Social Media Campaigns

Social media has ushered in a new era of communication between

organi zations and key stakeholders. This text guides readers through
a four-step process of developing a robust social media campaign.
Covering the latest industry standards and best practices to engage
digital audiences through social listening, strategic design, creative
engagement and evaluation, each chapter also includes expert
insights from social media profession als. Focusing on principles rather
than a specific platform, this is a text dedicated to developing social
media competency that can adapt to any organization or environment.

Carolyn Mae Kim is an assistant professor of public relations at Biola

University. Her research specialties include credibility, digital strategy,
media ecology, and public relations education.

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Social Media Campaigns

Strategies for Public Relations

and Marketing

Carolyn Mae Kim

First published 2016
by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
and by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa
business © 2016 Taylor & Francis
The right of Carolyn Mae Kim to be identified as author of this work
has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced
or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means,
now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording,
or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in
writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation
without intent to infringe.
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Names: Kim, Carolyn Mae, author.
Title: Social media campaigns : strategies for public relations and marketing
/ Carolyn Mae Kim.
Description: New York, NY : Routledge, 2016. | Includes index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2015048433 (print) | LCCN 2016004224 (ebook) |
ISBN 9781138948594 (hardback) | ISBN 9781138948600 (pbk.) |
ISBN 9781315652375 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Internet in public relations. | Internet marketing.
| Social media. | Public relations.
Classification: LCC HD59 .K558 2016 (print) | LCC HD59 (ebook) |
DDC 658.8/72—dc23

ISBN: [978-1-138-94859-4] (hbk)

ISBN: [978-1-138-94860-0] (pbk)
ISBN: [978-1-315-65237-5] (ebk)

Typeset in Sabon
by Keystroke, Station Road, Codsall, Wolverhampton

Contents

List of Illustrations vii Dedication and Acknowledgments ix

Social Media Campaigns at a Glance xi

1 Social Influence—Understanding the Development, Value,

and Role of Social Media for Organizations 1
Social Organizational Culture 1
The Social Principle 5
Developing and Defining Online Communities 8
Developing Engagement with Social Media Communities
13 The Need for More than Just Tactics 15
Developing a Social Media Process 16
2 Step 1: Listening—Developing Research, Discovering Data,
and Applying Meaning 23
Foundational Background 23
Social Landscape 32
Sense Making 48

3 Step 2A: Strategic Design—Developing a Data-Informed

Social Media Campaign 53
Social Media Strategic Plan 53
Social Media Campaign Design 72
Social Media Ethics 79
vi Contents

4 Step 2B: Strategic Design—Designing Creative Engagement

in Brand Communities 88
Leaders in Creative Social Media 89
Elements of Meaningful Communication 91
Identifying Appropriate Strategies and Tactics
116 Social Media Golden Rules 116

5 Step 3: Implementation and Monitoring—Joining

Conversations and Creating Purposeful Interaction 122
Content Calendars 122
Engaging During a Campaign 128
Social Media and Crises 135
Social Fatigue 141

6 Step 4: Evaluation—Showcasing Success and Growth

Opportunities 146
Data Use Throughout a Social Media Campaign
147 Components to Evaluation 149
The Future of Social Media Campaigns 174

Index 178
Illustrations
1.1 The Historical Business Model 2 1.2 The Social Business Model 3
1.3 The Social Media Four-Step Model 18 2.1 Foundational
Background for Research 24 2.2 Social Landscape Research 33 2.3
The Social Conversation Check-List 35 2.4 Share of Voice Chart 46
2.5 Sentiment Score Chart 47 2.6 SWOT Matrix 48 2.7 SWOT Tactic
Matrix 49 3.1 SMART Objectives 55 3.2 Developing a Social Media
Voice 60 3.3 PIPP Chart for Audience Analysis 73 3.4 Social Media
Campaign Elements 75 3.5 Social Media Message Map 76 3.6
TARES Ethical Test 82 4.1 Marketing Land’s Coverage of Taco Bell’s
Snapchat
Campaign 90 4.2 Approaches to Social Media Writing 92 4.3
Methods to Building Brand Credibility 96 4.4 Tactics to Conversation
Building 99 4.5 Content for Good Infographic, used with permission
of Column Five 104–105 4.6 Brand Positioning and Creative
Tactics 110 4.7 Tough Mudder Social Media Graphic 111 4.8 Social
Media Golden Rules 117 5.1 Content Calendar Elements 123 5.2
Content Calendar Example 127 5.3 Process for Real-Time
Engagement 131 5.4 Contributors to Crises in Social Media 137 6.1
Data Use Throughout a Campaign 147 6.2 Elements to Evaluation
149
viii Illustrations

6.3 Facebook Insight Data 154 6.4 Components to Communication

Audits 169 6.5 Custom URL Data Tracking Process 173

Dedication and
Acknowledgments

This book is dedicated to my incredible husband, KiYong Kim.

Because of his championing, I took a chance and submitted a book
proposal. Because of his editing and brainstorming, I managed to
complete this text. Throughout countless walks discussing social
media campaigns and week
ends packed with editing and feedback, he never wavered in his
support and encouragement. This would never have been possible
without him. I also am indebted to my colleague, mentor, and friend,
Karen Freberg, for her inspiration, support, and encouragement
throughout this journey. She is a paramount educator and professional
to whom I’m incredibly grateful. Additionally, I am so deeply
appreciative of my family, friends, and colleagues who listened,
advised, and cheered me on through this process. There are no words
that fully capture the value of what each of these individuals
contributed. In addition, my truly outstanding stu dents inspired me to
write this text through their enthusiastic support and excitement for the
world of social media.
Finally, I would like to thank the professionals who gave of their time
to participate in the expert insights, providing industry perspectives
from which students could learn. They made an incredibly valuable
contribution for which I am exceedingly grateful!

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Social Media Campaigns
at a Glance

Social Influence

• Understanding the development, value, and role of social media for

organizations

Step 1: Listening

• Developing research, discovering data, and applying

meaning Step 2: Strategic Design

• Developing a data-informed social media campaign •

Designing creative engagement in brand communities

Step 3: Implementation and Monitoring

• Joining conversations and creating purposeful interaction

Step 4: Evaluation

• Showcasing success and growth opportunities

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Chapter 1
 Social Influence
Understanding the Development,
Value, and Role of Social Media for
Organizations

Organizations are operating in a new, social paradigm. Brands can

no longer expect to control, dictate, or push a conversation onto the
public. Rather, they must engage with the public, creating a two-
way, relevant conversation in order to thrive in today’s social world.

Social media has changed the fabric of society. With more mobile
devices connected to the Internet than there are people in the world,
the impact of social media is felt in every facet of culture (Bennett,
2013). In the world of public relations, marketing, and communication,
it is more important than ever that professionals have a strategic
understanding of how to utilize social media effectively. Having a
purposeful design to social media has the potential to ignite powerful
conversations among key stakeholders. As social media has
developed as a platform, and organizations have matured in their
approach to social media community engagement, the methodology to
using social media as a platform also needs to change. While every
organization, online community, and social media campaign will have
its own unique flavor, there is, nevertheless, a unifying model that
underlies social media campaigns, which fosters strategic
engagement. This model provides a framework on which all the
creative, individualized approaches to social relationships can take
shape. Organizations that get the most success from social media
campaigns, however, not only understand the process of a social
media campaign but also the way social media should integrate into
the entire organization’s ethos.

Social Organizational Culture

There is a significant difference between brands that infuse social
strate gies into the entire organization, and those that use them only in
social media campaigns for communication purposes. Michael Brito
(2014) dif ferentiates these two concepts as a “social brand” versus a
“social business strategy.” While a social brand uses social
technologies to communicate
2 Social Influence
 Marketing &
Public
Relations

Product
Administration
OrganizatiDevelopment
onal Vision

Figure 1.1 The Historical Business Model

Customer Service

with their key audiences, a social business strategy is a “documented

plan of action that helps evolve and transform the thinking of an
organization bridging internal and external social initiatives resulting in
collaborative connections, a more social organization, and shared
value for all stake
holders” (p. 44). Figure 1.1 illustrates what a historical approach to a
business model looks like. Each department in the organization is sepa
rated by their individual roles, responsibilities, and objectives. While
they all jointly support the success of the business, they individually
specialize in only their specific purpose.
Today’s business environment, however, is not a static process that
can approach key stakeholders in a mechanized way with each
department solely responsible for only their area. Departments can no
longer func tion in a silo without interacting with each other to support
the needs of key relationships. Publics expect brands to be holistic,
connecting across multiple departments and with multiple people in
order to provide the best solution for each stakeholder’s need. For
example, if someone contacts the brand through Twitter about a
concern with billing or with a
Social Influence 3

product, it is important that the social media team communicates with

the other department in order to get an answer and respond to the
individual. Simply giving the phone number or email number of the
other department to the person on Twitter, instead of providing the
answer, gives the impres
sion that interaction between departments does not occur. The
message that is being sent, then, is that the business is not actually
relational inter nally, but simply wants to give the impression that it is
relational. Today’s social business is all about connecting and relating,
both internally with others in the organization and externally with
audiences and their needs. This model is illustrated in Figure 1.2,
which shows how the various departments not only surround and
support the vision of the brand, but also help each other. Social
organizations are brands that recognize social interaction as a core
approach to business rather than social media as a
tool to accomplish business, and thus experience
the power of authentic relationships with key
stakeholders.

Marketing &
Public

Relations
 Product
Development
Administration Organizational
Vision

Figure 1.2 The Social Business Model

Customer Service

4 Social Influence

For a brand to be social requires an entire paradigm shift in business

and structure. Jay Baer (2013) points out that organizations need to
now operate in a “friend-of-mine awareness,” recognizing that, in
today’s world, people do business with brands with which they have
relation
ships. “Like never before in the history of business, our personal and
commercial relationships are merging and entangling, line for line, pixel
for pixel” (p. 27). He goes on to describe an approach that he has
named “Youtility.”

Youtility is marketing upside down. Instead of marketing that’s

needed by companies, Youtility is marketing that’s wanted by cus
tomers. Youtility is massively useful information, provided for free,
that creates long-term trust and kinship between your company
and customers. The difference between helping and selling is just
two
letters. But those two letters now make all the difference. (p. 3)

In order to achieve this Youtility approach to an organization, Baer

(2013) suggests that organizations have to recognize that publics
want self-serve information, allowing them to get all the details they
need whenever they are looking for them. In addition, they expect
brands to operate with radi
cal transparency, giving answers and information before they are
asked for, and real-time relevancy, which utilizes technology and
engagement to connect with key stakeholders in meaningful ways (p.
44). Essentially, the new paradigm of business in today’s social world
is all about people. We need to go back to the basics, valuing and
investing in relationships with people connected to our brand. For a
brand to truly be social, therefore, people have to matter: at every
level and in every decision. Social organi
zations do not just use social media as a tool to communicate. Social
organizations operate in an entirely different framework than historical
models—they operate in a social paradigm of business, placing people
and their needs/desires/values front and center in business operations
and decisions. Social media, then, should serve as an indicator of the
relational priorities of the brand within the digital world, not as the only
source of relational interaction that occurs within the organization.

The Crisis of Trust

People do business with organizations that they trust . . . with people
that they trust. In a world with more competition than ever before, and
thousands of options for people to choose from, relationship becomes
the defining factor in business. Unfortunately, despite trust being the
corner stone for ongoing relationships with key stakeholders, there are
countless examples of organizations that have defrauded and lied to
the public. This broken trust and lack of transparency within business
has led to a
Social Influence 5

deep-seated distrust of organizations by the public. The Crisis of Trust

can be defined as the developing belief that organizations are deceitful
or inauthentic in their communication and relationship with the pub lic.
Rohit Bhargava (2012) identified this issue as the believability crisis.
Bhargava traced the development of our “society of distrust” by
exploring the role of propaganda, unethical marketing and public
relations and the introduction of mass communication to overwhelm
marketplaces with those who could pay the most to have the loudest
voice. This method, ultimately, ended up treating people like
commodities rather than valued relationships. With trust in all
institutions at an all-time low, “people are less likely to trust anyone or
anything” (p. 17). He suggests that when communication is
humanized, focusing on individuals and relationships, three important
elements are reintroduced: purpose, empowerment, and appreciation.
The developing of this personal relationship through these three
elements has the power to rebuild trust between brands and the public
(p. 25). In conclusion, while brands today are operating in a time of
deep mistrust by the public, due to the unethical and harmful practices
that have come to light in the last several decades, social
organizations are able to directly counter the believability crisis by
building meaningful and authentic relationships with individuals. This
commitment to relation ships that provide value and are built on trust is
the heart of the Social Principle.

The Social Principle

A key tenet of social media engagement is relationships. Social
engage ment is driven out of connection and community. When
organizations enter the social environment, they must keep these
facts in mind to be effective in social spaces. Social media is not just a
tool—it is a tangible expression of an organizational commitment to
trust and value in rela tionships that is the heart of the social principle.
The social principle is simply this: the fluid nature of social media is
designed for and sustained in relationship through two-way
communication around topics of mutual interest that is user-initiated, -
created, and -driven. When organizations realize that social media is
not a publicity tool used to plaster information in front of users, but
rather a dynamic communication platform to foster two-way
relationships in an unscripted environment, they are positioned to truly
ignite their social communities.
In order to fully explore the social media model in today’s organiza
tional environment, it is helpful to understand how online communities
developed. Equipped with an understanding of the background and his
tory of how brand communities and organizations on social media have
advanced, as well as what has led to developing relationships in social
spaces, the full value of this book’s proposed social media model will
take on much more meaning.
6 Social Influence

EXPERT INSIGHT

Karen Freberg, Ph.D.

What do you think is one hallmark competency social media

profes sionals need to succeed?
Writing is absolutely key. However, it’s not just about writing in
one platform, but evolving your writing skills to fit the platforms
as they change. Plus, we have to look at writing in different
circumstances and timing. Social media is a real-time form of
media, so we have to be able to write content effectively in a few
hours to a few seconds.

What are some key considerations for brands on social

media who want to be effective?
Planning and strategy are still at the heart of what makes brands
successful on social media. You do not have to be on all
platforms, but you want to be there to engage on the platforms
where your audiences are located and communicating on. It’s
about preparing for various situations and being creative yet
strategic in how you approach each situation.

With the constantly changing landscape of social media,

how can organizations stay relevant?
Social media is a living, breathing platform, and brands have to
continue to educate themselves to be on top of the growing
changes and shifts we are seeing in the field. Building a strong
community of influencers and educators to help share
knowledge and trends with each other is essential to stay ahead
of the game as well.

Why do you think social media is so powerful in today’s culture?

