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This presentation provides examples of how social media tools such as blogs, LinkedIn and Twitter can be used to market/sell your business. But social media has implications beyond marketing and sales. It impacts PR, HR, IT and more.
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Are You Ready for Social Media?
Presented by: Sandor KissJune 11, 2009
TeamThink [email protected] (E)www.teamthink.ca (W)403.809.3488 (M)
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• Overview of Social Media
• Social Media Tools (Blogs, LinkedIn & Twitter)
• Marketing Case Study
• HR Considerations
• Self Assessment & Taking Action
Today’s Discussion
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You will be able to take action after today’s meeting.
1. Framework to conduct a self-assessment on your social media readiness.
2. You will be provided with suggestions on next steps you can take to address social media for your organization.
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Social Media Can Chuck Nasty
Curveballs @ Your Business
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Dominos employees making you think twice about eating there.
• The situation:
� April 15
� Two Dominos employees video themselves doing disgusting things to food
� The videos are posted to YouTube
� Nearly 1 million people viewed the video within 24 hours
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You’re the President of Domino’s –
What Do You Do?
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The Response
• Dominos didn’t issue a press release or respond online just a small statement on their web site
• Concerned that a strong response would only raise awareness
• Next day they posted a YouTube video with a President’s message and how they were addressing the situation
• Set up a Twitter account to begin influencing discussion
• Employees were fired and this was noted in their communication
• Pending Actions: � Have talked about removing video cameras from its store to prevent this
� Filing criminal charges
� Considering civil suit for brand defamation Sources: Marketing
VOX, Web Pro News
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So what’s the potential damage?
Source: Read
Write Web
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The Good vs. The Bad: Domino’s Handling of the Situation
The Good
• Didn’t project a stuffy image
• Made themselves “smaller” with a personal message
• Delivered a message that would resonate with the public – focused on 160,000 employees impacted by the company
For Improvement
• Needed to move even faster – they were not prepared
• More authentic response, less scripted
• Influence the conversation on Twitter more quickly� Didn’t have an active account to wade into discussion
� Didn’t have experience with the tools
• Utilize all tools at their disposal – offline/online.
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Social media cannot be ignored by business leaders.
“Nearly 3 out of 4 adults currently participate
on the social web compared to 57% in 2007.”
Source: Forrester
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Social media should not be confused with social networks.
• Social media relies on information created by people using popular, low cost technologies
• Often referred to as user generated content (UGC)
• Popular tools include:� Wiki’s
� Podcasts
� Blogs
� Video & photo sharing
� Tag Sharing
� Social networks
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Social Media is not just about marketing.
CustomerService
Sales
KnowledgeTransfer
HR
PR/ Reputation
Marketing
Social Media
During our discussion today, think about the implications to your business beyond marketing.
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Tools you should become familiar with.
• Blogs*
• LinkedIn*
• Twitter*
• YouTube
* For review during today’s discussion
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“The blog is the Swiss Army knife of social media.”
• Demonstrate thought leadership using text, video, audio, images, presentations
• Blogs can be the focal point of your marketing activity
Email RSS
Blog
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If you think blogs are passé think again. They are not even mainstream.
Hurdles
• Conservatism
• Companies cutting costs
• Unsure how to measure ROI
Source: Forrester
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Blogs may not seem that sexy– but they carry a lot of weight.
• Credible among business and IT professionals
• Creates communities of interest –buyers more willing to listen to peers than sales reps
• Can improve natural search results
• Generate insights for corporations
• Shortens sales cycles & generates leads
57% of business and IT professionals rated blogs equally or more credible than vendor white papers, news outlets, industry associations and analyst reports.
32% of 273 decision makers said that blogs were 1 of 3 top resources to support decisions.
Source: Forrester
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Success Story: Network Appliance
• Industry: Data Storage• Competition: HP, EMC• Challenge: Seeking non-traditional
methods for PR
Solution:• C-Level Blog• Sought strong communicator &
respected technologist (EVP)• Visitors could not publish to blog
but could email the executive• Presented thought leadership &
“controversy”• Marketing gave executive 5 blogs
as homework to prepare• Didn’t promote blog
Results
• 4600 visitors during first month of blog launch
• 19,000 visitors in Month 2
• Typical monthly visits: 17,000 to 19,000/month
Source: Marketing Sherpa
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Social networks cannot be ignored by marketers.
