How to Increase Member Value with Social Communities
Social Media Pro Book
1. c o p y r i g h t E lo q ua a n d J E S S 3
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Social
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Table of Contents
Foreword
By Steve Rubel
A few years ago at a 2007 Paley 04 05 07 08 10 12 14
Center confab, Cisco executive
Steve Rubel is EVP Daniel Scheinman predicted that, Whatever New How to Operational A Day in the 8 Critical Elements to A Day in the
of Global Strategy in the future, content would find us
Happened Entrants Organize models Life of... Scaling Globally Life of...
and Insights for through our social networks, rather
Edelman. He is than requiring us to seek it out. to…? by Brad Internally By Jeremiah Scott by Ekaterina Walker & Adam
a highly visible Flash forward four years later by Jesse Cohen by Joe Owyang Monty Bryan Rhoads Singer
thought leader and and there’s no doubt he was right. Thomas Chernov
writer on media, Increasingly relevant information -
technology and whether it be from brands, the media or
digital culture. individuals - is finding us through our
His insights can social networks. However, with everyone
be found at www. and their mother creating content,
steverubel.me. standing out is becoming only more
challenging.
Enter this guide. Eloqua and JESS3
have once again pulled together an all-
star team to share their best practices in
social media. However, talk is one thing. 16 17 18 20 22 24 25
Action is another.
Thankfully, the the team proved it With this resource, Usage Writing for A Day in the Practical A Day in the Influencers Infographics
had the know-how to stand out in an
age of too much content and not enough
time. They cleverly gave custom avatars
it’s clear that you’re Guidelines
by Leslie
Facebook
by Jeff
Life of...
Liz
Uses for
Geo
Life of...
Jamie
by Leslie Bradshaw &
Joe Chernov
by Robin
Richards
to each author. When I saw these
popping up on Facebook I was curious in good hands Bradshaw Widman Philips by Chris
Thompson
Grenney
where they came from and was able to
track down the source - and of course get
my own.
to navigate the
challenges.
Eloqua Social Media ProBook
Eloqua Social Media ProBook
30 32 33 35 36 37 38
A Day in the How PR Do You Wikipedia 10 “Rules” Index Epilogue
Life of... people Believe in Funda- for Social All people By Leslie
Tweet This!
Frank should Life After mentals Advertising mentioned Bradshaw
Eliason think Likes? By William By Leslie in this
about Measuring Beutler Poston ProBook
social Social
media Business
by Sarah by David
2
3
Evans Armano
3. Flickr: The popular photo and FriendFeed: FriendFeed Google Wave: Google April 2008. Later that year, the
video sharing site launched out of launched in 2007 as a social networking Wave is – err, was – a real-time company introduced MySpace
Vancouver in 2004. Acquired by Yahoo! aggregator that connected a user’s communication and collaboration Music, driving new traffic to the site.
just one year later, Flickr grew into an profiles across multiple social networks platform that launched in May 2009. An By 2011, however, MySpace had laid
online home for more than 51 million to display information in a single, invitation-only roll-out led to high off more than half of its workforce
users and 5 billion images. But as Facebook-like feed. Facebook acquired demand, with some users auctioning off and has since dropped from a top 10
Facebook and mobile photo services the service in 2009. Today, FriendFeed. their invitations. Once the initial buzz site in the Alexa rankings down to
like Twitpic and Yfrog add options to com receives about 270,000 unique dissipated, users were slow to adopt the #77. At the time of this writing, News
the photo-sharing market, Flickr has visitors per month, but because it’s a service and Google eventually stopped Corp. appears to be trying to sell
seen a decline in their audience over the content / news aggregator, it shouldn’t developing Wave, citing a lack of MySpace for a fraction of its original
past two years. The site is far from dead, be considered a priority social outpost interest. In late 2010, Google Wave purchase price.
however, as accounts like The Official for marketers in the way that the moved into the open source Apache
White House Photostream continue to “source” networks are. Software Foundation’s incubator and it Bebo: Launched in January
drive traffic to Flickr. In some ways, it’s was renamed Apache Wave. 2005, Bebo was particularly popular
returned to the purest version of itself Google Buzz: Google Buzz outside of America and appealed to a
– that is, a hub for photography is a social network that utilizes Google’s MySpace: MySpace was younger audience. The social network
enthusiasts. It never became the Gmail interface and Google Profiles. founded in 2004 and grew into one of hoped to distinguish itself from
Jesse Thomas is corporate marketing “outpost” some When launched in 2010 it was dubbed “a the world’s largest social networks. rival social networks through its
JESS3’s founder, originally imagined. Google approach to sharing” and Less than a year after its launch, development of original content.
