Social Media 101 with Kyle Snarr

One of the great things about working at the University of Utah (and there are many) is the collaboration between professionals within the campus environment. Mark Woodland in University Communications oversees a monthly Communications Council. Communications practitioners from around the campus come together to discuss experiences and learn new things.

Today, we had the opportunity to get a Social Media 101 from Kyle Snarr, director of new business at StruckAxiom. Here's a recap -- with my own editorial comments! -- of Kyle's 101:

These "one oh one" sessions tend to still start by asking "Why Social Media?" You know I find this question very "2009" and the question should be "how can I effectively use these tools?" But, Kyle clearly laid out some more "why" fodder:

- Marketing is about relationships. Social media is about tools that facilitate building relationships. And, as we know, these are different types of relationships. These tools enable us to create two-way interactions with our constituents, enable us to demonstrate that the people who make up our organizations are just like -- or connected to -- our constituents and patrons. Or, as Kyle quoted Zappos.com CEO Tony Hsieh, these tools enable us to "be one with the customers." (If you don't want to be one with your customers, well, that is another issue altogether.)

- According to research Kyle shared, currently

• 78% of consumers trust recommendations on products, services, and "things to do" from their peers.
• 14% trust traditional advertising and media.

In other words, content generated by users and known peers outweighs organizational messaging by a factor of five. If we limit our organizational marketing and pr to traditional self-generated content, we are speaking to only a share of the audience.

- The social media conversion isn't about the tools, but about the ways in which people (consumers, constituents, citizens) seek and share information. According to Kyle's data, "in the near future, we won't search for products and services -- they will find us."

So, if you believe that the entire supply chain is changing to "on demand", then it is incumbent upon communication practitioners within non-profit organizations to build a social media/new media channel that finds our potential visitors, constituents, members and donors. That is a game changer.

So, when you make the leap from "why" to "how", the next step is building the social media mix that is right for your organization, your objectives, your constituents or audience, and your desired outcomes.

Kyle stressed: In building your right social media mix, know where your customers are, and invest in the tools that you will actually use. And use frequently.

Now to Kyle's Top Six Rules of Social Media:

#1 Focus on the customers. Social media provides an unprecedented opportunity to connect the people of your organization with your public. Kyle gave a great case study of Zappos.com, a powerful online retailer who started selling shoes and has recently expanded other products to their now loyal customer base.

Tony Hsieh encourages -- uh, expects? -- his employees to actively participate in social media. He is an active Twitter user (@zappos), encouraging them to Twitter personally. They even go so far as to link a combined Twitter feed of all Zappos employees on their company website. Why? Because Hsieh believes that at Zappos, they staff need to "be one with the customers". Using Twitter, they can demonstrate that Zappos is run by real people, people with common interest and values as the customer base.

It would be interesting to know more about how Zappos manages their brand and corporate identity through the individual online identities of their staff. But the point it: use social media to create personal connections with your customers.

#2 Be the Authentic You Social media tools are not a place to push one sided (however well intended) organizational messages. It's about personal connections. And, in order to do that, you must be real.

Kyle gave a great example of how Shaquille O'Neal uses Twitter (@The_Real_Shaq) in an authentic way, all the way to calling for a "Tweet up" recently in Portland. StruckAxiom has an office in Portland. The team in Salt Lake saw the Tweet, notified their colleagues in Portland, and, within minutes, the Portland folks were hanging out with "the Real Shaq". What relevance does that have for non-profits in our community? Well, think about the potential to authentically connect with our audience...

#3 Deliver valuable content We've talked about this before -- social media is NOT a place for rehashing press releases. But has non-profits we have all sorts of content, information, expertise and perspective that can be valuable to our audience. Don't think so? Well, we at least have coupons...

Kyle gave some celebrity and for-profit world examples of valuable content delivered via social media: Tony Hawk using Twitter to give clues to signed skateboards hidden around local communities; Amazon.com (@ GoldBox) and Whole Foods (@WholefoodSync) offering specials to Twitter followers; and a local community of BrunchBox in Portland offering lunch specials to customers.

#4 Engage in the conversation Social media is, by its nature, two-way. If people are talking about your organization, content, programs or service within social media, join the conversation!

