Running head: A SOCIAL MEDIA PROGRAM PROPOSAL FOR BUILDSAVINGS
A Social Media Program Proposal for BuildSavings Amy E. A. Casey University of the Rockies
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Abstract This purpose of this report is to synthesize researched information on the creation of a social media measurement & monitoring plan designed for Turf Terminators, doing business as BuildSavings. At this writing, BuildSavings has a Facebook page with over fifteen-thousand likes and the organization may benefit from expanding its engagement on this platform as well as an expansion to other platforms. The Blanchard and Kelly texts were used as a guide in the development, design, and implementation of a brand awareness campaign and social media program for BuildSavings. The content and platforms suggested in this report reflect the organization’s goal of being the “one-stop-in-home-shopping” for energy efficient home improvements. The social media program acknowledges the distinction between engagement, measurement, and monitoring, and identifies tools most well suited for the needs of BuildSavings. The company faces a bit of a challenge since changing its name from Turf Terminators after receiving millions of dollars in rebates from the Metropolitan Water Company. Allegations of foul play include making Mayor Garcetti campaign donations as a form of payment for press acknowledgements from the mayor himself touting the drought tolerant landscaping company’s free services. Keywords: BuildSavings, social media, engagement, monitoring, measurement, tools, social networking sites, Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, brand awareness, home improvement, energy efficiency, landscaping, Turf Terminators
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A Social Media Program Proposal for BuildSavings This report has been prepared expressly for BuildSavings and its Board of Directors. BuildSavings approached Casey Consulting with a RFP for the design, development, and implementation of a social media program. Casey Consulting has spent six weeks researching BuildSavings’ current social media presence to develop an aggressive social media campaign. This report is the culmination of all the information produced related to the development of the social media campaign, including a governing company policy on the protocol of its use. BuildSavings: A Company Analysis Turf Terminators, a turf removal and drought tolerant landscaping service organization recently closed its doors to new business in July 2015, and is now doing business as (dba) BuildSavings. BuildSavings offers drought tolerant landscaping and other energy efficiency home improvement services such as ultra-violet (UV) reflective texturized paint, windows and doors, pavers, gutters, and rainwater catch systems. BuildSavings will rely on the Turf Terminator customer base for prospecting but the brand is new and has a minimal social media presence. A Google Alert for BuildSavings shows no results for the query. Developing a Brand Awareness Campaign (BAC) includes aligning social media strategy program goals to existing Build Savings business goals. By setting realistic targets and determining what metrics will measure progress, the research will have the anticipated result of an accurate assessment of the BAC’s success. Developing a reliable BAC will incorporate best practices to ensure that the program’s success is measured in an ethical, accurate, and consistent manner. A reliable BAC model includes monitoring and requires continuous learning and adaptation to improve its validity and reliability (Blanchard, 2011).
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BuildSavings is a young company experienced in processing state funded rebates for turf removal by replacing it with drought tolerant landscaping. The prospective target market of Turf Terminators was customers seeking free landscaping. With the inability to process rebates for customers, the company may have limited resources to dedicate to developing a social media strategy (Hunt, 2013). However, Turf Terminators had some web presence and the existing campaigns may be applicable to the new brand. A reliable BAC model includes monitoring and requires continuous learning and adaptation to improve its validity and reliability (Blanchard, 2011). Turf Terminators had received negative comments on social media networking sites (SNSs) including Yelp, Twitter, Google+, Yahoo, LinkedIn, Instagram, and television news stories about the company’s unresponsiveness and inability to deliver contracted services. Now BuildSavings is targeting Turf Terminator prospects who were not able to take advantage of the rebate, and faces the challenge of improving a negative brand image to a company with excellent customer service. BuildSavings is striving to separate itself from the controversial press surrounding unsatisfied Turf Terminator customers and the organization is scrambling to service its outstanding contracts at a rate of over sixty installations per day. Building a brand awareness campaign and social media platform for BuildSavings is imminent, but a cautious approach is recommended due to the existing controversy surrounding the sudden revocation of government rebates and the dissatisfaction of contracted Turf Terminator customers. Once the existing contractual obligations have been met, BuildSavings will be free of any negative association with its previous brand image and may benefit from increased brand awareness from the completion of all outstanding services.
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BuildSavings scored 21 out of 100 on the preliminary Social Media ROI Assessment (Kelly, 2012), leaving plenty of room for improvement. This report is being generated as a contribution to BuildSavings on the corporate level from a social media expert and strategist. The company is in need of a dedicated employee for the design, development, implementation, and maintenance of a Brand Awareness Campaign. BuildSavings has a clearly defined target audience of homeowners who are concerned about energy efficiency and seek solutions to save money on water, electricity, and maintenance costs. The company has identified its niche as Turf Terminator prospects who missed the rebate and were unable to take advantage of free landscaping services. Once the Turf Terminators customer and prospect list has been exhausted, BuildSavings will need to find other resources for lead generation. Although Turf Terminators’ existing customer base may be concerned about energy efficiency and water savings, these customers were interested in the services only because the rebate made the services free. Converting existing Turf Terminator customers into BuildSavings customers may be challenging since there are no more rebates available. BuildSavings was created as a new brand to deliver excellent services to existing customers in the face of the exhausted rebate program and the inability of Turf Terminators to effectively meet contractual obligations. Build Savings as a brand was founded on excellent customer service and the organization is focused on increased brand awareness in the target markets. The executive team may see the benefit and support a brand awareness campaign and social media strategy designed in alignment with the corporate goals of BuildSavings. BuildSavings is customer-centric and its sales consultants are trained to educate prospects on energy efficiency home improvements and financing options to meet every homeowner’s needs.
