Harnessing the power of social media technology to effectively drive enterprise-wide PR, marketing, sales and customer care requirements.

1. © 2015 AZBlue | www.AZblueinc.com
AZ
WHAT IS SOCIAL MANAGEMENT…AND WHAT’S IN IT FOR ME?
1

2. © 2015 AZBlue | www.AZblueinc.com
AZ
SOCIAL MANAGEMENT AND WIIFM?
• Businesses today recognize the power of digital technology and the impact it can make on their ability
to succeed…if not survive!
• Over the past several years there has been an exponential growth of digital technologies (tools, apps,
API’s and data) that have become available to help businesses grow their brand and drive to KPI’s.
• Right now your competitors are using these capabilities to connect with your customer to:
– Find and understand their needs and desires…sometimes before they know it themselves
– Establish a relationship by creating a persona and engaging with them
– Proactively stimulate interest/loyalty/advocacy for their products & services…over yours
– Resolve their issues and create a positive perception of their brand…over yours
• Problem is, the vast majority of brands today are reacting to this need by making decisions [and
investments] built around traditional ways of doing business and the KPI’s they’ve been measured by
for years
• Digital strategies are “all over the map” and often created around existing tactics and investments!
• In essence, businesses today have a vision and are making investments…they just don’t know how to
connect the dots!
2
Tactics
Strategy

3. © 2015 AZBlue | www.AZblueinc.com
AZ
WHAT IS SOCIAL MANAGEMENT???
• Social Management is a philosophy focused around the human element of your
customers needs & wants, by creating a platform (a mix of technology, resources &
process) to continuously connect with them wherever, whenever and whatever they’re
doing…
• It is based on, but is more than just, social media (quantitative interpretation of trends
around actions)…
• It is understanding the “language” of what consumers think, say and do.
• Why? Because today’s consumer is continuously engaging with the digital space and
leaving their “digital DNA” everywhere they go!
3
Searches, Clicks
& Views
Liking, Sharing &
Commenting
Building profiles
& adding to their
circles
Asking questions
or expressing
concerns
Consuming
content
Making decisions
(buying)
Providing
insights (polls &
reviews)
Did the process
meet the
objectives.
Establishing
patterns
(interests)
Expressing their
feelings (loyalty
& advocacy)
Taking actions
based on their
needs ?

4. © 2015 AZBlue | www.AZblueinc.com
AZ
CONNECTING THE DOTS!
• Businesses must develop a vision of what the end-state (success) will look like, as if built
from scratch versus trying force “square pegs into round holes.”
– In other words, not every investment, process, KPI, resource and business goal currently in-
place, can be tweaked to meet this demand.
• Companies who understand what success looks like and take the necessary steps to
assess what they have & need, and build a roadmap to get there, will ultimately succeed.
– Those who use Band-Aids as short term tactics to justify investment, maximize profits or sit on
the sidelines and wait…will fail.
• The Goal – Thinking, acting, planning and investing as a “Social Brand!”
4
What do
consumers think
about my brand?
How many of
them are out
there?
Who am I missing
and how do I find
them?
What is needed
to make positive
changes?
What’s my plan
to get there?
What resources
do I have in place
now?
Where should I
invest or partner?
How do I
integrate all of
this?
What is success
and how do I
measure it?
How to I take
what I learn and
improve?
Who in my
company needs
to be involved?
Marketing?
PR?
Vision
Success

5. © 2015 AZBlue | www.AZblueinc.com
AZ
THE LAYERS OF A SOCIAL BRAND
5
Values
Resources
Investment
• Understands the fragile relationship with their customers and uses the
knowledge acquired (data & insights), to craft a continuous interaction with
them to keep them engaged, loyal and as advocates.
• Embraces the power and voice of the consumer and empowers them to
participate and lead the conversation.
• Actions and voice are as people that can be identified with, are not afraid to
disagree, and most importantly…based on trust and honesty!
• All engagement with consumers in the form of action, content and
conversation is focused on what the consumer wants and needs…NOT what
the brand wants to say or sell
• People, processes, training and services are created and managed to build,
grow and nurture a relationship where the customer feels important
• Embraces the continuous change of customer needs and the abilities to seek
them out, engages with them and establishes a connection via technology,
tools, applications, strategic partners and insights
• Creation and acquisition is based on what the consumer wants and where
they go/want to engage…not on justifying existing process or investments
• Technology investments are focused on qualitative understanding of the
consumer based on what they say & do and helps interpret if, when & where
they will do it again. It is an extension of who the brand is and how it
operates

