Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Media stage
JANUARY, 2011
Setting the stage
Have you been open to the idea of social media for some time now, but are still unsure
whether you’re ready to go all the way? Frankly, you are not alone. The conflicting reports
are numerous, arguing both for and against “letting go” of control. Unfortunately, the “con”
arguments often read as “what were they thinking” stories. Some folks are diving in without
a keen understanding of what they’re doing, how they’re doing it and why they need to
do it in the first place. All the while, marketers are offering Web 2.0 services without truly
Tweetworthy:
“When a blind man leads a blind man, they both end up in the ditch.”
When a new communication platform emerges, it’s hard not to be attracted by its promise of
In order to establish useful, long-term communications with a solid ROI, a social media
stage has been established to ensure that new ideas generated are filtered through a set of
criteria to ensure:
b) that the suggested program observes the organizational mandate and group priorities
as a whole.
If the suggested program does not pass the filter test, further discussion on the validity of
the program in general is needed, or another communication avenue would better serve the
objective.
2
The Sporadic State
We all know that social media can be successful in the “one offs”. The problem is, a
sporadic state leads to scale issues, inconsistent measurements, lost insights and unclear
ROI.
marketing
& advertising public
retail
partners relations boutiques
digital, events,
& suppliers
internal grassroots, WOM
licensing
communications
er
influenc tion wiki! widget!
a
podcast! identificive!
initiat blog! facebook pa
ge!
digital
reputation
program!
“Let’s do a... !” consu
generamer
te
media d
eo! social network!
viral vid influencer
contes
t!
app! outreach social media press
release!
event!
microsite
3 download @ http://bit.ly/gqjtsJ
The Social Media Stage
At its heart, the social media stage is a flexible model to help brands determine what they
will and will not stand for in this space. Ideas can come from anywhere and they should! The
social media stage for brands encourages ideation from any source: digital, creative and
Passing these ideas through these basic brand standards and filters will help you decide if it
digital
licensing ideas!
from all sources word-of-mouth
etc.
4 download @ http://bit.ly/fxAse9
Ideas
Ideas come from many places: internally, suppliers, partners, agencies, even the public
can provide an idea. Innovation comes from ideation, so encouraging ideation is always
advisable. Ideas are seemingly ubiquitous, so the challenge is to develop a useful framework
that will allow you to capture the great ideas and filter them from the not-so-great ideas. This
saves time, money and keeps the brand focused on its goals.
Filters
When you are considering a social media program, consider the following questions to
provide subject matter that the set an ethical standard worthy of the brand?
brand has a right to speak on?
allow relationships to be naturally
provide the opportunity to start the cultivated? Or are you trying to “buy” your
conversation, or should you join an way in?
established one?
further the goal of truly being a voice of
be transparent? authenticity and trust?
be clear that the brand will be the be scalable if/when the idea “goes viral” or
driving force behind the idea? is re-applied in other markets? If successful,
can it grow into a larger program?
be flexible?
offer a consistent tone of voice?
allow you to evolve the program
even after it has launched to the allow the brand to continue in a way that’s
public? consistent with ongoing communication
efforts, digital and otherwise?
offer quality?
5
Influencer/Detractor Response Protocol
What if they say something bad? Count on it.
Say a comment has been found in the social space of your market regarding your brand,
one of its products or programs. The following protocol will help you determine if you should
respond and in the case that a response is necessary, how you should respond.
But remember…
6
1 Assess
Social Comment
2 Evaluate
A social comment has been
3 Respond discovered about your brand/program.
4 Final Evaluation Is is a positive posting?
5 Considerations
YES NO
YES
Assess Content
Does this post contain errors or misrepresentation
of the organization’s messages and/or position?
NO YES
“Trolls”
Is this a site dedicated to bashing
Concurrence and degrading others?
A factual and well cited response, which Monitor Only
may agree or disagree with the post, Avoid responding to specific posts.
yet is not negative. NO YES
Monitor the site for relevant
You can concur with the post, let stand
or provide a positive review. information and comments.
Do you want to respond?
“Rager”
Is the posting a rant, rage, joke,
ridicule or satirical in nature?
