Getting Right With Your Community

GettingRightWithYourCommunity

KhalidMuhammadGroupManagingDirector

WhoAmI?

KhalidMuhammad  EducationalBackground

  CentralMichiganUniversity–BBA&BSc  UniversityofMichigan–MastersinEngineering  KelloggSchoolofGraduateManagement–MBAMarketing

  ProfessionalBackground  19yearsexperienceinMarketing,Technology,BusinessProcessManagementwithcompanies

  theemaginegroup  Last7yearsasGroupManagingDirector  Foundedthecompanyin2003toprovideprofessionalbusinessservicestoclientsaroundtheworld

TheSocialMediaEffect

SoWhyTheConfusion?  Brandstodayunderstandthattherehasbeenadramaticshiftinhowmarketingisdonebutareunclearonhowto  Respondtoit  Becomepartofit  Budgetforit  Measureit  Adjustforit

WhyDoBrandsFailInSocialMedia?  Individualswithintheorganizationworkindependentlyofothersaswhatwecallsilos

 Organizationsfailtodoanyresearchorplanningtounderstandwhatsocialmediaisandhowitoperates

  Toomanyorganizationsbelievethatsocialmediaisaboutjustlisteningtowhatotherssay,ratherthanbeingpartofthediscussion

  Theyfailtodeviseamessageforthemediamakingtheirsocialmediaexperienceseemlikeanone‐offexperiment

  Theydon’ttakethetimetobuildthestrategytosucceedassuringthattheywillfail

SoLet’sUnderstandWhatWeAreTalkingAbout

WhatIsSocialMedia?  SocialMediaisnothingliketraditionaladvertisingordirectmarketing  Traditionaladvertisingisaone‐wayprocessthatgetsthemessage

tothepotentialcustomer

  SocialMediaisaboutrelationships  Engagingwithcustomersandcriticsthatcreatesasignificant

changeinthewaythatpeoplethink,actandmeasuresuccesswithabrand

  Presentsaplatformfordiversevoices,backgroundsandopinionstogatherinonelocationtodiscussyourbrandfromeveryangle

  Professionalismandobjectivityhavebeenreplacedbyconnectivityanddynamismofanauthentic,non‐corporatevoice

WhatisSocialMedia?  Crowdsourcingor“PeoplePowering”iswhatsocialmediaisabout

  SocialMedialetsbrandsinteractwithcustomersinamorepersonalwaytobuildbetterrelationshipsandmoreloyaltyfortheirbrandsandproducts

WhatIsAnIdealSocialOrganization?  Itiscollaboration  Hasanopen,honestand

transparentculture  Thriveswithteamworkand

constantcommunication  Looksbeyondinternal

organizationandbusinesstitles

  Equipsandencouragesemployeestoengagewiththecustomeroutsideoftraditionalmarketingandcustomerservicechannels

  Itishungryfornewtechnologythatmakescommunicationwitheachotherandcustomersmoreefficient

  Hasasimplesocialmediapolicythatprotectstheorganizationandempowersitspeople

  BlendstraditionalCustomerRelationshipManagementtoolswithexternalsocialtechnologiestomakeforamorerelevantconsumerbrandexperience

  ThinksbeyondTwitterandFacebook

  Invitescompetitorstoitsowncompetitors

  Hasnoegosororganizationalsilos

HowDoYouDoItCorrectly?

GettingTheProcessRight  PlanYourStrategy  ChooseTheRightChannels  KnowYourCustomer  ScheduleA“SocialTime”  ProvideValue ManageExpectations

DeviseTheStrategy  Outlinegoals&stepstomeetobjectives  Integrateintoexistingmarketingactivities

  Delegate,Decide,Choose,Review  Keepitsimple  Definewhatgetsshared,when&how  Doasocialmediaaudittodeterminewhoinyourcompanyisusingsocialmedias

  Developaprocesstogettheinformationthroughtoyourcustomers

  Haveameasurementstrategy  Can’timproveifyoucan’tmeasure

  Useittointroduce/reinforcemessageswhilepushingcustomerstoanotherprofileorwebsite

DeviseTheStrategy  MultimediaUsage

  Photos–Apictureisworthathousandwords  Video–Bestforhowtoandcomplexexplanations

  Integrateyourofflineandonlineactivities  Usesocialmediatoextendyourofflinemarketingactivities

  Adaptyourmessage  FAIL‐>Samemessage,multipleplatforms  SUCCESS‐>Multiplemessages,multipleplatforms

  LocalizedSocialNetworks  Contests&Discounts

  Generatesharing&viralactivity  Givesomethingbacktoyourcommunity

ChooseTheRightChannels

SocialNetwork Customer

Communications BrandExposure Traffic

Use a keyword search & hashtags to monitor what is being said about your brand

Offers unique opportunities for website integration and to engage with your customers in a viral way

Potential is large, but promotions is an art form – promote too much and lose followers, promote too little and see no results

Great for engaging people that love your brand, want to share comments and participate in contests & giveaways

Facebook brand pages are great for brand exposure. Jump start your brand exposure through Facebook ads.

