connecting with customers
DESCRIPTION
Presentation by Des Walsh as part of the Gold Coast (Australia) City Library Tech Expo, workshop at the Elanora Branch of the Library, focusing on how social media is an enabler and essential part of connecting with customers.TRANSCRIPT
Connecting With Customers
Des WalshSocial Media Strategist
Elanora Branch Library16th December 2009
Some Facts
• 78% of Australians look to the Internet for marketing information about products and services
• 60%+ do business transactions online
Sensis® e-Business Report, Aug 09
So?
“The conclusion for most businesses has to be if you are not online, you are off the planet.”
Peter Switzer in The Australian, 12-13 Sept 09
Before We Go On
• How would a free website sound?
• If that sounds interesting, hang in
Just Being Online Won’t Cut It
What use is your being online
if I can’t find you?
How Findable Are You?
“In the 21st Century, successful business
will be focused on findability, about
creating an online and offline presence
that helps your customers find you.”
Dave Taylor, author,
Growing Your Business with Google – The Complete Idiot’s Guide
Back to the Future
“Marketing in this era is no longer about
crafting messages, but participating in
communities. You have to be in it for the
long-haul.”
Paul Chaney, Conversational Media Marketing
The New Customer
Connection Generation
Finding a Hairdresser
Tools for Connecting
It Can Get Complicated
Conversation Prism – Brian Solis & Jesse Thomas
How It Looks to Some
Social Media = Tools + Culture
1. online tools people use to share content, profiles, opinions, insights, experiences, perspectives and media itself
2. democratization of content and how people read, disseminate, create and share content
Adapted from Brian Solis, June 29, 2007 (see links)
Social Media – the Smart Way
•People•Objectives•Strategy•Technology
http://www.forrester.com/Groundswell
$200 -> $40,000
Byron Food on Posterous
Insider Tip
• Optimise for Local Search
– Keywords
– Images and Videos
– Google Business Centre http://tinyurl.com/mcwpmr
Tools & Tips - I
Tools & Tips - 2
• Check your profile
• Find out what they’re saying about you
• Get a blog – Google loves blogs
• Make videos
• Get on Twitter
Des Walsh
Social Media Strategist
http://deswalsh.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/deswalsh
http://XeeSM.com/deswalsh
On Twitter: @deswalsh
+61 5536 5658
+61 413 089 355
Links - ISensis® e-Business Report, Aug 09http://www.about.sensis.com.au/small_business/sebr.php
Internet Café – ninanord via Flickrhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/ninsvims/2939288082/
Tools for ConnectingPosterous - between a blog and a Twitter account (and free) – http://posterous.comDelicious - bookmarking sites and blog posts you like – http://del.icio.usFriendFeed – social networking – http://www.friendfeed.com Digg – bookmarking and ranking for blog posts – http://digg.comFacebook - social networking – http://www.facebook.comLinkedIn - professional social networking – http://www.linkedin.comReddit - bookmarking – http://www.reddit.comFlickr- the leading site for uploading images – http://www.flickr.comYouTube - “Internet TV” – http://www.youtube.comRSS - syndication: read “What’s RSS” http://deswalsh.com/whats-rssStumbleUpon- favouriting and ranking site – http://www.stumbleupon.comWordPress.com- the one they host for you – http://www.wordpress.comWordPress.org - the one you host on your server – http://www.wordpress.orgSkype- “Voice over Internet” – http://www.skype.comTwitter “what are you doing?” – http://www.twitter.comTechnorati- blog ranking – http://www.technorati.comXeeSM all your social web links in one place (see http://XeeSM.com/deswalsh) – http://XeeSM.com
Links - IIThe Conversation Prism - http://theconversationprism.com/
Longleat Hedge Maze - Howard.Gees via Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/cyberslayer/952153409/
$200 -> $40,000 Signs Never Sleep – http://www.signsneversleep.typepad.com – a Typepad blog maintained by J.D.Iles of Lincoln, New Hampshire: he identified 10% of his 2005 sales as being attributable to his blog: rounding the figures for a Typepad Pro blog and his turnover that year of $350,000 and adjusting for Australian dollars gives you the figure in the slides. Source: The Corporate Blogging Book, Debbie Weil, 2006, pp91-92
Tools & Tips
Cluetrain Manifesto http://www.cluetrain.com
Trevor Cook & Lee Hopkins: Social Media White Paper http://trevorcook.typepad.com/weblog/files/CookHopkins-SocialMediaWhitePaper-2008.pdf
Brian Solis: Brink – A Social Media Guide from the Edge
http://www.pr-squared.com/2009/02/ebook_on_social_media_marketin.html
Deborah Micek & Warren Whitlock: twitter Revolution – Xeno Press 2008
Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff: Groundswell – winning in a world transformed by social technologies – Harvard Business Press
Notes: As I mentioned at the end of the event, I’m in the process of posting some supplementary and explanatory material on my Des’s Posterous site – http://des.posterous.com – for example an explanation of domain names and why it is a good idea to pay some attention to them in relation to your business and your professional profile online.