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focus on consumers Getting social wisely: Importance of strategy in your social You’ve probably heard loads about social media. All the buzz aside, one can hardly challenge a simple observation: Social media have changed the way we talk and share stuff in an unprecedented way. Marketing and PR pros jumped on them like wild cats, but not every trial has turned into a success story. Anyone can create a Facebook page or Twitter account these days, but it takes more to communicate in the social web correctly. Whom we talk with Let’s put some facts on the table first: A recent survey carried out by digita.sk, a digital advertising agency, has confirmed what had been thought before – Slovaks love to be online. What is even more important, almost 90 percent of all users are online every day. And we’re not talking only about young people, but a nicely distributed group of teenagers up to 50-somethings. With 1.8m accounts registered in Slovakia, it is no surprise that Facebook has become the most visited website in the country. It has outnumbered Google three-to-one in terms of popularity and left then-dominant local player Pokec.sk in the dust. Given a rather mediocre advent of Twitter in Slovakia, Facebook has established itself as the most prominent online communication platform in the country. As almost anywhere else in the world, a shift towards online conversations has occurred in Slovakia too and the social web has brought about vast marketing and PR opportunities. The audience is there, but the question is: How can we address these people effectively? Engage, but how? The way people communicate has changed with the rise of social networks for good. People are no longer interested in being fed with prefabricated chunks of information. On the contrary, they want to create and share content themselves. This all means they need are out there – ranging from free blogging and contentsharing sites to cheap cameras. Today, people are empowered to lead the conversations, not companies or media outlets. As this is great for humanity as such, it could as well turn into a communications person’s worst nightmare: A profession of mild “control freaks” constantly worried about how messages are delivered to stakeholders who naturally feel threatened by a myriad of links and interactions people make on the social media. Any message sent can be turned upside down in a dense web of comments, likes and retweets. In a way, social media have put the public back in public relations, as the title of Brian Solis’s book goes. And it was up to all PR & Communications pros to quickly adapt and find ways to get involved in these conversations. Luckily, reputations cannot be torpedoed only by a bad blogpost; they can also be built via engagement, trust and honest dialogue – which are the building blocks of the Golden rules Five things you shouldn’t miss when setting up a social media strategy: 1. Know your audience Check existing sites, forums, blogs and pages first. Get to know the people you are interested in. See and listen what they talk about and how. Seek overlaps among what they look for and what you can bring in. 2. Set goals Define clear objectives and measurable goals of your communication. Focus on quality and don’t reduce your deliverables to numbers of fans, likes or page views. Plan your steps. 3. Ask for advice Turn to your communication staff, PR agency or digital media specialist and share your thoughts with them. They give you an external opinion and 16 july/august 2011 provide you with the necessary “reality check”. 4. Be prepared Every dialogue you step in bears a chance that you might not like what you hear. Be ready to face criticism and argue whenever possible. Always be honest and polite, no matter how hard it might be. 5. Follow and assess Track your goals and assess your actions on the go; see what works and what doesn’t. You may pre-plan well, but social media is just like the people using them – unpredictable to a certain extent. Sometimes, trial-fail is inevitable, but it should not be your policy. amcham connection Prepared by AmCham member media communication CASE STUDIES Engaging customers Even if you had set no goals in the beginning, it doesn’t mean you won’t be disappointed at the end. With a clear strategy, your success (or failure) can be measured. PR profession anyway, right? Even though communication space has evolved and tools have changed, a well-thought strategy plays the same crucial role in managing successful communication. An article recently published in “PR Week” defined the real value of PR firm’s role in social media as the one of the strategic thinker: “Social media tactics must reflect the brand or company voice and resonate with the community of stakeholders. If transparency and authenticity are lacking, and the communication comes across as billboard clichés rather than dialogue among real people, there’s little point in pursuing it.” The article rightly assumes that if companies adopt social media merely to get hits, likes, and smiley faces, it’s a wasted effort. It is up to PR pros to sustain their amcham connection role in mastering communication strategies in the changing environment. Don’t forget to bring your torch and compass! Whether you are launching a product or setting up a reputation management program today, you will almost certainly think of social media as one of your communication channels. You are right about that because you believe that features of the social web can be used to build your reputation or create buzz like never before. But before you start coming up with shiny Facebook apps or specialized Twitter accounts, give it a deep thought. Define your strategy and set goals first. Have a clear vision what you want to talk about, whom you want to talk with, what you want to achieve, and how it will align with your “grand strategy”. As an old saying from PR pros goes: Even if you had set no goals at first, it doesn’t necessarily mean you won’t be disappointed at the end. With a clear strategy, your success can be measured. And if you fail, at least you know how to make things work better next time. Peter Jančárik, Senior Manager, Client Service SEESAME Communication Experts If you are Steve Jobs, you probably don’t have to ask your customers what they want. For the rest of us, it’s not all that bad. Dr. Oetker was about to launch a new marzipan, but its attributes had not been set first. We used specialized sites for baking moms and asked them how they would like to have their marzipan. They voted on the amount of almond mass, weight, price and other attributes they considered important. Dr. Oetker then took their votes and turned them into the new product. At the end, we launched the ladies’ very own marzipan at a special baking event with their kids. Engagement the smart and simple way! Facing customers The gas utility Slovenský plynárenský priemysel (SPP) is a great example of the assertion that virtually any company can communicate on social media – if it gets it right. Energy companies are in a difficult position – energy bills will always be too high, so their issuers are far from becoming “lovebrands”. Despite that, we have brought the topics of pricing, regulation, suppliers, gas technologies, marketing and CSR to Facebook. Our goal has been to discuss these with analysts, journalists, politicians, customers or just any “gas enthusiast” out there. We looked for a group of a hundred relevant people; now we count more than 1,900 of them. We opened a brand new communication channel to real people on behalf of SPP to argue with their counterparts. It is not always easy, but it greatly helps build the reputation of an open company. The page is not only an instant indicator of the company’s communication and messaging, but it is also a unique tool to identify advocates who would not have been found otherwise. Join the conversation at www.facebook.com/ otvoreneoplyne! july/august 2011 17