PR & Social Media

A PR student, advancing in Social Media.

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Measuring Your Impact of Social Media

Getting a business to invest into a social media campaign can be pretty difficult if you are unable to give them a firm reason why they should invest. As public relation pople you and I may know of all the communication benefits of social media for a brand, but that is not what we want to focus on . Now is the time to think like an investor, what will you get back from your investment into the campaign, will it have a positive impact on the business, is it worth the time & money?

So my PR friends, it is our mission (if you should choose to accept it) to give the social media campaign meaning and value for the business. This means highlighting and defining the relationships between sales, brand awareness, site traffic and the social media campaign. Remember, social media without strategy is meaningless.

Measurement Methods

As social media marketing grows, more and more people are wondering what is the return of it? There is unfortunately no black and white answer to this question. Most social platforms offer their own analytical information that can give one a very general idea of the reach and impressions post generate. But to give us a more indepth method to analyze the return of social media marketing, Ignite Social Media created six methods of measuring social media.

Amplification Model: This model measures the dollar value of social media activity as if it were purchased through traditional paid advertising means. This involves using analytical software to determine impressions, clicks and views and determining the cost of this reach using traditional methods

Value of Social Traffic versus Display: This model allows brand marketers to compare the cost of website traffic from social media to the cost of website traffic from display advertising. This method involves determining the total amount of new visitors, determine the cost of display advertising to achieve the same amount of new visitors and comparing that to to the cost of the social campaign and how much each visit costed.

Quality of Visitors from Social Media: While Model 2 compares the cost per visitor; this model evaluates the quality of visitors that come from social media versus those who come from other means. This model conducts an analysis of the quality of traffic based on at least four different options. Some example analysis options can be, pages per visit, time on site, bounce rate(percentage of visitors who leave after visiting on page), and goal conversion (how many people get to you “goal” page).

Revenue from Facebook Fans Model: Using published data on the propensity for fans to change purchase behavior after becoming a fan, this model provides a framework for estimating the business value from new Facebook fans. This method tracks clicks from Facebook fans and determines how many fans were likely to buy, consider and recommend the brand to others.

Revenue from Social Media Marketing: This model allows brands to calculate the estimated sales impact of their various social media marketing efforts in part by evaluating the impact on traffic to business-driving “goal” pages.

Social Promotions Sales ROI: Using data from Model 5, this final model provides a framework for measuring the return on investment from a given social promotion.

This model information was retrieved from http://bit.ly/2gqhdAJ models-for-measuring-the-roi-of-social-media-marketing/ check them out for more details on different models and answers to frequently asked questions.

- Lovinya Reid

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What creating a Brand Community can offer you!

A brand community is usually an online community filled with individual users who are all interested and engaged with a specific brand or branded product or service. This group of customers often organizes around a lifestyle, activities, or ethos of a brand that they agree and can relate with.

 Why you should consider creating a Brand Community

Strengthen brand loyalty

Identify and maintain brand advocates and ambassadors

Build greater relationships with customers

Now before you jump to any assumptions about brand communities let me put some common myths about brand communities to rest.

Myth 1: A brand community is a marketing strategy

A brand community is actually a business strategy

In order to reap the benefits of community engagement, the community must become a high level strategy and be supported business wide. For example,  Harley-Davidson reformulated its entire competitive strategy and business model around a brand community philosophy. They created the “Brotherhood” of riders united by common values, behaviours and beliefs.

Myth 2: A Brand community exist to serve the business

On the contrary, a brand community exists to serve the people within the community

Community based brand build loyalty by helping people meet their needs for things such as emotional support, encouragement, cultivating skills, finding new interests, etc. For example, The Goodlife Fitness community gives people in the community motivation and support to achieve the so desired happy and healthy lifestyle.

Myth 3: Build the brand and the community will follow

The real trick is building the community and the brand will be stronger

People have stronger one to one relationships with others with similar interests. Personal relationships are what link people together and can drive them towards brand affiliation by uniting under a brand ethos. For example, Nike uses it’s Nike+ online community to engage peer to peer interaction by allowing and encouraging member to challenge, motivate and trash talk each other to achieve new physical goals.