“35% of adult Americans now use a social
network such as LinkedIn or Facebook.”
Source: Marketing VOX
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2009• 38 million members in 200 countries• New member is joining every
second• Executives from all Fortune 500
companies are members
Source: LinkedIn
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Considered the Facebook forbusiness professionals. Keyfeatures include:• Contact management & ability to
view “contacts of your direct contacts”
• Info about companies• Job postings• Discussion groups• “Answer” feature: Pose questions
to entire LinkedIn network - you often receive rapid responses to your questions
• Send status updates to your network
• Manage a profile of your work experience
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LinkedIn is a sales, marketing and recruiting weapon.
• Sales� Get access to prospects to shorten sales cycles
� Research that can improve conversion rates
� Partnership Development
• Marketing� Set up a company page
� Create discussion groups and demonstrate thought leadership
• HR� Research prospective employees during reference checks
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7/11 of us could probably have introductions facilitated that would yield a conversation.
229Scott
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1
2
1
10
5
Total Connections
2Mike
3Ed (Profile not updated)
3Judy
-Brad
3Eppo
3Roger K.
Degrees of Separation
to Sandor
Board Member
Note: Yesterday only 3/12 board members used LinkedIn?
Why the low adoption?
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Slide inserted to provide board member responses to: “Why the low adoption?”
• Receive too many solicitations once your profile is live
• Uncertainty whether business results can be derived from using the tool
• Takes too much time to use the tool (with unknown benefit)
• Uncertainty how to use the tool
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• Launched in March 2006.
• January 2008: 500,000 unique visitors
• December 2008: 4.43 million unique visitors (An increase of 752% compared to the previous year)
Source: Mashable
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Twitter is a “microblogging” tool.
• Similar to Facebook but is a more straightforward approach
• Users build a network by following friends, family, colleagues, professionals or brands
• You can also be followed
• Allows you to update your network from a mobile phone or computer with short concise messaging and direct links to content
• Messages are restricted to 140 characters
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Twitter can be used in a variety of ways.
• Companies� Boost search engine rankings
� Promotions
� Recruiting
� Customer Service
• People� Networking
� Professional Learning
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Many brands are failing at using Twitter to their benefit.
• Twitter squatters are camped on their domain
• No clear strategy on how to add value
• Too personal or not personal enough
• It feels a little “odd” when a brand starts following you
• Cannot demonstrate ROI or cannot agree on how to measure ROI
• No one cares about the brand
• No due diligence to determine if their customers use Twitter
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Success Story: Dell Computers
Approach
• Set up multiple Twitter addresses
• Identified an individual who is Dell’s “face” for social media
• Pace communications: @DellOutlet about 2 tweets/week
• Tweet during peak business hours
• Not driven by building followers and volume of content published
• Low key approach – build 1 to 1 relationships with consumers and bloggers
Results
• 50,000 followers
• Attributed $1 million in sales to Twitter
• Intercept online conversations/ comments that can be detrimental to brand
Source: Dell blog coverage
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Marketing Case Study
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Social Media Case Study: Breaking Point
• Industry: IT (Networking Equipment) Start Up Company
• Challenge: � Limited Budget
� Target market skeptical of marketing
� Niche market of hard to find professionals
• 6 point solution
Source: Marketing Sherpa
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Breaking Point used a targeted approach to starting conversations.
#1: Created a blog to start and join conversations.
• Set up a blog to attract an audience
• Used tools to scan the web to locate conversations relevant to their industry� Tweetscan
� Google Alerts
� Boardtracker.com
• If a relevant conversation was located, team members weighed in
Source: Marketing Sherpa
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Breaking Point sought to add value with their tweets.
#2: Created a Twitter account.
