• Embed Doc
  • Copy Link
  • Readcast
  • Collections
  • CommentGo Back
Download
 
Making the Case or a Social Media Strategy
Social media – online sites like blogs and discussion boardswhere consumers create and share inormation and opinionsdirectly with each other -- are beginning to aect brands.Examples like the Kryptonite lock crisis and Intuit’s continuedsuccess have convinced marketers to incorporate social mediainto their plans. In many companies, marketers must convincetheir senior management executives who don’t understandthe inluence the social aspects o the Web experience isexerting on their brands.A Cymony Infuence2.0™ White Paper
 july 2006
 
Here’s the elevator pitch to give to a busy executive: 
The influence traditionalmedia and marketing have over consumer perception is waning as people usethe plethora of digital technologies to circumvent traditional sources to obtaininformation and entertainment from each other. But these social media outletsare more than another channel through which to deliver messages to themarketplace. Companies like GM, Microsoft, Intuit and New Line Cinema aresuccessfully using social marketing strategies to understand and engage theiraudiences more deeply – with demonstrable business results.
Here are the data, examples, and details to support the pitch.
Communication Builds Web Audiences
It is axiomatic that marketers must placetheir messages where consumers spendtime. Online advertising’s growth hasoutstripped other media as marketers havefollowed consumers’ migration to the Webfor shopping, news and entertainment.
Percent of Time Spent onOnline Activities
Source: Online Publishers Association Feb 2006 
Commerce18%Communications39%Content38%Search5%
 
While information and commerce are part of theWeb experience, communication (in the form ofemail) was the “killer app” that made the Web a“must-have” and continues to be a mainstay ofthe online experience. Communication activitiessplit the lion’s share of consumers’ online timewith content, and far outstrip commerce andsearch according to the Online Publisher’sAssociation Internet Activity Index.
1
 Advertisers have begun to experiment with inserting ads into blogs, podcasts or RSSfeeds and even conducting viral marketing campaigns. While there will be a place forthese strategies, these approaches use social media as a one-way channel. To gain thefull benefit of the Web‘s true nature as a social medium, companies must learn toparticipate with their audience in a deep, continuous dialogue.
The Social Web’s New Communications Forms Draw More Users
As consumer’s experience and comfort with the technology has increased, onlineusers have expanded their social activities to tap into or contribute to consumer-created content like product reviews.
The Pew Internet and American Life Project reports that 44% of American Internet userspost on blogs, discussion boards or engage in other social media outlets
2
. A quicksearch on Amazon for the “DaVinci Code” found over 3,000 customer reviews ranked byhelpfulness as rated by the site’s users. Retailers including Circuit City and mediacompanies like CNET also host reviews on their sites as an added value to their visitors.
1
 
 
The State of the Blogosphere
In its April 2006 “State of the Blogosphere”, leading blog search engine,Technorati reported:
•
19.4 million active blogs (defined as having a new post 3 months aftercreation)
•
3.9 million blogs are updated at least weekly
•
1.2 million new posts per day
•
70,000 new blogs are created each day.
•
The universe of blogs is 60 times larger than it was just 3 years ago.
•
It is doubling in size every 6 months
Source: State of the Blogosphere, April 2006, Part 1 http://www.sifry.com/alerts/archives/000432.html
While blogs get most of the credit for the rise in social media, customer opinion sites,usenet groups and discussion forums receive over twice as many posts a day as blogs(about 4-6 million).
3
Discussion boards’ popularity persists because enthusiasts find acommunity that shares their passion: PriusChat.com visitors share ideas, information,and experiences with the hybrid gas-electric automobile.The dramatic growth of social media sites show that while the form may change,participatory content is a powerful draw: comScore reports that MySpace grew 318%and broke into the top ten Web sites (measured by unique visitors) in 2005. Wikipediagrew 275% to surpass popular sites like ESPN.com and in May 2006 ranked just behindThe Weather Channel. YouTube, which wasn’t even around a year ago, now attracts12.6 million users.
4
 
A Technology Banquet Feeds Individual Creativity
Increasingly, Internet users go beyond simply reading content or buyingmerchandise and convert their Web experience into self-expressive event: theycreate their own content, spend more time with content created by other people,and remix bits of what they find in both traditional media and from otherindividuals.
The technology rush of the past 10 years – from the Internet, to digital photography, toblogs, to digital editing software – unshackled people’s creative urge, taught them how todistribute their creations, and brought them feedback from peers that further fed theurge.
2
of 00

Leave a Comment

You must be to leave a comment.
Submit
Characters: ...
You must be to leave a comment.
Submit
Characters: ...