This is a simple idea generating tool for implementing Social Media in your company. It’s based on new idea generation techniques that I am using in my MBA thesis and its developed from those all important questions: What, Why and How? A lot of people are still scratching their heads about social media and tend to focus on the technology rather than the conversation and human elements of being social. I hope you find the Social Media Brainstorming tools and the explanations useful and best of luck on any future implementations.

1. Social Media Strategy: Brainstorm
Social Media into your Business
Confused?
Then read on!!!

2. Before we Begin
Warning! - This slide show is not intended to tell you how
important Social Media is, there are plenty of other presentations out
there doing a better job.
What F**K Are Social Media
Blogs, Tubes, Twitters and More

3. Who is this Presentation for?
People who are puzzled about how to make Social
Media work for their company.
Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/asylum_collectibles/

4. Applying Social Media to Business
Overcome the Challenge! It’s not limited to
helping you make more money!

5. Applying Social Media to Business
The potential of Social Media to improve the way
we communicate has far wider implications to
generate business value!

6. Applying Social Media to Business
Setting up a good Social Media experience requires you to
become a ‘communication architect’ through:
 Good design – a rich user experience
 Creative problem solving – finding alignment to user
requirements
 Providing the right tools - to involve the user and
develop the community
 Empowering the right people – to give them the
opportunity to communicate

7. Users + Conversation = Network
A Social Media strategy is about empowering the
conversation and involving the user.
Grasp this concept and the opportunities are huge!!

8. How to Build the Conversation
So how do you create a conversation that’ s
sustainable?
Simple:
• Create good experiences
• Social Experiences
• Design conversations
• .... And relationships

9. Implementing Social Media: The Common
Mistake
Most companies focus on the technology – and
don’t try to understand the behaviours or
needs of their:
• Customers – the end users
• Employees - the implementers

10. Not Suprising When There’ s so Much
Choice in Technology!!
Photo credit: Brian Solis Social Media Prism

11. Ever Heard the One About a Bad
Workman Blaming his Tools?
Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ljr69/3074367811/

12. What this Presentation Will Do
you to read a great book called
Tell
Groundswell by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff
 Collect the great ideas from this book
 Give you a simple Brainstorming tool to
adapt to your circumstances.

13. The Important First Step: Read
So lets start! – Buy the book and read it. Then look
at your business and start to talk about the
challenges you face.

14. Key Points from Groundswell
Point 1: The 4 Step Planning Process
 People –What are the customer/employees ready for?
 Objectives – What are the goals for the Social Media
project?
 Strategy – How do you want relationships with your
customers to change?
 Technology – What applications should you build or
buy?

15. Key Points from Groundswell
Point 2: Social Technographic Profile - how your
potential customer base uses Social Media.
Creators – create content
Critics – review and comment
Collectors – Tag, RSS, Bookmark
Joiners – Visit or join Social Networks
Spectators – Read, watch and listen
Inactives - non of the above

16. Key Points from Groundswell
Point 3: Customer orientated objectives:
 Listening – Understanding your customer
 Talking – Spreading your message
 Energizing – Word of mouth
 Supporting – Get your customers to support
each other
 Embracing – Integrate your customer into your
business

17. What Social Media Could do for your
Company
With your Colleagues:
 Contributing & Involving – allowing people to
collaborate more effectively
 Liberating – accessing knowledge resources
 Recruiting & Branding – joining your cause or
brand
All these objectives offer significant business value
and a competitive advantage!

18. Still Confused?
Photo credit http://www.flickr.com/photos/okinreport/

19. Problem Solving Social Media Strategy
Its practical time – so lets start talking about your
business context!

20. The Social Media Brainstorming Model
Before implementing any form of Social Media project use this
’Brainstorming’ tool
It sets thinking into three critical parts:
 The Steps Questions – identifies the steps to implement a Social
Media idea
 The Support Questions – identifies the internal support and culture
your company needs in order to Brainstorm any Social Media idea
 Evaluation Questions – reviews your new perspective on the
opportunity and helps you select the best options

21. The Brainstorming Model
Your Social Your Company: Starting the Your Social
Media Idea Brainstorming Conversation Media Project
The Steps Questions
The Idea Evaluation
Opportunity Evaluation
or Need Questions
The Support Questions

22. The Steps Questions
Questions that define the what, why and how of implementing
your Social Media idea:
 What is the outcome we want?
 Why are we doing this?
 How are we going to do this and who should be involved?
 Why are we doing it this way?

