A presentation by Ceri James at the 2nd Annual Social Media conference on \'Building Trust & Loyalty for your brand through social media\'. The event was attended by a number of key note industry specialists.
7. The Evolution of the Internet ...limitless opportunities Ceri James | JD Internet Consulting | www.jdconsulting.co.za | ceri@jdconsulting.co.za
8. “ Social media are media designed to be disseminated through social interaction, created using highly accessible and scalable publishing techniques. Social media supports the human need for social interaction, using Internet- and web-based technologies to transform broadcast media monologues (one to many) into social media dialogues (many to many). It supports the democratization of knowledge and information, transforming people from content consumers into content producers. Businesses also refer to social media as user-generated content (UGC) or consumer-generated media (CGM). ” Enter Social Media… ~ Wikipedia Ceri James | JD Internet Consulting | www.jdconsulting.co.za | ceri@jdconsulting.co.za
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10. Online Brand & Reputation Management ...If you’re not managing your online reputation, then someone else is
19. Bogus Listings on Social Media Sites? ...Would the real JZ please stand up? Ceri James | JD Internet Consulting | www.jdconsulting.co.za | ceri@jdconsulting.co.za
24. Brandjacking Video #2 Good or Bad? – You be the judge… Ceri James | JD Internet Consulting | www.jdconsulting.co.za | ceri@jdconsulting.co.za
25. If this was YOUR brand, what would YOU do? Ignore it and hope it goes away… OR TAKE ACTION ??? Ceri James | JD Internet Consulting | www.jdconsulting.co.za | ceri@jdconsulting.co.za
26. So where to from here? Forewarned is forearmed
28. Examples of Social Media Campaigns … Develop a social media purpose & strategy, before going ahead Ceri James | JD Internet Consulting | www.jdconsulting.co.za | ceri@jdconsulting.co.za
29. Guidelines for Managing your Social Media Corporate Identity: … Selecting the right social media platform to get the job done
34. Guidelines for Managing your Social Media Corporate Identity Ceri James | JD Internet Consulting | www.jdconsulting.co.za | ceri@jdconsulting.co.za
35. Doing it right ...Enhance your reputation and harvest loyal followers Ceri James | JD Internet Consulting | www.jdconsulting.co.za | ceri@jdconsulting.co.za
36. Real Simple Syndication (RSS) Feeds Advantages for Publishers: Advantages for Subscribers: Ceri James | JD Internet Consulting | www.jdconsulting.co.za | ceri@jdconsulting.co.za
37. Building Trust and Loyalty ...Listening to your customers Ceri James | JD Internet Consulting | www.jdconsulting.co.za | ceri@jdconsulting.co.za
38. The Place of Social Media in the Customer Engagement and Buying Cycle
47. Police your brand or share it? Ceri James | JD Internet Consulting | www.jdconsulting.co.za | ceri@jdconsulting.co.za
48. Fan or the real deal? Ceri James | JD Internet Consulting | www.jdconsulting.co.za | ceri@jdconsulting.co.za
49. Does it really matter? ...when the power of the crowd speaks louder than your brand Ceri James | JD Internet Consulting | www.jdconsulting.co.za | ceri@jdconsulting.co.za
50. Scrabble vs. Scrabulous Mattel Hasbro word game Jayant & Rajat Agawalla 2 Million users 10 Million page views
51. Summary Ceri James | JD Internet Consulting | www.jdconsulting.co.za | ceri@jdconsulting.co.za
52. Summary Ceri James | JD Internet Consulting | www.jdconsulting.co.za | ceri@jdconsulting.co.za
53. Summary Ceri James | JD Internet Consulting | www.jdconsulting.co.za | ceri@jdconsulting.co.za
54. Summary Ceri James | JD Internet Consulting | www.jdconsulting.co.za | ceri@jdconsulting.co.za
55. Summary Ceri James | JD Internet Consulting | www.jdconsulting.co.za | ceri@jdconsulting.co.za
56. Summary Ceri James | JD Internet Consulting | www.jdconsulting.co.za | ceri@jdconsulting.co.za
57. Summary Ceri James | JD Internet Consulting | www.jdconsulting.co.za | ceri@jdconsulting.co.za
58. Summary Ceri James | JD Internet Consulting | www.jdconsulting.co.za | ceri@jdconsulting.co.za
