social media ecosystem talk for grand rapids

SOCIAL MEDIA: IT’S EVERYWHERE Susan Mernit, October 2010 CCT.org talk

Twitter: World’s latest breaking news source

Local video reaches across the world We don’t need foreign correspondents

News happens in real time Flickr: February 27, Saturday am: Chilean earthquake 8.8, 4:34 am

Via search & reputation, news is both grass-roots & filtered—almost instantaneously

Implications to think about

• Peers are our experts • Social media is our ecosystem • Mobile means access everywhere

EVERYONE USES SOCIAL MEDIA It’s the drumbeat. And powerful for clients.

Welcome to the social media ecosystem

  200 Million Americans are on Facebook   Roughly 44 million people use Twitter   There are over 4 Billion photos on photo-sharing

community Flickr

You are now connected to everyone on the planet via search & Facebook

This means: The game Has changed

• Even  beyond  Google,  everyone  is  inter-­‐connected  • We’ve  gone  beyond  centralized  authori:es  that  creden:al  us—newspapers,  universi:es,  affiliate  groups  • To  crowd-­‐sourcing,  networks,  and  the  wisdom  of  crowds  

-­‐-­‐Are  you  a  part  of  the  stream?  

 Who are you connected to? What do you stand for?

 You  cannot  hide  in  a  world  of  referral,  recommenda:on  and  reputa:on  

 And  you  have  to  connect  

How do you show up on the Net?

Social media has an amplifying power. Do you know how to use it?

Oakland Local: Case study in community engagement & social media marketing

Social media & OL

  Facebook: 4,300 friends; 950 active posters (Facebook Insite)

  Twitter: 2,500 + followers, 5-10 retweets daily   Flickr: Active flickr site & tags   Scribd: Over 5,000 downloads   YouTube, Vimeo, etc: Active video channels   Who posts? Team of 5 rotate responsibilities

What does this get us?

  Facebook & Twitter as top referrers   Powerful community connections: Facebook the AOL

of today; people hang out   Ability to engage, discuss, interact   Genuine connections with wide, diverse community   Ability to serve and empower

Uses for social media for small business people

 Make your brand more discoverable

 Create and manage your own online presence on the web, Facebook, Yelp, Linked In and other sites

 Market your brand to customers to increase awareness & sales

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What is your social media—and online—presence?

•  Do you know how your clients show up on the web? Are you discoverable through search? If someone hears of you—can they find you?

•  Let’s look at three East Bay retail businesses and see how they show up.

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Scream Sorbet

HFp://screamsorbet.com,  Sells  at  Farmer’s  Markets  &  will  have  retail  store  Temescal.  Makes  fresh  sorbet  &  gelato.  

Scream Sorbet

•  Google links: 4,700 •  Social media tools: •  Facebook (528 friends):

http://on.fb.me/bYJ48i •  Twitter (456 friends):

http://twitter.com/screamsorbet

•  Yelp (80 reviews): http://www.yelp.com/biz/scream-sorbet-emeryville

•  TOTAL Social media connections=1,064

•  Blogger links- 274 see http://bit.ly/8YPTZS

•  Blogger links- 274-- see http://bit.ly/8YPTZS

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Scream Sorbet 18

Tara’s organic ice cream 19

 (www.tarasorganic.com)  :  regional  chain,  3  stores  East  Bay  area  

Tara’s

  Google links: 2,280

  Social media tools: Twitter (6 followers): http://twitter.com/tarasorganic

  Facebook (1,211 friends), http://www.facebook.com/pages/Taras-Organic-Ice-Cream/46169884276

  Yelp:-Temescal,( 34 reviews): http://www.yelp.com/biz/taras-organic-ice-cream-oakland)

  Yelp-Claremont, Berkeley, (324 reviews): http://www.yelp.com/biz/taras-organic-ice-cream-berkeley

  TOTAL Social media connections=1, 569

  Blogger links- 78 see http://bit.ly/cF7uXp

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Tara’s 21

Lush Gelato 22

2  stories,  no  real  web  site,  lushgelato.com/comingsoon  

Lush Gelato

•  Google links: 1,960 •  Social media tools: •  Blog (

http://lushgelato.blogspot.com/),

•  Facebook, (269 fans): http://www.facebook.com/lushgelato

•  Twitter, (93 followers): http://twitter.com/lushgelato

•  Yelp (74 reviews): http://www.yelp.com/biz/lush-gelato-oakland

•  Blogger links- 75—see http://bit.ly/bI53kT

•  TOTAL Social media connections=436

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Observations

•  The smallest and most independent ice cream business—Scream Sorbet-- has the largest social media reach and links on Google and the most mentions by bloggers.

•  They use Twitter and Facebook to promote their weekly flavors and have very active and engaged followers who LOVE their product and like to talk about it.

•  Customers are sales people and brand advocates. •  There is a personal feel because people are

encouraged to fixate on specific flavors.

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Lessons to learn

•  The cost of customer acquisition is LOWER with social media than with direct mail or most advertising

•  The online activity supports the OFFLINE activities •  Feeling of fun and passion fits love of great sorbet/

gelato/ice cream •  Social media drives interest in the product, which

results in leads and sales

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How did these owners do it?

•  Applied resources and time to managing online marketing: Facebook, Twitter, blogging, Yelp

•  Monitored results and checked impact on both web site traffic and real-world customers (How did you hear about us? “On Twitter.)

•  Had clear messaging around specific actions and opportunities (Come in today for chocolate caramel ice cream; Take part in our ice-cream giveaway at our store.)

•  Made a plan, set goals and tried it. •   

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We MEASURE like crazy!

  Google analytics   Google search (reach, impact)   Facebook insites   Tweetreach   On-going analysis & course corrections

Action steps you can take now

•  Check out what people are saying about you on Google, Yelp, Facebook, and Twitter.

•  google.com •  search.twitter.com •  http://www.facebook.com/srch.php •  Yelp http://www.yelp.com (search box) or name of

your business in quotes + Yelp (Example: "Scream Sorbet" + Yelp, http://bit.ly/c8x64c

•  Set up a Google alert for you, your business and your competitors (see google.com/alerts). Have it come to you as a daily email or RSS feed.

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Useful resources

•   Facebook Business Account FAQ: http://www.facebook.com/help/?page=721

•  Twitter account creation: http://twitter.com/account/create

•  Great article on social media and small business: http://techcrunch.com/2010/07/17/how-social-media-drives-new-business-six-case-studies/

•    •  Don’t forget about follow-up classes from Oakland

Local Academy—and the social media support our consulting group can provide you with along with advertising services.

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Oakland Local loves to share community strategies

Keep in touch

Twitter: @Susanmernit, @oaklandlocal Email: susan@oaklandlocal.com

Site: oaklandlocal.com Follow us on Facebook !