DOING THE MOST
GOOD Engaging Your Online Audiences
Use the hashtag
#Resonate2014 & tweet along!
Emerging Social Media Trends for 2014
Mobile
This is the year experts predict that the number of mobile devices will exceed the world population! EVERY website must be optimized for mobile.
Assured engagement
Facebook evolves to make $$ from its captive audience, so we must pay to play. Twitter and LinkedIn are in on it too.
Growth of “niche” sites
Goodreads, Dogster, MeetUp, AllRecipes, etc., small, targeted networks will continue to grow.
Image Power!
Pinterest & Instagram are growing and expected to get stronger. Average social media users LOVE image-based posts.
Google+ will grow
It’s a big part of Google’s search algorithm.
Hashtags
We’ll see hashtags everywhere and not just in social media: on the news, in ads, etc.
Two Big Social Media Trends
Content is king! Algorithms have been improving to the point that the most compelling content now dominates search results. In early 2014, organic Facebook reach dropped down to the single digits. So, a page that has 2000 likes may only reach 150 people with a specific post.
Use of Facebook by brands now demands creativity AND spending (promoted posts)
The picture is the story Photos get 53% more likes, 104% more comments and 83% more link clicks than other posts.
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Blogs
Blogs are growing in influence. There are 31% more bloggers today than there were three years ago.
46% of people read blogs more than once a day.
Of those who read blogs, they regularly read between 5 – 10
Keep in mind… Rather than focusing on the tool, the way to understand blogging and use it effectively is to “zero in on the social media principles” that make it work like… “participating in a larger community and not controlling the conversation.”
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The Difference Between Blogging and Journalism
Bloggers are usually independent of news organizations – there are a few exceptions – so much of the blog content which passes for “news” has not be vetted by an editor or reviewed by a fact-checker.
Jason Falls’ story in SocialMediaExplorer.com refers to the
essential difference between blogging and journalism in one word: fairness
A piece of journalism, even an editorial or opinion piece, written by a trained and ethical journalist, at least attempts to give opposing sides or viewpoints an opportunity to respond before the article or program is published. A blogger just publishes, one-sided or not, assuming that if anyone wants or needs to respond they can do so in the comments.
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Social Networks
Social networks attract a variety of age groups and
interests Be conversant and proficient in using Facebook & Twitter Google+ is a also player because they’re “socializing” Gmail and YouTube user accounts and prompting users to use their real names.
Slate Magazine story about Google+
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Biggest social networking service, more than a billion
members Ideal for sharing news, photos, videos, playing games,
supporting causes and connecting with people with common interests
Facebook serves community-building purposes for public
relations: Attract attention
Two-way communication
Conversation monitor
Interactive activities
Internal communication
Network with media
Crisis management
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Micro-blogging – tweet < 140 characters to alert friends
and followers Multi-person text message service Tool for public relations:
As a news sources – used to break news or pitch stories
Providing valuable content – tips and insights
Building a community – tweet daily to engage followers
Crisis management – issue statements and post updates
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Generation Z / “Oversharenting”
From Time Magazine, Jan 17, 2014 Current generation is WAY MORE cautious than their
Millennial brothers and sisters Favor anonymous, self-destructing social media v.
permanent and identifiable Facebook / Twitter personas Snapchat, Blink and BurnNote are examples Whisper – guarantees that content can never be traced to
the poster. Appeals to those who are fighting FOMO – fear of missing out.
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A good Facebook post should attempt to do one (or more) of the following: Educate – A good post should try to teach the audience about the organization: a product line, a bit of history, a goal or mission, etc. Entertain – If you can educate while offering something heartwarming or funny that your audience will enjoy, that’s ideal! Experience – Try to give your audience an experience: move them emotionally on some
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Example of Good Facebook Post
Similar rules apply for Twitter
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Be engaging:
Have a sense of humor
Multi-person text
message service …but keep it brand-appropriate
Provide links Educate, entertain or offer an “experience”
Use photos or videos
Click here for a PC Magazine story on how some of the best brands on Twitter use it for
Social Media Guidelines
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If you are employed directly or indirectly by the Army and you contribute to blogs, wikis, social networks (Facebook, Twitter, Google+, etc.), forums or any other type of social media your actions online are public can still be construed as representing The Salvation Army.
Basic Social Media Rule
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Keep this in mind… If you can’t share it with a reporter; in front of your Sunday School class; or with your peers around the table at the next annual dinner, then DON'T share it in the Social Media space!
Status Update
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My favorite:
“My IQ just
dropped 50
points when I
walked into
Walmart” So, what’s the big deal?
Two anti-Walmart status updates were
posted about 6 weeks before
Red Kettle Season by officers on
their Facebook pages
It’s Social, not Private Networking
You have no right to privacy with respect to social networking. The Salvation Army reserves the right to monitor employee / officer use of social media regardless of whether you're at work on a company computer or on personal time on your own computer.
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Policies Extend Beyond the Workplace
Salvation Army employee policies on ethics, company loyalty, etc. extend to all forms of communication (including social media) both inside and outside the workplace. Paraphrased from the Presidium harassment training material: As a supervisor with the authority to hire, fire, promote and discipline employees, you represent The Salvation Army and are responsible for your interactions with employees 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
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Long-Lead and Monthly Content Planning Dates of Recognition Campaigns Based on Measurement & Analysis of Competitive Trends
Timely & Relevant Content
Posting content that is highly timely and relevant is more important than ever, particularly when related to a disaster or other urgent news.
Valuable Content
Offering an “experience” Leveraging the Brand
Active Listening
Tools and Teams
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Best Practices
What’s Your Goal?
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Design each post with the desired action in mind.
Trends and Best Practices
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Focus on content that is timely and relevant “Trendjacking”: Using a trending news topic, create social
media content for it, and release it right away. It’s only useful for that period in time; however, it can be extremely powerful and compelling.
