Insights into 10 Trends that

Matter and the Impact of Social

Media

Neville Hobson

Head of Social Media Europe

WCG London

March 8, 2010

In the Next 50 Minutes

1. Where does social media really fit into your business world?

2. Who else is using social media and what measurable benefits are

they enjoying?

3. How do you identify online influencers and connect with them?

4. What can we do to support you right now?

Do You Know?

• How, where and when does

she discuss your/your

client’s brand online?

• With whom?

• Do you know? With

precision?

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/ymWsJfDtfBl08zzMMxAkkg

10 Trends That Matter

1. Customers are co-shaping

your reputation every day

2. You know exactly where

conversations are occurring,

who has influence, and why

3. You know which types of

social media are preferred

by your customers

4. You know that leaders will

identify issues before they

become critical

5. You realize that less than

1% of a customer’s time is

spent purchasing a product

6. You realize that media has

already changed

7. You realize customers want

to do three things to help

each other

8. You understand ethical

behavior is a key part of

maintaining trust

9. You leverage the world’s

greatest operating system –

the web – internally

10.You are an active participant

in how the world is changing

The Era of Social Computing

The social structure

in which technology puts

power

in the hands of individuals

and communities

instead of institutions.

What’s In A Name?

Clear Behaviour Changes and Trends

• We don’t trust “corporate-speak” or “marketing-speak”

• We fast-forward our DVRs through the interruptions

• We pull content that interests us

• We create our own content, original and mashups

• We embrace word of mouth and eschew mainstream

media

• We are connected wherever and whenever we wish

• We bring our behaviors to the workplace

Reality

Clear Business Trends and Focus

• Key Trends

• Marketers are seeking lower cost solutions

• Desire for more accountable channels

• High focus on reaching customers directly

• Mix shifting quickly from traditional to interactive

channels

• Areas of Focus

• Social Media (CAGR of 34% to 2014 – Forrester)

• Search Marketing (biggest bucket)

• Display advertising, email marketing, mobile marketing

next

Top 10 Online Influence Areas

The Media World Isn’t Changing…

…it has already changed

• Media Outlets: 74 of top 100 outlets for Techmeme are

blogs/online sites

• Bloggers: 3 of 4 look to each other for their next story

• Customers: 3 of 4 look to each other for purchase advice

• Conversations: the driver of share-of-voice, influence and

recommendations

Don’t define it as offline or online: it’s all one media world.

Just know which conversations are defining your brand.

The New Media

The New Media

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Innovation Can Be Confusing in Real Time

The Formula for Success is Simple

1. Knowledge - Understand the marketplace

• Clarity on trends, best practices

• Educate and raise awareness

2. Clarity - Listen and learn with precision

• Most quantitative area we’ve ever had to analyze

3. Influence - Identify the exact locations of influence

and influencers

• No guessing

4. Content - Focus on content syndication and

conversations

• Web sites are locations for content you want to share

widely

The Formula for Success

1. Habits - Know how your customers search for

knowledge

• What are the questions they ask when they search?

2. Engagement - Empower customers in their three

key areas of interest

• Ideas, product knowledge and solutions

3. Leverage Technology - Utilize social media

technology throughout your company

• Improve collaboration, field sales input, redefine how

you conduct market research and more

What You Learn by Listening

• It’s about knowing

• Where the conversations are happening

• What your share is of the conversations

• What are the conversations that you could / should be in

• Who are the key influencers who can help build your brand

• It’s about expanding your news flow

• Simple syndication – distribute news via basic sharing tools (e.g., Twitter and Facebook)

• It’s about understanding communities

• Which groups, forums and networks matter?

• Who drives Share of Voice in these communities?

• What are the next steps in driving relationships?

• It’s about leveraging the toolkit and practicing the discipline

How You Build Competitive Advantage

• Complete knowledge of where

the opportunity really is for

your brand

• Where are conversations

occurring? Who has true

influence?

• Clear, brief, actionable

insights for your brand

• Who are the top influencers?

Which keywords matter?

• Knowledge of your

competitor’s actions

• So that you outsmart them

• Ability to get ahead of issues

to improve preparation

• See trends emerge before they

become public, in some cases

• Capability to integrate your

learning’s into all brand

activities, eg, natural

search/paid search, use of

keywords and much more

• Insights delivered so you can

easily utilize them

Understand the New Rules of Engagement

Imperatives:

• We must reach the new

influencers

• On their terms

• Engage in the conversation

or fail to connect

The Conversation Prism. Created by Brian Solis and Jess3

http://theconversationprism.com/

Understand Your Customers

•Who they are

•Where they are

•Why they're there

•Where you should be

• Why?

