Social media has changed business forever. Marketing is undergoing the biggest transformation it has seen in 60 years. Through social media, customers now have a more powerful and influential voice than in any other time in history. The conversations they have not only influence their networks, but they can potentially influence your competitors’ decisions.
No doubt one of the best examples of the impact of social media is the annual
Consumer Electronics Show where more than 150,000 people gather to see and experience the latest and greatest advances in technology. This year there were hundreds of thousands of conversations occurring in social media before the show even started. Conversations included predictions of new features being announced, wish lists, emerging trends and more. Listening to these conversations using the right tools, will provide insights that marketers can turn into actions.
New and Notable at CES - Social Media Command CenterAn exciting feature at this year’s CES is the Social Media Command Center (SMCC) powered by
Salesforce Marketing Cloud. The SMCC is staffed by community managers who not only listen to the conversations, but they respond to questions and enquiries in real-time. In addition to engaging with attendees and other interested parties, SMCC staff use the Marketing Cloud tools generate reports and produce visuals which provide details on:
- gender breakdown
- geographic breakdown
- trending topics
- volume of conversations
- most talked about speakers
- most mentioned brands
The visual aspect of the SMCC provides powerful information all at a glance. Customizable to specific needs, the CES SMCC showcases real-time tweets, instagram photos, along with gender, geographic, and other images that are continually updating to reflect the most current social media conversations taking place.
Tied to specific business objectives, the SMCC provides both the tools and the processes to enable efficient and practical listening and engagement through the Marketing Cloud Engagement Console and its built-in workflow. This is absolutely essential when focusing on real-time engagement and buzz at a conference with more than 150,000 registered attendees.
How Can You Get Your Own Social Media Command Center?The beauty of the Marketing Cloud’s SMCC is its scalability. Whether your organization or event is comprised of 100 people or several thousand people, the SMCC can be scaled to your needs. Here are six steps to get your own Command Center set up,
based on our previous experiences.
- Use a social media monitoring platform to search for relevant keywords for your brand: Think about event hashtags, speakers, participants and influencers.
- Determine the 3 Ws: Who will be responding on behalf of your brand? What hours will you be engaging? Where will your command center be located? It’s important to create a schedule to ensure your hours of engagement are properly covered.
- Categorize posts: Be prepared to categorize content into tiers such as Tier One for items requiring an immediate response, Tier Two for mentions that need a response but aren’t urgent in nature, and Tier Three for items that need no reply, and then route them accordingly.
- Create a playbook: This is a handy, quick-reference guide that details the processes around your command center for your team.
- Be flexible: Be prepared to toss it all out at a moment's notice and change things up to adapt to any situation that may arise.
- Have fun: Most importantly, have a good time engaging with your community. If you’re enjoying yourself, it will certainly come through in your engagement, and provide a more pleasant experience for your community.
Want to Learn More?
Visit the Salesforce Social Media Command Center at CES, inside the North Hall, Booth #4906.
To learn more about Salesforce Marketing Cloud click here.
* Photo courtesy of CES
