Social Media Best Practice: Building your Market Feedback Loop

1. Social Media Best Practice: Building your Market Feedback Loop www.woolfmedia.com 415-259-5638

2. Social Media – Your Newest Sales Channel • Web 1.0 – Internet billboard • Passive medium • Drive traffic and hope it sticks • One-way communication • Web 2.0 – Internet conversation • New forms of interaction and exchange • Contributing to larger social interaction • About building viral buzz through community • Conversation to Conversion – Your Newest Sales Channel

3. The Power of Social Media Traditional Marketing Social Media Marketing Source: Forrester Research

4. Social Media Feedback Loop – the Three Cs • Content • Add to the conversation – insight = attention • Lose the sale pitch – subtle sells • Conversation • Find the forums where your customers “hang out” online • Add insight and stimulate discussion • Brand and sales support follows from conversation thread • Community • Build a following and offer leadership • Give them a reason to follow you and they will recommend you to their friends.

5. Social Media – Content is King • Identify topics that speak to your brand value • Use/reuse existing material to add to conversation • Press releases • Surveys • White papers • Case studies • Webinars and Podcasts • Reposts from other web sites • Information that adds insight • No sales pitching allowed SALES PITCH

6. Social Media – Join the Conversation • Identify Forums/Outlets where your target customers live • Engage in discussion/forums • Post comments to blogs and on relevant sites • Develop online presence through LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc.

7. Social Media – Community Leads to Conversion • Develop your own online following • RSS feeds • Twitter • Updates to profiles and status lines • Create your own online forums • Blogging • Podcasting • Fresh content on your corporate web site • Use LinkedIn and other feeds • Drive traffic for conversion • Point community back to your web site • Offer white papers, newsletters and other value-added content • Uber-opt-in – create brand evangelists, not just prospects CONVERSION

8. The Social Media Process

9. Social Media: Part of an Integrated Sales Strategy • Webinars • White papers • News releases • Direct marketing • Trade shows and events • Partner programs • Other sales and marketing activities All feed the social media machine to drive leads

10. Social Media at Work – Twitter • Mini surveys to answer questions • Promote new blogs, webinars, content • Share articles, resources, tips, ideas • Learn about new topics of interest to your network • Discover useful blog posts and resources (tweetscan)

11. Social Media at Work – LinkedIn • Think of it as a branding destination, not for job search • Create a corporate profile that speaks to the brand • Use LinkedIn status to promote blog posts, webinars, other content • Use LinkedIn Forums to post queries, comment on threads, generate buzz • Use LinkedIn connections to build your network

12. Social Media at Work - YouTube • Relevant videos support brand identity • Use YouTube-hosted videos for content in blogs, Facebook, web sites and elsewhere • Video content drives SEO

13. Social Media at Work - Facebook • A corporate gathering place for brand watchers • Online bulletin board to communicate with your community • Outlet to promote viral marketing • New news releases • Blog posts and online content • Webinars and activities • Use Facebook for online events and discussions • Supports SEO and web traffic

14. Social Media Machine at Work

15. 10 Secrets of Social Media Success • Establish clear objectives and metrics • Bring new thinking – collaboration, not sales • Clarify your positioning – a clear, concise position that spans all touch points • Identify spheres of influence • Listen before you launch • Integrate with other programs and SEO • Engage with customers, employees, partners • Be transparent and be honest • Define metrics according to business objectives • Fail quickly, fail cheaply, and correct course

16. Defining your Social Media Objectives • What are your social media objectives? • How do they align with your business objectives? • What is your positioning? • Who are your customers? • What are they interested in? Where to they gather online? • Where can you contribute to the conversation? • How do you measure success?

17. About Woolf Media & Marketing TOM WOOLF Public Relations, Marketing Communications, Social Media Tom Woolf has more than 20 years of experience in public relations and marketing communications experience. Since 1989, Tom has been working with technology startups, software companies, enterprise hardware companies, SaaS companies, and other technology companies helping them build differentiated brands and drive sales through effective communications. Tom started his career as a trade journalist, reporting and writing for magazines like Video Trade News, The Society of Motion Picture & Television Engineers Journal, Satellite Orbit, VideoSat News and LAN Technology. Drawing from his background reporting on technology, Tom gravitated to public relations, working with enterprise technology companies in the then emerging local area networking arena. Over the years he as represented technology innovators and market leaders such as Advanced Computing Corporation, Agile Software Cirrus Logic, Hummingbird Communications, Integrated Systems Inc., Netopia, Saratoga Systems, Selectica, SGI, and Ubiquity Software, as well as dozens of start-ups. Tom also has worked as a marketing and public relations executive for companies such as Keynote Systems, Moai Technology, and Siemens Microelectronics. He has also supported the technology practices of public relations firms such as Allison & Partners and Upstart Communications.