A workshop presentation for National Grid providing an overview of social media and its uses for media relations and crisis communication. Focus is on utility industry.
10. Social Media Expectations Instantaneous Community Transparency Listen Participatory Monitor Want it now I’m a part of something You’re not hiding Someone heard me Join in/have fun Find the talkers
15. Twitter is getting crowded … Alabama Power / AlabamaPowerAmeren Illinois / IllinoisOutageAmeren Illinois / ActOnEnergyATCO Gas / ATCOGasAustin Energy / austinenergyAvista Utilities / Dan_At_AvistaAvista Utilities / AvistaCaresBasin Electric / Basin_ElectricCalifornia PUC / californiapucDirect Energy Texas / DirectEnergyTXDuke Energy / DukeEnergyStormENERGY STAR / ENERGY_STARFirst Choice Power / firstchoicepwrFlorida Power & Light / InsideFPLFlorida Power & Light / FlPowerAndLightFlorida Power & Light / fplgroupGeorgia Power / GeorgiaPowerGexa / GexaGexa Energy / GexaEnergyLee Wind Energy / LeeWindEnergyMidwest ENERGY Assoc / MEAenergyMemphis Gas, Light and Water / MLGWNational Grid / national_gridNashville Electric / NESpowerNebraska Public Power District/ itsyourpowerNV Energy/ NVEnergyOklahoma Wind Energy / OKisWindEnergyPNM / PNMtalkProgress Energy / progressenergyProgress Energy / EnergyAdvisorsPSNH / psnhSantee Cooper / santeecooper SCE&G / SCEGNewsSouthern Company / SouthernCompanyTacoma Water / TacomaWaterThe Gas Company / TheGasCompanyTri-State G&T /tristategtTXU Energy / TXUEnergyWatertown Utilities / watertownmuWe Energies / we_energies
26. Exelon’s Benchmarking Study June and July 2009 17-questions about attitudes toward and the use of Social Media 30 utilities participated: • Ameren • American Electric Power • Central Vermont PS • Colorado Springs Utilities • ComEd • ConEd • Constellation Energy • Dominion • DTE Energy • Duke Energy • Energy Future Holdings • Entergy • Florida Power & Light • Integrys • Kansas City P&L • NIPSCO • PG&E (delivery) • PG&E (generation) • PacifiCorp • Progress Energy • PECO • PS New Hampshire • Puget Sound Energy • SCANA • Southern California Edison • Southern Company • TVA • WE Energies • Xcel Energy • “Company X” (anonymity preferred)
35. SCE&G’s Social Media Goals Media Relations Customer Service Branding Build two-way communication,engage customers
36. SCE&G’s Social Media Channels Energy Wise Blog YouTube Twitter “Limited” Newspaper Commentary
37. Energy Wise blog Blogging provides … Narrowly defined presence Forum to interact with customers Interconnection with other channels, i.e. Twitter, blogs, web sites Supports the brand campaign http://sceg-energywise.blogspot.com/
43. Post videos we already produce, i.e. Eye On SCANA segments
44. Comments section disabled for nowBenefits: Helps offload bandwidth from our site Improves SEO Improves viewership Eighty percent of Fortune 500 businesses are using it in some form
46. Twitter – SCE&G Quietly Talks Back Eyebee replied back: @sallengI hear you, but can't help compare to when I lived in Europe, and lines in towns were all underground. Had 2outage in 15 years. It was his last rant about us for several days.
51. Online Trumps Newspapers According to a recent Opinion Research Corporation study comparing data from September 2008 vs. September 2009: Daily newspaper usage dropped 4.1 percent to 19.4 percent, while television news dropped 3.6 percent to 31.1 percent Online news usage increased 1.9 percent to 14.6 percent, and radio increased 2.9 percent to 19.4 percent Adults ages 18-34 get more news from online sources, at 22.2 percent.
52. Social Media Allows Companies to … Get their message heard Better manage messages Respond quickly, efficiently Communicate effectively with plain English Be influential
53. Changing Expectations Twitter Most major news outlets publish stories via Twitter Journalists now seek story ideas and corporate contacts through Twitter Blogs, Flickr, YouTube Tell your story, your way Use multimedia, be interactive
56. Silence isn’t Golden Online conversations through social media outlets are taking place with or without us. Ignoring social media Eliminates you from the conversation Removes your company from the radar screens of your customers Joining the conversation Decreases the demand from the media Allows you to manage communications remotely Gives you influence on the message Direct connection to the public No media filter Quick implementation
68. Case Study – PSNH 2008 Ice Storm YouTube PSNH created a series of videos to showcase the work being done by crews to restore power after one of the worst ice storms in their territory. Click the imageto view the video.
69. Case Study – PSNH 2008 Ice Storm Flickr PSNH also posted online photo albums to show the scope of the storm damage and its crews working to restore service.
70. Case Study – FP&L Hurricane Preparations Blog FPL created an online Storm Center based on a new corporate blog that highlights various educational posts. So far, posts have been centered on general storm safety and hurricane preparation topics.
71. Case Study – FP&L Hurricane Preparations Twitter FPL also created a Twitter account to accompany its Storm Center. Here, the company references new posts to its blog and provides real-time storm information.
73. Twitter Basics Older users than Facebook, primarily people 30s-50s; more professional audience. Primarily a tool for news and cutting edge information. Twitter allow us to communicate in almost real time with reporters and customers. We can provide accurate information on gas leaks, outage updates (refer them to our Web site) and other events. Limited to 140 characters per message, or Tweet. RT = ReTweet DM = Direct Message @ Reply = Username Mention
74. Twitter and Hashtags Convenient way to “bookmark” tweets Directory: www.hashtags.org Industry Examples: #energy #energytip #electricity #GreenEnergy #RenewableEnergy #solar #utility #utilities #utility-expert
85. Pick Your Battles Should we respond or let it go? Anything regarding your company that may be inaccurate or misleading. Is it gaining traction or is it being overlooked? Anything where a customer needs help. Some complaints, not rants, i.e. SCE&G are all thieves, etc. Let ‘em rant, we’re not going to change their minds anyway. We should be proactive during a situation that demands it, i.e. storm outages, nuke emergency, some other major incident where we’re in the news.
86. Working with the Lawyers Take time to educate your legal team about social media and its benefits. Start your journey into social media with a conservative approach, benchmarking successes. Be aware of Regulatory Agency concerns. Integrate the legal team into your social media team. Always alert your legal staff if a Tweet, newspaper comment, blog post or other message that raises a red flag.
88. Where to find me … Trish Freshwater, APRtrish@trishfreshwater.com Phone: 315-944-0014Fax: 1-866-254-3283 www.trishfreshwater.com http://socialutilities.ning.com
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