CEO and executive generated a great deal of media coverage. MySpace had more than 5 million AOL acquired Bebo in March 2008
creative director. StumbleUpon: The Significant questions about privacy led members and, as a result of its for $850 million, but sold it for less
He ensures that the StumbleUpon toolbar is an in-browser to lawsuits and complaints to the Federal (ephemeral) dominance, was than $10 million just two years later.
highest levels of “engine” that helps users discover new Trade Commission. Though some issues purchased by News Corp. in 2006 for Since their purchase, Criterion
excellence and Websites and rate them based on their have been resolved, current speculation $580 million. MySpace remained the Capital Partners has revamped
innovation go into preferences. The service was founded is that Google Buzz may be scrapped in largest social network in America and re-launched Bebo with
every JESS3 project in 2001 and grew to more than 2 million the near future. until being overtaken by Facebook in new features.
and is considered users before being sold to eBay in 2007.
one of the pioneers The founders have since reacquired the
in the field of social company and increased the service’s
New
media data user base to nearly 13 million.
visualization. Jesse StumbleUpon has surged ahead of
regularly shares his Facebook to account for 43% of all social
insights at his media site referral traffic. The
Forbes blog. community remains prominent in the
field of social bookmarking (along with
sites like Reddit and Digg).
Entrants
Digg: Digg is the original social
news Website. It allows users to submit
and “vote up” stories that interest them.
A darling of the early Web 2.0
community, Digg repeatedly decided
against selling, preferring to remain
independent. Though it raised
additional funding and released By Brad Cohen
Whatever
numerous new features, Digg has Brad Cohen is the
hemorrhaged users and talent, director of strategy
including founder and Valley superstar The most interesting discussions always begin at JESS3. He has
Kevin Rose, who left in March 2011. As with the question: “What’s next?” The following is a experience
services like Twitter help users handful of tools, technologies and social networks designing strategies
consume news more efficiently, this that are making headlines. Note that we attempted that utilize social
Happened
downward trend is likely to continue. to focus on platforms that offer significant media to leverage
potential for marketers. As a result, some of our and coordinate
Delicious:
Eloqua Social Media ProBook
Eloqua Social Media ProBook
Delicious, a social personal favorites – such as stylized photo-sharing assets across an
bookmarking Website, was founded in networks like Instagram and picplz – regrettably enterprise,
2003 and acquired by Yahoo! just two didn’t make the list. campaign, or
years later. Its easy interface and initiative and
cloud-based approach to bookmarking
Micro-blogging services creating social
To...?
made it one of the most popular online objects that resonate
services of its time. After considerable
LIKE Posterous and Tumblr within a target
Tweet This!
drama surrounding its fate, Delicious community while
Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter was recently purchased and will become conveying messages
weren’t always the social media part of AVOS, an Internet venture Posterous: Posterous, like competitor Tumblr that are core to
trinity. Any number of networks started by YouTube founders Chad (see below), is a micro-blogging platform that allows users brand initiatives.
paved the way for their success. Hurley and Steve Chen. It’s unclear to upload and publish content – text, photo, audio, video He has worked with
By Jesse Thomas Here’s the latest on a few
foundational platforms.
what will become of Delicious, though it
has a sizable community pulling for it.
– via browser, email, or mobile app. What distinguishes
Posterous is its ability to allow users to publish blog
Intel, Adobe, IBM
and Nestle.
