How Did Social Media Education Increase Wiley's Employee Engagement Online By 90%? #casestudy #video Download this case study to find out how Wiley Publishing partnered with Hootsuite to create a custom social media education program https://hootsuite.com/resources/case-study/a-wiley-case-study that: increased employee engagement 90% since the certification empowered the workforce with the digital skills and tool set to become modern marketers for the organization highlighted the value of collaboration on half the number of official accounts established a customer-centric mindset allowed the organization to develop a Center of Excellence for all internal training and best practice knowledge.

1. CASE STUDY: WILEY
How Social Media Education Helped Put
the Customer First
Wiley had a global organizational footprint on social media, but half of
the accounts lacked strategy, weren’t driving revenue, and served only to
confuse customers. Find out how Wiley empowered their workforce with
the digital skills and toolsets to be more strategic, collaborative, customer-
centric, and results-oriented.
Wiley
Since 1807, Wiley has provided knowledge and knowledge-enabled
services around the globe that improve outcomes in areas of research,
professional practice, and education. Wiley’s three core business sectors
focus on global research, professional development, and education.
Wiley marketing
colleagues
increase in employee
engagement since the
certification
to engage on social
with confidence
200
educated
90%
increase
Empowered
colleagues
CaseStudy:
Wiley

2. CASE STUDY: WILEY
What They Did
Understanding the Business Challenges
As Hootsuite further developed corporate education programs, Wiley
executives were having strategic conversations about the company’s
digital communications. The importance of being present on social
media spread across the organization, but as more departments opened
accounts haphazardly, liability and ROI became an increasing concern.
Wiley had nearly 700 social accounts, most of which lacked a strategy.
And because Wiley is divided among their three core business sectors,
customers didn’t know where to look online for customer service—
especially if their inquiries overlapped business sectors. Teams and
departments weren’t collaborating on social and ran the risk of
duplicating efforts and confusing customers.
Wiley executives quickly recognized that education is crucial across
multiple teams and departments for empowering colleagues with
the digital and social media skills required today. To meet this need,
Michelle Lockett was brought onboard in June 2013 as Director
of Social Marketing. She was charged with transforming how the
organization looked at social and how to leverage it to drive company-
wide collaboration and core business objectives.
Lockett saw the need for a scalable, credible, recognized, and
innovative education program to address the digital skills gap and
begin putting the customer first.
“As we move into a
more digital realm,
social plays a key
role in how we
engage with and
better understand
our customers.
Arming colleagues
with the skills they
need is the first step.”
Clay Stobaugh, SVP and Chief Marketing
Officer, Wiley

3. CASE STUDY: WILEY
How They Did It
Strategizing, Organizing, and Educating
During the initial audit of Wiley’s social media presence and landscape,
Lockett unearthed the plethora of accounts. “Our colleagues were
already on social, but it was my job to make it strategic,” she says.
As the first step in arming the marketing department with the skill sets
for the digital era, Wiley partnered with Hootsuite to develop and deploy
a scalable, custom education program: the Wiley Hootsuite Social
Marketing Certificate. Hootsuite’s education team worked with Lockett
to create a blended-curriculum approach that identified three distinct
curriculum levels, addressing three core areas of focus for Wiley:
‹‹ Tier 1: Fundamental look at today’s digital landscape addressing
how businesses and consumers are interacting online through
Hootsuite’s existing training and education resources from
Hootsuite University.
‹‹ Tier 2: Deeper dive into important concepts and tactics necessary
for Wiley Marketers to succeed. Content and resources were
incorporated into this tier from the Newhouse-Hootsuite Advanced
Social Media Strategy Certification.
‹‹ Tier 3: Fully customized content based on Wiley’s key business
objectives.
Throughout the curriculum development process, Wiley subject matter
experts provided specific examples and company best-practices,
adding to the relevancy of the certification. Lockett officially rolled this
program out in June 2014 to more than 250 marketing colleagues
across Wiley. Within months, the education program expanded beyond
marketing to many departments including customer service and
editorial.
Lockett placed herself and the program at the center of the Hub and
Spoke social business model to effectively deliver education and best
practices among Wiley colleagues. “Hootsuite was just as invested in
our success as I was in our colleagues’ education,” she says. “It was
just a matter of getting everyone to a similar level, but I needed help
training and building strategies.”
After her initial audit, it was also established that Wiley had too many
social accounts. Working with executives and directors, Lockett halved
the amount of official channels around which committees could
collaborate. While she gave these committees the tools and knowledge
to engage strategically, they were empowered to manage these
channels themselves.
“Successful digital
transformations
require that the right
skills are developed,
mindsets reframed,
and expertise
leveraged.”
Michelle Lockett, Director of Social
Marketing, Wiley

4. CASE STUDY: WILEY
The Results
Increased Collaboration and Strategic Thinking
Before rolling out this custom education program, Wiley’s departments
were siloed and used systems that didn’t interact with each other—
leaving customers in the dark.
Today, colleagues have the strategic skills and knowledge to
collaborate within the Hootsuite dashboard. “Scaling social across the
organization continues to evolve, but we can already see more internal
collaboration,” says Lockett. Colleagues now work together to create
strategic content calendars for more cohesive sharing and global
response sheets for improved customer service.
Education also empowered colleagues to engage with confidence on
behalf of Wiley. “Training gave me the permission and confidence to
be more human on social—just because I’m representing our brand
online, doesn’t mean that I can’t create that personal connection,” says
Jill Yablonski-Crepeau, a Marketing Manager at Wiley. “There’s great
business value in having an individual voice support its message.”
Using Hootsuite, Lockett can now track activity across the main
channels and traffic back to their website. They now auto-append tags
on to social messages, which are then pulled into analytics to track
customer movements online. “We’re now starting to test and break
down the effects of organic social versus paid social, and what happens
if we launch a marketing campaign versus not,” says Lockett.
This is only the beginning for Wiley’s company-wide digital education.
As certification becomes available to more teams across the business,
colleagues will be armed with the skill sets and toolsets to help drive
revenue and business.
“It’s a powerful thing
to track social back
to real business
results. Even though
it’s just one social
sale, the knowledge
and confidence is
instilled.”
Michelle Lockett, Director of Social
Marketing, Wiley