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Social Media Strategy Corporate objectives often lose meaning in translation from the desk of visionary leaders to the Internet. Developing a social media strategy with clear, concise, measurable objectives starts with understanding the anticipated results from participation in social media. BuildSavings is a start-up company with the intention of providing energy efficient home improvement solutions to Southern California property owners. The organization’s existing social media presence is limited to Facebook ‘likes’ and it lacks any organized engagement schedule or plan to increase qualified prospective customers and referrals. An untapped resource is online communications with existing satisfied customers by increasing comments and organizational engagement. This paper explores the anticipated results from implementation of Simply Measured and its toolkit on developing a social media strategy. Determining a social media strategy platform for a business is as complex as researching every available tool on the market. A recent AdWeek infographic reported that 74 percent of consumers’ purchasing decisions were influenced by a business’ social media posts, and that 47 percent of respondents said that Facebook was the top influence for those decisions (Veeranna, 2015). Studies have shown that social media is a significant strategy for businesses, but how can a business decide how to develop a strategy with a constantly changing social media platform? Researching web-based social media strategy tools online returns thousands of results, including opinions of bloggers and trade publications. Selecting an effective social media strategy tool includes understanding organizational goals, creating measureable objectives, identifying the target population, researching the competition, developing key corporate messages, selecting appropriate social media channels, and building a content plan (Foster, 2015). Social media statistics are staggering, in so much as millennials consider email
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communication passé, universities have stopped issuing student email accounts, kindergarten students are using iPads instead of classroom chalkboards, and grandparents are the fastest growing demographic on Twitter (Qualman, 2012). BuildSavings currently has 13,346 page likes on Facebook, but the organization’s new page likes (285) are down 46.3% since last week (BuildSavings, n.d.). The organization may benefit from a social media strategy tool that can contribute to a more systematic approach to social media marketing. On its existing Facebook page, the pitch states: Here is how it works: one of our representatives will come to your home and evaluate your home's water and energy efficiency FOR FREE. After evaluating your home, our representative will make recommendations to you about which of our services may best help you reduce your water or energy bills or improve your property's value. If you like what you hear, you can sign up for one of our services and choose a payment plan. If not, no worries - our at-home consultations are 100% FREE of charge and you have no obligations to move forward with us (BuildSavings, n.d., para. 1). A common misconception when it comes to social media strategy development is that setting a social media goal is the tough part and that hitting the goal is the simple part, which is opposite of the truth when goal setting is done correctly. The first steps in developing a social media strategy for BuildSavings are (1) to educate the founding partners on the importance of social media and the value it can bring to the organization as a source for qualified leads and referrals; (2) to set the course of the most publicly visible channel (Facebook), and (3) to become an integral stakeholder on the marketing team (Shively, 2014). Key performance indicators (KPIs) may be used to explain and validate social media strategic decisions backed by measureable, quantifiable data.
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Simply Measured Simply Measured is “A passionate team of data geeks focused on developing the best social analytics solution in the world” (Shively, 2014). Many organizations make the common mistake of starting with individual metrics when goal setting, for example a specific number of replies on Twitter. This type of metric according to Simply Measured is a key performance indicator (KPI). The real question when setting a social media goal is “why?” Why is getting a specific number of replies on Twitter important? (Shively, 2014, para. 15). Using a framework based on objectives and key results can guide BuildSavings in developing an over-arching objective, such as generating excitement over its products and services. This type of objective informs key results and in turn, the overall social media strategic plan. An objective should be a qualitative, aggressive, and achievable statement that applies to overall business goals that are measured and quantifiable at the end of a specific time period (Shively, 2014). If BuildSavings’ primary objective is to be the industry leader in FREE in-home energy efficiency analysis, the company is on the right track. It seems the Facebook identity is a bit off-track and includes somewhat of a bait-and-switch effect since the ‘representative’ being sent out is actually a 100% commissioned salesperson. A more effective objective may sound something like, “BuildSavings’ objective is to be the one-stop shopping brand for social media conversations on the topic of energy efficient home improvement projects.” In order to determine whether or not the objective is a realistic goal, identify the components of the objective that need to be measured: (1) one-stop shopping; (2) social media conversations; and (3) information on energy efficient home improvement projects. Breaking the organization’s objective into components sets an organizational baseline that allows all members of the corporate culture to identify, understand, and contribute to organizational goals (Shively,
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2014). Focusing on BuildSavings’ content strategy means specific, measureable goals such as X-number of likes and comments from actual satisfied customers and Y-number of comments from prospective customers to specific Facebook content generated by BuildSavings surrounding energy efficient home improvement projects. When building key results, determine whether or not the objective will be achieved it all of the key results are met. Simply Measured tools provide the crucial component of social analytics (Shively, 2014). BuildSavings has a sizeable audience on Facebook as an available resource for engagement. Its current use is limited to ‘like’ tracking and virtually no consistency in content sharing, with the same repeated information of a FREE in-home visit, which is not the best pre-qualifier for closing a sale. Is BuildSavings a consumer education business or a for-profit energy efficiency home improvement products and services organization? Understanding where BuildSavings is presently is essential to developing the direction the organization’s Facebook presence needs to go. An industry report on comparable energy efficiency home improvement solutions organizations may provide a deeper understanding of what it will take BuildSavings to get there. Internally, BuildSavings corporate culture is customer service oriented, but its Facebook page has no content on the topic. There are no customer testimonials, and no posts or comments from actual customers. Lots of ‘likes’ does not equal a successful social media strategy. A reasonable key result goal may be to increase customer engagement and comments by X% over the next quarter through improved content and consistent posts. Key results should be measurable, trackable, and controllable for increased tangibility. The next step is to build a plan for each key result, such as responding to X Tweets per day that mention the keyword “BuildSavings,” or being mentioned in Y% of Tweets on the topic
