[Editor's note: This is a guest post by Chrissy Scivicque.]
Speaker: Erik Qualman, Global Vice President of Online Marketing for EF Education
From the program:
Leading social media and commerce expert and award-winning author updates audience with latest B2B social commerce trends
He’s got the t-shirt: #LiftSummit (already the coolest guy in the room)
Today is like a fire hose shooting at a teacup. It’s hard to keep up with the space so focus on the one or two things that you can do that make sense for your business.
YES! Updated version of his viral video!! More focus on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube….love the stat about social media overtaking porn. That’s a sign of something BIG. And there was even a mention of Mad Men.
(You can see it here: http://youtu.be/lFZ0z5Fm-Ng)
The video, though refreshed from last year, is already outdated. That’s how fast this stuff moves.
Video tips:
- Try to keep it to two minutes or less. Five is even too long.
- Music is inherently important. Look at similar videos and see what music is being used. Look for lots of views associated with specific soundtracks. YouTube has relationships with music labels. You can tell by popup that will allow you to click to purchase. This will keep it from being taken down for copyright.
- Always take the perspective of the viewer, not the company. Sales will come if it’s relevant.
Videos don’t sell anything. What sells is the conversations about the video. Ultimately, it’s engagement.
There’s not an easy solution. It takes a lot of work to develop these relationships. But you have a chance to win because no one wants to do the work. Paid search is an example. The win isn’t as big because everyone’s there.
Sprint commercial: The great one where a gal breaks up with a guy via text and email while sitting across from him in a diner.
This is the world we live in.
No matter what business you’re in, you can use social media to sell your business.
Example: How Tony Hawk Uses It
- Here’s a skateboard on a street, you find it you get it. (Twitter)
- Sharing that he’s going to a specific skate park – too many people show up! (Twitter)
Even the pope uses social media, including wikicath. Note: Become friend with the pope J
2009 – 9 of the top 20 most visited sites were social media
Even Google is running to try to catch up with social media (hence, Google Instant). They’re adjusting their algorithm to make it more real-time. Will that impact their revenue?
What is Socialnomics at a Practical Level?
Social commerce in action: Scan QR code of a product in store with your smart phone, it tells you reviews available and connects it to your friends and what they’re doing. This changes your experience as a consumer.
What constructs can you use in social media?
- Listen
- Interact
- React—adjust quickly, this is where many companies fail. If you’re going to get in the space, make sure you’re ready. There’s an expectation that you will engage.
- Sell
Your customer does the exact same thing. They react with reviews.
MacDonald’s: “Our head of social media is the customer.”
Social media is not a strategy it needs to be a part of your culture.
Examples of social media keeping companies in check:
- YouTube: United Breaks Guitars
- BP = Big Problem (YouTube – “the spilled coffee on the table” video)
It can be powerful FOR you or AGAINST you.
Uh oh. He’s talking Rick Rolling. I used to love this song but it’s been way too much now.
Oh, but it’s Bill O’Reilly’s infamous “DO IT LIVE” clip!! CLASSIC!
Who’s doing stuff well in the space?
- Este Lauder: Free facials and photo for social media profile pic
- Skittles: The website linked to other social sites (info = Wikipedia, photo = Flickr, etc.) Lots of press.
- Wine Library TV: Used video to increase sales from $4 mil to $50 million. “Videos themselves don’t sell anything.” It’s the second layer, the engagement. Increase our rate of failure in social media because that’s how we learn. Fall forward, fast and better. (First episode is shared, it’s not very compelling. Then episode 500 follows. Gary is quite different. The real Gary comes out. Loud and obnoxious.)
- Travel Zoo: Trying to get subscribers, they used A/B testing to figure out the right copy for click through.
Side note: We often try to do socially unacceptable things when socially online.
- SafeNet: $1 million in sales due to LinkedIn group alone.
- Vocus: $500K in sales through content on site and inbound marketing. Discovered that it’s more important for them to curate content than to produce original content. It had to be funneled together.
- Old Spice: YES! This guy just kills me. “Swan dive into the best night of your life.” Best example yet. How quickly can you react? 50 million views on YouTube for the Twitter responses from the Old Spice guy.
Passion and common sense is what you need for social media success.
And now, let’s go eat lunch.
@equalman rocks it again. He definitely stepped it up even from last year.