THE BLOODY TRUTH ABOUT SOCIAL MEDIA #Youneedtoknowthis

THE BLOODY TRUTH ABOUT SOCIAL MEDIA #YouNeedToKnowThis

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Provided by Oneupweb® FACT OR FICTION By now you’ve heard the buzz on the wire from marketing PERCENTAGEPERCENTAGE OF FORTUNE OF FORTUNE GLOBAL 100 evangelists about the unprecedented and viral power of COMPANIESGLOBAL WITH...100 COMPANIES WITH... social media. But for the pragmatist, it’s alright to be a little skeptical of the “too good to be true” promises. As a 65% practical business professional, you know that success takes 54% an investment of time, money and effort—You can only 50% produce quality results from quality inputs. 33% The fact is that social media is now a cornerstone for branding, sales growth and PR. But there are a lot of quick and dirty stats out there painting a picture of social media with hues of exaggeration and illusions of gran- deur—and the real value of social media can get lost among all the wild digits and fantastic claims. So let’s take a moment to separate fact from fic- Twitter Facebook YouTube Corporate tion. And along the way, maybe you’ll pick up a few insights for developing accounts fan pages channels blogs Today, most companies are using at least one social media channel. Adoption of multi- and maintaining a strong social presence. channel social media strategies is on the rise as businesses begin to realize how to leverage one social media channel, such as Twitter, to promote engagement with another channel, such as a company blog. [Source: Burson-Marsteller Fortune Global 100 Social Media Study].

In the grand scheme of things, it was Twitter Insights only a minor shake-up—we have yet to Local communities and interest groups are forming on Twitter. A recent fully realize the full potential of this study by Sysomos found that nearly half of the Twitter population is within four steps of one another—you may be closer to your consumers communications channel. and clientele than you think. And if you’re just getting started, consider the What is true, however, is that in sage wisdom of Lao Tzu: “if you want to lead the people, you must learn 2009, three years after a slumbering how to follow them.” THE ADOPTION OF TWITTER introduction to the online world, Learning to tweet effectively takes some THE GROWTH OF TWITTER Twitter’s growth rates finally took off. getting used to. The 140 character limit and 300 Still, the average monthly traffic on making sense of the ebbs and flows of the Twitter is still only about a fifth of what Twitter Twitter stream seem a bit foreign at first. 250 Cell phones Facebook commands. Use hashtags (#) so others can follow your discussions and topics. Also, be mindful of But the fact is that like other social 200 channels, Twitter will continue to strive Twitter etiquette: for advancements in both reach and • Respond when you are tweeted @. It’s 150 utility. That is, it has to if it doesn’t hope also a good way to get noticed. to suffer the fate of MySpace.

• Be thankful for retweets (RT) and (Millions) People 100 Today, there are 75 million Twitter accounts, respond in kind. about a quarter of the US population. • If someone (a real person and not a 50 That’s comparable to the number of adults bot) follows you, follow them back. who owned a cell phone in 1999. After a (This is especially helpful when just decade of steady growth, cell phones have 0 getting started). 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 become ubiquitous. And as practicality Year overcame the novelty of cell phones, the • Design tweets that, when retweeted, expediency of micro blogging as a your message or link doesn’t get cut off. The adoption of Twitter, much like cell phones and broadband, will likely increase at an exponential rate in the next decade. broadcast medium will continue to drive This usually requires an allowance of the growth and adoption of Twitter. 10 characters or so, allowing, in reality, 120-130 characters for your message.