Kyle gave a great personal example of Tweeting about his enthusiasm for Tillamook Merry Berry High ice cream that he just purchased at Winco. Within minutes, he had a response from @TillamookCheese and was in conversation about his love of their product. His assessment? The conversation with Tillamook was personal, relevant, not trying to sell anything, and fun! The interaction left Kyle with increased enthusiasm to talk more about their product. (And, now I'm sending my husband to Winco this week to check out that Merry Berry ice cream!)

Whether you know it or not, there are people talking about you right now. Do you know what they are saying? Are you participating in the conversation?

#5 Plan for a Challenge (or Two) "Expect the unexpected." The case study Kyle gave here was what happens when your YouTube video hits the right (random) set of users who then send if viral. That was interesting, but I was hoping that he would talk about what happens when you are challenged -- or get negative feedback -- via social media.

The fear of the negative, or the uncontrollable, seems to be a large barrier for practitioners jumping into social media. But Kyle didn't address that in this session.

#6 Put in Your Time Of course, this is the other large barrier: How much time will it take? Who will do it?? This is especially relevant to non-profit organizations that are already overworked, understaffed and under resourced.

Kyle's point was that, if you are going have a social media mix, you have to be active and persistent in it. He gave the example of Comcast who has a Twitter page under @comcastcares. A recent check of their activity is, ahem, 33,201 Twitter updates. Now that's active.

Our @UMNH team plans out the types of things that will need social media coverage for the week so that we have a reason to post something about 4 - 6 times per week. Then, one of us (there are two of us who are active) will spend about an additional 10 - 15 minutes scanning what's in our feed: anything we can "retweet" from other local cultural organizations or any national natural science institutions that we follow? Anything that a user has posted that we need to respond to? Anything mentions or retweets of our content that we need to thank people for?? All in all, it's not a huge amount of time, but we do need to be consistent on asking ourselves "What should we be posting about this week?"...

So that's my take on Kyle's Six Rules of Social Media. He closed with some advice on building your own social media action plan:

• Find your right social media mix: things you will actually use and use frequently!
• Outline your objectives
• Define your audience
• Be authentic
• Engage
• Go for it! Every day you wait, hurts. Test some things out personally and do what you like!
  

Thanks, Kyle!

Social Media Marketing: Hype or Ripe?

I am honored to be part of a panel of local social media practicioners tomorrow hosted by the Utah Society of Fundraisers. The subject of the panel discussion is "Social Media Marketing: Is it hype or is it ripe?".

The event organizers, in true Web 2.0 form, conducted a pre-event survey in which attendees posed questions that they hope are addressed. In preparation for the discussion, I took some time tonight to think through these questions.

Remember, I'm approaching social and new media from a marketing perspective only, specifically in how to increase the awareness of, connection to and attendance at the museum where I work. We have not begun to experiment with fundraising through social media tools.

And, now to the questions:

#1: Is social media marketing hype or ripe? While the attention around social media tends to rest on individual tools ('who will win? Facebook or Twitter??') that is not really what it is all about. Social media is an emerging and evolving way of connecting to and gathering information. Bottom line.

While there is always plenty of hype around the tools, they will change, evolve, disappear and new ones will appear. But this new way of searching for and sharing information won't go away. And it provides an unprecedented opportunity for non-profit organizations to put a human and timely face on our work and mission.

#2: Should my organization get started in social media? As practicioners, we have to sift through the "hype" vs. the "ripe". But the question is not "Should my organization be active in social media?", but rather:

• How should we be active?
  
• What tools are my audience using?
  
• How can my organization establish a meaningful presence within those key tools to meet our audience engagement objectives?

#3: Is it worth it? Well, I guess that depends on what your foresee in your crystal ball about the future of communications. Again, social media is not about Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Reddit, FriendFeed, etc. It's about the way we as humans gather, search for and share information. It's about where we look for authoritative answers (remember the 6:00 news and the encyclopedia?). And it's about the time frame in which we expect to get that information (remember reading the morning Wall Street Journal to see how your stocks did the day before?)

