Salisbury University Women in Business Week

Carie Lewis, Director of Emerging Media@cariegrls

[ Social Media at The Humane Society ]

[ A Little About Me ]

• Graduated from SU in 2003• Been at HSUS for 6 years• Was hired to do PPC and jumped

on an opportunity• My professional development

comes from attending and speaking at over 100 events a year

• Social media is not a 9-5 job (work/life balance is a challenge)

• My field is dominated by women in the nonprofit sector and men in the corporate sector

• #1 challenge as a woman: growth in an old-school org

“I just got a keychain and address labels in the mail from you guys. Now that I see you posting on Facebook and know you're

legit, I'll be sending a donation. Thanks for the work you do.”

– Posted to our Facebook Page wall, January 2010

[ Just a Fad? ]

• HSUS’ social media architecture and philosophy

• Social media goals and measurement• The role of integration• Our strategies and tactics for success

[ What We’ll Talk About ]

[ By The Numbers ]

• 1.4 million Facebook fans• 150,000 Twitter followers• 129% growth rate on Facebook from ’11-’12• $500,000 raised on Facebook (lifetime at the end of 2011)• Over 100,000 actions taken on Facebook so far in 2012• All positions in social media have been paid for by

Facebook fundraising.

Integration and engagement are the keys to our growth and success in social media.

[ How We’re Structured]

Lara KochMobile Communications Manager

Carie LewisDirector of Emerging Media

Ellen PascaleSocial Campaigner

Sarah ButlerOnline Advertising Coordinator

Sarah BarnettSocial CommunicationsManager

Anne HoganCommunity Manager

Online VolunteersEmma Williams

Emerging Media Intern

[ How Social Media Works at HSUS ]

• The HSUS Twitter and Facebook pages are maintained by Comm• Social media is a small part of everyone’s job, but we are the gatekeeper • Over 100 presences on Facebook in addition to our Fan Page• Monthly Social Media Working Group for admins • All Admins must sign anadmin contract• No social media policy for employees but hold quarterlyprivacy trainings• Read industry publications and participate in networking events to stay ahead

[ How We Use Them Differently ]

Where our constituents are

For customer service and relationship building but is

also our action oriented community

People talk about us here

A customer service and relationship building tool

[ How We Operate in Social Media ]

• Answer everyone who comes to us with a legitimate question or concern• Do not use tools to schedule or post •Monitor every public mention of HSUS• Facebook response time = under 2 hours, Twitter = 30 minutes.• Don’t delete comments unless they violate our commenting policy• Very selective about what we post • Every post must provide fans some kind of value or benefit. • Never post more than once a day unless there is breaking news.• Social media is no longer an

afterthought – its integrated

[ We are not afraid to fail or screw up! ]

We have, plenty of times.Learn from your mistakes!

We have a crisis plan whichincludes our guidelines ondeleting comments, responding to angry fans, etc – but to boil it down:

In a crisis we:acknowledge, rectify, and move on.

[ Our Social Media “Philosophy” ]

By providing our fans what they want like:

• fun contests• polls asking for their opinion• listening to feedback on posts• answering every question• Show ways to make a difference• other engagement opportunities

We believe they will feel enough of aconnection with the brand to do what we ask such as:

• donating• taking action• filling out a form• Answering a question• RSVPing to an event

[ But Perhaps Most Importantly…]

We don’t measure success by # of fans or followers.

“…that’s so myspace.” –C. Lewis

[ What Matters? ]

The Like or Follow is the beginning of the relationship between you and a fan,

not the end.Ask yourself:• Do those people do what you want them to do? (tie to goals)• How can you get them to do it? (think like a user)• How are you making it a valuable community for both you and

your fans? (be selective and creative)• How will you get them to come back? (engage)

You must be relevant, interesting, concise, responsive, and provide value to your fans.

[ Goals ]

Our goals in using social media are: advocacy, fundraising, providing customer service, and increasing brand sentiment online by

promoting the good work of the organization.

Customer service & engagement Interest & trust

Positive connectionto the brand

Better chance of becoming a member

More likely to share our content

Everything we do online is tied to advocacy and fundraising – social media is no exception.

