Beeline Labs Succeeding in a social world 7.17.08 A lunchtime talk with: United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley

Social networking Web 2.0 Consumer-generated media Blogs Online communities

Tribalism is the very first social system that human beings ever lived in, and it has lasted much longer than any other kind of society to date. (Wikipedia)

People want to connect with people. People want to get help and give help .

Giving advice Getting recognition Collaborating Helping Validating Sharing Learning Getting help Technology has eliminated barriers, allowing people to do what they like to do.

The importance of being social isn’t new… Builds understanding Fosters trust Develops relationships Triggers change Makes us feel good

Builds understanding

Fosters trust

Develops relationships

Triggers change

Makes us feel good

6 things make it more important Trust Being heard, having a say Overload Word of mouth Affinity, shared interests Because it’s easy

6 things make it more important

Trust

Being heard, having a say

Overload

Word of mouth

Affinity, shared interests

Because it’s easy

How can social media help a non-profit like United Way? 2008 Tribalization Study highlights 10 guiding social media principles for non-profits Most common mistakes Let’s talk about…

How can social media help a non-profit like United Way?

2008 Tribalization Study highlights

10 guiding social media principles for non-profits

Most common mistakes

But first….

Source: 2008 Tribalization of Business Study, conducted by Beeline Labs, Deloitte, SNCR What makes communities successful?

Greatest obstacles Source: 2008 Tribalization of Business Study, conducted by Beeline Labs, Deloitte, SNCR

How can social media help?

1. Enhances and differentiates Engages and influences in purchase decisions Facilitates bi-directional conversations about brand/issue/organization 2. Helps people directly achieve their goals People make better decisions based on community feedback 3. Contributes to business development , customer service relationships Provides insight into customer behavior Expands customer support role to the community 4. Provides intelligence for product and service offerings Provides insight into new features and opportunities Identifies latent customer needs Enables open innovation 5. Assists with recruiting and retention Engaged customer could become newest employee Social networks permit rich interaction with alumni Tools offer unparalleled bottom-up/sideways visibility into employee Some sound business reasons

Finds the passion Easier collaboration Fail faster, succeed faster Make a difference Get involved Make meaning Activate change Love Empower your agencies Empower your donors Specific value to non-profits

10 guiding social media principles

1. Clarity : what is the purpose? Promise? Reason to be involved?

2. Options: give people lots of ways to contribute, be involved

The easier it is for people to get involved, the greater the likelihood that they will

3. Humanize: who are the people behind the issue?

Seeing profiles, people behind the names why social networks are so popular; people want to talk, connect with real people

4. Recognize: attention, recognition are huge motivators -- and rewards

5. Niches: service the small, intense areas of interest, passion. Broad and big not always as successful.

6. Visualize: Photos appeal more than text, especially for digital natives

Video and digital stories especially powerful

7. Localize: localization makes things much more relevant, and we pay attention and act on what’s most relevant

Add Talk about relevant: local routes to work with bridges that are obsolete! This Would be a approach to get state highway bonds approved.

8. Beyond-ness : go beyond your own Web site, blog, URL

Getting out of your own house and into new neighborhoods will Help make new “friends,” especially important for non-profits

9. Love: with social tools we can do big things for love When people care enough, they can come together and accomplish things of a scope and longevity that were previously impossible; they can do big things for love. Clay Shirky, Here Comes Everybody

10. Measure: measure what matters. Start with the goal,not the available Web analytics Mismatch: Goals and measures WOM: 35% New ideas: 34% Customer loyalty: 24%

Most common mistakes Overload -- too much information! What is the organization goal? What is the promise to people for contributing? Clear? Valuable? Whole lot of disconnected tools, or wrong tool for promise/purpose Marketing speak Unclear measures, not aligned to goal Viewed as a thing vs. a process

Overload -- too much information!

What is the organization goal?

What is the promise to people for contributing? Clear? Valuable?

Whole lot of disconnected tools, or wrong tool for promise/purpose

Marketing speak

Unclear measures, not aligned to goal

Viewed as a thing vs. a process

Things to think about Do people understand our purpose? Are there ways to make it easier for people to get involved? Collaborate? How can we make our site/blogs/forums everybody’s vs. ours What can we go beyond our site, internal blog? Can we do bigger things for love?

Tools to know about Collaboration: Wikis, Google Docs Small communities: Ning Large communities: Awareness Organizing: MeetUp Blog analytics: Mint, SiteMeter, Google Analytics Issue tracking, monitoring: Visible Technologies, Radian6 Sharing docs : Basecamp, SlideShare

Collaboration: Wikis, Google Docs

Small communities: Ning

Large communities: Awareness

Organizing: MeetUp

Blog analytics: Mint, SiteMeter, Google Analytics

Issue tracking, monitoring: Visible Technologies, Radian6

Sharing docs : Basecamp, SlideShare

Let’s keep talking www.beelinelabs.com www.foghound.com www.emergencemarketing.com www.marketingtwo.net