qwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqw ertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwert yuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyui opasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopa sdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdf Social Media Marketing Kristin Fletcher ghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghj klzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklz xcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcv bnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbn mqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmq

wertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwe rtyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwerty uiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuio pasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopas dfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfg hjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjk lzxcvbnmrtyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbn mqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmq

8/1/2011 Digital Communication AMBA 5950-896

SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING

Companies have been plagued, or perhaps, gifted with the boom of social media in recent years. The correct descriptor lies in how well they adapt to this new form of marketing. To be effective in social media, companies have to change how they talk to their consumers. It is no longer a one way street with a company pulling out all the bells and whistles to attract buyers. Because of technological advances consumers can avoid advertisement noise; therefore it is imperative companies learn how to communicate via social media platforms. First their marketing team must be aware that social media is not limited to Facebook, but a wide array of platforms from social networking to social buying and bookmarking. Secondly they must learn how to communicate with their customer in new ways. It may be overwhelming to dive into social media but the benefits outweigh the drawbacks when communication is executed effectively. In a recent report that surveyed over 3,000 marketing professionals, the top 4 arenas in which their companies participated were Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and blogs. The majority of respondents spent over six hours per week in social media marketing with one-third of participants clocking over eleven hours per week (Stelzer, 2011). A company looking to become involved with social media should evaluate various social venues for that best fit for their company while, perhaps more importantly, attracting and maintaining consumers. The top contenders in social networking are Facebook, Twitter, and the rapidly growing Google+. The leader, Facebook, currently has over 750 million active users with 250 million of those using Facebook through mobile devices (Facebook.com, 2011). Social networking involves creating a company page and having public discussions with current and potential customers. For smaller business it can serve as the companys only web presence, but for the more established, social networking is just a piece of their marketing puzzle.

SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING

Blogs have come a long way since their advent. Initially known as Web Logs, they served as an online journal for a small community of users. Eventually it was apparent that the writers had a message that ordinary people actually cared to read (Kaplan & Haenlein, 2010). Soon a log writer coined the phrase We Blog and today the blogger community has grown into the millions. Estimates vary widely on the exact amount of active blogs (Haynes, 2010). Social bookmarking sites (i.e. Pinterest, Digg, StumbleUpon, Reddit) and social buying venues (i.e. Groupon, Living Social) can provide a wealth of information into consumer behavior. Marketers should be aware of other platforms such as LinkedIn, Foursquare, YouTube and any relevant forums. Companies should use these to listen to what is being said not only about their brand but anything related to their brand or target audience (Kerpen, 2011). Most companies that start out using social media do not have the experience they expected. This is because marketers are still using a sales guy voice and cant figure out how to just be likeable (Kerpen, 2011). They are not sure of how to listen and post content that will create conversations (Ransom, 2009). According to CEO Dave Kerpen from Likeable Media, the loudest, biggest spenders dont win anymore. The smartest, most flexible listeners do. Listening doesnt mean just monitoring your profile, it means actively searching for conversations from your target audience or searching for issues related to your company. Having this information will not only help plan for future promotions and contests, but it will allow businesses to see if they are failing in a certain area that could be improved upon. This type of listening also provides invaluable information about the interests of the target audience. Creating content for any social media platform can be daunting. In order to improve ranking with Facebook, fans need to like and/or comment on posts. By listening to them, one will be able to post engaging content (Kerpen, 2011). For example, a local shoe store could search for running on various social media sites and read the available conversations. Perhaps a trend in comments on trail

SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING

running is found. The shoe store could post a recent article related to trail running to their Facebook page along with asking fans whether they prefer pavement or trail while running. While this practice has nothing specifically to do with shoes, it is relevant and interesting to their customers. By engaging in a conversation the store establishes a more valuable presence in the minds of their fans. Marketers should note that social media is not there to make an immediate sale but to create an open dialogue in hopes that when the time arises, consumers will turn to your company without a second thought (Kerpen, 2011). There are many free ways for companies to listen such as Google Alerts, Technorati Blog Search, TweetBeep and searches via Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. A lawyer could do searches for need a lawyer and a realtor search for need to buy a house. In both cases, many conversations are available to enlighten them as to how to communicate through their social media and what customers really want from a company like theirs. Using this information, they can create a campaign highlighting those features to use both on- and offline. These searches can essentially become focus groups for your business (Kerpen, 2011). One way to engage customers is by captivating them from the second they land on your page. For example, businesses can easily create a landing page for their Facebook profile. This page should be creative and explain exactly why viewers should like the companys profile. Experts explain that instead of saying Like Us because companies should follow the lead on these examples from popular profiles. They all ask users to like their page but in different ways, and then allow fans to connect with their brand. Some examples include: Sharing the Rainbow a YouTube contest asking viewers to explain what they would do for a Skittles vending machine, posting pictures of yourself with a Zappos shoe box for the chance to become a fan of the week, and Red Bulls extreme sports video. All of these examples created interest with their target audience which led to conversations and thus increased their ranking with Facebook (Vreeland, 2011) (Porterfield, 2010). This ranking system is important because it

SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING

will affect which company shows up in searches and it is the deciding factor as to whether your company is in the Top News feed for your fans (Kerpen, 2011).

