Applying a Marketing Lens to Police Communications

APPLYING A MARKETING LENS TO POLICE COMMUNICATIONS ERIC WEAVER • VP SOCIAL STRATEGY • @WEAVE 2011 POLICE LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE • #PLC2011VAN

MARKETERS ARE LOOKING TO SOCIAL TO: build awareness. convert the interested. increase revenue.

MARKETING? RELATED TO POLICE COMMS?

PUBLIC SAFETY MIGHT LOOK AT IT TO: alert the public. inform/educate the community. enhance departmental reputation. perform online forensics.

BUT WE’RE FACING THE SAME HURDLES

The public is time-starved and distracted. Trust is harder to come by. Their expectations can often be ridiculous. One blogger can outshout us. Senior officers (or marketers) often don’t get the value of social tools.

“MAYBE SOCIAL MEDIA WILL BE THE MAGIC BULLET.”

SO YOU’RE TWEETING. YOU SET UP A FAN PAGE. POSTED SOME VIDEOS ON YOUTUBE.

IF YOU’RE LIKE MANY OTHERS, YOU’RE WONDERING…

NOW WHAT? ?

? AM I DOING THIS RIGHT? CAN WE GET MORE FANS? MORE DIALOGUE? HOW DO I GET MORE ATTENTION?!?

WHAT WE ARE NOW SEEING IS A

PROFOUND CULTURAL SHIFT

6

NUMBER OF PEOPLE JOINING LINKEDIN.COM DAILY

67,000+

665,000,000 FACEBOOK USERS WORLDWIDE

SOURCE: SOCIALBAKERS.COM

888,000+ PEOPLE JOIN FACEBOOK EVERY SINGLE DAY

2009 POPULATION OF VANCOUVER

576,000

55 AVERAGE NUMBER OF MINUTES USERS SPEND EACH DAY ON FACEBOOK

10

50% CONSUMERS WHO ARE MORE LIKELY TO BUY IF ENGAGED VIA SOCIAL SITES CHADWICK MARTIN BAILEY, FEB 2010

LET’S TAKE A FRESH LOOK AT THE PRACTICE OF MARKETING & PUBLIC COMMUNICATION

MODERN MARKETING WAS BORN IN THE MID 20TH CENTURY

“THE OUTBOUND VOICE”:

LET’S TELL A (BRAND) STORY

LET’S EVOLVE EVERY NICHE OF MARKETING INTO A SOPHISTICATED FIELD

LET’S FIND NEW WAYS TO INTRUDE, INTERRUPT AND DIVERT

HAS IT WORKED?

MCDONALD’S: I’M ________ ______

MAXWELL HOUSE COFFEE: GOOD TO THE ________ ________

MONOLITHIC MESSAGES WORKED IN THE PAST WHEN WE HAD:

Limited product choice

Limited media channels

Longer brand interactions

Higher barriers to entry

Traditional advertising and marketing communication was

formed when we had 3 TV channels, 1 hometown paper,

and no Internet.

BUT NOW…

CONSUMERS HAVE ENDLESS CHOICE. Instead of coffee in a

can, I can get a half-caff, mocha frappa latte, no foam no sleeve,

no whip. Sometimes at 3am.

CULTURAL CHANGES IMPACTING COMMUNICATIONS

CON

SUM

ER A

BILI

TY T

O PU

BLIS

H

ORIGINAL  VERSION:  AGENT  WILDFIRE  

When modern marketing was created, we had lots of time,

attention and trust. And very little noise or choice.

But with the advent of the Internet, product choice and media clutter are

through the roof. Time, attn & trust are low. The consumers’ voices are loud. I

can pull two levers: trust, and the consumers’ voice.

ORGANIZATIONAL REPUTATION IMPACTORS

Quality products & services

Attentive to customer needs

Strong financial performance

Fair pricing

A well-known brand

Good employee relations

Socially responsible

Visible CEO

Dialogue with stakeholders

Employee/CEO blogs

53%!

47%!

42%!

38%!

37%!

35%!

33%!

