THIRSTDecember 5, 2009

What Drives Social Media Campaigns______________________________________________________

Presented by Mike Johnston

INTRODUCTION______________________________________________________

Rhetorical question: Who wants to sell people stuff? But wouldn’t you rather they respect you? No. No. Wouldn’t your rather be loved?

HISTORY______________________________________________________

In the first half the 20th century public relations drove consumer perception. And the likes of Edward Bernays – the man who coined the term public relations – manipulated the media to influence consumers with the three great motivators: sex, greed, and fear. He did it all - everything from electing presidents to justifying coups in South America, inventing product placement to making it socially acceptable for women to smoke in public, even making you believe that the byproduct of smokestacks – fluoride – was a good thing to put into the public water supply. I could go on and on and on, but leave it to say that the man created the consumer society. He was one of the most fascinating and influential people that most people have never heard of. He WAS public relations in the first half of the 20th century.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8953172273825999151

© 2009 BOSS CREATIVE, LLC

BOSSCREATIVE

Then along came Ogilvy and Bernbach in the 60s and they changed the world of advertising. Advertising became the dominant marketing tool in the second half of the 20th century and public relations took a back seat. No longer.

The wheel is coming full circle. In the 21st century social media is the return of public relations – except more cost effective and measurable. Tradition public relations tools manipulated the media in order to influence consumers. But with the digital media revolution you can jump right over traditional media and take your message directly to consumers. It’s advertising without the middleman. It’s not building a brand. It’s building a cult.

What we are about to cover are the business models, successful tactics, best practices, costs, advantages of engagement, and examples effective social media campaigns.

WHAT DOESN’T WORK______________________________________________________

First, what doesn’t work.

This isn’t you posting a video of your kids lip-syncing a Lady GaGa song on YouTube.

This isn’t tweeting that “I hate sitting next to Jimmy in 4th period science class.”

As society continues to silo into countless niches, there are fewer opportunities for mass marketing. We’re in the eyeball business. Where eyeballs go – advertising follow. And as more people turn to social media, advertisers struggle to exploit the huge number of people on sites like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

Markets have tried to use social media as a lead generation tool. I’m not going to talk about that.

For years if you’d asked an advertising agency to create a campaign around a social media site, they would have created banner ads. The click through rates were horrible. Users weren’t there to engage in advertising. There were there to engage with their friends.

© 2009 BOSS CREATIVE, LLC

The reason it doesn’t work is because the users know your trying to sell them stuff. So what I’m about to say is counter intuitive. Stop selling them stuff. We don’t want to sell them stuff. We want them to love us.

Soon other professionals – outside of the traditional advertising world - started to realize how to successfully use social networking sites for marketing. But these tactics didn’t involve any sort of media buy for the traditional agencies, so they didn’t chase it. And they’re starting to regret that decision because they’re seeing smaller ad budgets as the dollars are redirected into “digital solutions” provided by non-traditional or “digital agencies.” Here’s an example of one.

http://adland.tv/commercials/ikea-facebook-tag-2009-135-sweden

This is strategic. These are online advertising solutions driven through social media verses traditional media placement.

HOW SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGNS WORK______________________________________________________

Okay, let me show you how it works. The traditional advertising campaign is composed of:

Message

Frequency

Placement

It’s the repetition of a single idea repeated to a target audience.

With social media you still need a compelling message targeted to your best customers just like a traditional campaign – more about that later. Social media campaigns are compose of:

Message

Your List

Influencers

But there is no media buy. If the message resonates with the people in your list they will act. That’s your placement. And if the message resonates

© 2009 BOSS CREATIVE, LLC

with influencers in your list, they’ll become a conduit to larger and larger networks of people. That’s your frequency.

The number of people now using social media is staggering.

Just last month we had the 5 billionth tweet posted.

Twitter is averaging over 27 million tweets per day.

That’s an annual run rate of 10 billion tweets.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIFYPQjYhv8&feature=fvst

Start building your list now. Your list IS your media buy. But unlike traditional media placement, the message comes from a trusted friend – not an advertiser. And then it gets repeated to other users outside your list, and so on and so on and so on.

