Minnesota

Social Media for Parks & Recreation – Back to the Basics

Posted on by in Corporate Social Strategy, Minnesota, Social Media, Social Media Consulting, Tourism | Leave a comment

Enough can’t be said for how social media is changing the way people use and search for information on everything from travel to buying a ball point pen.  For parks and recreation organizations social media is an integral aspect for conveying to the community all that is offered in terms of city parks, youth programs, sports, special events, etc.

It is imperative though for park and recreation departments that a social media strategy be put in place before a single post or tweet goes out because you must first answer the question “why are we on Twitter/Facebook/YouTube?”  If you can’t describe how your Facebook page addresses an overall communication objective then you’re not yet prepared.

This presentation, created for the 2011 Minnesota Recreation and Park Association Annual Conference, will hopefully help you prepare for online social interaction by providing a framework for a social media strategy and demonstrating some useful tools for managing your organization’s social presence.

Social Media for Parks and Recreation

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I’ve also included some useful articles that can help better craft your social strategy.

 

Building a Business Case for Social Media

Posted on by in Corporate Social Strategy, Marketing Strategy, Minnesota, Social Media | 2 Comments

The presentation below was presented to the HBS Chapter of the Harvard Club of Minnesota and focused on building a solid business case on why social media should become a critical component to a company’s overall marketing strategy; specifically as it relates to  the consumer decision journey.

According to people at Unica and their State of Marketing 2011 study, social media is no longer the adorable baby everyone wants to hold, but the angst filled adolescent – still immature yet no longer cute – who inspires mixed feelings.  The truth is social is no longer the shinny object in the room but an increasingly critical tool in a marketer’s toolbox that needs to start producing results.  However there is still uncertainty in how it can prove its worth to the c-suite.

Thus, I believe the critical point in making social media efforts successful is the ability for companies to  align their social efforts with existing business objectives as well as utilizing these tools in key touch points in the consumer’s journey.  They also need to realize that staffing correctly and putting in place a structure for managing social channels is key to executing a successful social media strategy.  My hope is that this presentation makes that case and provides a guide to organizing and measuring social’s success.

Building a Business Case for Social Media

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7 Keys to Choosing the Right Social Media Monitoring Tool

Posted on by in Corporate Social Strategy, Marketing Strategy, Minnesota, Reputation Monitoring, Social Media, Social Media Consulting, Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Social media monitoring tools are essential for companies trying to gauge online conversations pertaining to their brand(s). There are numerous platforms to choose from; with almost 200 in the market place, it’s getting difficult to select the right one.

Below are some things to consider when choosing your platform along with a list of the most-used platforms out there.

Cost
Understandably, price is usually one of the top concerns, but be sure you’re getting all that you can out of the platform. Missing important conversations because your monitoring tool doesn’t pick up a specific channel can mean lost opportunities. It doesn’t bode well to be penny wise and a pound foolish with these tools.

Range of Coverage
All platforms cover the large social channels (i.e. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn) but not all cover bookmarking sites like Digg and Reddit or specific forums and chat rooms. Be sure to find out all sites covered in a platform. Here’s a list of the most important social sites out there today.

Workflow Capabilities
If you have a multitude of departments needing to monitor and engage, you better figure out how you’re going to manage all these people and sites.  Marketing needs to understand what customer service is doing along with HR, public relations, c-suite, sales, etc.

Integration with Other Applications
This is a big concern for companies with more complex social programs and highly matrixed structures. Be sure you know ahead of time what other applications you’ll be using before you select a monitoring tool.

Global Coverage
If you’re doing business on a global scale make sure you’re picking up conversations on such sites as Orkut, Renren, StudiVZ, Bebo and Kontakte, just to name a few.  This capability isn’t cheep so don’t buy it if you don’t need it. Click here for a comprehensive list of global social networking websites.

Support and Training
Many of these tools are becoming quite sophisticated and are ever-changing to meet the newest platforms; thus, it’s important that the account team is keeping you up-to-speed on what is relevant to you.

Metrics and Reporting
You better be able to measure what you’re doing with social media or you’ll be out of a job fast.  The big question always revolves around ROI so you better come prepared with numbers and killer graphs to impress the CEO.

Platforms
This certainly isn’t a comprehensive list but this should get you started in the right direction.  For a comprehensive list with platform description, pricing and  links check out Seamless Social’s list.

For a quick comparison of some of these tools click here.

