ramil ferro july 30, 2012. very complex – hundreds of sites and applications for different...

Marketing in the Social Media Age

Ramil FerroJuly 30, 2012

Copyright © 2012 Ferrocious.com

The social media landscape is…

Very complex – hundreds of sites and applications for different purposes with millions of users (some shared, some unique) in different demographics

Two major players in social networking Facebook and Twitter

Several smaller social networking sites Google +, MySpace, Friendster, Qzone, etc.



Several “niche” social networking sites LinkedIn, Pinterest, Yelp, deviantART, Gaia

Online, etc.

Hundreds of companies that are focused on the social media space providing: analytics and intelligence applications and game development marketing management ad platforms content curation and others



Always changing Salesforce just purchased Buddy Media for

$689mm (June 2012) Google just purchased Meebo for $100mm

(June 2012) At least 25 websites on the social LUMAscape

(previous slide) are now defunct▪ Site no longer available▪ Site redirects to acquiring company



Uncharted territory Some companies have ineffective social media

strategies▪ GM pulled $10mm in paid advertisement from

Facebook due to ineffectiveness▪ Many large corporations have several social media

accounts but don’t spend the time to update their information or respond to customers

Some social media efforts have unintended results▪ McDonalds’ Twitter campaign asking users to share

nostalgic stories on Happy Meals resulted in Twitter users posting stories about horrible experiences at McDonalds


Today’s BIG business questions….

How to develop a successful marketing strategy in the age of social media?

Once developed, how do you measure, manage and maintain success?


Things to keep in mind…

Understand that social media marketing does not replace traditional marketing efforts nor should it be the sole marketing tactic It is an extension or enhancement of a

company’s entire marketing strategy

Present the best possible product(s) and/or service(s) to consumers

Keep an open mind about customer feedback and/or results


All successful marketing campaigns…

Follow these general principles: Clear and realistic objectives A clear plan to achieve your goals A clear message for your customers▪ Simple, memorable and shareable▪ A call to action

Benchmarks and measurable results▪ Clear growth (i.e. sales, users, reputation, etc.) from

before execution to after execution of campaigns All campaigns should be within established

budgets


All of these questions MUST be answered prior to launching:

What makes your product and/or service unique or better than the competition?

What is the target demographic?

Does your demographic want your product or service? Does it meet their needs?


All of these questions MUST be answered prior to launching:

Do you have management buy in?

What is your short term goal? Long term goal? What is a success? What is a failure?

Can your goals be accomplished with a reasonable budget?


Social Media Marketing

Should be part of a comprehensive marketing strategy – it is not the sole effort

The results of social media marketing are immediate and should accordingly influence other aspects of your marketing strategy

You must have a social media expert (or team) that understands the social media landscape and keep up with changes in the landscape


Social Media Marketing

Understand that social media is geared towards a certain demographic – you must plan appropriately

All social media efforts MUST compel your customers/prospects to go to your company’s website

Is not limited to social networking sites – it is EVERYTHING your company does online (and mobile)


The 3-headed Campaign: Awareness, Selling, Reputation


The Awareness Campaign

At the very least, every company should have a Facebook page, a LinkedIn page, a Twitter page and a Wikipedia entry

The goal of the awareness campaign is informational only – it’s either about the company, its product(s) and/or service(s)

Must build relationships with journalists and bloggers for articles and blogs


The Awareness Campaign

Other ways include viral videos, forums, message boards and reviews

Developing and maintaining best SEM/SEO practices will help make it easier for prospects/customers to find out or learn more about your company and its products and services

Measure your online presence – how many articles/blogs/people are talking about your company and its products and services


The Selling Campaign

Once awareness for your company, its products and services has been established, work on converting your followers into sales opportunities

Use best practices in SEM/SEO to help increase sales

Advertise your products through review sites, forums, message boards, etc. that are related to your products



Partner with companies that offer complementary products

Create better deals on your site than anywhere else, if applicable

Know where your targets spend most of their online presence



The best way to sell online is to target active users instead of passive users. An active user is someone online who is engaged

at a specific activity and wants to do more related to that activity (i.e. researching about a product, searching for travel deals, conversing on a specific hobby in a message board or forum, etc.)

A passive user is someone online who only wants to do what they set out to do (i.e. following up with friends on Facebook, reading news articles, watching videos, chatting with friends, etc.)



Understand the “Billboard Effect” and how it relates to the Internet For most cities, billboard advertising is

ineffective towards locals but is very effective to out-of-towners or travelers▪ Some tourists look to do multiple things while they

visit a new city. Billboard ads help them make decisions quickly. Internet advertising is similar for independent users who make quick decisions.

▪ Some tourists want to experience a new city as if they were “locals.” This is where friends’ recommendations – likes, tweets, blogs, etc. – influence decisions.



Understand the difference between new prospects vs. existing customers and core customers vs. fringe customers – the messages will be different for each

Measure sales activities prior to launching the campaign and compare it to sales activities after the campaign

Measure sales on different platforms to determine most effective channels


The Reputation Campaign

Keep track of reviews of your company, products and services

Address comments made by consumers when applicable – be upfront with shortcomings

Make improvements to products and services as necessary – tout the changes online

Conduct customer surveys


The Reputation Campaign

Develop loyalty programs to keep existing customers – appreciate them!

For customers who love you, offer incentives for their referrals – word of mouth is the easiest form of social media marketing

Measure the change in reputation over time and its impact on sales


M3 – Measure, Manage & Maintain

Always measure the results of ALL your campaigns For mature products, use previous trends to

compare against results of your campaigns (account for seasonality, if applicable)

For newer products, use A/B or multivariate testing to create a control group and compare against the results of your campaigns

Investigate and re-test any unexpected results to ensure viability



Use various analytical tools that are available on the market to track your campaign Google Analytics, Quantcast, Marketo,

Omniture, etc.

Compare your results against your competitors or other similar companies

Optimize campaigns on the fly to ensure that you improve results - always make sure your campaigns add value to the growth of your company



Share the results of campaigns to decision makers as soon as possible

As a product or service reaches its peak, prepare the next product or service and start working on go-to-market strategies – don’t wait until your current product takes a nose dive to release the next version

Always keep up with trends to stay relevant


The future of social media…

Things change frequently and at a faster rate in social media – must be flexible and adaptable

Mobile is the next stage and it is happening NOW

The Kickstarter Phenomenon Crowdfunding and crowdsourcing are great ways for

companies to develop new products or services but also have inherent dangers (i.e. accidentally revealing trade secrets to bigger and faster competitors, accidentally aggravating your core consumers, other unforeseen results) – BE CAREFUL!


Full circle…

Social media marketing should be part of a comprehensive marketing strategy

What you learn through the results of your social media marketing efforts can greatly influence and improve your organization’s operations and sales efforts


Be relevant

Social media marketing helps an organization to better engage with customers – it makes them active participants instead of reactive or passive participants

Keeping up with social media allows your company to be an innovator instead of a follower – it keeps you relevant


For assistance in building a comprehensive social media marketing strategy, contact:

Ramil Ferro(415)602-5345

[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.ferrocious.com/

ramil ferro july 30, 2012. very complex – hundreds of sites and applications for different...

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