Social media is a fundamental shift in how people communicate online through conversations. It allows individuals and communities, rather than just corporations, to influence brands. Companies can effectively engage in social media by focusing on customer service and influencing online conversations.

1. INTRODUCTION Bernard Charlebois Virtuo CMS Technologies

2. “ Social media isn’t a fad, it is a fundamental shift in the way we communicate” Canadaonline INTRODUCTION

3. Social media is a conversation online. Look who’s talking : your customers your donors your volunteers your employees your investors your critics your fans your competition .... anyone who has internet access and an opinion . SOCIAL MEDIA DEFINED

4. The conversation is not : controlled organized “ on message ” The conversation is : organic complex speaks in a human voice Social media is not a strategy or a tactic – it’s simply a channel . SOCIAL MEDIA DEFINED

5. Social Networks News & Bookmarking Blogs Microblogging Video Sharing Photo Sharing Message boards Wikis Virtual Reality Social Gaming Related: Podcasts Real Simple Syndication (RSS) SOCIAL MEDIA DEFINED

6. The power to define and control a brand is shifting from corporations and institutions to individuals and communities . SOCIAL MEDIA DEFINED

7. Word of Mouth is the Future of Marketing Marketers can effectively use social media by influencing the conversation. One way to do this is by delivering great customer service experiences. SOCIAL MEDIA DEFINED

8. Zappos, an online shoe retailer, makes customer service central with a focus on “ making personal and emotional connections .” Divert marketing budget to customer service ( they outsource marketing to their customers ; they don’t outsource their call centre) Use Twitter to promote their brand Website displays any public tweets mentioning of their brand CEO has over 400,000 followers 430 employees on Twitter $1billion in sales last year and their expanding into new product categories CASE STUDY

9. 91 % say consumer reviews are the #1 aid to buying decisions - JC Williams Group 87 % trust a friend’s recommendation over critic’s review - Marketing Sherpa 3 times more likely to trust peer opinions over advertising for purchasing decisions - Jupiter Research 1 word-of-mouth conversation has impact of 200 TV ads - BuzzAgent * Slide courtesy of Digital Influence Group SOCIAL MEDIA DEFINED

10. Social media sites are the fastest-growing category on the web, doubling yearly. Biggest increase in the 45 plus demographic Gen Y outnumber boomers. 96% of them use social media (email use is declining rapidly) 80% of companies use LinkedIn to find employees 25 % of time spent online is on social media Average number of Facebook friends is 150 83 % regularly watch video clips SOCIAL MEDIA DEFINED

11. 4 out of 5 Canadians use social media 22 % of those Canadians are over 60 70 % of Internet users under 30 do so daily More than half of Facebook users are older than University age Canada Online, The Internet, Media and Emerging Technologoes SOCIAL MEDIA DEFINED

12. Younger users (under 45) use these sites for socializing Older users use these sites to obtain and share information Youth (12-17) use these sites for entertainment The reason doesn’t matter SOCIAL MEDIA DEFINED

13. Social media can help you in all stages of marketing , self-promotion , public relations , and customer service : research strategic planning implementation evaluation SOCIAL MEDIA DEFINED

14. Learn what people are saying about you Create buzz for events & campaigns Increase brand exposure Identify and recruit influencers to spread your message Find new opportunities and customers Support your products and services Improve your search engine visibility Gain competitive intelligence Get your message out fast Retain clients by establishing a personal relationship Be an industry leader – not a follower SOCIAL MEDIA DEFINED

15. Reach Website visits / views volume of reviews and comments Incoming links Action & Insight Sales inquiries New business Customer satisfaction and loyalty Marketing efficiency Engagement & Influence Sentiment of reviews and comments Brand affinity Commenter authority/influence Time spent Favourites / Friends / Fans Viral forwards Number of downloads SOCIAL MEDIA DEFINED Source: The Digital Influence Group, Measuring the Influence of Social Media

16. Resources required for social media may include: Strategic consultation Training Creating content Integrating tools Distributing content Relationship management Measuring value SOCIAL MEDIA DEFINED

