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.

How to keep technology from complicating our lives

The pressure was on for me last week. As Google+ entered the social media sphere, I jumped on Twitter, Facebook and technology blogs to find an invite so I could check it out. As a social media consultant, it's my job to stay on top of the latest and greatest in social media, explore what's out there and get learning. Now, I'm faced with the dilemma of splitting my time with an additional social medium. Considering I'm checking at least 8 social networks daily and regularly reading countless RSS feeds and blogging, I started questioning how I was going make time for Google+ in my already technology-time-warped life of e-mails, text messages and all things Apple.

Technology is supposed to make everything easier, yet it often just complicates our lives. I realize this when I find myself interrupting a nice meal at a restaurant or a relaxing day at the beach by checking my iPhone incessantly.

Thankfully, I found an article about 10 Karmic Laws for technology, and it inspired me to get a grip on what's important and to keep it simple so that technology actually works for me (not the other way around!). Here are some highlights from the article:

Not all tweets are created equal

Tweeting or updating your Facebook status is pretty much like getting up on a stage in front of 100+ of your friends and acquaintances and saying something into a microphone...be sure to think twice about your intention and be respectful of your audience. A simple tip: don't over post -- not every thought that comes into your head needs to be shared.

Post in the past tense

Live your life, then share it. Here is an example: "I'm talking to the most amazing person in the elevator." Really? How can you be doing that when you're preoccupied tweeting about it? Instead, just enjoy the conversation. Forget there is a phone in your pocket or purse. Give yourself to that conversation. Then 10 minutes later, share the past tense variation "I just had the most amazing conversation with a women in the elevator!"

Give it a rest

Create a technology Sabbath! Choose a day of the week where you will not allow any electronic devices or media into your daily routine (outside of mandatory situations, like work).

When it comes down to it, much of the networking we're doing online is just taking time out of our lives to clutter the lives of our friends. Just because we have the ability to share every mundane thought of the moment doesn't mean there is a reason to. By limiting our time with and access to technology, we're forcing ourselves to value its use more and make better use of our limited time spent using it. So the answer is not in finding more time for technology, but in making sure each text, e-mail and post we create enhances our own lives or the lives of those we're connecting with.

If I live by these Karmic Laws, I'm pretty sure I'll reduce about half of the clutter I consume and produce using technology. And that makes time for me to take advantage of Google+ and anything else new that comes my way.

How do you handle facebook privacy work-life balance?

Over the past few years that I've been speaking on social media, the question always arises: how do you handle mixing your business and personal lives on facebook? How much personal information can you share without having it interfere with your work life? My answer has always been that when you post something online, even if marked private on facebook, you have published it online and there's no going back. So, the simplest solution is to not post anything online you wouldn't want your mom or grandmother to see.  Yes, I agree, this definitely tames your Facebook social life.

In the early days of facebook, I kept my profile strictly personal, not allowing work colleagues (or my mom!) access. If a colleague sent me a friend request, I simply replied that I am better at staying in touch on LinkedIn and would link to them there. But as Facebook slowly began taking over our world, I kept getting more and more friend requests from colleagues (mom kept resending friend requests too!). Maybe the answer was to create lists so that only certain groups could see certain postings?

While I was giving that some thought, facebook had a few privacy mishaps. Learning from that lesson, I began deleting any photos and content I didn't wish for my work colleagues (or mom) to see. Sure I could have set up groups, limiting what people in the "colleagues" group would see, but I felt it was just safer to not post anything online that I wouldn't want everyone to see.

Of course, that's hard when you want to post your photos from a party or vacation. Or even yet, when someone else tags a picture of you having a good time. But if you keep it somewhat classy, I think there is more of an understanding these days that outside of work we all have social lives.

On that leap of faith, I actually made my facebook profile and posts visible to everyone a few weeks ago. Guess what, the world didn't end (no stalkers yet, thankfully)! I figured since I'm mindful about what I post, there's no need to keep everyone from viewing it. Some people might find my profile edgy, but I'm perfectly happy with my facebook privacy work-life balance. No one seems offended by my posts yet anyways.

How do you handle facebook privacy work-life balance? Have you had any problems or concerns mixing business with pleasure on facebook? If you are hiring, what would you have to see on someone's facebook profile to disqualify them? I'd love to see some comments on the topic.

The 411 on using social media in the 757 for shameless self promotion

Here I am geeking out over a Mac with @captkevman at my very first Hampton Roads tweetup about two years ago.

While social media enables us to communicate with people all across the globe, it also strengthens communication within local communities. Here in Hampton Roads, Va., we are fortunate to have a vibrant online business community. As I prepare for the “Shameless Self Promotion” panel I’ll be participating on Thursday night for the Hampton Roads chapter of AIGA, I thought I’d share these tips for getting the most out of using social media in Hampton Roads.

