Social Media Implementation within a Large
Enterprise
Joey Harper - @EMBARQ_Joey
Linda O’Neill - @lindaoneill
Kevin Cobb - @kevinjcobb
Zena Weist - @zenaweist
April 27, 2009
PAGE 1©2009 Embarq Holdings Company LLC. All rights reserved.
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EMBARQ Residential Profile
– Home Phone, Local and Long Distance
– High-Speed Internet
– Satellite TV from DISH Network
– Home Computer & Technical Support
Servicing 3.5M HHs across 18 states
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Listening
In the beginning…– Google Alerts (Yahoo)– Google Blog searches– BlogPulse– DSLReports.com– Complaint boards– Technorati
Later…– Collective Intellect– All of the above– Addictomatic
Now…– Radian6– All of the above
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Social Media Roadmap
Corporate Social Media Mission:
Develop, implement and cultivate social media strategies with an evolving tool kit to enhance communications and brand perceptions among employees, customers, prospects, shareholders and the media – aka: “multi-influencers.”
- November 17, 2007
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Social Media StrategiesDelivering on our Practical Ingenuity brand promise, we will
leverage social media to communicate with our multi-influencers with the following:
1) EDUCATE: Train to create breadth and depth in our employee base to give them the tools and opportunity to actively engage in social and emerging media.
2) SEEK & CULTIVATE: New employee talent and corporate resources to better position EQ as a “thought-leader” in this emerging space while tapping external influencers.
3) INTEGRATE: Listen to and become part of conversations that are media agnostic and evergreen; ensure all marketing and communication strategies are interwoven to create consistent messaging.
4) RESEARCH: Invest in socmed-specific research to identify emerging trends, shifting EQ from followers to leaders; monitor brand perceptions to identify opportunities and gaps.
5) MEASURE: Use media appropriate metrics to evaluate performance against best-in-class examples.
6) INNOVATE & EXPERIENTAL: Utilize the socmed opportunity to evolve the brand into one that is dynamic, interactive and relevant; leverage opportunities via conversations to position the brand for future growth.
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Social Media Strategies
Strategy Accomplished
EDUCATE Online communication policy
SEEK & CULTIVATE Internal stakeholders
INTEGRATE Care & Brand
RESEARCH Brand
MEASURE Care & Brand
INNOVATE & EXPERIENTIAL
CS Online Outreach (12/07)
Twitter (2/08)
YouTube (10/08)Engaging in online conversations to improve: Customer Experience, Brand Perception & Employee Morale
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Still Have Customers Who Won’t Recommend Embarq
Executives and employees increasingly concerned with negative Customer posts and no Embarq response.
Passion for Customer care drives initiative to ignite with a grass-roots Customer care effort:
– Update/publish the Online Communication policy
– Pool resources from front-line to get in on ground floor to develop a sustainable, no-cost process.
• Discovery• Assessment• Recommendations• Implementation
Integrate Strategy redefined to focus on a Customer care concern.
Customers Likely to Recommend
Customers Definitely Recommend
4Q07
1Q08 2-3Q08
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Our performance and success
Built a listening infrastructure/process within a couple of weeks and continue to keep abreast of best practices to engage where others are engaged.
81% Success Rate (Dec. ’07 through Mar ’09)– Tracked ~1,500 initial inquiries.– Able to communicate with >950 people who both accepted the
communication and were satisfied at the end.
Responsiveness
Total Responded
Response time
Total Responded
Response time
1.3%1.3%97.5%
72+hours48-72 hours24-48hours0-24hours 48-72 hours24-48hours0-24hours
0%
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Examples of Customer Impact
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/technical-diving-specialties/225381-thank-you-embarq.html
“Our phones are down today, thanks to Embarq!” “Embarq screwed up something and now my phone lines are dead!!!”
