and BT Tradespace. As such, that budgets for social media remain relatively small.
the site arguably lends itself more towards marketers‟ 55% of company respondents are spending less than
goals, being more of a „lean forward‟ medium than the £5,000 per year, while just 4% were spending more
online hang-outs of Facebook and Bebo. than £50,000 in this area.
Indeed, the rapid growth of Twitter is reflected in the The metric currency by which success of these new
attention paid to it in companies' marketing strategies. solutions is measured is also changing, with the role
of a Technorati-style „buzz‟metric to gauge a brands
According to a recent eConsultancy poll of agencies,
49% said they were including the site in their social status in the blogosphere is growing in popularity.
media marketing during 2009, compared with just 3% Companies are also wising up to the power of
last year. This placed it as the second most popular negative mentions in community sites, countering with
proactive online campaigns centred around the „word
social media platform behind Facebook for marketing
of mouse‟ power of social media.
campaigns.
Emerging platforms- the next step?
While the signs indicate that marketers should ignore
Twitter at their own peril, new data from Nielsen
Online shows that Twitter's audience retention rate is Emerging platforms can take advantage of social
just 40%. This means just two in five users that networking technologies in ways that the internet can‟t
„twittered‟ in March went on to make another micro- match. The advent of Smartphones such as Apple‟s
blog entry in April. Nielsen said Twitter‟s average iPhone mean mobile social networks and blogging
retention rate for the year has been 30%, far below communities are gaining momentum, especially
the likes of Facebook and MySpace. Time will tell if among teenagers and early-adopters who are more
the site will meet its potential as a mainstream likely to spend time on their mobiles than PCs.
communication platform to rival texting, but for the
time being at least, it remains a cost-effective way of
Meanwhile, as IPTV bridges the gap between the
reaching potential customers.
Internet and TV further, to what extent will social
networks be integrated into this convergence? Are TV
The UGC video ad conundrum schedules going to make way for programme or
genre-based streaming video channels, with social
As user generated video becomes more prevalent, networks built-in for fans? And if so, where would
advertising fit into this mix?
more pressure is being placed on video sharing sites
such as YouTube to generate revenues to
compensate for massive bandwidth requirements. But Social networking has come a long way since the
this has not been without its own problems for early days, and its potential, both culturally and
marketers. Can brands face the possibility of being commercially is now huge. Those that can
associated with harmful or inappropriate content? For successfully predict and harness the latest
example, can a sports brand be seen advertising in a innovations and trends in social media are those most
clip of a skateboarder wearing a rival brand‟s t-shirt? likely to emerge as winners, as the industry reaches
its next critical phase.
How are marketers using social media?
A February 2009 study of UK marketers conducted by
Sapient found that over half had run a campaign on a
social networking site in the past 12 months. Most of
8. Netimperative Sector Report: Social Media 2009 9
The vast majority of the highest ranking teams in the
The Monetisation of Social Media:
online game are now fully kitted out in Adidas wear. In
Digital‟s Holy Grail the minds of players it creates an unconscious link
between the brand and high performance, both within
the game and in the real world.
But beyond this, embrace a community and they will
often make quick, reliable and cost-effective product-
testers. Critical considerations such as which colours
or designs are likely to be a hit can be assessed with
online fans in a much more collaborative way and at a
fraction of the offline cost. Win over this community
Marketers have spent fortunes
and you‟ll recruit an impassioned army of well-
trying to target “the right demographics”. But just
connected brand ambassadors.
when they were getting good at it, along comes
social media. Steve Richards, Managing Director
at Yomego, looks at the key challenges facing Eighteen months ago, major NFL American football
marketers in this new web 2.0 world. team, the Indianapolis Colts, were one of the first
sports brands to launch their own dedicated social
network for fans (http://www.mycolts.net). Four weeks
One billion consumers regularly use social networks.
after the site‟s launch, it already had a loyal online
Here, people happily give personal – even intimate –
audience in excess of 10,000. It has now become an
details about themselves. But in these democratised
ideal platform to sell merchandise, update fans on
environments, people don‟t want to be overtly sold to.
special events and most importantly to get instant and
In fact, they‟re actively against it. Often adopting
direct input from fans about the future of the franchise.
radically different personas simultaneously on
different networks, users are also extremely difficult to
pigeon-hole. In fact, the opportunity to develop a direct relationship
with an online community united by a common
interest is open to all brands through the creation of a
It‟s a beguiling challenge, then: how to tap into the
unique social network.
commercial potential of such vast numbers of people
expressing personal preferences, without them
Some universal marketing principles apply –the space
turning against you? Very few brands have worked it
out and the majority of operators are yet to make their has to look good, the content needs to be compelling
social networks pay (just ask the accountants at and refreshed regularly. When creating your own
Facebook). social network as opposed to joining others, the
creative control over your site and the quality and
uniqueness of content you can provide is a massive
But progress is being made and there are now
advantage. The site also needs to present a clear
examples of online brand building which are
proposition or purpose that the audience can buy into.
producing astonishing results over traditional
And online, expectations tend to be higher, so any
advertising.
brand entering this world needs to do so with
complete conviction.