Unless you regard the home videos of cats YouTube Insights YOUTUBEYOUTUBE AND GOING VIRALVIRAL doing silly tricks as examples of viral There are many ways to use videos to Total Views: 4,890 success, then no, you can’t guarantee a engage consumers and clients—both 5K J I H G F E D C B A on and off YouTube, such as embedding 4K video will go viral by doing x, y, and z. 3K video on your website and Facebook page. 2K Consider the social side of YouTube: 1K What is true, however, is that the 0 value of rich content, like videos, actually • People can easily share videos by 06/10/2009 12/17/2009 6/25/2010 mature over time. Businesses can set-up connecting with their social networks, Ratings: 25 Comments: 17 Favorites: 27 YouTube channels to collect and archive like Facebook and Twitter. LIKES: 22 DISLIKES: 3 all their video assets in one location. It • Ramp up engagement with your channel makes it simple for viewers to search Links with user-generated content. Lonely your video collection, and allows you to Date Link Views Planet’s My Journey video contest A JAN 21, 2010 FIRST REFERRAL FROM RELATED VIDEO - PACKING LIGHT FOR WORLD TRAVEL 126 collect valuable data and insights. resulted in the addition of hundreds B OCT 03, 2009 FIRST EMBEDDED ON - WWW.TRAVELGEARREVIEW.COM 89 The fact is that YouTube is one of user videos to the brand’s channel C JULY 29,2009 FIRST REFERRAL FROM RELATED VIDEO - TRAVEL SKILLS: PACKING LIGHT 180 D of the web’s most trafficked sites, and drove up the number of subscribers JULY 15,2009 FIRST EMBEDDED ON - WWW.TOPSHOP.SI 92 E JULY 17,2009 FIRST FEATURED VIDEO VIEW 86 and receives a higher percentage of and channel views. F JUN 15, 2009 FIRST REFERRAL FROM YOUTUBE - /VIEW_PLAY_LIST 147 searches than both Yahoo and Bing. • Keep it short. People are more likely to G JUN 13, 2009 FIRST REFERRAL FROM YOUTUBE SEARCH - LONELY PLANET 83 H JUN 12, 2009 FIRST REFERRAL FROM GOOGLE SEARCH - LONELY PLANET 174 What’s more is that people are spending watch a video that is only a couple of I JUN 12, 2009 FIRST REFERRAL FROM YOUTUBE SEARCH - TRAVEL TIPS 110 more time engaging with video content minutes long—and if you’ve piqued J JUN 11, 2009 FIRST REFERRAL FROM YOUTUBE - HOMEPAGE 176 than any other type of content online. their interest, they will likely stick The average person spends 15 minutes Lonely Plant’s YouTube channel has nearly 200 uploaded videos. A handful of videos have reached viral status, around to watch more. some with as many as 400,000 views in a few months time. But many of the videos, like “Pack It In—Lonley Planet a day on YouTube—that’s five to ten Travel Tips” continue to draw views. times as long as most people spend on • Think like your customer, and remember your website. the “billboard law”: no one will pay attention to your videos, nor will they invite them into their lives and share them with their network, unless the videos entertain, offer utility and/or are relevant to their experience and needs.

The reason why people want to engage with Facebook insights WHAT IS YOUR PRIMARY REASON FOR 58% a brand online is because it has relevance or By now, the probability that you, or BECOMING A FAN? meaning in their life, and adds value to their someone close to you, is not on Facebook To let my friends know is slim to none. And college students no what products I support. 41% social network. And businesses can grow longer dominate—today, over 45 percent To receive coupons and their social capital by simply being real and of Facebook’s audience is over the age of discount o ers. 37% 26. It’s also an affluent crowd, according To stay current on contributing value to the online communities available new products. 35% to Quantcast’s analytics, 30 percent of that they are part of. To learn more about the Facebook audience makes between the company/organization. 31% It is true that Facebook users like to $60-100k and nearly a third of the To meet with people who have interests similar to mine. 28% “like” brands on Facebook. In addition to Facebook population rake in over $100. letting their friends know what brands This is how Facebook fits within today’s 0%

they like, Facebook users also “like” the marketing world: 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% special access to exclusive Facebook • Paid advertisements on Facebook can A 2010 survey by Morpace found that 41% of Facebook users polled join fan pages to let their network know what products they support. It’s digital w.o.m. deals and promotions. help increase the reach and impact of And the fact is that fans add value exclusive offers and campaigns. to your brand. In addition to the (digital) • See past the number of fans you word-of-mouth marketing, studies have and look at your brand’s level of have shown that Facebook fans are engagement. A fan’s activity on your more likely to buy a brand’s products page will spread throughout their than non-fans. personal network and news feed. • Facebook users like short polls and surveys. These are excellent tools that both B2B and B2C companies can use to encourage participation on the company’s fan page—and you may actually learn something about your fans, too.

The Pew Internet & American Life Project reports that, since Blog insights 2006, blogging has been on the rise among older adults. Personality goes a long way when doing • Optimize blog content and titles so that it is more likely According to eMarketer, 94.1 million adults were reading business. A blog can be a window into to show up in search engine results for specific topics. your office culture, a glimpse of your sales • Share blog posts through RSS feeds and social blogs in 2008—and the topics being written about in the team, a peek at your originality, a reflection bookmarking. Make sure that readers have the option blogosphere are as diverse as those that read and write of your company’s genuineness—it shows to share your blog content on their social networks clients and consumers the human side of them. Adults like to read blogs because they are personal, as well. sincere, and relate to some aspect of their lives or career. your business. Think of it as an engagement • Enable commenting so that readers can join in and be And blog readers are loyal—often returning regularly period—let them get to know you and your company before they com- part of the conversation. to review new content. A quick look at Oneupweb’s mit. And, keep your clients StraightUpSearch blog shows stats as high as 10 visits/visitor and consumers engaged % OF VISITORS AND THEIR PAGES OF INTEREST every month. Visitors also average seven minutes per visit— with your brand by sharing 5% astonishingly higher than the average time they might interesting anecdotes and 4.76 Coming from: office adventures. Create Facebook 4.25 spend on your website. 4% Twitter an office blog schedule and 4.00 encourage staff to share It’s true; not only do people read blogs, but blogs their point of view and are also receiving the highest percentage of visits 3% 3.26 industry insights. There from Facebook and Twitter—compared to other pages 2.94 are simple ways to build a of interest. A company blog is an excellent channel for 2.55 community around your updating clients and consumers on relevant industry 2% company’s blog: 1.97 news, upcoming events and promotions. • Keep posts short and leads to maxmizing the ROI of your complete The fact focused on a few points. 1% 1.11 online presence. And it comes down to numbers—the People are more likely 0.79 number of unique visitors and time spent on site. to read a blog when 0.42 To generate traffic, you have to generate content. they know it will only 0% Management People are searching for the latest news and trending Blog Products About us Contact us take a few minutes of team topics; and it’s just not practical to update your their time. Blogs command the interest of audiences on Facebook and Twitter. [Source: Leadforce1, “How Effective is website content daily. Blogs are timely and current—and Social Media for B2B.” 2010]. maintaing a company blog will drive timely and current leads to your website.

