HOW FORD MOTOR COMPANY MOVED FROM CONTENT PROVIDER TO CONTENT CREATOR.docxHOW FORD MOTOR COMPANY MOVED FROM CONTENT PROVIDER TO CONTENT CREATOR Source: http://www.socialmedia-forum.com/smwf-2015-in-pictures/ Why Ford of Europe’s Vice President of Communications and Public Affairs Mark Truby, a former newspaper business editor, worries about whether his company’s content is worthy of reading aloud over the breakfast table and how the launch of a new car in Germany with just 300 media present became the number one trending subject on Twitter and was watched in full by more than 360,000 people around the world. Ahead of #SMWF this June we wanted to find out more from the man himself: 1)Mark your focus is very much about creating content and storytelling but how do you manage that? What do you need to consider? “Over the past four years we have moved from a Ford of Europe communications team focused primarily on media relations and servicing the automotive press to a team focused first and foremost on constant storytelling to a broad spectrum of media and audiences. This was a major strategic shift and required new skills and resources. We created a content team with writers, photographers, videographers, graphic artists – people with strong backgrounds in print, broadcast and digital journalism.  We augmented our Ford team with new talent on the agency side to help us tell more compelling stories and reach new audiences – such as tech, design and lifestyle press, as well as bloggers and digital influencers.” 2)What are the key elements to consider when creating any content or story for Ford and what can other businesses learn from your approach? “We try to keep it simple and ask ourselves a few questions.  Is the story interesting enough that a news editor would just have to have it for their newspaper, TV broadcast or website? Would the average person find it interesting enough to read or view, and share online?  Would a husband read it aloud across the breakfast table to his wife, for example? You have to be really honest with yourself on these questions or you will waste time and effort on the low-value stories. If a story passes those first hurdles, then we ask whether the story – once read or watched – could truly improve our corporate reputation or raise someone’s opinion of our vehicles and technologies. We have all read a story or seen a feature on TV that forever changed our perception of a person, company or organization.  We quote it to friends or share it on Twitter. This is the power of great storytelling whether you are creating it yourself or working with journalists. So, simple rules but a difficult task. It takes a lot of creativity and hard work to create content that is entertaining, interesting and meaningful.” 3)How can you reach new audiences most effectively through social media and how is this different to the traditional days of PR? “Certainly online video, infographics and other forms of digital storytelling are amaz ...

1. HOW FORD MOTOR COMPANY MOVED FROM CONTENT
PROVIDER TO CONTENT CREATOR.docxHOW FORD
MOTOR COMPANY MOVED FROM CONTENT PROVIDER
TO CONTENT CREATOR
Source: http://www.socialmedia-forum.com/smwf-2015-in-
pictures/
Why Ford of Europe’s Vice President of Communications and
Public Affairs Mark Truby, a former newspaper business editor,
worries about whether his company’s content is worthy of
reading aloud over the breakfast table and how the launch of a
new car in Germany with just 300 media present became the
number one trending subject on Twitter and was watched in full
by more than 360,000 people around the world. Ahead
of #SMWF this June we wanted to find out more from the man
himself:
1)Mark your focus is very much about creating content and
storytelling but how do you manage that? What do you need to
consider?
“Over the past four years we have moved from a Ford of Europe
communications team focused primarily on media relations and
servicing the automotive press to a team focused first and
foremost on constant storytelling to a broad spectrum of media
and audiences. This was a major strategic shift and required
new skills and resources.
We created a content team with writers, photographers,
videographers, graphic artists – people with strong backgrounds
in print, broadcast and digital journalism. We augmented our
Ford team with new talent on the agency side to help us tell
more compelling stories and reach new audiences – such as
tech, design and lifestyle press, as well as bloggers and digital
influencers.”

2. 2)What are the key elements to consider when creating any
content or story for Ford and what can other businesses learn
from your approach?
“We try to keep it simple and ask ourselves a few questions. Is
the story interesting enough that a news editor would just have
to have it for their newspaper, TV broadcast or website? Would
the average person find it interesting enough to read or view,
and share online? Would a husband read it aloud across the
breakfast table to his wife, for example?
You have to be really honest with yourself on these questions or
you will waste time and effort on the low-value stories. If a
story passes those first hurdles, then we ask whether the story –
once read or watched – could truly improve our corporate
reputation or raise someone’s opinion of our vehicles and
technologies. We have all read a story or seen a feature on TV
that forever changed our perception of a person, company or
organization. We quote it to friends or share it on Twitter.
This is the power of great storytelling whether you are creating
it yourself or working with journalists. So, simple rules but a
difficult task. It takes a lot of creativity and hard work to create
content that is entertaining, interesting and meaningful.”
3)How can you reach new audiences most effectively through
social media and how is this different to the traditional days of
PR?
“Certainly online video, infographics and other forms of digital
storytelling are amazing tools. The same rules apply —
entertaining, interesting and meaningful – but when you get it
right the payoff can be huge. That dialogue and feedback you
receive from social is very valuable.
Key for me is authentic storytelling rather than lists and click-
bait. Look at the way the Star Wars film franchise is engaging
with their fans ahead of the next movie. It’s really exciting and
that’s what we are trying to do with something like the
upcoming launch of the new Ford Mustang. We are starting to
better utilize listening tools online to understand where and

