THE ULTIMATE

SOCIAL MEDIA
GUIDE
FOR DIGITAL AGENCIES
HeyOrca & Point It Digital Marketing
Humans are fundamentally wired to connect. According to Matthew Leiberman, author
of “Social”, connections are so core to our beings, that when they are not nurtured and
monitored, it can cause long-term health issues. Since we’re all humans, be it personal or
business, community matters. Brands have seen the very real benefits (and deficits) of
online communities through the rise of social media. As brands better understand the
power of the community and the power of adding value to consumer lives, they become
healthier businesses.

The business world is watching. 93% of companies see the value that customer
collaboration presents for the marketing department (Oracle, “Socially Driven
Collaboration”). And that’s just one small way brands can benefit from building a
community. In this book, we’ve put together a practical guide to creating your own
brand-driven community. You’ll learn how to identify if building a community is a good
use of your (very limited) time. We walk through how to find the right audience for your
community and what you might serve them that will bring them value.

Then, to cover tactical bases, we talk about what platforms are available and how to grow
that community into something really special. Finally, we offer helpful tips in getting
maximum value out of your community, and nurturing the community at large.

We hope you’ll find this guide helpful. Enjoy!

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THE INCUMBENTS
There’s something to be said about a white
t-shirt. No, it may not be the newest thing out
there, but you keep going back to it time and
time again because it works. Though social
media is constantly changing, there are some
social platforms that are the ‘white t-shirt’ for
your brand. Facebook, Twitter, & LinkedIn may
be considered ‘basic’ among platforms, but we
can’t underestimate the impact they can have
on your brand. Don’t be so fast to jump onto
the next new toy and broaden your strategy
without having these staples mastered.
FACEBOOK
I know - your grandmother probably has
Facebook by now (as does mine). But that
doesn’t mean that Facebook is past it’s prime.
It just means you have a cool grandma.
Facebook has evolved from a platform sharing
college life to a full-blown business tool -
including e-commerce, sponsored ads, and buy
buttons. The popularity of video content can
also be exhibited on Facebook as it’s ramped
up video strategy - putting it with up there
with YouTube. Branding through storytelling
can also be found on Facebook because it’s
both long-form and short-form content
friendly, and it offers a conversational
environment for audiences to share their
experiences and opinions. By taking
advantage of all these business tools available
to your brand, you can take your Facebook
strategy to the next level.
TWITTER
Twitter shines brightest in terms of a B2B
marketing platform. Easy access to influential
leaders, customers, communities, and
trending topics can help keep your brand one
step ahead. The brevity of Twitter adds a
certain instantaneous factor you can’t find on
other platforms. That being said, with constant
updates and refreshing, Tweets can be
fleeting. Your brand needs to find the perfect
bite-size content that packs a punch and
stands above the noise. Think witty one-liners,
quick stats, or infographics. It’s times like
these a strong video and GIF game works
wonders - since Twitter text is limited to 140
characters, visuals should play a key role when
creating content.
LINKEDIN
We’ve all heard the expression, “You’ve got to
network to get work” - and LinkedIn offers just
that, plus more. This go-to platform for the
industry-savvy goes beyond just professional
networking - adding voice and personalization
to a brand through content distribution or
communicating with others. Not to mention,
LinkedIn serves as an excellent platform to
establish your brand as a thought leader
among other professionals - encouraging leads
and conversions. As employee advocacy
continues to climb the social strategy ladder,
LinkedIn is the perfect blend of professional
and social to naturally amplify your brand
through employees. What’s not to love?
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Bring the idea of a white t-shirt back - what makes it look so good? The items you wear
with it. So you have your Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, but don’t let your brand settle
for run-of-the-mill use of those platforms. Evolve and update how you use these
platforms, and you’ll see the benefits of a brand that doesn’t stay static. The way in which
brands can use social media for business is almost endless - so why limit yourself?
Experiment on these staple platforms, and once you’ve found your groove, you can start
to incorporate other platforms into your strategy. Have fun!

In the world of social media marketing, change and innovation are inevitable. Especially
when it comes to social media platforms and how marketers can communicate and
engage with their audience. Successfully integrating new and trending platforms can aid
in skyrocketing your social media strategy if you know how to use them.

NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK

INSTAGRAM

I know, I know, “New kid on the block?” you ask. Though many of us are familiar with the
platform - around 5 million - Instagram has been a major game changer for marketers.
Allowing visuals to take centre stage creates a campaign, product knowledge, brand
awareness friendly platform. Instagram is also the be-all and end-all for user generated
content. In addition to campaigns, marketers should focus on emotional connections and
experiences to resonate with audience members.

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SNAPCHAT
What is it about expiring 10-second photos
that can pack such a punch? Sneak peeks,
behind-the-scenes, special events,
promotions, and user generated content can
all be found while snapping. And brands aren’t
limiting the use of Snapchat to marketing -
take recruitment for example. Hiring a junior
marketer? Get them to send in a one of a kind
snap illustrating why they should be hired!
Between geo-filters, custom filters and
stickers, personalization is a challenge no
more. The expiration of content also creates a
cliffhanger for your audience, leaving them
wanting more!
PINTEREST
Pinterest is for the curious, the creative, and
the self-driven - therefore the ultimate
platform to create valuable content. The visual
platform sparks audience's interest by taking
them from just looking, to wanting to learn
more about your product - all within a very
simple and short piece of content. Those
audience members on Pinterest are looking to
discover. Engaging and relevant Pins can
include how-to’s, instructions, lists, and
multi-product content. Additionally, Pinterest
offers a tasteful and creative alternative to
traditional branding. If brands can be found as
a member of the Pinterest community, the
sharing of values and interests will be sure to
resonate with audiences. Nothing brings
people (and products) together like shared
values.
GOOGLE+
Google as a social media platform? I was quick
to limit Google to Gmail and Calendar myself
too. But it actually has a very solid social layer
- Google+. At the end of the day, the goal of
creating and distributing content is to drive
leads. Google+ achieves this by allowing your
brand to share relevant content, engage with
those audience members with similar
interests, and encourage those audiences to
visit your website to learn more - boosting
your traffic and ideally your leads. Google+
cultivates genuine and conversational
interactions between brands and audiences
through the casual environment. This human
interaction with a brand will not only build a
relationship, but also trust - and that’s
priceless.
My favourite part about new platforms is the
ability to experiment with content,
discovering which will work best for you and
your brand. While it’s crucial for your brand to
be present on popular and trending platforms,
don’t let that overshadow your social media
content strategy. Ensure that whichever
platforms you use - whether that’s a few or a
lot - were chosen based on the ability to reach
goals and targets, not just popularity.
NEW MEDIA
“Another new form of media has been
released? But I just figured out the last one!”
I know - sometimes it can seem impossible to
keep up with ever changing world of social
media. But we shouldn’t let new forms of
media scare us - we should embrace them!
Emojis, GIFs, Live Video, and most recently,
cinemagraphs, are the new media that’s
turning heads. Even though it may take us a
while to find our groove with each new form of
media, integrating them into your content
strategy will pay off in the long run when it
comes to engagement and communication.
EMOJI
Don’t spell it out to me - emoji it to me. Emojis
are a quick and easy way to convey a feeling,
tell a story, and most importantly, boost
engagement. The cute emoticons offer
another way to communicate with consumers
and humanize your brand - because everyone
uses emojis! Consumers are always on the
move - so the ability to communicate with your
brand in a in a fun way (and in record time) is
crucial. The trick is to find the right emoji for
the right message. There is nothing worse than
an emoji faux pas. When it comes to campaigns
and promotions, emojis can be that extra spark
of personality your brand needs to drive
results. Whether that means communicating
with customers and sharing content, or having
a full campaign surrounding emojis, the
possibilities are endless!
GIF
The pronunciation of GIF continues to be up
for debate, but the punch they can add to your
brand on social media is indisputable. Brands
are using new media (GIFs included) to
communicate to consumers on a personal
level, showcase brand personality, and
resonate with consumers. Wondering how
you can show your customer how to use a
product, or navigate your webpage? Why not
use a GIF! They’re a great tool to create
valuable and unique content. GIFs are also the
ultimate media when it comes to social media
community engagement - plus, they’re
shareable! What’s not to love?
CINEMAGRAPHS
Think of cinemagraphs as the older, more
sophisticated cousin of GIFs that always
seems to be effortlessly graceful. Their subtle
approach to storytelling will intrigue audience
members more than a static image. The
difference? Only a certain area of the image
moves, while the rest remains still. This
attention to detail can aid your customer in
focusing on certain products or aspects of a
campaign your cinemagraph can showcase.
Not only is this visual medium an economic
alternative to video content, their short
format optimized for Twitter, Facebook, and
Instagram allows for easy consumption.
On more and more occasions we’re seeing
brands opting for cinemagraphs. Whether it
be social media platforms, newsletters, or
email campaigns - if a brand is looking to
engage, odds are you’ll find a cinemagraph.
From products and promotions to specials
events and launches, cinemagraphs can add
that extra dash of creativity to separate you
from the pack.
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LIVE VIDEO

