1.The SocialBusiness TextbookFirst EditionVolume 1REQUIRED READING FOR SOCIAL COMMUNICATIONS PROFESSIONALS

2. Spredfast Social Business Textbook 1Social business has emerged and accelerated into a bona fide business practice at anincredible pace. By their very nature, social media and thus social business are constantly evolving andsocial practitioners must sprint to keep up. And social is growing; brands now rely on an average of 29employees to manage over over 20,000 daily interactions across 50 social accounts.While social media practitioners must continue to expect and adapt to change, it is important to takenote of the lessons we have already learned and to bring new members of growing social teams up tospeed. The Spredfast Social Business Textbook establishes a foundational curriculum that gets back tobasics, outlining eight major social business concepts with thorough explanations, textbook examples,and thought-provoking questions throughout to assess social media aptitude.The Spredfast Social Business Textbook syllabus covers several important subjects, from social listeningHistory to the Chemistry of combining paid, owned, and earned media. This 46-page Textbook providesan in-depth review of key concepts, strategies for success, planning action items, and brand examplesfor practical application.Volume I First EditionINTERNALBRAND ENGAGEMENTSOCIAL ACCOUNTSBRAND USERSACTIVITIES/MONTHACTIVITIES/WEEK51291,641410EXTERNALBRAND ENGAGEMENTTOTAL NETWORK SIZESOCIAL REACHINTERACTIONS/MONTHINTERACTIONS/WEEK1.8M47M666,667166,667Executive Summary 3. Spredfast Social Business Textbook 2403 HistorySocial Listening: Learn how concerted listening effortsfocused on the people, conversations, and relevant activityabout your brand can yield valuable insights to understandpast events, inform current decisions, and improve futureoutcomes.7 GovernmentSocial Organization & Governance: Learn how to combatbrand anarchy by defining internal structure and ensuringthe right rules and guidance are in place to protect both thebrand itself and the people behind the social activity.13 MusicOrchestration: Learn how to orchestrate multiple peoplehaving multiple conversations across multiple accounts onbehalf of your brand by implementing workflows, approvalpaths, and coordinated content distribution.18 MathMeasurement: Learn how to embrace social mediameasurement to perform a goal-oriented analysis of your socialprogram performance.24 EnglishCreating Social Content: Learn how to create and curategreat content for social distribution and how to converse withcustomers in ways that create value for your network andachieve social business objectives.29 Social StudiesSegmentation and Targeting Social Audiences: Learnhow to segment audiences based on demographic andtechnographic data provided by social networks and how totarget tailored messages to individual segments.34 Student CouncilSocial Engagement & Community: Learn how to createmeaningful experiences on social channels that engageyour audiences, inspire action, and build brand awarenessand loyalty.40 ChemistryPaid/Owned/Earned: Learn how to combine owned assetswith earned audience interactions and paid advertising tooptimize social business efforts.3 713 1824 2934Table of contents:Volume I First Edition 4. Spredfast Social Business Textbook 3[Social Listening]IHistoryHistory reveals details to help groups of people understand past events,inform current decisions, and improve future outcomes. And in socialmedia, zeroing in on the people, conversations, and relevant activity abouta particular brand, product, or industry through concerted listening effortscan provide valuable historic insights. Your social history might trace backto things said by customers, prospects, and influencers months ago, or it mightbe activity that happened earlier today. But knowing how to collect and studythe social activity that pertains to your brand, and creating a plan to do so in anongoing way, can provide you with a detailed history of the people, topics andfocus areas that matter to your company.Chapter I HistoryREAL TIME MONITORINGCONVERSATIONHISTORIESHASHTAGS, KEYWORDS, CONVERSATIONTOPICSDEMOGRAPHICS, INTERESTS,NETWORKINFORMATIONHISTORICALINTERACTIONS,RELEVANTNOTESSOCIAL USER PROFILESSOCIALLISTENINGFigure 1.1 Social Listening is a continuous process of monitoring conversations, users, and interactions for insights 5. Spredfast Social Business Textbook 4I.Identifying pertinentconversationsMost of the millions of Tweets, Facebook posts and socialconversations that take place each day wont have adirect implication foryour brand. However, a subset of thisactivity represents social consumers talking about yourbrand, your products and services, your competitors, oryour industry. For brands to be proactive social historians learning what is being said, when its being said, and bywhom a listening plan should be in place that identifiesand tracks:Your brand nameAcronyms associated with your brand(s)Specific brand product names and referencesSpecific brand service names and referencesNames and acronyms associated with your corecompetitorsEvent or conversation specific hashtags used byyour target audiencesCatalogue the various names, topics, themesand users that are relevant to your brand todetermine which should be monitored in anongoing manner.II.Cataloguing conversationsfor future referenceHistory happens over time. But because social networksdont allow you to search for conversations thathappened past a relatively short timeframe, having aplace to store this activity is critical for tracking trendsand emerging preferences over time. The ability to storeand reference these conversations will allow your brandto better create and assess a big picture perspectiveof the Who, What, When, Where and Why of importantthings being said across social channels.Evaluate how your brand is currentlycataloguingandarchivingsocialconversations,and assess if this current approach is allowingyour company to view and access the entirebreadth and depth of historical activity.III.Tracking historicalDetails about Social Network MembersNo two social customers are alike. Some have praisedyou in the past whereas others have given not-so-great feedback about you online, and both are subjectto change with each new brand interaction, whether itBrandActionItemBrandActionItemThose who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. George SantayanaSocialListening(v.) The act of monitoring conversationstaking place across social networksso-shl li-sn-iChapter I History 6. Spredfast Social Business Textbook 5happens socially or in real life. Some users have fewfollowers while others maintain large networks, and thedegree of influence is not solely based on that number.Important details to help assess the comprehensiverelationship and impact of social users include:Biographical information a social usersautobiography, what do they want you to knowabout them?Conversation history dont rely on hearsay, trackactual conversationsNotes and relevant context complete the picturewith contextual notes for future referenceDocument the types of information that areinteresting and/or important foryour brand tounderstand about social users and determinehow your company can best capture thisinformation so it can be referenced by teammembers in the future.BrandActionItemPresentation:Knowing and Delighting Your Social CustomerTipsheet:Knowing and Activating Social CustomersTipsheet:Social brand interactions in 2012 at a GlanceDESKTOPbookbookLearnMoreOnlineChapter I History1.What are the most important brand, product, orservice keywords to monitor? Are there timely orcampaign-specific monitoring efforts that need to beplanned?2.Are there existing chats, such as those on Twitterusing hashtags, or taking place in LinkedIn Groups,which would benefit you to follow?3.How is your brand collecting and storing insightsabout interactions with social users?4.Would archiving social conversations help your brandanalyze activity over time? And if so, how are youapproaching this effort today?Questions for further discussion: 7. Spredfast Social Business Textbook 6By listening proactively, Jasons Deli is able to:Jasons Deli listens for direct brand mentions (@jasonsdeli)as well as indirect mentions (#jasonsdeli, jasons deli) andresponds to positive, negative, and neutral comments.Social customers are often pleasantly surprised just to beheard and acknowledged.BrandexampleJasons DeliChapter I HistoryInfluence acustomerspurchase decisionAddress anegative customerexperienceAnswer acustomer inquiry 8. Spredfast Social Business Textbook 7[Social Organization & Governance]IIGovernmental bodies serve to provide oversight, guidance, andchecks and balances to ensure harmony and prosperity. And while socialmedia channels provide individuals with the ability to share and engagehowever they see fit, this laissez-faire approach doesnt scale for brandslooking to achieve real business outcomes through social programs. Theaverage company is managing more than 51 social media accounts with helpfrom more than 29 internal employees. If oversight and governance are notbuilt into corporate social programs, brands can quickly become unorganizedand run the risk of employees participating in inappropriate activity. Brandanarchy can be combatted by defining internal structure and ensuring theright rules and guidance are in place to protect both the brand itself and thepeople behind the social activity.Chapter II GovernmentGovernmentPEOPLEGOALSPROPERTIES PERMISSIONSFigure 2.1 A governance framework that aligns the right people to the right social properties with