This document discusses social media and employer branding trends in 2014 and beyond. It notes that social media is ubiquitous, with over 2 billion users on platforms like Facebook. It also discusses the rise of mobile usage, with over half of internet time now on mobile devices. Regarding employer branding, it emphasizes that the employer brand is defined by content in today's world, and companies must take control of how they are perceived by potential employees through strategic, authentic content marketing across platforms like LinkedIn. It advises developing an employer branding strategy first before selecting channels and platforms to execute it.
1. Social Media & Beyond
2014 Outlook
Daniel McKean
Digital Analyst
Los Angeles, California
Geneva Switzerland
Presentation given as an introduction to a LinkedIn Employer Branding event in Geneva Switzerland on May 24, 2014.
34. Differences do exist for companies
implementing a social media strategy...
and those that are building a social
business.
35. Studies have shown across business,
social media is still largely being operated
in a vacuum, focused on bottom-up
functional roles rather than guided by a top-
down business vision.
36. The crux of the problem...
many so-called social strategies are not
innately linked to business goals.
37. And, even when clear goals do exist,
social initiatives face challenges from a
loosely defined measureable strategies,
governance, and funding.
38. There are six unique transformational
stages companies go through to
becoming a social business.
39. Learn how customers use
social channels and identify
which business goals can be
best met by social.
P l a n n i n g
40. Test the waters to
understand what works,
amplify existing content and
stake claims on channels
with the goal for building
engagements through
content sharing.
P r e s e n c e
41. Begin engaging followers to
build larger communities of
influence and to deepen
relationships via dialogue.
Engagement
42. Begin scaling efforts while
re-aligning the customer
journey to the brand
experience across channels.
For malized
43. Integration efforts take root
across all business areas
applying business metrics into
the framework.
S t r a t e g i c
44. Business becomes social. It
now operates on a day-to-
day basis with a social
philosophy at the heart of
every aspect of the enterprise.
C o n v e r g e d
45. Social should never be seen as simply
an ‘add-on’…
but instead should always be built, viewed
and practiced as an integral and holistic part
of the business process and culture.
47. So how do you get from where you are
today to where you want to go in the
future?
48. 1. Build Skills Sets
2. Identify Opportunities
3. Develop Best Practices
4. Don't Be Afraid to Fail
5. Scale Operations
6. Link Business Goals
7. Measure for ROI
8. Educate C-Suite
52. Consumers are engaging with digital media
across an increasing number of platforms.
Mobile has been the single most significant
change in the landscape since the invention
of the internet.
Platform / Mobile
53. The Post-Desktop era has begun. More
than half of all Internet time now occurs
on mobile platforms.
42%
47%
12%
Smartphone
PC
Tablet
54. One In Every 5 People In The World
Now Own A Smartphone. One In Every 17
Own A Tablet.
61. But, it should be recognized that it is
not a zero-sum game:
More Devices Is Resulting in More Time
Spent on All Devices and exponentially
more content consumed.
62. People are rapidly changing the way
they consume content as they shift from
traditional media to digital media, requiring
companies to rethink content marketing, the
content experience and which formats.
Content Marketing
63. Only 32% of B2C marketers consider
themselves effective at content marketing.
64. 61% of consumers say they feel better
about, and are more likely to buy from, a
company that delivers custom content.
66. Content marketing is moving beyond
experimentation, to full integration and
executions.
67. Shares, Likes and Tweets have
been replaced by more relevant and
important metrics - engagements.
68. Impacting a trend to focus on fewer
channels with higher engaging content.
69. In a world of second screens, multiplatform
strategies must be implemented...
70. with targeting and curation becoming
major implementation themes.
TARGETED
CONTENT
STREAMS
71. 78% of CMOs now think custom content
is the future of marketing.
72. and how it is discovered and consumed.
So what does trending shifts in platforms and content
have to do with employer branding?
Today the Employer Brand
is Defined by Content…
73. take control for how they want to be defined
and perceived as an employer.
Employer Branding
In today’s world where we all have access to real-time information
organizations must…
74. An employer brand refers to the perceptions key
stakeholders, and more specifically perceptions of current
and potential employees, have of your organization.
75. Employer Brands are increasingly being
scrutinized by younger generations of
employees.
76. A strong employer brand demonstrates
why a company is a great place to work.
78. It needs to be genuinely authentic.
Employees should see it and say, “Yeah,
that’s us.”
79. Employer Branding should be
engaging, informative, and transparent
while being unique to provide a view into
what it’s like to work for your company.
