Optimizing Social Media by Sondra Duckert

“Helping organizations develop strategies to meet the challenges of New Media”

Optimizing Social Media : How to Leverage Facebook for B u s i n e s s

By Christian Frei and Sondra Duckert Copenhagen School of Design and Technology Fourth Semester Exam Project - International Line Coach: Barbara Löfgren December 16, 2010

Social Synergy

Optimizing Social Media: How to Leverage Facebook for B u s i n e s s

T a b l e 1. PREFACE 2.

.............................................................. 1 INTRODUCTION .................................................. 2 2.1 What is Social Media? ....................................... 3 2.2 The State of Social Media ................................ 4 2.3 Basic Forms of Social Media ............................ 6 2.4 Social Media Channels (Graphic) ........................ 7

3. PROBLEM STATEMENT

..................................... 8

4. PROBLEM FORMULATION ................................ 9 5. DEVELOPMENTAL METHODS ......................... 10 6. DELIMINATION ...................................................... 11 7. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ...................................... 11 8. ORGANIZATIONAL RESEARCH 8.1 Company Profile .................................................. 12 Identity

.............................................................. 13

Vision

.............................................................. 13

Mission .............................................................. 13 ............................................................. 13 Values Objectives ........................................................ 13 Strategies .......................................................... 14 8.2 Services

............................................................ 15

o f

Contents

C o n t e n t s 10. MARKET ANALYSIS (B2B) 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4

Major Competitors ........................................ 22 SWOT ........................................................... 24 Competitive Analysis Conclusion .................... 25 STP ............................................................... 26 Segmentation ................................................. 26 Targeting ........................................................ 27 Target Strategy .............................................. 27 Positioning ...................................................... 28 Positioning Strategy ........................................ 28

11. COMPETITIVE STRATEGY .............................. 28 12. COMMUNICATION PLAN Purpose ......................................................... 29 Effect .............................................................. 29 Sender - Social Synergy .............................. 29 Receiver .......................................................... 29 USP & ESP .................................................... 29 Message ......................................................... 29 12.1 Media Elements ........................................... 30 12.2 User Profile ................................................. 30 12.3 User Scenario ............................................... 31

9. THEORETICAL DISCUSSIONS 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4

Social Theory ...................................................... 16 Social Capital Theory ........................................ 17 Social Network Theory .................................... 19 Social CRM ....................................................... 20

Optimizing Social Media: How to Leverage Facebook for B u s i n e s s

T a b l e 13. PROMOTIONAL MIX 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 13.5 13.6

Advertising ................................ 32 Personal Selling ........................ 32 Promotion ................................ 32 Public Relations ......................... 33 Direct Marketing ......................... 33 SM and Mobile Marketing ........... 34

14. FACEBOOK FOR BUSINESS ....... 35 15. DESIGN - WEBSITE 15.1 Visual Identity ........................... 41 15.2 Visual Guidelines ....................... 41 15.3 Visual Concepts Mood Board .......................... 42 Rough Board ......................... 43 15.4 Visual Elements Logotype ............................. 44 Trademark ........................... 44 Typography ........................... 45 Design Colors ......................... 46

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Contents

C o n t e n t s 16. USER TESTING ................................ 55 17. TECHNICAL DOCUMENTATION 17.1 Functionality ................................ 56 17.2 Plug-ins ...................................... 56

CONCLUSION

....................................... 59 WORKS CITED .................................... 60 APPENDIX A. Facebook Facts .............................. 61 B. How to create a Facebook Page ........ 62 C. User Test Questionnaire ................... 66 D. Social Media Icons ........................... 67

15.5 Visual Methods - Design Approach Layout Design Sketch ........................ 47 Flow Chart ............................. 48 Wireframe .............................. 49 Index Page ............................ 50 Sub Page ............................... 51 Site Map ................................ 52 15.6 Design Documentation ............... 53 15.7 Semiotics .................................. 54 Optimizing Social Media: How to Leverage Facebook for B u s i n e s s

Optimizing Social Media: How to Leverage Facebook for B u s i n e s s

Preface

Preface This purpose of this report is to provide an assessment of how businesses can meet the emerging challenges of social media (SM). The scope of this report lies in understanding the landscape of social media platforms, from a business perspective, in the development of a marketing strategy away from

Keywords: Business Tools, Social media, Usage, Communication, Power, Media, Impact, Facebook.

that of traditional media (marketing). Traditional media has long played the dominate role in our understanding of the worlds around us because it encompasses all the “old school” marketing methods; from direct marketing via word of mouth to product placement, television and print. Most of these methods still command some attention even though consumers are aware of companies adopting new ways to engage them via new media channels, namely social media. Companies using traditional media channels are exploring social media as a way to increase site traffic, brand presence as well as online conversations with its readers. Nevertheless, many have not totally given up on traditional media. Companies that early on implemented new media into their marketing mix realized the potential for utilizing social media tools within key business areas such as R&D, marketing, human resources, customer service and sales. Also, they have obtained valuable experience in how the tools can stimulate innovation, create brand recognition, hire employees, generate revenue, and improve customer satisfaction. Indeed, equally important is how social media channels have become a recognizable tool in bridging the gap between clients and brands. Out of the top five social media / networking channels Facebook has taken a commanding lead in offering companies an immense list of new and innovative ways to engage with customers, drive awareness and implement revenue streams as well as other tangible benefits. The Facebook features allows companies to create facebook events for promotions and special occasions, promote events with targeted social ads, add contests to give customers a voice, integrate Facebook to their home website, create engagement ads, and much more. Participating in the Facebook ‘ecosystem’ most effectively requires consistent and sometimes ‘real-time’ participation and the willingness to engage your customers. Optimizing Social Media: How to Leverage Facebook for B u s i n e s s

Optimizing Social Media: How to Leverage Facebook for B u s i n e s s

Introduction

Introduction Traditional methods of communicating with audiences on the web have undergone a remarkable evolution over the last ten years. The greatest shift on the web has been away from 'static' or 'brochure-ware' websites or "Web 1.0", whereby the one-way communication method left readers with little opportunity to contribute to or start any discussion with the creator of the site. When the focus of web development shifted to the ideas of usability, participation, accessibility and design coupled with the advancement of single platform technology, this revolutionized the web into an interactive, conversational place or "Web 2.0". This revolution redefined the way we use today's technology by vastly improving the value of the Internet for its consumers and facilitating the birth of new markets and profitable territories for astute corporations and business entrepreneurs. This revolution has also been responsible for the creation of dozens of mash-ups (websites), social networking sites and media platforms. Partly because they are inexpensive, but more often they are free, easy to use, as well as providing an instantaneous and popular method of online engagement and communication. Online audiences are interested in and look forward to building networks and relationships via social platforms that gives them a greater opportunity for interacting with others. In 2009, social platforms surpassed email in global usage and social networks grew in popularity twice as fast as search engines and web portals. Having a grasp of the role, power and impact of new technologies can be beneficial for companies to also be where customers are actively listening and influencing each other via platforms like social media instead of the traditional methods of communication. It is estimated that social media will comprise 50% of online usage(1) in the near future, as the number of people who use the Internet as their primary source of gathering information and purchasing products increases. In todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s global economy organizations are attempting to capitalize on the power of social media as it is fast becoming one of the most popular means of communicating on the Internet. Yet they continue to be ill equip to handle the changing dynamics of social media channels. An accurate understanding of the role of these technologies can play a significant part in increasing brand awareness, ROI and revenue. Companies must therefore come to the realization that as users continue to spend an increasingly amount of time on SM sites translates into less usage time on their sites.

1. Social media strategy, Spur Interactive, Nielsen online and Forrester. (2009)

Optimizing Social Media: How to Leverage Facebook for B u s i n e s s

Introduction

2.1 What is Social Media? Social media (SM) is an entirely new way to communicate. SM are tools and platforms people use to publish, share, and produce online content to interact with one another. This includes email, blogs, podcasts, video sharing, microblogs, photosharing, social networks, social gamers and virtual worlds to name a few. The inherent functionality of SM is characterized in the ease in which the sharing of information between users occurs within a defined network. The two largest SM tools are social networks (Facebook, MySpace) and blogs (Blogger, Wordpress). Wikipedia defines Social media as: (2) Social media are media for social interaction, using highly accessible and scalable publishing techniques. Social media uses web-based technologies to turn communication into interactive dialogues. Andreas Kaplan and Michael Haenlein define social media as "a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0, and that allow the creation and exchange of user-generated content (UGC). Businesses also refer to social media as consumer-generated media (CGM). A common thread running through all definitions of social media is a blending of technology and social interaction for the co-creation of value. Social media is about content, context, communication, and community. It's an incredible way to create strong relationships with hard-to-find prospects, especially with a limited budget. Social media allows you to elicit favorable (and sometimes unfavorable) responses. However, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not easy and it is a major commitment, as companies have to be totally committed to the conversation. A contemporary "must have" for anyone engaging in social media is an 'Active Audience', seeing as the audience/ consumer now have the ability to actively engage with the content they consume. The active consumer is a powerful consumer and social media has helped to level the playing field; giving individuals a voice and allowing them to punch above their weight acknowledging the consumer voice as powerful when online as the results are there for all to see forever.

Social Media or Social Networking (4) What's the difference? Social media can be consider the tool of Social networking Social media is a technology, where the media is designed to be easily shared amongst users based on things such as common interests, local communities, relationships, and other demographics. Social networking is based on understanding what types of social media people use to create a hub of connections, and leverages to create even stronger relationships. The short explanation: Social Interaction tools = Social media Creating connections with those tools = Social networking

In a Nutshell Reading a blog post is social media. Commenting on that blog post is social networking.

(3)

2. Social media, wikipedia, October 03, 2010, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_media 3. A beginners guide to social media, Simply zesty, May 5, 2010, e-book. 4. 123 Social media, May 09, 2008. http://123socialmedia.com/2008/05/09/123-learning-social-media-vs-social-networking/

Optimizing Social Media: How to Leverage Facebook for B u s i n e s s

Introduction

2.2 The State of Social Media More than 250 million people are active Facebook users and the amount of time spent in a visit is roughly 23 minutes, with 40 seconds spent on each pageview. More than 346 million people read blogs, and 184 million people are bloggers themselves. Twitter has more than 140 million registered users, and YouTube claims more than 100 million viewers per month. (Alexa.com) More consumers are connected now than ever before to information, videos, pictures and each other. In March of 2009, the Nielsen Global Corporation released a study finding that the average time spent on social networks exceeded that of e-mail (Nielsen, 2009). Furthermore, from 2007 to 2008, social networking sites (SNS) grew in membership at a rate twice that of e-mail and almost triple of both search sites and general interest portals and communities: Time spent on social network and blogging sites growing at over (three times) the rate of overall Internet growth. This increase in popularity is only half (of) the story when it comes to the social networking phenomenon – the time people spend on these networks is also increasing dramatically. The total amount spent online globally increased by 18% between December 2007

Social networks/ blogs now 4th most popular online category – ahead of personal e-mail. These sites account for one in every 11 minutes online. Orkut in Brazil has the largest domestic online reach (70%) of any social network anywhere in the world. Facebook has the highest average time per visitor amongst the 75 most popular brands online worldwide. Source: Global Faces and Networked Places A Nielsen report on Social Networkingʼs New Global Footprint (March 2009)

and December 2008. In the same period, however, the amount of time spent on (social networking sites) rose by 63% to 45 billion minutes.(5)

Social networks started out as online channels for the younger audience, but now that social media has become a part of everyday life it is not surprising that the audience has become older and broader. Facebook for example has added the most users between the ages of 35-49 years of age (+24.1 million Dec. 2007-Dec. 2008). Social media usage will continues to grow as 73% percent of online adults participate weekly or more often. The amount of time used on these sites will without a doubt change the way consumers are targeted by both digital and traditional media. Mobile phones are the next trend for social networking as consumers are use to connecting with

5. Nielsen report on Social Networkingʼs New Global Footprint (March 2009)

friends via mobile calls, SMS and instant messaging. Once again Facebook mobile app. leads with 150 million active mobile users as more are logging into social networking sites via mobile phones. (Facebook Scribd, 2010) Optimizing Social Media: How to Leverage Facebook for B u s i n e s s

Introduction

Optimizing Social Media: How to Leverage Facebook for B u s i n e s s The State of Social Media, conʼt.

