360DigitalInfluence

This weekend saw the New York Knicks host what they billed as the first ever fan #tweetup, at their home court, the legendary Madison Square Garden here in New York City. They put together a very impressive panel to chat social media and catch a game, and really pulled out all the stops: three big screens broadcasting tweets, official #tweetup t-shirts and those cute little tweetup nametag stickers.  The event was sponsored by Discount Tire: definitely a little different than your run of the mill ‘few folks in a bar’ #tweetup.

The panel featured Amy Jo Martin, head honcho of @digitalroyalty (the folks who did, among other things Random Acts of Shaqness),  Peter Robert Casey ( the first ever media accredited micro-blogger, he covers St John’s basketball here: @Peter_R_Casey), Jim DeLorenzo (a VP at Octagon, the guys who have developed Twackle, a sports tweet aggregator), and Jack Dorsey* (founder of Twitter and Square).  Three sports/marketing folks, and one guy who hand in inventing (or popularizing, depending on how you look at it) micro-blogging. A serious panel indeed.

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This week we’ll be taking an in depth look at social media in the world of pharma and healthcare - a big topic for our team and overall healthcare practice.  Each day we’ll be sharing a different post about everything from tactical advice on using YouTube and Twitter - to discussing trends such as the rising use of gaming in healthcare or importance of esubscribing. Moving forward, we’ll have an archive of all these posts categorized and tagged for each access at http://blog.ogilvypr.com/tag/pharma or http://blog.ogilvypr.com/tag/healthcare.

Summary
Perhaps no other form of social media right now is as universally and simultaneously sought after and misunderstood in the Pharma industry as the corporate Twitter feed. If blogs were the big social media story several years ago, few would argue that Twitter has taken over that mantle today. Yet for all the stories of brands using Twitter for everything from averting a crisis to selling product (not in Pharma, obviously) - the only thing that is clear is that Pharma brands are joining the Twitter bandwagon with a speed and volume that social media has not yet seen in the industry.

While only a handful of the biggest Pharma brands have corporate blogs, 8 OF THE TOP 10 pharma brands (by revenue) have sort sort of corporate Twitter account (see list of links below for full details). As time goes on, more and more corporations are creating their “official” Twitter accounts and starting to uncover potential uses for the now ubiquitous microblogging platform.
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The CDC’s National Conference on Health Communication, Marketing and Media starts tomorrow with an amazing lineup of presenters and keynote speakers. The conference is in its third year and brings together social marketing practitioners, academia, public health practitioners and many others to discuss best practices in health communications and marketing.

I am thrilled to be going to this conference and am looking forward to learning from some of the best social marketing practitioners and thought leaders in the country. I plan on blogging about my experience here on the Fresh Influences Blog with my colleague Kristin Parrish. You can also follow our Tweets @KFoster926 or @sarahmarchetti or follow the conference hashtag #NCHCMM. If you are attending the conference, Alex Rampy wrote a great post you should check on on 5 Ways to Prep for the CDC Conference.

Several representatives from Ogilvy PR’s Digital Influence and Social Marketing teams will be speaking at the conference. If you are going, please stop by our sessions:

Partnering with the AME Church to Educate African Americans about P.A.D. - Erica G.Taylor (International A/B) Tuesday, 2:15 — 3:45 p.m

Twitter Best Practices for Nonprofits and Health Communicators - Sarah Marchetti (Grand Ballroom A/B)Tuesday, 2:15 — 3:45 p.m

Motivating Women to Address Risk Factors for Heart Disease by Creating an Online Community with Customized Social Media Tools - Emily Yu and Kristin Foster (Poster Session)Wednesday, 9:30 — 10:15 a.m

Redefining Teen Health Communications Through Social Media - Trish Eitel Taylor and Caitlin Douglas (Cottonwood A/B) Wednesday, 10:15 — 11:45 a.m

Policy Advocacy: The Fifth “P” of Health Marketing - Bryan Callahan (Dogwood A/B) Thursday, 10 — 11:30 a.m

You can check out the program book for full descriptions of these sessions and all the other presentations that will be going on over the next three days.

Do you have any questions for us while we’re there? Any content you’d like to see here on Fresh Influences that Kristin and I can collect for you? Let us know in the comments.

Mashable this week posted about the low numbers of teens on Twitter.  The post invited readers to weigh in on why they thought this was (e.g. they’re too private, they prefer texting, etc) – once the comment count spilled into the hundreds, Mashable wrote a follow up post further analyzing the issue.

At the risk of throwing my hat into an already crowded ring, here’s why I think Twitter sees low adoption among teens:  Teenagers, for the most part, do not yet posses weak social ties – the very connections that fuel nearly all of twitter’s growth. continue reading

Along with a group of 11 diverse consumer tech influencers, Ogilvy PR worked with our client Intel recently to host a day-long visit to the company’s Santa Clara headquarters that included conversations about the digital divide, the latest in mobile technology, eco-computing, and more. The “Upgrade Your Life” event participants, who are prolific gadget and performance content creators, talked with Intel’s executive leadership about ways that technology is improving the lives of women and girls globally.

