This presentation was given to Engine Co. One, an ad agency in San Francisco, and explains my philosophy on the use of social media and branding. As a note, this presentation is better viewed as a download, which can be done through the Box.net application found below the Slideshare application on my profile page.

1. Social Media
It’s Just Life
William F. Jones

2. Video Sharing Message Boards
Widgets RSS Feeds
Photo Sharing
Chat Rooms Social Media
Blogs
Social Networking
Podcasts
Micro Blogging

3. Critical Numbers
112.5 million views for the most viewed video on
YouTube (January, 2009)
346 million blog readers
Source: comScore March 2008
77% percentage of active Internet users who read blogs
1.3 billion Tweets to date (grew at a rate of 1,382% in
Feb.)
Source: Nielson Online
175 million active Facebook users
236 million Digg visitors attracted annually by 2008
Source Compete survey

4. This thing has “tipped”
Now what?

5. 7 Thoughts for Social Media
and Life in General
1 Teens and adults are different
2 Like-minded people tend to find each other
3 Respect people’s space
4 Be interesting and informative
5 Be confident in your true identity
6 Don’t Bull $#%^ people
7 Know where you stand

6. In Advertising speak this
means…

7. User Behavior
(Teens and adults are different)
“For American teenagers, social network sites became a social hangout space…Teen
conversations may appear completely irrational, or pointless at best…”
“Adults, far more than teens, are using Facebook for its intended purpose as a
social utility. For example, it is a tool for communicating with the past.”
“Social media continues to be age-graded. Right now, Twitter is all the rage, but
are kids using it?”
-Danah Boyd at Microsoft Research Tech Fest 3/09
Understanding and monitoring user behavior will
lead to more powerful and sustained engagement

8. Fragmentation and Clutter
(Like-minded people tend to find each other)
Much like cable television in the past 20 years, social
media is becoming more fragmented and personalized.
Users have an abundance of options
People have the ability to match their media with their
personality.
Finding and LISTENING to the right communities
can lead to more engaging and meaningful
advertising

9. User Boundaries
(Respect people’s space)
Brands cannot be overly aggressive
Check out how cool our brand is
Like the real world, social media users are protective
CLICK HERE AND SEE!
of their personal space. Invading this space can
kill a relationship quickly.
Brands have to play it cool
Desperation will be sniffed out immediately

13. Keep Content Fresh
(Be interesting)
In this world you need to be vibrant, engaging, and
relevant. If you are not, your brand will wilt away
at an insane pace
Relevance and meaning does not mean elaborate exotic
design or large ad $.
It means dialog and interaction
People just need a reason to engage with your brand

15. Brand Vulnerability
(Be confident in your true identity)
This is a very harsh world
Be prepared for your true brand identity to be
uncovered and be confident that you will be happy
with the result
Murphy’s Law is in always in play

17. Brand Transference
(Don’t bull $#^& people)
Throw tradition out the window
Brand strategies do not easily shift between traditional
marketing and social media
Any attempt at traditional advertising in this world will most
likely be ignored, if not ridiculed
Think dialog, not monologue
There is no time for salespeople, only interesting and
engaging conversation

18. Measurement
(Know where you stand)
The Old School:
Click-throughs, page hits, registration numbers, posts, comments
These methods are superficial and do not show the full picture
Web Analytics: Google trends, Omniture, WebTrends, Buzz Metrics
The New School:
Lithium- Use Community Health Index to measure online communities based
on Liveliness, Interaction, Responsiveness, Members, Content, and
Traffic
Harvest Reporter Service: Social ROI analysis, trend identifiers, trend
forecasts, brand perception, and user fingerprints

19. Source: http://lithosphere.lithium.com

20. Who’s the best? QuickTimeª and
TIFF (Uncompresse
are needed to see
(The in-crowd)
QuickTimeª and a
Zappos TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Obama
CNN
QuickTimeª and a
Comcast TIFF (Uncompressed) decompres
are needed to see this picture.
QuickTimeª and a
JetBlue TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Dell
Burger King
NPR QuickTimeª and a
TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
The New York Times
Ford
Source: Abrams Research “Social Media Survey” Feb 17, 2009

21. What do they do
Established a method for engaging consumers in online
conversation
Instill an organizational focus on social media
Establish a method for defining social media goals
Create a team or committee dedicated to social media ROI
Link results of social media activities to increased revenues
and other financial outcomes
Established a method for driving brand advocacy/customer
referrals
Source: eMarketer

22. Moving Forward

23. Social media is just like life…

24. "much like bringing a script to
a dinner party, formal rules
can’t be applied to casual
conversation."
-Kal
Turner,Mashable.com

25. In the end honesty wins, so don’t be fake
Interesting and outgoing people will have
more friends
Learn from listening
You can’t learn life lessons from a book
And in the end…

26. If Social Media really is like
life…
Then brands should be living
life to the fullest

27. Thank You