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TradeWinds Asia: A Twitter Case Study
About TradeWinds
TradeWinds is an annual mission trip to multiple countries across the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region.
The goal of this 8-day conference is to help U.S. businesses establish relationships with regional and industry specific organizations in the APAC area. Companies who take part in TradeWinds Asia will
gain knowledge on how to increase profits in the growing APAC region, network with leading industry
and government officials, and meet one-on-one with top Asian business experts from U.S.
Embassies and consulates from the region.
Objective
With a month to spare, TradeWinds Asia, was looking for new ways to spread the message about the conference and mission trips. Based upon the timeline, messaging type, target audience and desired
results KoMarketing decided upon Twitter as the most viable messaging platform. Twitter is a great
place to communicate a message directly with your target audience. Since the audience is opt-in, the
community is receptive to information, notifications, sharing and interacting. Twitter is a micro-blogging platform, which allowed us to provide our targeted community anything from program
information specific to TradeWinds Asia, to high level information on Free Trade Agreements.
Our primary goal was not to drive traffic to the TradeWinds website but more to disseminate information and build a community of followers looking to learn more about international trade and more specifically what TradeWinds was all about. Twitter allowed KoMarketing to provide a heartbeat on Asia Pacific export in a method the follower could interact with and divulge in a way that best met the individual’s needs. Twitter is a great way to target and push messages, news and events to a specific audience in a timely fashion.
Problem
Though the profile had been created in the past (with roughly 11 followers), updates were few and far
between, and the majority of the profiles following TradeWinds Asia, were inactive or had no
engagement with the TradeWinds Asia account. This left a short amount of time to identify and
contact profiles of note and share information regarding TradeWinds Asia mission trips.
Solutions
KoMarketing Associates, LLC www.komarketingassociates.com (781)209-1989
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Several methods were employed in achieving the goals set out for the TradeWinds Asia Twitter
account:
Chart 1- Main solutions targeted for Twitter account management
1. Follow - One of the most helpful techniques used to acquire followers was to simply follow
them. This is the best way to let someone know you’re there. In addition, while the more followers the better, it’s also important to have the right demographic of followers. Someone
who works in marketing will probably follow you back. If they work with a client that already
has their hand in the industry, or is even thinking of entering into Asia, they could even pass
along some useful information, so they would be an ideal person to connect with. We wanted to place our focus on those who plainly stated that they wanted to be immersed in the Asian
market. We followed several kinds of profiles (preferably with a 1:1 ratio of followers and
following) which can be seen below:
Chart 1- Types of Profiles We Connected With
2. Hashtag - Searching hashtags also played a pivotal role in our network build out. For
example, #Chinachat is used every Friday at 12 PM EST to discuss current news and
information (mainly from a business perspective) on China. Searching #Chinachat will show you all conversations happening on that topic which include that keyword. From this, we
• Profiles that referenced a specialization or interest in Asia Trade
• Student profiles of those studying international trade, economics, business, or anything else referencing international involvement
• Profiles of reporters or writers who specialized in writing news on China, Japan, Korea, Singapore or Asia in general
• Those who followed profiles of the above writers and reporters
• Profiles related to other governmental establishment involved in trade such as @exportgov or @tradegov as well as the profiles of those who work for these establishments such as @UnderSecSanchez
• Profiles relating U.S. - Asian business conferences (e.g. Symposium on Asia-U.S. Partnership Opportunities (SAUPO), Asia Business Conference)
• The profiles profiles of former and current attendees and partners of TradeWinds Asia
KoMarketing Associates, LLC www.komarketingassociates.com (781)209-1989
3
could find relevant profiles that showed an interest in hot topics in China. Other hashtags we
searched to find relevant profiles on Twitter include:
Chart 2- Hashtags Searched to Find Relevant Profiles
3. Lists - Twitter lists were also a key tactic in pointing us towards profiles we wanted to connect
with. If a profile really stood out in terms of holding a particular focus on trade in Asia or
business in Asia, we would then look to see if they had created any public lists populated with profiles on a specific topic we were interested in. For example, @UnderSecSanchez had a
list entitled coreTPCC (The eight core trade promotion agencies of the U.S. government), while @RhodesNathan had a list entitled International Trade (International trade news and
tips for international trade professionals). Following these lists directed us towards profiles we knew we would have an interest in connecting with, while providing us with valuable
information.
4. Content - While finding profiles to follow and having them follow you back is important in building out your network, so is sharing valuable content. Reaching out to someone by
following them or tweeting at them is the first step in getting them to look at your profile; the
next step is showing them you have something to offer. What we wanted to offer were
resources and information about Trade Winds Asia or other governmental agencies related to trade, as well as news stories, articles and blog posts relating to Asia, exports, and/or trading.
5. Frequency - Sharing your content often is another factor to be taken into consideration.
While on other social networking platforms such as Facebook you run the risk of cannibalizing your own posts by frequent posting, Twitter is so fast paced that not posting
frequently enough can prevent followers from seeing your updates. It was important to have a
sufficient amount of content while still maintaining the integrity of those posts. In other words,
• #China, #HongKong, #HK, #Japan, #Taiwan, #Korea, #Asia Country Based
• #SAUPO Conference
Based
• #Chinachat, #asiabiz, #trade, #internationaltrade, #exports, #export
Topic Based
KoMarketing Associates, LLC www.komarketingassociates.com (781)209-1989
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we would post as often as we could, but we would never tweet sub-par content purely for the
sake of tweeting it.