Myth 4: Brand communities should be lovefest fr faithful brand advocates

More commonly brand communities thrive on conflict and contrast, not love

Dividing lines are fundamental in business, Apple user hate Microsoft and Dell, Tim Hortons lovers avoid Starbucks, Playstation gamers don’t like Xbox, and the list goes on. Communities can find unity over rivalries and conflict and often join together in opposition. For example, Dove’s “Campaign for Real Beauty” brought “real women” together to fight industry beauty ideals and standards.

Myth 5: Opinion leaders build strong communities

Communities are stronger when everyone participates

Opinion leaders can misguide the approach to community building by taking focus away for the community members. When everyone is involved and contribute this strengthens a community and their opinions.

Myth 6: Social networks are key to communication strategy in communities

Online social networks are just a tool in community strategy

Selectively choose the online tools and platforms for your brand community. Select tools strategically considering what will support your brand and be most fitting for your community. For example, L'Oréal uses blogs with certain mainstream brands to communicate with brand members who values that form of social interaction most.

Where to start- Initiating a brand community

Determine who the community is for

Be specific

Research this community

What do they care about?

What sort of content do they consumer?

Do their interest align with those of the brands?

Check the Competition

Who are their members?

What do they talk about?

How can you be different

- Lovinya Reid

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Here is why you should attend a Centennial College GCELE.

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Why you should be using social media for internal communications and how

Employees are the face and ambassadors for business brands. Employees are at the frontlines of a business and can overall contribute to the success, or failure of a company. Keeping employees engaged is so important to maintain, happy, loyal and hardworking employees for your business. When employees care and are committed to their work they become fully involved, enthusiastic and can build a winning customer focused culture.

Some of the benefits of Employee Engagement and good internal communication are:

·         Employee become brand ambassadors

·         Employees create a brand experience for customers

·         Builds customer loyalty

·         Attracts and retains employees

·         Increased strength in leadership

If you’re a business owner, you may be asking yourself, how can I keep my employees engaged and reap the benefits of great internal communications, here are my suggestions.

·         Believe it or not, social media can be of great use for internal communications. Social may be a better choice for internal communications so you can reach employees in a family and comfortable method, provide clear and concise content, and promote engagement between employees and leaders. Internal social media can be used for things such as,

o   Sharing concepts and ideas

o   Project collaboration

o   Finding subject experts

o   Problem solving

o   Horizontal networking

O   Enhancing the corporate culture

o   Getting feedback

o   Sharing best practices

o   And streamline HR processes

A company that was an early adapter of using social for internal communications and employee engagement is Nokia. In 2008 Nokia’s Social Media Communications team with the objective to encourage the use of social media internally to bring out the company’s voice and improve inter-company communications. Nokia is a very large company with about 125,000 employees throughout the world. The company’s most popular tools of use are BlogHub, VideoHup and Infopedia.

BlogHub is Nokia’s most effective social media tool, it lowers barriers for employees to find conversation relevant to them, it gives everyone a voice to communicate opinions and it strays away from the traditional top-down method of communication.

 VideoHub is an increasingly popular platform for employees. Posting is updated nearly on a daily basis and encourages interactivity amongst employees online.

Nokia’s Infopedia wiki is another platform that allows for easy collaboration and knowledge sharing amongst employees inside the company.

Nokia’s Social Media Communications team maintains these social platforms by making social media guidelines known and easily accessible to users.  The guidelines are not meant to restrict users, but rather are meant to encourage users to act responsibly online. As well, in maintaining this form of social media measuring the effectiveness of communication channels are very necessary. Success is usually measured by the amount of participation in company activities, and the number of article views & comments.

Overall, in your business, never forget about the importance of engaging your employees, and remember changing your approach to engaging employees may be necessary and more effective for business, so give it a try

-          Lovinya Reid

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Bringing Social Media and Traditional PR Together

We’ve focused a lot on social media the past few weeks now let’s talk about how to ingrate social media with traditional PR activities.

