developing a social media strategy workshop 2.16.12

Developing a

Social Media Strategy

AJ Gerritson Founding Partner

617.986.0224

aj@451marketing.com

linkedin.com/in/ajgerritson

@ajgerritson

www.451Marketing.com

Agenda • Why Does My Brand Need a Strategy?

• Steps to Creating a Successful Social

Strategy

• Corporate Social Protocol Examples

• Case Studies

• Open Q&A

#451Wkshp

Entenmann’s:

#Guilty of Not Having a Plan

#notguilty

(Casey Anthony)

Domino’s: No Strategy, No Followers

>1 million views on YouTube within 2 days

5 of top 12 search results for Domino’s

…no established following or community

– no advocates or evangelists

Waited until a crisis occurred to start a dialogue with

customers…created a Twitter handle after the fact

Over 800 Million Users

(if it were a country, it would be the 3rd most populated)

1.3 billion 1.1 billion 311 million 800 million

(Qualmann, Socialnomics, 2010)

Americans Spend More Time on

Facebook Than Any Other U.S. Site

14%

of people trust peer recommendations

Only trust advertisements

(Qualmann, Socialnomics, 2010)

Major Brands Are Using

Social Tools to Engage

with Customers

Has >39,000,000 Facebook Fans

Has >480,000 Twitter Followers

However, Shift from

Monologue to Dialogue

Has Its Risks…

Reasons for Failure

Lack of Strategy

Lack of Internal Resources to Manage

not understanding your customers

sending out the

wrong messages inconsistency

lack of monitoring

no one dedicated

to social media

underestimation of

time commitment

Social Media Campaigns

If Social Media Tools Are

Free, Where is the Cost?

Building a Social Media Strategy

Step 1: Define Objectives & Goals

• What are you trying to accomplish?

• Why social media?

• What social platforms will help you

achieve our goals?

What Are Your Objectives?

• Generating more brand awareness?

• Driving brand loyalty or build fan culture?

• Monitoring and managing brand reputation?

• Generating awareness of services or offerings and

increasing sales?

• Attracting new employees, investors,

partners/vendors?

Do Your Goals Include…

Step 2: Find Your Audience Online

• Is your target audience on social sites?

• Which sites do your audience use?

• Do they belong to specialized groups?

• Who are they interacting with?

• Which social media channels would be best to

use for the type of content you have?

Where is Your Audience?

Step 3: Audit Your Resources

• Content?

• Staff?

• Consistency?

• Technology?

• Tools?

Evaluate Your Current Resources

Step 4: Assign Roles and Responsibilities

Social Media Strategist

Social Media Manager

Public Relations

Social Media Metrics

Legal

Privacy/Security

Customer Relations

Advertising/Sales

Content Developer

Step 5: Define Success

• How many sales/leads were generated?

• How many people are talking about your

company?

• How have you reduced operational costs?

• How have you helped recruiting?

• How many demos views/downloads?

What Activities/Results Measured

to Determine Success?

Step 6: Construct Protocol

1. What info do we want to keep private?

2. What kinds of info would we benefit from making public?

3. What personal social media use is appropriate? Inappropriate?

4. How will we measure which rules are helpful and which are not?

5. Who are quality followers? How can we engage them?

6. How can we consistently send our messages?

7. Should we have a set of rules for proactive/reactive social

media use?

8. How do we respond to positive engagement versus negative

engagement?

Consider

Define Content Topics & Create Content

Schedule Share!

Step 7: Execute Your New Strategy

Step 8: Measure Results

• Have your networks grown or changed? How?

• Are there new social media roles to explore?

• What worked/didn’t work?

• What can we do differently?

• What should we eliminate?

• What should we focus more on?

• How much time is spent on each social media initiative?

• What is our most valuable feedback?

• How is social media changing right now?

• Are we ahead of our competitors?

Measure

Noteworthy Social Media Strategies

Best Buy #Twelpforce Social Media Policy Be smart. Be respectful. Be human.

What You Should Do: • Disclose Your Affiliation • State That It’s YOUR Opinion • Protect Yourself • Act Responsibly and Ethically • Honor Differences

What You Should Not Disclose: • The Numbers • Promotions (In Advance) • Personal Information About Customers • Legal Information • Anything that belongs to someone else • Confidential Information

>258,000 Followers >5,700,000 Fans >3,700 Subscribers

• Follow the Code of Ethics and Conduct

• Protect Confidential Information

Don't Comment on M&A Activity

• Don't Discuss Future Offerings

• Refrain from Objectionable or Inflammatory Posts

• Don't Speak for Oracle

• Don't Post Anonymously

• Respect Copyrights

• Use Video Responsibly

• Stick to Oracle Topics on Oracle-Sponsored Blogs

• Don't Misuse Oracle Resources

Oracle Social Media Policy "Use common sense"

>56,000 Followers >149,000 Fans >3,200 Subscribers

• Transparency in every social media engagement.

• Protection of our consumers' privacy.