3. what conversation is happening and what content people are
viewing and engaging with related to Ford. We are building
relations with digital influential to help tell our story. Our
approach is to bring them inside Ford and trust them to tell the
story with their own unique point of view and authentic voice.”
4)You talk about making events more global through
livestreams and social media but how do you best manage that
and what do you need to be aware of?
“We recently unveiled our new Ford Focus RS. It’s a 320+-
horsepower, all-wheel drive performance car with a lot of fans
around the world. We held the event in Cologne, Germany, but
we considered it a global event. We hired a producer with live
TV experience to produce the show. We worked with rally
racing and internet star Ken Block to do a spectacular driving
entrance and create teaser videos. The event was livestreamed
around the world and more than 360,000 people watched the full
40 minute event.
We also issued many shorter videos of the cool driving
sequences that received millions of views. Ken Block – who
has millions of followers on social media – helped us share
these assets. So the 300 media who attended in person got
everything they needed to write stories and shoot videos of the
launch of the Focus RS. At the same time, we were able to
make it a global digital unveiling. On the day of the event
#FocusRS was at one point the No 1 trending topic on Twitter
globally.”
5)At #SMWF this June what do you think will be the challenge
most concerning delegates in the world of social media and
digital marketing currently?
“We are all trying to crack the same code — how to truly
engage with the world and your audiences through social and
digital media. It’s a fun, ever-changing landscape but the
challenge of finding your distinctive, authentic voice and
creating truly compelling content is huge.

4. HOW NEWS UK ENSURES ITS CONTENT PROVOKES
EMOTION.docxHOW NEWS UK ENSURES ITS CONTENT
PROVOKES EMOTION – WHETHER THAT’S INTRIGUE,
TEARS OR LAUGHTER.
For content provider News UK social media has had a huge
impact on what and how and what it produces for its readers.
The shift in its business has seen big changes as consumers
become publishers in their own right – so is it change without
risk? We interviewed News UK’s creative content director
Tiffanie Darke to find out more. Having worked on The Sunday
Times, The Telegraph, The Express and The Observer her
journalism background is extensive. In her latest role she heads
up the new Native Advertising Unit for News UK, covering The
Times, The Sunday Times and The Sun.
1) What are the most important elements of great, shareable
content – what do you look for?
“Great shareable content needs to be original, and either
funny/moving or informative.”
2) How should businesses ensure their content stands out from
the rest?
“To stand out, businesses should try and produce content that
tells their audience something they don’t know already or make
them laugh or cry.”
3) As a journalist you have witnessed the move from
professional writers producing content to now anyone being
able to do so. In this new, freer world what controls should
businesses put in place to ensure quality control of content
produced under their name?
“Businesses can’t control what people are saying about them but
they can define who they are and what they stand for through
paid, earned and owned media. How influential they are in this
project is determined by how others go on and speak about

5. them.”
4) Is there a danger of enabling consumers to also be publishers
in today’s world – how can brands or brand owners retain an
element of control?
“There’s always an element of danger when you encourage
people to talk about your brand but you can’t and shouldn’t
attempt to stop consumers or anyone else talking about your
business. What you can and should be doing is producing your
own content that defines your business. If that content is
original, useful or entertaining then you will ensure better
success.”
5) What do you feel is the biggest challenge currently facing
your business in the world of social media or the biggest issue
you see the industry facing as a whole?
“At News UK, we see the rise of social media as an opportunity
rather than a challenge as it can drive traffic, brings in new
readers and influences opinion formers.”
Project Description.docx
Project: Social Media Campaign
(Group assignment with 4 members maximum, no exceptions. It
can be fewer members but not more than four).
You must choose any of the social media marketing platforms
we have reviewed in class session 8-9 to develop the project.
You have several “How To” documents to exemplify the use of
each platform so you can follow the steps. I have also provided
you with several examples of how companies have used the
social media platform in marketing.
Choose a business (B2B or B2C) or non-profit organization that
could benefit from social media campaign and develop a
campaign outline. Include the following:
· Specific campaign objectives (in reference to the social media

6. marketing process [slide 12 in the session] and brand objectives
[session ch 5 slide 18] such as create awareness, develop brand
familiarity, create positive images (associations feelings),
create sales )
· Identification of the target audience (provide a good
description of the target. DO NOT just describe the audience on
one characteristics, e.g. age).
· Detailed description of the social media marketing activities.
Each of the social media platforms we have reviewed has its
own marketing tools. Apply them.
· In this part you must not only ‘tell me the story’ of what you
are going to do. BUT you must actually do. In other words, if
you use Instagram or Pinturest I expect pictures. If you are
suggesting ‘compelling stories’ then write it.
· Metrics to be used to judge campaign success. You must be
precise as to how you will determine if you achieve your
objectives. Each of the social media platforms we have
reviewed has its own marketing tools and metrics. Apply them.
· Timeline for the specific campaign. Indicate how many ads,
videos, stories you will place and when.
· Budget for directs costs incurred. You may have some
indication of the costs of the ads by referring to the platform
you use.
Now that you have thought about what you want to do, write an
Introduction for your plan outline that explains why the social
media initiative is important and how it integrates into the
overall marketing activities and the overall objectives of the
business.
Requirements
Make sure:
· You identify integration in the different areas listed in the
“questionnaire” provided to you, and provide examples of such
integration. Provide evidence that can illustrate such online-
offline integration. Provide as many examples in each case as