• Start out by finding your favorite Hampton Roads media and places to hang out on Facebook and Twitter. Once you are friending/following your favorite local hotspots, connect with interesting people who also are friending/following them. That will get you connected with a good base of locals who you have something in common with.
• On Twitter, use the #hrva hashtag for anything related to Hampton Roads, Va. If you tweet about something that would be interesting to other locals (weather, traffic, local happenings), use the hashtag in your tweet. If you are looking for other locals online, search the #hrva hastag to see who else is using it and what they are talking about. You can also search other keywords on Twitter, such as “Norfolk” or “Virginia Beach” to find interesting locals to follow.
• Take advantage of Twitter lists. I admit, I’m not good at organization, and I rarely organize my own lists on Twitter and Facebook. (I want to, but I just never feel like cleaning house.) But, I do take advantage of other people’s lists. For example, @gypsealeah has this fantastic list of "Hampton Roads Friends" on Twitter.  You'll find other lists like this as you spend more time checking out the local Twitter scene.
• Time to get out from behind the computer and meet people face-to-face! It's been my experience that everyone is always as friendly and interesting in person as they are online.  There often are "tweetups" in the 757. I attended these regularly (before moving to Kill Devil Hills, N.C.) and met a lot of people I now consider friends in real life. The 757 Tweetups always offer a good, friendly crowd of new people to meet. If you aren’t obsessed with Twitter, use Meetup.com to find another Meetup group in the area. For example, I once belonged to a single girls Meetup group, and we would meet for cocktails and other fun activites like GoKarting.
• Start writing reviews. I personally prefer Yelp for learning about new hot spots. I should mention, I actually worked for Yelp as a Virginia Beach Scout earlier this year. I have a lot of reviews posted on my Yelp profile. Many people have visited my website or contacted me after finding my reviews on Yelp. I even attended a Hampton Roads Yelp Meetup to meet some fellow Yelpers. We had an awesome time at Still in Portsmouth.

Living in Hampton Roads, there is no shortage of ways to meet interesting people online and develop them into genuine relationships. I could mention so many people who I have met this way and stayed in touch with. Here are just a few examples of how my social media friendships started online and evolved offline.

@captkevman – I met Kevin at the very first Hampton Roads tweetup a couple of years ago. He worked as an Apple genius at the time, and we had a lot of Mac and social media geekiness in common. We stayed in touch through Twitter and Tumblr. He has always been my go-to for Apple-related concerns. He started up his own business consulting and fixing Apple computers and devices called Beach Mac (soon to be rebranded Beach Tec). Given my clumsiness with iPhones, I’m a regular customer of Kevin’s. I’ve also refered a number of friends to him.

@parnellK63 – Keith is a wicked smart social media marketer. We were both early adopters of Twitter, so we started following each other when there were very few locals tweeting. I enjoy reading his blog and learning from his posts and tweets. In 2009, he asked me to speak about social media and public relations at New Media Conventions in Virginia Beach. From there, I met so many more locals interested in social media.  Keith is someone I can reach out to when I have a social media question or just want to brainstorm.

@Keshia6 – Lakeshia is a writer for Inside Business Hampton Roads. I started following her on Twitter at the suggestion of my good friend, Amber Karnes. The three of us decided to meet offline for lunch since we all worked in downtown Norfolk. We enjoyed our lunch together, and I’ve been in touch with her ever since via Facebook and Twitter. She always is posting about books she’s reading, which is good because I’m always looking for reading suggestions. A couple of months ago, Lakeshia was looking for a social media PR person to interview for a story about corporate social media policies. Guess who she contacted?

So there you have it, social media for shameless self promotion in action--757 style! If you are getting started after reading this post, be sure to follow me on Twitter and send me a shout. I'll do my best to help you get connected.



Adventures in taking a Fortune 500 social

My client, Norfolk Southern Corporation, recently announced it is actively engaging with stakeholders on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Flickr, as well as offering RSS feeds and links to all its social media pages via the corporate home page. While this may not seem like news relative to what consumer businesses have been doing for years, this is unprecedented in the railroad industry and for many other Fortune 500 companies in the B2B sector.

I have been consulting with Norfolk Southern for several years on developing their social media communications strategy. It's taken a lot of training to get the corporate communications department on board. I put together several social media 101 presentations and training sessions with along with Amber Karnes of Chop Chop Design (Norfolk Southern's Webmaster at the time).

Shortly after, the company put together a New Media Team, composed of employees across the company to advise the company's social media and new media strategies. Karnes and I offered more training sessions and presentations, and with the support of the New Media Team, launched these social media initiatives.

Our biggest challenge was not gaining the buy-in from management (the widespread adoption of Facebook and Twitter eventually made that case for us), but ensuring the legal department there would be no problems. The best way to handle that obstacle was to approach social media cautiously and show success through baby steps. For example, Norfolk Southern's first YouTube video was a 30-second commercial that had aired nationwide on television. Once the lawyers could see there was little need for concern, we began slowly posting more content.

Check out Norfolk Southern's social media profiles, for a first-rate example of how social media can work for a large B2B organization. The Thoroughbred of Transportation is taking the lead on social media engagement in the freight rail transportation industry. So far, NS has more than 9,000 fans on Facebook, more than any other railroad. We're engaging with rail fans across the country, and this is just the beginning as we are continuing to set forth a strategy to enhance our community outreach. In fact, Norfolk Southern has recently added a position to the Corporate Communications department that handles Community Outreach, both online and offline. I look forward to sharing more as Norfolk Southern continues engaging stakeholders online.