• How?

Understand Your Customers

• Your customer is discussing your brand everyday

• Do you know which words are important?

• Do you look at search like an advertiser or a detective?

• <10% of your customers will contact you in a good

year

• The majority of your customers utilize search and peer

to peer contact to answer their questions

• Where can you start to become a peer?

Understanding the Customer

• Subway’s Twitter presence, @subwayfreshbuzz, attracted more than 6,000 followers in less than six months.

• The sandwich shop franchise uses Twitter to interact with Subway fans two ways:

1. sending out product and promotional news

2. monitoring Twitter for buzz about its brand.

http://www.entrepreneur.com/magazine/entrepreneur/2010/January/204380-2.html

Understanding the Customer

• McDonald’s operates two main Twitter handles.

• @McDonalds, which has more than 4,700 followers, is used for brand news and information as well as customer service

• Internal research shows that the company is mentioned every 10 to 20 seconds on Twitter

• @McCafeYourDay promotes the company’s line of specialty coffees.

http://www.entrepreneur.com/magazine/entrepreneur/2010/January/204380-2.html

Understanding the Customer

• In a little more than a

year, @DunkinDonuts ga

ined more than 38,000

followers by creating a

place where people can

share their Dunkin'

Donuts experiences

• The company focuses on

creating a place where

people can talk about

how much they love

Dunkin' Donuts products

http://www.entrepreneur.com/magazine/entrepreneur/2010/January/204380-2.html

Be Where Your Customer Is

http://www.nevillehobson.com/2010/01/27/proctor-and-gamble-embraces-facebook/

Customers Co-Shaping Your Reputation

• Are you accidently outsourcing the building of your

brand?

• What is the impression of your brand?

It Pays To Listen

http://ronamok.com/2008/12/17/ford-fansites-and-firefighting/

The Value of Listening

A monitoring approach that tells us:

• Who is driving share of conversation for

your brand

• What the top issues are that matter to

your customers

• Where your customers live online

• How you can add value for your

customers

• When you should engage the community

• Why customers are passionate on certain

topics

Decisions

• What to pay attention to

• Pinpointing conversation trends: are there recurring or

key topics being talked about?

• Determining influence level of those talking: who’s

listening to them?

• What to do about it

• Engage? How and when?

• With what measurable goal?

How to Listen

Our Reality

1. Channels have

fragmented

2. Trust is critical

3. Social media have

arrived

4. The consumer is in

control (kind of)

5. Content creation and

distribution have been

democratized

Imperatives:

• You must reach the new

influencers

• On their terms

• Engage in the

conversation or fail to

connect

What Social Media Can Do for You

• It’s about knowing • Where the conversations are happening

• What your share of the conversations is

• What the conversations are that you could / should be in

• Who the key influencers are who can help build your brand

• It’s about expanding your news flow • Simple syndication – distribute news via basic sharing tools (eg, Twitter and Facebook)

• It’s about understanding communities • Which groups, forums and networks matter?

• Who drives share of conversation in these communities?

• What are the next steps in driving relationships?

• It’s about leveraging existing content and improving your natural search

What Can

You Do?

Right now?

First Steps

1. Listen

2. Give up control

3. Be natural

4. Make a commitment

5. Be where your/your client’s customers are

6. Learn to deal with negativity

7. Be humble

8. Have a clear and measurable objective

9. Develop a plan

10. Listen

DIY

• Google your/your client’s

primary brand

• Then see what’s being

talked about in blogs

• Plot a trend on Blogpulse

• www.blogpulse.com

• Open an account at

Twitter, and listen

• twitter.com

We Start…

• Listen – know your customer’s world online with precision

• Learn – make it easy to have all news at your fingertips

• Focus on actionable insights – what exactly can inform your strategy

• Identify who drives share of conversation – know the exact rank order of each influencer online

• Expand your reach with a clear focus – launch a new way to add value and engage with your customers/ communities

Neville Hobson Head of Social Media, Europe

WCG 25 Southampton Buildings, London WC2A 1AL, UK

direct +44 7824 33 7000 skype nevonskype twitter jangles

email nhobson@wcgworld.com blog.wcgworld.com