1. Communicate, communicate,
communicate
Frieda Brioschi
frieda.brioschi@gmail.com
IED
Lesson 6

2. Course program
1. Italian Startups
2. Set up a startup in Italy
3. I've got an idea. And now?
4. Value analysis
5. Business model
6. Communicate, communicate, communicate
7. Being net
8. Find your market
9. Funding: venture capital, business angel and other
ways of financing
10. Pitch

3. Today's table of content
1.Needs
2.Landscape
3.Effective message
4.Rules of engagement
5.Editorial plan

4. Business model: quick recap
During last lesson we discussed what is a business
model and how fulfill a business model canvas,
looking into each part:
1.Value proposition
2.Customer segments
3.Channels
4.Customer relationship
5.Revenue streams
6.Key resources
7.Key partner
8.Key activities
9.Cost structure

5. Business model: quick recap
Then we detailed some wellknown companies business
model:
• Coca Cola (glass bottle!)
• Financial Times
• LinkedIn
• Groupon
• Twitter
• Facebook
• Blockbuster
• Google

6. Business model: quick recap
In the end we touched community business model
(geographically based, professional and online
communities) and what is a business plan and how is
diverse from a business model.

7. Needs

8. Discuss & test my idea
[mini]marketing approach to Rich Aberman’s “How to
(In)validate Your Startup Idea”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZ0s1gbMlcI
http://blog.wepay.com/2010/12/17/how-to-invalidate-your-startup-idea/

9. Landscape

10. Where are we?
"A powerful global conversation has begun. Through the
Internet, people are discovering and inventing new ways to
share relevant knowledge with blinding speed. As a direct
result, markets are getting smarter—and getting smarter
faster than most companies."
Cluetrain Manifesto, 1999
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cluetrain_Manifesto

11. Social Vs industrial media
Some parameters:
1.Reach: global audience
2.Accessibility: government or corporate (privately
owned)/generally available to the public at little or no cost
3.Usability: specialized skills and training/anyone with access
can operate the means of social media production
4.Immediacy: instantaneous, days, weeks, or even
months/instantaneous
5.Permanence: cannot be altered/can be altered almost
instantaneously by comments or editing
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_media

12. Social media
Online technologies and practices that people use to share
text, image, video and audio.
Andreas Kaplan and Michael Haenlein define social media as
"a group of Internet-based applications that build on the
ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0, and that
allow the creation and exchange of user-generated content."
They represent a change in how people learn, read and share
information and contents: a blend between sociology and
technology takes place and it tranforms a monologue (1-to-
many) into a dialogue (many-to-many) and information result
democratized, transforming persons from users to editors.

13. Social network
Danah Boyd and Nicole Ellison define a social network as "a
web-based services that allow individuals to
1.construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded
system,
2.articulate a list of other users with whom they share a
connection, and
3.view and traverse their list of connections and those made
by others within the system.
The nature and nomenclature of these connections may vary
from site to site.”
http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol13/issue1/boyd.ellison.html

14. Networked publics/1
According to Danah Boyd, social network sites can be
understood as networked publics which are simultaneously
• the space constructed through networked technologies and
• the imagined community that emerges as a result of the
intersection of people, technology, and practice
http://www.danah.org/papers/TakenOutOfContext.pdf

15. Networked publics/2
Four properties:
1. persistence
2. searchability
3. replicability
4. scalability
Three dynamics:
• invisible audiences
• collapsed contexts
• the blurring of public and private
http://www.danah.org/papers/TakenOutOfContext.pdf

16. http://www.copyblogger.com/history-of-social-media/

22. http://www.copyblogger.com/history-of-social-media/

26. Top 3 SN
http://vincos.it/2012/06/11/la-mappa-dei-social-network-nel-mondo-giugno-2012/

27. Most used SN in Italy
http://vincos.it/osservatorio-facebook/

28. Effective message

29. Why?
If I write in a well-aimed and simple manner, I can
obtain a double effect since:
• my contents are shared by my followers and can
reach a wider audience
• my pagerank, and generally the presence of my
brand on search engines, will increase

30. Customizing
Pages and profiles should always be customized and
complete, since they're my public presentation.
I need to include at least:
• a photo (my logo?)
• a cover image
• some information about me/my company.

31. Fixing
I can always modify my post: if (when!) I discover an
error, I must fix it as soon as possible.
Besides, remember to add "content" to your posts, by
including your opinion/doubts and not just publishing
useful links.

