YNPNdc 2nd Annual Social Media Summit - Brian Dresher (@bdresher), Manger of Social Media & Digital Partnerships, USA TODAY (@USATODAY) Examples that I would feature: - Ways in which USA TODAY has become social by opening up conversation on our web site - Changing the focus of the brand by building up individual journalist brand value - Use of Twitter by journalists and other staff - Cross-promoting content on Twitter and USATODAY.com to drive traffic to both platforms - Approach to Facebook - Content distribution partnerships with social media news aggregators - Geo-location and USA TODAY's partnership with Gowalla to distribute travel content - How we measure results of social media - How we see the future of journalists leveraging social media tools

1. USA TODAY: More Than Just News.
A Social Media Case Study
Brian Dresher: USATODAY.com
Twitter: @bdresher
Blog: social.usatoday.com
August 6, 2010

2. Where is the USATODAY.com community?
Brands
need
to
adapt
to
the
rules
of
the
playgrounds
in
which
they’re
playing.

3. Opening the conversation

4. Macro to Micro: Transformation of News Brands
Before social networks
Journalists
Audience
Photo courtesy of
Photo courtesy of
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thivierr/1784499687/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mararie/3313582639/
After social networks
Journalists
Audience
Photo courtesy of
Photo courtesy of
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jamescridland
http://www.flickr.com/photos/quinnanya
/3003245982/
/613445810/

5. Macro to Micro: Breaking News
Macro news
Photo courtesy of Janis Krums, http://twitter.com/jkrums/status/1121915133
Micro news

6. Managing Twitter
• Engagement - @USATODYtravel - More than 80 readers joined the debate
on walking barefoot in hotel rooms. What's the verdict? http://bit.ly/bIIzqM
#hotel #travel
• Story Leads - @barbdelollis - Are you #snowbound/stranded in a #hotel ? If
so, I'm interested in hearing abt yr experience for a story. Email me @
bdelollli@usatoday.com
• Meet Ups - @CruiseLog - Anyone else going on Carnival's Bloggers Cruise
this weekend? I'll be on board (and blogging) starting Saturday and would
love to meet up!
• Opportunity - @USATMediaLounge - Have you got your tickets to the
@Mashable Summer Tour hitting DC, hosted @USATODAY http://bit.ly
/amrUTJ
• Awareness - @HiltonAnaheim - We are looking forward to donating
Blankets/Cribs to @GCHope tomorrow morning!
• Customer Service - @USATODAYservice - @LinsayPattan Our apologies
for the issue with the paper machine. Contact USA TODAY Customer Service
@ 800-USA-0001 for a refund of the $1

7. Monitoring Your Brand

8. Monitoring Trends
(Snow + Hotel + Can’t Fly) X Twitter =
Source: “Hotel Hotsheet,” by Kitty Bean Yancey, http://blogs.usatoday.com/hotelhotsheet/2009/03/snowbound-in-a.html

9. Steps USA TODAY Took to Sell Internal Staff on Twitter
• Started small. One person buying-in leads to another and another.
• Shared success stories.
• Defined roles for members of our organization.
• Created internal education plan.
• Prepare monthly report showcasing metrics.
These
steps
have
helped
to
turn
doubters
into
believers!

10. Tips for Brands to Reach Users on Twitter
• Understand value of Twitter etiquette: re-tweets, replies, and
thank yous.
• Use sites such as WeFollow to find and follow Twitterers who
cover similar topics.
• Follow other internal Twitter feeds, industry experts, major brands,
clients, competitors, etc.
• Identify best hashtags to have tweets discovered as well as
search for other Twitterers tweeting on same subject.
• Optimize tweets so that they’re easily re-tweetable.
All
of
the
above
<ps
lend
themselves
to
increasing
Followers
and
Engagement!

