the importance of being communicative (vers. 2014)

Communicate3

IED Lesson 7/2014

Frieda Brioschi / Emma Tracanella frieda.brioschi@gmail.com / emma.tracanella@gmail.com

7. Communicate, communicate, communicate

Course program1. Italian Startups

2. Set up a startup in Italy

3. I've got an idea. And now?

4. Market and costs

5. Value analysis and business model

6. Business Model Examples and Pitch

7. Communicate

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7. Communicate, communicate, communicate

Today's table of content

• Communication, communication and communication

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Business model and Pitch: quick recap

Past slides available on Slideshare @ubifrieda:

https://www.slideshare.net/ubifrieda/

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Business model and Pitch: quick recap

• Examples of Business Model

• Community Models

• Business Plan

• Your Pitch

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Needs

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Landscape

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Where are we?

"A powerful global conversation has begun. Through the Internet, people are discovering and inventing new ways to share relevant knowledge with blinding speed. As a direct result, markets are getting smarter—and getting smarter faster than most companies."

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Cluetrain Manifesto, 1999

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cluetrain_Manifesto

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Social Vs industrial mediaSome parameters:

• Reach: global audience

• Accessibility: government or corporate (privately owned)/generally available to the public at little or no cost

• Usability: specialized skills and training/anyone with access can operate the means of social media production

• Immediacy: instantaneous, days, weeks, or even months/instantaneous

• Permanence: cannot be altered/can be altered almost instantaneously by comments or editing

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_media

7. Communicate, communicate, communicate

Social media• Online technologies and practices that people use to share text,

image, video and audio.

• Andreas Kaplan and Michael Haenlein define social media as "a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0, and that allow the creation and exchange of user-generated content."

• They represent a change in how people learn, read and share information and contents: a blend between sociology and technology takes place and it tranforms a monologue (1-to-many) into a dialogue (many-to-many) and information result democratized, transforming persons from users to editors.

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Social networkDanah Boyd and Nicole Ellison define a social network as "a web-based services that allow individuals to:

• construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system,

• articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection, and

• view and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system.

The nature and nomenclature of these connections may vary from site to site.

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http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol13/issue1/boyd.ellison.html

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Networked publics/1

According to Danah Boyd, social network sites can be understood as networked publics which are simultaneously:

• the space constructed through networked technologies and

• the imagined community that emerges as a result of the intersection of people, technology, and practice

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http://www.danah.org/papers/TakenOutOfContext.pdf

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Networked publics/2

Four properties:

• persistence

• searchability

• replicability

• scalability

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http://www.danah.org/papers/TakenOutOfContext.pdf

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Three dynamics:

• invisible audiences

• collapsed contexts

• the blurring of public and private

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Top 3 SN

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http://vincos.it/2012/06/11/la-mappa-dei-social-network-nel-mondo-giugno-2012/

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Most used SN in Italy

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http://vincos.it/osservatorio-facebook/

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Effective message

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Why?

If I write in a well-aimed and simple manner, I can obtain a double effect since:

• my contents are shared by my followers and can reach a wider audience

• my pagerank, and generally the presence of my brand on search engines, will increase

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Customizing

• Pages and profiles should always be customized and complete, since they're my public presentation.

• I need to include at least:

• a photo (my logo?)

• a cover image

• some information about me/my company.

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Fixing

• I can always modify my post: if (when!) I discover an error, I must fix it as soon as possible.

• Besides, remember to add "content" to your posts, by including your opinion/doubts and not just publishing useful links.

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Continuity

• Try to publish fresh news at least once a day...

...but not too often.

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• Information overflow is a problem!

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Groups

• Join groups, since there you may:

• Find useful info

• Take part in discussions

• Find customers/partners/etc.

• Don't use groups ONLY as an adverting place, spamming is unfair (and often backfires).

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Habits

• Learn local habits and adopt them, or help in creating new habits.

• Such as...

• Friday on Twitter is Follow Friday #FF.

