The slides from my talk at the BBB of Arizona in Phoenix, AZ.

1. Engagement & ROI Shailesh Ghimire Director of Interactive Marketing sghimire@airmarketing.com airmarketing.com/blog

2. Recap Integrating Social Media and Sales Setting goals Assessing return on effort Overview of social media usage among consumers Social technologies tour Developing a strategy Re-visiting a case study

3. Social Technologies Blogs, Podcasts and vLogs Social Networks/Virtual Worlds Social Bookmarking Tools (Digg, StumbleUpon) Collaboration Tools (Wikis, Google Docs) Video / Photo Sharing Micro blogging: Twitter (text), Seesmic (video)

4. What Consumers Do Online Source: Forrester Research

5. Audience + Goals  Strategy Example 1 Audience = Primarily commenting Goal = Generate leads Strategy = Engage via blogs, feedback options - on product pages and create avenues for data capture Example 2 Audience = Primarily observing Goal = Thought leader Strategy = Develop content-rich blog, supply ample photos and videos, weekly podcasts

6. Wiggly Wigglers Sells compost worm kits in the UK, started in 1995 Based in a town with less than 70 people Target audience: farmers Less than 25,000 farmers in the UK Deployed podcasts, blog posts and social networking Sources: http://money.cnn.com/2008/03/17/smbusiness/Facebook_marketing.fsb/index.htm http://flooringtheconsumer.blogspot.com/2008/04/blogher-business-2008-hats-off-to.html

7. Worm Success Now a multi-million dollar company Growing robustly at 10% per year Growth attributed to a combination of Podcasts, Blog posts and social networking Now even has a developed a thriving catalog business

8. By Now You Should Have… A basic understanding of Social Media Interactive Online Marketing A basis for developing a strategic plan GMOOT is not a plan An appreciation of the commitment required

9. Today Mastering engagement Refining strategy Developing a ROI plan

10. Engagement Characteristics: Personal and authentic "How to Win Friends and Influence Others" Timely and relevant Prepared for the long haul

11. Two Platforms Twitter Blogs

12. Twenty Twitter Tips for Happy Tweeting Comment on local events Comment on local news stories (stay away from highly charged political stories) Comment on local sports teams Comment on fund raisers and good causes Comment on your industry related news

13. Twenty Twitter Tips for Happy Tweeting Comment on funny ads you may have seen (do not disparage competitors) Comment on how much your customers love you Comment on relevant historical markers (for example this year is the 55th anniversary of the electric toothbrush - if you’re a dentist this would be great.) Respond to interesting Tweets from your followers (VERY IMPORTANT) Re-tweet interesting Tweets from your followers (VERY IMPORTANT)

14. Twenty Twitter Tips for Happy Tweeting Recommend some of your followers to others on Fridays (It’s called follow Friday) Discuss your likes/dislikes on any given topic - (I loved “Amazing Race” last night) Comment on the weather Talk about some of your special events and promotions (10% off etc.) Share a link to an inspiring story, funny video, great picture etc. (use common sense)

15. Twenty Twitter Tips for Happy Tweeting Invite your followers to a Twitter exclusive event (Tweet-up) Attend some local Tweet-ups to meet the community - and Tweet from the event as you meet them Tweet about personal achievements, goals, ideas etc. Post pictures from the farm, the store etc. Have fun connecting with new people, and remember, you can’t plan a conversation, so you’ll find plenty to talk about once you connect with others.

16. Twitter Tools Tweetdeck – on desktop Mobile apps –for iPhone, Blackberry Twellow – Directory list Tweetlater – for scheduling tweets

17. Blog On! Have a goal to write 2-3 blog posts every week. Make a list of topics you'd like to cover. Stay on task until blogging is part of your normal life. Make a list of relevant keywords for each topic so you're focused on SEO. Write in an easy style. This is not a college paper. It is important to stay within your topic. But sprinkle some personal opinions, tastes etc. Highlight any words or sentences to draw attention to specific content.

18. Blog it Baby Include several out bound links in each post. For example, if you’re writing a post on “salads” then include a link to a website with more information on “dressings”. Link to past blog post when relevant. Make the post title relevant to the content. Learn to utilize tags and categories Write one stunningly awesome blog post every three weeks and link to this article in future blog posts. Use pictures and videos when relevant.

19. Blog it Up! Respond to comments on your post. Write back if someone contacts you from your blog. Share your blog posts on Twitter. Include your blog address on your business card.

20. Now Your ROI

21. Blogs Social Networks White Label Social Networks eMails Wiki’s

22. Critical Important Nice to Have Resources - ROI

23. ROI Question What Social Media can do for you: Expand the audience for your message Excite fans, customers Enable connections with new audience Gather insights, opinions Listen more effectively and create dialog

24. Setting Expectations Biggest impact: Reputation management Brand building Public and customer relationships Substantially improves: Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Lead generation

25. What to Measure? Determine conversion Sales leads eCommerce Awareness Measure engagement 1200 friends 500 followers 3 blog posts/week , 5 comments

26. Practical Way of Measuring Use Web Analytics Tools to measure traffic Set up conversion events: Sale Sign-up Download Assign dollar value to each event

28. Closing Thoughts You can't ignore this anymore!

29. It's Reached a Tipping Point 60% of Americans interact with companies on a social media website One in four interact more than once per week 93% of Americans believe a company should have a presence in social media 85% believe a company should also interact with its consumers via social media Boston consulting firm Cone, Boston Globe, September 25, 2008

30. What They Want From You… 43% said companies should use social networks to solve their problems 41% said companies should solicit feedback on their products and services 37% said companies should develop new ways for consumers to interact with their brand

31. What This Means…. You’ll need to have a social media presence Develop and execute an effective strategy Ideally, social media will be integrated within your overall marketing

32. Marketing

33. Getting Started Focus on relationships and not campaigns Commit resources to learning and training Learn from mistakes Test, test, test, improve, improve, improve!

34. Questions? Shailesh Ghimire (480) 748-2694 sghimire@airmarketing.com airmarketing.com/blog SocialReflections.Com