“Wowzers Batman! that's a first. I do have to say that they were right on top of things and got it resolved within a few hours.Their customer service is almost as good and efficient as mine!”
http://chezchani.blogspot.com/2008/10/customer-dissatisfaction.html
“Wondering if a switch to something else will save me money. .. last week I had a problem with my DSL. It took just a phone call to get it resolved, Embarq made some changes, got me back online and promptly sent me a new modem. A small mention of this in my blog led to a comment by an Embarq customer service rep, letting me know to contact them if there is any problem. Then, an Embarq guy started following me on Twitter, also telling me to let them know if there is any problem. And you know what? As a result, I will not even consider leaving Embarq. Why? CUSTOMER SERVICE!”
http://www.bethjbates.com/index.php/2009/02/04/why-embarq-rocks-aka-why-you-should-use-twitter/
“It just so happens that Embarq is on Twitter (who knew?) and had come across my complaints. I told him my DSL saga and within 24 hours I had an Extended Reach DSL installation scheduled on 2/27. Amazing! He was helpful, did what he said he would do and followed up. He also went on to help my mom get DSL that had just been added to her rural area last week. And my mom was ready to ditch Embarq altogether.”
Negative Positive Neutral PositiveNegative Positive
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Reaching prospects…reaching us…
Customer conducts a Google search and finds @Embarq_Joey on Twitter…
From: Willie XXXXX [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Monday, January 05, 2009 2:20 PM
To: Embarq_Joey
Subject: extended reach dsl
Joey,
I hope you can help me, My neighbors on either side of me are able to sign up for DSL service but I am not. I have recieved serveral different explanations for this but I still think there is something that can be done to get service to my home. My home number is XXX-XXX-XXXX. Can you please explore this matter, any help is greatly appreciated.
Thank you,
Willie XXXXX
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Customers Likely to Recommend Customers Definitely Recommend
DSLReports.com Forum
DSL Forum Moderators trust us–Moderator thanked us for being available
–We manage the FAQs
–We can post promotional “information”
Forum participants self-correcting negative/misleading posts
Building positive sentiment
Begin participating on Twitter
Connecting customers becomes advocates for Embarq to other customer and prospects
Customers find virtual walkthroughs helpful
Launch of YouTube How-to videos by brand team
Highlights
1Q08 2-3Q08
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Brand Marketing Objectives
Build brand awareness
Create a presence in an online community where customers & prospects are already engaged
– Go where our target is- bring our brand to them
– Promote customer and prospect engagement and interactivity
– Expand positive sentiment built through online customer outreach
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4th largest US site: Larger than eBay, Amazon, MySpace or Facebook
65M unique visitors/month
420 hrs of content uploaded/hr- Represents 42.9% of online video views*
1:4 Fortune 500s
1:4 Searches – YouTube is the 2nd most popular search engine.*
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2008 YouTube Engagement StudyBase: Tech-Decision-Makers Who Visited YouTube in Past 6 Months and Have Viewed, Uploaded or Shared Tech-Related Videos Q: Which types of technology or electronics-related videos have you viewed, uploaded or shared?
Customers Seek Product Information on YouTube
18%
20%
21%
36%
41%
13%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%
Troubleshooting
Videos that feature techproduct
Company'sAdvertisement
Product demo
Product Reviews
Humorous
Type of Technology Videos Watched
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67% Have taken actionaction as result of seeing technology or electronics-related content on YouTube.
Technology Videos on YouTube Prompt Action
21% Told someone about a product or service
13% Bought a technology or electronics-related product or service
47% Gathered more information about a product or service
2008 YouTube Engagement StudyBase: Past 6 Month YouTube Visitors Who Watch Technology or Electronics-Related Videos.Q: Which of these actions, if any, have you taken as a result of seeing a video about technology or electronics content (e.g., videos, user comments or reviews) on YouTube?
