Social Media Marketing Best Practices
Chapter 4 Web 2.0Much has been made of Web 2.0. It has been touted as the second generation of web-based communities and social media - which aim to facilitate collaboration and sharing between users. Those who work in this area are quick to point out how "revolutionary" and "unique" it is (the Young Turk's mantra: "Don't trust anyone over the age of 30"). Quite frankly, in our opinion, there is no difference between Web 1.0 and Web 2.0. While this may be heretical to some, let's face it, "communities" on the web have always been around. If a distinction must be made, ours would be:
Web 1.0 was the democratization of access to information, and
Web 2.0 is the democratization of the production of information.
Either way, does the existence of Web 2.0 really turn your web strategy upside down? Unless you're YouTube, we would argue, likely not. So many marketers get caught up in the "glitzy" or the minutiae of our business, they forget about the ultimate destination for their traffic - content on their web site. So before you begin with new distractions, make sure you're leading with a great site. Once you have that, make sure there is a re-examination of the user's multi channel experience i.e. is there a consistency of information and experience across all channels? Once you have those basics covered, then you're ready for social media marketing best practices.
With this section, we hope to provide some thought starters for you as you develop and augment your social media roadmap - answering the questions:
YouTube is the quintessential Web 2.0 company. But that does not mean that you need to play by YouTube's playbook in order to participate in Web 2.0 (i.e. not everything is video). Without a doubt, the internet has rewritten the rules for doing business; changing many business models beyond recognition. New ways of business require new ways of describing them (hence Web 1.0 vs Web 2.0).
YouTube is a phenomenon. To explain this phenomenon, we have the "1% rule." According to this rule of thumb, in a community of 100 members, one person creates new content, 10 others interact with it, and the 89 just "consume" it. Thus, adoption or uptake of a new cultural phenomenon requires a critical mass of only 1%, rather than some much higher percentage, as might have been expected (analogous to The Tipping Point or Word of Mouth Marketing). The success of YouTube is a prime example of the 1% rule: 1% of users of the site initially uploaded video content; then 10% downloaded and shared it with friends, generating ratings that attracted more viewers from among the remaining 89%. By gaining critical mass in the 1%, YouTube has grown into a worldwide phenomenon.
Leveraging YouTube video can make sense, and it can be done in a very effective manner e.g. Blendtec. Or, you can leverage your own platform e.g. FastCompanyTV whereby FastCompany is taking its content and enriching it with video - another way to get your brand known.
With that said, as Marketers, we need to do what makes sense for our business and our brand. We don't need to create content for every Web 2.0 platform. But given that our customers are consuming its content, we need to leverage those platforms with our content, where it makes sense. Force fitting otherwise, results in a Meatball Sundae.
Our guidance to our readers is to focus on sound business principles and not chase some artificial sense of Web 2.0 nor the Herculean task of trying to attract the 1% that represent the trend-setters. So, it's business as usual - utilizing internet marketing best practices.
Social Media
Social media or social networking is very much a part of Web 2.0 and the web today. While internet usage used to equate to Google searches; today people now think in terms of blogs and social networks. And it is not just the Gen Y's - blogs and social networks are being embraced by all ages.
It is harder to reach your target customer today. In a rapidly evolving, advertising-saturated new media environment, consumers have more power than ever to tune you out. In trying to sell in this new reality, corporations have been somewhat mixed in their embrace of social media. Some are listening only, others appear to be actively embracing social media - some with clear purpose, others still feeling their way - companies such as: How Does It Fit?
Success is not simply setting up a Facebook page or "tweeting" products. It remains critical to know what the end goal of what you are attempting to do is. Why are you considering social media? Who do you wish to reach and for what purpose? Are you looking to augment your customer service offering? Is your company struggling with its online reputation? Are you otherwise building its brand? Are you trying to build awareness with a specific audience? Are you doing it because you believe traditional advertising isn't paying off anymore?
Evaluate what sites work best for your business objectives. To help answer that, find out where your target audience is gathering?
Then, what outcome do you expect from engaging in social media? What are the risks? What are you going to say in the social media space?
Social media certainly has been growing rapidly. According to the Conference Board, 43% of internet users utilize social networking sites (up 27% from 2008). Given its relative position vis a vis other web media, it makes sense to engage with it as part of an integrated, holistic strategy (offline and digital) - testing media mixes for optimal results.
The chart above emphasizes the importance of not overcorrecting for social media. Given its place on the map above, and given the phenomenal growth that social media is experiencing, it probably makes sense to consider incorporating social media into every marketing effort you undertake vs ad hoc efforts.
So, now that we've embarked on the social media journey, what are best practices? Needless to say best practices are evolving as the media evolves. With that said, consider the development of content that taps into the psychology of social media. Don't lose sight of why these networks have formed nor why they have taken off. Researchers tell us that social media, among other things, fulfills:
As such, content should help reinforce each of these "needs" above. It may actually necessitate us thinking more like publishers than Marketers. Content should be designed to engage your audience. Follow the principles of what good conversation looks like and feels like:
And most importantly, make sure the conversation leads somewhere i.e. push to a web site or sparks an interactive discussion.
