Integrating Social Media into your Business Plan

Transcription

1 Integrating Social Media into your Business Plan Alyssa Dahl Data Analyst marketing + technology sundog fax: th st s floor 6 fargo, nd

2 Introduction Overall Strategy Social media is much older than people think. One of the first networking websites was SixDegrees in Since then, from ICQ instant messaging to Napster music sharing, social media and social networks have evolved and increased dramatically. After SixDegrees, came Friendster, which gained momentum in Next, were MySpace and Facebook in And the list goes on. It is apparent social media is not just a fad; it s something that has become integrated into our lives. It s a new medium that encourages sharing, connections and communication with people you never knew existed. And it s here to stay. Today, Social Media is another business tool to place into the marketing toolbox. It s a necessary part of any company strategy and a new way to maximize your budget. Whether you re developing a media plan, dealing with customer service or amping up your online presence, social media is the vehicle that gets you where you need to go. It allows the consumer to engage, comment and influence products and services. It allows the community to brainstorm new ideas and insights for a better brand experience. Buyers want to be heard and help shape their world utilizing social media channels. On that note, like any other tactic in the workplace, managing a social media presence takes time, skill and - most of all - a strategy. Use this guide as a reference point to start planning and implementing your social media strategy. It is apparent social media is not just a fad; it s something that has become integrated into our lives. Developing an overall social strategy can be overwhelming at first. A social media approach with organizational alignment should not only outline what will be done in your approach, but define your target audience and how they interact with social media. Research what types of social media are most popular with your target audience. Examine how often each target market visits certain networks, what tools they share, and what applications they find most useful. When developing a social strategy, defining your goals and objectives is the most important step. This will help you measure the success of your network, define your social process and ensure that you move down the right path. Social media can be successful on its own, depending on the circumstances, but more often it needs to be implemented as part of a diverse marketing plan. By using social media with other marketing tactics, you will drive more traffic, create more awareness and encourage more activity from your targeted communities. Ultimately, social media is most successful when implemented as one subset within a larger strategy. Listening Talking may come pretty easily for most people. Listening, however, can be one of the hardest things to do. People are on social networks talking about brands, products, events and more. Listening to consumer conversations is an essential part of successful branding. When businesses are ready to tap into the online world and its public conversations, developing a listening strategy is the key to success. A listening strategy gives a company a feel for who is talking about the company s brand online and what conversations those people are having. This listening is done through the use of specific brand related key-words which monitor mainstream news, blogs, forums and conversations on social networks. So, what you hear from online users is determined by the keywords you use. Types of keywords that should be considered when listening include categories of brand, industry, special events, campaign and location. 2

3 A good listening strategy will not only address what is being said about your brand, but will also take into account what is being said about your competitors brands. Reviewing the feedback for your competitors and studying their keywords is a great benchmark for understanding and measuring online conversations about your own company. To hear conversations about your competitors and to learn about industry trends, study the keywords used about their specific campaigns, current events or television shows. There are a number of tools available to assist you in listening to specific conversations. In the beginning listening stages, it may be best to engage with your consumer by using free search functions offered by social networks. When planning your listening strategy, take into account the different ways you can engage in the various types of conversations you may come across. Think about how your tone and message will translate and how that might affect your end result. For example, engaging in a negative post could actually lead to a positive turn around. The following is an example from Kaiser Permanente. When planning your listening strategy, take into account the different ways you can engage in the various types of conversations you may come across. Female: As a Kaiser Permanente member, I found it highly ironic, if not fraudulent, when I saw a Kaiser Permanente commercial this morning that touted the benefits of the paperless medical records system and all of the trees that are saved. Friday, I requested a copy of my medical record from the Reston, VA center and learned that the office is unable to produce a copy of the electronic file on CD. Rather, I ll be charged $50 per page for the first 50 pages, then 25 cents per page beyond 50 pages. So much for saving trees. Not only that, the actual production of the paper copies is outsourced to a third-party vendor something that has potential to violate HIPA. Shame on Kaiser Permanente. Kaiser Permanente: Thank you for your note. We are taking this feedback seriously. Someone from our team has just left you a voic message. We look forward to helping you resolve the situation. Female: UPDATE! Not only will I be able to get my medical records on a CD, but a notice will go out to all Kaiser Permanente sites in the Mid-Atlantic Region to inform other members that this option is available. This team is fantastic. Thank you! Kaiser Permanente was successful in commenting on the post and reaching out to the customer outside of the social network. The company made a public response that would show that they listen, care and take action with the feedback from their consumers. By doing so, they were able to solve a customer service problem and also receive positive, published responses from their consumer. When listening and communicating through social networks, the target audience you are communicating with becomes very important. 3

