Deck of slides accompanying a talk on social media strategy for small business.

1. Social Media &
Small Business
A quick primer
Digital Arts Expo, 5th November 2009
Alex Grech

2. “Social Media is a bit like teen sex.
Everyone wants to do it. Nobody knows how.
When it’s finally done, there is surprise that it’s not better.”
Avinash Kaushlik, Analytics Evangelist, Google.

3. So what’s
social media?

4. “SOCIAL MEDIA describes a new
set of internet tools that enable
shared community experiences,
both online and in person.”
Source: technologyintranslation.blockwork.org

5. “Social media is
people having
conversations
online.”

6. Key
Social
Media
Platforms
Blogs
Wikis
Photo
Sharing
Micro-
Blogs
Slide
Sharing
RSS
Social
Networks
Social
Bookmarking
Podcasts
Video
Sharing
Instant
Messaging
Primary Social Media Tools

7. Who uses it?

8. Inactives
Spectators
Joiners
Collectors
Critics
Creators
Who uses social media?
Source: Groundswell, Forrester Research, 2008.
Publish a blog
Publish your own web pages
Upload video you created
Upload audio/music you created
Post ratings/reviews of products/services
Comment on someone else’s blog
Contribute to online forums
Contribute to/edit articles in a wiki
Use RSS feeds
Add ‘tags’ to web pages or photos
‘Vote’ for websites online
Maintain profile on a social networking site
Visit social networking sites
Read blogs
Watch video from other users
Listen to podcasts
Read online forums
Read customer ratings/reviews
None of the above

9. Why bother?

10. 1. It’s HUGE
2. It’s TRUSTED
3. It IMPACTS YOUR BUSINESS
4. It’s NOT GOING AWAY
Why bother with Social Media?

11. 2/3 OF THE GLOBAL INTERNET POPULATION
VISITS SOCIAL NETWORKS
Nielsen, Global Faces & Networked Faces, 2009
#1
It’s HUGE

12. SOCIAL MEDIA MAKES UP ALMOST 10% OF ALL
INTERNET TIME.
THAT’S AN 83% INCREASE OVER THE PAST YEAR.
Nielsen, Global Faces & Networked Faces, 2009
#1
It’s HUGE

13. Source: The Nielsen Company, 2nd June 2009
#1
It’s HUGE
TIME SPENT ON SOCIAL NETWORKS IS GROWING
AT 3X THE OVERALL INTERNET RATE,
ACCOUNTING FOR 10% OF ALL INTERNET TIME
Nielsen, Global Faces & Networked Faces, 2009

14. 1.
#1
It’s HUGE

15. Source: Universal McCann Comparative Study on Social Media Trends, April 2008
13,000,000The number of articles available on Wikipedia
#1
It’s HUGE

16. 83% have watched movies online
45% of teens spend time on the internet and 28% in front of TV
Source: Universal McCann Comparative Study on Social Media Trends, April 2008
Nielsen, Global Faces & Networked Faces, 2009
100,000,000The number of YouTube videos viewed per day
#1
It’s HUGE

17. 77% of active online users have read a
blog
346,000,000 read blogs globally
Blogging grew by 68% last year
Source: http://technorati.com/state-of-the-blogosphere/
#1
It’s HUGE
WORDPRESS currently being downloaded
430,000 times a WEEK

18. Source: Universal McCann Comparative Study on Social Media Trends, April 2008
3,600,000,000The number of photos archived on Flickr at June 2009
#1
It’s HUGE

19. 57%
joined a social network
Source: Universal McCann Comparative Study on Social Media Trends, April 2008
Over 110,000
in Malta network
Source: O’Reilly Media, August 2009
#1
It’s HUGE

20. 3,000,000
The average number of tweets per day
Immediacy Brevity
‘Pull’ not
‘push’
Searchability
Mix of public
& personal
Retweeting
1382%The monthly growth rate of Twitter users from January to February 2009
#1
It’s HUGE

21. #2
It’s TRUSTED

22. People trust each other, and now they have the tools to
communicate with each other using social technologies and
mobile with or without brands involved.
Trust has shifted to the participants.
Jeremiah Owyang, www.web-strategist.com
#2
It’s TRUSTED
Companies aren’t trusted,
brands aren’t trusted, and nor
are your executives.

