Search Results: Posts Tagged ‘facebook’

Background
The Lexi Cinema is one of the most innovative and state-of-the-art micro-cinemas in the UK. As well as being one of London’s newest arthouse cinemas, it’s also a Social Enterprise, raising funds for the The Sustainability Institute's activities in South Africa.

Objectives
Not only were the Lexi’s management team in the dark about social media, they were unclear as to what it could deliver for their organisation. Having approached them with an open mind (and open ears), we quickly came to the conclusion that they needed help demystifying the world of online social media. In turn, it was identified that some basic social media campaign work that could increase occupancy and help spread the good word of the team’s efforts, their fantastic venue and the awe-inspiring program of films and events.

Solution
Our starting point was a series of managed workshops and engagement sessions with the management team. Stakeholders were presented the opportunity to ask those awkward questions they always wanted to know about Social Media, but were too afraid to ask. Detailed show’n’tell sessions ensued, allowing the team to get hands-on with social media services, thus removing all fear of failure!

With the basics out the way and the team knowing the difference between a tweet, a troll and a tag, we set about developing and implementing a social media strategy. The focus was to engage two key audiences; local cinema-goers and content producers. With very tight budgets and minimal resources available, the solution needed to adopt free and open social networking platforms. We set about building a Lexi community of cinema-goers on Facebook, and focusing more on niche producer networks using Twitter and it's in-built monitoring tools. Hashtags proved invaluable when igniting conversations around specific films and cultural events such as the live stream from The Met in New York.

Local audience groups were invited to join The Lexi's Facebook page, where they received regular film updates and could swap their views and opinions. We trained the client in the fine art of Community Management and sat back and watched the conversations flow. For The Lexi, the ability to get direct feedback from the horse's mouth proved invaluable!

Twitter was then used to engage with content producers, and other cultural thought-leaders in order to spread the wider word.

Results
With an online community of over 1000 connected people, our Social Media Strategy has almost doubled The Lexi's subscriber base in little over 6 months. More importantly, bums-on-seats have increased and brand awareness is at a high thanks to the multitude of online conversations taking place daily. Those that joined the community are more likely to visit the cinema on more than one occasion, and traffic to the website has seen a significant increase - along with online ticket sales.

But don't take it from me, here's what the client says;

I wish we had a working relationship with all our suppliers and service providers, like the relationship we have with Dub. They just get it!

Results: significant increase in bums on seats in our cinema (!), significantly increased traffic to our website, the establishment and maintenance of two flourishing and engaged communities through Facebook and Twitter, people mentioning our Facebook and Twitter communities at the bar in the cinema, significantly improved search ranking and an in-depth but clear and simple consultation document on the best way forward for our business, online and in the area of social media. We are very lucky.

From the outset, Stephen and the team at Dub understood the challenges facing a local social enterprise micro-cinema with a less-than-ideal physical location and a minuscule marketing budget.  Energy, enthusiasm, the ability to really listen, the intelligence to quickly appreciate strategic and operational context, and, of course, the patience to explain the finer points of social media marketing to the, er, shall we say…less technologically aware – Dub have these qualities in abundance, not to mention the more prosaic qualities of responding quickly to queries and delivering things when they say they will.  If our plans for cinema world domination come to fruition, I’m sure it will be in no small part down to Stephen and the team at Dub.

And finally, The Lexi Cinema has a blueprint with which to extend their estate in the future, so watch this space...

I don’t know the exact number of organisations that have experimented with social software or social media for internal communications, but from those that we’ve connected with and listened to it’s clear there are a large number of them that didn’t get the results they wanted because they didn’t know where to start or were unsure of how to build adoption. So if you fall into one of these categories, here are a few pointers that you may find useful.

More than just push messaging tool
First off, social tools (wikis, forums, tagging etc), and more importantly social networking behaviours, can be deployed to help information flow more freely, enhance knowledge sharing and internal collaboration, activate deeper employee engagement, and even has proven results in achieving staff retention. They shouldn’t necessarily be viewed as a replacement for those things you are already doing, and they should be seen as something more wide-reaching that simply a communication tool versed with message pushing!

Command and control no longer
The days of command & control are numbered as social tools place greater emphasis on people at all levels by providing everyone with a voice, whether they choose to exercise it or not. Therefore, their is no such thing as ownership - it is owned by everyone, and more so by those with a hunger, passion and willing to participate and contribute. This is heightened by the fact that there are less rules than before - but guidelines are vitally important nonetheless, as leaders seek to engender adoption.

Social networks are a solution, not a problem
There are a lot of organisations and business leaders out there banning the likes of Facebook and other social networking sites from the workplace as they see it as a threat to productivity. I question, is technology the reason that people want to do something other than what they are paid for within the workplace? Perhaps job satisfaction should be studied very carefully, as should the behaviours that are now commonplace among staff in their private lives, for it is this which needs to be harnessed in the workplace.

Host the conversation, it’s taking place anyway!
Business also fears that their workers will talk negatively about a range of work-related issues. To this I say embrace it, listen carefully, and if it becomes such a problem then let the community themselves report it and deal with it in a way they deem relevant. By offering these controls, you will find such negativity rare indeed! What’s more, these conversation are taking place elsewhere, so better to be able to gather them and respond to them in the best way possible.

Don’t be afraid to experiment (and fail)
When considering the use of social tools within the workplace, don’t be afraid to experiment, and we advocate starting small. Invite a number of people whom you believe will be early adopters, and allow them to spread the word. Make them champions within the business, and they will help culture the guidelines and behaviours that can achieve your goals. Social tools are by their very nature flexible and cost-effective, so create a playground, sit back, watch and learn.

A range of business applications and solutions
And finally, developing social tools for internal communications isn’t an initiative that should be led or driven by your IT department. Why? Simply put, they exist to implement now out-moded command and control systems, and are much more focussed on the ‘tech’ rather than the all important behaviours.

Wrapping up, social tools can help you with a plethora of business cases, including the following;

• Internal collaboration
• Knowledge sharing
• Business networking
• Learning
• Internal communications
• Resource management
• Sweating knowledge capital
• Sales support
• Customer service

If you’re asking yourself how you can achieve some of these points, and want to learn more how social tools can benefit your organisation on the inside then drop me a line, I’d be happy to help, advise, guide and get my hands dirty.