Digital Inspiration Five Important Lessons from the LDS Church Social Media Strategy Professor David Preece, -Hawaii 2013
Mind-Boggling Numbers 1.15 Billion Users 1 Billion Users 500 Million Users 238 Million Users S S S S S S S S S Up-and-comers: Google+ (343m), Instagram (150m) and Pinterest (70m) 70% of business-to-consumer marketers have acquired a customer through Facebook 100 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube each minute Facebook will account for 13% of worldwide mobile ad revenue in 2013 Nearly half of employees report that social tools at work increase productivity 43% of US marketers have found a new customer through LinkedIn 25% of consumers who complain about products on Facebook or Twitter expect a response within 1 hour 1 in 10 young people are rejected for a job because of content on their social profile Research shows Facebook makes it harder to get over a relationship breakup 3
From Novelty to Necessity Leveraging digital media is no longer a luxury for organizations. It has become an essential success factor for internal and external communications? Websites and blogs? Search engine optimization? Social media But appropriate application and resulting impact vary widely by industry and organization 4
Why Social Media for the LDS Church? 5
That s Where the People Are "We felt that this is where the world is, this is the new town square and Mormons are taking to it Ron Wilson, Senior Manager of mormon.org "Our leaders were struggling for years to find a more effective, less annoying way to get our message across than knocking on doors. Our mission is to deliver teaching opportunities. Scott Swofford, Missionary Department 6
Digital Inspiration? The LDS Church has done a near magnificent job with [digital media] [to] effectively attract new visitors to its church. If only companies were this effective. distilled.net 7
Environmental Evolution A series of historical developments progressively paved the way for preaching the gospel of Christ? Roman system of laws, freedoms and transportation infrastructure? European Renaissance of culture, science, philosophy? Gutenberg press, bible distribution, Reformation? Modern Enlightenment and U.S. founding? Second Great Awakening in U.S. 8
Digital Revolution The advent and rapid adoption of technology-based communication is accelerating the pace of global gospel preaching We are the beneficiaries of a technological revolution How can one escape the conclusion that the Lord is in all of this? President Gordon B. Hinckley, 1999 9
Five Digital Lessons The LDS Church does social media really well, and your organization can apply those best practices 1. Integrate social media with all other communications 2. Make active brand engagement your social media goal 3. Let your stakeholders man the social media front line 4. Commit dedicated resources to social media 5. Monitor social media to track the brand conversation 11
Lesson 1 Integrate social media with all other communications 12
Digital Integration The Church s digital media program is built around five integrated communications elements? Offline and online advertising? Social media? Search engine marketing? Website? Digital missionaries 13
Digital Integration Social Media Search Optimization Offline & Online Ads mormon.org Digital Missionaries Missionaries 14
Lesson 2 Make active brand engagement a social media goal 15
Brand Engagement Reaching a level of critical mass for likes, subscribers and follows is important, but engagement with the brand is a priority? mormon.org on Facebook T238,000 talking about this / 3 million likes = 8%? mormon.org on YouTube T36,000 subscribers / 35 million views = 0.1%? mormon.org on Twitter T?? retweets / 54,000 followers =??% 16
Brand Engagement 17
Lesson 3 Let your stakeholders man the social media front line 18
Stakeholder Involvement Earlier this year there were 120,000 Church member profiles posted to mormon.org, with another 100,000 pending. Site visitors can:? Watch over 100 I m a Mormon videos? Read member profiles in 20 different languages? See questions answered by Church members? Ask their own questions in a live chat with missionaries 19
Stakeholder Involvement 20
Stakeholder Involvement 21
Stakeholder Involvement It s not only the ability to share factual pieces of information, but to be able to actually start a conversation with somebody. Ron Wilson, Senior Manager of mormon.org 22
Lesson 4 Commit dedicated resources to social media 23
Resource Commitment Large companies spend millions on social media advertising, but most organizations just need people dedicated to managing an online presence? November 2012 survey by Ragan Communications: TSocial media tasks are on top of current responsibilities: ~65% of respondents THave established a team for social media activities: ~27% TUse an in-house team along with an outside social media agency or planner: ~5% TOutsource all social media efforts: ~3% 24
Resource Commitment In addition to a SLC headquarters social media management team, missionaries are now being recruited into Church digital communications YouTube link at: http://youtu.be/dflfqdpgzpq 25
Lesson 5 Monitor social media to track the brand conversation 26
Monitoring Conversations Many of the details about how the social media work will be carried out by missionaries and monitored by mission presidents have yet to be ironed out. But it's clear that the new rules mark a significant change in the way the church governs Internet access for missionaries. New York Daily News, 6/25/13 27
Monitoring Conversations Like most sophisticated social media marketers, the Church subscribes to services that track, report and support online conversations about the brand? You can use many free services like Hootsuite, SocialMention, HowSociable, and IceRocket? Subscription-based services like Radian6 track millions of conversations with engagement tools? Transparently participate in the conversation 28
Monitoring Conversations YouTube link at: http://youtu.be/ddonupker5q 29
Five Digital Lessons 1. Integrate social media with all other communications 2. Make active brand engagement your social media goal 3. Let your stakeholders man the social media front line 4. Commit dedicated resources to social media 5. Monitor social media to track the brand conversation 30
Five Digital Lessons Follow these social media best practices exemplified by the LDS Church to inspire stakeholders, engage customers and grow your organization! Thank you! 31