How Marketers – Including Those in the Marine Industry – Are Starting to Tap the Emerging Power of Social Networking
In the past year, the push toward social media networking has virtually exploded in cyberspace, with a record number of users joining a fast-growing portfolio of social networks. New iconic online brands like Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn (see sidebar) along with a whole host of blogs and social bookmarking sites, weren’t even in most marketers’ vocabulary a year ago, but now they dominate current marketing discussion and debate, and are rapidly gaining acceptance in traditional marketing circles.
THE ADVENT OF SOCIAL NETWORKING
So for newcomers to this sweeping internet trend, what is social networking and why is it so popular?
An online “social networking community” is created to connect internet users who have shared interests and passions. For simplicity sake, consider the places where groups hang out and then apply that concept to cyberspace. Instead of gathering at the local watering hole to talk sports, you can find plenty of online social networking groups connecting to share their love of sports 24/7, with members chiming in and making introductions from all corners of the globe. Or, if you want to get specific, you can dial the networking community right down to fans and followers of your favorite collegiate football or NFL team, for example. Social networking groups clamor together online to share everything from jazz music to motorcycles, from books and favorite authors, to a whole host of interests, industries, hobbies and topical issues … you name it, and you can probably find a social networking group operating. Social networking communities are highly interactive and members frequent these sites on a regular basis to stay informed and connected. Today, marketers are seizing opportunities to tap into or to build their own communities. Hosting your own social networking site or blog allows you or your business to better engage and interact with customers and prospects.
THE NEW FRONTIER
For social networking neophytes looking to explore and tap into this potentially lucrative frontier, the journey is beset with challenges since the blast into social cyber sphere lacks easy direction and mapping. To this end, Waypoints researched the latest available data on the topic including a March 2009 online report produced by Michael A. Stelzner who conducted a comprehensive study of 880 experienced marketers with a resulting white paper entitled, “SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING INDUSTRY REPORT” – How Marketers Are Using Social Media to Grow Their Businesses, sponsored by the Social Media Success Summit. (see link at end of story for complete report results).
Stelzner, a published author and executive editor of the 20,000-reader WhitePaperSource Newsletter and founder of WhitePaperSource.com, has produced 130 white papers for many top corporations including Microsoft, Dow Jones, Monster and others. Utilizing Stelzner’s latest, cutting edge social marketing research, along with hands-on tips and techniques shared by eight marine industry marketers, Waypoints provides an overview of social network marketing, along with a review of popular media tools, with a wealth of suggestions from those in the trenches within the boating community who are avid practitioners.
SOCIAL MARKETING SURVEY COMPOSITION
Over a ten day period, 880 marketing participants took part in Stelzner’s online research. A solid 88% responded favorably about their usage and activity as a means to promote their businesses. Interestingly - and validating the newness of this social networking platform -- a whopping 72% if those who use social networking have only been doing so for a few months, with the largest group comprised of sole proprietors.
KEY BENEFITS OF SOCIAL NETWORKING
So what are the benefits of social networking? Increased business exposure ranked highest at 81 percent. Participants also noted that their own website traffic increased as a result of their social networking activity, which led to a growth in their opt-in subscriber list, a bona fide bonanza for online marketers. Another leading result was the positive development of new business partnerships, followed by a surprising rise in search engine rankings. For all these reasons and more, savvy marketers clearly perceive that social networking presents tremendous opportunity and potential for their businesses, hence the rapid-fire shift in focus to learn how to navigate this exciting new medium.
TIME AND TOP SOCIAL MEDIA TOOLS
Stelzner’s exhaustive study concluded that the top four social media tools overall for marketers included, in order, Twitter, Blogs, LinkedIn and Facebook, followed by a whole host of other options such as YouTube or other video, social bookmarking sites, forums, StumbleUpon, Digg, Reddit, Mixx or similar sites, and FriendFeed.
The survey group was analyzed according to the amount of time spent in social networking activities on a weekly basis. The survey revealed that 64% use social media for five hours or more per week, with 39% of users spending 10 hours or more per week and nearly 10% spending more than 20 hours per week.
The group who spent more than 20 hours a week ranked Twitter as their top activity at 99%, followed by blogging and Facebook at 89% each, with 87% using LinkedIn. Those who spent between one to five hours per week also gave Twitter the top nod, with LinkedIn claiming second position at 75%.