Social media has allowed the individual user to bypass gatekeep
ers to formulate their own media channel. We are able to share
content and connect with people in real-time and break down the
traditional barriers of communication that have been around for
decades. While there are lots of great opportunities that make
social media powerful, we also have to consider the challenges it
has raised and how it is a powerful, and sometimes dangerous,
platform and community. It’s about understanding the balance of
what makes social media powerful—the positives and the
negatives.
Social Influence 7

What are some of the biggest challenges for brands when

they build brand communities in social media?
I’d say trying to be something you are not. It’s about being true to
your values and unique characteristics as a company and brand
that is appealing to people. Audiences want brands who are
authentic and transparent with their actions and communication.
It’s not all about promotion and one-way communication, rather
that it’s really about being active, engaged, and listening to be
part of the dialogue. Social media is interactive, so if brands
establish themselves on a particular platform, they have to be
engaged and invested in formu
lating and developing the community. Also, brands have to
recognize if they are on social media platforms, they are
essentially on rented property (e.g. Facebook, Instagram,
Twitter, Snapchat). We have to follow the rules, terms of service
agreements, and changes that follow on the platform. Engaging
on these platforms is one thing, but realize you have to have an
integrated approach that balances shared/earned media along
with owned and paid media.

What does it take for a brand to truly be social?

Social media is indeed a lifestyle, and a brand that embraces this
throughout their company and among their employees is going to
be successful. I have seen brands that are as engaged online as
they are offline. This is one thing I do look for when it comes to
strong social media communities and examples to share with my
students in the classroom. It comes down to the time, effort, and
invest
ment digital and social media managers have put into the social
landscape. I have to say there are several brands who excel in
 this arena like Hootsuite, Sprout Social, GM, Skype, and Under
Armour. However, sports organizations and teams are ones who
I look to as strong examples of embracing social media
throughout the organi
zation, community, and team. Teams like the Dallas Mavericks,
Team USA, Golden State Warriors, USA FIFA Women’s World
Cup team, XGames University of Nebraska, and Oklahoma
Sooners are pretty exceptional in how they have embraced this.

How can social media teams work to minimize crisis or

brand risk within social media?
Great question! I think it comes down to crisis prevention and
plan ning. Social media is changing and we have to look at the
potential good and challenging situations that can arise online.
There are some situations we can’t always plan for, but there are
others we
8 Social Influence

can, so it is important to educate, train, and implement these

proac tive practices before an issue transforms to a crisis online.

Connect with Karen: @kfreberg | https://www.linkedin.com/in/

karenfreberg | https://www.facebook.com/karen.freberg

Karen Freberg is an Assistant Professor at the University of

Louisville and adjunct instructor for the Integrated Marketing
Communications Graduate Online Program for West Virginia
University

Developing and Defining Online Communities

The online world has brought in a new focus for public relations and
mar keting—social media communities, or non-geographically bound
groups of people connected through a common social media platform.
Much of the world is now connected within and across online
communities through various social media platforms. In one of the first
studies dealing with online communities, Rheingold (2000) pointed out
that the concept of a virtual world is nothing new. In fact, in 1968,
researchers for the Department of Defense’s Advanced Research
Projects Agency (DARPA) initiated what would become the first online
community and the Internet: ARPANET. These DARPA researchers
speculated that communities in the future would not depend on
geographic location but rather on com
mon interests (2000, p. 9). This is exactly what the current culture of
social media embodies. People can create online communities, or what
Seth Godin (2008) coined as “tribes.” A tribe is “a group of people con
nected to one another, connected to a leader, and connected to an
idea. . . . A group needs only two things to be a tribe: a shared interest
and a way to communicate” (pp. 1–2). With the Internet, the ability to
connect and have shared interests and ideas is easier than ever.
There is no longer a need to depend on a physical, geographic
location in order to form communities of people interested in a
common focus. Instead, webs of connections form virtually as people
interact in social environments on the Internet.
Rheingold (2000) defines virtual communities as “social aggregations
that emerge from the Net when enough people carry on those public
discussions with sufficient human feeling, to form webs of personal rela
tionships in Cyberspace” (p. 5). This is an important definition as it
focuses on the idea that the very fabric of an online community is the
development of personal relationships. Social media’s power emerged
from and is sus tained through personal connection. Bagozzi and
Dholakia (2002) further clarify the term “virtual communities,” with the
definition of “mediated social spaces in the digital environment that
allow groups to form and be
Social Influence 9

sustained primarily through ongoing communication processes” (p. 3).

As with the previous definition, this articulation of a virtual community
high lights engagement and sustained two-way communication. Many
similar definitions hit on the main concepts of the Internet being a
space utilized by individuals to form relationships and communicate
with others in the social community. Additionally, studies have shown
that the top incen tives to join virtual communities are the desire for
information exchange, social support, friendship, and recreation
(Ridings & Gefen, 2004, pp. 6–10). The primary motivation for people
from those four motivators
is the desire for information exchange (Ridings & Gefen, 2004, p. 28).
While brands recognize that social media is a place to share informa
tion and to build connections within a community, there often seems to
be confusion on what qualifies specifically as social media. Before one
can strategically design a campaign for social media, one must be able
to define social media. This places limits and parameters on what will
be included within a social media campaign, as it specifies the type of
technology, platform, and communities that social media campaigns
will engage.

Social Media Defined

To help differentiate what qualifies as social media, versus new media
or emerging media or wearable media, it is helpful to refer to a
definition given by Boyd and Ellison (2007). They defined social
networking sites (social media) as:

Web-based services that allow individuals to (1) construct a public

or semi-public profile within a bounded system, (2) articulate a list
of other users with whom they share a connection, and (3) view
and traverse their list of connections and those made by others
 within the system.
(p. 211)

Similarly, Kaplan and Haenlein (2010) provided an abbreviated

definition of social media as “a group of Internet-based applications
that build on the ideological and technological foundations of web 2.0,
and that allow the creation and exchange of User Generated Content”
(p. 61). The core assumptions regarding social media, therefore, are
that (1) content is user generated, user controlled, and user shared,
and (2) that this exchange takes place via a platform on an Internet
site.

Development of Social Media

The first social media platform that matched the above description
began in 1997 with the launch of “Sixdegrees.com.” Although this
platform
10 Social Influence

was unable to sustain business and closed in 2000, it was the catalyst
for the start of LiveJournal, Ryze.com, Friendster, and many other
similar services (Boyd & Ellison, 2007, pp. 214–216). In the years that
followed, popular platforms such as Myspace, Facebook, Twitter,
Instagram, and Snapchat have emerged. Each offers a unique flavor
and approach to online community building.
In the last several years, social media technology has created new
ways for individuals to interact and share information, such as snaps,
vines, tweets, and posts. These new methods of interacting and
sharing have altered the way that organizations or brands engage with
publics. On a daily basis “billions of people create trillions of
connections” through social media (Hansen, Shneiderman, & Smith,
2010, p. 3). Building conversa
tions in social media with brand communities so that individual users
are discussing the brand and its value is particularly effective because
people are “more trusting of their own opinions and the opinions of
their peers” as a result of the social media landscape (Hanna, Rohm,
& Crittenden, 2011, p. 267). This focus on “bottom up,” or user-
generated conversa
tions, as opposed to organizational dictated messaging, is reflected in
the fact that publics have become active participants in the creation of
brand messages, products, and causes. Users, therefore, are no
longer merely consumers—they are invested publics who help shape
the organizational culture and conversation. Mike DiLorenzo, the
Director of Social Media Marketing and Strategy for the NHL, explains
this change from static one-way communication to conversations,
“Social networks aren’t about Web sites. They’re about experiences”
(as quoted in Wyshynski, 2009).
It is the experience individuals have through social media that organi
zations need to focus on and understand in order to best connect with
their social brand communities. To successfully interact with publics’
 social media experiences, Kietzmann, Hermkens, McCarthy, and
Silvestre (2011) suggest looking at seven key parts: 1) identity, 2)
conversations, 3) sharing, 4) presence, 5) relationships, 6) reputation,
and 7) groups. These seven parts are directly tied to either individuals
(identity and reputa tion), functions of social media (conversations and
sharing), or formations of publics within the social media sphere
(presence, relationships, and groups). Bringing these areas together
in one brand community neces sitates a strong commitment to the
purpose of social media: relationships.
The truth is, discussions taking place about brands through social
media highly influence the public perceptions of an organization or
brand. In fact, today’s media landscape makes the old adage
“perception is reality” more true than ever before. The impact of
perceptions via social media is why both intentionality and consistency
are essential to reaching publics in a noisy world. No longer are
brands solely concerned with those who are in physical proximity to
the organization—rather, publics are diverse groups who actively
engage in the online world, transcending the tradi
tional geographic boundaries and time-zone limitations. Developing a
Social Influence 11

platform in the digital environment requires the constant focus on

publics who are non-geographically bound, creating dynamic
engagement that initiates from the social community itself (Hyatt,
2012). This also makes Godin’s (2008) concept of tribes foundational
in understanding social media publics. Remember, Godin defines
online publics, or tribes, as “a group of people connected to one
another, connected to a leader, and connected to an idea. . . . A group
needs only two things to be a tribe: a shared interest and a way to
communicate” (pp. 1–2). The shared interest of groups is a core
component of online communities. By finding a way to use social
media platforms to reach these tribes, social media professionals
enhance relationships and build credibility.

Brand Communities
The term “brand community,” originally used in relationship marketing
theory (Webster, 1992; Morgan & Hunt, 1994), refers to the formation
of a group of people in the digital world around a brand, organization,
or cause. While some online communities are unified around topics or
mutual interests, brand communities unite around the joint loyalty to
an organization as their mutual interest. The main idea behind brand
communities and management of digital relationships is that organiza
tions need to sustain strong relationships, by utilizing technology, to
meet publics’ desires and needs in order to thrive (McKenna, 1991). It
is within this effort that brand communities are sustained.
Muniz and O’Guinn (2001) describe a brand community as a “special
ized non-geographically bound community, based on a structured set
of social relationships among users of a brand” (p. 412). Again,
relationships are a key component to any online community. Brand
communities are made up not only of the relationship between publics
and an organi zation or brand, but also between individuals who are
affiliated with the brand community (McAlexander, Schouten, &
Koenig, 2002). This means there is great value not only in the brand-
to-public relationship, but also in the relationships of various online
community members with each other within a brand community. In the
digital world, brands are able to develop a more robust “brand
personality” that allows users to be more attached, engaged, and
attracted to the brand (Aaker, 1997). Additionally, activities that take
place within a brand community can generate value and energize the
relationships around a brand (Schau, Muniz, & Arnould, 2009).
Building commitment in social media communities is critical for
relationships to thrive between brands and organizations.

Commitment in Brand Communities

Previously, many organizations considered power and persuasion as
key functions of interacting with publics (Webster, 1992; Morgan &
Hunt,
12 Social Influence

1994). In today’s networked world of social media, however, it is com

mitted relationships that are the key. Morgan and Hunt (1994) pointed
out that “commitment and trust is central to successful relationship”
building (p. 22). Every organization needs relationships to thrive and
every relationship needs commitment and trust. They described
commit ment as an “ongoing relationship with another [that] is so
important as to warrant maximum efforts at maintaining it” (p. 23). This
is very similar to Moorman, Deshpandé, and Zaltman’s (1993)
definition that says, “Commitment to the relationship is defined as an
enduring desire to maintain a valued relationship” (p. 316). The main
idea, then, is that com mitment in brand communities is the dedication
of both the public and the brand to the value of and an intentional
effort to maintain the relation ship. The end-goal is not simply a
transaction or a bottom-line financial gain. The goal of social media
commitment is to sustain the valued rela tionships developed in the
brand community. Commitment, however, is dependent upon trust in
an organization or brand, something that is more difficult due to the
crisis of trust, which was previously discussed.

Trust in Brand Communities

Organizational interaction with publics should be founded on trust, with
the goal of creating mutually beneficial relationships (Morgan & Hunt,
1994). Gundlach and Murphy (1993) suggest that trust is the
cornerstone of all long-term relationships between organizations and
publics. Without trust, relationships erode and eventually disappear.
Many additional stud
ies have found that trust is the primary determining factor for a long-
term committed relationship with an organization or brand (Tax,
Brown, & Chandrashekaran, 1998). This is why Berry (1996) says that
“the inherent nature of services, coupled with abundant mistrust in
America, posi
tions trust as perhaps the single most powerful relationship marketing
tool available to a company” (p. 42). Trust is the crucial ingredient for
relationships to last.
Essentially, trust is a belief that the organization or brand is reliable
and has integrity (Morgan & Hunt, 1994, p. 23). Without that belief,
relation ships will fail. Social media has incredible potential to allow
individual users to spread the message of an organization or brand,
including the integrity and dependability of that brand, to a large
number of people by simply sending a tweet, posting a photo, or
uploading a video. The kind of power that individuals have through
social media makes it all the more important for organizations or
brands to build and maintain publics’ trust. This trust directly enhances
the organization’s credibility. When this happens, the potential for
effective social media engagement is established.
Social Influence 13

Developing Engagement with Social Media

Communities
Social media professionals have dedicated considerable resources to
understanding how to develop engagement in social media
communities. Organizations have, understandably, recognized the
dynamic potential of one-to-one conversations that are made possible
with publics via social media. For example, the way brands utilize
mobile technology to inter
sect with social media and build relationships, or to ignite a widespread
conversation around the organization or brand, is an area of significant
focus as wearable technology grows in popularity (Alpert, 2012).
Another example comes from Coyle, Smith, and Platt (2012), who
examined how Twitter can play a key role in brand perception if a
company uses Twitter to respond to consumer problems. They found
that perceptions of the brand’s trustworthiness increased when there
were higher numbers of responses to problems. However, the
response had to provide solutions, not simply empathetic comments.
Briones, Kuch, Liu, and Jin (2011) explored the ways that the
American Red Cross used social media to build relationships among
publics such as volunteers and the media. They focused on two-way
dialogue, the rapid release of information, and levels of control as
components to the relationship-building process. And finally, though in
no way exhaustively, another case study focused on the Gulf Coast oil
spill. Strong relationships and credibility with publics have com monly
been found to be key components of any disaster. Muralidharan,
Dillistone, and Shin (2011) focused on these relationship components
and credibility as they explored image restoration in the Gulf Coast oil
spill through social media after the crisis.
Social media clearly has had a dynamic impact on organizations. As
a result, the way social media professionals approach relationships,
dialogue, and credibility has been the focus for many scholars and
practi tioners. In 2010, Smith proposed a “social model” of interaction
for social media and public relations:

In this social model, public relations-related activities are initiated

by an online public, facilitated by the communication technology,
and based on user interactivity (or the searching, retrieval, and
distribu tion of information online). Whereas other online models
consider the organization as source, in the dialogic web model
(Kent et al., 2003), social public relations are based on user-
initiation, and comprise three concepts: viral interaction, public-
defined legitimacy, and social stake. (p. 333)

In other words, public relations in the social media world rests on the
understanding that conversations, activities, and dialogue are driven by
publics and not organizations. This is, as mentioned above, the core
fabric of what drives and sustains social media communities.
14 Social Influence

Realizing that developing relationships through social media is pivotal

to the growth of trust, relationships, and the perception of an organiza
tion’s credibility, many professionals have proposed theories to support
social media interaction. For example, Kerpen (2011) identified that
listen ing, authenticity, transparency, and honesty are key factors in
succeeding in the world of social media. Penenberg (2009) used the
term “viral loop” to describe the value of customer dialogue, activity,
and interaction on social sites. This loop is what Penenberg suggests
businesses must develop not only to survive, but also to grow in the
new digital world. This theory supports the overall development and
historical nature of social media. In addition, Shih (2011) argued
organizations must understand the “flat tening effect” of social media
which gives a voice to publics that might have been less vocal or less
likely to engage in a relationship with the brand previously (p. 52).
These studies, as well as many others, have found that just as with
traditional media and with organizational spokes people, social media
has specific dimensions that enhance relationships between an
organization and their publics. Transparency, two-way dia logue,
expertise, and consistent interaction, for example, are factors of social
media that directly impact the development of organizational rela
tionships. Additionally, the way an organization develops their
presence and the process they use to engage publics through social
media is crucial. This includes determining which platforms are best
for the organization’s or brand’s specific goals and audience, creating
engaging content for the platforms and understanding how to correctly
use and analyze data from the digital environment to further develop
and enhance relationships.

