71. Right Questions Who Who are our audiences? How are they currently interacting with our brand? Where Where are our constituents online? What communities do they use? Why Why are we engaging ? (Market – Connect– Collaborate – Recruit) What What is our message? What do we want to change with our audiences? How What tools will we use to support our objectives? What are our success metrics?
72. Resource Recommendations … http://www.forrester.com/Groundswell http://www.friendswithbenefitsbook.com/ Disclosure: I am the technical reviewer of the upcoming printed edition.
So, what is social media? Wikipedia knows. But that’s a little technical. To me, the most important thing to know is that social media isn’t this …
It’s not about the technology. Technology is like air now. Right now, in the room – who is connected? We’re being webcast – that’s a connection. So, the technology facilitates it, but social media isn’t about technology.
Social media is, of course, all about people.
Important to remember. People are complex
People are messy
There are lots of them and they take different forms.
The same person may take on different roles.
Because people are complex, messy, and multifaceted, everything is shifting because of social media Communication tone Communication type Communication vehicle
Social Media! Power is equally distributed; no longer a top-down model Distributed via evolving communities rather than monolithic networks Created by consumers rather than “experts” (aka agencies) Promotes dialogue rather than monologue .. Engaging in a conversation (Markets are Conversations .. See “The Cluetrain Manifesto”
Brands aren’t messy. Brands aren’t like me. They are clean and shiny and are an ideal.
But with the brandividual, instead of seeing an ideal, we start to see an actualization.
Brandividuals didn’t really start w/ social media. They have always existed – particularly in customer service. Remember when you called a call centre and got that one AWESOME employee and wished you could have them everytime you called? That’s a brandividual. Brandividuals engage in social media. YOU will become a brandividual.
We trust people like us. (complex, messy, playing many roles)
We don’t trust corporations. It’s easier to trust Scott than Ford. Tonia than Molson.
It’s the mix of personal and professional information that we receive which helps to build our trust. Not like a press release which simply has a faceless name attached to it. We feel that we know a person better than a company. That a person gives us authentic information. That they are more likely to be on our side.
So, I thought we should look at some specific types of social media and a few examples of companies who are using them, specifically in an HR context.
Second type of Social Media: BLOG Simply put, an online journal consisting of posts in reverse chronological order Can be personal, professional, political, topical … anything you want to write about From a business POV they are often a good complement to a static website. Opportunity to create the *go to* place for information Easy to create The more you give away, the more business you will create
Podcasts & Video Casts Delivering audio or video content online using RSS Requires more tech savvy to set up and create one, but there are a lot of “how to’s” out there Good for an interview format (e.g. if you wanted to run an interview show) or if your customers are commuters or in their vehicles Can also be used as a sales training tool for your mobile sales force You don’t need an ipod … any mp3 player, or even just your computer will work to listen or view; over 50% of podcasts listeners do so on their laptops You do need software (mainly free, e.g. iTunes) to listen
Social Networks Communities that allow a) you to create and share content … and B) find like members who share something in common: interests, goals, concerns, people Finding people in common is really the important bit .. b/c you can create content on your own You’re building your network (professional, hobby, etc) Accomplished by tagging There is a social network for Everything & Everyone .. Want to show you a few examples. Business Network – LinkedIn Community Network – Change Everything (interesting b/c this is sponsored by a local company, VanCity) Cricket Network Sneaker Network Fashion Advice Shared Goals Network
If a brandividual fails us .. Because of the personal relationship (or the perception of a personal relationship) it’s worse than just poor customer service. It’s like if a friend fails us.
Vespa created an authentic blog with a group of enthusiasts and then lost interest. They stopped responding to inquiries from the bloggers and created negative feedback from neglect. Vespa forgot about the blog and it stayed live, yet derelict with negative comments, for 2 years before it was eventually taken down.
Social media is a TEAM effort. Make it one! Random House Twitter | Petro-Canada blog | Nuts about Southwest blog | Fanscape Twitter
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