appropriatepermissions helps achieve social goals 9. Spredfast Social Business Textbook 8I.Defining goals andparameters - a ConstitutionBefore a Tweet, Facebook Post or LinkedIn CompanyPage status update is made, smart brands havealready defined the goals and parameters of theirsocial presences. Brands must then clarify whichpeople, departments, channels, and accounts should beactivated to achieve designated business goals.Social business goals defining progress. Clarifyingthe expectations your brand has for its socialpresence will aid in identifying who should becontributing, how they should be socially present,what activity will help drive these goals, andultimately, how success will be defined. Some ofthe most common and highly cited goals for socialprograms include increasing brand awareness,providing a better customer experience, generatingsales, tailoring brand experiences with keyaudiences, and building brand loyalty.Company departments governing bodies. Justas there are multiple departments and agenciesinvolved in running a healthy government, a robustsocial program involves multiple departments, notjust Marketing. Social media can provide utility andvalue across many, if not all, areas of the business.Perhaps your sales department is interested inincreasing online sales or lead generation effortsby converting social community members. Oryour Public Relations team wants to increaseword of mouth and brand loyalty through socialengagement. Aligning the right departments withtheir corresponding social goals will help identifythe right people and resources to fuel social success.Specialized presences local branches. Municipal,state, and federal government structures existto provide scale-appropriate services to theirconstituents. Similarly, many brands have anopportunity to engage with their customers ona more localized or specialized level. Beyonda central set of corporate social accounts,brands with multiple store or office locations,geographically diverse audiences, or differentiatedproduct offerings can expand and personalizesocial experiences for their communities bysegmenting social presences. Proven approachesinclude: location-based accounts for retail storesto accommodate hyper-local interests, state-basedaccounts for membership-based organizations tocommunicate local issues, or national accounts thatprovide language and culture-specific content.SocialOrganization &Governance(n.) A set of rules, guidelines, andprocedures put into place to establish andprotect brand activity in social mediaso-shl or-g-n-shz-shnn(d) g-vr-nn(t)sThat government is the strongest of which every manfeels himself a part. Thomas JeffersonChapter II Government 10. Spredfast Social Business Textbook 9Assess the current status of your socialprograms and determine which goals youplan to achieve as your programs grow.Define which departments should participatein ongoing activity and align them with theproper social media channels and accounts.II.Identifying contributors -Electing Social OfficialsFor maturing social brands, social media is no longerone persons job. The Marketing department, or perhapseven a dedicated Social Media Director or team, mightoversee the lions share of social activity, but independentcontributors across the organization can help a companyflex its content and expertise muscles. Based onpredetermined business objectives and desired socialpresence, your social team might include:Team leads to oversee department activityDedicated community managers to respond tocustomer needs, questions, and ongoing socialconversationsSubject matter experts to contribute specializedknowledgeField contributors such as part-time contributorsfrom specific locationsExternal and guest contributorsMap out the ideal mix of potential socialcontributors based on content needsdetermined by your business objectives andaudience expectations.III.Providing guidance The Social Bill of RightsEquipping internal teams with guidance and bestpractices is a precursor to social success. Guidancecomes in many shapes and sizes, but its core purpose isto protect both brand integrity and the employees whoare creating public conversations on behalf of a brand.The resources to achieve both of those often include:A Social Media Policy outlining the Dos and Dontsfor socially active employeesA best practices guide for engaging with onlinecommunities and audiences on behalf of the brandTraining on how to use social media sites andsoftware programs to manage corporate socialactivityOngoing education, covering everything fromemerging social trends to platform feature andfunctionality updates, to lessons learned acrossyour teamThird party resources like conferences, onlinewebinars, or written resources to help educate andinspire team membersConsiderthetacticsforsocialguidanceaboveand evaluate which elements you currentlyhave in place, what else is needed to betterequip socially active team members, andwhat you can incorporate moving forwardto fuel ongoing social success.Chapter II GovernmentBrandActionItemSmart Social Tech Tip:Structuring and growing social programs for brandscan be more effectively organized when centralizedfrom one location such as a social mediamanagement system where all social networkaccounts can be run, different levels of access canbe assigned for users and all social media activitycan be seen and assessed by corporate strategists.BrandActionItemBrandActionItem 11. Spredfast Social Business Textbook 10 Chapter II GovernmentIV.Assigning Access andPermissions - implementingChecks & BalancesWith a growing number of brand accounts, socialcontributors, and activity taking place across multiplechannels each day, having an organized plan in place toscale social programs is essential. Just as governmentsuse a system of checks and balances to ensure thatno single group or branch has disproportionate power,the same should be considered for social brands. Everycompany has a unique structure based on variousorganizational elements, however each should start by:Equipping internal teams with the right levelof access (planning, publishing, analysis) toappropriate social accountsProviding strategic direction and functionalguidance through initial and ongoing trainingOrganizing the infrastructure of accounts andpeople using systems and tools to help scaleproductively and reduce the opportunity foroversight or security errorsAssess and align individual social contributorswith accounts and strategic directionto enable social contribution. Identifyinfrastructure needs such as a social mediamanagement system to organize and scaleongoing social growth.Tipsheet:Social Structure and Organization TrendsPresentation:Scaling Social Media Programs across the EnterpriseBlog Post:Adopting Social Media Company WideTipsheet:How Does Your Social Garden Grow?DESKTOPcomposebookbookLearnMoreOnlineBrandActionItem 12. Spredfast Social Business Textbook 11 Chapter II Government1.What are your strategic business goals for your socialprograms? How do they align with other internalgoals and which are highest priority to illustratesocial success?2.Who are the people who should contribute to socialactivity for your brand? What is the difference inthe strategy and approach of different groups andaccounts to best engage social audiences?3.What type of guidance does your company needto provide to social contributors? Do you need tohave legal or executive guidance? Which ongoingresources will maximize success?4.What is the ideal organizational structure forsocial activity? Would centralizing social activityvia a technology solution aid in consistency,permissioning, and reporting?Questions for further discussion:A social business understands that notall employees are created equally, andyet some of them are not only connectedto multiple social networks, but theyare actually great representatives of theorganization itself. These companies matchup employees with opportunities in socialboth internally and externally. David Armano, EdelmanSocial Business for ComplexOrganizations 13. Spredfast Social Business Textbook 12 Chapter II GovernmentThere is no one right way to organizeyour social presence. A few commonconfigurations include organizing bybusiness unit, geographical location, orproduct offering.Brand exampleAARP/AT&T/USA TODAYIn addition to operating a corporate handle, AARP uses state-level accounts to provide relevantlocal information to members of the non-profit organization geared towards serving people 50+.Some brands choose to organize by specificproduct or service offering. Take USA Today,the nations number one newspaper in printcirculation, for example. They organize theirsocial presence by news category.Want to connect with AT&T? To keep tabson company updates? To get customersupport? To find a deal? To find a job?Whatever the casethey have a tailoredaccount to connect with you. 14. Spredfast Social Business Textbook 13[Orchestration]IIIThe difference between a symphony and a cacophony of sound is theorchestration of many musicians hitting the right notes at the right time.Similarly, brands building social programs must orchestrate multiple peoplehaving multiple conversations across multiple accounts on behalf of theircompany. But as in any orchestra, not all social contributors should playthe exact same part. Some will be more skilled in creating custom contentto build awareness around brand marketing. Others may be focused onfinding, responding to, and resolving customer needs. Some contributorsmay solely focus on analysis of and reporting on program success. And atthe administrative level, a smaller group might be responsible for providingaccess, assigning