Cultivating Brand Ambassadors through PR and social media engagement. Great brands are joined through fan engagement rather than just marketing. PR professionals engage consumers in conversations online and offline. Brands can become remarkable and break through clutter by engaging consumers in conversations on various social media platforms to build community, capital, and loyalty which leads to profits through advocacy and evangelism. Measuring social media engagement, brand awareness, customer satisfaction, and sales is important for continued engagement.
1. Cultivating Brand Ambassadors.
The role of PR and Social Media.
Heather Schoegler
Dir. of Community Engagement
Parkview Health
HSchoegler
ParkviewHealth
10. Community must be collaborative.
Marketing, PR, Social Media
Innovation
Customer Service
IT
Legal
HR
No One Person Owns
Engagement.
11. Community must be collaborative.
Working together creates a remarkable
service or product.
Being Remarkable
Creates Passion, which
Creates Brand Ambassadors.
12. Who determines the brand?
Consumers through their experience.
And their family, friends.
And your coworkers.
And suppliers, vendors.
The community at large.
13. How does a brand fit into a
community?
Openly embracing a fan mentality.
Put the power into the fan’s hands.
Join them first.
22. It’s not just about Social Media.
It is about PR fundamentals.
Behave online as you do offline.
Engage online as you do offline.
At Parkview, we strive for excellence
with every patient, every day and
[in every interaction, in every way.]
Do what you already do.
23. It’s not just about Social Media.
It is about PR fundamentals.
It is about conversations.
15% of consumer discussions happen online
16% of consumer discussion are inspired by TV
76% of consumer conversations happen face-to-face
Start convos
everywhere.
24. Know your options.
YouTube Google+
LinkedIn Pinterest
Twitter Facebook
InstagramTumblr
Be in the Conversation.
25. Know your options.
Twitter Facebook
-B2Consumer - B2Consumers
-Two-way Conversation - Community
Be in the Conversation.
32. Don’t try to control it.
Don’t sound like a press release.
Don’t over share.
Listen. Engage.
Know your audience; where they are.
Know your options.
Deepen the relationship.
Be in the Conversation.
33. Listen. Engage.
Monitor Listen
Conversations Engage
Be in the Conversation.
34. Listen. Engage.
@XboxSupport is the Guiness World
Record Holder for most responsive brand
on Twitter.
• 5,000 tweets/week
• 3-5 minute average response time
AT&T uses “cocktail” style conversation to
glean info from customers. Champions
users internally.
Be in the Conversation.
35. Know your audience; where they are.
Are your customers:
• Local
• National
• Global
If yes, who is where?
Be in the Conversation.
38. Celebrate your Brand Ambassadors.
Ambassador or Advocacy Program.
Focus Group.
VIP Opportunities. Exclusives.
Loyalty Program.
Member of the “team.”
Think Win-Win.
44. The rules:
1. Create a Pinterest board named,
“Vera Bradley Making Wishes Bright”.
2. Visit Vera Bradley’s Pinterest board
and pin the contest cover image from
ourPinterestboard onto yours.
3. Pin at least 10 Vera Bradley styles
from verabradley.comto your Making
Wishes Bright board.
4. When your board is complete, log on
verabradley.com/makingwishesbright
and share the url link to your board.
Good luck! We hope all your wishes
come true this season.
Contests.
56. Parkview Regional Medical Center
Social Media Tours
• 16 conversations through 55 tweets
• 12,057 witnesses
• 757 lists exposed
“I understand now that at every decision, the
patients and the community were considered.”
VIP Opportunities.
64. Parkview Health Parkview Huntington
6% 4%
5% 3%
3%
4%
Fall 2010 2% Fall 2010
3%
Summer 2011 2% Summer 2011
2% Fall 2012 Fall 2012
1%
1% 1%
0% 0%
Stregnth Sentiment Passion Reach Stregnth Sentiment Passion Reach
SocialMention.com
65. Don’t count your fans before they
hatch.
Starbucks
• 26 million fans
• 0.26% engagement rate
• 0.02% comments
Measuring.
66. Share of Voice (SOV)
= #brand mentions/total# of industry mentions
Social Media Engagement
= #Likes+#Shares+#Comments/#posts
Google Analytics Social Insights
Brand Awareness.
This presentation goes beyond just social media and will include high level strategy as well as low level tactics. It also introduces the importance of engagement in creating and deepening your relationship with brand ambassadors.
Most businesses agree that good brands are bought. In today’s world, those who allow others to “join” their brand will be great.