The top blogs, profiles and Twitter accounts are popular not because their brand is the best, but because they have a personality for their brand that communicates effectively with consumers. Likeable Media shares the example of Major League Baseball Player Nick Swisher. Swisher is not the best player in the field but he is the most popular baseball player on Twitter. His ranking is the direct result of his

communication with fans. He takes the sports enthusiast behind the scenes with tweets. His communication makes him authentic for followers and it was those followers that provided a majority vote needed to win a spot on the AllStars team (Kerpen, 2011). Experts claim there are five key points to being social; be active, interesting, humble, unprofessional and honest. A marketer can accomplish this by creating content that is worth the readers time and engaging in conversations as if it were face to face (Kaplan &Haenlein, 2010). According to Dave Kerpen with Likeable Media, you have to think like and act like your consumer when considering content for social media. Ask if this message would annoy you and if not what about

SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING

it would cause them to click like. Kerpen also says that fans do not want to feel they are talking to a machine. The more they realize a person is behind the posts, one who can make mistakes, be funny at times, and always cares about the customer, the more likely they will comment, like or share/retweet (Kerpen, 2011). For an example on showing personality on social media see JetBlues Twitter page and the conversation on the right side.

When it comes to dealing with negative comments in social media, most businesses fall short. Some opt for deleting the comment and some just ignore it. Both options can backfire and cause more damage than the initial comment ever could have. The best approach is to quickly respond and, if needed, take the conversation into private messaging (Kerpen, 2011). As seen the in the Jet Blue example, it can be beneficial to just handle the issue publicly. By responding the way they did, they kept the conversation light and humorous but it still reflected their concern for losing a customer. It is best to develop a plan for complaints, usually a quick apology and an effort to solve the issue will be enough but when the stakes are high companies can up the ante. For example, on Valentines Day 1-800-Flowers decided to staff their Facebook page 24/7 and respond to complaints within an hour. In order to make up for mistakes, they then surprised their customers with a bouquet larger than ordered. This resulted in many complainers returning with a Thank You post (Kerpen, 2011).

SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING

Handling negative feedback effectively can help boost a companys image but they cannot forget to acknowledge compliments as well. Ignoring positive comments may create a conceded personality for the brand. Experts believe this is a perfect time to engage with customers. Posting a reply of thanks along with a question related to them can get a conversation rolling. Comments from customers can lead to new ideas, or perhaps a future employee as it did with a tweet to Sage, makers of accounting software (Kerpen, 2011). Amiee Ertley of Sage North America shared with Likeable Media how one tweet led to a job opportunity. Last fall, a student named Andrew Yellis tweeted about us in a class one day. Our social media team saw his tweet, responded, and sent him a goodie bag as a thank you, to help him with finals. He blogged about it and talked about how Sage is hip to the funk, as a result. Earlier this year, we actually flew him to our offices for an internal meeting about the importance and power of social media for our employees. He mentioned while he was here that he was interested in getting an internship, and it went on from there. This summer, he interned with us and did a phenomenal job. So, from one tweet, Andrew got a fun package, an internship, and valuable experience. Sage got a fantastic summer intern and created a die-hard fan. (Kerpen, 2011). Before social media, businesses lived by the rule that a bad experience was shared with 10 friends while a good was only shared with three. Today consumers can tell thousands of people about their good and bad experiences with a simple click. To be effective in social media marketing a company must first establish a presence, listen and monitor comments about or related to their brand, post engaging content, and have an online personality that would rival talking to an employee in person. In the words of Dave Kerpen, Be likeable, not disruptive (Kerpen, 2011).

SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING

References Haynes, J. (2010). So how many blogs are there anyway? Hat Trick Associates. Retrieved from http://www.hattrickassociates.com/2010/02/how_many_blogs_2011_web_content/ Kerpen, D. (2011). Likeable Social Media: How to Delight Your Customers, Create an Irresistible Brand, and Be Generally Amazing on Facebook (& Other Social Networks) McGraw-Hill. Kindle Edition. Kaplan, A.M., & Haenlein, M. (2010). Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities of Social Media. Business Horizons, 53, 59-68. doi: 10.1016/j.bushor.2009.09.003. Porterfield, A. (2010). 10 top Facebook pages and why theyre successful. Retrieved from http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/top-10-facebook-pages/ Ransom, D. (2009). How to channel your Twitter voice. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from http://online.wsj.com/article. Stelzer, M. (2011). 2011 social media marketing industry report: how marketers are using social media to grow their businesses. Retrieved from http://www.scribd.com/doc/56072332/Social-MediaMarketing-Report-2011 Vreeland, E. (2011). 20 examples of great Facebook fan pages. Retrieved from http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/9469/20-Examples-of-Great-Facebook-Fan-Pages.aspx