Trends and Best Practices
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Relevant
Timely
Trends and Best Practices
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Focus on content that is timely and relevant
Potential opportunity to highlight partners
1,034 shares 1,170 likes
2.434 shares 1,157 likes
Trends and Best Practices
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Create content that adds value.
People don’t want to be marketed to on social media – they are there to talk to each other. Brands have to be great guests at the table if they want to have a voice.
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Trends and Best Practices Create content that adds value.
Leveraging in-mission partners Positioning organization as thought leader
Trends and Best Practices Engaging Your Online Audiences
Create content that adds value.
Spur Action and Affiliation Leverage the Brand: Passionate, Compassionate, Brave, Uplifting, Trustworthy
Trends and Best Practices Engaging Your Online Audiences
Celebrity Endorsements
Emotionally Compelling
Create content that adds value.
Trends and Best Practices
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Use video to tell stories
Video content is now more important than ever, but it doesn’t have to be a big production. Micro-video can also be effective (Instagram video, Vine) The good news is that almost half of all video watchers complete the entire video, with a whopping 79% completion rate on those on auto-play .
Trends and Best Practices
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Repackaging and Repurposing: Content for social media has to be packaged differently for short attention spans. Extract “bite size” pieces of content from longer-form media
(blog posts, videos, etc.) to post on social media.
Campaigns
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The best social media campaigns are not afterthoughts; they are well-planned and integrated from the beginning. #DoingtheMostGood #RocktheRedKettle #RedKettle
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Campaigns National Salvation Army Week
May 12 - 17 Honoring Volunteers, Partners, Supporters Sharing Your Stories: Submit To: [email protected] Conversation surrounding #DoingtheMostGood
Active Listening
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In 2014, NHQ began using Sysomos Heartbeat, an active social listening tool. Measurement capabilities
include: Close monitoring of important topics Emerging trends in SA mentions Competitive trends and performance analysis Email alerts for real-time monitoring Channel performance analysis
Active Listening
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A dedicated team is key to social marketing success. One-
person social media “teams” are most common Smaller teams can be more active with social listening and
analysis using a variety of free tools:
Searching Twitter for “Salvation Army” (quotes included) + territory, state, or city name
Searching Instagram and Statigram for relevant hashtags
Hootsuite to monitor and publish from multiple social media accounts
Tweetdeck to monitor multiple Twitter accounts as well as important hashtags
Google Alerts for monitoring online mentions (use
Active Listening
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People aren’t always tagging the Army when they’re talking about us. Some mentions include #salvationarmy or other hashtags --
or even just the words “Salvation Army” or its various possible misspellings Active listening means being aware of and engaging with
those mentions even when the official accounts have not been directly tagged.
Competitive Trends
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Photos of happy, smiling children who are being helped,
up close and making eye contact with the camera
Competitive Trends
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Competitive Trends
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Sharing facts and figures to demonstrate impact
Competitive Trends
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Thanking supporters
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Featuring clients and people who’ve been helped Story submission: the NEW www.RedShieldToolKit.org
Competitive Trends
DHQ: Most Engaging Facebook Post
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Fundraising: Christmas Matching Gifts Volunteering: Bellringing Photo Contest Awareness: Special Events (Radiothon)
2012 Triple Your Impact
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274 people reached 15 Likes and 7 Shares
14 people went to donation page
2013 Kettle Match
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News Release to Media and on Web directing people to www.kettlematch.org
2013 Kettle Match
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Facebook promoted posts with $150 budget for 10 days. • Reached 64,539 people • 21 Shares • 125 engagement • 73 click on the post
$7,970 raised • 30 donations
• $265.67 Average Gift
Matching Gift Lessons
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Top 3 Things learned:
Simple is better
Let the brand speak for itself Paid post expands reach, therefore increasing
engagement While $300,000 is attainable through online fundraising
and bellringing, it’s intimidating for social media
Photo Contest
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We had a photo contest on Facebook to promote bell
ringing. People were asked to submit creative photos of themselves bell ringing
Of the 6,548 people reached 3,560 people engaged
somehow with the post Over 2,900 likes (# of votes)
The winner had 617 likes with 21 shares! the runner up had 557 likes with 127 shares!
Photos generated 328 shares
Photo Contest
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Lessons Learned
We learned to use an app! • In order to get page likes you must put the photos in an app
Timing is everything
• Make sure you don’t give the prize away until after Christmas, allow people to bell ring until Dec. 24th
Let the volunteers tell the
story
Special Event – Radiothon
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Statistics Nearly 12,200 people
reached •30 shares
•262 likes
•20 clicks
•3 post $10 each What we learned •People love to spread awareness
•Paid post expands reach, therefore increasing engagement
•Engagement doesn’t always translate into donations
Facebook Advertising
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Best practices start with defining objections and the
target audience. You can reach 172,000,000 adults 18+ in the United States
with a promoted post in their news feed. Given the massive reach and scale, a marketer’s job is to
build niche audience segments to target.
Richard’s Group has seen that their display campaign’s ROI is negative until the last two days of the year.
• Try to boost 1 or 2 posts throughout December to drive up top of mind awareness, and then on the last 2 days of the year, spend the remaining portion of the Facebook budget.
Disasters and Special Events • During times of high visibility ROI will improve
Types of Ads
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Objectives? • Engagement
• Reach
• Sales/Donations
Target Audience? • Demographics
• Geographical location
• Interest/ Behaviors
ROI or Awareness?
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Facebook doesn’t perform at a high level in terms of ROI. People’s mindset is much more in the mode of discovery
versus action. They are looking for information…they are searching.
Facebook is a great place to advertise because people are
very focused and receptive, but they might not be inclined to take immediate action.