Understanding the world of
social media
Istanbul 12 December 2012

The story of a failing
social media strategy
?

The story of a failing
social media strategy
Objective = maximising
reach and engagement

The story of a failing
social media strategy

The story of a failing
social media strategy

The story of a failing
social media strategy
How does this
translate into a
Why? business benefit?
What is the link
between your
Facebook activity
and the metrics?

The story of a failing
social media strategy
? ?
How does this
translate into a
business benefit?

“The great thing about
Facebook is that it tells
me what people think of
my latest TV ad”

Brands need to understand that
there are now two worlds
The World of You have to understand and
the Audience respect the fact that the cultures
and practices within these
worlds are different
The World of
the Individual

THE GREAT THING ABOUT
ADVERTISING IS THAT
NOBODY TAKES IT
PERSONALLY

Understanding the World of the Audience

Information Distribution
(message) (medium)

Marketing = the art of reduction
Creative Web designer
Director
A 30 second, one-to-many
mass message

Marketing and
communication was a
channel and message
problem

What is the social media revolution?
Separation
Information Means of
distribution

The World of
Channel and
Message

“525 permutations of
Social media: it’s not a
information source,
channel and message
forms of media or
problem
technology platform”

• Saying something supportive
• Saying something critical
• Asking a question (for which your
organisation is the answer)
• Indicating a willingness to help you

The World of
Channel and
Message
The World of
Behaviour
Identification
and Response

What is the role of traditional media?

Problem: social media does not
have scale (engine) built into it
Social media is really an infrastructure
or set of tools

Solve the problem by
adding scale to a social
media presence
Objective = maximising
reach and engagement

“If these were response rates to a DM
campaign – I would fire the agency”

The digital dilemma

Consumers / customers
can operate seamlessly
in both worlds

Understanding the world of the
individual

What brands think consumers want
Engagement

What brands think consumers want
Brand
Consumer
“If I am engaged with my consumers,
that must mean they really love me”

An example of engagement

There are two types of Engagement
The engagement brands want The engagement consumers
to have with their consumers want to have with brands (but
were unable to have BSM)

Brand ‘engagement’
Superficial
Manipulative
‘Loyalty’ Huge gap with
‘Respect’ consumers
‘Passion’ definition of these
‘Love’ terms
But… it works!

At best it can give you warm and
fuzzy moment before you get on
with your life
And when you come to make a
purchase decision, the faint
afterglow of that moment may
just be enough

There is a new game in town
• A game where people do take it
personally
• Emotional stakes are hugely higher
• What is the role for a brand – can you
even play at this table?

There is a game you can play
Consumer Listening to your Brand
consumers and
answering the
****** question

Brand ‘Engagement’ Consumers’ Engagement

“@eurostar Train stuck at bxl midi
for last hour. What’s happening?”
“@RichardStacy #eurostarnews
problem with power transmission
around Lille. http://bit.ly/0216YL
for latest info
“@eurostar Will now miss my
train home. Can you help me?

The four engagement spaces
Saying something supportive
CONVERSATION
Saying something critical
Asking a question for which
CONTENT
your brand is the answer
Willing to help you do it COMMUNITY
better

What is the
ROI?
Value of the
contact
Value of
individuals

Value of contact
100
100 x 1,000 = 100,000
100,000 x 365 = 36.5million

IBM ‘Listening for leads’

Creating The Expectation
of Listening

Value of some individuals

Introducing the Super Fan
KachWachi has saved
Logitech $100,000 in
call deflection costs

The rules for Super Fans
They are not ‘Ambassadors’
because they are not
representative
They are not ‘Evangelists’
because the communities they
want to be a part of comprise
people who are also like them
Their value is not in spreading
information, it is in helping you
manage your business
• Customer service
• Google endorsement

The rules for Super Fans
They are not volunteers,
you identify them via their
behaviour
Your role is to create an
environment within which
their interest can be
activated

One final reason

An ad is an
answer to a
question that
no-one ever
asked

Brand
Consumer
This is not what your
consumers want

This is what your consumers want
Consumer
Brand
1. They want you to be listening
2. They want you to answer their questions

One final word
Just because it works doesn’t
mean it is working

The UK’s 3rd most engaging post in
November 2012

The UK’s 2rd most engaging post in
November 2012

The UK’s most engaging post in
November 2012

Competitions = most effective way of using Facebook
Competitions
Does not mean that the most effective way of
using Facebook = competitions

One final word
“Just because it is easy to measure
doesn’t mean that it is important”

There is another way to listen

There is another way

Gary Kovacs: CEO Mozilla

Big Data
Gold?
Fools Gold?

