Creating an Effective Real-Time Social Marketing Strategy March 18, 2014

# & @

#sandboxlunch

@arbys

@sandbox_digital

About Sandbox

Digital agency with an emphasis on creating content & experiences that connect customers with brands

Who am I? Began in digital in late ‘90s Started User Experience & Research practice at Spunlogic/Engauge On brand side for 6 years @donovanpanone

Vision

Year One Tenets

Developing a Social Strategy

Developing a Social Strategy

Who – Clearly define social audience segments – What are their needs & passions?

– Social behaviors & tendencies

– What action do we want them to take?

Why – Company: What business result are you driving?

– Audience: WHY would they choose to interact with you?

What – Define a strategy that addresses the who & why – Content strategy

– UGC strategies

– Influencer strategy

– Proactive listening & “real-time” approach

Developing a Social Strategy

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Developing a Social Strategy

Where – Channel role & purpose

When – Day, time, timing between messages

How – Creative execution

– Consistent brand voice & tone

– Creative ways to tie content to the brand experience

– Provide value (utility, education, inspiration, education)

– 60 character rule

Developing a Social Strategy

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Listening: From Monitoring to Participating

Being Helpful

Opportunistic Conversations

Inspiring Content

Joining Brand Conversations

Listening for Brand Chatter

Evolution of Social Listening

Evolution of Social Listening

Creating an Effective Real-Time

Social Media Strategy

J o s h M a r t i n | @ J m a r t 7 3 0

S o c i a l M e d i a M a n a g e r @ A r b y s

Social Media Manager

• Responsible for activating the brand across social

media platforms

Prior to joining Arby’s, spent 4 years as a

social media strategist at a digital agency.

Clients included Chick-fil-A, The Hershey

Company, & Food Lion.

Husband. Dad. Golf addict. Sports nut.

Owner of 2 gray cats. Kennesaw State &

Middle Tennessee State alum.

About Me

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• Arby’s Social Media Strategy

• What is Real-Time Marketing?

• Real-Time Marketing at the Grammys

• How did Arby’s real-time marketing moment during

the Grammys happen?

• Real-Time Marketing at the Oscars

• Real-Time Marketing Tips

• Q&A

Agenda

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Arby’s Social Media Strategy

Be a best in class brand for

consumer engagement

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Social Media Object ive

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Engagement

Develop consumer centric content and programs

around our promotions

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Engagement

Create original content around consumer insights, topical

events, and cultural trends as they unfold

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Engagement

Continually monitor social conversation and respond/react in the voice and personality of the Arby’s brand

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Real-Time Marketing

What i s Real -Time Market ing?

Responding in a timely manner with content that’s

relevant to the interests of your target audience.

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1. Responding to a question

2. Providing customer support

3. Posting during a live event

RT Market ing Has Many Forms

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Responding to Quest ions

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Providing Customer Support

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Live Events

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Grammys

Pharrel l ’s Grammys Moment

On Sunday, January 26, 2014,

Singer-Songwriter Pharrell

Williams showed up on the

Grammys red carpet wearing

his Vintage Vivienne

Westwood Buffalo hat.

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Arby’s Grammys Moment

Noticing the similarity to Arby’s iconic Stetson logo and seizing

the opportunity to insert Arby’s into the pop-culture conversation

(soon to be a phenomenon), Arby’s decided to tweet @Pharrell.

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Grammys Results by the Numbers

83,085

Retweets

48,938

Favorites

6,000

New Twitter Followers

84,296,779

Daily Impressions

421

Total Media Placements

236

Broadcast Placements

181

Online Placements

4

Print Placements

Public

Relations

Social

Media Two Weeks of Results

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• Over 135K social media mentions

• Over 213 million social media impressions

• Brands jumped on the bandwagon, in real-time

Socia l Analys is | Summary

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Socia l Analys is | Summary

Top Emotion: Hilarious Entertainment

was a key factor in capturing this

audiences’ attention as they enjoyed

watching the interaction between

@Pharrell and @Arbys.