In a world in which information is talked about in terms of "on demand", "why wait?", and "crowd sourcing", I can't believe that ANY targeted investment of time and attention within some aspect of new media isn't worth it.

#4: What am I getting into? Because social media has grown out of both the technology sector and youth culture, it is very "buzz word" heavy. You can feel like Alice stepping through the looking glass with all the acronyms and fabricated words coming at you from every direction. Don't panic. What makes social media addictive is the social part, not the technology. Find your place. Find your voice. Focus on the people. Don't feel that you must understand it all.

And don't be afraid to ask, "What, exactly, is a widget?," or whatever buzz word is being flung around. You'll find most people know by doing or what they see, not so much having a deep technical grasp. You can build a social media presence long before you must really have to know much about the technology and application layers behind the media.

#5: Should we be active in social media if we can't do it right? The thing is, I don't thing you can "do social media right" until you are active in it. And I don't think an organization needs to do a lot of intensive evaluation and planning, then launch a multi-channel social media campaign hitting all cylinders in all channels at the same time. That is fine for corporations with significant resources. But the opportunity in social media for non-profits is to put a human face on what we do. And that tends to be organic. And organic can start small and see what "sticks".

You can't determine what "doing it right" is for your organization until you:

• are familiar with how the individual tools work, and have established a certain level of confidence in putting forth your message in a natural, human, social way
• have found out where your known and not previously known audience resides in social media. Not all the tools will work for your organization in equal ways.
• experiment with putting forth your content, messages, activities in different ways, and have gotten feedback or responses (or lack of it!) from your audience.
  

#6: What IS right, anyway?? Hmmm, good question and one I work on every day. There are many ways to measure "right":

• number of "fans" or "followers"
• posting quality on your Facebook page
• web and blog traffic,
  
• analytics on your site, on online campaigns, etc.
• responses to invitations
• click through rates on email and ad campaigns
• attendance at events promoted through social media
• "mentions" or links to your site from others

And there are new tools emerging all the time to increase the quantitative "rightness" of your social media program.

Certainly, once you have built your confidence and are ready to be active in social media as an organization, you will want to strive to get to a critical mass of fans, followers, and/or traffic. But I don't think size, volume or quantitative analysis should take priority in (a) getting started or (b) determining if you have it "right".

You need to determine what "right" means to your organization based upon:

• how you see your audience present in the tools
• how you see your activities with the tools enabling you to meet your overall objectives
• how your audience is engaging with you via the tools

Here's a new question for you to consider: Have social media tools increased the constituent voice in your organization?

#7: How do we resource it? Mmmm, another good one, one we are working on all the time. I've seen some good charts that prioritize, "If you have one hour a week then spend it this way. If you have ten, then add these items." But since "right" starts with your objectives and your audience, I think you ultimately need to determine how much time you have to give it and what your priorities should be.

You need to figure out what social media replaces, what resources are going to one or two outdated forms of communication. Again, goes back to your audience, how you traditionally have reached them, how social media tools help you reach them more effectively and give them a voice back to your organization.

We used to communicate our programming primarily through a quarterly events calendar/brochure. It was published about 60 days before the first event. We didn't have any tools to send more targeted -- or more timely -- messages as we got closer to the events, as classes filled or were still available, or to respond to opportunities that arose after the brochure was printed. For us, investing in a suite of social and new media tools -- from our website and email program, to Facebook and Twitter -- has enabled us to promote and offer promotions in "real time".

We don't print very much anymore. And when we do, we print to catch attention but use our website to fill in the blanks. And by growing our email list and social media tools, we can add things, offer special promotions on classes that don't fill. So, to a large extent, we've resourced social media by behaving differently.

Social media also allows you to take communications out of the marketing department and create multiple points of access throughout the organization. Honestly, the first response to this vision has been, "What? You want me to do that too??" so I don't know that we've institutionalized social media in the way I envision. But we are working on it. I've found a couple of people who are catching the bug. And people have responded differently to different tools. Our curators are realizing that the blog is a great way to get a science message out. Our top-rated video on our YouTube channel was created by our education team on their own. And our PR specialist is becoming my Twitter-partner-in-crime.

