Social Media at Sun Microsystems: Director's Cut
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Transcript of Social Media at Sun Microsystems: Director's Cut
Social Media at Sun Microsystems (Director’s Cut)
Lou Ordorica− Community Manager Sun Microsystems, Inc.
Sun Confidential: Internal Only 2
Is Social Media a Fad?
Sun Confidential: Internal Only 3
Social Media is Transformative
People connecting using technology to get the things they need from each other, bypassing traditional institutions like corporations. — Groundswell, Li and Bernoff
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Then and Now
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Then and Now
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Then and Now
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Then and Now
Sun Confidential: Internal Only
Social Media – Vision
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“ Social media is here to stay.”
“...every single human being posting their thoughts and experiences in
any number of ways to the Internet.”Fred Wilson
Mary Smaragdis
Sun Confidential: Internal Only
Can Social Media Improve Our Business?• Fostering ecosystems around your work • Forging work relationships and alliances• Connecting with customers• Buddying up to the competition• Generating new business• Organically form teams • Collaborating on projects
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Sun Confidential: Internal Only 10
Fostering Ecosystems: Sun Java Communications Suite Wiki
• Improve communication• Attract new
customers, collaborators • Drive efficiency,
accuracy, improve quality
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“Using wikis.sun.com as the platform for the
Comms Suite documentation has been
nothing short of a revolution for us”
Jim ParkinsonVice President, Developer Tools & Services
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Forging Work Relationships and Alliances: Facebook Fridays
• Sumaya Kazi, owner• Self-expression,
communication, and entertainment• 1,424 members• Started for Sun
Employees, now open to all
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Socially Speaking Podcast
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• Sumaya Kazi, host• Feature luminaries
in Web 2.0 and Social Media• Drives awareness
of Sun’s brand, supports campaigns
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Connecting with Customers: Blogging
• Engineers connecting with customers• Accelerate problem
solving• Enable access to
expertise• Customer testimonials• Real-time feedback
loops
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“ blogs are better than any marketing Sun could have
ever done or has ever done; they expose the true
heroes and geniuses behind Solaris and Sun”
UX-Adminvia Paul Robert’s Blog
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Buddying Up to the Competition: Dell on Twitter : Follow Us
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Generating New Business: Customer Reviews
• Trusted peer evaluations• Drives sales
through customer evangelism• Enables feedback
loops
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Organically Form Teams: Blogging
• Work the network to recruit • Identify qualified
candidates faster• References come to
you• Accelerate the hiring
process
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Collaborating on Projects: OpenSource
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Reality Check• You are in less control than ever before> People you don’t know are influencing perception about
your brand • Memes (good or bad) can form and spread quickly> Your reaction time is hours, sometimes minutes• The time for just talking about social media is past> Competitors are aggressively experimenting and embracing
social marketing• Not all social initiatives at Sun succeed> And it’s usually not about tools ...
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Where to Start? • Set a goal: become self-confident in understanding,
using, and applying social media• Know the ground rules. Be all these things:> Authentic> Transparent> Trustworthy> Open
• Don’t get fired!> Sun Guidelines on Public Discourse
• Be honest with yourself, recognize and respect your limits.
Sun Confidential: Internal Only 22
Listening• Be a part of the conversations that matter• Brand monitoring can help—many services are free• Sit down and list keywords for your business• Search using your keywords, and refine results> Technorati.com> Google Blogs> twitter> YouTube> Digg.com
• Tag the bloggers, communities, profiles that count
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Identify the Influencers• Identify the initiators and influentials, and follow them• Social initiators> Pride themselves on building buzz and brand awareness> Powerful. Many social connections, push memes
outward that spread virally — top “diggers”• Classic influentials> Early adopters, natural influencers, “pull” vs. push —
bloggers who write reviews• Their clout can seed early part of purchase funnel• Don’t be swayed completely — not representative of
the whole
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Engage the Influencers• Establish an online presence, and build relationships> Subscribe to their blog, web site, profile> Follow them on a social network (friending)> Add value by commenting and replying> Forward noteworthy conversations to your network
• Track their influence over time• Subtlety engage the influentials> Ask opinions on competitors, market, products> Offer demos and privileged access> Provide opportunities to review products and services for
free
Your
Blog
wikipedia
digg
delicious
Blog
trackbacks and comments
blogroll
Blog
sun.com
blogosphere
Web
Blog
Blog
Blog
inbound links
inbound links
inbound links
inbound links
Product
Page
Blog
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The Social Circle• Elevate the status and influence of your brand
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Starting a Social Initiative• Ask the tough questions first:> What does success look like (what is the ROI)? > What is the strategy — how do I build on success?> What are the shared interests and passions of my
audience?> Am I willing to take risks, cede control, and deal with
unknowns?> Do I have an executive champion?> Am I ready for a long-term effort?
