@jeffreyrbunch

I recently had the pleasure of chatting with Intel’s Ekaterina Walter (@ekaterinawalter), Social Media Strategist, about the company’s social media strategy, including its Intel on Facebook presence.

Intel generated quite the buzz last month at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES 2010) in Las Vegas for several reasons:

• The launch of its new Core® processors;
• Its crowd-pleasing interactive cube display; and
• Its new Interactive Directory for Facebook.

Intel has been a leader in social media through its Social Media Center of Excellence, based in the Portland, Oregon area. The small but powerful group helps the company to develop and execute on its worldwide social media strategy. The group’s long-term work was recently featured on the Harvard Business Review blog. See Intel’s Social Media Training – The Conversation – Harvard Business Review

Walter is part of a team which also includes Kelly Feller and Bryan Rhoads, among others. The unit works in conjunction with other Intel divisions, such as marketing and legal, on both internal and external efforts. Intel has worked closely with Facebook and outside developers to create a one-of-a-kind presence which is as innovative as anything else that Intel does.

Intel’s thought-leading approach to social media

The Interactive Directory on Facebook is just the latest in a long line of innovation by the company in the area of social media.

Intel was one of the first major companies to recognize the need to provide guidance to its employees, in the form of company policies, on the proper use of social media and its tools. The company took it one step further, developing a curriculum and certification program for employees: Digital IQ. See Technology@Intel · Intel’s Social Media Story… by Bryan Rhoads.

The goal is to provide guidance, policies, and company-wide tools to help Intel employees interact on the Social Web. Like most companies, it started out as a grass roots project when social media appeared on the scene and there were no guidelines in place. That scenario can create chaos and risk for a company, but now one like Intel has a resource.

Walter puts the team’s mission this way, “We help teams bring social media into their strategy and look overall at our presence everywhere: Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, YouTube … Where are we and how should we represent our brand?”

The trick is not to be controlling, but to give guidance (including legal review) so that interactions by Intel in social media are authentic, but with structure.

“It’s a very fine balance,” said Walter. “You don’t want to kill the passion, take it over and say, ‘Now we’re in charge.’ … Education is a huge part: talking about risk, branding, trademark, privacy, HR issues. Educating without pushing.”

The training spreads social media “IQ” throughout the company. The nimble team does a lot with limited resources for a global company the size of Intel, developing playbooks for social media efforts that teams can execute.

“We’re extremely passionate about all things and creative,” Walter says about the Intel social media team. “When you put us all together, it’s amazing what you can do.”

The process employed by Intel is one many companies can emulate.

“Start with objectives and do it right. Why are you on that platform? Then figure out how to execute on each platform,” says Walter. Then, just as important, adapt and evolve. “You learn every day by engaging with your audience on each platform,” she added.

Intel’s new Interactive Facebook Directory

The Interactive Facebook Directory represents cumulative learning by the company since it has been on the platform. It has four portal entries for diverse topics: “Developers, Products and Technology, Students and Educators, and Discover Intel.”

“It says, here’s our presence (on Facebook),” says Walter. “It’s the first one ever designed that’s interactive. It guides you to what you’re looking for or you can browse on you own. It’s really basic but really helps folks to understand where they can go. It helps people to understand Intel has a bunch of pages but these are being maintained.”

Walter says the goal isn’t to simply create a large community, but to foster an engaged community and provide customer service, sales, and marketing support. The Facebook portal is another way for a B2B or B2C user to get information about the company as a complement to www.intel.com.

The company worked with an outside developer to build the application for the specialized Facebook platform. It is also designed to take advantage of the strengths of Facebook and not play into its weaknesses.

“Facebook is not a broadcasting tool,” says Walter. “What it is, is it allows you to build relationships; I don’t care if it’s in your personal life, professional life, or a company strategy.”

Walter notes most brands are perceived as monolithic and cold, so these types of presences “add a little color to your voice, more authenticity to it.

“It’s a myriad of things,” says Walter. “The community might answer its own questions. It’s a self-supporting community, but they can reach out to us and know they are going to be heard. (The response) is ‘they are actually interested and listening.’ It gives you a sense of knowing your voice and trusting your voice.”

Whatever strategies companies want to employ on Facebook and other social media platforms, Walter has some advice on how to approach it: don’t automate systems (if you can avoid it), be sincere, and don’t be fearful.

“If you’re afraid, fear will hold you back. If you’re afraid, you’re never going to go anywhere,” says Walter. “We do work with PR to post key topics, but we’re not bombarding people with stuff. A little bit of attention goes a long way; the passionate will bring along people who are neutral. If a huge percent of your audience is neutral, convert them to loyalists. It’s all about the relationships. Relationships take time, take resources, but you need to do it right.”

Related media

• Intel’s Social Media guidelines: http://www.intel.com/sites/sitewide/en_US/social-media.htm
• Intel’s Interactive cube at CES 2010 (@Scobleizer)