Top Terms: Pharrell, Grammys & Hat:

Consumers engaged in the conversation by

retweeting the conversation thread.

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How did this happen?

1. Social Media Listening

2. Timely Tweet

3. Drop the Microphone

Keys to RT Market ing Success for Arby’s

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I t a l l s tarted wi th soc ia l l i s ten ing

consumers

business

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We not iced our brand be ing ment ioned…

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and comparisons be ing made to our logo .

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• Social listening identified the opportunity for Arby’s to join the

#Grammys conversation

• Freedom & flexibility to respond in real-time

• Content was simple, to the point, & in the brand voice/tone

Timely Tweet

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Drop the Mic

• Once the tweet was posted & responses exploded:

– Suspended all pre-planned content

– Watched, Listened, Engaged

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Oscars

The Chal lenge

Not to be outdone, Pharrell put the hat up for auction on eBay

and tweeted @Arbys the following message.

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The Plan

With a premeditated plan of attack already in place, Arby’s

engaged by tweeting back to Pharrell to sustain the buzz and let

fans know Arby’s “may” be engaged in the bid for that hat.

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The Win

The close of the auction came during an opportune moment

in pop-culture: 8 p.m. ET on Sunday, March 2, 2014, right

before the start of The Academy Awards. In this moment,

Arby’s was successful in purchasing the hat for $44,100.

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The Win

While at the Oscars and upon the closing of the auction, Pharrell

sent out the following thank you message, not knowing the

identity of the winning bidder.

Arby’s responded to Pharrell to let him and the world know that

Arby’s was the winning bidder.

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Pharrel l ’s Ampli f icat ion

The next day Pharrell responded to Arby’s tweet and the

extensive coverage and interest from top-tier media continued.

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Oscars Results by the Numbers

Public

Relations

Social

Media

10,072

Retweets

7,500

Favorites

33,690,855

Daily Impressions

783

Total Media Placements

507

Broadcast Placements

258

Online Placements

18

Print Placements

Three Days of Results

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• Over 16K social media mentions

• Over 33 million social media

impressions

Socia l Analys is | Summary

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Real-Time Marketing Tips

1. Create a Listening Program

2. Build a Solid Foundation

3. Structure: People & Processes

4. Strategy & Preparation

5. Get it Right: Right Content, Right Context, Right

Platform

Tips for Real -Time Market ing

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Starts with Listening

• Impossible to read every tweet

• Need a system/process to find relevant info

• Priority should be your brand’s mentions

• Identify keywords that relate to your brand/products

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Before you do any posting, you should build a solid content strategy. Consider these key elements:

• Goals

• Audience type

• Brand voice / tone

• Frequency of content

• Channel strategy

• Benchmarks for success

Need a Sol id Foundation

“Develop a brand compass if you don’t already have one, and apply it to real-time marketing. Set the boundaries around what does and does not make sense for you to participate in, so that every time something is trending, the team isn’t asking: ‘Is this appropriate?’”

- Sabrina Caluori

VP Social Media & Performance Marketing at HBO

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Put the Right Structure in Place

• Empower your community

manager / social media team

• Establish guardrails & trust

• Develop an approval process

that allows content to be

posted without waiting a

significant time for approval

Before posting content, ask yourself:

1. Will this cause unneeded risk to the brand?

2. Could this impact the company or myself negatively?

3. Would I want my mother to read this?

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• Apply “War Room” technique everyday

– Being prepared for RTM at the Super Bowl is good, but being ready

everyday is even better

• Know what cultural moments are coming up & plan ahead

• Be flexible & able to quickly change your strategy

• Anticipate negative responses

– Preparedness helps mitigate risks, but brands must be ready for

anything

Strategy & Preparat ion

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• The right content, in the right context, and on the right

platform.

Get i t Right

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Questions?