American Gas - April 2014 - (Page 30)

b u r ner tips As utilities consolidate their social channels, improve their social property performance, and integrate the channels into long-term strategies, the industry has reached a much-needed plateau By Matthew Burks social media Beyond the hype: StrAtegic thinking S ince 2008, North American utilities have made extraordinary progress in their use of social media. Within several years the industry has shifted from an almost universally defensive posture to one of active engagement. Although debates remain over social strategies and the optimal path forward, many of the core fears regarding negative channel consequences have been put to rest. While some remain skeptical of social's long-term value within the utility sector, leading utilities now treat social media as a natural and inevitable evolution of digital communication. The credibility of utility social media involvement was forged in the fires of outage and crisis situations-highly emotional moments where real-time information is paramount. It is an undeniably efficient and effective means of rapidly sharing critical information via a highly mobile and information-seeking audience. For example, PSE&G gained more than 50,000 new Twitter followers during Hurricane Sandy in 2012. Twitter was able to provide instant feedback to customers as the event unfolded, a broad reach that traditional interactions can't achieve. Although impressive, PSE&G's outcome is one example among dozens where utilities saw extraordinary jumps in engagement during highly impactful events. Every year, E Source engages more than 50 utilities through our North 30 AmericAn GAs april 2014 American Utility Social Media Survey. The 2013 results show continued improvements in overall social sophistication, integration, and focus, especially among the IOU and medium to large municipals. At the same time, the data hints at a muchneeded plateau. Survey data and anecdotal interviews point toward a temporary industry retrenchment as utilities consolidate their social channels, improve existing social property performance, and more deliberately integrate these channels into long-term digital and marketing/communications strategies. The social and digital communications landscapes are advancing so rapidly that a more mature, long-term strategy is required. So how should utilities use-or not use-social media? Unfortunately, there's no simple formula or easy checklist. But based on what we see with our customers, there are a lot of success stories we can learn from. To give social a chance, you have to give it a budget. The unfortunate reality is that social media remains a budgetary afterthought for most utilities; 70 percent of utility social teams have no formal budget and request funding on an ad hoc basis. Although most major electric and gas IOUs and municipals now recognize the myriad of benefits social brings to their organizations, they remain hesitant to proactively invest. Some of this ambivalence is simply a generational disconnect-basically, the "I don't get it and so I don't want to invest in it" factor. Unfortunately, this overlooks the reality that social media has the potential to outperform traditional marketing, communications, and promotional channels in specific cases. For example, a credible argument exists that social has rendered traditional press releases largely obsolete. For these reasons, more advanced organizations, both inside and outside of the industry, are proactively shifting budgets and resources to compensate for these trend lines. Incremental adjustments are reasonable-but shifting some internal spend toward social is prudent. Have a content and engagement strategy. Our industry has learned through trial and error what customers

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American Gas - April 2014