How Are Businesses Embracing Social Media? Businesses are aware of enthusiasm about social media, but many are still unclear of how it really works.

According

to a survey by the Forum of Private Businesses, 69% of US companies compared to 52% of UK small businesses

" The amount of experience with the internet is on the

employ social media strategies, however, many (27%) in the UK expressed serious doubts about its value. Forum of

rise and so is the influential

Private Business spokesman Phil McCabe said, “Itʼs clear that, while a lot of our members are certainly trying out

online activity of Internet users. "

social media for their businesses, many are not convinced of its benefits. We believe that social media does hold a great deal of potential for many SMEs. Its conversational, real-time nature makes it ideal for entrepreneurs and small, dynamic firms, which often have much more relaxed attitudes towards public relations than big corporations.” Mr. McCabe acknowledges the UK's apprehension towards SM technology, but they remain optimistic for the future. In another study conducted by the Small Business Success Index, 20% of businesses actively use social media with the top three sites being Facebook (82%), LinkedIn (38%) and Twitter (30%). Of those who used media, either broke even or made slight gains by using SM tools and have expectations for the near future; 57% expect to profit from their social media activities within the next 12 months. Social networks are visited by 2/3 of the worldʼs population where 93% of social media users polled believe that a company should have a social media presence, and a further 83% believe that companies should interact with its customers. More people who use social media prefer to give advice about a product or service rather than receive it; and more men than women prefer to communicate with others via a cell phone conversation after searching for a product or service online. (Source: BIG research, 2010) There is a huge window of opportunity for businesses to engage in social media, even in its simplest form, but it takes time to see results and many small businesses hesitate to add new tools to traditional marketing methods. “This may be because the online world does not fit their business model or other factors such as inexperience with technology or lack of time to effectively enter these marketing channels. Itʼs encouraging, however, to see that many intend to utilize more of these tools in the next 12 months.” says, Raj Seshadri the head of Small Business Baning at Citibank.

Optimizing Social Media: How to Leverage Facebook for B u s i n e s s

Introduction

2.3 Basic Forms of Social Media

" "

Social networks Websites allow people to build personal pages and connect with friends and family members. Members can also share content, photos and post videos. The biggest social networks are Facebook and MySpace.

" "

Blogs The best-known form of social media. They are online journals where you can share your thoughts with the world.

" " "

Wikis Basically an encyclopedia websites that allow people to add content to or edit the information on them. The best-known wiki is Wikipedia. It has over 2 million English language articles. However, any information taken from any wiki website page should be subject to further research.

Podcasts Audio and video files available by subscription, through services like Apple iTunes.

" "

Forums Websites for online discussion. A message board or discussion site where people can hold conversations in the form of posted messages.

" "

Content communities Communities which organize and share particular kinds of content. The most popular content communities tend to form around photos (Flickr), bookmarked links (del.icio.us) and videos (YouTube).

Social Media Myths: 1. Social Media is for Kids? - 55.6 million adults visit SM networks monthly. - 80% of Twitters users are over 25 years of age. - The fastest growing Facebook demographic is those 35 years old and older. 2. SM is popular in the US but not the rest of the world. - Almost 70% of the 250M Facebook users are outside of the United States. 3. SM isn't for Businesses. - Thousands of companies large and small are using SM. Companies and their competition as well as their customers are already using SM.

" "

Microblogging Social networking combined with bite-sized blogging, usually limited to 140-characters of content. Twitter is the clear leader in this field.

Note: There are basically seven kinds of social media, though new innovations are happening all the time.

Optimizing Social Media: How to Leverage Facebook for B u s i n e s s

2.4

Introduction

An Overview of Social Media Tools / Channels

The Conversation Prism, V2 Developed By Brian Solis and Jesse Thomas

Why should companies create social media presence? - Awareness - Branding/ Positioning

Choose your channels wisely!

- Community Building - Communications - Consumer Influence - Customer Service - Crisis Communication - Product Improvements - Relevancy - Research and Development - Sales and Promotion - Testing

Fig.1 The Conversation Prism by Brian Solis and Jesse Thomas

Optimizing Social Media: How to Leverage Facebook for B u s i n e s s

Problem Statement

Problem Statement The popularity and buzz of social media has been gaining steam, especially within the last four years, however there continues to be an apparent lack of understanding from most companies of what makes social media conversations successful at reaching business goals. It is therefore not uncommon for businesses and organizations to be behind mainstream when it comes to the usage and implementation of new internet technology. Companies wanting to participate on the social web will need to decide which social platforms, media and content, best resonates with their customers. Another hurdle facing some organizations is that they are not inherently 'social'. Social media is not about marketing and self promotion. It is the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s value content that, appeals and connects with customers, that will lead to a two-way conversation about its brand or services. Facebook is our main platform of introduction for our clients, it seem befitting to make it a central discussion point within this report. We therefore, have selected two areas of interest in helping to gain an understanding of its functionality: 1. Which forms of social media are the most effective in increasing company online presence with customers? 2. In what way is Facebook an effective tool for businesses to use in customer engagement?

Optimizing Social Media: How to Leverage Facebook for B u s i n e s s

Problem Formulation

Problem Formulation How can we convince our clients that our customized social media marketing techniques can help to pave the way for a successful launch of their digital marketing campaign.

‣

Organization What marketing strategies can we use to ensure our clients that our company is reliable and professional?

‣

Communication What kind of message will our website present that conveys to our target audience that we are competent and confident within our field of social media marketing?

‣

Visualization What design and functionality elements can we use in our website that clearly shows what our services stands for and how our customers can benefit by using them?

‣

Interaction How can we use multimedia effectively in creating an interactive website with two-way dialogue to inform potential customers about the different types of products and services we offer?

Optimizing Social Media: How to Leverage Facebook for B u s i n e s s

Developmental Methods

DEVELOPMENTAL METHODS The

development method we selected in helping us with this project was the Waterfall Method. This

method required that we remained detailed in our process and verification, but one that also allowed us to be flexible and transparent, thus making it easier to maintain our documentation. In order to keep track of our daily assignments we used the SCRUM chart, Sprint backlog and Burndown method. This method allowed us to divide up work assignments appropriately as well as keep track of the entire progress of multiple tasks. Team members received a personal work calendar that displayed our current SCRUM status along with their responsibility. Discussions regarding our sprint status for each milestone took place daily in order to keep track of our progress. The SCRUM method also helped us in revealing our areas of weaknesses, challenges and allowed us to make the necessary changes as the project progressed. When file sharing became necessary we used two ways to transfers files. One was with Skype and the other was the Dropbox. Both methods, especially the Dropbox sharing system, eliminated the need to exchange USB sticks and even more important when working from home we could all still share information with each other. Each method guided us in proper scheduling, decision-making and the implementation of our website effectively. Group communication remained open throughout the project and we were able to meet a greater portion of our deadlines minimizing mistakes and re-doâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s without placing un-necessary stress, on team members.

Optimizing Social Media: How to Leverage Facebook for B u s i n e s s

Delimination

Delimination This report will only cover the areas in what makes it possible, for our clients, to develop and implement a specialized social media plan based on their individual preferences. Therefore our focus within this report will only contain the most relevant social media channels for businesses. This report will not focus on the measurement programs such as Quebec, Radian6 or Google analytics, which can be used for tracking information about click-rate, statistics of sales per product and other actionable variables. Furthermore, this report will also not cover how the monetary value and success of social media marketing is measured.

Executive summary Social Synergy develops solutions for any business seeking assistance with social media (promotional) campaigns. We specialized in social media marketing by helping companies to implement social media into their marketing mix by creating a strategy that builds strong relationships and partnership opportunities. We realize that social media marketing, like traditional marketing can help any organization build brand awareness, impact sales and extend its reach out to new customers by encouraging them to invest at the place where they actually spend their time. Our main focus therefore, is to help our customers interact effectively on the social web by collaborating with organizations in the implementation of social media tools and channels into their marketing strategy. We will show our clients how to get found by people who are (1) searching for their products or services, (2) connect and engage with current and potential customers, (3) how to create a community around their business, and (4) promote valuable content including webinars, blog articles, podcasts or other resources. The main SM platform that we suggest for the majority of our clients is Facebook, however we also offer strategies in Google AdWords and OpenAdExchange, and Email marketing. One of the biggest advantages of online marketing is that traffic can be monitored directly from the first click on the advertisement and deep into the customer's site or shop. It creates unique opportunities to ensure that ad budget is spent on marketing channels and on the segments where the greatest results will be met. We have a systematic approach to the task. This means for example, that we often conduct split-testing hundreds or even thousands of ads against each other over time to identify the most effective combinations of text and image for each market segment. Our goal is to show our clients how the power of SM marketing and social networking can create considerable benefits for businesses and customers alike, regardless of their size.

Optimizing Social Media: How to Leverage Facebook for B u s i n e s s

Organizational Research

Optimizing Social Media: How to Leverage Facebook for B u s i n e s s

Organizational Research

8.1 Company Profile Social Synergy began as internship project that evolved into a business adventure in 2010.

We are

Social Synergy on Facebook

newly trained social media enthusiasts with experience, extensive knowledge and expertise in creating effective social media strategies. Our focus is on helping brands market the social web by providing a link to their current marketing mix. Social Synergy assists clients in how to interact directly with their

Social Synergy on Twitter

customers by leveraging collaborative media in the most effective, quick and economical way through sales, leads, brand awareness, the building of online communities and fans and customized pages on

Social Synergy on LinkedIn

Facebook. We specialize in seeing the possibilities by converting them into solutions for our customers. Social Synergy is based in Copenhagen, Denmark

Sondra D. BS, MCSE 2000, Multimedia Designer

Christian F.

A multimedia designer with a background in biology, psychology and IT. She is the author of ʻThe Analysis of Social Media in Building Better Customer Relationshipsʼ. An introductory report for businesses

Educated in marketing and sales, Christian has expertise in service management and sales. His passion for social media stems from his belief that

exploring the possibility of integrating Social media channels into its marketing strategies. Her interests in Social media leans more towards the sociology and psychology of it than the technology.

Export Sales and Marketing, Multimedia Designer

social media is the future and is amazed at how fast it has become a (semi-permanent) fixture in our daily lives. “The opportunities that social media presents is attribute to its unlimited creativity thatʼs powering the world in ways many have never imagined.”

Optimizing Social Media: How to Leverage Facebook for B u s i n e s s

Organizational Research

Identity Social Synergy offers consumers premium services by creating strategies that results in increased brand identity and online presence for our clients.

Vision Our vision is:

 Build brand awareness for our customers using social media tools and strategies.

Mission Our promise is:

 To anticipate and fulfill our customers wishes by providing affordable and effective social media marketing strategies.

 To search for innovative solutions that matches our client’s digital strategy.

Values  Our people are our most important asset. Recruiting, developing and providing a motivating environment for our associates is our top priority.

Objectives  Goals and objectives of Social Synergy is to increase our business network by generating

awareness, establishing trust, building brand stewardship and most importantly listening to our customers.

Optimizing Social Media: How to Leverage Facebook for B u s i n e s s

Organizational Research

Strategies Our social media firm works with organizations to develop strategies and implement a customized SM plan based on their organizational structure values and objectives. Our social media marketing campaign lays the foundation in paving the way for a succesful launch for our clients. Here is an overview of what can take place when planning for a social media marketing campaign with us: 1. Company Analysis : We first meet with your company to plan out your social media strategy. We will analyze what you are doing now, your measuring tactics, brand engagement benchmarks as well as how your competitors are using social media channels. 2. Website Readiness: We will analyze your current website to make sure that itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s optimized for social media. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s important that your website is designed and developed in such a way that it will bring real value to your users as well as providing an added benefit of increasing your SEO ranking. An optimized website is one that can successfully integrate SEO and Internetmarketing into a traditional web design. 3. Budget and Social Media Strategy Building: After an complete analysis of your companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ability to engage effectively on the social web, our firm presents its custom-made SM strategy with your company values and objectives in mind. 4. Monthly Reporting: Social Synergy will use only the top analytical resources to report how your SM campaign is functioning. We will monitor your brand presence via our online management service, alert you regarding the general perception of your brand as well as respond to any negative feedback appropriately.