The world of sport is leading the way.
Yomego has been working with Irish telecoms
Sports fans form some of the most passionate groups provider, eircom. As sponsors of the Republic of
of people and social media can easily re-create online Ireland national football team it was looking for a way
what they do naturally offline – by providing a virtual to recruit, engage, empower and enlighten a digital
gathering place that‟s open all day, every day. community of fans. In its first few weeks of going live,
soccerRepublic.ie had attracted over 100,000 unique
Adidas has created an application for Chinese visits. Thousands of fans now use the site as a
website Xiaonei.com‟s hugely popular game knowledge source, sounding board, swap-shop and
„Basketball superstars‟, which already boasts 150,000 destination to get behind-the-scenes access to the
dedicated basketball fans. The game allows players to players and backroom staff. eircom promises to shape
create their own virtual basketball team to play the future of the site directly in tune with what the fans
against other users. Adidas has added virtual branded want.
gear including trainers and clothing to the game,
which players can then purchase using virtual credits. But what does eircom get out of it commercially? In
The more Adidas equipment a team wears, the higher short, lots.
its stats go, in turn improving the team‟s chances of
winning.
9. Netimperative Sector Report: Social Media 2009 10
For a start, on a specially catered site of this type, Monetising Social Media- Join the
display advertising can work much more successfully
Conversation
than has so far proved to be the case on generic
social media networks. Provided the selected brands
fit the site‟s overall editorial profile and the advertising
is not over-intrusive, users will tolerate it much more
than they would on the likes of Facebook or Myspace,
where attempts to target advertising according to a
user‟s profile have been viewed as in invasion of
privacy.
Meanwhile, partnerships are proving to be a
How can brands make money
particularly productive way of raising brand
through social media? By Mark Redgrave, CEO of
awareness. The success or failure of these tailored
Amplify, argues that to engage customers, you
sites hangs entirely on the added value of the content.
By adding real value to the community – via an offer, must first understand the conversation before you
join it.
competition prize, game or other relevant and
engaging feature – the community‟s enthusiasm ` for
the site continues to be reinforced. Ultimately, this is Social networks are here to stay, that much we know.
what will keep them coming back. Human beings are „social‟ creatures that want to
share their ideas, plans, intentions and emotions.
People want to connect and engage with other people
Positive brand engagement, however, is the most
obvious benefit – existing and potential customers are and social networks create powerful environments for
this to happen. But one of the biggest challenges
entering into meaningful dialogues and interactions in
facing brands today is how to effectively monetise
an environment built and facilitated by eircom. The
these social properties.
value of such interaction for the brand and the reward
for the consumer is huge.
According to the latest figures from Hitwise (Feb
2009), Facebook is the second most popular website
Whilst no one has yet developed a definitive metric to
in the UK behind Google, with 17.6 million unique
quantify the benefits of this new model of social
users in the UK. Access to the huge audience and
marketing, widespread brand advocacy is every
marketer‟s dream and fan-based networks can deliver rich user data that social networks offer makes them
very appealing to brands, but how can firms unlock
short term boosts and long-term sustainable sales
growth. this potential? The key to monetising social networks
lies in engagement. Not some sort of superficial
„brand‟ engagement, but in deep, personal
Then there‟s one final factor – what would be the cost
engagement through real dialogue with users. Brands
if you‟d sat back and watched your nearest
need to be joining the conversation – but to do that,
competitors get socially networked instead?
they first need to understand the conversation. They
need to understand what is being discussed, where,
By Steve Richards when and how.
Managing Director
Yomego
Sophisticated understanding
www.Yomego.com
Easy to say, not so easy to do. Publishers have been
looking at advertising as a means of monetising social
networks for some time now, but high-profiled bungled
attempts such as Facebook's Beacon highlight the
challenges they face. A key barrier is the way users
think about social networks - people see their online
space as something quite private and this, coupled
with a lot of media attention around online privacy,
has led people to have an emotional reaction towards
advertising on social media networks which is both
immediate and negative.
This is an understandable, and yet unreasonable
reaction - social networks are ultimately providing a
service that needs to be paid for. Just like TV. Just
like radio.
