For the past four years, Cisco has been at the forefront of forecasting trends in global and regional data center traffic, data center virtualization, cloud computing and more. And in those years, a quick press release, perhaps a timed blog post and a bit of industry buzz have herald the arrival of a new Global Cloud Index (GCI) study. But, with the fast-paced accessibility of social media and news being just a quick “like,” “share,” or “tweet” away, our social media team knew the changing landscape called for an evolution in how the fourth annual GCI study would need to be promoted and shared.
Often one of our most anticipated releases, the Cisco Global Cloud Index (GCI): Forecast and Methodology, 2013 – 2018 (GCI) is an informative – but fairly lengthy – document. Not wanting this to become an obstacle in sharing the study’s key findings, we set out to promote the study findings in an entirely new way, harnessing the power, flexibility in trying new approaches, and extended reach of social media.
Cisco’s social media team knew it would take an innovative campaign to (1) promote the numbers-heavy study findings, (2) showcase the data relevance, and (3) maximize awareness potential as well as thought leadership for the GCI release. Considering the targeted audience – bloggers, analysts, media, government regulators and service providers – the team created sixteen distinctive and “shareable” digital assets. In coming up with the social media strategy, the team considered the following: Read More »
The expectations on the modern marketer are ever-increasing.
The list of skills required includes the classics:
market research
creative writing
attractive branding
engaging event management
seamless customer support
Add these relatively newer skills:
crisp digital photography
smooth video
webpage coding
real-time social media listening
business analytics
Cisco Community Managers sharing selfies on Community Manager Appreciation Day. #CMADselfie
The community managers behind the brands you continue to support are able to do all of the above. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be happy with the brand. Branding is all about making you happy.
Before you read this, stop and glance around. If you are at home, at work, or in a public place, I bet you see people on their phone, texting, tweeting, or talking. More and more, the smart phone is changing everything about our daily lives. We are streaming music, watching TV, and downloading apps to get the fastest workout or the fastest route home. This massive growth in mobile use is rippling across every industry. Businesses are increasing wireless speeds to meet employee demand, and thinking more about security with the BYOD trend. They are also finding new ways to meet customer needs, especially in retail, thanks to the availability of real-time data from Wi-Fi routers and mobile devices. So where is the future of mobility headed? The Network is taking a look this month, with Focus Magazine. Check out our issue on mobility and learn about the trends that will impact your life.
Welcome to our latest #SocialRoundup blog series about new social media efforts and best practices. Today, we visit the stadium turf and the concert stage to see how brands leveraged the Super Bowl and the GRAMMYS to drive awareness and engagement with their audiences.
The New England Patriots’ 28-24 victory over the Seattle Seahawks was the most watched TV show in U.S. history. The challenge for brands, which spent a record $4.5 million for a 30-second TV ad, was maximizing this investment on social media.
McDonald’s, for example, used its “Lovin“-themed campaign in a TV commercial to promote new way for patrons to pay for their order – with an act of love.
The fast food giant also gave away every product advertised during the game, tweeting the offers out in real-time. The strategy worked — McDonald’s got 1.2 million retweets overall, and 25,000 new Twitter followers that day.
The live TV event that is the GRAMMYs proved to be another potent venue for social media, with brands like MasterCard and Patron using Twitter to publish promoted tweets in real time in reaction to what was taking place during the show.
You can’t forget about one of the biggest basketball games of the year –NBA All-Star 2015. This week, the Cisco Corporate Social Responsibility team followed Deborah Huyler and Andrew Torres, two Cisco Networking Academy Dream Team students, as they set up wireless access points and provided network troubleshooting in advance of the NBA All-Star 2015. They have been sharing their stories from Madison Square Garden, the Barclays Center, and other event venues through journal entries, photo slideshows, and videos.
Learn more about Cisco’s involvement at the NBA All-Star game and follow the #NetAcadNBA hashtag on Twitter to see real-time updates from Deborah and Andrew’s NBA All-Star 2015 experiences.
Tradeshows and events are practically synonymous with the technology industry – after all our industry produces some of the largest ones in the world. Whether it’s unveiling new products or participating in keynote sessions, today’s conference experience does not begin and end on the show room floor.
Rather, social media is the heartbeat of the event – shaping how attendees, partners, influencers and customers experience the show in real-time.
In my role at Cisco, I’ve seen first hand how the power of social media can drive the tradeshow experience. Whether it’s hosting a tradeshow, such as Cisco Live, or participating in an industry event, here are some social media best practices to consider as you prepare for your next show:
Social in Command
In 2013, we debuted the Cisco Live Social Media Hub – the first-of-its-kind social command center. The Social Media Hub not only monitors and reports on event and industry conversations, but also offers deep insights into how in-person attendees and external audience members engage before, during and after with the show.
For example, since the Hub is staffed with social media engagement experts, graphic designers, analytics specialists and logistics personnel, we can capture real-time data trends and use the insights to guide the development of engaging content and socially shared graphics.
The results have been nothing short of astounding:
On average, the number of impressions generated per day during Cisco Live US 2014 (#CLUS) totaled nearly 59 million.
Comparing the use of #CLUS in 2013 vs. 2014: #CLUS was used 35,500 times in 2013 and 47,365 times in 2014; an increase of over 33% year-over-year.
Two Cisco executives Trended NATIONALLY on Twitter during their keynote with the high volume of social engagement; all organic – no paid.
Recently, we have begun rolling out localized versions of the Hub to support other Cisco Live events around the world, such as Cisco Live Melbourne (#CLMel) in March. Although smaller in scale, the localized versions pack a serious social punch – bringing participants closer to the action than ever before.
Stealing the Social Show
It might be easy for Cisco to be front and center in social conversations at our own events, but how can we rise above the noise and make a social impact at some of the largest tech tradeshows around the globe, such as the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) and Mobile World Congress (MWC)?
Our teams have seen stellar results from engaging live-tweets, the development of real-time content creation, such as videos and graphics for social sharing and more.
For example, as a result of our social media efforts at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Cisco received a total of 4,002 conversations, with an estimated 13.8 million impressions! These figures support the fact that strategic and insightful social content can help brands stay top-of-mind in a highly-competitive social environment.
Stay tuned as I share more social media best practices in future posts. In the meantime, be sure to leave a comment and share your thoughts about what makes social media a success at tradeshows and events.