59. Can a business control it’s brand? …or should you throw caution to the wind and share it? Ceri James | JD Internet Consulting | www.jdconsulting.co.za | ceri@jdconsulting.co.za
61. Ceri James Sales and Marketing Director JD Internet Consulting & Discover SEO Mobile: 082-963-2703 Tel: 011-807-2358 [email_address] www.linkedin.com/in/cerijames www.jdconsulting.co.za www.discoverseo.co.za Ceri James Sales and Marketing Director JD Internet Consulting & Discover SEO Mobile: 082-963-2703 Tel: 011-807-2358 [email_address] www.linkedin.com/in/cerijames www.jdconsulting.co.za www.discoverseo.co.za
Notas del editor
05/13/09
What is a brand? To understand a brand, let’s firstly start off with these definitions Oxford Dictionary – “A type of product manufactured by a company under a particular name” David Ogilvy – “The intangible sum of a product’s attributes: its name, packaging and price, its history, its reputation and the way it is advertised” Joel Postman – Social Corp – “I define a brand as the sum total of our experiences with a company, its products, services and employees, and the way those experiences shape our perception of that company. 05/13/09
Some well known brands Most companies have invested large sums of money into their corporate identity and are naturally concerned about having some kind of control over how their brands are managed. Traditional wisdom says – All companies control their brand But How true is this really? 05/13/09
Some well known brands Most companies have invested large sums of money into their corporate identity and are naturally concerned about having some kind of control over how their brands are managed. Traditional wisdom says – All companies control their brand But How true is this really? 05/13/09
Enter Social Media 05/13/09
05/13/09
05/13/09 A site I am sure you have all heard about, even if you haven’t yet seen it. (Explain it’s purpose) There are many platforms where your market goes to air their views on your business, both positive and negative. Sites such as “Hello Peter” have destroyed, as well as been instrumental in building up successful businesses; the businesses who were not afraid to listen to the chatter of their market and actively and positively act on it. We normally shy away from what we don’t like to hear. The fact is there are always aspects of how we can improve both as people and as well as business. If you just listen, your customers will tell you how you can improve your offering. And improving your offering means that more people will WANT to deal with you… (Especially when there is evidence of your business turning a negative situation into a good one) It is platforms like this where organizations can start to get in touch with what their markets are saying, not only about themselves, but also about their competitors. The next step is to make your market understand that you are not afraid of what they have to say, invite them to make posts and what’s more make it as easy as possible for them to make their comments right on your doorstep. (& what’s exciting, you can make use of so many online facilities to provide this platform for your customers) Include a forum, a blog, a twitter account, or facebook account to your communications arsenal. This immediately shows your market that you are not afraid of what they have to say and it empowers them to read what others are saying and include their own observations on your organization.
05/13/09 To give you a brief understanding of the power of Social Media…. And while this may look like I am focusing at this stage on the negative powers of social media; I’m not… I am however showing what happens if enough attention is not paid to the social media wave. Hello Peter receives 9 984 visitors per day on average Hello Peter is not industry specific…. It does not discriminate between industries and your industry is definitely there…! And if you think Social Media is not for you………….. Look at the stats on the right…..Your target market is definitely involved in social media, which means that you should be too..!