Social Media Tactics

Social media tactics tend to be what people most often think of when
considering how brands can use social media. Thoughts such as
“launch a contest” or “show a behind-the-scenes video” often quickly
surface in conversations. That is because tactics can often be the
most visible part of a campaign—they are what brands do in social
media. The focus on tac
tics and the approach to using social media is an important area of
study both for professionals and academics. Expertise in social media,
however, is when brands recognize that tactics must be born out of
specific strate gies and objectives set by the organization. It is not a
haphazard string of activities, but rather a specific engagement fueled
by the research and design of the overall campaign.
One way brands develop tactics is by understanding how the culture of
a social media community influences existing and new members in
order to create engagement. Schau et al. (2009) found that, “If firms
give con sumers the opportunity to construct brand communities and
the freedom to modify their products,” the organization “should foster
or sponsor social networking practices to build and sustain the
community and to
Social Influence 15

inspire further co-creation” (p. 41). In other words, the ways that online
communities develop around an organization or brand can create
patterns of interaction that contribute to publics’ perceptions of the
organization or brand. When this happens, not only does the brand
gain value, but also value is given back to the publics. An example of
this can be seen in Starbucks’ #ProTip social media efforts. They
regularly post tips and insight on how to order drinks or get the most
out of a Starbucks experi
ence using the hashtag “#ProTip”. They have shared things like
“#ProTip: Your local Starbucks can grind coffee for almost any brewer
and filter. And it’s free!” (Starbucks, 2015a) and “#ProTip: Add a pump
of cara mel to your #icedcoffee, sing, dance, have an awesome day”
(Starbucks, 2015b). What happens with these types of tweets,
however, is the real value. Members of the brand community add in
their own tips, such as “#ProTip: When the sun is out, add a pump of
vanilla syrup to your iced coffee. #CoffeePairings” (OCTA WISE,
2015). Starbucks as a brand created value by providing tips that the
community wanted. This ignited conversations within the community,
causing users to generate their own content and create value for other
users by sharing useful tips. This creates value for the brand and for
the community.

The Need for More than Just Tactics

The growing focus on interactivity and customer care via social media
may be why there are so many resources based on tactical
approaches to maintaining a strong business presence in social
media. A key ingredient in truly leveraging the power of social media
for organizations, however, is to move beyond tactical understanding
and into a paradigm of pro
cess. This was the point Jonathan Becher, CMO of international
software provider SAP, made when he argued that social media is an
enabler, but not the goal itself (Hong, 2014). Often, organizations are
eager to jump into the social media world because it is what people
expect, because there is the potential to create engagement, or simply
because it is “the thing to do.” The reality, however, is that social
media should be approached more holistically, carefully considering
the vision of the organization and the potential of social media to
enhance their vision.
In the last decade, multiple resources have provided counsel on how
social media can be capitalized on to build relationships, foster
business ROI, and develop social communities. This focus on social
communica tion is indicative of not only the opportunity available to
organizations in the social world, but also the expectation from publics
that businesses would utilize social media channels. For example, it
has been found that while over 68% of organizations believe social
media is an important com munication channel (International Customer
Management Institute, n.d.), nearly 70% of customers reaching out
with complaints via Twitter never heard a response from the
organization (Maritz Research & evolve24,
16 Social Influence

2011). In addition, over 87% of posts to brand pages on Facebook

remain unanswered, with active, or the most engaged, pages
answering only about 37% of brand engagement on their official
profiles (Hutchinson, 2015). In addition, publics have a growing
expectation that organizations will be highly interactive on social
media. In fact, some studies suggest audiences expect a brand’s
response within 60 minutes (Gesenhues, 2013). This is increasing the
pressure and expectation of communication brands must provide
when in the social world. All in all, while the research supports the
understanding that social media is important for relationships, there is
a disconnect between this “best practice” and its practical outworking
within the business world.
Strategic social media plans are much more than simply linking
together tactics that other organizations have found effective. It is
about the art and science of weaving together a brand community and
an organization into a thriving, growing conversation in the social
environment.

Developing a Social Media Process

Some may think that the dynamic nature of social media is an environ
ment that really cannot be mapped or placed into a planned process.
After all, social media is about fluid conversations and relationships,
not controlled propaganda or behavior. Because of this, it may seem
contrary to the essence of social media to consider a model that would
structure approaches to social media. The concerns regarding
maintaining the flexibility and interactive nature of social media are
real and important. However, while it is true that social media, by its
very nature, is a vibrant environment with publics generating and
driving the conversation, it does not follow that a model cannot be
proposed by which professionals can strategically design campaigns
for social media that support the overall organization’s vision. Social
media is no longer a new platform or an “arriving” way for
organizations to communicate. It has arrived. What we see now in the
social landscape, therefore, is a developing and matur
ing of frameworks for how organizations can fully engage with social
media communities.
Social media’s very fiber is that it is a dynamic conversation based
on relationships. But the truth is, if an organization is not intentional
about being present in those conversations, developing meaningful
connections with key publics, it is very likely that the two-way dialogue
and relation
ship will never thrive. Business is busy. Deadlines must be met.
Without a dedicated focus on relationship within social media, the
essence of the platform (relationships) gets altogether lost. It becomes
an afterthought rather than the primary focus. When that happens, the
value of social media to support the vision of the brand also
diminishes.
In light of this, not only does a framework, or model, for social media
campaigns allow professionals to better plan, prepare, and align their
Social Influence 17

social media campaigns with the larger vision of the organizations for
which they work, it also enables them to enhance the quality and value
of social media within a business context. In the early days of social
media, many perceived it to be of little bottom-line value in helping a
business succeed. In recent years, however, organizations are
requiring that social media professionals prove that the social
initiatives help business objec
tives and relationships. A model that strategically outlines approaches
to social media engagement by organizations empowers professionals
to have a framework within which they can illustrate the value of social
media for a brand. Research, design, engagement, and evaluation are
all key components to a model for social media campaigns. Otherwise,
social media activity becomes simply that: activity. It is not a uniquely
crafted plan that has a strategic purpose. This is what Gary
Vaynerchuk, Founder of VaynerMedia, highlighted when he said,
“There is no ROI in anything if you don’t learn how to use it” (Wong,
2014). We must know how to strategically leverage social media, not
just the ways we can string together numerous tactics.
In addition to providing a framework to show the value of social
media to an organization, a model also helps establish a framework
within which brands can operate in ethical and transparent ways.
Individuals in social communities expect personal, transparent, and
genuine engagement. Sometimes, these expectations can seem to
hinder the primary interest of organizations in social media: to
succeed as a brand. There are limited time and resources, leaving
 brands to appear inauthentic or uninterested in two-way connections
in social media. This tension is precisely why social media experts are
needed! It is the ethical responsibility of a social media strategist to
harmonize the commitment to an organization’s vision, resources, and
capabilities with the staunch dedication to authentic and trusted
engagement within a brand community.

Four-Step Process
The aim of this book is to explore a model for social media campaigns
that provides a blueprint for professionals. While the reality of the
social world dictates a certain level of fluidity and uncertainty,
sometimes even chaos, when engaging in social media campaigns
organizations that uti
lize a strategic process to develop an effective framework for
campaigns have a stronger capacity to leverage the potential of social
media. This book proposes a four-step process, which should guide
social media campaigns. While every campaign needs to have its own
creative flair and original engagement, genuine expertise also
recognizes that there are key elements, or steps, to social media
campaigns. The four steps used to develop a structure in a way that
professionals can purposefully design and engage with audiences
around organizational objectives are: 1) Listening, 2) Strategic Design,
3) Implementation and Monitoring, and 4) Evaluation.
18 Social Influence Listening

Step 2:
Strategic
Design

Step 4:
Evaluation
Step 3:
Implementation
Step 1: & Monitoring

Figure 1.3 The Social Media Four-Step Model

Listening
The first step in any social media campaign is to listen. Think of this
step as the research phase of the campaign process. In this phase, it
is impor tant to understand not only how to listen in the social media
environment, but also to what one should be listening. The world of
social media is littered with content. Expertise in social media,
therefore, extends past one’s ability to listen and into the ability to
proficiently determine what to listen for and how to interpret that
information into a meaningful plan for the organization.

Strategic Design
After listening, the second step is to design the campaign. The goals,
objectives, strategies, and tactics are all directly related to the informa
tion gathered in listening. During this step, professionals map out the
entire social media campaign. The functionality and capabilities of
certain platforms, as well as key business considerations that must go
into every campaign, are taken into account. The strategic design and
focus is then married in creative engagement pieces designed to
ignite connection and conversations within brand communities. In
addition, ethical foundations to guide strategic design are crucial to
developing strong plans, ensuring that interaction is not dissected
from a commitment to the quality and value of relationships.
Social Influence 19

Implementation and Monitoring

Once a strategically designed campaign is created out of solid
research, the next step is to implement the campaign. As with any
marketing or public relations campaign, however, one cannot simply
activate it and walk away. Professionals must fully monitor and
engage with the campaign through
out its life-cycle. Within this step, it is vital that professionals interact
and monitor so that campaign adjustments may be made,
accountability to the value of social media within the organization is
strong and, ultimately, the two-way dialogue nature of social media is
protected. The process of monitoring and engaging relates directly to
our social principle—social media is about relationships, not pre-
programmed content that is pushed out without any live-time
interaction.

Evaluation
While analysis will naturally happen throughout the course of the cam
paign delivery (Step 3), it is important to clearly assess the
effectiveness and growth opportunities of a campaign when it is
complete. Evaluation requires measurement across social media
platforms and a solid attri bution strategy to be established for the
value of social media in an overall digital campaign. The opportunity to
evaluate a campaign is truly where social media professionals can
highlight the value to the organiza tion. It allows for the clear
articulation of ROI and contribution to the organization’s vision.
 KEY CONCEPT SNAPSHOT

1. Today’s brands operate in a society of deep mistrust for organizations.

In order to address this, brands must build authentic, committed rela
tionships based on trust.
2. The historical development of social media as a communication plat
form is uniquely poised to address the issue of mistrust by facilitating two-
way dialogue between organizations and key stakeholders. This
communication is most powerful when purposefully designed yet placed in
a framework that allows freedom to adapt and customize interaction.
3. The Social Principle: the fluid nature of social media is designed for and
sustained in relationship through two-way communication around
topics of mutual interest that is user-generated, -created, and -driven.
4. When organizations embrace the paradigm that social media is not
simply a tool for publicity to plaster information in front of users, but
rather a dynamic platform to foster two-way relationships in an
20 Social Influence

unscripted environment, they are positioned to truly ignite their social

communities.
5. Brands can use the four-step social media model to build dynamic cam
paigns that truly leverage the power of a social community: 1) research; 2)
strategic design; 3) implementation and monitoring; and 4) evaluation.

Suggested Reading
Baer, J. (2013). Youtility: Why smart marketing is about help not hype.
New York: Portfolio/Penguin.
Brito, M. (2014). Your brand, the next media company: How a social
business strategy enables better content, smarter marketing and
deeper customer relationships. Indianapolis, IN: Que.
Schaefer, M. (2012). Return on influence: The revolutionary power of
Klout, social scoring, and influence marketing. New York: McGraw-
Hill.

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Chapter 2

Step 1: Listening
Developing Research, Discovering Data,
and Applying Meaning

Social media expertise stems from informed decisions leading to

stra tegic design. The ability for a social media professional to
discover needed information, determine how to understand the
context of that data and provide meaningful application into a social
media campaign is paramount.

The first step in developing a social media strategic campaign is to

listen. This listening, or formative research, phase is where social
media strate gists collect data required to make informed decisions
that will form the foundation for a campaign. There are two primary
areas involved in the listening stage: 1) foundational background, and
2) social landscape. Both will be addressed within this chapter.

Foundational Background
In preparing to craft a social media campaign that truly enhances an
organization’s goals, it is vital to have a strong understanding of the
organization itself. This is because when the vision of the organization
is separated from social engagement, the brand will be significantly
limiting the full potential and influence social media provides as a
relationship
building platform. Social media is an extension of communication from
the organization toward the publics—it is rooted in a commitment to
rela tionships and dialogue. To segment social media away from the
rest of the organization, making it a tool that gets used each time a
brand wants to publicize information, reveals a deep
misunderstanding about the purpose of social media. Thus, a truly
powerful approach to social media requires brands to connect the
vision of the organization into the social media efforts. An
organization’s social media strategy, therefore, should be born out of
the organization’s mission and values. If an organization leverages the
social media well, it can be a natural extension of the organization into
the social media world, uniquely planned to support the brand’s
 needs.
24 Listening

Foundational Background
Mission • Strategists use data from • Data from market research, and SEO &
Statements the communication Web Analytic reports all
organizational audits display the tapestry provide key information into
• Social strategists recognize structure research to of ways that key publics the ways that an
that determine the level of organization
are being
each campaign, support for social media communicates its
communicated
strategy, and tactic in social integration into values and engages with key
media with, informing
the core processes of a stakeholders. Applying this
should relate to the brand’s brand, as well as the key elements of
information to a
vision. Informed social appropriate type of social message structure and timing
within a campaign’s design. campaign design is critical to
media engagement relates to media team to ensuring that the social
the core essence, or mission Policies &
create in order to help a initiatives are
statement, of brand thrive in the social Procedures
consistent with
the brand. environment. • Employee handbooks, brand the brand’s business model
Organizational Communication Audit guides, crises response plans, and values.
Structure

Figure 2.1 Foundational Background for Research

Mission Statement
Before developing a plan to build relationships and engage in the com
munities that are connected to the business, it is crucial to first
understand why the organization exists. The first step, therefore, in
formative research is to review the brand’s mission or vision
statement, value commitments, and even strategic plans. These are
helpful to analyze and apply to the social media process as it will
provide the direction for the social media strategy. After understanding
the purpose of the organization, it is also important to evaluate how
the organization functions in order to truly
leverage the power of social media within the brand’s structure. Key
Data Application: Social strategists recognize that each campaign,
strategy, and tactic in social media should relate to the brand’s vision.
Informed social media engagement relates to the core essence, or
mission statement, of the brand.

