Social Networking: The Buzz and Biz of Online Communities

This ITAC roundtable was held on Wednesday, October 15, 2008.

Panelists:

  • Ken Price, Director, Field Marketing, Cisco Systems Canada
  • Tom Vassos, National CIO Marketing Manager, IBM Canada
  • Collin Jean, PR & Communications Manager, Sun Microsystems of Canada
  • Michael Furdyk, Co-founder, Director of Technology, TakingITGlobal.org

The discussion was moderated by Bob Becker, Principal, SMA.

Understanding that the use of social networking for marketing communications is rising, is e-mail dead?

  • The volume of e-mail circulating validates that e-mail is still a viable communication tool.
  • In some cases, it is more efficient than other channels.
  • However, making connections can sometimes be difficult.
  • The internal use of alternative vehicles like shared team rooms or workspaces are designed to reduce the reliance on e-mail.
  • Younger generations are more likely to opt for communication vehicles that are participatory and interactive.
  • Among younger generations there is a perception that a dialogue cannot happen over e-mail.
  • It is also perceived that deeper internal and external relationships are built by moving beyond e-mail.
Once we decide to engage in social networking, what are the key steps a marketer should follow to get started?
  • Identify the audience that you wish to target. The pursuit of an internal versus external audience or a B2B versus a B2C audience will impact the approach that you adopt.
  • Decide what type of conversation you wish to have with this target. For example, will this conversation be used to support the sales process or will it be of a personal nature?
  • Select a set of key issues or topics that are relevant to this conversation.
  • Research whether there are existing conversations happening on the web that you can join.
  • Offer value that can’t be found elsewhere to differentiate your offering.
  • Remember that the development of social networking is evolutionary and that we can build upon the marketing lessons that we have learned in the past.

How do you pick a technology to support your social networking initiative?

  • Be selective when making this choice since many social networks are available.
  • Pick a solution that is relevant to your needs. For example, if you wish to enter into dialog with your stakeholders, Facebook is a suitable choice. YouTube is more suited to broadcast applications like presenting demos or sharing customer reference stories.
  • While YouTube typically delivers messages in a humorous manner, careful use of this vehicle offers marketers the opportunity to engage in viral communication at a low cost of entry.
  • Within these environments, users trust each others opinions.
  • Use of these tools should be part of the overall marketing mix.
  • Marketers need to build communication plans using traditional marketing vehicles that let customers and prospects know that these initiatives are available.

How do you help communicate the value of these initiatives to senior management?

  • Identify companies, or senior executives, in your industry that are engaged in social network activities like blogging as proof-points.
  • A relatively low cost of entry minimizes the investment needed to get started.
  • Mapping these tools to buyer behaviour can help more customers through the purchase cycle.
  • Demonstrate the potential ROI by presenting examples of the innovative options that are available. For example, track mentions of your company using Google Alerts or how these mentions compare to your competitors using Google Trends.
  • Use of these tools validate that there is data available to be mined.

How do you motivate your target market to participate? And, how do you keep them actively engaged in a dialogue?

  • Use traditional vehicles to actively market to this audience and make them aware of these initiatives.
  • In fragmented markets like small business, it is necessary to earn users trust on a case-by-case basis.
  • Once you have selected your social network vehicles, become an active part of the conversation by spreading messages, responding to comments, or sharing perspectives.
  • Offer a relevant value proposition like exclusivity or content access to stimulate participation and maintain engagement.
  • And, remember that participation in social networking activities is an organic process.

What resources do you need to apply to this initiative?

  • College and university students represent a talent pool that are highly motivated and cost effective, but can sometimes be overlooked.
  • Engaging staff throughout the company taps into a range of skill sets and limits the work effort placed on each individual contributing to the process.
  • These individuals are generating personal, as well as corporate, value through their contribution.
  • Broad involvement also reduces the exposure that can result when responsibility is limited to one person.
  • For users that are looking to build relationships with companies it is important that execution of the social networking initiative does not appear to be over-manufactured.
  • Learning from experience, both good and bad, is part of the process.

What are the biggest pitfalls and risks of social networking?

  • For companies interested in building deeper relationships, authenticity is fundamental.
  • When pursuing this payback, it is important that you understand your risk tolerance.
  • Since the use of social networking is often about relationship building, brand building, or moving buyers through the sales cycle, it is important that you don’t oversell these initiatives internally.
  • Building relationships is a long-term investment and managing expectations is a key part of this process.

Questions from the Audience:

Are there key proof-points that social networking can increase market share and ROI?
  • A first step is to look at how ROI is being measured.
  • Rather than strictly focusing on profitability, look at establishing interim measures.
  • Examples of these innovative metrics include incremental event attendance, contribution to launch impact, speed of adoption, event promotion, brand experience, or ideas contributed.

How do you convert social networking initiatives into measurable outcomes? And, how do you sustain longevity?

  • Be prepared to execute a number of campaigns as it is not realistic to expect that you will get everything right from the beginning.
  • Less successful efforts are valuable because they generate learning.
  • Multiple campaigns create multiple opportunities to define and monitor a variety of different metrics. This process offers you the opportunity to assess what is working.
  • Use traditional marketing channels to communicate.
  • Be real and transparent in your execution.
  • Focus on the customer.

How do you manage the social networking process and give up control at the same time?

  • Proactively respond to the negative perceptions and experiences.
  • Use this feedback as market research on your customers and look for the root cause of these perceptions and experiences.
  • Proactively review commentary on your company on the web and take action to demonstrate to customers that their voice has been heard.

As a follow-up to our YouTube video campaign, we are evaluating our next step. Should we go with an investment in Linkedin or Facebook?

  • The first step is to identify your target audience.
  • The answer will help you pick a path that will meet your needs.
  • For example, if pursuing B2B, consider Linkedin. Begin this process by building a network, then proceed to an evaluation of Linkedin’s available features to determine which options will help you reach your target profile.
  • If your target is B2B with a focus on small business, then consider using Facebook.

What options are available for dealing with the negative commentary?

  • To offset negativity, an effective strategy is to make your counterbalancing message as visible as possible.
  • The media sector utilizes moderated sessions to address this challenge.

 

Wrap Up: Following today’s discussion, what lessons will you take back to the office?

  • How to evangelize the concept of social networking to promote adoption.
  • Innovative approaches to tracking ROI can be built.
  • Risk management needs to be part of the planning process for implementing social networking initiatives.
  • Expediting employee use of social networking is a priority.
  • Facebook can be a useful tool for targeting small business markets.


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