Social Media 101

using the social web to build your online toolkit

Aerin GuyNetworking in the North

ODENOctober 22, 2009

i think we should hold hands and

watch this together

•http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVXKI506w-E

agenda• Intros and welcome

• Overview of the Social Web

• Basics

• Strategy

• Goals/Tools

• Case Studies

• Building Capacity

Aerin Guy

•Director of Communications: Wellesley Institute

• a proud Saskatonian and newbie Ontarian

• background in communications, marketing, education and technology

Text

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?

Look familiar?

• It’s a crowded, noisy net

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

social media •social media refers to the tools we

use to communicate in a wired world

•also refers to the online content we create

•also known as web 2.0 (and 3.0 with greater networking tools and collaborative capabilities)

shift•represents a shift in how people

discover, read, and share news and information; supports human need for interaction

•transforms “broadcast” methods into “dialogues”

•democratization of information -content consumers to content producers WIKIPEDIA

community

community•today’s social media is about

community

•communities of practice

•communities of shared interests

•communities solving problems

•tomorrow’s social media....that’s literally 24 hours away

Powerful stuff

what does social media mean to you?

•social networking through Facebook, Twitter, Friendfeed, LinkedIn, other communities

•participating in the marketplace (reading reviews, commenting, feedback)

•e-commerce

•work

•research

what about your organization?

•where is your audience?

•demographics

•website

•internal communications (email, intranet)

search exercise

•Imagine that you are someone else who is looking for information on your organization. Write down the types of search you would perform. What keywords would you use? Where would you check?

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 and

connections, 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

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

twitter• create conversations on your core topics

• build credibility by tweeting relevant, useful stuff

• up to the minute monitoring of topics, initiatives

• collect resources for your growing toolkit

• network with key people

• connect with new audiences

feeds & readers• 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=0klgLsSxGs

U

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

• 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

• http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Wellesley-Institute/55488522490?sid=da64bdccc49ad30528a8c1975c45f5fa&ref=s

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

goals• list building

• galvanizing support

• education

• loyalty

• exposing

• dissemination

• changing minds/attitudes

• recruitment

• fundraising

• motivation

• organize

• connecting people

goals

•what are the goals of your audience/community?

•let’s come up with some

alignment

•alignment between your organizational goals and your audience’s goals can signal appropriate opportunities to use social media

for example

•Wellesley Institute goals include influencing housing policy

•disseminating research

•redesigning our website

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

building community•House Social Network

• social networking community built on a nonprofit’s own website

•www.thehomelesshub.ca

•Commercial Social Network

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

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”

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!

•measured through Google Analytics

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

• rise in social purpose ventures

tck tck tck•The TCK TCK TCK campaign is

dedicated to building a movement to unite the world around solutions to the climate crisis

•http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBTZOg6l6cA

•2 million hits

•Blog Action Day (11,221 voices)

•tools for telling stories and “raising friends”

your website: design

•CFsites.org (simple, non-techy, free)

•doodlekit (free basic)

•grassroots.org (free hosting)

•wordpress.com (build a site/blog)

•ning.com

•weebly

your website: traffic

•google analytics

•Crazy Egg (heat mapping)

•Feedburner (feedburner@google.com) (tracks feeds)

•Hubspot website grader

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”

your website•help people find you

•share bar allows people to link your content to their networks

•built in to any website post

•RSS lets people subscribe to you (pull, not push)

social bookmarking

•delicious.com (tag, save, share, access anywhere)

•stumble upon (save faves, tag, follow, rate)

•sharein

•technorati - search and save blogs

market research•content aggregators help manage

your RSS feeds and save a lot of time dedicated for reading and research

•www.netvibes.com

•www.google.com/reader

•www.pageflakes.com

art, visuals etc

•investigate creative commons licensing

•easy search through Flickr or Google Images

managing events

•Free event hosting at eventfull.com

•even better at eventbrite

•really good at meetup.com

•Facebook events

wiki

•an online space for collaboration

•www.wellesleyinstitute.wikispaces.com

think about•how much time you can afford to

dedicate to social media efforts

•cost effective, but time consuming

•measure and analyze, like any other strategy

•calculate ROI though www.frogloop.com

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.

try!•as I always say...lather, rinse,

repeat!

How-to.....• Set up a twitter account

• Set up a ning page

where will you start?

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!)