4
5
4. entries simply by emailing the text and Qik: Qik allows users to record As public social networks are evolving, items and promoting products like shoes
corresponding media to their account. and upload video directly from a mobile so too are their behind-the-firewall and apparel that can be worn or used in the
Using a distribution platform similar to phone. The popular service is easy to counterparts. Services like Yammer game.
Ping.fm, Posterous also enables users use with YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and Chatter allow for secure business
to “autopost” their articles / media to
all major social platforms. Posterous’s
strategic advantage is its ease-of-use for
and other video-sharing platforms.
Having won numerous awards for its
functionality and technology, Qik was
communications to happen in an
environment that has all of the earmarks
of social media.
Social NETWORKS
content creators and distributors. acquired by Skype for more than $100 Google+ Less than three
Tumblr: According to many,
Tumblr is the preeminent micro-blogging
million. It remains to be seen what
the future of Qik will be now that its
parent is a part of Microsoft. What is
Social Q&A sites months after Google CEO Larry Page
famously tied employee bonuses to social
networking product success, Google
platform on the Web. Similar to Posterous, not in doubt, however, is that the mobile Quora: Quora has taken the unveiled Google+ (which, incidentally,
Tumblr makes it easy to publish multiple broadcasting services Qik pioneered will media by storm. Although Q&A sounds startlingly similar to “Google
media types (text, photos, quotes, links, be significant for consumers, advertisers sites have long lived on the Internet Circles,” a rumored social platform first
music and videos) in a dashboard that and technologists. (Yahoo! Answers, for example), there reported by ReadWriteWeb’s Marshall
experts like Mashable superstar Jennifer is something provocative about Quora. Kirkpatrick covered at SXSW 2011).
van Grove have described as “killer.” YouTube Live: Recently, Given the company’s background – it Google+ is a new social network that
While Tumblr also accepts entries from YouTube began the slow rollout of was founded by Facebook alums – it’s promises to make it easier for members
email and mobile, the service’s true YouTube Live, a service that enables no surprise that Quora has been able to share information to “circles” of
strength is found in its active community users to host a real-time video stream. to attract top business leaders and friends to whom that update is relevant.
and design features. Tumblr allows users YouTube has been developing the service contributors. The mix of quality content Whether that differentiator is sufficient
to customize their blogs into a remarkable for some time, grabbing headlines with social networking tool integration to lure people away from the familiar
number of layouts, called “themes.” The when it live-streamed a U2 concert in has created a unique repository of blue halls of Facebook is, of course,
tight-knit Tumblr community also allows 2009. Currently, YouTube has agreed to expertise. Quora has kicked the ball anyone’s guess. Google seems serious
app development by third parties. provide live-streaming capabilities for forward for online Q&A sites. Will any this time. But history is not on their side.
certain content partners with an eye on of their competitors still want to play?
As corporate blogs become more, well,
“corporate,” forward-looking brands are
beginning to use hosted services like Posterous
expanding it to the public.
Brands are starting to adapt to live video,
Focus: Focus has been around
for longer than Quora, and, like Quora,
Group buying Joe Chernov is VP
of Content Marketing
for Eloqua. He owns
and Tumblr to establish “lightweight” blogs. and that’s where services like Ustream, it is an active site with a highly engaged Groupon: Groupon is a public relations,
These properties help companies get messages Justin.tv, Qik and YouTube Live enter community. In addition to the Q&A deal-of-the-day Website that features analyst relations and
and digital assets to market faster than they the picture. As bandwidth and streaming format, Focus also taps its “expert” discounted gift certificates usable at local social media strategy.
could on a more rigorously managed corporate technology improve, the barriers between community to participate in online or national companies. It made headlines He blogs regularly on
blog or Website. They are also valuable tools the consumer and content will continue Webinars, which are then turned into several times recently: once when it the company’s It’s All
for organizations that support the “personal to fall. Companies will stream their own content marketing assets. The assets turned down a rumored $6 billion offer About Revenue blog
brands” of select executives and spokespeople. corporate events, as well as interviews from are available for download, and Focus from Google, next when it aired Super (blog.eloqua.com)
Think of them as occupying the space between conferences. Feeds can run on the streaming uses them to capture leads to sell to Bowl ads many found offensive, and, and speaks pretty
full-featured blogging platforms and Twitter. provider’s site, YouTube, the corporate advertising partners. most recently, in June 2011 when it much everywhere.