Photo by Intel’s Ken Kaplan.

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A few months ago, Kaitlyn Wilkins covered the Air Force’s Rules of Engagement - online that is. This excellent flow chart mapped how when and how to respond to conversations about the Air Force online. In yesterday’s Social Media and Government conference, I got to listen to Air Force Captain David Faggard talk about his his role in both monitoring social media as well as internal training.

It was, in my opinion, one of the best presentations all day. He gave an inside look into what the Air Force is currently doing and what they have in store. For example, Captain Faggard is currently one of three people working in social media - he said the Air Force has plans to increase that number to 19 in the near future.

One my favorite stories came when described what happens when the Air Force starts following the conversation on Twitter. Some one playing an air-combat video game tweeted that air force one had crashed prompting a quick reply from the Air Force correcting this misinformation. Below is a quick clip from a post-presentation interview retelling this story:

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Here are two great resources to find how different brands are using Twitter. Who knew that New York Tourism ran a Twitter feed at NewYorkology - great place to hear about Museum specials and more.

• Tracking Twitter: The fine folks at Electric Artists created a short list of brands on Twitter.  
• Social Brand Index: Fluent Simplicity created a growing wiki of brands on Twitter. This list is quite long and organized reasonably usefully.

With an audience of over 130 for last week’s Bulldog Reporter Webinar on Twitter, we had some great questions.
Here are my answers to some of your most frequently asked questions on Twitter Strategy and Public Relations:

1. Who should use Twitter?

Anyone and everyone can use Twitter. That said, if using for business purposes, it should be clearly stated in your profile and the company you are representing should be reflected in your Twitter handle.

If you will be monitoring customer conversations and address customer service issues, let your followers know. If you will be Tweeting deals and product promotions, encourage people to follow you for that reason. It’s important to let your followers know your reason d’Tweet so they can better understand the content you are providing.

Whether your Twitter handle is managed by just one person or by a team (which should be disclosed as stated above) make sure that you are Tweeting frequently and providing valuable information to your followers. Don’t go for 2 weeks without Tweeting, at the same time, don’t become a “Twitter whore”. Here are a few more tips on how NOT to use Twitter.

2. What is the best way to manage my Twitter account?

I’ll admit, Twitter can be a bit intimidating. Especially when you are new to the scene and trying to get familiar with the platform and with the ga-zillion Twitter tools out there!

My advice, take a few minutes to look into each tool to see what will work best for you.

For organization and easy access check out these tools (these are just a few):

Twhirl

TweetDeck

TweetMarks

TwitBin

TweetBeep

3. How to I find relevant Tweets? Who do I follow? How do I communicate?

As we mentioned in our Twitter Webinar, you definitely want to see what people are saying about your brand and who is talking about the topics/interests your company is invested in.

- Use Search.Twitter and Tweetscan for keyword searches.

- Use Twitterholic, TwitDir and TwitScoop for the most followed Twitterers and top conversation trends.

- TwitterBuzz shows you what links are being referenced the most.

Check out the 360 DI arsenal of Twitter Tools on our Delicious page. If you know of more (which I am sure you do), send them our way.

4. How do I let people know I’m on Twitter and build my following?

Include your Twitter handle in a number of communications:

- Add your Social Media Signature to your emails, LinkedIn and Facebook profiles and bios
- Include your Twitter handle in your blog bio and include references in individual blog posts

- You can even add a widget, like the Twitter Badge that pulls in our Tweets to your blog

- For consumer brands on Twitter or those creating a product promotion strategy Twitter, provide incentives for people to follow you. Create a Twitter contest.
Just remember, no matter how you get people to your Twitter stream, it is ultimately up to you to provide enough value in the content you are posting to keep your followers coming back.

Will mentions the SEO benefits of Twitter in his Corporate Reputation Management post. Test it out, Google your Twitter handle and see where it comes up in search results - should be at the top of the page.

Finally, for those of you wondering about Twitter and Media Relations, check out Brian’s post from this morning.

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UPDATE:

Many of you had questions regarding the value of following or having thousands of followers. Chris Brogan gives his insights on how he manages this feat. I agree in his thinking that Twitter at volume is NOT for everyone, and in order to manage successfully one should be very comfortable with Twitter and be actively participating in the Twittersation througout the day. Here are Chris’s main goals will Twittering at volume:
- Be Helpful

- Be Informative

- Be Human

- Be Responsive

Yesterday afternoon John Bell and I delivered “Twitter Bootcamp for PR”, a one-hour training Webinar for public relations professionals hosted by the Bulldog Reporter’s PR University. During the workshop, we shared key strategies and best practices on how organizations can participate in social media through microblogging platforms such as Twitter.

