This document discusses the Belgian railway company SNCB's launch of their Twitter account. It provides background on SNCB's operations and social media presence. The document explains that Twitter is well-suited for SNCB's need for real-time communication with travelers during situations like strikes or heavy weather. It also outlines five essentials to prepare for before a social media launch, including identifying passionate internal employees to engage on social media and having clear procedures for responding to questions. The document concludes with key takeaways around listening to audiences, finding engaged internal employees, and being prepared to adapt quickly.

1. SOCIAL MEDIA
@NMBS
LEARNINGS FROM A SOCIAL MEDIA LAUNCH

2. WHO’S WHO?
JEAN-MARIE
HOFFELINCK
KIM
CASTRO
ADVISOR ONLINE
COMMUNICATION
COMMUNITY
MANAGER
@BRUSSELSREGULAR
Corporate
Communica.on
Marke.ng
&
Sales
@ DEKIMCA

3. CONTENTS
• SNCB: Facts & Figures
• Why Twitter for SNCB?
• Launch Triggers
• 5 Essentials Before a Social Media Launch
• How we use Engagor: 5 tips
• Key Takeaways

4. FACTS & FIGURES
850.000
DAILY TRAVELERS
550
STATIONS & STOPS
3.700
TRAINS/DAY
19.385
EMPLOYEES
172.900
BRAND MENTIONS
IN 2013
18.578
TWITTER
FOLLOWERS

5. WHY TWITTER FOR SNCB?
• Twitter is ideal for real time communication (railway
context)
• Fast communication in crisis situations (strike, heavy
weather, …)
• Learning from travelers, solving “real time” problems
• Conversation: explaining why things go right or wrong

6. LAUNCH TRIGGERS
“… One giant leap for SNCB”

7. • Private account by employees
• Showed big potential audience on Twitter
• Positive impact on travellers (#nmbsocial,
#mijntreinrijdt)
TRIGGER: @STATIONSCHEFBMO

8. TRIGGER: SNOW CRISIS 12.03.2013
• Hundreds of people stuck in trains
• Thousands of tweets on one day
• Tools for crisis communication?

9. 5 ESSENTIALS BEFORE LAUNCH
“Be prepared …”

10. ESSENTIAL #5: OPENING HOURS
6h 8h 15h 22h18h
0
2.500
5.000
7.500

11. ESSENTIAL #4: SPOCS & PROCEDURES
• Find internal specialists, involve them before
launch
• Create clear internal procedures for FAQ’s
• Refer to existing channels

12. • One single point of contact
• Not based on internal structure
ESSENTIAL #3: HOW MANY ACCOUNTS?

13. ESSENTIAL #2: MONITORING & SCRIPTS
• Monitoring: get a sense of volume and type of
questions
• Learn the language of your clients. Avoid jargon
• Create answer-templates

14. ESSENTIAL #1: GREAT PEOPLE
• Ambassadors
• Search for internal passionate employees
• They create a personal, more positive
connection with customers

15. HOW WE USE ENGAGOR: 5 TIPS
“Using Engagor to the max”

16. TIP #5: EXTENSIVE TAGGING

17. TIP #4: CUSTOM CHARTS

18. TIP #4: CUSTOM CHARTS

19. • Export of Engagor data to RSS
• Handy for internal information sharing, not
everyone has to be in Engagor
• Jacca-screens for trainmanagers
#L66
#Zedelgem
#Torhout
Storing
aan
de
seininrich7ng
TIP #3: RSS

20. TIP #2: REALTIME FEEDBACK

21. TIP #1: SMART INBOXES
• Keep your inbox clean by filtering mentions into
Smart Folders
• Useful for contests, special hashtag mentions or
statistics

22. KEY TAKEAWAYS
“You shall not forget…”

23. “Listen to your audience.
They tell you a lot.”
K E Y TA K E A W AY S

24. “Search internally for
passionate employees”
K E Y TA K E A W AY S

25. “Be prepared, adapt quickly”
K E Y TA K E A W AY S

26. ANY QUESTIONS?
Kim Castro, kim.castro@nmbs.be
JM Hoffelinck, jean-marie.hoffelinck@nmbs.be
CONTACT