super show - building relationships through social media
DESCRIPTION
Discover how to use, leverage and build your business through social media. Join Nicky Senyard, CEO at Income Access to learn how different forms of social media can help operators build relationships with affiliates, and help affiliates build relationships with players. She will also touch on how social media can help enhance transparency, increase brand awareness and develop personalities.TRANSCRIPT
Building Relationships through Social MediaBuilding Relationships through Social Media
Why is Social Media Part of the Why is Social Media Part of the Innovation Showcase?Innovation Showcase?
Potential for real value, with little investment
Social media is garnering a lot of buzz
Social media remains largely untapped by operators and affiliates
WhatWhat is Social Media?is Social Media?
A communication vehicle that promotes interaction and dialogue
A medium that transforms people from content consumers into content producers
A feedback loop An eliciting of conversation Opinion sharing
What Makes Social Media Distinct?What Makes Social Media Distinct?
Some properties that make social media different include:
Reach Convenience Ease of Use Immediacy Permanence Ability to inter-connect social media tools
across different mediums
Forms of Social MediaForms of Social Media
Blogs• Pros:
• develop personality: put forward views & philosophies
• develop brand and authority
• build relationship, trust
• ability to communicate about product and services that cannot be traditionally explained
in web
Forms of Social Media Forms of Social Media
Blogs• Cons:
• can be time consuming, especially for novice writers
• communications can sound too much like a sales pitch
• negative commentsalways respond/address negative comments,
to minimize damage & secure relationship
Forms of Social Media Forms of Social Media
Forums (i.e. discussion board, message board)• Pros:
• popular medium for affiliates• ideal place to share industry expertise/knowledge • good source for increasing credibility
• Cons: • requires a high level of moderation; maintenance
requires time investment• negative comments unfounded
Forms of Social MediaForms of Social Media
Videos• Pros:
• popular medium as of October 2009, YouTube reached 1 billion views a
day• easy-to-view• control branding and marketing message
• Cons: • searchability of video not as sophisticated as written social
media• can be a costly investment if you don’t have resources
development, editing, hosting
Forms of Social MediaForms of Social Media
Twitter• Pros:
• immediate, convenient• quick snippets of information: micro-blogging • anyone can do it!• ideal for reaching target market with limited time • very compatible with mobile phones• live announcements from events, conferences• post to other great links of interest• Google and Microsoft inked a deal with Twitter,
making tweets available in search engines’ real-time results
Forms of Social MediaForms of Social Media
Twitter• Cons:
• flooding followers with too many tweets may have negative effect
Must be careful balance: regular updates VS. over sending• too short to be meaningful • moderating followers & following back• monitoring tweets about your brand made by followers• ‘Twitstorm’ of bad information: half-truths, rumours, hoaxes
Haiti crisis: rumors spread that UPS was providing free shipping to Haiti and that American Airlines was flying doctors and nurses for free. These tall tales overshadowed bona fide relief efforts and caused PR nightmare.
Forms of Social MediaForms of Social Media
Facebook• Pros:
• huge number of users• multimedia• tight community• more personal• stronger relationship• identify and target potential affiliates and
consumers based on profile• a business does not need thousands of FB fans to
be successful; most have less than 500
Forms of Social MediaForms of Social Media
Facebook• Cons:
• how much of yourself do you expose?
• although you don’t need thousands of fans, you do need some
having no fans can reflect poorly on your brand
Forms of Social MediaForms of Social Media
LinkedIn• Pros:
• professional network• create new connections through initial contact
• Cons:• too many groups used to push agenda, without
meaningful content• Spam
Forms of Social MediaForms of Social Media
Picture sharing• Pros:
• opportunity to get personal!
• Cons:• possible manipulation of pictures• pictures out of context can be misinterpreted
What are the Advantages of Using What are the Advantages of Using Social Media?Social Media?
Part 1: Building and developing relationships Part 2: Recruitment tool Part 3: Communication tool Part 4: Increasing brand awareness Part 5: Developing your personality Part 6: Increase transparency
Part 1: Building and Developing Part 1: Building and Developing RelationshipsRelationships
This is critical for relationship building between operators and affiliates
• Business tool • ideal for distinguishing yourself in crowded market space• ideal for getting yourself seen and heard• build trust, and they will come• build advocacy: stronger when affiliate speaks about your
program!
Once you’re developing new relationships, tell your affiliates to do the same!
• All the same benefits apply for the affiliate-player relationship
Ideal form of social media: forums, Facebook, Twitter, blogs, video, photo sharing
Part 2: Recruitment ToolPart 2: Recruitment Tool
This can be used as a recruitment tool for operators to find affiliates• Express your personality
• Widen your reach
• Make initial contact Once you’re developing new relationships, tell your
affiliates to do the same!• Reach new players
Ideal form of social media: LinkedIn, Facebook, blogs
Part 3: Communication ToolPart 3: Communication Tool
Social media serves as an instant form of communication between you and your audience• Talk about promotions
• New marketing tools
• New products
• Events/gatherings
• Industry news
• Announcements
Constant advertising/promoting will fall on deaf ears; engage, share—create a community!
Ideal form of social media: blogs, forums, Twitter, video
Part 4: Increasing Brand AwarenessPart 4: Increasing Brand Awareness
Create awareness of your brand Communicate key messages Use the feedback to develop your brand
further
Ideal form of social media: blogs, videos
Part 5: Developing your PersonalityPart 5: Developing your Personality
Using a personal blog to voice your opinion• Add value, tell your readers something that they
need to know
• Develop trust; affiliates don’t trust companies, they trust people
• Express yourself, have fun—but engage your audience at all costs!
Ideal form of social media: blogs, forums, video, photo sharing, Facebook, Twitter
Part 6: Increase TransparencyPart 6: Increase Transparency
Transparency implies openness Make information readily available Avoid posts with hidden agendas Be honest and straightforward
Ideal form of social media: blog, forum, videos, Twitter, Facebook
What are the Disadvantages of What are the Disadvantages of Using Social MediaUsing Social Media
Lack of control• Especially with damage control
• Keeping track of all the comments made about your brand
Abuse of brand via social media can result in loss of credibility• Scammers, hackers
Time consuming• Keep regular updates
• Respond to comments/feedback
Demystifying Social MediaDemystifying Social Media
Often we hear: “But social media is SO BIG; I just don’t know where to start!”• If you’re dialoguing with clients, you’re using
social media
• If you’re answering questions/concerns, you’re using social media
• If you’re asking for feedback, you’re using social media
• If you’re chatting online, you’re using social media
Educating Affiliates on the Educating Affiliates on the Benefits of Social MediaBenefits of Social Media
Using social media as recruitment tool
Promoting Banner Manager• Icons for social media, that are trackable
Tracking social media efforts gives you more accurate ROI
Tracking & Measuring Social Media Tracking & Measuring Social Media ResultsResults
Using IA software to track variables, such as banners and text links• Impressions
• Clicks
• ROI Affiliate Sign-up Pages
• Where did you hear about us?
• Identifies what’s working, what’s not Identifies which of your affiliates are most
profitable
ConclusionsConclusions
Social media is a form of dialogue Allows you to build your brand, your personality
and trust value Presents opportunity to build profile, recruit and
expand business Presents additional tool for affiliates to use to
reach players Results are highly trackable using IA software People are more likely to trust a person, rather
than a website/company