23%!

23%!

12%!

US 2006  

Transparent & honest practices

Company I can trust

High-quality products/services

Communicates frequently

Treats employees well

Good corporate citizen

Prices fairly

Innovator

Top leadership

Financial returns

83%!

83%!

79%!

75%!

72%!

64%!

58%!

48%!

47%!

45%!

US 2010  

EDELMAN TRUST BAROMETER, 2010

What’s happened in just the last five years? TRUST ISSUES move to the top of

reputation management.

TRUST IS ERODING – BUT SOCIAL CHANNELS, USED AUTHENTICALLY, CAN PROVIDE PROOF POINTS AND REBUILD TRUST

FLICKR.COM/PHOTOS/POWERBOOKTRANCE  

“I’LL USE SOCIAL MEDIA TO CHEAPLY PUSH MY CONTENT AND MESSAGE TO NEW AUDIENCES.”

MANY ORGANIZATIONS START OUT THINKING:

2010 STUDY OF POLICE TWITTER USERS

~50% OF ALL AGENCIES TWEETED ABOUT ON-DUTY ACTIVITIES, INCLUDING ARRESTS

38% OF USERS TWEETED ABOUT WANTED OR MISSING PERSONS

54% TWEETED ABOUT TRAFFIC OR OTHER PUBLIC SAFETY ADVISORIES

35% OF ALL ACCOUNTS TWEETED ABOUT POLICE AND COMMUNITY VOLUNTEER ACTIVITIES

ENGAGEMENT. INFLUENCE. ADVOCACY.

THERE’S A MUCH BIGGER OPPORTUNITY:

ADVOCACY INFLUENCE ENGAGE PUBLISH LISTEN STUDY

THINK BEYOND PUBLISHING

Start by studying

the trends, the tools,

the market

You can’t know what to publish

unless you know what people want to hear.

NOW we can publish cost-

effectively.

If our content connects with the audience,

they will engage.

If our content is engaging

enough, it will be shared,

fanned, forwarded.

If our content is influential

enough, it will create advocacy. People will ACT

and DEFEND.

SIX STEPS TO INTEGRATED SOCIAL

1 DECIDE ON YOUR TONE AND MANNER Authoritarian? Friendly? Decisive?

LEAD THE CONVERSATION WITH LEGAL ABOUT RISK & PRIVACY Precedents are now being set Privacy impact of monitoring is foggy

DETERMINE INQUIRY HANDLING Response times? Follow-up?

DETERMINE EMPLOYEE GOVERNANCE Balancing freedom of speech with departmental reputation Should employees identify themselves? Do officers know when colleagues are under cover?

STUDY & PLAN

THE IMPORTANCE OF GOVERNANCE

A Santa Monica police officer and a suspect were both shot in an altercation and ended up at the same hospital. The force kept the officer’s identity secret

from the known gang member. But a retired officer unknowingly published the officer’s name in relation to the incident. Have to be VERY CLEAR about

employee governance.

CLICK TO SEE THE VIDEO AT http://blutube.policeone.com/media/6875

PLAN FOR REPUTATIONAL INCIDENTS What if an officer is involved in a questionable event?

DETERMINE SUCCESS METRICS Still largely unknown in police comms Consider this akin to the early days of the Internet Just because the train is moving fast doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be on it

COMMUNICATE THE GENERATIONAL REASONS BEHIND SOCIAL ADOPTION TO SENIOR OFFICERS Older generations see social’s value differently

1 STUDY & PLAN

HOW MANY SENIOR MANAGERS SEE SOCIAL

BOOMERS

All about propriety. Trained in formalities, don’t offend, guarded means safe, not so great with “random.” Suit & tie: trustworthy.

GENS X&Y All about affinity. Formality is boring. Grew up with Google so sharing means being found. Suit & tie: untrustworthy.

2011-2012 WHEN MILLENIALS WILL SURPASS BOOMERS IN THE WORKFORCE

PHOTO: FLICKR.COM/PHOTOS/KATINALYNN

Mgmt needs to realize that social mores they take for granted have

changed, and social’s rapid adoption is due to this. They’re looking at it

through an inaccurate lens.