11. Educate and Inform our Audience about Twitter
Tweets
posted
to
the
comments
sec.on.
Source: “Hotel guests: What's the 1st thing you do after check in?” by Barbara DeLollis,
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/hotelcheckin/post/2009/05/67083873/1

12. Enhance On-Site Twitter Presence
Source: “Gene mutations tied to children’s stuttering,” by Rita Rubin,
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2010-02-11-stutter11_ST_N.htm

13. Twitter Hashtag Charity Campaign
• Free, full-page color ad in USA TODAY valued at $190,000.
• Over 60,000 tweets.
• Reached over 67M Twitter followers.
• More than 500 organizations were tweeted about.
• Tweeted by dozens of celebrities including Pink, Tony Hawk, Willie
Nelson, Eva Longoria, and the founder of Twitter, @Jack.

14. Facebook Features

15. Characteristics of Facebook Fan Pages
Engaging
• Regularly updated, fun, and user-friendly.
Content Unique to FB
• Photos or recurring features unique to FB.
Interactive Features for Users
• Discussion boards or daily questions of the day.
• User uploaded photos.
Informative
• Info about new products (e.g., iPhone app, Kindle).
• Promotion of events (e.g., journalist meet-up at ComicCon).
Transparent
• Public responses to public questions, comments, and complaints.

16. Social Media Partnerships

17. What the Fark?
+
Photo courtesy of http://bit.ly/aYERG7
Photo courtesy of Brian Dresher
Photo courtesy of Charles Apple, http://bit.ly/66KZZT

18. Social Media Blog
• Share our internal case studies.
• Inform our audience on what we’re
reading related to social media.
• Announce new products and site
features.
• Interact with consumers, advertisers,
analysts and anyone who wants to
chat!
http://social.usatoday.com

19. Location-Based Services
Source: Geek and Poke,
http://www.cloudave.com/files/geofatigued.jpg

20. Location and News Brands
• Geo-targeted messages – Receive tips from
news brands when checking-in at location.
• Trend spotting – Create mash-ups of
location-based data with Google Maps.
• Find sources – Identify users who have checked in near the
location of a story in development.
• Meet ups – Organize events for fans of journalist or news brand.
• Badging – Recognize and reward users who engage with brand.

21. Competitive Analysis of Social Media
Mainstream media
Anyone with a cell phone
Mainstream media +
Anyone with a cell phone

22. Measuring the Impact of Social Media
A variety of metrics are used to evaluate social networking
performance:
• Monthly referrals to USATODAY.com as measured by on-site
analytics.
• Upstream traffic to USATODAY.com and competitive set as
measured by Hitwise.
• Audience demographic and growth as measured by ComScore.
• Changes in number of Fans and Followers.
• M-O-M and Y-O-Y comparisons for all of the above.
Social networking also requires an understanding of Return On:
• Engagement
• Interaction
• Awareness
• Influence
Quantave
and
qualitave
measurement
are
equally
important!

23. The Future of Social Media –
Connecting Everywhere

24. Social Networking Impact on Role of Brands
• Publish content to a blog.
• Optimize title tags so that they are SEO-friendly.
• Submit content to social media sites (e.g., Yahoo Buzz, Digg,
etc.).
• Upload multi-media to Flickr, YouTube, and iTunes.
• Maintain Facebook Fan Page presence.
• Tweet and monitor Twitter for trends and ideas.
Need
to
know
what
tools
exist
and
how
and
when
to
use
them!

25. Developing your Social Media Plan
1. What do you hope to achieve by having a social network
presence?
2. Who is your target audience and where do they spend their time?
3. How will you create buy-in with internal staff that this is a priority?
4. What metrics will you use to gauge success?
5. Who are your competitors and what do they do on social
networks?
6. How do your on- and off-site social media activities support each
other?

26. Summary
• Social networking is logical extension of onsite community and social
media initiatives.
• Social networking allows for increased engagement and exposes
personality of the brand and increases traffic.
• Commitment to social networking requires commitment to learn,
apply latest tools, and experiment.
• Social media is here to stay. Each day allows us opportunity to tap
new audiences.
Twi$er:
twi1er.usatoday.com
Facebook:
facebook.com/usatoday
Blog:
social.usatoday.com
YouTube:
youtube.com/usatoday
Fark:
fark.usatoday.com
Gowalla:
gowalla.com/usatoday