10. Netimperative Sector Report: Social Media 2009 11
The trick lies in understanding the conversation that is assessing brand safety based on samples of content.
raging and engaging the user with highly relevant, Move to Natural Language Processing and
targeted advertising that actually enhances the user computational linguistic technologies that are
experience. Understanding the conversation is not available today and which can surface the significant
about identifying keywords. It has to be much more topics, attitudes and pending decisions within any text
sophisticated than that. If someone is talking to remove the guesswork from brand safety and
enthusiastically about going skiing in France in March, targeting decisions and enable social networks to
realise their financial potential.
they will react positively to skiing advertising and
specific ski travel offers. If, however, they are talking
about how they hate the cold weather and just don‟t By Mark Redgrave
understand why their friends spend money on skiing CEO
and winter holidays, those same skiing ads will have Amplify
the opposite effect. This creates an experience that is
bad for the user and bad for the advertiser. That‟s why
www.openamplify.com/
the technology used to understand the conversation
and to serve the ad must be sophisticated. Just
latching onto the keyword „skiing‟ is not sufficient. And
that‟s why current efforts are falling short.
Fear of the unknown
The sheer volume of largely unregulated content
makes it very challenging for publishers to monetise
social networks. Brands want to participate, but they
simply can't afford to take the risk of exposure next to
offensive or inappropriate user generated content.
What‟s the solution? Once again, understand the
conversation. If you can really understand what‟s
being discussed – dynamically, as the content is
actually being created and as the conversation is
actually evolving – then you can make instantaneous
decisions whether or not to serve an ad at all – and, if
so, which ads, which creative and which promotion to
serve.
The opportunity presented by social networks is too
large for brands to ignore. They want and need to
participate. To make this happen, publishers must
provide advertisers with insights into the meaning of
all the content on their site. Only by having a true
understanding of content can brands engage users
with relevant and useful ads that enhance – not
detract – from the user experience. Amplify is the only
technology available today that can understand the
meaning of content in real time, and provide ad
servers with the information they need to ensure
highly relevant, premium ads are served to users
based on their own expressed interests, desires and
intentions.
Top tips for publishers
The key to monetising social media from a publisher‟s
perspective is to understand your content! Arm online
advertisers with a full appreciation of the meaning of
text – so go beyond existing tools that rely on
categorising content according to keywords or
11. Netimperative Sector Report: Social Media 2009 12
Likewise the Labour party recently unveiled its social
The Power of Social Media
networking site Labourspace.com, which along with
the existing LabourList.org, invites individuals to bring
issues to the attention of Labour politicians. Members
can upload their own campaign ideas and
communicate with the Labour Party on why they think
these ideas should be implemented. This helps the
Government to understand exactly what the general
public really want from them and what issues they feel
2009 has seen the power of most strongly about.
social media reach an all-time high with many of
us dedicating our precious time daily to blogs,
However, the power that social media invites means it
chat forums and popular social networking sites
has to be handled responsibly. Marcus comments
such as Facebook and Twitter. Rob Marcus,
“Government campaigns in particular can generate
director at Chat Moderators believes that social
some heated opinions, as such they must be careful
media is a great and powerful marketing tool, but
to strike the perfect balance between allowing their
also believes that with great power comes great
audience to express their opinions and make
responsibility…
suggestions while ensuring that they are taking a
responsible attitude to moderation. Taking
As the popularity of social networking, blogging and responsibility for what information appears is the only
web chat continues to rise, it is no secret that those way to create a safe place for users to interact and a
brands who fail to embrace such concepts will find place that they will want to visit again.”
themselves lagging behind competitors and possibly
losing out altogether on what is an extremely powerful
Back in November 2008 a Spanish website generated
method of customer engagement and
some media attention as it was found to be displaying
communication.
some racist comments directed at Lewis Hamilton
after he won the Brazilian Grand Prix. At the time,
Although there are possible risks for any business this website was not being moderated and the
involved with a social networking initiative, the inappropriate comments had gone undetected. Such
rewards and positive impact on brand identity can be situations can be avoided if a stringent moderation
substantial. Social media allows businesses to process is put in place, whether that is in-house or via
connect with audiences in new ways and unlike some third party moderation.
traditional marketing tactics, paves the way for an
interactive two-way conversation.
Marcus explains “Despite this starting off as a
seemingly innocent website around motor sport, it
Marcus comments “Brands are beginning to quickly escalated into a community for racist abuse.
understand the potential of social media in cementing Allowing comments like this to go undetected can
ongoing relationships with their key target audiences. severely damage the brand of the business in
Interestingly, it is not just commercial brands that question and in some cases the damage can be
have been getting in on the act; from Barack Obama beyond repair.”
to the Labour government a wide spectrum of
organisations have begun to harness and build on the
The dark side of social media
effects that social media can have on their marketing
campaigns.”
