Social Media for SMEs – getting
       your business noticed…
                         Mark Hillary: CEO, IT Decisions
 BASIS Bangladesh Outsourcing Conference 2011 with the
                             International Trade Centre
                                   Dhaka, Nov 30, 2011
Agenda today
• Intro and thoughts – what’s
  changing?
• The tools out there
• How best to use them
• How do you measure success?
• Examples, best/worst practice

Keep it simple, interrupt at any
  time, but we can also talk for
  longer at the end…
Mark Hillary
                       j.mp/markhillary
• Studied CS/SE, first job as a programmer
• Ended up running global trading tech for an i-bank
• Quit banking to focus on writing and also tech
  research for the Commonwealth - and an MBA
• Seven books about tech/globalisation
• Several blogging awards, regularly blog from
  Reuters and Huffington Post, London 2012
• Teach MBA at Loughborough and LSBU
• Run research company in Brazil – itdecs.com
When it works?


         Community
        Conversation
          Creation

Great for kids… but business?
Opportunities…
Let’s not kid ourselves – we are no longer
 living out the Millennial outsourcing
 goldrush…
The world is not very flat… the Doha
 round talks have rumbled on for a
 decade without agreement
Tom Friedman really just showed us a path
 towards how the globalisation of services
 might work
The world has changed enormously,
 even in the past 5 years – after
 Facebook

We are living in a far more globally
 connected world --- in terms of
 business, culture, lifestyle…

Graduates today do not remember any
 life before being connected globally
 24/7… Netscape 94 was tipping point
Information Technology is much
        more than just IT today…
The Arab spring… Occupy movement…
  almost all industries… individuals are
  now consumers of technology enabled
  services - in the past people using IT
  were specialists.
• As we talk, IT is changing the world and
  you are a part of that change and this is
  a great business opportunity
Mark Hillary social media workshop in Dhaka
Offshoring is not about being the lowest cost
   location… it’s about working with the right
         person, people, resources, company…
  We are in a new era of globalisation with new
                                    possibilities
It’s no longer about selling systems integration
      or just bits of code… you need to truly sell
                                       “services”
• So where do you fit in if there are so
  many opportunities?
• If the supply chain for intellectual
  services is now global then surely you
  already fit in…
• So why aren’t you telling all your
  prospective customers that you are ready
  for business?
• A really important strategy for services in
  Bangladesh is to embrace the new world….
  go global and go SME




• Your customers can be anywhere and they
  are already out there…
• You may not even know them if you sell a
  cloud based service – do you ever think about
  where your Gmail service is located? Why
  not?
Back to reality…
• To serve them, you need a few things as
  hygiene factors… political and economic
  stability, infrastructure, and educated
  people… you have all of this…
• Worry less about selling Bangladesh the
  brand and think more about how social
  your own business really is... You have to
  start communicating globally to sell
  globally
Structure changes?
• You have the people, the companies, the
  basic infrastructure… you just need to
  make sure that your companies are
  visible in the places where SMEs go
  looking to buy services…
• Job auctions like oDesk are making this
  easier, but are not the whole answer
Structure changes – customer services

Think from the perspective of the SME
 client… if you wanted a website built, if
 you want a mobile app built, if you want
 help building some bespoke CRM…
 where do you look?
Where are SMEs looking?
Online… in the press, in the blogs, on social
 media, in forums, on job auction websites… so
 to be frank, your SME clients are not reading
 Gartner research and deciding to give you a
 contract because of it. They are finding your
 company mentioned online, with client
 references, or links to a job well done, and they
 will care much less about you being in
 Bangladesh than how good the example of your
 work is…
Going Social

Could you run your business without a
 telephone or email?

So don’t you think that creating a
 social business is going to be
 fundamental to your success in the
 next decade?
Consequences?
So the opportunity is out there,
  but if you are not engaging in
  the places where your clients
  are then unfortunately you are
  nowhere…
Perhaps we should stop calling
  all this outsourcing and just
  start calling it “social business
  as usual…”
The tools of the trade…
• Facebook
• LinkedIn
• Twitter
• Wordpress
• Google+
• YouTube, Flickr, Scribd, Slideshare…
Facebook
Great for building
 communities
Event promotion and
 branding
Easy to integrate the
 ‘like’ button
 elsewhere
Great reach – everyone
 uses Facebook
LinkedIn
Great for more business focused lead
  generation
Becoming an essential business tool –
  the modern résumé
Good search and marketing tools –
  getting more sophisticated
Useful for industry leads, discussions
Twitter
Short promotional discussion
Great for creating a buzz and
 promoting something more
 substantial
Excellent for listening, seeing what
 people are saying
Listening on Twitter
1. Start with a fresh account
2. Follow the key influencers in your
   field; journalists, analysts, advisors,
   consultants, executives…
3. Add search terms specific to your
   field
4. Just listen… either the subject or the
   person speaking will be relevant
WordPress
Blog platform of choice
  for most
Can be self-hosted with
  free software or hosted
  by wordpress for
  simplicity
Open source, always
  being improved
Google+
Great concept and tied
  to Gmail
Circles idea neatly ties
  openness and
  privacy together
Business pages just
  launched
Still too early to know
  if it will work out
Others… YouTube,
 Flickr, Scribd,
 Slideshare…