Big consumer brands, like Best Buy and Taco Bell, get a lot • Find your niche and invite participation with your of attention for their forays into the social media world. But social profiles. Take a moment to explore other social B2B brands are also connecting online. profiles, too. • Be Relentless™. Don’t give up. The firehose of social It’s always been true that doing business is all about feeds may feel overwhelming at first, but with the right nurturing productive working relationships. And it’s not just tools and strategy, you can manage a productive social ALL THINGS SOCIAL consumers that are using social channels to make presence that will yield real results. connections online. It’s fast becoming the standard for SHARE PHOTOS Flickr TwitPic doing business—from mobile devices to cloud computing, POST VIDEOS OF EVENTS MetaCafe Truveo it’s easier than ever to get in touch with prospective clients. METRICS USED TO MEASURE SOCIAL SHARING OR SHARE COMMERCIALS Vimeo YouTube

MEDIA SUCCESS (% OF RESPONDENTS) SOCIAL UPDATES Friendfeed Twitter The fact is that B2B companies have a place in the & BROADCAST MESSAGE online social sphere. A well designed, managed and B2C CONNECT WITH Facebook Squidoo properly optimized social media presence will engage CUSTOMERS B2B prospects and grow your business. And more than other NETWORKING NETWORK WITH LinkedIn PROFESSIONALS 68%

types of communication, online social media is trackable— 61% 60% 57% 57% BLOG ABOUT IT Tumblr Blogger 52% 52% you can easily measure the level of engagement and how 51% 47% 43% 41% 38%

this translates into increased revenue. 40% 37% READER PICKS Reddit SlashDot 32% 29% 26% 23% POPULAR STORIES Newsvine Yahoo! Buzz Social Media Insights NEWS Technorati

There’s no way around it—social media has changed the way 3% 3% CONVERSATIONAL NEWS Propeller we live, work and play. Just look at the numbers. And it’s not surprising why people have so quickly populated online Other Delicious BlinkList SHARE LINKS Simpy Prospect Revenue Prospect communities—it’s fun. That’s the bloody truth about social feedback lead volume

lead quality RATE LINKS, DISCOVER Engagement meda: people go online to connect and share because they Engagement BOOKMARKING StumbleUpon

Website tra c NEW SITES Useful product with prospects with customers Brand reputation want to, they enjoy the interaction. And if your company Brand awareness ANNOTATE, HIGHLIGHT, Diigo AND STICKY NOTES isn’t there, you’re missing out on a captive and engaged Metrics used to measure the success of social media initiatives according to B2B and B2C companies in North America [Source: ePinions Buzzillions audience. Here’s a few more points to consider: REVIEW SHARE REVIEWS AND Business.com, 2009 B2B social Media Benchmarking Study]. RECOMMENDATIONS Omgili Viewpoints Yelp • Learn the lingo and etiquette of the social communities. There are a variety of options when it comes to integrating social media. You will be more likely accepted into the community if Pick and choose based on your needs: you play by the rules, because when in Rome…

06 877.568.7477 • OneUpWeb.com ©2010—All Information in This Document is Copyright Protected and the Property of Oneupweb® CONTACT US ABOUT ONEUPWEB | Oneupweb has been an innovator in OUR SOCIAL SITES digital marketing for more than a decade, creating integrated online twitter.com/Oneupweb marketing plans that incorporate natural search engine optimization (SEO), paid search marketing (PPC), social media marketing, digital pr, display facebook.com/Oneupweb advertising, analytics, creative services, mobile marketing, website design, web 2.0 technology, audio/video/podcasting, and research, youtube.com/Oneupweb training and consultation. An award-winning company, Oneupweb is flickr.com/Oneupweb privately held and located in Traverse City, Michigan. For more information on Oneupweb, please call 231.922.9977, visit myspace.com/Oneupweb OneUpWeb.com or follow them on Twitter@Oneupweb and @LisaWehr. delicious.com/Oneupweb

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