#Chalkaboutit Flash Mob

Final ReportHailey Murphy

Individual Analysis of Channels

This individual analysis of channels used comes in list form from a group debrief the social media class had on December 4th, 2012. During the debrief each group discussed the use of their channel. These are the discussion notes.

-Had issues with only one person being able to sign onto account at once.-One member of Instagram team had to use personal account-Team could not upload right to Facebook page, making CMOST difficult. -Instagram account needed a larger base of followers-Was able to integrate to Twitter via hashtag #chalkaboutit-Would use for more visual businesses rather than sports teams.-Team stated that they should have figured out how to post to then Facebook page before the event.-Instagram was a good tool to use due to the nature of the flash mob as having pictures of Drawn “Ks” was effective.

-Not enough people use on a daily basis.-Got 4 followers on #chalkaboutit pin board-Posted photos to spark interest-Posted info and clues every day in the week leading up to the Flash Mob-Team said that they would not use this channel for these purposes again.

-Team said this channel was not successful -Not enough people doodled.-Could not post directly to Facebook page.

-Not many people using this channel yet.-Good for seeing who was there for metrics purposes-Would recommend for larger city.

-Pre video should have been more interactive-Should have had more organization at event-173 views on pre and post videos.

-Released 1 slideshow pre event-Made one during event and posted directly after.-Would use for Flash Mob again.

-Facebook page got 25 likes-Shared other platforms like Slideshare, Doodles,

Instagram-Lots of information was posted after the event-Reminders were posted day of event-Tried to keep everyone in the loop using other channel

information.

-Would have been more successful with more time which would have meant for more aggressive promotions.-Team wanted to make a handle just for event but decided to use personal accounts as we did not think that we could get a large enough following to be successful in one week.-Tweeted information and reminders leading up to event-Retweeted any pictures sent to the hashtag as well as any messages sent to the hashtag.-Hailey Personally tweeted about the event approximately 15 times, and retweeted approximately 25 pictures and messages.

The following charts depict hashtag usage on the day of the event.

-Google Hangout had 1 attendee-Posted pictures-Posted Teasers-Used personal accounts to spread message.

Professor Feedback on Event-It is important to use influencers in the market you are trying to

reach.-Photos of Frontenacs players would have been good content.-Taking photos of random “K”s all over the city would have been a

good way to spark interest (some did this)-CMOST- How to spread other than social? Some wanted to

incorporate email, signage.-An event on Facebook may have been more effective than using a

Facebook page.-What is lifetime value of individual channel? Eyeballs that have seen

drawn “K”s.-Do not beg for people to come to your event (Please come to

Class Debrief.

The following depicts the class debrief in the form of group notes on the flash mob. This section will cover Mistakes/missed opportunities, Content, Top successes, Recommendations, CMOST, Channel choice, Impressions if you were the Frontenacs, and Tactics.

Mistakes and Missed Opportunities

The Frontenacs Flash Mob was an excellent learning opportunity for the Third Year IMC Students. However, like with any event, there were mistakes and missed opportunities. Because we discussed these as a class, it is an opportunity to learn from them. One of the main missed opportunities the class mentioned was that we should have started planning the Flash Mob on social media accounts earlier than we did. This could have meant a larger following within the community thus more attendees at the event. At the actual event itself, it may have been more beneficial to make the actual flash mob shorter in length to keep the event attendees interested. An issue was mentioned with the fact that we had three chalk stations. It may have been more effective to only have one station in order to gather everyone in one location, which may have sparked more people seeing what was happening and getting involved. Because this was a flash mob in support of the Kingston Frontenacs, involving them in the planning and execution of the flash mob may have increased excitement and number of attendees if they knew players from the team would have been there. Another issue the day of the flash mob was the weather. Although it was not raining or snowing it was still mildly cold, which may have been a turn off for some attendees. This could have been solved by having an indoor event. However, due to the purpose of our flash mob the event had to be outside. The fact that the sun goes down much earlier in the winter may have also been an issue to the success of the flash mob. Once it got dark, it was harder to see the drawings being made and harder to photograph them. In terms of the social media channels used, it may have been more effective to put more focus on the most popular channels such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and less focus on less popular channels such as Pinterest. This means that the message would have been spread to more people with a larger volume rather than on channels with few followers. These mistakes and missed opportunities are fairly easily fixed and are good learning experiences. If we were to do this flash mob again and fix these mistakes I believe that we could have a more successful flash mob.