7. possible. Illustrate with web pages and offline material
whenever possible.
· Avoid copying text from other sources. This is a practical
assignment not an essay.
· If you happen to support a point, e.g. that you have selected
Instagram because it is the most used platform in Kuwait, then
you must provide a reference to support this statement. You
indicate the source of the information every time you refer to it.
The reference must be in the body of the document and a list of
all references in the bibliography at the end of the document.
· You must submit your assignment via email to my GUST
address: [email protected].
· Make sure your assignment covers all bullet points indicated
in the assignment.
· Put page numbers to the document, identify Figures with titles
and number on top of the figure. Do the same with Tables. If
these figures and tables come from external sources provide the
source at the end of the Table or Figure.
· Use font 12, Harvard style of citation, and double space in
your report. No more than 3,000 words. You can certainly do
this assignment in fewer words.
Social-Media-Strategy-Module-Whitepaper.pdf
Social Media Strategy
A white paper on Social Media Strategy by Sally Falkowl
Copyright © 2011, Sally Falkow | Rev. 1. 2

8. Social Media1 Overview
Over the last ten years, there has been a fundamental
shift in how people access
information and news. Companies traditionally used the media t
o get their messages out
to their audiences via marketing, advertising, or public
relations. Marketing and
advertising push a message out to the masses. Companies use pu
blic relations to supply
news to the media and expert sources to provide stories about th
eir industry. The goal is to get media
mentions of their company, products, or services.
These methods are a one‐way communication, where a
company delivers a message through the
media, but individuals have no real way of responding. Today, t
his one‐to‐many mass media model
has given way to the social web and a new way of communicatin
g with people has emerged.
Since people have tired of receiving one‐way
communications, they are
looking more and more for news and information in places other
than the
media. This trend is likely to accelerate —
Forrester Research predicts that

9. by 2012, half of all US newspapers will have ceased production.
People no longer rely on the media. New tools enable them to n
etwork, read blogs, post comments
and reviews, actively gather news and information, and share thi
s with others.
People are engaging in conversations. Conversation is the new
marketing.
Tapping into these conversations shows where your
audience is spending time
online, and what subjects and issues are of interest to them. As
of 2010, over 80% of
US companies have started using some form of social
media marketing, and their
biggest barrier to success in this new medium is a lack of knowl
edge.
To reach your publics successfully, you need to move
your marketing activity from the traditional
“push” method, where you broadcast your messages to thousand
s via the media, to a “pull” strategy,
where you make it easy for people to find your information, whe
never and wherever they want it.
Start telling your stories directly, and do it in a way that sparks
conversations.

10. Copyright © 2011, Sally Falkow | Rev. 1. 3
The value proposition of Social Media (Web 2.0) or online PR i
s:
in online conversations that shape
perceptions about your brand
relationships with influencers in your field
a community of supporters
Copyright © 2011, Sally Falkow | Rev. 1. 4
The Need for Strategy
For the past 100 years, companies have had the luxury of decidi
ng what they will produce and sell,
what their brand message will be, and how they will deliver it to
their audience.
The Internet has changed that.
We’re in the age of social media marketing. Strategy in this new
business environment is just as vital
as it has ever been.

11. Don’t get distracted from the importance of strategy by the slew
of new social
media tools. Don’t get lured into spending money on resources j
ust because
“everyone is doing it”.
Social media offers you the opportunity of doing in‐depth resear
ch at virtually
no cost. It is possible to set goals and get ROI
2
, but you have to know where
you’re going and what you want to achieve.
There are 10 steps to this:
1. Map the brand’s social graph
2. Listen to the conversations –
who is talking about you and what are they saying?
3.
Analyze the content. Share of Voice, sentiment, gaps, trends, op
portunities
4. Set Goals and define metrics and benchmarks.
5. Identify influencers in each node of the social graph
6. Develop a content strategy based on what you have found.
7.
Create a tactical plan for implementation and choose the right s

12. ocial media tools.
8. Create and publish content.
Copyright © 2011, Sally Falkow | Rev. 1. 5
9.
Engage in the conversations and facilitate conversations about y
our brand and your industry.
10. Monitor and measure results.
Copyright © 2011, Sally Falkow | Rev. 1. 6
Step One — Mapping the Social Graph
You have to figure out which stakeholders are most
important to you – customers, competitors,
employees, the media and now a new group – bloggers.
There are tools you can use, like Rapportive, to find these peopl
e and figure where they are online so
you can begin to evaluate who your most important stakeholders
are.
Step Two - Listen to the Online Conversation

13. Market research has always been fundamental to marketing succ
ess.
The social web makes it much easier to find out what people are
saying about
you, who you should be talking to, what they are interested
in, and what you
should be talking to them about.
Tap into the online conversations to find out:
is talking about you – find your “tribe”
What they are saying about you, your competitors, and your ind
ustry in general
it positive or negative
are the conversations taking place
communities talk about you
are your competitors doing in social media
No brand exists in a vacuum. PR practitioners have
long known that it is
important to map the environment in which the company operat
es and to
know who the stakeholders are. Now social media has expande
d that need.

