Analysis of a #SocialGood campaign: how can we better use social media for social good?

Yesterday was (RED) and Mashable's Social Good Day, a day when social media enthusiasts around the world are encouraged to collaborate and come up with ideas on using social media to promote social good. As a blogger and social media consultant, I gave it my best to come up with and share a creative idea for using social media for social good. What I came up with was to post about Social Good Day on my Greater Good Life blog and offer to donate $1 to the Global Fund (up to $100 total) for everytime the blog entry recieved a comment or a post on Twitter or Facebook. The goal of the campaign was to spread the word out about (Red) and Social Good Day.

EVALUATION RESEARCH

Every good social media campaign should end with evaluation research: What were the measurable results? Did the campaign acheive its goal? What are the key learnings from the campaign that would improve future campaigns?

Measurable results 

For larger campaigns, I would tally the results using a service like Radian 6, but I'm approaching this small scale campaign the way my small business clients would, manually counting comments, mentions and posts. By 10:30pm on Social Good Day, 12 hours after the campaign started, my blog post received:   

• 8 comments
• 20 tweets with @replies
• 25 retweets
• 5 shared facebook posts (probably more, but this was harder to track)
• 89 likes and 56 comments on the (RED) facebook page (showing their support, they posted about my campaign). 

The social good blog post received about 100 more unique visitors than a typical blog post would in the first 12 hours as well. The post received 56 referrals from Facebook in addition to 30 referrals directly from (RED)'s facebook page.

That's what I could quickly hand count, I'm sure I missed a few posts. Comments and referrals are still coming in, but it's safe to say I'll be donating $100 to the Global Fund!

Was the campaign's goal achieved?

The goal of the campaign was to spread the word about (Red) and Social Good Day. While the $100 donation affords a lot of HIV/AIDs medication for patients in Africa, I could have donated that on my own without a campaign. The important result was that there were at least 100 posts about (Red) in the social media sphere because of my blog post. A hundred social media users shared information about (Red) and Social Good Day with their thousands of friends and followers! I consider the goal acheived!

What can be learned from this campaign about using social media for social good? 

Bloggers should be personally engaged by an organization. I've been busy with clients the past few weeks and hadn't kept up with my Mashable or (RED) news feed. I found out about Social Good Day this morning and had to react fast. How did I find out about Social Good Day? I recieved a tweeted direct message from (RED) asking for my support. The tweet was personal in that it mentioned my support from the year before and linked to a blog post that reference my campaign last year. 

This wasn't the first time (RED) had engaged with personally. The first Social Good Day last year, the organization retweeted and @replied me, making a point to show appreciation for my effort. This morning, I was not at all prepared to do a blog post about Social Good Day, but the personal engagment inspired me to make it happen. Had I not had a personal engagement with (RED), I wouldn't have gone to that kind of trouble.

Every blogger has an influence. Don't limit engagement to the blog stars. My Greater Good Life blog has nothing on the Huffington Post or Care2, but (RED) didn't overlook me! Often times, social good campaigns are quick to point out that even the smallest donation can make a big difference, yet they don't abide by their own "every little bit counts" philosophy when it comes to engagement. As a blogger, I've never been pitched by a nonprofit (other than (RED)) to write a post about their efforts, though I'd be happy to do it! If my local SPCA did a simple blog search on Google, I'm sure they would see I've posted about dogs. If my local food pantry did the same, they'd see I've posted about world hunger. If these organizations that have causes relevant to my blog invite me to their organization for a tour or suggest a good story, I'd be happy to support their cause. Organizations just have to ask in a way that is not a pitch, but a collaboration. 

An organization should use social media to show they care about their supporters as much as their cause. I've given money to a lot of organizations that resulted in repeated, tree-killing impersonal direct mail being stuffed into my mailbox. These organizations care a great deal about their causes, but they don't seem to care about me as a supporter. I'm a number, a dollar figure to them, not a person. Social media allows organizations to truly interact with supporters and build a relationship with them. Supporters can offer an organization much more than money, they can offer word-of-mouth and inspiration to others. 

