International Case Study - OREA Does Social Media Right

International Case Study:OREA Does Social Media RightOctober 20, 2011

Natasha Lemire-Blair, CAE, Director, Commercial RelationsGeorgia Sapounas, Community Manager

Discussion outline• Dipping our Feet

– Government Relations

• From Ad-Hoc to Strategic– Assessment– Strategy– Governance– Implementation– Awareness– Evaluation

Government Relations

• Two uphill battles• Significant impact on REALTORS®• Significant impact on the public

Grassroots Advocacy

• Harmonized Sales Tax (Federal/Provincial taxes)• Mandatory Home Energy Audits• Call-for-Action to email Members of Provincial Parliament

(like State Reps)

Call-for-Action

• Public participation in association grassroots advocacy is now much easier through use of social media

• MPPs received 400+ emails each, more than 50,000 emails sent in total

• One of largest provincial email campaigns ever

Government Relations(More info: http://bit.ly/qxhj6T)

“But the real estate industry objected – it wants only voluntary audits – and the program has, apparently, been killed.”

Ad-Hoc to Strategic

“If you want your association’s social media to become more strategic, the right individual(s) on your staff with a passion and understanding of the technology, regardless of job title, need to be assigned the responsibility.”

Ad-Hoc to Strategic

Assessment

• Focus groups• Environmental scan• Membership survey

Focus Groups: OREA’s Approach 2010

• Uncoordinated• Fragmented• Knee-jerk• Rush to the starting line

Focus Groups: Contribution to Business

“They don’t go to OREA.com daily but they check their Facebook and LinkedIn everyday. We need to communicate with members, where they are, on a frequent basis.”

Focus Groups: Social Media Risks

• Resourcing• Responding• Accuracy

• Guidelines• Timeliness• Doing Nothing

Focus Groups: Social Media Barriers

• Resources• Readiness• Support• Systems/Process• Governance • Content/Engagement• Multiple Strategies

Environmental Scan

“The Big Three” Real Estate Industry Facebook Presence Twitter

Presence LinkedIn Presence

Canadian Association of Accredited Mortgage Professionals

Toronto Real Estate Board National Association of Realtors

Multiple pages

Multiple feeds Multiple groups

Virginia Association of REALTORS®

Canadian Real Estate Association

Membership Survey: UsageBase: Use Social Media/Networking Sites

Aware Personally Use Use for Business Most Relevant for Business

(n=892)%

(n=617)%

(n=449)%

(n=449)%

Facebook 97 84 69 48

YouTube 89 35 27 7

Twitter 85 12 24 4

LinkedIn 67 14 60 22

MySpace 64 6 2 1

Flickr 43 6 3 *

Classmates 41 13 1 1

Plaxo 25 5 13 2

ActiveRain 17 2 14 4

WordPress 11 2 7 3

Tumblr 3 1 * 0

Ning 1 * * 0

Other 3 4 8 8

Membership Survey: FrequencyBase: Use the site Facebook

%YouTube

%LinkedIn

%Twitter

%Classmates

%Flickr

%MySpace

%Plaxo

%ActiveRain

%WordPress

%Other

%

Personal Use n=521 n=217 n=87 n=74 n=81 n=36 n=34 n=32 n=308

Daily 36 10 6 30 1 8 3 0 - - 23

Weekly* 71 50 34 56 13 41 27 31 - - 49

< 1 x/week 29 50 66 45 86 58 74 69 - - 52

Business Use n=308 n=122 n=271 n=109 n=59 n=62 n=31 n=37

Daily 32 12 11 28 - - - 9 27 26 11

Weekly* 68 34 46 57 - - - 45 54 48 38

< 1 x/week 33 66 54 4.3 - - - 56 45 52 62

Planning

• Strategic considerations• Mandate• Objectives and goals

Strategic Considerations• Current (2010) state

– OREA not in leadership position in space• Some presence, success

• Social media about encouraging participation, collaboration– Requires culture change driven by leadership

• Critical success factor: the right people– Knowledgeable about how to behave with social media– Passionate about the organization

C O N F I D E N T I A L

Social Media Mandate

To enable OREA to develop informed relationships with its audiences through a leading social media presence that contributes to OREA being recognized as the primary “voice” and resource on real estate.

Over-Riding Objective & Goal

• Objective: Build on and improve OREA’s reputation as an organization working for its members.

• Goal: Increase membership satisfaction

Phase 1: Organizational Objectives & Goals

Objectives Goals

Increase organizational awareness of the benefits and uses of social media within OREA.

