what's your social media strategy: irma 2011

What’s Your Social Media Strategy?

Kim Pittaway

IRMA 2011

Kimpittaway.com

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What we’ll cover

• 4 case studies

• 5 essential steps

• 8 key questions

• 1 mega-question

• And a bunch o’ resources

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All in 75-ish minutes

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GO!

case studies

“I don’t think I got it”

Patrick Walsh & Outdoor Canada

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• Joined in fall 2009

• Didn’t “get it”

• Wasn’t until fall 2010 that he ramped up his efforts

“I treat it like a game. And I want to win.”

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What does winning look like?

• 1,000+ followers

• The RIGHT followers

• A network of connections

“I look at it as a link in the chain to move people to the magazine and the website”

What did he do?

• Build a following by following

What did he do?

• Build a following by following– Target influencers

What did he do?

• Build a following by following– Target influencers– Search for enthusiasts

What did he do?

• Build a following by following– Target influencers– Search for enthusiasts– Mine their lists and followers

What did he do?

• Build a following by following– Target influencers– Search for enthusiasts– Mine their lists and followers– Flattery works: RT intelligently

What did he do?

• Build a following by following– Target influencers– Search for enthusiasts– Mine their lists and followers– Flattery works: RT intelligently– M and DM to ask smart questions, point

them to key resources

What did he do?

• Create connections by creating content

What did he do?

• Create connections by creating content– 30 best fishing spots in magazine

What did he do?

• Create connections by creating content– 30 best fishing spots in magazine– Blog post listing locations--but pushing

back to mag for details

“The blog post was my excuse to bug people”

What did he do?

• Tweet to be RTed--all to drive web traffic

What did he do?

• Tweet to be RTed--all to drive web traffic– Twitter messages to key provincial tourism

and conservation groups pointing them to the content. Why? To get them to RT--& follow

What did he do?

• Tweet to be RTed--all to drive web traffic– Twitter messages to key provincial tourism

and conservation groups pointing them to the content. Why? To get them to RT--& follow

– Links get RTed more often than comments

“It’s early days, but we are measuring traffic”

Don’t forget to have fun

Success looks like…

“It’s all about exposure for the brand”

Kat Tancock & Best Health

What does exposure look like?

How did they do it?

• Build a following by following

How did they do it?

• Build a following by following– Keyword searches for yoga, running, kale,

salads

How did they do it?

• Build a following by following– Keyword searches for yoga, running, kale,

salads– Targeted key influencers

How did they do it?

• Keep it manageable

How did they do it?

• Keep it manageable– Create routines/traditions– Tip of the Day: links to web version of TOTD

newsletter

How did they do it?

• Keep it manageable– Create routines/traditions– Tip of the Day: links to web version of TOTD

newsletter– Tweet at least once a day at 9 am--anything else

is bonus– Facebook updates no more than twice a day

How did they do it?

• Trigger conversations

How did they do it?

• Trigger conversations– Point to content, ask for input

• Salad recipes: What’s your favourite salad green?• Work-out songs: What work-out song keeps you

motivated?

How did they do it?

• Trigger conversations– Point to content, ask for input

• Salad recipes: What’s your favourite salad green?• Work-out songs: What work-out song keeps you

motivated?

– Close the loop• Feature content back in the magazine

How did they do it?

• Target key bloggers--and give them an incentive to drive traffic to you

“We wanted to reach out. And we wanted to do something positive to support health

bloggers”

How did they do it?

• Editors collected list of bloggers they liked

How did they do it?

• Editors collected list of bloggers they liked• Sent messages: Nominate yourself or others

How did they do it?

• Editors collected list of bloggers they liked• Sent messages: Nominate yourself or others• Editors selected finalists

How did they do it?

• Editors collected list of bloggers they liked• Sent messages: Nominate yourself or others• Editors selected finalists• Community votes on finalists

How did they do it?

• Editors collected list of bloggers they liked• Sent messages: Nominate yourself or others• Editors selected finalists• Community votes on finalists• Bloggers driving traffic back to site to vote

How did they do it?

• Editors collected list of bloggers they liked• Sent messages: Nominate yourself or others• Editors selected finalists• Community votes on finalists• Bloggers driving traffic back to site to vote• BH supporting with Twitter and FB

“Twitter and Facebook is our limit for now. There’s only so

much time in a day.”

“Twitter is bigger. Facebook is more engaged.”

“It’s all about visibility”

Lisa Murphy and

Canadian House & Home

What does visibility look like?

How did they do it?

• Building a following by following

How did they do it?

• Building a following by following– RT strategically: influential people in their category

How did they do it?


• Be seen as experts with answers

How did they do it?


• Be seen as experts with answers– Key word searches for décor, decorating, paint &

other design keywords

How did they do it?


• Be seen as experts with answers– Key word searches for décor, decorating, paint &

other design keywords– Spontaneously provide expert advice when

someone poses a question or has a problem

How did they do it?

• Don’t get mad, get smart

How did they do it?

