| |
By Ann Danylkiw
 I
was asked to come in for an interview, to maintain green.tv's
social media profile. I knew very little about social media sites. I
refused to join Facebook, 'I'm a private person.' And Twitter? I
thought, no one is interested in my stream of consciousness. My mom
and I used Twitter as a text message intermediary. It had taken me
years to start blogging because I believed that no one cared what I
had to say. I still emailed links to articles I read online to
friends, instead of bookmarking them via Deli.ci.ous. Boy, was I in
for a wake up!
This
summer I was supposed to be writing my MSc Finance and Development
Economics dissertation but having been in school so long, I was
wearied by academia. I didn't study economics to become an
economist, but because I thought it would make me a better
journalist. With journalism in transition, new journalists have to
know how to blog, tweet, and produce audio and video packages. I
decided I needed some practical experience that would help me get a
job when I was finished. I started with day courses. It quickly
became apparent those weren't enough. Knowing I couldn't make it
as a freelancer right off, my search for work experience began. I
cold-called media outlets that looked good to me. In a down-economy
most places were booked up through the end of the year. green.tv was
first place that wasn't.
Jumping
in Feet First
My
interview was quick. I was given an intro into green.tv
(http://www.green.tv/), the world's first broadband channel
entirely devoted to environmental programming, with 250,000 unique
visitors and 900,000 page impressions a month, technology videocast
consistently in the top 10 on UK iTunes Science and Medicine, and
syndicated via Reuters, Yamago, Babelgum, Blinkx, and others. I was
also given the passwords to existing MySpace and Facebook accounts,
and a URL for a blog that hadn't been touched in years.
The
existing green.tv website was minimalist and features all of
green.tv's films. The player was outdated and getting a link for
each film was a bit cumbersome. The only share button allowed the
user to email the video. There were no social bookmarking features. I
was told one final thing: 'the green.tv main site needs a revamp but
we haven't the resources. What we'd really like to do is
integrate a social network where people can upload their own films,
bookmark their favorite green.tv films, and discuss them.'
Why
not use NING or WPmu with a BuddyPress plugin? Both could accomplish
everything green.tv wanted. The Director had never heard of them.
'Well,' he admitted, 'to be honest what we really need is a social
media strategy.'
Start
with Research
This
was my assignment, with my vast knowledge of social media. Once I
finished panicking I queried my blogging instructor and a friend who
is the Assistant Social Media Editor at Wells Fargo's blog. And
then I sat down to do what I do best as a student: research. I combed
through Mashable.com (http://www.mashable.com)
and found a few other (US) based sites like it:
http://www.socialbrite.org
and http://www.123socialmedia.com.
I checked out green.tv's direct and indirect competitors: LinkTV
(US based Indie News and documentary channel from the Dajani family)
and CurrentsTV.
LinkTV
has a lot of online-only content and production notes as well as
discussion threads. CurrentsTV website is more tabloid like but it's
a useful example because its content is user driven. I also admired
APM's Marketplace blog for their extensive online-only background
content and MoJo's Blue Marble for its multimedia approach to
blogging (video and audio-slideshows). This research enabled me to
establish a baseline for successful blogs.
The
interactive dimension
- Twitter.
Articles on Mashable.com, etc. suggested two models for companies
using Twitter: customer service response or splitting Twitter feeds
into two dimensions, one where changes to the site are an RSS feed
(or several in the case of online newspapers) and the other
establishing a personality for the face of the company. The point is
to put a human face on a grey corporate box. green.tv's CEO Ade
Thomas is a fairly well known figure amongst environmentalists.
Making Ade (@greentvthomas) into the public 'face' of the company is
what I suggested. But making changes to the green.tv website into an
RSS feed seemed like it might not work.
After
blogging for myself for a few months, I learned that when I post to
my blog it's important to tweet the post on Twitter at the same
time. The first time I did this I picked up almost 50 new followers
in a day (ok, half were spammers), and in the first day the bit.ly
link I used for that post registered over 30 clicks. For the green.tv
Twitter feed, tweeting will be split between myself (the bloggess)
and one of our producers, Verity, who was already responsible for
tweeting (@green_tv) new green.tv films posted to the website.
Twitter
is an amazing tool, if you know how to use it. It has to be used in
an interactive fashion between you and your network using RT
(retweets). The makeup of your network is important-- you want it to
be mostly composed ofpeople with similar interests-- information
gathering, references, professional networking, establishing
relationships from similar hobbies etc.
It
is critical that your network comprises both professional and
personal
interest --
most people miss this bit. Twitter is about information gathering,
especially for people over the age 25, but it's those glimmers of
humanity that make you a successful Tweeter and help put the face on
a professional (this goes for CEOs and freelancers, no matter what
the sector). As part of my strategy I included a starter network for
Ade and a hashtag guide. Luckily Mashable.com had published '75
Environmentalists to follow on Twitter,'
http://mashable.com/2009/06/15/twitter-environmentalists/
so starting there was easy.
