rockstar social media commerce

”WHO IS ADII?

• Entrepreneur, co-founder of WooThemes and creator of Rockstar Awesomeness

• Honours degree in business strategy (Stellenbosch University)

• Past delegate of Nomadic Marketing (2007)

• Been working as a freelance designer / developer (self-taught) since beginning of 2007

• Used only social media marketing to build my own and my businesses’ reputation

• I’m not a web designer / developer / geek

• Passion for business models and the marketing of those business models

• After the dot com bomb: challenges to create value / earn a ROI online (especially in current economic climate)

“Calling myself a Rockstar is the best marketing decision I have ever made!”

• Online Startup founded by myself in November 2007 (as Premium News Themes), rebranded as WooThemes in July 2008 (with then co-founders Magnus & Mark)

• 3 additional (full-time) team members located at our “HQ” in Cape Town

• Template solutions for WordPress-powered websites (digital products)

• Wide variety of templates: Business, CMS, Multimedia, Blog, Portfolio, Photoblogs & Videoblogs

HISTORY & OVERVIEW OF WOOTHEMES

• Top-notch functions features at an entry-level cost

• Licenses: $70 - $150

• 3 Month Club Subscriptions: $150 - $225

• Compared to custom designed / developed WP solution: $2K - $10K (R20K - R100K)

• Templates designed to be modified according to user requirements; more of a starting point than an end-result

• You purchase: the template, as well as extensive technical & customisation support (“buying into” a community)

GROWTH BASED ON SALES & MEMBERSHIP FIGURES:

Jul ‘08 Aug ‘08 Sep ‘08 Oct ‘08 Nov ‘08 Dec ‘08 Jan ‘09 Feb ‘09 Mar ‘09

THE WOOTHEMES TIMELINE

Rebranded as Woo

8 Themes (1 Free)

1 New Theme

Featured in WebDesigner Magazine

4 New Themes

1 Free Theme

Recurring Subs

3-for-1 Halloween

4 New Themes

2 Free Themes

2 New Themes

4-for-1 Xmas Special

3 New Themes

Permanent 2-for-1

3 New Themes

2 New Team Members

Free Icon Set

3 New Themes

Featured in WebDesigner Magazine

OVERVIEW OF SOCIAL MEDIA CHANNELS

WOOTHEMES BLOG / RSS FEED

WOOTHEMES TWITTER STREAM

WOOTHEMES E-MAIL NEWSLETTER

ADII ROCKSTAR BLOG / RSS FEED

ADII ROCKSTAR TWITTER STREAM

AFFILIATE NETWORK

• Main website (http://www.woothemes.com) doubles as a commercial / promotional / information website, along with a blog

• RSS feed published throughout the site; subscribers notified of all updates (news, blog posts & new themes)

• We blog about: internal news / promotions, new themes, theme concepts, user feedback / engagement, competitions, industry / related news

• Currently: 1200-odd RSS subscribers

• Currently: 650K+ pageviews / month (Google Analytics)

• No “focused” SEO strategy

• Only 18% of our traffic from search engines (of which 50% search for “woothemes”, “wootheme” or “woo themes”)

AFFILIATE NETWORK

Example: The WooContest

• Users could submit theme design concepts (no coding)

• 3 weeks

• 1st, 2nd & 3rd prize = $3500 USD

• Purchased 6 additional concepts = $2000 USD

• Value: Themes & Marketing (!!)

• http://twitter.com/woothemes - Official WooThemes Twitter Stream

• Twitter activities complimented by our respective, individual Twitter profiles

• We tweet about: promotion of blog posts, Twitter-specific competitions, ask quick questions of our users & answer user questions

• Use Twitter Search to monitor any mentions of WooThemes: ability to respond / market

AFFILIATE NETWORK

Example: Productum Contest

• New Theme (Productum) was released

• Re-Tweet competition to win one of a few free copies to the new theme

• Tweets link back to WooThemes

• 250+ mentions of Productum and / or WooThemes in a hour

• Free & Viral Marketing

Act quick! WIN a free copy of our new theme Productum: http://bit.ly/GElML8:04 AM Mar 10th from TwitterFox ”

AFFILIATE NETWORK

Example Tweet: Promotion

new business / cms theme by @adii... http://bit.ly/qn8m94:43 AM Mar 26th from TwitterFox ”

AFFILIATE NETWORK

Example Tweet: Adding Value

great modification of our typebased theme by @screename: http://bit.ly/16xDF912:38 AM Mar 20th from TwitterFox ”

AFFILIATE NETWORK

Example Tweet: Communicate

@SocialMtgExpert We are going to fix that when we update the backend. Just drop us an email and we will reset it for you.10:43 AM Mar 19th from TwitterFox in reply to SocialMtgExpert”

• Currently: +- 9K subscribers

• Consisting of WooThemes users, affiliates or any other interested party

• Generally: monthly newsletters consisting of highlights from the blog (sometimes includes exclusive content)

• Average of 48%** recipients open newsletter

• 55%** of those recipients click link back to the website

• These users spend 4+ minutes on the site and view 3+ pages (goal achieved?)