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of artificial turf. Developing Z pieces of sharable content each week with deadlines will increase the odds of success. Working backwards into a social media strategy may seem challenging at first, but this method may increase results and keep workers accountable for sticking to the social media plan. Goals should be continuously monitored and revised consistently based on team and management feedback. Flexibility is the key component to success, with ability for accommodating adjustments in response to regular objective reevaluations (Shively, 2014). BuildSavings may benefit from the services of Simply Measured in developing a social media strategy for the organization that effectively reflects the its internally stated business goal of being a customer-centric one-stop shopping service provider to Southern California property owners seeking information and improved energy efficiency home improvement solutions. The company’s existing social media presence is limited to Facebook and approximately 13K likes. Incorporating corporate business objectives into its social media presence has the anticipated outcome of increased qualified prospective customers through specific, active engagement with current customers as the source for lead generation and referrals. Implementing the suggested strategy will aid not only in the improvement of the social media presence of BuildSavings, but also in its growth and profitability. Social Media Audit The focus of this paper is to research and identify tools used to conduct a social media audit. The target organization is BuildSavings, a “one-stop-shopping” in-home products and services organization for energy efficient home renovations. The company is less than two years old, and claims to get many leads from its Facebook presence. Its service offerings include Cool Wall texturized coating, rainwater catch systems, drought tolerant landscaping, artificial grass, and UV reflective windows. This paper will review the functionality of AccuRanker, Google
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Analytics, Social Crawlytics, Mention, and Barometer, and the importance of each as a part of the social media program for BuildSavings. The social media content calendar is an integral part of a social media strategy as an organizational tool for tracking and scheduling content across many platforms. An audit of BuildSavings existing social media presence revealed that the organization could improve upon its social media strategy, and would most likely benefit from the use of several available tools. A Google search with the keywords ‘social media auditing tool’ returns 1,710,000 results in the past month, which indicates there is a lot of information on the Internet. There are many tools for organizations today to choose from to support its specific social media strategy. Just as there is no “one size fits all” social media strategy, there is not one preferred method to audit its progress. Selecting a tool that could be used to conduct a social media audit of BuildSavings is challenging in that the tool must be free, and readily available for immediate use. The tool must be immediately accessible online, or in the form of a checklist or worksheet so that the author may use the tool for analysis without special permission from BuildSavings. The tool selected for the audit should not require a company login or password in order to protect the organization’s right to privacy. The tool should be comprehensive in the areas of customer service tracking, prospective customer development, lead qualification, and appointment setting so it aligns with organizational objectives. The intention of the paper is to select a free social media toolkit used to audit BuildSavings from a social media perspective. Conducting a social media audit consists of creating an inventory of existing content by documenting the following: (a) page title; (b) URL; (c) date originally posted; (d) date last updated; (e) page views for the past 1-2 years; (f) bounce
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rate; (g) SEO keyword; (h) SEO meta description; (i) SEO title; (j) page description; (k) content owner; (l) content status; (m) any files associated with page; (n) date to check the page again (Bowen, 2015). Without a tool, this process may be arduous to say the least, not to mention extremely time consuming and labor intensive, not to mention reduced accuracy due to increased risk of error due to manual processing. AccuRanker AccuRanker is an online tool that can be monitored online by inputting an organization’s URL and keywords. BuildSavings average rank is 69.5, and there are six keywords listed for both desktop and mobile: artificial turf, attic insulation, artificial grass, cool wall, drought tolerant landscaping, and UV reflective windows. This tool allows the end user to connect to Google Analytics (GA), which gives AccuRanker permission to pull traffic, goals, and ecommerce numbers for the domain. Another option is to connect the Google Search Console (GSC) account to AccuRanker, which allows the tool to pull keywords from GSC. According to AccuRanker analytics, the keywords “attic insulation savings” ranks the highest of all keywords at 36 out of an average monthly Google search volume of 20 on the desktop Google platform and 104 on the mobile Google search engine. None of the other keywords were in the top 500 results on either Google or Bing search engines although artificial turf, cool wall, and UV reflective windows ranked “not in the top 100” using the Bing search engine on the desktop platform. These are interesting statistics, considering the author recently went through sales training and attic insulation was absent as a BuildSavings product offering. The social media tab shows 51,779 shares and likes on Facebook, seven shares on Twitter, one share on Google+, and zero shares on LinkedIn. AccuRanker clearly shows areas in need of improvement for BuildSavings. The Google Grump rating is a unique algorithm that
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was built to calculate the average number of rank changes, across the top 100 results per keyword. This proprietary piece of software was designed to monitor 28,000 randomly selected keywords and split results between mobile and desktop, 50/50. Google Grump loops all 100 rankings and compares them to the previous day, and if the URL has dipped or fluctuated, it is subtracted from its position the day before. Google Grump calculates a final index number for a given keyword by finding the sum of all the differences and dividing this by the number of results (normally 100). Then, each keyword index is compared and averaged to calculate the Google Grump Rating, which was “Chilled” on the date of this writing. Google Analytics Google Analytics is a robust tool that is readily available for registered Gmail users. Since the author does not have the organization’s permission to login to the company’s Gmail account, this tool is inaccessible for a social media audit at this writing. However, Google Analytics (GA) is a robust tool with online training available on how to use it, including showing users how to setup a daily summary email. Reading analytical information is the first step, but in order to observe trends, GA allows users to annotate graphs to keep track of spikes or dips in website traffic (Cleary, 2013). Setting up goals in GA is an important step for any organization to be able to analyze social media traffic effectively. For example, a goal of increased email subscriptions may be recorded by tracking the number of new subscribers. When a new subscriber signs up, the subscriber is brought to a “Thank You” page, which is recorded by GA. The analytics will show how the number of views compared to the number of click-throughs to the thank you page, which will show what percentage of users went to the site but did not subscribe (Cleary, 2013).
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Another feature of GA is that it can be integrated with Google Webmaster Tools (GWT). GWT is an essential component for social media tracking, as it provides a lot of information about how a website performs by linking GA information related to how traffic arrives to the website. Another excellent tip is to be sure that the administrator’s activity is removed from GA reports by excluding non-unique visitor statistics and administrator internet (IP) addresses from GA statistics. GA also allows users to create alerts for specific traffic patterns of highs and lows to supplement weekly analytics, which may be a useful indicator of when to promote the website to dissuade a dip from reoccurring (Cleary, 2013). A social media expert or administrator should be responsible for suggesting changes to the website based on his or her analysis of page analytics, such as where users are clicking on the webpage, and what is not being clicked as indicators of what is and what is not working. Social Crawlytics This tool found six shares on Twitter and zero shares on Facebook, Google+, Pinterest, and LinkedIn. This is a useful tool in analyzing which posts were shared most often amongst its Facebook friends, not a metric of which posts resulted in the most traffic to the company website. Social Crawlytics is simple to use by entering the website URL into the box provided and wait for the report to generate. Buffer The social media content calendar is an essential tool to any social media strategy. As simple as it may sound, an organized content calendar is how a social media strategy is implemented, and plans communications with the intended audience through social networking sites (SNSs). Specifically, the social media content calendar should outline not only the type of content, but also where it will be posted. The BuildSavings brand can use a social media