The more a customer can identify with your brand, the more likely they are to return and
engage - that’s no secret. Whether that be through shared values, opinions, or just
interests - humanizing your brand and involving your customers is a great way to build
that relationship and connect. Live Video is one of the best ways you can achieve this.
Showcasing your brand on a personal and cultural scale could include behind-the-scenes
content, sneak peeks, or Q&A with customers! Inviting your audience to contribute is a
great way to spark conversation and learn more about your market. Before you go Live,
try to have some plan established as to what you’ll be doing, but don’t be afraid to take
risks - it is Live, after all. Plus, if you’re broadcasting using Facebook Live, you can save the
Live video to repurpose or share on other platforms! We could all benefit from some
more evergreen content.

Regardless of which new form of media you choose to introduce into your content
strategy, they can be used in a variety of ways. Think about the goals of your content, who
your audience is, and how they’re likely to engage with new forms of media. Experiment
with new forms of content and discover how they can make your content more
interesting.

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The Long Game

This is a long-term plan that won’t show You don’t need major
obvious results right out of the gate. For many
community builders, you’re going to need to platforms or
manage expectations properly to retain significant budgets in
support over time – and that means setting up
proper goals and scalable key performance the beginning.
indicators (KPI). And these goals tie directly
into what kind of community you’re looking to
build. Is it an engaged community that
interacts with your content or promotes your
IS COMMUNITY A GOOD USE
brand? Or are you aiming for an engaged
OF YOUR RESOURCES?
community that builds up a core of subject
matter experts (SMEs) who can morph into
Before you jump into the deep end of the
brand ambassadors and carry your flag to
community pool, you need to identify if
other communities? By identifying the type of
developing a community is within the
community you want that will further your
resources you have at your disposal. Honestly,
organization’s strategic goals, you can then
it’s a no-brainer that building communities is
build targeted, measurable benchmarks to
important. The question you must ask is, are
sustain momentum on this long journey.
you capable of building one with what you
have available?
It’s a lot of work to build a community from
scratch, but it is a powerful solution to building
Time Keeps Ticking Away
trust and reputation with your audience. No
matter what platform you choose to achieve
Building a community takes time. This is the
your brand goals, there are many things to
main resource you’re going to need. Keep in
consider. Here are a few questions that will
mind that you don’t need major platforms or
help you make good brand-driven community
significant budgets in the beginning.
decisions:
Community is about building connections, one
person at a time. It can be as simple as creating
a hashtag and using it while reaching out to

HOW TO CREATE A
those with similar interests in social media. Or
creating a monthly in-person meeting to bring

SOCIAL MEDIA
like-minded people together to share and
participate in a common unifier, such as your

COMMUNITY brand, product, or interest. You want an

engaged community, regardless of size, and
THAT STICKS the key to reaching that lofty goal is setting
realistic expectations from the start.

