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.

The case of the stolen necklace: what Urban Outfitters should have done in a crisis

My good friend and social media consulting colleague, Amber Karnes, was checking her Facebook feeds yesterday morning when she came across a Tumblr post by an independent jewelry artist who claimed Urban Outfitters stole her designs. The artist, Stevie Keorner, made a very compelling case. Outraged, Amber simply tweeted a link to the blog post:

Her tweet instantly received hundreds of retweets. Hours later, blogs like the Huffington Post and Boing Boing were reporting the news and celebrities like Miley Cyrus were bashing Urban Outfitters on Twitter. Urban Outfitters became an international trending topic on Twitter, and Amber's tweet was the top tweet about the topic! Amber wrote about how the entire sequence of events unfolded and how this story went viral, including her own PR perspective. It's definitely worth the read to see how someone with only about 1,000 twitter followers can create quite a stir for a large corporation: Anatomy of a trending topic: How Twitter & the crafting community put the smackdown on Urban Outfitters. 

Working in PR, the interesting part in all of this is that Urban Outfitters has done nothing substantial to respond. Within hours of Twitter breaking the news, the company sent one tweet relevant to the topic:

Beyond that, there has been no public response to this crisis. It appears Urban Outfitters removed the product from its stores (online and offline), but the company has not made any public announcements. This lack of response when their brand is virally getting slammed by people supporting a boycott is baffling. If I were consulting Urban Outfitters, here are some recommendations I would have given them:

1. Engage the influencers. There are several people, such as Amber, who were directly involved in spreading this story to the masses. These influencers should have been contacted immediately--via Twitter, via e-mail, via phone--to assure them their voices are important to the company and that Urban Outfitters cares and is looking into the matter.

2. Apologize. When a company does wrong, it's crucial to apologize and take responsibility. In the age of social media, this has to happen FAST. Every organization should have a playbook for handling crisis responses so it can react with timeliness to a crisis erupting virally online. Granted there are probably legal implications to be considered when announcing an apology, but the legal department should not keep the PR department from doing what's right. Urban Outfitters should publicly apologize for the gaff and explain the company has taken the products off the shelf while it continues to look further into the allegations. Using the company's website, Facebook, Twitter and blogger relations, Urban Outfitters should explain this gaff and explain how they are making it right.

3. Make it right. First off, you have to attack this problem at the source. That means looking internally at the organization and determining, "how did this happen?" What in Urban Outfitter's corporate culture allowed for this kind of bad corporate behavior? Urban Outfitters should be putting the appropriate measures in place internally to ensure this practice of stealing ideas from independent artists discontinues immediately. Perhaps even, heads should hit the chopping block.

Externally, a lot more goes into making it right publicly. Sometimes, you have to pay the Pied Piper. Urban Outfitters should come to an agreement with the designer they ripped off and should be investigating other instances within the company where this has happened (this is not the only allegation). Settling with these designers may involve the legal process, but it's PR's responsibility to get the message out that Urban Outfitters is committed to supporting independent designers and is actively working to resolve this problem.

4. Create goodwill. Urban Outfitters has outraged its customers, who value indie design and artistic expression. It's going to take a lot of work to repair that reputation damage. Urban Outfitters needs to launch a campaign celebrating independent designers. Perhaps they need a new product line where the designers are showcased and receive credit (similar to how Tiffany celebrates their designers, such as Paloma Picasso and Elsa Peretti). Beyond that, Urban Outfitters needs a longterm strategy for engaging the crafters and designers online who launched this attack on its brand. The damage is repairable if Urban Outfitters is willing to do the right thing.

While the delayed response to this crisis has already occurred, I still think Urban Outfitters could make this right. I hope they do because I used to love shopping there. 

What do you think? Was one tweet from Urban Outfitters enough to weather the social media storm? What would you have recommended if you were on their PR team? And if you, too, support this boycott, did the company do enough to win you back? What would have to happen to make you shop at Urban Outfitters again?

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.