There is a lot of distraction in the social media space, so consistency is key. Facebook's major redesign dominated the discussion online today, on both Facebook and Twitter. As much as we posted about social good, this added some clutter to our message. My campaign blog post did not get the same attention from my Facebook friends as it normally would. I think this was because so many of my friends were complaining about and trying to figure out the new Facebook changes launched today. This kind of distraction is uncontrollable in social media. We have to take into account that whatever our message, there are countless other equally important messages floating around in the space. The best way to counter this is through consistency of the message. Use of a hashtag and very simple descriptions with links keeps a message clearly communicated amongst the clutter. 

Keep the conversation going. The goal of spreading the word does not end with starting a conversation. The conversation should be continued through additional interaction. I did with my campaign so far by replying to any tweets and posts that came my way. When I have time over the next several days, I'll go back and follow and subscribe to the people I interacted with on Twitter and Facebook and send those who left comments on my blog an e-mail thanking them. (RED) does a stellar job of this. (RED) kept in touch with me after last year's campaign, and I hear from the organization personally via social media throughout the year. I maintain an interest in (RED)'s cause, even with all the distractions in the social media space, because (RED) continues to engage me.

How could the next campaign be better?

Next time, I'd spend more time. I wasn't prepared for Social Good Day, so the campaign could have been better planned and executed with a little more time. Maybe I could have found sponsors and partnered with other bloggers. Also, 12-24 hours is not long period to run a campaign. Perhaps a campaign like this should have been launched on Social Good Day and continued throughout the week.

Next time, I'd love to join forces with a large group of bloggers. I could envision a social good campaign where 50 or more bloggers join forces to make a bigger impact. A call to bloggers could be placed on the campaign's website. Bloggers can sign up and pledge to post and donate a specific amount. There could be a page that showcases all of the participating bloggers. There is a lot of potential to experiment with here. I hope this campaign offers a stepping stone for others to take this idea and run with it.

Next time, it would be great to include a photo or video component. Words are only one dimension of social media. Photos and videos would make this campaign more three-dimentional. An organization wishing to expand on this campaign could set up a Flickr photo pool, a YouTube channel or a Tumblr or Posterous blog to collect multimedia entries. Even with my small scaled campaign, if I had planned a little more, I would have loved creating a video for Social Good Day. I'm sure other bloggers and social media users would do the same.

So that's my analysis of a #SocialGood campaign. I'm always happy to share my ideas with worthwhile organizations that need help brainstorming strategic efforts. Please contact me if you decide to run a campaign like this one and would like more thoughts. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go donate $100.

WTF and FTW: Two tales of social media and customer service

"What the F___!" or "For the Win!," which do you want your customers saying about you? I experienced two starkly different approaches to social media during my recent trip to downtown Asheville, which offer a valuable business lesson about how your approach to new technology and social media can positively or negatively impact the attitudes of your customers.

WTF! (A tale of how to blow off a loyal customer.)

As I was walking around downtown Asheville, I was stoked to see a Three Dog Bakery storefront. If you are not familiar with Three Dog Bakery, they offer gourmet dog treats made with natural ingredients. Spoiling my three border collies, I have been a customer of Three Dog Bakery for nearly 10 years. I once belonged to their treat of the month club, where they would mail me 3 packages of homemade healthy treats each month. I also own one of their cookbooks. I could go on and on, but suffice it to say I was a loyal customer.

That all changed when I walked inside their storefront for the very first time, getting to see everything in real life rather than from a website. Mesmerized by the stunning treats, my first instinct was to snap a picture of the display case, and upload it using my new favorite iPhone app Instagr.am, which would then post the picture and location on Flickr, Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare. Just as I was about to click, the lady behind the counter said, "Sorry, no pictures." Surprised, I asked why, explaining that I was just going to tell my friends about it. She replied, "We have too many competitors."