Organizational Structure
After developing a solid understanding of what the organization is
about and what differentiates them from any other business, the next
step is to
Listening 25

identify the structure of the organization. When it is time to develop key

messaging and communication maps that include all relevant
participants from the organization, knowledge of how management is
set up, how departments are structured within the organization, and
who is responsi
ble for each component will be important. Be sure to pay special
attention to the marketing, public relations, communication, and IT
department structure. All of these departments tend to be required in
developing an effective and integrated social media campaign.

Discovering Support for Social Media Team Structure

Part of what occurs during the listening phase of a social media
campaign is the process of gathering information on what kind of
social media team or structure would thrive within the organization. To
gather the best information possible on what kind of social team
structure will work, it is important to look at: leadership, key players,
and required skills.

LEADERSHIP

Organizations that truly desire to engage the powerful potential of

social media to build key relationships must recognize that it starts
with the top of the organization. It is presidents and CEOs that need to
lead the organi zation into a social culture. Jim Claussen (2015),
Senior Strategy Manager for Social Business at IBM, identifies the
kind of leaders that organiza tions need today as “blue unicorns.” He
defines blue unicorns as “the rare leaders who are transforming their
leadership for today’s connected social economy” (para. 3). While
some brands may argue that having leadership that is social is not a
necessity, Ted Coiné and Mark Babbitt (2014) suggest that in the
future, “An engaging presence on social media will not just be ‘nice to
have,’ it will be considered a leadership compe tency” (p. 128). In other
words, brands need top leadership to value social media.
As part of the organizational structure research on leadership,
discover whether the top leader(s) in the organization are active on
any social media accounts and review what level of engagement they
seem to take with social media communication. In addition, take time
to meet with the leadership to understand their view of the role and
value of social media in the life of the brand and their personal
dedication (or hesitation) to be involved in social communication. One
important concept to get a pulse on is whether or not top leadership is
willing and ready to maintain their own social media activity. While
some leadership seems to express com
mitment to social media by being willing to allow a social media team
to run their personal social media presence, this approach to social
media engagement for leadership is not advisable. Coiné and Babbitt
(2014) highlight this kind of approach as an “insincere social leader,”
likening it
26 Listening

to the absurd idea of sending a proxy to a business dinner, dressed up

like the CEO, speaking like the CEO, and introducing himself or
herself as the CEO, but not actually being the CEO (p. 128). A brand
leader would never embrace that kind of inauthentic communication
with publics in face-to-face settings. It should not be acceptable in
social media either.

KEY PLAYERS

The social media team or department of an organization will likely be

divided into two groups. The first group is what Michael Brito (2014)
called the “Social Business Center of Excellence (CoE)” (p. 60). The
peo ple who compose the CoE for an organization need to be
individuals who have leadership influence, the ability to apply action to
organizational behaviors, and are deeply committed to the integration
of social media as part of organizational life. The CoE needs to be
composed of individuals who play a leadership role in the
organization’s business behaviors and communication. For example,
key people to include would be the head of marketing, the director of
PR, the top research analysts, the manager of information
technologies, and the social media director. The CoE’s role is to
envision the potential for complete social integration within the
organization, understanding the power of two-way dialogue throughout
the life-blood of a brand: from employee orientation to customer interac
tion, from leadership communication to the brand ambassador
program. Instead of simply seeing social media as a tack-on to
communication efforts, or a secret weapon to drive sales, the CoE is
composed of social visionaries that lead the way for an organization to
integrate the power of two-way dialogue in real-time communication
via social media into core practices of an organization. The goal of the
CoE is to succeed

at changing organizational behavior—the way it thinks,

communicates, and markets to customers. In doing so, the
members must adapt and change their own behavior at the same
time. They must become change agents if they truly want to see
the transformation come to fruition.
(p. 60)

To determine the best people to be on a CoE, it is crucial that research

is done to understand which departments within an organization carry
out certain responsibilities (such as technology roll-outs,
communication with clients, communication with customers, employee
relations, etc.). Then, identify which individuals within those
departments have the capacity, authority, and vision to be part of the
CoE. The second group is the indi
viduals who are tasked with maintaining and engaging the
organization’s social media platforms. In the research phase of a
social media campaign it is important to identify whether the
organization has resources for a team to be employed, the number of
positions available, and the skills or
 Listening 27

qualifications that are needed. In order to identify what kind(s) of

people are needed on a social media team, identifying key skills is
necessary.

SKILLS

It is crucial to determine what skills may already be available for the

team, due to existing staff or structures, what skills may be lacking,
and what structure of a team might work for the given organization’s
long-term approach to social engagement. In describing needed
skills/staff members for real-time marketing campaigns in social
media, Chris Kerns (2014) suggests the following areas: program
lead, creative lead, copy lead, social lead, and analysts (pp. 158–160).
While real-time responses will be cov
ered later, this structure is a helpful starting point in identifying key
areas that a social team needs. The reality is that some organizations
may have the resources to employ a team of social media pros, letting
incredible expertise and specialization be part of each job description.
Other organi
zations may be lucky if they have one or two people working on social
media. Whether it is a team of 100 or a team of one, strong social
media teams need the following skills.

Leader Each social media team needs a leader. Whether they are
called the program lead, social media director, or some other title, the
key respon sibilities of this individual are to lead the strategy for the
social media engagement on behalf of the organization, to advocate
for social integra tion across the brand, and to guide the other
members on the social team. People who fill this role need key
competencies not only in social media but also in business acumen.
This person should have strategic foresight, be able to skillfully
articulate the value and need for social media among the CoE and
with upper management, and have a strong grasp of team-dynamics
and people skills. It is their job to develop, lead, and manage the social
media strategy and also to encourage the individuals on the social
team to develop as professionals.

Word Artisans Social media should be engaging, punchy, and to-the

point. Word artisans seem to effortlessly engage in 140 characters but
can also weave together a beautiful post to accompany an infographic
on Facebook. Grammar, style, and vocabulary are core to this skill.
Word artisans are the kind of people that you could listen to all day
simply because the way they communicate is unique, it catches your
ear (or eye), and takes a new approach even if talking about a
common topic. In the research phase, take time to identify who the
word artisan would be for social media campaigns. If there is not a set
position in social media, is there someone on the team who is a
natural with words? Perhaps the communication or marketing
department has an individual who would take on the responsibility of
helping craft messages.
28 Listening

Creative Gurus Visual engagement is on the rise in social media.

Instagram, Snapchat, and Vine—these are all media that rely solely on
the power of an image. Most likely more visually based platforms are
on the horizon and poised to be the most prominent social media
platforms avail
able. Having a creative guru on the team, therefore, is a must.
Sometimes the creative guru and word artisan are one and the same
—and other times, someone who is fantastic with the written word
seems to struggle with finding that perfect image (or filter). As with the
word artisan, be resourceful in identifying who would be a potential fit
for this necessary position on the social media team. Additionally, do
research on apps, tools, and subscriptions that are available to help
the social team suc
ceed. The marketing or PR department may already have a
subscription to an image library that is available for use, or perhaps
the organization has other processes to develop creative pieces
across the brand. Be sure to have done enough research to identify
each resource available to help the creative guru succeed.

Social Designer The social lead is relied upon to marry the power of a
post with the potential of a platform. They are tasked with identifying
the right type of content and topic with the right platform, working
closely with the other members of the team to strategize creative ways
to capi
talize on certain social media functions (such as a story versus a snap
in Snapchat, or the reason one might choose to run a Twitter chat or
provide a Facebook giveaway). On smaller teams, this skillset is
placed with the social media director, as they formulate the overall
strategy and help guide the other members of the team toward
success.

Data Analyst This will be discussed in greater detail later, but each
social media team needs an analyst. The ability to gather data, apply
that infor mation, and adjust social media initiatives is a must in today’s
social world. As with other skills that the team needs, the data pro may
be com bined with some other skills into one job description.
Alternatively, the data might come from a variety of other places such
as working closely with marketing research or the website analyst to
help interpret the data. Whatever model best serves the size of
organization, regular review and application of data is crucial.
Having identified what skills, positions, and people should be part of
a social media campaign, the next area to collect data on is the overall
communication from the organization.
Key Data Application: Strategists use data from the organizational
structure research to determine the level of support for social media
inte gration into the core processes of a brand, as well as the
appropriate type of social media team to create in order to help a
brand thrive in the social environment.
Listening 29

Communication Audit
Social media communication should harmonize with other communica
tion platforms and initiatives from the organization. A communication
audit is a comprehensive analysis of all information being
communicated by the brand and a review of the intended audience
and desired outcome expected from sharing that information. Create a
list that identifies all the ways that the public is communicated with by
the organization. Be sure to classify the type of communication
platform (such as a newsletter, media relations efforts, community
events, etc.), the intended audience (employ ees, consumers, donors,
etc.), the frequency of the communication (such as how often the
website is updated, when consumer emails are sent, or the timing of
speeches by the CEO), and the person or department respon sible for
developing and managing the specific communication piece. The next
step in formative research is to understand any policies that guide
organizational activities or procedures developed to structure the
communication process.
Key Data Application: Data from communication audits display the
tapestry of ways that key publics are being communicated with,
informing key elements of message structure and timing within a
campaign’s design.

Policies and Procedures

Having identified the core vision for the organization, how it is
structured and how it communicates to all publics, it is also helpful to
understand any existing policies or procedures that will impact the
social media campaign design.

Employee Handbook
Reading through the employee handbook for the organization will pro
vide a lot of insight into the culture of the organization. It should also
clarify expectations of employees, responsibilities for employees and,
potentially, any information that already exists about how employees
are trained on interacting via social media. Ideally, social media
training will be part of every new employee training seminar as well as
incorporated into a regular rotation for existing employee training to
make sure every one is aware of policies and guidelines. This will be
discussed in greater detail in Chapter 3.
Key Data Application: The way in which employees are introduced,
trained, and encouraged to share their stories on social media directly
influences the brand’s voice and influence in social media.
Understanding the role of employees in a social media brand’s voice
provides key insights into designing campaign tactics.
30 Listening

Brand Guide
The marketing or public relations department for the organization will
likely have this on hand. It will include all the guidelines for colors and
font choices with the brand logo, instructions on messaging or position
ing, and information on the brand persona. Understanding the brand
persona for the organization is crucial in social media. Moving forward
with designing a social media campaign, it is important to ensure that
the voice and personality that is portrayed in social media reflects the
organization in a unified manner, consistent with other communication
pieces. People should not experience one kind of organization if they
came by the offices and another when they visit the social media
profiles. By being thoroughly familiar with the brand guidelines, there
will be a higher likelihood of success in unifying the brand persona
both in social media and in other communication outlets. A more
detailed process to develop and design specific communication
messages for social media in line with the brand persona is discussed
in Chapter 3.
Key Data Application: Social media is one way in which a brand
communicates, not the only way. Familiarity with the brand’s require
ments and voice allows social media initiatives to enhance branding
and connection rather than creating a division between the brand’s
presence on social media and its presentation in other platforms.

Crisis Response Plan

It is important that a social media strategist has access to the organi
zational crisis response plan. Social media during a crisis needs to fully
align with the larger crisis response of the organization. It may be that
the organization has already identified the role and functions social
media will fulfill in a crisis, but if that is not the case, it is important for
the social media team to be aware of the entire crisis plan so a fully
integrated social media crisis response document can be developed.
The process to develop and design a crisis response is explained in
Chapter 3.
Key Data Application: Every organization will face crises and social
media will play a key role. Crisis plans allow social media teams to be
prepared and equipped to engage in a crisis, rather than forcing them
to respond in the moment, which often leads to increased problems.

Market Research
Reach out to the marketing department to get the latest market
research for the organization. This will identify key audiences that
should be considered in social media. While it may be that not all of
the audi ences identified in the market research apply specifically to
social media, the strategic insight gained from reviewing the market
research for an
Listening 31

organization will save a lot of time in developing a social media

campaign that aligns with the overall communication efforts of an
organization. Additionally, within the market research report, or
potentially housed in another more specific report by the marketing
department, specific return on investment (ROI) metrics may be
identified for types of behaviors. For example, the marketing
department should have a report that clarifies what the value of a
name for someone who signs up for a newsletter is for the brand, the
value assigned to leads generated for certain types of sales, or the
life-time value of a new donor. Whatever the organization is
measuring and assigning value to, be sure to have a full list and details
on the exact ROI numbers. These metrics are crucial in the next stage
(design ing a strategic plan) as it allows the social media strategist to
understand any tangible, bottom-line goals that can be linked to social
media activity. Key Data Application: The marketing team will have a
wealth of information on key publics. While not all of it will be
applicable, social strategists glean key points from these reports and
apply them to the publics who are active on social media in order to
create a more effective campaign design.

Search Engine Optimization and Website Analytic Reports

While it may seem like search engine optimization (SEO) and website
analytic reports are not areas in which social media professionals must
be versed, the reality is that SEO is highly influenced by social media.
In addition, social media optimization is a growing focus within the
indus
try as platform algorithms are having a greater influence on social
media reach. There is a wealth of information available in both the
SEO and the analytic reports. For example, in the SEO report, it is
possible to identify the keywords and phrases that drive the most
traffic and the top pages that are optimized on the website. These
findings are significant to the organization and so allow a social
strategist to understand key
words that are important to integrate into social media and potential
webpages that are most effective to link to from social media. Even if
in-depth analytics have not been set up, a basic analytics report can
provide insight on the demographics of your online audience, typical
actions (also known as conversions) such as purchases or sign-ups,
the typical online path people follow when exploring the website, and
social media traffic sources. This is just a small portion of what is
available in these reports. In order to effectively create a strong
listening strategy and develop a strategic campaign that relates to the
larger goals of the organization, be sure that a thorough review of both
documents is completed in the formative research phase as it
provides a strong platform to move forward with social media design.
After gathering all the information available on the organization’s
background and processes, it is now time to develop formative
research within a social media context.
32 Listening

Key Data Application: The SEO and website analytic reports

provide key details regarding the online behaviors of audiences.
Social strate gists apply this information to the unique needs of social
media brand communities in order to design engaging and effective
digital tactics.

Social Landscape
Having completed the foundational research, it is now possible to effec
tively survey the social landscape in the context of its application to an
organization. In this phase of the listening (research) stage, the goal is
to identify what conversations are taking place on social media that
may be relevant to the brand, who is having those conversations, and
ways that the organization might engage with that dialogue. It is impor
tant to remember that even in listening, which can often seem removed
and objective rather than relational and engaged, social media is about
humanizing communication. Listening, then, is not cold and
mechanized but rather about understanding and seeing the people
that are important to the brand. Dave Kerpen (2011, p. 24) advocates
for the power of social listening by saying,

Listening is the single most important skill in social media, and one
that’s easy to forget once you get started with all of the sexier,
more exciting things you can do. So whatever you do, once you
start, never stop listening.

