1. SOCIAL MEDIA: IT’S
EVERYWHERE
Susan Mernit, October 2010 CCT.org talk

2. Twitter: World’s latest breaking news
source

3. Local video reaches across the world
We don’t need foreign correspondents

4. News happens in real time
Flickr: February 27, Saturday am: Chilean
earthquake 8.8, 4:34 am

5. Via search & reputation, news is both grass-
roots & filtered—almost instantaneously

6. Implications to think about
• Peers are our experts
• Social media is our ecosystem
• Mobile means access everywhere
EVERYONE USES SOCIAL MEDIA
It’s the drumbeat. And powerful for clients.

7. Welcome to the social media ecosystem
 200 Million Americans are on Facebook
 Roughly 44 million people use Twitter
 There are over 4 Billion photos on photo-sharing
community Flickr
You are now connected to everyone on the
planet via search & Facebook

8. This means: The game Has changed
• Even
beyond
Google,
everyone
is
inter-­‐
connected
• We’ve
gone
beyond
centralized
authori:es
that
creden:al
us—newspapers,
universi:es,
affiliate
groups
• To
crowd-­‐sourcing,
networks,
and
the
wisdom
of
crowds
-­‐-­‐Are
you
a
part
of
the
stream?

9. How do you show up on the Net?
 Who are you connected to? What do
you stand for?
 You
cannot
hide
in
a
world
of
referral,
recommenda:on
and
reputa:on
 And
you
have
to
connect

10. Social media has an amplifying power.
Do you know how to use it?

11. Oakland Local: Case study in community
engagement & social media marketing

12. Social media & OL
 Facebook: 4,300 friends; 950 active posters
(Facebook Insite)
 Twitter: 2,500 + followers, 5-10 retweets daily
 Flickr: Active flickr site & tags
 Scribd: Over 5,000 downloads
 YouTube, Vimeo, etc: Active video channels
 Who posts? Team of 5 rotate responsibilities

13. What does this get us?
 Facebook & Twitter as top referrers
 Powerful community connections: Facebook the AOL
of today; people hang out
 Ability to engage, discuss, interact
 Genuine connections with wide, diverse community
 Ability to serve and empower

14. Uses for social media for small business
people
 Make your brand
more discoverable
 Create and manage
your own online
presence on the web,
Facebook, Yelp, Linked
In and other sites
 Market your brand to
customers to increase
awareness & sales
14

15. What is your social media—and online
15
—presence?
• Do you know how your
clients show up on the web?
Are you discoverable
through search? If someone
hears of you—can they
find you?
• Let’s look at three East Bay
retail businesses and see
how they show up.

16. Scream Sorbet
HFp://screamsorbet.com,
Sells
at
Farmer’s
Markets
&
will
have
retail
store
Temescal.
Makes
fresh
sorbet
&
gelato.
16

17. Scream Sorbet
• Google links: 4,700 • Blogger links- 274 see
• Social media tools: http://bit.ly/8YPTZS
• Facebook (528 friends):
http://on.fb.me/bYJ48i
• Twitter (456 friends):
http://twitter.com/
screamsorbet
• Blogger links- 274-- see
• Yelp (80 reviews): http://bit.ly/8YPTZS
http://www.yelp.com/biz/
scream-sorbet-emeryville
• TOTAL Social media
connections=1,064
17

18. Scream Sorbet
18

19. Tara’s organic ice cream
19
(www.tarasorganic.com)
:
regional
chain,
3
stores
East
Bay
area

20. Tara’s
 Google links: 2,280  TOTAL Social media
Social media tools: Twitter (6

followers):
connections=1, 569
http://twitter.com/tarasorganic  Blogger links- 78 see
Facebook (1,211 friends),

http://www.facebook.com/
http://bit.ly/cF7uXp
pages/Taras-Organic-Ice-
Cream/46169884276
 Yelp:-Temescal,( 34 reviews):
http://www.yelp.com/biz/taras-
organic-ice-cream-oakland)
 Yelp-Claremont, Berkeley, (324
reviews):
http://www.yelp.com/biz/taras-
organic-ice-cream-berkeley 20

21. Tara’s
21

22. Lush Gelato
22
2
stories,
no
real
web
site,
lushgelato.com/comingsoon

23. Lush Gelato
• Google links: 1,960 • Blogger links- 75—see
• Social media tools: http://bit.ly/bI53kT
• Blog ( • TOTAL Social media
http:// connections=436
lushgelato.blogspot.com/),
• Facebook, (269 fans):
http://www.facebook.com/
lushgelato
• Twitter, (93 followers):
http://twitter.com/lushgelato
• Yelp (74 reviews):
http://www.yelp.com/biz/
lush-gelato-oakland
23

24. 24

25. Observations
25
• The smallest and most independent ice cream business
—Scream Sorbet-- has the largest social media reach
and links on Google and the most mentions by
bloggers.
• They use Twitter and Facebook to promote their weekly
flavors and have very active and engaged followers
who LOVE their product and like to talk about it.
• Customers are sales people and brand advocates.
• There is a personal feel because people are
encouraged to fixate on specific flavors.

26. Lessons to learn
26
• The cost of customer acquisition is LOWER with
social media than with direct mail or most
advertising
• The online activity supports the OFFLINE activities
• Feeling of fun and passion fits love of great sorbet/
gelato/ice cream
• Social media drives interest in the product, which
results in leads and sales

27. How did these owners do it?
27
• Applied resources and time to managing online
marketing: Facebook, Twitter, blogging, Yelp
• Monitored results and checked impact on both web site
traffic and real-world customers (How did you hear
about us? “On Twitter.)
• Had clear messaging around specific actions and
opportunities (Come in today for chocolate caramel ice
cream; Take part in our ice-cream giveaway at our
store.)
• Made a plan, set goals and tried it.
•

28. We MEASURE like crazy!
 Google analytics
 Google search (reach, impact)
 Facebook insites
 Tweetreach
 On-going analysis & course corrections

29. Action steps you can take now
29
• Check out what people are saying about you on
Google, Yelp, Facebook, and Twitter.
• google.com
• search.twitter.com
• http://www.facebook.com/srch.php
• Yelp http://www.yelp.com (search box) or name of
your business in quotes + Yelp (Example: "Scream
Sorbet" + Yelp, http://bit.ly/c8x64c
• Set up a Google alert for you, your business and your
competitors (see google.com/alerts). Have it come to
you as a daily email or RSS feed.

30. Useful resources
30
• Facebook Business Account FAQ:
http://www.facebook.com/help/?page=721
• Twitter account creation:
http://twitter.com/account/create
• Great article on social media and small business:
http://techcrunch.com/2010/07/17/how-social-
media-drives-new-business-six-case-studies/
•
• Don’t forget about follow-up classes from Oakland
Local Academy—and the social media support our
consulting group can provide you with along with
advertising services.

31. Oakland Local loves to share community
strategies
Keep in touch
Twitter:
@Susanmernit, @oaklandlocal
Email: susan@oaklandlocal.com
Site: oaklandlocal.com
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