Training for Social Media Success:
How Internal Education Can Make or
Break a Social Business
August 23, 2012
#AGAcademy
Charlene Li, Founder and Partner
@charleneli
2
Agenda
 Why Social Media
Training is Important
 Case Studies
 How to Get Started
 Altimeter Academy
Offerings
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Why train on social media?
Risk mitigation
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Scaling
engagement
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Companies don’t want this to happen
March 6, 2012: “Dinner w/Board
tonite. Used to be fun. Now one must
be on guard every second.”
March 7, 2012: “Board
meeting. Good
numbers=Happy Board.”
March 10, 2012: “I am logging off
Twitter now because co-workers are
looking at me as I'm laughing.”
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Honda Crosstour under Facebook fire
Fans take to the page’s wall with
gripes on Crosstour’s design
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Honda Crosstour under Facebook fire
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Honda Crosstour under Facebook fire
Honda
employee
posing
as fan
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Half of your employees use social media
regularly – what can they say or not say?
Joe works for Acme.
Sally, a Facebook friend posts on Joe’s wall:
“You know those widgets Acme makes? You work
there -- would you recommend that I get some?”
What does Joe do?
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Social touches all aspects of the organization
Sales
PR/Comms
Finance
Marketing
Research
Social
Media
IT
Training must address
more than just marketing
and communications
Brands
Digital
HR
Legal
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There’s always a new network to learn
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It’s about
relationships.
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Social media training is about
developing judgment
What you
should do
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Social media training is about
developing judgment
What you
should do
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What you
shouldn’t do
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Social media training is about
developing judgment
What you
should do
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Judgment is needed in between
What you
shouldn’t do
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Agenda
 Why Social Media
Training is Important
 Case Studies
 Dell
 Cisco
 Best Practices
 How to Get Started
 Altimeter Academy
Offerings
© 2012 Altimeter Group
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Dell’s engagement in social media was
literally “sparked”
Osaka, Japan
June 2006
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Value of “Direct2Dell” guided their response
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Need to Scale drove Dell’s social media vision
Number of posts a day about Dell
25,000
4,000
2006
2012
“Embedding Social Media
Across the Fabric of Dell”
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Dell’s approach to social media training
 Start with social media principles and strategy to
make sure everyone is aligned on goals
• What do you *have* to know in order to get engaged?
 Focus is on how Dell uses social media to engage
• Not what is Twitter and what it does
• But the reason and logic for the way Dell uses Twitter
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Social Media and Community University
(aka SMaC U)
Course levels:
101: Principles
201: Dell’s Strategy
301: Brand
Guidelines
401: Platform
Specific
To date, 6,000
employees trained
and certified to
engage on behalf
of Dell
Photos provided by Dell. Dell Social Media and Community University.
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Components of Dell Training
 Engagement, not
“training”
• Takes 8 hours to be
certified
 Delivered in-person
• 2 full-time trainers
• 15 superusers train in
EMEA and APJ, and
translate materials
 Use Chatter to
continue learning
“on the job”
Photos provided by Dell. Dell Social Media and Community University.
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SMaC Training Completion Certificate
Photos provided by Dell. Dell Social Media and Community University.
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Best Practices from Dell’s Social Media
Training Program
 Grounded in a strategy and vision for the role of
social media at Dell.
 Committed to ongoing learning, not one-time
training.
 Customized and specific to Dell’s circumstances.
 Focused on maximizing opportunities as well as
mitigating risks.
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Cisco’s approach to Social Media Training
 Multi-track approach to meet specific needs
• Social strategists, primary job is social
• Subject matter experts, communication specialists, where social is only
part of their job or not part of it at all
• Executives
• All employees
 Multi-tiered to offer advanced social strategists deeper training
 To date, 40 courses developed
• With employees and contractors from all over the company and regions
participating
• Full-time trainer delivers several courses throughout the month and also
develops the coursework
• Producer takes on the burden of producing the course for trainer can
focus on the content and instruction full-time
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Focus on best practices
 Courses last only 30-45 minutes, with Q&A
• Delivered via Webex
• Recorded for future playback
 Recognition, reporting and posting of course accomplishments
internally, includes “badging”
 Example: Writing for Social Media Core Course
1.
Learn the strategy behind the communication style
2.
Elective course for more practical applications
3.
Virtual groups further develop best practices
4.
Supplement with hands-on labs
5.
Community forum discussions, resources, and networking that’s
available 24/7
 At the end of the course, instructions on what to do next
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Executive Training also is a key component
 How they can support social media efforts
• Understand the opportunities created by social media
• Protect reputation of the company
• Build their own reputations, social interactions, and networks
 How to participate themselves
• Directly if they are comfortable with social media
- Writing for social media, how to build a following
• Or working with the external communications team that
supports that executive
• Participate in the social media reverse mentoring program to
get one-on-one training
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Training for all Cisco employees
 Focus: Provide a better understanding of social media
principles, best practices, and application internally
• Courses are focused in areas Cisco believes are important to
developing and implementing social media efforts that support the
company’s integrity and reputation.
• Participants achieve a higher comfort level and understanding of
ways to leverage social media, empowering them and supporting
the company’s philosophy of supporting use of this channel.
• Gaming incentives and growth opportunities are included through
badges and certifications to motivate participants
 Any Cisco employee or contractor engaging in social
media must read and accept (e-signature) the company’s
social media policy before participating
• With this e-signature, Cisco can chart who has accepted it
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Agenda
 Why Social Media
Training is Important
 Case Studies
 How to Get Started
 Altimeter Academy
Offerings
© 2012 Altimeter Group
#AGAcademy
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Creating a Social Media Training Program
 Determine business goals being supported by social
media strategy and efforts.
