A presentation we made for Project DigitISE, who hosted 'Get the Digital Edge', a series of workshops and seminars for University of Westminster students exploring digital literacy skills and employability.
We look at what online reputation is, why it matters, and how social media can affect it. By examining these questions in the light of FTSE100 activity on social media channels, we ask what it means for the individual.
Social Media and reputation: what you can learn from big companies
1. Project DigitISE
Social media and reputation:
what you can learn from big
companies
Andrew Rigby, Senior Consultant at The Group
21 March 2013
2. We help organisations
to connect, inform,
understand and influence
the people who matter to
them
Delivering enhanced
corporate reputation and
competitive advantage
3. 5 year average
1995 first site 2001 2011
2001 2010 2012 2000 2012
2009 2010 2003 2003 1995
2012 2008 2008 2004 2007
2012 2009 2009 2011
4. 367 awards
21 years
24 clients Digital Agency Of The Year
2012 Digital Impact Awards
Tesco – Best corporate web site
Tesco – Best online annual report
2012 ARC Awards and iNOVA Grand Prix
Prudential – Best online annual report
2012 + 2011 IR Best Practice Awards
British Land – Best Corp Web site
2011 Digital Impact Awards
Centrica – Best Corp Web site
2011 CorpComms Awards
SABMiller – Best corporate web site
5. What’s on the
menu?
1. Why do companies
use social media?
2. How do companies
use social media?
As we go along, we’ll
look at what this might
mean for you
8. What Is Reputation?
You don’t own or control perceptions of
others
Reputation is a perception of character
Image is the view of the organisation
held by external stakeholders
Identity is the view of the organisation
held by internal stakeholders
Reputation is the sum total of image and
identity
Source: Henley Business School
9. The SPIRIT™ Model
What Henley Business school found:
Awareness is not enough
Satisfaction is not enough
Its BEHAVIOUR that counts!
9
11. Institutional investors stated that:
“company web sites have a
substantial impact on their
attitudes towards a company
and its stock”
Research by Rivel
12. ...OK – but how does this relate
to social media?
13. Corporate reputation and social media
you what you say how you say it what others say
Company Marketing Media Customers
Sector IR Channels Employees
Brand CSR Language(s) Communities
Heritage PR Tone of voice NGOs
Products Recruitment Visual identity Analysts
Services Lobbying Investors
Markets Internal Suppliers
Relationships Job-seekers
14. Corporate reputation and social media
you what you say how you say it what others say
Company Marketing Media Customers
Sector IR Channels Employees
Brand CSR Language(s) Communities
Heritage PR Tone of voice NGOs
Products Recruitment Visual identity Analysts
Services Lobbying Investors
Markets Internal Suppliers
Relationships Job-seekers
17. Key corporate connections
Investors Potential employees
52% read blogs 32% of professionals use G+,
24% made investment decision Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn
after reading blog for work every day
30% use Twitter High users are high flyers: 86%
promoted recently
The media CR audiences
84% use SM for sourcing Not homogenous – consumers,
28% of UK journalists say they investors, communities,
can’t work without SM campaigners
Twitter most popular (80%) Use SM to react, share,
question, learn and campaign
2012 Brunswick Investor Use of Digital and Social Media Survey; 2012 Cision Social Journalism; How social
technologies drive business success (Google/Millard Brown); A vision for the future of recruitment (ERE)
18. The FTSE100 social media index
2009 2009 2009 2009 2013 2013
2013 2013 2013
Scoring is based on a balance of qualitative and
quantitative data
http://www.the-group.net/336-social-media-index
19. In 2012 social media
connections with FTSE100
companies doubled
38.5m people now like,
follow, +1'd or subscribe to
FTSE100 companies
20. Accounts attract a huge following
13 companies with over 1m views
10 companies with over 100k followers
7 companies with over 1m fans
5 companies with over 100k followers
21. Average numbers are rising fast
811,523 views (623,690 in 2011)
181,585 fans (72,850 in 2011)
37,807 followers (14,392 in 2011)
15,099 followers (6,773 in 2011)
Adjusted to remove outliers
22. Active accounts attract
the majority of FTSE100 connections
51 active accounts had 99%
of likes
62 active accounts held 95%
of FTSE100 followers
71 active accounts with 99%
of FTSE100 followers
68 active accounts attracted
99% of views
25. Banking in spotlight for 2012