Website, a microsite, blog, or a Facebook filed its S-1 in preparation for an IPO.
“Live streaming” Fan page. People have questions, and Quora
and Focus are two of the top sites for
The Wall Street Journal estimated that
Groupon could raise as much as $1 billion
services like Enterprise social both individuals and businesses to get
answers. LinkedIn Answers and Facebook
on a valuation of $20 billion. Despite,
or perhaps because of, these front-page
Ustream, Justin.tv communications Questions are also part of this booming
sector.
news stories, Groupon remains the front-
runner in the increasingly popular daily
and Quik tools Social gaming
deals / group buying category.
LivingSocial: LivingSocial
How to Organize
Ustream: Like its competitors Yammer: Yammer is a tool for is generally considered to be the biggest
Justin.tv and Livestream, Ustream making companies and organizations Empire Avenue: threat to Groupon. The premise and
provides video streaming for live online more productive through the exchange Empire Avenue is a stock market execution are similar to Groupon
events. Originally conceived as a service of short, frequent answers to one simple simulation social game network. If that (Altimeter Group analyst Jeremiah
Internally
to allow military members to talk to their question: What are you doing? Despite sounds like a mouthful, here’s a simpler Owyang has pointed out that there
families while overseas, Ustream has the emergence of competing tools, explanation: It’s an online community is virtually no barrier to entry in this
grown to include more than 10 million Yammer continues to grow rapidly and where members buy (using faux currency, category), but LivingSocial offers more
registered broadcasters. Since 2007, introduce new features. It took top prize called “Eaves”) and sell virtual stock in deals focused on travel and hospitality.
political, technology and lifecasting stars at the prestigious TechCunch50 in 2008 real people and companies. The game LivingSocial’s daily deal “experiences”
have used Ustream to get their message and was used by 80% of Fortune 500 can be shared with friends for
By Joe Chernov
makes use of all of the tried-and-true
out. The site is supported by in-video companies by September 2010. forms of social currency – badges, status additional benefits.
advertising and will likely continue tiers, shout-outs – to create a “sticky”
Chatter: Salesforce.com’s
Eloqua Social Media ProBook
Eloqua Social Media ProBook
growing as its technology improves. community. It has been described as If you need more evidence that this is a “Organic” is generally themselves caught in operational
answer to Yammer is Chatter, a “FarmVille for professionals.” hot space, consider this: by some accounts, considered to be a favorable weeds. Their efforts are likely to be
Justin.tv: The Justin of Justin. real-time collaboration tool for the there are as many as 100 different daily adjective. It connotes impeded by inefficiency, inconsistency
tv fame started the live video site as a enterprise. Chatter, which allows Speaking of FarmVille, there any number deals companies in the United States alone. a healthy, maybe even and possibly even a lack of compliance
24/7 lifecasting stream in 2007. Justin. employees to share information of social games – many of which are Groupon and LivingSocial have combined to sustainable, product or with government requirements.
tv has since moved beyond its self- securely with colleagues, may be one published by powerhouse Zynga and run raise more than a billion dollars in venture practice. But when used to Since this is the “professional
referential beginnings to expand into of the building blocks of the cloud on the Facebook platform – that marketers funding. Moreover, existing Web 2.0 describe your company’s edition” of the Social Media Playbook,
Tweet This!
