INTRODUCTION

“No profession stands to influence social media

more than public relations.”
 INTRODUCTION

o Social media defined 10:00

o 10 keys to social media success 15:00

o Social media tools 10:00

o Social media myths 10:00

o 3 take away messages 2:00

o Inspiration 0:00
 SOCIAL MEDIA DEFINED

Social Media is a
Conversation Online.

Look who’s talking:

o your customers
o your employees
o your investors
o your critics
o your fans
o your competition....
o anyone who has internet
access and an opinion.
 SOCIAL MEDIA DEFINED

The conversation is not:

o controlled
o organized
o “on message”

The conversation is:

o organic
o complex
o speaks in a human voice

Social media is not a strategy or a tactic –

it’s simply a channel.
 SOCIAL MEDIA DEFINED

o Social Networks
o News & Bookmarking
o Blogs
o Microblogging
o Video Sharing
o Photo Sharing
o Message boards
o Wikis
o Virtual Reality
o Social Gaming
o Related:
o Podcasts
o Real Simple Syndication (RSS)
o Social Media Press Release
 SOCIAL MEDIA DEFINED

The power to define and control a brand

is shifting from corporations and institutions
to individuals and communities.
 SOCIAL MEDIA DEFINED

It is about putting the “public” back in Public Relations

and realizing that focusing on important markets and
influencers will have a far greater impact than trying
to reach the masses with any one message or tool.

Brian Solis, The Social Media Manifesto

 SOCIAL MEDIA DEFINED

o 91% say consumer reviews are the #1 aid to buying

decisions - JC Williams Group

o 87% trust a friend’s recommendation over critic’s

review - Marketing Sherpa

o 3 times more likely to trust peer opinions over

advertising for purchasing decisions - Jupiter Research

o 1 word-of-mouth conversation has impact of

200 TV ads - BuzzAgent

* Slide courtesy of Digital Influence Group

 SOCIAL MEDIA DEFINED

Social Media sites are the fastest-growing category on the

web, doubling their traffic over the last year.

o 73% of active online users have read a blog

o 45% have started their own blog
o 39% subscribe to an RSS feed
o 57% have joined a social network
o 55% have uploaded photos
o 83% have watched video clips
Universal McCann’s Comparative Study on Social Media Trends, April 2008. 17,000 respondents
from 29 countries, *using internet at least every other day
 SOCIAL MEDIA DEFINED

o 40% of Indians internet users have visited a community or

social networking site

o 22% of Indians over 60

o 60% of Social Media users under 25-30

o 40% of Social Media users under 18-24

o 25% of users 25-29 do so daily

o 63% of People get the New Product Information from

Internet.
 SOCIAL MEDIA DEFINED

• Younger users (under

45) and women use
these sites for
socializing

• Older users use these

sites to obtain and share
information

• Youth (15-18) use these

sites for entertainment
 SOCIAL MEDIA DEFINED

o Facebook
o My Space
o Flickr
o Twitter
o Orkut
o Ibibo
o Indyarocks
o Bigadda
o Fropper
o Yaari
o Bharatstudent
 SOCIAL MEDIA DEFINED

Social Media can help you in all stages of your PR

campaign:

o research
o strategic planning
o implementation
o evaluation
 SOCIAL MEDIA DEFINED

o Learn what people are saying about you

o Create buzz for events & campaigns
o Increase brand exposure
o Identify and recruit influencers to spread your message
o Find new opportunities and customers
o Support your products and services
o Improve your search engine visibility
o Gain competitive intelligence
o Get your message out fast
o Retain clients by establishing a personal relationship
o Be an industry leader – not a follower
 SOCIAL MEDIA DEFINED

Reach Engagement & Influence

o Website visits / views o Sentiment of
o Volume of reviews/comments
reviews/comments o Brand affinity
o Incoming links o Commenter
authority/influence
Action & Insight o Time spent
o Sales inquiries o Favourites / Friends / Fans
o New business o Viral forwards
o Customer Satisfaction / o Number of downloads
loyalty
o Marketing efficiency
Source: The Digital Influence Group, Measuring the Influence of Social Media
 KEYS TO SUCCESS