Cyber bullying is another example of the dark side of
social media. Google has recently been taken to court
Jumping on the bandwagon
by a Canadian model claiming that an anonymous
blogger has been trying to defame her. The model
In particular, Barack Obama‟s presidential campaign wants Google to identify the blogger and have the
now has presence on no fewer than 16 social media website shut down. “Being associated with this type
sites including Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. Not of negative publicity it is damaging for Google‟s
only is Obama able to reach the general public on reputation even though the comments were made by
these popular social networks, he is also connected a third party. Brands need to realise that being
with specific ethnic groups online such as, associated with any negative story is enough to ruin a
BlackPlanet for the African-American population. reputation, regardless of whether they were actually
Obama has fully embraced social media throughout involved in making the comments,” remarks Marcus.
his campaign and has continued to do so since the
election by updating his Twitter regularly and
“I have seen various examples of social networks
engaging in discussions on forums with the public on
which are bringing positive benefits such as one by
issues that are important to them.
the health sector which is encouraging people to stop
smoking and one by a charity which is giving the
12. Netimperative Sector Report: Social Media 2009 13
public access to free advice and information. A survey be as a result of a number of factors. Marcus
concludes “As long as a responsible attitude is taken
highlighted in eMarketer found that 85 per cent of
marketing executives have cited customer along with regular, targeted moderation, social media
engagement as the main benefit of using social can bring great power to any organisation. It can also
media. As well as this, 51 per cent found the low cost mean the difference of reaching a global audience,
of social media initiatives appealing and 48 per cent motivating user interaction and establishing a lasting
dialogue with customers. Whether it‟s a product,
found it useful for building their brand awareness,”
said Marcus. brand or campaign, done well, it is possible to
positively steer your brand into the spotlight”.
Into the spotlight…
www.chatmoderators.com
Observing the results that social media has already
achieved for organisations can really help a brand
decide what route they would like to take themselves.
However, with every success story there are a
number which have gone horribly wrong and this can
13. Netimperative Sector Report: Social Media 2009 14
1. Get on there! Get involved! There‟s no better
Top Five Twitter Tips for Brands
place to start than with yourself. Sign up for an
account, follow some people - you can start with
me: www.twitter.com/tomgriffola, I talk about digital
marketing, rugby and music - and get tweeting a little.
Find some people or brands in your sector and watch
what they‟re doing. You can gain a lot from interacting
and watching before you reveal a brand presence.
How can brands get the most
2. See what people are saying about your brand
out of Twitter? Tom Griffiths, Business
using http://search.twitter.com - grab the feed and
Development Manager at CheezeDMG, offers
watch it for a while. Is the conversation positive or
some tips to generate conversions through
negative? This will help you define what your
conversations.
presence on Twitter needs to be. It may also help you
quickly find brand ambassadors who can amplify your
Twitter‟s here. You can't visit a website or turn a page, presence. Don't forget the detractors - connecting with
digital or otherwise, without reading about it. Whether them on Twitter and helping them may create a rapid
it‟s Jonathan Ross‟ banter or breaking news stories - turnaround in their opinion.
Sky has a Twitter correspondent and CNN has one of
the largest followings of any user ; yet it‟s the user 3. Work out what you‟re going to say, and who‟s
who‟s breaking news before the news agencies - the going to manage it. In some cases an agency can
plane dumping in the Hudson River being the most help get you off the ground and hand over the running
high profile example. once you‟re familiar with the process. You can stick to
a content theme, or a reason as to why you‟re on
Twitter‟s being used as a news channel, an Twitter, but don‟t use it as a broadcast channel. All
information hub, but the user has more power than tweeting and no listening will lose you credibility - very
ever. Of course brands are keen to follow this trend quickly!
and harness it to their own benefit. So how can
brands make their voices heard in a world where the 4. Get your brand onto Twitter. Grab a name -
user, your potential customer, doesn‟t have to listen? ideally www.twitter.com/yourbrandname, set up your
It‟s a level playing field, so your brand has to operate logo and a template design and start twittering. If you
at the consumer‟s level; don‟t simply broadcast offers can reference your brand on your own corporate page
and „news‟ - become part of the conversation. Some that will help establish credibility for the brand on
brands have been active for a while - smaller ones Twitter. At this time there are no regulations or checks
like eSpares are doing a great job of harnessing the - it‟s up to you to manage your brand on Twitter.
channel, larger brands like Canterbury of New Connect it to your other channels - you can feed your
Zealand are just starting; and then you‟ve got huge Twitter stream into a Facebook Fan Page or your own
global brands like Dell that have already seen over website.
$1m of revenue from the channel.