 Review social media policies and guidelines and their role
in the education program.
 Understand training needs for each role, especially around
opportunities and risks.
 Agree on measurement that will be used to assess the
success of training.
 Prioritize training needs.
 Create training program based on those prioritized needs.
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Business goals and social media strategy
give focus to training
Be clear about business
goals being supported.
Understand how social
media will support those
specific goals.
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Policy and guidelines reviews
 Ensure that two key social media policies are in place and
robust:
1. General use of social media.
2. Use of social media for company purposes.
 Key areas to review:
• Does it cover what employees can/should do in personal social
media with regards to your company?
• Are there clear examples of what to do in additional to what not
to do?
• Is there a shortened version that can be quickly reviewed?
• Is there a process for managers to follow in case there are issues?
• Are guidelines and process in place for people to follow
• Is governance clear on how to make decisions and resolve issues?
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3
Roles Require Differentiated Training
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Executives
Social
Strategists
Marketing/
Comms
Employees
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Example Learning Objectives and Measurement
Element
Executives
Communications/M Employees
arketing
Goal
Support and lead a
social business
Develop new skills
Mitigate risk and
to engage
prepare for possible
successfully in social engagement
media
Near-term
metrics
Do executives have
a better
understanding and
of how social media
supports business
objectives?
Are social media
initiatives having an
impact on the
business?
Are there fewer
incidences and
problems related to
social media?
Long-term
metrics
Are executives proactively leading the
company in
becoming a social
business?
Is the business
transforming to be
more social in all
departments?
Are employees
engaging on behalf
of the company and
having an impact on
key business goals?
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Measurement: Beyond participant satisfaction
Type of
Question
Examples of Immediate PostTraining Survey Questions
Examples of 90-Day Follow Up
Survey Questions
Job
Impact
I will be able to apply the skills and
knowledge on the job. If yes, provide
examples of how you will apply.
I have been able to apply the skills and
knowledge on the job. If not, describe
why not.
This training will improve my job
performance
This training has improved my job
performance (give examples)
This training will have a significant
impact on: (select all that apply)
This training has had a significant
impact on: (select all that apply and give
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
examples)
• increasing customer satisfaction,
• increasing quality,
• increasing productivity,
• increasing revenue,
• decreasing cost of sales,
• increasing customer satisfaction,
• decreasing cycle time,
• decreasing risk
Business
Results
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increasing customer satisfaction,
increasing quality,
increasing productivity,
increasing revenue,
decreasing cost of sales,
increasing customer satisfaction,
decreasing cycle time,
decreasing risk
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Additional Training Program Best Practices
 Center the training on principles, strategies, and
frameworks so that it stand the test of time.
 Start with simple guidelines and evolve them.
 Focus on continuous learning, not training.
 Train your executives first. You’ll need their support to
roll-out the rest of the training.
 Be clear about the goal and impact of training – if you
can’t measure it, you won’t get the support needed.
 Get help from your partners.
• Tool vendors like Lithium and HootSuite.
• Agencies and consulting firms.
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Agenda
 Why Social Media
Training is Important
 Case Studies
 How to Get Started
 Altimeter Academy
Offerings
© 2012 Altimeter Group
#AGAcademy
37
What companies seek in training
 Customized to the company’s situation
• No company approaches social media in the same
way, with the same goals
 Consistent with the social media strategy and
social media policies/guidelines
 Integrated into the learning management system
• Knows who took which courses, helps with internal
“certifications”
 Regularly updated
 Knowledgeable trainers
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Altimeter’s approach to Social Media Training
 Focus on business goals and how social media
supports the relationships needed to accomplish
those goals
 Based on frameworks that will stand the test of time
and changing technologies
 Modeled on best practices uncovered from research
and client engagements
 Customized to meet the needs of the client
• By role
• Governance and risk mitigation needs (social media policy)
• Assertiveness in social media
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Common strategic framework underlies
the training
• Learn: what we can learn from
customers and community
Dialog
• Dialog: the nature of our
interactions with them
• Advocate: how we build
advocacy among customers
and community
• Support: how we support them
via social channels
Advocate
Learn
Support
Innovate
• Innovate: using customer and
community to drive innovation
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Altimeter Academy Offerings
Program
Outcomes
Training Program
Development
Social media training program for the organization
that lays out learning objectives, curriculum
highlights, and resources/people needed for
execution.
Social Media Policies
Review
Audit of existing social media policies with
recommendations on how to improve.
Executive Training
Enable Executives to be proactive leaders of the
social business, instead of reactive.
Social Strategist Training
Enable Strategists to create social strategies and
initiatives that support business goals.
Marketing/Communications Execute high-quality social media initiatives.
Training
All Employee Training
© 2012 Altimeter Group
Under development. Virtual e-Learning on social
media policy compliance customized to the org.
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Summary
 Confident, socially-engaged executives and
employees are central to your success.
 Acquiring those skills requires a robust learning
program centered on a coherent social strategy,
principles, and policies.
 Focus the program on creating judgment to
handle new forms of engagement, rather than on
platform-specific guidelines.
© 2012 Altimeter Group
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THANK YOU
Charlene Li
charlene@altimetergroup.com
charleneli.com
Twitter: charleneli
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