Great supporting tools
Need a place to host
  documents, slides,
  photos, video, but also
  where that content can
  be found online too
Easy to embed into blogs
Bolting it all together
1. Who is your audience?
2. What do you want to say?
3. Why are you doing this?
Because we are at BASIS, let’s assume…
• You are involved in IT services in some
  way or other…
• You are selling services, possibly with
  some branded products or platforms
• You are an SME, rather than a giant
What would an initial strategy look like?
1. Core is your blog; gives you credibility
   and helps SEO
2. Develop traffic with twitter and interact
   with the right people
3. Create community with Facebook
4. Reach industry insiders with LinkedIn
5. Support multimedia with other platforms
Facebook




 Twitter               Blog              LinkedIn




Flickr     YouTube              Scribd   SlideShare
What do you get from all this?
• Ultimate objective is more business
• Often hard to measure cause and effect
• Don’t get too hung up watching fans, likes,
  followers, and comments…
• How many requests for information,
  meetings, lunches have you had?
• Are influencers engaging more with you?
Finally, a few stories from the
 frontline… not all applicable
 to you directly, but all giving
 a glimpse of the power of
 social media for business…
BT: British Telecom
• Rapper Mike Skinner tweeted
  that BT broadband was
  terrible
• When BT fixed his problem he
  told all his fans how great BT
  is!
• Setup a small social media
  support team
• Now about 40% of customer
  queries coming into the firm
  via Twitter
Virgin Media

• Complaints about cable TV service often
  appearing on Twitter
• Started reacting to every single tweet –
  even the crazy ones
• Check user profiles to trying
  personalising the customer care
Teleperformance
• Biggest contact centre firm in the world
  with almost 130,000 agents
• Not only called on to do social customer
  service, but also need to market their
  own brand using social channels
• Executives started industry blogging
• Result has been huge attention from the
  analyst and trade press community
Disasters? Too many to mention!
• United breaks guitars
• Delta charges excess baggage fee to
  US military coming home from action
• Domino’s staff mess around with food
• Rats in Taco Bell
• Kenneth Cole… Cairo jokes
• Habitat using Iran hashtags
Key things to remember:
• It’s not TV. Not broadcast. Share,
  engage, converse… don’t just Tweet
  press releases
• Listen to the community… huge value
  in listening to what they are saying
• Study the influencers and target them
• You can’t control the community, don’t
  try
• Transparency and honesty are crucial,
  don’t astro-turf or embellish…
Mark Hillary
I live in São Paulo, Brazil, but please feel
         free to get in touch online…
              markhillary.com
          mail@markhillary.com
         twitter.com/markhillary
Mark Hillary social media workshop in Dhaka

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Mark Hillary social media workshop in Dhaka