4 Target Audience It is important to first understand the target audience and how best to interact and engage with them when developing your social media strategy. Study each target audience and analyze their motivations, fears, concerns and hopes to determine what type of social media fits them. Then, look at your target market and identify the type of social media user category they fall under (See Social Media Users and Influence Diagram). Make notes on what type of social media has the largest impact and what kind of attention or effect it generates. Doing your research to determine which tactics will have the most impact on your target audience, helps ensure that your social media campaign is a success. Once you have defined your target market, you can begin to establish the types of social media you should or will incorporate. Social Media Users and Influence Types of Social Media Users Identify your social media users: Passive Seek Information and Opinions from Peers Engaged and Interaction Influencers Use information-rich tools that allow them to educate themselves without opting in (video, podcasts, consumer reviews) Look to their peers, they want a point of view and unbiased information Types of Social Media: podcasts, peer reviews, onlie videos, wikipedia Passionate about a brand and want to share that passion and interact with brand on personal level Types of Social Media: forums, blogs, and videos Engage with your brand but also be an advocate or critque your brand Influence of Social Media Company Generated Peer Generated Loyalty Brand Generated High Positive Influence Podcasts, Online Reviews, Online Videos Online Videos, Wikipedia Entries, Discussion Forums, Online Reviews, Podcasts Medium Positive Influence Online Videos, Wikipedia Entries, Discussion Forums, Online Reviews, Podcasts Wikipedia Entries, Discussion Forums, Blogs Social Network Sites Low Positive Influence Company Blog, Social Network Sites Social Network Sites *Based on Forrester Study 4

5 Choices of What Type of Social Media When creating a strategy, most businesses are familiar with the social communities already built: Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. However, it s necessary to explore all options available to choose those that best tie into your overall social strategy. There is no limit to how small or large the social strategy should be, but it is important to have a specific plan for each social activity included in your strategy. NOTE: Examples will not be provided as social media continues to change and evolve. Applications Applications can be custom built to tie into your Facebook Page or website. This will leverage the brand experience for the user, therefore driving growth and engagement on your website or Facebook page. Within Facebook, an application is a platform for developers that provides a framework for user interaction with core features of the site. Blog A blog is a website or online journal that allows users to reflect, share opinions and discuss various topics. It also provides readers of those blogs an opportunity to comment on posts. Blogging plans can range in detail from message management and overall category layout to a detailed list of topics to cover within each entry. This type of engagement is considered active and is updated in real time, though it doesn t have to be updated as frequently as Facebook status updates or Twitter messages. Social Communities Social communities are created when a person or organization utilizes existing social networks and creates a profile, account, page and/or channel. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr, Slideshare and Wikipedia are among the most popular ones, but there are many more to choose from. When determining which social community is best for you, research which social network(s) best reach your target market and accomplish your overall objectives and goals. Social Microsite Social microsites are developed to revolve solely around your business or purpose. They create specific communities and often include development of personal profiles for community members to activate. Your microsite could display anything from new features, music and photos, to applications, videos and chat capabilities. Social microsites differ from social networks, in that they have a variety of features all in one area instead of working across multiple channels to achieve multiple functions. Social Sharing Social sharing is the act of placing social network tools on your website(s) and is primarily implemented through the use of free social sharing tools. There are a variety of sharing types, some mentioned below, which can be used simultaneously and can span an unlimited number of networks and sources. One example of social sharing is posting a story or article on your site, where you allow users to read and respond via their own profiles and accounts. There are three types of social sharing: Peer-to-Peer Sharing, Social Network Sharing and Social Bookmarking. Peer-to-Peer Sharing is a send-to-a-friend type of message. These types of messages most often utilize as the sharing source. Social Network Sharing occurs when you link an article or other web data to a personal profile, in order to share it with other existing social networks. This allows users to read and respond via their own social accounts. Be aware social network sharing icons look similar to icons users place on existing media or site homepages (to direct people to their social communities). See example below. Social Network Sharing Icons: 5