14. We have to know where they are online and who they are conne
cted to.
Copyright © 2011, Sally Falkow | Rev. 1. 7
the buzz about them
content resonates with your audience
there subjects of interest you could provide content for
social sites have the most conversation
are the “fire‐starters3” you need to connect with
are the influencers in these blogs or communities
are the opportunities and threats
Once you have this information, you can allocate your resources
wisely. You’ll know where to start,
and what social sites you should be concentrating on. When you
know the lay of the land, it’s much
easier to plot a path to your destination. A social media marketi
ng strategy is your roadmap.
Free Tools
Dashboards
4

15. Social Mention
iGoogle page – make a “Listening Post”
Copyright © 2011, Sally Falkow | Rev. 1. 8
NetVibes
Copyright © 2011, Sally Falkow | Rev. 1. 9
Paid Tools
Now that you know just how much there is to be tracked, here ar
e some
of the paid tools that can do a lot of the heavy lifting for you:

16. BuzzMetrics
Technologies
uzzLogic
SM2
Labs
Software
Conversation
A comparison of several tools –
http://www.pr2020.com/files/PR_SM‐Monitoring‐Comparison.p
df
Sources to Find the Information
Blogs
Blog Search
– for blog comments
Trends
Trends

17. Insights for Search
Message Boards and Forums
Multimedia
Video Chart
oBucket
Twitter
Copyright © 2011, Sally Falkow | Rev. 1. 10
Step Three — Analyzing

18. Gaps, Trends, Opportunities
There are millions of online conversations daily. Once you have
collected the data, you can analyze
the mentions of your brand, find out what your share of voice is
in a particular conversation, get the
ratio of positive to negative mentions, discover who talks about
you and on what platform, find fans
and detractors, and identify threats and opportunities.
“Share of Voice” is defined as the percentage of the mentions th
at are about your brand / company /
organization in the particular niche or market you’re active in.
Do people use a generic description of
what you do, or do they talk about your products or services spe
cifically?
Example
Do women talk about dry skin treatment and natural skin care pr
oducts, or do they mention specific
brands and products? Do they mention your products? What per
centage of the total conversation
about “dry skin” mentions your products?
Are the comments positive or negative? What is the ratio
of positive‐to‐negative? Are your key

19. messages appearing in these conversations? If not, what
content is trending? How are your
competitors faring in these conversations?
The context of your content in a competitive setting shows how
your brand stacks up against your
competitors online.
Share of voice leads to market share. Establishing and
tracking share of voice used to be an
advertising metric, but since the most trusted form of advertisin
g is now conversations, it’s become
an important one for social media. A gain in share of voice is an
important measurement for social
media programs.
Every day, another blog, social network, or social media site see
ms to pop up. There are now literally
Copyright © 2011, Sally Falkow | Rev. 1. 11
thousands of places online where conversations are taking place
. Here’s a sample:
How can you effectively divide your time and resources
so that you participate in the places that

20. make the most sense for your business? Part of your research –
listening to what’s being said online –
includes who is talking about you and where the conversations a
re taking place.
Examples
A skin care company discovered that there is conversation
about “dry skin” in gardening forums,
where moms talk about skin care on blogs, while crafters and m
edical professionals talk about it in
their niche social networks. There is content posted about “dry s
kin” on Delicious, StumbleUpon, and
Kirtsy. There is also a lot of chatter about skin care on Twitter.
A natural soda company found that there are people on
Twitter
talking about their brand, their competitors’ products, and ginge
r ale,
ginger brew, and ginger beer in general. Beverage and
cocktail
bloggers mention the brand. Mom bloggers are not talking about
the
brand that much.
Once you know where the majority of the conversations take pla
ce, and which groups you need to

21. concentrate on, you can sensibly allocate your resources for bes
t ROI.
According to eMarketer, the number of influencers is
growing as more and more people publish
content online. It’s no longer about how many people did we rea
ch, it’s have we reached the right
people who want to engage and communicate with us?
This means that large networks are not always the best place to
concentrate on. There are many small
social networks built around a group that is passionate
about a subject. Find the ones that are
relevant to your company or organization.
Copyright © 2011, Sally Falkow | Rev. 1. 12
Step Four — Setting Measurable Goals
Define Metrics & Statistics
Now that you have
listed to the conversation of your stakeholders and analyzed that
content, you
should know what your goals will be. The insights you get from

22. the listening phase should show you
where you opportunities lie and what you should be addressing.
Remember when you set a goal to make it measurable. If you ca
n’t measure it, you can’t manage it.
Work out what metrics will enable you to measure your goals.
Do not make vague goals such as “we
want to have more brand awareness
More than what? How much and in what time period?
In order to measure your progress towards your goals, you have
to have a starting place. This is your
baseline. You need to take a snapshot of where you are now wit
h regard to the goals you have set so
that you can track your progress over time.
Step‐by‐Step Example
1.
Through listening, a skin care company starting on a social med
ia strategy might discover that
one of the groups that talks about dry skin is medical
workers. They listen to these
conversations for two weeks, initially.
2.
Through analyzing these conversations, they establish that their
leading competitor has a 38%