activity, and approving content.Chapter III MusicMusicALLUSERSAPPROVALPATHSWORKFLOWSASSIGNMENTSACTIVITYCONTEXT/NOTESCONTENTLIBRARYFigure 3.1 All social team members need to be supported with resources and workflows to coordinate social activity 15. Spredfast Social Business Textbook 14 Chapter III MusicI.Composing different trackswith User approval pathsNot all social contributors need the ability to publish.In fact, many companies find that having approvalprocesses helps maintain brand integrity and decreasesthe likelihood of erroneous or off-brand messagesfrom being published. Company-specific traits such asindustry or organizational structure can influence thelevel of oversight necessary, but other key factors indetermining the need for approval paths often include:The number of contributors to specific accounts more content contributors often require the needfor more oversightIndustry regulation brands in highly regulatedindustries such as Financial Services andHealthcare often require more concerted approvalsfrom Legal or Public AffairsMessage content corporate-sanctionedmessaging such as official news, information orpublic announcements often require corporatecommunications sign-offLegal Matters content that could includecorporate disclosures regulated by agencies suchas the FTC or SEC should take a pass through LegalTriaged Community Management - conversationswith an escalated response path such ascomplaints, public harassment, or sensitiveinformationAudit the types of social content,contributors, and legal implications that mayimpact the need for approval processes forsocial activity. Outline the correct pathwaysto route this activitybefore public publishing.II.Orchestrating activity withworkflows and assignmentWith the average brand activating 29 people across thecompany in social initiatives, a standardized workflowis a necessary element for efficiency. Social team leadsoften find that assigning outbound activity days orweeks in advance can help ensure activity continuityand message harmony across accounts. The teammember who first reads an incoming item might not bethe right person to provide an answer and needs a wayto pass the message along. Further, individuals maysurface valuable insights that should be shared with theentire team. Establishing a workflow that enables thefollowing actions can increase efficiency and free uptime for meaningful, real-time customer engagement:Schedule and assign activity to teams orindividuals to encourage a regular cadence such asweekly blog posts, daily Tweets or timely FacebookupdatesTriage inbound communication and assign activityfollow-up to individuals or teams best suited toaddress social customers needsHighlight activity that does not require a responsebut provides valuable insight to team membersOrchestration(v.) The act of concerted coordination acrossbrand activity, contributors, and interactionon social media channelsor-k-str-shnBrandActionItem 16. Spredfast Social Business Textbook 15 Chapter III MusicDecide your companys ongoing activityassignment, internal social sharing, andconversation workflow needs. Establishprocesses and assess whether technologysolutions can make this a scalable reality.III.Sing from the samehymnal- Centralizingcontent for distributionSocial conversations revolve around content andmessage creation. Creating on-brand, accurate contentfor real-time conversations can be challenging. Froman orchestration perspective, one of the largest taskscompanies face is equipping team members with acentralized repository of content or approved messagingfor scaling conversations. If a customer poses a productor services-related question on Twitter, the Care teamshould be able to access approved content to Tweet anappropriate response immediately. If a Marketing teammember wants to include a picture in a Facebook post,they should be able to easily locate a suitable image thatadheres to brand guidelines. Having these resourcesreadily available provides real-time, on-brand messagingand reduces bottlenecks that delay or prevent response.Audit which content, such as approvedresponses, timely content for promotions,and approved multimedia, should be easilyaccessible to your brands social contributors.Establish a way to centralize this content andprovide access to social team members forefficient and scalable engagement.IV.Conversation ModerationEach of the tactics within social orchestration builds upto a larger need for brands to moderate conversationsacross teams and internal stakeholders. Taking actions ofassigning content and response and putting activity intoworkflows are often the first level of helping moderateconversations. But what about when something needsBrandActionItemBrandActionItemSmart Social Tech Tip:Implementing workflows and approval pathsisnt offered through the native social networks,however, this orchestration can be made possibleacross small and large teams alike through the useof a social media management system.Blog Post:5 Steps to Operationalizing Social MediaPresentation:Using Processes, Workflows and Organization to Optimize Social ProgramsBlog Post:Strategic Social Media Means Thinking Internally FirstDESKTOPLearnMoreOnlinecomposecompose 17. Spredfast Social Business Textbook 16 Chapter III Musicto be escalated to higher level of scrutiny? And howto do brands prioritize tens, if not hundreds, of dailyconversations to decide what needs response, and thentrack how long its taking the team to actually takeaction? To better prepare for effective conversationmoderation, brands should:Create an escalation path for conversations thatdont have an easy or out of the box responseDecide what types of conversations, mentions andactivity deserve a prioritized response and whattime goals should be set to respondAssess how the team will have visibilityinto responses and engagement to ensureconversations have been responded to, or thatteam members arent double respondingDecide how to best track response times andactions across team members so that the brandcan measure response times and averageperformance across team member activityMap out a plan for better insight andtracking across prioritizing inboundconversations, how they can be escalatedand audited when needed, and howyour team can track response times andindividual-level activity.1.Are there types of activity such as companyannouncements or specific content promotionsthat need to be approved by specific people ordepartments before they are shared publicly? Whichtypes of content are these? And what specificapprovals do they require?2.What are the types of planned content, generalcommunity management, and escalated responsescenarios that your brand regularly plans for orexperiences? What are the processes that ensurethe right people receive notifications when action isneeded?3.How does your social team share or provide contentto be used by the larger group of social contributors?How can you optimize this process or implementa content repository to make it easier and moreefficient to distribute content?Questions for further discussion:BrandActionItemCompanies who run and deploy blogs/communities/FB pages are at risk by notfirst getting ready. We found that advancedcompanies have deployed internal readinesssuch as governance, education, policies,process, and a roll-out program in a pragmaticmethod not jumped to implementation. Jeremiah Owyang , Altimeter GroupBreakdown: Corporate SocialMedia Team 18. Spredfast Social Business Textbook 17 Chapter III MusicIn addition to maintaining globally managed presenceson Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest (among other socialnetworks), Whole Foods enables over 2,500 employees at its340+ stores to provide relevant, local, and timely content totheir communities. This allows each region to share its ownlocal flavor while preserving brand integrity.BrandexampleWhole FoodsWhole Foods hasmore than 250Facebook Pagesto serve specificmetro areas withlocal, relevantinformation.Over 300 Twitteraccounts engagewith and sharetimely informationwith local shoppersand residents.Whole FoodsPinterest pagecurates visualproducts, food andlifestyle ideas, aswell as company-related causes. 19. Spredfast Social Business Textbook 18IVMATH[Social MEasurement]Complicated calculus aside, nearly everyone needs a rudimentaryunderstanding of basic math principles in life. Embracing metrics to bettermeasure social media effectiveness is an emerging math discipline with manyvariables. As with any business endeavor, the approach to measurementshould first and foremost be based on the goal(s) at hand. Do you wantto reach more people to build brand awareness of your brand or is yourcompany focusing on providing a more valuable experience to existingcustomers? Regardless of goal, the ability to calculate and assess performancedemonstrates business impact and aids in program optimization.SOCIAL CUSTOMERSSOCIAL MEDIA USERSSocial Opt-insImpressions & ReachEngagementShares & WOMConversionsChapter IV MathFigure 4.1 The journey from social media users to social customers can be mapped with social media measurement 20. Spredfast Social Business Textbook 19I.EValuating social opt-inaudienceSocial network size can be seen as a vanity metric,but the truth is, the more people who Fan, Follow, orSubscribe to your brand across social channels, the moreopportunities you have to regularly reach your targetaudience. By digitally opting-in to receive updates,social users make it easier to communicate with themvia social channels. You are also more likely to reachmembers of their networks when they engage withyour brand and that activity surfaces in social