Are we Finally Getting the Are we Finally Getting the Clue?Clue?

Markets are nothing more than conversations.

It’s EXPECTED that a company/organization/institution have some digital face – whether it’s on FB or Twitter I don’t know – but they need a strong electronic presence or you doubt their relevance in today’s marketplace.” Female 50-54

“If they’re not on Facebook or Twitter, then they aren’t in touch with the “electronic” people.” Female 55-59

Either they are not interested in the demographic that frequents Facebook and Twitter or they are unaware of the opportunity to get more exposure in a more interactive method.” Male 35-39

“Not having an active presence and responding to customers online shows they are not really with it or in tune with the new ways to communicate with customers.”

Female 18-24.

If markets are conversations (they are) and there’s no market for messages (there isn’t), what’s the company or organization to do?

Own the conversations?

Keep the conversations on message?

Turn up the volume until it drowns out the market?

Compete with the new conversations?

How to ParticipateUnderstand that you are not a censor

Become the company’s best conversationalist

Find the stories people want to hear

Help journalists, bloggers and people in your community tell those stories

Bring people into conversation

People are talking to each other because they can, because the want to, because they’re interested, because it’s fun.

Finding stories people actually want to hear

Listen first

Learn

Topics of interestTrendsNeed for informationLikesDislikesAttitudesBehaviorsDetractorsEvangelistsWhoWhere

Take Action

Broadcasting links to and posing questions to your followers is fine. But those things are just discussion fodder, and a discussion isn’t the same thing as a connection.

A charismatic person can make you feel like you are the only other person in the world, not by asking you a question or telling you an interesting fact, but by showing a singular interest in you.

The follow up is everything. And that’s where a lot of community engagement falls apart.

Don’t Tell me, Show me

It’s not enough to listen or say you care. You have to find a way to prove it.

Do something with what’s been said to you.

When you show people you are really listening to them, they’re more likely to talk with you again in the future.

How You Say It Makes a Difference

Social Media is not Mass Media

People ignore branded communication because they’re full of vague, general statements aimed at a vaguely defined general audience.

Get specific in your language so that people feel like you’re actually speaking to them, not the crowd they’re standing in.

Be Human and Approachable

Give your evangelists some ‘insider information.’

Send someone a picture of their order coming together.

Talk shop with anyone who’s curious about how you do what you do.

If you want them to let you in, you might have to make the first move.

Provide a Safe Space for the Conversation

If someone you’re not following mentions you on Twitter, follow them after you respond.

If you’re already following each other, try moving the conversation to direct messages.

Depending on how things are going, you might want to follow them on other social platforms.

Meet, Chat, Date

Facebook is seen as more personal than Twitter, which is more personal than LinkedIn.

If you have a good budding relationship with someone on one network, moving up a level is a good way to strengthen it.

Respond

Making responses a central part of your social media presence is one of the most powerful ways you can improve your engagement

Comment back, post a short video ( think Old Spice)

Let them know that you are listening and that you really do care

When a person expects to be ignored and gets a response instead, they go nuts and tell everyone

The Old Spice Guy campaign wasn’t just successful because Isaiah Mustafa was funny — it was because people were blown away by getting a response from someone they never expected to hear from

Who They Are

The Fresh Air Fund has provided free summer vacations to more than 1.7 million New York City children from low-income communities since 1877.

Nearly 10,000 New York City children enjoy free Fresh Air Fund programs annually. Close to 5,000 children visit volunteer host families in suburbs and small town communities across 13 states from Virginia to Maine and Canada while other children attend Fresh Air Fund sleep-away camps.

The Fresh Air Fund is continually seeking out host families, donations, and camp counselors for each summer program. They needed a cost-effective solution to build awareness and generate interest in becoming a host family or camp counselor and to cultivate donation support.

ActionOver the course of six months, from November 2009 to May 2010, AHLLC contacted approximately 2000 bloggers each in 4 separate outreaches:

Vision/Blindness – to coordinate with the Fresh Air Fund’s collaboration with the partner organization OneSightRunners – to coordinate with the Fresh Air Fund’s participation as a benefiting sponsoring organization in the New York City Half MarathonPet Lovers – to capitalize on the connection Fresh Air Fund kids often make with host family pets, an experience most do not get to have in their regular inner-city livesOutdoors Sportsmen (Fishers, Campers, Orienteering, etc.) – to capitalize on the connection Fresh Air Fund kids make with being out in nature, often for the first time in their lives

Results

1,293 earned media mentions directly related to the online outreach campaigns with an estimated minimum of 25 million impressions. Over the same time period, the organization’s number of Twitter and Facebook followers continued to rise to 10,600 (Twitter) and 4, 615 (Facebook), impressive numbers for a small, non-national, non-profit organization.

For the first time since it began participating, the Fresh Air Fund was able to fill all 100 of its designated slots in the New York City Half-Marathon, earning the organization $100,000 in donations for that one event alone.

Contact

Sally FalkowPRESSfeed

www.press-feed.com sally@press-feed.comwww.twitter.com/sallyfalkowwww.proactivereport.com - blog

626-793-4911