23. share of voice in this conversation, while they have a 5% share.
3.
Through brainstorming, they come up with an idea that will imp
rove this scene.
4.
They set their competition’s share of voice as their benchmark a
nd set a goal: “To increase our
share of voice to 20% in 12 months.”
5. The metric for share of voice is “brand mentions in a
desired conversation” (in this case,
“medical workers talking about dry skin”). They record this usi
ng the statistic “share of voice”,
Copyright © 2011, Sally Falkow | Rev. 1. 13
which plots the metric over time. They measure this weekly and
track their progress.
Examples of Statistics
of positive brand mentions per week
of comments on blog posts
of retweets5
of clicks on links posted on Twitter

24. of visitors to the website
of followers on Twitter
# of coupon downloads
of video views
Everyone on the team has to agree on what goals you’re aiming
for, and how you’ll know when you
hit them… or not!
First, determine your benchmarks so that you know what you’re
potentially aiming for and measuring
yourself against. Looking at what others in your industry are doi
ng helps you to establish benchmarks
and set realistic goals for your business. Are you going to try to
beat your competition outright? Or
perhaps beat them only locally, for now?
Once you have figured out where you’d like to be in the future,
you can express these ideas as goals.
So long as your goals are measurable, i.e. expressed as quantity
and usually vs. time, you will be able
to move forwards and track your progress easily.
Below are examples of types of social media goals. The next sec
tion gives specific goal examples.

25. Copyright © 2011, Sally Falkow | Rev. 1. 14
Brand Reputation
Dell failed to service a particular
influential blogger, who eventually blogged about
their service. The blog caused a flood of negative comments abo
ut Dell’s customer
service. This had such an impact that it created a public relation
s “hell” for Dell. This
was aptly named the “Dell Hell”. They set a goal to reverse the
problem. The ratio of
positive‐to‐negative comments became one of their key
performance e‐indicators. They have
definitely achieved their goal.
Copyright © 2011, Sally Falkow | Rev. 1. 15
Brand Awareness
Skin MD Natural launched their lotion in social media and creat

26. ed interest in the phrase “shielding
lotion” as a search term. From this, more than 400 mommy blog
gers have written about the product,
and the content spread through social media sites like StumbleU
pon, Kirtsy, and Delicious.
There are now search queries for their brand and the
generic phrase “shielding lotion” in many
countries in the world.
Share of Voice
Reed’s Inc discovered there
is a vigorous conversation online about ginger beer, ginger ale,
ginger
brew, and the health benefits of ginger. However, the number of
mentions of Reed’s and their brands
was very low. They instituted a social media program to engage
brand fans and mom bloggers so that
they can increase that share of voice.
R&D6 Expenditure
Dell’s “Idea Storm”, Starbuck’s “My Starbuck’s Idea”, and Cray
ola’s “Kid’s Comments” are concepts
that help these companies tap into the wisdom of their consumer
s.

27. 98% of consumers indicate:
“I’d definitely buy a product I helped to evolve.”
Copyright © 2011, Sally Falkow | Rev. 1. 16
Step Five – Finding the Key Influencers
What is influence? It can be defined as “implicit or explicit effe
ct of one thing (or
person) on another.”
What influences people online has changed dramatically in the l
ast few years. The
idea that the newspaper, magazine, TV station, or
individual with the most
followers or subscribers has the biggest influence is no longer v
alid.
Today, influence is about accuracy and trust. You want to reach
the bloggers and social networkers
who have influence –
those who can cause others to take action, change their percepti
on and / or

28. their behavior. They might not be the A‐list
7
bloggers or power users in a network. It is someone that
other people trust and
listen to. They’re the ones who send a flood of traffic to your bl
og or your
website, because when they link to you or recommend your prod
uct, their followers take action.
Examples
Fiskars have been making scissors for 360 years, but didn’t hav
e a very hip image.
When they did a survey of what consumers thought about Fiskar
s, people said that
if Fiskars were a drink, it would be milk, if they were a snack, t
hey’d be crackers.
Not very trendy or attractive! However, they did find that
there was a lot of
passion about scrapbooking and crafting online, which is somet
hing you need scissors to do, so Fiskars
decided to become part of this passion. They reached out to five
influential women in the crafting
field and got them on board as ambassadors for the Fiskars bran
d.
The goal for this campaign was to raise awareness and create fa

29. ns that were passionate about the
brand. They have built a community of over 8,000 passionate Fi
skars supporters. This led to other
rewards:
development –
they ask Fiskateers for feedback on ideas, and Fiskateers take p
ride in
Copyright © 2011, Sally Falkow | Rev. 1. 17
that
–
launching different stamp designs and ask Fiskateers which the
y like, which helps
identify which stamps are going to be the most popular
–
those stores where the Fiskateers were involved showed three ti
mes higher sales than
others
There are influencers in each node of your social graph –
some customers are more influential than
others. Some bloggers are more important and their voice will c
arry more weight.