ContentIn terms of content, the main thing that worked for our flash mob was the amount of pictures taken and shared. This worked because it was easy to share them on a majority of the channels especially Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest. Other channels such as Youtube and Slide Share worked well in terms of relaying information before and after the event. and packaging all of the event information together. In terms of what did not work, it would have been beneficial for Facebook to post videos, photos and more content from other channels. The number of followers on each of the channels was also an issue, which was addressed in my previous slide. Many of the notes from the class surrounded integrating the channels, however the main part of this includes using the most effective channels and integrating them. The class concluded that the most effective channels used were: Slideshare, Youtube, Facebook and Twitter and the least effective channels were: Pinterest, Foursquare and Doodle.ly. The reasoning for this was mainly followers, and the size of our flash mob.

Top SuccessesIn terms of the successes of the flash mob, one was the location that was chosen. It is an optimal location to ensure visibility among people passing by. In terms if channel success, it was mentioned that Twitter had success with cross media optimization and that doing a Google Hangout added innovation and uniqueness to the flash mob. The videos posted by YouTube also got 173 views each which is a relatively high number considering the timing of the event. SlideShare also shared helpful and complete content. The class also considers the fun nature of the event and the opportunity to learn outside the normal classroom as success.I feel that the ultimate success of the flash mob was the learning experience. We, as a class had the opportunity to learn in a hands on environment. This was also the first time planning a flash mob for most if not all of us. This event gave us the opportunity to make mistakes and learn from them as well as learn what will work and what will not work should we have to plan a flash mob again.

RecommendationsThe class recommendations were essentially a summary of the other parts of our class debrief. As a class, we recommend starting to plan a flash mob earlier than we did. We only really gave ourselves a week to execute after choosing our channels and I feel that with more planning time we would have had more success. It is also a recommendation to involve the client in any way possible from planning ideas to having them help with hype to have them attend the actual event. I feel that if the Frontenacs had been able to use their follower base to spread the message, and had the Frontenacs at the flash mob, we would have had a better turn out of people. I would also recommend that if an outdoor event will be going on in the winter, it should begin and end earlier in the day so that it remains light outside. For this particular flash mob, I would recommend only having one chalk station instead of the three that we had to have everyone in one place to generate more buzz. In terms of the social media channels used, I would recommend cutting down on the amount of channels used and focusing on the ones that worked the best (mentioned in previous slide). Due to the nature of the assignment, we could not use traditional media, but I feel the usage of an email or signage would have been very effective. The possibility of using some form of free outdoor advertising would have been beneficial in driving foot traffic to our event location.

CMOSTMultiple social media channels were used in the planning and execution of the flash mob. These channels revolved around video, photography and information. No traditional channels were used. The use of SlideShare was effective as it let the viewer see all channels used and how to engage with them in one location. Twitter also shared and engaged with all other channels. The largest audience can be reached by using CMOST tactics as it ensures that all of the channel messages flow together for an effective campaign. A missed CMOST opportunity was the fact that followers could not upload pictures directly to the Facebook page. This is because we used a fan page instead of an event page. A missed opportunity also was found in the amount of followers there were on each channel. With more time allotted, central accounts could have been made and gotten a good base of followers instead of using personal accounts. The purpose of CMOST is channel integration and some channels worked well for this. For example, Twitter or Facebook can easily share links to other platforms but a channel such as Pinterest can not share these links as easily.