My question: Are we having fun yet? Call me a geek, but social media at it's core is fun. To find how social media tools can put a human face on your organization, have fun with it. This is not your organizational website or a brochure. This is inviting people into what is happening, showing them the people or the subject matter or the concern or the human service need. This is emotional. This is social media.

For me the fun of social media is learning in public, along with the exchange with my audience and colleagues. There are many people who follow me because they want to watch me learn, experiment and fall flat on my face sometimes! And I learn from others. I follow some excellent blogs about using social media in non-profits and in museums (see the link on this site). And, I follow some great local social media practioners who are "doing it right" such as, in Twitter, Utah's Hogle Zoo, Girl Scouts CEO, Clark Planetarium, Visit Salt Lake (SLCVB) to name a few. In Facebook, Jerry Rapier from Plan-B Theater Company, SLC Councilman Carlton Christensen (when campaigning especially).

Any more questions?

Why should I be active in social media personally?

Last week, I participated in a class offered by the University of Utah Continuing Education Professional Education on Social Media. It was an introductory class taught by Brian Seethaler, and covered a lot of ground. It was interesting to get a sense of the many "on ramps" people have to the concept of social media, everywhere from "I get social media personally, but need to figure out how to make it work for my organization", to "I am incredibly uncomfortable with blurring the lines between personal and professional" to "I hate it and feel that it is being forced upon me."

I continue to be convinced that the many tools and technologies that are grouped into "social media" are an unprecedented opportunity for non-profits. As Brian said in class, as communicators we are responsible for putting a face on our organizations. Social media allows us to do that in new, leveragable, searchable, and, well, social ways! And, it provides us with tools to listen.

We are leading our organizations into the complex world of new communications tools. But to leverage the opportunities presented by digital communications and social media, we -- and the organizations we work with -- must decide if we accept a few basic premises:

1. Social media: It's here and it's real.

The numbers of users behind the "Big Five of Social Media" are phenomenal. I had spent a good year learning about my organization's website and how users were interacting with it. But when I realized Facebook reached 10 times the constituents in my community every day than those who visited my website in a month, it was time to go where the people are!

Now, I didn't know if the people on Facebook were the same people who are most likely to visit the museum, but I went in search of them. Not sure of the adoption rate of new technologies by your constituents? Then find out! There are many ways to learn and test if communicating through the primary social media tools is an effective way of showing up where your constituents -- or most likely to become your constituents -- are already spending time.

2. It's all about self-publishing.

Rather than waiting for someone else to write about your organization, project, product, service, whatever, digital communications and social media tools have put the publishing and distribution of information about your organization into your own hands.

People frequently ask, "Where do you find the time to manage social media tools?" For me, it's not about adding something to the mix, but the fact that digital communications has changed the way in which we reach out and connect with our audience. One of the fundamental changes is that we can self-publish -- and our audience can respond, tell us what they think, contribute to our program and content development directly!

And we are able to comment and participate in other people's content, so our ability to publish now extends beyond our own organizational literature.

3. It's all about distributing content and leveraging our work.

Another response to the "where do you find the time question" is the efficiencies that digital communications can bring. Content can be used in multiple places to reach different audiences in different ways. Content can be "pushed" to users who are already committed and subscribe to what you stand for. The same content is then available for those who "stumble upon" what you've created. And, the same content can be repurposed and "Tweeted" (via Twitter) in order to proactively recruit new users and supporters. The same content can be leveraged to reach different people in different ways.

In my volunteer life, I work with a small organization who for years, decades perhaps, has produced a monthly newsletter. Yet, the prevailing sense in the organization is that the newsletter is not effective in letting members know what is happening. Perhaps we should print it differently, someone asks. Perhaps we should use color in the masthead, someone else suggests. Perhaps we should get rid of it altogether, someone brazenly puts forth!

But what if we thought differently about the content? What if, instead of seeing the newsletter as a document with a start, middle, and end and a monthly deadline, we encouraged the various contributors to submit content, which was then distributed in ways that real constituents choose. Perhaps the director's letter went out at the first of each month in an email to members and then was posted on the website as a welcome to new visitors. Perhaps the event-related notices could be distributed via handouts, an easy web calendar to which members could subscribe, and as events within the prominent social networks. Perhaps the more contemplative articles could be distributed as a blog so that members (in the broadest sense of the word) could respond and comment both to the author and to one another. And, maybe, at the end of the month, the entire thing could be printed and photocopied and mailed to that group of people who appreciate reading it in hard copy format.

