11.04.09

Leveraging Social Media to Reach the Community

Agenda

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• Introduction to Social Media• Social Media Approach• Best Practices – Platforms / Channels• Distributing the Message• well, then• Questions?

Introduction to Social Media

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Succeeding in the Recommendation Economy

Today’s economy is driven by individuals sharing opinions, experiences, and recommendations with others

• 27% of all personal conversations involve serious discussions of products or services (McKinsey)

• 91% say consumer reviews are the #1 aid to a buying decision (JC Williams Group)

• 87% trust a friend’s recommendation over a review by a critic (Marketing Sherpa)

• Social network users are 3 times more likely to trust peer opinions over advertising when making purchase decisions (JupiterResearch)

• Information Technology buyers trust social media more than any other content source (PJA IT Social Media Index)

“People have replaced trust in advertising with trust in individuals”

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What is Social Media?

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Social media describes the behaviors of people interacting with online technology to share opinions, insights, experiences and perspectives with each other

Reputation AggregatorsBlogs and ForumsSocial Networks Communities

Social Media is about Quality Relationships

It’s used to create new connections and to openly share ideas, experiences, and opinions.

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Participation requires:• Listening and learning

• Joining the conversation to contribute value and build relationships

• A new approach to marketing effectiveness measurement

Goals of participation:• Gain deep customer/constituent

insight

• Cultivate, facilitate influence

• Build communities

Social Media Approach

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How can Brands Leverage Social Media?

The opportunity exists for anyone to leverage the power of social media to generate results: sell products or services, build relationships, inform constituencies and connect with key community members.

Social media cultivates a rich, online experience around your initiative to drive a stronger emotional connection, deeper engagement, and preference. Building experiences for the long term, be committed to social media to achieve the greatest success.

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Social Media Approach

Driving meaningful engagement means using the digital channel to actually demonstrate the value of being part of communities. This kind of presence can start to build the kind of engagement and trust that drives users to become part of a community.

Blogs

Social Hub Brand Hub Social

Hub

Media Partners

DistributionPartners

Events

ForumsForums

New Model

Search Brand Hub Email

Offline Media

Online Media

Old Model

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Shifting Media Models

Traditional Awareness Social Media

Display ads lead

Drive clicks

Use budget to purchase space

Brand presence in hub only

Content leads

Drive engagement

Use budget & content to partner

Brand presence distributed broadly

Guidelines for Participation

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Operating Guidelines

Align Objectives

Ensure use of social media marketing will drive business goals. Understand how social media fits within your overall marketing strategy and design goals appropriately.

Be Authentic

Social media audiences respond best to full transparency. Always say who you are and how you are connected to the organization / brand.

Stay Active

Effective social media engagement requires consistent participation. • Twitter – Update 1-2x per day

• Facebook / Linkedin – Update 2-3x per week

• YouTube – Update 3-4x per month

• Blogger Outreach / Content Distribution – When available

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Listen & Learn

Identify advocates / communities that might be leveraged as conductors or creators of content. Consistent monitoring helps unearth actionable insights from the community and key areas of opportunity.

Make Content Distribution King

Development and distribution of content is critical to effective social media engagement.

Balance Voices

A playbook of approved communications / themes achieves this goal and is especially helpful if community ambassadors outside your organization are expected to carry on your conversation.

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Operating Guidelines

Demonstrate Value

Community members expect organizations to add value to conversations within the social media space.

Understand Risk

Social media engagement requires an appetite for risk. Communications are malleable and spread at the will of the community.

Play Offense

Where possible, be proactive in engaging audiences. Don’t assume audiences will find you.

Plan Defense

Have a plan to deal with critical voices in the marketplace and establish a code to distinguish level of threat.

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Operating Guidelines

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Best Practices: Platforms / Channels

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YouTube Overview

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With YouTube, you can:• Create an account which grants

you your own personal video channel

• Categorize and tag your videos to make them easier to find

• Comment on and rate videos that other users have uploaded

• Subscribe to other users’ channels and add them as “friends,” similar to other social networks

• Share videos via other social media platforms including Twitter and Facebook

• Inspire fans to create their own content to add to the community

* YouTube Blog – May 20, 2009 & Comscore, April 2009

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YouTube Tips

How to be successful on YouTube:• Create a branded channel• Show the human side of your community • Provide exclusive and compelling content to educate audiences • Regularly upload fresh and relevant content• Utilize as forum to respond to critical community members• Link to other social network platforms where organization has a presence • Include the organization logo in all uploaded videos• Attract and recruit channel subscribers