Despite the time commitment variation, survey participants unanimously agreed on one thing: all wanted to learn more about social networking and to better understand the various media tools available.
Conclusion? Social networking is a trend that has captured the imagination of users, and is sure to continue to grow exponentially.
INDUSTRY SOCIAL MARKETERS SPEAK UP & SHARE THEIR SECRETS AND STRATEGIES FOR SUCCESS
It’s one thing to learn the basic facts and review the stunning statistics, and another altogether to dig in and launch yourself or your company into social networking space.
For this article, eight industry marketers were tapped for feedback on this timely topic including a broad mix of participants ranging from a performance sailing company, to two seasoned online editors, to a yacht broker and top sailing vacation destination resort, to a social networking niche specialist in the boating community, to a brand marketer and blogger, to one of the largest marine retailers in the nation. Each is at varying stages of social network marketing activity, but all equally share enthusiasm and commitment to this phenomenon and firmly believe its future is solid.
Marine interview participants include Kyle Gross, president and owner of Annapolis Performance Sailing (APS); Kim Kavin, president of Boating Writers International (BWI) and web producer of online magazine CharterWave which targets the online yacht charter industry; Michael Myers, certified professional yacht broker (CPYB) and president of Boston Yacht Sales, Inc.; Ashlee Aldridge, senior vice president, direct sales and chief information officer, West Marine; John Glynn, vice president North American Sales, Bitter End Yacht Club; John Spence, managing partner Flycaster and Company; Leonard Boord, founder, theboaters.com (social networking site); and Glen Justice, editor, madmariner.com.
Here are their unique social network marketing accounts and their strategies for success.
KYLE GROSS, Annapolis Performance Sailing
SOCIAL NETWORKING PLATFORMS
“We currently maintain both a blog, The APS Stern Scoop – blog.apsltd.com, and a Facebook group page. We’ve also been tempted by Twitter but have yet to pull that lever. The APS Stern Scoop was launched at the beginning of 2009 and the Facebook page soon after.
BENEFITS
“Our blog has been a way to put a face to APS. The entries are written by APS staff that has specific product knowledge or sailing experience that we feel is of interest to our customers. Staff is able to provide qualified personal opinion about products – both good and features we feel are lacking. In the end, people are able to see that we are not a cookie cutter operation, but rather that we are passionate sailors like themselves who understand and use what we offer. As a bonus, the blog platform also allows for customer feedback and commenting which really takes the interaction a customer/reader has with us to multi-dimensional level.
“Facebook is a place that allows us to be our most casual and candid about anything that comes up. (for example) ‘Here’s what’s new at APS; We just found this cool product. Did you hear …’ We are waiting to see what final shape this takes but all indications are that it is off to a good start.
STRATEGIES
“Be careful what you start. I see companies launch websites, blogs and forums, only to see quick decline and sometimes counterproductive results. If you launch it, you must devote resources to maintain it. Stale or dated online content is the kiss of death. I think the biggest misunderstanding about successful online sites people have is that launching the site is the most work. I find this is completely backwards; success is in the constant maintenance of these channels. Occasional updating gets occasional visitors; poor updating not only ends up with single customer visits, but a possible negative impression. To make the site really productive you have to be updating constantly. Don’t be tempted to recycle outside content. Anyone can cut and paste from other sources to “fill” theirs. This is your chance to show your customers/consumers who you are. Why waste this incredibly valuable resource showing them who someone else is? This is your moment to set yourself apart from the rest.
SOCIAL NETWORKING VALUE FOR THE FUTURE
“Well… it’s not a silver bullet, but it is a new and growing tool to connect with customers and for them to share with other like-minded people. We see it as a new channel that complements legacy retail brick and mortar, web store and print catalog channels. We will continue to pursue it but are always keeping our eyes on the horizon for the new tool.”
ADDITIONAL FEEDBACK
“More is not necessarily better. People visiting your online site are always a click away from never coming back. Online attention spans are measured in seconds or even fractions of a second. Consistent, quality content is much better than “fluff” and more likely to hold a reader’s attention and keep them coming back for the latest. Whatever you do, just be sure to keep your goals realistic and your content fresh!
“We use Google Analytics to track traffic from our Blog to our web page. Additionally, we use the conversion tracking feature in Analytics to see what percentage of these click throughs convert to actual sales. The trick for us is not to get overloaded in tracking date. Decide what data you want and create reports in Google Analytics or whatever program you use, to report it. If you don’t identify what information you want in advance, you can find yourself surfing the analytics page looking a t lot of cool data that you never connect with cause and effect.”
