Social Networking Sandy Ketcham The Word Pro (815) 556-8505

Social Networking
Sandy Ketcham
The Word Pro
(815) 556-8505
www.TheWordPro.com
[email protected]
Social Network Marketing
What it is
How it works
Why should you care?
Twitter Forces Strategy Switch
--Chicago Tribune, August 16, 2009
There were 21.2 million visits to Twitter in July 2009
(and that is just in the United States)
compared to 798,000 in July 2008
While only 26% of US companies currently use SNM
70% say they plan to start
A fairly new idea...

Classmates.com – 40M members (1995)

Friendster.com – 90M members (2002)

MySpace.com – 100M members (2003)

FaceBook.com – 250M members (2004)


YouTube.com – 6 Billion videos viewed since
Jan 2009 (2005)
Twitter.com – 21.2 Million visitors in JULY
(2006)
What is Social Networking

An on-line community

People who share interests/activities

People who want to explore others' interests

Encourages new ways to communicate
Traditional Marketing
Vs
Social Network Marketing
Traditional Marketing
“Outbound Marketing”


One-way
conversation
Advertiser is the
hammer; customer
the nail.
Social Network Marketing
“Inbound Marketing”



A two-way
conversation
Advertisers attract
customers, who
feel more
connected to the
company
They tell their
friends
Social Network Marketing



Uses social media platforms and online
communities
Builds ways for people to promote a
company or brand
Grassroots marketing.
(if it is too overt, it becomes “astroturfing”)
“...it's about brands having conversations.”
--Lloyd Simmons
Choose your “on ramp”


Join the sites that make sense for you.
Strategy: Join the large ones and join
specialty sites that interest you

Where your customers are

Where your competitors are

Where your industry leaders are

Where your interests lie
Social Networking Sites

If you have an interest, there is a site...

http://traffikd.com/social-media-websites/
gives over 400 Sites – By Subject

Examples of “specialty sites”

WAYN - a travel networking site

Quarterlife – for artists, musicians, filmmakers
and creative people

Birdpost – Where birdwatchers find the birds
DANGER – It's Addictive

Free to join, but what is your time worth?

Just one tool in your marketing toolbox


Some companies hire employees to do
Social Media Marketing
There are ways to streamline the process

Applications that post to all your sites from
one place (Ping.fm, Fuser.com)

Applications that allow you to receive alerts
when things of interest are posted
(RSS Feeds, Stumble Upon)
Your Profile

May be the first thing people see. It's all
about you!

It's a marketing piece; write it that way

Decide how much you want to tell people.

The trick: give enough, but not too much

Use a photo or a logo – otherwise, you are a
ghost!
Security


You don't have to put in all information asked
for
There are privacy settings – use them
but...

Don't get too paranoid – your information is
already out there
Don't believe me?
Go to zabasearch.com and put your name in
Examples of what not to do

John uses the password Fido for banking;
then
puts Fido's photo and name on Facebook.



A congressman flies over Baghdad's palace
and tweets “I am flying over Baghdad's
palace with other congressmen”
A CEO sends a “private” Facebook post; his
friend puts it on his public page
A photo of an Olympic Gold Medalist is
posted on Facebook. He is pictured with a
bong!
Ways to Connect
The Blog
Business Linking
“Personal” Networking
The Video Blog
The Microblog
The Blog (WordPress, Blogger)


A website or web page, updated often with
articles, information, links to other sites
May be used to...

Drive people to your company website

Post how-to's, product updates, etc.

Provide info on your industry, company, your
interests or anything else.

Establish you as a thought leader

Allow comments from readers (moderated)

Improve Search Engine Rank for your website
“Personal” Networking

Examples: FaceBook, MySpace, Friendster

Marketing uses...

Banner Ads

Company employees can join

Companies can have their own pages

Market Research

Customer Service

Find out what your customers are saying and
respond...
Business Linking

Examples: LinkedIn, Plaxo, Xing

Used to build a “trusted network” to

Find a job or an employee

Investigate business opportunities

Provide introductions

Network with high profile people

Publish news about personal or business
accomplishments

See what your competitors are up to
Video Blogging

Example: YouTube.com

Over 6 Billion videos viewed in 7 months!

Uses...

Tell your company's story

Provide a video how-to for your product

Keep up with the latest trends

What are people talking about, what do they
need?

Complain! (Google “United Breaks Guitars.”)
Microblogging

Example: Twitter

Each post can only be 140 characters.

Uses...

Monitor what is being said about your
company, industry or brand (or anything)

Respond to positive and negative comments

Find customers when they tweet a problem

Send links to your blog, website or articles of
interest

Keep up with what is happening –
everywhere!
Some Twitter Facts





Millions worth of overstock items sold through
Dell's outlet twitter page
Michael Jackson's death is reported on
Twitter; news outlets pick it up from there.
Skittles has a news feed that alerts the
company whenever Skittles are mentioned.
Best Buy advertises its Twitter help page
(twitter/twelpforce) with a television ad.
Twitter is the site of choice for celebrities,
politicians and journalists - influencers
Twitter “Apps”
New applications are being written every day!


Tweetdeck – a browser page that publishes
tweets from those you are following – in real
time
Monitter – Have tweets sent to you based on
certain keywords (eg. Company, brand)

Hashtags – Tweets are grouped by keywords

Twitter Local – Conversations in your locale

Twitterfeed – Post your blog to twitter
The New Paradigm
Join
Monitor
Participate
Social Networks...

Build an online community around a brand,
company or store

Allow you to forge new relationships

Position you as a thought leader

Provide learning and/or teaching tools

Create new personal or business opportunities

Provide customer service and marketing
opportunities
Want to know more?
The notes to this presentation are available to you
at
thewordpro.com/socialnetworking.html
Social Networking
Isn't it time YOU joined the conversation?
Thank You
Sandy Ketcham
The Word Pro
www.thewordpro.com
[email protected]
Find me on:
facebook.com/sandy-ketcham
Linkedin.com/sandy-ketcham
Plaxo.com/sandy-ketcham
twitter.com/thewordpro
thewordpro.com/blog