5. Start talking - follow people you find interesting,
Charities are at it too - Dogstrust are doing a fantastic have a conversation. If you‟re sending links to your
job engaging with their „followers‟, and PDSA are site, think about adding tracking tags. URL etiquette in
starting to get involved off the back of their Facebook Twitter‟s 140 character dialogue is to use a shortened
success. All these brands are seeing success through URL via tinyurl or similar, so add your tracking in
engagement – involve yourself, provide advice, before converting the url. This can help you
respond to questions, „react‟ to your customers, and understand what value this channel is delivering for
the proactive nature of marketing becomes flipped. you, over and above interaction, enabling you to track
However, the effectiveness of building brand traffic from conversation through to conversion.
advocates, raising awareness and ultimately
promoting your products and services by „stealth‟ is By Tom Griffiths
huge – subtle branding, who would have thought it? Business Development Manager, CheezeDMG
Set to grow even further, Twitter may also spin out
www.twitter.com/tomgriffola
with the associated growth of similar 'tools' like
www.Identi.ca, www.plurk.com and www.jaiku.com -
www.twitter.com/CheezeDMG
owned by Google. Having a presence on Twitter now
will help you understand the medium and benefit your
brand and the consumer. So, if you‟re looking to
harness Twitter, where to start? Here are five tips to
get you going:
14. Netimperative Sector Report: Social Media 2009 15
Monitor forums and review sites
How to Manage your Reputation
Online
Google Alerts are an excellent way of monitoring what
is being written about on the web. These will flag up
any instances of specified keywords (such as your
company name), ensuring that anything negative can
be counteracted and positive stories or postings can
be optimised. By making sure that any positive pages
are well optimised, these will appear higher up in the
search engine rankings, therefore pushing anything
Brands that ignore social that is negative further down the listings.
media do so at their own peril. Darren Jamieson,
Senior Creative Developer at Just Search, looks at
Embrace social media
the growing importance of managing your brand‟s
reputation online.
Aside from social networking sites, there are a
number of other social media that can be used to help
With the huge rise in user-generated content and
boost your web profile. Social bookmarking is a way
freedom of the web, Internet users have much more
to store and share web pages, so links to these sites
control and power than ever before. This means that
are saved on the public Internet, meaning web
all the hard work that goes into search engine
crawlers can find them easily. Use sites like
optimisation, PR and marketing activities can be
del.ici.ous, StumbleUpon and Digg.com.
undone with a single negative forum thread or blog
post. With online reputation management, there are
Write a blog and keep it updated
several easy ways that marketers and businesses can
ensure Google and the other search engines display
positive content. Blogging provides a channel for reaching a wider
audience. Blogs that are regularly updated with
interesting and relevant content will be placed higher
Make the most of social networking
in the rankings. Search engine spiders place more
importance on blogs with fresh content, which helps
Many companies will not see the value in using social
to manage online reputation by ensuring that a blog is
networking in the business environment, however
ranked highly over any other potentially negative
these sites can be a useful marketing tool. Creating a
content. Blogging also provides the opportunity to
profile on sites such as LinkedIn and Facebook can
increase incoming links and build relationships with
help reach a wider audience and increase visibility.
other key bloggers.
Niche social networking sites are often overlooked.
Find sites that are relevant to your industry or
By Darren Jamieson
community as this will help build up relevant
relationships and increase the number of links coming
into the site. Senior Creative Developer, Just Search
Boost positive pages through SEO www.justsearch.co.uk
By optimising positive reviews, posting media
coverage on a website and having a well-optimised
blog you can help ensure that Google displays the
content that you want people to see. These practices
should be adhered to regularly, not just as a reactive
measure to negative online content.
15. Netimperative Sector Report: Social Media 2009 16
without even reading the content, as long as the
How to Drive Traffic on the Cheap with
headline is engaging.
Social Media
2. Keep the content concise and to the point. In a
nutshell, the attention span of social media surfers is
very short. In fact it would barely fill a nutshell.
Quickly fulfil the promises made in the headline in a
timely and concise manner. Lists work really well.
Most people when landing on a web page, don‟t read
How can brands unlock the it, they scan it for relevant information. Give them
potential of social media sites? William Peebles, what they want quickly, then they‟ll give you what you
SEO Executive at Top Click Media, offers five tips want quickly - a vote!
to get the most out of social media campaigns.
3. Choose your topic wisely. Different network sites
are disposed to different types of subjects. For
Companies and SEMs who can harness the various
example, articles about technology or left wing politics
social media platforms, such as Digg or Stumble, can
tend to score well on Digg. Take your time to research
drive vast quantities of traffic to their sites,
what types of articles feature well on your chosen site.
dramatically extending their company brands and
Articles that comment on topical events often score
even improving their search engine rankings.
well. If you can respond quickly to an event that
On such sites content is dictated by users rather than
everyone is familiar with people will read and vote for
editors. If users submit a story, and if other site
it.
members like it, they vote for it. The more votes a
piece gets, the more prominently the site will feature
4. Get your article submitted by a powerful
it. Stories with enough votes can end up on the front
digger/stumbler. Social network sites are
page. Because these sites are so popular, the sites
communities. As in all communities, some members
containing these stories can receive server-busting
hold more sway than others. Individuals who have
levels of traffic (50,000 visitors in a day is not
strong track records in making submissions, which
unusual). The attraction then for businesses to garner
such levels of traffic is clear. What‟s even more have bought in numerous votes, will be highlighted on
most sites as high profile submitters, so it will figure
appealing, however, is that it can cost very little to do
more prominently. If you don‟t know such a high
so.