17. Social Networks News & Bookmarking Blogs Microblogging Video Sharing Photo Sharing Message boards Wikis Virtual Reality Social Gaming Related: Podcasts Real Simple Syndication (RSS) Social Media Press Release THE TOOLS

18. Contains profiles of Fortune 500 executives and leading entrepreneurs average individual salary on LinkedIn is $109,000 On LinkedIn you can: Post a profile and resume Connect with colleagues Share professional recommendations Find jobs Forums to demonstrate expertise and find answers THE TOOLS

19. Fastest growing social network in Canada and the world (450 million members) Powerful tools to engage and understand your audience: Brand pages Custom applications Targeted advertising Audience insights/metrics Opinion polls THE TOOLS

20. Your brand’s homepage on Facebook. Allow you to post photos, videos, events and other messages. Users interact with you by Becoming fans Commenting on your posts Participating in discussions Post photos to your page Fans see your page updates in their newsfeed THE TOOLS

21. Facebook ads give you the ability to advertise directly to specific demographic groups This is unlike paid search, the most popular form of online advertising, which only lets you to bid on keywords the user is searching for right now THE TOOLS

22. Location Age Sex Keywords (appear in your users profile) Education Workplace Relationship status Relationship interests Languages THE TOOLS

23. THE TOOLS

24. Very affordable and easy to control your budget You can specify a daily budget Schedule specific dates for your ad to run Pay for clicks (CPC) or impressions (CPM) THE TOOLS

25. Facebook Insights provides information about your ad campaign: Track ad performance with real-time reporting Gain demographic and psychographic insights about people that view or take action on your ad Use this information to identify how you can improve your campaign to maximize your results THE TOOLS

26. A blog is a website with regular entries of commentary or news Blogs serve to establish your company as transparent , relevant , active , and expert . THE TOOLS

27. engage in dialogue with your customers improve your search engine visibility promote product launches and events gain expert status by providing useful tips THE TOOLS

28. Do post on a regular schedule encourage conversation by asking questions respond to people that comment on your posts use a few bloggers from your company for more viewpoints Don’t write press releases – be real about why something is exciting let complaints go unanswered make users register to comment – they won’t bother delete fair but critical comments THE TOOLS

29. Microblogs are blogs limited to a sentence or two (about 140 characters ) People use microblogging to promote themselves, share content and follow friends, celebrities and brands Companies use it for marketing, public relations and customer service by giving their brand a voice within the community THE TOOLS

30. Twitter can help you: share timely information promote useful content including resources, contests, deals, etc. (not just your own) personify your brand connect with your customers and develop leads build credibility and influence listen to consumer buzz research competitors network and learn from experts in your field THE TOOLS

31. Do find and share useful content pose questions and reply to others keep it fun - put a friendly face on your brand promote sales, deals, news, updates, and build buzz for big releases or events know what people are saying about your brand Don’t sound like a press release – you’re in a social space spam with constant links to your company website, either in tweets or private messages post useless information – do people really care what you had for lunch? THE TOOLS

32. Video sharing sites let you upload videos and share them with people. They’re a perfect repository for video blogs , taped seminars , witty Power Points , commercials , how-to’s and a behind-the-scene look at your organization. THE TOOLS

33. helps you gain exposure and direct traffic back to your website sparks interest without a hard-sell videos can be low-fi and cheap to produce - immediacy and content is more important than quality. videos can be a place to showcase your leadership in a field, and spread customer testimonials THE TOOLS

34. Blendtec was a faceless B2B/B2C blender manufacturer that couldn’t afford a traditional marketing campaign Published low-cost videos of CEO blending everything from iPhones, hockey pucks to the financial bailout Launched the website WillitBlend.com and a YouTube channel http://www.youtube.com/blendtec CASE STUDY

35. Videos went viral generating “ millions of dollars in brand recognition ” Channel Views: 3,469,098 Subscribers: 183,949 Online Blendtec blender sales increased 500% The videos have made over $50,000 in ad revenue turning the marketing department into a profit centre CASE STUDY

36. Lessons learned: Be entertaining and keep it relevant to your brand (the videos promote the durability of their blenders without an overt sales pitch) Experiment – the idea might not have worked, but what could they lose? CASE STUDY

