socialTNT» Social Media Club

“Three Killer Social Media Case Studies from SMC San Francisco”

Christopher Lynn — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 20:42:32 +0000

On Tuesday night, the San Francisco/Silicon Valley Chapter of the Social Media Club hosted a night of social media marketing and PR case studies. That’s right, six companies pulled together their best campaigns from the last couple months and threw them into PowerPoint presentations. Some might call this a geekfest, we at socialTNT call it heaven. All the presentations were amazing, but we’ve chosen some of our favorites to bring you notes from the front line.

Starbucks Gets Feedback From its Customers Through Online Community

Matthew Guiste, program manager for mystarbucksidea.com joined us live via Skype video from Starbucks HQ in Seattle. Like Dell’s Ideastorm, Mystarbucks.com is a community set up to increase communications between the company and their customers. It serves two primary functions: to respond to the community and to review and promote ideas. Customers join the online community to submit suggestions/comments and vote on others’ ideas. There are also forums where customers can talk directly to Starbucks representatives (roughly 200 moderators) from departments like beverages, cards, food and Human Resources.

For Matthew, the biggest challenge has been maintaining engagement to keep visitors involved and excited. Anyone can create a community, but creating sustainable activity takes work. Starbucks handles this through six “pillars”

Visible Action
- Starbucks has to show visitors that their ideas are implemented. You have to show the community that their voice is being heard
- To date, Starbucks has made approximately 50 changes based on customer suggestions. Some of these include Splash Sticks and Gold Cards
Great discussions
- Mystarbucksidea.com strives to be like a group discussion with the company. It also encourages discussion between customers
Promotion
- Ads and placards in stores that show this idea brought to you by community
New Features
- Mystarbucksidea.com includes dynamic new features to keep customers engaged and interested. One successful tool has been polls–like one asking: “If the barristas were able to have tattoos, would you still come”
New Geographies
- Starbucks plans on adding other countries to the mix
New ways to use site to have people engage in brand
- One upcoming feature will let customers with stores under renovations connect with employees so they can help decide things like what art, books and music will be included when their store opens

Since it’s launch in March of 2008, Starbucks has had these results:

3 million unique visitors
60,000 ideas submitted
100,000s of comments
460,000 votes
2,500 moderator comments

LSF Interactive Launches Successful Viral Video Campaign for Hooman TV

David Peck, social media strategist at LSF Interactive, presented a case study around the promotion of a YouTube video. The video, sponsored by Palm, was created by Hooman TV to get out the vote during the election.

LSF Interactive agreed upon on these objectives with their client for the video:

3,200,000 views
3000 comments

The campaign started with Facebook. David and his team shared the video to their newsfeeds. They also targeted political-oriented groups, posting a brief synopsis of the video and a link to the group walls.

The bulk of the outreach, however, was based in YouTube. The team focused their efforts in a three pronged approach:

Active facilitation of conversation and discussion in the comments section
- The team had around four moderators watching the comments on the video. Whenever anyone commented, the managers commented back. They disclosed their affiliation through their name
- Because it really helped get conversation going, David believes this form of engagement was crucial to the success of the campaign
Daily modification of SEO terms to draw viewers from related videos
- YouTube recommends videos based on the keywords. Each day, the team looked at top political videos and matched the Hooman TV keywords to reflect the most popular on the relevant channels
Active engagement with blogs or sites who link back to the video
- YouTube offers free stats and link data on each video you upload. Using this information, the LSF team could track linkbacks and then comment on the blogs who have shared the video with their readers.
- This active participation created more discussion around the video and also positioned Hooman TV as active members in the online community.

At the end of the campaign, LSF Interactive’s efforts yielded these results for their client:

Posts on blogs and sites like CNET, Yelp, Huffington Post and DailyKos (14,00 views from this site alone)
5 million views
3,692 comments
Video has 4.5 stars from 3,700 user ratings

Swirl Uses Social Media Outreach to Successfully Promote an Event

Cory O’Brien and Bo Jacobson, both account managers at Swirl, presented how they promoted the Dwell on Design event for sustainable design magazine Dwell.