• Respect of copyrights, trademarks, rights of publicity, and other

third-party rights in the online social media space, including with

regard to user-generated content (UGC).

• Responsibility in our use of technology.

• Utilization of best practices, listening to the online community,

and compliance with applicable regulations to ensure that these

Online Social Media Principles remain current and reflect the

most up-to-date and appropriate standards of behavior.

The Five Core Social Media Values Continue Learning and Training

>487,000 Followers >39,000,000 Fans >58,000 Subscribers

Social Media Guidelines Follow the Core Principles

1. Honesty about who you are

2. Clarity That Your Opinions Are Your Own

3. Respect and Humanity in All Communication

4. Good Judgment in Sharing Only Public Information – Including

Financial Data

5. Awareness that What You Say is Permanent

>106,000 Followers >1,100,000 Fans >37,000 Subscribers

Do:

• Be personally responsible for the

content they publish on-line

• Use a disclaimer for opinions

• Respect copyright, fair use, and

financial disclosure laws.

• Respect your audience

• Be aware of your association with

IBM in online social networks.

• Try to add value.

Social Computing Guidelines

>12,000 Followers >28,000 Fans >9,000 Subscribers

Don't

• Provide confidential or other

proprietary information

• Cite or reference clients, partners or

suppliers without their approval

• Pick fights, be the first to correct

your own mistakes.

• Use IBM logos or trademarks unless

approved to do so.

Social Media Guidelines

>145,000 Followers >12,000,000 Fans >5,000 Subscribers

What You Should Do • Show respect and be polite, even

if you disagree

• Stay on topic

• Keep it real

Don’t • Do anything that breaks the law

• Use corporate materials without

permission

Dancing Deer Baking Co.

Case Study

Contest Results

• 5 million+ page views in 10 days

• 17,000+ entries

• Facebook fans increased 20%

• 5,000+ unique visitors to DancingDeer.com

This resulted in a maximum reach of 2.5+

million impressions on twitter!

Holiday Social Campaign

Followers 3,434

Followers 23,896

Followers 25,780

Followers 2,409

Followers 34,928

Followers 17,051

Followers 48,652

Followers 15,117

81 Targeted Blogs

$175,000+ 2 months!

Yankee Candle

Case Study

About The Yankee Candle Company, Inc.

• Leading designer, manufacturer, wholesaler, and retailer of premium scented candles

• More than 500+ locations and 25,000+ retailers in 48 countries

Overview

• Releasing a new limited-time collection, the Stars and Stripes patriotic line

• Needed to raise national awareness among The Yankee Candle demographic in time for the Memorial Day holiday weekend

Overview

• 451 Marketing identified an ideal partner in Tory Johnson, CEO of Women for Hire and author who appears regularly on ABC’s Good Morning America as its workplace contributor

• Tory was seeking out brands to feature on Memorial Day Deals segment

Challenge 1: Deal must offer significant discount

Challenge 2: Short lead time to prepare for feature

Challenge 3: Large amount of uncertainty surrounding whether feature would air

Approach • 3 large jar candles from collection for $30 – nearly 60% discount. • Deal to run for five days – from the Thursday of the feature through to midnight

Monday (Memorial Day). • Emphasis on the fact that The Yankee Candle Company manufactures its candles

in the USA, another key selling point for the patriotic themed feature.

Broadcast Results

Segment Viewership: 4,243,869

Ad Value: $658,000

Broadcast Results

Tory Johnson 12,933 Fans

Good Morning America 276,231 Fans

Yankee Candle Co. 346,044 Fans

Facebook Results

@TheYankeeCandle 3,449 Followers

@ToryJohnson 23,147 Followers

@GMA 1,720,975 Followers

Total 1,767,571 Impressions

Twitter Results

Deal Site Attention

Visitors/Month

CouponCabin 1.2 million

DealNews 1.3 million

SlickDeals 4.2 million

RetailMeNot 4.4 million

Drove 15,000 Visits

to YankeeCandle.com

>6,000 Transactions in Stores

“I just had a customer come in looking for the 3

for $30 deal. She ended up with 12 jars - we

only have 8 God Bless America jars left!! As I

typed this, the customer came back- her friend

wanted 3. As I was helping her to the door, her

other friend called and wanted 6.

A great deal this customer just had to pass

along to everyone she knew!”

-Yankee Candle Retail Employee

“Just wanted to let you know that SALES ARE ON FIRE already this morning

after the GMA segment. Phones are ringing off the hook, customers are pouring through our doors, calling their friends, bringing their

friends with them!!!! It’s simply lovely!!!” -Yankee Candle Retail Employee

>9,000 Transactions

>27,000 Candles Sold

33% New Customers

Questions?

– Founded in 2004

– Based in Boston

– 30 Communications Professionals

– Partners Nicholas Lowe, AJ Gerritson, and Tom Lee

– Named a 2011

AJ Gerritson Founding Partner

617.986.0224

aj@451marketing.com

linkedin.com/in/ajgerritson

@ajgerritson

www.451Marketing.com