DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS STRATEGY

MAY 22, 2014

INSTRUCTOR: BILL MCINTYRE

• EVP @ EDELMAN DIGITAL • JOURNALIST• CAMPAIGN & ASSOCIATION COMMUNICATIONS • ASSOCIATION COMMUNICATIONS

RULES & REGS• ATTENDANCE• MISSING >2 CLASSES = ONE LEVEL GRADE REDUCTION• MISSING >4 CLASSES = DANGER OF FAILING THIS

COURSE • CONTACTING ME• BY APPOINTMENT• BMCINTYRE1@GMAIL.COM • 202-572-2043 (OFFICE)

INTRODUCTIONS

• NAME• OCCUPATION• REASON FOR TAKING THE CLASS?• WHAT YOU HOPE TO LEARN BY THE END?• WHAT WAS YOUR MOST MEMORABLE TIME USING THE

INTERNET?

OVERVIEW OF COURSE• COURSE DESCRIPTION• TEACH EFFECTIVE DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS

STRATEGIES • INCREASE UNDERSTANDING OF HOW DIGITAL

COMMUNICATIONS RELATE TO TRADITIONAL MARKETING AND PR TACTICS• INCREASE KNOWLEDGE AND HANDS-ON FAMILIARITY OF

THE PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS OF DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS

MATERIALS• “THE SOCIAL MEDIA BIBLE: TACTICS, TOOLS, AND

STRATEGIES FOR BUSINESS SUCCESS,” BY LON SAFKO (JOHN WILEY & SONS, INC., 2012) ISBN: 978-1-118-26974-9• MASHABLE WWW.MASHABLE.COM• TECHCRUNCH HTTP://TECHCRUNCH.COM• CNET NEWS HTTP://WWW.CNET.COM/NEWS/• EMARKETER HTTP://WWW.EMARKETER.COM/ARTICLES• READWRITE HTTP://READWRITE.COM/

WRITING ASSIGNMENTS• ASSIGNMENT #1: WEEKLY TRENDS ASSESSMENT • EACH STUDENT MUST PRESENT ONE (1) TREND TO

THE CLASS BY THE END OF THE SEMESTER• THE PRESENTATION SHOULD BE 5-10 MINUTES (PPT

SLIDES OPTIONAL) • A WORD DOCUMENT (300-400 WORDS) MUST BE

TURNED IN AS WELL

WRITING ASSIGNMENTS• ASSIGNMENT #2: SUBJECT ANALYSIS • DUE ON WEEK #6• SELECT A COMPANY, ORGANIZATION OR PRODUCT

WITH WHICH YOU HAVE SOME FAMILIARITY• COMPLETE A THREE-PART, TWO-PAGE WRITTEN

DOCUMENT THAT: • AUDITS AND INVENTORIES THE DIGITAL TOOLS AND TACTICS USED• ANALYZES HOW EACH OF THESE TOOLS AND TACTICS ARE BEING

APPLIED TO ATTAIN A DEFINED GOAL• PROVIDES RECOMMENDATIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT

WRITING ASSIGNMENTS

• ASSIGNMENT #3: FINAL PROJECT • THE FINAL PROJECT WILL CONSIST OF AN 8-10 PAGE

DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS PLAN FOR A COMPANY/ORGANIZATION AND A RELATED 10 MINUTE PRESENTATION• THE FULL ASSIGNMENT WILL BE DELIVERED ON

WEEK #7, SO THERE WILL BE AMPLE TIME TO PREPARE YOUR WORK AND ASK QUESTIONS

GRADING & GRADES•GRADING RUBRIC• 30 POINTS (15 POINTS EACH) – TRENDS

ASSESSMENT, SUBJECT ANALYSIS• 20 POINTS - CLASS PARTICIPATION• 30 POINTS - FINAL PROJECT• 20 POINTS – QUIZZES (2 TOTAL

• GRADING – A, A-, B+, B, B-, C, AND F. THERE ARE NO GRADES OF C+, C-, OR D.

