Social Media Boot Camp

August 26, 2009

Agenda

A look at the numbersSocial media for business…and some examplesThe tools…and how to use them Handling mistakes and crisisDeveloping a strategic social media planSmall group break outs

Five Rules to Live By

1. Your customers are talking – are you listening?

2. Social media is more than marketing*

3. Transparency is mandatory: the Internet is forever

4. Strategy first, then tools will follow

5. Measure as you measure other business activities

*

The Game Has Changed

> Companies no longer control their brand--customers control the brand

> Social media doesn’t create problems, it exposes and magnifies them

> Customer chatter drives corporate and brand credibility > Efforts to sway customer opinion and actions have to be

transparent > Focus on relationships, not technology > Companies that cling to the old way of doing business

and refuse to engage transparently with their customers will alienate their customers

*Sources include Charlene Li and Pete Blackshaw

A Look at the Numbers

200+ million active users100+ million people log on at least once each day 3.5+ billion minutes spent on Facebook each day (worldwide) Fastest growing demographic is 35+ 30+ million active users accessing Facebook through mobile devices Mobile users are almost 50% more active than non-mobile

(source: Facebook press room)

A Look at the Numbers

Worldwide visitors to Twitter approached 10M in Feb 2009, up 700+% vs. Feb 2008 (Comscore)60+% stopped using Twitter a month after joining (Neilsen Online, via Reuters)Older than you think!

18-24 year olds 12% less likely than average to visit Twitter25-54 year old crowd is driving this trend45-54 year olds 36% more likely to visit Twitter, making them the highest indexing age groupNext is 25-34 year olds: 30% more likely

Source: Reuters reporter Alexei Oreskovic.

Social Media for Business

Generating Revenue

> Highly regulated institution> FICO cannot advise on how to

improve a credit score > Best way to enable that

education: user to user interaction > Launched a community forum

developed by Lithium in March 2007

> A goal: deflect lengthier calls from the call center

> Fellow customers can give more specific info on how to improve credit score

Source: Lithium / MyFico case study

Driving Bottom-Line Cost Savings

Improving Customer Service/Experience

> Over 4 million user-sessions each month> Over 3,000 new threads> Dedicated staff monitors the forums> One year post deployment, Linksys

discontinued email support entirely > No negative reaction from customers> No increase in phone calls > Increase in forum usage almost matched email

use

Thought Leadership in Life Sciences

Complicated, regulated, and (for some) boringHumana Chamber of Commerce

Making their processes and issues transparentOpening issues to the community#HCOC on Twitter

Crumple It UpInnovation Centers blogEngaging the community at a different level

Driving Brand, Thought Leadership, Recruiting

Tools – and How to Use Them

Mapping the Right Tools to your Objectives

Financial Customers Brand

Revenue/Lead Generation Service and Experience Brand, Idea Generation, Competition

Communities Lithium, Jive, Teligent

Content-Sharing ToolsSlideshareScribdUstreamBlogtalkRadioUpcoming.com

MicroblogsTwitterYammer

Social Media Press Releases

Communities Lithium, Jive, Teligent

MicroblogsTwitter

BlogsTypepad/Moveable Type, Wordpress

MicroblogsTwitterTweetstats, BudUrl, Tweetmeme

Innovation ManagementBriteIdea

Content-Sharing ToolsSlideshare, Scribd, Ustream, BlogtalkRadio, YouTube, Upcoming.com

Social NetworksLinkedInFacebook

Blogging Best Practices

Length> 300 – 500 words is optimal> Break up longer posts after the first 3 paragraphs> Avoid long paragraphs; hard on the eyes

Tone> Friendly, not institutional> Accessible language: no jargon

Smart Blogging> Never discuss or disclose confidential information > No derogatory language or remarks > Use photos and images legally and appropriately> Attach a relevant title to each post (search)> Don’t delete; update and corrections> Practice smart linking

Engagement> Always write with a goal in mind: what value can I

bring to my community?> Use alltop.com to find blogs on topics similar to

yours> Reach new audiences with relevant content> Ask questions; bring readers into a conversation

Tool Profiles: Microblogging

Lead gen, branding, competitive

intelligence, idea generation

What to Tweet?

> Link to blog posts on important topics (product releases, new content, industry developments)

> Find and address service issues

> Announce business momentum

> Ear to the ground on emerging trends

> Engage with people outside your geography

> Reinforce your reputation for innovation

> Track effectiveness of campaigns

> Stay abreast of competitors

> Early warning on crises

Tweet. a post, 140 characters or

less.

Retweet, or RT. to repost a tweet

that someone else created.

Direct Message, or DM. Private;

only the person you tweeted can

see this message.

The @ sign. identifies a Twitter

user (@sfmoma)

Hashtag (#). Put in front of a

term (#robertfranks, #dada) will

enable people searching for that

term to find all tweets related to

it.