Optimizing Social Media: How to Leverage Facebook for B u s i n e s s

Organizational Research

Optimizing Social Media: How to Leverage Facebook for B u s i n e s s

8.2 Services Offered Table listing of services offered.

Facebook

We help our clients to build a strong network with Facebook by recognizing key influencers using strategically placed activities. We also use Facebook â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Newsfeedâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; with the posting of how-to-videos, photos and general information. Newsfeeds can be just as powerful as a viral video. We also create Fan pages and purchase ads for our clients. Facebook tools create a lot of exposure for our clients with the least amount of cost.

Google Ad Words

Open Ad Exchange

Email-Marketing

Affiliate marketing

Google ad words give SME the opportunity to compete and win against the major corporations.

Open AdExchange is similiar to Google AdWords, with ads created with text keywords click price. In addition, we can specify a category, ensuring that our clients ad targeted recipients of the message.

Email marketing allows us to initiate advanced, personalized dialogues with several thousand customers and measure the responses based on the number of receivables. With email marketing we can use email to communicate our marketing

Affiliate marketing is an easy way for e-merchants to advertise and sell their products and services online. We offer our clients Affiliate marketing via ads, banners, newsletter, etc. as an easy, quick and inexpensive way to get publicity for their brand.

messages effectively.

Affilliate marketing works in three ways: 1. Pay-per-click or cost-per-click 2. Pay per sale 3. Pay-per-lead

By using pay per click advertising allows us to find the exact target customer who will buy our clients product. Our main concern is that the information is available when the user lands on the website. We only use keywords that are relevant to our clients advertising strategy.

Facebook pages also allows for the mass distribution of organizational content and messages

We use Open AdExchange mainly with our Danish clients. That is then presented to large Danish media, eg. JP / Politiken Hus, Berlingske Media, TV2, Nordjyske Media, University of Southern Media Exchange, Egmont, Carl Nielsen Media and other current media.

Table 1. Overview of marketing services offered by Social Synergy

Optimizing Social Media: How to Leverage Facebook for B u s i n e s s

Theoretical Discussions

9.1 Social Theory Getting the 'social' in social media.

Social theory seeks to explain changes in societyâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;how it develops, what factors facilitate and inhibit it, and what results from it. Sam Ladner of Copernicus consulting states that: "Social theory is even

Why is it important to know why people adopt social media & new technology?

more relevant today because it coheres and synthesizes design and marketing research." Moreover, she also stresses the importance of social theory in understanding social media use. Social theory is interdisciplinary and comprises many ideas from anthropology and media studies. Basically social theory contextualizes knowledge, and the manner in which we collect and experience knowledge, as well as defining the institutions where knowledge is coalesced and disbursed among peoples to be socially integrated. In essence we can only experience the nature of the universe by obtaining social tools within a social context. In helping define the 'social' in social media Sam Ladner suggested two social theories to explain how we engage one another online and off-line. Although there are many theories and social theorists to select from, for this report the number of theorists selected is only two. The first is dramaturgical theory by Erving Goffman and the second is social capital by Pierre Bourdieu (1986). Goffman theorizes that individuals tend to see their lives as a theatrical performance, act or play. His

"It is remarkable that people receive crucial information from individuals whose very existence they have forgotten" Grandovetter, M, The Strength of Weak Ties. 1(973),

social theory concept involved the formulation of symbolic interaction as dramaturgical perspective. His perspectives was not that interaction was either a drama or a game or a frame, but rather that each of these concepts offered a potentially useful standpoint or angle from which one might view- and come to understand something about - social life. (Goffman, 2008) This theory implies that we enter into 'role play' where embarrassment is bound to happen when the script comes apart and that this is what online social networks do to us daily: "They force us to play multiple roles at the same time. Good social media allows ' audience segregation' which lets us select which role to play when. " Optimizing Social Media: How to Leverage Facebook for B u s i n e s s

Optimizing Social Media: How to Leverage Facebook for B u s i n e s s

Theoretical Discussions

9.2 Social Capital Theory Bourdieu's concept of social capital places emphasis on conflicts and the power function, such as social relations that increase the ability of the 'performers' to advance their own interests. Social capital becomes a resource in the social struggle and is expressed in different social fields. Social capital is defined as a resource that is connected with group membership and social networks. "It is the quality produced by the totality of the relationships between actors, rather than merely a common 'quality' of

"The volume of the social capital possessed by a given agent thus depends on the size of the network of connections" Bourdieu,P. "The forms of capital." (1986.)

the group", (Bourdieu, 1980, 2). It is therefore the membership in groups, and the amount of participation within social networks that leads its development as well as the increase in social relations from the membership, which can be effective in the attempt to improve the social position of the actors. The second characteristic of social capital is based on mutual cognition and recognition in acquiring a

Social capital: "Social networks have value"

'symbolic character' that is reshaped into symbolic capital. He further goes on to state that in order to become valuable, the social capital "objective" differences between groups and classes have to be transformed into symbolic differences and classifications that make possible symbolic recognition and distinction. The concept of symbolic capital defines what forms and uses of capital are legitimate bases of social positions in a given society. The effectiveness of symbolic capital depends on real practice of communication. (Bourdieu,1985) Wikipedia defines Social capital as: (6) A sociological concept, which refers to connections within and between social networks. Though there are a variety of related definitions, which have been described as "something of a cure-all"[1] for the problems of modern society, they tend to share the core idea "that social networks have value. Just as a screwdriver (physical capital) or a college education (human capital) can increase productivity (both individual and collective), so do social contacts affect the productivity of individuals and groups".[2]

"Organizations create social capital by creating opportunities for people to interact."

Social capital lends itself to multiple definitions, interpretations, and uses. Bourdieu work tends to show how it can be used practically to produce or reproduce inequality, demonstrating for instance how people gain access to powerful positions through the direct and indirect employment of social connections.

6. Social capital,Retrieved October 10, 2010 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_capital,

Optimizing Social Media: How to Leverage Facebook for B u s i n e s s

Theoretical Discussions

Optimizing Social Media: How to Leverage Facebook for B u s i n e s s

Social Capital Theory Group Characteristics

Social capital is a broad term, with several interpretations, and one that encompasses the ‘norms and networks facilitating collective actions for mutual benefits’ (Woolcock, 1998,p155). At one end social capital can be seen as a notion that is based

Generalized Norms

on the premise that social relations have potential to facilitate

Contribution of money Number of memberships Frequency of participation Participation in decision-making Source of group funding Membership heterogeneity

Helpfulness of people Trustworthiness of people Fairness of people

the accrual of economic or non-economic benefits to the individuals as stated by Stephen White in 2002. And on the other end J.S. Coleman, author of "Social Capital in the

Togetherness

How well people get along Togetherness of people

Creation of Human Capital," states that social capital can be seen to reside in the relations and not in the individuals themselves (Coleman, 1988b, p 98). Social capital is also defined as being context dependent and is subject takes many

Social Capital

Everyday Sociability

different interrelated forms, including obligations (within a Neighborhood Connections

group), trust, intergenerational closure, norms, and sanctions with underlying assumption that the relationships between individuals are durable and subjectively felt (Bourdieu, 1983, p

Volunteerism

249).

The basic idea of social capital is that our family, friends, and associates are recognized as important assets in our lives and anyone at any time can be used as leveraged for (material) gain, if that’s the objective. Moreover,

Trust

what’s true for individuals also holds for groups, especially within social networking groups. Social capital can be thought of by using the aphorism, “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know”.

Chart 1. Social Capital Theory, complied by Mike Wade

Everyday sociability

Asking neighbor to care for sick child Asking for help for yourself if sick Have you volunteered Expectations of volunteering Criticisms for not volunteering Fair contributions to neighborhood Have you helped someone Trust of Trust of Trust of casts Trust of Trust of Trust of Trust of Trust of

family people in neighborhood people from other tribes/ business owners Gov’t officials judges/courts/police Gov’t’ service providers local Gov’t

Optimizing Social Media: How to Leverage Facebook for B u s i n e s s

Theoretical Discussions Fig 2. Blue your friends

9.3 Social Network Theory “’Social network’ is not a Facebook term. Sociologist J.A. Barnes coined the phrase in 1954 to explain the friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend connections that cut across traditional groupings of family or ethnic groups. These pathways have historically been the way people get jobs, find apartments, meet spouses and generally navigate the world.”

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“Social networks have also been used to examine how companies interact with each other, characterizing the many

Social networking represents relationships and flows between people, groups, organizations, etc. and when social networking is done online its function and purpose is no different than any other social

informal connections that link executives together, as well as associations and connections

organization. Each relationship is formed from nodes and ties. Nodes are the individuals, and ties are

between individual employees

the relationships that connect the two. The ties are usually what we are searching for everyday. When

at different companies. These

relationships expand, some nodes become ties when all users that belong to that group are tied

networks provide ways for companies to gather

together.

information, deter competition,

The success of a SN environment rests on the balance of two types of social systems, as defined by

and even collude in setting

Moria Burke of Human-Computer Interaction Institute: Information commons and discussion groups.*

prices or policies”.(8)

This success also depends on the amount of contribution from any one member social contacts that leads to an outcome that is dependent on the eventual participation of a large user base. Social media marketers, like ourselves, will encourage our clients and designers to look for improvement in the overall user experience by supporting newcomers who are active by providing the opportunity for others to engage with them. For Social Synergy we want to build a social network with clients that have benefited from our partnership and want to share their experience and or opinions. This can provide our clients with several benefits: mutual respect, influence, knowledge, valued shared experience as well as monetary benefits. Social Synergy’s Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter pages also

* Information common is where many individuals contribute to the construction of a small number of shared artifacts. Discussion groups is where individuals exchange messages on a given topic.

offer more possibilities for clients and potential clients to connect on the social web.

7. “An Unmanageable Circle of Friends” Monica Hesse, The Washington Post, Sunday, August 26, 2007; M10. 8. Social Network Concise description of theory, Retrieved from http://www.istheory.yorku.ca/socialnetworktheory.htm, November, 2010

Optimizing Social Media: How to Leverage Facebook for B u s i n e s s

Theoretical Discussions

9.4 Social CRM Social CRM (Customer Relationship Management) is a fairly new process whereby CRM attempts to integrate data from the social Web with customer relationship efforts. The customer is in control and decides the flow of information. Companies can participate if the customers let them. "Social brings a new element into CRM because now instead of just dealing with data and information we are dealing with conversations and relationships with the social customer."

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Social CRM is about conversation

between the company and the customer and more importantly between the customers themselves. Companies have the ability to build and extend their relationship with their customers by listening and sometimes engaging customers who are having conversations about them. The difference between CRM and Social CRM is that the conversation is the relationship.

Companies are recognizing the value of communities and see how different types of communities can help their enterprise, such as internal communities, support communities, and branded communities, according to Lauren McKay of CRM magazine. destinationCRM.com.

Fig 3. A visual description of CRM to SCRM by Chess Media Group 9. Jacob Morgan, What is Social CRM? An Introduction, http://www.jmorganmarketing.com/what-is-social-crm-an-introduction/ (Dec. 2009)

Optimizing Social Media: How to Leverage Facebook for B u s i n e s s

Theoretical Discussions

Social CRM Customer relationships are central to just about everything that's happening on the Internet and new technologies are helping to facilitate these interactions. While there are new ways for businesses to engage and interact with

Social Media CRM Process - Monitor Social networks: Trends and feedback

customers problems still exists when defining how companies can benefit from social networks vs. online communities. Social networks makes it possible for people to interact with one another, mainly as nonwork- related

- Offer a Community Run a business community on

relationships, whereas online communities are based on the same concept with the exception that the community is

Facebook, for example in helping

there to help solve specific business goals and objectives. "For example, when Dell uses community software to

to understand your customers and

provide support for its customers, the goals are to sell more hardware, reduce costs, and raise awareness of new

their behaviors.

products. There is some social aspect, but that is not the purpose of that community." (Buch, Sep. 2010)

- Own the Data Through the data can you derive value from your investment - Customer Intelligence. You can gain a depth of knowledge about your customers where you can gain substantial intelligence about them. Here you can also find out your most influential customers. "CRM should integrate with community platform vendors that provide intelligence and analytics to complement that data " (Social Media Marketing CRM, You don't want social CRM, You want integrated customer intelligence, Buch, Sep. 2010)

Figure 4. Visual Social CRM process image by thaicrmsoftware.com

Optimizing Social Media: How to Leverage Facebook for B u s i n e s s

Market Analysis

Optimizing Social Media: How to Leverage Facebook for B u s i n e s s

10.