a site on which anyone can set up a computing giant’s long-awaited have begun to incorporate into their mix. giants are taking notice of the marketplace. social media structure, we will assume your organization
channel. Like YouTube, the streams “Marketing Cloud” initiative. Salesforce. One technique is for a brand to subsidize Facebook made a big splash with Facebook organic is code for “chaos.” is committed to participating in the
– and accompanying chat – are fully com appears to have doubled down on the cost of the participant “leveling up” in Deals, and services like Foursquare and Yelp Whether by design or by social Web. It simply may be trying
embeddable. Justin.tv is ad-supported, this push, with a Chatter Super Bowl game-play if the individual watches an ad, are also working on their own variations. indifference, companies that to determine a safer, more efficient or
but the open platform has periodically commercial and the acquisition of takes a poll or views a video published by Retailers and consumer brands need to think take a “let a thousand flowers more scalable model. Fortunately for
led to challenges with policing Radian6 in early 2011. the marketer. Other integration techniques seriously about the role this new wave of bloom” approach to social media you, much of the heavy lifting has been
copyrighted content. involve allowing users to buy branded group buying will have on their business. participation will quickly find performed already. Jeremiah Owyang of
6
7
5. Altimeter Group has published several
must-reads, including the seminal “The Step One: First, Do gives you an opportunity to effectively
write your own reputation. Step Three: diagramed several models that have
been embraced by various companies
you begin your program in earnest.
Answering them up front will not only
Career Path of the Corporate Social
Strategist” report and the “Program No Harm You should also check with your
organization’s legal department. Determine (See: “Social Strategy Getting Your
Company Ready”). He has generously
ensure the program runs efficiently, but
it will also help you track performance.
Plan: The Social media Center of
Excellence” blog article.
From a practitioner’s standpoint,
Primum non nocere. First, do no harm.
This phrase doesn’t only apply to
the medical profession. It’s equally
Some companies want staffers to add
disclaimers like “these words are my
own and do not reflect my employer” to
Reasonable KPIs
You have to measure something bigger
contributed those structures to this
book, and we have “JESS3-ified”
their design. There are pros and cons Recalibrate in
establishing a functional model for vital to social media. By now most their online profiles. and more strategic than the number of with each model, yet ultimately, the Real Time
social engagement is a political and companies know that appropriate Facebook Fans or Twitter Followers. “Honeycomb” is the most aspirational. Stop engineering. Get out there and
operational exercise. Following is one
reliable way to operationalize social
engagement in social channels creates
opportunities across the organization’s Step Two: Marshal Sure you can, and should, track those
tactical metrics. The smart money says
Many high-performing companies
seem to gravitate to the Coordinated or
participate. Be human. Be personal. Be
engaged. And if something isn’t working,
media throughout your organization,
including tips on how to secure the buy-
in necessary for success:
marketing, support, recruiting and
even sales functions. But surprisingly
few companies are also aware that
Supporters
Former US Vice President Al Gore
your executives will love it. But you
also need to track more. Decide what
success metrics you are structured (and
“Dandelion” models, depending on the
size of the organization. See sidebar.
don’t reengineer your entire model.
Simply recalibrate. Slight changes over
time will keep your program moving
there are a number of activities that
can land them in hot water with the
said, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If
you want to go far, go together.” Great
funded) to measure, and then crosscheck
those against what is likely to satisfy Establish forward. Inertia is your opponent;
momentum is your ally. Being nimble
Federal Trade Commission (and words of wisdom for social strategists. your executive team. This is where your Departmental enough to make real-time adjustments is
the blogosphere). Step one should
be to familiarize yourself with the
Because virtually every department is
a beneficiary of the company’s social
executive sponsor can lend a hand.
Although what each company “Social Media the key to your long-term success.
“Organic” is generally FTC’s “Guides Concerning the Use
of Testimonials and Endorsements
media efforts, it’s important that
multiple voices are heard before you
measures will vary depending on
their business objectives and degree
SLAs”
You’ve got staff trained. You’ve secured Don’t Forget To
considered to be a favorable in Advertising,” and then conduct build your model. Start by creating a of social media involvement, following a senior sponsor. You’ve established Say Thank You
a workshop for staff so everyone SWAT team consisting of representatives are some areas to consider monitoring: a social business model that reflects Reconfiguring your organization’s
understands what is expected of them from marketing, communications, number of new leads captured via social stakeholder needs. You’ve listened and “social” structure to be more efficient
adjective. It connotes when they participate on behalf of the
organization across the social Web.
product, support, human resources and
sales. Each member of the team should
media, lift in search rank for key terms,
increase in awareness in the media (both
you’ve given. Now it’s time for the “ask.”