MANAGEMENT/RESOURCE REQUIREMENTS
Gross reports that three staff members administer the blog: marketing director, web content manager and storefront manager. Daily blogs average one to two hours per day, with Facebook under 30 minutes per day.
KIM KAVIN, president Boating Writers International and Editor/Founder, CharterWave.com
SOCIAL NETWORKING PLATFORMS
“I’m new at it, but am seeing success, especially with Twitter. I issue a Tweet three or four times a day, and every second or third Tweet drives readers back to my website, CharterWave.com. So far, my followers are sticking with me and clicking through – and staying on CharterWave for more than nine minutes on average! I think that means I’ve hit the sweet spot between issuing useful, general Tweets and self-promotional ones. It’s not that Twitter is an end unto itself, but that it helps drive exceptionally high-quality traffic to my website.
STRATEGIES
“At this moment, I have 89 followers on Twitter. That is after a month of being a “Twitterer,” issuing at most five Tweets per day and making zero effort to promote the feed beyond a live link in my email signature and a banner ad on the website.
“I seem to get a lot of click-throughs when I preface my Tweet with the word, “exclusive.” Then I link back to a blog post, a story, or something else I’ve posted on CharterWave that people can’t find anywhere else. It can be as small as a photo, but if it’s only on my site, I preface it with “exclusive’ and that seems to draw people’s attention.
”I have greater credibility with potential advertisers because I am on Twitter. I actually started doing it because one of my existing advertisers was on Twitter and found it odd that I was not.”
MICHAEL MYERS, CPYB, President, Boston Yacht Sales, Inc.
SOCIAL NETWORKING PLATFORMS
“I have a personal Facebook page and a page for Boston Yacht Sales. I am on Twitter as Michael Myers/Boston Yacht. I am on LinkedIn as Michael Myers. I promote FB and Twitter on my website and advertisements. I’ve been involved in social marketing since early this year.
BENEFITS
“I have not yet realized any sales, but I am enjoying the visibility and just the credibility of participating in the social network. Facebook for me personally is more my friends and family. Boston Yacht’s Facebok page is more business oriented and I am trying to grow the amount of fans. LinkedIn is a great business tool to create connections and communicate with them. Twitter is a microblog and it is growing the fastest for me organically and it may e the easiest to grow with little effort. By following someone else, they normally will reciprocate and follow you.
STRATEGIES
“I am really only scratching the surface myself, but I would recommend that only one person deal with networks for consistency, continuity and responsibility. I would make sure they have the time to properly participate because it is time-consuming. There is also a fine line between being too aggressive and not being active enough. I am still trying to balance that. Videos and photos are most interesting.”
SOCIAL NETWORKING VALUE FOR THE FUTURE
“As it relates to my marketing budget and resources it will absolutely become a more important component, but only if I can spend the time and make the effort to create more followers, connections, friends and fans. It’s a very easy way to keep in touch with the speed that only the internet can provide.
ADDITIONAL FEEDBACK
“I sincerely believe that this is the future and you can either get involved or get left behind. Maybe not for all of my current clients, but certainly the next generation that has grown up with social networking.”
MANAGEMENT/RESOURCE REQUIREMENTS
Myers spends two hours per week and handles his company’s social marketing activities himself.
ASHLEE ALDRIDGE, CIO – West Marine
SOCIAL NETWORKING PLATFORMS
“We are just putting our toe in the water with online social networking. We have lots of water to explore in this space. The good news is that there is unlimited opportunity. Currently West Marine has a channel on YourTube, a Facebook account, Twitter account, Digg account and MySpace account. We just launched LiveChat on our website. Now we can directly communicate with customers one-on-one to answer questions they may have when visiting our website. Our future plans include adding customer blogs and forums on relevant product topics and those of interest of our customers.
BENEFITS
“Social networking is abut engaging with the customer, listening to them and responding. It provides different customer benefits given the activity. Tweeting is about one-way communication of quick noteworthy messages. YouTube provides an alternative place for the highly valued West Marine videos to be searched, found and viewed at the consumer’s leisure and in an environment that is familiar to them. Facebook and MySpace allow the customers to interact with the Brand from within his/her community, and bring the latest West Marine news into their inner friend circles. Blogging and forums afford the customer a unique opportunity to interact directly with the Brand and other customers.