6 Sharing icons placed on a company s homepage to direct visitors to their social community: Social Bookmarking is the saving of specific content within a website. Widget A social widget is a tool that can be shared by using an existing user s social profile to leverage a personalized strategy. For example, Chevron created a social widget that told viewers how many barrels of oil had been consumed globally from the time they had arrived on the site. The widget used social network sharing to influence existing profiles and accounts. Below is the example of Chevron s social widget. Peer-to-peer sharing, social network sharing and social bookmarking are three easy ways to drive traffic to your site and to help your social conversations go viral. These tools help users share stories on content, whether through or on their social networks. Discovering good content on the internet can be difficult, but sharing good content doesn t have to be. 6

7 Resources Available (Time Management) When developing an overall strategy for social media, lack of human resources and experience is often a struggle for many companies. In most cases, businesses make an ongoing effort to maintain a presence in social media, but lack the human resources to keep this information accurate, consistent and valuable for their communities. There are tools and external resources to help companies manage those issues and, in the table below, we take an in-depth look into time management and recommend a strategy. The time that must be dedicated to social media varies, depending on the type of social media you are leveraging with your business strategy. It may also depend on your experience, your organization, group and purpose for the account. The amount of active engagement, communication and conversations about a brand or product and your company s level of conversational engagement, such as commenting on various discussion boards are also factors to be considered. A social media model takes time to implement, manage, create and monitor, no matter your level of commitment. The graph below illustrates how your time might be dedicated toward social media. Each step of engagement in your social media plan could be equal, depending on your social strategy. In the passive state, a company spends the majority of their time listening to conversations online and less time moderating. The responsive state occurs when a company is listening, monitoring and creating awareness of social marketing. The engaged state involves being engaged on existing social networks and joining user conversations. In the creating state, companies develop and maintain their own social presence. Some company engagement begins in the passive state and evolves to the creating state, while others tackle all four engagement types at once. Social Media Time Management Hours per Day Spent on Social Media (1 to 3 social media accounts) Types of Engagement by a Brand Hours per Day Step 1 Passive Step 2 Responsive Step 3 EngagedStep 4 Creating Types of Engagement Percentage Step based on Engagement Level Monitor, Measure, Report Create Awareness Message Management Social Strategy and Planning Research and Listen Passive Responsive Engaged Creating Social Media Strategy Process Research and Listen Listening and monitoring Listening, monitoring and creating awareness Engaging in online conversations and community interactions Developing and managing online communities Analyzing competiors and industry trends. Listening to online conversations based on keywords. 20% 20% 80% 10% 70% Step 1 Passive Step 2 Responsive 10% 10% 10% 55% Types of Engagement 25% 25% 30% 10% 25% Step 3 Engaged Step 4 Creating Monitor, Measure, Report Create Awareness Message Management Social Strategy and Planning Research and Listen Social Strategy and Planning Social Plan and Message Management Create Awareness Monitor, Measure, Report Covering all the social options and laying out a foundation for your social strategy, always thinking about what you can leverage next. Deciding on a social strategy and planning for each specific step. Message management, message calendar, follower strategy and more. Using current marketing channels to leverage your social channels. Commenting on blogs with tags of social networks or links to site. Analyzing current channels, competitor channels and any traffic driving to sites. Are your social networks producing a postivite ROI? 7

