TiESE: Case Study Two - ACCION

Case Study Two: ACCION USA

Julie Soforenko, Marketing and Outreach Coordinator of ACCION USA

Our panelists give Julie some valuable feedback on the social media strategy for ACCION.  Please add your own advice for her if you’d like!

Julie’s general questions:

Starting the Conversation
1.    How do we know what resonates with our audience?
2.    How do we start engaging our clients and the public in an online dialogue?
a.    Nobody is discussing us online
3.    How do we differentiate ourselves amidst so many organizations vying for attention online?

Choosing the Tools
4.    What are the top 3 most effective social media marketing tools?
5.    How do we stay current on new web-based marketing tools?
6.    How can we decide which tools are best-suited to our organization and its goals?
7.    How can we effectively market to Hispanic populations on the internet? What are some examples of Web 2.0 marketing within the Spanish-speaking community?

Analytics
8.    What are the best analytics tools?
9.    What are the best tools to track where we are being talked about online?
10.    Are there easy methods to track social media ROI?

Tying It Together
11.    How do we align web 2.0 strategies with our basic web marketing strategies?
12.    Is our website eye-catching?
13.    How do we build worth-while social media relationships?
a.    With our potential clients
b.    With the leaders in the industry active in social media

Panelist responses:

Joe: You have money for small businesses and no one’s talking about you?  … For low and moderate income business owners, you might be better off with an SMS campaign.  In other countries, the low income cohorts respond most strongly to SMS campaigns.

Gradon: The photo contest idea, by having people take photos in front of their favorite small businesses, is a great idea, but you want to have an audience first – asking them to upload to Flickr and tag it with XYZ.  Flickr is better suited to that than your own site would be.

Raj Melville: If someone opening a small business isn’t on Twitter, you may wish to look elsewhere.

Julie: We know a lot of the people who get loans from us are online because they apply through our online lending platform.

Gradon: If they’re online and looking for a service, they’re on Google.  And the reason to build compelling remarkable content on your blog is that it raises your prominence on search results, which helps customers find you.

Brian: Your website is good, but it’s lacking compelling remarkable content.  …  I’m not hot on podcasting; I’m hot on video.

Julie: The production values don’t have to be too high, right?  Doesn’t have to be shiny?

Ken: Definitely not.  At WBUR, we prioritize getting the content out there.

Do you have any suggestions for Julie?