Example – Iphone 3GS vs Blackberry The primary factor in building trust and loyalty with customers and prospective customers is to listen to them. They are out there daily telling you what your business needs to do to be better, what systems, product attributes and procedures are lacking in their eyes. The compelling urge of people to talk to and about each other is the very fuel which ensures that the social media fire continues to burn with a searing hot flame which burns brighter and hotter each day. This invaluable source of voices, all talking, provides the fuel for the fire. So why should this fire be any exception..? While talking, responding and essentially personal selling are key points in the social media furnace, it is listening to the fire that has the ability to inform you of the way your business is perceived in the market place. Out of all the steps and procedures that you may have in your sales cycle, the check boxes you may tick along the way, they all mean nothing if you are not listening to what your market is saying about you. (Just as it is so important to listen your customer to establish their needs before a sale can take place, so you need to listen to what they have to say about you, your business & service, otherwise they will just leave & go to a competitor 05/13/09
The company web site is no longer the centre of the communications universe, an effective SM strategy involves knowing how to reach people, where they live, work & play, instead of having them come find you. So where do we start? Identify brand custodians Let consumers know who they are talking to: Explain who’s staffing the page or account, John smith - account manager Have the right people managing your SM campaign Create an online profile where people can verify your authenticity Starbucks example 3 Examples of what you might want to achieve: Online advise Exclusive offers Whisper campaigns Competitions for brand building Surveys for businesses considering a change in direction Recruiting staff Offering opinion Instructional or demo videos 05/13/09
Selecting the right social media platform to get the job done (objective & target) – If you don’t understand the various platforms & who’s using them, you will get it wrong & ruin your reputation in the process Once you understand your target audience, you need to do extensive research to assess which platforms they interact with, as well as how other companies, namely your competitors make use of these platforms to communicate with their target audience. This can be done joining their groups , signing up for their communications, etc. Marry online with existing offline communication & strategies – 05/13/09
4 examples: Facebook summary & advertising demographic Digg readership demographic & screenshot Linked in profile summary & groups demographic Linked in account creation demo (screen shots) Youtube Video channel 05/13/09
The company web site is no longer the centre of the communications universe, an effective SM strategy involves knowing how to reach people, where they live, work & play, instead of having them come find you. So where do we start? Identify brand custodians Let consumers know who they are talking to: Explain who’s staffing the page or account, John smith - account manager Have the right people managing your SM campaign Create an online profile where people can verify your authenticity Starbucks example 3 Examples of what you might want to achieve: Online advise Exclusive offers Whisper campaigns Competitions for brand building Surveys for businesses considering a change in direction Recruiting staff Offering opinion Instructional or demo videos 05/13/09
Use your company logo as an avatar with link to your web site so your profile can be verified by the users Publish your social media affiliations on your web site This allows journalist, consumers & bloggers to verify which social media sites are authorized by your company Also allows these same people to link to your social media from your site, so as to get regular updates Without assurance of trustworthiness any form of SM is not beneficial to bona fide organization Keep it real and relevant Ensure content is fresh Ensure you have the right people to respond to customers Respond quickly 05/13/09
05/13/09 The next is to realize the place of social media in the customer engagement and buying cycle… Typically a would be client is going to research their purchase or potential relationship with you online before they formally engage with you and enter into a relationship with you.
Find fans of your brand Search & connect with people that are already endorsing your brand online (Look through Google alerts, SM & profiles, forums) Engage with them on a more personal level through discussions, Get them involved by ask for their advise & opinions Stray away from corporate speak Honest & respectable dialogue between you & your customers Provide value instead of trying to sell them something (might be your expertise, etc) Challenge them with contests & incentives to spread the word 05/13/09
Find fans of your brand Search & connect with people that are already endorsing your brand online (Look through Google alerts, SM & profiles, forums) Engage with them on a more personal level through discussions, Get them involved by ask for their advise & opinions Stray away from corporate speak Honest & respectable dialogue between you & your customers Provide value instead of trying to sell them something (might be your expertise, etc) Challenge them with contests & incentives to spread the word 05/13/09
05/13/09 Newton’s 3 rd law states that “for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction”…. Now I’m pretty sure Newton never saw his laws being interpreted for Social Media, but the law holds true, so bear with me... Possibly even more important than listening to what the market has to say is responding to the market especially when their commentary is negative. It is now imperative that if you have control over the space where the message has been posted that you do not, under any circumstances, delete the message. This is possibly the single most damaging course of action that you could possibly take at this stage. Sweeping the bad under the rug means that very soon no one will be talking about you because the olive branch of trust that you have extended with the facility for them to comment has crushed that branch underfoot. The negative comments need to be addressed swiftly and publically with a unified organizational front in a tone and manner which says that you are not going to be defensive and dismissive towards the negative criticism, but rather as one who is going to embrace the criticism and will take immediate action to investigate the matter further and institute the appropriate corrective action where necessary. It is again vital to ensure that you are very clear that you have taken corrective action for the root of the problem, otherwise you are merely placating the complainant with a “free box of chocolates” instead of successfully altering the complaint into an opportunity to better your business! Action … Reaction…!