The trick to doing this is to use your social mediums to promote and distribute tradition PR coverage. So basically… use social media to extend the conversation and share more information of what’s going on online.

How Virgin Radio Toronto does it

Virgin Radio Toronto has been great at this this all summer long. This summer 2016 their #PicsWithThe6 campaign launched. The purpose of this campaign is to bring awareness to Virgin Radio Toronto’s onsite broadcasting at events. Throughout the summer Virgin hit up concerts, music festivals, carnivals, amusements parks, any big public event you can think of, Virgin was probably there. Now in order to increase awareness and attendance to Virgins live broadcasts, at each appearance Virgin radio brought in this campaign to help out. Their usual pop-up booths included the usual branded Virgin Radio truck, branded tent and brand ambassadors to man the booth, along with this was a white 6 featuring the Virgin Radio logo at the bottom. The challenge for listeners was to find the 6 at one of their appearances, take a picture with it and post it online with the hashtag #PicsWithThe6. Users who shared their picture online with the hashtag would also be entered for a chance to win $6000 from Virgin just for sharing. The contest was promoted both online on their social media as well on the radio during live broadcasts.

This social media campaign is so great for many reasons.

1.       It lines up with the business goals, which I can only assume are to encourage brand recognition, increase listeners to the station and engage with fans which is exactly what this campaign did.

2.       This is a very strategic campaign, it shows that Virgin knows who exactly its target audience is. I believe they targeted young adults and youth in Toronto 15 – 25. Virgin Radio knows that this age groups has a love for the city with Drake as our unofficial poster boy, we define ourselves as “The 6ix” and we are a group that loves to represent the city and of course take pictures of ourselves and share them online. Virgin took note of all of this and gave this audience exactly what we enjoy with the incentive of having a chance to win $6000 and bring more awareness to the radio station.

3.       Finally, this tactic tied in social media and traditional PR very well. This increased visits and engagements to Virgin Radios onsite appearances; as well it increased engagement with Virgin Radio online. The company basically is getting users to create and share Virgin Radio content online and all Virgin Radio really has to do is, appear at events and engage online with users using the hashtag.

Overall, by tying both social media tactics and traditional Tactics together online the social media gains more of a purpose, it becomes more meaningful and linking the business to the online world is great for staying connected and engaged with fans and consumers, Virgin Radio Toronto is doing it right.

Oh yeah, and here at my #PicsWithThe6

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The how to’s of Social Media Planning

Behold social media and all its power. This relatively new and growing form of media has an abundance of power over a business. This power can be harnessed and used to benefit a business in reaching its objectives, if used tragically. For your benefit today I am revealing all the keys to success in strategic social media planning.

First, consider the business mission and the company’s purpose. For example, here at Centennial College our mission is “Educating students for career success. We make every decision to support the career and personal development of our learners. Our curriculum, teaching and services demonstrate that we value the diverse profiles of our learners” (Centennial College, "Vision and Mission Statement").  This can guide us in planning our social media campaigns by identifying and focusing on fulfilling this mission.

Second, identify business goals so that you are aware of the end result and can align social media goals with business goals. For example, Centennial Colleges goals are to meet the needs of internal and external communities, make Centennial College the college of choice in target markets, be the employer of choice for management, faculty and support staff, ensure that sufficient financial resources are obtained, and finally value and respect diversity. Knowing these objectives are crucial to social media planning to ensure that the social media campaign will contribute to reaching these goals and give the social media endeavour a purpose.

Now by understanding the business goals, one must determine their social media objective. Figure out the desired end result from the campaign, what is its purpose? A social media objective can be any sort of activity that will help the business such as building the band, attracting new customers, supporting sales, engaging with customers, establishing thought leadership, and anything else that can benefit business. At Centennial I would say our social media objective would be focused on building the brand and engaging with customers, students, faculty, and other stakeholders of the college.

Now it starts to get more difficult, developing the strategy and plan of action to reach our objectives. In the case of Centennial College the concern wo0uld be how to leverage social mediums to build the brand by getting people to recognize the name and associate it with our service and values. As well, at Centennial we would look for ways to give students, faculty and others a reason to talk and engage with the college. Developing this strategy will start with identifying your audience and knowing what platforms they use, what they are talking about and what content they are consuming. An example strategy for Centennial to build their brand is through greater use of hashtags and contests that will give users incentive to engage with the brand.

