Social Media and the IT Professional. Marty Foltyn, Vice President, Channel Chargers

Transcription

1 Marty Foltyn, Vice President, Channel Chargers

2 Abstract Is Social Media, with all its possibilities and pitfalls a good match for your organization? Are you weighing the pros and cons of integrating social media, and how to propose an implementation strategy if at all? In this lively and interactive SNIA Professional Development tutorial, learn about the strengths and shortcomings of popular social media tools and where they might fit in to your professional development, and that of your organization. Examine how companies have attempted to implement social media strategy and policy in their organizations and better understand their successes, common pitfalls, and roadblocks. Learn how to define a strategy, and gain tips and techniques to get started. Learning objectives: 1. Better understand how to define a social media strategy and tactics (or not) for you and your organization 2. Learn about the advantages and disadvantages of social media tools that business can use in their social media strategy 3. Better understand the opportunities and risks involved in an organization s social media implementation via case studies of organizations in a variety of vertical markets who have considered social media implementations for their organizations 2

3 Agenda Social Media Today Should You Be Social? So... Be It Social Media Outposts Putting It All Together Resources 3

4 Social Media Today I know it all No problem Overwhelming 4

5 Social Media Today I know it all No problem Overwhelming What is Pinturest? 5

6 The Future is Reality By 2016: Global internet population will be using 1.3 ZB of data more than all the IP traffic between 1984 and 2012 Amount of connected devices expected to grow from 10.3 billion in 2011 to 18.9 billion 2.5 connected devices per person on the PLANET! 3.4 billion people will be Internet users Source: RedOrbit Image Photos.com 6

7 Should You Be Social? Promote yourself as a thought leader Research Learn from others Improve customer service Internal External Expand your company s footprint Marketing and promotion Community building Transparency Meet the challenge to collaborate and engage with peers around the world in real time 7

8 Can U Be Social? Enterprises are lightening up on social networking Only 30% of organizations expected to block access by 2014 (Gartner) Majority of companies allow access (Frost & Sullivan) Departments & processes like marketing require access Personal device access up Is social media monitoring the responsibility of IT? According to analysts such as Gartner, no Risks tied to individual behavior outside organization s boundaries with issues related to content and freedom of speech Blocking via policy and technical means occurs but is decreasing Risks remain both in personal use and discovery by users and 8 customers

9 So.... Be It 9

10 Stage 1- Chaos Seek... and Observe What are people saying about Your company Your industry Your competitors Where are people talking about you? Who is talking? What questions can you answer? What are your opportunities to respond? Go forth and.. explore social media monitoring tools Twitter search, Google search, Socialmention search 10

11 Stage 2 Test, Measure, ROI Complement Become active, support, and respond Learn the ropes - establish your own Outposts Look in other people s houses Post links to information to answer questions Comment, correct, and update blogs, forums, or postings Look for relevant Linkedin groups, Forums, Wikis, Google groups 11

12 Stage 3 Operational Support Involve Plan your resources Establish the face and personality of your company - fun, serious, tech-nerd, whatever! Identify a cross-functional team to take you social - include only those who WANT to participate Everyone should be a RICCA - a Responsive, Integrated, Credible, Consistent Ambassador Develop a Code of Conduct Authorizations and disclosures Participation Legal considerations Personal vs. official Develop a social media Business Plan 12

13 Questions to Ask What are your strategic visions and goals? What are your communication objectives? Have you defined critical success factors? Who is your audience? Have you examined your options for which kinds of social media would work? What benefits do you see? What are the risks and mitigation strategies? Have you quantified your dependencies and assumptions? Are the resources you ve already identified available to launch and maintain? How will you evaluate success and progress? 13

14 Guidelines on Guidelines 14

15 Guidelines on Guidelines Research Reach out Realize Reassess 15

16 Striking A Balance Strong, clear Policy that both Encourages employees to participate in social media AND gives them guidelines on doing so Include these messages: Authenticity and transparency Protecting confidential information Respecting copyrights Incorporating the social media strategy Respecting your audience Obeying terms of service on specific platforms Including response guidelines for your outposts Respecting the rights of your employees while protecting the company brand 16

17 Stage 4 Omnipresent Assess and Leverage Officially participate in social media Reassess initiatives in place Leverage activities beyond marketing and PR HR Customer service Sales Product development Internal communications 17

18 Social Gets You Through the Stages Seek Observe Complement Involve Assess Leverage 18

19 19

20 Can I train my employees on social media? (the answer is yes) Understand your constituencies Tailor your training focus 20

21 Social Media Outposts 21

22 Blogging (Your Writing Desk) Why blog? Build thought leadership Stand out from the crowd Demonstrate your knowledge An outlet to show who you and your company are Raise your brand and profile Blogging pitfalls Commitment Content 22

23 Blogging Best Practices Establish editorial policy Find your voice Write engaging content Use keywords in your copy Post on a regular schedule Mix it up with video blogs Include a photo of the author(s) Link from your company s homepage Engage with your readers Make it easy to share your content 23

24 Facebook (Your Living Room) Why use Facebook? For socializing and networking Can be authentic show your human side Personal and professional lines are blurred Real time discussions/ feedback Advertise events Conduct polls Facebook Pitfalls Personal and professional lines are blurred Commitment 24

