SOCIAL MEDIA OVERVIEW UNION PLUS LIAISON CONFERENCE DECEMBER 9, 2009
What is social media and why use it? SOCIAL MEDIA - A category of sites based on user participation and user-generated content Social media usage is growing at a faster rate than usage 84.3% of US Internet users rely on Web more than TV to get current news and information (Via Razorfish FEED study) Wall Street Journal, Oct. 12, 2009
Results of Union Plus online survey According to 850 participants, union members use: Facebook – 43% YouTube – 27% MySpace – 23% Twitter – 12% Other research: 50% of Union Plus opt-ins are on a social network MySpace Facebook Twitter
Examples of social media sites Networking & gaming - e.g. Come2Play, Facebook, LinkedIn. MySpace Blogs & mini-blog sites - e.g. Twitter with 27 million, where the influentials are; Act.ly (Twitter petitions) Media-sharing sites - e.g. YouTube, TubeMogul (Video), Flickr (photos) Bookmarking & news - e.g. Digg, Delicious Rating & reviews - e.g. Yelp Social knowledge - e.g. Wikipedia
What are you trying to accomplish? Leads – new members Awareness – union initiatives and campaigns Conversions – take action Engagement & community – surveys, contests, polling, etc.
Why social media? Existing audience Build relationships with members/prospects Tap into word-of-mouth Reach a new audience Create, collect and share union member stories
Other important questions Are you prepared to let go of brand control, at least a little? How will you encourage participation? And do you have the resources to do it? Who will maintain your social media presence?
Other important questions How does social media integrate into your overall communications strategy? Where are your members? What are they most interested in? What are other local and national unions doing?
Other important questions How will you measure success? What constitutes failure? Views, followers, comments, subscribers, click- throughs, referrers, actions taken What happens if you don’t achieve success? How will you manage resource allocation?
Twitter What is Twitter? A mini-blog – mini-messages called “tweets” of 140 characters or less. accessible on any cell-phone In October 2009, users sent 26 million tweets daily, up from 2.4 million tweets in January 2009
Successful Union Plus tweets Timely & relevant topics Practical information How to support the labor movement in everyday life “Side-by-side comparison of major health care reform proposals “Give union-made candy this Halloween. For a list of union- made treats go to
Facebook Number one social networking site with more than 300 million active users The fastest growing demographic: 35 and older Many women users Average user has 130 friends on the site More than 45 million status updates daily
Union Plus on Facebook
Comments from our AMAZING fans!
Facebook Fan Page screenshot
Before Fan Page creation: Integrate a predetermined campaign with the launch of your Facebook Fan Page. Union Plus Hardship Fund Campaign
SUCCESSFUL CAMPAIGNS
Union Plus hardship fundraising effort $100 donated to the Union Plus Hardship Fund for every new fan Goal: 1,000 new fans and raise $100,000 in three months Reached goal in only three WEEKS!
Why was this campaign successful? Solidarity – helping fellow members Regular progress updates Union members reposted updates on Facebook and Twitter – went viral After the goal was reached, members and fans continued to spread the word Additional 1,000 new fans over the next three weeks.
Union Plus Pet Photo Contest Union members submitted pet photos Union members voted for the cutest pet photo Winner received one year Pet Savings subscription & professional photo of their pet Contest stats: 624 entries 327 comments 9,419 votes
Why was this contest successful? Promoted contest using both traditional and social media platforms Participants promoted their photos on their Facebook and Twitter pages Universal appeal - people love pets!
Winning photos
Join Union Plus on these social media sites