30. It is vital to know who the influential voices are in each node as
these are the voices that create the
narrative about your brand online,
Copyright © 2011, Sally Falkow | Rev. 1. 18
Step Six — Develop a Content Strategy
Back in 2001, Forrester Research asked people why they returne
d to a website. The
overwhelming answer was “content”. This holds true today. Suc
cess in social media
depends on the quality of your content. Quality content engages
people. In social
media, people are creating, reading, saving, tagging, and sharin
g quality content.
If you don’t produce the kind of content they value, it won’t be
re‐published or shared.
How do you know what kind of content to create? Listen and ob
serve. In the past, we had to rely on
agencies to have a “bright idea”. However, when you really liste
n to your audience, you will discover
the core content that will elicit a response. Opportunities easily
spring to mind.
Example

31. A mortgage company discovered that young mothers in their firs
t home were very concerned about
the housing market and the subprime
8
mortgage fiasco. They were looking for information in
language they could understand. The mortgage company
realized an opportunity to connect with
these moms via informative articles and video interviews with t
heir experts.
Example
A non‐profit involved in drug rehabilitation found out
that women turn to blogs for information,
advice, and recommendations (2009 BlogHer Social Media stud
y). The study also revealed that what
they value most is a review or comment from someone who has
used that product or service. Since
women are the ones who most often call the rehab centers –
a wife, mother, or sister of the addict –
it was obvious that they needed to create content around the stor
ies of women who had saved their
families with this program, and get it out to women bloggers.
Telling your story online in the right place to the right people g
ets results. However, you need a well‐

32. thought‐out content strategy based on solid research to get those
results!
Copyright © 2011, Sally Falkow | Rev. 1. 19
Step Seven — Tactical Planning
Perform Tactical Planning & Pick Tools
There’s a wide array of social media tools to choose
from and the task can be
confusing. Not to mention that new tools pop up all the time.
Nevertheless, if you
have all your data analyzed, and your content strategy in place,
it’s easy to pick the
right tools. Your research will tell you where to start.
Every social media success case study has excellent content that
perfectly meets the needs of the
people for whom it was intended. Just as in any conversation, th
e right content gets people’s interest
and attention. If you are off topic or boring, you get no positive
results.
Social Media has matured and most companies are
expected to have a presence on Facebook,
Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn. However, there may be other s

33. ocial sites you need to include for your
business. Bear in mind that each platform requires its own strate
gy and you need to know where to
allocate resources.
If the majority of the conversation about your product is on Twi
tter, you’ll need a spendmore time
connecting with the people who talk about you there. The same
is true for any of the other social
networks.
You need to decide why you are using that channel, who to conn
ect with and why, and what content
you need to produce in order to get the attention of the right peo
ple on that network.
You will need someone with technical skills to help you get you
r tools in place. You will probably need
a blog, a Facebook page, a Twitter account, a LinkedIn account,
and a YouTube Channel for starters.
Here’s the list of categories of social media tools:
Feeds (RSS9) to syndicate all your content
this” buttons, tagging, and bookmarking
applications, to make it easy to share and
forward your content

34. Copyright © 2011, Sally Falkow | Rev. 1. 20
– platforms and plug‐ins
(Twitter)
– and image sharing networks
– and video sharing sites
Social Networks –
Facebook, LinkedIn, Google Plus, niche networks
Media News Sites – Reddit, StumbleUpon, Digg
Social Media News Releases, with multimedia and social bookm
arks
optimized articles, with feeds and commenting
ets and Apps
Media News Room –
create a social media content hub on your website
Copyright © 2011, Sally Falkow | Rev. 1. 21

35. Step Eight — Create and Publish Content
Once you have a content strategy based on solid research, bright
ideas will naturally flow about what
to create and how to deliver this content. Experimenting with a
Facebook page and a Twitter feed
isn’t enough. You have to create supporting content: a
company blog, an interactive website,
interesting articles, images, and videos.
Do you want bloggers and online reporters to write about
you and send you traffic? Give them
excellent content.
Example
A hotel or resort should be writing about their destination –
give people ideas of where to go and
what to do. Use great images and videos. Look at how Interconti
nental Hotels
*
did this.
Example
A non‐profit can create compelling content that motivates blogg
ers to write about their cause. The
Fresh Air Fund generated over 400 blog posts from this social m
edia news release
†
.

36. Example
The “Will it Blend” videos have engaged millions of people aro
und the world and increased BlendTec’s
sales by 500%.
Example
The Microsoft bloggers led to a change of perception about Mic
rosoft as a corporation.
When the content fills a need, people will share the content, and
they’ll link to it from blog posts and
tweets. This can raise your search visibility and drive lots of tra
ffic to your content.
*
http://videos.howstuffworks.com/adventure/intercontinental‐vid
eos‐playlist.htm#video‐788
†
http://freshair.smnr.us/
Copyright © 2011, Sally Falkow | Rev. 1. 22
Step Nine - Engage & Facilitate Conversations
It’s not enough just to push out content. Social media is not just
another marketing channel you can

37. use to reach your target audience. Content should be
created with a view to inspiring, and
participating in, conversations about your brand.
Social media is about a two‐way flow of conversation.
People are no longer willing to be passive
bystanders. They want to take an active part in the conversation.
Customer engagement can get you through the toughest of times
– it’s both a customer acquisition
and retention strategy.
Engaging Your Audience
Followers and traffic are good and well, but are they engaging
with you? 94% of Internet users active
in social media say they expect a company to have a social medi
a presence, and to be able to actively
engage with them.
Despite all their marketing and PR efforts, Microsoft was still p
erceived as a faceless corporate giant.
When Robert Scoble started blogging, he put a human face on th
e company and engaged with their
users and developers. Microsoft now has thousands of employee
s blogging and it has changed those
perceptions.

