This presentation was given to the Southern Public Relations Federation during their 2009 annual conference in Tunica, MS.

1. Building A Better Brand Fall 2009 #sprf09 5 October 2009 Tunica, MS Olivier Blanchard @thebrandbuilder

2. I Olivier A. Blanchard Part of what I do consists of helping companies develop, integrate, manage and measure social media programs. Social Media and communications can’t be divorced from brand management. @thebrandbuilder www.thebrandbuilder.wordpress.com www.thebrandbuildermarketing.com www.smroi.net

4. About Social media - First things first:

5. What this really is: People talking with people.

6. (Which is nothing new, really.)

7. People connecting with each other.

8. People creating communities… on their own terms.

9. People sharing their passions.

10. People sharing their outrage.

11. How does this fit in with traditional marketing? Command and Control Model Messaging & Branding Advertising PR The Public Marketing Web events You are here

12. FACT: People no longer trust advertising and traditional corporate channels.

13. Some Nielsen Statistics on consumer trust: Online banner ads: 28% E-mail (opt-in): 48% Television, magazines, radio: 55% Newspapers: 66% Recommendations from consumers: 78% Word-of-Mouth: 62%-93% (Depending on the country)

14. New Technologies have given people the power to tune out messaging and marketing… … and tune into relevance and dialogue.

15. Traditional marketing has been interrupted.

16. Invasion of the micro-channels.

17. The web no longer belongs to marketers.

18. People are again turning to each other… Because they can.

19. Blogs

20. The Emergence of New Media Blogs are now read by 24% of adult Internet users, up from 13% in 2006 Social networks are now used by 26% of adult Internet users, up from 17% in 2006 Mobile platform users will double by 2013 in the US Txt + SMS (including Twitter SMS) already > voice. Source: mashable

21. 200 Million users+ worldwide 100 Million users log in daily The average user has 120 friends (WOM) Daily, 4 million users become fans of a page 30 Million + users access FB via mobile Average stay on site is over 13 minutes 185 Million Users Primary age demo: 14-34 Still the top social app. For youth. Average stay on site is over 10 minutes 11%+ of adults online now use Twitter 12+ million users worldwide Twitter Search may threaten Google More and more online conversations now occur here Events and websites are discovered here “Twitter is Word-of-Mouth on steroids.” - @GaryVee Blogs

22. BLOGS 133+ Million worldwide (50% are here) 25% of internet users read blogs daily (up from 13% in 2006) Brands without blogs are losing traction No blog/dynamic content = weak SEO Fastest growing demo: Women 24-55

24. 85M Visitors in August 9% MoM Growth

25. 8.9 billion YouTube videos viewed in July. Downloaded by 120.3 Million US viewers (That’s 1/3 of the US population.) Total videos viewed on the web in July: 21 Billion Source: Comscore

26. Your customers = a vibrant community.

28. And they’re doing their own thing.

31. They choose when to hang out with you.

32. Social Media can help organizations connect with existing communities And create new ones.

33. Ways in which Social Media can help your business: Sales Net New Customers, Increased Frequency of Transactions, promo exposure Increased yield (average $ value per transaction), and product penetration Customer Support Immediate feedback and response, positive impact in public forum, cost reduction Human Resources More effective recruiting, online monitoring of employee behavior (risk management) Public Relations Online Reputation Management, improved brand image via Social Web Customer Loyalty Increased interactions, better quality of interactions, deeper relationship with brand, Increased trust in brand, increased mindshare of brand, greater values alignment Business Intelligence

34. You are no longer in the business of creating value. You are in the business of creating importance.

35. People don’t get their coffee from Starbucks because of “value”. People get their coffee from Starbucks because getting their coffee from Starbucks is important to them. Pride. Image. Exclusivity. Passion. Uniqueness of Quality. Sharing in a common passion.

36. Plant your flag. Stand for something. Stand out.

37. But don’t forget to listen.

38. Tip 1: Vertical Vs. Lateral Engagement

39. By the way... There are 2 forces at work in Social Media: Vertical Engagement And Lateral Engagement This is important.

40. Vertical Engagement= Brand + Customer. (This is not a monologue) Great Experiences & Brand Loyalty.

41. Lateral Engagement = customer + customer Validation and Scale.

42. How does this fit in with traditional marketing? Command and Control Model Messaging & Branding Advertising PR The Public Marketing Web events Lateral Vertical

43. People share things they love. Twitter, YouTube and Facebook Are word-of-mouth on steroids.

44. “The community closes the sale.” - Porter Gale (@virginamerica) Virgin America invests in the good will of customers, simply by publicly acknowledging and supporting them in the same channels where they’re communicating.