Key Listening Phrases

The first step for this stage is to identify all the categories to listen to
within social media. Some people identify these as “keywords.” A key
word is more than simply a single word, however. It can be an entire
phrase. The idea is to write out what words or phrases someone in
social media may be using to discuss topics that pertain to the
organization or brand. Keywords will fall into two categories: specific
and generic. The SEO report gathered earlier will likely have a list of
keywords already used by the organization. This can be very useful in
creating a social media list as it will save time and a great deal of
research. Identify specific words to search for that will open up
opportunities to join in on social conversa
tions. In addition, keywords are concepts that people type into a search
bar within social media in order to find conversations related to things
they care about. When making a keyword list, it is important to
consider not only what the organization thinks are important
 conversations, but also what social media users would think of when
trying to reach informa
tion available from your organization. Remember, organizations are not
making a conversation on social media—they are joining the conversa
tion. This means they must be able to find out where the conversation
is
c e u i o d c i e a p
Influen • Within comm key ind drive c forwar ignite These should and sp encour partici a campa

Social Landscape
Brand Community Conversation Platforms Key Listening Phrases

Dialogue

• Key listening phrases

• The key listening phrase

• Audience analysis, content revealed what conversations list will provide valuable

evaluation, community are taking place and the data as to what topics

engagement, and brand Conversation Platform are most meaningful and

dialogue provide key insights research reveals where the many types of words

into the way two-way those conversations that people use when

interaction is driven and are happening. This data joining these conversations.

sustained within a brand helps in crafting the hen it comes the time W

community. This information appropriate type of to craft messaging, this

should be applied when content for the right kind information informs content

crafting campaign messaging of platform in a campaign.

design.
in order to ensure robust
engagement is created in
campaign tactics.
Social Landscape ResearchFigure 2.2
34 Listening

taking place and who is participating. This is where specific and

generic keywords come into play.

Specific
Specific keywords are those words or phrases that are unique to the
organization. They may include the names of key people, such as the
president or CEO, the name of a specific product or service, or the
tagline or slogan for the company. If the brand has launched any
specific public relations campaigns or marketing initiatives, it is also
useful to include those phrases or keywords within this list. Keep track
of every keyword within a document to apply to later strategy.

Generic
Keywords or phrases that fall into the generic category are a goldmine
for many brands. However, organizations often forget to create a
generic keyword list and only focus on those specific terms that apply
only to the brand. Thus, they miss out on some very relevant and
vibrant social conversations. When developing a generic list, identify
categories that publics connected to the organization deeply care
about. For example, a coffee company could identify generic
keywords like “coffee brewing,” “coffee beans,” and “coffee grains.”
While these are not specific to any individual coffee brand, people who
drink coffee would likely engage with those topics.
The goal is to identify what online communities care about and want
to be discussing. The brand is joining a conversation with people who
have a mutual interest. What brought the social media community that
the brand cares about together into a virtual tribe and provides a
commonal
ity that connects? When those areas are identified, the generic
keywords are developed. Think through words and phrases that relate
to the industry, services, products, and vision.
Key Data Application: The key listening phrase list will provide valu
able data as to what topics are most meaningful and the many types of
words that people use when joining these conversations. When it
comes the time to craft messaging, this information informs content
design.

Conversations on Platforms
Having developed a robust list of what phrases and words are relevant
to the organization within the social media landscape, it is now time to
find out where these conversations are taking place. There are a
number of tools that are available to do this. Many may choose to
 listen to plat
forms by using the search functions available on each social media
site. For example, it is possible to use the advanced search on Twitter
to find
Listening 35

specific conversations. Social strategists may also choose to do a

similar search in Facebook, narrowing the conversation by top posts
or people or even photos. Carefully analyze the data to ensure that
the data is not simply a review of information from people that the
organization is some
how connected to through social media (people within the brand’s
likes, friends, followers, etc.). Do a public, or “all user,” search. Many
people prefer to use tools that aggregate data from several plat forms
to ensure a more robust analysis and save time. Hootsuite is one of
the leading platforms for this type of research. Several other platforms
(at the time of this book’s writing) include Social Mention, Topsy, and
TweetDeck. The value of having a place that analyzes multiple social
channels at once is to not only identify the genres of conversations
taking place on social media with specific keywords, but also what the
quality of the conversation is, who is participating, and how it
compares to other platforms in an expedited fashion. The goal is to
use this real-time data to make informed decisions in building a
strategic campaign. Using these tools, go through all the relevant
conversations that are taking place on the social platform. By adding a
column next to each of the keywords previously identified, keep a list
of which platforms have the largest conversation around a given topic
or keyword. For example, it could be that on Twitter, people are more
interested in certain topics than on Facebook. This data can provide
key insights that can help in the development of a stronger message
map. In addition to the platforms and conversations taking place,
identify who participates in the conversa tions and who has the largest
impact when they interact. These people are known as influencers
and are key individuals to connect and interact with throughout social
media initiatives. Finally, be sure to note the tone

nfluencers With whom do they

interact?

Conversation Topic
In relation to the
T
one brand?
Which Which
platform? keywords?

I
 When interact? In relation to the
do they topic?

Figure 2.3 The Social Conversation Check-List

36 Listening

of the conversations. People may have a positive tone, generally,

when talking about a specific brand name but a negative tone with
some of the generic topics. Again, this will come in handy in
developing messaging for social media.
Key Data Application: Key listening phrases revealed what conversa
tions are taking place and the Conversation Platform research reveals
where those conversations are happening. This data helps in crafting
the appropriate type of content for the right kind of platform in a
campaign.

Brand Community Dialogue

Understanding what conversations are taking place and who is partici
pating in the general social media landscape, it is time to examine the
online communities for the brand. There are several steps to take
when evaluating the climate of social media communities.
Key Data Application: Audience analysis, content evaluation,
commu nity engagement, and brand dialogue provide key insights into
the way two-way interaction is driven and sustained within a brand
community. This information should be applied when crafting
campaign messaging in order to ensure robust engagement is created
in campaign tactics.

Audience Analysis
The very first place to begin is to understand who is involved in the
organ ization’s social media communities. In an audience analysis,
brands create a profile of key publics by providing basic demographic
and behavio ral information that helps brands to identify the
appropriate platforms and methods for engagement. The previous
reports from the marketing department on market research will be
helpful with this step. That report will detail the general audiences for
the organization, usually identify ing the primary and secondary
audiences for the brand. In addition, the reports should provide
general information about key audiences, includ ing details such as
demographics, which communication channels are most effective for
reaching specific audiences, and the behavioral analysis of the
audience.
It is also helpful to review the website analytics report that should be
able to identify which social media sites are sending visitors to the
organization’s website, what those visitors are doing once they reach
the website, whether they complete an action that is valuable to an
organiza
tion (which is a concept known as “converting individuals” (sign up for
a newsletter, purchase a product, etc.)), and any other online trends
that are monitored by the organization. All of this information should
be compiled to provide a complete analysis of the audiences on social
media.
Key Data Application: Having reviewed the general audience
research for the organization, compare those findings and data with
the current
Listening 37

social media community in order to understand what values and

content are most meaningful for the social media community. There
are several ways to analyze a social media audience, including:

• Comparing the geographic region of the various platforms’ online

communities to the geographic regions of the general audience anal
ysis from the organization. Next, dive deeper into the marketing
analysis regarding behaviors and communication preferences for indi
viduals from those various regions identified as active in social media
to apply that information into message design within the campaign.
• Analyze the demographics such as age and gender from the website
analytic report for all users who arrive at the website from social
media platforms. Determine the typical needs of those users
(which pages they were going to, what content was available),
and the behav
iors of those users (did they convert, did they stay on the page, did
they share any content). This information will pinpoint some of the
key values for the brand’s social media community and how those
can be highlighted within a campaign.
• Review the user paths, or the order of pages that users view on a
web site, among the individuals coming to the website from social
media channels. Do they seem interested in specific sections of
the website? If so, that may identify specific information needs of
the social media audience. Do they seem to jump page to page
rather quickly, but even tually take an action? If so, that may
indicate that social media posts prepared them in advance to
convert and the users are more interested in a behavioral
objective once they reach the website.

It is important to remember that while the detailed analysis of the

general audience for the organization through marketing will provide
analysis of online community behavior, a social strategist’s ability to
integrate that understanding of the typical online behaviors with the
brand’s social media community will be crucial. The social media
community will be unique. Through audience analysis, identify which
people from the gen
eral audience of the organization are using social media, what they are
using it for, and what actions or behaviors they take as a result of that
interaction.
Content
The next area to review is the kind of content that has previously been
posted within the social media channels. Develop an in-depth under
standing of each platform. Review whether there is a rhythm to the split
between original content in posts, curated content, whether posts are
from partner organizations, and how often content is discussing topics
other than the brand itself. Identify how frequently content is posted
38 Listening

and whether there seem to be specific genres that are typical on the
plat form. Keep notes, as this will clarify previous social media
engagement approaches that will help inform future action.
Key Data Application: Social media campaign development needs
a historical understanding of how information was shared previously
with the brand community. Each platform’s historical content and data
distri bution plan needs to be analyzed in order to effectively design a
content calendar that resonates with the brand community.

EXPERT INSIGHT

Stephen Waddington

What do you think is one hallmark competency social media

profes sionals need to succeed?
Professionals need to be actively engaged in using social forms
of media. A basic understanding of theory is important but there
is no better way of understanding how content, conversations,
and network work.

What is the value, if any, of listening within social media

before launching into a campaign?
It is absolutely critical. Social media activity should start with lis
tening. Whatever your market, product, or service you’ll almost
certainly find relevant conversations taking place around the
social web. These will provide useful information for your
organization.

Are there areas you’ve identified as the bread-and-butter for

brands to focus in on when doing research before a
campaign?
I disagree with this point. Start with Google. There is then a huge
third-party market of tools that you can use as the entry point to
understand where the conversations relevant to your organization
are taking place and what people are talking about.
Do you have any tips or strategies for how social media
profession als should sort through the data gathered in
social media listening in order to make meaningful
application to campaigns?
Surface the key issue relevant to your organization, its market,
prod ucts, and services. Rank these by topic pulling out the top
three to five issues. Then for each topic determine how your
organization
Listening 39

would be able to add value to the conversation. These are the

areas that you should focus on in developing content.

How can brands identify which influencers are most

important for their social media efforts?
A network typically consists of content creators (1%), curators or
editors that share content (9%), and consumers (90%). There’s a
burgeoning third-party tool market to help map and understand
the make-up of networks and identify creators, curators, and
editors. Typically individuals are ranked for context, reach, and
resonance.

What’s something that is often overlooked but could provide

a lot of value for brands within the listening phase of social
media?
There’s often a lack of rigor to planning within public relations.
Practitioners jump directly to a network without properly inter
rogating whether it is the most appropriate form of media for their
public. My recommendation is always to follow a formal planning
process.

Is there some example of the power of listening within social

media that you’ve experienced as a professional?
There are lots of excellent case studies but my personal favorite
is the Harry Potter franchise. Listening by W20 Group identified
43 influencers responsible for conversation and content sharing
online. Its work now focuses on this community.

Connect with Stephen: @wadds | https://uk.linkedin.com/in/

stephenwaddington

Stephen Waddington is the Chief Engagement Officer at

Ketchum and a Visiting Professor at the University of Newcastle
Community Engagement
Since the entire point of social media is to be social, evaluate whether
the brand community is interacting with the content in any way. Keep in
mind: different types of engagement carry different “value” within the
social world. For example, when someone likes a photo on Instagram,
it is a fairly easy action to take and, therefore, carries less weight or
value. When someone comments, however, it takes a little bit more
work on his or her part and, therefore, carries more weight. Actions
that take more
40 Listening

work on behalf of a brand community in social media tend to indicate a

deeper commitment or passion to the topic, brand, or conversation.
These actions by community members influence algorithms within
many social media platforms and impact whether content will be
shown to the larger social media community.

UNDERSTANDING SOCIAL ALGORITHMS

There are many factors to consider within brand engagement. But it is

absolutely important to understand the way social algorithms work and
how they influence social media strategy. The social algorithms are
math ematical equations designed to evaluate the quality of content
posted by brands and determine which content receives more
prominent placement in social media streams. Social media expert
Rohit Bhargava (2012) illus trated the importance of social algorithms
when he pointed out that 90% of Facebook users do not return to a
fan page once they click the ‘Like’ button and only about 16% of a
page’s updates are seen by the page’s fans. The goal of social media
campaigns is to fully engage a brand com munity with relevant and
thriving conversations with which they want to participate, and brands
can only do this well if content is optimized and performing well
according to social algorithms.
In order to understand social algorithms, we should first review the
basic premise of search engine optimization (SEO), which gave the
foundation for today’s modern social media algorithms. Google, as
one may expect, was the vanguard search engine to implement SEO
algorithms (Page, 2015). The goal of Google was to sift through the
millions of indexed web pages and provide a qualified result to people
who were searching for information with Google.com. Strictly from a
business standpoint, this was an incredibly strategic move for Google.
Search engines have one commodity: to provide the best, most
accurate results for what a user wants. If they are unable to do that,
people will migrate to a different search engine. Google’s algorithm
revolutionized digital communications and caused industry
professionals to begin a quest to understand SEO and its impact on
organizational online communications. Bruce Clay, a leading SEO
expert, defines SEO as: “the science/art of increasing traffic to a
website by helping it rank higher in organic (non-paid) search results”
(Bruce Clay Inc., n.d., “What is SEO?”). Applying this same concept to
social media, social media optimization involves the science and art of
engaging online communities effectively to build strategic conversa
tions within social media platforms among a brand community, causing
organic (non-paid) content to show in the general streams of
information for users.
So what is included in the algorithm for social media? It is impossible
to know all of the factors. For example, there are over 100,000 factors
included in determining what shows in an individual’s News Feed on
Listening 41

Facebook (McGee, 2013). Each user will have different stories show
ing in their News Feeds. Why so many factors? It is an indication of the
maturing of the social media sites.
In 2009, Facebook first launched the News Feed feature for users
but quickly found that the sheer amount of information was
overwhelming. It contained every update, post, and status within the
News Feed for each user. This led Ari Steinberg, a Facebook
Engineer, to introduce the idea of News Feed Optimization (NFO)
using an algorithm called Edge Rank. It had three main factors:  =
UeWeDe (Patterson, 2015):
1. Ue = Affinity, or the score of the connection between the user and
the creator of the content.
2. We =Weight, or the value for the type of action users take with the
content. As previously mentioned, something like a comment
would have more weight than a like.
3. De = Decay, or the measurement of the time between when content
is created and the individual may be seeing it.

