Stephanie @Schierholz 1

Launch to New Heights

Using Social Media

Stephanie @Schierholz 2

Stephanie Schierholz

• Social Media Manager

• (Formerly) Social Media Manager

• @schierholz

Tweeting from space now:

@Astro_Pettit @Astro_Andre

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“You may not have a spaceship, but your company has a fan base.

They won't think of themselves as fans until they're in a room with like-minded people.

They won't think of themselves as members of a community until

YOU bring them together.”

- David Rosen, @davidhrosen

(Director, Burson-Marsteller)

Stephanie @Schierholz

Where Does Social Belong?

• Tends to be Web/IT or Communications

• Why Communications?

– The purpose is to engage the public.

– Communications officers are trained to know what

information is releasable and what is not and

empowered to use that information.

– It gives the Communications team feedback and a

better sense of what messages are communicated

effectively.

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How Do You Create Order?

• Give to get: provide an incentive (like an official listing) in exchange for info/control

• Create a support or working group – most people doing social media on their own want to do it better and learn in a safe environment

• Become the expert

• Build allies and pool resources

• Use the authority you have

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Social Media Policies

• What existing policies apply? – Internal/External

Communications

– Use of IT/Web

– Security

• What policies need to be put in place?

• Look at what others have done

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Coordinate Among Groups

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Edu/ Outreach

Records

Web

General Counsel

CIO

IT

Integrating Social Media

• Social Media is another tool

• Find ways to integrate it into how your

communications function already runs

• Build on what you already have

• Make it easy to find your social media

• Make it easy to share your content

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Build On What You Have

• “Mobile will be bigger

than desktop Internet in

5 years.” - Mary

Meeker, April 2010

• You already have a

website. Is it accessible

via mobile?

http://mobile.nasa.gov

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Stephanie @Schierholz 10

Make Social Easy to Find • On your home

page

• Collected on a dedicated page

• Twitter stream on your home page

• On your “contact us” page

• Relevant accounts on relevant pages

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Make Content Easy to Share

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How Do You Connect?

Content

• Insight

• Expertise

• Imagery

• Data

• Product

What Is Your Unique Value?

Stephanie @Schierholz 13 Blue Marble 1972

Stephanie @Schierholz 14 Big Blue Marble 2012

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Engagement Fundamentals

• Focus on your audience. What do they want?

Not sure? ASK.

• Quantity will result from quality interaction.

• Find your amplifiers. Notice who is

retweeting and sharing your information.

• Notice HOW people are sharing your posts.

Their edits can tell you what they find

important.

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Engage with Online Chats

• How can you use your

existing assets to

drive engagement?

• How does your

customer perceive

your brand?

• A NASA expert

answers questions

about the lunar

eclipse. Dec. 21, 2010, 12-5 a.m. ET | Chat room at capacity (250) within 5 minutes until 4:30 a.m.

3,208 questions received; 2,393 answered | Total of 3,174 chat participants

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Twitter Chats

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“Let’s just try it”

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Take Engagement Offline

• NASA has great success with inviting social media fans to in-person, behind-the-scenes opportunities

• Events range from two hours to two days in length

• Lottery selection

• Participants pay their own way

#NASATweetup

#NASASocial

www.nasa.gov/social

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#NASATweetup Milestones

• Jan 2009: 1st Tweetup

• Nov 2009: 1st of 9

Launch Tweetups

• 7/10 NASA centers

have hosted plus a

facility & an event at the

World Science Festival

• More than 2,800 people

• 34 Tweetups

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How Does a Tweetup Help?

• Worldwide in person AND virtual participation

• Tap into the interested follower and make them feel special

• Participants amplify the message by spreading the word to their networks

• Building credibility by opening the doors

• “Surround sound” by more “traditional” news coverage…in more places

• Creating a community of advocates

ENGAGEMENT

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Make Events Special and Memorable

Provide unique or exclusive:

Information

Speakers

Access

Setting

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Successful Events Rock Logistics

Short, interactive sessions

Connected (WiFi)

Share with online

audience

Power

Tables and chairs

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Out of this World:

Moving people from…

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Foster the Community…

But Don’t Own the Community

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So… Is This Transferable?

Writing for Social Media

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Think Differently Social Media is Not a Press Release

• Social media is a conversation – spend as

much time listening as you do speaking.

• Provide GREAT content that will get people

talking.

• If you start a conversation, participate in it;

don’t start it and walk away.

• Ask for and enable feedback – respond to

mentions on Twitter, comments on blogs,

Facebook, etc.

Social Media Writing Tips

• Good writing is still critical to driving

engagement.

• So is good grammar and style.

“&” is okay but “2” for “to” is not

• More specifically, think headline writing:

keep it succinct and enticing but don’t

oversell

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More Social Media Writing Tips

• Facebook ≠ Twitter ≠ Google+

so don’t treat them the same

• Provide links to more info but use a

URL shortener

• On Twitter, at minimum, leave room for

RT @YourHandle

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Lessons Learned

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Social Media Analytics

• What you analyze should align with your

goals. For NASA, it’s all about engagement.

• NASA measures: – Popularity (clicks, retweets, shares) of a post

– Response ratio

– Anomalies: what causes a spike or a dip?

• Look for steady, organic growth.

• Quantity results from quality interaction.

• Most popular content: pictures

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