Using Social Media to Increase Revenue

How Dating Sites Can Work With
Social Media to Maximise Revenues

Mel Kirk
Social Media Manager
White Label Dating

Harnessing Communities to Build Your Brand
Tuesday, 29 September 2009
SOCIAL MEDIA ISN'T JUST FLUFFY, IF DONE WELL, IT CAN EARN YOU
MONEY

78% of consumers said
that they would believe
their social network about
a product or service,
compared to 55%
who trust TV ads!

78% OF CONSUMERS SAID THAT THEY WOULD BELIEVE THEIR SOCIAL NETWORK ABOUT A PRODUCT OR SERVICE, COMPARED TO 55% WHO TRUST TV ADS!

THATʼS WHY YOU NEED TO PAY ATTENTION TO SOCIAL MEDIA.

Business to consumer relationships have always existed!

As has word of mouth!
THIS IS NOTHING NEW, ITʼS ALWAYS EXISTED

33%

60%

NOT CONVINCED?

60% OF PEOPLE WHEN QUESTIONED SAID THAT THEY WILL TELL 10 OR MORE PEOPLE ABOUT A PRODUCT OR SERVICE THAT THEY LIKE

1/3 OF PEOPLE WILL TELL 20 OR MORE

THE POPULARITY OF TWITTER IS NOW INCREASING THIS TO HUNDREDS IF NOT THOUSANDS

The Changing Landscape
THINGS ARE CHANGING. CONSUMERS ARE MORE EDUCATED AND EXPECT A BETTER LEVEL OF SERVICE THAN EVER BEFORE. IT'S IMPORTANT TO STAY AHEAD OF THE
GAME.

Social media will not go away, it’s not a fad.
It’s a fundamental shift in the way that we
communicate and will continue to evolve.

ITʼS A CULTURAL SHIFT AND THE EMPHASIS IS NOW ON COMPANIES TO COMMUNICATE EFFECTIVELY. ITʼS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO BE A PART OF THE COMPETITION.

Changes in Brands

The interwebs have redeﬁned communications,
regaining intimacy
People talk about everything
Brands are socialised, there’s no “going social”
Product information and expertise is no longer
controlled by the brand
Either you are proactive or reactive

WITH INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL BECOMING THE NORM, PEOPLE ARE NOW ABLE TO KEEP IN CONTACT WITH THEIR FRIENDS AND FAMILY VIA THE USE OF SOCIAL
NETWORKS. THIS MEANS THAT NO MATTER WHERE THEY ARE IN THE WORLD, THEY ARE STILL ABLE TO COMMUNICATE AND SHARE THEIR EXPERIENCES.

YOU CANʼT DETERMINE THE EXACT TALK YOU WANT ABOUT THE BRAND, YOU CAN ONLY ENSURE THAT YOU DO EVERYTHING THAT YOU CAN TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY
HAVE A POSITIVE EXPERIENCE. ITʼS ABOUT BEING TRANSPARENT.

BEING PROACTIVE WILL SHOW A REAL INTEREST IN YOUR CONSUMERS AND WILL MAKE YOU SEEM MORE OF AN “APPROACHABLE” COMPANY

IT'S NO LONGER ENOUGH TO BECKON PEOPLE TO YOUR SITE WITH THE LIKES OF SEO AND
PPC

SEARCH ENGINE PLACEMENT WILL BE ENOUGH TO HOOK PEOPLE IN BUT NOT ENOUGH TO ENGAGE THEM AND KEEP THEM COMING BACK FOR
MORE.

YOU HAVE TO FLOCK TO YOUR USERS, TO LEARN HOW THEY COMMUNICATE, WHAT INTERESTS THEM AND TO PROVIDE THEM WITH SOMETHING THAT WILL APPEAL TO
THEM.