Case Study – Beatbullying

• 75,000 Channel Views• 149 Video Uploads• 194 Comments• #9 Most Subscribed in UK• 1,115 Subscribers• True Stories from Teens

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Twitter Overview

With Twitter, you can:• Send updates via the web or

your mobile device• “Follow” the tweets of another

user you find particularly interesting or influential

• Directly reply to or engage in a discussion with other users (both publicly and privately)

• Share interesting Tweets sent out by other users to your followers (while also attributing the information to them)

*NielsenWire – March 18, 2009

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Twitter Tips

How to be successful on Twitter:• Create a branded Twitter page• Update frequently (at least 1-2x per day)• Embrace transparency – be personable, relatable, and honest with your

followers• Ensure timely responses to all comments and questions• Consider using as “breaking news” teaser for promotion of new programs,

research, etc• Link to other social network platforms where organization has a presence• Monitor what community members are saying about your brand and respond

accordingly (Local search)

Case Study – Komen for the Cure

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• 11 local profiles• Over 20,000 Followers• Photo Uploads• Local Stories• Links to additional social

media activities• Following local activists

and community members

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Facebook Overview

*Comscore, April 2009

With Facebook, you can:• Recruit Facebook users to

become a “fan” of your page.

• Incorporate exclusive content, including photos, video, company information, event invitations and discussion threads

• Utilize discussion threads and wall posts on your page to directly engage with and respond to fans of your organization

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Facebook Tips

How to be successful on Facebook:• Share relevant and engaging content ranging from photos and videos• Show the human side of your organization • Use the News Feed strategically and to your benefit• Respond to discussion threads regularly and in a timely manner• Recruit and interact with fans• Connect your Fan Page with your other social platforms and offline

programs • Make your page into a resource for organization information• Include content that allows for fan interaction

Case Study – City Year

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• 4,480 Fans• Video and Photos• Vibrant discussion forum• Events• Quick community

responses• Links to all other social

media activity• Uses profile picture to

promote activity

Distributing the Message

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Distributed Content Overview

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By distributing content, you can:• Amplify the message by reaching a

broader audience beyond the brand website

• Create consumer interest in the brand through contextually relevant placement near other similar content

• Engage community in novel, relevant ways that create/promote brand involvement

• Provide relevant value that drives positive association between the brand and the environment where the content is hosted

Source: iMediaConnection Putting your content where it matters

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Distributed Content

How to be successful with distributed content:• Carefully consider the synergy between the type of content/assets

available and the environments where they are distributed to ensure relevancy and value for the community

• Pursue environments that are compelling to the target audience, and where there will be transferred equity to the brand

• Ensure that content/assets are easily shareable to promote pass along• Where appropriate, provide opportunities for a user to opt-in for

additional information, and begin an ongoing relationship• Allow the audience to provide comments/input to refine the content

approach

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Blog Overview

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By starting a blog, you can:• Create a destination to connect

with constituents through thought leadership

• Share perspectives, news and content for your target audience

• Expose the human side of your organization

• Organize and collaborate around initiatives

• Respond to industry issues and critics

Blogger Outreach Overview

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By engaging bloggers, you can:• Effectively reach an engaged

audience around a particular topic area

• Build positive brand association through recommendations from trusted sources

• Gain access to potential sources of user generated content

• Solicit real-time feedback on ideas• Positively impact natural search

rankings though link building

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Blogger Outreach

How to be successful with blogger outreach:• Conduct extensive research to determine who the influential bloggers are

for the target market• Build relationships with bloggers prior to outreach• Consider utilizing bloggers in additional brand communications or as offline

spokespeople • Offer the bloggers something of value for them and their readers

well, then “mission”

Wellbeing isn’t something you are. It’s something you do. Something anyone can do. Whether we’re young or old, athletic or chronically ill, there’s something everyone can do at any stage of life or health to be as well as we can be.

Each day we make dozens of choices: about what to eat, how to stay active, when to take our medication, etc. Every one of these choices, no matter how small, can help improve our wellbeing and our quality of life in a huge way. This is what “well, then” is about. It’s a way of thinking about our wellbeing. And it’s a community where we can share stories about what we do to be as well as we can be in the hope that by exchanging ideas, we will all benefit and all of our lives will be better.

well, then

User profiles

User Generated Content

Ambassador Activation

Facebook

Twitter

YouTube

LinkedIn

Thank You

Questions?

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