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WHO IS THE RIGHT FIT FOR
YOUR COMMUNITY?
You can start to see that launching a
community isn't as simple as deciding on a
topic, picking a community platform, and
opening the doors to the public. It's highly
unlikely you can build a community that
speaks to all the personas your organization
comes into contact with over the course of a
given day. That’s why it’s important to narrow
the focus of your community to a group that
would realistically form strong community
bonds with each other.
Identify the “WHY?”
The first step in identifying the right audience
is defining your "why?" Why are you building a
community? What business objective do you
aim to use it to fulfill? Your "why?" is your first
filter for narrowing your target audience.
Next, think about which of your personas have
day-to-day interests or responsibilities that
align with your "why?".
Define the focus
Deciding on a topic or an idea for your
community is the next step because this
begins to shape who and where your
community will be. When choosing your topic,
remember that people join communities for
two reasons: to learn and to grow. Make sure
that the topic you choose to base your
community around will fill both of those needs.
For instance, if you were creating a community
focused on a tool that helps people track their
digital marketing analytics, you'd need to
decide whether you wanted to focus on
providing end users with customer service and
technical support, communicating with
administrators and helping them make better
use of the platform, or encouraging
collaboration across your partner network.
Each of these scenarios has a very different
audience you'd be cultivating.
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Add Value
Once you've identified who your community
will serve, you'll want to do some quick
research to see if you have competition for
their attention. If there is an active established
community that already serves your audience,
what unique benefit are you able to bring to
them that the existing community can't easily
add? People have limited time and attention,
so it is important you find an underserved
audience you can support and champion
through your community.
Having said that, you can choose a topic that’s
already being discussed, AS LONG AS you do
something different or provide a value that
other communities are missing. If you do the
same thing and try to start a community on
something that already has an established
community, no one will join it. Make sure you
offer something different!
HOW DO YOU IDENTIFY
YOUR PLATFORM AND
AUDIENCE?
A community that doesn’t interact within itself
doesn’t grow! Where you choose to host your
community is crucial to its longevity and
success.
Online Community History
Lesson
The oldest (online) form of community are
message boards. Admins are clearly defined,
moderating a post is fairly easy, and it’s pretty
easy to use from a user’s standpoint. Where
these tend to fall short, from the end-user side,
is that it requires consistent checking and
there’s no notifications outside of email (and
who wants ANOTHER email in their inbox?).
A modern approach to
community
Social media is a bit more convenient because
EVERYONE, in some capacity, uses it. Hosting
your community within a Facebook or
LinkedIn Group still provides you with some
level of Admin & Moderator access where you
can control the conversation, but growing that
community from a group page can be
slow/difficult because you have to be
promoting it actively, and publicly, or rely on
endorsements from people already in your
group. Then there are Twitter Chats. Twitter
chats can be AMAZING due to the fact that
you’re having a public discussion that
ANYONE can join, which increases your odds
of growing that community. The drawback?
Absolutely NO admin/moderator privileges
that allow you to control the conversation
within your hashtag.
There are also numerous apps that have a
community aspect to it. Some that come to
mind are Slack, Fleep, Let’s Chat, MatterMost,
Rocket.Chat, and yes, HeyOrca through
#OrcaChat.
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Getting people involved

Remember that this all comes before launching the community. Once you have decided
on the place(s) to have your community, tapping your network for industry/topic experts
and influencers is next on your list. Get people who have a following involved who can
spare an hour of their time. Ask them to share it with their network for an additional
boost. Most influencers enjoy to do stuff like this. It helps them grow their network and it
helps you promote your community, which is exactly what you need since we’re not
promoting a “Field of Dreams” mindset where, “If you build it, they will come.” No, you
need to find ways to market your community!

3, 2, 1… blastoff! Launching the Community

Last but not least, launching the community. You’ve figured out your “why,” you’ve picked
your topic, you’ve done your persona research, you have experts and influencers on
board and you’ve all been advertising this community…now what? Now you launch! Kick
it off where you interview an expert and get group feedback/testimonials, have your
community ask questions, GET THEM INVOLVED. Remember, people join communities
to LEARN and to GROW, and they can’t do that if they don’t get involved. This is where
consistency comes into play. Make sure you are regularly engaging your community.
Come up with new topics, introduce new experts/influencers, ask questions, give
responses, encourage networking within the community; a community is like a garden
where it needs consistent love and support. Without engagement, your community will
just wither and die.

