Increasingly, corporations are looking for ways to tap into Social Media as a way to engage with their customers, reduce marketing spend, and gain competitive advantage. Entrepreneurs too realize the potential and in the past year alone, we have seen an explosion of startups who create Social Media solutions—from widgets and add-ons to full community management platforms. But what does social media mean to a corporation? What does it mean to its customers? And even more importantly—what does it mean to entrepreneurs who want to gain competitive advantage in this space? About Ravit Lichtenberg – Ravit Lichtenberg, Founder and Chief Strategist of Ustrategy LLC, is an expert in the fields of customer experience strategy and product marketing. Ravit’s interdisciplinary approach assisted countless startups and larger corporations like Hewlett-Packard to implement best-practice processes that analyze and affect consumer psychology to improve the customer experience and improve bottom line profitability. This presentation was given at the Social Media Club of San Francisco and the Silicon Valley in May 2009.

1. Focus on relationships, not technologies
The Corporate Social Media
Ecosystem
Ravit Lichtenberg,
Ustrategy, LLC
May 19, 2009
Not for commercial use; please reference source as: Ravit Lichtenberg,
Ustrategy, LLC.

2. The Corporate Ecosystem is Evolving
March 2008 “The CRM 2.0 Imperative”

3. The Corporate Ecosystem is Evolving
Now can
be also a
startup!
March 2008 “The CRM 2.0 Imperative”

4. The Social Media Corporate Ecosystem
•Create
relationships
•Listen
Corporation •Learn
•Converse
Marketing •Sell
•Interact and
share
•Make money Startup/ •Learn
•Be known Customer
Partner •Express their
voice
Capabilities

5. What is Social Media Again?
An umbrella term for tools
used by people to connect
to others, and by
companies to connect to
their existing and new
customers using Web and
related technologies.
Engagement
Conversation
Expression
Tracking / Observing

6. It sometimes looks like this…

7. Or, like this…

8. But mostly, people feel this…
But mostly….
http://goeastyoungwomantodubai.
wordpress.com/2008/11/19/66/

9. Customers People

10. People Increasingly Interact with Social
Media
 Over 60% of Americans regularly use Social Media
Source: RWW/Cone research
Compete.com

11. People Want to Interact With Their
Favorite Brand
 93% believe a company should have presence on
Social Media sites
 42% of adults and 55% of youth want to interact
with their favorite brand through one or more
social media tools.
Sources: RWW/Cone Research
Forrester Research

12. But HOW They Want to Interact Varies
 When asked how they prefer to learn about their
favorite brands:
 26% of adults prefer online discussion forums
 21% prefer videos
 15% prefer profiles on social networking sites like
Facebook
 Only 12% prefer blogs
 Less than 10% listen to podcasts
Source: Forrester Research

13. Corporations Care About Social Media!

14. Brands are trying…
 HP spends 50% of budget on Marketing
 Brands who use Social Media spend 10%-25% of
their Marketing dollars on Social Media campaigns
Sources: Hewlett-Packard Co.
Forbes

15. Some Are Getting it Right…

16. Procter & Gamble- BeingGirl

17. Walmart- Buyers’ Blog

18. Nike’s MashUP

19. But Most Brands…Do Not
 More than 50% of brand
campaigns fail.
 Worst Ad Campaign: HP
Pay Per Post, Subway,
Walmart Across America.
 Unable to articulate ROI
or measure it.
 “Throw and see what
sticks.” (Charlene Li)
Source: SXSW blog
Forrester Research

20. Startups Know There’s a Need

21. Some Succeed…But Most Don’t
 Solution is generic or…too
customized
 Poor business model
 Lacking consistency,
dependability
 Inability to integrate
 Lower quality of interaction
 Unable to understand
customer benefits
 Difficulties reaching
decision makers

22. So Now What…

23. To Turn the Corporation Social…
Corporations must move from selling to caring!
 Focus on relationships—not selling
 Get to know customers!
 Go to places where customers spend time
 Develop meaningful communication
 Create an exchange: a dialog
 Make it easy
 Give tools to the advocates
 Reward the enthusiasts
 Turn boring into exciting
 Enlist the right SMEs
 Bring on board the right solutions

24. Each Player in the Ecosystem Cares
About Different Things
•How to measure ROI?
•What tools are best?
•How to get IT’s buy-in?
Corporation •Are the old ways best?
•Will we get a deal?
•Will we beat our •What do I get?
competition? Startup/ •Why should I spend
Partner Customer time here?
•Are we creating a
need to fill? •Will I have control over
privacy?
Without addressing each Player’s needs, you
don’t have a strategy!

25. Corporations Must Have a Strategy!
Starter steps:
 Agree on the business objectives
 Understand customers’ objectives
 Identify the relevant channels
 Establish relevant metrics
 Have the right people on board
 Align with ongoing marketing strategy
 Prioritize!
 Develop a plan
 Identify the right tools for the job
 Implement

26. About Ustrategy, LLC
 We are a boutique consultancy out of the Silicon Valley, California,
specializing in linking customer psychology with business objectives
for maximum results.
 Ustrategy, LLC. was founded by Ravit Lichtenberg, a 15-year tech
veteran who works with startups, Fortune50 corporations and
anything in between. Ravit was a customer experience strategist
with Hewlett-Packard’s Corporate Marketing division. She is an
advisory board member for a number of organizations.
 Ustrategy, LLC. partners with strategic resources for best results.
Some of our partners include eStorm, Uxcentric, and IDEO. Clients
include large corporations as well as US and foreign-based
startups.
 Ravit Lichtenberg, Ustrategy Founder and Chief Strategist, is a
sought speaker, writer, and analyst. You can find out more at
www.ustrategy.com

27. Recent Articles
 10 Ways Social Media Will Change in 2009,
ReadWriteWeb
 -What's Wrong with Facebook: When Strategy Fails to
Meet Execution, ReadWriteWeb
 -What Every European Startup Should know: 10 Keys
to Presenting Your Startup in the US, Mashable

28. Thank you!
Ravit Lichtenberg, Ustrategy, LLC
http://ustrategy.com
http://ravitlichtenberg.com
@ravit_ustrategy