marketing and social media tmec oct09

Bellevue Seattle Portland Spokane Los Angeles Baltimore London

Social Media: the Battle between hype and reality

A Marketer’s Guide to using Social Media effectively

Presented at Forrester Research TMEC Conference, Chicago October 7, 2009


But first, a word from our sponsor

Ascentium is a digital agency dedicated to creating exceptional, results-

oriented user experiences - because their outcomes form the core of an

organization’s success.

A Little about us:

• Ranked #27 among Ad Age’s Top 50 Digital Agencies

• Recently featured in Q2 2009 Forrester Wave® for Interactive Agencies –

Web Design

• Inc. 500/5000 list named Ascentium of the fastest-growing private companies

in America 5 times since 2005.

• Microsoft 2009 Partner of the Year for CRM

• Based in Bellevue, Washington

• With almost 500 employees in 6 offices across the country and in the UK


And you may have heard of a few of our Clients


Today’s Topic: Social Media, A Marketing Channel

What this presentation isn’t:

• A shocking and revealing recitation of the revolutionary aspects of

Social Media

• A review of new technology that will change the world

• A Sermon on the religion of Social Media and why you need to get some

What this presentation hopes to do:

• Place Social Media within the context of Marketing

• Understand how Social Media can be used in campaigns

• Show a few examples of social media campaigns that work

• Spark some discussion


Social Media Hype Cycle: It’s all over the place

Corporate Blogs

Facebook, MySapce

Community Marketing

Twitter

YouTube

It’s all over the place


Speaking of Marketing Channels

What are they and how have they evolved?


In the beginning of marketing, word of mouth was the

single channel


Then came copywriting and of course visual design

And so began the birth of advertising


Then came signage and the start of retail


Even Outdoor advertising has its roots in antiquity


The Point?

• Throughout history there has been the constant evolution of

communication

• Each Channel began as a revolution, followed a hype cycle and

ended up as another additional communications channel

And the introduction of technology has followed the same pattern…


The printing press gave us newspapers and print advertising


Mass distribution supported the evolution of the catalog


And with dawn of the age of electronics, technology didn’t

change the message, just the medium


Although it has changed the medium an awful lot


And of course, who could forget the start of the Internet

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/1f/Mosaic_Netscape_0.9_on_Windows_XP.png

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4f/Rusty_n_Edies_BBS.png


With ecommerce


Search


Blogs


User Generated Content


And finally, Social Networks

But is Social Media really that new?


We all remember the 1:1 Marketer’s favorite image

The New England hardware store,

where they knew who you were, what you wanted

and it was always in stock right when you needed it


But what happened on the way home?

The brand was really built over the back fence


And so Social Media wasn’t born…

It just got bigger with a dose of technology


In Social Media, technology has served to dramatically

increase the individual’s sphere’s of influence

Search Universe

Social Networks

Friends &FamilyColleagues & Neighbors


So how does Social Media fit into Marketing?

First, let’s put it in context


It is the fallacy of mass market advertising and traditional

ad agencies that it is the company that owns the brand


Advertising and marketing influences brand awareness


But advertising cannot mask the reality of the actual

customer experience


Genuine customer experience is communicated from

users, to their friends, family and their circles of influence


Social media and social networks simply amplify the reach

of an individual’s circle of influence

Without sacrificing the authenticity and

credibility associated with the individual user


What Comes Next?

How do we, as marketers, begin to grapple with

Social Media as a marketing channel?


Start with your business strategy

• What business are you in?

• What makes your company

successful?

• Who are your customers?

• What do they think about you?

• What do you think about them?

• Oh, and what about your employees?

• And your partners, suppliers,

investors, stockholders? What do

they think?


Then understand your customers

• What kind of people are attracted to

your brand?

• What identities do they want to create

for themselves with your brand?

• What role does your brand fit into

their lives?

• What will motivate them to add your

brand to their collective identity?

• What kind of experience are they

looking for?


Mapping out the intersection of your business and your

customers becomes the Marketing Strategy

And determines how, when, and why you engage


And Don’t Forget Sales

It’s the reason you do marketing


At the end of the day, Strategy is all about getting and

keeping customers


Strategy is Strategic, Campaigns are Tactical

Campaigns are used to move people through the pipeline

• AWARNESS

• CONSIDERATION

• PREFERENCE

• PURCHASE


And Social Media is a great place to launch campaigns


Let’s take a look at 4 examples of how to use Social Media

as the primary marketing channel for campaigns at each

stage of the pipeline

Awareness – Dell in 2008

Consideration – Heck

Preference – Brooks Running Club

Purchase – PCC Natural Markets


Find your audience where they live AWARENESS


Tap into an existing community CONSIDERATION


Leverage the community’s common interest PREFERENCE


Drive Demand & Generate Sales PURCHASE


Again, What’s the Point?

• Social Media and Social Networks are nothing more than the extension of

each individual’s sphere of influence through the application of technology.

• Social Media has brought to the forefront, a process and a methodology of

human interaction that pre dates both the technology and marketing.

• Social Media owes its influence to the authenticity and credibility of the

individual (or group of individuals) who represent actual users, not personas.

• Social Media Strategies must be rooted in marketing strategies, which are

produced to achieve business strategies.

• Social Media based campaigns can be used to achieve goals at each stage

of the sales pipeline.

And did I mention Social Media can be tasty!

Thank You

marketing and social media tmec oct09

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