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HOW DO YOU CREATE
BRAND AMBASSADORS IN
YOUR COMMUNITY?
You may be surprised to hear that, more often
than not, communities develop for brands
without their active involvement. The onsets
of these groups are often made up of a brand’s
core loyalists. These loyalists have often
decided on their own that they identify with a
specific brand and are eager to find others that
feel and believe the same. That’s where you
come in. It’s up to you to provide a safe
gathering place for this group to gather as a
community.
Examples of successful brand
communities
The internet is ripe with examples of
communities ranging from obvious to obscure.
Below are a few examples of communities that
have congregated in a wide variety of
locations:
Go RVing Facebook Page
https://www.facebook.com/GoRVing/likes/
A community is often a place people get away
to in order to share personal experiences with
like-minded individuals. When you’re getting
away to talk about getting away then
Facebook’s Go RVing page is the place for you
and 700K others who feel the same.
Trolli Microsite
http://www.weirdlyawesome.com/
People are passionate about all sorts of things,
but this one was a surprise. Candy is
universally enjoyed, but seeing just how active
the community of Trolli gummy advocates is
makes it obvious that there’s a community out
there for everyone.
The GIF Wolfpack Twitter/Slack Community
https://twitter.com/gifwolfpack
Did you know that GIFs are the single greatest
way to communicate on the web? You may not
think so, but this group sure does. They found
each other through a variety of twitter chats,
bonded through #GIFdanceparty, and then
created a group of their own volition where
they could revel in all things graphics
interchange format.
A community cannot
thrive if its loyalists
aren’t developed and
grown into advocates.
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Avoiding Failure Means
Celebrating Loyalty
If you do a Google Search for “online
communities” then you’re likely to see a lot of
information on the failure of groups like those
listed above. That’s because a community
cannot thrive if its loyalists aren’t developed
and grown into advocates. Loyalists are active
participants, but advocates are active
recruiters. Without the ongoing addition of
new members with fresh ideas and fresh
content, communities can often become stale.
The nurturing of loyalists into advocates may
be a labor-intensive proposition, but it’s a
valuable one. The task may seem daunting, but
if you’ve done a good job of identifying your
loyalists it isn’t as difficult as you may think.
The key is the investment you’re willing to
make in those key stakeholders. By speaking
with them and not at them, you show them just
how highly you value their participation and
loyalty. It’s the kind of experience that people
remember, and the kind of experience that
keeps them coming back for more. The benefit
of advocates is that they’ll bring others with
them when they return.
Ultimately, the long term success of your
community building and advocacy means you
can subtract yourself from the conversation
while allowing your advocates to carry your
brand message forward. As long as you
provide a safe haven for your followers and
foster content for discussion they will carry
your good name forward loyally on your
behalf, always ready to help when called upon.
There are few things more surprising than
that.
HOW DO YOU NURTURE AND
GROW YOUR COMMUNITY?
It’s easy for communities to lose steam and
fizzle out if there isn’t a “nurture and grow”
plan in place. When a community is brand new,
the members you’ve curated will be excited to
be there. Who doesn’t love being part of
something new, especially with their peers?
However, being part of a community takes
time and effort. How will you keep your
members coming back to participate in
discussions, and more importantly start
discussions amongst themselves?
Nurture the community with
content themes
No matter the platform, having a theme for
discussion is the easiest way to initiate
conversation. Once you’ve created the
content themes, share them with your
community so they know what to expect in the
coming weeks.
Get the community involved
This is such an easy win for nurturing a
community. In addition to the content themes,
ask questions about topics tied to the purpose
of your community. It could be something
related to the news of the day, or general
questions about your industry. This will also
help you get to know your members better.
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When a community is
brand new, the
members you’ve
curated will be excited
to be there.
Celebrate community members
Self-promotion can get a little tricky and
quickly turn into spam in a community. If the
conversation is suddenly overtaken by
everyone dropping links to their latest blog
posts, you’ll quickly lose members. Instead,
create a space for them to promote their work.
Depending on the platform, this could be a
dedicated channel, or a weekly thread you
create where they can share links in the
comments. An example might be the Content
Marketing World Community on Slack.
They’ve created a dedicated channel for
promotion. In Facebook groups, having a
dedicated day of the week for a promo thread
can work wonders and avoid a barrage of
self-serving posts that discourage community
engagement.
Encourage feedback
A community is a living thing that’ll constantly
evolve with the ebbs and flows of incoming
members. Make sure you always have a pulse
on the needs of your members by encouraging
them to give you feedback (in a dedicated
channel or by asking for it on a regular basis).
Once you have the feedback, actively look for
ways to implement it in ways that benefit the
good of your community. Remember that not
every suggestion will be beneficial for the
entire community.
Have a group of trusted
moderators
At first the Content Marketing World
Community was run by one person. Once the
community began to grow, it became clear
that having the whole community run by a sole
decision maker would be challenging. So they
reached out to three other members and
asked them if they could help nurture the
community and manage feedback.
The most important thing to remember when
it comes to growing a community is to remain
flexible while protecting the mission
statement and values you’ve created. It’s the
key to building a community that is healthy
and will last beyond the first 90 days.
BRANDING WITH A
COMMUNITY
When you brand with a community, you get
valuable insight into your consumer base.
They work together by improving multiple
factors. You can connect with your audience
authentically and improve your customer
loyalty. By showing your human side on social
media, your conversion rates will increase.
Social media is also a vast playground of leads
and customers, so your conversion
opportunities are also increased. And because
you have more channels to use, you have more
of a chance to use your brand’s voice, so your
recognition is improved. People will start
talking about you – yes! – increasing your
brand authority. The best part, social media is
cost-effective and having a presence improves
your SEO.
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How and where the two meet
Community is way more than marketing. It
means lots of time and relationship-building to
achieve social capital. Social capital means
long-term relationships, cooperation,
networks, reciprocity, and open platforms.
Sounds like a lot of work, right? But it’s worth
it. Where social capital meets human and
financial capital is ROI.
PlayStation
On the PlayStation Community by Sony, users
can quickly find exactly what they need –
game, interests, support. This ease-of-use has
contributed to the great success of the
PlayStation Community. The Community is
connected to PlayStation’s social media,
where users see company-
user-generated content. User-generated
content has unlimited appeal and scalability,
especially with features like PlayStation’s
ability to capture clips and upload them
directly online. So you can play and share and
learn all at once!
Customer service and support
Customer service and support are two vital
components for any company. Support is a
function of service to help customers use a
product correctly and make informed
decisions, such as planning, installation,
training, help, maintenance, upgrades, and
termination. This information can be found by
calling and talking to someone, searching
online, and making use of a company’s
community, knowledge base, or support
forum, or by finding the
documentation that came with the product.
technical
When the customer service is quick and
friendly, it makes a positive impression. Think
about a time when customer service
strengthened or weakened your opinion about
a product or company.
Customer service is arguably as
important as price and product.
When issues are resolved quickly, customers
have 24/7 access to information, and service is
available on several media (phone, tablet,
computer, text), customer satisfaction is
notably improved. Tracking these data points
allows you to personalize the experience for
customers, and who doesn’t love personalized
service? Good support can help you keep
existing customers and grow your customer
base. An existing customer who acquires
multiple products and services is always going
to be more valuable than a single-deal
customer. The longer you keep a customer, the
more valuable they are to you. It’s extremely
important to retain customers by giving them
optimal experiences at every stage, including,
and and especially, when there are integrations or
hiccups. Everything will not always run
smoothly, so prepare for the times when more
help is needed.
Beyond support, customer service is beneficial
for extracting further data points through
surveys, personal relationships, and customer
involvement in the product management
cycle, including beta testing and involvement
in development ideas.
TYING SOCIAL
MEDIA TO
BUSINESS
OBJECTIVES
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Best practices