For those looking for lower cost solutions, check out “10 lower-priced monitoring services for nonprofits & organizations“

Duluth Pack Finds Success with Social Media

Posted on by in Corporate Social Strategy, Minnesota, Return on Investment, Social Media | 1 Comment

1151.jpgIn my many years of hiking, canoeing and camping throughout the Minnesota’s Boundary Water Canoe Area (BWCA), I have acquired quite an arsenal of camping paraphernalia, including my most prized position; a #4 Duluth Pack that safely caries all my gear through rain, snow and wind. It’s one of the few products on the planet that are built to last. In fact, Duluth Pack guarantees their packs…for life.

As an interactive marketer, I thought that this company would be a perfect fit for social media as it has a loyal customer base and manufactures a product that invokes great memories of past adventures. Much to my surprise, this old company had already taken to the new media with a significant presence on Twitter, Facebook and the blogosphere.

Return On Investment

I recently had the opportunity to speak with Molly Solberg, who is behind all this social networking for Duluth Pack, and was able to get her take on how they have approached social media and if they have managed to realize an actual return on investment.

As it happens, they have been able to build significant sales growth through their social engagement with little capital investment. They’ve been able to drive significant amounts of traffic to their website via Facebook, Twitter and their blog; all within one year. Through their social networking they managed to get the attention of a New York Times reporter and were mentioned in a NYT article that eventually resulted in a flood or orders from all over the world. This led in turn led to further mentions on blogs and other social networks and eventually resulted in a couple of significant new corporate accounts. Talk about a return on investment.

Keys To Success

Much of Duluth Pack’s social media success can be attributed to Molly who has the gift for gab and is comfortable being social in an online setting. Her interactions on Facebook and Twitter are quite genuine and friendly with and most importantly; engaging. Her blog posts on river canoe trips, winter camping and the BWCA speak directly to their target audience and in essence act as a resource to people interested in these activities.

Molly doesn’tDuluth Pack Twitter just talk about how wonderful their products are but she makes sure to talk about camping and canoeing while also being conversational , mentioning things like the Vikings game, how cold the weather is in Duluth, links to bears having babies….you name it. She engages people in everyday conversations and makes the effort to thank them for their comments and suggestions and is willing to share what’s going on with the company. Its not just about selling, it’s about being social, which eventually leads to a sale.

Observing Duluth Pack’s social media success has solidified my belief that one of the most important aspects of a successful social networking strategy, not only relies on a solid plan, but also greatly depends on who you have conversing on those social channels. Identifying the right people who have the proper temperament, social skills, passion, and know-how can make the difference between wasting staff time and driving major sales opportunities.

Duluth Pack Finds Success with Social Media

I’m an avid camper and make it my mission to take as many camping trips as possible in a year. My main love happens to be Minnesota’s Boundary Water Canoe Area (BWCA), one of the country’s largest and most pristine wilderness areas. In my many years of hiking, canoeing and camping throughout the BWCA, I have acquired quite a arsenal of camping paraphernalia, including my most prized position; a #4 Duluth Pack that I received as a wedding present.

This pack is a true camping companion carring all my gear through rain, snow and wind and is on of the few products on the planet that are built to last. In fact, Duluth Pack guarantees their packs…for life. What’s not to love about that. I’m even lucky enough to have a friend who works at the company (founded in 1882) and was lucky enough to go on a tour of the factory. I was surprised to see how small their building is and even more surprised to see how everything is done by hand…the old fashion way. What a concept.

As an interactive marketer I thought that this company was a perfect fit for promoting itself through social media as it has a loyal customer base and is one of those products that invokes great memories of past adventures. Much to my surprise, this old company had already taken to the new media with a significant presence on Twitter and Facebook.

And I found out, that my friend, Molly Solberg, was behind all this social networking, so as you can imagine, I was very excited to get her take on how they approached social media and if they managed to realize a return on investment.

As it happens, they have been able to build significant business through social engagement. Through their presence on social media, they’ve been able to drive significant amounts of traffic to their website via Facebook, Twitter and their blog within one year. Through their social networking, they also have been mentioned in a New York Times article that produced orders from all over the world, that also led to mentions on blogs and other social channels and eventually led to two new significant corporate accounts. Talk about a return on investment.

Much of Duluth Pack’s social media success can be attributed to Molly who has the gift for gab and is comfortable being social in an online setting. Her interactions on Facebook and Twitter are quite genuine and friendly with and most importantly; engaging. She doesn’t just talk about how wonderful their products are but also talks about camping, canoeing, the Vikings game, weather….you name it. She also engages people and thanks them for their comments and suggestions and is willing the share what’s going on with the company.

It made me realize that a successful social media presence not only relies on a solid strategy, but depends on who you have conversing on the social channels. There truly needs to be a personality fit with the channels and doesn’t necessarily have to be someone from the marketing or public relations department.