10 KEYS
TO SOCIAL MEDIA

SUCCESS
 KEYS TO SUCCESS

o Experiment personally
before professionally

o Try a variety of social

media tools

o Be yourself, make some

friends, and share
 KEYS TO SUCCESS

o Spend time upfront

planning how you will
use social media

o Think POST:
o People
o Objectives
o Strategy
o Technology
 KEYS TO SUCCESS

o Find where your audience

is participating and
indentify the influencers

o Read industry blogs

(including comments)

o Google your company

name & your competition

o Find tools that can help

you listen
 KEYS TO SUCCESS

o Avoid puffery
(people will ignore it)

o Avoid evasion and lying

(people won’t ignore it)

o Companies have watched

their biggest screw-up's
rise to the top 10 of a
Google search

o Admit your mistakes right

away
 KEYS TO SUCCESS

o Don’t be afraid to share.

Corporations, like people,
need to share information to
get the value out of social
media

o Make your content easy to

share

o Incorporate tools that

promote sharing:
o Share This, RSS feeds,
Email a friend
 KEYS TO SUCCESS

o Don't shout. Don't

broadcast. Don’t brag.

o Speak like yourself – not

a corporate marketing
shill or press secretary

o Personify your brand –

give people something
they can relate to.
 KEYS TO SUCCESS

o Think like a contributor, not

a marketer

o Consider what is relevant

to the community before
contributing

o Don’t promote your

product on every post

o Win friends by promoting

other people’s content if it
interests you
 KEYS TO SUCCESS

o Don’t try to delete or

remove criticism (it will
just make it worse)

o Listen to your detractors

o Admit your shortcomings

o Work openly towards an

explanation and
legitimate solution
 KEYS TO SUCCESS

o Don’t wait until you

have a campaign to
launch - start planning
and listening now

o Build relationships so
they’re ready when you
need them
 KEYS TO SUCCESS

o You need buy in from

everyone in the
organization

o Convince your CEO that

social media is relevant to
your organization

o Get your communications

team together, discuss
the options, then divide
and conquer
 THE TOOLS

SOCIAL MEDIA

TOOLS
 THE TOOLS

o Social Networks
o News & Bookmarking
o Blogs
o Microblogging
o Video Sharing
o Photo Sharing
o Message boards
o Wikis
o Virtual Reality
o Social Gaming
o Related:
o Podcasts
o Real Simple Syndication (RSS)
o Social Media Press Release
 THE TOOLS

o People and organizations

connect and interact
with friends, colleagues
and fans.

o Facebook and MySpace

pages provide a micro
site for your business
within the social
framework.
 THE TOOLS

o create online profiles

o share photos, video, and

audio, links

o send private message and

instant message

o learn more about people and

organizations

o join groups and gain fans

 THE TOOLS

Do Don’t
o create a page to promote your o create a page and fail to
brand maintain it

o point your fans to your o try a hard sell approach

company blog or contest
o censor comments
o encourage a discussion and
participate frequently o spam your fans/friends with
frequent private messages –
o explore targeted advertising you’ll drive them away
opportunities
o post false information
 THE TOOLS

o Social bookmarking sites

allow users to save,
share, organize,
comment on and search
webpage bookmarks

o Community votes on
your submissions so they
either rise to the top or
drop to the bottom
 THE TOOLS

Do Don’t
o link to relevant articles about o spam by consistently
news in your field bookmarking your own
(not just your own content) material

o make friends with other o cheat by tagging your

bookmarkers in a legitimate bookmarks with irrelevant
way popular keywords

o respect the terms of service o open multiple accounts and

o (reddit allows self-promotion, vote for yourself – you’ll be
digg does not) exposed
 THE TOOLS