Over the years, Facebook has made many changes to the algorithm in
order to be more competitive with how users engage with content on
the platform. Changes include adjustments such as: privileging links to
qual ity news sites in December 2013, increasing the exposure of text
updates by friends of users in January 2014, expanding the reach for
tagged con tent among the connections of those who were tagged in
February 2014, penalizing brands who posted content with little
context in August 2014, highlighting trending content in the News
Feed in September 2014, and penalizing overly promotional posts by
organizations in November 2014 (Patterson, 2015). In addition, in
2015 Facebook further adjusted their NFO to help reduce hoaxes and
to push content from friends of users higher in the News Feed (Lee,
2015). All of these are part of what Lars Backstrom, Engineering
Manager for News Feed Ranking at Facebook, views as increasing
the maturity of the algorithm:

The easiest analogy is to search engines and how they rank web
pages. It’s like comparing the Google of today with Alta Vista.
Both Google and Bing have a lot of new signals, like
personalization, that they use. It’s more sophisticated than the
 early days of search, when the words on a page were the most
important thing.
(as quoted in Page, 2015)

While every platform will have its own factors, there are similarities
to keep in mind. For example, Pinterest relies on two main factors: Pin
Quality and Source Quality. Note that the decay, or time-factor, is not
as relevant on this platform (Page, 2015). In YouTube, a key factor to
keep in mind is the total watch time of a video, not ultimately the views
42 Listening

and clicks (Page, 2015). It is important, therefore, to understand what

each social media platform values as part of the algorithm. While social
media strategists cannot know each factor in an algorithm, as these
are closely protected by social platforms and search engines, there
are many indicators that give insight into what is important in social
media con
tent. Essentially, content that is relational and engaging tends to yield
the highest impact in algorithms. In early 2016, both Twitter and
Instagram started using algorithms as a way to optimize content for
users. It is reasonable to presume that other platforms, such as
Snapchat, may also follow suit.
It is very important to recognize the value of algorithms. If a social
media campaign is being developed for an online community that has
previously experienced a very poor interaction rate, thus having a low
score in social algorithms, it will take some time to rebuild the brand’s
status in the social media platform’s performance. That is highly
relevant to note, as it will influence the kind of strategies and timing for
content when creating a social media campaign.
Returning to the evaluation of the brand community’s engagement, it
is now possible to evaluate the interaction with a deeper expertise.
Evaluate both the kind of engagement users have within a brand
community and the genres of content that seem most valuable. One
way to do this is by looking at the platform analytics.

UNDERSTANDING PLATFORM ANALYTICS

While in-depth understanding of analytics for social media will be

covered in the chapter on evaluation, it is helpful to highlight a few
components that are particularly useful in the listening phase of a
social media campaign. The goal in evaluating platform analytics at
this stage is to understand which content has had the highest quality
and quantity engagement. For example, in Facebook Insights,
available to every official page on Facebook, it is possible to review
key measurements. Identify whether there has been a day with
particular growth in the number of likes, or, potentially, a decrease in
the number of likes. Then, review the content posted that day to see
what may have triggered those behaviors. It is also possible to review
individual posts to see which ones led to the most likes, comments, or
shares. In YouTube, review which videos have the highest estimated
minutes watched or the subscriber content; this can identify which
videos are building subscribers and which ones may be driving traffic
away. In Twitter’s analytics, evaluate which tweets have the highest
impressions and engagement and what the interests of the brand’s
followers are in order to customize content even further.
Go through each one of the organization’s existing platforms and ana
lyze the information available. By the end of this analysis of community
engagement, it is possible to identify what content is more valuable to
Listening 43

users on each platform and what kinds of content are disengaging a

brand community.
Key Data Application: Understanding a brand community audience
and knowledge of the historical content distribution are only valuable
when integrated with expertise in recognizing how the brand
community responds to the communication. Engagement is crucial in
order to evalu
ate the impact of social algorithms, implications for why content may or
may not be appearing in prominent locations, and an overall
assessment of the likelihood that certain kinds of content influence
weightier or more valuable engagement by the brand community.

Brand Dialogue
Another helpful component to review prior to developing a campaign is
the brand’s dialogue with the community. Beyond posting content,
does the organization interact with users, respond to questions, or
share content from the community? If so, how often and what is the
time-gap between when a community member posts and the
organization responds? As pre
viously mentioned, many people expect an organization to respond
within one hour (Gesenhues, 2013). While that may be unrealistic,
particularly for organizations that do not have a dedicated staff
member working on social media, it is helpful to determine if there are
long gaps between engagements. This may be an indicator for why
users are less likely to re-engage with social media content.
Today’s social media communities do not simply desire to consume
information from organizations. Rather, they want to actively participate
in and produce information as well (Kaplan & Haenlein, 2010). Those
who fall into this category of desiring to produce rather than just be a
consumer are known as “Prosumers” (Toffler, 1980). Susan Gunelius
(2010) describes the prosumer phenomenon like this: “Rather than
simply ‘consuming’ products, people are becoming the voices of those
prod
ucts” (para. 4). She goes on to point out that “Prosumers are the online
influencers that business leaders and marketers must not just identify
but also acknowledge, respect and develop relationships with” to thrive
in today’s social world (para. 6). Clearly, if brands are not interacting
with online communities that have a deep desire to engage and
produce, treating them simply as consumers of whatever content the
brand has posted, the opportunity to build relevant conversations
within a brand community is drastically diminished.
Key Data Application: Responding to brand community
engagement is just as important as the initial social media post. Brand
dialogue analysis provides a platform to understand the ways in which
the brand has his torically interacted and allows for strategists to
identify areas to increase, optimize, or develop within two-way
conversations.
44 Listening

Influencers
Influencers are the individuals on social media platforms that drive
engagement, ignite dialogue around certain topics, and typically would
be able to help expand a conversation. To identify influencers, see
which users repeatedly show up in results for certain topics and
keywords. Use the same listening tools discussed above for
identifying keywords and topics in social platforms and then sort the
data based on users. There are also several platforms designed with
specific functions to easily identify influencers in social media. These
platforms are generally based on an algorithm that calculates the
engagement with individual user content and scores them on a level of
“influence.” A free platform that many people opt to use is Klout,
though it has received criticism from the social media community due
to the potential to influence a Klout score with spam-like tactics. Other
options include Sprout Social, Brandwatch, Kred, Traackr, and
UberVu. The primary objective of each of these platforms is to identify
key influencers for topics of interest. Whether using a paid service or
not, once an influencer is identified, there are a few more things to
discover.
When developing an influencer list for each platform, create a file or
database to easily tag the influencer with the keywords/phrases to
which they relate. This will allow one to quickly identify which
influencers may be interested in particular content that is being
created. Additionally, know which platforms influencers are on, how
many followers they have, and any other information or scoring
metrics that are available, such as which other topics they like to
discuss online, whether they are interacting with other brands already,
and if the organization has followed/liked/con
nected with them (if not, be sure to do so). The goal is to have a full
profile of these influencers in order to effectively build a relationship
with them. Remember, people want to be prosumers . . . to create
content. Influencers are those individuals who are already known for
being thought leaders and conversation starters. A great component
to keep in mind in laying the foundation for a social media campaign,
therefore, is which influenc
ers might be interested in participating with the brand’s social
initiatives. Key Data Application: Within each brand community,
there are key individuals who drive conversations forward and truly
ignite connection. These influencers should be identified and
specifically encouraged to participate within a campaign.

Competition
One of the best things that can be done to strategize effective social
media campaigns is to analyze competitors and other leaders within
the industry. This gives insight into how organizations of similar vision
and focus are performing within the social spaces.
Listening 45

Create a list of the key competitors and determine which social

media sites they currently use. Go onto each platform and note the
audience size and any other pertinent metrics. Consider using similar
reviewing strategies for engagement as previously discussed for the
brand’s own page. There are several areas to note in this analysis.
First, identify which platforms seem to be the most popular based on
what is widely utilized within the organization’s sector or industry.
Second, note the type of audi
ence engagement and size that is standard in the industry. There are a
couple of tools to consider using in audience research. For example, in
Facebook Insights, add competitors to the list “Pages to Watch” and
keep track of the competition’s likes and engagement. As with other
social media functions, there are some tools that have options for
competitive analysis including Rival IQ, Hootsuite Pro, Twitter
Counter, and Simply Measured. The end goal of these efforts, whether
an organization opts for a paid service or manual tracking, is to
identify how the brand’s engage
ment and community compare to that of the competition. Using this
information, social media strategists are able to provide greater context
for the decisions that will inform social media campaign design. Rather
than solely looking at the brand’s audience engagement and
community reach in a vacuum, compare it to competitive standards
among others in the social media landscape.
Another area to evaluate with competition is the design of their social
media profiles. Consider what pieces of content they provide, the
images they highlight and their use of rich media. It is useful to see
what the strongest competitors are doing in the profile design as well
as how under-performing competitors have set up their social
presence. Be sure to compare these competitor findings to the current
social media profiles of the brand in order to identify areas to enhance
or change. In addition, review the kind of content the competitors are
producing. Previously, the brand’s own content was analyzed to
calculate the percentage of originally produced content versus curated
content, type of tone, media type, and other factors. Now review the
same categories with the competition to see what kind of content
seems to work the best for engagement and what patterns are
observable in their content use.
Finally, analyze the brand’s share of voice (SOV). Share of voice
“essentially means comparing your crucial performance metrics
 against those of key competitors” (Weintraub, n.d., para. 1). In short,
SOV is a metric that “details what percentage of mentions within your
industry are about your brand, and what percentage is about the
competition” (Torr, 2015, para. 2). For example, this can be
accomplished by iden
tifying key competitors and tracking how often they are mentioned in
social media platforms compared to the brand’s mentions. Or, track
the organization’s main keywords or phrases connected with reference
to the brand, compared to those same keywords or phrases
referencing competition.
46 Listening

To calculate share of voice, use an Excel spreadsheet or some other

table feature. When representing SOV, calculate total mentions as well
as create a pie chart to illustrate findings. First, tabulate all relevant
refer ences to the brand in the last 30 days. Include the tone of the
comments, which can be highlighted by many social listening tools. Be
sure to review the comments manually, as the tools identify the tone in
comments based on an algorithm and not human intuition, which can
lead to some con fusion. For example, sarcasm may make a comment
appear to have a positive tone when the person actually was upset
with a brand (e.g. “So glad I waited an hour and still did not get a
response from customer service. #FavoriteBrand”). Calculate all
positive comments, negative com ments, and neutral comments. In the
final column, calculate share of voice mentions by adding the positive
and neutral comments together. Finally, develop a pie chart that
shows the percentages of share of voice broken down by each brand.
This will give an idea of how often conversations

Social Comments Positive Neutral Share of Voice Negative

Your brand 50 15 65 5
Competition I Competition 2

48 10
10
30 5 0
Competition 3 Share of Voice Competition 2 28.51% 30.70%
55 Percent Your Brand Competition 3 25.44% 100.00%
Competition I Total 15.35% 70
15 15

Share of Voice
Competition Competition
3, 30.70% 2, 15.35%
 Competition 1, 25.44%
Figure 2.4 Share of Voice Chart
Your Brand, 28.51%
Listening 47

that relate to the brand’s industry or sector reference the organization

and the brand’s competition.
Next, perform the same activities for the top competitors. When all
the numbers are gathered, create another chart that will show total
positive and neutral mentions as SOV. Although the negative
comments will not be useful in determining a positive share of the
conversation being attributed to your brand, it may give insight into a
change over time that reveals a better SOV for your brand. To
calculate the percentage of SOV, divide the positive and neutral
mentions each organization received by the total mentions for all
brands that you assessed (Dunham, 2015).
Next, create an average sentiment chart. A sentiment score is a
metric that communicates the strength or level of positive
communication in social media from key publics regarding a brand. To
calculate the senti ment value for each brand in the share of voice
report, use the following equation from Jay Baer (n.d.):

(number of positive posts for the brand 3 5) +

(number of neutral posts for the brand 3 3) +
(number of negative posts for the brand 3 1).

Take the number and divide it by the total number of mentions for all
brands to arrive at a number between one and five. The closer the
number is to five, the better a sentiment score is. From the average
sentiment, it is possible to analyze what type of content competition
may be using to yield a higher share of voice and also to provide a
benchmark to compare against after a social media campaign
(Dunham, 2015).

Social Comments Positive Neutral Negative Total Your Brand 50 15 5

70 Competition I 48 10 10 68 Competition 2 30 5 0 35 Competition 3
55 15 15 85

Sentiment Score = Comments X 5)+ Comments X 3)+ Comments X I) Comments

(Positive (Neutral (Negative /Total

Sentiment Scores Your Brand 4.29 4.12 4.71 3.94

ComDetition I Competition 2 ComDetition 3

Figure 2.5 Sentiment Score Chart

48 Listening

Having gathered a large amount of data on the organization’s back

ground, mission, and communication processes, as well as a robust
analysis of the social media landscape for the brand, the social media
 strategist must apply the information into purposeful and deliberate
appli cation for a campaign.
Key Data Application: Competition analysis allows brands to
identify what type of content is generally the most effective across an
industry, to identify engaging profile creation, and ultimately to
evaluate the brand’s share of voice and sentiment score within the
social landscape. This information can then be used to inform specific
tactical creation within a campaign as well as serving as a benchmark
to evaluate the success of campaign messaging.

Sense Making
Having a robust understanding of the organization, audience,
platforms, and competition it is important to move into strategic use of
that data. Sense-making is the crucial last component to the listening
phase. Often, people are eager to jump into developing a campaign
after gathering so much data. But unless the data is mined for
information and that informa
tion is applied in meaningful ways to the context of a brand’s social
media needs, organizations will be unable to effectively leverage the
power of social media for their brand.

SWOT Analysis
A SWOT analysis is a common tool that assesses the strengths, weak
nesses, opportunities, and threats for an organization. It will also
develop a framework to understand how these four areas relate to
each other. An example of how to set up the chart is provided below.
When considering what items to place in each box, there are several
dimensions to keep in mind. First, think about the organizational
strengths

SWOT ANALYSIS

Figure 2.6 SWOT Matrix Strengths Opportunities

Weaknesses Threats

Listening 49
 and weaknesses and write them down in the first two boxes. These are
the two inward-facing or organization-facing categories, relating to fac
tors over which the brand has direct control or influence. For example,
a strength could be that the management team is very supportive and
invests resources into the social media efforts. On the other hand, a
weakness might be that the organization has little online analysis
available from the website or other initiatives in which to inform
actions. Another example of a strength would be that the brand has
highly loyal audiences who are already engaged online. Another
weakness might be that, despite a highly loyal audience, the brand
itself is relatively unknown, resulting in a rather small, though loyal,
audience. Making a list of these factors will be the first step. Next, the
opportunities and threats relate to external factors, or areas that are
not in the direct control or influence of the brand. For example, there
might be a significant opportunity in social media to pro
vide real-time engagement to audiences. However, a threat could be
that a competitor already has a strong social media presence and a
majority of the share of voice.
Once the data is categorized into a SWOT diagram, make meaning
ful applications by using the quadrants. Each quadrant relates to the
others to help analyze the data and apply it in meaningful ways to
strate gic design. For example, examining strengths in relation to
opportunities provides the potential to develop strategies that take full
advantage of the potential within social media. It is possible to also
evaluate the weak nesses identified within the organization’s social
media to determine steps that can be taken to ensure that threats do
not inhibit the social media campaign’s potential. Below is a diagram
of how to convert the raw data from a SWOT analysis into a
meaningful application for a social media campaign.

Strengths Weaknesses

Opportunities Threats strengths to take advantage of W-O Strategies: Seek to overcome

opportunities. weaknesses in order to take full
advantage of opportunities.

S-T Strategies: Discover ways to

W-T Strategies: Identify and reduce
capitalize on strengths in order to
S-O Strategies: Approaches that utilize minimize threats. weaknesses in order to prevent threats
from inhibiting the organization.

