If you read this blog, you know that I often write about and cite the work of Forrester.  I read Groundswell last year and it really helped me gain insight as to how Intel uses social media to connect with people. If you haven’t read the book, I would encourage you to do so.

I am a huge believer in the Social Technographic Ladder of Participation; and have used it over the last year to plan for several consumer related social media projects.  It provides actionable insight on how different segments of people use and behave within social media.

I also follow the POST method when planning.  It’s a four step process that serves as a framework when planning to engage with people online using social media; POST – People, Objectives, Strategies, Technologies.

The POST method also suggests 5 different social media objectives that companies should think about prior to engaging online; listening, talking, energizing, supporting and embracing.

As I was planning to write this post, I wanted to take a holistic look at Intel’s social media programs/strategies/objectives … to see where we stack up against Forrester’s 5 listed above. It’s also important to note that the launch of the consumer blog was a direct recommendation from Jeremiah Owyang after he presented his findings here at Intel last year.

Listening – using social media as “real time” research and gaining insights from listening to customers.

We use a variety of tools to listen to chatter and conversations online about Intel. In fact, my colleague Kelly Feller is developing a comprehensive listening and engagement model across all segments of Intel, namely corporate, consumer and business.

Talking – using conversations with customers to promote products or services.

One of my roles as a social media strategist is to serve as the managing editor of the Intel consumer blog.  My goal is pretty simple.  Use conversations to “humanize” the Intel brand.  This involves finding the right people at Intel who are passionate about our products; and more importantly, like to talk to people and tell them about it.  The blog launched last September and we have seen tremendous growth in the metrics across the board.

We have also built a content distribution strategy outlined below. In an effort to be “omnipresent” in social media, we have created specific consumer profiles in Facebook, Flickr, and Youtube; and either dynamically or by editorial we pull in these elements into the blog.

The idea is that if someone finds our content on Flickr, Youtube or Facebook, it’s very easy for them to go to the blog to get know Intel a little more personally. And on the flip side, if they find the blog through search or Intel.com, they can get more exclusive content in these external sites.

Also, we are dynamically pulling in relevant blog conversations into Intel.com product pages. For example, if one of the bloggers talks about WiMax and tags it “WiMax”, that feed will be pulled into the WiMax product page – example here. What’s Inside You (WIY), a user generated site where anyone can “tell their story” how technology has helped them create something awesome.  It’s processor relevant and these stories are also getting pulled into Intel product pages dynamically.

Energizing – building brand stewardship; and identifying enthusiastic customers and using them to persuade others.

Last year, we launched two campaigns to support the launch of the new Core i7 processor. Both programs were all about the community and engagement was, and continues to be off the charts. In fact, Mass Animation (Facebook app) is still growing; and the entire concept is about community collaboration to create an animated film; more info here on the specifics of the project here.

Supporting – making it possible for customers to help each other.

My other colleague Bob Duffy drove the implementation of Open Port; an Intel community for IT professionals.  The community is alive and thriving; and there are even non-Intel moderators and speakers, which in itself speaks volumes.

Embracing – turning customers into a resource for innovation.

Wepc.com is a joint venture with Asus and Intel. It is an effort to leverage the community as a source of innovation; a place where users congregate to share ideas, images and inspiration about the “ideal” PC. And, we are taking it one step further. The designs, feature ideas and community feedback will be evaluated by ASUS and will influence the blueprint for an actual notebook PC built by ASUS and Intel. I am the “official Intel” spokesperson of the community.

Summary

This, by no means is a comprehensive list of everything we at Intel are doing in this space; just a subset of projects I have either worked on or have visibility into.

Overall, I think Intel is doing an outstanding job with every customer touch point in social media. Granted, thre is still some work to do and we have a lot to learn; we are definitely off to a good start.

What about you? How does your company stack up?

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