38. Dell has also demonstrated how to engage and succeed with soci
al media.
On a small local level, The Boston Court Theatre in Pasadena, C
A, is doing a stellar job
of engaging the local arts community and growing a strong supp
ort base.
The Forrester Research report “Social Media Playtime is
Over” clearly shows that dabbling or
experimenting is not enough. You have to deliver
genuinely interesting and valuable content that
meets the needs of your audience and actively engages them.
Copyright © 2011, Sally Falkow | Rev. 1. 23
Our recent study of the top 100 companies in the small, medium
, and large categories revealed that
only a very small percentage are actively engaging their audienc
e. The playing field is wide open and
this is a strategy that can reap large rewards.
Facilitating Conversations
Word of mouth has long been the holy grail of marketing. Peer r
eviews, opinions, and comments are

39. now the number one influencer prior to purchase or decision onl
ine. Not only do you want people
engaged with you, but also you want them talking positively abo
ut you to each other. Facilitating
these conversations should be your ultimate goal.
Make it easy for them –
provide excellent content that they will want to share and discu
ss. Then give
them tools to make it easy to do this: send to a friend buttons, s
hare this, bookmark this, subscribe,
discuss, comment, like, and tweet buttons..
Since word of mouth, online conversations, reviews, and comme
nts are regarded as the most trusted
forms of information today, getting people to talk about your pr
oduct is the goal.
Example
A skin care company saw this comment about their product post
ed in the GardenWeb forum:
“I work in restaurants and using barrier skin shields is very com
mon. One of the bad things about
washing your hands constantly
is getting small open cuts on the hands that allow bacteria and
viruses to enter freely. I am sure this is a problem in hospitals t
oo. A shielding lotion works well to

40. handle this.”
Example
Carnival Cruises offers their customers tools to post their
cruise stories online, with images and
videos, so that friends and family at home can share the experie
nce.
Copyright © 2011, Sally Falkow | Rev. 1. 24
Step Ten — Measuring and Reviewing
Why Measure?
“During a recession, with dollars stretched, marketers are under
increased pressure to prove their
programs. Social media, being largely experimental for many br
ands, needs to measure to quickly
‘course correct’ programs in real time. During times of cutbacks
, marketers must know what to
cut, and in order to do so, measurement is key.” Jeremiah Owya
ng: Altimeter Group
If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it. It’s that simple. Yo
u need to know where you are when
you start, what needs to be achieved, and as you move along the
path, you have to have tools to

41. measure your progress. That way you can see if you are on track
and adapt fast if things go awry. Your
measurement has to be based on business objectives, and
those objectives have to be set as
measurable goals. Just setting up attributes to track on a dashbo
ard is not enough.
What you are going to measure will depend on what goals you h
ave set in the initial part of your
strategy. Based on listening and research, you should
have determined what actions you need to
focus on in social media. Measure what you did and what impac
t it had, and then you can see what
result it had.
Having mountains of data is all very well, but “what does this m
ean?” is the crucial question.
Being able to evaluate the data and come to a conclusion
you can use to tweak or expand your
program
is the point. You need to tell your story to others, the client, yo
ur superiors, and the “C”
suite.

42. Copyright © 2011, Sally Falkow | Rev. 1. 25
Return on Engagement
Forrester Research stated the following:
“We propose a new metric, engagement, that includes four comp
onents:
“Each of these is built from data collected from online
and offline data sources. Using
engagement, you get a more holistic appreciation of your
customers’ actions, recognizing that
value comes not
just from transactions, but also from actions people take to
influence others.
Once engagement takes hold of marketing, marketing messages
will become conversations, and
dollars will shift from media buying to customer understanding.
”
There are many tools available today to track engagement.
What to Measure

43. You will have defined your metrics and statistics in step #5. Th
ese should include the likes of “how
many people clicked a link in a blog post?”, “how many
times was a message retweeted?”, “how
many followers does the person who retweeted you have?” etc.
In this step, you’ll record your measurement of each metric. Thi
s is keeping statistics. Once you have
completed your measurements, you’ll review each statistic.
Copyright © 2011, Sally Falkow | Rev. 1. 26
Share of Conversation
Share of conversation is another important factor that should be
tracked. It measures the degree to
which a brand is associated with the problem or need that it is s
etting out to help with.
Reviewing Your Results
Reviewing your results is imperative for the following reasons:
can identify your winning actions and enhance these
can identify your unhelpful actions and eliminate these

44. You can identify your non‐optimum strategies and adjust these
can continuously adapt to market changes
You can ensure you are taking effective steps towards achieving
your goals
Copyright © 2011, Sally Falkow | Rev. 1. 27
Conclusion
Social media is not a fad –
it is here to stay. Your customers expect you to interact with t
hem where
they are –
and today that’s on social websites. They expect you to be activ
e and effective online.
A well‐planned social media program based on listening
to your audience will result in deepened
relationships with your customers and other stakeholders. By ta
pping into the knowledge and desires
of your customers, your PR strategy and content will be right “o
n the money”, and meet the needs of
your audiences.
Markets have become conversations. Successful companies

45. know how to…
Copyright © 2011, Sally Falkow | Rev. 1. 28
Contact Us
Whether you are new to social media, or are a seasoned veteran
in need of “filling in the gaps” in your
knowledge, our training courses and coaching can guide you ste
p‐by‐step through the 10 steps of
social media research, setting objectives, planning, implementat
ion, and quality control.
The result is not a certificate. It is you, successfully
implementing social media in your business,
competently and confidently, with effective, measurable results.
Enquiries
Sally Falkow

