How to Leverage Social Mediafor Public Relations Success

IT Leaders

Presenter• Dr. Tom Seymour • Business Information Technology Department• College of Business• Minot State University• Minot, North Dakota• www.minot.com/tom• www.minotstateu.edu

• Tom.Seymour@minotstateu.edu

DCN was formed by “fifteen” independent telephone companies in North Dakota who serve 148,000 customers in 244 communities. DCN operates a 100-percent fiber optic communications network linking all regions of the state, including all of the major population centers. The network allows North Dakota customers access to the “telecommunications highway” not only on a state level but also on a national level. DCN utilizes fiber optic networks in adjacent states and Canada to connect North Dakota customers to the world.

ND Telephone Company Model

What is Social Media? It’s all media that includes a social component

◦ When you share a news story or post a press release with share functionality

◦ When you post on facebook, twitter, etc. ◦ When you write an article that allows for comments or

comment on an article◦ When you use a live chat function on a website or leave a

review on Yelp

Nearly every website now has a social aspect◦ Take advantage and make your content shareable

The Social Web

• 200 million Twitter users• 900 million+ Facebook

users.• 50% of users log on to

Facebook in any given day• Average FB user has 130

friends. • Social media is critical

in your marketing plan!

The Viral Impact of Social Media

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Why engage in Social Media?

Reach New & Younger Audience

Generate Direct Customer Relationships

New Sales and Service Opportunities◦ 78% of consumers trust peer recommendations vs.

14% trust advertisements!

Increase Customer Satisfaction

Mobile is an extension of Social Media!◦ 10.5% of all Social Media usage is on a mobile

device! use social media on their mobile devices!http://www.jeffbullas.com/2010/08/05/latest-research-reveals-social-media-usage-up-43/

Where your customers are!Where Should I Be?

What are my customers using? Facebook

◦ More than 135 million users in US ◦ Avg. users spends 6 hours each month ◦ Fastest growing demographic is 55+◦ Avg. user is a fan of 8.7 brands

#1 reason to fan a brand is to receive promotions* # 2 reason to fan a brand is show brand support*Information taken from 2010 Exact Target Facebook Report

What you need to know about Facebook EdgeRank – refers to how likely your content is

to appear in a user’s “top news” Insights – The analytics collected about your

fan page – very important to crafting message North Social – A cost-effective suite of apps

that enhance your page across multiple media

What are my customers using? Twitter

◦ 200 million worldwide users◦ Will show up in searches◦ Easy way to syndicate content◦ Main users are early adopters and opinion leaders

Information spreads beyond twitter◦ Can instantly view conversation about your

company

What You Need to Know About Twitter

Search Engine Optimization – Use your keywords in your tweets

Timing – Average half-life of a tweet is 4 minutes. It’s OK to share the same link several times. (just vary content and wait several hours)

Clients – Programs like HootSuite, Seesmic and Tweetdeck make managing twitter easy

What are my customers using? YouTube

◦ More than 2 billion views each day◦ Syndicated to facebook, linked through twitter

and embedded in websites and blogs◦ Easy to create and upload◦ Very easy to share

What You Need to Know About YouTube YouTube is owned by Google – Videos are great

for Search Engine Optimization Users expect videos to be authentic – Don’t worry

about content being “perfect” Easily embedded – Place into your facebook

page, blog, etc.

What are my customers using?

Blogs◦ Blogs are a great way to enhance your brand◦ Tell your story◦ Provide added value for your customers –

answers to frequently-asked-questions ◦ Push this content to all of your other social sites

What you need to know about blogs

Host Sites – Many companies use outside sites such as wordpress, blogger, posterous or tumblr

Add share buttons – Everywhere Links – Make sure that links to and from your

website are easy to find Integrate – Place links to your other sites into

your blog

What are my customers using?

LinkedIn◦ Great for B2B outreach ◦ Can add products and services with full social

media support◦ Let company’s find your services◦ Position company as a thought leader

What You Need to Know About LinkedIn

Promote – You can add all of your Products and Services to your company profile

Take Control – Any employee with a @yourdomain email address can edit the page until you lock it down.

Find content – Telecommunications section of LinkedIn Today

What are customers using? Google and Bing

◦ Search Engine Optimization – how do you rank?◦ Google and Bing account for 95% of all search

traffic* Google Analytics (free) can report your company’s

search engine use percentages◦ Social Search – Friends social actions affect

search rankings Information taken from Mashable April, 2011 report

What You Need to Know About Google and Bing Search is Social -

◦ Social Media and Search Engine Optimization go hand-in-hand

◦ The more content you develop across the web, the more chances you have to be ranked

◦ The more your content is shared, the more valuable it looks to search engines

Know Your Roles!

