Edward M. ErasmusLecture Online Marketing& Social MediaUniversity of Aruba, June 9th, 2011

Agenda• What is Social Media?

• What is Social Media Marketing?

• Why (consider) Social Media Marketing?

• How will SMM contribute to your Strategy?

• How to get started?

• Conclusion and Key Takeaways

What is social media?

so.cial me.di.a…a whole network of sites where users can interact with one another whether it is by sharing information or discussing various topics

Simply stated…

Social media is people having conversations and

sharing stuff online….

Social media is people having conversations and

sharing stuff online….

Social networkingtimeline

so.cial me.di.a

Social media tools(to name a few)

Contains profiles of Fortune 500 executives and leading entrepreneurs

Average individual salary on LinkedIn is $109,000 

Registered Users

100,000,000 +•Find contacts•Start and use groups•Create resumes•Use ‘signal’ for news/info•Link with slideshare•…and more….

LinkedIn community in Aruba is growing fast!

A free, web‐based, collaborative, multilingual encyclopedia project supported by the non‐profit Wikimedia Foundation.

Registered Users

190,000,000 +

Updates per month

54,000,000 +

microblogging tool + social networking

Over 2 billion videos viewed daily

700 billion video playbacks in 2010Base age demographic is 18‐54

•Create account•Create channels•Edit/create videos•Invite subscribers•Share content•Events•Post bulletins•…and more…

Other (less known) social media platforms

Understanding the power of social media

Memorable social media moments of past few years

US Presidential election 2008The ‘Facebook’ electionThe Obama campaign used not only Facebook and YouTube, but also MySpace, Twitter, Flickr, Digg, BlackPlanet, LinkedIn, AsianAve, MiGente, Glee and others to engage you voters.

Obama McCain

Supporters on Facebook 2,000,000 600,000

Followers on Twitter 112,000 4,600

YouTube channel visits 18 million 2 million

YouTube channel views 97 million 25 million

Obama had a social media strategyMcCain ..???

Iran elections 2009Her Name Was Neda…

The images of Iranian protests against the disputed election of President MahmoudAhmadinejad were widely broadcasted to the world through Wikipedia, Twitter, Flickr, and YouTube.The killing of young student Neda Agha‐Soltan posted on YouTube was probably the most widely witnessed death in human history.

Britain’s Got Talent 2009Susan Boyle…a surprise YouTube hit(2.5 million views in just 72 hours)Susan Boyle astonished the judges at the auditions for ITV1 show with her rendition of ‘I Dreamed A Dream from Les Miserables’.

The original video posted in 2009 has over 66 million views to date.

Bieber fever heats up YouTube 2009

Over 1 million fans on Twitter before launching his first album…

Discovered by a talent agent who came across one of the videos his mother uploaded to YouTube. Two months later he signed to a record label.

Most searched celebrityon the web‘Baby’ is most viewed YouTubevideo in history: > 559.000.000 times

From social media tosocial movement 2011

Facebook and Twitter were considered as key players in the uprising in the Middle East

More stories gone viral...

The man with the golden voice

Victim’s bro gone renowned…

Launched to worldwide ‘fame’ with her single “Friday”: 161 million views

So how powerful is social media?..

“We’re still in the process of picking ourselves up off the floor after witnessing firsthand the fact that a 16‐year‐old YouTuber can deliver us 3 times the traffic in a couple of days that some excellent traditional media coverage has over 5 months.”~Michael Fox, founder of Shoes of Prey

Thanks to social media:

• Towards a more social, collaborative, interactive and responsive web

• Opportunities for businesses to engage in creative new forms of online communication with (potential) clients. 

SocialMediaMarketing

Social media marketingThe process of promoting business or websites through social media channels

By now we should have realized that social networking is not a hype…..

It’s a fundamental shift in the way we communicate.

“In 2008, if you are not on a social networking site, you are not on the internet.”~IAB platform status report: User generated content, Social media, and advertising

–An overview, April 2008

So why Social Media Marketing?

Three key reasons to start considering Social Media

Marketing….

Reason #1The ‘engagement’ factor…

“Social Media is an excellent point of initial engagement with consumers – essentially the first step in a purchase process.”