Wow, I'm sure I don't have to explain how ridiculous that policy is.  It's not like you can keep your competitors from coming into the store, spying and buying all the treats they want. Meanwhile, this business prefers to silence a loyal customer who just wanted to share word-of-mouth excitement for their brand. I left the store with no desire to purchase anything.

FTW! (A tale of turning a fan into a super fan.)



Just down the street, I had my eyes on visiting the new Bake It Pretty storefront. Bake It Pretty is a cupcake/baking supply store with a retro edge that up until recently was strictly online. Their brick and mortar store opened earlier this year and I read all about it on their blog. A few years back, I got to hang out with the owner, Amanda, a few times while she still lived in Hampton Roads. We have a mutual friend, Amber, and a mutual love of baking adorable sweets.

While eating lunch, I tweeted that I was about to stop by Bake It Pretty. About an hour later, when I walked in their door, they were expecting me! What a nice welcome for a loyal customer. Amanda was not there, but her sister was working (who I had never met) and knew to look for me and said hello. She even offered me a family and friends discount and a sweet goody bag for coming in. If that kind of treatment can't leave you in a great mood, I don't know what will. I have always been singing praises for Bake It Pretty on my Greater Good Life blog, twitter and facebook, and I'll continue to do so. I'll also keep reading the Bake It Pretty blog and buying their unique supplies.

Take these examples into account as you interact with your customers both online and in person. Never miss an opportunity to turn a fan into a superfan. Word-of-mouth social media marketing is much more influential than any advertising you can buy.  Are the customers you interact with leaving satisfied and thinking, "FTW!" If not, it's time to rethink your social media strategy.

A strong finish for Blogworld Day 3

Blogworld went out with a bang. The last day was filled with informative and helpful sessions. I'm leaving Vegas  today with a full list of action items to implement when I get home. Here are some highlights from Day 3.

Morning Keynote: The 7 harsh realities of blogging for bucks - Darren Rowse,  Brian Clark, Sonia Simone

#1: Free is not a business model. The more information you give away for free, the more people will tend to buy. If you give away 90 percent free, they are more likely to pay for the final 10 percent.

#2: The push-button Internet Cash Machine is on the fritz. The Internet is capable of helping you make money, but only if you build things that are real and meaningful to people.

#3: You are not scaleable. Set boundaries for how you connect with people. Do connect and engage, but you don't have to sacrifice yourself to social media.

#4: No one actually wears that much authenticity. Don't share everything (for example, things that are boring or make people not want to do business with you). People who do it right maintain their authority.

#5: Social media hates selling. But you have to sell to have a business. The trick: People don't trust what people say about yourself, you have to find other people to market for you. Great content will eventually sell itself.

#6: A blog is not a business. If you want your blog to be a business, start thinking about your blog as a business today and make that your goal.

#7: No one is reading your blog. There are so many blogs out there on your topic and sub-topic. You don't have to attract every person on the Internet, just a small focused group of readers that are into what you write. Be entertaining and useful.

Being an effective community manager - Betsy Aoki, Betsy Weber

Forrester Influencer Model - ways to create mass-influencing advocates.

Minute-by-minute demands of social media come with the job, just part of the evolution of the role of a community manager.

Thick skin helps. Have the ability to laugh at yourself because people can be very rude to you online. Goes with the territory.

From Jobbies to businesses: Strategies for Irresistible Success - Carol Roth, Liz Strauss, Terry Starbucker

Three types of businesses: Jobbie (hobby disguised as a job or business); Job-Business (a business entirely dependent upon one or two people); Bona-Fide Business (a business not dependent upon any one person for its success and longevity).

To get from a job-business to a a bona-fide business, you have to build something sustainable.