THE COURSE AHEAD• WEEK 1: COURSE REVIEW, THE ADVENT OF DIGITAL

COMMUNICATIONS AND HOW THEY RELATE TO TRADITIONAL MARKETING AND PR TACTICS. • WEEK 2: ONLINE AUTOPSY – WHAT ARE THEY SAYING

ABOUT YOU • PRACTICAL CAPABILITY – THE CONVERSATION AUDIT

• WEEK 3: EMAIL RULES• PRACTICAL CAPABILITY: EMAIL PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS

THE COURSE AHEAD (CON’T)• WEEK 4: STICKY WEBSITES AND BLOGS• GUEST SPEAKER: JOHN HLINKO, CNN/FOX PUNDIT, AUTHOR

OF "SHARE, RETWEET, REPEAT: GET YOUR MESSAGE READ AND SPREAD"• PRACTICAL CAPABILITY – THE WEBSITE AUDIT AND THE

CREATIVE BRIEF• WEEK 5: CRISIS: PLAN, PREP AND REACT • GUEST LECTURER: DAN WEBBER, SVP CRISIS

COMMUNICATIONS, EDELMAN • WEEK 6: SEARCH VS BROWSE: WIKI, GOOGLE &

AMAZON• PRACTICAL CAPABILITY: PAID MEDIA PLANNING

THE COURSE AHEAD (CON’T)• WEEK 7: CONTENT: FROM WORDS & VIDEO TO IMAGES

& AUDIO • GUEST SPEAKER: CHRIS WALKER, AVP SOCIAL MEDIA

OUTREACH & COMMUNICATIONS, AMERICAN KENNEL CLUB• PRACTICAL CAPABILITY – CONTENT CREATION PLAN

• WEEK 8: MOBILE• WEEK 9: NEWS MEDIA: PAID, EARNED, OWNED AND

HYBRID• GUEST SPEAKER: DAVID ALMACY, FORMER WHITE HOUSE

INTERNET AND E-COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR UNDER PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH• PRACTICAL CAPABILITY: INTEGRATED EARNED MEDIA PITCH

PREPARATION

THE COURSE AHEAD (CON’T)

• WEEK 10: COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT • PRACTICAL CAPABILITY: COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT PLAN

• WEEK 11: SOCIAL MEDIA ROI• WEEK 12: FINAL PROJECTS

FUNDAMENTAL CAPABILITIES• THE CONVERSATION AUDIT• EMAIL PERFORMANCE

REPORT & ANALYSIS• WEBSITE AUDIT• CREATIVE BRIEF• PAID MEDIA PLANNING

• CONTENT CREATION PLAN• INTEGRATED EARNED

MEDIA PITCH PREP• COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT

PLAN• DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS

PLAN

ADVENT OF THE INTERNET• 1962 – THE WORD “INTERNET” DIDN’T EXIST. THE WORLD’S 10,000

COMPUTERS ARE PRIMITIVE, ALTHOUGH THEY COST HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS. THEY HAVE ONLY A FEW THOUSAND WORDS OF MAGNETIC CORE MEMORY, AND PROGRAMMING THEM IS FAR FROM EASY.

• 1966 – THE ADVANCED RESEARCH PROJECTS AGENCY (ARPA) OF THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE, A FUTURE-ORIENTED FUNDER OF ‘HIGH-RISK, HIGH-GAIN’ RESEARCH, LAYS THE GROUNDWORK FOR WHAT BECOMES THE ARPANET AND, MUCH LATER, THE INTERNET.

• 1973 – DR. BOB KAHN ENLISTS DR. VINT CERF (FORMER STANFORD PROFESSOR) TO ARPA, THEY SET ABOUT DESIGNING A NET-TO-NET CONNECTION PROTOCOL. IN SEPTEMBER 1973, THE TWO GIVE THEIR FIRST PAPER ON THE NEW TRANSMISSION CONTROL PROTOCOL (TCP)

ADVENT OF THE INTERNET• 1981 – FIRST IBM PC TO MARKET• 1985 – MICROSOFT WINDOWS• 1989 – TIM BERNERS-LEE, ENGLISH PROGRAMMER CREATES THE WEB• 1990 – MICROSOFT WINDOWS 3.0 • 1991 – FIRST WEBSITE CREATED, APPROX. 50 TOTAL – ONE PAGERS• 1992 – FIRST BROWSER, MOSAIC (NETSCAPE NAVIGATOR), MARC ANDREESSEN &

ERIC BINA• 1995 – NETSCAPE WENT PUBLIC – LATER BOUGHT BY AOL FOR $4 BILLION IN 1999• 1995 – WINDOWS 95 WITH INTERNET EXPLORER

HISTORY OF THE INTERNET

TACTICSSTRATEGYvs.

