What is social media and why should you care

What is Social Media / Social Networking?

And Why Should You Care?

Mike Ellsworth

About ME

• Started as a cancer newsletter editor• 15 years at Nielsen Co.• 1 year with an Internet incubator (2000-2001)• 6 years as IT strategy consultant• 3.75 years at State of Minnesota

– Program Director of CareerOneStop

• But here as a citizen and entrepreneur

Copyright © 2010, StratVantage Consulting, LLC. All Rights Reserved

http://www.careeronestop.org/

About ME

• 6 years as IT strategy consultant– Started StratVantage Consulting in 2000– Started CTOMentor in 2002– Started The WiMAX Guys in 2003– Joined startup Evalubase Research as CTO 2004– Working currently with two startups– Starting social media strategy consultancy

Social Media Performance Group with two partners

3Copyright © 2010, StratVantage Consulting, LLC. All Rights Reserved

What Social Media Is Not

Social Media is Not:• A Fad• For Kids• About New Channels to Push Messages • About the Tools• About the Techniques• A Numbers Game• A Replacement


What Social Media Is

Social Media is:• Relevant to business• For Everyone• About Creating Conversations• About Strategy• About Planning and Execution• About Creating Relationships• A Supplement to Existing Techniques



Social Media Approach - Tools

Presenter

Presentation Notes

Let’s say you want to remodel your kitchen. A contractor visits and begins to describe his approach: “I’m going to use a screwdriver and screws, a hammer and nails, a saw and wood, a sledgehammer and a crowbar.” It’s the same with Social Media consultants that talk about LinkedIn, and Facebook, and Twitter, and YouTube and blogs. Just like the kitchen renovation you need a strategy, a plan, and a design before you consider the tools you’ll use.


Social Media Approach – Strategic

Presenter

Presentation Notes

Let’s say you want to remodel your kitchen. A contractor visits and begins to describe his approach: “I’m going to use a screwdriver and screws, a hammer and nails, a saw and wood, a sledgehammer and a crowbar.” It’s the same with Social Media consultants that talk about LinkedIn, and Facebook, and Twitter, and YouTube and blogs. Just like the kitchen renovation you need a strategy, a plan, and a design before you consider the tools you’ll use.

Social Media in Business

Typical Social Media Application Areas:• Marketing• Branding• Sales


Enterprise

Find

BeFound

Grow Business

Influence

Engage

Listen

Social Media in the Enterprise

Other Great Places to Use Social Media:• Customer Service• Product Development• Employee Engagement• Knowledge Management• Crisis Communications


Social Media Success Stories

Sales - Trissential and Cargill• $12M vs. $120B • Local vs. Global• Told not to waste time trying

to become a vendor


Social Media Success Stories

Sales - Trissential and Cargill• Sales guy connected with Cargill employees on

LinkedIn • Met with these contacts when there was no

opportunity in sight• One day, Cargill contacted him to meet • 9 months of social networking produced sales

agreement with Cargill


Social Media Success StoriesBest Buy “Blue Shirt Nation”• Thousands of hourly employees• How to connect rank and file

with overall company strategy? • Blue Shirt Nation was skunk works, now involves >10

percent of workforce• Executives use it:

– To find out what is going on with the hourly employees – To improve customer service and employee satisfaction


Space defined by Media Owner

Brand in control

One way / Delivering a message

Repeating the message

Focused on the brand

Entertaining

Company-created content

Space defined by Consumer

Consumer in control

Two way / Being a part of a conversation

Adapting the message

Focused on the consumer / Adding value

Influencing, involving

User-created content / Co-creation

TRADITIONAL MEDIA SOCIAL MEDIA

Source: Neil PerkinCopyright © 2010, StratVantage Consulting, LLC. All Rights Reserved

A Different Approach

Online Goals

• Top Goals for Online Networking– Create a community of contacts who can recommend you

and connect you– Conduct research on customers and prospects– Expand your business to

new markets

– Create a higher profile and build your brand


Let’s Face It

• People are talking about you online• >9 million blogs - 40,000 new / day• Facebook >65 billion page views / month• Nielsen Online: Social networks and blogs 4th most

popular online activity – beating email!• Online communities visited by 67% of global online

population


Let’s Face It

• Do you ignore the conversation?• Or join in?


Attract vs. Pursue


Who’s Going to Do It?