23. 78%
OF PEOPLE TRUST THE
RECOMMENDATIONS OF
OTHER CONSUMERS.
Source: Nielsen, Trust in Advertising Report, 2007
SOCIAL MEDIA IS DEMOCRATISING COMMUNICATIONS. BIG TIME.
#2
It’s TRUSTED

24. The old communication model was a MONOLOGUE.
14% OF PEOPLE TRUST ADVERTISING
#2
It’s TRUSTED
Source: Nielsen, Trust in Advertising Report, 2007

25. SOCIAL MEDIA IS LIKE WORD OF MOUTH ON STEROIDS.
#2
It’s TRUSTED

26. SOCIAL MEDIA IS DEMOCRATISING COMMUNICATIONS. BIG TIME.
#2
It’s TRUSTED

27. PEOPLE ARE TALKING ABOUT
YOUR BRAND RIGHT NOW.
#3
It IMPACTS YOUR BUSINESS

28. The brand does not live in the voices of PR.
It lives in the VOICES of YOUR CUSTOMERS.
Source: Forrester Research, 2009.
#3
It IMPACTS YOUR BUSINESS

29. #3
It IMPACTS YOUR BUSINESS

30. 31
#4
It’s NOT GOING AWAY

31. 32
#4
It’s NOT GOING AWAY

32. #4
It’s NOT GOING AWAY

33. #4
It’s NOT GOING AWAY

34. #4
It’s NOT GOING AWAY

35. CLAY HEBERT
CEO TribesWin.com
Someone who ‘GETS IT’…

40. “IN 2009, IF YOU’RE NOT ON A
SOCIAL NETWORKING SITE,
YOU’RE NOT ON THE
INTERNET.”
Source: IAB Platform Status Report – User Generated Content, Social Media & Advertising

41. Why is this
happening?

42. Social
• People’s desire to network
• Increasing reliance on word
of mouth
• Rebel against institutional
power
Technology
• More and more people online
• Faster, ubiquitous
connections
• Web 2.0
• Convergence finally meets
user-generated content
Economics
• Crowd sourcing
• Scramble for new business
models (freemium still
being deployed)
Social media is a
GROUNDSWELL
from a collision of
three forces

43. BLOG
TWITTER
FACEBOOK
LINKED
IN
DELICIOUS
SLIDE
SHARE
ME-CONOMICS (I AM THE BRAND)
Source: Dachis Group, 2009.
YOU
TUBE

44. IT USED TO BE ABOUT COMMAND AND CONTROL
BRAND
AS BROADCASTER
Source: Dachis Group, 2009.

45. FACILITATION LEADS TO ENGAGEMENT
BRAND
BRAND
AS FACILITATOR
influencers
friends
Source: Dachis Group, 2009.

46. “We don’t respond to Bloggers”.
Michael Dell.
August
2005

47. ENGAGEMENT LEADS TO PARTICIPATION

48. … and POTENTIAL ADVOCATES FOR YOUR BRAND

49. WEBSITE
BLOG
TWITTER
FACEBOOK
LINKED
IN
DELICIOUS
SLIDE
SHARE
NOW, JUST HAVING A WEBSITE IS NOT ENOUGH!!
YOU
TUBE

50. 93% OF SOCIAL MEDIA USERS BELIEVE A COMPANY SHOULD HAVE A
SOCIAL MEDIA PRESENCE.
85% BELIEVE IT SHOULD INTERACT WITH ITS CUSTOMERS.
Cone, Business in Social Media Study, 2008

51. And then you
hit a wall

52. IF IT’S SO GOOD ..
WHY ARE COMPANIES
SCARED?

53. Employees will
WASTE TIME
• Sensible social media guidelines
• Mobile devices mean you cannot
stop people getting access to the
Internet

54. 55We will lose control
of OUR BRAND
• You never had much control!
• Better to listen and take remedial
action
• Your community will come to your
defence if attack not merited

55. It’s NOT REALLY
FREE!
• It needs the same commitment,
funding and ownership as any
other strategic initiative
• Get someone who has got their
hands dirty with social media on
board!

56. 57
We will give away
SECRETS!
Risks not mitigated by non-
participation. Just train people to be
sensible.

57. We can only do
PR!
If you can only shout, don’t get into
social media, because you will be
found out

58. How business
is taking to
Social Media

59. Social Networking Activities of US companies
31%
30%
29%
23%
23%
21%
18%
14%
13%
11%
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35%
CEO is on Facebook
Social networking is part of business and
operations strategy
Utilise social networking as a tool to manage and
build our brand
Utilise social networking as an internal
communications tool
Utlise social networking for recruiting
Utilise social networking to engage employees
Company has an employee-created Facebook
group
CEO has a Twitter profile
Post corporate videos on YouTube
Company has a corporate-sponsored Facebook
group
% of respondents
Source: Deloitte Ethics & Workplace survey, May 19 2009 (n=500)

60. 0.0% 20.0%40.0%60.0%80.0%
Branding
Information sharing
Public relations
Understanding…
Lead generation
Collaborative work
Internal communication
Sales support
71.8%
70.5%
65.8%
56.6%
54.9%
38.4%
32.1%
25.8%
Which of the following business
functions do you use social media
to improve?
Source: Social Media Today, June 2009: members survey based on sample of 632 respondents, collected
between March 13th and April 4, 2009