A recording of the Webinar will be made available to people who registered and attended the event. However, we wanted to share a copy of our presentation deck with our readers, which includes more than 60 sides featuring the basics of Twitter, key strategies, PR best practices, and real life case studies.

You can download the full Twitter PR Strategies PPT deck, or view it on Slideshare:

Here a few things you will learn:

• New Opportunities: How you can use Twitter and the business opportunities available
• Best Practices & Case Studies: How leading companies are using Twitter right now for internal communications, community outreach, client contact and PR campaigns
• Strategic Planning: How to integrate Twitter into your PR program as soon as possible
• Mastering the Twitpitch: How journalists prefer (or don’t prefer) to be contacted and pitched on Twitter
• How to use Twitter, step by step: A breakdown of how the service works and how to get started
• Pitfalls to Avoid: common mistakes made when communicators use Twitter, and how to sidestep them

In addition, the 360 Digital Influence team has created a series of blog posts about Twitter and PR strategies here on the 360 Digital Influence blog. Here’s a list of the existing posts:

Twitter Best Practices

The Twitter Strategy Blog Series (see the infographic below)
#1 Customer Relations

#2: Crisis Communications

#3: Corporate Reputation Management

#4: Event Coverage and Promotion

#5: Sales and Promotions

#6: Non-Profit and Issues Advocacy

Check back this week, we’ll be posting some of the questions and answers that were posed during yesterday’s workshop. And, in the meantime, check out some additional Twitter resources on our del.icio.us page.

Twitter can be a great tool for non-profits and issue advocacy organizations to create community and provide useful information to those they serve, volunteers, donors and other supporters. Twitter’s ability to connect people with similar interests can be harnessed for the greater social good if people follow a few key best practices.

The American Red Cross is doing a great job using Twitter through their handle @RedCross.   In the interest of full disclosure, I used to work in the communications department at the Red Cross, but I think the success of @RedCross is pretty apparent, with their more than 2,000 followers and successful engagements using Twitter.   I spoke with Wendy Harman and Claire Johnson, the social media gurus at the Red Cross, to find out the secrets to using Twitter as a non-profit organization.

Harman said that she attributes the success to having a clear goal of what they were trying to accomplish using Twitter. ” We started with a very small focus and tactical use for Twitter: to get important info out to affected people in the immediate aftermath of a disaster. There was not a single thought towards marketing or even public relations – it was purely public information no one else was putting out.”   Since then, one of the most popular and most retweeted features of @RedCross has been preparedness tips.   They also engaged followers with a very popular “roadblock” in September where they encouraged their supporters to tweet about the Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund or change their Twitter avatar to one of a few specially created avatars.   You can read all about the “roadblock” on Red Cross Chat or Beth’s blog.

Here are some best practices to consider if your organization wants to start using Twitter:

1. Follow: As with all the previous Twitter strategies, use Twitter Search to find people interested in your subject area.   Follow other non-profits (even your competitors), industry consultants, thought leaders and cause enthusiasts (@kanter, @ntenhross, @beautifulthangs, @SocialBttrfly, @peterdeitz), and of course people discussing your cause.   Also, it is really important to follow most of the people that are following you.   If your cause matters to them, what they have to say is important to you and your success on twitter.   Be sure to do regular Twitter Searches to see who is mentioning your organization and what they are saying.

2.Create Content:   Start out with a clear goal and provide information that is useful to your followers.   The cardinal rule of fundraising is to talk about your donors and the issues that matter to them.   Don’t focus on your organization or you will lose people’s interest.   This rule applies to Twitter as well.   People follow other people and organizations that provide them with something useful.     Claire Johnson said, “If you think of twitter as a public service that your organization provides, rather than a marketing tool, you should be in good shape.”   The Red Cross tweets preparedness tips and disaster information; the American Cancer Society tweets cancer prevention information; the National Wildlife Federation tweets interesting facts about animals.   Think about what kind of value your organization can provide to your followers and then tweet about those things.

3. Engage: Once you have followers and content, you can start engaging with the people who follow you.   Use @ replies to respond to people who mention your organization after you find them in Twitter Search.   You could also respond to people who follow you with a quick thank you and perhaps a question to find out about why they chose to follow your organization.   @BFAS sent me a quick note after I followed them yesterday, and it was a great personal touch that helped me connect with their organization.   After you have a strong base of followers, you can start doing more involved engagement strategies, like the Red Cross “roadblock” or perhaps a Twitter-thon to raise money for your organization.

Here are some other non-profit and issue advocacy Twitter handles that you can follow to see what other groups are doing:

@RedCross                                                                @OxFam

@socialactions                                                       @HumaneSociety

@AmericanCancer                                             @NWF

@Care2News                                                           @greenpeaceUSA

@idealist_org                                                         @AIDSgov

@BFAS                                                                         @amnesty

@womenshealth                                               @greenversations

What are your favorite non-profits to follow on Twitter?   Do you have any best practices to share that have worked for your organization?   Join the conversation here in the comments or on Twitter, my handle is @SarahMarchetti.