By June, 2011, executives and key staff can identify five key benefits that social media offers OREA.

Develop and sustain a staffing and resource model to support OREA’s social media activities.

By April, 2011, implement social media staffing plan.

Establish a social media presence that balances consistency with the unique requirements of each department within OREA.

By June, 2011 each department has prepared a social media plan consistent with OREA’s social media strategy.

OREA Social Media Benefits• Increase awareness and visibility

– Be where our audiences are• Enhance member communications

– Open new channels• Form stronger relationships

– Engage with key stakeholders• Real time insight

– Free tools (Google Analytics) provide complementary data• Improve effectiveness

– Greater efficiency in sharing information– New resources for engaging with current and prospective students

• Maintain our relevance– Position ourselves to remain current in evolving media landscape

• Risk to not participating– Unable to listen and engage if not on social media

Phase 1: Organizational Objectives & Goals

Objectives Goals

Increase organizational awareness of the benefits and uses of social media within OREA.

By June, 2011, executives and key staff can identify five key benefits that social media offers OREA.

Develop and sustain a staffing and resource model to support OREA’s social media activities.

By April, 2011, implement social media staffing plan.

Establish a social media presence that balances consistency with the unique requirements of each department within OREA.

By June, 2011 each department has prepared a social media plan consistent with OREA’s social media strategy.

Phase 1: Operational Objectives & GoalsObjectives Goals Suggested TacticsProvide a platform for engaging in effective government relations.

By April, 2011 have a Government Relations social media infrastructure in place to participate in the provincial election.

Identify issues Set targets for level of membership

engagement, letters Launch Government relations blog Designate staff person for listening,

responding to identified issues

Enhance effectiveness of communication about OREA’s products and services.

Incorporate at least three social media tools into the OREA website, and launch three new stand-alone social media initiatives by Summer, 2011 (contingent on web site launch date).

Identify unique knowledge to build a message around

Add social media toolbar to website so visitors can share content

Add RSS to website Launch members wiki: possibility on

Leadership Development Develop strong LinkedIn presence Launch a subject matter expert blog

Governance

• Social Media Team• General Policies• Social Media Checklist• Response Tree Diagram

Social Media Team• Internal vs external

– Internal: knows the organization, services, membership• Passion• Fast, accurate, responsible response

– External: early adopter, expertise• Mastered appropriate behaviour• Built relationships in several networks

• Skill sets– Knowledge of metrics/data– Business knowledge– Customer advocacy– Communication (writing)

OREA Social Media Team

General Policies• Only staff authorized to do so may speak on behalf of OREA.• Only members of the Social Media team may set up official

presences on behalf of OREA on social networks (e.g. LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, etc.).

• The same guidelines that apply to OREA’s staff activities in general apply to their activities online.

• Third-party sites may have their own terms and policies, with which participants should familiarize themselves.

• You may not share information that is confidential and proprietary about OREA.

• Resource: www.socialmediagovernance.com

Social Media Initiative Checklist Documented plan (objective supported, audience, success factors) Metrics (response rate, participation, etc.) Consistent with social media policy Estimated time commitment (launch, manage, respond) Staff responsible Potential risks Complies with relevant legislation and regulation (e.g. PCCA, ESA) Mitigation approach Consistent with departmental social media plan Update report meeting scheduled

Response Tree

Structure• Departmental meetings to create

social media plans

• Social Media Team meeting once every two months

• One-on-one meetings with those engaging in social media on behalf of their department

Structure – Existing Accounts

Facebook

• Government Relations• OREA Real Estate College• Ontario Commercial Council

Twitter

• @oreagr• @ocld• @oreaocc

YouTube

• Government Relations

LinkedIn

• OREA• OCLD (Leadership)

Structure - Social Media Initiative Checklist Documented plan (objective supported, audience, success factors) Metrics (response rate, participation, etc.) Consistent with social media policy Estimated time commitment (launch, manage, respond) Staff responsible Potential risks Complies with relevant legislation and regulation (e.g. PCCA, ESA) Mitigation approach Consistent with departmental social media plan Update report meeting scheduled

Training

• Social Media Training Sessions – Guideline Training for all staff– WordPress Author Training– Writing for the Web Training (blogging)– Social Media Training– President’s Social Media Training– Board of Directors Social Media Training– Departmental training: Facebook etc. – One-on-one training

Listening & Responding• Listen First…

“To respond or not to respond, that is the question”

Listen First

• Listen for engagement and to mitigate risk• Set e-mail frequency

– LinkedIn Groups, Facebook notifications, Google analytics, RT’s, etc.