80. With a focus on the strategy first without
being distracted by the discussion of social
media, mobile and more.
81. Only after you have your strategy defined,
should you review the best use of platforms
and channels to execute the branding.
82. But make sure you have metrics in place
to evaluate your success.
83. Then once you have the puzzle pieces in
place...
Let Your Employer Brand Shine.
SOCIAL MEDIA.
It's all around us Isn't it
You Gotta love this image
It's truly amazing what has transpired over the last 10 or so years
Social media is now with us 365 days a year
Each and every day.
We can't escape it.
In some way, shape or form
We are connected 24 x 7
And No matter hard we may try
We can't get away from it
It's in our daily personal lives...
And in our business lives.
From Facebook, Twitter & YouTube
to more specialized or niche networks,
to certainly mobile and mobile apps
Your presence here today says something about you
You recognize the relevance of Social Media
And how its changing the world and how it communicates.
From interactions with friends, friends of friends and lost friends...
to actively participating in new social media trends...
Social media adoption has no age boundaries
Bottom line -
It's ever present
and it's found increasingly in every fabric of life
Young or old
at home, at work, when we are mobile
But social media also goes well beyond engaging with friends
For many, social media has become a primary preferred news source.
Social media has become a political tool
Influencing greater political awareness and organization,
And rewriting entire political landscapes.
Arab Spring, US and Iran elections are just a few testaments.
Social Media has become a platform for disaster and humanity relief.
With Nearly one million people being affected worldwide by natural disasters each year.
Social media is now a go-to tool for those offering relief for those effected by disasters.
Examples: Haiti, Japan, Indonesia, and in the US
Social Media has even fostered greater child literacy
Studies show
Children who start using age appropriate social platforms
develop early communication skills, and generally become more literate.
Whether its writing blog posts, status updates, text messages, orinstant messages
Better reading and writing skills are being developed
And Social Media
Has certainly impacted business.
Impacting Your Relevance [and] Influence
While shaping brand preferences and loyalties through customer journey experiences
Consider
today nearly one in four people worldwide are active social media users.
Put another way
That's 1.8 Billion Active Worldwide Users.
Facebook alone has 1.2 Billion plus users
And the ongoing joke...
If Facebook were a country, it now would rank #3 in the world behind China and India.
And although social media growth may be showing signs of slowing
By 2017
Worldwide users will grow to nearly 2.6 Billion users.
source: eMarketer
So you need to ask yourself
What's Your Game Plan?
Do you have clear vision and purpose
Are you evolving?
Learning from past experiences
Being responsive to both successes and failures
Are you adapting?
To fluctuations and swings in user platform adoption
While keeping initiatives aligned to business values
Do you know where you are heading
Are you planning for the future?
The Altimeter Group
reports there are two levels of business adoption for social media.
Those implementing a social media strategy.
And Those who are building a social business.
So Where do you fit?
HOW SOCIAL DO YOU WANT TO BE?
Differences do exist
Social media strategies lay out
channels, platforms, and tactics
supporting content publishing, listening, and engagement.
Conversely, social businesses use those strategies
to integrate social technologies and best practices
into measurable business values, processes, and practices.
Yet
for the vast majority of companies
social media is still largely being operated in a vacuum,
focused on bottom-up functional roles
rather than guided by a top-down business vision
The crux of the problem...
is many so-called social strategies are simply not linked to business goals.
And, even when clear goals do exist,
many social initiatives still face challenges
The Altimeter Group reports there six unique stages a company may go through to truly become a social business.
Planning - Presence - Engagement - Formalized - Strategic - Converged
In the Planning Phase, emphasis is on
Learning how customers use social channels
identifying which business goals can be best met.
And conducting audits to assess the competitive and internal readiness
In the Presence Phase,
Companies test the waters to see what works,
Use pilot projects to prioritize social efforts
Provide digital proof points.
Begin to amplify existing content and stake claims on channels
All the while encouraging engagements through content sharing.
In the Engagement phase
Efforts are increased to Spark or participate in conversations
Fans and followers grow
And two-way dialogues are established
At a watershed moment...
And where many companies start to stall
Company efforts begin to scale across departments and channels
With a consistent 'customer journey' and branded experience
Executive sponsors are recruited
And a Center of Excellence is created to oversee
organizational wide social strategies, governance, and technologies
At the Strategic level,
If you've been fortunate enough to reach this phase...
Social media is now integrated across all areas of business
and your applying traditional ROI business metrics into the social framework.
Leading to the last and final Convergence Stage,
where You have become truly a social business
You now operate on a day-to-day basis with a social philosophy at the heart of every aspect of the enterprise.
