Social Media 101using the social web to build your online

toolkitAerin Guy

The Wellesley InstituteJuly 14, 2009

agenda• Intros and welcome

• Overview of the Social Web

• Basics

• Strategy

• Goals/Tools

• Case Study

• Building Capacity

Aerin Guy

• Manager, Communications & Virtual Wellesley

• a proud Saskatonian and newbie Ontarian

• background in communications, marketing, education and technology

Text

where I hang out

• www.facebook.com/aeringuy

• www.twitter.com/aeringuy

• www.twitter.com/wellesleyWI

• www.linkedin.com/aeringuy

• www.wellesleyinstitute.com (under re-design, so check often!)

about you!

• please introduce yourselves to the people at your table

• what organization are you with?

• what is your role?

• what do you hope to get out of this workshop?

Overview of the social web

• also known as Web 2.0 (Tim O’Reilly)

• also known as the “social media explosion”

• also known as the way we connect today

Powerful stuff

the next big iThing

• introduction to social media

people are talking to each other online

• 2 choices:

1. Resist it, and it will happen anyway, elsewhere, outside your influence

2. Support it, participate, influence it, and leverage it for extending your brand

The web is about conversations,

not top down delivery of information or

messages.

some benefits of using social media

• listen and learn and build relationships

• publish valuable news and information

• disseminate quickly and effectively

• create or extend your brand personality

• engage in conversations and services

• efforts lead back to your website - your hub or repository of information

basics• feeds, tags and RSS

• blogs

• wikis

• twitter

• facebook

feeds• feeds are based on XML

technology

• commonly called RSS

• Content can be subscribed to and sent when updated

• sites and content from sites come to you

• subscribers are invested in your content (otherwise why would they subscribe?)

• RSS readers include Google Reader, Bloglines, FeedReader

you’ll like this demo• http://

www.youtube.com/watch?v=0klgLsSxGsU

tags• tags are short keywords

that define what your online digital content is about

• tagging your content helps others locate it more easily

• also allows your content to be classified, indexed and accessed by people, search engines, and content aggregators

• choose only relevant and not overly generic keywords

• a way to filter and categorize the web

tags• tags work on the same

XML platform as RSS, except when tags are used to categorize information on aggregator sites like Technorati and delicious

• articles, news stories, podcasts, photos, presentations, and video clips can all be tagged

• extend the reference labels, associations, and search keywords by which any type of content can be found

• Technorati is a blog search engine organized by tags (tagged by users), identifying relevancy and content areas

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NN2I1pWXjXI

blogging: Be FOUND!• high ranking in organic search

• at least 44% of all web interactions begin with search

• search engines love blog headlines, as they indicate what can be found on the page

• search engines also love blogs because they are frequently updated

• recent + relevant = RANKING!

elements of successful organizational blogs

• trusted, authentic, and transparent source of information

• all about the words

• reflects the brand

• delivers unique content

• speaks with a candid, human voice

• personality

• allows for dialogue with readers

• fast response

• authoritative

• frequency

• easy to find on website

• who’s going to write your blog? please don’t hire someone on behalf of your business. that’s just cheesy.

• practice makes perfect

• are the people at the highest level of your org willing to be authentic and transparent?

• Twitter is a real-time micro-blog

• real time word of mouth

• 140 character max forces “tweets” to be powerful, concise and well-chosen

• follow and be followed

• highly searchable

• great way to provide links, respond instantly, and connect with “constituents”

• using Tweetdeck (or Twhirl) can help organize your followers into manageable groups

• Tweet from mobile devices with Tweetie, Twitterberry

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddO9idmax0o

• the world’s premier social networking site

• individual profiles

• corporate pages

• fan pages

• cause marketing

• friend-raising, not fundraising

• facebook connect

• promote events, initiatives, community

• average user age: 35

1. http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Wellesley-Institute/

video• http://www.youtube.com/

watch?v=VQ3d3KigPQM

• www.momsrising.org

• powerful, visual ways of getting messages across

• user-generated content

• mobile devices are everywhere, capturing content

social media as part of your communications strategy

• baby...bathwater....no!

• segments our audiences

• build on the power of networks and burgeoning communities

• communities connect faster, more collaboratively, more inclusively, and more effectively!