• RSS (Google Feedburner) industry blogs or subscribe via email – i.e. Facebook blog, Mashable, Social Media Examiner, SmartBrief on Social

Media, etc.

• Listening Software– We chose Radian6 (listening & engagement software)

• Topic Profiles: set up key words• Pulls in where your key words are mentioned in the web• See who is engaging in the landscape

Response Tree

• Assessment• Evaluate• Respond• Response

Considerations

Positive Response Assessment

Positive Response Evaluation

Negative Response Evaluation

Response Considerations

Responding & Engagement Aids

• Hootsuite, Tweetdeck, Radian6, etc.– Manage Multiple Social Media Profiles– www.hootsuite.com– Schedule messages– Monitor mentions– Build Reports– Message multiple networks– Track results

Create or Curate Content• Have your social media content compliment each other

www.youtube.com/oreainfo

Share Content - Facebook

• Facebook iFrame• Facebook Post

Share Content - Blog

Share Content - LinkedIn

Share Content - Twitter

Implementation Summary

• Create a STRUCTURE• TRAIN the team• LISTEN first• To RESPOND or not to respond• Create or curate CONTENT• SHARE your content

How do you bring awareness to your social media accounts?

Brand Your Social Media Channels

@oreagr

Use Social Media Effectively

• Set Timelines & Have a publishing calendar– For example: the OREA Real Estate College posts on Facebook

at least once/day and blogs once/week• www.facebook.com/oreacollege• www.oreablog.com

– The Centre for Leadership Development • Divides posts/accounts between employees• www.facebook.com/orealeadership

Use Social Media Effectively

• Twitter– Follow people, Create lists, reply to people, thank them.– Schedule your tweets

• www.twitter.com/oreainfo• www.twitter.com/oreagr

• LinkedIn– Question a week by a different person.– Direct message your audience to invite them to join the

conversation.

Use Social Media Effectively

• Blog Posts– 100-300 words– SEO!!– Publishing Frequency– End with a question/ask for comments– Add links, quotes, images, video, etc.

Grow Organically

• Example: www.YouTube.com/oreainfo– Joined YouTube 2 months ago– Currently has 4 videos uploaded– Around 20 subscribers– Over 3,200 video views

• A prime example of a channel that’s been grown organically through social media including: Tweets, blog posts, Facebook posts, LinkedIn posts, etc.

Integrate don’t Segregate

• Website• Like• Share• Tweet• +1• Banner• Icons• Links

Integrate don’t Segregate

• Widgets• Email Subscribe• Pictures• Videos• Twibbon

Piggyback

• Live Blogging– Inman held its first ever conference in Toronto and I live blogged

from the event (7 live blog posts & 1 follow up post).• Link: http://www.oreablog.com/category/real-estate-news-2/page/2/

OREAwww.oreablog.comwww.facebook.com/oreainfowww.twitter.com/oreainfowww.youtube.com/oreainfowww.linkedin.comwww.foursquare.com

Remember Your Roots

Government Relationswww.homeownershipmatters.cawww.facebook.com/oreagrwww.twitter.com/oreagr

www.youtube.com/oreagrwww.flickr.com/oreagr

Presidentwww.facebook.com/oreapreswww.twitter.com/oreapres

Commercial Relationswww.facebook.com/oreaoccwww.twitter.com/oreaocc

OREA Real Estate Collegewww.facebook.com/oreacollegewww.twitter.com/oreacollege

Centre for Leadership Developmentwww.facebook.com/orealeadershipwww.twitter.com/orealeadership

Email Signature, Banners, Newsletters

Facebook Ad for Home Ownership Matters

• Brought awareness to the campaign with a call to action

Target Audience:• Ontario• 18 and older• In the category Real Estate

Objective:• E-mail Candidates• Raise Awareness of Campaign

Awareness Summary

• BRAND yourself• Use Social Media EFFECTIVELY• Grow ORGANICALLY• INTEGRATE don’t segregate• PIGGYBACK• Remember your ROOTS

– Postcards, business cards, email campaigns, email signature, newsletters, QR codes on banners, ads, and more!

Search Engine Results

Evaluation Happens Constantly

• Ask yourself the following questions:• What’s working?• What’s not working?• What are we doing well?

• Evaluate wins and losses.• Provide regular updates.