44% of users share brand-related information with others. And 48% of those who came in contact with brands on Twitter searched for more information about the brand - 34% on other social networks.

BUSINESS MODELS______________________________________________________

There’s another difference between traditional media campaigns and social media campaigns. It’s a process, not a product. Often clients are shopping for a product - the ad. Social media isn’t a thing; it’s a process. Sure there are posts and the microsite – there are assets. But when you think of it less like a product and more like a relationship. Bing. It’s easier to wrap your head around it.

Even though the business model looks pretty similar.

You need people who are strategic thinkers.

Someone needs to be responsible for the project managing the tactics.

And then people are needed to execute – professionals with deft writing skills, who can work within strategic policy guidelines.

This isn’t something to hand to the intern. You’re playing with live ammo, here. Think bigger.

© 2009 BOSS CREATIVE, LLC

Right now this is one person at most businesses – usually someone in the marketing department. But you’re going to need to expand your internal team or outsource some services if you’re going to think bigger. If you outsourced it to an agency the roles would be similar to those who develop a traditional advertising campaign.

The agency would come up with the creative strategy to meet the business objectives.

Your project and assets are managed within the agency

And then executed according to the predetermined strategy.

The takeaway is that you must build your list and create powerful messages people want to repeat. They don’t repeat it because they noticed it. They repeat it because it’s valuable. And just because it’s easy to do, doesn’t mean that it easy to do it well. This is not something you delegate to the intern because they’re hip with all this Twitter stuff. This is the adult table. And it’s easy to screw up a relationship.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE YOU BEGIN______________________________________________________

You need to strategize about social media events.

You need policy guidelines for a sustained presence between events.

You need to court influential users.

You need to learn the advantages to engaging and listening to your customers online.

First, let’s breakdown a few of these strategies.

SOCIAL MEDIA EVENTS______________________________________________________

Social media events are akin to “the sale” you would promote in traditional advertising campaign. It’s a tent pole moment. Let’s look at some successful social media tactics.

© 2009 BOSS CREATIVE, LLC

Free

Special Access

Information

1.) Everyone’s favorite, “free.”

Remember the Denny’s broadcast campaign last Super Bowl – free breakfast?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ur0LENvY5TE

It’s a “try us you’ll like us” strategy – sample us. It cost a fortune in airtime, and also free food. Add to that the restaurant managers were told to do what it takes to make sure everyone left happy. It was their one shot to influence customer’s perception of Denny’s. Afterward, sales spike with repeat business.

In the same way, some of the most effective online advertising strategies direct consumers to sample the product. Try us. You’ll like us. They send out a link to a free sample or a coupon.

This is a recent tweet from an influencer I follow in Seattle.

Hey, Seattle! Tweet to win Telekinesis tickets!

http://tinyurl.com/ybbk665 (Go go go!!!!)

Or how about a free song?

http://www.amblingalp.com/

Pure greed. People love free. Free, nothing to buy, just give it to me. If they like the sample, they like you. They share the link with their friends. They feel important and loved. They think of you when it comes time to buy.

2.) Another online advertising strategy is “special access.”

You are special, valued, important. You get special privileges because you’re following us online.

How about a free concert? Just give us your email address.

http://www.youtube.com/user/u2official?blend=5&ob=4

© 2009 BOSS CREATIVE, LLC

Or a secret show? Just “Friend” us on Facebook.

http://blogs.villagevoice.com/music/archives/2009/11/phoenix_secret.php

Toys R Us sent out an announcement. The store normally opens at 8 AM. But if you show up at 7 AM you get special discounts, refreshments, etc. Invitation only! You are special! Of course people sent this invitation to their friends on Facebook (that’s the point), and Toy R Us let every Tom, Dick and Harry through the doors. But you made the people in the online community feel special. And that’s the point too.

3.) What about information?

This is a recent Tweet from the Four Seasons.

Tip: Make sure you check Baggage Guidelines before you go to the airport. http://bit.ly/4vFX8v @continental:

Could you post “where to find swine flu vaccine updates?” Free information. Create a microsite showing were users can get vaccine in their area. Promote it through your Twitter and Facebook accounts. They will love you.