The Beneﬁts of Social Media
Customer Engagement
Direct Customer Communications
Speed of Feedback / Results
Learning Customer Preferences
Low Cost
Brand Building
Market Research
Credibility of the Crowd
Reach

CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT - YOU'RE HELPING THEM WITH ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT ASPECTS OF THEIR LIFE AND THEY WANT TO FEEL LIKE YOU RECOGNISE THEM
AS AN INDIVIDUAL - SETTING YOU APART FROM YOUR COMPETITORS

DIRECT COMMS / SPEED OF FEEDBACK - YOU CAN DEAL WITH CUSTOMER ENQUIRIES, PROVIDING AN OUTSTANDING LEVEL OF SERVICE & REDUCING COMPLAINTS -
INCREASING RETENTION

LOW COST - TRAFFIC IS MUCH MORE TARGETED - THROUGH TWO WAY CONVERSATION, THEY KNOW EXACTLY YOUR OFFERING AND ARE MORE LIKELY TO SIGN UP

REACH - RATHER THAN ONLY GETTING THOSE PEOPLE LOOKING FOR DATING RELATED KEYWORDS, YOU CAN REACH THOSE PEOPLE WHO HAVEN'T REACHED THAT
STAGE OF THE DATING CYCLE

You need to start to:-

Listening
Giving people something to talk about
Entering into a dialogue with your customers
Building places for your customers to gather
Make sure that you’re linked from trusted sites

LISTENING IS IMPORTANT - YOU NEED TO UNDERSTAND THEIR DESIRES AND DRIVERS.

YOU ALREADY HAVE THE PLACE FOR THEM TO GATHER, SO THAT'S ONE THING DOWN

TRUSTED SITES - NOW WHEN PEOPLE WANT TO KNOW ANYTHING, THEY'LL WIKIPEDIA IT! MAKE SURE THAT YOU'RE IN ON THE ACTION AS IT WILL BUILD YOUR
CREDIBILITY.

LINKS FROM OTHER TRUSTED SITES WILL ALSO HELP YOUR SITE'S RANKING.

How do you do this?

Conversation Monitoring Tools
Constant Engagement
Total Transparency
Listening to Feedback

CONVERSATION MONITORING TOOLS - GOOGLE ALERTS, GOOGLE BLOG SEARCH, TWITTER SEARCH / TWEETDECK

YOU'LL BE KEPT IN THE FOREFRONT OF PEOPLES MINDS RATHER THAN A ONE HIT ATTEMPT

THERE WON'T BE ANYWHERE TO HIDE. PEOPLE WANT TO SEE THE PEOPLE BEHIND THE BRAND. ADMIT WHEN YOU'VE MADE A MISTAKE. HAVE CHARACTER. BE
DIFFERENT.

NO POINT ASKING FOR FEEDBACK UNLESS YOU'RE GOING TO DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT OR EVEN ACKOWLEDGE IT

THERE'S A NEW EVOLUTION OF DATING SITES - THEY'RE BECOMING MORE SOCIAL AND DISPERSING THE STIGMA. NOT ONLY WILL THESE SITES DO WELL, THEY HELP
EXPAND THE MARKET AND NORMALISE DATING.

THESE SITES ARE FOCUSSED AROUND SOCIAL NETWORKS - THE PLACE WITH MASS SATURATION THAT'S ALREADY TRUSTED

THE THING THAT MADE THIS ALL POSSIBLE.

Beneﬁts of Social Network
Integration:-

Access to an unprecedented amount of user data
* Photographs
* Personal Interests
* FRIENDS LISTS
Fewer barriers to signup encouraging greater
conversion from site visitor to member

IN RESPECT OF THE APPLICATION, THIS IS THE DIFFERENCE THAT FACEBOOK CONNECT CAN MAKE.

FRIENDS LISTS ARE THE MAIN THING HERE. IT ENCOURAGES WORD OF MOUTH (THAT THING THAT EVERYONE TRUSTS) AND OPENS UP YOUR SERVICE TO NEW
AUDIENCES.