Same content, redistributed in ways that the appeal to the audience, vs. one-directional tools that leave the organization with a sense of "people aren't listening to what we have to say." Same work, different way of putting it out there. And maybe a little more listening along the way.

4. It's all about optimization and search!

Ask yourself: When you want to "know" something, check a fact, find out if something exists near you, etc., what do YOU do?? The phone book? The newspaper? Well, maybe, but chances are you turn to a search engine. You Google it.

At some point we must accept that as professional communicators, it is our job to position our organization in ways that "optimizes the search". I know, ugly term. Sounds like an unwanted medical procedure. But we must be realistic: if someone is looking for what I have to offer, but doesn't know about me, how can I anticipate their search so that they find me?

And, if that is our job, to come up in the "Google Golden Triangle", then social media and digital communications are the tools to helping us build our search optimization. How, you ask? Well, that's where you call technical experts. But if you believe that search is the word, then you must be proactively learning, participating and playing in the digital and social arena.

5. It's about owning your primary content.

And about building a larger body of work so that your constituents can learn your story -- and respond to and participate in it -- within a variety of ways. It's not dependent on them hearing or seeing information presented in one way, but being able to choose, find, search for, stumble upon, share, promote, and comment on your content when and where they want it. Your content available upon the command of their time and interest.

So, really it's about are you ready to be willing to give up the way you have done things in the past and experiment with ways that enable you to meet your audience where they are, in ways that they are choosing to find information.

Is it more complex? Yes, very, and takes a willingness for trial and improvement, for learning as you go.

Is it more time consuming? Well, I think it is getting more, much more, out of the time that organizations already invest in legacy communications tools.

Is it more effective? You will find out over time because in social media (a) everything is trackable and (b) your audience has the opportunity to weigh in. They can comment, click, follow or "unfollow", share, recommend, a whole host of ways for you, as the communications practitioner, to develop ways to measure the effectiveness of your efforts.

Based upon these assumptions, that is why I made the commitment to lay aside judgment and become proficient -- comfortable -- in social media. I'm interested in hearing what you think!

What do you want to accomplish?

Those are becoming my magic words: What do you want to accomplish??

The more time I'm spending in non-profit management, the more I realize that those of us working where our passion is as important to the job as our skills, can often get caught up in ideas and solutions without taking the time to identify what it is that needs to be accomplished.

Yesterday I had the privilege of meeting with two dynamic women who have recently stepped in as fund raisers for an organization in which they believe heartily! Listening to them discuss how they are getting their arms around a busy development and marketing function, I heard in them what I often hear in my own passions. How often do I get stirred up by what I think the organization, the team, the situation needs, without stopping to listen to what it is the organization has identified as "the job".

As fund and audience development leaders, it is critical that we get the managing leaders of our organizations (be it boards or executive directors) to articulate what it is that needs to be accomplished in the long run. This is usually called the Vision and the Strategic Plan. It is the fiduciary responsibility of the organizations leadership to always be operating within the framework of a vital, responsive, relevant strategic plan.

Ideas, brainstorm, and all the other "out of the box" discussions only have value for me if they are generated within the context of a believable and accepted Strategic Plan.

Guess this doesn't have much to do about Social Media, but felt necessary given the great amount of good people in our community working hard to raise funds, bringing to the table many great efforts, but that are not necessarily working within the framework -- and protection -- of a good strategic plan.

Twitter in 15 minutes

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

Twitter in 15 minutes

View more presentations from Sarah Evans.

What was your first Twitter?

In "Beth's Blog", Beth Kanter comments on Twitter's 3rd Anniversary and asks, "What was your first Twitter?"

Mine was "Janet Frasier is glad I finally learned to spell inauguration!"
7:55 AM Jan 20th from web

I first heard about Twitter on NPR's TechNation in 2007. I thought to myself, "Okay, that's it. This tech thing has gone too far. These people need to get a life." Well, here I am. Twitter has taken off -- and perhaps peaked!