  • 1. Social Media for SMEs – getting your business noticed… Mark Hillary: CEO, IT Decisions BASIS Bangladesh Outsourcing Conference 2011 with the International Trade Centre Dhaka, Nov 30, 2011
  • 2. Agenda today • Intro and thoughts – what’s changing? • The tools out there • How best to use them • How do you measure success? • Examples, best/worst practice Keep it simple, interrupt at any time, but we can also talk for longer at the end…
  • 3. Mark Hillary j.mp/markhillary • Studied CS/SE, first job as a programmer • Ended up running global trading tech for an i-bank • Quit banking to focus on writing and also tech research for the Commonwealth - and an MBA • Seven books about tech/globalisation • Several blogging awards, regularly blog from Reuters and Huffington Post, London 2012 • Teach MBA at Loughborough and LSBU • Run research company in Brazil – itdecs.com
  • 4. When it works? Community Conversation Creation Great for kids… but business?
  • 5. Opportunities… Let’s not kid ourselves – we are no longer living out the Millennial outsourcing goldrush… The world is not very flat… the Doha round talks have rumbled on for a decade without agreement Tom Friedman really just showed us a path towards how the globalisation of services might work
  • 6. The world has changed enormously, even in the past 5 years – after Facebook We are living in a far more globally connected world --- in terms of business, culture, lifestyle… Graduates today do not remember any life before being connected globally 24/7… Netscape 94 was tipping point
  • 7. Information Technology is much more than just IT today… The Arab spring… Occupy movement… almost all industries… individuals are now consumers of technology enabled services - in the past people using IT were specialists. • As we talk, IT is changing the world and you are a part of that change and this is a great business opportunity
  • 9. Offshoring is not about being the lowest cost location… it’s about working with the right person, people, resources, company… We are in a new era of globalisation with new possibilities It’s no longer about selling systems integration or just bits of code… you need to truly sell “services”
  • 10. • So where do you fit in if there are so many opportunities? • If the supply chain for intellectual services is now global then surely you already fit in… • So why aren’t you telling all your prospective customers that you are ready for business?
  • 11. • A really important strategy for services in Bangladesh is to embrace the new world…. go global and go SME • Your customers can be anywhere and they are already out there… • You may not even know them if you sell a cloud based service – do you ever think about where your Gmail service is located? Why not?
  • 12. Back to reality… • To serve them, you need a few things as hygiene factors… political and economic stability, infrastructure, and educated people… you have all of this… • Worry less about selling Bangladesh the brand and think more about how social your own business really is... You have to start communicating globally to sell globally
  • 13. Structure changes? • You have the people, the companies, the basic infrastructure… you just need to make sure that your companies are visible in the places where SMEs go looking to buy services… • Job auctions like oDesk are making this easier, but are not the whole answer
  • 14. Structure changes – customer services Think from the perspective of the SME client… if you wanted a website built, if you want a mobile app built, if you want help building some bespoke CRM… where do you look?
  • 15. Where are SMEs looking? Online… in the press, in the blogs, on social media, in forums, on job auction websites… so to be frank, your SME clients are not reading Gartner research and deciding to give you a contract because of it. They are finding your company mentioned online, with client references, or links to a job well done, and they will care much less about you being in Bangladesh than how good the example of your work is…
  • 16. Going Social Could you run your business without a telephone or email? So don’t you think that creating a social business is going to be fundamental to your success in the next decade?
  • 17. Consequences? So the opportunity is out there, but if you are not engaging in the places where your clients are then unfortunately you are nowhere… Perhaps we should stop calling all this outsourcing and just start calling it “social business as usual…”
  • 18. The tools of the trade… • Facebook • LinkedIn • Twitter • Wordpress • Google+ • YouTube, Flickr, Scribd, Slideshare…
  • 19. Facebook Great for building communities Event promotion and branding Easy to integrate the ‘like’ button elsewhere Great reach – everyone uses Facebook
  • 20. LinkedIn Great for more business focused lead generation Becoming an essential business tool – the modern résumé Good search and marketing tools – getting more sophisticated Useful for industry leads, discussions
  • 21. Twitter Short promotional discussion Great for creating a buzz and promoting something more substantial Excellent for listening, seeing what people are saying
  • 22. Listening on Twitter 1. Start with a fresh account 2. Follow the key influencers in your field; journalists, analysts, advisors, consultants, executives… 3. Add search terms specific to your field 4. Just listen… either the subject or the person speaking will be relevant
  • 23. WordPress Blog platform of choice for most Can be self-hosted with free software or hosted by wordpress for simplicity Open source, always being improved
  • 24. Google+ Great concept and tied to Gmail Circles idea neatly ties openness and privacy together Business pages just launched Still too early to know if it will work out
  • 25. Others… YouTube, Flickr, Scribd, Slideshare… Great supporting tools Need a place to host documents, slides, photos, video, but also where that content can be found online too Easy to embed into blogs
  • 26. Bolting it all together 1. Who is your audience? 2. What do you want to say? 3. Why are you doing this?
  • 27. Because we are at BASIS, let’s assume… • You are involved in IT services in some way or other… • You are selling services, possibly with some branded products or platforms • You are an SME, rather than a giant
  • 28. What would an initial strategy look like? 1. Core is your blog; gives you credibility and helps SEO 2. Develop traffic with twitter and interact with the right people 3. Create community with Facebook 4. Reach industry insiders with LinkedIn 5. Support multimedia with other platforms
  • 29. Facebook Twitter Blog LinkedIn Flickr YouTube Scribd SlideShare
  • 30. What do you get from all this? • Ultimate objective is more business • Often hard to measure cause and effect • Don’t get too hung up watching fans, likes, followers, and comments… • How many requests for information, meetings, lunches have you had? • Are influencers engaging more with you?
  • 31. Finally, a few stories from the frontline… not all applicable to you directly, but all giving a glimpse of the power of social media for business…
  • 32. BT: British Telecom • Rapper Mike Skinner tweeted that BT broadband was terrible • When BT fixed his problem he told all his fans how great BT is! • Setup a small social media support team • Now about 40% of customer queries coming into the firm via Twitter
  • 33. Virgin Media • Complaints about cable TV service often appearing on Twitter • Started reacting to every single tweet – even the crazy ones • Check user profiles to trying personalising the customer care
  • 34. Teleperformance • Biggest contact centre firm in the world with almost 130,000 agents • Not only called on to do social customer service, but also need to market their own brand using social channels • Executives started industry blogging • Result has been huge attention from the analyst and trade press community
  • 35. Disasters? Too many to mention! • United breaks guitars • Delta charges excess baggage fee to US military coming home from action • Domino’s staff mess around with food • Rats in Taco Bell • Kenneth Cole… Cairo jokes • Habitat using Iran hashtags
  • 36. Key things to remember: • It’s not TV. Not broadcast. Share, engage, converse… don’t just Tweet press releases • Listen to the community… huge value in listening to what they are saying • Study the influencers and target them • You can’t control the community, don’t try • Transparency and honesty are crucial, don’t astro-turf or embellish…
  • 37. Mark Hillary I live in São Paulo, Brazil, but please feel free to get in touch online… markhillary.com [email protected] twitter.com/markhillary

Editor's Notes

  • #9: Friedman’s flat earth
  • #10: Friedman’s flat earth