As co-founders of The Distiller, a community of web entrepreneurs based at the Center for Innovation here in Dunedin, we have been invited by the Otago Chamber of Commerce to hold their first “training @ breakfast” – a one hour session on “Twitter, Blogs & Facebook Used as a Business Tool” (KickStart 7.30am!). The idea was to introduce the concept of Social Media to a group of 20 participants, mainly business owners and Marketing Managers, and illustrate how they can leverage “free” tools to increase their online business profile.
- Chamber of Commerce
Here is a quick summary of this presentation:
“Social Media describes the online technologies and practices that people use to share opinions insights, experiences, and perspectives with each other” Wikipedia.
We are experiencing a shift from Mass Media (Ads reaching a lot of people with undivided attention) to Niche Media (Lots of ads reaching less people paying less attention) due to the fragmentation of media.
Tomorrow’s consumers are today’s “digital natives“: A Generation “C” (connect / community / control…) that spend more than 16 hours a week online. They don’t care about ads but trust what their friends think.
This has a huge impact on the way we do business because relationships are more important than Marketing. Consumers now want companies to open so they can really see them and engage with them.
The challenge for companies is then to create the conditions of a two-way communication between them and their clients. The purpose is to convert consumers into advocates/evangelists of your business – word of mouth is one of the most powerful vehicule to spread your message.
- Chamber of Commerce 2
Business can use Social Media tools to:
- Publish (Wikipedia, Twitter, Youtube…)
- Share (digg, delicious, StumbleUpon…)
- Network (Facebook, Linkedin, MySpace…)
Paul Le Comte (The Distiller world-class resident designer) spend 15 minutes introducing Twitter and how you can use this micro-blogging plateform to:
- Monitor conversations about your brand, services or products
- Engage thought leaders in your industry
- Connect with people that share the same area of interests
Following by James who dedicated his part on “gaining value through providing value: Blogs and blogging”. He explained that blogging brings:
- Credibility by adding value and insights for your market
- Market traction through being a thought leader
- Fresh content which contributes to your SEO efforts
- Transparency and ethical appearance
James also took the time to introduce other Social Media Platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, Digg, and Linkedin and their benefits for business purposes.
We then presented 3 examples of successful Social Media Campaigns (which btw illustrate the need to definite relevant success metrics that translate a business context + set campaign goals based on these metrics):
- Startbucks with mystarbucksidea.com successfully increase consumer satisfaction by collecting and implementing suggestions form their clients.
- Rackspace succeeded in increasing loyalty & trust by monitoring and replying to comments and conversations happening on various social networks and blogs.
- By being actively contributing to Twitter, Dell was able to increase its online sales.
Finally, we concluded the 50 minutes presentation (50min – 60 slides – 3 speakers = Full on!) by giving the participants a quick 5 step guide to getting started with Social Media. If you are interested in knowing more about this guide, feel free to contact us at contact {at} thedistiller {dot} org 
The topic seems to get quite a bot of interest from local business people so we are set to present again in two weeks! This time, less slides, more pictures and more emphasis on case studies. Overall, a great experience!
Sources + A selection of the best articles on Social Media:
Introduction to Social Media
What The F**K is Social Media?
Social Media and SEO: 5 Essential Steps to Success
A business owners perspective on Social Media
Twitter for Beginners: 5 Steps for Better Tweeting
The 10-Minute Daily Guide to Building Your Social Media Profile
19 Presence Management Chores you COULD do every day
just by browsing blogs. Blogs constitute great sources of resources because they are generally written by enthusiasts who share their ideas and experiences. Popular blogs are read by thousands of people, most of them interested in knowing more about specific topics, such as personal finance, frugality or investment.