• Thursday on Google+ is the moment to share interesting circles.

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Immediacy

Try to create immediate content: text and images are quick, few videos are ok, watch out for external links.

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Time & day

• During early morning and after dinner the online information flow is lower: I've more chance that my message reach my public.

• For the same reason, Sunday is a great moment for publishing new contents.

• But, mind!...

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Time & day /2...That is not always true!

• Some social media (Reddit, Friendfeed) rely on word of mouth to keep the focus on a news piece.

• If you write when too few people is there to read and “up” your post, it will fade out quickly.

• Be aware that some websites have more public during the working hours, some are more active in the night, some are more continuous (especially if they have a worldwide community).

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Concise• Pay attention to lenght!

• The message should be clear but not too long.

• Length is related to which medium I'm using:

• Twitter: 140 chars

• Facebook: Few lines

• Blog: Few paragraphs

• Newspaper: Few pages

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Diversifying

• Remember that you can use as many ways of communicating as possible: beyond text/image/video, you can involve people with photo galleries and polls.

• In some settings, sound, lights and movement are great attention catalysts.

• Think of Steve Job's Keynotes!

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URL shortener

• Better avoided.

• With a visible link, the user knows what to expect once he clicks.

• If they are really needed, use an URL shortener that allows to give a custom name to your links.

• Consider that some security systems blocks URL shorteners and redirects in order to prevent malware exploits.

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Rules of engagement

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Basic assumption

"Markets are Conversations"

Cluetrain Manifesto, 1999

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cluetrain_manifesto

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Conversating

• Join the conversations and answer to comments.

• As in many other environments, on Social Networks it is critical to listen!

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Listening• Listening is not only a matter of courtesy, but a powerful

instrument that can let you:

• Discover the environment and its opinion leaders

• Measure the “sentiment” of a brand/product and its competitors

• Improve the management of communication, especially on social media

• Enhance CRM

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Roles

• Present yourself with an official profile whenever needed.

• If you want a more direct and involving communication, set up some personal profiles for your key figures.

• Human relations are more pleasant and well received.

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Editorial plan

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RulesExternal

• Rules of engagement for my readers

• Moderation

• Etiquette

• Stay in topic

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Internal

• Your communication must be uniform

• Decide who decides what

• Keep a regular schedule

• Make clear who should answer

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Spreading

• The channels I oversee (not necessarily the channels I own) must be advertised and the word spread: on your website, newsletters and events.

• Linking a company profile to a “person” (true or fake) profile could be a plus.

• Your employees/partners could be your best presentation.

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Press release

• Include your social channels in the press releases!(mostly FB and Twitter)

• Text should be tought out to be shared, too.

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Objectives

To make measured evaluations, you need targets:

• Increase the number of followers

• Increase the daily interactions

• Increase the percentage of readers coming to the website from Social Networks

• Increase the number of subscribers coming from SNs

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Tecniques• Observe and copy what you think interesting

• Answer. At least once a day. Readers must not always be the first to interact, must they?

• Sometimes, share informations not strictly correlated to your business

• Be personal, impersonal is not sexy

• Keep in mind that a question mark every now and then is important.

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Storytelling

• Use SNs to tell stories, not only the core of your business.

• If you set up an event, tell something about it, its background, challenges, successes etc.

• Create expectations (and meet them)

• Narrate the everyday life of the agency/company: a photo of the team, a personal touch...

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Get a plan!

To make a good plan, you need:

1. Analysis

2. Strategy

3. Action

3bis.Luck

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Analysis• Is anyone talking about me online?

• Where? How?

• (Is the presence on that channel worthy?)

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• What do my competitors do?

• What they do well?

• What can I learn from them?

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Strategy

• What channel I decided to oversee?

• What are the targets for each channel?

• BE SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Timed)

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Actions

• Actions must not be unrelated from each other.

• Integration is the word: newsletter, websites, events, all the ways of communications must be coordinated

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One last word

• Social media are a marketing tool (too).

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Next week

• Being net.

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