ThreatMetrix is a provider of integrated cybercrime prevention solutions. It helps companies protect customer data and secure transactions against various types of cybercrime. The firm tasked Walker Sands with developing a social media strategy designed to better position the brand as an industry thought leader and drive traffic to ThreatMetrix.com. To accomplish this, Walker Sands divided the strategy into three phases of execution: 1) building a following, 2) increasing engagement and 3) driving action to ThreatMetrix.com. Our social media strategy focused on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn channels. Some successful techniques that made the ThreatMetrix program successful include posting interactive content such as a fraud map, engaging industry influencers and building Twitter lists to target PR contacts such as cybersecurity experts, backyard publications and IT journalists. We first developed a persona for ThreatMetrix to serve as a common voice for all ThreatMetrix conversations, allowing us to align messaging across platforms. This persona is top of mind for any and all social media activity including posting content, sending tweets and engaging with followers. An effective PR strategy requires success in both social media and digital marketing. The ThreatMetrix program accomplished the social goals outlined above with a combination of top-tier placements that included links to the website, interactive content and a steady Facebook advertising budget to increase exposure across social media. The results were a 282 percent jump in web traffic via social referrals. In particular, Twitter referral traffic jumped more than 3,000 percent, thanks to a combination of our highly engaging infographics and an active Twitter account that grew from 40 followers to 1,160 in one year. In 2013, ThreatMetrix captured top share of voice relative to competitors, with 31 percent of all industry-related mentions on Twitter. The most notable example of how ThreatMetrix uses the power of social media and PR comes from an April 2013 placement in Mashable. An infographic describing scenarios of the various risks associated with accessing personal and financial information in a coffee shop generated more than 12,000 shares on social media. In addition, the ThreatMetrix website had its highest traffic day with 361 unique visitors.Introduction B2C companies have been using social media to increase sales, engage consumers, and build brand awareness for years. Since the B2B social media market is less developed, we see an opportunity for our clients to dominate. We see social media as an additional, beneficial way to build relationships with reporters, establish our clients as experts in their industries and drive traffic to their websites. Campaign Objectives and Tactics Walker Sands’ social media campaign objectives with ThreatMetrix have been to position ThreatMetrix as an industry thought leader and drive traffic to ThreatMetrix.com. To accomplish this, Walker Sands divided the strategy into the three following phases of execution: 1) build a following, 2) increase engagement and 3) drive action to ThreatMetrix.com. Our social media strategy existed across Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn channels. We have employed numerous techniques including posting sharable content, following and unfollowing people regularly, creating targeted Twitter lists, and more. We are reaching phase three now. We have built a solid following and loyal engagement and are turning more attention to driving action at ThreatMetrix.com. We first developed a persona for ThreatMetrix: a common voice for all ThreatMetrix posts across networks. In every post, we act as Mr. ThreatMetrix, a 45 year-old-male interested in internet security and enterprise software startups in the Bay area of California. Mr. ThreatMetrix is a huge fan of Brian Krebs. He wishes they were close friends, but for now he’s just hoping to see him at an upcoming conference. Mr. ThreatMetrix knows device ID and malware. He can easily identify the top ways fraudsters penetrate online sites, and he is well-versed in the latest malware streams. It’s a stressful job, but he feels like the companies he works with are still ahead of the bad guys. With this persona, we humanize the ThreatMetrix brand. We keep Mr. ThreatMetrix in mind whenever we look for content to post, draft a tweet, and engage with followers. It also allows the multiple people working on the ThreatMetrix social media account to write in a consistent tone. We don’t want the ThreatMetrix accounts to sound like they’re managed by multiple people. They are all managed by Mr. ThreatMetrix. In building the following, we regularly follow/like people who follow/like our favorite publications, journalists and other cybersecurity influencers. These people are interested in cybersecurity and would likely find our posts relevant to their interests. Execution Twitter We tweet three to five times per day. Most tweets complement our public relations efforts; we share ThreatMetrix placements, press releases, blog posts and other original ThreatMetrix content. We also share third-party content such as articles and events to demonstrate that ThreatMetrix is an active member of the cybersecurity community. We interact with attendees during events such as RSA and ThreatMetrix’s annual Cyber Security Summit. Finally, we use Twitter to connect with target publications and reporters. Below is a list of Twitter tools and how we use them: • Hashtags. The most frequent hashtags we use are #cybersecurity, #cybercrime, #fraud and #hackers. Using hashtags like these make it easier to find our topics and contribution when others search on Twitter. Hashtags are particularly important for big events. When so many people are tweeting, hashtags prevent our contribution from being lost and encourages other attendees to follow us, which develops our thought leadership. • Retweeting Interesting Tweets. Retweeting articles from our favorite journalists shows that we’re interested in their work before we pitch them offline. We have found that to be successful not only in maintaining relationships with reporters we’ve already worked with but also in forming new relationships. • Responding to Users. People appreciate brands who respond to them. It shows that we value their input. Facebook We post to ThreatMetrix once per weekday with event pictures, placements, blog posts, whitepapers and other original content to drive traffic to ThreatMetrix.com. When posting, we always consider what content will be valuable to our followers, so they will return to our page. Since engagement is our primary goal for Facebook, responding to users who comment on our posts or message us is critical. Even when we don’t know the answer to a person’s request, we work with ThreatMetrix to find the answer and craft an appropriate response. LinkedIn We update the ThreatMetrix company page with placements, blog posts and other relevant content that drives traffic to ThreatMetrix.com. In addition, we post ThreatMetrix content in relevant LinkedIn groups on behalf of ThreatMetrix executives. This action establishes expert status for both ThreatMetrix and its leaders. Evaluation: success, results or ROI To evaluate our social media success with ThreatMetrix, we look at web traffic driven to the website from social networks, followers and brand mentions. Web Traffic Web traffic from social is up 282% compared to last year. • Traffic from LinkedIn is up 216% • Traffic from Facebook is up 326% • Traffic from Twitter is up more than 3,000% Twitter: Since January 1, followers have increased from 0 to 1,158. Twitter brand mentions are up 175% from January. 1 in 3 tweets garners engagement (i.e. comments, replies and re-tweets). Facebook: Since January 1, “likes" have increased 1,064%. Daily engaged Facebook users (unique users) are up 564% year-over-year. Daily total impressions are up 660% from the same time last year. LinkedIn: Since January 1, LinkedIn followers have increased to over 800 followers. Weekly posts average 710
https://twitter.com/ThreatMetrix https://www.facebook.com/ThreatMetrix?ref=hl http://www.linkedin.com/company/threatmetrix