** Stats based on estimates from CampaignMonitor

AFFILIATE NETWORK

• http://adii.co.za

• Personal publishing platform

• Stats: 1700 RSS subscribers, 1K daily uniques (very niche following)

• I blog about: business, design, strategy, branding, marketing, social media, development etc.

• I don’t blog about: WooThemes

AFFILIATE NETWORK

• http://twitter.com/adii

• Micro-blogging

• More of a marketing channel compared to blog

• Stats: 2200-odd followers (top Twitter-er in SA?)

• Include additional 2000 followers on team members’ profiles (4K+ in total)

AFFILIATE NETWORK

Example Tweet: Marketing

email from @woothemes user: "Your after sale support is great. Even some of your answers in your forums go beyond what is required." :)8:33 PM Mar 17th from twhirl ”

AFFILIATE NETWORK

Example Tweet: Viral

RT: @mikestopforth: @adii you would not believe how many people here at #sxsw know about #woothemes - and LOVE you guys! (naturally)9:01 PM Mar 16th from twhirl ”

AFFILIATE NETWORK

Example Tweet: Momentum

hoping small UI (and ultimately usability) tweaks will improve the "support experience" of @woothemes users (back- & frontend)9:59 AM Mar 5th from twhirl ”

Growth

GROWTH ON ALL PLATFORMS / CHANNELS ARE INTER-RELATED TO SALES / TURNOVER GROWTH:

SOCIAL MEDIA GROWTH

GrowthWWW

SOCIAL MEDIA GROWTH

GrowthWWWTwitter - Woo

SOCIAL MEDIA GROWTH

GrowthWWWTwitter - WooRSS - Woo

SOCIAL MEDIA GROWTH

OVERVIEW OF SOCIAL MEDIA CHANNELSWHY THE NEED FOR PERSONAL PROFILES?

• “Champions of our own cause”

• WooThemes is also = Adii, Magnus & Mark

• Personalities of the founders are reflected in the way that WooThemes conducts business & communicates with stakeholders

• Raising personal / individual profile = value to WooThemes’ marketing activities

GrowthWWWTwitter - WooRSS - WooTwitter - Adii

SOCIAL MEDIA GROWTH

• Our banners published on other blogs / websites

• Affiliates earn a commission

• Currently: 25 - 30% of sales generated via affiliate links

• Top 2 affiliates responsible for about 5% of our traffic on monthly basis

• Affiliate banners / links = more credible (and viral) than paid advertising

AFFILIATE NETWORK

TAKE-AWAYDISCLAIMER...

• Sorry... But this may not be that easy for you...

• The average WooThemes user / stakeholder already knows about blogs, RSS, Twitter, affiliate networking etc.

• Reason: Our products are related to these services (i.e. online) and there is thus a relevance / benefit to being active on those channels, as well as being a WooThemes user.

• Your clients / customers / stakeholders may not have heard of any of these technologies before.

• This should however not prevent you from incorporating these “marketing” principles, as they can be implemented irrespective of the specific technology involved.

• All channels mentioned are just channels; not a marketing strategy.

• The Strategy = Social Media = User Engagement & Community Building

• Social Media is not (only) technology

TAKE-AWAYFIRST STEP: USER ENGAGEMENT

• The majority of your marketing budget should go towards engaging with customers / stakeholders; the rest can go towards advertising / brand awareness / PR.

• Social Media = Social (Online & Off) + Media (medium, technology, channel)

• So it’s about a conversation... On way or another... Online is just easier!

USER ENGAGEMENT 101

• INVOLVE YOUR USERS

• WooThemes Support Forum = Crowdsourced Support

• Feedback on theme concepts

• ACKNOWLEDGE YOUR USERS

• WooThemes Showcase = View great user modifications of any WooTheme

• Re-Tweets on Twitter

• Engagement via blog comments

• LOVE YOUR USERS

• Everyone loves freebies / competitions

• Add value constantly (2-for-1)

• Reward users via affiliate setup (say thanks for their attempts at taking your message viral)

TAKE-AWAYSTEP TWO: BUILD YOUR COMMUNITY

• Ultimate Goal: To have a community of users who are fanatical about your company & your products / services.

• People are part of communities because they feel safe / comfortable and they’re after some geek cred.

• Acknowledging & Ranking (within a community) of users via their social profile.

• This way, your users become the champions of your company <---- MASSIVE CREDIBILITY!

QUESTIONS & GOODBYE

• WooThemes: http://www.woothemes.com

• WooThemes on Twitter: http://twitter.com/woothemes

• Adii Rockstar: http://adii.co.za

• Adii Rockstar on Twitter: http://twitter.com/adii

• Icons by: http://wefunction.com

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