6. © 2015 AZBlue | www.AZblueinc.com
AZ
THE EVOLUTION OF SOCIAL BRANDS
• The Digital space is comprised of many facets that connect
consumers with brands providing an opportunity to engage
– from online (search & display) to mobility and social
• As the consumer moves throughout their day, Mobility has
become a key vehicle to engage and provides “bread
crumbs” for brands to understand behavior/need
• Social however is at the core because it is the language in
which the consumer articulates those needs!
• The basis for interpreting that language is social
management.
6
Social Brand – Highly interactive and
engaged brand uses social media to…
• connect with consumers &
customers by anticipating their
needs (based on previous)
• drive conversation with constant
questions and engaging content
• provide a long-term platform to
inspire advocacy and reward loyalty
• highlight the personality of the
brand thru people & relationships
(vs. corporations)
• connect consumer interaction to
brand KPI’s/ROI
• continuously engages in dialog with
consumers – not afraid to turn the
power of thought to the community
• empower the consumer to speak
• share information and provide
insider access
• continuously understand the
changing landscape of their market,
customer and competitor
• lead rather than follow the market
Social Marketer – Data driven brand
uses social media to…
• create, grow and manage user
communities
• support paid media investment
through content calendars
• measure marketing results thru
actions (clicks, likes, follows,
shares)
• respond to issues that impact
brand perception (Care & PR)
• occasionally start limited
engagement with closed-ended
comments
Social User – Activity-driven brand
uses social media to…
• measure traffic and sentiment
• craft social tactics around user
generated actions (channels, clicks,
sentiment)
• determine success metrics thru
quantitative analysis
• reactively change tactics (rare to no
engagement)
Social Monitoring Tools
Social Center of Excellence
Social Command Center
Profitability/Margin
No Risk/Reward - Safe Low Risk/Reward – Utilitarian High Risk/Reward – Interactive & Intuitive
Human
Technology

7. © 2015 AZBlue | www.AZblueinc.com
AZ
SOCIAL MANAGEMENT: WHERE MOST BRANDS ARE TODAY
7
“gray area”
Only a handful of brands have the experience,
knowledge & assets in-place, to actually
operationalize their strategy!
• Having tools that provide
static results is important,
but how do you use them,
and the data captured, to
craft, drive and measure the
success of Social
Management?
• For example…
̶ Who does what?
̶ What types of workflows,
processes and resources are
needed?
̶ How are things prioritized?
̶ How are issues resolved?
̶ Who owns the problem and
the resolution?
̶ What type of SLA’s are in
place to ensure issues are
resolved on time?
̶ How are internal platforms &
databases integrated with
external tools and suppliers?
̶ What other tools are out
there that can be
incorporated via API’s to
enhance the platform?
Most brands today have some basic process
(tool) for monitoring social action to gauge
brand perceptions, interpret sentiment,
publish content, manage communities and
engage with/grow advocates
Many top brands have an Enterprise-level
understanding of the value of Social
Management and the impact on driving their
KPI’s. Several of them even have a strategic
plan on how what/how they intend to use
Social Management to get there

8. © 2015 AZBlue | www.AZblueinc.com
AZ
SUMMARY – WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN TO ME?
• Most, if not all brands understand the power and the need to embrace/evolve with the
exploding capabilities of digital technology.
• The opportunities to connect with consumers and derive meaningful insights to grow a
relationship are now too important to sit on the sidelines and watch…the competition is
already doing it now.
• Embracing this evolution does NOT mean adjusting existing process and investments to
move forward…it means starting over with a clear view of what the future will look like
and building towards it.
• Once there is a vision and a roadmap, then you look first at your assets and optimize
around the vision before you begin to invest.
• Building a strategic plan should be based on the vision and then tactics/KPI’s created to
make the strategy work…existing processes, metrics & investments cannot drive strategy
if you want to be successful.
• Most brands/companies however don’t know where to start…they have a vision and
they’ve made investments/created resources…but how do you integrate them into a
coherent, successful strategy that supports and is embraced across the business?
• The answer is relatively simple…lay out a plan that is scalable, achievable and measures
success one step at a time.
– Focus first on what you want to be and not on what you’ve done in the past.
– Create KPI’s and metrics of success based on what the future will be and how it will show value
both internally (success) and externally (consumer growth, loyalty & advocacy).
8

9. © 2015 AZBlue | www.AZblueinc.com
AZ
NEXT STEPS?
• The first, and most important step is ask and answer the following questions…
a) Are we a social brand now and if so, how are we accomplishing it?
– If we are, what are our strengths and weaknesses?
b) What are our competitors doing?
c) What investments do we have in-place now?
– What purpose do they serve?
– Who, why and when were they made?
– Are they up-to-date? Can they be evolved? Can they be integrated? How much to pull the plug?
d) If we aren’t a social brand (or on a clear path to get there) what are we doing now and how do
we evolve?
– What assets do we have and what teams are in-place?
– Who should manage this?
– What type of budget do I have? Need?
– Who will support us at the leadership level?
– How will we get that support?
– What type of ROI/success will justify our investment?
e) What are the risks of doing nothing?
9
• The next step is to define what success should look like
and create a 1 – 5 year roadmap to get there
• Finally, seek out strategic partners (internal and external) to articulate the vision, design
the roadmap and create success metrics that will gain the support of key leadership

10. © 2015 AZBlue | www.AZblueinc.com
AZ
Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without
strategy is the noise before defeat – General Sun Tzu
azurite blue inc. - we are a consulting firm that has the
experience and ability to help clients articulate their needs
with regards to “all things social,” and create an operational
roadmap to get there!
More importantly, we help design strategies that are based upon executable
tactics and tactics that support achievable strategies!
Contact:
Jim Clark – 908-305-8475
jim@azblueinc.com
www.linkedin.com/in/azblue/