Goodwill Case Study: Creating High-Level Engagement With Social Tools

Goodwill® Case Study: Creating High-Level Engagement with Social

ToolsGoodwill Industries International

@GoodwillIntl

IABC/DC Metro

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Arlene McCrehan @amccrehanSenior Director of Digital Media

Adam Stiska @adamstiskaOnline Media Manager

Lauren Lawson-Zilai @laurenllawsonDirector of PR

Beth Perell @bcperellVP Communications and Information Management

Goodwill and Social Media

Agenda

• Intro to Goodwill• How we began and built our social media

channels• Important things we’ve learned

– Leadership buy-in– Collaboration– Relationships– Content Strategy– Policy and Guidelines

Value shopping for people with low incomes

Employer of people with disabilities

Job training and employment services

Clothing and other goods for people in emergencies.

Social Enterprise

People Goodwill helps

2010 2012

http://pinterest.com/GoodwillIntl/

Engagement

• It’s not just exposure to a message or a piece of content. It’s not just an impression.

• It happens when the viewer’s level of interest in a message inspires them to take an additional step after consuming the content.

» Clicking on a hyperlink» Sharing» Commenting» Reposting» Favoriting

In the beginning…

Strategic alignment – defining how we could most impact our organizational goals

• Grow number of people served• Grow revenue to support mission• Strengthen brand, mission awareness• Strengthen public policy Influence

What did we know?

• Females, ages 25-64 more likely to donate• Females, ages 25-64 more likely to shop

» (and make a special trip to Goodwill®)

Goodwill® Brand Study, January 2010, Market Decisions Corporation

What did we know?

• 77 percent believe shopping at Goodwill® supports the community

• 85 percent trust us• Fewer than half understand our core

mission services role

Brand Survey, April 2009, The Ad Council of Rochester

What did we know?

Shopping represented the largest single topic of discussion, followed closely by discussions of donations.

Nonprofit Benchmark Study prepared for Goodwill® by KDPaine & Partners, LLC, Berlin, NH, September 9, 2009

What did we know?

What were people already saying about us on Facebook?

Identified our purpose

• Build mission awareness • Increase customer base/brand ambassadors and

advocates• Drive sales/increase donations• Educate customers• Reach new influencers• Support partnerships• Establish thought leadership• Drive traffic to our web sites, build e-mail lists, and

enhance SEO

Strategy

• Deliberate targeting of messages to our demographic around the topics of

» Shopping at Goodwill» Donating at Goodwill» Our Mission» Partnerships

• Editorial calendar

Goals

• Increase Likes by 125 Percent• Increase Impressions by 150 Percent• Increase Post Feedback by 150 Percent• Boost Share of Conversation* • Increase Traffic to Website • Increase Traffic from Website to Facebook

* Now “Share of Conversation”

Engagement tactics

Engagement tactics

Engagement tactics

Engagement tacticsPartner Offers

Goodwill FB fans: 30,000+

Gap FB fans: 1.5 million

Engagement tactics

Start with engaging content.

Trust our fans, let them talk.

Be a customer service rep when required. Be patient. Repeat.

Don’t worry about derailments.

Get conversation back on track if it seems natural.

“I give away good stuff—I buy good stuff. The ultimate in recycling = Goodwill. Thanks.”

What did we learn?

We needed:

• Ongoing leadership buy-in • Organizational collaboration and buy-in • Online relationship building   • Content strategy• Social media policy, community guidelines, social media

response matrix • More meaningful measurement 

Leadership buy-in

Leadership buy-in

Collaboration

Collaboration

Collaboration

Collaboration

Collaboration

Collaboration

Collaboration

Collaboration

Build Relationships

“I couldn’t have done this without (a) Goodwill, (b) social media, and (c) everyone spreading the word.”

@allthriftystate

Build Relationships

Build Relationships

#150Jobs….

Build Relationships

Content Strategy

Continue to Evolve

Your Content Strategy

“Content should be platform agnostic.” Global Webex Trends, February 2012

Content Strategy

Content Strategy

Content Strategy

Policy and guidelines

Policy and guidelines

We needed a social media policy to answer five questions:

1. Who is authorized to represent our brand?

2. What is appropriate content?

3. What is the line between professional and personal posts?

4. Is it okay to participate at work?

5. How do you handle a crisis in social media?

Policy and guidelines

• Is it about pricing? Refer to <Link>• Is it about donations? Refer to

<Link>• Is it about a store? Refer to <Link>

• Is it about CEO salary? Refer to <Link>

• Speak in first person to combat corporatized messaging

• All sensitive information requests should be privately messaged

• If complaint is about a member organization email and tag appropriate parties.

• Encourage member organization to take customer care over with local account

• ALL CAPS• Irate or Ranting

• Continued commenting• Misc. Sign – Best Judgement

• Delete all hate speech, attacks on followers and spam - Screenshot

• Others personal information – Delete/Screenshot

• Criminal claim• Discriminatory claim• Disgruntled Employee• Noticed Groundswell• Misc. Claim – Best Judgement

Assess if PR or management needs to get

notified?

Is tone of commenter

approachable?

Is topic a repeated issue with response

resources?

Respond *

If comment is positive, respond with a thankful, personal, real remark.

Policy and guidelines

Policy and guidelines

Policy and guidelines

Policy and guidelines

Policy and guidelines

Policy and guidelines

Critical factors for growing social media engagement:

• Get your leaders onboard and participating in social media

• Get your entire organization on board and showcase the talent among your staff who can generate content

• Watch and listen online for people who align with your brand, tap into their networks and spread our messages

• Make the most of your content by repurposing it for different channels

• Establish tools (policy, guidelines, matrix) that clearly outline a workflow for social media responses

Recap

Goodwill (No. 23)–a newcomer to the list–is another “outlier among so many high-power business brands…” “Consumers are really appreciative of the Goodwill retail stores and the perceived feel-good value they are bringing to local communities.”

Insert my photo here holding up ‘why Goodwill inspires me’ page

Q and A

• Beth Perell, beth.perell@goodwill.org•

Arlene McCrehan, arlene.mccrehan@goodwill.org

• Lauren Lawson-Zilai, lauren.lawson@goodwill.org

• Adam Stiska, adam.stiska@goodwill.org