Market Analysis

10.1 Major Competitors About GoSocial

Fig 5. GoSocial Logo

GoSocial was founded in August 2009 as the first social media marketing agency in Denmark. Their focus is on exploiting the social media as an integral part of the marketing mix to achieve their clients' objectives in the most effective, fastest and least cost manner regardless of whether it is through sales, leads, brand awareness, signups newsletters, building groups of fans or customized pages on Facebook, Twitter lists, viral videos on YouTube or something else altogether. Behind GoSocial are experienced people with between 5 and 11 years of experience from the Danish

GoSocial.dk Industrial 12B 7120 Vejle Ă&#x2DC;st Tel. +45 69606700 kontakt@gosocial.dk

online industry and a handful of talented engineers.

Go Social services are not listed in details, however potential customers can call for an consultations.

GoSocial clients

Established: August, 2009 Types of Service: Social media marketing Specialists: Employees: 17 Target: All companies Revenue: Unknown

Fig 6. GoSocial clients

Optimizing Social Media: How to Leverage Facebook for B u s i n e s s

Market Analysis

Optimizing Social Media: How to Leverage Facebook for B u s i n e s s

Major Competitors Information: Socialsquare Vesterbrogade 67.1 DK 1620 Copenhagen V. Denmark info@socialsquare.dk

Social Square Social Square in based out of Copenhagen, Denmark. Their motto is â&#x20AC;&#x153;We help organizations reinvent processes products and tools for a digital, social and participatory worldâ&#x20AC;? What is Socialsquare? We help organizations develop strategies to meet the challenges that online stakeholder participation poses, and anchor the new technology with both the people and the processes of the organization. Established: year 1999 Types of Service: Social media marketing Employees: 8

Fig 7. Socialsquared banner

Their clients:

Target: All companies Revenue: Unknown

Their products They help clients adapt their organization and processes to the social web through three main areas: 1. Insight: Understanding the dynamics of the social web. 2. Design: Of processes, concepts and solutions that unfold the potential of the social web. 3. Practice: Concrete advice, coaching and implementation of useful and effective social practices online.

Fig 8. Socialsquared products

Fig 9. Socialsquared clients

Optimizing Social Media: How to Leverage Facebook for B u s i n e s s

Market Analysis

10.2 Social Media SWOT Strategic Analysis

Internal Origin External Origin

Attributes of the environment

Our SWOT analysis has helped us to clarify our business strategies for our organization and for our clients. Prior to creating our SWOT analysis an in-depth look at our organization was necessary in identifying the factors needed to achieve our overall objective in delivering a clear marketing message to our target audience.

Helpful

Harmful

To achieving the objective

Strengths - Direct contact with our clients (audience) - Allows for two-way conversations - Leverage of reaching more people with less effort - Cost-effective in the sense most of the platforms are free - SM channels are constantly changing and improving - Human factor (real people behind Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn,etc. accounts) - Build strong, long-term relationships through online social networking, at a faster pace than traditional methods

Weakness

To achieving the objective - Very personal: To ensure you get the best out of social media as a channel, our SM efforts should be handled by individuals who understand the company. - Consistency: Engaging with our audience at a direct level means more efforts in terms of keeping a consistent message/ corporate image - Making up for mistakes: The time-frame to correct errors that produces the a minimal negative effect

Opportunities - Being present: For our company to present in an interactive environment like social media, the opportunities for engagement - Developing a following/audience

Threats - Our competitors are more likely to know what we are up to. - Stronger competitors may result in our efforts having to double in order to reach out to our audience.

- Finding new talented employees

- Our mistakes are noticed

- Allows us to reach out to certain groups that traditional media doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t usually allow

- Our retention efforts through social media, may mean nothing if our audience engages with our competitor.

Table. 2 Social Synergy SWOT Analysis

Optimizing Social Media: How to Leverage Facebook for B u s i n e s s

Market Analysis

10.3 Competitive Analysis Conclusion Its common knowledge that businesses that offers good customer service and pay attention to their target audiences needs find the most success. Businesses traditionally do this by using the

' Social interaction is fundamental to businesses. '

basic rule of getting to know their customers, from small corner shops that greet visitors by name to large corporations doing market research. This happens because they are being social in getting to know people. Businesses that are social will have a greater opportunity to learn about their customers, get product feedback and recommendations, as well as build long-term relationships. Using SM tools in precisely the same way is, in theory, no different. However, there continues to be a common view in the business community that social media tools are the new venue to publish marketing content. Social sites are two-way communication channels and exist for the creation and sharing of content, not for the sole purpose of publishing the distribution of marketing products, which implies one-way communication. Sharing is interacting and interaction is fundamental to businesses. We want our clients to first understand that for any business to use social media effectively they FIRST have to create content that people find VALUE in before they (people) would want to share with it others. When value is created it is more often then not, to be shared, reposted and promoted (at no extra cost) for others and that in return creates trust and value for your business. This is how we assist our clients in getting an edge on their competitors, by showing them the proper and most effective techniques in how to add content value to their sites. Our speciality is showing our clients how to create great content instead of publishing, to communicate by trading in the traditional marketing within new media to profitable results for their organization.

Optimizing Social Media: How to Leverage Facebook for B u s i n e s s

Market Analysis

10.4 STP Segmentation in Business Markets Our STP strategy will help us to gain a competitive advantage by selecting effective and efficient ways to match our company resources to target markets that will yield the greatest return on our marketing investments. It will also help us to recognize growth opportunities by identifying new customers, growth segments and new services to maintain our sustainable differentiated position.

Segmentation Base Type

Organizational characteristics

Segmentation base

Organizational size Geographic location Industry type (SIC codes)

Table 3. Segmentation Matrix

By segmenting organizations by their size we can identify particular buying /selling requirements, whether they are heavy, medium or low product or services buyers.

Explanation

SME: Small to medium enterprises Regional: Scandinavia Sales and Services

Location targeting only in Scandinavia offers us a small region in which to establish ourselves with other businesses. However, the Internet makes this selection less important as it is more effective in the distribution and thus communication of our services. We are using Sic codes are to indicate the size of our market.

Optimizing Social Media: How to Leverage Facebook for B u s i n e s s

Market Analysis

Targeting Target Marketing Approach Targeted Segments: Our target market selection will represent the best opportunities for us, given our strategy and resources available.

Evaluated Market Segments: Attractiveness Value - Market growth - Segment profitability - Segment size - Competitive intensity within segment - Cyclical nature of industry Each segment attractiveness factor is rated on a scale of 0-10 and categorized by high, medium or low value that is based on a set or subjective criteria dependent on the availability of the market and customer data.

Target Approach Strategy Customized Marketing - targeting individual customers with individual strategies. Our services are specialized and require a degree of customization or technical development for specific applications. The use and application of social media tools in specialized business processes continues to make the adoption process by businesses more complicated than normal. The varying needs of many of our clients dictate highly personalized marketing, including customized products, services and prices. Even meeting the buyerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s basic operational buying needs still typically requires some level of customization to logistics quantities, delivery and invoicing routines.

Optimizing Social Media: How to Leverage Facebook for B u s i n e s s

Market Analysis

Positioning To achieve our goal of developing a sustainable position we need to offer ourselves as social media specialists, committed to helping organizations develop strategies to meet the challenges of new media. To successfully achieve this we need to project an image of being competent, honest, trustworthy and professionally orientated.

ʻItʼs not what you do to a product, it is what you do to the mind of a prospectʼ (Ries and Trout, 1972)

Positioning Strategy Social Synergy provides quality social media marketing (SMM) services to Small to medium enterprises (SME) that are combining or replacing their traditional marketing media with ‘New media channels’. Social Synergy will be positioned versus other SMM firms as the “number one agency for improving your online brand image”. Reasons why are that Social Synergy possess the knowledge and skills to create the most effective SM formula for each client. Social Synergy offers affordable prices that reflect the client’s solution needs and Social Synergy reputable services. Social Synergy will also be known for its seminars, trade shows and well organized information pamphlets, offering our client’s something special every week for monetary saving and reading enjoyment.

11.

Competitive Strategy We are basing our competitive strategy on ‘customized marketing’. A customized marketing strategy is developed for each customer as opposed to each of our chosen market segments. While creating our competitive strategy it will be important to analyze each of our clients proposals as a unique case. Our business goal is to position our brand in a way that will set us apart from our competitors by assisting our client’s in how the social media channel Facebook can offer them the most effective, quick and cost-efficient methods of increasing their brand awareness, sales and monetary value. This is what we feel is needed in order to continue to achieve profitability in this industry and to satisfy our shareholders. Optimizing Social Media: How to Leverage Facebook for B u s i n e s s

Optimizing Social Media: How to Leverage Facebook for B u s i n e s s

12.

Communication Plan

Communication Plan Purpose

Our primary purpose is to create social media marketing strategies that results in a successful outcome for our clients. Our secondary purpose is to increase our organizations brand presence and reputation as an effective SM marketing company.

Effect

To build awareness regarding the power of social media tools for businesses, but more specifically the power and depth of using Facebook as part of a business strategy.

Sender

Social Synergy: It is a new and upcoming social-media marketing firm that uses todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s technological advances as well as holistic techniques in proving our clients with the best marketing at a cost effective price.

The Receiver

Small and medium enterprises that are based in Scandinavia within the standard industrial classification offering Service and Sales.

USP

We are the only social media marketing company that offers a free one-on-one social media training session for companies that have yet to implement social media channels into their marketing mix.

ESP

With our professional service and experience, we can help you succeed on the social web by helping your business differentiate itself from the others in your industry.

Message

When your partnership with us you are taking the first step in improving your key business areas such as R&D, marketing, human resources, customer service and sales can stimulate innovation, create brand recognition, hire employees, generate revenue, and improve customer satisfaction.

Optimizing Social Media: How to Leverage Facebook for B u s i n e s s

Communication Plan

12.1 Media Elements The media elements used in our campaign website are user-friendly and need no detail explanation on how to navigate throughout the website. The website was created using a Wordpress template that includes XHTML, CSS, PHP and MYSQL. The website is easy to use and the users will be unaware of the programming techniques running in the background. Users of our site are able to join and comment on post as well as interact with others on the forum. We also implemented a few pre fabricated plug-ins that allowed us to create more interactivity on the website. For example the Apture plugin that allows us to create interactive links within our posts. We also used plug-ins for video, photo galleries and google analytics.

12.2 User profile Telenor A/S Telenor A / S is the leading telecommunications company in Norway and the largest in Scandinavia. The former owner Danish Sonofon and Cybercity previously operated under the name of Telenor. Moreover owned CBB Mobil BiBoB, Tele2 and Canal Digital. In 2007 Telenor had a turnover of 92.5 billion. Norwegian kroner in 2009 drĂ¸jt 100 billion dollars. The company has approx. 40,000 employees, of whom 75 percent work outside Norway. CEO is Jon Fredrik Baksaas. Telenor was establised in 1855 as the state-owned Telefraverket, which later was renamed to Televerket in 1969 and again to Telenor in 1994 when the company was transformed into aq state owned company. Until 1998, Telenor had a monopoly on telephone services to residential customers in Norway. The company went public in December 2000 and is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange (TEL). Telenor had at the end of 2009 more than 170 million mobile customers worldwide (including Vimpelcom) and had therefore a place as the world's sixth largest mobile operator. It was based on that Telenor now owns mobile operations in Norway, Denmark (formerly Sonofon former Cybercity, CBB Mobil, Tele2 and Canal Digital), Sweden, Ukraine, Hungary, Montenegro, Serbia, Russia, Thailand, Malaysia, India, Bangladesh and Pakistan. At different levels of Internet business is owned companies in Norway and Sweden (Bredbandsbolaget and Glocalnet).

