The secret to building online communities, says Ken Kaplan, Social Media Manager at Intel, is to involve others and to give them ownership. “We film the engineers, product managers and all other people involved who have helped to make the product successful and get them talking about the product.”
Kaplan says this fuels Intel Insiders to work harder and represent the company because they become part of the media’s creative process.
Proof that Social Platforms Connect People
Ken Kaplan knows a few good things about internet and social media–I know this because I discovered his profile on StumbleUpon which ultimately led to a phone conversation about social media marketing. Ken is a social media believer and so much that our discussion was nuanced with terms such as “transparency first” and “content that speaks to the person, not the function.”
There are skeptics out there, traditionalists, that scoff at words like “Twitter” and “social networking.” And, of course, the ubiquitous term, Social Media, in itself is as much a buzz word as “Web 2.0″ but even so, the strategy and effects are powerful.
How Intel Approaches Social Media Strategy
The general social media strategy at Intel builds on traditionalist foundations of internet marketing first. It is important to incorporate strong SEO and meta keywords before embedding social media. Ken says social media is the next step up and it takes Intel’s content off site to “where the party is” or in other words, where people are already interacting on places like YouTube.
So, who exactly watches Intel’s YouTube videos? It depends and it can be anyone from the traditional press, analyst and customer base to general tech fans and interested consumers.
In addition to YouTube, Intel has an employee-wide blog program and the social media team works constantly to develop blog policies and train employees on how to blog and still stay in line with Intel’s company policy.
The Social Media Press Release
Since Intel is also big on blogs, they are also big on bloggers, which explains the recent social media press release on the Intel Core i7–the Nehalem.
The Nehalem, by the way, is a microprocessor that Intel promises will break the barriers for digital media performance: it features an innovative microarchitecture on a nanometer scale that will handle data quicker at a higher energy efficiency rate.
The social media press release, though, is an SEO-optimized data center complete with blog links, six 2 to 5 minute YouTube videos, downloadable photos and quotes that would normally be found in a virtual press kit sent by e-mail. The microsite targets bloggers and online journalists to help them be more efficient and save them energy.
What’s In It For Your Company? (WIIFYC)
As for content, a good rule of thumb is to be all inclusive and welcoming to all people who were involved in the product’s development. Let them have their 15 minutes of fame, give them recognition and you’ll ultimately turn them into naturally promoters for your company.
In all, the questions that will drive your company’s social media strategy will be somewhat typical for a marketing manager:
-Who is my company trying to serve with the information and content I have to offer?
-What are our central objectives?
-What strategy do we think is best to address these objectives?
-Which tools will make the best investment of time, money and resources?
Aside: The last question is paramount, as a huge corporation, Intel is interested in social media products that are scalable. They pay for their YouTube channel, and they pay to have a blog platform that their employees can use. This may or may not be the case for smaller start-up companies that need a lower cost solution, but it is always important to think about the long term effects of any investment choices.
Authenticity Counts
But there are vast differences as well. It’s important to always show a human side, and always be up front about who you are and what you represent. The current zeitgeist is perhaps a counter revolution on the advertising we’ve been spoon fed for many years well into the 90s.
For one, Ken is up front about the fact that he represents Intel but he also comes across as an authentic person with interests seperate from Intel which helps to build trust. And any good salesman will tell you, trust is the first step to closing a sale.
Others who work in social media for corporate that we have met at the Millennium Marketer include Sumaya Kazi at Sun Microsystems.