The team’s number one objective was to sell out the event. Because they wanted to reach audiences and interact with them where they live, they chose to use a combination of Twitter, Facebook and blogger outreach to build their campaign.

Some obstacles the team encountered:

Since the event was located in LA, the blogger outreach would need to be limited to regional targets. The team would need to check the location of each blogger to ensure they weren’t sending them irrelevant information
They were running an online campaign for an offline event. The team would need to be sure to keep messaging clear and easy to understand
The client had a PR firm to promote the magazine. That PR firm had already claimed top tier bloggers

The team started by creating an online media kit to house all the digital assets. Kinda like a social media newsroom, this repository became the place that bloggers could get anything they would need to build their story. This included all the creative work like videos, photos, banners, widgets and slide shows.

The blogger outreach started with a listening phase. Using technorati, blogpulse, blogcatlog and google blog, the team complied a list of blogs. Before beginning outreach, the team vetted the targets using these qaulifying questions:

Does the blog cover events in LA or the Southern California region?
Does the blog focus on design? Have they covered Dwell Magazine in the past?
Does the blog cover sustainability?
Would they want information? Will they want to participate?
Will the promotions be fun for them?

The team narrowed it down to 200 blogs. Some of their outreach included discounts to the event.

Since Dwell magazine already had a Facebook page, the team decided to create an Event page on Facebook. The goal of this page was not to drive traffic outside of Facebook, but instead to serve as a central hub to point people in correct path. This included schedules and other information to help people decide whether they wanted to attend. The event page is also easy for people to share with friends and it shows up in people’s newsfeeds.

For Twitter, the Swirl team searched for people already talking about Dwell magazine. Sometimes this role took on a more customer service slant. During one search, they found a Dwell reader who’s subscription had ran out. The reader was hesitant about renewing because he had questions about the sustainability of a print magazine. The team informed himt hat a digital version was available. They also encouraged him to check out the event.

The Swirl team’s campaign ended with these results:

15,000 tickets sold (sold out)
ongoing facebook community
Satisfied client

ROI was key to winning over the client. The team presented their results in an Excel graph showing outreach with response at a quick glance. They also showed a Facebook graph, denoting spikes when messages came out.

Hope these case studies gave you as many ideas as they gave me! What other things would you have done in these campaigns to make them more effective? Have you run similar campaigns? Share your battle stories below!

Special thanks to Cathryn Hrudicka, Mike McGrath and Shashi Bellamkonda for great presentations!

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“3sday’s 3Q’s in 3 Min: Cathryn Hrudicka, Creative Sage”

Christopher Lynn — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 23:01:21 +0000

Pollen outside? No problem. Today’s “3Q’s in 3Min” is 100% Allergen free!

Every Thursday, socialTNT channels the spirit of citizen journalism by putting bloggers, reporters, PR pro’s or anyone with something to say about social media in front of the camera for a short, three minute interview. The videos are meant to encourage dialog between PR/communications practitioners and marketers on the future of media.

Today, socialTNT sat down with Cathryn Hrudicka, Chief Imagination Officer and Founder of Creative Sage. She also helps out with the Social Media Club here in SF. Today, Cathryn tells us her number one tip for PR pros and give some advice to companies planning their social media strategy.

Growing up with a father who ran an ad agency, Cathryn was always exposed to copy editing and idea generation. He also instilled a sense of entrepreneurship in her; it’s not surprising that Cathryn now heads a firm that consults on PR, marketing, and innovation strategy.

Over the last 20 years, Cathryn has done it all. A musician, Cathryn started out handling the PR and marketing for bands in which she played. From raising millions of dollars as development directors for non-profits to producing talk shows and broadcast, she is truly a woman of many trades. She moved to tech PR in the 90′s, developing ways to reach communities when the web was still one dot oh.

