Surprisingly, many remain focused on improvements to their companies’ Web sites and haven’t gone much further.
At United Way, we’re getting our feet wet with social media and learning a lot while having fun. While we still have a lot to learn, I’m sharing these experiences in hopes that our story will boost others’ comfort level and provide some clarity about how to get started.
First a disclaimer: I am far from an expert on social media. Though the tools and concepts have been in the news, I believe many are in the experimentation phase. But thanks to several excellent social media measurement practitioners, it’s possible to track demonstrable return on investment.
What do people frequently want to know when they ask about social media? Most are confused about where to begin. Many people ask, what is social media?
My favorite definition comes from Brian Solis’s and Deirdre Breakenridge’s new book, Putting the Public Back in Public Relations. They define social media as “the democratization of content and the shift in the role people play in the process of reading and disseminating information (and thus creating and sharing content).”
Simply, social media is a change in the way we communicate. It is a shift in how we share news, music, video and other content. It invites feedback, discussion and conversation, whether positive or not. It is participatory.
The industry is learning to measure social media. A recently released study by Charlene Li and The Altimeter Group shows a correlation between financial success and a high degree of social media engagement for top brands. Included in the research is commentary about steps each company took to become highly engaged in social media.
Those companies who were most involved with social media-in breadth and depth-on average, grew 18 percent over the last 12 months, compared to the least engaged companies who on average saw a decline of 6 percent in revenue during the same period.
The study does not claim a causal relationship but states, “there clearly is a correlation and connection.”
Who’s talking?
Social media is still treading new ground. But it is not going away.
When most companies do begin, they start with one or more of the fourmost-talked-about social media channels-a blog, Twitter, Facebookand/or LinkedIn. Before you do this, consider these steps:
1. Educate yourself. There are some excellent resources, books andblogs, on the topic of social media. Consider taking three hours a weekto begin learning about theory and practice. You might start with AmberNaslund’s excellent blog, which includes a Social Media Starter Kit.
2. Use the tools to start listening to what’s being said about yourcompany. Why? Because with all the social media conversation, it’s verylikely your company is being talked about. It’s always better to beinformed about what’s being said about you to better understand whatyou want to say.
3. Consider the parts of your company’s work or goals that could beimproved by getting others involved, either in person or online. Whatdo you want deeper engagement with your customers to accomplish? Whenyou think about this, avoid vague phrases such as “get the word outabout us.” Ask yourself, “What could really be different or better ifwe got customers involved with our work?” Make a separate list for eachgoal or work project.
4. Participate. Find blogs about your industry that interest you. Participate by reading and leaving comments.
Our first step
Greater Twin Cities United Way’s first step in launching a social media campaign was a video produced to prompt year-end giving in December 2008.
We took marketing guru Seth Godin’s advice on how to create aneffective video: shoot for the goosebump effect by telling people aboutreal community conditions, offer a solution, and then show the viewershow they can help with a direct request.
We had little experience in producing videos, but jumped in anyway.United Way’s designer used a software tool called Keynote, a Macintoshversion of PowerPoint, to design it. A musician volunteered to createmusic to fit the tone and we hosted it on YouTube where we set up apage for donations.
We asked for a $5 contribution and for readers to e-mail the video tofive friends. We titled it “Give 5 Now” at www.give5now.org.
Our distribution plan was to ask United Way staff to send it to theircontacts by e-mail. The video was also sent to media. The news mediapicked it up and the video went viral.
The video directly raised $18,000, with 750 people giving an average of $25. About 80 percent of contributors were new to United Way.
The story doesn’t end there. The media coverage from the video got theattention of a new anonymous donor who donated $500,000 on the last dayof 2008. That’s not a bad return on our first attempt at new media!
Start you must
As Charlene Li, author of Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies, advises: “Doing it all may not be for you – but you must do something. The optimal social media marketing strategy will depend on a variety of factors, including your industry.
“If your most valuable customers do not depend on or trust social mediaas a communication medium, or if your organization is resistant toengagement in some channels, you will have to start smaller and slower.But start you must, or risk falling far behind other brands, not onlyin your industry, but across your customers’ general online experience.”
In other words, just do it. Get started with what really matters toyour work. What you learn will improve your efforts and will likelymake you more efficient and smarter along the way.