Optimizing Social Media: How to Leverage Facebook for B u s i n e s s

Communication Plan

12.3 User Scenario When it comes to technology and its newest trends, Telenor is a company with â&#x20AC;&#x153;the finger on the pulseâ&#x20AC;? A new versions of smartphones has just been released, and now that Christmas is getting closer, Lars Nielsen, who works in the marketing area for Telenor, have a meeting with 3 other colleagues and his boss. They are going to discuss how to launch the smartphones in the most effectively way up to Christmas. The meeting starts and Lars is sitting around the table with his colleagues. His boss who stands right next to him, introduces to the meeting, and uses a blackboard to write down some topics and ideas for the meeting and how to promote the new smartphones. Lars is a active facebook user, and recently he had just bought a holiday vacation for him and his girlfriend, by clicking on the directed advertizes who are to be found out the right at Facebook.com. The boss suggests many interesting ways how to promote the smartphone but none of them has anything to do with the social media tool. All of a sudden, his boss wants to hear the opinion from him and the other colleagues. Lars hesitates for a moment and waits to his colleagues are finish replying their boss with their ideas and comments. Then he decides to tell the story about how he recently bought this new holiday vacation for him and his girlfriend on facebook and opens up for the idea of implementing social media in Telefor marketing set. His boss and the other colleagues are listening interesting to what Lars thinks about using Facebook as their source, and their respond to his idea is being met with a great enthusiasm because they all believe that this could become a success. However none of the colleagues or even Lars knows how to start this project and how to advertise on Facebook, so they turn on their projector to search online for who is actually behind all these directed advertises. They go to Google.com online marketing, Facebook, Scandinavia. The first link that comes up suggests a company called Social Synergy. This was actually my first conversation with Lars and Telenor. Last time I spoke with Lars, he told me that Telenor now have their own Marketing area that focuses on the use of social media only. Lars has been upgraded to boss within that area and so far, they have gained more awareness of their new products, more customers and higher income. Today Telenor is one of our greatest partners and each month they spent more than 100.000 DKK on advertises pr. month â&#x20AC;&#x201C; only on social media/ Facebook.

Optimizing Social Media: How to Leverage Facebook for B u s i n e s s

13.

Promotional Mix

Promotional Mix We have created the following promotional mix to increase our presence as a social media marketing company. In addition the goal of the promotional mix is to establish our services in the minds of potential clients.

13.1 Advertising Social Synergy is a up and coming social media marketing firm that has established a favorable reputation for itself in a considerable short time. Our budget constraints limits our advertising efforts to print, Internet adverts, a few magazine adverts and WOM marketing. Print advertising will reflect the look of our website. The adverts will be placed in relevant newsprint, trade journals and magazines. Internet adverts will be used on social networking sites that will give us the ability to reach a large audience. Our online advertising campaigns aim will be to increase our website traffic, provide more information about our services and display our company values and messages. However, we will not use Internet banners as they have been proven to be ineffective as an advertising tool.

13.2 Personal Selling: B2B We are planning to attend several social networking conventions and conferences in Europe as well as in the U.S. At these events we would be able to network our services to an audience that is looking for â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;New Mediaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; marketing strategists. We would also encourage feedback in the development of both dialogue and relationship building. With personal selling we will be able to deliver a more personal message thereby increasing our level of interaction with our customers.

13.3 Promotion With the careful placement of our promotions we will attempt to create brand loyalty and recognition (presence) on and offline. We will do this by using traditional media with social media messages to promote our message. Our promotion campaigns will allow us to target specific audiences as well as adapt to any changes with our campaign faster. We will also use promotional allowances such as co-op advertising allowances.

Optimizing Social Media: How to Leverage Facebook for B u s i n e s s

Promotional Mix

13.4 Public Relations We will use our public relations campaigns to generate interests. We will do this by sending and posting press releases about our organization. Host social media events for the surrounding business community as well as offer interviews with top representatives of our organization. Our aim with our public relations efforts is to produce awareness-raising campaigns to gain credibility with our target audience.

13.5 Direct Marketing Our direct marketing will mainly consists of email marketing (Newsletters) targeting our customers with the intent to deliver our personal message, by identifying who we are, in the efforts to build a long-term relationship. We will used direct marketing to compliment our personal selling efforts to establish credibility, enhance our image and in return provide us with a level of customer management information.

Optimizing Social Media: How to Leverage Facebook for B u s i n e s s

SM and Mobile Marketing

What is Mobile marketing?

13.6 Social Media and Mobile Marketing? Together social and mobile marketing have become robust strategies in building customer relationships through customer experience creating brand loyalty, positioning and differentiation.

It's the use of cell phone and other mobile devices to market a brand or message, and plays a powerful role in an integrated marketing strategy.

Using our SM marketing strategies we will offer our clients a â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Mobile value propositionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; that uses

Includes: SMS Text Messages Campaigns Mobile Web Development iPhone App Development Custom Software Development Bluetooth Broadcasting Advergames Mobile Video Flash Lite Content.

analytics that maps out data-driven information by optimizing compelling experiences. We

(punchkickinteractive.com)

With mobile marketing it is possible for brands to flourish within the confines of a mobile application, and gives social media another viable channel through which to engage customers. The introduction of the smart phone and the rise of location-based marketing, also gives businesses the chance to interact with the on-the-go consumers.

recommend our clients to consider advertising via SMS because it has been shown to be an effective channel for increasing brand presence. Nearly 90% of all text messages are read within three minutes of delivery and nearly all text messages are read by the recipient. We also point

Mobile Marketing Statistics

out to our clients that the immediacy of SMS is unparalleled by any other marketing channel.

- Cell phone subscriptions will top 5 billion globally before 2011

The popularity of mobile Internet usage is directly associated with social networking according to

(Source: International Telecommunication Union)

a study conducted by Single Point. They further go on to state that 80% of social networking networking on mobile is confirmation that the mobile device is the first screen when it comes to

- Four out of five teens carry a wireless device, and the majority (57%) view their cell phone as the key to their social life.

communication and further verification that communication can and does occur in less than 140

(Source: CTIA survey, Teenagers: A Generation Unplugged)

activity on mobile is associated with responding to feeds and status reports. The rise of social

characters. And while other agencies argue that SMS does not offer a sufficient platform to deliver creative rich-media, it delivers a mechanism to be linguistically creative.

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- The global mobile advertising market will be valued at over $16 billion by 2011 Source: M:Metrics, Common Short Codes: Cracking the Mobile Marketing Code

10. Conversational Adverstising, Single Point, whitepaper on conversational advertising by Mobile Squared (June, 2010)

Optimizing Social Media: How to Leverage Facebook for B u s i n e s s

14.

Leveraging Facebook

Facebook for Business Optimizing Facebook for Business Facebook (FB) is a social channel for connecting people with others, i.e. family, friends, coworkers or those with

Facebook For Businesses

similar interests. It is, in essence not a business tool per se, it is an online social network that allows individuals

Tools for Marketers

to share information by keeping up to date with developments within their social circle. Those social circles can also be dedicated to a network of business and professional contacts as well as corporate brands, celebrities, sports figures and even politicians. The process of integrating both the social and business aspect of FB is a tricky combination, considering that it offers direct engagement with people and communities. Although direct engagement is something that most businesses are not accustomed to participating in. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Bringing your business into these networks is like a car salesman gatecrashing a party with the deal of the day.â&#x20AC;?

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1. Fan pages 2. Groups 3. Pages / Profiles 4. Events 5. Notes and Photos 6. Messages 7. Market place 8. Share / Posted items 9. Networks 10. Mini Feeds and News Feed Tools for Advertisers

Before jumping into the Facebook for business organizations would need to first answer two questions: (1) Will

easier for them to achieve their business objectives more successfully.

11. 12. 13. 14. 15.

Businesses that have benefited from using social networks, like Facebook, have integrated the tools as part of

16.

their marketing, communication and customer service strategies. They have done this to engage bi-directionally

17.

Facebook be good for my business? (2) Is there a target audience that will be interested in what I have to offer which in return will help me acquire more business? If an organization can answer yes then it will become

Social ads Integrated Opportunities Beacon Polls Facebook Platform Ad Networks Facebook Platform Application Sponsorships Sponsored FB Groups

with customers and prospects in giving their customers a 360-degree view of who they are and what they can offer. Facebook has proven to be a great channel for brand exposure through its ad platform and Fan pages as well as an excellent tool in helping organizations connect to its customers. This section will offer a brief, but concise introduction on how to leverage Facebook for business. It will include insights on how to chose the correct profile (or pages), how to promote their pages and best practices. It will also include information about Facebook advertising, apps, privacy and marketing strategies.

Tools for Application Developers 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23.

Profile Box Mini Feed News Feed Facebook Notifications Email Notifications Application Directory

Whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not included is a complete, detailed descriptive step-by-step tutorial in how to set up your Personal profile. Setting up a personal profile is simple and straight-forward. The only requirement is taking some time to familiarize yourself to its features.

11. Inspired Magazine, inspiredm.com/2010/05/16/facebook-for-business/

Optimizing Social Media: How to Leverage Facebook for B u s i n e s s

Leveraging Facebook

Developing a Corporate Presence Facebook provides companies with the ability to give its brand, product or service a personal feel and a greater chance for engagement with its target audience. It offers one of the best opportunities to build up a community where two-way interaction is a must. Facebook also offers the best chances for driving traffic to companies home websites where they can convert potential customers through a contact form or other specialize methods. However, companies can best serve their customers by hanging out where their customers are as to not miss any opportunities for effective engagement. One way that companies can start developing a corporate presence on Facebook is to recruit employees who already have profiles on FB or any other social networking site. This is not to spy or restrict employees but to use their expertise in how to navigate around FB elements all the while learning the do’s and don’ts. Employees interacting on behalf of your company can also help with developing your Social Media policy, besides, they may posses a wealth of information that the company can use.

Getting Started A first rule of thumb when creating a presence on Facebook is to know the difference between ‘Profiles’ and ‘Pages’. The simplest explanation is that Profiles are for individual people and Pages are for businesses. There are many businesses with profile pages on Facebook, however many contain basic company information and very little engagement. Another drawback in having a company profile page is that they are not permitted if the person that created it also has a personal profile page. The creator run the risk of having both profiles deleted by Facebook without notice. Differences between Profiles and Pages: - On a Profile someone is your ‘Friend’. On a Page, someone is your ‘Fan’. - With a profile, you can send messages to one or more friends, that go directly to their inbox on Facebook. As a page, you can’t do this. You can only send updates. - Pages and Profiles can both post status updates, links, photos, etc. that appear in their fans’/friends’ news feeds. - Pages cannot “add” people as friends. However, your fans can suggest your page to their own friends to become a fan. - Pages allows you to designate multiple administrators, however be-careful not to delete all of them, which is possible. There will be no way to update your page if that happens. - Pages can be sectioned into different categories i.e. local businesses, brands, politicians, etc. - Personal profiles have friends and requires a mutual acceptance, whereas anyone can become a fan of your Page without first having to be approved. Optimizing Social Media: How to Leverage Facebook for B u s i n e s s

Optimizing Social Media: How to Leverage Facebook for B u s i n e s s

Leveraging Facebook

Getting Started, con’t. To take full advantage of Facebook functionalities you should first create a personal profile, but not for your business. By creating a personal profile you will be able to accomplish much more. Once you’ve created a personal profile you are able to create a business page that’s connected to your profile. No one will be aware that it’s your business page, only if you notify them of it. If you don’t have or want to create a personal profile on Facebook you can still create a business page, however those pages are not searchable within search engines and you cannot take full advantage of Facebook Insights and other offers. If it’s privacy that you are worried about you can select your levels of privacy by changing your setting in the privacy section. See Appendix B (page 63) for an overview of how to create a Facebook Page for your business.