• # of actions taken• # of donors• Amount of donations*• # of new names to file• Customer service wins• Sentiment %• Growth rate• Most popular content• # mentions• Notable mentions

[ What We Measure ]

*both from Facebook Causes and sourced from our website

[ Measuring and Showcasing the Intangibles ]

Our Weekly Social Media Mentions Report showcases notable mentions about our brand in social media.

Includes mentions from: • Supporters/members/fans• Other organizations• Companies• Celebrities

Sent to executives to showcase intangible benefits from social mediaas well as give them an insight of what’s buzzing online that week related to our brand.

[ That All Being Said… ]

You still need a sizable base to take advantage of the virality of social networks.

[ Integration Will Help People Find You ]

• Social media works in conjunction with all of our online channels: email, website, online advertising, and mobile.

• Every piece of content we put out is shareable on Facebook, Twitter, and via email.

• Our homepage has a live feed of Facebook and Twitter

• Every page on our website has a link to our social media presences

• We have a daily 9 minute Communications meeting about what each channel is putting out that day.

• We maintain an editorial calendar for social media• Website content links to related Facebook pages,

events, etc.

[ Case Study: Million Fans ]

• Custom Facebook tab with a Flickr API to capture user-generated content

• Special video to fans thanking them from our CEO• Mobile website coverage and mobile-friendly version of the form• Discount coupon for everyone that enters• Infographic on who our fans are and what they’re into• Billboard on our website homepage• Full-file email asking people to “Like” us• Press release• Blogger outreach

It was a celebration and a huge milestone for our org, but it was also a good example of an integrated campaign.

[ Communication on Facebook ]

[ Custom Facebook Tab and Video ]

[ Infographic ]

[ Website Homepage Billboard ]

[ Mobile Website ]

[ Full-file Email ]

Humane Society Uses Advocacy to Reach 1 Million Facebook Fans | Raganhttp://www.ragan.com/Main/Articles/44032.aspx

What do you do when you Reach 1,000,000 Facebook Fans | NTEN Bloghttp://www.nten.org/blog/2011/11/07/what-do-you-do-when-you-reach-1000000-facebook-fans-try-get-some-more

When is One Million Facebook Fans Worth More than a Million Bucks | Beth Kanterhttp://www.bethkanter.org/million-fans/

Humane Society Reached 1 Million Facebook Fans | MSNBC Bloghttp://digitallife.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/11/07/8683384-humane-society-reaches-1-million-facebook-fans

How the Humane Society Gained 1 Million Facebook Fans | The RealTime Reporthttp://therealtimereport.com/2011/12/05/how-the-humane-society-gained-1-million-facebook-fans/

US Humane Society Tops 1 Million Facebook Fans | All Facebookhttp://www.allfacebook.com/facebook-fans-million-2011-11

1 Million Fans – Answering Questions to Make Social Media Count | Reve Newshttp://www.revenews.org/1-million-fans-answering-questions-to-make-social-media-count/

[ Blogger Outreach]

[ All of This is Working! ]

• All positions in Emerging Media have been paid for by social media fundraising.

• We are the third most successful nonprofit on Facebook Causes in terms of fundraising.

• We reached our goal of $500,000 raised on Facebook at the end of 2011.

• Our fundraising strategy is to be where people are, and provide them opportunity to give how and where they want to give.

Integration and engagement are the keys to our growth and success in social media.

[ What’s Next? ]

We want to become a data driven organization.Data is one of our biggest weaknesses!

• We want to use data to make decisions on how to work smarter.

• We do a great job of providing individual customer service, but how can we use data to take that a step further?

• We want to better use Facebook data to give us better insight on what our fans want (LIKE.)

• We want to use data to give our fans a better experience with our brand so that we can convert even more of them to constituents.

[ Final Thought ]

#SMWES // @cariegrls

“Social media is free….

free like a puppy.”

[ Thank you! ]

clewis@humanesociety.org@cariegrls

linkedin.com/in/carielewis

[ What Questions Do You Have? ]