32. Continuity
Try to publish fresh news at least once a day...
...but not too often.
Information overflow is a problem!

33. Groups
Join groups, since there you may:
•Find useful info
•Take part in discussions
•Find customers/partners/etc.
Don't use groups ONLY as an adverting place,
spamming is unfair (and often backfires).

34. Habits
Learn local habits and adopt them, or help in creating
new habits.
Such as...
• Friday on Twitter is Follow Friday #FF.
• Thursday on Google+ is the moment to share
interesting circles.

35. Immediacy
Try to create immediate content: text and images are
quick, few videos are ok, watch out for external links.

36. Time & day
During early morning and after dinner the online
information flow is lower: I've more chance that my
message reach my public.
For the same reason, Sunday is a great moment for
publishing new contents.
But, mind!...

37. Time & day /2
...That is not always true!
Some social media (Reddit, Friendfeed) rely on word
of mouth to keep the focus on a news piece.
If you write when too few people is there to read and
“up” your post, it will fade out quickly.
Be aware that some websites have more public during the working
hours, some are more active in the night, some are more
continuous (especially if they have a worldwide community).

38. Concise
Pay attention to lenght!
The message should be clear but not too long.
Length is related to which medium I'm using.
•Twitter: 140 chars
•Facebook: Few lines
•Blog: Few paragraphs
•Newspaper: Few pages

39. Diversifying
Remember that you can use as many ways of
communicating as possible: beyond text/image/video,
you can involve people with photo galleries and polls.
In some settings, sound, lights and movement are
great attention catalysts.
Think of Steve Job's Keynotes!

40. URL shortener
Better avoided.
With a visible link, the user knows what to expect
once he clicks.
If they are really needed, use an URL shortener that
allows to give a custom name to your links.
Consider that some security systems blocks URL
shorteners and redirects in order to prevent malware
exploits.

41. Rules of engagement

42. Basic assumption
"Markets are Conversations"
Cluetrain Manifesto, 1999
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cluetrain_manifesto

43. Conversating
Join the conversations and answer to comments.
As in many other environments, on Social Networks it is
critical to listen!

44. Listening
Listening is not only a matter of courtesy, but a powerful
instrument that can let you:
• Discover the environment and its opinion leaders
• Measure the “sentiment” of a brand/product and its
competitors
• Improve the management of communication, especially on
social media
• Enhance CRM

45. Roles
Present yourself with an official profile whenever needed.
If you want a more direct and involving communication, set up
some personal profiles for your key figures.
Human relations are more pleasant and well received.

46. Editorial plan

47. Rules
External
Rules of engagement for my readers
• Moderation
• Etiquette
• Stay in topic
Internal
• Your communication must be uniform
• Decide who decides what
• Keep a regular schedule
• Make clear who should answer

48. Spreading
The channels I oversee (not necessarily the channels I own)
must be advertised and the word spread: on your website,
newsletters and events.
Linking a company profile to a “person” (true or fake) profile
could be a plus.
Your employees/partners could be your best presentation.

49. Press release
Include your social channels in the press releases!
(mostly FB and Twitter)
Text should be thought out to be shared, too.

50. Objectives
To make measured evaluations, you need targets:
• Increase the number of followers
• Increase the daily interactions
• Increase the percentage of readers coming to the website
from Social Networks
• Increase the number of subscribers coming from SNs

51. Tecniques
• Observe and copy what you think interesting
• Answer. At least once a day. Readers must not always be
the first to interact, must they?
• Sometimes, share informations not strictly correlated to your
business
• Be personal, impersonal is not sexy
• Keep in mind that a question mark every now and then is
important.

52. Storytelling
Use SNs to tell stories, not only the core of your business.
If you set up an event, tell something about it, its background,
challenges, successes etc.
Create expectations (and meet them).
Narrate the everyday life of the company: a photo of the team,
a personal touch...

53. Get a plan!
To make a good plan, you need:
1. Analysis
2. Strategy
3. Action
3bis. Luck!

54. Analysis
Is anyone talking about me online?
Where? How?
(is the presence on that channel worthy?)
What do my competitors do?
What they do well?
What can I learn from them?

55. Strategy
What channel I decided to oversee?
What are the targets for each channel?
BE SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant,
Timed)

56. Actions
Actions must not be unrelated from each other.
Integration is the word: newsletter, websites, events, all the
ways of communications must be coordinated.

57. One last word
Social media are a marketing tool (too).

58. Next week
Being net.