61. 6.3%
7.9%
11.2%
13.3%
16.8%
17.3%
25.4%
1.8%
Which one business function are you most
considering using social media for?
Sales support
Collaboration
Information sharing
Understanding customers
Public relations
Branding
Lead generation
Internal communication
Source: Social Media Today, June 2009: members survey based on sample of 632 respondents, collected
between March 13th and April 4, 2009

62. Blogs
Twitter
Online communities
Facebook
LinkedIn
YouTube
Wikis
Forums
Ratings/Reviews
Groups
Ning
Xing
MySpace
18.1%
17.5%
14.7%
13.8%
11.8%
9.7%
5.4%
4.1%
3.8%
2.6%
2.1%
0.7%
0.5%
Which one social media network or tool is your
organisation most considering using in the
future?
Source: Social Media Today, June 2009: members survey based on sample of 632 respondents. March 13th and April 4, 2009

63. 71.9%
68.7%
55.1%
48.6%
20.0%
15.3%
5.8%
Sharing breaking news
Extending a personal face to…
Keeping in immediate touch with…
Getting feedback from customers
Offering products for sale
Organise meetings
Keeping management in touch with…
Twitter functionality used by business
Source: Social Media Today, June 2009: members survey based on sample of 632 respondents,
collected between March 13th and April 4, 2009

64. 6.9%
10.0%
15.5%
18.1%
20.8%
27.3%
25.4%
What function is your organisation planning to
use Twitter most in the future?
Organising meetings
Offering products for sale
Getting feedback from
customers
Sharing breaking news
Extending a personal face
to customers
Keeping in immediate
touch with customers
Keeping top management
in touch with financial
community
Source: Social Media Today, June 2009: members survey based on sample of 632 respondents, collected
between March 13th and April 4, 2009

65. What are
the best
tactics to
use?
How do I
measure
ROI?
Where do I
start?
TOP QUESTIONS BUSINESS PEOPLE WANT ANSWERED

66. Making it
happen

67. People Objectives Strategies Technology Metrics
1 2 3 4 5
Five-Step Planning Process

68. Marketing
PR
ICT
LegalConsultants
Customer
Care
Influencers
People
1
SET UP THE TEAM

69. WHAT DO YOU WANT TO ACHIEVE?
Objectives
2

70. Always ALIGN your SOCIAL MEDIA objectives with your
BUSINESS objectives
INCREASE
SALES
CONTROL
COSTS
MAKE
CUSTOMERS
HAPPY
ENHANCE
THE BRAND
Objectives
2
Some of these objectives SHOULD be QUANTIFIABLE

71. Strategies
3
You’re going to reap just what you sow
Lou Reed, Perfect day.

72. Target HOW you reach them Strategies
3

73. Inactives
Spectators
Joiners
Collectors
Critics
Creators
Develop sustainable messages to the
right audience
Determine WHOM you want to
reach
And then HOW you want to
reach them
Source: Groundswell, Forrester Research, 2008.
Strategies
3

74. Increase
Website
Visitors
Increase
Inbound Links
Examine
Search Volume
Trends
Increase
Followers,
Fans, Friends
Increase
number of
Social
Mentions
Develop Blog
and
Microblogging
touch points
OBJECTIVE:
Increase awareness
Objective:
RAISE
AWARENESS
Strategies
3

75. Increase Time
spent on site
Develop
Customer
service metrics
Encourage
Repeat visits
Increase
number of
reviews
Offer more to
Followers,
Fans, Friends
Improve
service quality
using social
media
OBJECTIVE:
Increase awareness
Objective:
INCREASE
LOYALTY
Strategies
3

76. Increase
Click-throughs
Increase Time
spent on Site
Reduce
Bounce Rate
Incentivise
Repeat Visits
Offers to
Followers,
Fans, Friends
Set up Affiliate
deals with 3rd
Parties
Improve E-
commerce
landing pages
Objective:
INCREASE
SALES
Strategies
3

77. Embrace
Support
Energize
Talk
Listen
How deep are you wading in?
Strategies
3

78. HOW TO LISTEN (using NetVibes)
Strategies
3

79. HOW TO LISTEN AND TALK (using Hootsuite)
Strategies
3

80. HOW TO RESEARCH (using Seesmic Deskstop)
Strategies
3

81. Decision-makers cannot make informed choices about the use of social media until
they have personally had experience with this technology
Technologies
4

82. Key
Social
Media
Platforms
Blogs
Wikis
Photo
Sharing
Micro-
Blogs
Slide
Sharing
RSS
Social
Networks
Social
Bookmarking
Podcasts
Video
Sharing
Instant
Messaging
Which tools will support YOUR strategies best?
Technologies
4

