The Power of Conversation - Developing a Social Media Strategy That Works

The Power of Conversation Developing a Social Media Strategy That Works
Scott Meis | Sr. Project & Social Media Director
September 29, 2009

The Power of Conversation
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Carolyn Grisko & Associates Inc.
Chicago-based strategic communications firm working with a variety of corporate, government and nonprofit clients.
www.grisko.com

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What We’ll Cover

Current Trends
Management
5 Step Strategy
Measurement
Selling the C-Suite
Case Studies
The Big Takeaway

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This…

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Can Quickly Result in This…

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Why People Are Attracted to Social Media
People trust “a person like me” more than authority figures from business, government and media
Seek ongoing dialogue and relationships, not one-way advertisements
Trust, transparency, openness, honesty Source: icrossing 2008 study

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Current Online Trends
3,000 Google searches each second
33 minutes of video added to YouTube every second
Over 300million Facebook users
19 million Twitter users
Share! Connect! Comment! Engage!

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People Listen – The Domestic Diva Case Study
Nov. 12, 2008 blog post from influential Mommy blogger about daughter in need of kidney. 196 comments, flurry of tweets
Nov. 26, 2008 announcement of living donor found. 146 comments

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People Listen – #Eric Heart Transplant
May 2009 – Former CNN reporter Veronica De La Cruz launches effort to raise money for brother’s heart transplant.
1 day example – 1,250 hashtag tweets
Over $850,000 raised by May 28

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People Converse - Twitter
Constant Conversation on Twitter

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People Watch – United Breaks Guitars Video

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People Watch – Mayo Clinic Case Study

Cute video of older couple playing piano posted on Sharing Mayo blog on April 7, 2009.
Mayo social media tools used to share video
Featured on Good Morning America, leveraged traditional media
More than 3.1 million views by June 8, 2009

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The BIG Question
Why Would My Organization Use Social Media?

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Why You Would Use Social Media
Increase Traffic
Build Brand Awareness
Improve Search Engine Rankings
Reputation Management
Increase Sales
Thought Leadership / Recruitment
Customer Service

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Brand Awareness Example - Starbucks

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News Generation Example
Listening and monitoring leads to blog comment calling attention to Facebook page
Quick reply on Facebook results in series of blog posts focused on issue
Use social media to Be The Media

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How Do I Find Time to Manage Social Media?
Start Small - Integrate, adjust, create routine
Divide Tasks - Listening & monitoring, engagement & community management, content production, reporting & analysis
Engage Staff – Create policy, guidelines, foster participation to enhance outreach

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What It Will Take
Conduct a thorough internal analysis
Do you have top level and employee buy-in?
PR/Marketing staff member that can commit to being a Social Media Manager, better yet, a Social Media Team?
Commitment and desire to engage? PASSION!
At least 1-2 hours to devote each day?
Small content creation budget?
Time and patience – it WILL NOT happen overnight.

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What It Will Take - Graph from Beth Kanter

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Start By Listening
Get Busy Monitoring!
Google Alerts
Google Reader
SocialMention, Twitter Search, Technorati

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Choose Your Audience
Define your target audience
Seek out brand evangelists, influencers
Research!

Social Technographics Profile
Facebook Ad Tool

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Set Your Objectives & Goals
Don’t just use social media randomly
What is your #1 priority with online marketing and communications?
How can it be integrated into your existing communications efforts?
Keep your end goal focused and simple
MOST IMPORTANT…
Make your message resonate!

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Define Your Strategy
Listen, find communities & influencers
Develop content plan
Be consistent and integrate
Engage and facilitate
Analyze, measure and ADAPT frequently

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Choose Your Tools
Is your target audience already talking to one another?
Focus on building long-term relationships
Remember:
- People meet in different online spaces
- They comment, share and influence
- They want to be part of the process

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With or Without You . . .
...the conversations are going to take place.
Are you going to engage and embrace?
Smartly save time, money, staff by connecting with brand enthusiasts to build lasting relationships?

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Is Social Media Measurable?
Yes! By setting benchmarks and goals
Quantitative: Web analytics (referral links), Facebook Insights, YouTube Insight, Twitter Stats & Analysis
Qualitative: Comment sentiment (Radian6), feedback, support increase, engagement increase, survey trends

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More Specifically…
Attention(unique users, page views, content views)
Engagement(time spent, comments, wall posts, comment length)
Authority (trackbacks, inbound links, mentions, shares, embeds)
Influence (search visibility, subscribers, fans, followers)
Sentiment (negative, neutral, positive)

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How to Sell Leadership on Social Media
Case Studies
Efficiency of Online Communications
Proactive Crisis Response Mechanism
Start Small, Measure & Benchmark
Use a Consultant

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Case Study – Customer Service - Comcast

@comcastcaresused as a tool to build real relationships with real people
Four employees monitor and engage through the channel at any given time
Instant customer feedback, satisfaction

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Case Study – Customer Service - #inpdx

@travelportlanduses Twitter to connect with consumers looking for Oregon travel information
#inpdxhashtagstreamlines conversation for easy response. Also launched TwisitorCenter
Page on Website provides useful resources for connecting with travel guides

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Case Study – Crisis Response - Dominos
Video of absurd employee behavior explodes overnight on YouTube
Dominos’ President utilizes same channel to issue formal apology
Crisis response tactics are key influencers on SEO, online brand reputation

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The Big Takeaway
10 Steps to Get Going TODAY
Start listening. Google alerts and Google Reader, Twitter search or Tweetlater, protect your brand
Assess your needs, purpose and capacity to engage in social media

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The Big Takeaway
3. Identify a team to spearhead, sell leadership, create social media policy
4. Identify target audience, set objectives, define your strategy, choose your tools(POST Strategy)

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The Big Takeaway
5. Start with focus on existing influencers and community
6. Establish a Facebook page
7. Start a blog on Wordpress

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The Big Takeaway
8. Create Twitter and Flickr accounts
9. Start a YouTube channel, search and comment on videos you like, purchase a FlipHD camera

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The Big BIG Takeaway
10. Measure monthly, track & analyze trends,
adapt
Get going! Be patient and stay active.

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Questions & Comments
Scott Meis
smeis@grisko.com
312-335-0100
www.grisko.com
Suggested Reading:Resources – The New Community Rules , Groundswell, Free Social Media GuidesGreat Trend Sites – Mashable, Social Media TodayMy Blog - Social Media Snippets