23. The Steps Questions
What – is the outcome you want?
Why – are we doing this?
STEPS
How & Who – the practical steps?
Why - are we doing it this way?
The Idea or
Opportunity Evaluation
Need

24. Examples of Questions
The following are some ideas of questions you
could ask using ‘The Steps Questions’ headings

25. What?
The Steps – What is the Outcome we
THE STEPS
Why?
Want to Achieve? How?
Why?
Defines the outcome you want.
What are we looking to achieve with this Social Media idea?
Can we easily write it and communicate it as a short slogan?
What business value will be added?
What objectives are related to this goal e.g. Talking, Listening, etc?
Are they simple and measurable so you know when you’ve got there?
NB - Remember to return to this section later after as things can change once you
have started the investigation.

26. What?
The Steps – Why are we Doing This?
THE STEPS
Why?
How?
Why?
Questions your Goal and your Objectives
Are they suitable?
Is this best we can achieve?
Why are these objectives suitable?
Why are we not doing this already?
NB - Remember to return to this section later after as things can change once you
have started the investigation.

27. What?
The Steps – How are we going to do
THE STEPS
Why?
this & Who is involved? How?
Why?
Identify and understand who is the customer.
Who is this idea for?
What is the social technical profile of your user/customer? Examines how
they are using social media, i.e. is the target demographic people collectors,
joiners, etc.
What are the user/customer requirements i.e. Product requirements for
social media idea for assessing customer requirements backed up by
evidence.

28. What?
The Steps – How are we going to do
THE STEPS
Why?
this & Who is involved? How?
Why?
Identify and understand who is the implementer.
Who should be involved in this idea?
Who are our talent resources?
Who feels passionately about this?
Who is most likely to be affected or impacted?
Do we have the right people?

29. What?
The Steps – How are we going to do
THE STEPS
Why?
this & Who is involved? How?
Why?
Investigates what you need to do.
How do we implement this idea?
What are the related processes/systems/technologies that are already
working within our company?
What areas are we lacking learning in?
How do we choose the technology i.e. buy, build or Joint Venture?
What new processes and systems training do we need?
Can we set up a test or experiment to investigate, if so how?

30. What?
The Steps – How are we going to do
THE STEPS
Why?
this & Who is involved? How?
Why?
Defines the Conversation Architecture.
How do we design the conversation?
What design features do we include?
Where and how do we include them?
How do we make it positive user experience?
How do we encourage collaboration?
What are the incremental tests we can run to develop learning?

31. What?
The Steps – How are we going to do
THE STEPS
Why?
this & Who is involved? How?
Why?
Investigates the business case.
How do we define the perceived value/impact of the idea?
How should we measure performance?
How should we identify and deal with potential risks?
Technical? – i.e. Cost/complexity issues
User/customer? – i.e. Negative commentary on products or services
Employee? – i.e. Impact of improper communication
Competitor? – i.e. Copying us better
Market? – i.e. Wrong technology for the market
Financial? – i.e. Cost vs benefit (intangible benefit such as branding)

32. What?
The Steps – Why are we Doing it this
THE STEPS
Why?
Way? How?
Why?
Justifies the choices.
Have we examined the end user/customer experience?
Is this the best way of doing things?
Are we choosing the right people?
Are we managing our risk?
Is there a sustainable business case?

33. The Support Questions
Questions that identify the agreements, ideas, culture you need to
support your Social Media idea.
 What is the outcome we want?
 Why are we doing this?
 How do we create the energy and commitment and who is
going to do this?
 Why are we doing it this way?

34. The Support Questions
The Idea or
Opportunity Evaluation
Need
What – is the outcome we want?
SUPPORT
Why – are we doing this?
How & Who – creating the energy & commitment?
Why – are we doing it this way?

35. Examples of Questions
The following are some ideas of questions you
could ask using ‘The Support Questions’
headings

36. What?
THE SUPPORT
Support – What is the Outcome you Why?
Want? How?
Why?
Defines Social Media strategy.
What do we do or potentially do that fits with Social Media?
What fits with our culture and what would we like to achieve?
Can we define this with a simple slogan?
What Social Media seems most appropriate i.e. Blog, wiki, etc?
What are the objectives for the strategy?
Are they simple and measurable so you know when you’ve got there?
NB - Remember to return to this section later after as things can change once you
have started the investigation.

37. What?
THE SUPPORT
The Support – Why are we Doing Why?
This? How?
Why?
Questions your Strategy towards Social Media.
Is this best we can achieve?
Is there be a perceived cost benefit awareness?
Is Social Media relevant to all our customers/stakeholders?
Is this relevant our industry or market?
Why are we not doing this already?
NB - Remember to return to this section later after as things can change once you
have started the investigation.

