Social Media Action Plan

Sirius-XM Merger

By: Dionisios Favatas

March 27, 2010

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Table of Contents

Executive Summary ............................................................................................................ 3

Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 4

Social Media Action Items .................................................................................................. 5

Blogosphere / Enhanced Microsite ................................................................................. 5

Monitoring the Social Conversation ............................................................................... 6

M|Buzz ........................................................................................................................ 6

Facebook ......................................................................................................................... 7

Twitter ............................................................................................................................. 9

TwitterAdder ............................................................................................................. 10

TrueTwit ................................................................................................................... 11

YouTube ....................................................................................................................... 11

Media ................................................................................................................................ 12

Overall Costs ..................................................................................................................... 13

Technical Development: ............................................................................................... 13

Monitoring Tools: ......................................................................................................... 13

Media / Other Costs ...................................................................................................... 13

Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 14

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Executive Summary As social media and social networking have emerged as dominating platforms to reach

out to various groups within the public affairs and public relations space, CLS must

leverage the tools available to augment the communications strategy supporting the

merger between Sirius and XM Satellite radio. Social media has become ubiquitous and

pervasive among varying groups which include media outlets, politicians, and everyday

Americans, from tweens to baby boomers, from individuals living in highly populated

urban areas to individuals living in small semi-rural communities.

By leveraging social media as part as the overall communications strategy, we can fill in

the gaps in current strategy and reach untapped stakeholders in order to effectively

communicate the benefits of the Sirius-XM merger, garner support from third parties, and

educate the general public on the benefits on how this merger will foster competitiveness

and greater choice in the marketplace. In order to accomplish these goals via new and

social media, the following plan has been developed so that we may become active

participants in the social discourse, while keeping information within social spheres up-

to-date and relevant for all of Sirius-XM’s various stakeholders and the various

proponents and opponents of the planned merger.

In order to augment the current plan, the following set of objectives has been laid forth

and fully outlined herein, which include:

1. The construction of a comprehensive social media strategy which will be

achieved by accomplishing the following.

a. Creation of a blogosphere that is connected to the Sirius-XM Merger Web

site.

b. Monitoring and leveraging prodder via new and social media.

c. Leveraging Facebook and the development of a Fan Page action plan.

d. Leveraging Twitter and the development of a Twitter action plan.

e. Leveraging YouTube and the development of a YouTube action plan.

f. Leveraging geo- / micro-targeted new media to promote the cause and the

proposed social spaces.

In order to implement the first iteration of this social ecosystem and sphere-of-influence,

the steps to be taken are outlined in the following sections.

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Introduction The pinnacle of utilizing social media in order to mobilize and educate current Sirius and

XM customers, third parties, engaging the Hill, and the various media outlets requires the

development and deployment of a comprehensive social media ecosystem to be

integrated with the planned Sirius-XM Merger Web site. At the epicenter of any solid

social media plan is a blogosphere that can be used as an open forum to spur viral and

social discourse. This area will serve as a baseline platform to engage all parties in the

social dialogue, whether it is varying media outlets, bloggers, v-loggers, the general

public, and all other vested stakeholders. It also will serve as the primary driver of Push-

and-Pull marketing efforts to Web properties that will be developed such as Facebook,

Twitter, YouTube, and others. See Illustration I: The Social Ecosystem, below.

Illustration I: The Social Media Ecosystem

The following sections describe the facets of this strategy and the various tactics within

and amongst each social sphere that will aid in accomplishing the aforementioned goals.

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Social Media Action Items

Blogosphere / Enhanced Microsite

A blogosphere should be developed serve as the epicenter of any solid social media

ecosystem. By enticing shadow writers, current staff, or third party firms to generate

content and seed this content onto the blogosphere begins the process of including the

general public as part of the conversation and fosters both User Generated Content

(UCG) and Viral Marketing / Word-of-Mouth (WOM). This will serve as an extension of

planned merger Web site, maintaining a constant look-and-feel in order to maintain brand

consistency.

Built in WordPress, for optimal search engine optimization (SEO), ease-of-use of

deployment, and the ability to add tag-along widgets, the blogosphere will contain links

to key information tabs relevant to the user-base, as well as supporting a direct feed from

Twitter – see page 9, Twitter – to further built upon the viral conversation, and pertinent

buttons which include a call-to-action form, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and other

social media properties. See Illustration II – Blogosphere Skeleton.