45. Tip 2: The mechanics of Engagement

46. How does this all fit into your existing web strategy? Management website video News Info Stories Action Blog

47. Engagement tip: Know your tools http://twitterface.com

48. Today’s recommendation: Twitterface Creating a Twitterface page promotes awareness and engagement.

49. Engagement

50. Outbound Thinking: Seeding channels “Reaching out” basically means planting seeds. Think of reaching out as spreading your content. This is basic distribution across various channels. Your website

51. Outbound Thinking: Spreading Content Write a blog post Share it on Facebook and Twitter Create an event On Facebook Share it on your blog and Twitter Create a #chat on Twitter Share it on your blog and FaceBook

52. Outbound Thinking: Spreading Content http://digg.com

53. Outbound Thinking: Spreading Content http://stumbleupon.com

54. http://www.stumbleupon.com/technology

55. Tip 3: Listening & Monitoring

56. Do you really know how to listen?

57. How do you manage your brand in 2009? www.radian6.com

58. Keyword & Mention Management Dashboards www.radian6.com

59. Sentiment Monitoring www.radian6.com

60. More Sentiment Analysis

61. Create Listening Posts Online Blogs BRAND

62. Listening & Monitoring platforms/tools http://www.socialmention.com/ http://techrigy.com/ http://www.twitscoop.com/ http://www.peoplebrowsr.com/ http://www.radian6.com/cms/home http://twitterface.com http://pipes.yahoo.com/pipes/ http://www.netvibes.com

63. Tip 4: Responding (Yes, you’re on 24/7/365 now.)

64. Responding to the public Responding to your audience comes in 2 forms: Conversational Responses (chat) Informational Responses (link) Either way, never argue, always be helpful, don’t Ever become defensive. Your website

65. Responding to the public Engagement PR

67. Custom The river to or about you

68. TweetDeck allows you to create follower categories

69. Compound Basic Basic Search

70. Crisis Management Have a crisis/response plan. Make sure everyone knows the plan. Write it out. Keep it in an obvious place. Train and drill the plan. Let the press release or official statement guide your responses. Link to the official statement on Facebook, Twitter, the blog, etc. Monitor Social Media for mentions of the incident. Be prepared to respond or answer questions on Twitter and Facebook. Do not argue with detractors. Calmly state the facts. Be Zen. Be honest and transparent. Social Media dwellers smell BS a mile away. A swift, kind, honest discussion on Twitter can turn a disaster into a mere scrape. Relax and don’t take attacks personally.

71. Tip 5: How to manage a Brand on Twitter http://thebrandbuilder.wordpress.com/2009/10/02/how-to-manage-an-enterprise-twitter-presence-avatars-account-structure-and-response-methodology/

72. Brand Management on Twitter Face are personable, but lack context

73. Brand Management on Twitter Logos are clear, but impersonal

74. Brand Management on Twitter Combining faces + logos = humanity + context

75. Brand Management on Twitter The 1-800 number. The lobby. What people search for http://thebrandbuilder.wordpress.com/2009/10/02/how-to-manage-an-enterprise-twitter-presence-avatars-account-structure-and-response-methodology/

76. Brand Management on Twitter http://thebrandbuilder.wordpress.com/2009/10/02/how-to-manage-an-enterprise-twitter-presence-avatars-account-structure-and-response-methodology/

77. Brand Management on Twitter http://thebrandbuilder.wordpress.com/2009/10/02/how-to-manage-an-enterprise-twitter-presence-avatars-account-structure-and-response-methodology/

78. Brand Management on Twitter http://thebrandbuilder.wordpress.com/2009/10/02/how-to-manage-an-enterprise-twitter-presence-avatars-account-structure-and-response-methodology/

79. Some thoughts about ROI and measurement Measurement & Accountability

80. R.O.I. RETURN ON INVESTMENT

81. THE R.O.I. EQUATION Investment Expectation of return

82. THE R.O.I. EQUATION (GAIN FROM INVESTMENT - COST OF INVESTMENT) ROI = COST OF INVESTMENT

83. Non-financial impact is not ROI (yet).

84. Types of non-financial impact Customer complaints Website Visitors Impressions Positive press Click-throughs YouTube views Retweets Coupons distributed Visitors to a brick & mortar store Positive WOM Delivered emails Negative press Negative WOM Employment applications Blog comments FaceBook friends Social mention Twitter followers

85. ROI = actualized potential.

86. Non-Financial Measurement & Accountability Set Goals Set Standards Set Milestones Pick the right measurement tools for the job Examples of free tools: Track website visits Monitor visitor behavior Track the growth of your Twitter Account Monitor your Twitter stats Track online mentions Compare mentions http://www.google.com/analytics/ http://twittercounter.com/pages/dashboard_info http://www.blogpulse.com/trend Track video downloads Track video embeds Track traffic from SM outposts to your website Track FB & LinkedIn group members Track blog visitors & comments Track offline numbers and results

90. Join your community. blogs, facebook, twitter, events, groups forums, fund raisers, media. Reconnect with your audience. Partner with them more. 2. Take a leadership role. blog, facebook group, twitter, events, lectures, media relations, branding. Inspire. Become important again. 3. Be easy to find. “search”/ SEO, broad digital footprint. Always be where your audience is. 4. Inspire passion. What you do is important. What you do matters.

91. Ask away. Olivier Blanchard 864.630.7398 www.thebrandbuildermarketing.com @thebrandbuilder(on Twitter)