Twitter Tips

1. Organization

Tweetdeck organizes your Twitter desktop2. Retweeting

Keep tweets short to encourage retweeting3. Following

Have a plan for whom you’ll follow: organizations, media, analysts, thought leaders, competitorsUse Wefollow.com: a directory sorted by category

4. Autofollow

Discouraged b/c it dilutes your effectiveness (and promotes spam)

5. Unfollows

Useqwitter.com will tell you who’s unfollowed you Don’t take it too seriously unless you see a pattern

6. Search

Use search to find a conversation and join it7. Measurement

Grader will give you info on where you are relative to other twitterersAgain, better as internal tool

8. Hashtags

Use Hashtags to collect/share commentary on events, themes, product launches, etc

Brands on Twitter

Microblogging Measurement

Journalists and Social Media on Twitter

Keeping Tabs on the Competition

Tool Profiles: Facebook

Is Facebook for B2B?

Tool Profiles: Content-Sharing

“YouTube for Presentations”

Lead gen, branding

Mistakes…and Learning From Them

1. Self-correcting medium2. "If you're not failing sometimes,

you're not doing it right.“ Charlene Li

3. Fess up—fast 4. Try, try again [see #1]

When There’s a Crisis

Use Twitter, blogs to monitor trend and respond to community

If there are legal issues/investigation, coordinate with officials on approved statements

Monitor developments using listening tools

Crises Outside Your Control

997 News articles48,000+ blog posts

Know What’s Being Said…

30-day charts created with

…and If It’s Having an Effect

Developing a Strategic Social Media Plan

I. Plan III. TuneII. Engage

Social Media Planning

A. Assess Your Online Inventory• Web site and microsites• Video and audio podcasts• Photography• Press coverage• Communities• Blogs (company and external)• Microblogging (Twitter)• External wikis• Communities• Social Networks• Existing policies

B. Review Business Strategy• Goals• Culture• Plan for stakeholder/executive buy-in• Upcoming initiatives/campaigns

C. Audit Audiences*• Investors • Board members• Analysts and other pundits• Employees• Customers

D. Develop Plan• Goals• Objectives• Focus Areas• Strategies • Tactics• Timing / Owners / Milestones• Metrics

E. Policy Development• Blogging & microblogging

F. Bootcamp• Best practices overview• Policy overview• Tools training

• Blog platform (as needed)• Twitter• Other tools as appropriate

Deliverables Approved Plan w/ Metrics Scope of Work Budget Social media policies Bootcamp

I. Plan

Social Media Engagement

A. Listening• Blog monitoring• Microblogs (Twitter, etc) monitoring• Digital news media

B. Engagement Blog planning

• Design and layout• Banner design• Content recommendations/

editorial calendar• Coaching bloggers• Ongoing blog counsel

Community Development• Design and build communities• Best practices for engagement• Monitor• Identify opportunities

Microblogging (Twitter, etc)• Best practices• Flagging issues for response

Social Networks•Facebook•LinkedIn

Multimedia• Video (scripting, production, editing, using our in-house studio)• Podcast series (video or audio)

Social Media Relations• Strategy and best practices• Outreach/Introductions• Social media releases• SEO counsel

Events “In Real Life” • Content development• Recruit panelists/speakers• Plan• Logistics• Campaign design• Social media best practices• Followup

Tool Recommendation • Recommendations based on interest, adoption, quality

Deliverables* Blog design/layout Community development Social Network app dev Video development Event development Social release development Coaching and counsel

Social Media Optimization

MeasureBlogs• Traffic• Post frequency• Comment traffic• Links/Trackbacks• Technorati/Alexa/Other • Anecdotal• Awards

Microblogs• # Microbloggers (participation)• # of followers (impact)• # Quality of followers (reputation)• # Updates (Presence)

Media metrics• Share of voice/over time• Volume• Message penetration

Performance against deliverables• Met/unmet• Trends• Conclusions

Tune• Revise plan• Reset metrics

Toolkit• Radian6• Factiva• Backtype• Twitter, Tweetdeck, Twhirl, etc.• BudUrl, Tweetstats, Grader, etc• Google Blog Search & Analytics• RSS

III. Tune

Deliverables Performance against metrics Custom Analysis

horngroup.com

2009 Communicator Award of DistinctionHorn Group Website Homepage

2009 Bronze Telly AwardExcellence in Video, Horn Group Website

Shortlisted in ZDNet’s February 2009 Social PR Survey

Web Marketing Association2008 WebAward for Outstanding Website2007 Standard of Excellence Right Media Corporate Identity and Website Development Graphic Design USA2007 American Graphic Design AwardRight Media Design and Development

Top 100 Woman-Owned Business, 2008, 2007San Francisco Business Times

A Top Mid-Sized Agency2007 PRSourceCode Top Tech Communicators Survey

Best Mid-Sized Agency 2006PRSourceCode Best of the Best CommunicatorsAgency Ranking by 300 Top Tech Reporters

2006 Web Marketing Association WebAwardPR Standard of Excellence

San Francisco + New York

2006 Bell Ringer Award

League of American Communications Pros2005 Gold Magellan Award – Kalido

League of American Communications Pros2005 Top 50 Campaign – Kalido

National Communicator AwardsAward of Excellence

International Galaxy Awards Gold Award

SVAMA Sherlock Award

BMA International Pro-Comm Awards Best of Division

Working Women Awards Entrepreneurial Excellence Award

International Mercury AwardsBronze Award

IABC Silver Six Awards Program Award of Excellence

The Bulldog Awards , Bronze Award