Join the New Comm Biz Facebook Page or follow the Twitter account.
I attended the Social Media Conference North West in Mt Vernon yesterday and the final speaker was Brad Nelson from Starbucks. What impressed me the most about Brad was his passion for this space and his use of LEGO pictures. Brad’s enthusiasm is obviously contagious because when I posted on Twitter that he was speaking I had more than a few people ask me to post about his session.
Of most interest to me was Starbucks Twitter centric approach (hence the title of the post). This was something we’ve found to be true for almost all of our clients. Things hit Twitter before they hit anywhere else and if it doesn’t hit Twitter it’s probably not as big of a deal as you think it is. I also had to use that as a title because it’s been a while since people have yelled at me for misleading blog titles. There you go, yell away.
Of equal interest was how excited Brad is about geolocation. While I’ve been skeptical up till now, I can see why Brad’s enthusiastic.
What follows is my notes (in my words not his so I may get some facts wrong) from his session with my commentary interjected.
Brad Nelson @BradNelson runs Starbucks Twitter account, @Starbucks, Facebook page, YouTube account, MyStarbucksIdea.com and Flickr account.
Social Media is not for you:
- If you don’t have a good product
- If you’re not thinking long term
- If you don’t have an open culture
All media is social
All companies are media companies
Starbucks: How to succeed in social media
- Listen – This was the most repeated point in his talk.
- Be human.
- Find interesting things – It doesn’t always have to be news but it always has to be interesting.
- Scoop others by sharing first – More and more they’re breaking news 5-10 minutes on Twitter before they send it out through the traditional channels. He woke up at 5:45 this week to tweet the news about the earnings right at 6:00.
- Don’t overload – Twitter they can post 10-15 times a day (as long as it’s interesting) but Facebook they can only post 3-4 times a day week.
- Respond where the fire is – If the fire’s on Twitter respond on Twitter, if it’s on a blog, respond on the blog.
- Start now and build, you’ll need it someday – Even if there’s not a huge drive to be social media now you’ll eventually need it, start now.
- You can’t respond to everything but you can read everything – Brad can’t respond to everything but he sets aside one day a week to make sure that he reads every reply.
- Learn how to say no if it’s not right for your audience – If PR or Marketing brings you something to post that isn’t interesting to your followers, say no.
Standard operating procedure for any new launch
- Every launch has a social media component.
- Monitor conversation – keep your ear to the ground during a launch, especially early
- Provide contextual and complete info around issues and controversies – Give as complete information as you can. Don’t ever appear like you’re hiding something.
- Rapid response – Always respond quickly even if it’s just to let them know you’re listening.
- Relevant information – Keep it relevant, don’t try and change the topic.
YouTube is the gutter of the Internet - Don’t expect thoughtful mature response – This was my second favorite comment of the night. He said he has to regularly turn off comments on YouTube. I’ve had very similar experiences on YouTube.
Be authentic
- Twitpic is more powerful than a DSLR (high grade digital camera) – Grainy camera phone pics are more authentic and better received than polished professional pictures.
- Advocate for the customer – A community managers job is to be an advocate for the customer inside the company.
- Translate to your voice – Even if someone gives you something to post, rewrite it in your own voice.
- Agencies - Use them to be your eyes, ears, feet, and even brain - Never outsource your voice!!!
If it doesn’t happen on Twitter it probably doesn’t matter. – This was my favorite thing said all night. He has often caught things before PR does by watching Twitter. Even when they think something might be a big deal, if it’s not picking up on Twitter they rarely have to worry about it.
Everything emanates from Twitter, it’s their social content hub
In 2009 everything was about the status update
In 2010 everything is about the check in
Very excited about location based social services like Foursquare
They recently launched the Barista badge with Foursquare (check in to 5 different Starbucks) look for more types of things yet to come.
Geolocation is the “footstream” (as opposed to the click stream). You can watch where customers go before and after a Starbucks. Opens up new opportunities for cross promotions. Social shopping is yet to be tapped.
People expect to use social media for customer service. What’s a 1-800#?
Starbucks looks at marketing as paid (advertising), owned (own web, email)and earned media (PR and social)
Join the New Comm Biz Facebook Page or follow the Twitter account.
Photo credit by icedsoul photography .:teymur madjderey
Similar Posts:
- What Twitter Can Learn From @facebook About Using @twitter and Facebook
- Content Hierarchy And The Importance Of Effort
- What To Write About On A Day Like Today?
# of Comments 5
# of Comments 2
# of Comments 2