YES NO
NO
YES NO
YES
Response Considerations
If after a final evaluation you decide to respond, ensure you take these considerations into account:
Adapted from U.S. Air Force Public Affairs, Emerging Technology Division http://airforcelive.blogspot.com
7 download @ http://bit.ly/fYAucO
Influencer Engagement Protocol
Online influencers are different than traditional publications, but they are all interested in
publishing useful stories or offering insights. That’s why your pitch should be in a format
that makes it easy for authors/bloggers to digest. Avoid ostentatious claims and use natural
sounding language like you were talking with a friend. Avoid extraneous techno-babble that
Best Practices
for online influencer engagement:
X Mandatory: Add their name, the name of their blog and the relevance your pitch is to
them. It’s no different than calling someone by name in a regular conversation, it grabs
their attention and helps let them know this is not spam.
Who? Who is the news about (include a link to your company backgrounder and
website blog or SMPR, especially if the blogger isn’t aware of who you are).
What? What is the news you’re pitching - no marketing fluff. Give it to them straight.
Where? Not always relevant in the electronic age, but if it is, state it.
Why? This is the important part. Your pitch should be no more than three sentences and
it should be compelling. (Easier said than done.)
Do not attach press releases, however if one is available, post it on the web and send a link.
Online influencers can be contacted by email, mail, phone, etc. Some of them have
information on their preferred method of communication listed on their blog. Take the time
to see and follow their requests. It will both increase the likelihood of a post and secure a
Tweetworthy:
“Keep your friends close and all influencers even closer.”
8
Post Creation & Engagement Protocol
You have new content that you would like to post to the social space. Perhaps it is a video
on YouTube or an update to your brand’s Facebook fan page. This protocol will help you
determine 3 things: if you should post; how you should post; and what to do after you post.
1 Approve
New Content
2 Schedule
New content has been identified for posting
3 Assess on a brand social media platform.
4 Post Is the content currently on
5 Track the Social Media Calendar?
YES NO
Approval
Has this content been approved
for posting?
YES NO
YES YES
YES NO NO
Proof Reject
Proofread the content, and adapt
Identify requirement gap with
tone appropriately to platform. NO
content stakeholder.
Does the content meet the editorial Request re-submission to Calendar.
standards of the brand?
YES
Final Evaluation
Double check against protocol to confirm
it meets all requirements. NO
Does the content meet
all requirements?
YES
Post Considerations
If after a final evaluation, you decide to respond, ensure you take these considerations into account:
Adapted from U.S. Air Force Public Affairs, Emerging Technology Division http://airforcelive.blogspot.com
9 download @ http://bit.ly/gWY5e3
Recommendations
for Social Media
Governance
Protecting yourself, your agency, brand or organization is just good legal common sense.
It is good practice to ensure that you have reviewed the community guidelines and terms &
conditions of the social platforms you are posting to and have these documents prepared
Community Guidelines,
Terms & Conditions
3rd Party Community Guidelines
When considering involvement with a 3rd party
Reference Links:
Flickr - http://www.flickr.com/guidelines.gne
YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/t/community_guidelines
Yahoo Answers - http://answers.yahoo.com/info/community_guidelines
10
Branded Community Terms and Conditions
Terms and conditions are the “laws” of the community. As such, you need to draft all the
legal restrictions, copyright, liability etc. in a tone and manner befitting a court of law (legal
protection). Terms and Conditions protect you legally, so refer to them when challenged
over legal issues, claim disputes etc. As a preventative measure, make sure a link to them is
Reference Link:
Social Media Governance. A list of over 138 Social Media Policies including Coca-
Cola, Dell, Microsoft, Walmart - http://socialmediagovernance.com/policies.php
Community Guidelines
Consumers using your platforms will generally not read the Terms and
consumers on brand related social platforms. The tone and manner must
is wise to cover your back and cross link the terms and conditions for
rules for posting. If the community member breaks those rules, you can refer
guidelines on an ongoing basis to protect the integrity of the community and the brand.
