Social Media

It’s Just Life

William F. Jones

Social Media

RSS Feeds

Blogs

Video Sharing Message Boards

Chat Rooms

Social Networking

Micro Blogging

Photo Sharing

Widgets

Podcasts

Critical Numbers112.5 million views for the most viewed video on

YouTube (January, 2009)

346 million blog readers Source: comScore March 2008

77% percentage of active Internet users who read blogs

1.3 billion Tweets to date (grew at a rate of 1,382% in Feb.)

Source: Nielson Online

175 million active Facebook users

236 million Digg visitors attracted annually by 2008 Source Compete survey

This thing has “tipped”

Now what?

7 Thoughts for Social Media and Life in General

1 Teens and adults are different

2 Like-minded people tend to find each other

3 Respect people’s space

4 Be interesting and informative

5 Be confident in your true identity

6 Don’t Bull $#%^ people

7 Know where you stand

In Advertising speak this means…

User Behavior(Teens and adults are different)

“For American teenagers, social network sites became a social hangout space…Teen conversations may appear completely irrational, or pointless at best…”

“Adults, far more than teens, are using Facebook for its intended purpose as a social utility. For example, it is a tool for communicating with the past.”

“Social media continues to be age-graded. Right now, Twitter is all the rage, but are kids using it?”

-Danah Boyd at Microsoft Research Tech Fest 3/09

Understanding and monitoring user behavior will lead to more powerful and sustained engagement

Fragmentation and Clutter(Like-minded people tend to find each other)

Much like cable television in the past 20 years, social media is becoming more fragmented and personalized.

Users have an abundance of options

People have the ability to match their media with their personality.

Finding and LISTENING to the right communities can lead to more engaging and meaningful advertising

User Boundaries(Respect people’s space)

Brands cannot be overly aggressive

Like the real world, social media users are protective of their personal space. Invading this space can kill a relationship quickly.

Brands have to play it cool

Desperation will be sniffed out immediately

Check out how cool our brand is

CLICK HERE AND SEE!

Keep Content Fresh(Be interesting)

In this world you need to be vibrant, engaging, and relevant. If you are not, your brand will wilt away at an insane pace

Relevance and meaning does not mean elaborate exotic design or large ad $.

It means dialog and interaction

People just need a reason to engage with your brand

Brand Vulnerability(Be confident in your true identity)

This is a very harsh world

Be prepared for your true brand identity to be uncovered and be confident that you will be happy with the result

Murphy’s Law is in always in play

Brand Transference(Don’t bull $#^& people)

Throw tradition out the window

Brand strategies do not easily shift between traditional marketing and social media

Any attempt at traditional advertising in this world will most likely be ignored, if not ridiculed

Think dialog, not monologue

There is no time for salespeople, only interesting and engaging conversation

Measurement(Know where you stand)

The Old School: Click-throughs, page hits, registration numbers, posts, comments

These methods are superficial and do not show the full picture

Web Analytics: Google trends, Omniture, WebTrends, Buzz Metrics

The New School: Lithium- Use Community Health Index to measure online communities based

on Liveliness, Interaction, Responsiveness, Members, Content, and Traffic

Harvest Reporter Service: Social ROI analysis, trend identifiers, trend

forecasts, brand perception, and user fingerprints

Source: http://lithosphere.lithium.com

Who’s the best?(The in-crowd)

ZapposObamaCNN ComcastJetBlueDellBurger KingNPRThe New York TimesFord Source: Abrams Research “Social Media Survey” Feb 17, 2009

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What do they do

Established a method for engaging consumers in online conversation

Instill an organizational focus on social media

Establish a method for defining social media goals

Create a team or committee dedicated to social media ROI

Link results of social media activities to increased revenues and other financial outcomes

Established a method for driving brand advocacy/customer referrals

Source: eMarketer

Moving Forward

Social media is just like life…

"much like bringing a script to a dinner party, formal rules can’t be applied to casual conversation."

-Kal Turner,Mashable.com

In the end honesty wins, so don’t be fake

Interesting and outgoing people will have more friends

Learn from listening

You can’t learn life lessons from a book

And in the end…

If Social Media really is like life…

Then brands should be living life to the fullest

Thank You