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Internet Strategy Summit Forum – Mapping the Digital Landscape: A Strategic Guide

Presented by Geoffrey Ramsey, CEO of eMarketer

Data can be made to say anything you want.  People don’t trust advertising or marketing.

The growth rate for total media spending is only 3.3%.  The growth in traditional media – radio, tv, print is negative.  All the growth is online.  eMarketer is predicting 22.2% growth in online media spending, which includes online video and rich media.

Advice: Learn about communities. Test new marketing concepts without spending much money.

73% of online americans watch video online.  27% of online americans watch full length tv shows online.  47% are more engaged in the ads and 25% more engaged in the show than with traditional tv.  However – the audience is much smaller and spends less time per day watching.

Advice: Spending on online video ads should increase. They allow more measurability, target-ability and share-ability.

There are a few ways to use online video:

  1. Post video footage of your products and services on your website.
  2. Post video ads on content video sites (YouTube, etc.).  Relevancy is key.
  3. Create webisodes (ex. Will It Blend)

30% of US marketers are using blogging as a tactic.  Watch for what people are saying about your company.  It may appear higher in search results than what you say.

Strategies for social networking:

  1. Look, Listen, Lounge, Learn
  2. Advertise – Improved Targeting
  3. Advertise on smaller niche sites – be relevant
  4. BYO (build your own) social network – remember its not about your product or service – create something of value to your customers

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Internet Strategy Forum Summit – Creating a Social Strategy That Will Work

Presented by Charlene Li, VP & Principal Analyst, Forrester Research

The ease of posting anything on the Internet means that negative messages about your company may be higher in the search results than your own messages (ex. comcast technician sleeping on my couch – see YouTube).  This gives individuals enormous power, but it also means individuals help each other.

What can companies do about this?  Should this be something to fear?  It’s important for companies to have clear objectives about what they’re trying to achieve by using social media.  Think about relationships instead of technologies.

In the book, Groundswell, the following methodology is recommended:

  • P – People – Who is your audience? What are they doing online? How do they do it and when?
  • O – Objectives – What are you trying to accomplish for your business?
  • S – Strategy – Plan for how relationships with your customers will change.
  • T – Technology – Once all the other steps have been examined, take a look at what tools make sense to accomplish your goals.

People – Different types of people have different levels of online participation.  You can profile your customers at groundswell.forrester.com to see where they are on the participation ladder: inactives, spectators, joiners, collectors, critics, creators.  Age is a major driver of participation, but as more content becomes available online, there has been more participation.

Objectives – Different departments in your company will have different objectives for social media:

  • Market Research – Listening
  • Marketing – Talking (have open-ended conversations)
  • Sales – Energizing (activating your most passionate customers)
  • Support – Supporting (your customers can help support each other)
  • Development – Embracing (customer ideas and feedback can speed up and provide higher quality development which better meets the market needs)

Strategy – Start small because you will make lots of mistakes.  Think big about how this can transform your organization.  Control is an illusion – the conversations about your brand will happen whether or not you participate.  Understand what motivates people to participate – very rarely is monetary – they want to help, make a difference, be heard, and be part of a community.

Technology – This will depend on where the people you want to reach are already.  It may make more sense to participate in an existing community than to start your own.

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What Social Networks Should I Join to Promote My Business Website?

Social networks are a hot topic right now.  Just last night I had a client ask me, “Should I join Facebook? I don’t understand how to use Facebook or MySpace.”  Just like any business (good) decision, what social networks to join takes a bit of thought in order to get the results you’re looking for.  And that is exactly the first question to ask yourself:

What goal or problem am I trying to solve?

The answer to this question can completely change which social networks you should take a look at.  It may even mean that it makes more sense to create your own social network or community.

Where are the people I’m trying to reach?

Just because you hear about MySpace or Facebook in the news doesn’t mean that your customers or potential customers (or whoever else you’re targeting) is there.  Just like in the real world, certain types of people hang out only in certain places.  You need to understand where people are in order to get the most out of your efforts.

What will be the reaction to your message?

If you just jump into an established community with messages about how great you are, it can have exactly the opposite effect of what you’re saying.  People inherently trust their peers more than messages from companies, so you’ll need to take the time to understand the community and the people who frequent it.

Those are just a few questions to get you started with thinking about your business goals first.  We’ll take a look at how to answer these questions and some new questions to think about in future posts.  For some outside reading, Groundswell, put together by Forrester Research, is a great book on how to use social networks and community for your business goals.

Need Help using Social Networks to promote your Business Website? Get started with a free website analysis or contact us for a quote.

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