27% Thought more favorably toward a product, brand or service
34% Considered buying a technology product or service
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Take the time to test, validate gut
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Content Strategy
Short-term: Contest
– HSI focus
Long-term: How-to Videos
– Top 10 Customer Service issues
• Online Outreach• Call Centers
– Continue to interact/use feedback loop
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Content Strategy
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“This is not a campaign, this channel is a strong extension of our brand promise – practical ingenuity. It’s a practical communication’s vehicle helping us build relationships, continue conversations, and form deeper ties in an innovative format.”
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Objectives Sync with Brand Promise
Customer Focus
Simple & Easy to Do Business With
Channel Objectives
– Build brand awareness through engagement
– Increase EMBARQ core services awareness
– Leverage and support EQ online initiatives
Contest Objectives– Drive traffic to the channel – Engage customers and prospects with the brand– Build EQ HSI awareness and preference
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Getting the word out
Integrated online media campaign/communication plan to meet all marketing objectives– Interact & Engage: Channel & Display
– Drive Traffic: Search & Display
– Social Media Outreach: • Online socmed press release• Blogger outreach (Industry & Video-enthusiasts)• Twitter
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What can you do in 48 seconds?????
www.youtube.com/embarq
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Generating BUZZ
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Generating BUZZ - How-To Videos
“Now a great example, I think one of the best examples of how-to videos, is done by Embarq… some of the videos have been, have really decent view counts considering, you know, where it comes from, that it’s coming from a brand. That makes sense because its helped get this company’s name out to a broader consumer base, and if you just Google, you know, “How to install a blank, blank, a T1 line or a DSL line”, or whatever it is, there’s a good chance that you might come across those videos and then you know about this company and its services.” -Daisy Whitney on Dishymix Podcast Episode 90
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“They’re all trying to figure out how to tap YouTube’s mass appeal for their own gain. Embarq’s twist on it is interesting. I didn’t do an exhaustive search, but I didn’t see other service provider examples of a customer service angle. Most are using it strictly for promotional purposes. Of course Embarq is too, but using the customer service hook seems to be unique…” Telecompetitor, October 06, 2008
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Positive sentiment
Comments Cloud
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Percentile Ranking of Delta ()
Below Average Average Above Average Excellent
Aided Brand Awareness
Online Ad Awareness
Brand Favorability
Sign-Up/Switch Intent^
Recommend Intent^
Message Association
AdIndex Score: Normative Benchmarking of Brand Metric Deltas*
Compared to similar online initiatives, we kicked it!
^ NOTE: Metrics benchmarked against Purchase Intent norms* MarketNorms Q3/08 (Category: Telecommunications - Other, Last 3 years Baseline Unadjusted,
N=43 campaigns)
Avg Delta
4.1
4.5
3.1
2.3
0.6
0.6
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How’s it going?
Channel – Total video views: >500,000– Subscribers: 648– Comments: 148– Orders: ~3000
Contest – Contest Videos Submitted: 281– Votes: 15,500– Contest: 4200 hrs spent with brand – More video contest submissions than
Kmart national campaign (w/ a higher media spend)
How-to Videos– Hours spent with brand ~11,900hrs– Average rating 3.87 stars
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Kevin Cobb: @kevinjcobb (Interactive Brand Identity Manager, the man with the how-to plan, socmed force)
Jerry Green: @stickmantoo (Group Manager, he who holds the purse strings, Understands our target is media agnostic)
Linda O’Neill: @LindaOneill (CS General Manager, customer advocate)
Joey Harper: @Embarq_Joey (Outreach lead, CS superhero)
Zena Weist: @zenaweist (Interactive Brand Strategy Manager, integrated marketing zealot)
Alisa Hansen: @alisamleo (iCrossing, Social Media Strategist, she is all that)
Heather White-Laird : @howlvenice (iCrossing, Executive Creative Producer - continuous positive force)
Dan Alcazar: @danalcazar (CMO, he who said “Go do!”)
PAGE 28©2009 Embarq Holdings Company LLC. All rights reserved.