BY DEFINITION

• STRATEGY: A PRUDENT IDEA OR SET OF IDEAS FOR EMPLOYING THE INSTRUMENTS OF NATIONAL POWER IN A SYNCHRONIZED AND INTEGRATED FASHION TO ACHIEVE THEATER, NATIONAL, AND/OR MULTINATIONAL OBJECTIVES.

“BUT WHY?”• TACTICS DEFINE WHAT WE DO

• STRATEGY DEFINES WHY WE DO IT

SO WHAT’S STRATEGY?1. AN INSIGHT OR RECOGNITION OF AN

OPPORTUNITY TO ACHIEVE A DESIRED GOAL.2. A FRAMEWORK THAT ALLOWS TACTICS TO BE

DEPLOYED, BASED ON CIRCUMSTANCE, TOWARD AN AGREED UPON END.

3. A STRUCTURE FOR DECISION MAKING TOWARD AN END GOAL.

4. A LENS OR FILTER TO ENSURE YOU’RE ON THE RIGHT PATH.

WHAT’S NOT STRATEGY?

THE DEPLOYMENT OF TACTICS WITHOUT PROPER EVALUATION OF THEIR LIKELIHOOD OF SUCCESS AGAINST THE END GOAL.

WHAT IS A STRATEGY?WHAT IS A TACTIC?

GoalAudienceInsightsStrategyTactics

GoalAudienceInsightsStrategyTactics

How will you know you’ve succeeded?

SITUATIONAL NEED

GoalAudienceInsightsStrategyTactics

Who is essential to achieving your goal?

GoalAudienceInsightsStrategyTactics

Why would the audience take action?

GoalAudienceInsightsStrategyTactics

How should you get to the goal?

GoalAudienceInsightsStrategyTactics

What will you do to bring the strategy to life?

MEASUREMENT

STRATEGY IS ALWAYS:About how : a directional approach

to achieving the goal

Derived from research, insights, knowledge and experience

Developed BEFORE tactics

Tied directly to the goal

TACTICS ARE ALWAYS:About what: specific activities that

will be undertakenDeveloped from the strategy, goal,

audience and tactical research

Attached to budget, timing, details

Tied directly to the strategy

FOR EXAMPLE…

Just say…You want to marry Ryan Gosling.

Ignore him.

Date his friend.

PLAY HARD TO GET

“I like girls that are a challenge…”

UPGRADE A FRIENDSHIP

“I can’t be romantic with a girl unless we’re friends first”

Find a common interest.

Buy him ice cream.

Tactics seem right if they drive towards the goal, but if they don’t align with strategy, they are absolutely not.

BE FIERCELY PROTECTIVEof strategyBE FLEXIBLEaround tactical ideasBE RIGOROUSaround tactical execution

You too, can marry Ryan Gosling.

EXERCISE• CREATE A DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS PLAN FOR YOUR HIRING ANNOUNCEMENT

• GROUP 1 – AARP PUBLIC POLICY INSTITUTE, DIRECTOR, COMMUNICATIONS (ASSOCIATION)• GROUP 2 – PEPPERIDGE FARM, DIRECTOR COMMUNICATIONS (BAKERY/MANUFACTURING)• GROUP 3 – CAPITAL ONE, SENIOR COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER (BANKING/FINANCE)• GROUP 4 – CVS, DIRECTOR CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS (RETAIL/PHARMACY)

• GOAL• INSIGHT• AUDIENCE• STRATEGY• TACTICS

ASSIGNMENT FOR NEXT CLASS

• READ CHAPTER(S) 1, 2 AND 5 IN THE SOCIAL MEDIA BIBLE• ROUTINE READING (2-3 TIMES PER WEEK) FROM THE LIST OF SOCIAL MEDIA

SOURCES LISTED IN THE SYLLABUS• SIGN UP FOR TREND ASSESSMENT PRESENTATION (IF YOU HAVEN’T ALREADY

DONE SO).