Focusing on Social Media Marketing: Understanding the Landscape, Benefits, and Challenges

1. Focusing on Social Media Marketing: Understanding the Landscape, Benefits, and Challenges Carla Pendergraft Associates Web Design and Consulting

2. Is Social Media a Fad? • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIFYPQjYhv8

3. Social Media’s Reach • By 2010 Gen Y will outnumber Baby Boomers….96% of them have joined a social network  • 1 out of 8 couples married in the U.S. last year met via social media • Years to Reach 50 millions Users:  Radio (38 Years), TV (13 Years), Internet (4 Years), iPod (3 Years)…Facebook added 100 million users in less than 9 months…iPhone applications hit 1 billion in 9 months. • If Facebook were a country, it would be the world’s 4th largest between the United States and Indonesia

4. What We’ll Cover • Characteristics of Social Media… statistics • Intro to Facebook, Twitter, Blogs • Other social media - wikis… • Social Media Strategy

5. About You • How many have a personal Facebook page? • Business/Fan Page? • How many are on Twitter? • LinkedIn? • How many have a blog? • This will be an interactive seminar – questions encouraged! • Crowdsourcing – Social Media in real life

6. Social Media Characteristics • It’s about conversations and communities • It requires a new way of thinking. • Push vs. Pull; Telling vs. Asking • Allows your audience to connect with you and with each other.

7. U.S. Social Media Communities Facebook – 200 million users, top 10 website MySpace – 110 million users LinkedIn – about 30 million users Twitter – 54 million visits per month YouTube – 70 million videos Flickr – hosts over 2 billion images Blogs – over 200 million And new social communities are added every day.

8. A Few Reasons to Use Social Media • Promote your festival or event – and the events that lead up to it • Make announcements about performers when they are signed—and other plans as they firm up. Ask who they want to see. • Get new volunteers from a new demographic • Drive traffic to your main website

9. Reasons to use social media • If an ad rep came to you and said, • I’ve got a way for you to advertise to 200 million people who can choose to listen to your ad because they’re interested in what you offer. But the catch is, you have to spend some time learning how to use it. You’ll have to update it regularly, and listen for any questions from your audience. And… it’s free. • Would you buy?

10. The Long Tail Concept • The “long tail” – selling 1,000,000 bestsellers vs. selling 1 copy of 1,000,000 different books on Amazon • The “long tail” for festivals – using various social media to reach as many small, niche audiences as possible.

11. The Long Tail • Green part is the bestseller – one book, many buyers • Yellow part is the “long tail” – many books to many buyers

12. Crowdsourcing Concept • the act of taking a task traditionally performed by an employee or contractor, and outsourcing it to an undefined, generally large group of people or community in the form of an open call.

13. Crowdsourcing for Festivals • Photography? • Popular new acts that you may not be aware of? • Logos for this year’s festival?

14. Anecdotal Evidence • Wine & Cheese Festival, Waco – 40% attendance increase, penetrated younger market • Longview CVB – Facebook ad increased attendance from about 100 to 1,500 for $30

15. You Can’t Do it All… • Choose a couple of tools to begin with • Facebook, Twitter, Blogs most popular now • Start by listening – we’ll show you how • Don’t neglect your core website

16. How to Listen • Go to google.com/alerts and set up alerts to be sent to your email. Choose “Comprehensive” to monitor blogs, video, news, web, etc. (Requires gmail account) • Set up an alert on your festival, event or business name • You may want to set up an alert on your own name as well.

17. Google Alerts

18. Guarding Your Brand • Search your festival name on Facebook. • Has anyone set up a Group or a Page? • Using your logo without permission? • Do these things benefit the festival, or hurt it? • Consider contacting them and asking them to migrate their users to your Facebook Page.

19. Guarding Your Brand • Set up a permanent Twitter search using Tweetdeck. • Monitor mentions of your festival • Listen… listen… • Respond where appropriate • Learn from what people are saying • Retweet where appropriate

20. Blogs • Use a blog if you need to explain things in greater detail. • Who will commit to post on the blog? • Google loves blogs • wordpress.com - 5 minute setup

21. Blogs Dublin (OH) Irish Festival – teamed with CVB to create YouTube video

22. Blogs Austin Film Festival – blog in addition to website

23. Blogs Festival Blog… Which festival? Can’t tell…

24. Common Blog Mistakes • Branding: • Need the festival name in the masthead • Need the festival dates in the masthead • No Exceptions… • Let people know where they are!