Five behavior changes for success: 1) Know why you are in business. 2) Think big. If your goal is achievable, think bigger. 3) Value your time. Don't be a business slut (why by the cow if the milk's for free?). 4) Be irresistible. Offer something different/special to customers. 5) Stop doing everything yourself! Even if you are in business by yourself, have partners and service providers.

Wow, this has been a fantastic conference. I'll be making some changes for both Reina Communications and my Greater Good Life blog. As I make these changes, I'll share them with you on the blogs. I hope these tips from Blogworld help and inspire you as well.

Rock'n Blogworld: Day 1

First impressions of Blogworld? Packed. Excitement. Relaxed. Variety. Twittery. Geeky. It was a busy first day, and I've walked away with a notebook full of tips (yes, I'm actually using paper, not sure why). I'm going to be posting the main takeaways from the sessions I attend each day. Not summaries, but just a few quick interesting tidbits. If you are here at Blogworld, please leave a comment with your own highlights.

Morning Keynote: Stand up, stand out, stand together - Scott Stratten

• Don't depend on RSS for your blog. Not everyone is using a reader.


• Offer e-mail subscriptions and other ways for people to read your content.


• "Viral" is not a verb. You can't make something go viral. Social media has to build over time.


• Build relationships by talking to each other. For example, 75 percent of Scott's tweets are @replies.

The art and science of scaling social media - Maggie Fox

• Use paid placement on Digg, Twitter, Stumble Upon, Outbrain for "smart scale" niche marketing.


• The magic formula is organic social media amplified by the paid placement.


• Share new content and start campaigns on weekends when there's more activity online.

Finding readers for your blog - Darren Rowse

• Know the readers you want before developing a strategy. Come up with a target reader profile.


• E-mail readers who leave a comment on your posts to build readership.


• Do not depend on RSS, drive readership through e-mail newsletters as well.

Like it or spike it: a hard look at social media case studies - Dave Peck, David Griner

• A great example of a successful campaign: The guy at home in his underwear. Check it out. Enough said.

Making money from your blog - Chris Garrett, Darren Rowse

• Build an advertising/media kit page to attract potential sponsors.


• Start with small advertisers, a few small sponsorships will add up.


• Know your metrics and your conversion rate to share with advertisers.


• Create your own products (e.g., e-books, webinars).

Lastly, I want to send some shout outs to the great people I met today:

Farnoosh Brock - A fellow North Carolinian who blogs at Prolific Living, a blog about living your best life. I especially like her yoga posts and book reviews.

Angela Moore - A fellow freelancer, based in L.A. One of her biggest clients is Habitat for Humanity.

Holly Hoffman - Holly runs an agency in Corpus Christi, Neovia Solutions. They provide regional businesses with social media marketing strategies using the POST method featured in the book Groundswell.

Why your organization needs a social media policy

Reina Communications was featured in this week's Inside Business! If you didn't catch the article, "Social media can get you fired," you can find it online. The article offers several suggestions from Reina Communications for creating employee social media policies. Some snippets from the interview:

"A company cannot control the conversation taking place through social media. It's a good idea to have a social media policy in place so that your employees as well as the company's reputation are protected."

"Never identify yourself or the company you work for in a way that could be construed that you are a spokesperson for the organization, unless you're designated as one."

"Employees who have personal blogs or profiles on social media sites that reflect personal opinions should not identify their employer or discuss their work. An employee should not update their personal Twitter account with a complaint about a new policy at work. That also underscores common sense and judgment."

"It's also helpful to have employees from across various departments represent the company online. It gives the company more online presence and offers transparency by allowing actual employees to be the face of the company, rather than controlling everything through the public relations department."

If you are considering an organizational social media policy, here are some additional tips:

• Find some sample policies from other companies willing to share and use that as a starting point.


• Form a committee to get input from different employees who are active online.


• Have a plan to communicate the social media policy to employees.


• Offer employees hypothetical scenarios so they can discuss the social media policies and practice making decisions.

If you need more help creating an employee social media policy, you know where to find us.