Illustration II: Blogosphere Skeleton

Nav Item 1 Nav Item 2 Nav Item 3 Nav Item 4

Space reserved

for blog content

Space reserved

for V-logs

Social media icons

Call to Action

RSS Feed

Twitter Feed

By monitoring the prodder produced by third parties, and re-tooling the content to serve

the purpose of this campaign, it is possible to engage stakeholders in the dialogue,

neutralize negative publicity, push corporate generated content and edit that content for

the Web, and generate content that will be used as an educational tool for interested

parties. Copy editing and formal approval by Sirius-XM of all materials to be posted on

blogosphere and any other subsequent social media property noted below will be required

to add legitimacy and provide a stable cohesive baseline for all other campaign activities.

A Feed-Burner or Real-Simple-Syndication (RSS) will be prominently placed on the

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blogosphere so that interested parties can subscribe to not only blog postings but any

other electronic material posted on the merger Web site, etc.

Monitoring the Social Conversation

All Social Media Web sites are open forums for any and everyone to post their feelings,

thoughts, likes and dislikes about the Sirius-XM merger. While Positive Word-of-Mouth

(P-WOM) conversations on social networks are what both CLS and Sirius-XM desires to

achieve, Negative Word-of-Mouth (N-WOM) is to be expected, as well as Neutral Word-

of-Mouth (NT-WOM). By utilization sophisticated technologies to monitor the entire

social conversation will enable us to accomplish four key objectives:

Quick response to N-WOM with immediate action to reverse negative discussion

trends.

Leveraging P-WOM to further bolster our mission and engage the target base, in-

turn attempting to leverage these individuals as advocates and champions in the

social dialogue.

Analyze trends – both qualitative and quantitative – on what the general public,

media outlets, politicians, and other vested stakeholders in this cause (i.e.,

proponents and opponents), are saying and using that information to build Stage II

action plans within the 6-month period alloted.

Build theme clouds surrounding topics of interest to:

o Develop new creative.

o Generate powerful copy of interest to core base supporters and offset /

neutralize negative attitudes towards the merger.

o Extract keywords that can be used for micro-target ad units, search engine

marketing (SEM), and profiling the Twitter database to find like-minded

individuals to support our efforts (e.g., Sirius and XM subscribers,

business, consumer, religious / faith groups, ethnic organization, and

others).

M|Buzz

M|Buzz, powered by Meltwater is a full-suite Web monitoring tool with the ability to

track over 150 million Web sources (i.e., blogs, micro-blogs, message boards / forums,

Twitter pages, Facebook “Wall” postings, etc.). The platform has a robust tracking a

reporting engine, providing us access to an unlimited number of graphs, charts and

reports. In addition, we would be provided with unlimited keywords per profile- track

just about any kind of conversation surrounding the merger, NAD outreach activities, and

so on. See Illustration III: M|Buzz Analytics, and Illustration IV: M|Buzz Theme Cloud,

below.

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Illustration III: M|Buzz Analytics

Illustration IV: M|Buzz Theme Cloud

Facebook

A Facebook Fan Page will be created to cater to all vested stakeholder groups. Facebook

offers variety of customization options for Fan Pages, including, but not limited to,

tabbing, applications, branded boxes, and the ability to inter-connect all social media

Web sites in one central repository. For instance, videos posted on YouTube, or Tweets

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on Twitter, will automatically propagate onto the Fan Page. It is recommended that the

following menu Tabs are implemented:

Wall

Info

Boxes1:

o Call-to-Action Form (custom HTML form that enables user to quickly and

easily send a message to the FCC, DOJ, and Member of Congress).

o Downloadable pins (fans of a “free-market” and “competition,” for

example).

o Downloadable wallpapers.

o Downloadable podcasts (if available and / or created).

Applications:

o Fan Connect (custom built app to enable proponents of the merger to

easily connect with other like-minded individuals).

o The “MergerEducator” (i.e., possibly a tool that pulls in information from

various third parties, analyzes and aggregates information into “pros” and

“cons” tables, displays the cost-benefit analysis of the merger, etc.).

Photos:

o Flikr stream and / or Photobucket stream from events, meet-ups, and other

grassroots activities.

Events

Twitter Feed

Videos

o YouTube feed hosting v-logs, viral video, and other content deemed

suitable by Sirius-XM and that can benefit our mission.

Discussions

And include the following Fan Page items:

Twitter Icon

Delicious Badge*

LinkedIn Badge*

Digg Badge*

Once the Fan Page is completed and approved by the client in a staging environment we

will push the page to live production, at which point we will begin the process of seeding

photos, videos, and upcoming events onto Facebook and other social media channels. In

addition, with a direct integration with Twitter, auto-seeding of Tweets will update the

Fan Page status and / or add content to the Wall. Moving forward, for each event that is

held (e.g., press conferences, meet-ups, etc.), we will send emails to registered

participants informing them that we would like them to seed their content on the various

channels we intend to use.