• Don’t get mad, get smart– Bloggers who link to CH&H material or lift

their images

How did they do it?


their images– Use Google Alerts to notify

How did they do it?


their images– Use Google Alerts to notify– Ask for link and credit

How did they do it?


their images– Use Google Alerts to notify– Ask for link and credit– Do an online gallery of, say, Design

Sponge’s favourite CH&H rooms--piggyback on blogger traffic

How did they do it?

• Monitor your competitors

How did they do it?


• Monitor your impact

How did they do it?


• Monitor your impact– Facebook has 1/3 the followers but drives

more referral traffic than Twitter

How did they do it?


• Monitor your impact– Facebook has less than 1/2 the followers

but drives more referral traffic than Twitter– Twitter provides connections to key

influencers

“When we do our next site redesign, we’ll boost the visibility of Twitter and

Facebook on our homepage.”

“None of it is the answer: You just have to try stuff.”

Lisa Whittington-Hill and

This Magazine

What does success look like?

• Converting followers into subscribers

How did they do it?

• Active Facebook and Twitter accounts

How did they do it?

• GroupOn: Regional coupon offers

• BC Business had done a GroupOn offer

• US regional mags and newspapers

“I had to ask myself: What could our cheapest price be?”

And then GroupOn pushed it lower

How did they do it?

• $13 offer (usu $20 is lowest). This Mag gets 1/2

• Wanted to push it out on Sunday. Lisa pushed for weekday so office open

• GroupOn writes your sales pitch: you have no control over tone

“I thought 50 to 100 subscriptions would be great”

How did they do it?

• 286 new subscribers

How did they do it?


• Better results than their largest DM campaign

How did they do it?



• Key to success: Got their FB and Twitter followers to promote it

How did they do it?



• Key to success: Got their FB and Twitter followers to promote it

• People who purchased were familiar with the brand through FB and Twitter

How did they do it?

• The challenges:– People have to redeem coupon by phone– No customer info– GroupOn hoarders– Coupon saturation?– Will they renew?– If they renew, will they do it at usual price or will

they need to be cycled up?– You get paid in 3 installments

“It will be interesting to see what happens as other

couponers enter the market. Shop around.”

Case study bonus round

• Seventeen: special sub deal to 64,000 Twitter followers. 170 new subs in 24 hours



• Lapham’s Quarterly: Twitter and FB are two of website’s main traffic sources



• Lapham’s Quarterly: Twitter and FB are two of website’s main traffic sources

• Sunset magazine: Test marketing ideas by asking Facebook fans for feedback; provide insight back to advertisers


• Food & Wine: hosts Twitter and FB chats so followers can speak to selected editors and chefs about recipes and dining tips



• Lucky: Has created Foursquare page with tips for shopping destinations readers can access on their smartphones



• Lucky: Has created Foursquare page with tips for shopping destinations readers can access on their smartphones

• Spin: Musical scavenger hunt using Foursquare during last year’s SXSW festival

5 essential steps

1. Listen

• Where are your readers already congregating?

1. Listen

* Use free tools to set up searches to see what people are saying about you and the topics important to you:– Monitter.com– Tweetbeep.com– Google Alerts– Keyword searches on Twitter

2. Connect

• Who are you trying to reach?

2. Connect


• Who is already reaching those folks?

2. Connect



• Connect with key influencers

2. Connect



• Connect with key influencers– Patrick, Kat and Lisa’s strategies– Look at Alltop.com and Klout scores in

Twitter

2. Connect

• Connect with interested users

2. Connect

• Connect with interested users– Monitter.com keywords– Twitter keyword searches

2. Connect


• Understand the community culture

2. Connect


• Understand the community culture

• If you’re not on it, you don’t get it

3. Share

• Share real insight, real information

3. Share

• Share real insight, real information• Be real: human personality is essential

3. Share


– Establish internal guidelines for tone & voice

3. Share


– Establish internal guidelines for tone & voice

• Everyone wants to be an insider: Share behind the scenes stuff, advance info, sneak peeks

3. Share

Tolerate positive & negative comments

4. Ask

• People like to be asked for advice

4. Ask

• People like to be asked for advice

• Test covers, test content, get story ideas

5. Respond

• Respond to specific requests & complaints

5. Respond

• Respond to specific requests & complaints– Have guidelines in place for who responds

to what

5. Respond

• Respond to specific requests & complaints– Have guidelines in place for who responds

to what

• Spontaneously respond: Help out a stranger and turn them into a friend

8 key questions

1. What should you post?

• Be informative.

1. What should you post?

• Create online traditions– Shared traditions foster community– Spacing on FB: Daily headlines, weekly

watercolour sketches, Saturday round-ups of blog content from Spacing network

– This Magazine: Tuesday Tracks– Playboy Magazine: Frisky Friday

2. How should you interact?

• It’s a 2-way conversation, not a 1-way broadcast


• It’s a 2-way conversation, not a 1-way broadcast– Solicit input, respond to questions & complaints– Don’t be afraid to take it offline



• It’s public, not private



• It’s public, not private– Don’t snark or flame. Ever.




