CONTENT IN THE CONTEXT OF THE AUDIENCE

If fans build brands,

how do you build fans?

#marketingweek confused! One session says don't have strategy for social media, baby steps. Next session MUST need strategy.

PHASE 2

Build it and they will come…..

Really?

6 parts to phase 2….

Connect

Relevant

Consistent

Trust

Engage

Evolve

Ok – but why?

90 9 1

Power Law: 1% of the customers create most of the user-generated-content, 9% engage with the content and 90% simply read the content.

Define what type of fans

"The philosophy behind much advertising is based on the old observation that every man is really two men -- the man he is and the man he wants to be.” William Feather

The internet has made constructing our (multiple) identities through communities more visible, accessible, and rewarding.

"multiple e-dentity disorder"

So there is another measurement we need to consider in our activities, to ensure that activities also have the greatest measurable impact on human interaction.

CONNECT

Tweetmeme’s re-tweet buttons, are being displayed 500 million times a day and now on about 200,000 sites.

Source: http://www.seomofo.com/wordpress/tweetmeme-retweet-button.html

Did the change of “Become a fan” to “Like”

create greater engagement?

"Becoming a fan of a brand is perceived as a large commitment and is an important measurement metric... 'Liking' can be another great driver of awareness and an opportunity for users to show an additional form of affinity,” Scott Kepler, CTO Context Optional

Facebook, 3 Billion ‘Likes’ per day

Facebook’s social plug-ins are now on around 350,000 sites globally.

3 variations to “like”

1. I hit the like button on pages all the time. I like your picture. I like the fact you had fun on your vacation. It doesn’t mean I want to get into a long involved conversation or see all your vacation pictures.

2. I like the jeans you are selling on your website. I like them because I already own a pair. I am not giving you permission to contact me and try to sell me something or to suggest to my friends that they should buy them because I like them.

3. I like the book you just read. I would like to buy a copy. It would save me time if by liking this book someone would contact me from Amazon with a link to quickly allow me to buy it.

4. “Liking” something can have any number of meanings. Unless FB comes up with a solution for the problems caused by the misinterpretation of these meanings, the Like button will quickly become a nuisance.

– Mark Cuban, blog maverick

Like Fan ≠

and the one thing in common among (nearly) all?

They are fmcg brands

social media facilitates broader coverage than a site destination

As facebook engagement grows the question arises - what does this

mean for web sites?

RELEVANT

Great content drives the conversation – and it is out of the hands of the creator as the message travels from one to one through to many. Great content provides the reason that people will continue to visit and explore. Great content, consistently delivered, will create fans.

RIGHT PLACE, RIGHT TIME

Go back three years ago. Twitter was being used by the same crowd that is playing with Foursquare today…..

…but I think this lame little location game is going to be bigger than Twitter. Why? Because eventually businesses will learn that this is an even better way to engage with customers than Twitter is. Robert Scoble

Source: Foursquare, August 2010

2.4 million people use Foursquare globally

100,000 sign on everyday

40% of users are outside US

Large communities in Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Indonesia

“…I want Foursquare to be able to tell people where to go wherever they are in the world, based on their previous visiting habits, likes and dislikes and the time of day…We want to be able to push venue suggestions to you.…. as we develop Foursquare tools and how we use our data,” Dennis Crowley, co-founder Foursquare.

CONSISTENT

The site is known for its local daily deals, often offered by small businesses including restaurants, gyms and spas.

With a $1 billion valuation and more than 9.4 million Groupons sold since its launch, it has become one of the most recognized group buying sites on the web.

Update: By day’s end, 441,000 Groupons were sold, bringing in a little more than $11 million. Groupon usually splits the revenue with partners, but declined to disclose its share.

Groupon launched its first national deal (20/8), partnering with Gap to offer $50 worth of apparel and accessories at the low price of $25.

TRUST

Whether an individual can be influenced and become a fan is as important as the desirability of the influencer.

Keeping control of your fans privacy….

Via http://blogs.forrester.com/augie_ray/10-07-30-amazon_shows_how_protect_your_brand_while_connecting_facebook?cm_mmc=RSS-_-MS-_-913-_-blog_2586

Facebook’s privacy policy is longer than the U.S. Constitution. The U.S. constitution has a paltry 4,543 words to Facebook’s 5,830. Nick Bilton, NY Times 5/2010

ENGAGE

Content

EVOLVE

“Studies have shown that marketers perceive blogs to have the highest value of any social media in driving site traffic, brand awareness, lead generation and sales—as well as improving customer service,”

Source: eMarketer : Steady Gains in Blogging by Marketers August, 2010

Building fans should not be seen as an end in itself

remember Stage 2?

Gaining 700,000 Facebook fans by accident

•  This was not due to interest the topic, but

because they identified with his title:

“They were the sort of people who were also

fans of such inane but popular Facebook fan

pages as “Punching Things” and “I hate it

when I get fingerprints all over my phone.”

•  This Facebook popularity has had hardly

any impact on book sales

The brand does not always need to be in control

There needs to be a balance of being in control and being in touch. The more in control the brand is, the less in touch they become. Marketers are most likely to succeed and be "in touch" when they let consumers be in control. AG Lafley, CEO Proctor & Gamble

Fan-run communities can be powerful brand advocates – e.g Blackberry Cool

RATM

Having been Christmas no.1 for 4 years in a row, 2009 seemed like a forgone conclusion

Ultimately, engagement beat reach

Rage Against The Machine OUTSOLD

X Factor by 50,000 records

500,000 to 450,000

Why did it work?

•  Context

•  Provocative

•  Co-ownership

•  Simple goal

•  Leveraged high profile supporters

•  Viral nature of networks

•  Conversion was easy

A closing thought

Thanks

phil@apparent.com.au

twitter.com/phillipsmith

twitter.com/weareapparent

facebook.com/weareapparent