25. Blog Summary • A blog can give attendees more of a taste of what the festival is about than a website. • When you post to the blog, tweet about it on Twitter, and include a link. • Respond to all comments. • Conduct contests, giveaways, discounts

26. Facebook

27. Facebook Profiles, Groups and Pages • “Profiles” refer to personal profiles • Facebook Groups are for groups of people with some interest in common – biking, Star Trek, etc. • Facebook Pages are for businesses, including non-profits.

28. Facebook Pages • Pages are visible to everyone, even those who are not a member of Facebook • Pages allow you to view statistics on page usage (“Insights”) • Login to your personal profile and then go to: • http://www.facebook.com/pages/create.php

29. Privacy of Admin • You must have a personal profile to create a Business Page. • Don’t worry: when you post on the Page as an admin, your personal profile does not show.

30. Creating a Facebook Page

31. Facebook's Main Tabs • Wall – mini press releases, announcements • Info – static information about your business. Overview, mission, etc. • Photos – multiple photo albums • Many other possible tabs; start with these 3 and build. • You can even add custom tabs!

32. Promoting Your Facebook Page • Put a Facebook icon on your website’s home page. • For the link, go to your new Page, and copy it from the address bar. • Promote your Facebook page in your communications such as newsletters. • Encourage your fans to share the Page with their friends when you send out Updates.

33. Facebook Insights • Facebook wants your fans to interact with your Page: • Wall posts • Likes • Comments • Ask questions of your fans • Use humor where appropriate • Post items that provoke comments

34. Florida Strawberry Festival

35. Florida Strawberry Festival • Over 1,400 “Fans” who receive the festival’s updates • Hours of the festival • Parking information – Costs – etc. • Links to Website, Twitter feed • Performers – stories • Parade winners • Contest winners with pictures and link to news article • 10 photo albums • YouTube videos – previews of the festival

36. Edinburgh Film Festival

37. Edinburgh Film Festival • Over 2,100 fans • “Thank yous” to supporters • Photos of parties, celebrities, awards banquet • Info on booking a hotel room • Film stills of films up for an award • Photos uploaded by fans who were present • Discussion board • Video • And so on…

38. Stratford Shakespeare Festival

39. Stratford Shakespeare Festival • 6,371 fans • Custom “Hooked on Stratford” tab with trivia game • Active discussions on topics • Next season lineup • Questions/answers from actors, directors, designers, and artisans involved in the festival

40. Publish Facebook -> Twitter • Publish your Facebook fan page posts to twitter. • Go to www.facebook.com/twitter • Follow instructions to link the accounts • Choose to update status, photos, links, notes, and/or events.

41. Facebook Ads • You can choose to target them by age, sex, demographics. • They are not that expensive. At least price it out. • Longview CVB - $30 for a Facebook ad, brought in 1500 attendees, up from 100.

42. Advertising and Interactive • We are seeing the decline of traditional print media – magazine ads, billboards, newspapers • We are seeing the rise of interactive as a more effective way to reach audiences. • “They” are on the web nearly 24/7. • You can measure the results. • Start to make the switch if you haven’t already.

43. Twitter

44. Why listen to Twitter?

45. Tweetdeck.com – manage Twitter

46. Twitter’s Real-time Saved Search

47. Typical Twitter Names for Festivals • Must not contain spaces. • Aspen Music Festival – aspenmusic • Sydney Festival – sydney_festival • Tempe Music Festival – TempeMusicFest • Edinburgh Festival – edinburghfest • Utah Arts Festival – UtahArtsFest • Texas Book Festival - texasbookfest

48. Twitter Tips • Decide what your voice and theme will be before you start. Don’t tweet about your breakfast! • Dialog with other Twitterers. You address another person on Twitter by using their username and the “@” sign. Example: “@carlawaco”. • Post interesting articles you find.

49. Twitter Tips (Continued) • It’s not a competition to get the highest number of followers. • Follow people who criticize you. • “Retweet” interesting posts from others – use RT and the other poster’s Twitter ID. Example: • RT @carlawaco: [original post goes here]

50. Twitter Tips (Continued) • Do not overpromote. Have a dialog with others. Help them, answer questions. • Rule of thumb: 10 non-promotional posts to 1 promotional post.