Reference Links:
Flickr - http://www.flickr.com/guidelines.gne
WorldVision’s community guidelines for Facebook Fan Page
- http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=108970206976&topic=10468
11
HR Social Media Guidelines
Whether or not employees and agents are active in the social space, it is wise to ensure
you have an official guideline for them to understand what it is they are allowed to do and
say in this infinitely scalable public forum. If your employees and agents are not using
Social Marketing in their job, this helps empower them to get started. Once this is in place,
you should encourage employees to adopt Social Influence Marketing – whether they are
personally on Twitter, running their own work blog, posting comments on someone else’s
blog, or otherwise participating in the world of social media.
attempt here to stifle their social voice. Rather, the intent is just the
Tweetworthy:
“The voice of many exceeds the voice of one.”
must respect the members of your community. The following DOs and
12
DOs & DON’Ts of Community Management
DOs
➔ Follow and enforce community guidelines
➔ Be honest and fair
➔ When possible, offer members a chance to remove their
own offending content before you do
➔ Be direct
➔ Encourage discussion
➔ Consider adding a “Report Abuse” form to areas where
user-generated content lives - most healthy communities
are excellent at self-policing
DON’Ts
➔ Do not “hog the floor”
➔ Do not push content. Instead, leave it in places to be
discovered.
➔ Do not be indecisive. State clearly your comment with
intent and resolve.
➔ Do not “shut somebody down” if they disagree with your
point of view
➔ Do not be a bully
13
Community Manager
A Community Manager position is a broad encompassing role. And it really should be!
They’re the voice of the company externally and the voice of the customers internally. The
value lies in the Community Manager serving as a hub and having the ability to personally
connect with the customers, thereby humanizing the brand. They play a valuable role in
The community manager is a busy role. Their day-to-day work will include influencer
growth, technology evolutions, community moderator management and outreach and public
interactions. It’s due to all these interactions that a successful Community Manager must
• Conduct influencer identification, tracking • Accountable for project goals and business
and reporting objectives
• Relationship management • Create and manage response protocol
• Outreach • Build community through relevance
• Total Engagement • Reputation management
• Issue Identification • Maintain identity and public persona by
• “Official Responder” for all issue and being an official representative, not hidden
category questions behind a logo, i.e. richard@dell
14
15
Risks and Realities
Social media is a strange place that can cause anxiety when thinking about what people
might be saying about your brand. Often the first risk identified is, “what if they say
something bad”. The reality is, they probably already have. There are so many places online
to publicly discuss brands - they don’t need you or your web properties to communicate
what they have to say. Consider participating as a member of the various social media
platforms and be there to guide the perception of complaints that may or may not be out
there.
Whenever assessing risk and reality in social media, be sure to look at it from all points of
view. Sometimes risk can be the biggest opportunity you have - the opportunity to engage
Tweetworthy:
“The fear of taking action is often more dangerous than the action itself.”
issues that you have not captured, and be sure to run the same exercise a few
times. Most importantly: do not post anything issue-based without legal input/
consideration.
16
Risks and Realities
Assessments
When considering a new social program, ensure you have a good understanding of the risks and
realities before engaging. The following worksheet will help you determine how you will respond to
situations before they become an issue.
Where will you post this response? Circle all that apply.
Website PR Resource Centre Twitter Facebook Youtube
other (list)
17 download @ http://bit.ly/hLNhml
Measurement
Social Media may actually be the most measurable form of mass media that has ever
existed. The types of measurement have left most analysts with a problem of abundance.
What do you measure? And what does it mean? Do these questions sound familiar?
So What?
The problem is, none of these metrics lead to any sort of business objective. No objective,
no measurement will ever be relevant. This makes the planning of a campaign all the more
important. Understanding what you want to get out of it will help you understand what to
measure.
this space.
Volume Score
Measures relevance by volume of peer-to-peer, peer-to-brand conversation.
18
Notice that the volume of brand-to-consumer mentions is not a KPI? Although it can and
should be tracked, brands pushing content should be measured against the impact it has
had in consumer reaction and peer-to-peer conversation. This is the world where trust and
credibility is earned.
Sentiment Score
Measures consumer attitude in peer-to-peer, peer-to-brand
then adding these up and dividing by the volume, you will get
Of course you are going to be positive about your brand, so the -1 point
for a negative mention.
impact of your posts against this metric will skew the results.