Most businesses agree that good brands are bought. In today’s world, those who allow others to “join” their brand will be great.
What makes a Brand memorable?Nielsen tested 2011 Superbowl ads for likeability and recall.The Top 3 liked ads, didn’t make Top 10 list for recall. Cute, funny, creative doesn’t always create brand connection.
You might wonder how to become remarkable though….
“Improved engagement creates business value and strategic differentiation.”“How to Engage Your Customers and Employees” in Harvard Business Review May 2012 by R. “Ray” Wang.
I like numbers, especially to back up beliefs. These numbers clearly support an emphasis on “engagement.”“How to Engage Your Customers and Employees” in Harvard Business Review May 2012 by R. “Ray” Wang.
How Parkview Health defines engagement and why we believe it’s critical to supporting our mission to improve the health of the communities we serve.
HOWIn all opportunities for community engagement, we’ll be making sure itAchieves our strategic goals for growthConnects the dots across marketing, clinical and business functions for optimal successTracks ROE to ensure that we are delivering on our growth goals
Deployment
Collaboration across the departments involved is pretty unique.That uniqueness operationally, can add to your remarkableness.You being remarkable is what people remember with fondness when they write your obituary.
WHY Engage?Old View = you own your brandNew View = consumers own your brand
Before you create your own community and try to get people to join it,Find out where your ambassadors are and join them there.
In a perfect world, we’d all like to think that loyalty = profits. Right?In my line of work, we would actually replace profits with health!However, most businesses struggle to find the balance between simply growing their customer base and cultivating devoted followers.“5 Ways to Convert Users and Clients into Loyal Advocates” in FastCompany.com by Lydia Dishman April 5, 2012
GOALS for Engagement“Stop MANAGING your Customers and start ENGAGING them!” on socialmediatoday.com by IvarKroghrud
So who evangelizes?What do we call that group?…..There are a lot of terms out there and some of them are used synonymously. However, not all are created equal.For the purposes of engagement and building loyalty, we’ll call our target “Brand Ambassadors.”
Advocacy is simply a temperature scaleAnd is wholly conditional. Variables: Their passion for the brandKnowledge of the categoryAnd morehttp://www.briansolis.com/2011/06/is-the-universal-sign-of-engagement“Why Online Influencer Outreach is Overrated and How to Fix It” on convinceandconvert.com by Jay Baer
Via Zuberance.comFor these slides, consider “Brand Advocate” to equal “Brand Ambassador”“Social Media Influencers versus Brand Advocates Infographic” onconvinceandconvert.com by Jay Baer July 2012
Via Zuberance.com“Social Media Influencers versus Brand Advocates Infographic” onconvinceandconvert.com by Jay Baer July 2012
First things first.If you haven’t tapped into the power of those who are passionate about your business (a.k.a. Your Core),Don’t bother trying to reach influencers.EXAMPLE: Jay Baer says, “Your facebook page isn’t a place to create new customers from thin air, it’s a clubhouse.”Once you’ve focused efforts on current customers who have a passion for your business,Then put some focus on influencers who bring the audience. HOW? Don’t ask Influencers to cover your product. Ask them to cover the movement of your brand ambassadors.“Social Media Influencers versus Brand Advocates Infographic” onconvinceandconvert.com by Jay Baer July 2012“Why Online Influencer Outreach is Overrated and How to Fix It” on convinceandconvert.com by Jay Baer
People are only as interested in your brand’s #sm effortsAs your brand shows interest in the community.BTW – you should do this because your consumers do this.** Buzzfeed recently did a study and found that real-world sharing (or word-of-mouth marketing) is no different online and offline.- Looked at 50 stories receiving most traffic on Facebook since 2007: media ratio of views to shares was only 9-1.“Growing Social Networks for Business: 3 essential lessons” on TopRankBlog.com by Lee Odden on July 16, 2012“Do Influencers Still Matter in Social marketing” in socialmediatoday.com by Mac Ocampo March 23, 2012
It’s also important to remember to do it at scale.You don’t have to be SBUX or Apple. “Benefits of inluencer-relationship marketing: authenticity, scale and ROI” on smartblogs.com by Gregory Shove April 9, 2012
Not an exhaustive listhttp://mashable.com/2011/04/12/digital-marketing-lessons/
FOR EXAMPLETwitter and Facebook are not interchangeable. You should have a different approach for each.Now, my examples for each of these are a bit generic and obviously there are exceptions in practice.http://mashable.com/2011/04/12/digital-marketing-lessons/