Overall, social networking provides customers with an online interactive experience where they are completely in control. It also provides the Brand with a unique opportunity and format to listen. With online forums and blogs, customers can push their topics of interest to us vs. us pushing to them. We are not there yet, but we want to be.
STRATEGIES
“Start slow … but get started!”
SOCIAL NETWORKING VALUE FOR THE FUTURE
“We believe it is important to the future of online business, and the Brand.
MANAGEMENT/RESOURCE REQUIREMENTS
Aldridge reports that no additional staff has been hired to support the social marketing effort full time. The workload has been absorbed within the existing team and is shared responsibility among a few of the key internet associates.
JOHN GLYNN, VP North American Sales, Bitter End Yacht Club
SOCIAL NETWORKING PLATFORMS
We use Facebook and LinkedIn. We have a Facebook fan site with 630 members. We also have a Facebook site or our Pro Am Regatta with 78 members, and a Facebook site for our Quarterdeck Club Marina and membership organization, with 73 members. But these are all growing daily. On LinkedIn, we are active in marina and marine industry pages, as well as hospitality and travel agent pages. We’ve been involved about five months, so not that long.
BENEFITS
We are a business that is built heavily on repeat and referral clientele. Social networking sites are jus another way of building, growing and communicating with our community. And since social networking sites require that someone actually join, chances are that the recipient of a communication really wants to receive that communication, as opposed to SPAM. Websites and common e-blasts have become very impersonal. Facebook is far more interactive, without the cost of a regular site. One can post videos, photos, comments, and the business can interact quickly, sometimes almost immediately. This of course has a downside (included in strategies).
STRATEGIES
One runs the risk of negative feedback, for the world to see. This is why I suggest first setting up a “group page” with an administrator, and perhaps even make it a closed group at first, until the page has critical mass, and the administrator can control the postings. This is how we did it, and it seems to have worked. We built it slowly, with a core group of invited members, and then asked them to help us expand the network about three months in. That allowed us to build the page with photos, YouTube videos, and seeded forum questions. Then members could post to the wall. The administrator (me) can still delete negative postings, but luckily we have not had to, yet …
SOCIAL NETWORKING VALUE FOR THE FUTURE
“Our social networking universe continues to grow, and with Facebook, I expect it to top out at about 2000 members. LinkedIn we use for job placings, operational ideas and B-to-B support. But we also generate some retail business there as well, and expect that to build.
ADDITIONAL FEEDBACK
“If your web site is placed in the website line on the networking sites, your Google/web analytics can track the referral clicks from that site. So far, these sites are climbing the leader board though they are not yet in the realm of most traditional site referrals, and way behind the search engine hits, which will always lead the pace.”
MANAGEMENT/RESOURCE REQUIREMENTS
Glynn reports that he administers his social networking activity and spends about 20 minutes a day, except on days that a message to members is sent, and that takes about an hours, weekly.
JOHN SPENCE, Managing Partner, FlyCaster & Company, and Author
SOCIAL NETWORKING PLATFORMS
“LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and my blog (www.johnspence.com/blog) are our main vehicles, but we use about 20 different sites. Been involved in social marketing about two years.
BENEFITS
“LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter have been good for keeping in contact with customers and colleagues and building stronger personal relationships with them. The blog we send out has been instrumental in sharing new ideas, products and services with our customers and clearly demonstrating how we can add value to them.
STRATEGIES
“It is essential that you only post a blog entry when you have information of real value to offer. If you start putting up blogs that are a waste of time to read, people will quickly unsubscribe. Also, there is a fine line between giving too much information too often, and not enough. We try to post a blog about every three weeks – and work very hard to make sure it is the highest quality information we can provide. Also on sites such as Facebook – you want to be very careful about just how much personal information you post. You don’t want everyone looking at your New Years Eve pictures!
SOCIAL NETWORKING VALUE FOR THE FUTURE
“Absolutely – the trends show that inbound marketing’ – that is people coming to you to get the information they want instead of you sending out marketing and advertising materials to them – is now the preferred way for people to get their marketing and product information.
ADDITIONAL FEEDBACK
“Without question, we can directly track new business and new customers nearly every time we post a blog. For our firm, the ROI is spectacular – and more than justifies the time, money and effort we spend to keep up with our blogs and other social networking tools.