1 For an example of what “Boxes” are, please see Appendix III, page 14 – Example of Facebook “Boxes”.

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*As part of this social media program bookmarks relevant to the cause will be saved in Delicious which

will auto-post to the Fan Page, a LinkedIn Group can be created with link-backs to Facebook, and

following blogs and news of interest on Digg will be captured and fed into Facebook.

Twitter

Twitter has emerged as a powerful outlet for viral chatter, second only to Facebook and

MySpace, and is the third most ubiquitously used social media platform. The goal is to

empower the desired support base, as mentioned above, in order to foster UGC, provide a

platform to promote and generate prodder, and build a large follower-base in order to

compliment the entire social ecosystem proposed. Implementation of Twitter as a viable

social medium is a three-part process, which includes:

Development:

o Sourcing a viable and logical username, and creating a homogenous

design theme to match the aforementioned blogosphere and Merger Web

Site.

o Adding a search-optimized and relevant bio, info, and other META data to

show a clear connection surrounding the merger and the intended target

audiences.

Fostering prodder and UGC:

o Seed relevant tweets throughout the day. Some examples could include:

Extracting sound bites from various blog postings and comments

on the blogosphere and / or the open Web.

Welcoming followers each day and openly @ messaging followers

and those who are participating in the discussion, whether it is

positive, neutral, or negative.

DM individuals who are posting negative comments, searching for

help or more information, and others.

Promotion of upcoming events, webinars, editorial content, etc.

Post images via TwitPics from events and so on.

Post video via TwitVid from events and so on.

Building a base of Followers:

o Follow users who have a clear interest with the cause, which include but is

not limited to current Sirius and XM subscribers, members of the press,

the general public representing the various subsets of third party groups,

etc., and generate follow-backs:

Using search terms extracted from theme clouds generated by

M|Buzz, the use of automated technology to search and follow

users – see below, TwitterAdder, and TrueTwit.

Manual follow and follow back of other Twitter members by

analyzing daily organic results and respond to DM’s that are real

and relevant, using technology such as TweetDeck, Seesmic

Desktop, SpreadTweet, Twitcher, TwitBabble, or Spaz.

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TwitterAdder

TwitterAdder is a powerful automated Twitter tool that will enable us to quickly grow

our follower base, follow individuals who have like-minded interests and perform a

number of other tasks such as:

Powerful built-in Boolean search technology to find the ideal Twitter base.

Auto follow targeted Twitter profiles.

o It is recommended to always maintain no more than a 1:1.5 follow to

follower base. This technology can automatically peg follows to followers

to any ratio chosen, and vice versa for auto Unfollows.

Tracks and accelerates the process of obtaining niche Twitter followers.

Automate Twitter posts and scheduled Tweets.

Automate DM’s.

Auto Unfollow Twitter users who do not follow back, and / or are suspect

individuals.

Auto deletion of DM’s, namely those that contain links to harmful websites, etc.

See Illustration V: TwitterAdder Platform, below.

Illustration V: TwitterAdder Platform

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TrueTwit

TrueTwit compliments using automated Twitter technologies such as TwitterAdder. The

social Web can attract any number of bots, unscrupulous followers, and other followers

posting unwanted tweets, therefore using software such as TrueTwit can automate the

process of protecting this critical facet of the social ecosystem. TrueTwit can assist in this

process by conducting an in-depth, automated analysis of existing followers and their

tweets, and block unwanted DM’s from new Followers, while screening and requiring

new Followers to become TrueTwit verified. Further, the software audits the Follower

base by segmenting Followers into “Ads,” “Adult,” and “Bots,” which will enable us to

quickly Unfollow and / or block any harmful or potentially intrusive users. See

Illustration VI: TrueTwit Analysis, below.

Illustration VI: TrueTwit Analysis

YouTube

YouTube is the most widely adopted and utilized social medium for watching viral video

on the Web. This medium can be used with great efficacy to foster UGC, spurn viral

marketing, and enable true promotion and education to all stakeholders regarding the

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proposed merger. It is recommended that a fully functioning, “Enhanced*” YouTube

channel be built with a creative “look-and-feel” that is in line with the aforementioned

branded blogosphere, Merger Web site and social media properties.

Working with Sirius-XM, we can seed any video materials promoting the cause,

educating the public, and so on into this channel, and develop an action plan for guerilla

marketing tactics, whereby grassroots supporters and third parties can be leveraged as

champions to participate in planned and un-planned events, while capturing their own

video from such events, etc. This in turn can be seeded onto the YouTube channel and

promoted via the blogosphere, Facebook and Twitter.

