Presented at WOMMA 2014 Summit in Los Angeles on Nov. 18th. Session Title: Yeah, THAT Hashtag (Beyond Social Media (WOM) Track) Presenter: Geno Church When the former Greenville Convention & Visitors Bureau approached Brains on Fire about creating a new identity for our hometown, they didn’t have to ask twice. This was far more than an identity project; it was an opportunity to foster a greater sense of community within our community. With 36 Greenvilles in the United States, we would need to identify that “something special” that really sets us apart.

1. WOMMA SUMMIT 2014
hashtag
#
yeah that
@genochurch

3. WOMMA SUMMIT 2014
hashtag
#
yeah that
@genochurch

4. Q&A A LITTLE
OKAY – I’ve got a few questions for you

5. 1Question
Time for a little Q&A
Question 1

6. Who’s Going to Greenville?
A show of hands who’s planning a trip to Greenville, SC…
now don’t all of you raise your hands at once.

7. OK WE GET IT
Slide 4: OK we get it
Yeah that’s kinda what I thought, there’s lots of cool towns out there…

8. like; Malibu

9. Santa Barbara

10. Palm Springs

11. Greenville SC

12. radar WE AIN’T
ON THE
we just ain’t on the Radar

13. 2Question
Question 2
Okay second question

14. Los Angeles Road Sign
So, How many LA’ are there? (pause)

15. 1
one

16. how many Seattle’s are there?

17. 1
yep, one

18. Chicago Road Sign
How about this one? Chicago? Anybody know?

19. 1
1

20. NY Road Sign
Okay lets make our way a little further toward the East Coast. How many New York’s do you know of?

21. 1
Just 1

22. ?
Greenville Signs
anyone know how many Greenville’s there are?

23. 36
36!

24. No Respect
Rodney Dangerfield
Rodney Dangerfield always said “I get no respect.” With 36 Greenville’s out there you get know respect. That’s a problem.

25. YEAH with 36 states
out of 50 having
a Greenville it’s a
little hard to get
some respect.
Greenville Signs
Yeah with 36 state out of 50 having a Greenville it’s a little hard to get some respect.

26. Meet
Amy
A quick story: My friend and co-worker Amy Taylor had her car battery die while she was waiting to pick up someone at the airport.

27. Amy called AAA and told them she was at the Greenville airport and needed a jump.

28. An hour goes by. She gets a call from a tow truck driver who has been searching for me at the Greenville North Carolina airport..

30. Ugh
Ugh

31. Not
Mind MUCH LESS A
CONSIDERATION
Top of
Not Top of Mind
Let me just drive the business problem down to one point… Greenville not top
of mind for destination consideration… Jennifer’s your thoughts?

32. Your
Buying
Just not
Not Top of Mind
Let me just drive the business problem down to one point… Greenville not top
of mind for destination consideration… Jennifer’s your thoughts?

33. First Big
Take Away

34. Digging
Up
People
We always start with a dose of Empathy walking in the footsteps of the Stakeholders, the Residents, and the tourists. This where you find out the values,
the goals the beliefs of those with a stake in what you’re trying to create. And those you’re trying to attract… what are the commonalities, the outliers.
Where is the opportunity to do some match making?

35. W hat
HeWared
Slide 31: What we Heard

36. Surprise! 1 #
People typically came
here because they knew
someone. But repeat
visitors kept coming back
because they were
surprised by Greenville
and all it had to offer.
32) Surprise People typically came here because they knew someone here. But repeat visitors kept coming back because they were surprised by
Greenville and all it had to offer.

37. People 2 #
People consistently said
the best thing about
Greenville was how nice
people were.
(33) People: People consistently said the best thing about Greenville was how nice people were.

38. 3 #
had a
Everyone
"
“That”
Everyone had a "THAT" …

39. during interviews when
we asked people about
what they did, everyone
talked about THAT
restaurant being their
favorite place or THAT
hike being their favorite
thing to do or THAT store
being their favorite place
to shop. There was a
THAT for everyone.
A "THAT" for every person.
during interviews when we asked people about what they did, everyone talks about THAT restaurant being their favorite place or THAT hike being their
favorite thing to do or THAT store being their favorite place to shop. There was something for everyone. A "THAT" for every person.

