Social Media Optimization Blueprint

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Social Media Optimization Blueprint Harnessing
the Power of Web 2.0 For Taylor Corporation
Presented by Bart Prins Director of Internet
Business Development Taylor Corporation bcprins_at_ta
ylorcorp.com I 651-994-3616
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Welcome!
Click here for introduction (slide show view
please)
What is Social Media? Social media or networking
websites are communities of like-minded
individuals that want to engage with others and
share news, ideas, product reviews and opinions.
Examples YouTube.com, MySpace.com,
Facebook.com, Wikipedia, Flickr.com, and
del.icio.us. These websites typically use
technologies such as blogs, message boards,
podcasts, wikis, and vlogs to allow users to
interact. Social media optimization is a strategy
to enhance a website so that it will be more
easily connected or interlaced with online
communities and community websites. What is Web
2.0? Web 2.0 refers to a perceived second
generation of internet-based services such as
social networking, wikis, and communication tools
that emphasize online collaboration and sharing
among users.
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What Does This Mean for Taylor Corporation? Cus
tomers across all Taylor EBs are more web-savvy,
in-control, and hard to reach with traditional
advertising than ever. The internet, and Web 2.0
tools in particular, give consumers greater
access to competitive pricing, customer reviews,
and product data. What the internet has done is
leveled the playing field. Companies that
understand the medium, and the impact that Web
2.0 applications are having on their business,
are poised to compete with Taylor EBs in ways
they previously could not. Taylor Corporation
companies can cost-effectively extend the reach
and power of their internet marketing efforts by
creating online communities devoted to their core
business and designed to meet the needs of their
customer base. Examples Online communities for
Quinceañera, Prom, Schools (Taymark), Brides, Bar
Mitzvahs, Holidays (TOG), and Advertising
Agencies, Promotional Firms (IGH). Maintain a
relationship with your target audience even when
they are not in buy mode. We become trusted
industry and niche market experts via content
distribution. When customer is ready to buy we
are top of mind.
Click here for audio walk-through
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• Key Statistics
• 70 of the 15-34 age group participates on
  social networking websites. Source Fox
  Interactive Media.
• 40 of online consumers use social networks to
  learn about a brand or product. Source Fox
  Interactive Media.
• 28 of online users have bought products
  recommended by a friend. Source Fox Interactive
  Media.
• By the end of 2006, 43 of e-commerce websites
  offered customer reviews or ratings. This is
  compared to 23 in 2005. Source MarketingSherpa.
• Investment in social media is expected to reach
  1.9 billion by 2008. Up from 445 million just a
  year ago. Source eMarketer

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• Case Studies Who is Using Social Media
  Effectively?
• AbeBooks AbeBooks is the world's
  
  largest online marketplace
  for books.
  They use
  AbeBooks.com as their e-commerce
  website
  and LibraryThing.com as their social
  
  media website.
• At LibraryThing.com users are able to upload
  their entire library of books, make them
  public, gather reading suggestions from
  other users based on their library, and recommend
  books to other community members.
• LibraryThing.com is designed to build loyalty for
  the AbeBooks brand, encourage repeat visits,
  increase length of visit, support the publishing
  industry, and ultamitely sell books.
• If you like this book youll also like this
  one.buy it now!

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• Case Studies Who is Using Social Media
  Effectively?
• Ice.com Ice.com is one of the largest and
  
  most respected online jewelers. Theyve
  served
  over half a million customers
  since 1999. Their
  approach to
  social media blends the business
  
  of diamond jewelry sales with the publics
  
  fascination with celebrity and
  Hollywood.
• SparkleLikeTheStars.com is Ice.coms social
  
  media website. The blog comments on diamond
  
  jewelry trends among Hollywood
  stars, features
  photos of celebrities
  wearing diamond pieces,
  and
  advertises Ice.com products which closely match
  what the stars are wearing.
• They pay a writer 12.80 per blog post and since
  launching SparkleLikeTheStars.com last November
  their sales have increased over 400.