8 Looking for a short answer? The more time you put into your social media plan, the more you will get in return. There is no limit to the number of types of social to start with, but generally companies begin with one and evolve their plans over time. Begin by determining who will be your organization s social moderator and how they will actively manage each account or social type. Then assess your employees and assign the right people to the right areas. This will save you time, energy and money both upfront and overtime. Company Social Media Policy Social media is playing a larger part in the business world than most people think, whether they are a part of the movement or not. Many companies are implementing social media accounts without a plan or before forming a strategy and some are even allowing their employees to manage their accounts without direction. Having an official company policy and forming a set of guidelines for staff to follow can help regulate unnecessary employee behavior on social networks. Social media policies can cover many different topics and areas. Because the what not to do list could go on forever, the best way to get the general idea across to your employees is to tackle the policy one area at a time. It is important to first state what the reader should learn from the policy, as the American Red Cross did when they stated: There are many Red Cross employees and volunteers contributing to online spaces such as blogs, social networking sites, wikis, forums and photo and video sharing sites. The following guidelines will help you talk about your involvement with the Red Cross in an open and transparent way. The Red Cross must always uphold the trust of the American people, so it is critical that we tell our story responsibly. All kinds of social media manner of new communication and social networking tools are available to Red Crossers, anyone who wants to share insights, express opinions and communicate in a globally distributed conversation. While the American Red Cross recognizes the value of posting personal online content (Web sites, Weblogs, vlogs, podcasts, photos, chat rooms, forums and wikis), it is important that Red Crossers who choose to tell their Red Cross story online understand what is recommended, expected and required. While you can t control what others in your company write or post on their social networks, it s important to make sure they understand privacy settings, exercise good judgment, act responsibly and know the company expects from them. It can also be beneficial to encourage employees to include their place of work and link back to the company s site. This will not only increase inbound links, but also drive traffic to the site. Current policies on social media accounts range in length and detail. They are based on the nature of the business and how much of it is regulated. Social media policies can help employees realize what is acceptable and reminds each user to be responsible for what he or she writes. 8

9 Conclusion By capitalizing on new communication channels like social media and applying them to the context of your organization, you allow your business to add another value for success. By choosing specific tactics throughout social media and developing a plan with them, you create a framework that will make an impact on a large portion of your target market. Investing in the resources, time and policies required to regulate your company s social media strategy is highly beneficial. We hope this is helpful in the development of your company s social strategy. As a final note, once you have chosen which social media to implement, a planning process should take place prior to launch. This planning process will be outlined in another Sundog white paper. The paper will discuss elements like tone, messaging, timelines and structure. 9

10 References American Red Cross, Online Communications Guidelines. Retrieved July 17, 2010 from Borders, Brett (2009) A Brief History of Social Media. Retrieved June 16, 2010, from Brogan, Chris (2009) How much time should I spend on social media. Retrieved June 1, 2010, from Chevron Corporation. ( ) Dybwad, Barb (2010) 5 Social Media Trends to Watch Right Now. Retrieved July 10, 2010 from Golla, Vince and Holly Potter, Kaiser Permanente. Our Social Media Journey: Lessons Learned from a Health Care Leader. Social Media for HealthCare Conference. July 26th, New York City, New York. Lauby, Sharlyn (2009), 10 Must-Haves for Your Social Media Policy. Retrieved July 14, 2010 from Ramos Laura, Forrester Research (2009). POST: Understand Customers Social Behavior In The Cloud. Retrieved June 9, Lauby, Sharlyn (2010) Social Policy Musts by Mashable. Retrieved July 11, 2010 from 10