putting social media to work for your business
TRANSCRIPT
Putting Social Media to Work for Your Business
How Connecting with Customers Online Can Help you Grow
Anthony JulianoAAF 6th District Fall Conference
October 2, 2009
Social media is for real
and it’s changing communication—and your business
Three Hard Truths
Social media isn’t a magic bullet
It’s easy to get distracted
Advertising is easier*
*But less effective in the long run
Highest ROI 1. Word of mouth/referral
2. Direct sales
3. One-to-one/events
4. Public relations
5. Advertising
1. Word of mouth/referral
2. Direct sales
3. One-to-one/events
4. Public relations
5. Advertising
Most dependent on relationships
Promotion - Tactics
Effective use of social media
Better relationships
Better word of mouth
“Marketers don’t understand channels where you have to talk and listen at the same time...
The marketing industry’s idea of two-way communication is to put an 800 number or a web address in an ad and take orders.”
--Josh Bernoff, “Why marketers have trouble with full-duplex social technology,” June 30, 2009
Case Studies and Ideas
The Big 4
• Best for: – Building relationships with a group of “fans”
• Pitfalls: – When “fan” group is very large, it’s hard to
manage relationships with individuals– The primary brand is Facebook
Vanity URL
Frequent updates
Fun, interesting content
Incorporates video/blog postings
The result
• Best for: – Listening to customers– Short-shelf-life information
• Pitfalls: – Tweets are here today, gone tomorrow– Labor intensive
Claimed their territory
Frequent tweets
“Play with customers”
Exclusive/time-sensitive promos
The result
The result
YouTube
• Best for: – Demonstration– User generated content
• Pitfalls: – User generated content will not always be
favorable
Branded channel
Helpful content
Fun, engaging contests
The result
• Best for: – Professional services providers– Career advancement
• Pitfalls: – A little boring
“I don’t know that I would have been aware of the opportunity if it hadn’t been for LinkedIn”
--Stephen Hassett, VP New Ventures
Think beyond the Big 4
Photo sharingBlogs
Discussion groups Niche networks
Intranets and wikisRSS Feeds
Social news sitesVirtual worlds Social gaming
Photo sharing sites
Who could promote their business via Flickr?
• Photographers
• Personal trainers
• Auto dealers
• Antique dealers
• Jewelers
• Hairstylists
• Painters
Blogs
What Dell does well on its blog
• Frequent posts• Conversational voice• Break news• Listen and respond to customers• Incorporate video
The result: an engaged audience that has a reason to think about the brand every time Dell posts
Discussion Groups
What Ivy Tech does well with its discussion group
• Easy to find
• Responds quickly
• Filters spam but allows dissent
• Connects posters to peers
The result: efficiencies, thousands of questions answered and students satisfied
Niche social networking sites
What AARP does well on its niche network
• Builds its brand
• Removes barriers for its target audience
• Replicates best of the megasites, but cuts the clutter
• Subgroups
The result: gives AARP another “hook” with members
Internal social networks and wikis
What’s possible on an internal social network/wiki?
• Build camaraderie
• Harness collective intelligence
• Improve productivity and downtime
• Monitor morale
• Recruitment
• Education
• Mass communication
RSS Feeds
Social news sites
Social news sites
• Allow users to share stories, articles, media
• Users rank quality of content, which influences placement
• A great way to attract attention, traffic, and links
The result: helps you promote your news to a wider audience
Virtual worlds and social gaming
Ten Ways to Use Social Networking
to Grow Your Business
Ten Ways to Use Social Networking to Grow Your Business
1. Actively promote yourself/your business, but…
Ten Ways to Use Social Networking to Grow Your Business
2. Share advice, expertise, and your interests/activities more often than you
actively sell/promote
“Real estate agents are finding… that the best connections are made when they put themselves out there first, rather than just their listings. That makes sense and benefits consumers, who can get a head start on finding an agent whose personality meshes with their own. It’s easier to make the single biggest investment of your lifetime if you like the person helping you make that decision.”
--“Realtors all a-twitter over social media’s possibilities,”
Chicago Tribune, Feb. 20, 2009
Ten Ways to Use Social Networking to Grow Your Business
4. Visit others’ (relevant) blogs and participate frequently
Ten Ways to Use Social Networking to Grow Your Business
5. Launch a YouTube channel, Flickr photostream or a podcast
Ten Ways to Use Social Networking to Grow Your Business
6. Create a niche social networking site
Ten Ways to Use Social Networking to Grow Your Business
7. Use Twitter to listen to your customers
Ten Ways to Use Social Networking to Grow Your Business
8. Connect with others in your industry
Ten Ways to Use Social Networking to Grow Your Business
9. Promote your content through social news sites and RSS feeds
Ten Ways to Use Social Networking to Grow Your Business
10. Integrate your social media efforts with the rest of your marketing
Getting Started
Getting started
Decide whether social networking is right for you
Are you willing to put in the time?Does it interest you?
Do you want more business?Can you handle more business?
Getting started
Stake your claim
Getting started
If you’re new to social networking,
don’t jump in right away—
watch and learn
Getting started
Decide what niche you’ll focus on, which tools you’ll use, and how much time you’ll devote to social networking for business
Getting started
Decide whether you’ll do it yourself or partner with a consultant/vendor
Getting started
Consider establishing personal/organizational policies and protocols
Getting started
Decide how you’ll measure ROI
How to get started
Questions?