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editorial calendar to see the big picture of all campaigns and all channels; identify the most effective days and times to publish content; track campaign intersections and measure results; track content status; and plan campaign content in advance by scheduling posts for publishing. Although spreadsheets are the most basic form of content tracking, they can quickly get large and out of control. Some available tools on the market to consider are CoSchedule, Trello, Buffer, or Edgar (Berger, 2015). Buffer is an effective social media content calendar tool that is cost effective and allows the scheduling of content for specific dates and times on specified platforms. Separate Tools vs. All-In-One Suite The tools mentioned so far in this article have one thing in common, that they each stay hyper-focused on one angle of social media analysis, and they do it amazingly well. Although the beginning social media auditor and strategist may benefit from the convenience of an all-inone program such as HootSuite, using a variety of social media management tools has some advantages. Another advantage for a growing start-up company like BuildSavings is that although the marketing department may currently consist of only one person, the company’s planned growth will demand a multifaceted marketing team with a different team member taking responsibility for each aspect of its social media strategy, who in turn will have an opportunity to become an expert in a specific aspect of social media. Using specific tools for each task ensures that each social media expert has the best possible technology to ensure the best results. The results of the social media audit clearly indicate that BuildSavings current social media presence is limited and absent in many platforms. Understanding which posts got the most shares and the most traffic can inform the social media strategy for the following year. Not only does the data indicate that Facebook has the most market share; it also indicated that it is the
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SNS with the most traffic. This informs the social media strategy in that more content should be focused towards Facebook in 2016. Social Media Campaign This paper uses BuildSavings as a case study for the development of a social media strategy and brand awareness campaign. The company aims to be the “one stop shopping spot” for energy efficient home improvement products and services, which currently include artificial turf, windows and doors, roofing, energy efficient exterior paint, and pavers. The company was founded as Turf Terminators as a servicing organization to help consumers take advantage of rebates in California designed to save water in the midst of a drought by removing turf and replacing it with drought tolerant landscaping. BuildSavings currently has a Facebook page with over fourteen-thousand likes but there is no evidence of a social media marketing campaign that addresses brand awareness and reputation management. Designing a social media strategy and brand awareness campaign based on strategic listening has the anticipated outcome of improved target audience identification as well as increased lead generation, sales, and profitability. Brand awareness is a key component of a marketing plan, and ways to get the target customer to know about, want, and need the product and services offered. Traditionally famous brand awareness campaigns appeared in mass medium such as TV commercials, radio spots, and print advertising. Many people may remember Wendy’s “Where’s the beef?” commercials and the Faberge Organics shampoo lady multiplying, “and she told two friends and so on, and so on…” (Faberge Organics, n.d.). Other big brands such as Nike (Be like Mike!) and Coke (Coke is it!) have spent billions of dollars over several decades for the possibility that anyone watching or listening may remember the brand name. Today, social media costs are mere fractional pennies to the dollar compared to the costs of traditional media brand awareness campaigns, so
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many companies are changing focus to social media for brand awareness (Kelly, 2012). This paper will use BuildSavings, an energy efficiency home improvement services organization as a case study to create a social media campaign designed to improve the business’s brand. Turf Terminators is an organization that registered the doing business as (dba) name of BuildSavings in July of 2015, when the Los Angeles County government broke the news that the rebate program funds had been exhausted (Klemack, 2015). Turf Terminators is a company that was founded for the sole purpose of collecting rebates being offered to Metropolitan Water District customers living in California for removing turf (grass) and replacing it with drought tolerant landscaping (DTL) to save water. Turf Terminator customers received free services, since the company accepted the $3/square foot rebate as payment in full for replacing grass with DTL. Recently, Turf Terminators has been under scrutiny for being connected to Mayor Eric Garcetti through various seemingly coincidental campaign donations that were suspiciously received just prior to Garcetti’s State of the City address in April 2014. During his speech, Garcetti specifically mentioned Turf Terminators, “…an L.A. company that leverages rebates to replace water-guzzling lawns with beautiful water-wise plants,” (“CBS2 investigates,” 2015, para. 2). Metropolitan Water District records show that Turf Terminators has received over $23 million in rebates to remove turf from approximately ten-thousand properties, and that over $21 million remain for rebates that have not yet been processed (“CBS2 investigates,” 2015). BuildSavings is currently using the list of Turf Terminator customers who missed the rebate program as the primary source for lead generation. The call center calls prospective customers of Turf Terminators and schedules a ‘free consultation’ with a BuildSavings salesperson to discuss energy efficient home improvement projects. The salesperson is then
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supposed to complete a ‘one-call close’ and sign a contract on the first visit. This is challenging for many reasons, but the focus of this report is to create a brand awareness campaign with the anticipated outcome of improved lead generation based on social media presence and target customer brand awareness. Current Social Media Presence One challenge many companies have with social media and brand awareness is that the audience of social media is personal. Active social networking site (SNS) users do not participate in social media to connect with a brand; people actively participate on SNSs to connect with other people (Kelly, 2012). Social media is where an organization forms a relationship between its brand and its audience. On SNSs, the audience cares about others’ relationship with the brand, not the brand itself. Therefore, the value of social media branding focuses on the value customers receive from the products and services, and how it feels to do business with the brand (Kelly, 2012). When a customer shares his or her experience or relationships with the people that work for the brand, then the brand itself receives acknowledgement and value. BuildSavings currently has a Facebook page with 14,997 ‘likes’ and these prospective customers now have control of the brand image. Unlike a traditional Chief Marketing Officer’s goal to ‘control the brand,’ social media branding is an opportunity to engage and influence through gentle correction of misperceptions or mistakes to come out on top (Kelly, 2012). Whether the company realizes it or not, the first step in the sales process is brand awareness. How many people do you know who would agree to purchase a $10k drought tolerant landscaping project on the first meeting with a company (what was the name)? “Wait, how is this company related to Turf Terminators? I called them and I waited forever and then missed
