LESS is more

Introducing Cardston to social media (and vice versa)

The tsunami of information

• 20 years ago we were digesting more info in a day than a mediaeval monk did in a lifetime• Lifetimes WERE shorter then

• We’re not just flooded by information now, we’re overwhelmed & can be destroyed by it

• The social media starfish is no longer an octopus – it’s a many-headed hydra

What is social media?

• 140 definitions• All 140 are valid• Basically, engaging with stakeholders online is a form

of social media• Blogs, social networks, Twitter, wikis, photo/video

sharing sites (flickr, YouTube, Vimeo), music sharing sites (last.fm, blip)

• Creating opportunities for your stakeholders to engage with you online.

What are the benefits of social media?

• It’s extremely cost effective.• It can replace market research.• Feedback is almost instantaneous.

What’s the downside of social media?

• It’s time-intensive.• Negative feedback can happen while you’re sleeping.• In 2010, it’s overwhelmingly vast.

• Twitter» 5 million Twitter accounts» Average Twitter user now has 300 followers (January 2010)

• Facebook» 203 million users.» Average Facebook user spends 7 hours/month on the site (January 2010)

• Blogs• 175,000 blogs created every day• 113 million blogs created to date• 7.5 million are active• 70 % of internet users read blogs on a daily basis

The social media starfish (octopus?)

LESS

• Listen• Engage• Share• be Sincere

Listen

• Social media plan developed for Town of Cardston taps into existing uses of social media by stakeholders

• Social media policies need to be developed before diving in

• Staking a claim to name needs to happen now though – assign a SPOC

Listen

• Set up Google Alerts• Your organization/you• Your competitors• Your industry sectors

• Set up RSS feedsYou’ll never keep up with the blogs you should be reading if you don’t

Set up RSS feed for blogs

• www.bloglines.com• www.newsgator.com• All you need is an email address and

password• Activate your account• Start adding blogs you want to track

Setting up Google Alerts

• http://www.google.com/alerts• Enter search terms: Cardston; Cardston, AB; Town of

Cardston (use “quotes” for complete term)• Define search type – comprehensive • Decide how often you want to receive alerts• Enter email address to which alerts are to be sent• Create alert• Check email and activate alert

Engage

• Create profiles for your organization• Create Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and flickr presences, even

if they’re only placemarkers to begin with• Connect with folks who’ve already expressed interest in Cardston

(Facebook group)• Start following folks from your various communities on Twitter and

immerse yourself in the culture (southern Albertans, Mormons, horse and theatre people, museums)

• Don’t be afraid to just watch for a while• Start develop your own blogging and social media policies –

including your social media MPOC

Share

• Start adding content to existing groups (e.g. Cardston Facebook group)• Content includes: photos of events, videos, notices of upcoming

events, starting discussion threads• Pose questions to get the best response

• Create a Cardston group on flickr and invite photographers who’ve already tagged photos to join a Cardston group

• Create a Twitter account (suggested name, CardstonAB) and profile that links to the town’s web site• Start to monitor the conversation about Cardston on Twitter

Share 2 – delving deeper on Twitter

• Search for people you know on Twitter• Start engaging with them• Check all @ messages and reply to them• At least read profiles of everyone who starts to follow you – follow

them back if you like what they have to say• Start tweeting info you’ve discovered that interests you (Google

Alerts and RSS feeds of blog posts are great sources)• Send some @ messages to people you want to follow you.• Participate in #chats related to the area using hashtags.• Tweet links to events posted on the town’s calendar using a

URL shortener – ow.ly, as well as to area events.

Sincerity

• Marketing and PR (whether it’s PR1.0 or PR2.0, traditional marketing or social media marketing) aren’t selling.

• Social media isn’t about selling – it’s about sharing information and engaging with stakeholders.

• Always try to add value.

• Be transparent – let people see who’s behind the tweet, the blog, the video, the photo.

• Learn the zeitgeist of the social networks in which you participate.

Sincerity 2

• Observe the rules, esp. the unwritten ones.• Be generous. It costs you no $ and it buys you a tremendous amount

of goodwill.• This means sharing info of interest to your followers/readers/fans

that isn’t necessarily about you, your town, your events, e.g. Pincher Creek’s The Gathering – Cowboy Poetry

• Be yourself.• You’re not one-dimensional.• Express your enthusiasms.• Connect with people throughout a broad spectrum.

• Be patient.• Most ‘overnight successes’ were two or more years in the making.