power digger there are companies with high profile
accounts who will submit your site for a fee – just
Whereas SEO is becoming increasingly expensive,
don‟t get caught!
with large corporations splashing vast amounts of
cash to cement page one positions, social media is,
5. Make your article as easy to share as
for the most part, about content. If the content
possible. In order for an article to score well,
submitted, in the form of articles, videos, etc., is
obviously it needs votes, and many of them.
suitably engaging and tailored to the preferences of a
Therefore make it as painless as possible for
particular social networking site, then a company can
someone to vote for your content. Place submission
prosper without busting the bank. For the social
options directly below the article. Also give readers
media spendthrift, article submissions are certainly
the facility to email your article to a friend. The code
the way to go. They require very little but some
required is very simple and will go a long way.
creativity and the following killers tips:
And that is basically it: A bit of creativity, patience,
study and smarts can go a long way in this
1. Use a tasty headline. Headlines are certainly a
burgeoning universe. What‟s great about these sites
major factor in scoring big in the social media sites.
is that their algorithms are set up to enhance the
People will click on your article based on the headline,
community. If you can create something that adds
so it must be as appealing as possible. Keep it brief,
value to the community then you can certainly prosper
as time is of the essence. The social media surfer has
without digging (excuse the pun) deep into your
a serious case of ADD. They want to be engaged 3
pockets.
seconds ago. Describe in as few words as possible
what your article is offering and how the next five
By William Peebles
minutes of reading will improve their lives, or at least
SEO Executive, Top Click Media
entertain them.
www.topclickmedia.co.uk
„How to‟ headlines and articles are great. For some
reason, as long as the subject matter is sufficiently
interesting and people can find out how to achieve
something important, they will generally read on.
Sometimes diggers or reddites will vote for your site
16. Netimperative Sector Report: Social Media 2009 17
individual profile, but the number of followers they
How to Find and Engage with the
interact with and how often their messages are
Influencers Online passed on are also key. On Twitter the ratio of
followers vs following can also indicate influence, with
the more people following, the more influential that
person us. There are also tools like
www.twinfluence.com which aim to deliver a picture of
reach and authority on Twitter.
Simon Quance at You can get a more managed and detailed picture of
HyperlaunchDMG looks at the difference between influence by using a range of services and tools that
popularity and influence in social media circles... help to organise and rank social media users using
combinations of many of the above processes. These
include paid-for services such as Brandwatch,
As consumers continue to flock to social platforms like
Buzzmetrics and Onalytica, who will analyse data and
Twitter to communicate with friends, meet people,
produce results for you, identifying a picture of who is
gather news, research products and services and
influencing conversation. Services like Radian 6 and
generally fulfil their information needs, they leave a
Sysomos provide a more DIY approach, enabling you
'digital trail' of who they are across the web - what
to analyse conversation yourself.
they like, what they don't, what's important to them,
what's not; and it invariably highlights their preferred
(or not so preferred) brands and services. With all these measures it's important to consider the
difference between popularity and influence. Simply
defined, popularity delivers basic impressions on a
This digital trail creates opportunities for businesses
campaign, but influence un-locks the far greater
to engage with consumers - from simply answering
potential of engagement in peer networks, and this is
questions at a point of need, to building sophisticated
a direct catalyst for word-of-mouth activity.
advocacy programmes - brands and companies can
talk to people about what they really want to talk
Engagement effort also varies per channel. In forums
about. So, how can marketers identify and engage
and message boards registration on the board and
with the influencers of social media platforms? What
constitutes „influence‟ and how is it measured? then a private message to the moderator is most likely
to illicit a response. In blogs a simple email to the blog
owner is often the only option, although a considered
In the quot;us spacesquot; - groups, forums and message
comment can also create dialogue and an opportunity
boards - the community moderators and
to engage.
administrators are often the most influential. They‟re
seen as the guardians of the community and are often
As Twitter is inherently quot;opt-inquot;, personal outreach is
the most knowledgeable on a topic too, but can be a
limited to those users quot;followingquot; you back. The key
challenging group to create an engagement with. Be
here is to create a channel that is regularly updated,
mindful that you're trying to participate in someone
else's conversation. Don‟t butt in. relevant to your product or service and its customers,
and ideally reflects your personality or creates one for
the business.
In the quot;me spacesquot; - social network profiles and blogs
etc, the likes of specialist search engine Technorati
After you‟ve indentified the influencer, all engagement
produce a measure of authority for all the blogs it
searches, using the inbound links to an individual blog needs to be carefully targeted, considered and
personalised to any channel. Relevance is critical.
to generate a measure of its influence.
