The 5 W’s of building and growing your online presence Social Media FTW 22 September 2011 #FTW2011
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The 5 W’s of building and growing your online presence
Social Media FTW22 September 2011
#FTW2011
What I am
Copywriter Social media geek (Sporadic) blogger Journalist PR & marketing pro Communicator Storyteller
What I’m not
Expert Guru Ninja Rock Star Lover of the latest “new” Facebook Jersey Shore fan
Worth noting
Social media is just one part of your overall strategy.
There are no experts.
There is no right or wrong way to “do” social media.
“Guess what? We’re all doing it wrong … And just like pretty much all of life, we’ll get there somehow.
– Chris Brogan
Who
Your audience Influences your audience Your manager
What
Your goals People are saying Your messaging
Where
Your audience hangs out You have to hang out
When
You should get started (NOW) You’re ready to launch Time of day Frequency Responding
Why
Build an online community Have a manager It’s not about you Listen more, talk less Measure
What is an online community?
An interconnected collection of online messaging channels
Conversational Member-driven Interactive Customer service An opportunity to build one-to-one
relationships Free research
The evolution of online communities
In the beginning …Today…
An Online Community IS NOT
Traditional marketing Advertising A billboard Formal Self-centered Sales-driven
Some platforms
A note about tools and platforms
You can’t be all things to all people, and you can’t possibly be everywhere.
Go where the food is.
What’s gonna work? Teamwork.
When you use several different platforms to complement each other, you build deeper
relationships with your audience.
Why do you need it?
Build trust, which helps build brand recognition, loyalty and affinity
Obtain a deeper understanding of your audience’s needs and wants
Create one-to-one relationships with customers and prospects
It’s what people want and expect
“The Participatory Web”
Browse Interact Personalize Talk about and connect with what and
who they’re browsing Share those interactions and
experiences with others
Who influences us?
What makes us act?
Your opportunity
Build relationships and trust with your target audience
They can be your best allies, sharing your information with others who trust them
Social media allows them to pass that along to hundreds more people
Potential project staller
What’s the ROI of social media?
(More about this later)
Begin at the beginning
What are your goals?
What do you hope to achieve with your social media efforts?
Think concrete, tangible and quantifiable.
How will you measure results against your goals?
Examples
Build awareness around your brand Attract new customers Cultivate word-of-mouth
recommendations Promote your industry in general Generate discussion and interaction
around topics that interest the target audience
Become a resource or thought leader
Who manages your community?
Embarrassingly outdated image courtesy of Bit Social Media
A community manager is:
The party host An active and high-profile community
member Accountable to everyone
Company Community
The “voice” of your brand Sets the tone for the community Becomes your brand’s online persona
Jeremiah Owyang’s “Four Tenets”
Community advocate Brand evangelist Savvy communication skills, shapes
editorial Gathers community input for future
products or services
He or she should be:
Friendly Smart Patient Creative Proactive Fun Articulate An excellent writer Knowledgeable about your brand
Who’s your audience?
Who’s talking?
About your company About your competition About your industry About anything else that may impact
your business
Where are they?
Social media Blogs Forums Video Photos Review sites
Find them. Follow them.
Engage them.
What are they saying?
What topics generate the most discussion?
This is what interests your audience Use this information to shape your
messaging strategy
Why pay attention?
They may be interested in your company, product or industry (your target audience)
Helps define and refine your target audience
They may not be who you expected
Finding your audience
Liquid Wrench2011 Silver Bell Award winner, New or Social Media Campaign
Read the case study here
Google Alerts
Google.com/alerts
Twitter search
Advanced Twitter search
Advanced Twitter search results
Facebook search
All search results for “Liquid Wrench”
Facebook search
People search results for “home improvement”
A necessary (and creepy) evil
Socialmention
Socialmention results
Technorati
How should you compile results?
A simple checklist or spreadsheet A more involved Word document where
individual conversations are catalogued Anything in between Whatever works for you
Who are your influencers?
What is an influencer? Recognizable Greater than average reach or impact
through word of mouth in a relevant marketplace
Their opinions matter to others Engaged in conversations with
hundreds or thousands of people
Why do you need influencers? When they talk, people listen They may talk about you More people will join your community
A word of warning
The lesson?
Diversify
Do they have to be celebrities?
Industry bloggers Trade publications Local personalities
How do you identify influencers?
Where do you find information that’s relevant to your industry or niche?
These are some of your influencers
They’re talking to your influencers.
They’re talking about your influencers.
What should you be saying?
Build your messaging toolbox
Key words Key messages Protocol
Engaging Responding Escalating
Why is content important?
