Blog Archives
People You Should Know – Amy Sample Ward
This latest version of People You Should Know highlights Amy Sample Ward, global community development manager for NetSquared. Amy is someone I’ve kept close tabs on for her excellent insight around community building and social media marketing in the nonprofit arena. Thanks Amy!
Since your transition from Portland to London, you’ve started focusing your work more around global as opposed to local nonprofit communications. What have you enjoyed about this shift?
Amy Sample Ward
Hmmm…I guess I wouldn’t say that my focus has changed. I’m certainly able to connect offline with organizations working in a different geography and being in Europe means there are far more groups working “internationally” than in the US, so in those ways there’s been opportunity to shift. But my work with NetSquared has stayed the same and we have always been a global-facing organization and community (with now 70+ groups in 21+ countries).
I’ve enjoyed the local work here quite a bit as it seems that the distance between organizations using new technologies and those not doing so is much larger than it was in Portland. Part of this comes from the very structure (both cultural and organizational structure) of the organizations in the UK and the US, and the way work of government, nonprofits, and citizens crisscross. It’s been a challenge at times but it’s also been really exciting to help share lessons from one country to another, and back again.
I think nonprofits often get seeded with a reputation for being behind the curve on social media but in my mind, nonprofits have the advantage of being nimble and able to take a bit more risk in the space. What are a few nonprofits that stand out in your mind as leading the way in the social space that are able to demonstrate the benefits of being engaged online?
I think nonprofits and businesses are alike in that some are early adopters of everything, whether it’s technology, advertising, engagement, or marketing; and some, well, they just like to keep on doing things the way they always have. It’s even the same with agencies, governments, and communities. Why? Because it’s not about the type of organization or group, but about the culture and environment that group operates in.
Organizations that are able to move quickly, operate nimbly, and adapt to/adopt the tools their communities are using are most often community-driven organizations. 350.org is a perfect example. But, that doesn’t mean large, traditional institutions aren’t able to drive the space forward as well. Great examples – the National Wildlife Federation, American Red Cross, and even museums like the Women’s Museum in Texas and the Brooklyn Museum in New York.
In your experience, what are the top 3 reasons nonprofits fail to dive in head first or hedge way when results aren’t immediate from utilizing social media?
First, I think many organizations may adopt a tool or try out a platform without knowing why they are doing it, and thus what kind of metrics to look for. It’s really difficult to say something is or isn’t working if we don’t know what we’re looking at. So, not having a strategy and measurement plan in place is definitely the biggest reason organizations fail to more forward with social media.
Secondly, and this ties in to the first part, is the failure to do the homework: not knowing who the community is or which tools they are using already. Imagine how hard it would be to show up to the playground that none of your friends are at, instead of calling around and seeing what part of town everyone was already in. Doing research before adopting any tools will put you in a much better position to succeed.
Last, I would point to support. I know many instances in which maintaining the social media presence for an organizations fall to one person and is only one small part of the work on their plate. Social media is really all about communication and engagement, you get back what you put in. So, if there isn’t support for the work, it can’t be expected to go very far.
The Big Bang – #1 trend you’re seeing on the nonprofit social media front that you think will carry well into 2011 and beyond?
Blending online and offline. Whether it’s through hyperlocal tools like foursquare or Meetup Everywhere, or it’s campaigning around the world with 350.org, we see the opportunities to use online media to actually blur the lines between engaging on and offline growing. I’m really excited about this because I really believe that an online-only campaign, program, and even message will never take you or your organization as far as something that puts clicks and status messages together with feet on the street.
You’re a staple in the nonprofit community and I’m sure many folks would love an opportunity to chat with you. Should people stay tuned to your calendar for a good opportunity to connect offline at any upcoming conferences?
Wow – thank you! I try to keep my presentations page as updated as possible, so that is a great place to check in to see if we’ll be in the same place at the same time. I am also happy to connect with people on my blog and Twitter.