“over share” – “no one one wants to hear from your company more than they do their own friends and family.“deepen” – It is cheaper to retain a customer than acquire a new one. Make sure you’re engaging with them in a way that when they return again, you are adding recognition status. “Legitimize” them! It only deepens the relationship and makes them more loyal.** Be proactive. Don’t let someone else tell your story. Know what your competitors are doing and/or what they’re saying about you, your products or your industry.http://mashable.com/2011/04/12/digital-marketing-lessons/“5 Ways to Convert Users and Clients into Loyal Advocates” in FastCompany.com by Lydia Dishman April 5, 2012
Just because the current state of social mediaPromotes monitoring as a reporting functionAnd conversations as a symptom of a reactionDoesn’t mean it has to be that way in the future.In fact, that’s a very traditional sense of the tools.Consider again that AT&T doesn’t simple report customer feedback.They make internal and external changes because of it. http://www.briansolis.com/2011/06/is-the-universal-sign-of-engagement/
Xbox also listens for mentions of the brand to let them know the “Tweet Fleet” is there to offer support for technical issues.AT&T is excellent example of taking external information and shaping internal culture and process.** By tracking data businesses can “connect the dots” between their customers’ transactions and their future engagement.http://mashable.com/2011/04/12/digital-marketing-lessons/
Remember, it’s not about “you” and your preferences of use.It’s about everyone else. http://mashable.com/2011/04/12/digital-marketing-lessons/
Geotarget posts for to localize a message, promotions and contests.http://mashable.com/2011/04/12/digital-marketing-lessons/
Steven Covey 7 Habits of Highly Successful People.National Instruments used an especially creative approach with its customer influencers, who were mid-level IT managers at the companies they did business with. NI engaged with them by providing powerful research and financial proof points they could take to senior management, showing that NI solutions were creating strategic benefits. That got NI into the C-suite. It also increased the reputation of the mid-level advocates, who were seen as strategic thinkers bringing new ideas to senior management. (via http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2012/08/marketing_is_dead.html)They might enjoy helping with your sales and marketing efforts by providing references or testimonials. Or they might speak on your behalf at industry events. Or participate in your user groups or other customer communities. (via blogs.hbr.org/cs/2012/05/the_hidden_wealth_beyond_net_p.html)
Once you’ve created them…what do you do with them?Deepen the relationship…Note that it’s an “Engagement” Summit, not experience. Engagement includes all the ways your company can motivate customers to invest in an ongoing relationship with your product or service.(Remember/Reference PH VIDEO)“Five ‘no regrets’ moves for superior customer engagement” in McKinsey Quarterly by Tom French, Laura LaBerge, and Paul Magil July 2012
Depending on where you are in your brand ambassador program, this might be relevant or might feel like Phase 4. And that’s good!These programs span all customer relationships. You need to be able to sustain and invest and consider how you’ll use their feedback to change products and services.What is common across all of these organizations:- They put the advocates front and center, often before the brand.“Webinar: Scale and Trust. Making the case for a Formalized Social Advocate Program” on web-strategist.com July 3, 2012
* Galvanizing its fans. Love what The Humane Society is going on their Facebook page with its “Tell Strawberry to go Fur-Free” campaign. They’ve set up a tab devoted to this campaign where they ask for supporters’ help. It’s easy. It’s simple. And it wouldn’t take a Humane Society supporter more than 2 minutes to complete. What’s beautiful about this is they’re taking a fan base they know already supports their organization and just giving them a simple tool to help them advocate for a cause they care about. The ask isn’t much (personal information). They’ve even inserted the start to a personal note for supporters to send. Plus, by asking for personal information, they’re also opening up the door to building a more personal relationship with these folks by opting-in for more email communications from the Humane Society.(via http://www.arikhanson.com/2011/03/09/3-non-profit-social-media-case-studies-that-deserve-center-stage/)
Galvanizing its fans. Love what The Humane Society is going on their Facebook page with its “Tell Strawberry to go Fur-Free” campaign. They’ve set up a tab devoted to this campaign where they ask for supporters’ help. It’s easy. It’s simple. And it wouldn’t take a Humane Society supporter more than 2 minutes to complete. What’s beautiful about this is they’re taking a fan base they know already supports their organization and just giving them a simple tool to help them advocate for a cause they care about. The ask isn’t much (personal information). They’ve even inserted the start to a personal note for supporters to send. Plus, by asking for personal information, they’re also opening up the door to building a more personal relationship with these folks by opting-in for more email communications from the Humane Society.(via http://www.arikhanson.com/2011/03/09/3-non-profit-social-media-case-studies-that-deserve-center-stage/)