If every department is a beneficiary
and agile is not only hard work for you, it
can also be uncomfortable for those who
a healthy, maybe even Though it may sound contradictory,
it’s also important to avoid scaring
be an advocate for their department’s
particular objectives.
traditional and social), improvement
in customer satisfaction, reduction of
of social engagement, then every
department needs to play a role in
participate. It takes people out of their
comfort zone. Translation: some eggs are
off staffers who are inclined to join It’s also essential that you secure an customer churn, addition of new ideas organized participation. Without going break before this omelette is served.
sustainable, product or your cause, but are fearful of making
a mistake. To this end, think of your
executive champion for the initiative.
At some companies the presence of an
for product development, and, of course,
growth in top-line revenue.
content and people, social media is a
racecar with an empty tank and no
Be sure to recognize, cheer and
learn from the earliest of the early
practice. But when used to workshop as “guardrails, not red lights”
– show them the safe path to follow
executive sponsor is required to get
staff buy-in; at others, the executive
driver. All show, no go.
Establish Service Level Agreements
adopters – you know, those people in
your company who were off building
Pick a Model
describe your company’s
for social success. Share constructive sponsor is easier to secure once there’s – or SLAs – with each department. In communities before policies or
tips, make light of benign mistakes, a groundswell of staff interest. You Once you have heard from your which networks will they participate? guidelines ever existed. These are the
and provide role models to emulate. need to decide what’s the best strategy colleagues and received the support How quickly will they respond on true vanguards. After all, they are truly
social media structure, Don’t forget to give people a reason to
get involved. Remind colleagues of the
at your company, but because social
media is a horizontal channel, a C-level
of a top executive, it’s time for you to
earn your “social strategist” title and
Twitter? How often will they produce
content? Is there a particular community
the thought leaders and influencers in
your organizations. Make sure they
organic is code for “chaos.” adage, “You are who search engines
say you are,” and emphasize that being
actively involved across social channels
sponsor is vital. determine which operational model is
most consistent with your objectives
and culture. Jeremiah Owyang has
they want to “own”? Are there others
that don’t fit their needs? These are
essential questions to ask before
are applauded and empowered. They
may just be your most important assets
moving forward.
ORGANIC
Organic Centralized
CENTRALIZED
COORDINATED
Coordinated Multiple hub & spoke HOLISTIC “HONEYCOMB
Holistic “honeycomb”
“dandelion”SPOKE “DANDELION”
MULTIPLE HUB &
Eloqua Social Media ProBook
Operational models
Eloqua Social Media ProBook
By Jeremiah Owyang
Jeremiah Owyang is a partner with
Altimeter Group (http://www.altimetergroup.
com/). He also runs the highly influential Centralized: Notice that a central
Tweet This!
Web-Strategy blog (http://www.Web-strategist. group initiates and represents busi-
com/blog/). We thank him for contributing hisOrganic: Notice that the dots (those using ness units, funneling up the social
Multiple hub & spoke “Dandelion” notice how
Operational Model illustrations with us. The social tools) are inconsistent in size and one
Organic: Notice that the dots (those using Centralized: Notice that a central group Coordinated: Notice how a central a central
Coordinated: Notice how group will Multiple hub & spoke “Dandelion”: Notice Holistic “Honeycomb”: Notice how each
strategy to one group. each business unit may have semi-autonomy Holistic “Honeycomb” notice how each individual
full content is available here (http://www. initiates and represents business units,
set social tools) are inconsistentdirectly connected
of employees are not in size and one help to provide an equal experience to other how each business unit may have semi- individual in the organization is social enabled,
group will help to provide an equal with an over arching tie back to a central group.
in theaorganization is social enabled, yet in a
Web-strategist.com/blog/2010/04/15/ set of employees are not directly connected
to others. funneling up the social strategy to one group. business units. autonomy with an over arching tie back to a yet in consistent, organized pattern.
framework-and-matrix-the-five-ways- to others. experience to other business units. central group. consistent, organized pattern.
companies-organize-for-social-business/).
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