People You Should Know – Mike Pilarz
Continuing with my People You Should Know series, huge thanks for @mikepilarz for taking the time to shed some light…
We’re halfway through 2010 and the social space continues to change daily. From a B2B social media strategy perspective, what larger trends are you focusing on to keep your clients top-notch in the space?
THE Mike Pilarz
The big trend that impacts my work and my clients the most is that there’s no longer a simple or obvious answer to the question, “Who are the influencers?”
Unfortunately, because of financial constraints, traditional media are being forced to lay off staff, leaving the remaining staff spread thinner than ever before. That’s not to say they’re losing credibility or influence, but for many B2B niches especially, social media have allowed passionate experts to help fill in the gaps and build up significant audiences via blogs, podcasts, etc. that we’d be foolish to ignore. Additionally, more and more brands are trying to become their own publisher of valuable content. Suddenly everyone has a voice, which is both exciting and challenging.
So for communicators, I see two lessons here: first, it’s become more important than ever to uncover and build relationships with these new influencers. Second, if we expect to compete and be part of the conversation, we have to go directly to audiences via social channels with our own valuable content. To be sure, traditional media relations isn’t going away, but it’s definitely changing because of the social web.
In your mind, what are the main challenges facing B2B marketers and new tech start-ups in the social space?
There’s still a misconception that social media is only relevant, or even mostly relevant, for B2C companies. I disagree. For example, the lengthy buying cycle for most B2B products and services presents a great opportunity to offer your potential customers all sorts of valuable content and engage in conversations in social channels. Research from firms like Forrester shows that in IT buying, for example, more and more decision makers are starting to use social media for business purposes. That being said, it’s easy to get caught up in the hype, and social media is not a panacea but just one component of a communications strategy.
One of the biggest struggles for any social media strategist is balancing time on the research front.What sites/blogs do you recommend any account manager spend time reading each day?
Way, way too many. Instead of adding more inputs, lately I’ve been adding more filters. For example, for the latest tech news, I’ve largely given up monitoring of dozens of RSS feeds and replaced that with a short list of tech experts I trust on Twitter and the occasional glance over at Techmeme, which can be a little heavy on the Apple/Google stuff but is still a useful aggregator. Their relatively new sister site, Mediagazer, is equally useful for the latest media news. So far, this has saved me time and I don’t feel like I’m missing anything.
We also hold a weekly, hour-long internal call here at Burson-Marsteller where we compile an agenda of the most interesting and relevant social media news and trends from that week and discuss what it means for our clients and our work. It’s an invaluable part of my week and a great way to crowdsource the task of staying up to speed on this stuff.
Finally, as old school as it sounds, I get a lot out of value from once-a-day email newsletters which I rely on to go out and collect the most relevant stories on a given topic and deliver it to my inbox every morning. A few that come to mind include Ragan’s PR Daily and SmartBrief’s newsletters on topics like social media and IT.
Those are just a few examples, and while I still suffer from Google Reader Guilt occasionally, these filters are helping.
You’re a co-founder of Social Media Breakfast Chicago which has turned into a wildly successful group. Who should look to keep tabs on attending these events?
The events are intended for anyone in Chicagoland interested in how to put social media to work for themselves or their organization. We cover everything from search engine optimization to the basics of social media measurement, and our moderators and attendees include folks like me from the agency side, in-house communicators, teachers, students, entrepreneurs, publishers, and more. Anyone interested in finding out more information can do so at www.smbchicago.org.
People You Should Know – Matt Kelly
Continuing my People You Should Know series…
Matt and I first connected when I was pulling together a college outreach program at Eastern Illinois University for past client Donate Life Illinois. EIU’s PRSSA group was kind enough to help out with our organ donor registration efforts and Matt was a big reason the program did so well on EIU’s campus.
Matt now works as a Public Affairs Specialist on the social media team for State Farm Insurance. Enjoy Matt’s insight below and be sure to connect with him on Twitter.
Thanks Matt!
-Scott
State Farm is a big company. Big companies almost always have a high degree of struggle in figuring out where social fits into the larger communications platform. Tell us how it breaks down at State Farm along with your role.