Growth in interest in banking sector
versus average (2011 to 2012)
743%
558%
478%
Facebook likes Twitter Followers Video Views
Average % growth Banking % growth
26. Banking in spotlight for 2012
Peaks in interest on Twitter
STAN, 7 May
Liverpool FC shirts
RBS, 21 JUN HSBC, 18 OCT
Computer glitch DoS attack
BARC, 28 JUL STAN, 6 AUG
Libor scandal Illegal money laundering
monitor.wildfireapp.com (daily growth in followers on Twitter, 2012)
29. Growing realisation of the need to
interact with stakeholders
21 are open to comments (12 in 2011)
10 respond to comments (7 in 2011)
30 reply to wall posts (17 in 2011)
44 reply to direct queries (31 in 2011)
65 use #hashtags (48 in 2011)
65 have comments enabled (46 in 2011)
30. Linking with rest of social media
21 pages are integrated (out of 97)
22 pages are integrated (out of 70)
17 pages are integrated (out of 53)
22 channels are integrated (out of 76)
17 blogs are integrated (out of 24)
35. Collect and
categorise images –
yours and those
of others
Obvious for
consumer brands
Experian has
boards (collections
of pins) promoting
blog posts, white
papers, employee
testimonials, videos,
interviews and
industry trends
37. Companies are creating multiple accounts for
distinct stakeholder groups
53 have more than one LinkedIn page
49 have more than one Facebook page
32 have more than one Twitter account
28 companies have more than one
corporate YouTube account
7 have more than one Google+ page
We are recognised as having the best corporate web sites in the UK. But from our perspective we’re not in the web site business – we’re in the reputation businessAnd by that I mean that everything we do as an agency is aimed at protecting / managing / enhancing / building the corporate reputation of our clients onlineWe’ll create a beautiful web site for you but that’s only part of the storyAnd that is it for us – yes – you’ll have a fantastic web site – but it’s purpose is all about your reputationAnd if you want to understand us as a company what we do is look after as many of the bits as possible and mitigate against the risks of the bad
Ask people what they are interested in finding out. As we go along, we’ll look at what corporate social media activity and strategy might mean for you: learnings could be about how you use social media personally – but also more directly it might give you aheadstart on other employees in understanding how a company you work for could use social media. And hopefully you’ll get an insight into what an employer might expect from you on social media.Just a note – we’ll be looking at corporate social media, not brands’ activity.
First we need to look at reputation – what it is and why it matters, to companies and to you
This is as true for you as it is for companies – and it matters
Experience builds reputation. Rankings like the Sunday Times ‘Best companies to work for’ aren’t reputation – but they are influenced by reputation, and affect reputation. What’s at the base of it all? How a company acts and behaves.There is a quote from Benjamin Franklin to the effect that “It takes many good deeds to build a good reputation – and only one bad one to lose it”
So that’s what it is – why does it matter?
Investors said this – which is them saying, we care about reputation and it can affect how we view your value – i.e. it affects stock price. It’s real!Now there is fairly widespread agreement on the importance of a good reputation and the value of a good reputation and the tangible benefits that it brings in….Shareholder sentiment / Consumer behaviour / Employee satisfaction / Analyst ratings (and share price) / Supplier relationships And should anything go wrong – in how the media cover a bad news storyFor you, you can gain a competitive advantage and ‘improve your stock’ with a good reputationShow the book on reputation management– reputation is important! Companies try to measure it too – eg Shell reputation tracker
This in turn means that for companies, content is king, especially now the number of places and ways you communicate is growing. For you, it’s all about what you say and do, and how you interact is central, whether on social media or elsewhere.In the same way that companies need to have a consistent brand and content, you might want a consistent ‘brand’ for yourself. If you want to use social media to further your career, and don’t want to protect your accounts, make sure what you say is sensible and consistent. So a good social media strategy can only be good if the content – what you say - is good, and consistent across all channels. People soon spot fakes, or inconsistency.
