The Social Media StrategistBuilding A Successful Program From The Inside Out

Christopher Barger, SVP Global Social Media, Voce ConnectAwareness NetworksJanuary 19, 2011

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Death, Taxes, and…

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Social Media: The Reality

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Organizational Social Media: A Common Mistake

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Organizational Social Media: A Common Mistake

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Organizational Social Media: “Lucky Seven” Essential Elements

• An Executive Champion• Clear Lines of Authority• A Social Media Evangelist• Sensible Metrics & Measurement

• Partnership with Legal

• Employee Education and Training

• A Solid Social Media Policy

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The Executive Champion

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The Executive Champion

• Has credible authority• Can moderate disputes• Can sell to the C-suite• Can provide or raise budget• Liaison between social & greater

strategy• Strong relationship with social

media evangelist

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Establishing Consensus: Who “Owns” Social Media?

Source: Flickr, “BrandonB”

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Lack of Clarity: Risks

• Inconsistent online presence and brand personality– Audience confusion

• Internal turf wars drain energy, attention and resources

• Staff frustration and burnout

“Too Many Cooks In The Kitchen,” John Cherry

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Clear Lines of Authority: Claims to Ownership

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Clear Lines of Authority

• “Lead” does not mean “exclusive”• No other business strategy

executes independently; social shouldn’t either

• Regular contact and collaboration is necessary for success

• Guard actively against development of “box-checking” mentality

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The Evangelist

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The Social Media Evangelist:Internal Keys To The Role

• Not just a “social media rock star”

• More than just a community manager – Strategist with business focus– Consensus and bridge builder internally

• Equally focused on – and adept at – the internal aspect of the job– Can delegate as opportunity to do so arises

• Has some experience or seasoning

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The Social Media Evangelist:External Keys To The Role

• Actively involved in social networks

• Comfortable showing some personality

• Rents, doesn’t own

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Dealbreakers: For The Business

• Overemphasis on personal brand

• No marketing or PR background

• Social media-speak

• Hasn’t done homework

• Catch-phrases• Unrelated titles/professional immaturity

• Hasn’t delivered business results

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Dealbreakers: For The Candidate

• Lack of clarity in the organization over “who owns social”

• No clear champion for social – or for you

• Failure to understand, accept or commit to interaction

• Unclear or no commitment of resources

• Social media is pushed to the kids’ table

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ROI & Measurement• Define “success” and know what you

want to see before you start• Know your zero point

• Numbers don’t mean what you might think they mean– Up to 47% of Twitter accounts are abandoned– 57% of Facebook users hide brand content in their

news feeds

Source: eMarketer

• Grow your engagement as zealously (or more so) as your reach

• Select the measurement tools that fit your goals

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Working With Legal: Why?• Recognize that you have similar

goals: the company’s best interests

• Recognize that “the right thing” in social and the company’s best interests aren’t always directly parallel– Transparency is not a zero-sum game

• Opportunity to create your own legal social media ‘experts’

• There is no longer anything such as “ask forgiveness later”

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What Legal Brings To The Table• Understanding & informed

interpretation of FTC guidelines

• Knowledge & informed interpretation of emerging case law

• Rules and ToC for contests and promotions

• Experienced eye for policy development

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Building Social Media Policies• Why?

– Protects organization and employees

• Who?

– All functions that affect or are affected by

social

• How?

– Sync with established business guidelines

– Compromise will be necessary

– Policy and “usage guide” are not the same

thing

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Good Social Media Policies:Common Elements

• A statement that employees are expected to follow

organizational ethics guidelines in the social web

• Reminders of individual responsibility and liability

• Reminder of the need for disclaimers that employees do

not speak for the organization

• Disclosure of affiliation with the organization when posting

• Respect for copyright and fair use laws

• Honoring the confidentiality of proprietary or internal

information

• Prohibitions on hate speech, ethnic slurs, etc.

• Privacy and discretion reminders

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Education and Training• Tier 1: The Basics

– Review social media policy– Familiarization with tools and platforms,

uses– Etiquette guide– Resources for learning– Points of contact within the organization

• Tier 2: Advanced for Regular Use– Instruction on how to represent the brand– Case studies– Scenario planning and “war games”

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Education and Training• Tier 3: Everyday Reps

– Outside speakers– Conferences and influencer events– Direct experience

• Doing the training– Intranet modules– Classroom instruction – both lecture and lab– Ongoing education

• Lunch and learn/brown bag sessions• Newsletters and emails• Internal social communities (Yammer, SocialCast,

etc.)

• 15+ people did a stint on social media team

• Served approximately one year

• Moved on to other parts of the business

• Result: 20+ “experts,” dozens more at intermediate level

“Immerse and Disperse”

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Working Smartly With Online Influencers • Get over yourself

• Know & follow the FTC guidelines

• Do your homework• Don’t be a lounge lizard• Be involved offline• Be clear – about everything• Use the right people from your

brand• Monitor and follow up• Build your community of

advocates

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Get over yourself• Ditch the big brand hubris; they’ve

built their audience without you.• Relevance: make sure your pitch actually

fits the influencer’s personality, audience, usual subjects – not because you say so.

• It’s not all about you! Lead with their interests and topics.

• Your executive’s title doesn’t mean anything. In fact, no one knows who they are.

• Follow up. Every time.

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Social Media Crisis: (Stuff) Happens

• If you are active in social media, something will go wrong.

• The trick is not preventing crisis, it is in how you handle one when it happens.

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Six To Fix: The 6 Types of Social Media Crisis

• Individual generated• Customer service #fail• Campaign• Social media #fail• Organizational brain freeze

• Three Mile Island

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Crisis Response: Common Themes

• Apologies go a long way• Speed is critical• Don’t delete criticism• Your audience isn’t just the

critics• Use the right tools

• Keep engaging and follow up

• Keep your social team in the loop

• Get caught learning from it

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The Book

How to build an organizational social media practice

Available at stores, on Amazon.com, on Kindle, and barnesandnoble.com

Facebook.com/thesocialmediastrategist

THANK YOU

christopher@voceconnect.comTwitter: @cbarger