Channel ChoiceDue to the size of the flash mob, too many social media channels were used. Some such as Pinterest, Doodle.ly, Four Square and Google + were not needed as they did not attract new followers or reach the target of the flash mob. This is because they have not gained the popularity or users needed to use them successfully. The most popular and useable channels should have been used and focused on such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, SlideShare and YouTube. Instagram and YouTube are channels that are best to display the happenings of the event afterwards, or uploading as the event happens. The use of Facebook as an information hub was a good choice, however, using a Facebook event instead of a fan page would have been more effective as we could have invited people to the event, and seen how many people were planning on attending. This also would have been useful for uploading pictures right to the page. Twitter is a useful tool as well as it is easy to retweet, quote tweets, and tweet out information quickly and often. SlideShare also was efficient in compiling all the information from all channels prior to and after the flash mob.

If I was the Marcomm team for the Frontenacs/ ImpressionsIf I was on the Marcomm team for the Frontenacs, I would pay for this idea. Even though the execution was not as effective as we were hoping for, the idea itself is a solid one. If the mistakes and missed opportunities that were outlined in previous slides are fixed and improved upon, I think that this idea is a good way to draw attention to the Frontenacs and get the community involved. As a client, I would also be more likely to pay for it if I was involved throughout the whole process.

Most impressions happened after the event ended. These included pictures, videos, posts, and slideshows being shared.

TacticsThe location of the flash mob was good as it was a central area in the downtown area of Kingston. Due to this, I think that it would have been most effective to have the entire event go on at Market Square. The time of the event also became a slight issue due to the time of the year. To increase the amount of daylight that we had, having the event earlier in the day would be a good idea as it gets dark earlier in the winter time. In order to spread the word effectively, it would have been a better idea to create flash mob specific accounts, but this needs extra time allotted in order to gain enough followers to ensure we get a good amount of attendees. We also should have used influencers within our own community such as professors, hockey players and hockey coaches to help spread the word to the correct demographic. In terms of physical tools used during the event, using thicker “sidewalk” chalk may have been more effective to reduce chalk breakage. We also should have created information cards to pass out to interested people passing by to spread the message of what we were doing and get them involved.

Channel Key Aspects

This section is the finalized key aspects of our individual channels. It was to be submitted at the end of the flash mob with our final analysis. Also available on class Google Drive.

What: Twitter

Why: To inform people that a flash mob is happening and trying to get them to come out and take chalk and draw a “K”’ around downtown Kingston in hopes to gain more interest in Kingston’s Hockey Team “ Kingston Frontenacs”

Audience: Brittany and Hailey’s Twitter followers. Apx. 230 together.

General Strategy: Twitter information using a the hashtag: #chalkaboutit  Could also get classmates to retweet our tweets to gain even more followers.

Content Examples:

-Lets get it trending #chalkaboutit-Come out to support the Frontenacs #chalkaboutit -Downtown Kingston, November 27, 4:17pm #chalkaboutit-Bring your own chalk #chalkaboutit-Meet at Market Square if your birthday is between 01/01 – 04/31 #chalkaboutit-Meet at Movie Theatre if your birthday is between 05/01- 08-31 #chalkaboutit-Meet at Metro Hub if your birthday is between 09/01 -12/31 #chalkaboutit-Have you got your chalk yet #chalkaboutit-Tweet us a picture of your K to win #chalkaboutit-Where did you draw your “K?” #chalkaboutit-Change your display picture to your K-#-Had a blast tonight thanks for coming! #chalkaboutit

Engagement Strategy We need people in our class to be willing to retweet our tweets. It would also be a help if they tweeted pictures from the event to our hashtag. We are also hoping that our followers will also be retweeting our tweets to their followers that way we can gain more insights.

CMOST Strategy We can share anything that is posted on the facebook page, also on instagram (photos). Then in return they can share our content. After the event we will share the youtube video link. We will also be sharing a hashtag with the instagram people so that when people Instagram a photo to twitter it will show up in our feed.

Metrics & Analytics (What will be measured and what will it mean) We will use Tweet archivist, which will show an archive of all tweets that used the hashtag, and will break down charts that show volume of usage, users, etc. We will also judge images to see how many people participated in the mob and tweeted a picture.

Plan of Action & Role Assignments Hailey and Brittany: Wednesday, November 21st/12 , 2012- Begin pre event tweets, proceed for the remaining days of the week.Tuesday, November 27th, 2012- Day of Mob- Retweet photos and hashtags sent to us. Send out mass tweets encouraging people to take part.