• proliferation of sm stories in traditional media piques interest

1/3

• website

• social outposts

• email

1.Genuine engagement facilitates a highly involved audience that wants to interact with “the brand”

2.The more people an organization can interact with who already have strong social networks, the more likely it is that a message can be spread through those networks

3. Communities of purpose abound on the net. Common thread of success? Purpose.

the purpose of social media is to engage with audiences in interactive communities

an experiment

the sticky game

(it’s fun, I promise)

(no really, it’s fun!)

building community• House Social Network

• social networking community built on a nonprofit’s own website. Term derived from direct mail house lists

• Commercial Social Network

• an online community owned and operated by a corporation. Popular examples include Facebook, Ning, OpenSocial, CommunityZero

the world has changed• and so has the way we

connect

• “when we change the way we communicate, we change society”

• “new technology enables new kinds of group-forming”

goals• list building

• galvanizing support

• education

• loyalty

• exposing

• changing minds

• changing attitudes

• recruitment

• fundraising

• motivation

• organize

• info source

Causes and passions are online, but people increasingly resist being sold to in the communities they join. Canada’s Do Not Call list will soon expand to

include email.

Ladder of Engagement

Pyramid of engagement

community engagement

some stats

your organization• are you a channel for

your networks? Partners? Clients?

• who can you connect?

• 2.0 tools facilitate connection

baby steps• cost effective

• no budget? Facebook, Twitter, blog, optimize existing website

• wee budget? video, file sharing software, microsite

• big budget? campaign assistance & facilitation, website redesign

• many agencies will do pro-bono work for charities/NFPs

• sources can be craigslist, kijiji, student sites, hire an intern

these resources are key

non-profit social network surveyhttp://www.nonprofitsocialnetworksurvey.com/

2009 eNonprofits Benchmarks Studyhttp://www.e-benchmarksstudy.com/2009.html

what tools are right for you?

• Facebook page

• twitter account

• blog

• community

• flickrstream

• aggregator

• streaming (podcast or vlog)

• ratings & reviews

• Ideastorm

• Care2 campaign

• email

• netvibes

a wellesley institute case study

• Goal 1: to inform the process of the Ontario Provincial Housing Minister’s consultations

• Goal 2: to connect people through the site by providing a story portal, resource section, and endorsement faculty

• Goal 3: to build awareness of the need for stable and affordable housing

• began in late March, 2009

• Organizational tie in: our strategic pillar of Affordable Housing as an indicator of urban health

• Metrics: how will we measure success?

• Broadcast: how do we promote our efforts and really use social media to connect people?

• Metrics: hits on site, stories shared, CTR (click-thru rate), media mentions, unique visitors, endorsees (private and organizational), policy impact!

Social Media (and other tactics)

• site construction and design

• press releases/media release

• Twitter

• email

• promotion through WI Facebook fan page and partner networks’ pages

• flyer for events

• video

• blogs

• over 17,000 hits

• 75 stories posted

• nearly 500 personal and organizational endorsees

• media coverage

• agreement from gov’t to include network’s recommendations in consultation process

• it rocked (but is still rockin’, so add your voice!)

other examples• Kiva is a microlender

that pairs up developing world lendees with worldwide lenders

• recently branched into the US

• all done via social web

building capacity

• can require a change in culture (digital natives vs digital immigrants)

• Most NFPs are used to the “tower model” of working, not the “cloud”

towers vs clouds

Mark Pearce @ Connecting Up Australia

Building Capacity: 5 BIG ISSUES

• Inertia problem - most organizations were founded prior to the internet....they aren’t used to having control issues, intimate relationships with audiences, and they think they control their brands.

• Leadership issue - often the leaders are pre-internet. Difficult to get buy-in. Threatened. Perhaps read a Seth Godin book once.

• Advocate issue - who’s the squeaky wheel?

• Silo issue - “that’s marketing’s job”. “IT handles our web stuff”

• Fear issue - it’s all so new, and changes so quickly, budgetary responsibility

I have a secret for you.• and the secret is......

• this is not a fad. people don’t abandon technologies that make it easier to communicate.

• shhhh....

• explore the tools you’d like to adopt by using them in your personal life first

• don’t be afraid to try or to fail. In social media, you learn by failing informatively (Red Cross Social Media Strategy)

• develop your voice

• explore your personal and organizational capacity

how it can work• positioning. “we are the spearhead of a movement that is changing this issue.

we are a vehicle for making change.”

• engage leadership in new thinking. get help.

• involve social media/coms people at management/strategic level. Obama’s campaign would be a good example!

• Hire from the millennial generation. Their insight as digital natives will improve the strategic conversations.

• Speak “human”. People like people. Relationships are where it’s at. Get out of “press release” mode.

More how-to• Develop a deep understanding of your “clients”. Groups

who are successful are able to tap into the knowledge of who they are trying to build a relationship with.

• Connect people directly. Bringing people together can be scary. Power in numbers! Your value is in your ability to do this.

• Be open, ego free.....and let go of control. You never had it anyways.

• Emulate, innovate. Fail, experiment. Lather, rinse, repeat.

How-to.....• Set up a twitter account

• Set up a ning page

question time

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-lGe5MnBlY

where will you start?

•