feeds. Tomeasure your network size or social housefile, brandsshould benchmark and then continuously measure thefollowing metrics:Facebook FansTwitter followersLinkedIn Company Page FollowersLinkedIn Group MembersGoogle+ ConnectionsBlog subscribersYouTube subscribersInstagram followersPinterest followersSlideShare subscribersIdentify the networks on which you are activeand define the best way to benchmark growthof network size over time. Establish a regularcadence to assess and measure these metrics.II.Calculating SocialImpressionsBigger network size allows brands to reach more peoplewith their social activity and marketing efforts. But ahigherlevel of impressions, orpeople who are servedyourcontent through their network, is achieved by publishingmore often and sharing content that is valuable tonetwork members. More on how to create better contentin the English chapter, but measuring impressions acrossyour multiple social channels will help your companygauge how well your brand is building awareness andaffinity with social users. Not only do certain networksreward engaging content by surfacing it more frequentlywith their algorithms, but your Fans and Followers do aswell, by sharing, re-tweeting, or Pinning your compellingcontent. Metrics to identify and measure the number ofpeople who see your social content include:BrandActionItemSOCIALMEASUREMENT(v.) The practice of collecting aggregate datafrom social media accounts and interactionsand analyzing how these findings impactand/or enlighten social business goals andfuture strategiesso-shl me-zhr-mntChapter IV MathThere are two possible outcomes: if the result confirms the hypothesis,then youve made a measurement. If the result is contrary to thehypothesis, then youve made a discovery. Enrico Fermi 21. Spredfast Social Business Textbook 20SlideShare ViewsFacebook ImpressionsTwitter ImpressionsYouTube ViewsBlog VisitsLinkedIn ImpressionsGoogle+ ImpressionsIdentify the networks on which you are activeand define the best way to benchmark andcollectimpressionmetricsacrosseachnetworkover time. Note that each network providesdifferent ways to collect this information, andoftentimes a social media managementsystem is the only way to truly collect andcompare all of these metrics and calculations.III.Measuring engagementthrough interactionsGrowing a large network and publishing regularly allowssocial brands to heighten visibility and awarenessacross social channels, but measuring the socialinteractions taken by users actually pinpoints momentsof engagement and message resonance. While knowingthat your messages have been seen thousands, if notmillions, of times is valuable. Proving that communitymembers are interacting with you demonstrates digitalendorsement. This builds both brand affinity with yournetwork over time and increases visibility of your brandto their networks. The following engagement metricsarent necessarily created equal but each can be trackedas indicators of audience interest that will help yourbrand make better decisions over time about youraudiences content preferences:Likes on Facebook, Instagram, and PinterestComments on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Blogs,SlideShare, YouTube, Pinterest and Google+Mentions, Replies, and Retweets on TwitterShares on Facebook, Blogs, LinkedIn+1 on Google+Repins on PinterestMessages on Facebook and TwitterClicks on links in Blog posts, Tweets, Facebook posts,Google+ posts, SlideShare content and LinkedIn postsFavorites on Flickr, Twitter, YouTube and SlideShareDetermine the most common, and mostimportant, types of social interaction acrosseach of your social network presences andhow you will track this engagement from thecorporate overview to the individual accountlevel to show engagement trends over time.IV.Defining and trackingsocial conversionsSocial activity and measurement can be thought of asa funnel. As with other types of media, building anaudience and increasing impressions is important. Butwith social media, brands then have the opportunityto convert community members in meaningful ways.That may mean driving people to a website for morein-depth information, getting them to take a specifiedaction like filling out a form or driving them to a digitalBrandActionItemBrandActionItemSmart Social Tech Tip:Benchmarking and measuring reach andengagement both from the granular level to thecorporate view can be achieved across all socialaccounts when pulled into the tracked through asocial media management system.Chapter IV Math 22. Spredfast Social Business Textbook 21point of purchase or donation. Through the use of linktagging or integrating website analytic goals with asocial media management system, brands can track thisactivity with a high level of accuracy to move beyondsocial activity measurement into proof of conversion.Common conversions to consider tracking include:Traffic from social activity to websiteForm downloads, originating from social links, thatcapture additional user information for follow upOnline Sales originated from social activity and linksSpecial redemptions such as online coupons sharedvia social and redeemed either online or offlineSocial Downloads on sites such as SlideShareOnline action taken such as petition signatures ordonations originating from social activityDefine the types of conversions that matterto your brands business goals and how youplan to track them through link tagging,website analytics, and social mediamanagement integration.V.Using Social Data toFormulate Future DecisionsSocial media measurement isnt a single-dimensionactivity. Collecting the data is only the first step in themeasurement process. Social brands can and shoulduse this data to analyze performance and trends acrossaudiences, content, and activities. These findings canhelp determine:Content Preference which content maximizesengagementContent Efficiency which content drives conversionsAudience Technographics who comprises yoursocial audiences and what do they seek from yourbrand on social channels?Determine what constitutes successfulsocial activity and create an approach topercolateandassesstrendsataprogrammaticlevel. Unearth takeaways on which socialactivities work best universally and identifyaudience or channel specific trends.BrandActionItemBrandActionItemPresentation:Best Practices for Measuring the impact of Social EngagementWorksheet:Measuring the Impact of Social EngagementTipsheet:Benchmarking Engagement and InteractionsDESKTOPopenbookbookLearnMoreOnlineChapter IV Math 23. Spredfast Social Business Textbook 221.What is the current size of your social networks?How are you tracking growth over time to assessinterest in opting-in to social communications? Aresome of your networks much larger than others?Does this signal that some networks are morepertinent, and deserving of time, to your socialactivities?2.What is the average number of impressions yoursocial content is receiving on each network? Is thisnumber growing or shrinking? If the number is notgrowing, does this signal that your content is notbeing seen by, or shared across, your networks?3.What types of engagement does your brand track?Are some interactions, such as clicks or shares, morevaluable than others such as likes or comments? Isyour level of engagement increasing, consistent, ordecreasing over time? How do these interactionshelp support success for your social initiatives as abrand? Can you assign a value numeric or financial to these engagement types?4.Are business conversions such as driving trafficto your website, on-site sales or user informationcapture part of your social program goals? How areyou tracking these across your digital presences andhow can your brand track when these are sourcedfrom social activity? How can you report conversioncompletions regularly to show the success of socialprograms?5.Which engagement data will help your brand makemore strategic social decisions in the future? Howare you gauging the success and traction of socialcontent to learn what resonates best with socialusers? How are you assessing community interestsand needs to fuel meaningful engagement? Whichsocial networks are highest in terms of size?Impressions? Engagement? What does this mean forfuture planning?Questions for further discussion:If you want your whole company supporting yoursocial initiatives, it will help if the whole company(more or less) has access to the scoreboard. Donttreat social media measurement results like thenuclear codes. Sharing your results will inspire theinternal discussions and ideas necessary to takeyour program to the next level.- Jay Baer, Convince & ConvertChapter IV MathSocial Media MeasurementA 6 Step Process 24. Spredfast Social Business Textbook 2328Google+: +124Twitter: RetweetsOne of the opportunities and challenges about social business, is thesheer volume of data that can be collected and analyzed. AT&T managesthis data overload by focusing on a channel-specific ultimate metric.Learn more about how AT&T uses data to drive strategy by viewing ourSocial Prep School Webinar.BrandexampleAT&TChapter IV Math3,006Facebook: Shares74Instagram: Hearts (Likes) 25. Spredfast Social Business Textbook 24english[Creating Social Content]VThe written word holds great power. And with the introduction of socialmedia into business programs, brands are finding that quality content isa key contributor to social success. Whether a message is a 140-characterTweet, a brief reply written to a comment on Facebook, or a 1,000 wordblog post, each action taken in social is rooted in content creation. Socialactivity can be categorized into three areas. Content development for socialactivity can be created directly by a brand, such as status updates, longform materials such as white papers, or multimedia such as images andvideo. Content can be curated from social users, media, or industry sourcesand shared to build relationships and engage with social audiences. And ofcourse, brands can respond to or join existing conversations to build richer,meaningful relationships with key online communities.Chapter V EnglishCREATECURATE CONVERSEFigure 5.1 Successful social programs look at content through three lenses to create, curate, and converse. 