Content = return visits = word of mouth = new members = more content (community-generated)
Quality content drives participation and growth
What is good content? Speaks to audience’s interests Is community driven Fills a need Sparks discussion Establishes you as an expert in your
field Positions you as a valuable resource Tells a story
What’s a good content strategy? Focus on the goals of your audience and
your company Find a unique angle Don’t try to be everything to everyone Drive traffic to other pages and channels Mix it up Less about you, more about your
audience
How do you get started?
Focus on a handful of topics that reflect your audience’s
shared interests.
The evolution of your content strategy – and voice – will be community-
driven.
What do people want?
Useful information on a topic they find interesting or attractive
Engagement in experiences to improve their personal or professional life
Examples: How to improve job performance or be a better parent
What they don’t want
Information on how to buy more of your product
Constant calls to action Sales pitches Communication that’s mostly brand-
specific
No shouting allowed!
Ask yourself:
What value am I bringing to my community?
Why would my community members care?
What kind of conversation could this generate?
Listen to learn, learn to listen
Where can you find good content?
Google Alerts (set up during Listening) Blogs News outlets The web
Community members Influencers From within
Become the best source of information interesting, relevant and valuable your audience
Getting it right
Find the balance between
self-interest and providing
value in your messaging
100words.kodak.com
Short and sweet
Whatever you share, make it bite-sized. It’ll be a quick read that can
easily be passed on to others.
Seed initial content
Who really wants to go first? Why would anyone join a barren or
inactive community (which isn’t a community at all)?
We all want to be part of something bigger than ourselves
Launch time
“Officially” activate your channels (Twitter, Facebook, etc.)
Reach out to and interact with your target audience and influencers
Invite them to join your community
Remember:
A polite, effective invitation doesn’t include a sales pitch
Why does engagement matter?
Promote community and attract new members
Attract people with shared interests
Foster honest conversation
Wallflowers need not apply
Ask open-ended, thought-provoking questions
Conduct polls Offer incentives
Contests * Coupons Reward good content and/or participation
Join in others’ conversations Provide thoughtful, expert answers to
questions Become a trusted friend
Engaging influencers
Re-tweet something they’ve said on Twitter (add an interesting comment)
Post on their Facebook wall or tag in one of your wall posts
Comment on their blog post, YouTube video, etc.
Mention them in a blog post Link to their website or blog Put your brand’s spin on anything you
share
Be memorable!
Did I mention interaction?
Regular and reliable Constant and consistent Across multiple platforms You don’t always have to start
conversation Let others be heard Respond to questions, comments,
mentions, etc.
Why respond?
Communication is a two-way street People want to know they matter Immediacy is key: respond quickly to
complaints, endorsements or any kind of mentions.
A response, especially a fast response, will build or strengthen trust
Map out your response protocol
When should you respond?
Work day: respond within 1 hour Overnight/weekends: respond within 12
hours Respond within 24 hours at most Do your best
A different perspective
Don’t jump in and automatically answer questions or help out.
Benefits: Foster peer-to-peer interaction Alleviate pressure and stress of off-hour
and weekend availability Greater credibility in a sales situation
when a satisfied customer can help a potential customer
2011 State of Community Management Report
When responding…
Be positive Be transparent Be honest Be timely Be helpful When in doubt, revert to IRL
What about negative feedback?
Balance between moderating (reactive) and managing (proactive)
Often the best course of action is no action
Know when (if ever) to delete a post ALWAYS save a screenshot before deleting
a post Never get defensive
The hardest words to say
If you make a mistake, own up to it Swallow your pride Be helpful Make it right
Turn this
Into this
Is this thing on?
How do you know what’s working?
Use your listening tools and tactics as you continue to monitor and participate in the conversation
Use aggregation/collaboration tools like TweetDeck, HootSuite, RSS feeds, SMS and email alerts for instant notification of updates to your community
Example: TweetDeck
Easy to use Free Allows you to
monitor: Twitter Facebook LinkedIn Others
Updates regularly, automatically
Facebook Insights
How do you measure success?
More than by the numbers! Influencer interactions Stories Whatever helps you measure against
your goals
Trial and error
Who your audience is What content resonates with your
audience When and how often to share and
interact Where your audience hangs out Response time Escalation (as necessary)
Change happens
Tools, services and networks are constantly evolving, which means your community will evolve too
Expect and be prepared for change, especially community-driven change
If something isn’t working, don’t be afraid to ask the community what they’d like to see
If you remember nothing else …
Be respectful Be genuine Be helpful Step outside your comfort zone Don’t fear funny Take risks (within reason) Give up control Be human
Be careful out there
So what’s the ROI of social media?
Real
Open
Interactive
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