1. Social Media Marketing: A Strategic Approach
Seth F. Michalak SM Consulting
Savannah, GA

2. What does this guy know about social media?
Background in marketing and communications
Worked for a SM startup for 2 years
Business for myself for two years
Launched numerous successful social media profiles and campaigns

3. Quick stats about social media
Facebook – 750 million active users
50% login in on any given day
Twitter – 200 million+ users
65 million tweets per days
Nearly 25% of time spent online in the US is spent on Social Media sites
15% of social media users are more inclined to buy from brands involved in social*

4. Social Media Landscape
Social Networks – Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn
Microblogging – Twitter
Business ratings – Yelp, Angie’s List
Blogs – WordPress, Blogger
Social Sharing – StumbleUpon, Digg
Location-based Check-in – Foursquare, Gowalla
Media Sharing – YouTube, Flickr
Social Shopping – Groupon, Living Social
Discussion Boards and Web Forums
User-generated Knowledge Bases – Wikipedia
– (Yes, !)

5. Social Media gone mobile
Sometime in 2011, 50% of all cell phones in the US will be web-enabled smart phones
People are not paying premium rates for mobile web just to make phone calls
250 million Facebook users visit from their phones

6. How small business use social

7. It is time to go “social”
Millions of potential customers are there
They could be talking about your business – potential ambassadors
In fact, they might already be talking about your business – what are they saying?
Shouldn’t you be involved in that conversation?

8. So, where to start?
So many ways to interact How to determine what is right for your business?

9. Have a Plan! What do you want to accomplish?
No point in starting without setting goals
Define your targets
Implement measurements
Know your limits
How much time can you devote to social media
Effective presences must be touched DAILY
Social Media is not “set and forget”
Avoid “burnout” – commit to social
Have a clear strategy
Likely first move is to develop a base of supporters that can be leveraged in the future

10. Determining strategy
Know that social media is not a “push marketing” channel
Figure out how to engage your targets by becoming a valuable member of the community
Many use website as a hub of SM activity, with desired outcome of sending users to the site
Carefully select the channels you will use

11. Determining strategy
Understand that Social Media is not a magic bullet
Needs to be part of a larger marketing program
Conduct SWOT analysis of current marketing to see where action is needed

12. Determining strategy

13. What can these channels do?
Create a base of followers with whom you can interact daily
Engender user loyalty
Create brand ambassadors who share your information with others
Give you a better idea of what the marketplace wants
Provide you a channel for two-way communication with your customers

14. Other uses Once you have an established base of followers, you can:
Offer customer service via SM
Conduct ongoing campaigns to deepen engagement
Get “creative.” Users love to share things that they like.
Respond to negative press by mobilizing your followers
Conduct basic market research of people you know like your brand

15. Potential pitfalls Users make the rules! You can’t “create” viral
Negative things will be said
“Hard-sell” will get you ignored
You will not “control” the dialogue about your brand, but you will be able to participate
Participation does create an expectation for immediate satisfaction
Even if you intend to only use SM for marketing, service issues will arise

16. Avoiding pitfalls Establish a social media policy – who can do what?
Realize that while sometimes more informal, SM channels are speaking for your brand
Monitor discussions about your brand
People use social media to connect with other people, so be human.

17. Some best practices
Listen! Know what the marketplace is saying about your brand.
Be transparent
Unless abusive, don’t delete messages
Provide content of value, you are joining a community
Users love to interact with links and media – use this!

18. Potential metrics for Social Media Quantative:
Measurement
Potential metrics for Social Media Quantative:
Traffic driven to site – visitors/pageviews
Number of fans/followers/likes
Number of positive mentions
Conversions/revenue
Reduced call volume/reduced returns
Clicks on shortlinks
Social media page impressions
Content spread

19. Potential metrics for Social Media Qualitative:
Measurement
Potential metrics for Social Media Qualitative:
Sentiment – Measure the general attitudes toward your brand based on interaction
Engagement – More interaction with customers?
Keyword measurement – how people describe your brand is important

20. ROI? The BIG question Still a developing medium
Social media ROI measurement depends on your goals – how do you define successful?
Dollar-in dollar-out measurements still challenging
Outcomes with measurable value
Increased sales
Reduced phone time/costs
Larger contacts databases
Almost any ROI measurement that exists can be applied to SM if the proper measurement tools are in place

21. Conclusion Social media still rapidly growing
Millions of potential customers waiting to be engaged
Know the rules, know what you are trying to accomplish
Accept that ROI measurements are still in their infancy, but realize that qualitative and quantitative results are measurable and real
Decide how you are going to get involved