Imagine living in Iceland. First your economy gets badly damaged by the global recession, then a volcano named Eyjafjallajökull erupts. For weeks not a flight can enter or depart your country. If you happen to depend on the tourist industry, this isn’t about dust – it is really bad news.

Kristjan Mar Hauksson ‘The Viking of Social Media’ and Mel Carson from Microsoft Advertising were speaking at SES London on Thursday about how social media can be leveraged into the marketing mix, how it can change a bad situation into an opportunity and how it can amplify your other media efforts.

Outsmarting volcano eruptions with Search & Social Media

Tourism is important to Iceland. As Kristjan says ‘Iceland receives more tourists each year than it has inhabitants’.  When Eyjafjallajoekull erupted things looked pretty bleak for the tourism industry. Kristjan’s company ‘Nordic eMarketing’ kept Iceland top of mind as a tourist destination during the volcanic eruption by using some clever search and social media tactics.

Firstly they noticed a 900% increase in searches for ‘Iceland’ as dust was settling on the island. They bid on all related keywords showing traffic spikes to promote the website Inspiredbyiceland.com. The site contained a video showcasing the beauty and diversity of the island with happily dancing tourists in it, supported by a very catchy tune.

Visitors to the site were then invited to share why they were inspired by Iceland. They received 150,000 visitors in the first week and 1.1 million total visitors in 2010. This week at SES London it’s been said more than once: people trust the opinion of other consumers most so you can imagine what a powerful impact it has to have 500 people endorsing your island on video.  Kristjan concludes, quoting Andy Warhol, that for every company their 15 minutes of fame will come. When they do, make the best of it!

Source: Microsoft Advertising Intelligence

Mel Carson from Microsoft Advertising opened with his vision on social media & the marketing mix: ‘We’ll go back - not quite to basics - but to a place where we all understand that social media is just another description for the internet as a whole, where brands need to make their message discoverable, compelling and shareable whether it’s through owned, paid or earned media. Let’s drop the “social”. The web is social. It’s what you do with all the media that counts.’

Social media at Microsoft Advertising is all about interacting & engaging.  News posted on the Microsoft Advertising site gets attention in blogs and forums. Another layer of interest which drives people to the content consists of photos and videos, the content is finally also made public through Facebook and Twitter (@adCenter and @Msadvertising).  Social coverage happens 24 hours a day as teams in the US and Europe co-operate. ‘You should  amplify, drive awareness, engage and take share’ says Mel ‘like a child, you want to give your content the best start in live’

Mel’s 7 Social Integration Tips

  1. Ask yourself why?
  2. Where’s your varnish?
  3. Optimise for people “outside the room”
  4. Internal education leads to external evangelism
  5. “Earn it!” – Windows 7 Launch = 221M Impressions
  6. Think “Social Media Marketing” – Be Disciplined
  7. What’s the Return On In-action?

There were some great examples on how smaller and larger businesses can use online media to engage with their audience. Using online media as part of the marketing mix seems the key to success.

Thanks for reading,

Simone 

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