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?