Best Practices for Social Media Success. Datamation Executive Brief

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Henry Berry
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1 Best Practices for Social Media Success Datamation Executive Brief a QuinStreet Excutive Brief. 2012

2 There are about as many definitions for social media as there are ways to use it. In broadest terms, social media is defined as a variety of Webbased platforms, applications and technologies that enable people to socially interact with one another online. Mention social media, however, and most people think of web sites and applications (such Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Del.icio.us, Twitter, Digg, or Reddit), whose content and, hence value, is based on user participation and user-generated content (UGC). These are indeed examples of social media, but much like the Internet is more than the Web, social media is about more than the social networks and bookmarking sites. In addition to social networks, social media includes microblogging sites, like Twitter, as well as blogs and discussion boards or forums. It includes bookmarking sites like Delicious and StumbleUpon and newssharing sites like digg and reddit. Sites that facilitate media sharing, such as YouTube, Pinterest, and Instagram, fall under the social banner. Closed social media networks aimed at businesses, such as Yammer (which is now part of Microsoft), Cisco s Social Webex, IBM s Connections, JIVE and NewsGator fall under the social media umbrella as well. and instant messaging, however, are not forms of social media because while they are social in and of themselves, they are not collaboratively social. , however, is a critical component of any social media strategy. Gartner analyst Anthony J. Bradley cites six core underlying principles of social-media solutions. Combined, participation, collectiveness around a unifying entity, transparency, independence, persistence, and emergence of the unplanned, ultimate environment are the defining characteristics that set social media apart from other forms of communication and collaboration. Types of Social Media The definition and descriptions of social media apply to both business and consumer usage. This Executive Brief will focus on business use. For businesses, there are three basic types of social media engagement: external communication (primarily, though not limited to, marketing), customer support and collaboration, and Internal collaboration and communication. A true social enterprise will have all three components but will use different strategies for each. External Communication Enterprises that have been reluctant to embrace social media due to the control it takes away from them will likely find external communications easiest to wrap their arms around. While external communication seeks to engage potential customers, its ultimate goal is to reach buyers, whether a consumer or an enterprise purchaser, and convert them to actual customers. The enterprise is in the driver s seat as far as setting the message and 1

3 the tone, but a proactive enterprise will fare better than one that relies on outsiders to give it a social media presence. It would be easy to make a blanket statement that consumerfocused enterprises should focus on Facebook, Twitter and the like, while business-to-business enterprises should look to LinkedIn and other professional networks, but this is not true across the board. In some industries, this will make sense, in others, particularly IT, vendors would be wise to consider a holistic social media strategy from which they can reach potential customers where they live, in other words, Facebook, Google Plus, and the like. As the lines between home and work continue to blur and bring-your-own-device continues to gain traction, this will become even more critical, It is critical however, that the tone of the message be in line with that of the medium. In nearly all cases, blogs are an excellent medium to get the message out and possibly get a conversation going. Good external social media doesn t just tell about a product; it seeks to build a sense of community around that product. To that end, user cases studies, sneak peeks at features, and the ability for potential customers to engage with the company and each other go a long way toward enticing users to take the plunge and make a purchase. Customer Support and Collaboration customers. An engaged customer is more likely to communicate Using social media to keep customers dissatisfaction before he or she begins engaged doesn t fall by the wayside looking for alternatives, thus making it once they ve signed on the dotted easier to resolve the issue at hand and line and plunked down the cash. retain him. If anything, it becomes even more important. Many companies rely on Internal Collaboration and social media for customer support. Communication A forum on the company s web site or a discussion group on LinkedIn It should be no surprise that the provide users with the opportunity goals and strategy behind internal to engage other users and ask social media should bear little or questions or troubleshoot. The UGC no resemblance to that of external provided salves customer pain points social media. In fact, chances are, in a way that costs the company the management team behind the very little. Bear in mind that having strategy will be different. a moderator on hand to be sure Internal social media is all about questions are answered and discourse collaboration and communication, is appropriate is critical. A side benefit enabling the company to avoid silioing of UGC is community building, which employees and instead tap into their strengthens customer s attachment to talent, creativity, and experience. the product, and in some cases the It also goes a long way in keeping ecosystem around it. employees in the loop as far as In addition, UGC and social media in corporate mandates, human resource general can easily be used to upsell information and the like. to current customers by making them feel privy to new information about Many of the concepts behind this upcoming products and so on. type of social media are not new. Keeping customers engaged is For nearly as long as electronic paramount to keeping them as communications have been in the In nearly all cases, blogs are an excellent medium to get the message out and possibly get a conversation going. 2