Maybe you can create a community on YouTube Direct telling their horror stories of not being able to find the vaccine?

MIRCOSITES

Last point regarding online advertising event strategies; create a microsite for each event. Social media campaigns steer users to a website for deeper engagement. This is not your homepage! Your homepage is not for advertising.

Think of a hamster in a science experiment, “press bar – get treat.” The hamsters that come to your website will not spend two seconds looking for their reward. When your customer clicks on a link in your Twitter feed, they don’t want to hunt on your homepage for anything. You build a landing page, or microsite that instantly rewards them for hitting that link.

These microsites can be simple or as elaborate as the promotion, but remember if you create something elaborate and extravagant, your consumers are going to spend more time immersed in your brand – like

© 2009 BOSS CREATIVE, LLC

nothing traditional advertising can rival – creating a deeper connection with your consumers.

http://www.petcentric.com/Public/Default.aspx

http://www.pedigree.com/03Adoption/default.aspx

http://www.elfontheshelf.com/ - /home

And then there are simple solutions. Microsoft promoted a launch of its new line R2 servers by asking users to tweet haikus about them. The R2Haiku takes submissions via tweets entered on the contest site.

Comcast began promoting the launch of ESPN360 by running a trivia game that required entrants to follow @comcastsports in order to answer trivia questions.

NASCAR gave away a chance to win a trip to Las Vegas for answering trivia questions posted through its Twitter account.

COSTS______________________________________________________

The costs of social media campaigns are cheaper than a traditional campaign, but don’t underestimate the cost of engagement.

There are the familiar costs of the creative planning and execution of the campaign including: creating a microsite, building assets, staging your retail outlets, and making sure that every last detail is going to translate into a great experience for the consumer.

But the costs associated creating, growing and maintaining that list are significant.

But the more you engage, the more they love you.

So remember along with the online advertising events there needs to be a strategy for continued online engagement. You remain visible between online events by engaging in subjects that are important to your community.

You must be real.

© 2009 BOSS CREATIVE, LLC

You must be transparent.

You must be true to the brand.

You must earn your followers.

It builds your list.

It’s builds a strong connection to the brand.

Since this is all done on the web, it is easily measured.

But why stay engaged???

BEST PRACTICES______________________________________________________

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZ2x4SClaE&feature=player_embedded

Speed is critical in today’s world. Dominos was murdered on the social media sites for not responding quickly enough to this unfortunate employee created video that went viral. And their stock plummeted until there was a corporate response.

Before you get started you’ll need to develop a workbook of Best Practices. And I highly recommend that you get professionals to organize it for you. It should include:

Audience research

Sets corporate policies for engagement

Creates templates for daily reports

Spells out who to contact with questions

Defines tone

Outlines policies for attract influencers on the web

And frames measures for success - ROI.

© 2009 BOSS CREATIVE, LLC

Standards and guidelines protect your business by setting boundaries of what is (and what is not) acceptable while empowering the employees who are on the frontlines responding to the situation.

Here’s a template to start your best practices handbook.

http://delicious.com/davefleet/policies

Another source is Social Media Governance.

http://socialmediagovernance.com/policies.php

One of the best sources for guidelines on how to create “re-tweetable” posts is Dan Zarrella.

http://danzarrella.com/the-science-of-retweets-report.html

One of the best public relation websites on social media in general is by Brian Solis.

http://www.briansolis.com/

So you have events set up throughout the year and you’re engaging your target audience via social media, but there is one more important aspect to creating effective online advertising solutions.

RECRUITING INFLUENCERS______________________________________________________

You not only need to be constantly building your list, but you constantly need to be looking for “influencers.” Remember that 90% of the tweets on Twitter come from 10% of the users. Influencers are the people your target audience listens to. Make influencers respect you and make them feel like a true insider. You must engage influencers - not just when you have an event you’re trying to promote - but at all times.

There are many paths to find niche influencers including websites like Klout, Twitter Grader, Facebook Grader, and Technorati. Once identified your execution team needs a sustained outreach campaign with the goal of convincing them that you are a subject matter expert in you field.