Promoting your Facebook Page. Now that your page has been created the next step is to get some fans. One of the requirements that your business page has to meet is to acquire a minimum of 25 fans before you can receive an Facebook URL, i.e. http://facebook.com/SocialSynergyDK. Once you have your own URL the possibilities for connecting with others increases dramatically. In the meantime lets focus on how to get fans: 1. Promote your facebook page. If you have a personal account this step is easy. Just invite, not spam, your Facebook friends. Especially those who would fit your target audience for your product or service. This also extends to your staff in that they can use the Share feature on FB to share your FB page into their news feed (stream). 2. Create an engaging page by using FBML, Notes and the Discussion board. This will make your page more interesting by having engaging content on your page. The goal is to give FB users a reason to become a fan of your Page. 3. Leverage Facebook News feed. Each time there is engagement between your page and a fan the activity is published to their ‘news feed’ which is seen by all of their friends on FB. This is the viral nature of FB news feed. It instantly gives your business more visibility as your page gets shared with a greater network. Don’t do anything that would have them to ‘hide’ or remove your page as a fan. 4. Draw on your existing network. If your company already have email subscribers and blog readers, make sure they know that they can now become a fan of your FB page. You many also take into consideration of including a link in your Newsletter and on some outbound marketing promotions. Company blogs are prime places to place a FB ‘Like’ badge, which will also appear in fans news feeds, giving your page more exposure. 5. Make your page publicly searchable. By default, your page will be public once you select if for publication that allows it to be indexed by search engines. This gives you the opportunity to drive organic search traffic to your page. Your page is only searchable if its been created through your Personal profile. If you create a page without having a personal FB account then your page will not be searchable by search engines. Optimizing Social Media: How to Leverage Facebook for B u s i n e s s

Optimizing Social Media: How to Leverage Facebook for B u s i n e s s

Promoting your Facebook Page

Leveraging Facebook

‘The longer you sustain a meaningful connection, the better it gets’.

6. Use FB Ads for promoting your page. Facebook allows you to advertise websites, events, products or services through Facebook Ads. You can decide how much you want to pay per day. The two main types of payment are ‘payment per click’ (ppc) and ‘payment per view’ (ppv). Payment for clicks option offers the best value for cost, especially if you include your logo as the photo for the ad. You will also get a large number of brand impressions to your target audience and will only have to pay for the actual clicks to your Page or website. You can choose your target audience by reach, location and interests. You can also add social actions for your ad and much more. Visit http:// www.facebook.com/advertising for more detailed information. Google Adwords is very similar to FB Ads in attracting and pushing fans to your page. 7. Once you have your Facebook URL promote your Page in your email signature. You and also add special services that places your Facebook logo along side your email signature, providing a visual representation to your audience. In addition to your email signature you can also promote your page with your Twitter followers as well as within your own Company website. On your company’s website you can add Facebook Fan box or like button to a blog post. Your fan box will allow people to connect directly to your FB Page. 8. Email marketing can be used to send out ‘call-to-action’ email campaign that encourages interaction via your FB page. A simple ‘Connect with Us ’ section of your weekly newsletter will help guide your subscribers to your page. Companies can also use traditional media to promote their FB page. It depends on what your company is already doing for advertising marketing for engaging potential customers. The goal is try to integrate the promotion of your FB page that in connection with your advertising plans.

Facebook Connect ‘Connect with Facebook’ is a powerful tool that lets you sign in with your FB account information on a visiting website, if they have this option embedded, instead of having to register for the site. It lets users “bring their identity and connections everywhere.” Facebook connects more eyes to your website giving you more opportunity to connect with others. The rewards of using FB connect is the integration of a comment box. This helps to increase engagement through Facebook Connect to their (businesses) sites as new commenters are connecting through FB. FB connect has the functionality to share an article, blog or website which adds to the power of this application. It has proven to drive traffic and engagement to websites. Because of its versatility beginners can start out by only using the sharing function as they work out the social filtering functions of the application. Facebook Connect stats: 80,000 websites uses FB Connect and approximately 60 million users have engaged with websites using FB Connect.

Optimizing Social Media: How to Leverage Facebook for B u s i n e s s

Leveraging Facebook

Facebook Advertising Facebook Ads are in many ways very similar to GoogleAdWords. The only difference is that with FB Ads you can target your campaigns based on location, gender, reach, or interests. To set up FB Ads just look to the far left column for a your FB Ads tab. If not visible, FB ads can be set up by scrolling to the bottom of the page and select the Advertising link. This link will take you to the advertising platform. To create an Ad just follow FB instructions. You will need to know your destination URL, how you want to pay; cost-per-click (CPC), cost-perimpression (CPM) or ppc and ppv. Take some time to strategize about your ad because there are many ways to integrate FB ads into your current marketing campaign strategy.

Facebook Apps With the popularity of iPhone apps it’s understandable that FB users would also obsess over the more than 45,000 available applications. Companies are also standing up and taking notice as many have also produce games of their own as the competition for your attention increases. FB allows companies to install apps as an extension of its Page. FB has a library of apps available in its Application Directory. The appeal of applications is its notification function that post updates to users Wall, helping to spread the application through the network. However, these notifications can also become an annoyance. To add applications to your Page, navigate to the bottom of your page and select the Applications menu. The application dashboard provides suggestions as well as recent activity by your fans that can help in assisting you with your application selection. When adding an application pay attention to some common rules such as selecting an app that post too many notifications or one that overcrowds your page. You can add the app to your wall, the tab boxes or to its own tab. Learning how to monitor and manage your app. will save a lot of time in the future. FB also allows custom applications that can be installed using the developer application.

Facebook Privacy As FB continues to grow their will continue to be privacy concerns. Most FB users have never read its Terms of Service and Privacy Policy although many of us have tweak our privacy settings a time or two. Understanding the privacy settings for both personal and professional profiles is very important. Otherwise you run the risk of exposing shared information about you or a brand that you did not want to share or have shared by others. FB allows age and country restrictions and whether the page is published or not. Placing limits on ‘Wall’ action can also be done, however not allowing your fans to makes comment, post photos, videos or links defeats the purpose of engaging with your fans. Take some time to configure / customize your privacy setting based on your personal and company policies and values. It’s best to investigate your company’s social media policy if needed. And if your company doesn’t have a SM policy it’s best to draw one up immediately. For those who are worried about search engines exposing their FB profiles, FB allows you to turn off / on the visibility of your profile to search engines. For personal accounts this could be a good thing to do, but not necessarily for Pages.

Optimizing Social Media: How to Leverage Facebook for B u s i n e s s

Leveraging Facebook

Developing a Facebook Marketing Strategy Facebook can be an extremely successful tool for marketing when all of the features can be tied together and used effectively. When companies have a clear understanding of the functionalities of FB features the next step is to design a comprehensive strategy that fits your companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s needs as well as your prospects and customers. Create questions that will help to frame your strategies. Such as, Why do we want to use Facebook for our business? or What specific goals do we want to achieve for our business with Facebook?, How will we measure our success?, etc. The top three ways Facebook is used effectively by businesses: 1. Community building - Goal is to generate conversations, drive awareness, increase fan base, and be an active part in this community 2. Marketing and promotion- To drive traffic to landing pages or event registration or in promoting awareness around a product launch, service, or special offers. 3. Advertising - Used on FB as another advertising stream for your company. Select one or all three of these strategies into your digital marketing plan and remember that these are not the only strategies. Your organization can probably think of a few other strategies that can be beneficial to your current marketing plan.

Measuring Facebook for Business Now that a strategy is in place itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s time to turn our attention to the importance of measuring your strategy to figure out if it is successful in meeting your set goals. Facebook Insights allows you to run comparison reporting. It lets administrators of your page track trends or stats over a period of time. List of data points that FB Insights monitor: 1. The number of posts/updates that youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve had on your Page. 2. The number of interactions that your community has had on your Page 3. The number of interactions per post. 4. An approximated score on post quality. .... and more Facebook Insights also provides an in-depth analysis focused on interactions, demographics, as well as FB advertising. If you want to measure the amount of push traffic to an external website or landing page, it would be a good idea to install web analytical software like Google analytics. Exporting your data using Google Docs or any spreadsheet program will give you more complex data that will allow you to track trends more effectively as well as determine if your Facebook strategy has had any effect on your ROI or annual revenue. Facebook can be a powerful tool for any company willing to invest and commit the time it takes to leverage it properly. Companies must first understand the ways that FB can be used, what strategies fit with those plans, how they can be implemented, and how can they be measured for profitable gains. Optimizing Social Media: How to Leverage Facebook for B u s i n e s s

Optimizing Social Media: How to Leverage Facebook for B u s i n e s s

Design

15. Design: Website 15.1 Visual Identity The visual representation of our website reflects our company’s commitment and responsibility to our customers. It’s an essential part in the building up of our reputation and our organization profile. It is created with the effort of making us ‘top-of-mind’ with our target audience.

15.2 Visual Guidelines The website is created for organizations interested in implementing ‘new media’ tools into its marketing plans. These companies can be any small or medium enterprises that are adopting social media tools, like Facebook, as a new way to interact with its online customers. The design, colors, logos, and images, of our website are important communication tools that will reflect the spirit of our identity and message as we define and differentiate ourselves from other websites. The site must be appealing to potential customers, stakeholders and other businesses that would otherwise not be interested in a SM marketing strategy. The unique selling point of Social Synergy will be placed on the index page in order to position ourselves apart from other SM marketing companies.

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Visual Concepts

15.3 Visual Concepts Mood board The first step of our design began with our Mood board. It is here were we first thought how to visually present the website. Here is where we thought about the mood and feel of the website as well as the colors, shapes, typography and other elements. We want people to think of professionalism and reliability when visiting our website. In Denmark only 2% of all companies uses social media, mostly because people donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t feel secure enough about the use of this new and modern way of promoting themselves. We believe, that in the future the number of companies who implements social media into their marketing set will expand, so therefore it is important for us to make it as simple and Fig 10. Social Synergy Mood board

professional as possible from the very beginning.

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Visual Concepts

Rough board Energy, networking, social media, Scandinavia and online marketing are the basic elements which describes the concept behind Social Synergy. When having a profile on a social media, it is only a question of time before you network is expanding. This extension of having a few friends to start with, to maybe a hundred of â&#x20AC;&#x153;friendsâ&#x20AC;? after a while, can also be described like the way things can expand due to energy. The reason for the blurry look is also to show the uncertainty which many companies are having today towards the use of social media.

Fig 11. Social Synergy Rough board

Optimizing Social Media: How to Leverage Facebook for B u s i n e s s

Visual Elements

Optimizing Social Media: How to Leverage Facebook for B u s i n e s s

15.4 Visual Elements Logo Type

The Social Synergy logo is an idea based on global networking: There are seven continents* and each circle within the logo represents a continent. The colors are representative of the top three social media platforms that we specialize in:Twitter, Facebook, and Blogger. And the orange color which is presented throughout our website represents warmth of the sun. We chose it because of the perceived emotional effect that it emits; such as stimulating enthusiasm and creativity in our site users. *Some countries count North and South America as one while others consider Europe and Asia as one continent.

Trademark

Fig 12. Logo type for thumbnail photos and company stationary. With white and orange text.

Social SynergyÂŽ Social Synergy trademark is a secondary element to the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s logo. The ÂŽ symbol is used when the logo appears in its original form on all official and unofficial documents associated with Social Synergy.

Social Synergy

Permission for the use of logos, service marks

, or trademarks must

be submitted in advance to Social Synergy, in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Fig 14. Trademark logos without the background. With blue and orange text.

Fig 13. Logo, with blue and orange text

Optimizing Social Media: How to Leverage Facebook for B u s i n e s s

Fifth element

Visual Elements

Website banner with logo

Fig 15. Fifth element also used on company stationary and within some marketing campaigns. It is an extended representation of the website logo.

Design Typography

Fig 16. Logo banner for website

The site was created using the font types Verdana Regular and Sansation bold. We wanted to implement different font types on the website to carry different meanings without one dominating the other. Using San serif fonts was an obvious choice seeing that it they are easily readable fonts even though they are quiet similar in style.