46. [email protected]
http://www.twitter.com/sallyfalkow
2400 Lincoln Ave
Altadena, CA 91001
626 296 6218
Copyright © 2011, Sally Falkow | Rev. 1. 29
Glossary of Terms
1
social media: the technology that enables us to share our thoug
hts and ideas online.
2
ROI: Return on Investment. What you get out versus what you
put in.
3
fire‐starter: someone who can start a “conversation fire”. In oth
er words, a person who can get others talking about
something.
4
dashboard: a term now used generally to refer to a web technol

47. ogy based page on which real time information is
collated from various sources. Adapted from Wikipedia
5
tweet / retweet: the equivalent of a cell phone text message, sen
t via Twitter. It often includes URL links. A retweet is
such a message that has been sent again or forwarded by another
person.
6
R&D: Research & Development.
7
A‐list: a group of desirable or admired people.
8
subprime: being of less than top quality; used to refer to the ma
rket of people whose credit ratings are low.
9
RSS: Really Simple Syndication. RSS is the technology that all
ows one to syndicate and distribute content on the web. The
most widespread use is in distributing news headlines and blog
posts.
TOMS on Instagram.docx
TOMS #withoutshoes hashtag on Instagram
Ecommerce vendor TOMS Shoes launched in 2006 with the goal
of donating one pair of shoes to needy children for every pair
sold. In May 2015, TOMS took its philanthropic efforts to
Instagram. Whenever someone posted an Instagram photo of
their bare feet using the hashtag #withoutshoes, TOMS donated

48. a pair of shoes.
The campaign "really demonstrated the company's commitment
to its cause," says Lily Croll, senior social strategist, Wire
Stone. TOMS also "cleverly piggybacked on a common
Instagram trend, where users post photos of themselves looking
down … at their bare feet." The campaign, which resulted in the
donation of 296,243 pairs of shoes, shows the importance of
"putting your money where your mouth is" and "not
overthinking" your social media efforts, according to Croll.
Tourism Australia Facebook page.docx
Tourism Australia Instagram page.docx
K.B. Hunt Little Ones Academy
Effective leadership for growth and high quality care
LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT
Standard 10: Leadership and Management
The program effectively implements policies, procedures, and
systems that support stable staff and strong personnel, and
fiscal, and program management so all children, families, and

49. staff have high-quality experiences.
Effective management and operations, knowledgeable leaders,
and sensible policies and procedures are essential to building a
quality program and maintaining the quality over time.
What to look for in a program:
The program administrator has the necessary educational
qualifications, including a degree from a four-year college and
specialized courses in early childhood education, child
development, or related fields.
The program is licensed and/or regulated by the applicable state
agency.
The program’s written policies and procedures are shared with
families and address issues such as the program’s philosophy
and curriculum goals, policies on guidance and discipline, and
health and safety procedures.
Appropriate group sizes and ratios of teaching staff to children
are maintained (for example, infants—no more than 8 children
in a group, with 2 teaching staff; toddlers—no more than 12
children in a group, with 2 teaching staff; and 4-year-olds—no
more than 20 children in a group, with 2 teaching staff).
EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION
Effective communication is key to having a staff that is
prepared and aligned with administration. All staff will remain
updated on what is going on around the facility.
STAFF EMAIL
STAFF RADIOS
MONTHLY STAFF MEETINGS

50. WEEKLY CHECK IN/ CHECK OUT EMAILS
STAFF NEWSLETTERS
Comfortable and supportive workplace
All classrooms are fully furnished and may be changed to
teachers expectations.
All staff is encouraged to dress casually comfortable.
All staff hired will be trained for a minimum of 1 week for
knowledge and support of job intended.
All staff will be assigned a mentor and a buddy teacher.
Staff meetings are scheduled for every other week.
Supportive resources
https://www.edutopia.org/article/new-teacher-resources-toolkit
http://www.nea.org/tools/for-new-teachers-articles.html
https://www2.ed.gov/teachers/become/about/survivalguide/resou
rces.html
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Terms-of-
Service/Accepting-Application
Career development opportunities
EXPAND YOUR KNOWLEDGE!
MONTHLY SEMINARS- Teachers from local school discuss
teaching techniques (organization, testing tips, classroom
management)
Para to Teacher programs- Paras can use time worked in the
classroom as hours of experience in becoming a teacher. Grants
are also available.

51. BECOME AN ACTIVE ROADRUNNER!
Sign up and participate in monthly fundraisers in the
community.
Become a student mentor.
Volunteer to teach or help out with after school activities.
Benefits of working with us!
You will be part of a rewarding and supportive team.
Competitive compensation packets.
Professional collaboration and team decision making.
Many opportunities to grow.
Administrators guide, assist, and support teachers.
Mentors and teaching buddies available for all staff.
Monthly staff meetings
references
Gadzikowski, A. (2013). Administration of early childhood
education programs [Electronic version]. Retrieved from
https://content.ashford.edu/
https://www.edutopia.org/article/new-teacher-resources-toolkit
http://www.nea.org/tools/for-new-teachers-articles.html
https://www2.ed.gov/teachers/become/about/survivalguide/resou
rces.html
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Terms-of-

52. Service/Accepting-Application
http://www.naeyc.org/files/academy/file/OverviewStandards.pdf