Re-examining onsite social media

By Anthony RawlinsCEO and Founder, Digital Visitor

IntroductionOnsite social media focuses on how to best utilise social media on your own website and under your own brand.

•Why are travel company unbranded social media sites being revised?•How many resources do you really need to dedicate to onsite social media platforms to succeed?•Learn from the mistakes of others – where did they go wrong?•What’s the best way to integrate 3rd party social media content into your site?•Hear top tips for social media onsite success

About us• Digital Visitor is a strategic social media agency delivering social media marketing services, strategies and solutions.

• Est. 2005.

• We service a range of clients, small to large across many different industries, however the majority are within the travel and leisure industry...

Our philosophy

• We believe to maximize the benefits from social media you need to consider both your ONSITE and ONCHANNEL social media strategy.

• Put another way – you should have an integrated social media strategy looking at both your website and social media channels together.

Social Media for 2012 – Why are strategies being revised?

Where is social media marketing now?• Importance being realised• Our most common bit of feedback is…• Many companies have a mad rush for Facebook ‘Likes’• ROI not evident• Questions from senior management• Still potentially a ‘marketing’ spend and in tough times, activities can get cut• Its our aim to move this to an E-commerce function

Source: http://myxqq.blogspot.com/2011/08/evolution-of-social-media-for.html

How is this going to change?

• Budgets tighter• Social media marketing not

a whim anymore• Has to prove itself• Next year a tough year,

ROI is paramount

Why are companies looking at creating their own sites?

• Ownership of content• New social media channels opening up• Quality of information• Increasing conversions• Driving traffic – SEO benefits• Generating traffic from social media channels• Easier to prove ROI

How can you define ROI for social media marketing?

1) Conversions2) Browsing time3) Net positive sentiment4) Exposure on channels / brand awareness5) Traffic from social media channels6) Organic traffic7) Recruitment fees8) Customer acquisition costs9) Marketing materials cost

We focus on 3…

How do we do this?

1) Increase conversions

2) Driving traffic to your website (organic and from social media channels)

3) Reducing customer acquisition cost

1. Increasing conversions

• Reviews and Ratings application• Reviews increase conversions by 2-18%• People want reviews – 47% want to see on website• Doubles browsing time + reduces time on competitor

sites• Reviews drive repeat visits

2.1 Driving organic traffic

• Reviews and Ratings, content on your OWN website drive organic search engine traffic

• NOT just reviews - Discussions, questions etc…

• 1 review = 1 organic visitor per month = £24p.a

2.2 Generate traffic from social media channels

• Sharing content on your Facebook page – drives 2.5 times community per month

• Share with other social media websites

• Discussions on your website – share with LinkedIn

3. Reducing your customer acquisition costs

• Increasing conversions reduces customer acquisition costs

• Using UGC, reduces marketing spend• Re-use this content on other channels• Communication opportunities – through your own site • Communication through Facebook community• On Facebook – your ‘likes’ are 51% more likely to buy

from you! • Also, you can communicate with their friends –

likeminded people!

Best ways to integrate into your site

• Make it easy to engage• Keep it simple, DO NOT under any

circumstances reinvent the wheel• Less barriers to entry = more content

generated• Make it relevant – reviews against

the right products• Integrate into your overall marketing

– not just your website

How can one review do all of this?

1) Post review (with photo / video) on your website = one organic visitors = £24 p.a

2) Increases browse time on your product page3) Increases conversion4) Share the review with your Facebook page – drive traffic

– 2.5 times fans per month5) Share with authors FB profile 6) Visible to their friends with a link BACK to your site

(reduce Customer Acquisition Costs)7) Automatically receive +1 ‘like’ for future communication

opportunities and more…

• This is just using Facebook and one review!

• Ask how else can you integrate activities on YOUR website to your social media channels?

How can one review do all of this?

• If you are going to take social media marketing seriously then it has to be resourced properly

• Thinking about the example of one review across multiple channels, how much extra resource does this take? None, in fact if anything the fact that a lot of this is automated means you need less attention across multiples

• You need to monitor and engage on all channels but if you can re-use content and automate this, it makes it easier

Resourcing

• Not taking social media seriously• Dipping the toe in water – understand but

dangerous• Legacy• Lack of content• Concerns over negative content• Engagement with current customers• Lack of focus – deliver relevant content to

potential customers• Competitions and incentives – obvious but great

Mistakes

• Commitment and strategic INTEGRATED approach• Gathering content via social CRM - supers users etc…• Incentives• Not just reviews and rating – discussions and forums,

just videos, just photos? What works for you?• Feed them relevant content – this isn’t new but

its still not being down properly

Solutions and top tips for success

Thank you

For more information, please get in touch...

t: +44 (0)1179 055 195e: anthony@digitalvisitor.com

w: www.digitalvisitor.com