about face: using facebook as a networking, advertising and business tool lindsay midkiff miller...
TRANSCRIPT
About Face: Using Facebook as a Networking, Advertising
and Business Tool
Lindsay Midkiff MillerMiami University
What we will cover
• Intro to Web 2.0, Social Media and Social Networking
• Facebook (beginning, evolution, future)• The average Facebook user• Facebook in our culture• Walkthrough and creating a profile• Networking, marketing and business
uses
What is Social Media?
Any online technology or practice that people use to share content, opinions, insights, experiences, perspectives and media
Social media is changeable and interactiveSocial media is about sociology and less
about technology
Examples of social media applications:
Social Networking
• A type of social media that provides a virtual community for people and provides a way for members to contact friends of other members.
• MySpace, Friendster, Facebook, Bebo
• Began at Harvard in 2004, now open to all
• Sixth-most trafficked site in the US• As of August, around 40 million
active users, half return daily• Maintains 85 percent market share of
4-year U.S. universities
• Over 150,000 new profiles daily• No. 1 photo sharing application on the
Web (14 million uploads/day) • It is estimated that Facebook's value
is around $8 billion • A survey conducted by Student
Monitor revealed Facebook was the most “in” thing after the iPod and tying with beer
Facebook in the news
• Pop culture• Politics• Crime
Poll
• What age group accounts for the highest amount of users on Facebook?
A. 12-17B. 18-24C. 25-34D. 35+
Surprise!
• The answer is D: 35+• It’s people over 35 who make up
Facebook's largest demographic - more than 10 million people, or almost 40 percent of the site's monthly visitors
•Most growth is among people over age 25.
•The number of unique Facebook visitors 35 and older more than doubled in June from a year ago, to 11.5 million
The average Facebook user
• Spends 20 minutes per day on the site
• Checks site 6 times a day• Is likely from a household making
$75K +• Is in college or has an advanced
degree
Facebook – an Overview
Creating your profile
• http://www.facebook.com• Account is easily changed/deleted if
you do not want to keep it after tonight
• We will have time during the break to set up profiles as well
Create profile
• Register your account in Facebook• Add information to profile• Join a network• Search for and add friends• Write on the wall• Search for and join groups• Add an application
Break
• Questions?• Help with account set up• Think about ways you could use this
professionally
“Netscape browsed the web, Yahoo organized it, Google searched it, and now Facebook has made it social.”
– Seth Goldstein, founder of SocialMedia
Facebook for Business
• Covered in the past few months by Money, Business Week, Wall Street Journal, Brandweek and Advertising Age
• Many businesses are examining whether social networks should be part of an online strategy (not unlike blogs and IM)
• Hot topics: Networking, Marketing and Advertising and HR issues
Networking
• Why use Facebook for professional networking?
• Who is already using Facebook for networking?
• Best practices
Networking – why Facebook?
• The case against LinkedIn– “In LinkedIn, everything centers around
establishing a connection. In Facebook, connecting is just the beginning. Facebook is all about community. And this can been seen by doing things like leaving messages on users' walls, joining groups and having discussions, as well as some of the more social applications built for Facebook.”
» Jeff Pulver, blogger, www.pulver.com
Networking – why Facebook?
Sheer numbers:– 40 million active users total– 28,788 in the Dayton network– 64,730 in the Cincinnati network
More professionals, older users joiningSearch within networks, groups,
workplaces
Networking – case study
• Bill Schwartz, 51 – Executive recruiter from Phoenix– Hesitant to join because of age, but wanted a
way to connect with clients and keep up with contacts
– Favorite features are• “News feed” - Updates from contacts about what
they are doing. This gives him insight into client’s personalities and helps with finding the right people
• Building social utility just by saying “Happy birthday”!
Networking – case study 2
• Wanted to become a CFP, looking for someone who recently took the exam
• Search in network for “financial planner”
• Found another Miami grad, share 5 friends
• Asked a mutual friend to introduce him
Networking – best practices
• Think of your profile as personalizing your desk
• Create a personal brand• Best used for keeping track of
existing contacts• Use for making contacts, but a
network is about relationships, not just contacts
Networking – best practices
• When adding a friend that you have never met, send them a note, mention your connection and reason for contacting
• Join groups related to your business interests
• Incorporate other social tools into profile• Keep profile up to date• In the works: 1 profile for personal, 1 for
business
Marketing
• Why Facebook for marketing?• Who is using Facebook for
advertising and marketing?• Best practices
Marketing – Why Facebook
• Go where the people are• Allows you to reach targeted groups
with information of value to them• Consumers interact with your brand in
their environment on their terms• Any message that reaches a user is
likely to spread to their friends • Shows your organization or company
is aware of trends and up on technology
Case study - Skittles
• Skittles created a group on Facebook for their product Skittles Carnival Bubble gum
• The group has over 7,000 members• Online game, discussion board, wall posts• Creating a community around their
product, getting feedback, letting consumers know they value their opinion and involvement
Search Skittles Gum in Facebook to see their group
Case study - Cadbury
• Nearly 100 Facebook groups, with upwards of 14,000 members between them, petitioned for Wispa (a bar discontinued in 2003) to be relaunched.
• Because of the response, Cadbury announced that the product will be relaunched in October 2007.
Search ‘Wispa’ to see some of the groups created by users
Case Study – Wal-mart
• Wal-mart’s “Roommate Style Match”• 1,200 members• Users can browse dorm-ready
furnishings• Features a quiz to find out your
decorating style• Discussion board bombarded with
negative comments about Wal-mart; troubles with unions and workers’ rights
Search Walmart Style Match to see the Walmart group
Market Research - Polling
• Use Facebook polling for market research– You create the questions and the target
audience– Tell Facebook how many results you want
and how much you are wiling to pay per result. The more you offer, the more quickly results are returned to you.
– Prices currently range from $.10 to $1.00 per data point, plus an initial $5 insertion fee.
– Polls appear in the user’s news feed
Advertising - Flyers
• Advertisements - probably the most common form of Facebook marketing
• Facebook flyers are created using a self-service feature on the site
• Flyers basic - displays 5,000 times for only $10 to people you choose. Target based on age, gender, and network. You pay for the number of times your Flyer is shown.
• With Flyers Pro you only pay for the clicks you receive
• http://www.facebook.com/flyers
Advertising – Embedded in News Feeds
• Ads embedded within the users’ news feeds
• The ads typically redirect user to their sponsored group in Facebook
How much do these campaigns cost?
• Advertisers say they typically spend about $150,000 for a three-month campaign that gives them a group page on Facebook, as well as the news-feed ads.
• Of course, you can create a non-sponsored group for free!
How to successfully market on Facebook
• Create a community and participate, don’t pitch!
• Listen and respond to feedback about your product
• When users can create content expect some negative responses
• Use Facebook to drive users back to your website
• Use the event feature to advertise events
HR issues
• Recent survey- 35 percent of hiring managers use Google to do online background checks on job candidates
• 23 percent look people up on social networking sites.
• About one-third of those Web searches lead to rejections, according to the survey.
Summing it up
• Facebook looks like its here to stay, if not it will be another social networking site
• I hope that I’ve convinced you that it could be a useful professional tool