37. Do be informative , useful , or entertaining create a summary and detailed description post video replies to others allow commenting and participate in the conversation save bandwidth costs on your website by hosting videos on YouTube Don’t just upload infomercials be afraid to experiment until you find a formula that works. pull down other people’s videos showcasing your product for copyright infringement make your video longer than it needs to be – keep it concise and entertaining THE TOOLS

38. KEYS TO SUCCESS

39. Experiment personally before professionally Try a variety of social media tools Be yourself , make some friends , and share KEYS TO SUCCESS

40. 1. Discovery (people, competition, and search engines) 3. Skills (identify internal resources and gaps) 5. Maintenance (monitor and adapt) 2. Strategy (opportunities, objectives) 4. Execution (tools, integration, policies, and process) KEYS TO SUCCESS Source: 5 Phases of Social Media Marketing http://socialcomputingjournal.com/viewcolumn.cfm?colid=789

41. Find where your audience is participating and identify the influencers Read industry blogs (including comments) Google your company name & your competition Find tools that can help you listen KEYS TO SUCCESS

42. Tap into the wisdom of the crowd to access a wider talent pool and gain customer insight Companies that use crowd sourcing include: Starbucks (MyStarbucks) Dell (Ideastorm) DuPont Netflix Wikipedia iStockphoto.com Threadless.com Mechanical Turk (Amazon) KEYS TO SUCCESS

43. Amelia Arlington KEYS TO SUCCESS

44. 56 unanimous responses in under 4 minutes from YouBeMom.com KEYS TO SUCCESS

45. Avoid puffery (people will ignore it) Avoid evasion and lying (people won’t ignore it) Companies have watched their biggest screw-up's rise to the top 10 of a Google search Admit your mistakes right away KEYS TO SUCCESS

46. Belkin employee busted offering payment for fake positive product reviews Belkin president claims it’s an isolated incident Influential tech blogs expose a larger cover up and name more employees involved CASE STUDY

47. Don’t be afraid to share. Corporations, like people, need to share information to get the value out of social media Make your content easy to share Incorporate tools that promote sharing: Share This, RSS feeds, Email a friend KEYS TO SUCCESS

48. Don't shout . Don't broadcast . Don’t brag . Speak like yourself – not a corporate marketing shill or press secretary Personify your brand – give people something they can relate to. KEYS TO SUCCESS

49. CASE STUDY

50. Think like a contributor , not a marketer Consider what is relevant to the community before contributing Don’t promote your product on every post Win friends by promoting other people’s content if it interests you KEYS TO SUCCESS

51. Don’t try to delete or remove criticism (it will just make it worse) Listen to your detractors Admit your shortcomings Work openly towards an explanation and legitimate solution KEYS TO SUCCESS

52. Don’t wait until you have a campaign to launch - start planning and listening now Build relationships so they’re ready when you need them KEYS TO SUCCESS

53. You may need buy in from people in your organization Convince your CEO that social media is relevant to your organization Get your communications team together, discuss the options, then divide and conquer KEYS TO SUCCESS

54. Experiment with social media Make a plan Listen Be transparent & honest Share your content Be personal and act like a person Contribute in a meaningful way See criticism as an opportunity Be proactive Accept you can’t do it all yourself KEYS TO SUCCESS

55. Photo sharing sites give you a place to upload and organize your photos You can invite friends to check out your photos and people can find your photos by searching for the keywords ( tags ) you apply to your photos. THE TOOLS

56. Internet-based 3D virtual worlds like Second Life reimagine our world with all its potential for commerce and branding people interact through characters called avatars residents explore , meet other residents , socialize , participate in individual and group activities , and create and trade items and services with one another THE TOOLS

57. RSS is a way for content publishers to make blog entries , news headlines , events , podcasts and other content available to subscribers. an effective way to distribute your content and lead users back to your website THE TOOLS

58. 5 TAKE AWAY MESSAGES

59. Word of Mouth peer-to-peer discussions are more influential than the mass media Participate by enabling and feeding the conversation (follow the 10 keys to success) Be transparent & honest 3 TAKE AWAY MESSAGES