25 Facebook Best Practices Claim your name: Understand the difference between a profile, a page and a group Profile = describes you Page = describes your business Groups = targeted community of like interests Know your audience Carefully select your privacy settings Make your profile searchable Mix your status updates with professional and personal information Participate in relevant pages and groups Department/Local pages may work better 25

26 Twitter (The Water Cooler) Why use Twitter? Learn from others Get information in a timely fashion Easy to connection with large numbers of people Increase awareness personal or company Boost your ego with lots of followers Twitter Pitfalls Motivations are mixed TMI Commitment Content 26

27 Twitter Best Practices Claim your Name Here) Create a short bio Add a photo Edit/brand your twitter background Learn the lingo Start following the followers of the people you follow Use hashtags (#SNWUSA) Use search.twitter.com Mix up your tweets! All about you Ask questions poll the public Answer questions Be a citizen journalist Forward links Spread the word 27

28 Linkedin (Your Business Card) Why use Linkedin? Network with past and present colleagues Build a community Stay top of mind with your customers and prospects Locate potential customers Find your next job Hire your next employee Attract more business Linkedin Pitfalls Linking to anyone and everyone who asks Commitment True bios 28

29 Linkedin Best Practices Find people you know & learn advanced search Claim your name Name Here) Include your new URL in your signature Add a photo to your profile Send connect requests regularly Set weekly/monthly goals Join groups in your areas of interest Fill in profile completely, use keywords, don t hide Update your profile often Use Linkedin apps SlideShare, BlogLink, others 29

30 YouTube/Vimeo (The Big Screen ) Why use YouTube and Vimeo Brings your message to life in ways that text can t Refreshing way to engage with your audience Visitors who watch video are more likely to purchase IT professionals watch videos to research technology decisions C-level execs prefer video format over text Pitfalls Video is easy to share Production Quality R U Camera shy? 30

31 YouTube/Vimeo Best Practices Create content that addresses your audience s needs How-to s, Answers to FAQ s, Expert interviews, screen captures, and more If you can blog about it, you can create a video Make your video findable Use keywords in your title Include your video URL first in your description and don t be stingy with your description Tag your video Create a YouTube channel and brand it Use annotations as clickable calls to action Post a bulletin to draw attention for your subscribers 31

32 Case Studies 32

33 Putting It All Together B2C Best Buy.com Online company-wide storefront Offers landing pages for other engagement choices Geek blog Technology news and tips from the Geek Squad Community discussion Product reviews & Best Buy employees addressing technical questions using twitter Also use YouTube, Idea exchange, Forums, local store pages 33

34 Experiencing Some B2C Mayhem... Facebook Multiple campaigns Mayhem over 1 million likes Have you posted your personal Mayhem video? YouTube 8,500+ channel subscribers 25M uploads Twitter 4,200 followers 5,060 tweets Bland topics 34

35 B2B Social Media A Success? Everyone is using mobile, within and without the company Search/collection/analysis of data not just confined to internal databases Sharing compelling stories tied to expanded forms of social communications Are your competitors active in social media? Is your company an evangelist? A follower? 35

36 Putting It All Together B2B Cree Industrial lighting provider Social media marketing embracer Making it relevant Having fun Delivering great content What happens if a baby holds a Cree light bulb? Building a community 36

37 Kinaxis Supply Chain B2B Stars Goal doubling leads and web traffic numbers Results - 2.7x increase in web traffic and 3.2 increase in leads 37

38 Fd fa f 38

39 Being Social - It s Time 39

40 Can U B Social? 40

41 Can U B Social? 41

42 Resources Social media resources - Guidance on Social Media in Government applicable to all businesses - manage your activity from one place - The Social Media Guide - great resource for blogging tips - automated trend discovery for blogs - all things Linkedin - guide to the social media jungle - How to use facebook - How to use twitter Top storage bloggers do a google search, there are many to pick from - from vendors and others 42

43 Storage Resources LinkedIn Groups you may want to join & post to The Storage Networking Industry Association (16,071 Members) Backup & Recovery Professionals (8,405 Members) Storage Experts Group (11,754 Members) The Storage Group (14,376 Members) Storage Professionals (43,041 Members) Big Data Low Latency (14,707 Members) Cloud Storage (19,289 Members) Cloud Computing (129,026 Members) Information Security Community (138,609 Members) The Virtualization & Cloud Computing Group (35,882 Members) The Green Data Center Alliance (11,883 Members) SSD: Solid State Storage Innovator's Network (3,532 Members) 43

44 Our Contact Information Marty Foltyn President, BitSprings Systems Website: Facebook: Linkedin: Diana Eastty, VP of Marketing, Enterprise Strategy Group Website: Facebook: Linkedin: 44

45 45

46 Attribution & Feedback The SNIA Education Committee would like to thank the following individuals for their contributions to this Tutorial. Authorship History Original Author: Diana Eastty & Marty Foltyn 4/2011 Updates: Diana Eastty & Marty Foltyn 10/2011 Marty Foltyn & Diana Eastty 4/2012 Marty Foltyn & Diana Eastty 8/2012 Additional Contributors Val Bercovici Kellye Crane Roman Diaz Laura Garcia Matt Harvey Kristin Hauser Michael Meleedy Suzanne Mugrabi Rob Peglar Please send any questions or comments regarding this SNIA Tutorial to 46