Consultation typography:

Verdana Regular: Text (7-18pt)

Verdana Regular 7- 8pt

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 1234567890

Reading typography: Verdana Regular 9-14pt

Sansation bold: Logo Design (18-24pt) ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 1234567890

Display typography:

Verdana Bold 18pt

Sansation bold 24pt

Fig. 17. Typography used within website

Optimizing Social Media: How to Leverage Facebook for B u s i n e s s

Visual Elements

Design colors Red-Orange:# FE6300 R:255 G:80 B:0 C:0% M: 66% Y: 85% B:1%

Social Synergy White:# FFFFFF R:0 G:0 B:0 C:0% M: 0% Y: 0% B:0% The color variation represented in our website are composed of colors from our logo. We selected these colors because we believe that they compliment each other naturally. The colors also conveys

Black: #000000 R:0 G:0 B:0 C:74% M: 71% Y: 64% B:87%

Orange:# CC6633 R:255 G:139 B:39 C:0% M: 48% Y: 81% B:0% Peach:# FFDCC0 R:255 G:220 B:192 C:4% M: 12% Y: 18% B:0%

DrkBlue:# 000033 R:0 G:0 B:58 C:93% M: 81% Y: 24% B:54%

MixedGrey:# AFA79F R:176 G:167 B:158 C:30% M: 27% Y: 29% B:0%

Blue:# 00007D R:0 G:0 B:125 C:98% M: 82% Y: 8% B:23%

Grey:# D5D9DF R:213 G:217 B:223 C:14% M: 9% Y: 6% B:0%

DrkBlue:# 0053CB R:0 G:83 B:203 C:84% M: 59% Y: 0% B:0%

Grey:# BACOC9 R:186 G:192 B:201 C:25% M: 16% Y: 11% B:0%

LgtBlue:# A1BCEA R:161 G:188 B:234 C:33% M: 18% Y: 0% B:0%

Grey:# 4C80C7 R:76 G:128 B:199 C:65% M: 39% Y: 1% B:0%

a sense strength, stimulate enthusiasm, endurance and creativity.

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Visual Methods

15.5 Visual Methods and Design Approach Layout The design is a simple website layout, designed to give our visitors a user-friendly way to navigate the site effectively. The objective is to make it easy and intuitive for our visitors to find what they are looking for in less than three clicks.

Design Sketch

Fig 18. Website design sketch

Optimizing Social Media: How to Leverage Facebook for B u s i n e s s

Layout

Visual Methods

Flow Chart

Fig 19. Website Flow chart

Visual Methods

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Wireframe (Index Page) 760 px wide, fixed width, two columns, white, blue

â&#x153;&#x201E;

Layout

The wireframe consist of a simple setup with the content shown in the middle of the site, the global navigation right under the header as well as within the RHS. This design makes it easy for any potential customer to find information about us and also gives the impression of simplicity.

Fig 20. Example of Social Synergyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Website wireframe

Optimizing Social Media: How to Leverage Facebook for B u s i n e s s

Visual Methods Index Page

The design concept for the website is about â&#x20AC;&#x153;experiencing simplicityâ&#x20AC;?. We wanted a website where users could clearly see what it is about as well as navigate and search for whatever they are looking for. The colors compliment each other naturally and reflect the theme of the site. The banner logo placement is consistent on every page allowing uses to focus on the website content box. Gestalt Laws 1. The figure ground phenomenon is located in the banner/ header section. The logo is created with shadows to give an impression of depth and the content box has been placed in the center to capture our users attention. 2. The law of similarity is visible throughout the site and within the (low-level) navigation menu. Each menu button has been given a blue hover color effect when rolled over. 3. The law of closure is also visible within the navigation menu and the main content box where all text and images are placed. 4. The law of proximity is used within the entire website representing objects or images that belong together. Every page has the same layout and some share the same visual elements such as our logo on top and side global navigation menu.

Fig 21. Screen shot of Social Synergy Index page

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Visual Methods Blog Page

Navigation The website contains a low-level global navigation with a color rollover effect linked to each button. Navigation of the website is quite easy for users to quickly find what they are searching. The purpose is to minimize the number of clicks to get them to the information that they are searching for.

Subpages are designed to provide visitors with more than just information about Social Synergy and its services. They were created with the user in mind in the attempt to encourage them to browse the Blog and News sections in the hope that they will stay longer on the site but also bookmark the site for future reference.

Fig 22. Screen shot of Social Synergy Blog page

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Visual Methods

Site Map

About

Services

Employees

Email Marketing Facebook Ads

History

Facebook Pages

Vision Mission Values Partners

Google Adwords LinkedIn OpenAd Exchange

News

INDEX Home

Contact Blog

Fig 23. Social Synergy Site Map

Design Document

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15.6 Design Documentation The layout of the site is clean, modern and fresh. Its

easy to navigate around and visitors will find what they are looking for faster. The single-tier hierarchy of the website sets the pages off the central home page. However the horizontal layout of the global navigation bar is more representative of a sequence site. The layout in its simplest form is most familiar to our users and also gives us a way to organize information from general

to the more specific. The website is organized into four separate areas.:

1. Header with embedded logo 2. Horizontal global navigation bar 3. Main content area with embedded Facebook Like and Twitter re-tweet boxes. 4. Right hand side-bar (RHS) contains RSS subscribe feed to allow users to subscribe to our news or blog feed. Search bar for searching the website, and website subpages.

We believe that the easier our website layout is to use, the longer users will stay on our site and the more theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll see of it. Our website structure will also make it easier for us to grow our site logically.

Fig 24. Social Synergy Index page

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Semiotics

15.7 Semiotics Semiotics is the study of signs and symbols but not in terms of how we normally would think of signs but rather the interrelationships between signs themselves, within their structured systems or cultural codes of signification. They are used to form a connection between visual expressions and a cultural identity. Semiotics includes signs, images, words, gestures, objects and even sounds. Semiotics teaches us that reality is a system of signs. “Semiotics is important for designers as it allows us to understand the relationship between signs, what they stand for, and the people who must interpret them--the people we design for.”

(12)

Ferdinand de Saussure, a Swiss linguist is recognized as the founder of linguistics who along with other European scholars re-discovered semiotics by studying the writings of Charles Sanders Peirce, the founder of Pragmatism. Saussure concept of a sign is one that includes the signifier, the form in which the sign take and signified the concept that it represents. However Saussure states that the sign is completely arbitrary, that is, it does not necessarily have any connections between the sign and its meaning. Saussure created three categories: the icon, index and the symbol. In contrast to Saussure, American pragmatist philosopher Charles Sanders Peirce created his own model of a sign. ‘Nothing is a sign unless it is interpreted as a sign’ (Peirce 1931-58). In Peirce’s model a sign is something that, in relationship for something or someone, creates in the mind of a person an equivalent sign. The results from the creation of that sign he calls the interpretant of the sign as the sign stands for something, such as its objects, in reference to an idea. More clearly a sign vehicle represents the form of the sign, interpretation (sense) is made of the sign and referent is what the sign 'stands for'. Roland Barthes (1916-1980) a follower of Saussure and whose ideology was similar in describing signs and symbols exposed the relationship between visual communication and the status quo as a kind of myth-building project. His model consisted of denotation, the concept that a sign refers to; connotation the figurative cultural assumptions of what the signs demonstrates or suggest (indirect meanings) and myths, which are our cultural experience, helps us to make sense of the signs. In this context our cultural experiences have played a role in the way we relate to symbols and their implied meanings. Take for example our logo: culturally the form of our logo is representative of something that’s associated with stars, the universe or energy. We understand and recognize this because our (western) culture has before illustrated what this symbol generally represents. As a consequence Social Synergy’s logo is based on the physical representation of global networking as well as communication and is indicative to its signified. That is; the ‘starburst’ like logo represents the seven continents global relationship regardless of cultural backgrounds. It is in essence our signifier. The text elements within the banner were created in the attempt to introduce the many features that helps in defining the significance of the banner. These elements were added in an attempt to help our users understand the type of communication / interaction that our organization offers. Choosing the colors, blue, orange and light blue were selected based on our interpretation of their symbolic representation for our website and their connection to the most popular social media channels for businesses. Orange symbolizes enthusiasm, blue symbolizes calming and is classified as the universal color and white symbolizes clean and fresh. Their physical representation and significance is connected to the shared cultural and emotional background of our users. 12. Semiotics for designers,http://www.boxesandarrows.com/view/ semiotics_a_primer_for_designers

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User Testing

16. User Testing Purpose This usability test was conducted with the purpose of testing the functionality of our website. We asked 13 test subjects, age 20> older, both male and female participants to provide honest feedback by interacting with Social Synergy website. Listed below are the results from the user test divided into three categories: Appearance, Readability and Usability.

Appearance Questions 1,2,3 and 6 focused on the appearance of the website. Some of the responses were: ➡ Question 1 feedback: Nice, reliable presentable, Social Media organization, nice that the logo is at the right side of the organization name. ➡ Question 2 feedback: Mostly people answered “Yes” to this question, but some left some further comments; Looks interesting, want to learn more about the subject, Connecting, ➡ Question 3 feedback: A good color combination which emphasize each other, nice choice,looks fine, natural colors which makes the site more pleasant to look on, the orange color is a bit of a clash. ➡ Question 6 feedback: Not sure, Yes, need more social people pictures.

Readability ➡ Question 4 focused on the readability of the website. ➡ Question 4: Easy to find things, clear and easy to handle, a bit simple, clean, neat, gives immediately an idea of what it is about, good navigation, well structured, simple and easy, nice

Usability Questions 5,7 and 8 focused on the usability of the website. Some of the responses were: ➡ Question 5: again mostly people answered “Yes” to this question, however one person wished for more pictures to be seen ➡ Question 7: Yes. ➡ Question 8: Yes – if I want to learn more about social media, yes, maybe, not really since there wont be too much updates. Conclusion All in all the feedback from the user-test was positive and leans to how we have hoped people would response. Maybe we ought to consider using some more pictures of people connection or using social media. We wanted the page to be as simple as possible with a layout that makes you think of Social Medias, and the response is very close or maybe even precise to that.

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Technical Document

17. Website Implementation 17.1 Technical Documentation / Functionality The website was created using a Wordpress template that includes XHTML, CSS, PHP and MYSQL. We have chosen to use a web publishing software to create our website as our programming skills are not our strongest discipline. Moreover, we wanted a way that would be easier to maintain in up-grading the foundation of our website at anytime. In addition, we wanted our website to be simple, easy, yet attractive, interactive and informative for any potential customer who is considering using our social media marketing services. The foundation of our website is built with our customers in mind, in that we want to represent something that reflects what they are looking for in a professional yet modern website. We selected Wordpress as our platform as it is a template base CMS format that will allow us to edit and customized the PHP, HTML and CSS codes accordingly. In addition, Wordpress vast plugin library will allow us to extend its functionality beyond the basic layout features.

17.2 Plug-ins A. Apture plug-in and the Apture enhanced bar gives our users the ability to search and explore rich content and media from within our site. With the Apture plug-in users can highlight any word on our website and it gives them more information in the form of a definition, photos and/or videos. This allows users to stay engaged on our website as they now have the ability to search and share content. Users have the power to search the within our website using Google, Wikipedia, Amazon, Flickr, YouTube. This allows us to leverage the depth of our content in new and innovative ways. We selected this plug-in because it is an interactive way for, us as a consultancy company, that users can learn more about who we are and at the same time we can understand better what our users interests are. Each time they use Apture they are telling us what they want to know more about whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s on our website. Another thought behind this plug-in is that it helps to make our website more interesting and professional â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and that the functionality is user-friendly. Furthermore this plug-in gives people the opportunity to share their interest for Social Media/ Social Synergy on Facebook, Twitter and by email. Optimizing Social Media: How to Leverage Facebook for B u s i n e s s

Optimizing Social Media: How to Leverage Facebook for B u s i n e s s

Plug-ins

FS Contact formplug-in, where people can contact us by sending us an email if they want to more information about our services, the website or if they have any questions or ideas that they want to share with us.