So our social media plan is almost done, next on  the list is to take those strategies and start coming up with what tactics will be deployed to engage with people. Your tactical planning should be very specific, and consider what platforms will be used, what content, does it align with your target audience and how will your tactics line up with your business. Continuing with our example of Centennial College, a photo contest for example would be useful. A contest where students submit photos of their learning experiences with the hashtag #CenntennialLearns can promote Centennial’s focus on student growth and development as well it allows the college to engage with students using content that the target audience favors.

Finally, once you have your tactic mapped out, and platforms have been chosen, you’re ready to get going. Your social media now has a purpose and a benefit for the business. This last step is one of the most important in social media planning. Measuring impression and interactions is crucial for a business to know who they are reaching, how often, and what people are saying about your organization. Without monitoring the impact of social media you will not be able to measure whether or not you are reaching your social media and business objectives, and that is just no good.

Overall, this is what is up with social media today. Planning is so important for social media to be useful; otherwise you’re just going in blind. Have a plan, put it into action, and watch your business grow

-          Lovinya Reid

  Reference:

Centennial College, B. (n.d.). Vision and Mission Statement. Retrieved October 05, 2016, from http://www.centennialcollege.ca/about-centennial/college-overview/vision-and-mission-statement/

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Managing a Crisis online - The RBC Outsourcing Fiasco

Crisis can be an inevitable thing, big or small we all experience some sort of crisis. In a business, crisis is a very big deal. One’s brand and reputation that may have taken years to build can be crushed instantly if some very negative news gets out. This is what happened to the Royal Bank of Canada in 2013.

The company had to immediately go into damage control after unhappy employees went to media with news that dozens of veteran employees were being replaced by temporary foreign workers. Now, outsourcing is actually a very common practice for major banks to cut costs in several departments, but the implementation of this practice did not go over very well at RBC, and it was the spark to a major crisis for the company.

Why did it go wrong for RBC?

You may be asking yourself, if this is such a common tactic that major banks and many Canadian companies use to cut costs, why was RBC the only company taking the heat and experiencing this crisis. I found two reasons why I believe this project backfired on RBC.

1.     Bad internal communication

Once the decision was made to cut Canadian jobs and replace them with temporary foreign workers, more time and effort should have been put into communicating these layoffs to employees. Remember, one bad apple can spoil the bunch. One angry employee who was let go was the spark to media grabbing hold of this story. RBC should have put more focus into letting employees go without burning bridges, so providing severance packages, other job opportunities, references, and not making veteran employees train their foreign replacements.

2.     Lack of preparation

The key to avoiding and resolving a crisis is of course prevention and preparation. RBC should have prepared a thorough crisis management plan that would have addressed key components such as media contact lists, spokesperson training, key messages, official statements for the public, and policies and procedures for internal and external communication for different platforms.

Who RBC forgot to reach

As soon as the story broke RBC immediately went into 

defense mode, but what RBC forgot was to address the crisis on the platform that the crisis broke. Although crisis began with news platforms, the conversation continued online and it only added fuel to the fire. RBC should have been readily available online dealing with this crisis. Here is what I think RBC should have done through social media platforms:

RBC needed to:

1.     Acknowledge the public’s concern on social media platforms

                               I.            Demonstrate Compassion, Conviction, and Optimism within content

2.     Explain the RBC’s position

                               I.            Redirect the message to the reason for outsourcing, maybe to increase global awareness at RBC, increase diversity, and learn new business methods rather than just lowering costs which sounds horrible to consumers.

3.     Allow for open dialogue

                               I.            Readily respond to users

                             II.            Be responsive 24/7; the story can escalate at any point in time without proper monitoring

                          III.            Sow authentic and understanding communication, no use of financial jargon that we will not all understand

- Lovinya Reid

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How to Maintain a Good Look Online

When it comes to social media, everything becomes a bit more laissez-faire, at least that is what we think. Often times we forget that what goes up online stays there, for all to see, forever and ever. So this is why we are going to talk about maintaining that good look online. Social media is a powerful tool and it can make or break an organization if it is not managed strategically.  So here is my quick to do list for maintaining a good look online.