Digital PR Award Winner 2012
* Twitter lists. Wonderful opportunity to recognize key partners and volunteers and monitor bloggers and other advocates. Goodwill has lists for partners, “thrifty” bloggers and green news outlets. By organizing their Twitter followers by list, it gives them a great way to scan and track activity on Twitter from day-to-day and recognize, highlight and share, when appropriate.(via http://www.arikhanson.com/2011/03/09/3-non-profit-social-media-case-studies-that-deserve-center-stage/)
Contest launched November 2012
http://www.kleenex-cottonelle.com.au/make-a-difference/Digital PR Award Winner 2012
Digital PR Award Winner 2012
Digital PR Award Winner 2012
The American Cancer Society’s QuitBuddy is a simple SMS tool to help smokers stay motivated and informed as they quit smoking. Smokers trying to quit are encouraged to text QUIT or BUDDY to 22723 whenever they feel the urge to light up. QUIT will send back helpful information about the benefits of smoking cessation and links to mobile Web pages with additional resources. BUDDY sends back funny messages of encouragement and support to help ward off a bad craving.Via http://www.cancer.org/myacs/eastern/areahighlights/cancernynj_news_quitbuddy and http://www.mobilemarketer.com/cms/news/content/12236.htmlDigital PR Award Winner 2012
Integrate your campaign through every channel. Just because you’re on Twitter doesn’t mean I shouldn’t:See the brandBe able to understand the core messageGet links to additional infoVia http://www.cancer.org/myacs/eastern/areahighlights/cancernynj_news_quitbuddy and http://www.mobilemarketer.com/cms/news/content/12236.htmlDigital PR Award Winner 2012
Yes, this is about smoking. Yes, smoking has scary side affects.But this campaign is aimed at a younger audience who doesn’t take themselves (or their lives) as seriously. Have fun. Play up on what medium you’re using…FML to LOL.Via http://www.cancer.org/myacs/eastern/areahighlights/cancernynj_news_quitbuddy and http://www.mobilemarketer.com/cms/news/content/12236.htmlDigital PR Award Winner 2012
This campaign challenged the power of social media to counter a public American Airline’s complaint of a well-known American celebrity who had publicly decried the airline’s reputation on Twitter. Using Facebook and Twitter, the airline posted an official statement of defense of its policies and standards of conduct. The popular incident gained the attention of millions of online followers and was praised by legions of social influencers for its smart digital savviness.Digital PR Award Winner 2012
Perhaps as a result of the incident, which Baldwin explained in detail in a piece on The Huffington Post, Words With Friends gained 100,000 players today on Facebook alone, according to AppData. And, based on AppData's readings on the iOS version of Words With Friends, the game's ranking experienced major spikes in all categories. Again, behold the power of celebrity.Via http://blog.games.com/2011/12/08/alec-baldwin-words-with-friends-zynga-response/
The topic of “newsjacking”—which refers to angling a pitch to a news story—became a hot topic after a handful of public relations bloggers offered advice for doing so during Sandy. Many commenters online found the advice distasteful. At least one New York Times reporter also commented about PR pitches after Sandy made landfall. Stuart Elliott, the longtime advertising and marketing reporter for the Times, tweeted: Stuart Elliott @stuartenytTo those PR people who think you've waited a decent interval after #Sandy to resume business as usual ... you would be wrongThe tweet drew a chorus of approvals from Elliott’s followers, including a number of people in the PR industry. In an interview this week, Elliott told PR Daily that a PR pro “who was coming on fairly strong” about a pitch inspired the tweet. “Somebody had been emailing me at work before the storm, trying to get me to cover something,” he explained. On Tuesday morning, as Elliott worked from home, the PR professional tweeted a message to him, saying: “Good morning Stuart, hope you are safe from Sandy. When you get a moment I have sent you an email.” Unless the information you’re sending to reporters is pertinent to the disaster, ditch the email and phone pitches. The reporters in the areas effected by a disaster are working through the event, while also dealing with their personal travails (a flooded or collapsed home, and so on). An inbox full of pitches about a product launch or game-changing redesign will only alienate—perhaps irrevocably—the very people you’re paid to appeal to. Via http://www.healthcarecommunication.com/Main/Articles/9801.aspx
