Social Media at SAS - Triangle IABC meeting Sept. 8, 2009

Social Media at SAS
Becky Graebe
David B. Thomas
September 8, 2009

11,111 employees worldwide
4,235 in Cary
2008 revenues of $2.26B
the leader in business analytics software and services
the largest independent vendor in the business intelligence market
the world's largest privately held software company (prepackaged software)

customers in 118 countries, from AA to ZürcherKantonalbank
45,000 business, government and university sites
92 of the top 100 companies on the 2009 FORTUNE Global 500® list

How much longer do you plan to work?
Who will be your audience in 2029?
What about 2039?

Social Media
Social media may be a phenomenon,but they are not a fad.
They have already changed the way people(and companies) communicate.

The Marketing 2.0 Council
Formed in late 2007
Nearly 40 members from Marketing, External Communications, Online Strategy, Legal, more
Task forces created recommendations
Council created overall recommendations including two new positions:
Integrated Content Manager
Social Media Manager
Initiated guidelines for employee participation

Social Media Manager: The Mission
Working within the framework established by the Marketing 2.0 council, drive adoption of 2.0 principles company wide - domestically and globally - in a manner that supports strategic objectives, is sustainable and replicable, and creates understanding, acceptance and enthusiasm among all stakeholders.

Long-term Goals
Integrate 2.0 into all SAS marketing and communications activities
Align 2.0 activities with corporate objectives
Measure 2.0 activities to demonstrate ROI
Implement measurement tools and refine activities based on metrics
Mentor 2.0 experts within stakeholder organizations
Promote a forward-looking culture to identify new opportunities

SAS Social Media Guidelines & Recommendations
SAS created a set of Social Media Guidelines and Recommendations, designed to answer employee questions about participating in online social media activities as a SAS employee.
YES WE CAN.But be smart about it.

Guiding Principles
People are talking about SAS online whether we are there or not.
It's good for SAS employees to participate in those conversations provided we do it in a way
that reflects well on SAS
is respectful of the standards of the online community
follows the Social Media Guidelines and Recommendations, the Online Conduct Guidelines, and behavior and computer use policies.

Guiding Principles
We trust SAS employees to represent SAS online in a professional manner, the same way we trust them to do it in the real world.
1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 20032004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Guiding Principles
Don't talk about customers, partners or vendors.
Don’t reveal private or proprietary information, intellectual property, pricing, or details of customer installations
…or anything else that could harm our business or business relationships.
The exception: You can link to content on sas.com that references customers, like success stories, press releases and videos.

Guiding Principles
When you participate in social media, you are speaking for yourself, not on behalf of the company. Be sure to make that clear. And know that you are responsible for your actions.
Opinions are my own and don’t represent SAS…

Guiding Principles
Talk to your manager about your social media activities, what you're doing, how it relates to your job and how much time you spend doing it.

Guiding Principles
Open communication among employees, customers and the community at large will inevitably lead to some uncomfortable moments, but we can deal with those, and the benefits far outweigh the risk.

17 active external blogs
“thought leadership” strategy
Expanding to include more employee voices
Incorporating blog outreach into external comms and PR

SAS Malaysia staff “advertising” the Online Quiz Link on their Facebook status
Around 30 staff participated in posting link on Facebook starting 13 March’09.

They referred a total of 554 friends via Facebook to take the quiz.
2,400 (34%) increase in page views for SAS website.
-1,200 page hits on Online quiz page.
Via their Facebook status, they became “walking interactive billboards” for SAS

Active Facebook and LinkedIn presences
Developing our outreach strategy
Individual groups using social networks for event promotion and building connections

Twitter – realtime search results

Twitter – hashtags

SAS GlobalForum 2009
Twitter hashtag (#sgf09) saw more than 500 tweets during the event and more than 1,000 total. Majority of tweets came from non-SAS people.

active employee participation
twitter monitoring
Outreach and connection-building by External Communications, Marketing, Sales, R&D and more

Important Considerations
Social media provides new ways of communicating, not a strategy in itself.
Content is king.
You need 1.0 before you can have 2.0.
Only you know what will work for you.

Connect with me
Dave.Thomas@sas.com
Twitter: @DavidBThomas
LinkedIn.com/in/dbthomas
Blogs.sas.com/socialmedia
Delicious.com/davidbthomas
Photo: Re-ality, http://www.flickr.com/photos/re-ality/

Web 2.0 Efforts Inside SAS
Becky Graebe,
SAS Internal Communications Manager

SAS attempts to shatter the glass door
Employees who are a natural part of social media energy in their personal lives are often expected to check their brains and their technology finesse at the door when they come to work.
Stick to traditional methods
Disengage
Work less collaboratively

Open up to the outside world
The value employees gain from external social media channels can also be experienced within the company
Questions
Idea sharing
Resource sharing
Constructive feedback
Cost-friendly!

