In her presentation, Southwest Airlines' Social and Public Relations Lead, Christi McNeill, teaches a class on building a scalable, effective plan to engage customers, fans, and critics in social conversations. She explains the eight steps for engagement and how other brands can apply them to their own social engagement strategy.

1. How to lead a social media
engagement strategy
CHRISTI MCNEILL
SOUTHWEST AIRLINES
DECEMBER 9–11, 2013
ORLANDO
SOCIALMEDIA.ORG/SUMMIT

2. Social Engagement Strategy
Presented by: Christi McNeill
December 2013
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3. 8 Steps for Engagement
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Define Your Business Objectives
Find Your Voice
Hire the Right People
Understand Your Audience
Understand Your Competition
Research Laws/Policies
Plan for Crisis
Be Yourself and HAVE FUN!

4. Define Your Business Objectives
• What are you trying to achieve with social?
– Customer Service?
– Sales?
– Brand Management/Crisis
• How can your conversations/engagements with fan
achieve this?

5. Find Your Voice
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What is the tone?
What is your Company Culture?
How do you communicate on other channels?
What do your Customers expect?

6. Hire the right people, and get out of
their way
• Start small
• Find internal cheerleaders that understand your
company/policies:
– Ability to influence decision makers internally
– Can educate Leadership
• Equip your Community managers to be spokespeople –
would you trust them to speak to the NY Times (media
training is a must).
• Must be: good writers, ability to manage multiple
projects/deadlines, internal evangelists, works well in a
collaborative environment, ability to operate with a
“filter”

7. Understand Your Audience
• Listen and research
• Understand what folks are talking about
across the web, before you engage – what’s
the conversation? Make sure you fit in.
• What are the pain points? What are people
saying about your company?
• List of words not to use: Kick off, bomb, etc.
• Keep records – connect to CRM, use software
that allows for diligent record keeping.

8. Understand Your Competition
• What’s working for them?
• How are they innovating, changing
conversations?
• Understand your share of voice, keeps “hot”
issues in perspective.

9. Understand the Policy/Law
• Heavily regulated industries: financial,
healthcare, transportation
• Understand and train your community
managers on what is allowed, what’s not.
• Accident/incident or fare sale regulations
• Employee Social Media policy
development/execution.

10. Develop Crisis Plans
• Brainstorm EVERYTHING that could go wrong
with your company (or industry) and create a
plan for how to address.
• Social will drive the conversation, news
coverage, and perception of your company so
make sure you’ve prepped ahead of time.
• Everything should be approved and agreed
upon ahead of time.

11. Be Yourself! Have FUN!
• Add personality and have FUN!

12. Learn more about past and
upcoming events
SOCIALMEDIA.ORG/EVENTS
DECEMBER 9–11, 2013
ORLANDO
SOCIALMEDIA.ORG/SUMMIT