26. Spredfast Social Business Textbook 25 Chapter V EnglishI.Thinking like an author andcreating great contentTrue, content is king. But not just any content will sparksocial conversation with your audiences. Ask yourselftwo key questions when planning content: What is yourobjective in publishing to your online communities? And,what is your customers objective in connecting withyou on social channels? When considering your brandgoals: Is it to raise awareness? Inspire engagement? Orto convert users in a defined way? When consideringcustomer goals: Is it to learn something? To get a gooddeal? To be heard? Depending on your answers to thesequestions, multiple types of content can be used andshared with social communities. Some of this mightneed to be created from scratch, but other content mightalready exist within your company. To best assess whattypes of owned content your brand can share in social:Audit your brands existing content library. Contentsuch as case studies, customer stories, richmultimedia, or industry relevant knowledge oradvice can be repurposed for social consumption.Use social measurement insights to determine newcontent needs. Examine social engagement metricsand determine which types of content receivethe most interaction. Use this insight to guidedecisions around new content creation.Assess implications of length and media type. Youmight have 140 characters to Tweet, but keepingmessages short enough to Retweet can make yourmessage easier to share. Text may provide richermessaging options, but remember, a picture isworth a thousand words (and is shown to be moreengaging and shareable).Identify which actions you would like your socialnetwork to take. Map these potential actions orconversions to the types of content and calls toaction that help motivate the corresponding activity.Make a list of content your social teamneeds to create on an ongoing basis fromstatus updates on Facebook and LinkedIn tolong form blog posts and videos and createan editorial calendar to address timing forcreation and sharing.II.Acting as a publisher andcurating content to shareSocial media activity inspires word of mouth sharing.In this vein, companies shouldnt focus singularly onsharing brand-only content. Rather, they should use acritical eye and share the most valuable and relevantcontent with their networks. Often, this might be sharedfrom community members, industry experts, or mediaBrandActionItemSOCIALContent(n.) Content that is created, curated, or partof a conversation to fuel social programactivity and engagementso-shl kn-tentIf you would not be forgotten as soon as you are dead, eitherwrite something worth reading or do things worth writing. Benjamin Franklin 27. Spredfast Social Business Textbook 26 Chapter V Englishsources. Publishing a diverse set of content both ensuresyou are keeping audience members (and their values)top-of-mind and helps build community by giving creditand attention to other valuable industry resources. Whenbuilding a curation framework for your brand, considerthe following sources and how they may bolster yourregular social content rotation:Timely industry news and implicationsContent from channel or business partnersCustomer/client content, news, and updatesIndustry conversations and commentaryIdentify relevant information sources suchas news outlets, industry blogs or sites, spe-cific users, pundits, and partner social ac-counts and outline the most useful waysto curate and share this information as partof your ongoing social activity plan.III.operating as acorrespondent andengaging in conversationSocial media is, after all, about being social and interactingwith others. This is why the conversation part of thecontent framework is so important. You will undoubtedlywant to share content and updates about your company,products, and industry, but your brand also has a keenopportunity to participate in conversations already takingplace. The obvious conversations are those surroundingyour company or products. But what about the organicconversations taking place among your customers? Orrelevant discussion threads taking place across hashtags,groups, or news sources? Better yet, what conversationscan your brand start? To get an idea of your most valuableconversation engagement options, consider the following:Prompts for users to respond, reply, or providefeedback in daily content to stimulate interactionsCalls for content that allow users to submit and/orshare their own ideas and creationsOpen-ended questions to begin organicconversationsKeywords, hashtags or specific accounts thatyour brand, through listening efforts, can monitorfor opportunities to add insight on existingconversationsResponding to mentions, brand-relatedconversations, and questions to fuel existingcustomer conversations involving your brand (orcompetitors)Discussion threads, groups, chats, and industryleaders sites where your brand can add value andfeedback to other respective communitiesBrainstormcreate a list of relevant andstrategic conversations where your brandcan participate and assess which of theseyou should start yourself on owned accountsand which of these are already taking placeelsewhere where you can begin participat-ing as a valuable community member.Smart Social Tech Tip:Planning, creating and scheduling content in advancethrough a social media management system allowsbrands to engage across all social networks andensure the right mix and cadence of content isshared per the companys desired strategy.BrandActionItemBrandActionItem 28. Spredfast Social Business Textbook 27 Chapter V English1.Creation: what content does your brand alreadyhave at its fingertips that can be shared to seedconversation across social channels (overviews,guides, presentations, multimedia)? How often canyou commit to creating new content like multimedia,blog posts, or shareable assets?2.Curation: which relevant people, topics, orconversations should your brand monitor to findshareable content for your own social accounts?Are there customers, pundits, influencers, or newssources that regularly provide content that youraudience would find valuable?3.Conversation: where are existing conversationstaking place that you can not only share (curate) butalso participate in? Are there specific blogs, Twitteraccounts, or hashtags or LinkedIn Groups where youshould become active in ongoing discussions to addmore insight and value?4.What is your brands ideal mix of creation vs.curation vs. conversation?Questions for further discussion:Content isnt just another channel. Its a mindset.Its not new, but instead, technology andsocial tools and platforms have created newopportunities, which continue to evolve, andafford us new ways to respond to customers andcommunicate with them.- Ann Handley, Marketing ProfsPresentation:Spruce up your social with great contentTipSheet:Making Facebook Content Newsfeed-WorthyBlog Post:Adopting Social Media Company WideTipsheet:How Does Your Social Garden Grow?DESKTOPcomposebookbookLearnMoreOnlinePutting Content in Context 29. Spredfast Social Business Textbook 28 Chapter V EnglishThe CWTelevision Network is home to shows like 90210, Gossip Girl, The VampireDiaries, and the Sex and the City prequel, The Carrie Diaries. The social presencesfor each show are tailored to the style and audience of the show. For instance,in addition to sharing updates on the show, cast, and crew, @gossipgirl disheson the latest celebrity gossip (you know you love her). See how other CW showscreate and curate great content and converse with their fans.BrandexampleThe CWTo promote the new Carrie Diaries, custom images of characters from otherseries in 8-Bit mode were created to spread the word about the premiere.Most of the tweets in the Americas Next TopModel Twitter feed are curated from pastcontestants, fans, and Ms. Tyra Banks herself.Fans of The Vampire Diaries can join in onweekly live chats on Twitter during episodesusing a custom hashtag created to start andkeep track of the conversation.CreateCurate Converse 30. Spredfast Social Business Textbook 29Social Studies[Segmentation and Targeting Social Audiences]VIStudying a groups activity over periods of time can unearth cultural,social, and behavioral trends. In social media, being a member of a brandssocial network doesnt mean that you share the same interests and motivationsas other members. Similar to groups of actual customers, different socialsegments have diverse needs, desires, and motivations for engaging socially.Target audience profiles in business are built based on emerging demographic,psychographic, and behavior patterns. The same is true across social media.The great news is, social networks like Facebook and LinkedIn are allowingsocial brands to better access these data points to learn more about thepeople within their networks. Brands can then utilize features on networks likeFacebook and LinkedIn to actually target activity to distinct audience profilesbased on age, location, language, work title, industry or interests.Chapter VI Social StudiesGEOGRAPHY INTERESTS DEMOGRAPHICSBRAND MESSAGEFigure 6.1 