The World of
Channel and
Message
The World of
Behaviour
Identification
and Response

So – what should we do?
Things
Processes
The old space: The new space:
output = piece of output = form of behaviour
communication

Strategy
Traditional Output = pieces of
communications and communication
marketing
Social Output = forms of
communications and behaviour
marketing
Strategy = business
process management

Implications
• Never base your strategy on the tools
• People (not platforms or technologies) are the
key asset
• You don’t have to speak to everyone at the
same time – you can (must) prioritise
• Activity has to be decentralised across the
business

You can’t have a tool strategy
Facebook
Twitter

Implications: people are the key asset
Corporate DJ
Listening
Specialist
Conversing
High volume
Generating information

What is the role for agencies?
Never
outsource
your voice

Implications: prioritisation
• You don’t have to speak to everyone
• You can afford to be very specific about
– Audience
You must start with an
– Subject
objective, linked to a
specific business issue

Implications: decentralisation
Communications becomes a
training,facilitation or
editorial function
(not a production
function)

What does a strategy look like?
Objectives
Infrastructure
People Plan
Plan
Operation
Plan
Content
Response

Channel and message
identification challenge
Ability to reach the whole
target group with generic
information
Behaviour identification
and response challenge
Ability to respond to
specific situations or
requirements

Address overall brand
image and reputation
Solved via production
of communications Linked to specific
outputs operational issues
Solved via the design
and implementation
of business processes
Have clearly
identifiable metrics
(usually linked to
measurable shifts in
behaviours)

Example: Vodafone
• Vodafone identified a long-
term need to hire 40 specialist
technicians (in an area not
conventionally associated with
mobile telecoms). A £1.5
million budget was allocated
(advertising and agency fees)
• Objective: To hire at least 50%
via direct recruitment (via
social channels), thus saving
agency costs

Example: Vodafone
• Process – train existing
employees on social
networking and publication
techniques – to raise the
profile of Vodafone’s expertise
and participation in this space.
Note: they did not publish the
availability of jobs
• Result: 80% of the hires made
via direct recruitment, saving
approx. £1.3 million

You can’t have single,
overarching social
media objectives

Supporting a traditional campaign
Social media is your campaign dashboard
It can help you steer a campaign, rather
than power a campaign

What does a strategy look like?
Objectives
Infrastructure
People Plan
Plan
Operation
Plan
Content
Response

A brief look at infrastructure
Conversation space
Social News Monitoring
Content &
Hub Response
Process
Hosted or
supported
communities

A brief look at infrastructure
Conversation space
Monitoring

It all begins with listening

Can’t be done via black box

A brief look at infrastructure
Conversation space
Monitoring
Content &
Response
Process

What is our content strategy?
Content is not necessarily something
you can plan in advance
Content is better understood as a
process

A brief look at infrastructure
Conversation space
Social News Monitoring
Content &
Hub Response
Process

A brief look at infrastructure
Conversation space
Social News Monitoring
Content &
Hub Response
Process
Hosted or
supported
communities

How to use Facebook
What the organisation
wants to say
What the consumer /
citizens wants to say

How to use Twitter
X
#whatever

What does a strategy look like?
Objectives
Infrastructure
People Plan
Plan
Operation
Plan
Content
Response

People plan
Who are the people What will their roles
that will need to be and functions be?
involved? • Monitoring
• Relevant experts • Conversation
• The corporate DJ response
• Supervisors / • Content creation
moderators
What activation and
support processes are
required?
• Training / motivation
• Technical support
• Creative guidance
105

Operation Plan
Phase one Phase two Phase three
• Objectives • Objectives • Objectives
• Activities • Activities • Activities
• Completion • Completion • Completion
metrics metrics metrics

The World of
the Audience
Channels &
Messages
The World of
the Individual
Behaviours
&Response