4 workplace, they have been used for collaboration. What have changed are the available tools and the ease of use they bring with them as well as the attitude and perceived value on the part of senior management. A social organization is now perceived as a growing one; not one that wastes time chit-chatting about non-businessrelated activities. Because its mission is so different, it should be no surprise that internal social media looks completely different in both format and tone from external social media offerings. Collaborative apps (e.g., Basecamp and Asana), which are seldom seen in external communication or customer support, are heavily used, but there is also a place for apps for communication among employees or freelancers. Microsoft, Cisco, IBM, JIVE and NewsGator take collaboration a step further with social networks designed for enterprise use. Finally, media used all three ways, such as wikis, forums or blogs, have a very different tone when used internally. Choosing the Correct Tools When it comes to a social media strategy, there are no inherently right or wrong tools. The right tool will vary depending on the overall strategy, the task at hand and the culture and requirements of the organization. In most cases, different social networks and tools will be used to reach the target audience. With that said there are some basic decisions to be made. Public vs. Proprietary Tools If your social media strategy is focused around external communications, then you re trying to get the word out about your enterprise or product. This means going where people are: Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube and so on. You can direct people to your company s website, but the public social networks give you the critical mass needed to get the conversation started. There is no proprietary counterpart for these purposes. Blogs, on the other hand, are a completely different story. Enterprises looking to offer a blog have a choice of a variety of platforms, such as Blogger or WordPress, or they can host it themselves. While hosting within one s own infrastructure offers the ultimate control, using a public (and often free) platform typically means an easy-to- use interface, a format can be altered to integrate with the look of the site while also adhering to a standard blog look, and no need to maintain software and other infrastructure for the blog. The flipside of this is that the content is housed in someone else s infrastructure, both software- and hardware-wise. As the cloud becomes ever more pervasive, the latter is less of an issue, but before signing with a provider, be sure to have a clear understanding of what rights are as far content and what, if anything, the provider is allowed to do with it. 3

5 Forums, wikis and other collaborative tools are similar to blogs in that there are a variety of public options out there on which you can start forums and a variety of options for keeping them in-house. In general, costs will be lower and deployment quicker if using a public server or tool. However, security and opportunity for customization and tracking will be far greater with a proprietary tool, whether purchased or homegrown. Regardless of the type of tool you pick, it is critical that it be able to measure and track results, whether that means leads, conversions, page views or whatever other metric is sought. For internal communication and collaboration tools, the choice becomes more complex. Presumed usage should play a key role. For example, if the human resources department wants to put all of the company s HR policies online internally, it could probably get by with the developer s favorite wiki software with passwords and various levels of permissions. If it s being used for departmental discussions or collaborating on a presentation, Google Docs will likely fit the bill nicely. A closed group on Facebook or LinkedIn works well for employees who want to communicate with colleagues or former colleagues outside of the office. However, for an enterprise looking for a collaborative environment in which products will be developed or The whole concept behind social media is that it is, well, social. And to be social, it must have users willing to interact. customer relationships nurtured, a homegrown, proprietary or a closed secure and customized application is group on a public network), the efforts ideal, particularly in heavily regulated will founder. industries, such as financial services or healthcare. Also, bear in mind that while the public social networks carry little in the Also bear in mind that this is not a way of development costs, they are zero-sum game. In many cases, both far from free. Someone has to post to public and propriety tools will be them, upload videos, graphics, target used -- sometimes in tandem, and potential members of the community, sometimes subsequently. Finding a come up with ideas and write copy, balance and getting the tools to work and so on. together is paramount for success. For internal communication and Thinking Beyond the Technology collaboration, employee buy-in is key at all stages. Employees must The whole concept behind social media want to use a social networks or is that it is, well, social. And to be social, other collaborative tool that the it must have users willing to interact. In organization has deemed acceptable. some ways, this makes it easier to get Organizations can mandate their an effort going around a public social use and lock out any non-sanctioned network or other sharing site. choices, giving employees no choice but to use a given tool or site, but it Building a social infrastructure can will not deliver the true value of its be a far easier task than getting the potential without employee buy-in. critical mass needed to accomplish Ease of use is critical. The interface its goal. If users flock to a social should be intuitive and somewhat infrastructure, then the investment of familiar, and it should integrate with resources is well worth it; however, other tools. Employee needs and if employees or customers are not preferences should be taken seriously sold on the tool of choice (be it throughout the development process. 4

