Special topic: Social Media Marketing

1. Special topic:Social Media Marketing 1

2. What is social media marketing? Social media marketing is any way you can get attention for your message using people connected to the Internet. People + message + Internet = social media marketing 2

3. What Is Social Media Marketing? Social media marketing (SMM) uses social media portals to positively influence consumers toward a website, company, brand, product, service, or a person. Typically, the end goal of social media marketing is a “conversion,” such as the purchase of a product, subscription to a newsletter, registration in an online community, or some other desirable consumer action. 3

4. Popular Social Media Sites, as of December 2011

5. Firm Spending on Social Media Marketing 5

6. Why Social Media Marketing is Different • Traditional Approach • Controls content seen by audience • One-way communication • Domineering approach • Exclusivity agreements • Social Media Approach • Emphasizes audience contribution • Two-way communication • Discussion approach • Trust building 6

7. How Can Social Media Help You? It can connect you with customers, vendors, and potential business partners Spread the word about your business Increase your credibility and relevance on the Internet 7

8. Word-of-Mouth Marketing People buy products and services from companies they trust People are more likely to trust a friend’s recommendation than to trust an ad Positive word-of-mouth increases credibility 8

9. Where Content is King… Social Media is all about: Content Delivery – putting it out there Content Visibility – letting some people see it Content Virality – broadcasting it to EVERYONE! 9

10. The types ofsocial media marketing 10

11. Content-based social media marketing Focuses on the content to be posted and passed around: blogs, videos, photos, news stories, podcasts Or bookmarks to the content Feeds viral marketing Content sites Bookmarking sites 11

12. Personality-based social media marketing Consumer companies create character profiles, but may not be the best marketing for IT companies. IT consultants create professional profiles 12

13. Interest-based social media marketing Communities form around topics of interest, such as message boards and specialty search engines • IT marketers must get into these conversations • Maybe social bookmarking sites fit into this category, too 13

14. Fantasy-based social media marketing Virtual worlds, inhabited by avatars, allow fantasy lives that marketers wish to be part of—Apple, IBM, and other companies already play. 14

15. The Seven Myths of Social Media Marketing • Social Media is Just a Fad • Social Media is Just for the Young • There is No Return in Social Media Marketing • Social Media Marketing isn’t Right for This Business • Social Media Marketing is New • Social Media Marketing is Too Time-Consuming • Social Media is Free

16. Social Media Myth #1: Social Media Is Just A Fad • Instead, social media is: • Founded in community, socialization, and word-of-mouth marketing • Based on a stable premise that people are social and want to connect with other people • Related to technological evolution that continues to provide new and attractive means for people to interact • Rooted in core trends and behaviors in social media interaction that remain stable over time

17. Figure 1.1Social Media Usage Outpaces Traditional Media *Forrester Research Web-Influenced Retail Sales Forecast, Forrester Research, Inc., December 2009

18. Social Media Myth #2: Social Media Is Just For The Young • Instead, the reality is: • Older users are among the fastest growing demographics on most social media sites • YouTube - 18 to 55, evenly divided between males and females • Facebook - 61% of those 35 to 54 and 48% of people over 55 have Facebook pages • Users span all age and income brackets • Social networks are increasingly being adopted by older populations

19. Social Media Myth #3:There Is No Return In Social Media Marketing • Instead, social media returns are: • Difficult to measure, and many businesses do not currently measure their social media efforts • A frequent topic for conferences of online marketing experts • Measured in a variety of different ways such as: savings in customer service, online word-of-mouth promotion (buzz), improved brand awareness and reputation, increased brand loyalty, and sale lead generation

20. Social Media Myth #4:Social Media Marketing Isn’t Right For This Business • Instead, social media marketing: • Is just as relevant to B2B companies as to B2C firms • Has a powerful ability to drive word-of-mouth or recommendations from friends • Influences search as a resource because search results frequently include social media sites • Even if businesses don’t believe in the value of engaging in social conversations as a part of marketing, there is no denying the value of a strong business or product presence in search results.

