Tom Kubinski
Printing Consultant
TKubinski@shapco.com
Direct: 612-278-1568
Fax: 612-334-5879
Cell: 612-760-3700


www.shapco.com
1109 Zane Avenue North
Minneapolis, MN. 55422
Phone: 612-375-1150
Fax: 612-334-5879
Toll Free: 1-800-230-2828


Branding - 22 Laws Of
Brand Warfare
Clear Dry Ink
Creative Coatings Techniques
Desktop Techniques
Digital Printing - Variable Data or Business Development
Direct Mail Raise Response, Lower Costs
Duotones-Tritones-Quadtones
FSC Certification
In House Mailing Capabilities
Ink Tour—Everything you wanted to know
Marketing More Effectively
Microsites
Paper Mill Tour - Coated
Paper Mill Tour - Uncoated
Picking the Right Paper and Substrate
PDF Formats
PDF Info & Quark vs. InDesign
PODi - Digital Print Success Story
Postal Changes, Mailing Requirements & Rates
Press Check Tips
PURLs
PURL - Avoid Dog House Campaign
QR Codes
Save Disk Space
Social Media -- The Basics
Social Media vs. Print
Top File Issues
UV Burn
Ways to Save Money
What Sets Shapco Apart?
Why Print in a Down Market?
Why Work With TK?

August 2010 TK's Korner
Social Media - The BASICS


WHAT IS SOCIAL MEDIA?

-- The use of technology combined with social interaction to create or co-create value.

-- A way for people and organizations to connect and interact with friends, colleagues, and fans.

Basically, you create a profile that describes you or your organization, and then invite people to join you as "friends".

(Some sites provide a micro-site for your business within the social framework.)

For only a short period of time, social media has had a significant rise in the number of people accessing and sharing information online and through mobile technology. Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, plus individuals and organizations have been changing the way they obtain and share information.

1 Thank you to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for providing these charts and pertaining information.

Let's look at the numbers -

2008 had nearly 116 million US user-generated content consumers and 82.5 million content creators.

-- Top 3 social media sites had unique worldwide visitors to the tune of -

    a) 222 million bloggers
    b) 200 million Facebook visits
    c) 126 million MySpace visits

Different social networks have greater appeal for different age groups.

2009 showed 89 million YouTube unique visitors.

86% Twitter-- 7 million unique visitors
78% LinkedIn
77% Facebook

-- 1 in 3 Americans have a profile on a social network site

-- More than 4 in 10 with a profile visit those sites every day or more

It is important to remember the relative size of MySpace and Facebook to Twitter, as the following Figure 3:
Unique Visitors Feb 2008 - Feb 2009
shows (that's unique visitors in millions)

What can you do with LinkedIn, Facebook, etc?

    a) Create online profile
    b) Share photos, video and audio links
    c) Send private and instant messages
    d) Learn more about people and organizations<
    e) Join groups and gain fans

DO'S AND DON'T'S:

DO!

    • CREATE a page to promote your brand
    • Point your fans to your COMPANY BLOG or contest
    • Encourage a DISCUSSION and FREQUENT PARTICIPATION
    • Explore targeted advertising opportunities

DON'T!!

    • Create a page and then FAIL TO MAINTAIN IT frequently
    • Try a HARD SELL approach
    • CENSOR comments
    • SPAM your fans and friends with frequent private messages, you'll drive them away
    • POST FALSE INFORMATION

Social Media Objectives: Here is a list of just a few -

    • Gain Market Insight - identify influencers
    • Build Brand - total mentions, etc.
    • Customer Service - number of contacts, satisfaction, etc.
    • Sales - ROI

Getting Started: What to do -

On your own, begin using social media yourself, it's important for you to understand the benefits of the tools firsthand, then you'll be able to develop successful strategies.

NOTE: you don't need to create an account online to search on many of the sites. You can listen on different platforms ie. Twitter, Flicker, Delicious, YouTube.

In your company, listen to what people are saying about your issues and you in the social media space.

     Identify where your customers and potential customers are congregating online
     What do they know and what are they interested in?
     What gaps can you fill for them?

Remember, this is a continuous evolving cycle!

  1. Invest time and money. Gather information on your target audiences, how they are using social media, what your competition is doing with it, etc.
  2. Profile your target audience and their social characteristics. Monitor their dialogue.
  3. Define your objectives - see list of objectives above as well.

    Where are you now and where do you want to be?

      • Articulate a vision for social networking success
      • Have an inspirational description of what would you would like the team to accomplish
      • Visualize a mental image summarizing what success could or should look like
      • Give team direction and insight, steer current and future objectives, strategies and course and plan of action; time willing to invest and how you'll justify a return
      • Will it be ROT (return on time invested) by interest, responses, hits, etc.
        ROI is relatively difficult to justify at this early stage of Social Media - Many other vehicles are needed to work together.
  1. Build your brand
  2. Engage people online
  3. Connect with action
  4. Gain commitments
  5. Devices - select which ones you'll use
  6. Return to the beginning and start again!

    NOTE: These are uncharted waters you are navigating. "Developing an effective strategy for integrating social media into the mix is a significant obstacle to the successful adoption of social marketing." 2 As Social Marketers mature the importance of the devices drops towards the bottom.

    CHALLENGES:

(All statistic percentages shown above on average)

Social media is a beneficial tool. Yet, it is one that requires constant effort, follow up, changes and the integration and use of additional tools in order to convert into paying customers.
ie. Print, static, VDP is an excellent tool to target each audience with a pertinent message once you've
gathered more intel via the social networks.

    TOOLS:
    Some of the most common social media tools and what they are and aren't -

Resources for this issue-

1 HHS Center for New Media-"Social Media 101 Overview: The What and the Why"
      http://newmedia.hhs.gov/SocialMedia101Overview06-29-09.pdf

2 MarketingSherpa's Social Marketing Road Map Handbook-"A Method for Mapping an Effective Social Strategy"       http://www.sherpastore.com/SocialROADmapHandbook.html

Other issues of TK's Korners that may be of interest to you:

Hope this helps and stay tuned for the next issue of TK's Korner. You never know what might be covered!

If you have a production issue not discussed above that you would like me to address, or a project that needs to be looked at, please give me a call or send me an email. I will do whatever it takes to ensure you get the best value for every marketing dollar invested.

You can also check out my profile, join my network and view more client comments on LinkedIn at: http://www.linkedin.com/in/tomkubinski

Referrals are greatly appreciated, if you know someone I could help, or who might like to receive TK's Korner, please let me know.

Take care and have a great day!

Successfully,
Tom Kubinski, Printing Consultant

Printing Consultant Who Helps You Make Good Impressions

TKubinski@shapco.com
Direct: 612-278-1568
Cell: 612-760-3700

TK Out Standing in his Field

Make sure to check out other issues of TK's Korner!

Selected portions reprinted in Print & Media Buyer, a national magazine for the print industry (Search for Tom Kubinski).

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