Fun Facts About Cathryn:

Originally came to San Francisco to go on a road trip to Alaska. She never left for Alaska and hasn’t left the Bay Area.
Once acted as publicist for a Grateful Dead concert.
Lives in Berkeley.
Uses interesting methods of creativity to fuse left and right brains to create business strategy ideas
On twitter, tumblr, Facebook and LinkedIn
Has a social Entrepreneur Squidoo lens.

In the following video, Cathryn lets us know what she loves about Web 2.0 and gives PR peeps some seasoned advice. Oh and small biz or marketing peeps, there’s some stuff in there for you, too!

What’s the best thing you can do with Web 2.0 that you couldn’t with Web 1.0? What’s your best advice to those launching a social media campaign? Let us know in the comments!

No time to watch the video at work? Get “3Q’s in 3Min” free from iTunes and watch it on the go!

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[The above photo, “Cathryn Hrudicka” by Randy Stewart, is used under Creative Commons]

“Punk’s Not Dead: Rethinking SXSW Criticism”

Christopher Lynn — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 20:01:58 +0000

Whether Twitter, blogs, or the Main Stream Media, the topic this week has been the SXSW festival. Many in attendance feel the Conference and its presenters just don’t get it. Is it the promoters’ fault, or the audience’s? Maybe it’s a little bit of both.

In this corner, the Returning Heavy Weight Champion: The Organizers

I grew up in Texas and have attended my fair share of SXSWs. As an indie/alterna-kid In junior high and high school, I always followed SXSW. After graduating high school, I moved to Austin for college.

Originally, SXSW started out as something that was a celebration of independence and musical innovation. As it increased in size, it seemed, to me, to lose its edge. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still a great place to see some of your favorite bands, but if they play there, they’ve probably already made it big in the underground. The real music is out on the streets, in garages and in hole in the wall bars.

The traditional conference model was, at one time, a great way for professionals to get together and talk about what’s going on. The SXSW organizers have assembled a good line-up of industry relevant speakers, but the way people exchange ideas has changed. Social media tools like blogging, Twitter, YouTube and streaming video have changed the way people communicate. That’s why, for me, looking to SXSW for innovation is like reading news from 2006; it’s great if you want to track progress, but it’s not going to tell you what’s on the cutting edge.

For interactive media, the truly innovative strategies and tools are being discussed in the blogosphere and, more rapidly, on Twitter. You don’t need to pay money to go to a conference; you can suck it all up here for free. But for the people who don’t have time to scan feeds or follow 500 Twitter friends, the traditional conference model still works.

And in this corner, we have the Underdog: The Audience

In the music realm, the majority of the attendees are usually suits and big wigs who want to get wasted and feel like they are a part of the underground again; anyone truly punk or indie can’t afford the price tag or goes to the unofficial events. The majority of attendees want to find out the next big thing to market and consume. And you’ll never be able to please anyone that wants instant enlightenment but doesn’t want to fall in the mud. Because they’ve built up this event and these speakers as having all the answers, when the audience sees the man behind the curtain is human, they throw tomatoes in revolt. In terms of social media, they want the tools and secrets, without taking the time required to learn and process the philosophy.

If you are a regular reader of this blog–or follow me or Marie on Twitter–you are probably more like one of the indie-kids. Remember: You don’t go to SXSW to see cutting edge, you go to see bands that have already had hits in the alterna-scene. Be realistic with the event, and you’ll have fun.

Aren’t happy with the conference? Next year plan your own rebel panel. Punk kids organize unofficial shows to protest the commercialism SXSW has become. Also, part of being indie is supporting your local scene. When was the last time you attended or organized a tweet-up, social media breakfast or event? Do you blog, share good links, tweet your ideas?

Who’s to blame? Let us know in the comments. Also, what suggestions do you have for organizers to help them embrace the hard-core fans? What can you do to increase understanding of social media?