To shine in customer service and support and stand out in your customer’s mind, you
should be their fan and ally. Customers want a good product at a good price (read: quality
for cheap), and when they have a problem or question, they want to be heard and expect
a quick response time. Don’t fret, their complaints have merit. Just listen to them and
make them feel heard and it will pay off.

Don’t forget to offer issue resolution and Q&A over social channels. Per a 2013 J.D.
Power survey, 67% of customers have used a company’s social media for service and
support.

Be authentic, share your technology, make your experience easy to share, and respond
quickly.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) wanted to improve their customer service beyond
best-in-class. They collaborated with Klever tools and services to evaluate their support
programs. In 2012, HPE embarked on a five-year plan to train everyone in
Knowledge-Centered Support™. They also identified and resolved top issues and gaps
while fostering a culture of knowledge sharing. Through their plan, they reduced their
publishing time and case volume and extracted useful data about what foundation
knowledge articles are most used. HPE’s Customer Solution Centre KM team won the
HPE President’s Quality Award in 2015 – and it’s no wonder, HPE offers best-in-class
multi-channel support.

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 CONTENT DISTRIBUTION
If content is king, distribution is queen.

Content takes top billing, always. Your content strategy can make or break you, but it can’t exist without
distribution. You can publish a million great articles, but if people can’t find them, it’s a problem.
Enter earned, paid, and owned media?

Getting further into distribution, it’s important to know the difference between earned, owned, and
paid media and how you can make them work for you. Here’s a cheat sheet:

Earned (shares) Paid (advertising) Owned (web properties)

Shares Pay-per-click Website

Mentions Display ads Mobile site
Posts Retargeting Social media
Reviews Paid influencers Blogs
Quotes Paid content RSS feeds
References promotion/sponsors Community
Syndications Social media ads Email lists

How do I achieve this in an optimal way?