1.       Establish Trust

Without trust, your brand is no good. If the public does not trust in your organization, the brand will gain a pretty bad reputation and its success can be greatly diminished with bad public perception. This is why maintaining trust is crucial to have from all stakeholders in a business. Trust can be established online by demonstration competence, transparency, concern, reliability and identity through interactive content on social mediums.

For Example, McDonald’s Canada is an organization that was able to establish trust through their digital platforms called “Our Food. Your Questions.” The campaign gave people a chance to ask the company questions about anything in order to diminish the uncertainty and rumors surrounding McDonald’s. McDonald’s received numerous very difficult questions that were answered through various videos that all seemed to go viral. If you haven’t seen one of their “Our Food, Your Questions.” Video responses here is one of the most memorable ones where the question, “Why does your food look different in the advertising than what is in the store?” was answered here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSd0keSj2W8. 

The campaign resulted in about 20,000 questions answered by April 2013 and the “Our Food. Your Questions” part of the McDonalds website as gained over two million hits.

2.       Pay attention to your online reputation

 Online reputation management is essential to understand how the public perceives your organization and how they are defining your brand. Reputation management starts with holding yourself to the same ethical and professional standards that one would with traditional media. Second, monitoring communications about your brand, company, services and personnel is essential. Coverage, good or bad about an organization can go up 24/7 and can almost instantaneously snowball if not dealt with appropriately.

 3.       Turn lemons into lemonade

Nearly any and every business will have some experience dealing with unhappy customers. With the growth of social media more and more unhappy consumers are taking their less than pleasant experiences and sharing their stories online. Remember, any negative blog is a PR crisis in waiting. This is why it is so crucial to monitor what is being said online to handle situations before they escalate. Turn these sour lemons into lemonade, by taking your customer service department online. Create specific policies and procedures for dealing with disgruntled customers online in the most effective manner possible. Train social media staff on policy, procedure and brand awareness so they can represent your organization in the best light online. Reaching out to disgruntled user quickly and effectively is the key to success when trying to turn those sour lemons into lemonade.

- Lovinya Reid

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Welcome to the Age of Social Media

When you hear the phrase social media, a million and one things may come to mind. Although we understand the ins and outs and unwritten rules of social media, I think we as a generation fail to recognize the revolutionary changes it has caused, both the way we communicate, and how we receive daily news, have changed and more  is definitely to come.

With all the advancements in social media tools now allow us to create our own media and establish our own networks to share it with. Take Facebook, for example, Facebook is a $350 billion dollar media company that does not create its own media, oh the irony. It’s crazy how things have changed. Traditional media companies such as CNN and BBC rely on traditional journalism and public relations to get news. Social media tools now allow organizations to go straight to the public with their information and give them the ability to choose their online medium. As well, contrary to traditional media, social media tools now change the way organizations communicate with their publics, straying away from the typical one way communications and now opening doors to two way conversations.

Speaking of communication, let’s discuss how the way we communicate with each other changes because of social media. Communications over most social platforms have become nearly instantaneous, from the moment something is posted or a message is received and read, the conversations begin. Even, our conversation now combines both the public and private sphere. When chat one to one with someone on Twitter, over their Facebook wall, or even through the comments. Although we may be speaking directly to one person, that conversation is now inserted into the public sphere. Our ordinary and everyday conversations are now blended with the public and this is a very non-traditional concept of communication.

Basically, I just needed to take the time to realize how mind blowing social media is in this industry. With more users utilizing digital communication the benefits of social media can be a great asset to people, organizations, government, and nearly anyone. Although social media is ground breaking in its evolution into society, this does not mean that that public communication systems such as TV, radio, News, etc. will ever disappear, but social media are definitely occupying a huge part of the public sphere of the media industry.

Thus, I personally welcome you to the social media age, the game has changed. Keep up.

- Lovinya Reid