• You• Your sales force• Your employees

– Kind of scary– Very, very effective


How to Do It

• Emphasize Return On Engagement, not ROI– It takes time to see results– Invest the time

• Not a numbers game, a quality of interaction game


How to Do It

• Emphasize Share of Conversation– The degree to which a brand is associated with the

problem or need that it is setting out to help with– The percent of all people

talking about a problemthat are talking aboutyou

Copyright © 2009, StratVantage Consulting, LLC. All Rights ReservedSource: Marcel LeBrun, The Media Philosopher

Others Are Spending


And Seeing Results


Return On Engagement

“Do you want to pay X for a 30-second spot passively watched by 2 million prospects; or a Web experience [ . . .] where 500,000 engage with the brand for seven minutes, then use Word of Mouth (WOM) to pass along their experience?”

— Mike Valentino, CEO of TMPG Inc.


Online, Think 4C’s Not 4P’s

• Product, Pricing, Place and Promotion still important – of course!

• Add Content, Context, Connection, and Community


Adapted from John Jantsch of Duct Tape Marketing

http://www.openforum.com/connectodex/duct-tape-marketing?username=john-jantsch

Types of Online Marketing


Source: Social Media Marketing Industry Report, Michael A. Stelzner

Branding Your Business Online

• All your online marketing efforts should drive traffic to your Web page

• Your Web page needs to be optimized

• Must have a call to action• Must clearly describe your business• Must enable users to bookmark, tag, or

email your URL to a friend


Social bookmarking toolbar at: http://www.socialmarker.com/

http://www.socialmarker.com/

Creating Evangelists

• Give your online supporters tools to identify themselves– Avatar symbols for Twitter– Badges for Websites and social network profiles– Mailing lists for them to join – Fan pages and groups at social networks for them to join– Stickers, T-shirts, badges, other trinkets


What Creates Word of Mouth?

• A good experience, says Forrester

• A trustworthy relationship with peers, says Big Research

• A purple cow, says Seth Godin


Source: Ben McConnell and Jackie Huba, www.churchofthecustomer.com/

http://www.forrester.com/Research/Document/Excerpt/0,7211,54492,00.html

http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?R=1007123

http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?R=1007123

http://www.amazon.com/Purple-Cow-Transform-Business-Remarkable/dp/159184021X/wabalake-20

http://www.churchofthecustomer.com/

Social Media SWOT Team

• Strengths – What are your online strengths? What is your online brand?

• Weaknesses – What are your online weaknesses? How to remedy?

• Opportunities – What is your competition notdoing?

• Threats– What is your competition doing?


On Beyond the Big 3


• There are thousands of social media networks

• Chances are good you can find one you’ll like


The Entrepreneur’s Challenge

• Most ventures fail within 5-7 years• Most ventures don’t even get off the ground• Your compensation can vary, drastically• Be ready to work very, very hard• Be ready to put your money (debt) where your mouth

is• Network like crazy• Only work with those as committed as you are

Copyright © 2010, Social Media Performance Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Thank You!

More In-Depth Training from Social Media Performance Group

– Linked In or Left Out: Using LinkedIn and Twitter to Find a Job – 3-hour Workshop

– Using Social Media for Business – 90-minute Webinar – Using Social Media for Recruiting – 90-minute Webinar

Copyright © 2010, Social Media Performance Group, Inc. All Rights ReservedCopyright © 2009, StratVantage Consulting, LLC. All Rights Reserved

Thank You!

– You are welcome to connect with me:– Mike Ellsworth– Twitter: @MikeEllsworth– LinkedIn: www.LinkedIn.com/in/MikeEllsworth– Facebook: www.facebook.com/MichaelJEllsworth– Google Mike Ellsworth and check the bottom of the first

page– [email protected]– 952-373-1006


http://www.linkedin.com/in/MikeEllsworth

http://www.facebook.com/MichaelJEllsworth

mailto:[email protected]

Thank You!

– Linked InSolutions Facebook Page: bit.ly/mRREZ– Social Media for Job Search LinkedIn Group: bit.ly/otzeF– StratVantage Consulting LinkedIn Page: bit.ly/5ayeF– Linked InSolutions Page: www.LinkedInSolutions.com– Mike Ellsworth’s Blog: www.FutuRANT.com


http://bit.ly/mRREZ

http://bit.ly/otzeF

http://bit.ly/5ayeF

http://www.linkedinsolutions.com/

http://www.futurant.com/