Three Great Case Studies:
Cordarounds is a great case study of how one company appears to have gotten social media right - with the right mix of personality, education and promotion (along with a good push to its web site). Cordarounds is a two person company that gets national and international press for new product launches, and they credit the web for much of this. First, the web allows Cordarounds to appear to be much bigger than they really are. Second, they have build a humorous web site that looks like it is from a big company. But third, every product they launch is geared toward how much noise will they get on the internet e.g. reversible smoking jackets. They heavily leverage social media (Facebook, Twitter). They launch new products first on social media sites (e.g. Facebook) to give brand loyalists an opportunity to buy the new product first. It also gives the company an opportunity to know who their loyalists are.
Another great case study comes from the blog of Jeremiah Owyang. Mr. Owyang shows how Dell connected with a community of enthusiasts gathered via its Facebook group, which asked the question, "What does green mean to you?" Dell's Graffiti ReGeneration Contest, which was aimed at graffiti artists, prompted users to employ Facebook's graffiti function to create visual representations of what green means to them. The campaign garnered more than 7,300 submissions and more than one million Facebook users voted to pick the campaign's winners.
The third case study is one of how one company monitors Twitter and engages its customers - it is Comcast with its comcastcares. They exemplify how sites should be actively monitored and users engaged to ensure that it's brand reputation remains intact.
Overcoming "Cultural Inertia"
The statistics regarding social media are mind boggling. At a basic level, 3 out of 4 Americans use social technology. Your customers are actively using or experimenting with social media today. If you have any doubt that your customers are experimenting with social media, check out this slide presentation for a richer argument as to consumer engagement with social media (warning, the presentation does contain expletives).
Once you have the statistics, the next step is to develop the social media roadmap - making a strategic argument for social media that even the most curmudgeoned CEO will agree with - a good starting point is this social media strategy presentation.
Social Media Platforms
There are plenty of social media platforms to choose from, but a good starting place for consideration is:
What remains so simple about social media is that it is complimentary to what you are doing today. The traffic you get from social media marketing is complimentary to the traffic you get from search engines. It all comes down to the network. Once you’ve build your network, the objective becomes driving customers to your site or content. With social media, you will get targeted traffic to your web site and in most cases other users will link your web site and talk about it on their own social media platform. i.e. a blog, etc. At the end of the day, you are building natural links to your web site. This will eventually drive natural traffic to your web site. A low cost, high return marketing strategy.
Twitter, of all the social networking sites, may actually hold the most promise from a business perspective, especially with the advent of "retweets." Retweets, represented on Twitter with the symbol "RT," is essentially the same as forwarding emails, stories, or links to everyone on your e-mail address list. Retweets are someone else's tweets, copied or forwarded to a new distribution list.
Retweets represent the perfect opportunity to get people who are not exposed to your company on Twitter, exposed. If you have a great offer, what better way to get the message out than have a select group of people -- "followers" or subscribers -- retweet it to their list of "followers." Granted, it may take time for a company to reach a critical mass of followers to fully appreciate the power of retweets. That is when it makes sense to partner with Twitter users/organizations who have a following and are willing to retweet your message. A new search engine called Topsy is powered by tweets and shows the Twitter users considered most "influential" about topics (users get more influence the more their links get retweeted). That should be your starting point from a partnership perspective. Choose your partners carefully so you won't be seen as lobbying for retweets. You may have more success partnering with organizations with large followings vs individuals, as many individuals still like the "purity" of social media and may be turned off by commercial retweet requests.
Twitter Skepticism
We will be the first to admit that it is easy to be skeptical of Twitter:
With that said, social media is still in its infancy. The stats are changing in Twitter's favor every day. We have seen how it can be effective from a Marketer's perspective - leveraging the power of the network. If you're skeptical, there is no harm in leveraging these platforms with your content. Try it out! Who knows, you may be surprised by the response you get.
Twitter Best Practices
In developing your tweets, some considerations:
Getting Followers:
First and foremost, social media marketing best practices requires you to understand that your Twitter page is like any other website. This means that if you want to increase your Twitter subscriber base, you just need to do one thing again and again: Drive web traffic to your profile. The more targeted the traffic, the better.
Ensure you have an effective profile bio - it is a great way to attract followers.
Relevance. Why would someone want to follow me on Twitter? How will s/he benefit from it? There are numerous ideas - one novel one was "Follow Me, Get a Copy of My Book."
Follow the "opinion leaders." Many have scripts that will auto follow you. Also, when people look at your profile to see who you follow, you want to appear that you have a clue.
And lastly, according to influential blogger Robert Scoble, follow everyone who follows you. Why? The answer is that it’s courteous to do so and because when you do, some people will respond to you and eveyone who follows them will see this—which is more exposure for you. Recognize that at some point it will be impossible to read what all your followers tweet. At that point, you have to focus on direct private messages (“Ds”) and direct public messages (“@s””).