Another reason for companies to use social media.....and for you to.
http://www.finextra.com/News/FullStory.aspx?newsitemid=24542Share price volatility is affected by the chatter of public opinion on social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook, according to UK financial professionals.A poll of 360 people from Colt Technology Services found that 63% of respondents, including brokers and heads of trading desks, believe the valuation of individual stocks can be directly linked to public sentiment contained in social media channels.Although only seven per cent regard sentiment on Twitter, Facebook and other sites as a leading indicator, just under half do consider it as a trailing indicator.2012 Brunswick Investor Use of Digital and Social Media Surveyhttp://de.slideshare.net/Brunswick/2012-brunswick-investor-use-of-digital-and-social-media-survey with LinkedIn (76%), Facebook (72%), blogs (68%) and ‘audiovisual sharing sites’ (65%)32% of professionals are using Google+, Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn for work purposes every dayFrequent users more likely to be high flyers: 86% have recently been promotedSocial media not just about direct recruitment opportunities – everyone is a potential employee90% of relevant candidates not looking for a new job – engagement is a longer term goal for both parties
At the Group we conduct a research programme begun in 2009 and repeated every six months, into how FTSE100 companies use social media.This year we have included LinkedIn and Google+ for the first time. You can find out more on our web site, but we’ll look at just a few of the key findings.
So people want to communicate with companies on social media – yes, even corporate accounts! Don’t be surprised if people want to communicate with you on social media in a professional, not purely personal, capacity. Again, think about what’s on your profiles – and adjust privacy settings, or adjust what you put there....
Are any of you followers of corporate accounts?
Growth is fast
If you are active on social media, expect to attract followers. And vice versa.
Attention in a crisis - banking focus
People use social media to find out the real story – it’s where people will see the real you....
So this means that people are attracted to social media by events. For you, if you search for a job, or do something notable – expect people to look for you on social media. Would you be happy with that?http://promotions.prnewswire.com/rs/prnewswire/images/2012BNYMGlobalIRSurvey.pdfhttp://www.q4blog.com/2012/12/11/global-trends-in-new-media-and-the-investment-community/http://www.slideshare.net/BoxIR/box-ir-financial-market-survey-2012-summary2012 Brunswick Investor Use of Digital and Social Media Surveyhttp://de.slideshare.net/Brunswick/2012-brunswick-investor-use-of-digital-and-social-media-surveyInvestors’ interaction with digital and social media is increasing. 52% (+5) read blogs, 30% (+19%) use Twitter, 24% (+7) use social networks (2010 – 2012)Deeper online engagement is increasingly driving investment action. 28% investigated an issue based on something seen on Twitter 24% made an investment decision after reading a blog, 12% made an investment after reading TwitterDigital and social media replacing traditional media sources – importance of news releases -13%2013 Edelman Trust Barometerhttp://www.slideshare.net/EdelmanInsights/global-deck-2013-edelman-trust-barometer-16086761Credible spokespeople in 2013:Academic or expert: 69%Technical expert in the company: 67%A person like yourself: 61%Financial or industry analyst: 51%NGO representative: 51%Regular employee: 50%CEO 43%Government official or regulator: 36%
Some tips for you assuming you want a professional social media presence...or if you want a headstart when you join that company.
3 steps for any company: first, find out what’s being said about you. Then claim your presence – a good name for example. Then start using – broadcast at first if you need, then engage Engagement is the end goal.
24 blogs 70 Facebook pages81 Twitter accounts
Social media does not exist in isolation – link! Think about what you say and do on all channels.
Popular channel – creating content in which people are interestedMany playlists to group contentVideos back up ‘real world’ engagement at conferencesCustomised designSocial media integration
Use the medium, be creativePosting links to images and video creates a preview of the content in in the Tweet
You can customise pretty well without breaking the bank
Range of apps, focusing on energy issuesFeatures a careers appEngaging, to the point contentVisually very strongFacebook apps include Working at Shell, Energy mix, Natural gas, Future of energy, Alaska and In the community
Use the medium – on Pinterest, being visual is key
Replies to comments across its three Twitter accounts and Facebook accountAnswers questions and redirects people to other sources of information
You might consider separate professional and private accounts
@IHG - general account for the Group@IHG_CR highlights sustainability issues and is linked to the campaign Facebook page@IHGCareers posts to vacancies listed on LinkedIn
Examples of internal policies – about principles rather than hard and fast rules – too many platforms, situations for a set of absolute rules. It’s about common sense. When you join a company, expect to get one of these.
Think before you post – take emotion out of the equation.
Leave it to the experts – be very wary of trying to speak for your company, however well intentioned.