• Good execution • B2B and B2C • Good planning

platforms
• Write shareable and valuable • 80/20 rule (80% of your
content (popular and trending topics, • Targeting outcomes come from 20% of
do your research, make it emotional, your inputs – see Pareto
and give a new angle) • Landing pages principle)

• Build relationships and goodwill • Content gating • Curate useful content

& ROI (over
• Pitching Twitter and email) • Leverage automation tools

There are a few sweet spots where these efforts overlap:

• Earned and owned – Drive earned media and traffic with branded content and SEO
• Paid and earned – Use paid promotion to boost sharing
• Owned and paid – Take advantage of SEO

To really feel the growth, try to find yourself at the conjunction of all three… a
comprehensive marketing strategy uses earned, owned, and paid media.
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How to optimize distribution for social media

Earned Paid Owned

• Share with the • Decide what channels • Engage with

press to target and monitor your audience (be
with promoted content authentic, true to
• Keep a social media based on criteria, such your brand, be
calendar as location, income, age, emotionally
interests, etc. charged)
• Tap into influencer
marketing • Use social media • Keyword
because they have over research
• Link building a million interests that
can be targeted
• Community
engagement • Use landing pages*

• Amplification
(sharing)

Good owned media results from good planning, while good earned media comes from good execution.

DEMAND GENERATION
Demand Generation vs. Lead Generation

There is a slight but important difference between demand generation and lead generation. Lead
generation is the process of finding people currently interested in learning more about your solution.
Demand generation on the other hand, embarks on a broader effort to cast a wide net over your
market, raise awareness of your company, and build connections with the community. In Crossing the
Chasm, Geoffrey Moore defines a market, in part, as a group of individuals who can reference each
other. By this definition, for every market there is a community waiting to be born. While lead
generation focuses on the top and middle of the funnel, demand generation includes pre-sales funnel
activity, which in the case of social means building a community of future customers and advocates.

*According to Hubspot, offers that take you straight to a landing page convert at a 500% higher visitors-to-leads rate than sponsored posts that link to blog content.

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What does Pre-Sales Funnel
mean?
Depictions of the buyer journey and the
corresponding marketing funnel usually start
with the awareness stage, and while there is
nothing wrong with this, it does imply the
commencement of a buying/selling process. So
where does that leave all the rest of your
market? What about prospects who perhaps
are not experiencing the pain point that you
aim to resolve? What about those who may
not be in a financial position to buy at present
moment? And everyone else who for whatever
reason are not ready to start going down the
sales road with you? Why wouldn’t you still
want to be friends? This is precisely what you
can accomplish through social media and
community building. Social media and
community building are perfectly suited to
engage in permission-based marketing.
A relationship with someone in your target
market may begin through an Twitter
interaction during a conference, and later
move to a Twitter Chat, for example.
If the person after a few weeks continues to
enjoy the conversation, they may choose to
then subscribe to your newsletter, and in time,
if the need arises, perhaps become a customer.
This idea of building increasingly deeper
relationships aligns perfectly with our social
nature, as well as with our business goals.
BreakingPoint
BreakingPoint, a security-testing platform,
used a multi-channel social media strategy to
generate leads. They started by creating a blog
that evolved over time, based on their niche.
They scanned online for any industry-relevant
information, joined conversations, and broke
stories with any viral potential. Then they
started a Twitter account. With this account,
they informed their audience of new blog
posts, retweeted pertinent information, and
decided to supplement with fun posts; here,
they also scanned for relevant information.
Next, they created a LinkedIn group and a
Facebook group, but decided not to pursue
Facebook based on their target audience. The
LinkedIn group was focused on discussing
issues related to their industry, not the
company. This generated conversations that
were industry-relevant, such as advice on
buying decisions and feedback on approaches.
BreakingPoint acted as hosts. They also
changed their strategy for press releases,
deciding to release more of them at a different
time of day, and revamped their content. Then
BreakingPoint began promoting their social
media on their website and email to encourage
participation. Through all this, they measured
their efforts, and after six months, they had
proven a correlation between using social
media and an increase in web traffic and leads.
Now, inbound web traffic is their major source
of leads.
Whether you are hoping to generate new
leads, distribute your content, or build a
stronger community, social media ought to
play an important role in your marketing
strategy. It presents an opportunity to shape
the pre-sales buyer journey, and opens the
door to a new form of grassroots PR that is
becoming an increasingly critical component
of a well-thought-out brand awareness
strategy.
Parting words

Measure ROI in proper context. Social media and advertising are fundamentally different
channels that should not be compared directly. Avoid the common mistakes of measuring
ROI from your social media efforts in Likes, Clicks or new Leads. This runs counter to the
nature of the medium. Instead, consider measuring the outcome of your investment by
how many new relationships were built through social media. Each of these new
relationships represents a new chance for word of mouth and extends the potential reach
of your brand.

