9 Immutable Laws of Social Media Marketing

Presented by James Gilbert, CEOOctober 5th, 2011

Just who do you think I am?• 30 year history in DM (old school > new school)• CEO, GDM• Board member – FL DMA• Professor Direct Marketing• Author Target Marketing Group

• Return on Intelligence Blog• Guide to Social Media - Content

“What can I expect from Social Media?”

“What kind ROI will I get?” “I tried social media and gained No Customers!”

NoParadigms!

"There is only one valid definition of business purpose – to create a customer.

Companies are not in business to make things… but to make customers.”

-- Peter F. Drucker

Orientation (What these laws are really about!)

Translation? One Word...

Engagement!

Fulfill the DM Promise

of true 2 way

communications

Social Media Law # 1 • The deeper the level of

engagement, the deeper the trust/bond with your company!

• Nothing happens without engagement! • How engaged are your social media fans?

The Law of Engagement! • The goals of every social media

marketer... – Engage!– Draw them out!– Get them involved!– Tug at their heartstrings

– Tell a story!!!!– Create drama!!!!

Case Study – The Fresh Diet• About

The Fresh Diet

• Focus on Facebook

Level of effectiveness = 0

•November 2009:

94 fans

Level of effectiveness = 100

•December 2010:

24,195 likesThat’s a lot more than nutrisysem!

Level of effectiveness = 1,000

•October 2011:

66,000 likesThat’s a lot more than nutrisysem!

Building our brand via Facebook

• Our facebook page is our calling card.• Many times we prefer to send to FB over web • More powerful than our website– People see engagement and want to join in– People see happy customers and order!

• Beyond our “likes” thousands of people check us out on FB daily.

Don’t be an info pusher!

How we got there – Goals!

• Main goal!• Put a human face on the nameless faceless

corporate entity• Distinguish ourselves from big corps• We are real people, promoting a healthy

lifestyle• People respond to real

How we got there – Goals!

• Build relationships - Build engagement• Speak in a real voice• Develop trust• Give to get world• Time spent on site = engagement• Engagement = Sales• Sales + Engagement = Advocacy• I tease people, draw them out, call them out, etc

How we got to 66K – the basics

• Call center• Collateral Material• Mailers• Email signatures• Email newsletters• Any place we can think of

How did we get there?

Facebook ads

• Can be hit or miss• Effective in driving targeted traffic• Target by:• Geography• Interests (dieting, kosher)• Work (where)• Education type• Connected to people, businesses

Step 2 building engagement

• It started with a single contest.– Carbometer

• We now run contests every day of the week

Contests mean to us

• A way to seed the market with food• A way to have people come back and give

positive feedback

• An engagement tool• Fun – draws people out

Contest examples

• Plate your favorite meals

Contest examples

• Halloween costume contest

Contest examples

• Motivation poster contests

Contest examples

• Fresh Diet-ize a Beatles Lyric (in honor of John Lennon)

• Fresh Diet-ized Haiku

Contest examples• Video

contests

• This contest coined the phrase, “the fresh diet delivery fairies?

Contest examples

• Ultra secret contests– My excuse

to give away food

• Any old contests– Banner ad

Contests Recipe winner

Any Excuse for a contest

Social Media Law # 2 • Brand + Channels = Revenue. – The more channels a consumer interacts with your

brand in, the more likely they are to buy.

– Offering multiple engagement channels allows for consumer self selection of preferred channels.

– Being in the right social media channels based on your market increases channel interaction.

Building Traffic – Fans and Likes

Ad.ly network allows you to buy paid tweets from celebrities

Gained 400 fans in one day

Building Traffic – Fans and Likes

Tie ins with other sites drove major traffic and likes

We did this one in conjunction with a freebie every day.

Building Traffic – Fans and Likes

Tie ins with other sites drove major traffic and likes

We did this one in conjunction with a freebie every day.

Building Traffic – Fans and Likes

Paid tweets from Heidi Montag promoting a contest drove fans and contest entries

Building Traffic – Fans and Likes

Using the @ sign drives traffic

This post ran on TFD and Holly Madison’s FB page at the same time

Social Media Law # 3 • Brand + time + channels = advocates. – Consumers spending time in multi channels

breeds customers more likely to become brand advocates and influencers.

– This is the new multichannel marketing model for the 21st century.

– Social media creates brand advocates and turns peers into your best salespeople.

Engagement, our customer take over

In a social media driven world – people buy from their peers!

Engagement our customers take over

• In Orlando• Customers ran contests, promoted specials

answered CS Q’s• Our customers would walk through fire due to

the trust we have built.• We ask people from FB to do interviews, show

up at events, etc… even be on TV.

Customers take over

Fresh never frozen

Social Media Law # 4 • The exponential search factor. – Social media increases your search engine

rankings, and when combined with your website drives additional traffic via organic search.

Social Media Law # 5 • The new-fangled customer service

factor. – Consumers choose their contact preferences.

– Brands not having multiple channels for customer service risk losing customers.

– Consumers expect instant gratification and social media delivers.

Facebook as a customer service tool

• Our Sales and CS people inhabit our page• Customer service is no longer limited to the

call center!!!• When questions get asked, we answer ASAP– Speed and agility in a social media world– If we don’t answer fast enough, we get grief

Facebook as a Customer Service tool

When issues come up we must address them with speed, agility and accuracy, otherwise we will get skewered

Facebook as a Customer Service tool

When issues come up we must address them with speed, agility and accuracy, otherwise we will get skewered

We took a beating due to the snow in the NE

Social Media Law # 6 • The behind the scenes factor.– People don’t buy from brands - they buy from

people.

– Social media puts a human face on the faceless corporate entity.

– The biggest opportunity around social media is to allow people to connect with your employees as peers.

The days of “big anonymous

corp.” are over!

Bio’s of our

employees bring

customers closer to

the company

Build involvement and trust

Be Transparent

Go behind the scenes

Bringing our customers closer

Image done by one of our customers of our CEO Zalmi Duchman.

He is officially Zman or Zuperman to our fans

Again, we do a lot of video

Social Media Law # 7 • Trust is the new black. – The aforementioned laws allow consumers to

build or rebuild trust if done correctly. – Social media harkens back to the days of the

corner store where consumers and brands had a cordial relationship.

– Social media builds relationships over time.

Trust? Our involvement devices

• Delivery fairies• Fearless FB leader• Overgiving• We let our customers run and judge contests• Brand everybody• Make fun of ourselves• Have all get involved in company• Ask questions, involve customers (bag, slogans)

Building Trust – Random Freebies

• Every day we give food away randomly on FB. • Other times we just give it away for no reason• Is it expensive? Sure, but the rewards are

enormous– People are always promoting us to our friends– Another way we seed the market and drive

positive reviews

Build involvement and trust

Give to get – Random Freebies

Social Media Law # 8 • The online reputation factor. – Whether you like it or not consumers are talking

about your brand.

– Social media is the great neutralizer.

– It allows your company to seek out negatives and turn them into positives via reputation management and communications.

Rep is everything

Rep is everything

Social Media Law # 9 • The time spent factor. – Customers are not always ready to buy. – Social media’s eight other immutable laws

prepares customers over time.

Social Media Law # 9 • Engagement + time + trust =

revenue. – When we run sales on FB sales come!– Use promo codes to track– Customers do the selling for us.• Must try this!

Get a copy…

• Drop me a business card and I will send you a copy of this preso!

– Feel free to pass it along too!

Thank You!How to reach me…

jimdirect@aol.com @gilbertdirect561-302-1719

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