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the rebates? They had bad customer service and there were many complaints on the news because they left all those folks out in the cold without any rebates left. That company was just on the news for something about allegedly fraudulent campaign donations. The first step in every sale is brand awareness. Prospective customers who discover a company’s existence on his/her own have the highest potential for conversion (Kelly, 2012). Designing a strategic listening approach to brand awareness allows an organization to let prospective customers consider whether BuildSavings products and services are a good fit. The net effect of a brand awareness campaign is an opportunity to build a pipeline similar to the old Faberge shampoo commercial ideology, “and they told two friends, and so on, and so on…” (Faberge Organics, n.d.). Every brand awareness campaign must be accompanied by reputation management (Kelly, 2012). Protecting BuildSavings positive reputation on SNSs is an essential counterpart to brand awareness and includes the minimization of any negative publicity as well as engagement in positive communications. One challenge BuildSavings is facing by using Turf Terminators prospect list, is that Turf Terminators does not have a positive reputation amongst those on that list, since the list is comprised of the folks who missed the rebates and applied online free services. Using this list as prospects for BuildSavings products and services is a bit too close for comfort for some to a “bait and switch” advertising campaign, where folks signed up with Turf Terminators for free turf removal and drought tolerant landscaping, and now a salesperson is in the living room offering a 20-year financing program for a $12K project. The good news is that BuildSavings is already aware of the potentially damaging connection with Turf Terminators and fully aware of all its prospective customer complaints. Reputation management needs to happen in real time to appease customers’ concerns about what
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is being said in the news (Kelly, 2012). Even if no one is directly, posting on BuildSavings Facebook page any doubts about the company and its possible involvement in the alleged campaign donation scandal surrounding Turf Terminators, BuildSavings has the ability to create an online conversation that may spread in real time, making an opportunity to engage an audience out of potentially negative publicity. Ignoring such claims increase the risk of brand damage, which is much harder to repair (remember the taste of soap?). It is never too late for a brand to regain its audience, but without a quick and honest response, there is no conversation happening, and BuildSavings reputation is at risk. Designing a Brand Awareness Campaign Understanding BuildSavings target market is essential to the design of a brand awareness campaign. It’s not enough to open a Facebook page and change the cover photo every day and post an encouraging comment, “Visit www.BuildSavings.com and click ‘Get Started’ to set up a FREE in-home consultation today!” (BuildSavings, 2015, para. 1). Brand awareness captures the attention of the target audience by posting or commenting on content that is of interest to prospective customers (Kelly, 2012). This can be accomplished by researching the social media platform itself, in this case, Facebook. Using a SNS monitoring tool is extremely beneficial for any company to discover the ‘heartbeat’ of its industry. By using Google Alerts to search for the primary product offerings (artificial turf, windows and doors, roofing, energy efficient exterior paint, pavers), BuildSavings can begin to understand its audience by learning what folks are talking about online, what concerns they have, and what they want or need. Google Alerts will alert the registered user of any mention of the keywords entered on a real-time, daily, or weekly basis. The next step is to review the information for a comment, thread, or topic that BuildSavings can comment on, share,
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or retweet, to encourage a compelling conversation. The goal of this exercise is to answer the question, “How can BuildSavings add value?” The next level of strategic listening is at the social networking site level, by using a tool such as Mention that monitors Facebook and Twitter for any ‘mention’ of the keywords entered (Berger, 2015). This is a tool that can be used for monitoring specific terms relating to BuildSavings, including the company name itself. Using Mention as a monitoring tool may reveal what actual customers are posting or tweeting about the brand and his or her personal experiences. Imagine how powerful it would be to retweet a mention from a satisfied customer and then to post it to the cover fourteen thousand Facebook friends! Interpreting the information being monitored takes time and practice, and retweeting a mention that says, “I love @buildsavings!” is the best possible circumstance, but probably not what is being discovered most of the time. Monitoring social media for brand awareness includes how people feel about BuildSavings (brand sentiment), how people feel about the competition (competitor sentiment), and what people are saying about energy efficient home renovation projects (industry conversation) (Kelly, 2012). Mastering the skill of strategic listening is the gateway to accessing business intelligence that will enable any organization to make informed business decisions. The next step is to create a content calendar such as Buffer (Berger, 2015) with informed content fueled by what folks are saying on social media. BuildSavings could post an article on LinkedIn surrounding the controversy of artificial grass as an alternative to turf since it is not an organic material and eventually will need to be addressed. The responses to this type of conversation may be powerful enough for BuildSavings to change its product and service offerings. The key to designing a brand campaign is to keep in mind that it is a long-term plan
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that will change with the times, like the ebb and flow of the tide. Social media and brand management is fluid, not static like traditional mass media communications platforms, and deserves full-time, real-time attention. Defining specific, achievable brand awareness goals will get BuildSavings going on the social media strategy bandwagon. A general goal of “generating brand awareness” is too broad of a task to accomplish and will be comprised of milestones that may change mid-stream. Think of social media strategy like changing the tire on a moving vehicle. The internet does not stop. Social media never sleeps. The plan is a guide that is informed with information that may change its path in the middle of the marathon. BuildSavings Facebook posts currently attempt to drive folks to the website for more information or to “sign up.” However, a call for action that is not in response to a cry for help is often ignored. Alternatively, responding to a blog post, comment, or tweet with valuable content may encourage an increase in website traffic. Inspirational posts and contests are another way to attract attention, such as a referral gets 10 free boulders campaign (a $400 value). What about having a “worst before picture contest” for current customers where the winner gets a free upgrade? The ways to embrace social media communication are endless but the key is strategic listening. What are other businesses doing on Facebook resulting in engagement and active participation? Listening to the target audience will always inform BuildSavings what the audience wants and needs. What may be a target audience niche for BuildSavings? Perhaps condominium associations would want to keep common charges down by replacing grass areas with artificial turf or drought tolerant landscaping. Another potential customer could be cities and public grassy areas or sidewalks with trees in them. These are examples of business-to-business (B2B) opportunities that social media monitoring tools may reveal through strategic listening.
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Discovering social media channels is another benefit of using monitoring tools such as Google Alerts and Mention. Where are folks commenting, posting, tweeting, and blogging? Another advantage of strategic listening is that it opens up the quadrant of “what we don’t know we don’t know” to organizations through the results of search and find algorithms utilized by engagement and monitoring tools. Metrics of Success Success can be measured by engagement, influencer mentions, and other quantitative data typically measured by return-on-investment (ROI) such as revenue, sales, and profitability. Is BuildSavings closing more deals, making more sales, and increasing profitability? Brainstorming, fleshing out ideas and prioritizing realistic and accomplishable goals with available resources will define BuildSavings social media strategy and how it can be accomplished (Kelly, 2012). The key component to creating a brand awareness campaign with reputation management is strategic listening. Understanding how the target audience feels about the brand, the competition, the industry, and product or service offerings is the key component to success (Kelly, 2012). Timely response to positive publicity is just as important as responses to customer complaints, as is involvement in industry conversations where BuildSavings may not have a presence. BuildSavings is in a unique position in that it may benefit from direct responses of prospects through feedback from its in-home sales consultants, and incorporating the use of social media as part of the sales experience while with a customer in his/her home and upon completion of a sale. Taking a selfie with a new customer and posting it online may increase referrals, leads, and ultimately sales.