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ABOUT HEYORCA

HeyOrca is a social media planning and approval tool built to help marketing agencies seamlessly involve
clients in the creative process.

Contributors

CRISTIAN CONTRERAS
Head of Growth, HeyOrca
Cristian has 10 years of experience helping startups improve their market reach, strategic positioning, and
disruptive potential. He is marketing professional with a broad range of experience and deep technical
expertise; a self-taught web developer with a background in sales, who is particularly passionate about using
qualitative insights to solve quantitative problems.

JAMIE DOYLE
Content Specialist, HeyOrca
Jamie is currently in her third year of a joint degree in Commerce and Communications at Memorial
University, and is stoked to be working alongside such innovators here at HeyOrca. She’s excited to
contribute her love of writing to all things content, communications, and social media oriented. Jamie is an
avid music listener, coffee drinker and traveler. Stops to pet dogs.

BEN H. ROME
Marketing Manager, AIHA
Ben H. Rome is the Manager of Marketing for the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) and has
won numerous awards in both marketing and game design. A certified LEGO geek, Ben spends his time split
between gaming, writing, and photography. You can peek into his scatterbrained life through his blog, One
World at a Time (https://benhrome.wordpress.com/).

BERRAK SARIKAYA
Writer & Editor
Berrak Sarikaya is a natural conversation driver with an undeniable belief in the power of community.
Throughout her career, she's helped various start-ups, small businesses, Fortune 500 companies, and
agencies Amplify Their Biz. Motivated by a firm belief in owning who you are instead of trying to fit the mold,
she spends her days obsessed with the three C's: Community, Content, Coffee. You can connect with her on
Twitter @berrakbiz.

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ERIKA HEALD
Chief Content Officer, Arment Dietrich
Erika Heald is the chief content officer at Arment Dietrich, an integrated marketing communications firm.
She leads the content operation for the award-winning PR blog, Spin Sucks, with the global domination goal
in mind. When not writing for Spin Sucks, you can find her on her blog erikaheald.com, or hosting the weekly
#ContentChat Twitter chat.

JASON SHEMMEL
Social Media Manager, HarperCollins Christian Publishing
Jason is an empathic professional who has been working in the social/content marketing industry for the
better part of 6 years. Currently the Social Media Manager for HarperCollins Christian Publishing in their
Bibles department, Jason builds strategies, creates content, and manages the social presence of 7 different
brands. A professional dork at heart, Jason enjoys consulting, mentoring, and sharing expertise via Twitter
chat or standard networking practices. He is also developing a podcast called the #GSDChat where he
converses with guests about how they "Get Shit Done."

JEFF RENOE
Content Strategies, Aspiring Author, Dickson
Jeff Renoe didn't learn how to be a writer. He was born one. He was named an Indiana Young Author in
elementary school and grew up studying journalism. He was even named a top columnist by the Woman's
Press Club of Indiana. Though he's spent most of his career in the advertising and marketing world working
on clients varying from automotive to education, his real passion has always been for storytelling. It's why
he's an advocate for content marketing and the reason why he believes that content is truly king. As the
content strategist at the Dickson Company, he's been able to put his beliefs into practice in order to drive
real, measurable results.

MAUREEN JANN
Director of Marketing, Point It Digital Marketing
Maureen Jann is a veteran B2B marketer whose career in digital marketing has grown up with the Internet.
Maureen has worked in every corner of marketing making her a skilled tactical resource as well as a strategic
partner. Recently, she was the captain of the marketing ship for an award-winning professional services firm
and is currently creating a lead generation empire for Point It, a digital marketing agency. She is the hostess
for the podcast, Fine Point Digital Marketing Updates, and can be found tweeting in most marketing
communities.

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