Social Media and PR Strategies Wednesday, September Week 4

Talking social media with clients Big game of discovery

Doesn’t everyone already have a social media strategy?

Small business stats There are nearly 28 million small businesses in the U.S. 22 million of those are self-employed people. Over 50% of the working population works in a small business. 52% of small businesses are home based. Small businesses have netted more 65% of all new jobs since 1995.

How do we frame social media for our clients?

How do clients understand social media? What do they think its purpose is? How are they currently using it? What results have they seen? How do they measure success?

Hint: It’s not about the tools, it’s about the relationships. What would you say to a client who told you they had 2,000 Facebook fans or Twitter followers? Hint: It’s not about the tools, it’s about the relationships.

Remember, social media is like a cocktail party.

As a strategist, you are working as a problem solver for your client. Identify the problem. Assess the situation. Develop a plan of action. Acquire the tools to fix the problem Execute your plan. Test your results.

Preparing your clients for social media Know what to wear: Prepare your message and define channels of communication based on social situation. Know who you want to engage: Understand the difference between key social influencers, niche groups and their roles. Interact with audiences: Audience communication involves both listening and conversing. Develop relationships: It’s not all about a popularity contest, it’s about engagement and developing meaningful relationships with audiences. Develop and nurture your influence through engagement and relationship building.

POST-A method people objectives strategy tools & tactics adapt & analyze

If relationships with our customers come first, what is the first issue we need to address?

Who are your customers or people?

People Who do you want to engage? What are they ready for? Where are they? What are they doing? What are they talking about?

Social technographics profile Creators Conversationalists Critics Collectors Joiners Spectators Inactives http://empowered.forrester.com/tool_consumer.html

Objectives What do you want to accomplish in the groundswell? Listening Talking Energizing Supporting Embracing

Listening Use the groundswell for research and to better understand your customers. This goal is best suited for companies that are seeking insights for use in marketing and development. Listening = research

How do you listen? Brand monitor on Yelp, Twitter, Facebook,etc. Set up a private community like communispace

Talking Use the groundswell to spread messages about your company. Choose this goal if you’re ready to extend your current digital marketing initiatives (banner ads, search ads, email) to a more interactive channel. Talking = marketing

How do you talk? Post a video on YouTube Keep a blog or podcast Engage in conversations on social networking sites

Energizing Find your most enthusiastic customers and use the groundswell to supercharge the power of their word of mouth. This works best for companies that know they have brand enthusiasts to energize. Energizing = sales

How do you energize? Create review opportunities on your site Encourage brand enthusiasts to Yelp for you Encourage brand enthusiasts to create YouTube videos. Create official fan sites, interactive forums, blogs, etc.

Supporting = customer support Set up groundswell tools to help your customers support each other. This is effective for companies with significant support costs and customers who have a natural affinity for each other. Supporting = customer support

How do you support? Create support sites and forums that encourage online interactions between customers.

Embracing = development Integrate your customers into the way your business works including using their help to design your products. This is one of the most challenging of the five goals, and it’s best suited for companies that have succeeded with one of the other five goals already. Embracing = development

How do we embrace? Crowdsourcing platforms, private communities, etc. Online contests

5 key objectives Listening (research): Collecting info and insights through conversations. Talking (marketing): Building relationships by creating and participating in conversations or direct engagement. Energizing (sales): Rallying key supporters towards an action or cause. Supporting (customer support): Allowing supporters to help each other. Embracing (development): Integrating your customers into your business.

Strategy What will be your path? How will you get there? What tools will you use? What are the steps? What will change if you are successful with your goals?

Tools & Tactics What platforms will you use? How will you use them? How will you prioritize them? What will be achieved?

Adapt and analyze What are the indicators of success? What are your metrics? What are you trying to measure? What needs to change? What are your next steps?