• Have a crisis plan




• Have a crisis plan– Who watches?– Who is informed?– Who responds?

3. What is most likely to get shared?


• Emotion = distribution


• Emotion = distribution– Wow! Cool! Positive emotion drives RT

more than straight information sharing


• Emotion = distribution– Wow! Cool! Positive emotion drives RT

more than straight information sharing

– And I can prove it…

3. What is most likely to be shared?

• Anatoliy Gruzd @ Dal: 46,000 tweets during Vancouver Olympics. Positive tweets RTed avg 6.6 times, 2.6 for neg, 2.2 for neutral


• Anatoliy Gruzd @ Dal: 46,000 tweets during VanOc. Positive tweets RTed avg 6.6 times, 2.6 for neg, 2.2 for neutral

• Facebook internal data: Major news sites--provocative or passionate stories generated 2-3 times more engagement


• Anatoliy Gruzd @ Dal: 46,000 tweets during VanOc. Positive tweets Rted avg 6.6 times, 2.6 for neg, 2.2 for neutral

• Facebook internal data: Major news sites--provocative or passionate stories generated 2-3 times more engagement

• Study of NYT most emailed: Stories that inspired awe were more likely to be shared

4. When should you share?

• Time of day matters.– Dan Zarrella of HubSpot

• Analyzed 2 years of Twitter data• Tweeting later in the afternoon and on

weekends generates more click-throughs because there’s less competition for attention.

• Tweeting no more than 1X/hour drives more traffic to your site than more frequent tweeting

5. Why do people quit you?

5. Why do people quit you?

• Other studies have shown that more than 90% of quitters do so because of too frequent, irrelevant or boring communications

• 71% of consumers are more cautious this year than last about “liking” a company on Facebook (ExactTarget study)

6. How can you manage this?

• Use the right tools– Hootsuite, Postling, Tweetdeck, Seesmic &

others


• Use the right tools– Hootsuite, Postling, Tweetdeck, Seesmic & others

• Monitor and manage staff time– Routines help– Be realistic– Target your engaged employees


• Use the right tools– Hootsuite, Postling, Tweetdeck, Seesmic & others

• Monitor and manage staff time– Routines help– Be realistic– Target your engaged employees

• Stay on top of the rules of engagement– Mashable.com– TechCrunch.com

7. What social media should you focus on?

• Facebook: Smaller numbers, tougher to grow, more organic– But more engaged


• Facebook: Smaller numbers, tougher to grow, more organic– But more engaged

• Twitter: Bigger numbers, quicker to grow– But good for familiarizing


• Postling: Average link on Twitter got 117 clicks, while average link on Facebook got 250 clicks


• Facebook is your inner circle, most committed

• Twitter is your wider circle, less committed but still important

8. What about others?

8. What about the others?

8. What about others?


• YAFSMN


• YAFSMN

• But do keep an eye out for social media opportunities that could be distinctively useful or engaging for your audience– Challenge: barrier of getting them to join– Opportunity: break new ground, do

something cool

1 mega-question

What is the ROI?

• Only 12% of companies surveyed feel their orgs use SM effectively (Harvard Business Review Analytic

Services study)

What is the ROI?

• Only 12% of companies surveyed feel their orgs use SM effectively (Harvard Business Review Analytic Services study)

• 84% of professionals in variety of industries say they do not measure ROI of Social Media programs (2009 Mzinga and Babson Executive Education study)

What is the ROI?

• Only 12% of companies surveyed feel their orgs use SM effectively (Harvard Business Review Analytic Services study)

• 84% of professionals in variety of industries say they do not measure ROI of Social Media programs (2009 Mzinga and Babson Executive Education study)

• 53% of senior execs are unsure of the ROI on Twitter & 15% believe there is no ROI on Twitter, 10% say there’s no ROI on FB (2009 Bazaarvoice

and the CMO Club study)

You need to be in the 16% who measure

What’s the R in your ROI?

What’s the I in your ROI?

You can’t track what you haven’t measured


• Establish your baseline metrics



• Track and chart your key investments and actions by date




• Overlay your investments and actions on your metrics




• Overlay your investments and actions on your metrics

• Look for relationships

And a bunch o’ resources

Find…

• This presentation at www.slideshare.net/KimPittaway

• The links (and other articles) at www.delicious.com/kimpittaway/AMA

• Me on Twitter @kimpittaway• Me on LinkedIn at

www.linkedin.com/in/kimpittaway• My website at www.kimpittaway.com

http://www.slideshare.net/KimPittaway

http://www.delicious.com/kimpittaway/AMA

http://www.linkedin.com/in/kimpittaway

Questions?

what's your social media strategy: irma 2011

Technology

finalists bloggers

list of bloggers

target key bloggers

key influencers

web traffic twitter

health bloggers

target influencers search

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