~Michael Orpen

“One thousand three hundred and thirty years in time    

is spent    daily on ”

Source: www.facebook.com

Users following a brand: 31%Brand recommendations per 

month: 7,800,000 +

Dell’s Success in using Twitter

• Fast to adopt (2007)

• Segmentated users

• Created special offering for each of its segments

• Created a community and build a trust factor

• Targeted ‘Sales messages’ to the community

Reason #2

78% of people trust recommendations of other consumers.

While only 14% of people trust tv and radio advertisements.

Source: Nielsen report “Trust in advertising”

The ‘word‐of‐mouth’ factor…

Say goodbye to the era of 

monologue

The new communication model is 

dialogue

Some more interesting facts….

The average person is exposed to 3000advertising messages/day

90% of people who can skip TV ads, do.

Reason #3The ‘Gen‐Y’ factor

”Technology is the major influencer of Generation Y’s buying behavior. It influences how they find and compare products, as well as how they get their products.”~Angela Hughes,

Strategies for Reaching the Elusive Generation Y Consumer (2008)

Generation Y is here!!!

Generation Y??

Generation YBorn in the mid‐1980's and later….

• Generation Y (a.k.a. Millennials) are in their 20s and are entering the workforce in large numbers.

• Companies cannot ignore the needs, desires and attitudes of this vast generation.

Gen Y characteristics…

• Tech‐Savvy

• Continually Connected

• Skim Text and Information Quickly

• Influenced by Peers

• Easily Bored

• Attention‐Craving (recognition)

Millennials spend>16 hours/week online.

96% of them have joined a social network.

Staying ‘online’ is an integral part of Generation Y’s lives

Tomorrow’s consumers are today’s “digital natives”

“Social media is like a snowball rolling down the hill. It’s picking up speed. Five years from now, it’s going to be the standard.”

~Jeff Antaya, chief marketing officer of Plante Moran

How can Social Media contribute to your Marketing Strategy?

Traditional marketing often focuses on the 

four P’s: 

Product

Price

• Place• Promotion

Social Media Marketingenables you to add more P’s to your marketing & communication mix…

#1…..Participation• Offering customers a voice will lead to a greater sense of ownership

Starbucks gave consumers a voice....the result:

over 50,000 product ideas

What is a brand anyway?.....

#2…..Personality (brand)

A brand =…name, term, sign, symbol or design, or a combination of them intended to identify the goods and services of a company.

Brand loyalty Strong human connection

• SM offers an opportunity for a brand to show its personality, without it looking like a marketing plan or ad campaign.

• SM Marketing is all about connecting with people first as human beings and then as customers later.

• SM = branding through conversations!

#3...

• Forget B2C or B2B……

it’s now P2P (person‐2‐person)

…customers want to connect and interact with companies on a 1:1 social level

…and those who can deliver that, will gain substantial competitive edge..

#4… 24/ 7 Public Relations

• Show both sides of a story; 

• Can be used to provide comments, to dispel myths and to correct incorrect information that may be circulating;

• Consultation can take place in an effective way, as it allows for greater openness and transparency. 

So…in essence….ProductProduct PricePrice PlacePlacePromotionPromotion

ParticipationParticipation Personality(brand)

Personality(brand) PRPRP2PP2P

R.O.I.

Customer loyalty + Reveneus

So how to get started?...So how to get started?...

Getting started….1. Define your objectives

2. Define your audience

3. Define your strategy

4. Choose your channels

5. Plan a content agenda

6. Decide on who will manage what

7. Define measurement mechanisms

8. Execute – evaluate – adapt – execute….

ConclusionSocial media has completely changed the landscape of marketing, and when executed well, it has positive implications for multiple divisions:

• from consumer insights

• to product development/innovation

• to marketing

• to corporate reputation

Key Takeaways….[3 P’s when launching SMM]

•Purpose•Point of view•Patience

Forget marketing, start engaging!

Some afterthoughts about SMM….

• Core business: products / services

Quality, promises, commitments, relationships

• Social media is an ingredient, not an entrée…

No replacement for all other marketing tools,

instead: it should be integrated with other online and offline marketing strategies

THANK YOU!!

Edward M. Erasmus, MA

e.erasmus@fzanv.com

erasmus.bpas@gmail.comFacebook: http://www.facebook.com/edwardmerasmus

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