6. The 80/20 Rule - We followed the rule of only sharing self-promotional content 20% of the
time. While the goal was to spread the word about Trade Winds Asia, appearing too
self-promotional is a good way to drive away current and potential followers. Therefore, along with trusted news outlets provided by the Department of Commerce, we found reliable and
valuable sources for content that could be used for tweeting relevant news stories and blogs
on the Asian business landscape.
7. Retweets - Retweeting also plays a pivotal role on the content sharing side of Twitter. Social
networks are all about sharing, and many use Twitter in particular as a method of sharing
information. We selected profiles we knew would share valuable content that our network
would want to read. Government affiliated profiles were largely the focus because they would often offer blogs written by officials, statistical information, and more importantly, they were
credible sources. When retweeting, you are affiliating yourself with that profile and essentially
putting yourself in their good company. It was important to make sure that we retweeted
those we held to a high standard, with hopes that our followers would hold us to an equally high standard.
8. Sharable Content - We can monitor how many people click the links that we tweet (via
HootSuite), and while it's desirable to see that number increase as well as see people ‘favorite’ our posts, the best thing is to get a retweet. Therefore, when sharing any post, not
only do we think of how valuable our followers will find the post, but also how valuable their
followers may find it. If a profile retweets your post, their followers will first look at your post
and then hopefully look at the source of that post (you). Essentially, we wanted to tweet to our followers’ followers.
KoMarketing Associates, LLC www.komarketingassociates.com (781)209-1989
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Results
1. Follower Growth
Graph 1- Total followers number each day from Apr. 9 to Apr. 30
We were able to grow our network by connecting with relevant users/profiles at an
exponential rate. The ideal target profile would already have a voice in the space, helping us spread our message, so it was essential to find and connect with those profiles. An example
would be @JanJekielek, Epoch Time Website General Manager. This profile has over 7,000
followers and is linked to a major news outlet. Connecting with profiles such as this one is
beneficial as it opens us up to an entire network of prospective followers and resources.
2. The Ability to Connect
Graph 2- Daily Retweets from Apr. 10 to Apr. 30
The greatest opportunity that Twitter offers is the ability to connect and interact with so many people.
One way to measure that interaction is through retweets. When a profile retweets your content, they
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366
0 100 200 300 400
4/9/2013
4/10/2013
4/11/2013
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4/13/2013
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4/28/2013
4/29/2013
4/30/2013
Follower Growth
0 2 4 6 8
4/10/2013
4/11/2013
4/12/2013
4/13/2013
4/14/2013
4/15/2013
4/16/2013
4/17/2013
4/18/2013
4/19/2013
4/20/2013
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4/22/2013
4/23/2013
4/24/2013
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4/27/2013
4/28/2013
4/29/2013
4/30/2013
Daily Retweets
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are sharing with their entire network, not only your content, but also your profile. One profile of note
to share our content was the U.S. Commercial Service Thailand.
Receiving a “Follow Friday” or #ff is another way a profile can interact with you. By doing this they are essentially telling all their followers that the profile they have #ff’d is worthy of connecting with. We
received one of our most notable Follow Fridays from the International Trade Association.
Interaction with prominent government profiles both in the U.S. and abroad include:
Chart 3- Prominent Government Profiles
@ITA - the International Trade Administration, @IBPExport – the International Buyer Program,
@usembassymanila – The U.S. Embassy Manila, @UnderSecSanchez – Under Secretary of
Commerce for International Trade, @usembassyseoul – The U.S. Embassy Seoul, @USTDA – United States Trade and Development Agency.
@ITA @UnderSecSanchez
@IBPExpo
rt
@USTDA
@usembassym
anila
@usembassy
seoul
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3. Generated 50 referrals (HootSuite clicks)
Graph 3- Referrals number each day from Apr. 10 to Apr. 30
Another way to gauge interaction is to see how many referrals are being sent back to a website. We
used a tool called Hootsuite, which will track how many time a link generated from our Twitter profile
has been clicked. Looking at these numbers in conjunction with retweets and other forms of
interaction is optimal, as it will show you how many people found your content so compelling that they wanted to know more.
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 4/10/2013
4/17/2013
4/24/2013
Daily Referrals
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Conclusion:
With a limited timeline from launch to event date, the TradeWinds Asia Twitter profile was successful
on multiple levels from adoption to interaction. During the course of this program, we were able to identify the need for a structured program in the future, as well as create an established outline and
strategy capable of building social influence and equity for similar programs going forward.
Should a similar program be adopted, this same method of reaching out to connect and inform those not yet acquainted with said program can be implemented. We would recommend creating an
overarching strategy that encompasses the International Trade Administration of the U.S.
Department of Commerce message in its entirety, with programs/missions highlighted when
available. This would allow the community to sustain and build organically without losing the brand equity any time an event comes to its conclusion.
This Twitter following is extremely valuable and would be a similar target audience for a multitude of
service offerings. Our recommendation would be the continued nurture and build out of the Trade
KoMarketing Associates, LLC www.komarketingassociates.com (781)209-1989
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Winds community. The foundation has been built, so consistent utilization of this medium as a
communication outlet has substantial value. The abandonment of your followers until your next event would be detrimental to the base and will essentially require a start from scratch approach for the
next event.
KoMarketing Associates, LLC www.komarketingassociates.com (781)209-1989