21. Social Media Myth #5: Social Media Marketing Is New • Instead, what’s new is: • Technology and media are changing the role social, behavioral, and economic concepts play in modern marketing efforts • Conversations are now public, online, and viewable for the indefinite future • Consumers are already on social sites, talking about businesses on their Facebook pages, blogs, and Twitter accounts, whether a business acknowledges this or not.

22. Social Media Myth #6: Social Media Is Too Time-consuming • Three key ways to limit the time investment in social media marketing: • Look for underutilized employees who can spend some of their time on social media marketing • Leverage efficiency tools top streamline social media efforts • Use mobile devices to boost efficiency

23. Social Media Myth #7: Social Media Is Free • While most sites do not have a fee for usage, costs include: • Time and resources • Fees for producing and creating content • Fees for consultants or agencies involved in building and executing the social media strategy

24. Tips for Using Social Media Start out small Clearly define your marketing objectives Select your target market Assess your capabilities and know-how Execute your online strategy Measure your effectiveness Most importantly, experiment! 24

25. Social Media Achieves Marketing Objectives 25-1 • Promotion and Branding • Extend and leverage the brand’s media coverage • Influence the consumer throughout the decision-making process

26. Social Media Achieves Marketing Objectives 26-1 • Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Service Recovery • Social CRM uses software to fine tune the offer and build intimacy with the customer • Social recovery is the actions an organization takes to correct mishaps and win back unhappy customers • Retailing and E-commerce 26

27. Social Media Achieves Marketing Objectives 27

28. Two Broad Approaches toviral marketing via social networking sites • Content Counts • Main idea: the content of an artefact is what makes it go viral. • Focus question: what makes artefacts go viral? • Method Matters • Main idea: the online marketing of an artefact is what makes it go viral. • Focus question: who makes artefacts go viral? 28

29. What Makes Online Content Viral? - Emotion shapes virality. Content that evokes high-arousal positive (awe) or negative (anger or anxiety) emotions is more viral. Content that evokes low-arousal, or deactivating emotions (e.g., sadness) is less viral.  Activation drives social transmission (when a story evoked more sadness, it decreased arousal, which in turn decreased transmission). More emotional, positive, interesting, and anger-inducing and fewer sadness-inducing stories are likely to make the most blogged list. 29

30. Content: Creative Determinants of Viral Video Viewing • Criteria used to predict the success of TV ads can also be used - with some adaptation - to predict online virality: • enjoyment, involvement, branding • distinctiveness • celebrity popularity • likelihood to forward ('buzz') • has LEGS: Laugh-out-loud funny, Edgy, Gripping or Sexy 30

31. Method: Strategies for going viral • Use of social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Google+, YouTube etc. • Word of mouth: hearing what's popular from people around you.  • Participation: users participate by commenting, sharing, 'favouriting', making their own versions 31

32. Method: Online Buzz & Offline WOM the combination of online buzz and offline word-of-mouth (WOM) greatly effects the messages presented in online material - Users of social media are heavily influenced by their exposure to advertising in other media (ie. television, magazines, etc.) 32

33. Method: Negative vs. Positive WoM • Negative word of mouth (NWOM) can have a greater effect on customer acquisitions than positive word of mouth (PWOM) • negative comments attain more diagnostic value of existing customer sentiments, while actual recommendation rates or reported PWOM are inflated or unreliable • 3 key variables: • Magnitude of the message • quantitative and qualitative distinctions between bad and good buzz translate into differences in the weight of the message that they carry • Magnitude of the effect on individuals • humans are sometimes more likely to remember negative events than positive ones • Memory and spread of the message • negative comments are likely to survive more easily across time and space.  • negative information sticks longer 33

34. Method: Search Engine Optimization Site designers use Search Engine Optimization (SEO), configuring a website so that search engines will find it quickly and easily, and thus place it high in the search results list. Designers consider how search engines work, and tailor the website to be ‘search engine friendly’. SEO influences how search results are displayed; obviously, it can be used as a marketing strategy. 34