Brand messages can be tailored to reach distinct social segments based on geography, interests, or demographics 31. Spredfast Social Business Textbook 30I.Studying audiencecharacteristics - definingtarget audiencesThe first step in identifying specific social audiencesis to classify the different interest and user segmentswithin your networks. These will likely be different fromnetwork to network, but diving into audience insightsprovided by social networks like LinkedIn, Facebook,and YouTube will key brands into who makes up theircommunity and why they are interested in the brandssocial content. To start understanding the audiencesegments within your brands social network:Learn about your audiences demographiccompositions. This includes audience traits suchas age, gender, and location. Are there distinctage groups within your Facebook network? Arethere more Senior and/or Manager level userswithin your LinkedIn following? Can you identifykey geographic concentrations of Fans, Followers,or Subscribers? This information can be obtainedthrough insights provided natively by socialnetworks, and an aggregated view created usinganalytics from social media management systemscan help identify cross platform trends. Brandsthat familiarize themselves with this informationwill be better suited to provide content and createconversations that resonate with social audiences.Identify critical masses. Many brands choose toshare wide-casted activity across social networksinstead of, or in addition to, targeting messages.Activity such as company news, product launches,and special announcements may be relevantto your entire network, but understanding thecomposition of the audience majority can helpcreate messages that connect most broadly.Are most community members located in NorthAmerica? Do women outnumber men? Is a specificage group or professional cohort most engaged?These discoveries will help in crafting activity toconnect with the largest group possible whenwide-casting across social networks.Study the audience composition of yournetworks from the data provided inFacebook Insights, LinkedIn Insights andYouTube analytics and your social mediamanagement system to identify specificaudiences to whom your brand can begintargeting more personalized messages.II.Talking to the right people -Embracing network targetingWhen wide-casting doesnt provide a personal enoughexperience, the social networks now provide brandswith the publishing power to share tailored content withspecific network segments. Rather than wide-castingsocial messages that pertain to a specific communitysegment, brands can personalize and target specificmessages. This ability to laser target messages basedChapter VI Social StudiesBrandActionItemSegmentationand Targeting(v.) The act of defining groups ofsimilar audience members based ondemographics, psychographics or behaviors and directing specific activity and/orconversations directly towards these groupsseg-mn-t-shn n(d)tr-gt-i 32. Spredfast Social Business Textbook 31 Chapter VI Social Studieson age, geography, language, and areas of interest across Facebook and other networks means that socialactivity can now be more personalized, and effective,than ever before.Build social profiles based on yournetwork analysis, and use these profilesto target messages when appropriate (e.g.use geo-based profiles to promote regionalsales, professional cohort based profiles topromote an executive level training).III.Picking up on social Cues -Optimizing messaging forkey segmentsZeroing in on user behavior helps social brands betterengage their networks. As you begin targeting specificsegments with personalized content, track howindividual segments react to and engage with thisactivity to gain insight about which content is mostengaging to each of your targeted segments. LinkedInInsights and the Facebook Message Dashboard are twoplaces that brands can find information about audienceengagement. Whether wide-casting or targetingspecific groups with specific messages, the followingengagement elements can teach your brand whatactivity is most compelling and how to utilize specificcontent better in the future:ViewsClicksSharesLikesCommentsAssess and decide how particular socialaudiences within your network(s) aremore likely to engage in specific ways (i.ecomments vs. shares) or be responsive tospecific messaging and optimize content forthose segments to enhance likeability orsharability.Smart Social Tech Tip:Social media management systems allow brandsto both target specific audience groups, as well asdefine pre-determined segments to communicatewith to make message targeting simpler andaccessible to larger groups of contributors.BrandActionItemBrandActionItemBlog Post:Targeted Status Updates Bolster Engagement on LinkedInBlog Post:Facebooks Page Post Targeting Reinforces Importance of EngagementcomposecomposeLearnMoreOnline 33. Spredfast Social Business Textbook 32 Chapter VI Social Studies1.How do your audiences vary across your brandsdifferent social channels? Are there noticeabledifferences between age, gender, location, language,or education/professional level?2.Based on knowledge of audience segments, whichgroups should your brand be targeting on Facebook?On LinkedIn? What are the overarching traits of yourentire audience to keep in mind when publishing toyour entire network?3.Do engagement trends exist that highlight highperforming content and activity? Do specific typesof content, like pictures or videos, out-engagetext updates? Or vice versa? Are there themes orspecific conversation focus areas that yield moreinteraction than others? Is this based on targetingto a specific segment?Questions for further discussion:The place where [social is] going is hyper local.So, its not enough to just post to the broadFacebook fan page community, you have tothink about what do people in Austin, Texas careabout? What do people in Chicago care about?What do people in Minneapolis care about?Because if youve got a really diverse customer,you cant just be posting generically, you haveto be thinking about what customers in each ofthose markets would care about. Chuck Hemann , WCGSocial Brands Chime in: SocialBusiness in 5 Years 34. Spredfast Social Business Textbook 33With 18,000 retail stores in 60 countries, Starbucks customers are asdiverse as the iconic coffee chains handcrafted beverages. In addition tosegmentingsocialpresencesbyconsumerinterests(StarbucksFrappuccinohas over 10M fans on Facebook and 27K Twitter followers), Starbucks alsosegments audiences and utilizes message level targeting by:BrandexamplestarbucksChapter VI Social StudiesLocation Language 35. Spredfast Social Business Textbook 34Student Council[Social Engagement & Community]VIIStudent councils engenderdemocracy, leadership, and civic engagement.And what is social media, if not democratic and engaging? All the contentand sharing in a social brands world is only as strong as the interaction,conversation, and response it inspires. For this reason, building communityand inspiring engagement is one of the most important subjects for socialbrand practitioners to master. Regardless of company size or industry,social media engagement can bolster positive brand perception and createmeaningful experiences.Chapter VII Student CouncilBRANDMESSAGECOMMUNITYINTERESTSSHARE WORTHYCONTENT ANDEXPERIENCESLIGHTWEIGHTCONVERSATIONSAND INTERACTIONSRECIPROCITY ANDREACTIVEENGAGEMENTCOMMUNITYENGAGEMENTFigure 7.1 Understanding and interacting with network members can translate a brand message into community engagement 36. Spredfast Social Business Textbook 35I.Getting a pulse on thecommunity - Understandinguser needs and wantsThe first step to connecting with social users isunderstanding what matters to them. While your socialmedia programs may focus on furthering your businessgoals, no audience will engage and interact if youdont make the experience relevant to them. Any solidrelationship is built around mutual interests and values.When examining opportunities to build meaningfulconnections, start by asking:What do existing community members talk abouton social channels?What do customers and partners that are not partof your social community talk about both in socialand offline?Why do your social connections follow you? Why dothey follow other similar brands in social?What are the specific needs of your social network?Identify what your brand is willing to do tomeet or exceed the needs and desires ofyour social customers.II.Leading the Pep Rally -Creating share-worthyexperiencesSocial engagement is a measure of genuine userinterest and can help build awareness and loyalty overtime. A users interactions are shown in their newsfeed,making the interactions viewable to their network. Andwhen content is really good, users will share it directlywith their networks. For these reasons, optimizingcontent to be interaction-worthy and share-worthy willexponentially increase the reach and word of moutheffect your social presence will have.Assess which social activity across accountshas inspired interaction or direct shares inthe past, and incorporate more of theseactivities in your content editorial plan.III.Prepping for the big event-Planning ahead to enablereal-time engagementOne of the core advantages of social media, incomparison to other channels, is the ability to interact inreal-time across a variety of networks. This reactionaryengagement may range from quickly answeringquestions asked by customers and responding,to feedback about content on one of your ownedchannels, to externally engaging with digital chats,Group discussions or industry blog posts. However, ifyour brand doesnt