“If you want to be successful in blogging and using the various social networking tools, it is critical to realize that someone must be responsible for generating consistently valuable content and posting it in a timely fashion. The number one problem we see with companies creating blogs is that within a few weeks the content either stops completely, or becomes less and less valuable. You have to keep posting better and better information.
MANAGEMENT/RESOURCE REQUIREMENTS
Spence reports that his company’s social marketing activity is managed inhouse. He personally spends an hour daily reading other blogs, looking for ideas and updateing the company’s various social networking vehicles.
LEONARD BOORD, Founder, theboaters.com (a dedicated boating social networking site)
SOCIAL NETWORKING PLATFORMS
“Theboaters.com is the Facebook for boat owners. It is a social network with features that boat owners find useful as they share and connect with other boaters. We Twitter, Facebook and we aggregate blogs. Our Facebook fan page has over 20,000 fans. Our Facebook apps have over 65,000 downloads. We have 70,000 members that have 35,000 boats and have shared 50,000 pictures, 100,000 forum posts and 15,000 waypoints, among many other content.
BENEFITS
“Discover this for yourself at our site. There are so many social features on the boaters.com that it is hard to determine the key benefits to each.
STRATEGIES
“Focus! There are too many places where you can harvest attention. Pick a few and become good at it because sooner or later, no matter how small your niche, there will be competitors.
SOCIAL NETWORKING VALUE FOR THE FUTURE
“Social networking is a platform where people can share and meet others. Within this interaction, marketers can engage users and have them become your salespeople. When they download your logo and display it on their page, they have endorsed your product. Social ads are the most powerful way to market your product.
ADDITIONAL FEEDBACK
“Social networking is less expensive to advertise than anywhere else. Use it before the prices go up.”
MANAGEMENT/RESOURCE REQUIREMENTS
Boord reports that a full time person started in the beginning, “but it becomes easier after a few months.”
GLEN JUSTICE, Editor, madmariner.com
SOCIAL NETWORKING PLATFORMS
“Mad Mariner maintains a presence on many social networking sites because many readers prefer to transact that way. To us, it’s just another delivery device – a potent delivery device that adds value to the content we produce. We release our stories on Facebook and Twitter, send out photos via Flickr and notify people of contest and other features via LinkedIn. If that’s how readers want to transact, then we want to facilitate it.
We work hard to understand these communities, learn the rules, abide by them and then add something to the community. For example, we offer free subscriptions to our Twitter and Facebook readers from time to time. It’s our way of telling these readers we appreciate the time they take to read Mad Mariner.
BENEFITS
“All social networking efforts connect us to our readers and create traffic. But different communities yield different types of readers. For example, our Facebook fans are, on average, about 20 years younger than the average reader on our site – and there are far more women. LinkedIn yields an industry-heavy readership. So many of these channels are bringing in readers who might not otherwise find us.
STRATEGIES
“Each community is different and it is important to understand how each functions and what your role in that community will be. Take the time to understand how it works and you won’t offend anybody. Also, be prepared to spend some time. Social marketing is not expensive, but it can be time consuming – very time consuming. Do not underestimate it.
SOCIAL NETWORKING VALUE FOR THE FUTURE
“Social networking will become an increasingly important part of our marketing program.
ADDITIONAL FEEDBACK
“The key to marketing successfully on social networks is to understand how these networks function and how your company fits in. Just because you build it doesn’t mean hey will come. Ask yourself what you are doing to engage customers on these networks – and why that will work. Would it appeal to you as a consumer or as a community member? That’s a good place to start.
MANAGEMENT/RESOURCE REQUIREMENTS
Justice reports that three editors and a marketing manager are involved in social networking activities, spending at least 20 hours a week, collectively.
SUMMARY
The social networking train is in full gear and steaming forward into the future. Find an online social networking community and get involved, or create your own. For sailing industry businesses and marketers, it’s time to jump aboard and set your sail to capture the winds of change before you’re left behind.
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Visit http://www.whitepapersource.com/socialmediamarketing/ for the complete Social Marketing Media report produced by Michael Stelzner.
Wanda Kenton Smith is editor of
Waypoints, president of Marine Marketers of America, national marketing columnist for
Soundings Trade Only since 1997, and owner/president of Kenton Smith Marketing,
www.kentonsmithmarketing.com An active social marketer herself, she logs an average of five hours per week between LinkedIn and Facebook, as well as on the Marine Marketers of America and other industry sites. For more information or to comment on this story, e-mail
wanda@kentonsmithmarketing.com
