Managed Broadband Solutions –Alpharetta, Georgia –Serve independent ISPs –Network Management –Branded Internet Services –24/7 End User Support Data Video Voice About Us

Connecting Our Communities –Minot, North Dakota –Largest co-op in the state: 200+ employees 48,000+ customers –Network: Copper Fiber optic Wireless 12 on Board of Directors (Newman-Eng) 2007 Legislative Blog 2009 Legislative Twitter About Us

Agenda What is it? How does social media affect telcos? Will it help you get - and keep - customers? What goes into a social media strategy? Who else is doing it?

What is social media? Web 1.0 Web 2.0

What is Social Media? Social media describes the online tools that people use to share content, profiles, opinions, insights, experiences, perspectives and media, thus facilitating conversations and interaction online between groups of people.

Understand the Groundswell 7 “A social trend in which people use technologies to get the things they need from each other, rather than from traditional institutions like corporations.” groundswell.forrester.com

Social Media = Cocktail Party People-centric No time or space constraints Engage in public & private conversations Share content –Profiles – 48% of Americans over age of 11 –Experiences

Social Media Adoption How long did it take to reach 50 million users? –Telephone: 74 years –Radio: 38 years –Personal Computer: 16 years –Internet: 2 Years –Blog: 1 year

Everybody’s New at This

Usage Among Small Businesses

What’s in it for my business?

How does social media affect telcos?

Outbound Marketing is Broken

Inbound Marketing Strategies

16

17 Wikipedia is driven by a global community of more than 150,000 volunteers—all dedicated to sharing knowledge freely. Over almost eight years, these volunteers have contributed more than 11 million articles in 265 languages. More than 275 million people come to our website every month.

Do consumers use social media? 57% join social networks 39% subscribe to RSS feeds 83% have viewed a video online 73% read a blog

The Social Technographics™ Ladder19 Inactives neither create nor consume social content of any kind Spectators consume social content including blogs, user- generated video, podcasts, forums, or reviews Joiners connect in social networks like MySpace and Facebook Collectors organize content for themselves or others using RSS feeds, tags, and voting sites like Digg.com Critics respond to content from others. They post reviews, comment on blogs, participate in forums, and edit wiki articles. Creators make social content go. They write blogs or upload video, music, or text. Creators Critics Collectors Joiners Spectators Inactives

Expected Sources of Leads

What is social media marketing?

Social Media Marketing is NOT a silver bullet... about selling... free... to be out-sourced

Social Media Marketing IS integrated with overall marketing strategy... based on content and conversation... focused on providing service... intended to build relationships & encourage sharing

Growth Through Social Media

Global Top Internet Sites (Reach) 25 1.Google 43% 2.Facebook33% 3.Yahoo!27% 4.YouTube23% 5.Live16% 6.Wikipedia13% 7.Blogger12% 8.MSN11% 9.Baidu.com 9% 10.Twitter 7% 1. Google 2. Facebook 3. Yahoo! 4. YouTube 5. Wikipedia 6. Craigslist 7. Blogger 8. eBay 9. Twitter 10. Amazon MySpace April 2010

Customer Acquisition by Channel

Blogs Easy to update Indexed quickly by search engines Attract inbound links Build & RSS subscribers Resources: Blogger.com Wordpress.com Wordpress.org

YouTube Video demos Vlogs Interviews News Brand Messages Share and comment on videos Resources: Flip.com Screencast.com Google.com/support/ youtube/

Facebook Start conversations Generate feedback Status updates Photos Videos Links Resources: Facebook.com/ Advertising

Why Facebook Matters 30

Facebook31 Million+ Fans 1.Coca-Cola 2.Starbucks 3.Disney 4.Victoria's Secret 5. iTunes 6.Vitaminwater 7.YouTube 8.Chick-fil-A 9.Red Bull 10.T.G.I. Friday’s

Twitter 140-character Microblog Tweet specials & updates Customer service Resources: Twitter.com/Twitter101 Tweetdeck Hootsuite.com WeFollow.com

Who’s using social media?

ShenTel on LinkedIn

San Bruno Cable TV on YouTube

Comcast on Twitter

How did they do it?

Social Media Marketing Strategies Components –Purpose & Goals –Listen –Engage –Influence –Measure

Purpose & Goals Increase awareness –Brand –Product Attract customers Increase customer satisfaction Build community SMART Goals –Specific –Measurable –Attainable –Realistic –Timely

Listen

Engage Set Social Media Policy Select channels Define time & responsibilities Get Found –Optimize –Publish –Promote

Influence Nurture Connections Conversations Convert –Landing pages –Subscriptions –Offers

Measure Test Measure Analyze Repeat Tools –Google Analytics –YouTube Insights –Facebook Insights –bit.ly

Show Your “Face” in Social Media: Case Studies

Brantley Telephone Company Rural south Georgia ILEC Goals: –Reinforce relationships –Drive web traffic

Brantley Telephone Company

SRT Communications

Facebook Page

49 According to Facebook 25,300 Facebook users live within 50 miles of Minot, ND (age 18 and older) 30,000 Facebook users live with 50 miles of Fargo, ND who graduated from college 212,000 Facebook users live in ND ,400 Facebook users live in Manitoba (age 18 and older) 297,540 Facebook users live in Saskatchewan (age 18 and older) Personal or Organizational

YouTube Channel

What’s Next? Of the marketers surveyed for the 2010 Social Media Marketing Report: –80% plan to increase use of Facebook –81% plan to increase use of blogs –73% plan to increase use of YouTube –71% plan to increase use of Twitter

Five Themes Know Your Environment Understand the Groundswell Consider Crowdsourcing People Know Best Listen, Learn, Lead

Consider Crowdsourcing53 Crowdsourcing is the act of taking a job traditionally performed by a designated agent (usually an employee) and outsourcing it to an undefined, generally large group of people in the form of an open call.

6 Things for Tomorrow Google Facebook YouTube Blog Twitter Wikipedia

We welcome your questions. Download the eBook:

Contact Us Tom Seymour Board of Directors SRT Communications (701) twitter.com/SenTomSeymour youtube.com/SRTGuys Rick Yuzzi VP - Marketing ZCorum (678) twitter.com/RickYuzzi twitter.com/ZCorum youtube.com/ZCorum facebook.ZCorum.com blog.ZCorum.com