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• Case Studies Who is Using Social Media
  Effectively?
• BabyUniverse The leading internet new media,
  
  content, and e-commerce company
  in the
  pregnancy,
  baby, and toddler marketplace.
  
  Their website Babytv.com is the first internet
  
  television and social network
  dedicated to parents.
• BabyUniverse uses this highly visited (1.7
  million
  unique visitors per month) to
  promote their
  
  e-commerce websites PoshTots, Dreamtime
  
  Baby, PoshLiving, etc.

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• Social Media Blueprint How do we implement for
  Taylor Corporation?
• The remainder of this document will define a
  step-by-step approach for any Taylor Corporation
  company interested in using social media to
• Communicate with their target audience.
• Build customer loyalty.
• Acquire new customers.
• Generate leads.
• Basic Investments
• Website builder program (to be used if the
  social website will reside apart from the
  e-commerce site). Investment 19.98 per month.
  www.eventwebsitebuilder.com
• Domain name. Investment From 8.95 to 80 per
  year. www.godaddy.com
• AudioAcrobat. Investment Free Trial and 19.95
  per month. www.audioacrobat.com
• Intern(s) From unpaid to 8 per hour. Source
  from high-schools and universities. Work with
  educators to offer students course credit for
  their work.

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Working Example Social Community Website for
Taymarks UniquelyQuince line. This website can
be accessed temporarily at www.quinceanera.eventwe
bsitebuilder.com. It is designed to be a valuable
content provider, community, and destination site
for UniquelyQuinces promotions. It promotes the
brand of UniquelyQuince, drives traffic to the
e-commerce site, while not distracting shoppers
who visit UniquelyQuince to make a purchase.
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Step 1 Become an Industry Specific News
Aggregator
Post news related to your industry or niche on
your home page. This information is easy to
gather by subscribing to Google News Alerts or
RSS feeds from other content sources. Next
hyperlink the words in each news story to link to
your e-commerce site. Example The word tiara
in a Quinceañera news story should link to the
tiara product page on the UniquelyQuince.com
website. www.google.com/alerts www.alerts.yahoo.co
m
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Step 2 Start a Blog
Create an online persona to serve as the
moderator for your social community. This person
is an expert in their field and filled with all
sorts of valuable insights to be shared with the
community. Blog positings can be commentaries on
news related to your industry, trends, new
products, or anything else you feel a customer of
yours would find valauble. Keep in mind there
are many other bloggers in your industry so
youll need to be the best to attract repeat site
visits.
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Step 3 Comment on Other Blogs
Commenting on other industry or niche blogs is an
easy, inexpensive way to drive traffic to your
website. Be sure to select a username that mimics
your social website url. Example
UniquelyQunice.com is your username. Also, be
sure to leave your email address along with your
positings. martina_at_uniquelyquince.com. Most
importantly provide something of value to the
community. Dont just spam the message
board. Example Weve got a free guide to
planning your Quinceañera on a budget. You can
download it on my site!
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Step 4 Select a Domain Name For Your Social
Website

• This step is important if your social media
  website will be separate from your e-commerce
  website. Youll need to give your online
  community a catchy name to peak the interest of
  prospective visitors.
• Possible domain names in for the Quinceañera
  social website include
• PrincessQuince.com
• QuinceCoverGirl.com
• QuinceSocial.com
• Youll also want to set up at least one email
  address for your social community moderator.
  Youll then be adle to post messages in other
  communities with your domain name
  ana_at_princessquince.com