Traffic is decent and on the rise thanks to share buttons, but don’t expect massive unique visitors to go to your site

Whether you seek to entertain, inform, or both, video is a powerful channel to quickly engage your customers

One of the most powerful branding tools on the web when you build your own channel, promote via high traffic websites and brand your videos

Traffic goes to the videos. Don’t expect a lot of traffic to your site unless you add hyperlinks in the description or allowing others to embed your videos on their pages

Editor-driven and moderated – this should not be a primary focus

Non commercial sites are heavily favored by editors so business sites should not waste their time here

Get in the moderator’s good graces and you can achieve massive numbers – just don’t count on it happening

KnowYourCustomer  Understandwhoyourcustomeris  Joincustomerswheretheyareratherthanhopingtheyfindyou

  Formrelationshipsbasedon“socialglue”thatbuildonlinerelationships

  Build“socialgraphics”tounderstandhowyourcustomersareusingsocialtechnologies

  Don’tbeafraidto“ownup”tocustomerswhenyourbrandsmakeamistakeorrespondingtocriticisms

WhoIsTheSocialCustomer?  Consumeinformationinadifferentway&learnsaboutbreakingnewsthroughTwitter&Facebooktrustingwhattheirnetworkshavegleanedasimportant

  Learnsaboutnewproducts&brandsthroughsocialchannels&truststheirnetworktoprovidehonestfeedbackaboutit

  Issavvyanddoesn’trespondtospamoroverlypromotionaltweets,butisopentorelevantinformationthatmeetstheirneedsataparticularmoment

  Expectsbrandstobepresent&activeinthesamesocialvenueswheretheyhangout,listeningtofeedback,whetherpositiveornegative

WhoIsTheSocialCustomer?  Expectsthebrandtolisten&engage,notonlywhenitscoincideswithanemailblastornewfeaturerelease,butwhentheyneedyou

  Sincetheycantalktoyourbrandthroughmultiplechannelsatthesametime,theyexpecteveryonetheyspeaktofromyourbrandtohavethesamebackgroundontheissue

 Ownstherelationshipandyou,asabrand,needtoearntheirtrustandrespect

ScheduleA“SocialTime”  Knowwhenyourcustomersareonlinetobetterinteractwiththem  Monitorconversations,joindiscussions&sendoutnewmessages

  Responddirectlytomessages,questions&comments  Askforopinionsfromyourcommunitytomakethemfeelmorevaluable

  Createavoice&stylesheetsothateveryonethatinteractsfromyourbrandplatformspeaksthesamelanguage

  Beareliablefriendbybeingactive&participateinallconversationsrelatedtoyourbrandorexpertise

ProvideValue  Theremustbeavaluetotheinteractionsforthecommunity  Ifyoujustbroadcastmessagesaboutyourproductandstrengths,youarestilloperatinginaone‐waymode

  Establishyourvoicebybecominganexpertthroughadvice&information

  Tapintoemotionalequity–peoplelovebrands,letthemtalkaboutthem  Offerspecialrewards&dealstoyouronlinecommunity  Startaprogramforyourmostvocaladvocatesandbestsocial

customers

  Provideareasonforthecommunitytostayandgetinvolvedinthediscussions

ManageExpectations  Makesurethatyourorganizationunderstandstherearenoovernightsuccesses  Tobecomeaviralbrandrequiresagreatidea,makesurethatyou

haveenoughideastorejectsothatyougetthegreatone  Attemptstofindsuperficialsocialsuccessleadsbrandstocreatea

presencethatdoesn’tfitbrandpersonalityorinappropriatecampaignsinthehopethattheygoviral

  Don’tbegreedy  Justbecauseyouhavethousandsoffollowersorfriends,doesn’t

meanthattheyallhavesomethingvaluabletosay  Measure.Review.Revise.

  Gettingsocialmediarightrequiresregularreviewtogaugewhatworksandwhatdoesn’t

  Onceyouknowwhatworks,reviseyoursocialmediastrategytoachieveresultslong‐term

Questions?