LiveBlogging the Connecticut Social Media Breakfast (#9): Community Management - the Perils and Promise

Note: Quotes below are paraphrased and summarized, but as accurate as possible.

And we're back!

Welcome to the CT social media breakfast, the ninth installment in the series. Should be a great and informative set of presentations! Let's get to it.

SMBCT panelists left to right: Amanda Nelson, Tyson Goodridge,  Lauren Vargas

We're going to start off with Amanda Nelson, the Content Community Manager at Radian6.

Amanda starting off with a little background on community management, what it is, and why it's important.I'll defer to wikipedia's definition on this.

To demonstrate the power of social media and a community, Amanda tells the story of this video.

Going into some tips for effective community management:

1.    Build a content strategy.

o   goals

o   big idea

o   audience

o   tone/personality

2.    Go beyond text.

o   infographics

o   podcasts

o   videos

o   presentations

3.    Organize and share content

o   topic

o   calendar

o   maximization

o   sharing on multiple channels.

4.    Build relationships

o   build relationships

o   crowdsource

o   categorize information

Important to remember the 90/10 rule. It's not about YOU. 90% of the time should be about the audience, interacting, etc. the rest is about pushing your own content.

Next up, Tyson Goodridge from Acsys Interactive. 

Tyson first wants to emphasize that this is all about being SOCIAL.

But what's the difference between social media and community management?

Social media is the convergence of technology, content, and communities. 

So how do we manage those communities? Use the Community Maturity Model  (you'll have to look that one up, too much information to type!)

Tyson now talking about Google+ as a social network, a collaborative tool, and a community engagement tool. How can you use Google+ hangouts to collaborate with your community?

Resource from Tyson: The Community Roundtable.

Here comes Lauren Vargas, community management strategist at Aetna.

Community management "is the new black right now". Everyone wants to do it, and everyone thinks they can do it. 

Four categories that a community manageer must think about:

1.    Brand engagement. Not just about playing on Facebook and Twitter. It's about spurring engagement.

2.    Conversation.We're out in the communities trying to participate in conversations that are bigger than just the brand. The audience won't be talking about YOU, they are talking about THEM. 

3.    What about content? Content creation and curation.

4.    Internal engagement, policies and procedures within an organization. These must be in place or they will fail "spectacularly". Even though it's not the "sexy" part, it's probably the most important.

Going to expand on number 4 a bit with another list!

We are on the front lines of the whole organization, and now we have to prove that we are deserving to have a space in the C-suite. 

Three pillars (social engagement toolkit):

1.    Create or revisit a social media policy. Really think about what your company needs. What does your audience need? Need guidelines for community managers. Make sure the guidelines align with what exists already, and tap into your strengths.

2.    Create a process. This should be done organization-wide, not just with the social folks. How is it going to work into the operations of the organization (internally)? Create a playbook working with legal, it, etc. You should have actions clearly planned out, including responsibilities, contingency plans, procedures.

3.    Training and Education. Have to train EVERYBODY. Must train executives, corporate comm, community managers, self identified employees, even those that don't care about it. No on and off, personal vs. professional, in social media.

Now we're on to the Q & A. Dan Weingrod (our moderator) asks: 

What's the latest on dealing with negative feedback?

Amanda - It goes back to the playbook. You have to have a plan in place for dealing with negative feedback. Thank the audience for feedback, address the concern online, and then bring it offline.

Tyson - Biggest "no-no" is deleting negative feedback. Also, don't make a mountain out of a mole hill. What is the most important issue that you need to tackle?

Lauren - Understand the difference between a skeptic and a detractor. Be proactive, story board the conversations with each type of negative user. How will each audience be responded to?

Dan - Do you ever let your community deal with the detractors themselves?

Lauren - It depends on the community and the detractor. In some cases it makes sense to let you community take care of it.

Where does social media live within the enterprise?

Amanda - It really is everywhere. It may live in different places depending on the organization, so it should be unique to each company.

Tyson - In a perfect world, it is everywhere. Best companies talking about this - The Dachis Group and Altimeter group.

Lauren - We work with a "hub and spoke" model. Use social ambassadors from different departments.

How do we find the thing that helps build communities?

Lauren - The organization doesn't own the communities. The communities already exist, you just have to tap into the conversation. You are just a participant who has to earn trust and credibility just like anyone else.

Tyson - Using an example, Pinterest. Why has it grown so fast as a community? It allows people to express themselves creatively quickly and easily.

Amanda - It's also about being human and being honest. With strong content and a strong backing, you can use your expertise to become a thought leader within the conversation.

What would you say to your boss who says, "Why do I need social media"?

Lauren - People are either already talking about you, or they aren't. In either case, there's a case to be made for social. Also explore the audience online and show what their needs may be and what they are talking about and create the solution and how it connects to the life cycle and the entire organization.

Tyson - It's hard to change human behavior. The best way to do this with your boss, for example, is to ask about what they're most passionate about and show them how social media can be used to tap into those conversations. Translate that to your organization and the connection is made.

Amanda - This is where prospects and customers spend time. Isn't it easier to go to them than make them come to you?

Dan - Marketing funnel no longer exists. It is continued in the social media space.

What about the idea of influencers and things like Klout score? Is it still important?

Amanda - There are powerful influencers out there, but it's not just looking at the Klout score. It's about understanding who is "making waves" in each conversation and approaching them with a strategy.

Tyson - The whole idea of influencing is evolving and moving towards analytics. 

Lauren - You have to find the right blend out of the degrees of influencers. Look at Snooki vs. someone else with a high Klout score. Snooki will be very influential with bronzer, whereas the other person probably won't. 

Dan - You have to have people that want to be influenced, and the context is very important.

Where is Facebook going post-valuation considering the fact that we are the content and community builders?

Lauren - There are more important things than the money, I worry more about how they are coming up with their strategies and metrics.

Tyson - Would you take $25 from someone to have access to your browsing data? I would. Privacy is a major issue but the question is whether it helps or not. Depends on comfort level.

How do you define/measure ROI?

Tyson - In social, it's return on relationships (ROR) but it's very difficult. You can't put a price tag on a rolodex.

Lauren - There's no silver bullet metric but you can map out the connections. Create a social media health index. What is moving the needle from a macro to micro level? Where are weaknesses? By looking at this, you can see the ROI for the entire org.

How do you work with clients that are in highly regulated industries?

Tyson - Develop some human story-telling and tap into emotions. Not talking about a specific product/service but the stories behind them.

Lauren - Regulation doesn't mean you can't participate. You just have to know your sandbox. Storyboard out, what we can do vs. what we can't do. Make sure your employees and departments know the limits and possibilities. This comes from the policy and process stage. Be responsible and transparent. Also, you need to  make sure you have all the tools that are necessary for your industry.


We'll end it there for today. Hope to see you at the end of March for the next installment of the Social Media Breakfast Live Blog Series. Cheers!