Read their blogs. Understand their perspective on issues.

Post on their sites. Be transparent. Be authentic.

© 2009 BOSS CREATIVE, LLC

Another way is to seed content in the path of those savvy and frequent users of social media. If you’re a lifestyle business, then post on lifestyle websites. If an influencer sees that you are constantly posting comments on lifestyle website that they frequent - and they like your postings - you can convert them into your follower.

This is extremely labor intensive and time consuming. But if you get an influencer to follow, friend or – the holy grail – talk about you it will pay huge dividends. But when done poorly it will sour an influencer on your business.

Social media in the hands of the masses can be nothing more than mindless, narcissistic fodder. However, in the hands of a professional you not only have measurable, accountable, influence over consumers through online advertising solutions, but a wonderful way to listen to them.

THE POWER OF LISTENING______________________________________________________

“Hi, I’m your customer and I’m here to help.”- Jeff Jarvis

By allowing your customers to talk to you through social networking sites, that feedback instantly becomes a sponsored conversation.

It’s more time spent with your brand making a deeper impression with on your customer. And now that you have their full attention, don’t squander it. Attention is a precious commodity.

Don’t think of it as not an opportunity to recite your return policy or mission statement or tagline. It’s a conversation with a person and an opportunity to have that person repeat their experience as an honest-to-goodness testimonial for you across the web.

Zappos realized early in the game that we don’t sell shoes. We sell customer service. It’s why they are so successful.

Think of it this way you’re not building a platform for your message. You’re building a platform for your customers to build their message about you.

© 2009 BOSS CREATIVE, LLC

Solve your customer’s problems. Listen to them. If there is a problem with a product or experience, you solve it. The takeaway for the community is that you’re listening. You’re a problem solver. You take us seriously. They will share that experience with their friends and you will reap the benefits.

Twitter in particular is a wonderful real-time measurement tool. Use it as a search engine for your brand. Listen. Learn. React. Let them recommend stuff that works. Let them bash stuff that sucks. Pull the stuff that sucks. Tell people you made a mistake. Don’t spin it. People what to know you’re listening and taking action.

The key is creating a community in which members feel like they’re valued partners.

THEORIES FOR THE RISE OF SOCIAL MEDIA______________________________________________________

We are tribal.

We receive an endorphin hit every time we check email.

Natural Selection.

It’s been suggested by neurologist that evolution may have developed a system to re-enforce social connections with rewards, and punish isolation with pain.

The human mammal has a long period of immaturity when we can’t take care of ourselves – unlike a dog that can protect and feed itself by age 2.

And so if separation is a threat to our survival – pain may be an effective way to prevent it.

Their conjecture is that our physical and social pain processes have piggy-backed on one another.

“You hurt me.” “You broke my heart.” This is universally recognized as a physical pain generated by social rejection.

© 2009 BOSS CREATIVE, LLC

Social connection appears to be a basic human need instilled in us for some reason. Someone who has seen more pain and suffering in the world than anyone came to the same conclusion.

“There is much suffering in the world; from hunger from homelessness from all kinds of diseases, but the greatest suffering is being lonely, feeling unloved, having no one. I’ve come more and more to realize that being unwanted is the worse disease that any human being can ever experience.”

- Mother Teresa

Social connection is fundamental to the human experience. Let them post pictures. Let them share videos about their life, their family, how they feel, what’s important to them. Let them post about their children. Let them talk about mammogram guidelines. Let them consult the community. You should have contests. You should post pictures of the little league team you sponsored last year. You should be a good friend. Talk to them. Make them feel important. Provide them information on Twitter. Built them communities on YouTube and Facebook. Let them tell their stories. Let them speak.

Build them a sandbox to play in. They will love you for it.

CONTACT

Mike JohnstonExecutive ProducerBoss Creative206-250-7915

www.bosscreative.net

mike@bosscreative.net

L i n k e d i n . c o m / i n / 4 M i k e J o h n s t o n

Tw i t t e r . c o m / J o h n s t o n M i k e

F a c e b o o k . c o m / M i k e J o h n s t o n

© 2009 BOSS CREATIVE, LLC