- Social
Networking. After taking a look through MySpace and Facebook, I
learned what users were looking for: the ability to share their own
related content with other users on green.tv. By the numbers, 65% of
green.tv's viewership is 25-45 years of age and male, and
according to the director either hardcore green or green leaning and
more than likely employed in NGO's. People were looking for the
ability to network.
The
conventional advice is to be where the masses are, in other words,
establishing a social network away from Facebook and MySpace wouldn't
work. But what if the objective was quality and not quantity?
Green.tv could use its social networking site to build a tightly knit
group of people who are interested in and work in green sectors
(energy, tech, NGO's, activists, academia) and meet the needs of
that group. The thing to do seems to be to continue on Facebook and
MySpace in a reduced capacity, and post links every now and then to
the blog-community space. We wouldn't win over all the 'friends'
from MySpace and Facebook, but we would probably retain the truly
interested. Green.tv didn't post all their films on MySpace and
even fewer on Facebook because of time limitations (both in film
length and staff). Those that were truly interested would likely
already have found their way to the website.
Watch.
Engage. Act.
Green.tv's
corporate slogan made writing my strategy proposal easy: Watch.
Engage. Act.
- Watch.
People can watch the films on green.tv
- Engage.
Viewers will be engaged by the new blog-community space by
online-only content that adds value to the films. They can engage in
a community and network, and share their own links and video
content. Twitter will keep people updated on what's going on at
green.tv and who the company is. The blog will include an About Us
page so the users can understand the character of green.tv. There
will also be a discussion forum, topics initiated by green.tv.
Green.tv
has several NGO and government partners, including UNEP, Oxfam,
Friends of the Earth, WWF, the Environment Agency, RSPB, to name a
few. Viewers will be able to engage with the partners via guest blog
posts that will emphasise their films and current campaigns. Ade
Thomas will also write a semi-regular blog post in addition to
tweeting. One or two days a week a themed story will appear that
highlights green.tv films that fall within that category. And we will
have a weekly '5 Somethings' list: 5 favorite staff films, 5
greentech stories from the week, 5 things you should know about
water, etc that could also be used to highlight green.tv films
- Act.
This bit has been lacking in green.tv's business practice. The
blog will include a list of current Partner campaigns and links to
greenliving tips and websites. And here there is also the
opportunity to personalise the blog for the company: since most of
the green.tv staff are cyclists and both directors have young
children. Links to cycling websites and green kid's resources
would be included.
My
next step was to build up a pile of non-time sensitive posts and '5
Somethings.' I also had a chat with the tech team at green.tv: James
who is both amused at my naiveté and enthusiasm, and Fergus who can
be counted on to sigh repeatedly as I create more work for him. We
decided to go with Wordpress Mu with a Buddy Press plugin instead of
NING because it looks more professional right out of the box and
would be easier to bring 'inhouse' and 'hack' at some point in the
future. Modifications to the website, like a link to the blog, and
links to discussions would have to be made. Social bookmarking links
will have to be added.
Most
important things about developing a social media strategy
- Personalisation
is a priority wherever possible. The way that people interact with
businesses is now personal. Site users want to know about the people
behind the corporate box. Social media has to be personal (but not
too personal
http://mashable.com/2009/02/27/social-media-for-business-2/
) to be successful.
- Quality
versus quantity: Trying to reach everyone will result in a
sub-standard product. Focus on creating quality for your core
audience and quality will leak out and attract those who aren't
necessarily part of your core following.
- Listen
to your users: Read your comments, MySpace and Facebook are useful
tools to discern what people want, even it means creating a
different product to meet the needs of a more limited group. Twitter
is all important.
- Tweet:
Twitter's uses are still expanding: text message middle-machine,
networking, research, sales, the list goes on. Be professional but
also personal on Twitter to give your business face personality.
After decades of rigid business practice, business is becoming
personal and consumers are reaching out for human face.
By Ann Danylkiw
Ann
Danylkiw is an aspiring freelance journalist, part-time bloggess and
social media strategist for green.tv. Environmentally conscious since
childhood, the first grown-up magazine she subscribed to was E:
the Environmental Magazine. She's a quarter century old, hails
from Boston and Wisconsin, though she now resides in northeast London
she hopes to take a few months and live in Edinburgh next year (for
the scenery and the people). Her recent addictions include Tudor
history and Anne Boleyn, veggie burgers at Mildred's, train rides,
and greentea flavoured frozen yogurt from Frae.
FUMSI articles by Ann Danylkiw »
![[Get Copyright Permissions]](http://license.icopyright.net/images/icopy-w.gif "[Get Copyright Permissions]")
Click here for copyright permissions!
Copyright 2010 Free Pint Limited
Related articles:
You may also be interested in:
|