40. Yeah “THAT” Greenville… its who we are
Instead of avoiding the fact that three are dozens of other Greenville’s, we created a destination identity that played off it.

41. # yeah that
greenville
Yeah THAT Greenville,
By the way those make for a nice hash tag too.

42. visit
SC
greenville
VisitGreenvilleSC.

43. HOapupry g CAUSE WE’VE
# yeah that
greenville
GOT SOMETHING
TO SMILE ABOUT
Oh yeah and our own little spin on the emoticon
Where Happy People Gather – there must be something good going on. ;)

44. Second Big
Take Away
Takeaway #2 It’s in the Mix. New research on the mix of traditional and wom marketing. We’re going to talk a little about the marketing mix.

45. it’s in
the
MIX
New research on the mix of traditional and wom marketing.
We’re going to talk a little about the marketing mix.

46. peaaidrned
shared
(41) Paid, Earned, Shared!
Usually people think certain media in percentage.

47. the
specereot p is l e
(42) The Secret is People.
The secret ingredient is people. Making sure the marketing mix engages people into the conversation… and to take action.

48. paid mix people into
the conversation

49. remember
this?
Remember This?
It was Superbowl 47…

50. BoomBoom OUT GO THE LIGHTS
Boom the lights go out!
They go to commercial break…

51. Play Commercial
YOU may say so what?

52. (The commercial was a secret) Set up the Superbowl from two years ago… the power goes out. They go to a commercial break… play the commercial.
The World Blows Up! The social world that is.
Local folk go nuts, all over social did you see that… they thought is was national… don’t tell anyone it was local.

54. plorouudd
passionate
ADVOCATES
Loud, Proud Advocates
It sparked pride in Greenville… it started the conversation.

55. earned AN OUTSIDE SHOT
Earned. Outside magazine
Accolades were coming in but… this took on a life
of it’s own. Jennifer…

57. shared THIS IS HOW
WE ROLL AT
BRAINS ON FIRE
Slide 50: Shared. With Audio clip.
This is how we do it… play audio!

58. hello
it’s
moe
Hello its MOE… nope that’s not right!

59. hello
it’s
moe
this is Moe… Sadly, Moe couldn’t be here due to a last minute family emergency but all is better today. And bad for you, you have more of me.

60. COMMUNITY MANAGER
facilitator of conversation
Community Manager
Moe is the Facilitator of Conversation
Her goal: to Promote and Grow Visit GreenvilleSC’s presence on and offline.

61. wis aay COMMUNITY.
NOT A PLACE.
BOF Community definition
Community is a way, not a place… for conversations and connections to happen. People live in all kinds if places. So you have to be agnostic.

62. COMMUNITY. As a brand, you don’t OWN
any social space other
than your own handle,
and you definitely don’t
own the folks you
interact with therein.
They’re human beings –
just like you.

63. COMMUNITY. Every voluntary
interaction made by a
community member
is a direct expression
of their “social self”.
We must see these
interactions as an
honor and treat
them that way!

64. A COMMUNITY
MANAGER
HAS to be a
PEOPLE person.
To be successful in
conversation you’ve
got to be real, be
vulnerable, be grateful.
The rest will fall in line!
BOF Community definition
Community is a way, not a place… for conversations and connections to happen. People live in all kinds if places. So you have to be agnostic.

65. Third Big
Take Away

66. MEANINGLESS
GREENVILLE
trivia
Greenville SC… was the last place the original Lynyrd Skynrd played…

67. gimme
steps
five
Gimme Five Steps.

68. step 1
Step One: You’re a Human so Act Like One!

69. you’re
IN MOE’S WORDS
human
SO ACT LIKE IT
Step One: You’re a Human so Act Like One!

70. STEP 1 it takes
dates
a few
Love at first sight is a rare occurrence. You’ve gotta go on a couple dates before you put a ring on it!

71. STEP 1
mbee am ber
first “I had to prove myself
first - as an active and
valuable part of what I
was trying to create. ”
(VisitGreenvilleSC) had to be an active & valuable community MEMBER first and foremost. Moe spent the first year “proving myself” to the existing
Instagram community in Greenville on Social.

72. step 2
Step Two: Proving Yourself (Moe’s Shoots)

73. psrtoevping
IN MOE’S WORDS
yourself
Step Two: Proving Yourself (Moe’s Shoots)
Moe shot & edited beautiful content that showed Greenville in a cool new light.

