Time to Get Social!

Social Media for the Communications

ProfessionalDecember 8, 2015

Dylan McConnellManager, Customer

CommunicationsOpenText

#IABC @IABCWaterloo

#BuzzFed:9 Fine Tips to Tame theWilderness of Social Communication

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The Personal Brand

Lacombe

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Founded in Waterloo, ON in 1991Enterprise Software, B2B organizationRoughly 8,000 employees worldwide100,000 customers, most very large

The Corporate Brand

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Birth of a Program - 2010• Previously, updating XML files for RSS

feeds was a time consuming process

• Customers were using social media to voice complaints, ask questions, but Customer Support had no official voice

• Turned to Twitter, which at the time was offering automated RSS feeds for our RSS users

• Management resistant to handling technical issues publicly, allowing employees to speak publicly on behalf of OpenText

• Decided @OTCC would work for OpenText Customer Care, limit character count

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The Social Media Landscape

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Looking Ahead to 2016

“All signs in 2016 point to video that is quick, disposable, and omni-present.” – Jay Baer

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Key Resource!2014 CMO Guide to Social Media by Adobe®http://www.cmo.com/articles/2014/3/13/_2014_social_intro.html

1. #ChooseWisely

• Where is your audience?

• How much can you take on?

• What are you good at?

• What are you trying to achieve?

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2. #WhenInRome• Use each channel to their

strengths

• Tailor your content to the audiences of each channel

• Understand the channels’ mobile capabilities

• Link content between channelsKey Resource!Wendy Frink, Entrepreneur.com 2014http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/232964

3. #TeamGame• Accounts must be active

• Consistently posting• Ready to reply

• May need to cover different regions, time zones & languages

• You can’t be everywhere all the time—assign areas of focus

• Establish process for handling customer questions/complaints

Key Resource!Ben Donkor, Link Humanshttp://linkhumans.com/blog/structure-social-media-team

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4. #GoodCarpenterRadian6 (Salesforce)• Monitor multiple channels

using keywords, usernames

• Publish to multiple accounts

• Manage your team

Mobile Apps

TweetDeck

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HootSuite Oversight of multiple accounts across multiple channels

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HootSuite Scheduling, link shortening, character counting

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HootSuiteSearch for keywords so you can stay on top of brand-related action without needing to wait for people to come to you

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HootSuite Keep track of scheduled tweets to capitalize on key times, avoid stepping on others’ toes

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HootSuite

Team workflow

Brand consistency

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5. #RightOnTime

Key Resource!Irfan Ahmad, Digital Information World 2015http://www.digitalinformationworld.com/2015/01/infographic-what-are-the-best-times-to-post-on-social-media.html

• Always respond to customer queries asap

• Understand when your audience is on social, and where

• Piggyback on trending topics and be aware of major events

• Be careful not to schedule things too far in advance (and monitor your scheduled activity)

Example: LinkedIn

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The GoodThe Bad

The Ugly

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6. #BeYou• Give your brand personality; talk like

a normal human being; avoid stock photos

• Sign posts with a name if talking to individuals

• Positive social posts are most likely to be shared

• People like people stories

• Make an emotional connectionKey Resource!Dominique Jackson, “How to Go Viral” 2015http://sproutsocial.com/insights/how-to-go-viral/

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Emotional Connections

Joy

Sadness/Trust

Cleveland Clinic “If We Could See Inside Others’ Hearts”, 2012Metro Trains Melbourne, “Dumb Ways to Die”,

2012

https://youtu.be/IJNR2EpS0jw https://youtu.be/Wl2_knlv_xw

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7. #Customer1st• Social provides opportunity to get

close to customers

• Collect unsolicited, honest feedback

• Chance to turn negatives into positives

• Peer endorsements

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8. #LongGame• Post consistently, allow your audience time

to grow

• Develop your customers’ trust

• Incorporate your social accounts into your other communications campaigns

• Virality is great, but tough to manufacture, short term, and viral content can be perceived as hollow (like a publicity stunt)

“Stop trying to be amazing and start being useful.” – Jay Baer

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9. #ExaminedLife• Use embedded tools like Facebook Insights

and Twitter Analytics

• Focus on the metrics that will help you tell your story

• Use Google Analytics

• Use tracked redirect links whenever you can

• Save quality interactions manually

• “The end goal is action, not eyeballs.” – Jay Baer

Key Resource!Kevan Lee, Buffer Social 2014https://blog.bufferapp.com/definitive-guide-social-media-metrics-stats

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Activity Time!

Working in teams, construct gingerbread houses while considering how you might try to make your gingerbread house go “viral.”

You may want to tie your project to the marketing campaign of a real or fictitious brand.

After 45 minutes, we will reconvene and have a member from each team present their house and social media plan. We’ll then vote for our favourite house/presentation and the winning team will be awarded a prize!

Feel free to share photos and comments on social media using the hashtag #IABC and tagging @iabcwaterloo on Twitter or Instagram.

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Campaign Ideas

• Stop motion video

• Time lapse video of your progress

• Mockumentary

• Topical theme

• Make an emotional connection

https://twitter.com/RiceKrispiesCA/status/672830542274932737

https://youtu.be/JwZUfkyDA1I

https://twitter.com/Dyldebeest/status/674062729364287489

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Questions?

Feel free to add me on LinkedIn!

@Dyldebeest on Twitter

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Helpful Resources• How to Harness the Hashtag:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/12/small-business-hashtag_n_3991246.html

• 16 Things to Do on Social Media: http://www.digitalinformationworld.com/2013/07/16-things-you-should-do-on-social-media.html

• 2015 Social Media Image Size Guide: http://rebekahradice.com/social-media-image-sizes/

• How to Foster a Cohesive Social Media Brand:http://pamorama.net/2015/06/07/how-to-foster-a-cohesive-social-media-brand/

• The 100 Best iPhone Apps of All Timehttp://mashable.com/2015/12/08/100-best-iphone-apps/

• Youtility: Why Smart Marketing Is about Help Not Hypehttp://www.amazon.ca/Youtility-Smart-Marketing-about-Help/dp/1591846668

• Looking for helpful infographics? Try Slideshare or Pinterest!