Figure 2.7 SWOT Tactic Matrix

50 Listening

Problem/Opportunity Statements
After identifying all the key pieces of background necessary, surveying
the social landscape, and applying those findings into a SWOT
analysis, it is now possible to create a problem or opportunity
statement. This state ment will help guide the social media campaign.
In one to two sentences, capture the essence of what is going on with
social media and why, at this time, the brand is creating a social
media campaign. Write it in present tense (because it is happening
now) and simply state what is going on— do not provide a solution or
answer to the current problem/opportunity. This statement is an
assessment of the current status in a brand’s social media world.
Sometimes these statements fall into the genre of a “problem” state
ment. For example: “Current social media engagement with our online
community is severely diminished, resulting in customer complaints.”
However, sometimes brand research identifies opportunities that are
untapped in social media. For example, an opportunity statement might
be: “Social media platforms currently provide 25% of the traffic to the
website but result in 50% of the conversations for online traffic. There
is opportunity to grow social media as a traffic source for our website
beyond its current 25%.” Whether writing a problem or opportunity
statement, remember to keep it short. Make it present tense. Do not
infer blame or indicate an “answer.”
Now that a refined problem/opportunity statement has been
developed, based out of in-depth research, it is possible to move into
strategic design. This is the part of the campaign process where social
media strategists propose data-informed solutions or responses to the
current social media environment that the organization is
experiencing.

KEY CONCEPT SNAPSHOT

1. Social media strategy directly relates to organizational vision and

purpose. Be sure to do a complete review of the organization’s key
documents prior to developing a social media campaign.
2. While strategy is a conduit to express the organization’s vision, social
media is a direct connection and relationship building process with key
stakeholders. Understand the needs, values, interests, and
conversations that are taking place among social media publics.
3. Craft an opportunity or problem statement that specifies the intention
ality of the organization’s social media activities. This statement guides
the campaign development.
Listening 51

Suggested Reading
Bhargava, R. (2012). Likeonomics: The unexpected truth behind
earning trust, influencing behavior, and inspiring action. Hoboken,
 NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
Coiné, T., & Babbitt, M. (2014). A world gone social: How companies
must adapt to survive. New York: AMACOM, American
Management Association.
Kerpen, D. (2011). Likeable social media: How to delight your custom
ers, create an irresistible brand, and be generally amazing on
Facebook (& other social networks). New York: McGraw-Hill.

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voice/ Weintraub, M. (n.d.). The definitive share of voice guide: PPC, SEO,
social & multi channel SOV models. aimClear. Retrieved from:
www.aimclearblog.com/2013/ 09/06/the-definitive-share-of-voice-guide-ppc-
seo-social-multi-channel-sov models/
Chapter 3

Step 2A: Strategic Design

Developing a Data-Informed Social
Media Campaign

Respect for the nature and potential of social media demands that
organizations approach engagement with intentionality and data
informed designs to develop trusted and authentic relationships.

After gathering the formative research from the listening phase and
going through the sense-making process to develop a data-informed
problem/ opportunity statement, the next stage involves mapping out
the overall strategy for the organization’s social media. Before
designing individual, shorter-term campaigns, first an organization
must solidify the overall purpose and approach to social media. If this
is not already in place, a social media professional should first start by
developing a social media strategic plan that is the guiding framework
for all campaigns and initiatives by the brand in social media.

Social Media Strategic Plan

Social Media Goals

With the full weight of the background about the company’s vision, the
current social media presence of the organization, and the potential
audi ence, it is possible to effectively establish the goals for a brand’s
social media presence. Goals can be defined as “broad, summative
statements that spell out the overall outcomes of the program” (Broom
& Sha, 2013, p. 270). They essentially state where the brand plans to
end up as a result of social media efforts. An example of a social
media goal may be: “Become a thought-leader in social media for the
technology indus try.” Another example could be: “Be recognized as a
premier source for information and resources on non-profit
philanthropy.” When crafting the goal for social media, keep in mind
the organization’s overall mission or vision statement. A social media
goal should directly relate to the pur pose or mission of the brand,
extending or enhancing the likelihood that the organization’s overall
vision will be accomplished. Once the goal is established, move into
specific social media platform plans.
54 Strategic Design

Social Media Vision Statements

Once the goal of a brand’s social media is identified, it is important to
create vision statements for each platform that zero in on the value and
purpose of each social media channel for the organization. To do this,
identify each social media platform that is beneficial for the organiza
tion. This identification comes from research gathered during the
listening phase where social media channels were reviewed based on
keyword activity. It may have been that certain platforms were
identified that did not have conversations relevant for the organization,
resulting in very few conversations taking place that related to
keywords. Or perhaps there are other platforms that were highly
relevant but not yet in use by the brand. Create a list of all platforms
that will be incorporated as a regular part of the brand’s social media
presence. In determining which platforms are important, consider the
capabilities of the platform, the general audience it serves, the
research regarding conversations on the platform, and details from the
competitive analysis.
With identified social media channels in hand, it is important to
create social media platform vision statements. In order to fully craft a
vision statement, be sure to identify the capabilities of each platform.
For exam ple, Facebook has a strong advertising option, video
integration, photo albums, etc. Instagram, on the other hand, has
shorter video options and is mainly driven by individual visuals.
Snapchat has the potential for stories as well as individual snaps.
When you identify the potential uses of each platform, it is possible to
specify how these specific platforms play into the overall goal of the
organization and to craft a platform vision statement to guide future
strategy.
The vision statements should include “the description of each social
media profile’s purpose, and how this purpose contributes to your busi
ness goals” (Sorokina, 2014). The value of identifying these areas is to
strategically develop social media content and campaigns while
 unifying the approach to various platforms. Olsy Sorokina, a social
media expert, suggests using the model of: “We will use (social
network) for (purpose of this social network) in order to help (business
goal)” (2014, para. 6). Examples of this could include: “We will use
Facebook for advertising to target a specific audience in order to help
increase sales” (Sorokina, 2014, para. 8), or “We will use Instagram
for promoting and sharing our company culture to help with
recruitment and employee happiness” (para. 14). In this way, a vision
statement should be developed for each of the brand’s social media
sites.

Creating SMART Objectives

With an end-purpose in view and vision statements for each platform,
social media strategists are now ready to create objectives for the
social media strategic plan. An objective can be defined as “specific
knowledge,

SMART Objectives Strategic Design 55

Specific Measurable Achievable Relevant Timely

Figure 3.1 SMART Objectives

opinion, and behavior outcomes to be achieved for each well-defined

tar get publics, what some call ‘key results’” (Broom & Sha, 2013, p.
270). Essentially, an objective is what will be measured as a key
progress indica tor (KPI) showing that a campaign goal is being met.
Within the context of social media, identify the precise platform and
the behavior or activities of the audiences that the brand would like to
see as a result of these social media efforts.
It is important to draft these objectives in a way that provides param
eters and accountability for social media engagement by using the
acronym: SMART. This stands for specific, measurable, achievable,
relevant, and timely. Each objective that is created should have all of
these elements present. For example, a SMART social media objective
might be: “Have 30 retweets a week as a result of posting to Twitter
twice a day.” The “specific” element to this objective is that it applies
solely to Twitter. The “measurable” element is that there should be 30
retweets. Knowing how large the current Twitter audience is and the
engagement history would clarify whether the measurable element is
truly “achievable” as part of the objective. This may be an objective
the brand will have to build toward to achieve, or it may be incredibly
realistic based on research. “Relevant” will relate to the vision
statement for Twitter and by evaluating what should be accomplished
by those retweets. For exam
ple, it is relevant if the vision statement for Twitter by the brand
included content that was designed to be shared or develop
engagement. It could be that 30 retweets leads to reaching the
awareness of a larger audience, or potentially enhancing the likelihood
that people are clicking the link in that tweet and going to a website.
Whatever the brand’s purpose is for Twitter, make sure that the
specific objective relates in a tangible way to achieving the vision.
Finally, the example is “timely” as it has a one-week parameter for the
retweets. Each week, it would reset and the brand could evaluate
whether this objective was reached.
56 Strategic Design

Outcome-Based Objectives
It is important to note that objectives should also be outcome-based.
This means an objective is about what happens on the platform and
within the brand community as a result of social media engagement.
For example, in the illustration above, posting twice a week is an
output. It is something that the organization will do. However, the 30
retweets will be an out
come. Those retweets are the result of the social media activities by
brand community members. Ensuring that each objective is an
outcome allows for higher accountability in social media program
evaluation, which will be discussed in the evaluation section later. It is
worth noting, however, that evaluation of objectives is used to
illustrate the effectiveness and value of a social media campaign. The
ability to evaluate a campaign rests heavily on developing SMART,
outcome-based objectives. There is no authentic measurement of
brand communities’ engagement in social media when outputs are
used as the measurement—it simply indicates that the social media
team had a lot of activity. What should be measured is the impact, or
results, of the efforts within social media platforms. In order to do that
effectively, each objective must be SMART and outcome-based.

Social Profile Branding

The next steps to take in a social media strategic plan are to ensure
that all the organization’s profiles are fully filled out, properly branded,
and maintain a strong presence among online communities. The
purpose of this is not just to fill in the information and make it look
nice. The focus should be on a unifying brand presence as well as
optimizing social media accounts. Here are some basic elements to
consider:

About Section
The About section in each social profile is an opportunity to introduce
the brand. Keep in mind the keywords and phrases developed in the
social media listening stage, the marketing department’s branding
guideline, and the platform’s audience. When writing the About
sections, have a consistent presentation so that audiences feel like
the brand is the same organization no matter which platform they are
currently using. In addi
tion, be strategic with wording in order to capitalize on search engine
optimization opportunities. With search engines pulling more content in
from social media sites, particularly with the partnership between
Google and Twitter that began in 2015, using each phrase and posting
strategi
cally is vital for brands. Neil Patel (2015), co-founder of Crazy Egg,
Hello Bar, and KISSmetrics, explains: “Social and search have
intertwined into a squirming nexus of who’s-where-and-who’s-who”
(“Social Search,” para. 1). The About section provides a platform to
share who the brand is and what they are all about with the online
brand communities.
Strategic Design 57

Profile Photos and Thumbnails

It seems like social media profile image sizes are constantly changing.
Be sure to regularly review the social channels of a brand to ensure
that images are crisp, properly sized, engaging, and branded. While
each plat form does not need the exact same photos, it is helpful to
consider the general branding guidelines and applications of images
across platforms. Some platforms, like Facebook, can gain more
engagement when regularly changing a cover image. It might be
something to consider updating with various initiatives or campaigns.
But even when rotating those images, be sure to keep the feel of the
brand in mind. Users should still recognize each cover photo as being
from the brand or organization. Thumbnail images should be easily
recognizable as well. Consider using the logo, as that is often the
image associated with posts or comments. Have it created and sized
specifically for each social media outlet. An easy way to identify the
latest size requirements is to quickly search the Internet for an updated
listing of each platform’s image dimensions.

Vanity URLs
Customizing an organization’s URL for each platform makes it easy for
people to connect. A vanity URL is a unique, individualized URL for
social platforms. For example, facebook.com/CarolynMaeKim is far
eas ier to remember and share than facebook.com/149272585126883.
When creating vanity URLs for an organization’s social platforms,
keep them consistent. Ideally, have one URL for all social media
properties. Twitter tends to have less space, so it is a good idea to
make a vanity URL for Twitter first and then apply that to other
platforms. A helpful website to quickly check if a vanity URL is
available across the social media landscape is www.Namechk.com.

Company Connections
One of the weakest points for many organizations is the connection
between social platforms as well as the connection with the
organization’s website. Be sure to have the correct URL provided for
the organization’s main site, as well as incorporating the connections
to other social profiles within each social media channel. It is helpful at
this stage to also review the organization’s website and ensure that
the social media channels are easily identified on the homepage and
other key locations. If they are not, connect with the website
development team to ensure all channels are properly added on the
website. This permits users to easily connect in multiple places, as
well as allowing the community to quickly identify where they will be
able to engage with the brand. For example, people should be able to
get to the brand’s Twitter profile from the website’s homepage or they
should easily be able to share a blog from the website
58 Strategic Design

to their Facebook News Feed. On Facebook, users should be able to

connect over to the Instagram profile or YouTube channel. It should be
a well-organized and clearly defined web of connections.

Rich Media
When developing social profiles, also consider the inclusion of rich
media. For example, on Twitter there are six locations for images or
video that show on the main profile. It is advisable to add at least
these six pieces of rich media to the Twitter profile before it goes live
so the brand’s profile presence appears complete. Instagram has a
regular rotation of images across the profile background. It is helpful to
make sure the brand has enough images that, as they rotate in and
out, it appears diverse and inter
esting, rather than under-developed. Review each platform to
understand how it displays, what media is needed, and where it is
used. After this, develop branded pieces that can meet those needs to
fully utilize each platform. If the brand is unsure what kind of media-
rich content pieces to create, it can be helpful to reflect on the brand
community conversations and keywords for the organization. Find
images, video, infographics, and other rich media that involve these
topics of mutual interest. That is what the brand community cares
about and with which they will engage. Remember, the social principle
is about identifying topics of mutual interest with a brand’s audience
and engaging in a conversation.
Content Distribution
After each profile has a mission statement and is fully up-to-speed with
the profile design, consider the content distribution strategy for the
organiza tion. The first step in a distribution plan is to create a content
topic guide. Hootsuite’s Senior Director of Social Media, Jaime Stein,
provides a model for organizations on social media, which essentially
allocates various per centages of social media content to specific
focuses of the organization (LePage, 2014, “Create a Content Plan,”
para. 4). This is illustrated by the following example provided by Evan
LePage of Hootsuite (“Create a Content Plan,” para. 4): “50% of your
content will drive back to the blog; 25% of your content will be curated
from other source; 20% of your content will drive enterprise content;
5% of your content will be HR and culture.” The percentages identified
in the example are just that: an example. Each organization needs to
create the content distribution guide percentages based on the
brand’s objectives and social media pur pose. However, some
organizations may not be in a place to know how to develop such
defined metrics yet. It could be that more time is needed in social
media before that can be solidified. If that is the case, brands may opt
for the Rule of Thirds. The Rule of Thirds is essentially that one third
of the content will be about the brand, one third will be shared from
Strategic Design 59

industry thought leaders, and one third will be dedicated to individual

interactions with a brand community on social media.
Beyond the base allocation of percentage for content information, it
is also helpful to create a general content calendar. A general content
calen dar guides the overall social media communication pieces and
allows for harmonization across platforms. Much more specific content
calendars are developed for each campaign. However, the general
content calen dar provides a framework to develop specific campaigns
and also align communication with the overall brand’s other
communiqué pieces to audiences. A general content calendar should
include:

• Platforms
• Day and, if possible, time of posts
• Keywords or topic of the post
• Category of content topic design
• Any media needed (images, photos, etc.)
• Team member responsible for post.