Metrics & Measurement

Activity & engagement• Members• Posts/threads• Comments or ideas• Inbound links• Tags, votes, bookmarks• Active profiles• Referrals• Post frequency/density

Awareness & Value• Brand loyalty/affinity• Media placements• Share of conversation• Sentiment of posts• Interaction with content

The OREA blog• How are we doing? Analytics.

OREA blog OREA blog top referring sites:1. Facebook2. www.orea.com3. Google

OREA blog

• 70% of visitors are new– Gaining readership & spreading the word

OREA blog

Pageviews

• Gage the readership per post to see what content is valuable.

Home Ownership Matters Campaign

Measuring Facebook Effectiveness• Facebook Analytics Dashboard

– “Insights” section of Fan Page; “See all”• Interactions tab

– Recent posts, the dates and times they were posted, how many impressions each received, and the amount of feedback per impression

• Post quality: feedback per impression• Activity: impressions over time• Engagement: feedback between posts

Facebook• OREA

– www.facebook.com/oreainfo

• Government Relations – www.facebook.com/oreagr

• Ontario Commercial Council– www.facebook.com/oreaocc

• Real Estate College– www.facebook.com/oreacollege

• Centre for Leadership Development – www.facebook.com/orealeadership

• OREA President – www.facebook.com/oreapres

Email Campaign Evaluation• Bit.ly• Facebook Analytics

Measuring Twitter Effectiveness• Is anybody paying attention to what

you’re saying on Twitter?– Number of followers = reach– Retweets = endorsement of

message– @ Replies = engagement

(sentiment?)– Visits from links to posted in Tweets

= acting on your Tweets

Twitter Tools

© Ontario Real Estate Association

• Tweetdeck: Desktop version of Twitter• Hootsuite: Manage Multiple Accounts• Hashtags.org: Track hashtag statistics• SproutSocial: Manage Multiple Accounts• Klout: Discover your influence• Twittercounter: stats site

When to Tweet?

• Evaluates your most retweetable time

Twitter• OREA

– www.twitter.com/oreainfo

• OREA Real Estate College– www.twitter.com/oreacollege

• Government Relations – www.twitter.com/oreagr

• Ontario Commercial Council – www.twitter.com/oreaocc

• OREA Centre for Leadership Development – www.twitter.com/orealeadership

• OREA President – www.twitter.com/oreapres

LinkedIn & YouTube• OREA

– http://www.linkedin.com/groups?mostPopular=&gid=95499

• Centre for Leadership Development – http://www.linkedin.com/groups?mostPopular=

&gid=1888725

• OREA• www.youtube.com/oreainfo

• Government Relations • www.youtube.com/oreagr

Social Media Content Evaluation• OREA Blog

– The Current Categories.– What topics are most relevant to you and your industry?– Proposed Categories: REALTOR® Value, Social Media for REALTORS®, Technology, Building your Brand.– Feedback.

• Guest Bloggers– REALTORS® submitting content to be reviewed and perhaps chosen for the blog? – Streamlining the process. – Industry experts. – Blogging contracts.

Ask Your Audience What They Want

• What topics are most relevant to your industry?• What will help you succeed?• What can we do for you?• OREA Members were surveyed and the value of each of the following

blog topics are as follows:

What We’ve Accomplished• Created a President’s presence on social media (Blog, Twitter, Facebook).• Launched, trained staff, and grew the OREA blog to host sections from each

pillar department.• Created individual departmental social media plans that fit within the social

media strategy.• Created and trained all OREA staff on social media guidelines for the

Organization.• Social Media Training for the Board of Directors.• Launched over-arching OREA social media accounts: Twitter, Facebook, and

YouTube.• Created and sustained a successful Home Ownership Matters Campaign

(website, blog, Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, YouTube, and more).• Full social media integration on new OREA website (launching tomorrow)! • Social Intranet (coming soon).

Share results with the Social

Media Team, Organization,

Committees, etc.

Evaluation Summary

• Constant and continuous evaluation• Metrics and Measurement• Search Engine Results• How to Measure effectiveness with Facebook, Twitter,

LinkedIn, YouTube, Google analytics, etc.• Content Evaluation• Ask your audience what they want• Report and share results

Sharing Knowledge:

• Social Media Strategy• Social Media Governance• Guidelines and Policies• Checklist and Response Tree• Membership Survey Results (includes questions)• Training Presentations (President, Volunteers, Staff)

Email: community@orea.com

Questions

Natasha Lemire-Blair, CAEcommercialrelations@orea.com@oreaocc

Georgia Sapounascommunity@orea.com@oreainfo