The increasing adoption and use of social channels
For social networks, simple measures like the number
by mainstream consumers means that all brands
of friends an individual has on their profile can help to
should know what is being said about them in social
define influence, but this can also be a measure of an
media, even if it's just from a monitoring and PR
individual's popularity, which is not the same as
perspective.
influence. There are also emerging tools like
www.facebookgrader.com that try to calculate an
individual's authority and influence using some of the By Simon Quance
application metrics available on Facebook. Head of Digital PR and Engagement
HyperlaunchDMG
Finally in the quot;muse spacesquot; (conversational channels
combining parts of the 'me' and 'us' spaces) - virtual www.hyperlaunch.com
worlds and micro-blogs like Twitter - influence can
again be measured in terms of basic followers of an
17. Netimperative Sector Report: Social Media 2009 18
make purchases over the Internet – the largest
Using Social Media for Product
percentage of online shoppers and sharers in the
Development world, according to a Pew survey last year.
Nip it in the bud - Engaging influential social media
commentators in product focus groups offers a way of
involving vocal taste makers early on in product
inception. Since these are the people who will be
talking about you online, it only makes sense to
engage them from the beginning.
Are social media surveys the Future Advocates - There is also the dual benefit of
new market research panels? Graham Lee, joint relationships being built that continue on when the
Managing Director at onlinefire looks at ways product is released. If an influential blogger has been
online communities can be used to shape product personally involved in the product conception stage,
development. they are far more likely to view it positively and report
online accordingly. The social media commentators
Social media has made real steps of late to becoming themselves become loyal advocates for the product or
more integrated into marketing activity. But there is service
still one area where we have not even begun to
realise the potential presented by consumer- Forward Planning - Incorporating social media
generated media: product development. movers and shakers can help develop future
marketing campaigns.
For years, product development groups have been
conducted behind closed doors or with carefully At onlinefire, we recently completed a campaign for
selected focus groups - but as other disciplines of Panasonic called the Next Generation Talent
marketing have advanced, product development competition, which asked UK students to design the
seems remarkably stagnant. There are a few reasons next ad for the Panasonic Viera Home Hub
for this: television. The student-submitted entries were judged
by a social media panel of tech, advertising and
marketing bloggers, with the winning ad shown on
Awareness - Even though most agencies have some
Channel 4. This resulted in over 10 pieces of
degree of digital capability, there is still a general lack
coverage, including a 6-page spread that would have
of understanding of all the different ways social media
never been seen without prior involvement in the
can be used to a marketer‟s advantage.
planning stages of the competition.
Control - Many companies still exhibit an
Social media-based focus groups will never and
unwillingness to let go of even the smallest amount of
should never replace 100 percent traditional
control. The idea of opening up product development
controlled focus groups, but marketers need to realise
to online influencers falsely implies that all power is
that to fully understand their audiences, they have to
lost.
know how those audiences interact online. Working
with bloggers and social media gurus helps give an
Trust – For the uninitiated, there is a lack of trust that insight into the early-adopting public who quite often
comes with working online – together with the general make or break products in theses fast-moving times.
understanding that information spreads quickly To ignore them not only cuts off invaluable insight, but
online. For companies interested in keeping product hinders the inevitable benefits of positive word-of-
information tight-lipped, this can be a nerve-wracking mouth and buzz you should be receiving.
thought. But like most misconceptions of social
media, the points above are nothing to worry about. In
By Graham Lee
fact, the benefits of incorporating social media into
Joint Managing Director, Onlinefire
product development far outweigh any negatives.
www.onlinefire.co.uk
A new perspective – So much of today‟s information
is shared online – to shut off involvement with the
online community when developing your product is
tantamount to crossing the road wearing a blindfold.
If you‟re not engaging online, you could be excluding
as much as 96 per cent of online UK population who
18. Netimperative Sector Report: Social Media 2009 19
others, especially if they are directed at individual
Top Tips on Moderating Social Media
employees. An in-house moderation team must
Initiatives In-House quickly identify undesirable comments, without
becoming a censor, whilst understanding that
justifiable criticism of their brand must be allowed.
Otherwise the integrity of the whole initiative can be
compromised.
A sophisticated set of rules for in-house
Social media continues to be a growing trend for
moderators is needed before social media is
businesses that are keen to maximise brand
introduced
exposure within existing customer communities
as well as entice new prospects.
It is essential that before a social media initiative is
set up a stringent set of rules are agreed by the
Done well, social media initiatives can open up many
organisation and the moderators. Even though the
new opportunities for businesses but done badly, it
moderators may be existing employees, it is not a
can leave them wide open to brand damage beyond
given that they will understand exactly what the brand
their control.
finds acceptable when it comes to content on their
website. This will allow the moderators to make
Such possibilities shouldn‟t discourage businesses judgements which are fair and consistent and most
from instigating new social media initiatives as they importantly in line with the brands message. The
can be very lucrative. What is important is that moderation policy should be a written document,
businesses approach such initiatives cautiously, signed by all parties, illustrating the rules with
carefully and with serious thought. examples of acceptable and unacceptable comments.
