Social Media Trends for Organizations
Thought-Starters Dave Fleet VP Digital, Edelman With input from Steve Rubel and David Armano

Edelman.ca
Introduction

Edelman.ca Themes 1. Silo busting
2. Maturation of social media 3. Rise of the „less shiny object‟ 4. Communication accelerates

Theme #1:
Silo busting

Edelman.ca Trend #1: Integration Organizations
will increasingly realize that social media achieves little unless they integrate it with other communication forms and with other business functions

Edelman.ca Trend #1: Best practices
• Structure social media across silos • Plan communications across functions • Integrate and share intelligence across the enterprise

Edelman.ca Trend #2: Social customer
support Multiple factors lead companies to adopt social support activities alongside their traditional channels

Edelman.ca Trend #2: Best practices
• Engage proactively AND reactively • Where possible, solve problems in public • Support resolution by the community • Reward third-party advocates Photo: angelaarcher

Edelman.ca Trend #3: Death of
the campaign Companies look beyond campaigns and towards ongoing activities as drivers of results in social media activities

Edelman.ca ABANDONMENT VALLEYMANAGED COMMUNITY BUILDS
ON EXISTING COMMUNITY EQUITY CONSUMER CONVERSATIONS ACTIVE CAMPAIGN SPIKE ACTIVE CAMPAIGN SPIKE Trend #3: Best practices • Identify an executive sponsor • Budget, staff, plan for ongoing activities • Diversify responsibility for activities – Between functions – Within functions

Edelman.ca Trend #4: Ad Agencies
Awake 2010 was the year that advertising agencies bought-in to social media. 2011 will see that continue, albeit with bumps in the road.

Edelman.ca PAID media SOCIAL platforms
PARTNERSHIPS INFLUENCER NETWORKS BRANDED ENTERTAINMENT NICHE PLATFORMS EMBASSIES RICH MEDIA CONTENTDIGITAL PROPERTIES WEBSITES CUSTOM BUILT PORTALS INTERNAL/ENTERPRISE INFLUENCER ENGAGEMENT ADVERTISING BANNERS DISPLAY PAID ENDORSEMENTS OUTPOSTS RELEVANT MESSAGE BOARDS BLOGOSPHERE Social Engagement Concentrated Here EARNED media OWNED properties Source: David Armano, Edelman 2010, edelmandigital.com Trend #4: Best practices • Integrate advertising into social programs • Balance pros and cons of different media forms in communications programs • Beware of purely campaign-based approaches • Leverage creativity while maintaining engagement

Theme #2: Maturation of social
media

Edelman.ca Trend #5: "Influence" matures
Companies evolve their approach to influence beyond just considering reach. Thought leadership and experts take precedence.

Edelman.ca Trend #5: Best practices
• Consider context • Consider spheres of influence outside the top tier • Measure outcomes to refine approach

Edelman.ca Trend #6: Return of
websites After several years of being told to “fish where the fish are” businesses realize that social integration to existing web sites doesn’t only help them become relevant—users will expect it.

Edelman.ca Trend #6: Best practices
• Incorporate social data from connections, friends • Design for function & form • Be conservative on privacy

Edelman.ca Trend #7: Democratization of
voice Companies continue the path broken by others to allow additional corporate spokespeople in the online space

Edelman.ca Trend #7: Best practices
• Set boundaries for free engagement • Develop community guides to ensure consistency in approach • Hire experience and train for success

Edelman.ca Trend #8: Community management
Community management evolves beyond random engagement and towards rigorous, measured strategic activity

Edelman.ca • Engage community members
and encourage participation • Personalize interactions while reinforcing corporate priorities • Act transparently • Engage respectfully • Act as a real-time first line of defense for online issues Trend #8: Best practices

Theme #3: Rise of the
“less shiny object”

Edelman.ca Trend #9: Digitally driven
crises No-one thinks they're going to experience a crisis until they do. More and more organizations will realize too late that they need to incorporate digital into their crisis plans.

Edelman.ca Trend #9: Best practices
• Identify potential sources of crises • Plan ahead; get buy-in on removing roadblocks • Monitor continuously for emerging issues • Practice thorough crisis simulations

Edelman.ca Trend #10: Digital Curation
Social media allows everyone to produce content. Some is good; some is bad. As the volume of information increases, companies may benefit from curating the former.

Edelman.ca Trend #10: Best practices
• Identify under-served niches and meet them • Frame up issues and discussions; editorialize • Make curation collaborative and social Photo by chrisjbarker

Edelman.ca Trend #11: Search strategy
Companies will increasingly factor search considerations into the earned and social realms of their online activities.

Edelman.ca Trend #11: Best practices
• Think beyond SEM and on-domain SEO • Factor search considerations into communications planning, not just content • Optimize activities to realize long-term benefit from short-term campaigns

Edelman.ca Trend #12: Measurement matures
Measurement has long been an Achilles heel for PR. Advertising agencies are still stuck measuring impressions. Measurement will, by necessity, evolve in 2011.

Edelman.ca Trend #12: Best practices
• Mandate metric sharing • Measure outcomes of activities, not outputs • Consider measurement at the beginning and middle – not just the end • Tailor reports to the audience • Insist on context alongside numbers

Edelman.ca Trend #13: Rise of
the content strategist As campaigns evolve to sit alongside ongoing community management, content creation and optimization takes a central place at the social media table. Photo: John Two Persons Benedick

Edelman.ca Trend #13: Best practices
• Place audiences at the core of content • Plan and maintain a flexible content calendar • Create social objects to drive attention • Optimize based on previous results

Edelman.ca Trend #14: Developer Engagement
33 Photo by bugbbq Developers are driving innovation across all key digital platforms. Marketing innovators will begin working with developers to scale their programs and boost their surface area.

Edelman.ca Trend #14: Best practices
• Make valuable assets available for developers – e.g. art, text, videos, data • Build APIs and cultivate a rich developer network • Adopt developer creations 34

Theme #4:
Communication accelerates

Edelman.ca Trend #15: Location, location,
Facebook 2010 was Foursquare‟s year, but it never broke through. Facebook is now paying attention to location, and is poised to make location-based marketing relevant.

Edelman.ca Trend #15: Best practices
• Think “LoSoPhoMo,” particularly on Facebook • Combine real and digital world engagement • Reward advocates with additional privileges and rewards

Edelman.ca Trend #16: Social media
overload • Social media overload is nothing new to early adopters, but it will become an increasing issue for “average” users

Edelman.ca Trend #16: Best practices
• Identify and elevate your experts • Dazzle with data • Integrate social to cut down on new logins • Ask and answer

Edelman.ca Trend #17: Marketing in
Streams Increasing prevalence of streams of news means that “what” and “where” no longer answer enough questions. “When” becomes an important consideration.

Edelman.ca Trend #17: Best practices
• Analyse your audience activity • Schedule updates throughout the day • Post content at optimum times Credit: HubSpot

Edelman.ca Trend #18: Listening becomes
mandatory Increased occurrences of social media-driven issues, combined with the potential for insights and for building brands and reputations drives monitoring as a core social activity

Edelman.ca Trend #18: Best practices
• Formalize monitoring for the organization • Tailor search taxonomies to functional needs • Establish processes to route and escalate conversations as needed • Extend monitoring boundaries beyond the organization to a wider context

Edelman.ca Questions for you: •
What trends do you see? • Which trends are most helpful for you? • Which trends are most challenging? Questions?

Edelman.ca
LinkedIn.com/in/davefleet
dave.fleet@edelman.com
416.849.8940