ROI of Listening

American Red Cross

Case Study Slam

Me

• Social Media lover first. Job followed. Not a PR person.

• Like most English majors, I’m not good at measuring stuff.

• Social Media Integrator at American Red Cross for about a year.

American Red Cross

• Katrina hit• We know people are talking but we’re not listening to conversation.• First, feeling defensive and like going to war. • Needed more transparency• Now, embracing social media.

Project ListenThe What

Project ListenThe Why

Project ListenThe Outcome

Project ListenThe Outcome

• Internal Social Media adoption

• Awareness of customer service issues

• Informing PR strategies

Project ListenProcess

Project ListenProcess

Project ListenProcess

Andrew Ferguson dot NET

“I took an American Red Cross class I thought was less than satisfactory. […] Someone found my blog post and told the local chapter director. He called me to talk about it honestly. […] They care about me and they’re willing to go the extra mile. […] This gives the American Red Cross HUGE points. I am now significantly more likely to take another class than I was before.”

Project ListenProcess

Project ListenProcess

Project ListenResults

Project ListenResults

• Internal Feedback

• External Feedback

Project ListenChallenges

Culture Shift

• Major culture shift and period of adoption.

• Fear

• Not a one-to-one value yet (hard to measure)

Project ListenChallenges

Firewall

Project ListenSuccesses

• By documenting conversation, created internal value. Now everyone wants the feedback.

• Relationship building lays groundwork for future campaigns to raise time, money, and blood.

• Baby step has made the case for integrating social media in all ARC communications.

Project ListenSuccesses

• By showing up in site stats and reaching out, created external value: You matter and we’re open to listening to you and incorporating your ideas.

• Achieving a higher degree of transparency.

Project ListenKey Learning

Listening really is a gateway drug.

Easy to aggregate data to make systemic change recommendations.

Don’t forget the little guys and one-on-one relationships.