The most effective way to minimise the possibility of Taking no interest post-launch is a dangerous
brand damage is to take some initial steps to control game
and moderate your social media initiative. This can be
done on a basic level in-house if the resource is
After all of the hard work which has gone in to
available or by bringing in an outside expert
planning and executing the new social media initiative
moderation company. In the current climate
you must stay close to it. The early days of any new
businesses are likely to be worried about the
venture are important and the same goes with social
additional cost implications of outsourcing a
media. It is important that cliques of troublesome
moderation company to monitor a relatively cheap
users are not allowed to develop and keeping on top
new scheme.
of submissions from the beginning can help. It is easy
to get distracted after the initial launch but it is in the
However, this is not a good enough reason to leave organisations interest to keep the momentum going in
submissions unchecked. This is why in-house order to reap the real benefits of social media and
moderating can be a good option for many avoid associated problems.
businesses who are either embarking on social media
for the first time or do not have the budget to
Once an in-house team has been decided they
outsource moderation at this stage. As your social
must keep their mind on the job
media initiative grows in success so does your
requirement for expert moderation to maintain it.
It is very easy to look at moderating in-house as an
easier and cheaper alternative to bringing in a
Outlined below are few basic tips that businesses
specialist moderation company. To ensure a
should consider when embarking on in-house
successful in-house moderation process a permanent
moderation:
team must be put in place. Moderation must be their
priority, not simply their part time job to look over
Be aware that any skeletons in your brand submissions if and when they get the chance.
cupboard won‟t stay undiscovered for long Moderation must be consistent and therefore have a
team on board who are dedicated to moderating the
submissions.
Even when your brand is doing everything right there
will always be the odd person wanting to poke fun at
it. This can quickly turn from a few light hearted
comments to abusive and brand damaging
comments. This can encourage brands to shy away
from introducing social media as it can be deemed too
risky. Although engaging in social media does not
mean having to publish the unrestrained rants of
19. Netimperative Sector Report: Social Media 2009 20
How are Brits using the Internet?
eMarketer estimates that 39% of UK Internet users, more than 15.4 million people, will use social networks at
least once per month in 2009.
The research, conducted in April 2009, broke-down UK internet use as follows:
The April 2009 report, UK Social Media: Joining the Conversation was commissioned by eMarketer and conducted by TNS.
The report is available at www.eMarketer.com
20. Netimperative Sector Report: Social Media 2009 21
Facebook dominates European social networking market
Facebook has catapulted to the number 6 ranked Web property worldwide with 275 million visitors in
February, a 175% increase versus year ago, according to April 2009 research from Comscore.
One of the global regions that best illustrates Facebook‟s growth is Europe, where the site has seen a 314-percent
increase to nearly 100 million visitors.
Not only does Facebook have a growing audience, it is also a highly engaged audience with the average user
spending three hours per month on the site. One year ago, Facebook usage accounted for 1.1% of all minutes spent
online in Europe, but by February 2009 that number had increased to 4.1% of all minutes. Facebook also accounts
for a full 30.4% of minutes spent in the social networking category, up from 12.3% a year earlier.
The site‟s audience is largest in the U.K. with 22.7 million visitors (up 75 percent versus year ago), followed by
France with 13.7 million visitors (up 518 percent) and Turkey with 12.4 million visitors (year ago data not available).
Most recently, Facebook captured the top spot in the Spanish market in February with 5.7 million visitors,
representing a dramatic tenfold increase versus year ago. It has also soared in Italy, growing more than 2,700
percent to 10.8 million visitors.
The only countries in which Facebook does not hold the #1 or #2 position in the social networking category are
Germany, where it ranks fourth, Russia (#7) and Portugal (#3).
Facebook Growth in Europe, February 2009 vs. February 2008
Total Europe, Age 15+ - Home and Work Locations
Source: comScore World Metrix
Unique Visitors (000)
Rank in
Social
Facebook.com Percent
Feb-08 Feb-09 Networking
Change
Category
in Feb-09
Europe 24,118 99,776 314% 1
United Kingdom 12,957 22,656 75% 1
France 2,217 13,698 518% 1
Turkey* N/A 12,377 N/A 1
Italy 382 10,764 2721% 1
Spain 515 5,662 999% 1
Germany 680 3,433 405% 4
Belgium 327 2,308 607% 1
Sweden 1,211 2,298 90% 1
Denmark 533 2,022 279% 1
Switzerland 282 1,690 499% 1
Norway 819 1,479 81% 1
Finland 555 1,341 142% 1
Netherlands 236 1,031 337% 2
Austria 112 663 491% 2
Ireland 203 512 153% 2
Russia 117 478 309% 7
Portugal 72 193 169% 3
Source:
*Turkey is a newly reported individual country in comScore World Metrix; year ago data not available
www.comscore.com