Implementing Social Media to Communicate with Your Customers

Chris M. GentKissimmee Utility Authority

APPA Business & Financial Conference September 16, 2009

About KUA• Founded in 1901• Florida’s sixth largest municipally-

owned utility• Provides service to 62,000

customers• 325 employees• Corporate Communications

department budget has been cut by nearly 50 percent this year

In tight financial times, communications

expenditures are often the victim of a utility’s reduced budget.

That's why we need to be creative in how we

communicate with our customers.

Definition of Social Media

• Social media describes a set of Internet tools that enable shared community experiences, both online and in person.

• Social media tools make it easier to create and distribute content and discuss the things we care about.

• It’s simply about joining a conversation!

Resistance• Don’t understand it• Government/corporate America

often moves slowly• Resistant to change• Fear of the unknown• Don’t want to leave anyone

behind

Obstacles• Lack of technical expertise• Corporate firewalls that restrict

access• Lack of personnel policies to

govern employee use• Liability

Benefits• Customer communication• Employee communication• Recruitment• Training• Conversation!

What happens if you don’t listen???

What One Person Can Do

• Dave Carroll• Lead singer in Canadian band

‘Sons of Maxwell’• Traveling from Halifax,

Nova Scotia to Nebraska via Chicago’s O’Hare Airport

What One Person Can Do

• Baggage handlers damaged his $3,500 guitar

• Bad customer service experience• After nearly a year of frustration,

Carroll promised to write and post three songs on YouTube

• First song released in July: 5 million+ views

• Second song released in August

What One Person Can Do

REFRAINUnited... You broke my Taylor

guitar.United… Some big help you

are.You broke it, you should fix itYou're liable, just admit it.I should've flown with

someone elseOr gone by car'Cause United breaks guitars.

What One Person Can Do

• The video, produced for just $150, achieved 4.6 million views within its first three weeks on YouTube, including 21,000 comments

• Within four days, United's stock price plunged by 10 percent, costing shareholders $180 million. (They could have purchased 51,000 replacement guitars!)

Bottom line:Social media levels the playing field for your utility and

your customers!

Social Media Tools• Research

– Survey Monkey, Zoomerang

• Communication– E-mail, Constant Contact, Facebook,

Twitter, Google Maps, TinyURL, bit.ly

• Multimedia– YouTube, Vimeo, Flickr

• Collaboration– Blogs, Google Groups

Monitor• Google Alerts• Technorati• Wikipedia

Recruitment/Training• Use the RSS reader in your Internet

browser and subscribe to blogs about HR and recruiting

• Set up content watchlists in Twitter• Join groups on LinkedIn and

contribute to the conversation • Start a YouTube channel with

training videos

Communication• How-to and energy conservation

videos on YouTube• Information sharing, outage

updates on Twitter• Photos, videos

and information on Facebook

Media Relations

• Photo and video sharing– Flickr

• Mapping– Google Maps

• Twitter

How to Use Them

If you’re not using them now, at least

reserve your organization’s name

for future use.

Go out and join the conversation today!

Thank You!

Chris M. GentVice President of Corporate Communications

Kissimmee Utility Authoritycgent@kua.comw 407-933-9836c 321-624-3383

twitter.com/chrisgent