Reach Score
Measures consumer reach in peer-to-peer, peer-to-brand conversation. How far did your
message get? When determining this score, we measure Advocate Generated Impressions
(AGIs). These are impressions created by non-brand reps in the digital space. This is a key
19
Proximity Alerts
Proximity Alerts is a measuring and reporting system for campaigns and always-on digital
media programs.
Scale
Proximity Alerts is customized to clients’ needs and sellable to clients’ programs.
ROI
ROI is determined based on business objective
considered.
Benchmarking
Benchmarking has been well established
20
EARNED PAID OWNED
Brand to Peer
Peer to Brand Peer to Brand
Sysomos, Radian 6,
How (eg.)
TOOLS
21 download @ http://bit.ly/eMauVB
Conclusion
Social media is a state of mind, not another channel. If you approach it with the right
attitude, prepared for the best and the worst case scenarios, you will find that your brand
can be both socially relevant and successful. If you are measuring against objectives and
remain flexible to the changing landscape, you will discover that your new-found social
relevance is actually making an impact on your bottom line. And you will be set up to repeat
your success into the future. Set up your social media today.
Canada and BBDO New York. He has been working in the digital space for
22
23
Appendix
Free Social Media Listening
& Monitoring Tools
Brand Monitoring Tools
HowSociable? http://www.howsociable.com/
A simple, free tool that can measure the visibility of your brand on the web across
22 metrics.
Addict-o-matic http://addictomatic.com/
A nice search engine that aggregates rss feeds, allowing you to quickly see the areas where a brand is
lacking in presence.
Socialmention http://www.socialmention.com/
A social media search engine offering searches across individual platforms (eg blogs, microblogs) or all,
together with a ‘social rank’ score.
Technorati’s new search interface. Use it to find top blogs based upon inbound links only.
Technorati’s advanced search page allows you to search for blogs (rather than posts) based on tags.
Google’s index of blog posts. The advanced search tab allows you to search based on additional criteria.
Very good for searching between specific dates.
IceRocket http://www.icerocket.com/
BlogPulse http://www.blogpulse.com/
24
Buzz Tracking
Google Trends http://www.google.com/trends
Trendpedia http://www.trendpedia.com/
Create charts showing the volume of discussion around multiple topics. Generates cool graphs with
competitive analysis opportunity.
Compare the mentions of specific keywords and phrases in blog posts. (LEFT vs. RIGHT)
Omgili Buzz Graphs let you measure and compare the Buzz of any term. Mostly from review sites/forums.
eKstreme http://ekstreme.com/buzz
Blog data is obtained from Technorati and the social bookmarks come from del.icio.us.
BoardReader http://boardreader.com/
25
Twitter Search Tools
Twitter Search http://search.twitter.com/
Search keywords on Twitter which self-refreshes. See what’s happening — ‘right now’.
TweetScan http://search.twitter.com/
Twit(url)y http://twitturly.com/
Hashtags http://hashtags.org/
TweetBeep http://tweetbeep.com/
Twitrratr http://twitrratr.com/
TweetMeme http://tweetmeme.com/
TwitScoop http://www.twitscoop.com/
Through an automated algorithm, twitscoop crawls hundreds of tweets every minute and extracts the words
which are mentioned more often than usual and creates a tag cloud.
Twilert http://www.twilert.com/
Twitter application sends regular email updates of tweets containing your brand, product or service.
Search Data
Google Insights for search http://www.google.com/insights/search/
Compare search volume patterns across specific regions, categories, and time frames.
26
Website Traffic
Compete http://compete.com/
Competitor site traffic reports. Estimates only of monthly visitor data. Best used on large high-traffic Web
sites.
Quantcast http://www.quantcast.com/
Use this on large high-traffic websites. It allows you to compare multiple websites in one handy chart.
Estimates only of monthly visitor data.
Alexa http://www.alexa.com/
Comparative site traffic reports. Includes estimated reach, rank and page views.
Multimedia Search
YouTube http://www.youtube.com/
MetaCafe http://www.metacafe.com/
Compfight http://compfight.com/
Truveo http://www.truveo.com/
Aggregate video search engine. Search videos from YouTube, MySpace, and AOL.
Displays top 20 most-viewed videos (1, 7, 365 days). Includes view counts and charting.
27
The Oath Adapted from the “Blogger Code of Ethics”
28