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Realising your Sales Potential with Social Media

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1. Introducing Social Media

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Social Media in 2012• 98% of online population in the UK using

Social Networking sites• Users 55+ represent the fastest growing

segment in social networking usage• 87% of mid-large size businesses plan to

maintain or increase investment on SM• 13% plan to cut spend on SM– More than 50% of those citing a lack of return

Sources: Comscore & The Next Web

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But…

• What is Social Media?• Why should I care?• Is it just a fad?• Does anyone make any money from it?• Where do I start?

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1a. What is Social Media?

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Social Media: Media for social interaction using highly accessible and scalable publishing techniques.

Original source: Wikipedia

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“People are searching for answers and direction, not messages or sales pitches.”

Source: Brian Solis, Engage – Buy the book

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“The tools are just extensions of you…”

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Social Media Marketing:Using Social Media to engage with online communities in order to generate exposure, opportunity and sales.

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Some Key Aspects & Terminology

• Web 1.0, 2.0 & 4.0• Real Time• Viral • Authenticity / Transparency• User Generated Content (UGC)• Consumer Generated Media (CGM)

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Putting it in context – Why now?Technology• Computing Power• Processor Power• Internet Speeds• Digital Cameras• iPods• Smartphones• iPhones / iPads

Society• Generation Y / Millennials• Out of Town Shopping• E-commerce• Longer Working Hours• Migration & Immigration• Erosion of Community

Centres• The Age of Spin

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1b. The Tools & Technology

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Key Social Media Tools

Blogs Social Networks

Wiki Sites

File Sharing Sites

Geo-tagging

Live StreamingForums

Aggregators

Review Systems

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Facebook

• Launched 2004 • 800m+ Active Users• Approx. 30m+ users in the UK (49% of Pop)

Source: Social Bakers

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Facebook

• 50% log on in any given day• 250m+ access via mobile devices

(and are twice as active)• 250m+ people engage with Facebook on

external websites• 900m+ objects that people interact with

(pages, groups, events & community pages)

Source: http://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?statistics

Source: http://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?statistics

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An Average user…

• 38 years old• 130 229 Friends• Spends 55 minutes on the site per day• Is connected to 80 pages, groups &events• Creates 90 pieces of content each month• Adds 25 comments to content each month

Source: Facebook & Flowtown

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Blogs & Blogging

• 133m+ blogs• 77% internet users read blogs• Two thirds of bloggers are male• 60% are 18 – 44 years old• 75% have a college education or above• 50%+ are married• 50%+ have kids

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Blogs & Blogging

• 56% say their blog has helped their company establish a position as ‘thought-leader’

• 58% of bloggers say they’re better known in their industry as a result

• B2B companies that blog generate 67% more leads per month than those who do not.

• 94% of bloggers reported measurable SEO benefits within 12 months

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What is Twitter?• Micro-blog• Social Network• Search Engine • Focus Group• News Wire

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Twitter• Launched 2006• 11 new accounts per second• 200m – 465m registered users• 100m active in a month• 55% log on every day• 200m+ tweets per day• 400m+ unique visitors per month

Source: The Next Web & Twitter Blog

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Average user…

• Is 39 years old • Has 126 Followers• 64% over 35 years old• 53% are female• 1.6bn search queries on Twitter per day• 43% access via a mobile device

Source: Flowtown

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What is LinkedIn?

• ‘Professional Network’• Founded in 2003• 150m+ members• 200 countries – all 7 continents• 2m Company Pages• Gains 1 new user per second

Source: LinkedIn

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Some Statistics

• 34m users in Europe• 8m UK users• Average user age of 44

Source: LinkedIn

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Foursquare

• Community: Over 15 million people worldwide

• Over 1.5 billion check-ins, with millions more every day

• Businesses: Over 750,000 using the Merchant Platform

Source: Foursquare

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Foursquare Specials

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What is Pinterest?

• Virtual Pinboard• Users organize and share ‘beautiful things’

they find on the web

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Some Statistics

• 13.76m people worldwide visited• Spent an average of 89 minutes on site• 250,000 Britons visited in January– spent an average of 25 minutes on site that month

Source: Pinterest & Guardian.co.uk

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2. Social Media Strategy & Planning

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“A good strategy has an essential logical structure that I call the kernel.”

“The kernel of strategy contains three elements: a diagnosis, a guiding policy and coherent action”

Good Strategy, Bad Strategy - Richard Rummelt

Buy the book

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Innovative thinking should be proactive first and reactive second...

