A day in the life

What “doing” Social Mediameans IRL*

* in real life

7:00 - 7:45

• Wake up. Rub eyes. Go to bathroom. • Pour tea into coffee cup. Burn toast. Out of

grapefruit and yoghurt. • Have Pro Nutro for breakfast instead.• Shower. Dress. Scratch under nightstand for

car keys.• Drive to the office.

QuickTime™ and a decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

It’s probably something like this:It’s probably something like this:

Property developer, management company or estate agent. Property developer, management company or estate agent. 30-100 staff, one or more branch offices, business mostly 30-100 staff, one or more branch offices, business mostly done one-to-one through internal sales team.done one-to-one through internal sales team.

You have a Website for your company (online brochure), you You have a Website for your company (online brochure), you maybe have online listings of your offerings, an online request maybe have online listings of your offerings, an online request form for incoming queries.form for incoming queries.

You maybe even actively market via third-party property sites, You maybe even actively market via third-party property sites, and are running PPC or banner ads.and are running PPC or banner ads.

The office?

Back to our story... it’s 8:15

• Get into the office, fire up the computer, log in. The day begins...

Check email

Check monitoring

• BrandsEye• Meltwater• Newsclip• Google Alerts• URL shortner tracking• Website clickthroughs

Check monitoring

Prioritise, Respond, Escalate

QuickTime™ and a decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

Lunchtime

We’re back. So are the lusers.

Quick check of any incoming messages,

alerts, crisis...

None? Good.

So the real work day can begin.

Content.

• Identify and write three Facebook posts• Identify and write three Tweets

(to push them out one by one later in the arvie...)

• Respond to a couple of Tweets, FB comments, Website and blog comments

Content.Content.

One hour left.

At least once a week, any of these are possible:• Meet with PR company to see what stories

are happening, can SM support?• Meet with SEO and Web marketing people to

discuss optimisation, keywords, PPC, etc• Write weekly report on brand issues, flash-

points, complaint patterns, response.• ...

One workday.

To do even basic Social Media for asmall/medium business is a FULL DAY JOB!

• Basic monitoring• Basic reactive• Very basic proactive• Reporting, meetings

!!

Much of this work requires at least a mid-level, experienced person that understands the brand, the business and the communications worlds.

PR? CRM? E-marketing?

Much of the skill-set is PR-centric• Writing ability• Understanding of media• Understanding the brand in written form• Formulating responses• Picking your fights, knowing your audience• Have a thick skin!

PR? CRM? E-marketing?

It’s not “standard PR”• Direct communication between brand and

audience• Needs to feel “authentic” and a “real person”• Two-way communication, not “issue a story”• Requires ACTING. As in... “action”.

Now.

PR? CRM? E-marketing?

It’s a hybrid animal• Must understand the technology (at least!)• Must understand how social networks work (Net

savvy)• Must understand search engine, traffic, SEO• Must understand CRM, call centres, customer

support, operations

PR! CRM? E-marketing?

Fundamentally the PR skills are key. Writing. Tone. Messaging. Positioning.

This is not a technologist position, it needs a communicator.

Last thoughts

We were asked to talk about Social Media from a PR and HR perspective.

We hope we’ve given you a real-world view of what it actually means to have SM in your company.

• It’s a full time job, not something else to drop on the marketing/Web/CRM team’s plate

• It requires sophisticated skills, plenty experience• Don’t start a conversation you don’t continue.• It’s not a cheap form of PR or advertising.

Thanks for listening

Questions?

We can be reached at Sentient Communications021 422 4275www.sentientcommunications.co.zawww.sentientbeing.co.za

Email: roger@sentientcommunications.co.zaSkype: roger.hislop