83. Technologies
4
Objectives
Strategies
Technologies
LOCK Programmes
Choose the RIGHT tools to support a set of
PROGRAMMES

84. 85Metrics
5

85. Everything can be measured..
But measure the right stuff!
Quantitative Metrics
• Polls
• Satisfaction Indexes
• New Followers
• New Subscribers
• And more…
Qualitative Metrics
• Satisfaction
• Loyalty
• Authority
• Interaction
• Influence
• Signal
• Generosity
• Velocity
• Clout
Metrics
5

86. General Metrics
- Google Analytics
- Pea Shoot
Facebook Metrics
- Facebook
Insights
Widget &
Application Metrics
- Google Analytics
Twitter Metrics
- Twitalyzer
Metric Tools
5. Metrics
Metrics
5
How to measure success

87. Some Local
Applications

88. I have 3,500
MEMBERS…
Now WHAT DO I
DO WITH THEM?

89. LOCAL BLOGGER GETS HOTEL TO START BLOGGING

93. NATIONAL TOURISM ORGANISATION TRIES TO SEE THINGS THE WAY
THE CASUAL VISITOR DOES

94. PERSONAL INSIGHTS ON LIVING AND WORKING IN MALTA.
CONTENT MARKETING PLATFORM.

95. EARLY ADOPTION OF GOOGLE WAVE.

96. End thoughts

97. Social Media is still evolving 98
Era of social
relationships
Era of social
functionality
Era of social
colonisation
Era of social
context
Era of social
commerce
Start
maturity
1995;
2003 to 2007
2007;
2010 to 2012
2009;
2011
2010
2012
2011;
2013
Descriptions Individuals assemble
and connect with each
other in online groups
Social networks
become operating
systems
Every website is
now social, even if
it doesn’t choose to
be
Websites deliver
personalised
content to visitors
Online groups
supplant brands
Consumers Use simple profile and
discussion features to
share with each other
Embed Web
applications &
widgets on their
profiles to make
experience more
fun & useful
Lean on their
peers’ opinions to
make decisions
about products
Opt in to share
their identity in
return for a more
relevant Web
experience
Work with peers to
define the next
generation of
products; also
purchase in groups
Brands Join online groups using
conversational marketing
or sponsorship, or create
their own community
Advertise, then
sponsor, then
create applications
to provide utility to
consumers
Focus on
influencers and
include social
recommendations
Provide specialised
content for visitors;
get rid of
registration pages
Lean on groups to
define products
Social
Networks
Struggle with
monetisation
Share as
developers to
monetise
applications
Aggregate all
implicit and explicit
data, creating a
new type of social
inbox
Become the
identity system of
the Web
Offer features to
help with product
design and vendor
management
Other Media The world is more
connected
Office apps
become social;
even solitaire
games have social
leader boards
Mobile devices
trigger in-store
displays to show
custom content
TV offers
personalised
interactive
channels for
viewers
A new PR agency
emerges that
represents online
groups – not
brandsSource: Forrester Research, 2009

98. 99
Think
STRATEGY
before you get hooked on the
TOOLS

99. Go fishing.
Create social media outposts to interact with
customers, prospects, prospective employees
and create new business opportunities

100. Refresh your content regularly.

101. “I believe that people would rather have a conversation
with a person, than a brand.”
Scott Monty, Ford

102. Listen
(DON’T
Preach)
Engage
(DON’T
Bully)
Be Personal
(DON’T get
Officious)
Find the right TONE

103. BLOG
TWITTER
FACEBOOK
LINKED
IN
DELICIOUS
SLIDE
SHARE
Source: Dachis Group, 2009.
This guy really matters now
YOU
TUBE

104. WEBSITE
BLOG
TWITTER
FACEBOOK
LINKED
IN
DELICIOUS
SLIDE
SHARE
Drive the business HOME from all outposts
AFFILIATES SKYPE
MSN
EMAIL
PR
YOU
TUBE
ADVERTISING

105. Nurture your community.
Fans on Facebook need either education or entertainment. Or both.

106. Be prepared to do ROI

107. This is the new way of the world

108. Welcome to the age of human sharing

109. Alex Grech
alex.grech@strategyworks.net
http://twitter.com/alexgrech

110. Acknowledgements
Images from Flickr under Creative Commons licences
http://www.flickr.com/photos/60577574@N00/2281428223
http://www.flickr.com/photos/pinksherbet/233228813
@jasonbaer
@armano
@mzkagan
http://www.flickr.com/photos/larslars/718618057
http://www.flickr.com/photos/luc/1824234195
http://www.flickr.com/photos/andrewmorrell/55032223