• Posted notices of new blogs, webinars, polls, trivia and informal group questions
• Used Tweetscan to locate professionals looking for advice on equipment testing
• Retweeted interesting information their audience would find useful
Source: Marketing Sherpa
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Breaking Point quickly found that LinkedIn provided a better vehicle than Facebook to reach its audience.
#3: Created a LinkedIn group.
• Established a group related to network test equipment and security – not the company products or services
• Group members led conversations and added value by:� Providing vendor advice
� Reviews/suggestions for industry events
� Feedback on testing approaches/programs
• Ongoing moderation and contributions
Source: Marketing Sherpa
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Breaking Point was more strategic with online press release efforts.
#4: Modified press release strategy to obtain blogger coverage.
• Increased frequency of releases to 1x/week
• Shortened releases and included many links to specific portions of the web site
• Changed release time from 8AM to early afternoon to target West Coast bloggers
• Plugged releases using Twitter, LinkedIn group and PitchEngine
Source: Marketing Sherpa
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Simple tactics were used to increase connection to the brand.
#5: Promote social media on web site and email.
• Email signatures included links to Twitter, blog and LinkedIn group
• News section included “Join Us” links to set up Twitter feed and join the LinkedIn group
Source: Marketing Sherpa
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Measured results to assess effectiveness.
#6: Measure growth of social media accounts and web traffic.
• Social Media Channel Growth� Blog page views
� Twitter followers
� LinkedIn group members
• Compared marketing metrics� Unique site visitors
� Leads
� Leads by source
� Marketing influenced pipeline activitySource: Marketing Sherpa
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The company’s social media strategy showed a correlation between the use of social media and the company’s web traffic and leads.
Campaign Results
• 10,230 unique blog page views in months 4-6
• 280 Twitter followers
• 141 members in their LinkedIn Group
• 155% increase in unique web site visitors
Seminars
Trade Shows
Web
4%1.5%
17%20.5%
4%23%
75%55%
Pipeline Influencer
Leads by Source
Source: Marketing Sherpa
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Putting it all together.
“Think about integrating social media campaigns into your marketing mix – not just experimenting with
tactics in a one-off manner.”
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HR Considerations
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Recruiting: The majority of companies are using social networks to recruit employees.
Source: Jobvite Social Recruitment Survey; 2009
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Recruiting: Employers are using social networks as they provide targeted search opportunities and it saves $$$.
Source: Jobvite Social Recruitment Survey; 2009
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What kind of culture do you want to create?
Open“No restrictions”
Restrictive“Outright Ban”
• Fosters culture of trust• We need to recognized
Gen Y adoption of social media
• Typically organizations that have younger staff or focus on recruiting younger audience
• No Value• Kills productivity
• Selective use of tools
• Recognition the tools play a role in people’s lives
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Social Media Readiness AssessmentAre we taking advantage of opportunities?
Are we managing the risks?
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Corporate Readiness
Do we utilize social media for recruiting and researching candidates?
Are we prepared to market and sell using social media?
Have we educated our staff on how to separate their personal andprivate activities on social networks?
Can our staff use social media tools productively?
Do we have an internal policy for personal vs. corporate use of social networks?
Have we developed corporate strategies to respond to opportunities and risks associated with social media?
Is our management team up to speed on social media?
Yes/NoEssential Questions
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Marketing/Sales Readiness
Have we reserved Twitter addresses for your organization?
Do we have a social media marketing strategy?
Do we know what social media tools our customers are using?
Have we integrated social media with your marketing strategies?
Is someone on our marketing team responsible for social media?
Do we actively monitor our reputation online?
Can we prepare an online response rapidly to a PR threat?
Are we using LinkedIn to support the sales process?
Yes/NoEssential Questions
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Don’t sit still!
1. Conduct a self-assessment.
2. Add social media to the leadership team’s agenda.
3. Access subject matter expert to facilitate the dialog.
4. Treat this like a strategic planning exercise.
5. Identify priority areas to address.
6. Start with low risk activities and experiment to build success stories.
7. Hold an executive sponsor accountable.
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Thank You!
If you have questions please contact Sandor Kiss
403.809.3488