But it was on Inauguration Day 2009. I was watching the gathering of the millions on the Mall, knowing that a half of dozen friends were there. I wanted to be a part of it! I wanted to be connected with them right then, right now! Jumping on Facebook on Election Night last November was so fun -- watching status comments updating literally every second as Facebook friends were reacting to the election results! It was truly "being a part of something bigger".

So, knowing it was too late to connect with friends on Inauguration Day, I activated my Twitter account, made the commitment to "find my voice", and I'm ready for the next big thing! Next time, I'll have a front row Twitter seat!!

Oh, and the Utah Museum of Natural History's first Twitter was:
UMNH is getting ready for "The Great Tennessee Monkey Trial at Kingsbury Hall
7:48 PM Jan 24th from web
Not so interesting, really....

What was your first Twitter??

Be yourself. But not completely!

I just added a new blog I'm tracking called "Social Media School". Take a look at it. It is full of content, maybe too much. It leads one to believe that everyone, and I mean everyone, is racing into social media and quickly trying to understand it. In fact, the blog likens the rush into social media to the rush of Dust Bowl refugees to the west in the "Grapes of Wrath". It is good to remember what the Joad family found when they got to the Promise Land.

I'm far from a "pacesetter" or even "early adopter", but even I, when encountering signals of the "Social Media Rush" say to myself, "oh, now it is ruined!" What is great about social media is that it is, well, social! It's personal. The more corporations and organizations rush into capitalize on it (and, the more the tools strive to monetize it), the less appealing it is in it's primary function: to create personal connections. (I'll save that for another day...)

But what do we need to consider in using social media to create personal connections between our non-profit organization and our constituents? In creating personal connections between constituents??

1. Keep it personal! A fund-raising mentor of mine once said, "Good development efforts build intimacy." As the communications and fund-raising arms of our organizations, it is our job to bring the outside in, to make apparent the heart of an organization, the vision of the organization, and the needs that, if met, can help our heart and vision impact the community.

What excites me about social media is the amazing potential to draw constituents into the heart and vision of the organization in so many easy, non-threatening and, well, personal ways. Never have we had at our disposal a tool that can reach out in quick, brief ways that require so little effort on our part. Sure there is clutter, noise, competition to our message. Sure, we are only reaching those constituents who are already active in social media (subject for another day). But never before have we had this type of tool!

It is our job to create relevant content that catches the constituents attention. But in the social media space you must keep it personal. In every Facebook group, update, e-news blast and Tweet, I strive to express that the Utah Museum of Natural History is "real people living, breathing, committed to our vision, and here to serve YOU". We'll see how all that plays out, but I'm committed to not treating these tools as "commercials" or "corporate messaging". I'm committed to figuring out how to use these tools to facilitate dialogue and "build intimacy".

2. It's personal, but it's not completely YOU! As Tevya said, "on the other hand"...as you explore, experiment, and expand your efforts in social media, remember, YOU are part of your organizational brand. The YOU in social media must support, uplift, and reinforce the meaning and integrity of your brand.

I have been quite cavalier in encouraging people to just "get in there and try it out, find your voice". But you must also proceed with caution. You may have to refrain from supporting certain causes, joining certain groups, permitting followers that are potentially harmful to your brand.

And, for Pete's sake, remember that whatever you DO say is public. PUBLIC! Recorded. Searchable! So think about it!! If you are in the public arena, no matter what your personal politics, it may be unwise for your brand -- even your personal brand -- to join the "Get Rid of the State Senator" or slam the extractive energy companies on your wall if you are ever, EVER!, going to be in a position to ask for support from those organizations.

Wow! Did I just say that out loud? That is the fine line that most non-profit organizations -- well, people -- find themselves toeing in the crazy world of public administration. For more on this discussion, check out this recent entry on "censorship" on Social Media Today: socialmediatoday.com

Bottom line:

• find your organization's voice in social media as a way to expand your mission
  
• be knowledgeable about the parameters and liabilities of the media tools
  
• leverage the spirit of the media to its unique potential
• but remember that you are the brand when it comes to social media!