38. What?
The Support – How are we going to
THE STEPS
Why?
create the energy and commitment? How?
Why?
Understand how your stakeholders are using Social Media technology.
Who are the company stakeholders?
Which stakeholders are using Social Media?
How are they using Social Media technology to communicate?
How could this be improved?
Who are the champions?
Who are our talent resources for Social Media?
Do we have the right people?
Do they have the capabilities and competencies?

39. What?
The Support – How are we going to
THE STEPS
Why?
create the energy and commitment? How?
Why?
Keeping an eye on the future.
How should we scan for technology possibilities?
How do we develop the right sensing process to keep uptodate?
How do we improve communication about the latest Social Media ideas?
What is the selection process?
How should we scan for changes in customer or user behaviour?

40. What?
The Support – How are we going to
THE STEPS
Why?
create the energy and commitment? How?
Why?
Encourage Participation.
How do we consistently design the conversation with our employees and managers?
How do we encourage participation?
Have we identified their real motivations and interests?
Can they be aligned to particular forms of Social Media?
Are there any gaps or challenges in achieving their interests?
What are managements understanding and attitudes?
Are they aware of Social Media and how do we get their support?

41. What?
The Support – How are we going to
THE STEPS
Why?
create the energy and commitment? How?
Why?
Align culture & values.
How do we make Social Media relevant and interesting for our colleagues?
Do we have the right level of management support?
Are our people interested in Social Media?
Which groups or departments are most interested?
Which aspect of Social Media are engaging and if so why?
How do we improve on this?

42. What?
The Support – How are we going to
THE STEPS
Why?
create the energy and commitment? How?
Why?
Manage your competencies and develop new capabilities
How do we identify, acquire & develop relevant Social Media skills?
What systems and procedure do we have for promoting new learning?
Are we scared to fail?
How do we encourage experimentation?
How should we document and how should we spread learning?

43. What?
The Support – How are we going to
THE STEPS
Why?
create the energy and commitment? How?
Why?
Create benefit & cost awareness.
Can we easily spot when we are succeeding/failing?
How do we set-up flexible Social Media performance management systems
that:
• Keep up with the customer
• Reward good performance
• Monitor our communication and keep things on track
• Communicate the value added (tangible, non tangible)
How do we share these results?

44. What?
THE STEPS
Support – Why are we doing it this Why?
way? How?
Why?
Justifies the choices you made during scoping the How and the Who
Have we examined our people?
Have we got our eye on the future?
Have we empowered and involved the right people?
What fits with our culture?
Have we got a useful performance management and rewards system?
Have we got the right learning structures in place to develop new skills?

45. Evaluating the Opportunity
Steps Questions Examined
The Idea or Evaluation
Opportunity Examined
Need Questions
Support Questions Examined

46. The Evaluation Questions!
1. Is this Right or Wrong for us?
2. How best to implement?
3. What do we need to do?
3. What changes do we need to make?

47. Tips on Using the Model
1. Set up a steering group - try and identify the people that
have an interest in the technology
2. Involve the young – they have the greatest idea of the latest
technologies
3. Involve senior management – they have the greatest power
to support an initiative
4. Keep Checking Back - You may need to work through the
model several times with your colleagues as the discussions
are likely to yield new and important information
5. Always Focus on the Why – always ask yourself why are we
doing it this way, is this right for us, them, the conversation,
etc?

48. Why?: the Mother of All Questions
NB - Remember: things go wrong when you play
with her kids without asking!

49. Still Confused?

50. Recap The Steps
Social Media
Goal
Is this
Suitable?
User Profile User Requirements Orientate Methods Technology Testing Risk
To identify To set direction
needs

51. Recap The Support
Dynamic Social
Media Strategy
To Question
Direction
Culture and
User Management Employee Skills Communication Scanning
Values
To align and
To involve
encourage
people

52. Recommendations for Implementing Social
Media
Use the Brainstorming model for scoping

Start small and iterate (learn through small failures)

Think through consequeces

Find a champion and get senior management support

Always look to build in some form of performance

measurment system
Take care while selecting partners


53. Avoid the Deadly Sins of Social Marketing
When communicating online with your customers:
Don’t be a spammer

 Don’t be a stranger
 Don’t be noise
 Don’t be lazy
 Don’t be fake
 Don’t be selfish

54. Only Fools Rush In
AVOID the temptation.

55. Engagement & Trust
If you want buy-in for your idea you need engagement
with your customers and your colleagues.
Engagement comes from trust you build through creating
a sustained conversation. That means examine the
Steps and Support questions as a group.
Technology is the enabler – but the conversation is the
essential human element.