proactively plan out (and schedule)activity to inspire engagement beforehand, you willhave less bandwidth for real-time interaction. As withother communication channels, outlining content andcommunication plans in advance ensures the creationand sharing of activity with strategic timing andSOCIALEngagement& Community(n.) The interaction that takes placebetween brands and their social networksso-shl in-gj-mntn(d) k-my-n-tBrandActionItemBrandActionItemChapter VII Student Council 37. Spredfast Social Business Textbook 36distribution across channels. But on social, it also meansyou have more time to monitor, interact, and find newways to engage. To get the most out of your interactionson social, brands should:Determine the ideal cadence of sharing andpublishing content across your individual socialaccountsMap out the ideal mix of created content, curatedmaterials, and conversation startersAssign team members to regularly create, share,and start conversations with an consistent cadenceFollow the above three steps and add theassigned activity and content to your socialeditorial calendar aligning each of the areaswith ongoing content and timely, campaign-specific activity.IV.Mingling with the crowd-Creating LightweightInteractionsLengthy content contributions such as blog posts,videos, and long-form digital assets are great waysfor brands to establish thought leadership, provide in-depth explanations to complex topics, or aid in brandpositioning. But consistent, lightweight activity can bejust as powerful. Like most interpersonal relationships,weregularlyhavemanysmallconversationsinterspersedwith less-frequent, more in-depth interactions. Thesame is true for brands. By sharing easily consumablecontent more often, brands are more likely to surface ina newsfeed and can cover a broader variety of topics tocater to diverse audience interests.List out the evergreen and timely topics thatyour social audience is interested in and de-termine short, interesting ways to share andencourage feedback for this content acrossyour social presences.V.initiating communityservice- Embracingreciprocity and ResponseIf social media is all about engagement and interaction,dont focus solely on your brand. Create engagement thatbuilds relationships and positive brand perception, whilealso creating a positive experience that will delight yoursocial customers. We dont usually maintain friendshipsthat only revolve around one person in the relationship.Its crucial to find ways to acknowledge and reward theSmart Social Tech Tip:Planning out content and activity with a centralizedsocial editorial calendar within a social mediamanagement system allows social teams to planin advance, ensure a regular cadence of engagingactivity and aids in productivity with pre-schedulingacross a wide variety of social network accounts.We were born to unite with our fellow men, and to join incommunity with the human race. CiceroBrandActionItem BrandActionItemChapter VII Student Council 38. Spredfast Social Business Textbook 37individuals in your social networks. There is no limit tothe types of reciprocity and return engagement yourbrand can create, but things to consider including are:Thank social users when they give feedback, share,or give praise to you in socialAnswer questions asked by social usersAcknowledge social users to prove you arelistening and attentiveProvide bonus content or valuable add-ons toconversations taking place about you or yourindustryShare content from customer and industry accountsto help foster a sense of social communityComment on or about relevant conversations whether they are on your own channels or directlyon other relevant channels like blogs or socialPagesDetermine the different opportunities toshare, react, and add conversational valueto the different touchpoints you have withyour social networks.Presentation:Building Social Community and Increasing LoyaltyWorksheet:Increasing and Cultivating Brand EngagementTipsheet:Generating Buzz Among Your Social CustomersWorksheet:Building and Increasing Social Customer LoyaltyDESKTOPbookopenbookopenbookLearnMoreOnlineChapter VII Student CouncilBrandActionItem 39. Spredfast Social Business Textbook 381.From action taken and feedback given, what hasyour brand learned are the interests, needs anddesires of your social networks? Are they followingyou for a particular type of activity? Content?Reward?2.What types of content and activity have proven mostshareworthy or conversational in the past? Are thereopportunities to provide more of this in the future?Should your brand be considering asking for specificfeedback or actions to generate more engagement?3.How are you planning ahead to pencil in specificcontent creation, activity and sharing prior to actualpublication? Does your team utilize a social editorialcalendar to plan out social activity in advance? Ifnot, how can you introduce a more programmaticway of planning social to leave time for real-timeinteractions and conversations?4.Aside from campaigns and planned communicationactivities, what opportunities are there for yourbrand to create regular, lightweight conversationsand interactions with community members?5.How are you responding to or acknowledgingcommunity activity? Are there ways you can find todelight and surprise social users with more value?Questions for further discussion:Businesses must learn that relationships areearned and earned again and communitiesare built upon a foundation of mutual value,entertainment, and empowerment.- Brian Solis, Altimeter GroupChapter VII Student CouncilWhat Your BusinessNeeds to Know AboutFacebooks EdgeRank 40. Spredfast Social Business Textbook 39Gear: Taking a queue from the Man your Mancould Smell Like, campaign REI Green Vestsemployees made instant video responsesto holiday gift questions in their #giftpickscampaign, and created easily accessible GiftGuide boards on Pinterest to inspire shoppers.Guidance: Its the oldest trick in the (social)textbook. REI uses infographics, like this cleverZombie Survival Gear to convey informationabout products and outdoor activities.As a member-owned co-op, REI knows a thing or two about buildingcommunity. Committed to providing gear, guidance, and inspirationto get outdoors, REI does a great job of providing all of the abovevia social channels.BrandexampleREIIn addition to brand specific activity, REIparticipates in community conversationssurrounding National Parks and NationalGeographictwo obvious topics of interest totheir consumer demographic.Chapter VII Student CouncilInspiration: With the multichannel #REI1440campaign, REI is creating an interactivetimeline of all 1,440 minutes of the day spentenjoying the outdoors from users content. 41. Spredfast Social Business Textbook 40Chemistry[paid / owned / earned]VIIILike most chemical compounds, social media marketing success isntcomposed of a single element its a mix of multiple aspects of internal andexternal engagement. An effort to classify the many social elements into aperiodic table would result in three distinct categories: owned, earned, andpaid activity. It is not enough to simply create great owned content, brandsmust also learn how to best harness the earned activity that it yields. Paidoptions across networks like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn allow brands tobuild awareness and engage broader audiences, often utilizing owned andearned elements to do so.Chapter VIII ChemistryBRAND AWARENESSAMPLIFICATIONDISCOVER + INTENTCAPTUREBRAND EXPERIENCEPaidEarnedOwnedFigure 8.1 Paid, owned, and earned media elements work in concert to amplify messages, build brand awarenessand surface user intent 42. Spredfast Social Business Textbook 41I.Calibrating owned contentCovered in depth in the English chapter, great brandcontent is a critical element in interesting, inspiring,and engaging social customers. If your contentaccomplishes any or all of those three things, socialnetwork size will grow, interactions will increase, andsocial activation will lead to word of mouth sharing frombrand network members to their own connections. Thekey to concocting optimal content lies in understandingand targeting key audiences, measuring engagementto understand performance, and using these twotakeaways to continually optimize content. The goodnews? Optimizing owned content drives earnedmedia and can be promoted using paid media, all ofwhich combine to exponentially grow social reach,engagement, and conversions.Review your brands optimal contentcreation and sharing activity from theEnglish chapter and identify the mostengaging and/or furthest reaching contentpublished by your brand.II.Harnessing OrganicReactions - earned mediaGreat owned content created and shared by a brandis a driver of online word of mouth sharing. Whenusers engage with social content, those interactionsare shared across those users networks and broadenbrand recognition beyond its opt-in networks. Thisuser engagement, a digital endorsement of sorts,exposes your brand to new, likeminded audiences overtime. Earned media is often the result of great ownedcontent. Did someone love a post on your website andshare it with their friends on Facebook? Did a followerfeel compelled to Retweet your 140 character messageto their own audience? Was an in-person event sucha hit that attendees took pictures and shared themon Instagram? While a lot of earned engagement is adirect response to a brands owned content, dont forgetabout spontaneous reactionsthe organic conversationsthat unfold on social channels when customers havesomething to say about your brandpositive, negative,or neutral. In either case, the key to cultivating