47 Twitter Power Users’ Secrets To Getting Many Followers
Timing Tweets
While there haven't been any studies performed, as far as we can tell, regarding the timing of tweets, according to the internet marketing firm Abraham & Harrison, who have hosted a number of Webinars along with Twitter - if you're going to tweet a couple of times-a-day, then you should choose noon and 3 pm. If you plan to Twitter aggressively, tweet at 9 am, noon, 3 pm and 6 pm - to cover the spread. Of course, you'll need to experiment with your tweets and see when you're getting the best response.
If you're an avid tweeter, then chances are, your followers are not reading each and every tweet you send out. As such, test repeating your best and most informative tweets several times during the day and see if you get an increase in response. Be judicious with your repeats - you don't want to be known for posting nothing but repeat messages.
It has also been observed that popular tweeters blast out 5-10 tweets simultaneously at peak hours. Given that we seem to be moving to a real-time search world, releasing 5 tweets targeted at certain keywords could put the tweets at the top of search results for a short period of time, thus driving considerable traffic. To maximize peak timing, consider using SocialOomph (formely known as TweetLater).
Check out Guy Kawasaki's blog, as it offers further tips on how to use Twitter from a Marketing perspective. And for those beginning to experiment with Twitter, it never hurts to know some Twitter etiquette.
Integrate Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Best Practices
SEO is a critical component of any social media effort. Do a search for Zappos on Google, for example, and you’ll easily find more than shoes - you'll find Zappos on Twitter, a blog and a YouTube channel - all on the first page of the search results. Implementing a social media marketing program without optimizing content and SEO best practices is leaving money on the table.
There are two types of keywords on Twitter:
While Hash tags are great on Twitter, SEO is how your content will truly be discovered. As such, consider using key words in your shortened URLs. A more in-depth illustration of the power of key words being used in shortened URLs can be found here.
Measuring Social Media Results
Measurement of social media initiatives is still in its infancy. For some, the measurement is:
For those who need more metrics, here are others to consider.
Controlling the Message - Involve Legal In Strategy Development
Let's face it, your company is exposed on social networking sites in ways it never imagined. By involving your legal department, it can guide you in the what, when, where, and how to engage in the social media realm. Everything from guiding employees as to the actions they take on social media sites - from policies about what kind of language you'll accept from readers posting comments, what can be said, who can say it, where it can be said, contingency planning, to how to handle employees' actions on social media sites outside normal work hours. Consider the legal department a friendly partner in your strategy development.
The Road Forward
Social media is for everyone - small businesses right down to the street vendor in San Francisco. If you're not involved, time to start. If you are involved, continue to monitor and evolve your presence to obtain the desired results.
Whatever you do in the social realm, make sure it has the potential to provoke a conversation - otherwise why would someone want to follow and comment on your undertakings. It could be a poll, it could an interesting photo. How do you create something with emotion - whether it is funny, heartfelt, interesting, conversational? Where is the emotion that you are bringing out of your own brand?
The advantage of social media are the connections it can bring to you. As such, you don't need millions of followers. What matters is the quality of the followers. The power is the "influence network." If one of your follower's finds something of interest, they may pass it along to someone in their network who may end up purchasing your offering.
If getting onto the social web sites (arguably) is the first step, listening to the conversations is the next step. Using Twitter Saved Search - plug-in your company name, brands/products, CEO name etc. Every time they are mentioned, you'll know and be able to enter into a thoughtful engagement. Another tool is Google Alerts - this lets you know anytime a particular word or phrase is used - resulting in an email to you or showing up in your RSS feed.
Weaving it all together, illustratively, use:
We are at a point where it may make sense to digitize your products - creating new ways to experience a product and/or enhance its value. Is there a market opportunity for a digital product based upon your brand? Are there opportunities to integrate a web experience into your product? From a marketing perspective, the key to success in the digital environment will be the freeing of content so it is accessible from more than just your own site.
Before we wrap up the social media conversation, two tactical details we wanted to emphasize:
While learnings are still emerging in this environment, a couple of things remain clear:
Sites of Interest
Articles of Interest:
21 strategic Twitter thought starters
3 secrets to social storytelling
Five Headline Writing Tips For Social News Success And Visibility
Cheat sheet on the social landscape
What’s Working for Social Media Marketers - a look at effectiveness
Headlines that Spread - the science of retweets
Mobile will be the next hub of social media
Baja Fresh botches social media promotion – massively underestimates response
5 Social Media Lessons Learned From Whole Foods
Social Media “How To” for Retailers from Nielsen
Starting Your Social Media Case
Marketers' Use of Twitter Goes Beyond Just Tweeting
Consumers Fan brands on Facebook and Follow brands On Twitter for "Exclusive Deals"
Product Reviews Welcome on Mobile; Shunned on SocNets
Restaurant uses social media to develop its wine list
Zappos building long-term relationships with customers via social networking
In keeping with our site's mission to represent CRM best practices, we reiterate our call that should you come across content and links that, in your opinion, represent the best of the Internet, we strongly encourage you to pass them along so we can continue to keep our community abreast of the latest and best.
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