SOCIALMEDIA.ORG/SUMMIT2014ORLANDOOCTOBER 27–29, 2014
How to lead a social mediaengagement strategy
RYAN DICKERSONCOX MEDIA GROUP
Social Media Engagement
@RyanGDickerson
What does it even mean?
@RyanGDickerson
Defining engagement Engagement looks different for every brand, and defining
it for your brand is key.
What’s your brand voice?
Why are you engaging with people?
What’s unique about your brand?
Why would I want a relationship with you?
@RyanGDickerson
The good news You likely had a brand voice, brand promise, and
differentiators well before this guys was in diapers.
@RyanGDickerson
The challenges Engagement is hard to scale… despite technology
advancements
Engagement costs $$$
Platform proliferation requires creativity & focus
The noise is deafening, and organic reach is declining for many brands
@RyanGDickerson
The rewards
From Conversations To Conversion
Customer Analytics
Improved SEO
Addressing The Haters
Product Feedback
Casual Customers To Raving Fans
Product Promotion
Brand Awareness
Rules of engagement
@RyanGDickerson
Rule #1
Listen First – just like your mom told you
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Rule #2
Be Present – no posting and running
@RyanGDickerson
Rule #3
Have Purpose – conversations should be intentional
@RyanGDickerson
Rule #4
Be Authentic – deliver on that brand promise
@RyanGDickerson
Rule #5
Stay Unique – don’t boilerplate me bro
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Rule #6
Take a Walk – seriously… they are good for you
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Customer Service
Intriguing stat slide
@RyanGDickerson All stats provided by huffpo social care study
@RyanGDickerson
Be present A presence isn’t the same as being present
Be human
Don’t fall for the Klout/Kred game… everyone deserves excellent service
Listen, and research before you speak
Be personal… boiler plate won’t cut it
Empathize
Brands are faceless, and easy to dislike… genuine people are not.
@RyanGDickerson
Scale
Can you scale?
@RyanGDickerson
Answer: probably not
Be realistic with yourself and your team
Set clear objectives with your leadership
Set clear expectation for your audience
Leverage technology wherever possible
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@RyanGDickerson
Don’t run the benchmarking rat race
Crisis & Trolls
Are you ready? People are imperfect… brands aren’t infallible.
@RyanGDickerson
You need a social media crisis management plan
“No matter how bad things are, you can always make them worse.” – Randy Pausch
It will happen, and you’ll often be the first to see it
It probably won’t be exactly what you expected
Crisis management rarely falls on one person, or one department
@RyanGDickerson
How to organize the chaos
Work within your business to gain stakeholders for a crisis plan Legal Customer Service Public Relations Marketing Operations (store, web, supply chain, etc.) HR
Identify decision makers, and escalation paths
Have a process that the business commits to
Run a test scenario @RyanGDickerson
Trolls will be trolls
@RyanGDickerson
People will be people Nearly a quarter of those who have ever posted content (23%) admit to having maliciously argued over an opinion with a stranger
Men are more likely to get into a malicious argument than women.
Millennials are twice as likely as those aged 55+ to engage in trolling behavior.
All stats provided by reaserch.yougov
@RyanGDickerson
Don’t feed the trolls If you’re ever tempted to engage with overly-negative comments, start by asking the following questions…
Do we have a real issue, or is this just hype?
Where is this comment, and who will see it?
What can we gain from responding?
What will happen if we don’t do anything?
@RyanGDickerson
Takeaway time
Defining your engagement strategy shouldn’t be an exercise in free thinking… follow the brand.
Listen, be present, have a purpose, be authentic
Be human, and remember that everyone matters
Be honest with your ability to scale, and set expectations with your communities & management
Have a crisis plan, and have internal stakeholders
Don’t feed the trolls, and take those walks
Takeaways
@RyanGDickerson
Questions?
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Thank You
Feel free to tweet comments, questions, criticisms and good margarita recipes to @RyanGDickerson
SOCIALMEDIA.ORG/SUMMIT2014ORLANDOOCTOBER 27–29, 2014
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