How Do I Use Social Media?

The Many Roles of Social Media

Customer Communications Engagement Tool Listening Tool Media Relations Brand Management

Listening Tool Google Alerts – Allows you to capture any

conversation about your company or other keywords online

Provide places for customers to give feedback◦ Twitter – create a unique hashtag for product launches

or other promotions◦ Offer review or discussions tab on Facebook◦ Review Sites – see what customers think about your

business (yelp, Google places)

Find Out Where You Are Now You must understand your current efforts!

◦ What are you currently doing in Social Media?

Create a baseline for your social media efforts and benchmarks!

What accounts does your business have?

Are they the appropriate type?◦ Facebook Fan Pages NOT PERSONAL PROFILES◦ Twitter Accounts◦ LinkedIn Profiles◦ Foursquare / Locations Pages

Customer Engagement

Join conversations◦ #hashtags allow users to have a conversation over

twitter ◦ Review blogs that relate to your industry – Alltop.com◦ Hootsuite, Tweetdeck, Seesmic all allow for easy monitoring of social sites

Ask questions ◦ Customers love feeling valued

Media Relations Make your press releases easy to find and

share Syndicate press releases through your own

channels Take advantage of wire services with share

features◦ Businesswire, PR Wire, PR Log

Media Relations The Social Media Press Room

◦ Have share buttons for all press releases◦ Add your press releases as individual web pages

rather than PDF’s for greater searchability◦ Include links to any images, videos or other collateral◦ Have shareable versions of all company fact sheets,

logos, and bios.

Brand Management Social Media has no gatekeeper Produce content that shows your brand’s

personality Ex: New Ford Focus Campaign

Know Your Social Reputation What are people saying about you

online?◦ Do you know?

Develop a strategy to overcome bad reviews on social media and engage those with positive feedback!

A few bad reviews can turn people away from your business!◦ Customers can broadcast their sales and service experiences

quickly and easily.◦ Who is monitoring what is being said publicly about your brand

everyday?

Focus Your Message & StrategyWhat Do I Have to Say?

How to determine your strategy

How much time can you devote? Who will “own” the social media

channels? What are your goals? Where are your customers?

Create Compelling Content Content is key to your social strategy

◦ Give customers a reason to return to your social channels

◦ Review what type of content is popular What’s the difference?

Type: photo, link, video Content: community focused, product driven Timing: early morning vs. afternoon

How do you develop content? Content Calendars

◦ Easy as an excel spreadsheet or email calendar Determine how often you want to update each

channel Facebook: 1-2 times a day Twitter: 3-4 times a day Blog: 2-3 times a week YouTube: 1 time every two weeks

How do you develop content? Determine what you want to talk about

◦ Divide content into topics Promotions Community focused Value added – additional info customers are

seeking◦ Will you need images, video, links?

Posts with these items are shareable on facebook

How do you develop content? Ideas for content

◦ Photos from events ◦ Video of employees talking about company

Especially C-suite

◦ New campaigns◦ Interesting links relating to your products and services◦ Questions

Get every department involved in the brainstorming process!

Your Social Media Policy

Develop a social media policy for your sites:

Does This Help Us Make Money?The ROI of Social Media

Social Media Goals◦ Facebook Fans, Twitter Followers, etc

Engagement◦ Twitter Retweets◦ Facebook Comments and Likes◦ Referral Traffic to websites

Revenue = Results◦ New customers◦ Sales tied to Social Media

Set Goals and Measure Results

Driving Sales With Social MediaMedium How to use it for salesFacebook Create awarenessScoutmob, Groupon (costs money)

Drive foot traffic or couponing in local areas

Twitter Lead generation through following, direct messages on promotions, create awareness

LinkedIn Drive inquiries through discussion posts, event posts, and article posts

YouTube Drive awareness and higher search rankings

http://mashable.com/

Find Competitive Advantages Maintain Monthly Counts of Facebook Fans

and Twitter Followers of your competition.

What are they doing well?

How can you do it better?

Identify competitor growth on a monthly basis!◦ What are they doing to grow their audiences?

Set a goal to become the local market leader!

What’s An App?

• An “App” (short for application) is a program on a phone or other device that does a certain job.

• Many types such as games, productivity apps, organization apps etc.

• Range in price from free-to high dollar prices.