05/13/09 Use and misuse of a company’s name, logo, website URLs, product names and other elements associated with a company’s brand Firstly, let’s go through some of the new terminology which describe how your brand might be misused in the social media environment… Astroturfing Positive posts on SM sites by people who have close links or affiliations with these companies, but who don’t reveal themselves as such. Blogola (from payola) The practice whereby companies ‘pay’ bloggers for favourable blog posts of comments in exchange for a variety of merchandise Brandjacking Stand up & fight, or roll over & play dead High-jacking the brand identity of another company. This can happen in a variety of ways. 2 common practices are: either pretending to be that company by registering their domain name, for your web site or creating a profile on a SM site pretending to be that company, even at times using their logos, product lines, etc. Another example of this is where passionate followers of the company set up fan pages on SM sites. With the purpose of promoting & driving traffic to the official web site. As this is the more beneficial type for a business, the company might choose to overlook this. - Flog A fake blog, normally set up by a company to create the perception that a non related blogger is positively promoting their brand. Link baiting Posting multiple links in a blog to drive traffic to a web site. Fine line between ethical & unethical Pay per post Content on a blog might be manipulated, as the blogger gets paid for every post they make Keep up to date with all new SM platforms as they launch, so as to ensure you will be the first to register you company’s details there & stops your competitors, or would be brandjackers to do the same.
Example of American Red Cross Negative handling of Hurricane Katrina (relief not being distributed effectively, unpreparedness of relief workers) – Huge credibility lost Obviously as a charity, with reducing credibility & trust, donations were seriously impacted & could start to dry up ARC then decided to address this by setting up their own Facebook profile page, blogs for each hurricane ( http://hurricaneike.wordpress.com ), a twitter feed to keep followers up to date with their relief efforts, as well as SMS notifications for those on the move Also search Google, Technocrati & Twitter for anything related to their brand & they have a dedicated team who all handle the responses. Although initially, they were effectively forced to do this, the result has been an all round positive impact on the Red Cross brand. Why? - They keep their stake holders/ audience up to date - What people say is important to them - They take time to comment & reply - They show they care 05/13/09
Instead of simply policing your brand, Should you rather share it? (Bang & Olufsen Face Book pages) 05/13/09
SM amplifies word of mouth marketing Pay attention to the needs & interest of your customers – this strengths your reputation & furthers your brand Build a profile that people will see as a valuable source of information, & through that you will gain trust & loyalty amongst your community Social Media is not about selling, its about making connections If done effectively, your SM platform can add value to your readers. Be consistent, offer advise freely, & only present your product or service info when appropriate, or asked to do so, otherwise this could be seen SPAM No social media program, no matter how effective can take the place of a quality product, or good customer service, but many companies, are finding that Social Media, is an extremely effective way of improving customer service. The company web site is no longer the centre of the communications universe, an effective SM strategy involves knowing how to reach people, where they live, work & play, instead of having them come find you. 05/13/09
SM amplifies word of mouth marketing Pay attention to the needs & interest of your customers – this strengths your reputation & furthers your brand Build a profile that people will see as a valuable source of information, & through that you will gain trust & loyalty amongst your community Social Media is not about selling, its about making connections If done effectively, your SM platform can add value to your readers. Be consistent, offer advise freely, & only present your product or service info when appropriate, or asked to do so, otherwise this could be seen SPAM No social media program, no matter how effective can take the place of a quality product, or good customer service, but many companies, are finding that Social Media, is an extremely effective way of improving customer service. The company web site is no longer the centre of the communications universe, an effective SM strategy involves knowing how to reach people, where they live, work & play, instead of having them come find you. 05/13/09
SM amplifies word of mouth marketing Pay attention to the needs & interest of your customers – this strengths your reputation & furthers your brand Build a profile that people will see as a valuable source of information, & through that you will gain trust & loyalty amongst your community Social Media is not about selling, its about making connections If done effectively, your SM platform can add value to your readers. Be consistent, offer advise freely, & only present your product or service info when appropriate, or asked to do so, otherwise this could be seen SPAM No social media program, no matter how effective can take the place of a quality product, or good customer service, but many companies, are finding that Social Media, is an extremely effective way of improving customer service. The company web site is no longer the centre of the communications universe, an effective SM strategy involves knowing how to reach people, where they live, work & play, instead of having them come find you. 05/13/09