Once a strategy is in place, reactive thinking can become more meaningful...

It provides the backbone for our actions so we can be confident that we’re reacting in the right way.

Chris Griffiths, Grasp the Solution – Buy the book from http://ow.ly/7mfDU

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Aims

Resources

Community

Approach

Technology

CARAT Planning Process

Research(Diagnosis)

Concept(Guiding Policy)

Implementation(Coherent Actions)

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Community• Customer (the decision maker)

A person or organisation that may purchase goods or services directly from you

• InfluencerA person or organisation that may influence another person or organisation’s decision to purchase

• Partner (an ally)Those that share a common goal with your organisation or customers

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Cust

omer

s • Common Characteristics

• Demographics

• Technical Ability

• Interests

• Geographic Location

Influ

ence

rs • Staff Members

• Family Members

• Journalists

• Bloggers

• Politicians

Part

ners • Allied Industries

• Other regions

• Suppliers

• Funders Investors

• Competitors

C I P

Identifying your Community

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Aims…

The specifics of what will need to be achieved in order to meet the business challenge, and over what timescales.

How will you and the client know that the strategy has been a success?

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Aims

• SEO: Link building, content factors

• Marketing: Promote organisation, brand awareness

• PR: Manage reputation, get news out

• Sales: New contact routes, increase sales

• Engagement: Increase loyalty, foster word of mouth

• Research: Identify trends / niches, consultation

• Management: Collaboration, knowledge sharing

Buying Processes & Lifecycles

Awareness Knowledge Consideration Selection Satisfaction Advocacy

Suspects

Prospects

New CustomersRegular

Customers

Brand Advocates

Inactives

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Resources

• Time & Money• People & Skills• Technology & Equipment• Your ‘Business As Usual Activity’ (BAU)

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Your guiding policy is your big idea, the general concept you are working with…

…the later stage will define your specific actions.

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Approach• Visibility

... need to be visible to the target audience• Credibility

...“Don’t tell them you’re funny, tell them a joke”• Value

...establish a “What’s in it for me?” factor• Personality

...everything should be consistent with the brand profile• Responsiveness

...are they setup to deal with responses

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Approach – Practical Elements• Content Marketing• Aggregating or Curation• Networking or Events Marketing• Community Engagement• Word of Mouth or Advocacy Programmes

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Integration

• What can be outsourced and what needs to be done internally?

• What actions can be embedded within current processes?

• What needs to be done to empower the team to perform key actions?

• What actions can be automated?

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Measuring results• Link to your aims• Benchmark• KPIs Vs. ROI• Review results regularly • Tweak approach accordingly

“Not everything that counts can be measured. Not everything that can be measured counts.”

Albert Einstein

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Case Study:UKNetWeb Ltd

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Diagnosis (The Challenge)

• Limited Y on Y Growth• Association with smaller projects• Losing to design firms• Operating in small local market

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Guiding Policy

• Maximising Potential, Minimising Risk• Focus on technical development• Thought leadership around innovation

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Actions

• Webinars & Events• File-Sharing• Social & Professional Networking• Blogging & Micro-Blogging

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Results – Web Traffic

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Results – Bottom LineIn a 6 month period:

• 500% increase in new business enquiries• 2/3 of all enquiries through social networks• 100% increase in average order values• Opened up UK & international markets

• New company created to meet demand• 4 years on.... £100k to £1m+

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3. What you should do next

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Consider your own position

• What are your strengths and weaknesses? • How can you play to your strengths?• How can you demonstrate your strengths via

Social Media?• What opportunities will your business take

advantage of, and just as importantly which ones will you ignore?

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What will your strategy be?

• Who are your customers, influencers and partners?• What are you aiming to achieve for your business - can

you be more specific than increased sales?• What resources are you working with? • How can you use Social Media technology to make you

more effective in your role?• What will be your approach to Social Media?• What actions do you need to do daily, weekly or

quarterly to achieve your aims?

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How can I help?

• Work with your team to develop your internal skills in Social Media

• Work with you to develop a Social Media Strategy for your business.

• Provide a sounding board for your own campaign or strategies ideas.

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Connecting with Aren:

Facebook: aren.grimshawTwitter: @arengrimshawLinkedIn: arengFourSquare: arengrimshawPinterest: arengrimshaw

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Getting in touch:

Tel: 01872 273103Mob: 07598 242212Email: info@arengrimshaw.co.ukWeb: www.arengrimshaw.co.uk

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