Android Applications

Ipad apps are available from Apple's online app store, which can be downloaded directly from the Ipad. There's virtually an app for every category. And more are added every day

BusinessEntertainment

EducationalSocial Networking

Travel& More!

IPAD APPS

Case Studies Let’s look at real world examples

How was Social Media Used? Case Study: Great Plains Communications

◦ Awareness Campaign◦ Brand Management ◦ Search Engine Optimization◦ Listening Tool

Case Study – Great Plains Communications Situation

◦ No social media presence until September 2010 Goals

◦ Wanted to increase search engine rankings – differentiate from similarly named company

◦ Provide customers with additional tools to engage with company

◦ Increase channels customers have for finding information

Case Study – Great Plains Communications Solution

◦ Integrated set of branded channels including Facebook GPC-Blog Twitter YouTube LinkedIn

Case Study: Great Plains Communications Facebook

◦ 200 fans with an average of 10,000 post views/month

◦ Helps drive traffic back to blog and website Top referring site to GPC-Blog

◦ Provides area for customer engagement ◦ Ads drove 27% of traffic for recent HD launch with

a price tag of $65

Case Study: Great Plains Communications YouTube

◦ 2,500 views◦ FAQ’s received strong feedback◦ Used for Video Contest

No video formatting issues Videos received 3,000 views independent of channel

views (within 6 weeks period)

Case Study: Great Plains Communications

Blog ◦ GPC-FLASH – with frog icon◦ Provides mix of product news, community spotlights, helpful tips and tricks◦ Includes FAQ tutorial videos◦ Used as informational site for customers and

employees

Case Study: Great Plains Communications

LinkedIn◦ Products and Services added◦ Encouraged employees to be active on related

LinkedIn groups◦ Had “photo day” to increase employees with

full profiles

Case Study: Great Plains Communications Results

◦ Top place page rankings for brand on Google and Bing

◦ Facebook has 200 fans and counting ◦ CRC now uses blog as consistent learning tool and

refer customers to social sites◦ Blog has been syndicated internationally

SRT Web site in Minot, ND

Facebook Page

YouTube Channel

What do I do now?Keys To Success

Live it! If you don’t have a personal Twitter, Facebook

or FourSquare account – create one now!◦ Unless you are a social media user it will be

difficult to see the opportunities.

Follow other sources on Facebook and Twitter.◦ Study how they are interacting with their readers.

Blogs – either related to your business or not National Manufacturer Websites

Manufacturers like Ford are getting very involved in Social Media!

Get help when needed Sound like a lot of work?

◦ Getting started is the hardest step.◦ It will quickly become part of your core strategy.

Look for a Social Media partner that can grow audience and manage content.

Two primary options for moving forward:◦ Hire an expert internally.◦ Source social media from a firm specializing in

engagement.

Commitment and Consistency is Key

Social Media requires daily involvement!

Empower appropriate staff members to manage accounts.◦ Teamwork makes it easier.

Establish Content Guidelines.◦ We have a sample set of Social Media guidelines to provide you

with a starting point.◦ Do what you feel is right for your market and audience.

• Customers want a conversation that adds value.◦ Conversation◦ Responsiveness◦ Answer questions and be a resource to your social media

audience.

Promote your efforts! Facebook Fan Box on Website

◦ Allows for readers to “Like” your inventory!

Allow sharing of content on Social Networksfrom inventory pages.

Promote using integrated assets: Advertising / In-Store / Web / Email / POS /Etc. should all work together.

Online contests are successful audience drivers!◦ Play by Facebook’s rules or risk being banned!

Key Takeaways It’s all the social web Determine your goals before you start

your social campaign Create content calendars for all channels Use the content you create across as

many channels as possible MEASURE RESULTS!

Social Protection Tools www.cotweet.com – view employee tweets and

manage multiple corporate Twitter accounts www.faceinfected.com – Extract dubious links,

messages, and Wall posts from Facebook Tweetwax.com – Clear and Organize messages uPotect.it – Use this beta plug-in to post protected

status updates and comments on Facebook

Combine + Conquer or Risk Losing to Those Who Do

Blogs + Blogging

Comment Marketing

News/Media/PRSEO

Social Networks

Word of Mouth

Q+A Sites

Forums

Online Video

Podcasting

Webinars

Research/White Papers

Infographics

Social Bookmarking

INBOUND MARKETING!(Find Your Audience Organically on the Web)

Direct/Referring Links

Type-In Traffic

Email

Document Sharing

Google + 7 Years to Develop

THE ADVENT OF

MOBILE Devices and Social Media