IBMS DIGITAL

Presented By
Arslan Tariq
Awais

INFLUENCE PROGRAM Maryam

Mubashir
DIGITAL INFLUENCE
Ability to create an effect
Change opinions and behaviors
Drives measurable outcomes online
BEGINNING AND
CONCEPTUALIZING
Low online visibility of IBM on August 2009

Money Constraints

Reasons Of Low
Visibility

Activities Called Off

Rational software
conference
SHUTDOWN ALL AD-HOC
SITES
In July 2009, Bajaj instructed his team to shutdown all sites

Bajaj stated;
I would rather not be on Facebook than have five people following
me

In sept 2009, team discussion took place to conceptualize an

integrated plan for Social Media
OBJECTIVES FOR
INTEGRATED SOCIAL MEDIA
PLAN
Understanding
brand
perception of Creation and
IBMs Five Visibility of
software technical
brands among evangelists
the largest
audience
BEGINNING AND
CONCEPTUALIZING
In Feb 2009, O&M hired
Rethinking social media strategy in a well defined timeline
In oct 2010, O&M completed first assessment
In Dec 2010, IBM ready with the social media aggregator that
aimed to aggregate the entire brand and create an integrated view
of all conversations
LAYING OFF THE
FOUNDATION
Social media campaign designed with the help of senior
management and technical evangelists
Goal setting exercise
To build communities around the IBM
To establish expertise
To increase mindshare of individual
To influence purchase decisions
KEY STEPS
IBM established relationships with key social media influencers
Both internal and external
Who wrote posts
Hosted blogs
Who attracted the larger audience in cyber space
Technical Experts (Hired)

Under each brand, IBM created specific areas on which posts could
be written
LISTENING EXERCISE
This exercise helped IBM learn what was being said about the
company in media
oO&M to analyze 80 keywords with respect to IBMs products
oThe measurement parameter was the frequency of occurrence of
the 80 words
o12 different exercises were carried out from overall brand
prospective, including individual and competitive brands
oBy sept 2010, both O&M and IBM had a fair idea about the
strengths and weaknesses of the brands
oThis identification helped IBM to decide their course of action
EXERCISE INSIGHTS
oSocial media platforms were becoming upcoming important
mediums

Sharing was the best possible strategy for gaining

visibility

oStrategies to writing blog were different to other social medias

because IBM has to focus on all sides of Social Media
CRITERIA FOR WRITING A
BLOG
Be short and concise

Cater to a wide audience

Unbiased and contemporary
writing

Care needed to be exercised

By evaluating the results from activities IBM had, its focus shifted
from
INSIDE OUT APPROACH
Inside the organization, IBM had its own teams with technical
expertise
Outside, IBM had external bloggers who were in dialogue about
these technologies, external bloggers were mainly B2B focused
who are potentially influencers for the brand
MEASUREMENT OF BLOG
INFLUENCE
Blog volume per brand
Audience Reach
Volume of tweets
Volume of posts per SME
Social media activities per month
Active and Passive SME performance
NEW POLICIES
IBM wanted the team members of digital influence program to
consider blogging as something internal and not as external
Mental switch
Daily posts
Association of blogs with Twitter
Featuring bloggers on websites
IDEATION TO CREATION
Task assigned to SMEs to generate conversation in spaces where
IBM did not currently exists and to follow the subsequent dialogue
oThis program runs on internal motivation
Certificates
Merit
Motivational questions
MONITORING PERFORMANCE
oFrom 2010-11, 250 blogs were written in six months by 25 IBM
employees
oIBM software share of voice in the digital space went from 0-14%
without any investment
oInvestment in the project represents 10-12% of the companys
overall brand marketing budget for fiscal year 2010-11
oMembership across the channels increased 300%
oActivities created a loyal customer base
oBy 2011, SMEs had increased from 75-95 and share of reach for all
brands showed substantial improvement
 MONITORING PERFORMANCE
oIBM share of all blogs increased from 16.6% in June to 46% in Nov
2010
oThe average mention of brands grew by 2280% between June and
Nov 2010
oVoice in the digital space went from 0-14% without any
advertisement
Conclusion