TRENDS: MASHABLE.COM

ARGUMENTS: CASESTUDIESONLINE.COM

GOVERNANCE EXAMPLES: SOCIALMEDIAGOVERNANCE.COM

SURVEY OF POLICE TWITTER USE: http://j.mp/policetwitter 1 STUDY & PLAN

SOME THOUGHTS ABOUT RISK

BEST BUY LAUNCHED TWELPFORCE TO EMPOWER 12,000 EMPLOYEES TO ANSWER TECH QUESTIONS.

Q: “DO WE REALLY TRUST THEM TO SAY THE RIGHT THING ONLINE?”

A: WE TRUST THEM IN THE STORE ALL DAY LONG

2 LISTEN

NOW THAT WE UNDERSTAND THE RISKS AND REWARDS, WHAT SHOULD WE LISTEN FOR?

MENTIONS

SENTIMENT

EMPLOYEE POSTS

RELATED TOPICS

LISTENING GOALS

OBTAIN INTEL

IDENTIFY ADVOCATES AND DETRACTORS

DETERMINE SUCCESS OF OUTREACH CAMPAIGNS

DETERMINE VOLUME OF BUZZ, SHARE OF VOICE, OVERALL SENTIMENT, PUBLIC REACTIONS, TOPICS TIED TO YOUR FORCE

IDENTIFY PR CRISES EARLY

CORRECT MISPERCEPTIONS AND DEFEND AGAINST ATTACK

IDENTIFY AND CORRECT ONLINE MISBEHAVIOUR BY EMPLOYEES

(CAN’T GET THIS IF SOCIAL ACCESS IS TURNED OFF AT THE STATION)

FREE VS. PAID

FREEBIES:

CRAWLED INTERNET MENTIONS ON BLOGS AND NEWS SITES

TWITTER (2 WEEKS)

MESSAGE BOARDS, FORUMS

IMAGES AND VIDEO

PAID TOOLS:

LARGER GOOGLE DATASETS

NON-ENGLISH SITES

DEEPER TWITTER ARCHIVES

FACEBOOK FAN PAGES

FREEBIES

GOOGLE ALERTS

SAMEPOINT

SOCIALMENTION

BLOGPULSE

KLOUT

TECHNORATI

FILTRBOX

YACKTRACK

TWITTER SEARCH

TWENDZ

Limited data, limited insights

PAID TOOLS CYMFONY

RADIAN6

SYSOMOS

SCOUTLABS

VISIBLE TECHNOLOGIES

Deeper data samples; better results; partnerships with Google, Facebook; rich media & comments; multiple languages

40  SCOUTLABS

41  SCOUTLABS

3 PUBLISH

NOW THAT WE CAN HEAR OUR MARKET, WHAT SHOULD WE PUBLISH?

TIME-RESPECTFUL CONTENT Tagged well and easily consumed

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP What’s your vision on gang control? Drug houses?

PROOF POINTS Show proof of departmental success

STORYTELLING PIECES

HOW-TOS, FAQs AND GUIDES

PUBLISH YOUR SOCIAL POLICY! No Canadian or US police agencies included a link to their official policies

4 ENGAGE

NOW THAT WE’RE PUBLISHING, HOW DO WE INTERACT?

CREATE ENGAGEMENT GUARDRAILS & GOVERNANCE Both internal and external

CREATE OPPORTUNITIES TO INTERACT WITH THE CONTENT Encourage comments, suggestions

HEAR & RESPOND Acknowledge them immediately, set expectations on response, and help the public understand the prioritization of resources

TYPE  OF  RESPONSE  

TYPE  OF  COMMENT  

LOCATION  

ONLINE REPUTATION RESPONSE PROCESS

ON-­‐SITE  POST  EXTERNAL  POST  

BASHING  /  DEGRADING   RANT  /    SATIRE   ERRORS  /  

MISGUIDED  NEGATIVE  EXPERIENCE  

POSITIVE  COMMENT?  

