analyzing the impact of social media
TRANSCRIPT
Kye Strance
Director, Product Management
Vocus, Inc.
Analyzing the Impact of Social Media: From Twitter to Facebook
Elizabeth Friedland- Account Executive at TrendyMinds
• Won recognition for work at TrendyMinds in PR Week, PC Magazine, and The Indianapolis Star
• Achieved top-tier publicity for clients with placement with The Today Show, O The Oprah Magazine, ABC World Tonight News, Elle, Vogue, InStyle, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, CBS Saturday Morning and Entertainment Tonight
• Previously worked in public relations for Planned Parenthood, Sease Gerig and Associates, three-sixty group, and Janine Gordon Associates
Sarah Evans- Director, Communications at Elgin Community College
• Launching Sevans Strategy Corporation on August 17 (you’re the first to know!)
– Director of Communications at Elgin Community College
– Founder of #journchat
– Founder of MediaOnTwitter
– Partner on Namechk
– PRsarahevans.com
You’re already here.
• Removing barriers
• Instantaneous
• Viral
• Less control
• More interaction
• Stories evolve
What does a “quick win” look like?
– Retweets
– # of @ replies
– DM’s
– # of fans
– # of comments
What about a long term win (i.e. measurement)?
#journchat
• I know there are 2,000+ tweets every Monday night between the hours of 8-10 p.m. EST
• Approximately 4,700+ people who have participated
What the measurement doesn’t show?
• The opportunities– Steve Brusk, CNN– Mashable– Peter Shankman
• The publicity– Blog posts– Name recognition and branding– Presentations like this
• The commitment– Repeat participants– Loyal following– Recommendations to others
The right analysis can result in a moresuccessful PR strategy
• What do people retweet the most? (For me, it’s usually breaking news, fun hashtags and random thoughts.)
• Where is the majority of web traffic coming from? (Use a shortened URL service like bit.ly.)
• Did something tick people off? (Controversy isn’t always a bad thing.)
If everyone tweeted, “Vocus webinars rock” what would happen?
Seriously.
The reach of your network and influence matters.
Everyone has a different influence and reach.
TRADITIONAL measurement doesn’t account for this.
Elizabeth Friedland
Account Executive
TrendyMinds
Welcome to my presentation!
• Always used social media personally, but even three years ago the personal and professional were siloed.
• Back in the day…(circa 2004)
– Old advice: Keep your Facebook profile private! Don’t let potential or current employers and clients see it!
– New advice: Get to know your potential and current employers and clients through social media…just censor those Cancun pictures.
Elizabeth is a lover, not a fighter.
• A Battle Royal?
– PR v. social media – a cage match?
– Social media IS PR – it’s just an additional channel like print, broadcast or Web.
• That being said….
– Traditional agencies have the edge – fullintegration is the key to social media success!
I *heart* social media.
• Free, quick and easy
• Filter free (good and bad)
• High viral potential
• Great ROI
BUT….
I *heart* social media.
• Perspective is everything
– Fewer than 5% of Americans have Twitter*
– Half don’t have Facebook*
– Targeting the 55+ crowd? You’re getting less than 1% of them.
• Social media isn’t high school
– Offer real value, not just Internet stardom
– RT’s, #followfridays, @ replies, fans and followers are great, but what’s your true result? This isn’t a social media popularity contest.
– Remember that no one is an expert...yet.
*According to 2009 Harris Poll
Leveraging social media to help out my clients!
• What does TrendyMinds do?
– Press “retweetses”
– “Twitches”
– Social media training
– Extends internal and external communications plan to cover social media
– Folds social media into a client’s overall marketing strategy
Time to share case studies with my friends at @Vocus
• NASCAR’s Kevin Harvick, Inc.
– Accelerated online to social without crashing and burning
– Creation of Ning-based Fan Central – 4,000 members in 3 months
– Exposure in PR Week, PC Magazine, Inside Indiana Business, Orlando Sentinel and more
• Spirit & Place Festival
– Growing an audience by opening up a totally new world
– Creating a presence on Facebook
– Utilizing Twitter to build buzz about events and promote the festival
• Client X
– Social media for a professional crowd
– Creating customized social media sites for professional discussions
Time to wrap it up…
• Here lies Public Relations (1906 - ?)
– Don’t write traditional PR’s obit just yet – It isn’t dead. It’s evolving.
• Just as PR practitioners adjusted to and learned to manipulate other new formats (cable, online news outlets, bloggers), we’ll adjust to this.
• While social media needs to be explored at the very least, it isn’t the end all, be all.
Contact Information
• Sarah Evans, [email protected]
Twitter: PRsarahevans
• Elizabeth Friedland, [email protected]
Twitter: Efriedland & trendyminds
• Moderator, Kye Strance, [email protected]
Twitter: vocuspr
About Vocus
• A global software company specializing in on-demand software for public relations management
• Successful, proven applications currently used by thousands of PR professionals
• Recognized for excellence in products, growth, leadership
“Innovation of the
Year”