How do we create a winning social media strategy?

Professor David Phillips FCIPR FSNCR

Strategically, you are very intelligent.•Online buyers in Western Europe is nearing 138 million•Increase in EU online sales this year - 16.1% CRR research commissioned by Kelkoo

•72 % Estonian households have access to Internet (only 20 % do not use the internet)

• 376,800 Facebook users • Estonia ranks high in terms of Internet-readiness•Estonia’s neighbours are also an opportunity.

Fashion fans have one more reason to swap brick-and-mortar shops for online retailers: a company in tech-savvy Estonia has come up with a way to let you try on new clothes on your own computer.

•340 e-commerce enterprises in Estonia last year•70 million euros in online sales 2010•Sales revenue of online vendors increased by 44% year-on-year 2010•21% of Estonians aged 16-74 have shopped online

http://phys.org/news/2012-04-estonian-robots-boost-global-online.html

•Consumer confidence is high relative to rest of Europe•Retailing is in better shape than most other countries•Online retailing would seem to have big opportunities

Government understanding and support a growing trend, which has advantages for the people and creates business opportunities.

•Internet access in Estonia by age, first quarter of 2011:- 16-24 years old: 98.1%- 25-34 years old: 96.4%- 35-44 years old: 91.4%- 45-54 years old: 76.5%- 55-64 years old: 52.8%- 65-74 years old: 25.0%

•Estonia is high among countries using the internet for submitting forms to public authorities: Denmark (70% of internet users), the Netherlands (52%), Portugal (48%) and Estonia (46%).

•Among the top global populations to get information from websites of public authorities: Denmark (86% of internet users), Sweden (74%), Finland (65%), Estonia (62%).

• 6th most innovative country in Europe• Lots of free wifi

North Europe is taking to online purchasing very fast.

•Europe's most active online market, if replicated, shows Estonia:

•Online, B2C will grow 18% in 2013•Online B2B sales will grow 17% 2014

•All retailers need to be ready•All businesses need to be active•To delay is not an option.

•Rank 7th in Europe for use of social media •http://www.newmediatrendwatch.com/regional-overview/103-europe?start=5

•Already 12.7% of population shop using a smartphone. •http://www.newmediatrendwatch.com/news/879-one-in-three-online-shoppers-in-the-cee-region-owns-a-smartphone

•49.3% of online shoppers bought travel and holidays in 2011•By 2015 over 22% of all sales in Estonia will be online.

Facebook is a long term, expensive commitment and is, at best, a tactic.

We can see why the internet interests YOU.

•Fastest growing part of the economy•Robust market•Wired population•Internet savvy population•Social media aware population•Its where the future money is!

Where do you start?

Many things to consider•Defending corporate and brand reputation•Maintaining a balanced view – the internet is important, social media is important but it is people with or without a connected device who are important.•The media and devices (channels and platfoms) are changing rapidly – a solution today may be out of date when snow next falls in Tallinn.

The PC will be as romantic as a the Black Perl (and as useful) by the end of the decade. To be able to begin to create a

strategy:1. Understand the internet2. Understand what it is

doing to your organisation3. Remember that everything

you do is affected by1. Transparency2. Porosity3. Agency4. Richness5. Reach

The Google Knowledge Graph, announced in May 2012. •This means that the ever more porous organisation, will have a Google bot crawling around making sense out of all those company acronyms at the same time.•The bot will get information, summarise it and make assumptions all on its own for all the world to see.•Finally this clever capability is creating new facts.

What the Internet does•Digitisation of so many functions offers considerable benefits for the organisation. •Social Media empowers people, reduces cost and enhances capability to serve all stakeholders. •Ensuring the C suite understands and is on-board is vital.•Changes how we work as the Google Social Graph shows, is another in a line of big changes.

SMART Objectives Strategically•First, think of the corporate culture.•Know your objectives

•Corporate objectives •brand objectives

•In an interconnected world, who are the stakeholders?•Ethics and standards, the law and your position – companies that don’t get found out.

Where does Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, Pinterest, YouTube and Apps fit here?

Simple steps•Business objectives

•Remembering that:•Internet and social media in not a communications channel – it comprises cultural eco-systems•The consumer has very good intelligence•Be very honest about objectives.

•To optimise profitable sales using apropriate including social media in the 2013 financial year.

•eMarketing objectives•Who is your target , where do they hang out, what do they do, what engages them, How to monitor and measure? What is success?•What are the platforms, which are the channels, how well do they perform, what is standard, what is original, what is creative, how to monitor and measure? What is success?

•Strategy•The mix of on and offline interactions, platforms and channels. Timescales. Brand protection.•The consumer value proposition (what do they get). How to find your brand (advertising, SEO, Social Media). Why should consumers invest time and effort. When. •Plan B – issues planning capability (AND budget)•Measurement and ROI requirements

•Implement with tactical tools•Right platforms and channels, proper resourcing, effective monitoring and measuring.

•No excuses•Sometimes in this new world, we get it wrong. Learn and move on.

Some issues you will meet on the way•In-house or outsource?•T’s and C’s – don’t get banned from Facebook!•Internal systems, briefing and internal social media management (and don’t forget company email!)•Time shifted news and views. Some people find out about what you are doing early and others discover your campaign months after its all over.•All this is global. Expect to have people engage from Mars and Venus.•There will be stress points (e.g. Product delivery times). •Be sure to have effective and easy communications channels in place for your consumer community (Twitter is one, but you may want to use others).

What we know.•Online B2C and B2B sales are growing very fast.•The online economy is growing very fast•Estonia is very advanced in its use of the internet, social media and mobile technologies.•By 2015 over 22% of all sales in Estonia will be online.•If your organisation is not already involved, it is time to catch up.

• Useful techniques

• Updates about the internet and marketing

But the time for experimentation is beginning – keep an open mind What we know

•The time for experimentation is past•Online marketing has to be structured and integrated•Like most management activity there is a need for professionalism to guard against mistakes and recover from mishaps•Social media is not a channel for communication it is a series of social eco-systems.•There is a real need for planning, management, monitoring and reporting.

Your turn•Questions.

The Beginning