o A blog is a website with

regular entries of
commentary or news

o Blogs serve to establish

your company as
transparent, relevant,
active, and expert
 THE TOOLS

o engage in dialogue with your

customers

o improve your search engine

visibility

o promote product launches

and events

o gain expert status by

providing useful tips
 THE TOOLS

Do Don’t
o post on a regular schedule o write press releases – be real
about why something is
o encourage conversation by exciting
asking questions
o let complaints go unanswered
o respond to customers'
questions and concerns o make users register to
comment – they won’t bother
o use a few bloggers from your
company for more viewpoints o delete fair but critical
comments
o post product reviews from
customers or industry experts
 THE TOOLS

o Microblogs are blogs

limited to a sentence or
two (about 140
characters)

o People use microblogging

to follow their friends

o Companies use it to
market their product or
services by giving them
a voice/identity.
 THE TOOLS

o promote contests

o share timely information

o spread useful links

o personify your brand

o build credibility and influence

o follow competitors
 THE TOOLS

Do’s Don'ts

o sound like someone who just o sound like a press release

happens to work at your
company o spam with constant links to
your company website, either
o put a friendly face on your in tweets or private messages
product

o pose and answer questions

o announce sales, deals, news,

updates, and build buzz for
big releases or events
 THE TOOLS

o Video sharing sites let

you upload videos and
share them with people.

o They’re a perfect
repository for video
blogs, taped seminars,
witty Power Points,
commercials, how-to’s
and a behind-the-scene
look at your organization.
 THE TOOLS

o helps you gain exposure and

direct traffic back to your website

o sparks interest without a hard-sell

o videos can be low-fi and cheap to

produce - immediacy and content
is more important than quality.

o videos can be a place to

showcase your leadership in a
field, and spread customer
testimonials
 THE TOOLS

Do Don’t
o be informative, useful, or o just upload infomercials
entertaining
o be afraid to experiment until
o create a summary and detailed
find a formula that works.
description
o pull down other people’s
o post video replies to others
videos showcasing your product
for copyright infringement
o allow commenting and
participate in the conversation o make your video longer than it
needs to be – keep it concise
o save bandwidth costs on your and entertaining
website by hosting videos on
YouTube
 THE TOOLS

o Photo sharing sites give

you a place to upload
and organize your
photos

o You can invite friends to

check out your photos
and people can find your
photos by searching for
the keywords (tags) you
apply to your photos.
 THE TOOLS

o detail the launch of a new

product, from initial sketches
to the launch party

o promote special events,

charitable campaigns, and
awards ceremonies

o provide an inside look at your

organization, making it appear
glamorous, busy, fun, or
innovative
 THE TOOLS

Do Don’t
o tag your photos with relevant o stuff linked keywords into
keywords your photo descriptions or
comments
o use your web site address or
brand name as your Flickr o plaster your URL all over the
screen name photos you upload

o upload quality photos of your o discourage people from

products/services, and things using your photos (as long
related to your business as they provide attribution
such as a link back to your
o link prominently from your web website)
site to your Flickr photostream
 THE TOOLS

o An Internet forum, or
message board, is a
bulletin board system in
the form of a discussion
site

o conversation takes place

between registered
members who post
topics (threads) and
make public comments
(posts) on those threads
 THE TOOLS

Do Don’t
o keep the message board active o build it and expect people to
by regularly participating in the start participating without
conversation encouragement and seeding

o collect minimal information o forget to moderate - spammers

during registration and trolls will drive users away

o keep focus and attract users by o censor or allow militant

clearly identifying your moderators to take too much
community purpose and target control over the conversation.
audience You want to encourage open
discussion, not stifle it.
o promote popular discussions
throughout your website
 THE TOOLS

o A wiki is a website that

allows visitors to easily
add, remove, and edit
content – this makes them
great collaboration tools

o Wikipedia, for example, is

an encyclopedia is written
collaboratively by
volunteers from all around
the world; anyone can edit
it
 THE TOOLS