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Using a tactical project planner for all key players such as WorkZone, SmartSheet, or Microsoft Project will ensure that all stakeholders are informed of the progress of its social media strategy and brand awareness campaign. Using a strategy evaluation matrix is a helpful tool to ensure all stakeholders are on the same page as far as setting expectations by outlining the pros, cons, and potential impact of each component. Great ideas are not always feasible, so Casey Consulting’s approach is to under promise and over deliver when it comes to designing BuildSavings first social media strategy and brand awareness campaign. Using available engagement, monitoring and measurement tools will inform strategic listening and justify time spent learning and understanding. Social Media Measurement and Monitoring This report intends to spearhead the creation of a social media measurement and monitoring plan designed to continuously evolve. BuildSavings has a social media presence on Facebook and may benefit from expanding to other platforms as well as assessing its current use of Facebook. The Blanchard and Kelly texts were used as a guide in the development, design, and implementation of a social media plan for BuildSavings, including a brand awareness campaign. The content and platforms suggested reflect the organization’s goal of being the “one-stop-in-home-shopping” for energy efficient home improvements. The program acknowledges the distinction between engagement, measurement, and monitoring, and selects tools most well suited for the needs of BuildSavings. BuildSavings’ business goal is to become the primary supplier of “one-stop-in-homeshopping” for energy efficient home improvements. The company has registered the doing business as (DBA) name BuildSavings in July 2015, and has been doing business since 2013 as
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Turf Terminators. The BuildSavings website displays its service offerings as artificial turf, windows and doors, roofing, energy efficient exterior paint, and pavers. Turf Terminators was founded to help homeowners take advantage of government rebate programs in Southern California, which were exhausted in July 2015. The company claims to get many leads dba as BuildSavings from its over fourteen-thousand Facebook friends. An audit of BuildSavings’ existing social media presence revealed that the organization might benefit from an updated social media strategy, including the implementation of several available tools as part of a larger social media measurement and monitoring plan. Engagement Many companies consider business development, communication, and its marketing strategy as an outbound model used to spread content and increase brand awareness by using push technology (Blanchard, 2011). The same channels and mechanisms used for monitoring and measurement may also be used for inbound purposes such as strategic listening of feedback and effectiveness analysis that may inform its social media strategy. An effective social media measurement and monitoring plan is one that is designed to evolve through strategic listening and engagement. Facebook. BuildSavings has invested in Facebook, and the site analytics show there are 2,205 people talking about this and 18,257 total page likes. That the number of likes has increased 22.3% from last week with 3,325 new page likes, an increase of 137.2% since last week. Although the increase in likes seems impressive, whether this campaign is successful depends on the goals. If the organization simply wants to get more likes each week than the last, then it has succeeded. However, what do these likes mean to BuildSavings? It seems that the company
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may benefit from more comments instead of likes, given that all the comments are being pushed from BuildSavings, with no customer comments. It is curious as to what is driving the exponential growth of likes if no new content is being generated. LinkedIn. There was only one update on the BuildSavings LinkedIn page and it is from over two months ago. It said that the company is hiring experienced, outside sales representatives with a call to action to send an email to
[email protected] if the reader is interested. According to its LinkedIn page, BuildSavings has 201-500 employees, but only eleven are on LinkedIn, and none of them are in upper management. The first course of action would be for the decision-makers of the company to associate his/her own LinkedIn page with BuildSavings, or create one if one does not exist. Creating a presence on LinkedIn may increase activity and encourage other workers to participate. LinkedIn can be used for many organizational goals, including recruiting, increased brand awareness, and larger issues such as social responsibility and how BuildSavings is being contribution to increased energy efficient home improvements. Another anticipated outcome of increased activity on LinkedIn is potential co-marketing opportunities or referral networks with other businesses. Industry-specific organizations can also be ‘followed’ on LinkedIn, and may present additional opportunities for BuildSavings to participate in industry events in the areas of energy efficiency and home improvements. Buffer. Buffer is a social media content management tool, which is an integral part of a comprehensive social media strategy. Although Buffer is not a social media platform, this tool is designed to schedule and track content across multiple platforms such as Facebook and LinkedIn. An organized content management tool simplifies the implementation of any social media strategy by planning communications with the intended audience through social
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networking sites (SNSs). Specifically, Buffer allows users to create content and schedule when, where, and how it will be shared, tweeted, or posted. One benefit of using Buffer as a social media editorial calendar is that it allows an organization to see the big picture of all existing campaigns and channels on one website. Some other features of Buffer are that it can identify the most effective days and times to publish content; track campaign intersections and measure results; track content status; and plan campaign content in advance by scheduling posts for publishing. Although spreadsheets are the most basic form of content tracking, they can quickly get large and out of control, whereas a social media content management tool allows an organization to schedule content on a specific date, time, and on a specified platform (Berger, 2015). Measurement Casey Consulting conducted a needs assessment for BuildSavings followed by a review of the functionality of available measurement tools. A measurement program is an essential component to the development of a comprehensive social media program for BuildSavings. AccuRanker, Google Analytics, and Social Crawlytics were selected for each one’s unique qualities and as a combination for increased effectiveness. Since the industry has not adopted a standard for social media measurement, every company has its own measure of success that may change from one social media campaign to the next (Kelly, 2012). Correlating social media metrics with the traditional measurements of sales volume, revenue, and cost can help executives understand the organization’s return on investment (ROI). AccuRanker. AccuRanker is an online tool that can uses an organization’s URL and keywords to measure its social media presence. BuildSavings’ average rank is 69.5 (desktop and mobile) using the keywords: artificial turf, attic insulation, cool wall, attic insulation, drought
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tolerant landscaping, pavers and UV reflective windows. AccuRanker has a feature that connects to Google Analytics (GA) with permission to collect additional data to measure traffic, goals, and e- commerce numbers for the BuildSavings domain. AccuRanker also has the capability of connecting to the Google Search Console (GSC), which allows it to pull its keywords directly from the GSC. According to AccuRanker analytics, the keywords “attic insulation savings” rank the highest of all keywords at 36 out of an average monthly Google search volume of 20 on the desktop Google platform and 104 on the mobile Google search engine. None of the other keywords were in the top 500 results on either Google or Bing search engines and artificial turf, cool wall, and UV reflective windows were not in the top 100 using the Bing search engine on the desktop platform. These are interesting statistics, considering the sales training program does not include attic insulation as a BuildSavings offering, and attic insulation is not listed on the company website. This measurement tool clearly indicates that BuildSavings is not being found in search engines for its core businesses as listed on its website, but for attic insulation savings instead. Buffer can be used to schedule content on its core businesses and on additional platforms. Google Analytics. Google Analytics is a robust tool that is readily available for registered Gmail users. Since the author does not have the organization’s permission to login to the company’s Gmail account, this tool is inaccessible for a social media audit at this writing. However, Google Analytics (GA) is a robust tool with online training available on how to use it, including showing users how to setup a daily summary email. Reading analytical information is the first step, but in order to observe trends, GA allows users to annotate graphs to keep track of
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spikes or dips in website traffic (Cleary, 2013). Setting up goals in GA is an important step for any organization to be able to analyze social media traffic effectively. For example, a goal of increased email subscriptions may be recorded by tracking the number of new subscribers. When a new subscriber signs up, the subscriber is brought to a “Thank You” page, which is recorded by GA. The analytics will show how the number of views compared to the number of click-throughs to the thank you page, which will show what percentage of users went to the site but did not subscribe (Cleary, 2013). Another feature of GA is that it can be integrated with Google Webmaster Tools (GWT). GWT is an essential component for social media tracking, as it provides a lot of information about how a website performs by linking GA information related to how traffic arrives to the website. Another excellent tip is to be sure that the administrator’s activity is removed from GA reports by excluding non-unique visitor statistics and administrator internet (IP) addresses from GA statistics. GA also allows users to create alerts for specific traffic patterns of highs and lows to supplement weekly analytics, which may be a useful indicator of when to promote the website to dissuade a dip from reoccurring (Cleary, 2013). A social media expert or administrator should be responsible for suggesting changes to the website based on his or her analysis of page analytics, such as where users are clicking on the webpage, and what is not being clicked as indicators of what is and what is not working.