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Back to Basics1. Define social objectives> What do you intend to accomplish?
2.Understand your audience> Build profiles around their participation preferences
3.Staff for success> Choose experience and skilled planners and managers
4.Choose the right technologies for your strategy> Based on your objectives, with clear metrics
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Define Social Objectives • Identify your business objectives. Examples:> Demand / lead generation> Reduced support costs> Market research> Brand awareness• Assign metrics. Examples:> % increased pagerank> % increased memberships / connections> % decreased incidental support requests
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Understand Your Audience• Forrester Social Technographics®
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Choose the Right TechnologyTool Description Notes
blogs.sun.com publish your weblog Sun employees and interns only
forums.sun.com technology discussions Customer facing, private, and internal-only
mediacast.sun.com rich media file sharing Uploads for Sun employees only
wikis.sun.com collaborative publishing Employees, partners, customers, students
egc.sun.com Channel Sun video community
Uploads for Sun employees only
planets.sun.com aggregate web feeds self-service RSS builder
slx.sun.com Sun Learning Exchange Open to Sun employees and customers
Sun Confidential: Internal Only 31
Choose the Right TechnologyTool Description Notes
twitter SMS social network Mobile-device enabled. Sun feeds available.
facebook Social network service Sun fan pages established, with Zembly-built applications
linkedin Business contacts, introductions, and expertise
Sun Microsystems and other corporate groups
second life Virtual world Sun owns an island, regular events and training available
del•icio•us Social bookmarking Linked to on most Sun.com pages
digg.com Social news Linked to on most Sun.com pages
zembly Social application development community
Widgets, Facebook, iPhone apps — check out Beijing Olympics 08!
Sun Confidential: Internal Only 32
Tips• Consider the places where your audience are today> Are they communicating like mad on twitter?> Are they supporting each other on Sun Forums?> Are they building expertise on Sun Wikis?> Are they self-expressing and entertaining each other on
Facebook?• Carefully consider if your objective can be met by
integrating into existing communities• If you must start a social initiative, follow the
guidelines> Save money and time by leveraging Sun expertise, tools,
and platforms
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Building an Online Community with an External Partner• White label social networks are gaining in popularity> Offer branded experiences that are feature rich> Address needs not met by in-house tools, platforms, and
expertise • At minimum, ensure:> Protection of online relationships—integrate with existing
customer databases> Guarantees that all data—especially member created
content—belongs to your company, and is portable> Your company actively engaged through participation and
community management
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Social Media Resources and People
• Facebook Fridays — Sumaya Kazi• Socially Speaking — Sumaya Kazi• Web Strategist — Jeremiah Owyang • Read / Write Web — Marshall Kirkpatrick• Mashable — Pete Cashmore
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A Little Knowledge Can Be Dangerous ...• Want to learn more? Think about:> Integrating social elements in your marketing initiatives> Building effective listening tools, identifying influencers,
spotting trends> Making online social interactions part of your work life> Understanding your audience and building social
experiences tailored for them> Effective community management > Leveraging external social networking services
Community Manager • Lou Ordorica’s contact info:• Twitter: http://twitter.com/lordorica• Email: [email protected]• LinkedIn:
http://www.linkedin.com/in/louordorica
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