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[The above photos, “rock 'n roll face” by BohPhoto and "Mons Punk" by To Tof on Flickr are used under Creative Commons]

“3sday’s 3Q’s in 3 Min: Chris Heuer, The Conversation Group”

Christopher Lynn — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 01:01:29 +0000

Like the cold winter wind, today’s biting “3sday’s 3Q’s in 3 Min” will chill your bones!

This week, socialTNT met up with Chris Heuer, partner at social media communications firm The Conversation Group. He’s also an executive and cofounder of the Social Media Club. In today’s episode, Chris tells us his definition of social media and proclaims that PR is dead.

When Chris and I met, we started talking about his book, a discussion of social media tools for internal communications. He enjoyes bouncing ideas off of people to spawn creativity. He also prefers working in collaborative, Socratic environments, so it’s not surprising that Chris cofounded the Social Media Club as a venue to share ideas about emerging media. This manifested itself throughout out our conversation; every time one of us would say something clever, he’d jot down notes in a a Moleskine notebook, potential ideas for the book. After a few minutes, our chat diverged away from his book and into a discussion of social networking, disposable attention, and brands.

As Brand managers everywhere try to stifle social media and maintain a uniform brand image, Chris promotes opening up. Instead of silencing employees, companies have to let go. To maintain, companies have to trust and educate their employees. To support his theory, Chris broke out a power point slide with a quote from Thomas Jefferson:

“I know of no safe repository of the ultimate power of society but
people. And if we think them not enlightened enough, the remedy is not
to take the power from them, but to inform them by education.”

Fun Facts About Chris

Once taught Interactive Advertising at the Miami Ad School
Has a Virtual Assistant outside the country
Does not have or use an RSS reader
Is a hit-and-run Twitterer
In July 2007, married Kristie Wells, VP of Customer Advocacy at Joyent, the company that used to host Twitter
Prefers in-person, real world communication over its online counterparts, but you can still find him on Facebook and LinkedIn

Ever wonder exactly what social media is? Chris’s succinct definition is not to be messed. He also explains what changes Public Relations and Marketing will need to make in order to stay alive. Check it out:

Wow. A lot to chew on. Is PR dead? Has social media killed it? What do you think PR will need to do to evolve? Is Schizophrenic Branding a problem? How do marketers deal with multiple voices coming out of their company? Let us know in the comments.

Quick Note: Today marks the first day socialTNT’s “3Q’s in 3Min” is available for download on iTunes. Yup, that’s right: Now you can view our video interviews with today’s top reporters and social media experts anywhere you want. Watch us on the train, at the gym or even at the break room of your stodgy PR or marketing firm. The last seven episodes are currently available in high-quality video, with the full library coming soon. Oh, and it’s all available to you for FREE!

Also, don’t miss a post: Please add socialTNT to your RSS reader [what’s that?]. Better yet, subscribe to socialTNT by email!

[The above photo, “Utterz Meetup House of Shields - Chris Heuer” by Brian Solis, is used under Creative Commons]

“3sday’s 3Q’s in 3 Min: Connie Reece, Every Dot Connects”

Christopher Lynn — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 02:00:53 +0000

It may be overcast outside, but today’s “3Q’s in 3Min” guest will brighten your day.

During a recent trip to Austin, socialTNT met up the lovely Connie Reece, founder of social media marketing consultation firm Every Dot Connects. She’s also the Executive Director of Social Media Club, and Twitter friend to all. In today’s interview, Connie outlines her definition of social media and explains how she has been using new media tools to put the “fun” back in fundraising.

I can’t really remember exactly how I met Connie. It was either when someone responded to her on Twitter and I looked her up, or after Jeremiah Owyang’s piece on building a Twitter community. In either case, I’m so happy I met her; Connie’s warmth shines through ever Tweet. Whether someone is tweeting about the death of their cat or a knee injury, Connie is always there to send words of encouragement. That’s why I lovingly call her the Twitter Mom.