morepositive earned media is delighting social customerswith consistent, highquality content and experiencesacross channels and in real life.PAID/OWNED/EARNED(v.) The artful science of combining contenton owned media channels with earnedaudience interactions and paid advertisingoptions to increase the impact of socialmarketingpd n-d rn-dChapter VIII ChemistryBrandActionItemThe whole is greater than the sum of its parts Aristotle 43. Spredfast Social Business Textbook 42Identify engagement trends across yournetworks. Are there specific types ofaudience activity or responses that youcould leverage further? Could you Retweetcustomer praise? Repin an image onPinterest that features a creative use of yourproduct?III.Catalyzing engagementwith paid optionsIf owned and earned media are key elements of socialsuccess, paid media is the catalyst that drives the reaction.As brands and individuals create and share more and morecontent, user consumption habits and social networknewsfeed algorithms have evolved to manage contentoverload. The harsh reality is that organic brand contentis rarely (if ever) seen by the brands entire network. Fanscheck Facebook at different times throughout the day,hundreds of thousands of Tweets are made each minute,and users LinkedIn feeds are constantly being updatedwith notifications from connections. By augmentingorganic social activity with paid media buys, brands canreach more people by increasing visibility of owned andearned touchpoints in the heart of the social networks the newsfeed. The three networks with the richest paidoptions today include:FacebookFacebook offers three paid ways to reach and engagesocial users.Promoted Content: To guarantee Facebook postssurface in the newsfeed of more Fans and friends ofFans, brands can pay to juice organic content. Brandscan promote content at the time of posting or later, oncea brand determines whether that content is organicallyengaging and should be given additional exposure. Thisoption is tiered based on estimated post reach.Social Ads: Facebook ads exist on the right-handcolumn of the network site and allow brands to includepersonalized creative elements to call attention to themessage. These ads can link to a Facebook Page orother owned online destinations and can be targetedat a granular level to users based on demographics,psychographics, or online behaviors.Sponsored Stories: Sponsored Stories use earnedbehavior to promote your Facebook Page to friends ofpeople who alreadyLikeyou on Facebook. Since peopletend to connect with others that share similar interests,Sponsored Stories allow brands to promote contentto like-minded social users often with the objective ofgetting those individuals to also opt-in to the brandsnetwork or to answer an explicit call to action in the post.TwitterTwitters paid options focus on surfacing existing organiccontent and elevating a brands presence on the networkand offers the following paid options:Promoted Tweets: Brands can pay to promote Tweetsmade from a corporate account. These promotions canbe targeted based on a number of options such asgeography, Followers, friends of Followers, and searchterms such as relevant topics, events, and keywords. Thistype of promotion can be used to share an importantannouncement or specific call to action.Chapter VIII ChemistrySmart Social Tech Tip:Make the discovery of high-performing content andaudience engagement easier and streamlined acrossyour team by tracking and assessing performanceacross all channels with centrally-provided analyticsin a social media management system.BrandActionItem 44. Spredfast Social Business Textbook 43 Chapter VIII ChemistryPromoted Accounts: For brands looking to raisevisibility of their presence on Twitter, they can promotetheir account to appear in the search results for specifickeywords or in theWho to Followprompt for users thathave similar interests as the brands existing followers.This type of promotion specifically encourages Twitterusers to follow a brand account.Promoted Trends: Twitters trending topics is one ofthe most highly visible sections on the site, and informsusers of the most popular topics and trends at any givenmoment. Now, brands can pay to amplify topics or trendsin order to help grow conversations and engagement.LinkedInLinkedIn, the social network aimed at connectingprofessionals, provides companies with paid advertisingoptions to reach target users.LinkedIn Ads: LinkedIn Ads, served in various locationsacross the social network, can be used to promoteproducts, promotions, or direct calls to action, as wellas advertise a brands LinkedIn Company Page to drivetraffic and gain Network Followers.After assessing what social networks arethe focus for your brand, determine whatyour goals are with social activity and alignthe types of paid social promotions andadvertising options that meet these needs.IV.Alchemy - Turning Paid,Owned, and Earned Mediainto Social GoldMost brands experience noteworthy growth in socialimpact when they incorporate paid, owned, and earnedelements into their social programs. Determining whenand how to combine these elements should be basedon the business objective you seek to achieve. Is yourbrand issuing a call to action to convert on a new productor promotion? Social ads and promoted posts might bemost appropriate. Are you trying to raise visibility ofyour brand and grow your network of interested Fansand Followers? Leverage your existing networks toreach their likeminded friends with Promoted Accounts,Sponsored Stories, or LinkedIn ads. Are you are lookingto fuel engagement of timely, relevant, or organicallypopular content youve already shared? PromotedContent and Tweets can help grow the impact of youralready-successful organic posts.Evaluate your existing content, userengagement, and available paid socialoptions. Develop and test hypotheses onthe optimal combination of paid, owned,and earned media to achieve specific socialbusiness goals like building awareness orconverting users.BrandActionItemBrandActionItemWebsite:Facebook for BusinessWebsite:Twitter for BusinessWebsite:Advertising on LinkedInglobeglobeglobeLearnMoreOnline 45. Spredfast Social Business Textbook 44 Chapter VIII Chemistry1.Create a list of your brands optimal owned media.This might be specific types of content or onlinedestinations and channels like websites. Form anopinion on which content and destinations arebest suited to share, highlight or promote for socialengagement opportunities.2.Assess user engagement trends that are promptedby brand content or are occurring organically.Consider reinforcing top performing content withpaid elements. Assess opportunities to create orengage in existing conversations to help propagatepositive online discussion.3.Evaluate the options for paid social promotion andadvertising and determine which will help youachieve your social business goals. Develop a budgetto both promote high-performing social content andto create custom social advertisements. Coordinatewith your media team to identify areas of overlapand collaborate across traditional and digital mediachannels.Questions for further discussion:Paid, owned, and earned media? Its rapidlybecoming all justmedia. Ads, blog post,social interactions either theyre interesting(or entertaining, or engaging, or helpful, etc.),or theyre not. Brands must integrate paid,owned and earned channels now. It will notonly make marketing more effective andefficient, but it will prepare them for the future. Rebecca Lieb, Altimeter GroupThe Converged Media Imperative 46. Spredfast Social Business Textbook 45 Chapter VIII ChemistryRackspace Hosting combines paid, owned, and earned elements toconnect with users and fans of the open cloud company. By sharinggreat owned content, amplifying positive earned media, and usingpaid options to promote the company on social channels, Rackspaceincreases brand awareness, builds brand loyalty, and guides socialnetwork members to points of conversion.BrandexampleRackspacePaid Advertisements Point to Website witha Direct CTA. These right rail Facebook Adsinclude a clear call to action and compellingpurchase info.Earned media improves brand perception. ByRetweeting an excited partner or engagingwith a users positive review, Rackspacecontinue to build positive brand awareness.Putting it all together: Paid, Owned, andEarned. In a single post, Rackspace is sharingan earned media impression (press coverage)from an owned social property (Facebookpage) and amplifying the message with paidpromotion (Facebook Sponsored Stories.)Compelling owned content builds awarenessand loyalty. Rackspace created a videoasking kids to explain the cloud. Whenshared on Google+ and Facebook, the videowas Shared and Liked/+1d many times. 47. Spredfast Social Business Textbook 46ABOUTSpredfastBasedinAustin,Texas, Spredfast provides social media management softwarethat allows organizations to manage, monitor, and measure their social mediaprograms at scale. Spredfast enables more people, in more places, to engagein more conversations from a single platform on supported social networkslike Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Foursquare, and popular bloggingplatforms. Some of the enterprise and agency adopters on board with Spredfastinclude AT&T, Jasons Deli, Warner Brothers, Whole Foods Market, AARP, AGAINInteractive, Coty Beauty, HomeAway and WCG.For more information:Visit www.spredfast.comContact us at info@spredfast.comLike Follow Connect +1Dont forget to Stay SocialVolume I First Edition 48. Spredfast Social Business Textbook 47www.spredfast.com | info@spredfast.comThe Social Business TextbookVolume I First Edition