Do Don’t
o find references to your o rely on social reference websites
organization and have to be accurate
inaccuracies updated
o spam or overtly advertising – it
o read the terms of use to ensure could get you banned
you are allowed to edit an entry
about you o use it for Search Engine
Optimization (Wikipedia prevents
o research competition search engines from following
links)
o use wikis to collaborate with your
team o Don’t sabotage competitor’s
entries about competitors (You
could get caught)
 THE TOOLS

o Internet-based 3D virtual
worlds like Second Life
reimagine our world with all its
potential for commerce and
branding

o people interact through

characters called avatars

o residents explore, meet other

residents, socialize,
participate in individual and
group activities, and create
and trade items and services
with one another
 THE TOOLS

o hold media conferences in

Second Life to generate buzz
(World Bank reports in world)

o create and sell branded

products accompanied by
coupons and advertising for
real-world stores

o purchase land, build stores,

and open for business

o publish streams of audio or

video on people’s properties
 THE TOOLS

Do Don’t
o Use it to generate publicity o just try to recreate your real-
publicity for real world world brand experience –
activities leverage the possibilities of the
o find experts to imagine and virtual world since fantasy is
manage your brand presence in what brought people are there.
this virtual world, or do thorough
research – it’s complicated o be afraid to site this one out.
o be inventive – for example, If your audience isn’t there and
when someone drinks your you don’t have a vision to
product, you may create a script create a meaningful
that makes people dance, turn
experience don’t bother.
into a cute animal, or speak only
in song for 30 seconds
 THE TOOLS

o A podcast is a series of audio

or video files which is
distributed by syndicated
download to your computer, for
use on an MP3 player or
computer.

o Podcasts can be simple

recordings of conversations,
presentations, or interviews

o They’re a chance to provide

build an audience around
your brand or message.
 THE TOOLS

Do’s Don'ts

o come up with a format (form, o worry about length

topic, and duration)
o invest in a lot of equipment –
o prepare don’t script (or you’ll simple tools and software are
sound stiff) all you need to get going

o use a good microphone (but o leave too much time

no need to over produce) between podcasts – it could
prevent you from building an
o promote your podcast on audience
your website and podcast
directories
 THE TOOLS

o RSS is a way for content

publishers to make blog
entries, news headlines,
events, podcasts and
other content available to
subscribers.

o an effective way to
distribute your content
and lead users back to
your website
THE TOOLS
 THE TOOLS

Don’t Don’t
o offer RSS feeds for your o spam your subscribers by
website’s blog, news, events, including excessive advertising
and podcasts in your RSS feed

o subscribe to RSS feeds o go overboard – limit RSS

relevant to your industry or feeds to content frequently
interests updated

o include a title and description o freak out when a splogger

only so subscribers need to hijacks your content – this
visit your site for the full story could actually help your search
engine rank
o track your subscribers
THE TOOLS
 THE MYTHS

SOCIAL MEDIA

MYTHS
 THE MYTHS

“Social Media is just a fad

– it will go away.”
 THE MYTHS

“Social Media is
Inexpensive.”
 THE MYTHS

“If we put our content online

we’re just giving our
expertise away for free!”
 THE MYTHS

“Social Media might work for

certain industries and business
models
but it won’t work for
us.”
 THE MYTHS

“Tell the programmers to set up

that social media thing….and get
them to make it viral while
they’re at it!”
 THE MYTHS

“YouTube is that site for funny

cat videos – you’ll cheapen
our brand by putting
our video on there!”
 THE MYTHS

“I’ve started a Facebook page so

I’ve got Social Media
covered!”
 THE MYTHS

“If we just delete all negative

comments no one will see
them.”
 THE MYTHS

“No seriously, I
don’t think
anyone will notice if we
delete those negative comments.”
 THE MYTHS

“If we build it they will

come.”
 THE MYTHS

“Social Media is for kids.”

 THE MYTHS

“We can’t measure

Social Media Results.”
 THE MYTHS

“We have to figure this all out

before we start using Social
Media.”
 THE MYTHS

“Social Media is hard.”

 THE MYTHS

“Social Media is easy.”

 5 TAKE AWAY MESSAGES

3 TAKE AWAY
MESSAGES
 3 TAKE AWAY MESSAGES

o Peer-to-peer discussions
are more influential than
the mass media

o Participate by enabling
and feeding the
conversation
(follow the 10 keys to
success)

o Be transparent & honest

 Q&A

THANK YOU