C. Google Analytics is a web analytical tool that will help us to analyze our website traffic and marketing effectiveness. We selected Google analytics because it is powerful, flexible and more importantly, easy-to-use. We believe that it is an excellent tool that will help us in analyzing our traffic data results.

Share this lets our users share a post or page with others. It is a social bookmarketing tool that allows use to notice who our influencers are as well as a way to measure the impact and value of our content. ALO EasyMain Newsletter This plug-in allows us to write an send newsletters. It also gathers and manages our subscriber list. It allows us to register users, send batch emails, import and export subscribers from an existing registered users CSV file and view how many subscribers have opened their newsletter. We selected this newsletter plug-in because of the opt-in functionality when a user first registers for our site.

Optimizing Social Media: How to Leverage Facebook for B u s i n e s s

Conclusion

Conclusion This report set out to analyze the role of social media, from a business perspective, by exploring which channels are considered the most essential when engaging prospects on the social web. As mentioned earlier in this report, out of the top five social media / social networking channels, Facebook has taken a commanding lead in offering companies an immense list of features that allows them to develop communities, ‘humanize’ brands as well as increase overall sales and revenue. Furthermore, Facebook has quickly become one of the primary marketing tools within social media (SM) marketing strategies in meeting both hard and soft business objectives. Social media marketing differs from traditional marketing in that it uses two-way communication methods to engage the audience. Although it shares some of the same goals as traditional marketing, by helping organizations build brand awareness, impact sales and extend its reach to new customers, social media marketing requires consistant and sometimes ‘real-time’ participation to engage the audience effectively. Social media marketing can be a perfect extension of traditional marketing methods when implemented correctly. However, the process of integration is both incremental as well as instructive, considering that it is all about people, community, relationships and engagement. The methods we use, at Social Synergy, for engaging prospects on the social web are offered through our website. This gives us a platform to communicate our message fully and effectively. Our website is designed to allow for 2-way communication and networking via our Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter links as well as having the functionality for users to register and subscribe to our weekly newsletter. In addition, presented within the website is a list of six innovated solutions for our customers that will help in understanding their customers behavior patterns. We have showcased these solutions using multimedia features that will further stir interest in our offered services. Our goal therefore is to teach our clients how to interact directly with their customers by leveraging collaborative media in the most effective, quick and economical way using Facebook, Google AdWords and OpenAdExchange as well as other methods, in the development of building their own network. Our speciality is showing our clients how to create great content by implementing new ways to communicate via the social web. This is usually done by substituting traditional marketing efforts with new media efforts in the hope for profitable returns for their organization. Moreover, our marketing strategies and objectives are well-defined metrics that aid in the assessment of the financial impact that can come from cost reductions, increased sales and a net increase in the acquisitions of new customers. In conclusion, the formula for successful results stems from companies that aggressively implement their social media strategy, coalesced with a concise and thought out marketing plan, will find success in building their brand awareness, increased sales and extended their reach out to new customers. However, in order to maintain this new digital presence, companies would need to realize that it not enough just to be present online — establish a website, maintain a Twitter account, put up a Facebook page, etc. Continued success involved staying relevant to their (digital) audience and understanding the conversations by participating in the dialogue. Optimizing Social Media: How to Leverage Facebook for B u s i n e s s

Optimizing Social Media: How to Leverage Facebook for B u s i n e s s

Work Cited

Work Cited Ladner, Sam, PhD. Understanding Social Media: Social Theory 101, (April 27, 2010). Retrieved September, 2010 from http://copernicusconsulting.net/understanding-socialmedia-social, Royal Pingdom. Study: Ages of social network users, (February, 16, 2010). Retrieved September, 2010 from http://royal.pingdom.com/2010/02/16/study-ages-of-socialnetwork-users/, iCrossing, What is social media, E-Book (August, 2008). Retrieved September, 2010 from www.iCrossing.com/ebooks, Goffman, Erving, Introduction by Best, Joel, Interaction ritual: Essays in face-to-face behavior: viii, Transaction Publishers. (First published in 1967. New material edition published in 2005). Retrieved September, 2010 from http://books.google.com/books Bourdieu, P.1986. "The forms of capital." P. 241-258. Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology of Education. Richardson J.G. (ed). New York: Greenwood. p., 248. Retrieved September, 2010 from http://books.google.com/books Grandovetter, M, The Strength of Weak Ties. American Journal of Sociology, 78(6).p.1371(1973), Retrieved April, 2010 from KEA reading list. , Coleman, James S., Foundations of Social Theory, President and Fellows of Harvard College(1990). Retrieved September, 2010 Siisi盲inen, Martii Two Concepts of Social Capital: Bourdieu vs. Putnam, Department of Social Science and Philosophy, (July, 2000). Retrieved September, 2010 from www.suz.uzh.ch/fux/lehre/Sozialkapital/siisiainen.pdf Blackshaw, P. The New and Improved 2010 Social-Media and Mobile Glossary, Retrieved October, 2010 from http://adage.com/cmostrategy/article?article_id=146161 (September 28, 2010) Sherman, Aliza, The Confluence of Web Development and Social Media. (July 26, 2010). Retrieved October, 2010 from conversify.com Levy, Justin, Facebook, Designing your Next Marketing Campaign, (May, 2010), Pearson Education, Publishers, Retrieved December, 2010 from Library of Wow! eBook. Buch, Trushit, Social Media Marketing CRM, You don't want social CRM, You want integrated customer intelligence. Retrieved October, 2010 from www.thaicrmsoftware.com/ (September 8, 2010) O'Brien, Karen and Chris Terschluse, Determining the Impact of Customer Relationships (Sept. 2009) Retrieved October, 2010 from http://www.slideshare.net/cterschl/ determining-the-impact-of-customer-relationships-social-media-measurement-analysis Source: Edison Reseach and Abritron, 'The Social Habit - Frequent Social Networkers,' (June, 17, 2010), Retrieved October, 2010 from http://www.edisonresearch.com/ Zarrella, Dan, The Social Media Marketing book, Published b O'Reilly Media, Retrieved October, 2010. ENGAGEMENTdb, The World始s Most Valuable Brands. Who始s Most Engaged? Ranking the Top 100 Global Brands, Retrieved Nov. 4, 2010 from www.engagementdb.com/ downloads/ENGAGEMENTdb_Report_2009.pdf Wade, Mike and Schneberger, Scott, Theories Used in Research, Social Capital Theory, Retrieved Nov 18, 2010, from http://www.istheory.yorku.ca/Socialcapitaltheory.htm

Optimizing Social Media: How to Leverage Facebook for B u s i n e s s

Appendix

Optimizing Social Media: How to Leverage Facebook for B u s i n e s s

Appendix: A Facebook for Business

Good

A social utility that connects people, to keep up with friends, upload photos, share links and videos. Facebook is the most popular site in the world according to the three-month Alexa traffic rankings. Search engines refer approximately 7% of visits to it. This site has been online since 1997, and the time spent in a typical visit to Facebook is roughly 40 minutes, with 90 seconds spent on each pageview. Relative to the overall population of internet users, this site's audience tends to be users who browse from school and home; they are also disproportionately women. (Alexa.com 2010)

2. More than 25 billion pieces of content (web links, news stories, blog posts, notes, photo albums, etc.) is shared each month. 3. The fastest growing demographic are those who are 35 years of age. 4. More than 150 million people engage with Facebook on external websites every month.

Traffic is decent and on the rise thanks to share buttons and counters, but don't expect massive numbers of unique visitors to go to your site

6. There are more than 100 million active users currently accessing Facebook through their mobile devices.

10. 50% of active users log on to Facebook every day. Statistics from Facebook press office.

Brand Exposure

Traffic to your site

5. About 70% of Facebook users are outside of the United States.

9. People spend over 500 billion minutes per month on Facebook.

Great for engaging people who like your brand, want to share their opinions, and participate in giveaways and contests.

Facebook brand pages are great for brand exposure. Jump-start your brand exposure through the ad platform, or hire a Facebook consultant to help you grow your brand presence.

1. The average Facebook user has 130 friends.

8. The average Facebook user is connected to 60 pages, groups and events.

Bad

Customer Communication

1. Facebook

7. People that access Facebook via mobile are twice as active than non-mobile users (think about that when designing your Facebook page).

Figure 25. Facebook logo.

Facebook.com

SEO Little to no value, aside from blogs picking up and featuring your posted links. Not worth the time expenditure. CMO's guide to the social media landscape, cmo.com (2010)

Optimizing Social Media: How to Leverage Facebook for B u s i n e s s

Appendix

Optimizing Social Media: How to Leverage Facebook for B u s i n e s s

Facebook for Business

Appendix: B How to create a Page on Facebook

Choose between a Community Page or an Official (Business) Page.

1 2

To get started, visited www.facebook.com/ pages/create.php You must be loggedin to create a Page. *

The ‘Create a page for a: ‘ category will help with ranks and relevant searches. Choose a category classification that best suits your brand, product or service.

Facebook will walk you through the steps to create your Page. * You can also create a business page without first having a personal profile page, however you will not be able to take full advantage of what Facebook Pages has to offer.

Fig 26. Screen dump: How to set up a Facebook Page.

3 Now create your Page!

When ready make sure you select the ‘Publish’ button to make your page public.

4 Optimizing Social Media: How to Leverage Facebook for B u s i n e s s

Optimizing Social Media: How to Leverage Facebook for B u s i n e s s

Appendix: B Facebook for Business

Remember to add your Business Logo as a Photo.

Appendix

NOTE: To receive a Facebook URL (http://facebook.com/SocialSynergyDK) you must have a minimum of 25 fans. Once you have 100 fans you will be able to use more of Facebook functionalities that allows you more control of your page. If your fan page becomes too large Facebook will offer to maintain it for you.

Fill out your page in the same way as you would a Profile page. Click on ‘Edit page’ or ‘Edit Information’ on the info tab to add information about your business. You can include information about your website, a description of what your company is about, etc. Remember to add your logo as photo for your Page. Take advantage of the Discussions section to engage your ‘fans’.

Fig 27. Screen dump How to add information and Logo to a Facebook Page.

Optimizing Social Media: How to Leverage Facebook for B u s i n e s s

Appendix

Appendix: B Facebook for Business Take time to look around the listed Tab Selection on the left. This constitutes your main area for optimizing your Facebook Business Page. As the administrator, your name and profile will not show up anywhere on your page. You are the behindthe-scenes ‘manager’. When you post new information it will appeared to be posted by the ‘company’.

How to Promote A Page

You can designate one or several admins to help with the maintenance of your Page. Note: As soon as your page is up. It is recommended that you become the first ‘Fan’ of your page. This will give your page more visibility to your network.

Fig 28. How to promote your Page

Optimizing Social Media: How to Leverage Facebook for B u s i n e s s

Appendix

Appendix: B

Facebook for Business

Businesses can also use Facebook Markup Language (FBML) to create static or dynamic ‘mini-sites’ within Facebook Pages. Using FBML can completely change the look, feel and behavior of your Page.

You can also set your ‘mini-site’ page as a landing page for new fans of your site by changing the default settings.

Fig 29. How to set your landing page.

Fig 30. Example of how Social Synergy used FBML to create a mini-site.

Optimizing Social Media: How to Leverage Facebook for B u s i n e s s

Appendix: C

Appendix

User Test Questionnaire â&#x17E;Ą User Test for Social Synergy - @ Social Synergy

1. What is your first impression of the web page? _____________________________________________________________ 2. Do you think of Social Media when you enter this website? _____________________________________________________________ 3. What do you think about colors that has been used on the site? _____________________________________________________________ 4. What do you think about the overall structure? _____________________________________________________________ 5. Do you think the look of the site fits the concept of being a Social Media specialist? _____________________________________________________________ 6. Do you think a potential customer will be convinced about the use of Social Media? _____________________________________________________________ 7. Do you think that customers easily can find any needed information? _____________________________________________________________ 8. Would you visit this website again? _____________________________________________________________

Optimizing Social Media: How to Leverage Facebook for B u s i n e s s

Appendix: D

Appendix

2010 Social Media Icons

... and more.

Optimizing Social Media: How to Leverage Facebook for B u s i n e s s