Why the RNC Social Media Command Center Was Successful and How to Create One

Why the RNC Social Media Command Center

Was Successful and How to Create One

Eric Melin Manager Marketing & Communications@Spiral16

Why Create a Social Media Command Center?

There is simply nothing better for event marketing.A pic of the action at #TampaBay's Social Media Command Center, the first of it's kind for a nat'l political convention — @Tampa_Chamber

A Social Media Command Center

…allows you to create conversation and engagement with attendees and locals.

A Social Media Command Center

…allows you to offer helpful advice to create a better overall event experience

A Social Media Command Center

A Social Media Command Center

…allows you to direct web traffic to approved event assetsand spread links across the web

A Social Media Command Center

…allows you to generate enormous mainstream and online press coverage

A Social Media Command Center

…allows you to measure the digital and social impact of event

A Social Media Command Center

…allows you to create/strengthen partnerships within the community

A Social Media Command Center

…allows you to turn visitors into brand advocates

A Social Media Command Center

…allows you to boost the economy

A Social Media Command Center

… and allows you to position the event/organizers as forward-thinking leaders.

A Social Media Command Center

… and allows you to position the event/organizers as forward-thinking leaders.

#TampaBay SMCC

With a tropical storm approaching…  

#TampaBay SMCC

and political negativity swirling,  

#TampaBay SMCC

…the Tampa Bay SMCC created an overwhelming amount of positive civic conversation and kept the focus there, turning a potential disaster into a big win for the city during the Republican National Convention. 

#TampaBay SMCC Equipment

• 6 dual-monitor listening workstations

• 6 engagement workstations

• 7 large monitors for measurement & visualizing data

#TampaBay SMCC Staff

Over 60 volunteers from partner organizations logged time on the workstations to respond to visitors, promoting the destination brand and pushing content.

SMCC Staff Roles

Managers Curators Engagents

Listening Strategy

Managers monitor the keywords people are most likely to use online .

Core Concepts@visittampabay, @visitampabay,  #visittampabay, #visitampabay, Visit Tampa Bay, VisitTampaBay"Social Media Command Center", "SMCC " #TampaBay, #Tampa, Tampa Bay, Tampa Bay Times Forum, Convention Center, #RNC, RNC, "Republican National Convention", @RNC_2012, #RNC2012, #RNC_2012, #RNC, #GOP, #GOPConvention, "GOP Convention" Associated Concepts/Silos Economic development, Parking, Dining, Restaurant(s), Hotel(s), Lodging(s), Directions, Hospitality, Attraction(s), Convention, Airport(s), Traffic, Event(s), Taxi(s), Cab(s), Nightlife Exclusions Buccaneers, Bucs, Redskins, [Other Pre or Starting Season Opponents], Rays, [Rangers, other opponents], Republican National Committee, more

#Tampa #RNC SMCC Workflow

Bulk of engagement on Twitter, but blogs and other online outlets are monitored as well.

Managers manage commenting and responses elsewhere but pass on relevant tweets to the Curators.

#Tampa #RNC SMCC Workflow

• Curators then determine sentiment and probable influence of tweets

• Tag them by category food/drinkattractionsfactsparking/transportationeventemergencymedia inquiry

• Pass them along to the Engagents

Real-Time Response Strategy

Armed with a litany of helpful links, Internet know-how, and a general passion for Tampa Bay, engagents:

• Respond to tweets using the @VisitTampa Twitter account

• Brand with proper hashtags (#TampaBay, #VisitTampa Bay)

• Personalize messages with their initials if needed

Measurement Strategy

The goal: Compare sentiment and conversation trends about Tampa Bay during the RNC with posts before the RNC.

The solution: Isolate /weed out political-related chatter (Occupy protests, GOP pro or con) that contained Tampa keywords, but did not reflect an opinion about Tampa Bay itself.

Measurement Strategy

Using Spiral16’s unique customized correlation scores for each query, we divided chatter up into six categories.

Flexibility is Key

The SMCC turned the RNC delay into an opportunity to engage visitors in all Tampa Bay has to offer.

VisitTampaBay encouraged tweets and pushed messages featuring local attractions and partners using hashtag #RainyDayRNC, turning a negative situation into a positive.

#RainyDayRNC

Chatter using #RainyDayRNC amounted to just over 4% of total Tampa activity during the RNC.

Local Voices Join In

As use of the #TampaBay and #RNC hashtags increased to include more responses and helpful links from @VisitTampaBay…

…other local Twitter influencers joined in to share great information about Tampa.

SMCC Generates News, Chatter

Nonstop media blitz of the SMCC generated enormous positive buzz, making up 22% of all Tampa Bay-related posts.

• Nationally syndicated stories

• Blogs• Retweets• Links shared

Social Images/Photo-Sharing

SMCC activated Tampa fanbase encouraging and sharing photos taken by Tampa residents and visitors…

resulting in Webstagram and Instagram placing #4 and #5 in Top Domains for the city.

Social Images/Photo-Sharing

Volume Captured/Reviewed

382,000 conversations captured/filtered

192,ooo conversations reviewed

That equals an avg. of 32,000/day, or 766/hour.

Volume Responded

4,454 tweets/posts sent

1,943 direct engagements

That equals 6,397 total responses/posts.

Positive Online Buzz Snowballs

As the RNC wound down, the momentum of positive buzz continued to climb.

By the end of the convention, positive sentiment was at 89% and the negative sentiment that threatened to dominate the Tampa conversation before the RNC started had dropped to 1%.

Positive Buzz Creates Ambassadors

Positive sentiment + 43%

Negative sentiment- 11%

More Tampa Bay AmbassadorsRecommendations appeared organically online, as did stories about the positive experiences visitors had in Tampa.

Even Hulk Hogan joined in, giving his own personal best-of Tampa list to ABC . When the network asked Hogan one thing he would like to change about the city, he said:

“Aside from renaming Tampa after me, there is really nothing. It's my home and I love it here.”

Tampa Bay Ambassadors

The Hulk's Tampa: RNC Must-Sees — ABC News

Tampa gets solid reviews — MyFoxTampaBay

Civic Interest and Exposure

VIPs included: • Fortune 500 CEOs • Mayor of Tampa • Government

officials • Business leaders• Media outlets

Over 60 VIP tours were given at the SMCC.

Make Events Resonate

Success was bigger than the SMCC – it was about:

• Positioning Tampa as a brand and economic leader

• Becoming a great host to conventions

• Innovating approach to supporting area visitors with unprecedented scale.

The Basic Core of Any SMCC

The same elements as any good social strategy:

Listening

Responding

Measuring

This can be done at any level.

Thanks!

Eric Melin@Spiral16 on Twitter

eric.melin@spiral16.com