6 Processes and Policies No social media strategy is complete without processes and policies in place about how it is to be used. Social media policies can cover a wide spectrum from how employees use social media on behalf of the company and how they use it on their own, sometimes communicating about the company. Although such policies will vary depending on the sort of social media in use, they will ultimately boil down to management, monitoring and security. Managing Should employees be tweeting price cuts? Can they discuss product information on their Facebook pages? It boils down to how much control the CMO is comfortable with her office seceding. There is no right or wrong answer, so long as acceptable communication is made clear. What about using Basecamp to power a fantasy football league? Again, no inherently right or wrong answer, so long as acceptable usage has been determined and communicated. Monitoring Clarity is key here as well. Wherever possible, the organization should be keeping an eye on all outbound social media communications as well as anything being discussed by third parties or customers. This is particularly important if UGC is in play. Effective monitoring will enable customer concerns to be addressed before they turn into full-blown public relations disasters. It will also ensure that employees are using social media (both internally and externally) as desired. Securing Certain information should not be communicated for regulatory or other legal reasons, or for competitive reason. Certain employee, customer or prospective customer data should not ever be leaked. Makin sure they are not falls under monitoring. Who sets these policies will vary. In all cases, it makes sense to involve the IT organization, the legal department, and the chief security officer. For external communication, the chief marketing officer should be a key contributor to the conversation. Sales will likely want to be involved as well. For internal communication, the human resources department will play a key role. Fortunately, the very nature of social media means that crafting a social media policy and coming up with processes for your organization will not mean reinventing the wheel. Many companies social media policies are available on line. A search of the social media policies companies in your industry is a great first step to getting a sense of what the norms and expectations are. Bear in mind that while much of a social media policy is at the company s discretion and subject to the company s culture, some things should always be prohibited, such as disclosing confidential information; slandering the company or its competitors; an unauthorized 5

7 employee speaking on behalf of the company (or implying that he or she is) or, alternately, not disclosing his or her relationship to the company; and using company logos or trademarks without permission. Ongoing Considerations Social media is not a set it and forget it endeavor. Nor is it something that can be handed over to an intern. Enterprises should be constantly evaluating whether the status quo is working and be prepared to make changes if it is not. However, to objectively determine what is considered working, there must be a way to measure the value. This will vary depending on the goals of the social media, but be prepared to demonstrate quantifiable results from your efforts. Whether you gauge your efforts and ROI by completed sales, registrations, leads, page impressions on the company s website, likes, or depth of user engagement, it is important to be able to show results in measurable way. A variety of tools, some of which are free, offer analytics on social media related activity. As you roll out your social media strategy, be sure to evaluate and test several of these to see which best meet your needs. Frequently, developing an effective social media strategy is new to the skill set of the enterprise. In those cases, it is best to turn to experts in Unified Communications (UC) to see how they have implemented or design these solutions within a UC environment.. The vendor will work with the enterprise to help ensure the social media undertaking gets the planning and resources needed to deliver the most value from the resultant communication and collaboration. In addition, an ongoing audit should also look at whether social media policies are being followed and whether they should be modified as well as whether the tools and networks being used are where potential customers can be found, current customers are satisfied with the social media channels through which communication is going, and employees are getting the most value from the tools they are expected to be using. To learn more about UC and how CDW can help, go to cdw.com/content/solutions/unifiedcommunications.aspx or contact your CDW representative at

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