Social is no longer viewed as a separate and distinguishable
It now part of a single business strategy process.
As part of One set of business objectives to serve the health and well being of the organization
The key takeaway...
Social should never be seen as simply an ‘add-on’
but instead should be built, viewed and practiced
as an integral and holistic part of the business process and culture.
Simply participating in social media
does not create a social business.
There is a natural progression of steps
And it doesn't happen quickly or overnight
So if you're at a stage asking yourselves
So how do we get from where we are today to where we want to go in the future?
Map out your goals, objectives, aspirations
Assess where you are with adoption and execution
And continue to evolve realigning goals as needed as you go
Never rest on status quo
Always push forward
And don't ever be afraid to fail periodically
Mis-steps and Failures are valued learned experiences
So let's take a look at what lies ahead
2013 proved to be a year in marked by transformative changes.
What does that mean for the year ahead – and beyond?
Let's address Three key and relevant shifts that are underway.
Mobile
Mobile has and is trending as a major disruptive shift
As digital platforms continue to emerge, media fragmentation will only accelerate,
which is creating the defining marketing challenge of this era.
If you don't think
Smartphone and tablet technology
is altering the dynamics of consumer behavior
Please reconsider your position
Studies have shown
mobile users are now more active on social media sites
than their desktop counterparts
Within the 18-44 demo
84 percent of the time spent using smartphones
is on social networks
And as mobile grows
the proliferation mobile social apps
will have a profound effect on how you will reach consumers
source: SOMO
MULTI-PLATFORM / Multi-Screen users
NOW
Consume 23% more digital content than PC users alone.
source: ComScore
But, please recognize it's not a zero-sum game:
It's not simply about mobile
You'll need to continue to reach consumers wherever they are
More devices is actually resulting in more time on all devices, including TV.
Content and consumption has and will continue to change
This will force you
to rethink your content strategy
and the content experience
Only 32% of B2C marketers consider themselves effective at content marketing.
It's one of the biggest challenges facing them today
source: content marketing institute
61% of consumers say they are more likely to buy from,
a company that delivers custom content.
source: content marketing institute
And studies show, interesting enough
Content is now a top 3 reason
people follow brands on social media.
source: content marketing institute
If 2013 was the year in which content marketing
came to the forefront of digital marketing strategy
2014
is going to be the year in which we see it refined.
Shares, Likes and Tweets
have been major defining metrics.
But what we will see now is
a move towards more relevant metrics
– namely conversations and engagement.
For some companies
Spam will continue
as well as
lack of direction
with resources spread too thinly
The more astute companies
will begin focusing on fewer channels
to have greater overall success
But In a world of second screens
It has become mandatory to
also consider a multiplatform Strategy
All the while maintaining consistent and memorable
consumer experiences across all content channels
But You'll also need to consider this
In the new world order of data overload and reduced attention spans
Simply publishing doesn't guarantee success
So targeting and curation
for specific audiences and buyer personas
will be key
78% of CMOs
now think custom content
is the future of marketing.
The keys to your future success
experiment, measure, refine and scale.
source: Hanley-Wood Business Media
A topic near to many of you
is Employer Branding
With the change in real-time access to information
Employer Branding is becoming paramount
to attracting and retaining top talent
So what exactly is an employer brand?
It's simply the perceptions and images of your organization
formed by stakeholders, employees and candidates.
Employer Brands are increasingly being scrutinized by new generations of employees.
Today’s younger generation brings a brand new set of values to the workplace.
It's no longer just about high salary, or a long-term successful career.
Young people want more. They want purpose.
They don't want to be defined by their work.
And they want a work/life balance.
A strong employer brand demonstrates
why your company is a great place to work
It aligns to your overall business values.
It's genuinely authentic.
Employees should see it and say, “Yeah, that’s us.”
Branding should be
engaging, informative, and transparent
to provide a view into what it’s like to work for your company.
But you will want to
Focus on the strategy first
without being distracted by the discussion of social media, mobile and more.
Only after you have your strategy defined,
should you review the best use of platforms and channels
to execute the branding
for both internal and external adoption.
But make sure you have metrics in place
Success will only come from measurement.
You can measure by
retention rate
employee engagement,
quality of hire,
cost per hire,
number of applicants
or any other metric meaningful to you.
LinkedIn is a great place to start
once you have your strategy defined.
And other channels including mobile will likely be part of the play book.
But before I hand you over to our LinkedIn host,
allow me to share with you a brief video Emakina has produced...
to showcase what we can do for you.