In addition, with the Sirius-XM’s permission, we can send out email blasts to their

respective email lists (e.g., the 20% of XM’s subscribers and the 50% of Sirius’s

subscribers) regarding any number of promoted events which those subscriber may

participate in, requesting that those individuals submit the digital pictures that they have

taken, and in turn produce slideshows that can be posted onto YouTube. With standalone

YouTube and YouTube integration with Facebook, we can then analyze the impact of

posting these permission-based materials adjust the utilization of this medium

accordingly to feedback received. Further, we can leverage this feedback to further grow

the number of YouTube Subscribers, Facebook Fans, and Twitter Followers, while

producing increased and quantifiable Channel and Upload Views and comments, which

are then search optimized and can be leveraged for Stage II action plans.

*YouTube Enhanced Channels provide for greater customization of YouTube static elements, including

fully-branded headers, hosting of Flash in creative elements, and so on. Enhanced Channels are a premium

feature that requires minimum costs in YouTube Promoted Ad revenue.

Media While a comprehensive media plan has been developed for the traditional aspects of this

campaign, it is recommended that we augment these tactics with new media activities to

accomplish three goals:

1. Educate and inform the public and other vested stakeholders in the activities laid

out herein.

2. Offset and neutralize any paid media by the NAB, when the NAB runs ad units in

Hill publications.

3. Assist in growing the number of Follower, Fans, and friends of this program.

This can be accomplished by running geo- and micro-targeted ad units in several online

mediums including, but not limited to the Google Content Network, the Yahoo! Content

Network, the MSN Content Network, ReachLocal, Facebook, and others. The various

content networks mentioned have hundreds of Web sites within their portfolios that are

specific to the groups we are trying to reach such as online publications catering to the

consumer electronics / technology industry, music industry, sports industry, as well as

those online publications where Sirius-XM subscribers are searching for information

regarding the proposed merger, grassroots advocates, and other special interest groups.

Facebook, in addition, is an ideal platform to achieve both the mission of spreading the

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word about the aforementioned strategy, as well as attracting this base to become Fans of

the Facebook Fan page.

Ad units will be carefully crafted and developed to promote messages surrounding the

benefits of the merger, such as more choice, better prices, etc. Further, additional

messages will be crafted to encourage users to visit the Web site and blogosphere to learn

more about what the merger entails, how they will be impacted and how they benefit

from the merger, as well as calls-to-action to stimulate grassroots supporters to engage

and take action, and so on. The placements will be carefully targeted, based on user

characteristics such as age, race, interests, and so on, and subsequently creative testing

will be utilized to see which messages and themes appeal to the varying groups. This will

enable us to further modify and target audiences throughout the 6-month course of the

overall campaign.

Overall Costs Below are initial costs associated with the development of the aforementioned features

for each social networking property, costs for social monitoring and social media tools,

and for media.

Technical Development:

Facebook, Twitter, YouTube $15,950*

Monthly Maintenance $3,500 / month

Blogosphere Development $9,750

*Includes development of all key features outlined above and one Facebook application. Additional costs

will be incurred for each additional application and / or feature added.

Monitoring Tools:

M|Buzz $10,000 / year

TwitterAdder $100 / year

TrueTwit $100 / year

Media / Other Costs

YouTube Enhanced Channel $50,000 - $100,000

Facebook TBD

Google Content Network TBD

Yahoo! Content Network TBD

MSN Content Network TBD

ReachLocal TBD

Other Media TBD

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Conclusion The Sirius-XM merger is a large and complicated issue to undertake as a public affairs

campaign. There are stakeholders with a vested interest in the merger, subscribers and the

segments of the general public who require further education on what this merger means

to them, active grassroots supporters, special interest groups, and the Federal

government. In tandem with the primary communications strategy already developed by

CLS, it is proposed that leveraging social media as part as the strategy will enable us to

fill in the gaps and reach untapped stakeholders in order to accomplish the

aforementioned goals. In order to accomplish these goals via new and social media, the

following plan detailed how we would address the following key components for an

effective social media strategy and subsequent tactics. Those include:

The construction of a comprehensive social media strategy which will be

achieved by doing the following.

o Creation of a blogosphere that is connected to Sirius-XM Merger Web

site.

o Monitoring and leveraging of prodder via new and social media.

o Leveraging Facebook and the development of a Fan Page action plan.

o Leveraging Twitter and the development of a Twitter action plan.

o Leveraging YouTube and the development of a YouTube action plan.

o Leveraging micro-targeted new media to promote the cause and the social

spaces.

It is believed that the recommendation laid forth in this proposal will not only assist us in

delving into the ever-evolving world of social media, but will also assist us in keeping

information within the various social spheres up-to-date and relevant for all of Sirius-

XM’s various stakeholders and the various proponents and opponents of the planned

merger.