If the organization already uses a master content calendar for commu

nication across all platforms (such as newsletters, website blogs, press
releases), it is helpful to coordinate in order to ensure that social media
complements the overall organizational communication patterns.
Knowing what the organization is communicating in general will help
social media strategists tailor content that is appropriate for each
social channel.
Social Media Voice
With a general content distribution guide in place and calendar
created, develop the social media voice for the brand. This will include
key mes sages and a message map that will guide how the
organization interacts on social media and ensure that the brand
persona is highlighted in all types of engagement. Before determining
what to say and how to say it, having a strong brand persona is
crucial. Social media voice is composed of understanding the brand’s
persona, the appropriate tone for a message, and the intentional
language needed to effectively communicate in each post.

Understanding Brand Persona

Style guides and brand voice are often captured in marketing style
guide lines. The reality, however, is that many organizations have
trouble translating those marketing guidelines into social media or,
perhaps, they simply choose not to consider those guidelines. This
becomes quite prob lematic. A brand’s presentation on social media
influences key publics’ perceptions of the brand itself. It is not just a
“social media” activity—it
60 Strategic Design

Social
Media
Voice

Figure 3.2 Developing a Social Media Voice

directly impacts the organization’s reputation and perception. It is,

there fore, crucial that the brand persona and style is maintained so
that all social media efforts support the overall vision of the
organization. Brian Solis (2010), social media guru, points out:

In social networks, the brand and how it’s perceived, is open to

pub lic interpretation and potential misconception now more than
 ever. Without a deliberate separation between the brand voice
and person ality and that of the person representing it, we are
instantly at odds with our goals, purpose, and potential stature.
(para. 7)

Strategic social media messaging involves more than just coming up

with the right words. It is about understanding what the brand
symbolizes and the persona of the brand into the digital sphere (Solis,
2010). When identifying a brand’s persona, consider what kind of
person the brand would be if it came to life. The organization may
have a thoughtful brand persona or, perhaps, the brand persona
would be more appropriate to the organization if it was somewhat
playful or adventurous. Perhaps the organization’s brand is
lighthearted or perhaps it is academic. Determine what the brand’s
persona is before developing key messaging. Keep in mind, no matter
what the persona, it still needs to be a humanized con cept. Paul
Armstrong (2011), emerging technology expert, says “Brands need to
be human (in some form or another) if they want to succeed online”
(para. 2).
Strategic Design 61

Tone
After identifying the brand’s persona, establish the kind of tone that
should come across in communication. Tone can be defined as “the
under lying vibe that emanates from your brand’s communications”
(Schwab, 2015, “Tone”). The tone should reflect the brand persona
and be uniquely appropriate to the specific audience the brand is
engaging. Some brands might have a more personable tone, where
others might take on a more direct or academic tone. When
developing the key traits of a brand’s social voice tone, consider not
only the current type of communication tone by the brand, but also
where the brand would like to see the social media conversations
develop. Perhaps the tone will be more quiet and humble if the brand
is in a new platform, but, after gaining credibil
ity, will develop into more of an authoritative or scientific tone in the
future. Understanding where the brand is today, where the brand
hopes to be tomorrow, as well as the long-term objectives of the brand
in social media, will determine the proper tone in the right context
(Armstrong, 2011).

Intentional Language
Keeping in mind the brand persona and tone, consider the purpose, or
rea son, for the communication. This should relate back to the social
media campaign objectives. Recognize the purpose of the social
media content, and think of the specific language that should be used.
This concept will be developed further within the key messages and
message map creation. Stephanie Schwab (2015), CEO and founder
of Crackerjack Marketing, describes the challenge of developing
language to match a social media voice by writing:

Although your brand may be the expert in its field, coming off
sound ing like you’re smarter than your customers could turn
people off pretty quickly. Establishing appropriate brand language
will give you a foundation for the types of words, phrases and
jargon to be used in social media communications. Want to sound
very exclusive? Use insider language and acronyms. Want to
sound hip? Stay up-to-date on the latest slang. But be careful – if
you make a misstep in slang it’ll look like you’re trying too hard.
(“Language”)

Learning to craft appropriate content is part of designing a strong

social media voice. The key to effectively crafting appropriate content
is remem bering to base the design on the brand’s persona and tone,
as well as applying insight from the formative research on what
causes audiences to engage and what the purpose of social media for
the brand is.
62 Strategic Design

Finally, before moving on to create social media campaigns, ensure

that certain policies and procedures are in place. The four that will be
discussed in this section are: 1) A social media community policy, 2)
an employee social media use policy, 3) a policy for the social media
teams within an organization, and 4) a crisis plan for social media.

Social Media Community Policy

The goal of having a social media user policy is to protect the online
com munity and the quality of conversations that take place in social
media. A community policy is a document that outlines the kinds of
behaviors that are welcome in the brand community, as well as
negative behaviors and the consequences of those. Obviously, the
nature of social media is such that a brand cannot control all
conversations, nor should they try. However, it is important to have a
policy in place that addresses certain kinds of interaction or
communication that may be harmful to social media engagement and
communities. A good place to start would be to reference whether the
organization’s website has a user policy in place for comments on
blogs and other locations online.
Craft a social media community policy with the values of the
organiza tion and online brand community in mind. There are three
main parts to include: 1) the values of the online community and the
type of behavior that creates an environment where those values are
seen, 2) behaviors that may inhibit the values of the community, and
3) actions that will be taken about comments/posts/etc. that violate
those values.

Values of the Community

As with anything in social media, the goal of the brand should be to
inspire and engage—not dictate. With that in view, it is important that
the beginning of a social media community policy focuses on what the
purpose of the community is and how that can be accomplished. For
example, remind people that every day thousands of users are having
con
versations that engage, connect, and inform mutual interests. Next,
clarify the vision for the brand’s platform and how that vision will
enhance and expand the conversations that are meaningful to the
community. For example, the brand may identify that the purpose of
the Twitter account is to provide answers and resources for the brand
community. Perhaps the value of the Facebook page is to provide a
community for brand advocates to connect, share stories, and provide
feedback for the brand. Whatever the goal is, it should be identified for
users. Then, connect how that goal can be achieved with specific
platform behaviors. For example, the brand might identify that,
because the specific social site is a place to share stories, users are
welcome to share their experiences and feedback. It would also be
good to note that the brand might be unable to respond
Strategic Design 63

to each and every post due to the volume but that the brand values the
conversations and wants the platform to be a place where that type of
feedback takes place. There are a number of strong examples of social
media user policies available online for easy reference.

Types of Behavior that May Inhibit the Values

The next area to address in a user policy is the kinds of actions that
may inhibit the values and purpose of the online community. In other
words, are there certain kinds of engagement that the brand would
delete if they are present in places like comments on Facebook posts
or on a YouTube channel? Comments may include things like racial
slurs, explicit or inap
propriate language, or personal threats against other users. Identify the
exact kinds of behaviors that are not appropriate and why those behav
iors directly conflict with the platform’s values and purpose. Ultimately,
the focus of a community policy, also sometimes called a social media
user policy, is to foster a strong environment within the social media
platform. If community members are threatening that goal, they need to
understand how their behavior is harmful and why it does not support
the values of the community. A great example can be seen in the Mayo
Clinic’s Participation Guidelines (n.d.). After setting up some basics
about the platforms and encouraging participation in the online
conversations, the Mayo Clinic says: “We also expect a basic level of
civility; disagree
ments are fine, but mutual respect is a must, and profanity or abusive
language are out-of-bounds” (para. 2). The idea is that, while conversa
tion is encouraged, there are certain behaviors that would actually limit
the overall communication climate of the online community.
Consequences of Behavior
Finally, specify how the organization will respond when behaviors do
not foster the values of the community. Be very clear in this section.
The reason is it allows everyone to be on the same page if the brand
does, in fact, end up needing to delete comments, block users, or
report content. Having a policy in place early on means that, if the
brand has to respond to content in one of these ways, the organization
cannot be accused of censoring or being biased against certain views.
Rather, it will be clear to everyone in the social media community that,
from the very beginning, the organization had set values; identified
behaviors that support those values, and specific behaviors that are
not appropriate in the social media platforms; and set responses to
inappropriate behaviors.
64 Strategic Design

EXPERT INSIGHT

Matt Prince

What do you think is one hallmark competency social media

profes sionals need to succeed?
Being a storyteller. This is one of the most powerful aspects to
any brand and/or individual. Fundamental human behavior has
not changed when it comes to marketing, but the way we do it
has. Keeping that in mind is key to the underlying importance of
con
necting on an emotional level and doing it in an authentic way.

What role does brand persona and tone play in developing a

social media campaign for a brand?
Good social media campaigns have a developed voice, while
great social media campaigns incorporate tone. Voice defines
your brand personality, while tone reflects your specific
audience.

What are some ways brands can stay engaging and

interesting on social media with so many organizations
already launching incred ible campaigns?
The most important way for brands to maintain interest is to stay
relevant and true to their audience. Authenticity is the strongest
currency a brand can have. Communications should be grounded
in truth and differentiated by the emotional connection. It’s
important to remember choices by consumers are not made by
function alone, but are driven by emotion.

What role should social media advertising play within a campaign?

 Social platforms are making it harder and harder for brands to
organically reach their audiences. Whether it’s through
sponsored posts or paid influencers, social media has
established itself as a val uable business driver, and its
increasing budgets are reflecting that.

Is it possible for organizations to develop employee social

media policies that empower? If so, what are those key
ingredients?
Companies no longer have a social media team of one or two—
it’s as big as their entire workforce. Each employee has the
ability to share, leak, promote, defend, and deter your brand.
Empowered employees can be a remarkable social tool for
brands, but that
Strategic Design 65

isn’t built in the social media policy. It’s developed in the

company culture and shared through social media.

What are the core elements of a strong social media campaign goal?
Measurability is key to any campaign and social media is no
excep tion. Whether it’s sales overnight or brand overtime, all
social campaigns should have clear objectives that are
measurable.

What are the key ethical areas that brands should keep in
mind on social media?
Policies and laws are quickly catching up to the dynamic
economy of social media. Making sure brands are up to date on
influencer promotions, legal repercussions, accuracy, credibility,
and privacy is key to ensuring ethical social media success.

Connect with Matt: @Matt_Prince |

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ mattprince1 |
https://www.facebook.com/matthewprince

Matt Prince is the PR + Newsroom Manager at Taco Bell

Employee Social Media Policies

Social media policies for employees are a growing area of focus for
organi zations. Employees can be a brand’s biggest advocates and
fans in the social world, and they should be empowered. However,
organizations also need to provide some guidance for appropriate
social media usage, particularly with the growing saturation of social
media use in personal and profes sional contexts. It is recommended
that the employee social media policies are added to the employee
handbook, incorporated into new employee training, and added into
regular employee training meetings to remind the organization about
the ways that social media impacts the workplace. A social media
policy for employees should empower, build trust, and guide. This kind
of policy, however, tends to be the most difficult to write. Beyond
working to be sure that the organization is empowering and not
stifling, it is also vital to work very closely with the legal team to make
sure that the brand is not violating any employee rights.

National Labor Relations Act and Social Media

The National Labor Relations Act has several areas that apply directly
to the types of policies an organization can have for social media use.
For example, section seven says:
66 Strategic Design

Employees have the right to unionize, to join together to advance

their interests as employees, and to refrain from such activity. It is
unlawful for an employer to interfere with, restrain, or coerce
employees in the exercise of their rights.
(National Labor Relations Board, n.d.a,
“Interfering with Employee Rights,” para. 1)

Essentially, this means that communication by employees that deals

with matters such as working conditions, their pay, and interest to
advance themselves as employees in a joint effort, are protected.
Businesses and organizations cannot create social media policies that
would discipline that kind of communication. In fact, some
organizations that fired employees over social media communication
that falls into this genre of content have been required to reinstate
them. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has also required
organizations to adjust their policies due to the requirements being
overly broad. These kinds of cases are nothing new—in fact, the
NLRB began reviewing and providing memos of cases dealing with
employees and social media policies in 2011. They identi fied two main
areas to keep in mind: “Employer policies should not be so sweeping
that they prohibit the kinds of activity protected by federal labor law,
such as the discussion of wages or working conditions among
employees” and “an employee’s comments on social media are
generally not protected if they are mere gripes not made in relation to
group activity among employees” (National Labor Relations Board,
n.d.b, “The NLRB and Social Media,” para. 6).
Keeping in mind the protection of employees to make concerted
efforts in a group toward better working conditions, there are
parameters that can be placed. For example, there are legal policies
organizations have regarding harassing other employees, releasing
proprietary information, and other kinds of behaviors that intersect with
existing HR and legal requirements. On April 16, 2015 the NLRB
concluded that a social media policy by Landry’s Inc. was legal and
upheld employees’ rights while also providing guidelines of how social
media behaviors may influ
ence existing legal policies by the organization. Their policy provides
an excellent example to consider for employee policy design. Part of
the policy stated:

While your free time is generally not subject to any restriction by

the Company, the Company urges all employees not to post
information regarding the Company, their jobs, or other employees
which could lead to morale issues in the workplace or
detrimentally affect the Company’s business. This can be
accomplished by always thinking before you post, being civil to
others and their opinions, and not posting personal information
about others unless you have received their permission. You are
personally responsible for the content you
Strategic Design 67

publish on blogs, wikis, or any other form of social media. Be

mindful that what you publish will be public for a long time. Be also
mindful that if the Company receives a complaint from an
employee about information you have posted about that
employee, the Company may need to investigate that complaint to
insure that there has been no violation of the harassment policy or
other Company policy. In the event there is such a complaint, you
will be expected to cooperate in any investigation of that
complaint, including providing access to the posts at issue.
(National Labor Relations Board, 2015, p. 3)

As has been illustrated, it is highly advisable to work closely with HR

and the legal team to compose an employee social media policy. As
the policy is shaped, keep in mind the goals: empower, build trust, and
guide.

Empower
The first thing to do in a social media policy for employees is to
empower them. Ideally, they will love where they work and want to talk
about the great things with which they are involved. Coca-Cola, for
example, cre ated their social media principles to help employees be
empowered. After noting that there are more than 150,000 associates
in 200 companies that may be engaging in the social media world,
Coca-Cola writes, “Have fun, but be smart. Use sound judgment and
common sense, adhere to the Company’s values, and follow the same
Company policies that you follow in the offline world” (Coca-Cola, n.d.,
“Social Media Principles,” para. 3). Leading by example, Coca-Cola
then identifies the values that will guide the brand’s social media
interaction including: transparency of communication, protection of
privacy, respecting the rights of oth
ers, responsible use of technology, and monitoring their behavior for
appropriate records of interaction. Coca-Cola also has five key points
for their employees on social media including reminding them about
poli cies that influence employee behavior, disclosing their work status
if they are promoting information regarding the company on social
media, and being conscientious about their personal social media use
while at work (“Personal Use of Social Media”).
Another great example of an employee social media policy comes
from Kodak’s “Social Media Tips” document (2010). Kodak provided
these tips to empower strong use of social media by organizations.
They identify ten rules that help guide their employee social media in
two general areas: reputation, and privacy (pp. 10–11). In addition to
the guides for their employees, they also created details on each
platform and some basic Q and A sections to assist users who may be
less familiar with each platform. This is a great way to empower
employees not only to understand how to share but also to know the
functionality of the platforms themselves.