Measuring the Success of Online Communities

Dave Linabury SVP, Social Media Director

Campbell-Ewald

Who Am I and Why the Hell am I Qualified to Talk About Social Media?

Davezilla vs. Godzilla

In the End, Godzilla

Backed Off.

Go Me.

An Intractable Problem that Prevents Recruiting

Every Year

Moms.

Mothers have a biological instinct to protect their children

From the Navy, apparently.

Moms don’t want to talk to recruiters.

That’s worse than talking to a used car salesman.

Our Proposal to the Navy:

We’ll build an online community for Moms

Moms can talk to moms who already have kids in the Navy

Open-source software to save money

All word of mouth to join

No Naval interference

Short of hate speech, no censorship

The Navy said…

“That just sounds risky as Hell. Sir.”

Naval requirements to Campbell-Ewald

This will be a six month test

No results? We pull the plug

If the results are good, refine and continue

You get to start the community in the worst recruiting area in the country: Boston, Massachusetts

If you get results there, we’ll consider going national

Our Solution

Ning platform ($50/month)

Creative: A masthead design or three

Minimal engineering time (CSS and a widget or two)

Invite influential moms to populate during the soft launch

Pray

Secret Sauce

Googled Navy blogger Moms

Got 40,000 results

Invited 71 moms that had large followings to start the community; 67 agreed

The moms added content for 2 weeks while construction ensued

NAVYForMoms.com™ was born

My son is thinking of joining navy and i am researching different programs navy offers for new recruits. I had a lot of reservations about signing papers for him to join.

I guess what im trying to say is this is the best research i have done so far. Reading through different sites many of my ?’s have been answered and have found really good advise along way. Best part i have actually been able to !nd some info on what my son is interested in and have been thrown out of sites where i thought i could !nd info. Reminding me that my son is going to be in government job which do require security. So thank you for your advice . It has made me see things differently.

—Sylvia C. Meraz

This site is so warm and welcoming. I looked at other Navy Mom/parent sites and was very disapointed but this site was refered to me by a family member and I was totally blown away by the whole thing. Technically you have done an awesome job and the Moms have stepped up and done the rest. I feel like I have come home to my sister/moms and they have welcomed me with open arms and loving hugs.

Thank you —Laura

To say it took off would be a bit of an

understatement

27,000+Members

100,000+Photos

750+Videos

1,000+Groups

6,000+Topics

150+ Events

Some potential recruits began to show up on

NAVYForMoms instead of Navy.com

16 year old son?!?!?!?!?!?!

How should I tell my Mom?hey i found this web site while i w a s o n t h e n a v y S E A L website.... i am 16 years old i am not a mom but i need a mothers point of view.... i really want to join the SEAL's and i think my mom would cry for days if i told her i wanted to join the navy.... i need to know how i should approach her with this because i hate doing things like meeting with a recruiter and taking the ASVAB behind her back.... i want to know how to earn her support.... how would a mother like to hear that her son was going to join the military what is the best way for me to tell her??????? —Al

I'm thinking about joining and I was hoping you ladies could offer me some advice on how I should tell my mom. She's really sensitive and this is something she will stress about constantly. So do you have any advice for me? —Aimee Pintoski

Sociological Data

A new mom joins the site every 21 minutes

She will post 4.2 personal photos

She will respond to 16 topics

She will watch 11 videos

She will invite four other moms

Allison McCann

Vickie Hill

Stephanie Henderson

Amber B

Char

Amber

Angela Jefferson

B. Smith

Ann

Brandon's Mom

Bridget Ralston

Candy Girl

Sherry Johnson

Carol Hughes

Cathy Finch

Chasati Martin

Chris

Angee

Bill

Bruce Pennino

Heather

Jamie

Katey

Larisa Elliot

Lila

Nicole

Robin

Denise

Chris Johston's Mom

Debbie

Diana Morris

Diane

Helen Martin

Mary Ellen

John's Mom

Elaine

Joyce Slabaugh

Sharon Simmons

Julie

Karen

Angie

Barb

Carolyn Love

Fred

Karen Davidson

Karen80

Kimberly

LisaB

Mari

MichelleB

Regina

Ronda

StevesMom

Terry

Tina

Viviane

Navy News

Patty Cole

Kathy

Kim Mills

Laurie Owens

Leann Castor

Lucie Dunn

Maria Figueroa

Marie

MassMom

Mary Pat

MaryAnn

Melanie

Melissa

Pat Gibson

Peggy

Rita

Sha'

Sheila

Shelly

Shirley Foland

Stephanie

Sue

Susan J

SyracuseConnie

Terry Whitney

Theresa

Tricia T

Victoria

Paul Libbey

Trish Vosburgh

Stacey Melanson

Angela MacLeod

Jay Anderson

Roxann

Joyce Tuscan Mom

Christine

Anita

Kay

HOW TO READ THIS MAP:Social networks consist of two elements: nodes and edges.

Nodes represent the people communi-cating with each other. On this map, they are represented by colored circles.

Edges represent the connections be-tween the nodes. In other words, who spoke to whom. Nodes with many edges (connections) show that person clearly reached out to lots of people and thus had a lot of activity and en-gagement; an important measure in social media.

KARENGALLAGHERSuper Influencer

STEVE’SMOMPotential Momturned Influencer

VICKIE HILLPotential Mom,highly motivated

LAURIE OWENSNavy Mom, Influencer

Thischartwascreatedwhentherewereonly96womenonthesite.Ifwetriedtomapthenumberofconnec:onsnow,theslidewouldbeover1/4milesquare.

Es:matednumberofconnec:onsbetweenmembershasexceeded221,910.

She will change her mind about the Navy on her 8th

day as a N4M member

Moms change their minds for the same reason every time…

They want to be proud of

their kids, too.

Why Are Sociological Measures Better than Marketing Ones?

We’re humans. Messy, unpredictable creatures.

How much do you love your Mom?

How well did your billboard do? Can you prove it? Really?

Office Party. Important. But not much ROI.

Is it ROI or IOR?

Return on Investment is sometimes utter shite.

Yeah, I said it.

What’s the investment of posting a tweet? Of a star rating?

Isn’t the Impact of Relationships more important?

Riple Effect

Thank You, LA2M!

@Davezillahttp://davezilla.comdavezilla@gmail.com

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