The difference: common ethic required
Step 1: Guidelines
Time and energy invested up front = a multitude of time and energy saved later
Without them, the employees you want to engage in 2.0 activities won’t feel comfortable enough to do so. Those who don’t bring out the best in your company will have free reign.

Know where to be firm and where to be flexible.
Example: Group blogs, personalized blog skins and components.

Encourage 2.0 involvement as you promote the guidelines (Don’t make it all about the “don’ts.”)

Top 3 ways to engage your workforce in social media
Provide space and purpose for employees to get comfortable with
Blogging
Micro blogging
Customized news feeds/RSS
Commenting
Give them something to talk about
Trust them

Internal blogging at SAS
Any employee may blog (600)
Searchable content, three distinct blogging communities

Headlines displayed on global home page ensure that corporate speak doesn’t dominate the conversation

Internal sandbox for promising external bloggers

Less intimidating
Allows PR team to spot potential external bloggers
External bloggers often launch a topic idea internally to gauge reaction

Micro-blogging (Twitter style)
SAS Chatter
Similar to Twitter but inside the firewall, so better for more company-sensitive topics
Alternative to Yammer
Offer internal tinyurl-type link shortener

RSS news feeds on the home page/desktop

Desktop external feeds reader tab helps employees organize industry or role-related RSS feeds

RSS feeds used to manage internal news
Inside News tab allows employees to subscribe to more than 100 internal news feeds, wiki updates, videos, podcasts and newsletters via internal RSS feeds

Headlines delivered on the desktop and via e-mail
Employees choose the news most valuable to them and the delivery method that works best

Comments welcome
All internal news articles and blogs include comment feature
Not anonymous

Comments welcome

Blog and comments strengthens online community when an employee dies

Give them something to talk about
Compelling daily news content
Key media highlights
Global contributors
Shorter headlines/descriptions work well for Twitter, Chatter

Trust employees
Let guidelines rule
Expect disagreement, different opinions
Address concerns, questions
Respect employees, even when they’re off track
Encourage and recognize productive 2.0 activity

Q&A
Becky Graebe
Internal Communications Manager
U5136 SAS Campus Drive
Cary, NC 27513
becky.graebe@sas.com
Twitter: beckygraebe
LinkedIn: Becky Graebe
919-531-0771 work
919-802-4147 mobile

Supplemental Materials

What blogs are good for
Keeping track of the thought leaders and trends in your area of business
Opportunities to connect with thought leaders and others in the industry – and potential customers – by commenting and linking to blog posts
Starting or contributing to a blog helps you make connections, demonstrate expertise and generate content.

What blogs are not good for
Blogs are not static. A dormant blog is worse than no blog at all.
Blogs need to be promoted to get traffic. Do you have an audience and communication channels you can use?
A corporate blog invites other people in to tell you what they think of you. How thick is your skin?

Getting started with blogs
Use Google Blog Search to find the most relevant blogs in your field.
Read them and get comfortable with the discussion and the community around them.
Comment on blog posts where you have something useful and interesting to say, and don’t feel it always has to be a sales pitch.
Set up an RSS reader like Google Reader to help you read and follow multiple blogs easily.

What social networks are good for
Building relationships with customers, prospects and others in your field
Personalizing your business life, and vice versa
Presenting your expertise (LinkedIn Groups and Discussions, Facebook Groups)

What social networks are not good for
Prospecting can be tricky; LinkedIn rules prohibit you from connecting to people you don’t know.
Some companies and government agencies block access to social networks.
It can be hard to stand out as reputable; there are a lot of spammers and phonies out there.
… and a lot of people you knew in high school.

Getting started in social networks
Create a LinkedIn profile, fill it out with relevant keywords and information and keep it up-to-date.
Use the search function to find and join relevant groups.
Build your network by connecting to people you already know.
Once you’re comfortable, do the same thing on Facebook.
Comment in groups where you have something useful and interesting to say, and don’t feel it always has to be a sales pitch.

What Twitter is good for
Many of the advantages of blogging in a short, quick format.
You can support your other communications channels and activities by promoting them on Twitter.
Hashtags allow you to gain a presence in and around events, conferences and issues.
Twitter search can show you who’s talking about what.
It’s still a relatively small community in many professions, allowing you to make connections.

What Twitter is not good for
Twitter is a tool, not a strategy.
You have to be interesting to get followers; it’s not the place for heavy-handed sales pitches.
It’s a firehose, and it’s getting worse. You need filtering tools to find the value (TweetDeck, Seesmic Desktop, Hootsuite).

Getting started on Twitter
Create an account, using your real name, and set up your profile.
Use the search function to find people to follow in your industry.
Get to know the standards of the community and the way people use it.
Think about all the useful and interesting information you encounter every day.
Start contributing.