75. hash
#dtgvl
#it#greenvillesc OVER & OVER
#instagvl
STEP 2
She used related hash tags (like #greenvillesc, #dtgvl, #instagvl) engage in the existing Greenville conversation, particularly with users who were also
creating the kind of content we hoped to see.

76. STEP 2
nurture RELATIONSHIPS
LIKE
COMMENT
ENCOURAGE
STAY IN TOUCH
BE HUMAN
Moe made sure to maintain those relationships by keeping up with those accounts. Responding to all comments and trying to like and comment on every
single image that used the hash tag.

77. step 3
Step Three:

78. IN MOE’S WORDS
eelnegvaagtee
Elevating and Engaging (peoples photos)

79. After a while, other likeminded photographers started adopting the hashtag #yeahTHATgreenville and using it on their own pictures.

80. #yeahthat
greenville
rpeost
SUPER-ACTIVE
MEMBERS
Elevate super active community members by reposting their images.

81. step 4
Step Four: Letting Go

82. IN MOE’S WORDS
letting goCan be a
beautiful
thing
We started having thematic hashtag “challenges” to showcase the seasons around #yeahTHATgreenville. #yeahTHATfall, #yeahTHATsnow,
#yeahTHATspring, and #yeahTHATsummer to name a few.

83. #yeahthat
…SPRING FEVER
…SUMMER
…FALL
…SNOW
1950
This allowed community members to engage with each other in a more specific way. We showcased these images on social & on the website.

84. #
ride
greenville
that
117
As the community took off, natural iterations of the hashtag began to pop up.

85. #
eat
greenville
that
359
People starting associating Greenville with THAT and riffing on the hashtag and making it their own —#rideTHATgreenville (cycling- we’re a top
destination for pro cyclists), #yeahTHATtr (a small town north of here in Greenville county), and #eatTHATgreenville—

86. #
TR
yeah
that
TRAVELERS REST
507

87. meet
amy
another
she did all THAT!
Amy found out about the #yeahTHATgreenville hashtag when she first moved to Greenville and began trying to make connections through Instagram and
Twitter.
Amy credits the hashtag for helping me connect with my amazing community of friends, colleagues, and neighbors; as well as small shops, independent
makers, local eateries, home grown bands, and outdoor enthusiasts.
When Amy started at Swamp Rabbit Cafe last fall it was like two things coming together - people she followed because of yeahTHATgreenville tag came
to shop at swamp, etc.

88. #that
Yes, it is still on me to
follow people, to check
out events, to put
myself out there... but
THAT tag provided me
with the opportunity to
do all of those things!
Amy Quote: Yes, it is still on me to follow people, to check out events, to put myself out there... but THAT tag provided me with the opportunity to do all
of those things!

89. step 5
Step Five: In Person Events

90. mueept
Tons of natural interactions started happening offline, face to face. This allowed community members to engage with each other in a more specific way.
We showcased these images on social & on the website. One event we sponsored was the yeah that instameet.

93. RETURN
ON
THAT

94. from launch to end of FY13
-following grew:
82,700%

95. 800 photo’s in just a few days

96. from FY13 to end of FY14
-following grew:
540%

97. At the end of the year
26,378
#yeahTHATgreenville

98. Averaging 203 photos per day

99. Pins have increased 2,424% since Q3FY13

100. Followers have increased 2,114% since Q3FY13

101. Likes have increased 1,230% since Q3FY13

102. 129% increase in page fans
mostly in Q4FY14

103. 806% shares increased

104. 953% likes increased

105. 1100% comments increased

106. 72% following increased
since launch

107. 103% mentions increased
since launch

108. 130% retweets increased
since launch

109. We’re now over 50,000 #yeahTHATgreenville images on Instagram today!
Boom shaka laka.

110. WOW!

111. WEB TRAFFIC 83%
EARNED ROI 4000%
HOTEL
OCCUPANCY 90 68% MILLION
INQUIRES 300%

112. Zero
to Hero
It takes it all… paid, earned, shared… working together.
When that happens, when all three are about generating conversation, engaging the recipient to take action… you can go from Zero to Hero.

113. Q&A THANKS…
@genochurch
OKAY – I’ve got a few questions for you