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Step 5 Get Active at Yahoo! Answers
Expertise is a powerful marketing tool. Yahoo!
Answers is a great way to share knowledge with
people who are looking for it a direct
connection with potential customers. Be sure to
choose a username that presents your social
communitys domain name. www.answers.yahoo.com
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Step 6 Create a Video Contest, Your Users Pick
the Winner!!!
User generated content will be among the most
compelling aspects of your online
community. Hosting a contest related to your
industry is a terrific way to receive this video
content and your audience will enjoy viewing the
submissions. Example Well turn an existing
UniquelyQuince cover girl contest into a video
essay competition. Girls will submit videos
telling us why they are the most deserving of
being our next cover girl. Well then have the
community vote on the girls and put the next girl
on our catalog cover. See www.journeyofalifetime.
com
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Step 7 Submit Images of Your Products To
Photo-Sharing Websites
Photo-sharing websites are a marketing
opportunity that very few businesses are using.
Contributing photos of your product, and
promoting your website at the same time are just
a few ways you can take advantage of the
explosive growth of this channel. Example This
users website, where she sells these items, is
in the descriptive section of this
photo. www.flickr.com www.photobucket.com
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Step 8 StumbleUpon
Joining groups related to your industry and
adding friends from those groups can be done
quickly. Once you do that, as you add pages to
StumbleUpon, including your own great content,
other users will stumble upon what youve
added. The main benefit of StumbleUpon will be
traffic, more so than links. www.stumbleupon.com
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Step 9 Join Groups and Mailing Lists
Social marketing is about finding your customers
where they are. Theres a good chance at least
some of your customers are using Yahoo! or Google
Groups to share interests. There are probably
groups / lists that are highly related to the
products or services you offer. Much like Yahoo!
Answers, being able to help others in this
community setting can be a great marketing
tool. www.groups.google.com www.groups.yahoo.com
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Step 10 Create a MySpace Page For Your Company
This is a must for any Taylor Company that sells
B2C. MySpace pages are free and can be an
effective part of your marketing mix when used in
the right way as a relationship builder not a
hard sell tool. With 50 million users the
opportunities to connect with your target
audience are plenty. www.myspace.com www.facebook.
com
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Step 11 Create a Free Community Toolbar For
Your Members
A community toolbar allows you to stay in front
of your community members even when they are not
on your website. The toolbar will run as part of
their web browser and provide valuable links to
resources related to their profession or
interests. Example Create a custom toolbar for
HR Managers provided by G.Neil. The toolbar is
populated with their logo and links to web
resources that an HR Manager needs compliance
information, new employee forms, etc. Each link
sends the user directly back to the G.Neil
website. www.conduit.com
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Step 12 Create an Online Radio Show
If providing content to your audience in video
format is not an option an online radio show or
podcast can be just as effective. Radio shows can
be created by using AudiAcrobat for 19.95 per
month. Simply deliver your radio show over the
phone and post it to your website. Your community
members can also download the show and take it
with them on their iPod. www.audioacrobat.com
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Step 13 Run Ads For The E-commerce Website on
Your Social Site
While the aim of your social community is not to
hard sell your products it is still a valuable
place for you to soft sell. Banner ads are easy
to create and will link directly back to the
E-commerce version of your site.
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Step 14 Promote The Social Website Via Your
Existing Channels
The most cost-effective way to build up your
online community is to promote it via your
existing channels such as catalogs, direct mail
pieces, email newsletters, and transactional
emails. Keep in mind that your customers are not
always in buy mode. When they are not making a
buying decision a social community website is the
best way to stay in front of them. The customer
will view you as a trusted source of information
and content. When they make the decision to buy
you have the best relationship.
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• Final Thoughts
• The entire social media optimization plan I have
  presented can be implemented for a set up cost as
  low as 48. Monthly investments from that point
  forward will run as low as 39.
• A strategy for harnessing social media will soon
  become a fundamental piece of marketing an
  e-commerce website. My recommendation is that we
  launch these programs as soon as possible, test
  different approaches, learn, and optimize. This
  will reduce the amount of catch-up work well
  need to do later. Many of our competitors are
  already doing this.
• Compared to cost-per-click advertising (which
  many Taylor Corporation companies currently use)
  visits generated by social media optimization are
  free, continue to send a steady stream of traffic
  over time, and contiribute to overall organic
  search ranking on the major search engines. The
  economics just make sense.
• Any Taylor Coporation company with customers
  online can benefit from this program SOHO
  business people, brides, human resource managers,
  party planners, scrapbookers, etc.