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Social Crawlytics. Social Crawlytics measures which posts where shared on social networking sites (SNSs) and how often. This tool found six shares on Twitter and zero shares on Facebook, Google+, Pinterest, and LinkedIn. This information combined with the number of Facebook likes may be insightful in that it seems no one who likes BuildSavings on Facebook is sharing anything about the organization. Social Crawlytics does not measure ‘click-throughs’ or how many posts resulted in traffic to the company website, it is only an indicator of what content was most popular amongst its social media audience. Social Crawlytics was selected because it is simple to use; the user enters the website URL into the box provided and waits for a report to generate. Monitoring Monitoring is just if not more important than measurement and engagement because if an organization misses content, how can it be measured and how can the company engage? It is important to make the distinction between measurement, engagement, and monitoring. Monitoring is how an organization can participate in strategic listening (Blanchard, 2011). Listening with purpose is the goal of monitoring, and may increase BuildSavings brand awareness, sales, referrals, and customer satisfaction. Monitoring identifies qualitative data that may need to be measured quantifiably. Mention. Mention is a tool that tracks a social media identity through its login and password. This monitoring tool connects a Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or Buffer account to receive alerts and allows users to manage multiple accounts in one platform. Mention empowers its users to react smartly in real-time to any mention: quote, retweet, share, like, comment without having to leave the application. Mention is an excellent tool for alerts that demand an
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immediate response, but also informs trends that may aid in creating ongoing content with the engagement scheduler, Buffer. Google Alerts. Google alerts is very simple to use and searches the entire internet for stories based on key words. This tool can be very helpful in designing content to be scheduled with Buffer. For example, if an alert is setup to track energy efficiency, a news article may be scheduled to be shared at a later time and date using Buffer. Google Alerts is an excellent tool to aid in long term planning for engagement and content creation. Turf Terminators has been in business for only two years and has been doing business as BuildSavings since July, 2015. The organization has some challenges based on the fact that Turf Terminators is under scrutiny for its involvement in an alleged campaign donation scandal that afforded the organization millions of dollars in rebates from Metropolitan Water District. BuildSavings is working diligently to build a social media presence through Facebook, and may benefit from these additional tools to continuously engage, monitor, and measure its success. Social Media Policy Any organization with a social media program may benefit from a policy that clearly governs its use and govern its use. Social media is a part of most people’s private lives, and it is inevitable that a person’s line of work or job will be mentioned at some point in an employee’s online participation. The complete policy for Turf Terminators dba BuildSavings can be found in the Appendix. The social media policy includes reminders to all employees on potential sensitive issues such as proprietary company information as well as the privacy of the individual. The company expects its employees to respect that all his/her social media contacts could be potential customers and to be honest, and take fiduciary responsibility to protect the business. Reputation
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management is a sensitive issue that may require the intervention of the social media manager. Any employee that breaks policy whether intentional or unintentional is urged to make an immediate correction and to notify management. The social media policy is a significant tool as a part of the fabric of corporate culture with the potential of becoming a huge asset in increasing brand awareness, referrals, and new business. Conclusion BuildSavings may benefit from the implementation and maintenance of a social media plan and policy. An organization that formally addresses its use of social media to engage, monitor and measure its audience of prospective and current customers may leverage and harness its power. Today, the internet is a viable resource that organizations can use for the strategic listening of its prospects and customer base. Thank you for the opportunity to serve BuildSavings through the implementation of a social media plan.