Don’t Be a Faker. Anonymously or not.Via http://andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com/2012/10/dont-mess-with-twitter.htmlWhen Twitter user @comfortablysmug starting spreading false information last night, Buzzfeed's Andrew Kaczynski went after him - first by tweet, then by tumblr:[I]n the chaos around Hurricane Sandy, [@comfortablysmug tried] to trick his media followers, and their followers and readers in turn, with fake news. He reported, falsely, on a total blackout in Manhattan, on a flood on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, and other things that didn’t happen. Two of his tweets garnered more than 500 retweets. One drew a rebuke from ConEd’s official Twitter account. Twitter’s self-correction mechanism — rebukes and rebuttals from knowledgeable sources — shut down each rumor, but not until at least one, the flood claim, had bled widely into the television media.Today, Jack Stuefexposed the Internet villian:What leads a person to do such a thing, which his critics have likened to shouting "fire" in a crowded movie theater? It’s unclear. But perhaps it has something to do with the nature of anonymity. If there are no consequences for posting false "BREAKING" news, there’s an incentive to do it to an accumulate a large audience.What @comfortablysmug didn’t count on, apparently, was losing that anonymity. Based on photos he censored and posted to the account but I found unedited elsewhere, @comfortablysmug is ShashankTripathi, a hedge-fund analyst and the campaign manager of Christopher R. Wight, this year’s Republican candidate for the U.S. House from New York’s 12th congressional district. FEC documents show Wight has paid Tripathi thousands of dollars this election cycle as a "consultant." @comfortablysmug has been a vocal supporter of Mitt Romney and posted tweets suggesting he attended this year’s Republican convention. He’s listed here by a local Republican group coordinating volunteers for a Romney phone bank.John Herrmanconsiders the debunking of such falsehoods proof that Twitter is trustworthy overall:Twitter beckons us to join every compressed news cycle, to confront every rumor or falsehood, and to see everything. This is what makes the service so maddening during the meta-obsessed election season, where the stakes are unclear and the consequences abstract. And it's also what makes is so valuable during fast-moving, decidedly real disasters. Twitter is a fact-processing machine on a grand scale, propagating then destroying rumors at a neck-snapping pace. To dwell on the obnoxiousness of the noise is to miss the result: that we end up with more facts, sooner, with less ambiguity.... The first draft of the popular history of 9/11 was written on live television by a group of exhausted, horrified and often isolated TV reporters. Misstatements, confusion, and some of the messier stages of live reporting, filtered across the country by phone, email and word of mouth without context. Much of the raw materiel of the "9/11 truth" movement is rooted in sloppy early news reports. Some of most insidious myths about Hurricane Katrina were seeded the same way.
Case StudyBe completely up front and honest with:WhyExpectationsBe genuine. Remember that ambassadors like being flattered. Inviting them to an exclusive legitimizes their position.
CONNECT THE DOTSWho is your audience. Provide them with resources, key words, etc. that add to the engagement. (Ex: QR Code on hard hat.)Remove hindrances to success. (Ex: don’t give handouts to people on a tour when you want their hands free to do #sm.)CLOSING THE LOOPSend personalized thank you’sUse keywords and specifics from event (Ex: hashtag and Parkview twitter handle to encourage and reinforce further engagement.)
Loyalty program – message shared via SBUX rewards
** Note of caution: before you consider incentivizing, consult your lawyer first. ** FTC requires all material connections to be disclosed with a document process. Here is where you DO want to over share. Disclosure give brands authenticity and transparency.“7 Tips to Enhance Influencer Marketing” in Mashable.com by Michael Ogince July 10, 2012
Example of tweet link and resulting info using Cmp.ly“7 Tips to Enhance Influencer Marketing” in Mashable.com by Michael Ogince July 10, 2012
Sales people have that terrific saying that goes Always Be Closing but I think when we’re talking engagement, we need to always be measuring.In other words: ROI
A great monitoring tool
Data isn’t everything. You need to be willing to look through the data to find the meaning.
Numbers don’t mean anything if you can’t achieve basic levels of engagement.“Why Brands Need Friends – Not Fans – on Facebook” on Mashable.com by Clyde McKendrick November 18, 2011
ROI“Social Analytics Formulas to Use for ROI Reports” in socialmediatoday.comhttp://socialmediatoday.com/576416/5-killer-strategies-dominate-facebook-twitter-and-youtube
ROI“Social Analytics Formulas to Use for ROI Reports” in socialmediatoday.com
ROI“Social Analytics Formulas to Use for ROI Reports” in socialmediatoday.com