Presentation delivered by Alvin Plexico of the U.S. Navy on 12/8/2011 at The George Washington University at the FedCollege recruiting conference co-organized by RECSOLU and CollegeRecruiter.com.

1. Alvin ―Flex‖ Plexico, PhD, Commander, U.S. Navy
Public Affairs Officer for Navy Recruiting Command
alvinplexico@gmail.com
drplexico.com
facebook.com/drplexico
twitter.com/drplexico
linkedin.com/in/drplexico

2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRl3hPl5sko

5. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=iReY3W9ZkLU

6. • It’s communication, just like we do everyday with
e-mail, telephone, face-to-face, etc.
• It’s more than just channels like FaceBook, Twitter,
and Linked-In
– Channels are kind of like languages
– Languages can be mastered easily, but content and
conversation are what really matter
Credit: Tim Ho, Digital Strategist, Ogilvy PR, Hong Kong, http://facebook.com/timho http://twitter.com/timho

7.  Nearly 80 percent of the college institutions reported
using the social-networking for admissions purposes.
 More than half of the respondents said they considered
Facebook to be a ―very important‖ admissions tool.
 Sixty-three percent of the colleges described Facebook as
an integral part of their marketing strategy.
 More than half said it had had a significant impact on
recruiting students.
Source: Chronicle of Higher Education, November 16, 2011

8. Cum % Created on-line profile
% % SNS Usage 93 Yes
35 35 Several times daily 7 No
22 57 Once a day
13 70 3-5 times a week
11 82 1-2 times a week
5 86 Every few weeks
6 92 Less often
8 100 Never
82% of recruits use social networking sites at least 1-2 times a week
Only 8% have never used a social networking site
8

9.  Military’s policies encourage participation in social media and require
commands to allow access. The ―default setting‖ is open for social
media and burden of proof is on the command to get permission to
close off access to social media.
 Social media is a great platform for starting a conversation, but we
still need face-to-face for anything beyond general recruiting
questions.
 About 100,000 fans & 15 Facebook pages designed to foster open
dialogue and focused different recruiting priorities and interests
(Special Forces, Healthcare, Diver, Chaplain).

10.  We’re still hiring!
 More than 40,000 Sailors needed every year.
 Only the best and brightest qualify to fill the most-challenging
careers (medical, dental, engineering, chaplain, Navy SEAL)
 Quality of young people who join the Navy has never been better
 98.7% High School Diplomas in FY11
 86.9% Highest Test Score Categories on ASVAB
 Only 1/3 of total eligible population is qualified to the join the
military.

11.  Social media use among key demographics continues to grow
 Our future Sailors’ preferred means of communication
 Control of social media conversation is impossible. ―Avoiding
participation only protects the illusion of control‖
 Effective use of social media requires even more risk
 With social media, all Navy stakeholders – Sailors, Navy civilians,
families, retirees, and others – are communicators
 Policy enables use of social media

12.  Allows recruiters to establish more genuine relationships and be
sought after as a community resource
 Enables recruiters to tell their story and share information without
making a ―sales pitch‖
 Extends recruiters’ networks to easily reach existing contacts’ friends,
acquaintances and colleagues
 Establishes a comfortable space for information gathering and Q&A
among those interested in joining the Navy
 Raises recruiter awareness of local activities and interests of people
within a particular community

13.  Social media as part of
broader communication plan
 Need to be familiar with
multiple tools to find right one
 Ask yourself these questions
in planning:
 What are your goals?
 Where are your stakeholders?
 Can you cross-purpose?
 How will you measure
success (qualitative and/or
quantitative)?

14.  Navy Recruiting Social Media Directory: www.cnrc.navy.mil/pao/socialnet.htm
 Navy’s directory: www.navy.mil/media/smd.asp
 Navy Chief of Information social media: www.chinfo.navy.mil/socialmedia.html

15. Example:
Women (Re)Defined
 Used powerful imagery
and personal stories to
change the image of
 Women in the Navy
Encouraged others to share ―Applauding women who
define life on their own
their stories terms. Intermingling the
 Fostered discussion stereotypically feminine and
masculine. Women in the
around a broadly appealing Navy are amongst those
paving the way in redefining
topic: ―Applauding women femininity in the 21st
 Who define life on their Century. Show your support
or share your story.‖
own terms,‖ not just a Navy
issue.

16. Example: JAG Corps
 Start discussions with your
fans/followers about topics
they care about like ―tips on
how to apply for JAG Corps‖
 Create a space for users to
help each other and discuss
topics among themselves
 Put an approachable and
personal face to your
command
―I was wondering if anyone could offer any
advice. I'm currently about to start my 2L year
at a fairly new law school (Drexel University in
Philadelphia) and hoping to be able to serve in
the JAG Corps…‖

17.  Launched February 2009
 Provides a forum for
prospects to interact with
Nuclear Propulsion Officers
 Gain insight into nuke life
 Videos, photos, and links to
navy.com/nuclear
 13,000+ fans as of
November 2011
 11% per monthGrowing at

18.  Launched in March 2008
 More than 40,000 members today
 Averages 1,200+ new members per month
 More than 10,000 ongoing discussions
 This is the perfect venue to engage on a local level
with parents and influencers.
 Participation in local events
18

19. 1. Risk - Leaders and communicators will need to accept
more risk in our communication efforts as we engage in
social and emerging media.
2. Control - Increasing the voices and the credibility of our
message comes with a decreasing control of the content.
Dialogue augments and, in some cases, replaces press
releases. All voices have the opportunity to heard.
3. Agility - We will have to be even more agile than we
already are, but avoid the temptation to go after every
bright, shiny object

21.  Real voices from the individuals who are doing the work of
America’s Navy
 Telling the story of America’s Navy—what we do and why
America needs a Navy
 Provide unique content to unique audiences-geographic,
interest, etc…
 Remain credible and relevant

22. 22

26. “The Calling”
http://extensis.cnrc.navy.mil/videos/calling_LR.mp4
“100%”
http://www.cnrc.navy.mil/Video/100_Percent.wmv
“Power”
http://www.cnrc.navy.mil/video/power.wmv
“Until”
http://extensis.cnrc.navy.mil/videos/until.wmv
Other videos and posters at…
www.cnrc.navy.mil and http://extensis.cnrc.navy.mil

27.  55 percent watch TV
 47 percent visit Facebook
 37 percent listen to the radio
 22 percent read newspapers
Source: Nielsen