The Social Web Redefining Business

Who Owns Social Media? Everyone in the Company

Business and Social Media
Big brands are embracing the good, the bad and the ugly of social media
It’s not about campaigns, but a permanent positioning
Fortune 500’s use of blogs, video, and podcasts has increased, but Twitter was the ‘09 social media channel of choice - Society for New Communications Research ‘09
22% of the ‘09 Fortune 500 have a public corporate blog
86% of these blogs link directly to a corporate Twitter account, a 300% increase over the ‘08 study
Social media must be embraced company-wide

But Who’s on First?
Q: Who should own social media?
Of those engaged in social media efforts:
72.7% - Sales and Marketing
54.5% - PR
Options not selected = HR, Owner, Other
Of those not engaged:
50% - PR
33.3% - Sales and Marketing
16.7% – HR
16.7% - Owner
0% - IT
In c21’s survey of 200 business owners and communicators giving them multiple choice options

Who’s Producing Content?
2/3 said designated team members produce content
1/3 said all employees produce content
Unfortunately, most are doing so without formal guidelines
Q: Do you have a SM policy?
63.6% - NO
36.4% - YES

What Thought Leaders are Saying
“It’s not a department that owns social media, it’s the consumer.” Heather Oldani, Director, US Communications, McDonalds @Heather04“The consumer owns the brand, and thus so do employees.”Carol Kruse, Vice President, Global Interactive Marketing, The Coca Cola Company“It comes down to content and authenticity.”Gary Vaynerchuck, owner, Wine Library and social media thought-leader @garyvee

Are all Industries on the Bandwagon?
Employers should add a policy to their employee handbooks or manuals
that prohibits personal employee blogging during working hours.
a policy that specifically addresses private blogs and chat rooms during off hours.
From Internet Business Law Services, article onEmployee Blogs Pose Potential Problems for Businesses

Case Studies

There’s a Booger in My Pizza
April 2009 – Employees post gross video on YouTube
Alerted by a consumer/blogger
No response for 24 hours
Then, video goes super-viral
Domino’s responds in 48 hours:
Creates a Twitter account to respond to consumers
Posts CEO video on YouTube

My Flowers Haven’t Arrived

Management Approaches
Lone Wolf Approach
Silo focus
SM is the focus of one person/dept.
Identify appropriate “steward of the message”
Albeit one or a few - content MUST be inclusive and organizationally authentic

Management Approaches
Kumbaya Approach
Create core team
Cross-functional, high-level members
Define measurement /reporting accountabilities
Provide simple, clear guidelines – regardless of “official” social media role
Brand and messaging
Public discourse
Training
Encourage all employees to consider social media and what they do for the company

Trust the Leaders
Learn from the best in SM policy guidelines
Even when you are talking as an individual, people may perceive you to be talking on behalf of Kodak, be upfront…
Click here for other sample social media policies

Management Approaches in Action

United Linen
Web site
What: Regional Uniform/ Linen Co.
Family-owned
Founded in 1936
One-man marketing team
Who: Scott Townsend, Marketing Director
Why: Brand awareness, lead generation

United Linen

United Linen Results
Major business media buzz
National coverage for a regional small business is invaluable
Enhanced customer service
Twitter used to update customers during bad weather
Building new business relationships
Reaching new audiences

The Coca-Cola Company
What: Producer of more than 500 beverage brands worldwide
Founded in 1886
92,400 employees
Why: Brand engagement, hyper-local connections
“The Coca-Cola Company strives to refresh the world, inspire moments of optimism and happiness, create value and make a difference.”

> 18K Twitter followers
> 5 million fans
70% user-generated content

Engaging music fans on MySpace
Over 200,000 YouTube Channel views

3-page Social Media Policy:
Certification for official spokespersons
Guidelines for all employees
Cross-functional Social Media Council:
Heads of Legal, PR, Global Marcom, HR meet monthly to plan/adapt

Oppenheim Law
What: Law firm in Florida
Real estate foreclosure specialty
Founded 2000
Who: Husband/Wife team
Why: Thought-leadership, client education
Results:
“Made lemonade”
Several thousand online subscribers in less than a year
National media coverage like WSJ and more

What Went Wrong?
Within 48 hours, this campaign triggered a backlash from its target audience

The Motrin Moms Meltdown
October 2008 - Motrin posts video online
Nov. 15 - Critics surface on Twitter (@JessicaGottlieb)
Nov. 15 - #motrinmoms becomes a high trending topic
Nov. 16 - “Motrin Makes Moms Mad” response video launches on
YouTube
Nov. 16 - Motrin pulls the video, shuts down site
Nov. 17 - Site returns, Motrin issues statement

Tracking Motrin’s Response
Did they monitor?
Were they present on social media channels?

Conclusions
Identify the best messengers
Good writers, creative thinkers, good spokespeople, engaged
Develop proactive strategies for listening, connecting and influencing
Editorial calendars, posting ideas, etc.
Put policies in place
Monitor and measure

communications 21
c21pr.com
www.facebook.com/c21prTwitter: @c21pr
Sharon Goldmacher, president & CEO sgoldmacher@c21pr.com
Marlena Reed, VP of Interactive Services, mreed@c21pr.com

The Social Web Redefining Business

by Society for New Communications Research (SNCR)

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