MONITOR  SILENTLY  

CONCUR  PUBLICLY  

RESPOND  POSITIVELY  

RESPOND  WITH  FACTS  

RECTIFY  EXPERIENCE  

BASED  ON  US  AIR  FORCE  WEB  POSTING  RESPONSE  ASSESSMENT  V2.0  

5 INFLUENCE

NOW THAT WE’RE INTERACTING, HOW CAN WE CREATE INFLUENCE? HOW CAN WE ENABLE LIKING, FANNING, AND FORWARDING? Easy solution: just ask HOW CAN WE IDENTIFY THOSE WITH THE GREATEST INFLUENCE AND ENGAGE THEM? Goes back to listening efforts

SOCIAL CONTENT NEED NOT BE EXPENSIVE

HOW CAN OUR INFLUENCE INSPIRE ACTION AND ADVOCACY? CAN WE INSPIRE CONSUMERS TO SEND OTHERS TO US? CAN WE INSPIRE THEM TO DEFEND US IN SOCIAL CHANNELS?

6 ADVOCACY

THERE HAS TO BE A EMOTIONAL CONNECTION WITH THE PUBLIC.

TO ACHIEVE ENGAGEMENT, INFLUENCE, AND ADVOCACY,

THE ASK: SELL A PRODUCT BENEFIT FOR A NON-EMOTIONAL PRODUCT

ENTER SALTY: A CREATIVE HOOK WITH STRONG EMOTIONAL & SOCIAL APPEAL

DDB STARTED THE CONVERSATION WITH TRADITIONAL BROADCAST

My former employer DDB started by introducing the character via traditional broadcast: an empathetic character that

helped explain the product benefit.

They then took the character into print and in-store.

DDB got lots of press and blogger pickup. The character had become “remarkable”

– worthy of remark (sharing).

Let’s see how DDB continued to tell the Salty’s Life story on YouTube with

broacast-quality spots.

DDB asked consumers to upload photos to a Salty photo contest. They purchased the shakers just to submit photos like these.

Some even uploaded videos of their kids playing with the shakers, garnering

thousands of views.

Some staged culinary photo shoots featuriing the shakers.

People even submitted pasta art.

Think about that: they took the time to create PASTA ART for a brand avatar!

SO DID IT WORK? RESULTS FOR KNORR

FIRST MONTH:

6000 FACEBOOK FANS

375,000 VIDEO IMPRESSIONS; total media cost: $0

20,000 SALTY & PEP SHAKERS SOLD OUT

HIGHEST SITE TRAFFIC EVER

UNIT SALES ROSE BY 24% OVER THE PREVIOUS YEAR

SIDEKICKS SURPASSED UNCLE BEN’S AS #1 BRAND IN THE CATEGORY

WHAT RESULTS WOULD WE HAVE SEEN IF WE’D ONLY PLANNED SOME SOCIAL MEDIA TACTICS? OR JUST A COMMERCIAL?

PEOPLE RESPOND TO OTHERS – EVEN AVATARS – WHEN THERE IS A PERSONAL CONNECTION

PARTING THOUGHTS FROM A MARKETER

HELP SENIOR DECISION MAKERS UNDERSTAND THE CULTURE SHIFTS

PLANNING REDUCES FEAR

THINK BEYOND PUBLISHING

A PERSONAL CONNECTION INSPIRES ENGAGEMENT

ENGAGEMENT BUILDS TRUST – AND PEER INFLUENCE IS TRUSTED

LEVERAGE THE VOICES OF THE PUBLIC

THANK YOU. ERIC WEAVER VP DIGITAL STRATEGY ANT’S EYE VIEW +1 310 494 6492

ANT’S EYE…WHO? Ant’s Eye View is a management consultancy focused on transforming organizations by integrating the customer’s voice throughout the entire operation. We are composed of the social media leads from some of the world’s large enterprises. We chose the name Ant’s Eye View because we believe in viewing organizations from the customers’ perspective – from the ground up. http://antseyeview.com