Matt - already hitting rock star status.
There are two filters placed on us by virtue of being who we are. We’re a company of more than 68,000 employees and more than 17,000 agents in the U.S. and Canada. And we exist in one of the most regulated and risk-averse industries. So, in everything we do – both internally and externally – we must include all stakeholders in the approval process. At the same time, social media demands immediate response to be effective. And the evolution of this space has taught us we can’t expect positive return from one-way communication.
Our social effort is multi-pronged and highly coordinated. It includes representation from Public Affairs, Marketing, Strategic Resources, Human Resources, Agency, Creative Services and our IT department. Together, we’ve worked to develop both internal and external strategies. Jeremiah Owyang, Founding Partner Customer Strategy at Altimeter Group, wrote a great piece about how organizations structure social media. Without sharing proprietary information, I’d say we’re organized one of those ways.
We attend regular BlogWell conferences to garner and share best practices in the space with other large corporations. We also serve on the Social Media Business Council, which meets to collaborate, discuss and share information about issues facing top social media leaders at large enterprises like ours. We use social media as a channel to build and enhance relationships, first and foremost. Driving direct sales, managing our reputation and supporting other metrics are essential, but everything in social media starts and ends with relationships.
I’m on a tripartite team that “owns” our Twitter presence, @statefarm. We monitor all content in this space, as well as user-generated content as a whole, through search terms we set up on various sites and search engines. For the most immediate responses, this approach seems to work best. Though we certainly have measurement vendors that provide high-level overviews of State Farm in the landscape to help shape our content strategies. In addition, we create videos and photo sets from State Farm events and loss mitigation efforts that we feature on YouTube and Flickr, respectively. I personally conduct a great deal of blog outreach for our initiatives, as well as lead our measurement efforts. Currently, I’m serving as the PR program lead for one of our largest marketing efforts, the State Farm® Home Run Derby®.
In your mind, what’s the biggest challenge State Farm currently faces with social media?
There are several challenges every company faces in social media, both internally and externally. We encounter all the same obstacles in that regard. What’s interesting is, larger brands like ours have less credibility in this space than small ones. The democratization that is social media provides an opportunity for us to shape our voice and the way we engage with customers and other publics. Did I mention how many employees and agents we have? Our goal: Empower internal brand advocates while adhering to state and federal regulations, all while speaking with one voice as a company and preventing brand splintering. Those who know the power of social will agree, it’s probably the biggest opportunity we’ve ever seen.
Let’s be honest – insurance doesn’t immediately bring to mind thoughts of extremely exciting dialogue. What type of content or engagement tactics are you using to differentiate State Farm from other competitors?
Fair enough. You’re right. Insurance isn’t the most exciting category, and we don’t see as much social engagement as other, more product-oriented brands. But when people tweet us, they’re either elated or furious. Most of the time, it’s one or the other. For the furious folks, we respond to ask if there’s anything we can do to help. Because of customer privacy and regulation issues, we work directly with our executive customer service team to resolve those issues.
Several times, customers have been so excited we helped them on Twitter, they’ve blogged and created other media based on the experience. We have about 6,000 followers on Twitter, and we provide honest, authentic engagement to all of them. That’s not to say we’re the only insurer on Twitter. We’re not. But we’re the largest personal lines insurer in the U.S., and we think that is translating well. Success is relative and based on subjective metrics in this space, so it’s impossible to say we’re doing “better” than our competitors. Sure, Justin Bieber has more followers. But it’s apples to oranges.
You’re a pretty recent grad and landed a gig in the social media space. How’d you land said gig and what advice can you give to other recent grads trying to crack into our cherished niche?
Don’t narrow your internship search to social media; apply for internships everywhere, in every business category. Social media expertise is a pre-requisite for any recent graduate. You’ll be EXPECTED to be an expert communicator in this space. Read about it. Start a presence everywhere. Follow thought leaders. Learn the nuances of each channel. The more you explore, the more value you add to your brand.