When Twitter friend and future business partner Susan Reynolds was diagnosed with cancer in December 2007, Connie decided to use her connections–and Twitter–to help. Twitter users created PEAvatars to show solidarity with Susan while raising awareness. The Frozen Pea Fund, founded by Susan and Connie, sprang up organically to raise money for breast cancer research. [For a great case study on the Frozen Pea Fund's effective use of Twitter as marketing/pr strategy, check out this piece by Michael Allison.]

More About Connie

Recently purchased a beautiful island on Second Life
Had to cut her RSS feeds from 300 down to 50
We are both alums of University of Texas at Austin
Is on Facebook, Flickr and Utterz

Connie’s fascinating, sociological Venn-Diagram explanation of social media is not to be missed. Find it–and more on the Frozen Pea Fund–in the video below.

[vodpod id=ExternalVideo.481737&w=425&h=350&fv=]

How do you define social media? Do you agree with Connie?

Over the last few days, Connie has been very ill. Please send her your well wishes.

Don’t miss a post: Add us to your RSS reader [what’s that?], or Sign up for our Email.

[Above photo, "Inspired by Color," by Connie Reece"]

[This post was originally published Thursday morning, but was taken down because YouTube kept registering the video as not available. I uploaded the video again this evening and re-published the post. Sorry for the delay.]

“PR to Enterprise: Beam me Up!”

Christopher Lynn — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 19:25:39 +0000

In PR, it’s often difficult to determine how to use social media tools for our Enterprise clients. Also difficult: how to use social media tools for internal PR.

Last night, at a Social Media Club event, the topic of the evening was “Enterprise: Moving Forward.” The panel for the evening was moderated by “Naked Conversations” writer Shel Isreal. Panelists included Dave McClure (500 Hats, Graphing Social Patterns), Jeremiah Owyang (Senior Analyst, Forrester Research), Jennifer Jones (host of “Marketing Voices” on PodTech Network), Eleanor Wynn (Enterprise Architect, Intel), and Bob Duffy (Community Manager of Intel’s community, Open Port).

I tried to Twitter-cast the event, but even on a T9 predictive text enabled phone, it was tedious. For those interested in watching the 119 minute discussion, Ustream.tv captured the whole evening here. Lots of great ideas presented. Here are a few things that I brought back that could apply to PR and Marketing professionals:

Internal Communications:

Blogs hosted on a company’s intranet can boost internal communications
- Remember: Allow an open forum
- Leave comments enabled and respond respectfully
Internal Wiki’s can increase team collaboration
For large, multi-national companies, an internal social network can really help bridge the distance and increase team rapport
- Allow tagging of photos and interests
Close the feedback loop
- Show employees what suggestions have been implemented
If you really want to shake it up:
- Digg-like voting on suggestions
- Video, video, video!

External Communications:

Look to existing conversations and communities before implementing your full-strategy
- If your product is a finely-focused niche, there may not be a community. That’s your chance to facilitate the conversation with your brand as the moderator!
Company blog makes a HUGE impact in the enterprise space
- Position spokespeople as thought leaders
- In addition to your products, discuss current and future trends
Enlist community managers to comment on other blogs and address negative conversations threads in a thoughtful manner
Create communities where company reps ask questions about product development or allow users to suggest new products/changes
Go Geek!
- Many companies (incl Intel) have gotten heavy traffic by using their sites/communities to publish White Papers, behind-the-scenes videos, production notes, demo videos, etc.
Once again, close the feedback loop:
- Show customers that their thoughts count and have been implemented
- This helps establish a realm of trust that opens dialog. Instead of pushing your message, you allow many voices into the discussion about your product/brand
Feeling bleeding edge: Customer/Company Wiki’s blur the line between intra- and inter- nets
Bottom Line: It’s all about a conversation with the customers
Check out Intel’s Open Port or Dell’s IdeaStorm [my earlier discussion of Dell's social media tactics here]

Has your company used social media internally? Have you implemented social media tactics to help build a community around your Enterprise product? I’d love to hear about it.

Also, feel free to comment on any of these ideas.

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