Social Media WorkshopCrawling and Walking

Social Media:Revolution or Fad?

Knows how to find the right social network

Knows how to find the right social network

Why social media might be a revolution?

Knows how to find the right social network

In the next 3 years, Forrester projects a $6.9 billion Social Economy

We’re in a new era: the Social Economy

Did you know?

• 90% of all purchase decisions begin on the internet

• 75% of people shop online before they buy offline

• 85% are looking for an independent review

• 80% trust the recommendation of another person

• 14% of people trust advertising

Sources: comScore, Neilsen, Harris Interactive

Interest in social media is growing…

http://google.com/trends

…and so is belief in its effectiveness

Socio-media-logy

Step 1Crawl

• Define business goals first, enable your social networks and listen– Monitor the buzz – Optimize search– Find and enable relevant social sites– Make web site desirable– Build your list

Step 2Walk

• Connect and engage through shared interests – Start the conversation

• Product news, consumer testimonials, offers

– Qualify and quantify your audience• Enthusiasts, participant, voyeurs• Survey• Build a database

– Learn and optimize• Measure what you want to achieve• Amplify what works; delete what doesn’t

Step 3Run

• Re-engage; keep them coming back– Content…content…content

• Video, audio, text

– Email newsletter– Blog– Status Updates– Podcasts– Webinars– Live Events

Step 4Thrive

• Rely on your community and nurture them– User contributed content and conversion– Forums, town halls, bulletin boards, live events

• Better customer relationships• Enthusiasts convert others like them• New product ideas

Core Beliefs

1. Strategy supercedes technology2. Establish measurements and expectations3. Have your online house in order

Hub & Spoke ModelHave the following ready before you

start:• Your “Money Site” Goals

– Online Sales, Brick & Mortar traffic, newsletter signup

• E-mail list signup• Web Analytics• Blog• Search Plan• Create a customer persona

– Who – demographics– What – will they buy– Where – can they be found– When –do they buy & how

often– Why – what are the hot buttons– How –will they buy: online or

offline

Let’s start crawling and walking

Free social network and micro-blogging service• 23 million people use Twitter; 72% in first six months• 1+ million people use it per day• 65% of are under 25• 5% of all users account for 75% of all Tweets• Tuesday is the most popular day• 11 am to 3 pm is the most popular period• 94% have fewer than 100 followers/following• 21% of users have never written a post

Why Tweet?• Broaden your reach• Improve your search ranking• Connect with people, some not usually possible• Is an incremental sales channel• Listen to the pulse of your industry• Distribute relevant information, articles and events • Link to your website and social networks, particularly

your blog

Best Practices• Find and develop your personal voice• Tweet regularly• Tweet the quality of information you would want in

to get in return…because that’s what you’ll get• Respond regularly• “ReTweet (RT)” regularly• Ask questions• Practice good manners

Twitter Success Story

• The Largest Social Network with 300+ Million active members• Many commercial options for businesses: ads, Fan Pages,

Groups, Video, Custom Facebook Apps• MySpace is still a popular option for younger generation

interesting music, bands, & media, but it has lost its way and is losing ground everyday

Why create a presence?• Connect with customers through “fan” pages• Create compelling promotion content to

attract new prospects• Use Facebook Ads to create highly targeted

advertising campaigns and drive traffic to your website

• Links to website, blog and Twitter profile

Best practices• Are your customers on facebook?• Determine your goals• How much time and effort can you afford?• Create a fan page, use existing customers, friends

and family to quickly build numbers• Get your fan page “vanity” URL• Have a content/engagement plan• Drive people to your site, measure conversion

Largest social network for business professionals • 60 million members in 200 countries• 21 million in U.S./Over 100,000 are CEO’s• Visits are growing +20% per year• Average age: 41• Average salary: $139,000• Average number of connection: 60• Average number of groups per member: 3

Why become a member?• Promote professional and personal identity• Join relevant groups and communities • Get business help and help others• Distribute news about you and your company• Display recent presentations• Increase search ranking• Links to website, blog and Twitter profile

Best practices• Decide what to promote and in what balance

– Personal brand: Experience, expertise– Professional brand: Capabilities, credentials

• Take advantage of LinkedIn’s many features• Join groups and professional community• Build connections wisely• Participate

Why use it?• YouTube is the #2 search engine• Interact with customers who can “reply” via

video• It is a strong element of a content marketing

strategy• Creating Video Content isn’t as hard as you think• YouTube videos can rank highly in Search Results

Best practices• Keep it short: 60% of viewers don’t watch beyond 60 seconds• Great content trumps production quality focus on your message• Don’t make it a heavy sell, its not a TV commercial, people want

to be entertained or informed• Have a call to action at the end• Focus on a good keyword rich title• Always embed it on your blog and other sites to build search

visibility• For maximum viewership, post to other video sharing sites as

well.

Blogs

• Type of website, maintained by an individual with regular entries and commentaries– 133,000,000 blogs– 346,000,000 read blogs– 900,000 new blogs are created every 24 hours– Positive perception of your company website

increase by 36% if it has a blog– 67% of bloggers are male; 70% have college

degrees and 50% are 18-34

Why Blog?

• Elevate search ranking• Create positive business perceptions• Be a thought leader in your industry and get

to know other thought leaders• Generate content for your social networks• Fix a customer problem personally• Return on investment potential is $$$$

Blogging Best Practices

• Building search traffic will take time. There will be ups and downs. Live with them

• Work out a posting strategy; post continually• Focus on your area of expertise• Blog posts compound interest with each one• Link to other blogs• Comment of other people’s blog in your

industry

Examples

How does it work?• Consumers “Check-in” at locations, friends are

notified directly and you can share your location on social networks

• Consumers can see what is nearby via GPS location• Businesses can use it by creating offers and “tips”

to encourage users to visit• Apps like Yelp show users what businesses are

nearby and provide ratings

Best practices• Make sure you create a quality listing for your business, you

want people nearby to find you• Stay on top of listings and ratings such as those on Yelp, resolve

issues quickly and publicize the solution• Encourage customers to find you on foursquare, create a review

on Yelp and share their experience with friends on social media• Reinforce your social media presence with tools like foursquare

by “friending” your customers who check-in & reward them• Build social/mobile into your business

Compound Social Interest• Produce Content on your site

and blog• Share it via social media, email

and digital PR• Content, Video and Blogging

drives Search results• Interact with customers on

Communities and Forums building your online reputation

• Respond to ratings and reviews• Build mobile & social into your

business to increase benefit• Focus on driving people to your

“money site”• Measure your effectiveness and

adjust

Case Study: AJ Bombers

Rob PetersenFounding PartnerBarnRaisers llc5 River Road, Suite 205Wilton, CT 06897P 203.594.1701C 203.231.6434rob@barnraisersllc.comwww.barnraisersllc.comTwitter: @robpetersen

Mike RogersChief Brain, FounderBrainloaf48 Union St #1CStamford, CT 06906P 203.653.2283C 203.858-5839mrogers@brainloaf.comwww.brainloaf.comTwitter: @TMichaelRogers

We welcome your questions and input.