•In a relationship
•Happy not looking elsewhere

•Sick of being single •Newly single
•Moaning a bit •Not really looking,
•Become less picky, will •Fancying a few people
take anything from circle of friends/
•Looking a bit desperate work

•Happily single / dating
•Being set up by friends,
•Getting worried about being single •meeting in bars
•Want to get back in the game •Relaxed & carefree
•Still selective, looking for Mr/Mrs Right •Most attractive because
•Prepared to make serious commitment not actively shopping

BY TARGETING PEOPLE IN THE ENVIRONMENT THAT THEY'RE COMFORTABLE, YOU SHOULD BE DISPERSING ANY STIGMA AND CAPTURING MEMBERS EARLIER IN THE
DATING CYCLE.

SOCIAL NETWORK INTEGRATION HAS THE BENEFIT OF BEING TWO-
WAY

BRANDS GET CONTENT INTO FACEBOOK'S VIRAL CHANNELS BY LETTING VISITORS POST NEWS FEED STORIES, STATUS MESSAGES, PHOTOS, EVENTS & MORE WITHOUT
HAVING TO LEAVE THE PLATFORM. GREAT FOR BRAND AWARENESS.

Tools for Engagement

Blog
Twitter Account
Dedicated Product page on social networks
Forums
Newsletters / Email Communications
Groups
Social Bookmarking Tools
Photo and Video Platforms

HAVING A BLOG IS A GREAT WAY OF ADDING NEW CONTENT TO YOUR SITE (ALSO HELPING WITH SEO) AND ASSUMING ITʼS INTERESTING CONTENT - PROVIDES A REASON
FOR VISITORS TO COME BACK

TWITTER IS A GREAT WAY OF INTERACTING BUT ALSO PROVIDING A VOICE TO THE BRAND AND AMAZING FOR CUSTOMER SERVICE

SOCIAL NETWORKS - GREAT FOR CUSTOMER SERVICE, PEOPLE SHOWING THEIR PREFERENCES FOR A BRAND ETC

FORUMS / GROUPS ETC - GOOD TO RAISE AWARENESS OF YOUR BRAND, JOIN THE CONVERSATION.

Choose your tone of voice. Ensure you add value.
PEOPLE WANT TO KNOW THE PEOPLE BEHIND THE BRAND - IT GIVES THEM A PERSON TO CONNECT TO AND A CHARACTER TO YOUR BRAND. THEY’LL BE MORE
FORGIVING AND ENCOURAGE WORD OF MOUTH.

Don’t spam. It’s not big or clever.
MORE IMPORTANTLY IT WILL DAMAGE YOUR CREDIBILITY.

Be Smart!
TRACK EVERYTHING THAT YOU DO. IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT WORKS BEST FOR YOU, YOU WON'T KNOW WHERE TO FOCUS YOUR ATTENTIONS. EVEN URL SHORTENING
SERVICES OFFER TRACKING NOW.

Why Take Facebook Seriously?

The 35-54yr old demo is growing fastest, with a
276.4% growth rate in the past 6 months
The 55yr+ demo isn’t far behind, growing by
194.3%
The 25-34yr old demo is doubling every 6 months
More females (55.7%) than males (42.2%)

35-35YR OLDS THE DEMO HAS GROWN BY 276.4%
55+YR OLD DEMO HAS GROWN BY 194.3%
25-34YR OLD DEMO IS DOUBLING EVERY 6 MONTHS
MORE FEMALES 55.7%

AND WE ALL KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS....

= £

GET GIRLS ON THE SITE AND MONEY WILL FOLLOW AS WHERE THERE ARE GIRLS, BOYS FLOCK... IT'S THE BOYS THAT WILL
PAY!

ULTIMATELY, THE MORE PEOPLE THAT YOU BRING TO YOUR SITE, THE MORE REVENUE THAT YOU'LL BE EARNING AND THE MORE PEOPLE'S LIVES THAT YOU'LL BE
IMPROVING.

YOU'RE CHANGING PEOPLE'S LIVES. THAT'S SOMETHING TO BE PROUD OF.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=FYuKTEVgVmI&feature=player_embedded#t=42


Mel Kirk
Social Media Manager
White Label Dating
www.whitelabeldating.com
Twitter.com/melkirk


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