SM amplifies word of mouth marketing Pay attention to the needs & interest of your customers – this strengths your reputation & furthers your brand Build a profile that people will see as a valuable source of information, & through that you will gain trust & loyalty amongst your community Social Media is not about selling, its about making connections If done effectively, your SM platform can add value to your readers. Be consistent, offer advise freely, & only present your product or service info when appropriate, or asked to do so, otherwise this could be seen SPAM No social media program, no matter how effective can take the place of a quality product, or good customer service, but many companies, are finding that Social Media, is an extremely effective way of improving customer service. The company web site is no longer the centre of the communications universe, an effective SM strategy involves knowing how to reach people, where they live, work & play, instead of having them come find you. 05/13/09
SM amplifies word of mouth marketing Pay attention to the needs & interest of your customers – this strengths your reputation & furthers your brand Build a profile that people will see as a valuable source of information, & through that you will gain trust & loyalty amongst your community Social Media is not about selling, its about making connections If done effectively, your SM platform can add value to your readers. Be consistent, offer advise freely, & only present your product or service info when appropriate, or asked to do so, otherwise this could be seen SPAM No social media program, no matter how effective can take the place of a quality product, or good customer service, but many companies, are finding that Social Media, is an extremely effective way of improving customer service. The company web site is no longer the centre of the communications universe, an effective SM strategy involves knowing how to reach people, where they live, work & play, instead of having them come find you. 05/13/09
SM amplifies word of mouth marketing Pay attention to the needs & interest of your customers – this strengths your reputation & furthers your brand Build a profile that people will see as a valuable source of information, & through that you will gain trust & loyalty amongst your community Social Media is not about selling, its about making connections If done effectively, your SM platform can add value to your readers. Be consistent, offer advise freely, & only present your product or service info when appropriate, or asked to do so, otherwise this could be seen SPAM No social media program, no matter how effective can take the place of a quality product, or good customer service, but many companies, are finding that Social Media, is an extremely effective way of improving customer service. The company web site is no longer the centre of the communications universe, an effective SM strategy involves knowing how to reach people, where they live, work & play, instead of having them come find you. 05/13/09
SM amplifies word of mouth marketing Pay attention to the needs & interest of your customers – this strengths your reputation & furthers your brand Build a profile that people will see as a valuable source of information, & through that you will gain trust & loyalty amongst your community Social Media is not about selling, its about making connections If done effectively, your SM platform can add value to your readers. Be consistent, offer advise freely, & only present your product or service info when appropriate, or asked to do so, otherwise this could be seen SPAM No social media program, no matter how effective can take the place of a quality product, or good customer service, but many companies, are finding that Social Media, is an extremely effective way of improving customer service. The company web site is no longer the centre of the communications universe, an effective SM strategy involves knowing how to reach people, where they live, work & play, instead of having them come find you. 05/13/09
SM amplifies word of mouth marketing Pay attention to the needs & interest of your customers – this strengths your reputation & furthers your brand Build a profile that people will see as a valuable source of information, & through that you will gain trust & loyalty amongst your community Social Media is not about selling, its about making connections If done effectively, your SM platform can add value to your readers. Be consistent, offer advise freely, & only present your product or service info when appropriate, or asked to do so, otherwise this could be seen SPAM No social media program, no matter how effective can take the place of a quality product, or good customer service, but many companies, are finding that Social Media, is an extremely effective way of improving customer service. The company web site is no longer the centre of the communications universe, an effective SM strategy involves knowing how to reach people, where they live, work & play, instead of having them come find you. 05/13/09