Introduction to social media and the value it can deliver to marketers

1. Social Media
What’s the
value
proposition?
Barbara Bix, BB Marketing Plus

2. Here are some
examples

3. Fast response to Haiti crisis
• Twitter posts raised more than
$21 million within days
• Meetups following suit
• Social media helps match news
photos to those of the missing.
– Promotion, aggregation,
From Haiti Earthquake Support
Center
tagging

4. Affect on politics
• Obama raised 87% of
his funds through social
media (Resource
Nation)
• Social media poll
predicted Brown win on
January 14
Larry Kim’s Search Engine Journal (WordStream Internet
(Brown pulls ahead in liberal
Cambridge
Marketing Blog)

5. Business outcomes
• “Dewmocracy”
• In June, Dell surpassed $3 million
in sales via one of its Twitter
accounts1
• Cisco found that 43% of visits to
online support forum obviate
need for more expensive
conventional support1
• Ebay reports that participants in
online communities spend 54%
1. Read Write Web
more than non-community users.1

6. What are you
hoping to get
out of
tonight’s
session?

7. What is social media?
• User-published content
• Highly interactive
– Posts
– Comments on those posts
• Set of technologies for
sharing information

8. Social media offers many forums

9. It’s all about influence
• Social media helps you become
more influential
• What affects influence?
– Level of connection
– Authority
– Content
– Timing

10. Networks are at the hub
• They serve as home base
• Examples include:
– Linked In
– Facebook
• Use them to:
– Keep track of your contacts
– Cultivate and leverage relationships
– Share contacts and information

11. Microblogs serve as headlines
• Examples include:
– Twitter
– Status bars
• Scan them to stay current
• Follow links to delve deeper
• Post to:
– Share news and insights
– Stay top of mind

12. Blogs educate and persuade
• Use them to influence
– Comment on others’
blogs
– Write your own
• Become a curator
– Reference others’
content
– But, add your own
twist
• Also use to get found

13. Communities facilitate
information exchange
among peers
• Use them to stay current
and connected
• Examples:
– LinkedIn groups
– Facebook groups
– Specialty networks
• Sermo for MDS
• Wikibon for CIOs

14. Review sites provide insights
from those with experience
• About companies
(www.glassdoor.com)
• About people (LinkedIn
references)
• About books (Amazon)
• About social media (Bookmarking
sites)

15. Plus
platforms • Share
presentations
for sharing (Slideshare)
non- • Videos
textual (YouTube)
media • Photos (Flickr)
• Audio
(Podcasts)

16. Reap
the benefits
of social
media

17. • Subscribe to topical
blogs
• Join topical
communities
• Set up searches to
monitor industry or
company news
• Identify and “Follow”
Keep your thought leaders
finger on the • Look at trending
topics
pulse

18. Establish useful new connections
• Figure out who you need in your
network
• Search for former friends and
colleagues on social forums
• Identify valuable new contacts
– Through Linked In connections
– When they post in areas of interest
on Twitter or communities
• Add them to your network

19. Strengthen existing
relationships
• Read and acknowledge others’
status
• Broadcast their insights
• Reply (@)
• Retweet others’ posts (RT)
• Answer others’ questions
• Share great content
• Post if and only if you have
something of interest to say

20. Get the help you need to do
your job • Trusted advice available on
demand
• Consult:
– Connections
– Communities
– Blogs
–Q&A
– Review sites

21. Stay top of
mind
• Networks keep you
connected with
friends and colleagues
• Post periodically to all
the venues you
frequent

22. Enhance your brand
• Associate your profile with your
interests and capabilities thru:
– The summary on your
profiles
– The connections in your
network
– The content you post
• Tweets, blog entries, status updates
• Linked in applications (SlideShare,
book lists, blogs, etc.)
• Become the “go to” source by
getting the skinny first

23. The value of social media is
data plus relationships
• Knowledge is power
• Deep insights increase
that value
• It takes relationships to:
– Add the right perspectives
– Open doors

24. Manage your reputation
• Use Google
alerts, Twitter
mention, etc.
• You can’t control
what people say
• You can notice
and follow up

25. Get started today

26. 6 steps to success
• Assess
• Get up to speed
• Plan
• Execute
• Measure
• Report

27. Management will want answers
• How does this fit into the
overall strategy?
• What will it cost?
• What if it gets out of hand?
• How will we demonstrate
ROI?
• When will we see results?

28. What’s your game plan?
• Figure out everything on your
own?
• Purchase a workshop or
consulting services to jumpstart
the process?
• Get expert guidance at each
stage, but do the heavy lifting
yourself?
• Outsource part or all of the
work?

29. Help is
available
• Online resources
• Hire a surrogate
• Use a consultant
• Engage an agency

30. Case Study
• Assess
• Get up to speed
• Plan
• Execute
• Measure
• Report

31. Summary
• We’re all still pioneers
• Social media is here to
stay
• It’s just a question of
the best use for your
organization
• It’s a major investment
• It gets results

32. Barbara Bix, Managing Principal
BB Marketing Plus
• Help clients determine what their
customers want—and do it their way
• Follow me on social media
– Blog: www.bbmarketingplus.com/blog
– Twitter: @bbmarketingplus
• Refer or hire BB MarketingPlus
– http://www.bbmarketingplus.com

33. Questions?