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References Berger, B. (2015, November 6). Four social media tools to dominate your online strategy. Ragan’s PR Daily. Retrieved from http://www.prdaily.com/socialmedia/Articles/4_social_media_tools_to_dominate_your_o nline_strat_19633.aspx Blanchard, O. (2011). Social media ROI: Managing and measuring social media efforts in your organization. Retrieved from http://bookshelf.vitalsource.com/#/books/9780132953665/cfi/0 Bowen, R. (2015, January 18). Five useful free tools for conducting a content audit. Rock the Deadline. Retrieved from http://rockthedeadline.com/blog/content-marketing/5-usefulfree-tools-for-conducting-a-content-audit/ BuildSavings. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.facebook.com/buildsavings CBS2 investigates L.A. Mayor’s campaign donations tied to landscaping company. (2015, November 19). Retrieved from http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2015/11/09/only-on-2cbs2-investigates-l-a-mayors-campaign-donations-tied-to-landscaping-company/ Cleary, I. (2013, April 29). Seven updates to make to Google Analytics after coffee to-day [Blog post]! Razor Social. Retrieved from http://www.razorsocial.com/training-googleanalytics/ Faberge Organics. (n.d.). Faberge organic shampoo [Television commercial]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgDxWNV4wWY Foster, J. (2015, May 12). How to build a social-media strategy that works. Retrieved from http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/246085
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Hunt, T. (2013). Five steps to determine the perfect social media strategy: Set the foundation for a successful social marketing strategy. Retrieved from https://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/social-media-marketing/5-steps-to-determine-theperfect-social-media-strategy/ Kelly, N. (2012). How to measure social media: A step-by-step guide to developing and accessing social media ROI. Retrieved from http://bookshelf.vitalsource.com/#/books/9780133099782/cfi/0 Klemack, J. C. (2015). Lawn replacement company changes name, customers claim ‘Same BS’. Retrieved from http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Lawn-Replacement-CompanyTurf-Terminators-Name-Change-322761081.html Qualman, E. (2012, November 7). Social media video 2013 [YouTube video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUCfFcchw1w Shively, K. (2014, May 7). Setting social media goals: If it’s not painful, you’re not doing it right. The Simply Measured Blog. Retrieved from http://simplymeasured.com/blog/setting-social-media-goals-if-its-not-painful-youre-notdoing-it-right/#i.1ucvwnoyk2efbw Veeranna, V. (2015, October 22). Top 3 tips on social media marketing strategy for eCommerce businesses (with a killer list of tools to use). Retrieved from http://blog.drumup.io/blog/top-3-tips-on-social-media-marketing-strategy-forecommerce-platforms-with-a-killer-list-of-tools-to-use/
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Appendix
BuildSavings Social Media Policy
This policy governs the publication of and commentary on social media by employees of Turf Terminators and its related companies ("BuildSavings"). For the purposes of this policy, social media means any facility for online publication and commentary, including without limitation blogs, wiki's, social networking sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Flickr, and YouTube. This policy is in addition to and complements any existing or future policies regarding the use of technology, computers, e-mail and the internet. BuildSavings employees are free to publish or comment via social media in accordance with this policy. BuildSavings employees are subject to this policy to the extent they identify themselves as a BuildSavings employee (other than as an incidental mention of place of employment in a personal blog on topics unrelated to BuildSavings). Publication and commentary on social media carries similar obligations to any other kind of publication or commentary.
Don't Tell Secrets It's perfectly acceptable to talk about your work and have a dialog with the community, but it's not okay to publish confidential information. Confidential information includes things such as unpublished details about our software, details of current projects, future product ship dates, financial information, research, and trade secrets. We must respect the wishes of our corporate customers regarding the confidentiality of current projects. We must also be mindful of the competitiveness of our industry.
Protect your own privacy Privacy settings on social media platforms should be set to allow anyone to see profile information similar to what would be on the BuildSavings website. Other privacy settings that might allow others to post information or see information that is personal should be set to limit access. Be mindful of posting information that you would not want the public to see.
Be Honest Do not blog anonymously, using pseudonyms or false screen names. We believe in transparency and honesty. Use your real name, be clear who you are, and identify that you work for BuildSavings. Nothing gains you notice in social media more than honesty - or dishonesty. Do not say anything that is dishonest, untrue, or misleading. If you have a vested interest in something you are discussing, point it out. But also be smart about protecting yourself and your privacy. What you publish will be
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around for a long time, so consider the content carefully and also be cautious about disclosing personal details.
Respect copyright laws It is critical that you show proper respect for the laws governing copyright and fair use or fair dealing of copyrighted material owned by others, including BuildSavings own copyrights and brands. You should never quote more than short excerpts of someone else's work, and always attribute such work to the original author/source. It is good general practice to link to others' work rather than reproduce it.
Respect your audience, BuildSavings, and your coworkers The public in general, and BuildSavings's employees and customers, reflect a diverse set of customs, values and points of view. Don't say anything contradictory or in conflict with the BuildSavings website. Don't be afraid to be yourself, but do so respectfully. This includes not only the obvious (no ethnic slurs, offensive comments, defamatory comments, personal insults, obscenity, etc.) but also proper consideration of privacy and of topics that may be considered objectionable or inflammatory such as politics and religion. Use your best judgment and be sure to make it clear that the views and opinions expressed are yours alone and do not represent the official views of BuildSavings.
Protect BuildSavings customers, business partners and suppliers Customers, partners or suppliers should not be cited or obviously referenced without their approval. Never identify a customer, partner or supplier by name without permission and never discuss confidential details of a customer engagement. It is acceptable to discuss general details about kinds of projects and to use non-identifying pseudonyms for a customer (e.g., Customer 123) so long as the information provided does not violate any non-disclosure agreements that may be in place with the customer or make it easy for someone to identify the customer. Your blog is not the place to "conduct business" with a customer.
Controversial Issues If you see misrepresentations made about BuildSavings in the media, you may point that out. Always do so with respect and with the facts. If you speak about others, make sure what you say is factual and that it does not disparage that party. Avoid arguments. Brawls may earn traffic, but nobody wins in the end. Don't try to settle scores or goad competitors or others into inflammatory debates. Make sure what you are saying is factually correct.
Be the first to respond to your own mistakes
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If you make an error, be up front about your mistake and correct it quickly. If you choose to modify an earlier post, make it clear that you have done so. If someone accuses you of posting something improper (such as their copyrighted material or a defamatory comment about them), deal with it quickly - better to remove it immediately to lessen the possibility of a legal action.
Think About Consequences For example, consider what might happen if a BuildSavings employee is in a meeting with a customer or prospect, and someone on the customer's side pulls out a print-out of your blog and says "This person at BuildSavings says that product sucks." Saying "Product X needs to have an easier learning curve for the first-time user" is fine; saying "Product X sucks" is risky, unsubtle and amateurish. Once again, it's all about judgment: using your blog to trash or embarrass BuildSavings, our customers, or your co-workers, is dangerous and ill-advised.
Disclaimers Wherever practical, you must use a disclaimer saying that while you work for BuildSavings, anything you publish is your personal opinion, and not necessarily the opinions of BuildSavings. The can provide you with applicable disclaimer language and assist with determining where and how to use that.
Don't forget your day job. Make sure that blogging does not interfere with your job or commitments to customers.
Social Media Tips The following tips are not mandatory, but will contribute to successful use of social media. The best way to be interesting, stay out of trouble, and have fun is to write about what you know. There is a good chance of being embarrassed by a real expert, or of being boring if you write about topics you are not knowledgeable about. Quality matters. Use a spell-checker. If you're not design-oriented, ask someone who is whether your blog looks decent, and take their advice on how to improve it. The speed of being able to publish your thoughts is both a great feature and a great downfall of social media. The time to edit or reflect must be self-imposed. If in doubt over a post, or if something does
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not feel right, either let it sit and look at it again before publishing it, or ask someone else to look at it first.
Enforcement Policy violations will be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including termination for cause.
