Social Media
By Wendy Wells Can Social Media Help You Lose Weight? Social Media Exploration Utilizing Social Media for business has already proven to improve brand awareness, generate revenue, instill a sense of empowerment in employees, and drive traffic to a main website. We’ve known for a long time that the various aspects of Social Media are essential to operating business in today’s fast changing world of advanced technology. Writing for Social Media Branding and Social Media If you’ve started utilizing Social Media for your business and you’re seeing results, congratulations! You’re one of the many people who have figured out a way to engage an audience, reach out and be a part of the community, and penetrate the market with your Brand. If Social Media in lieu of advertising during the Super Bowl is good enough for one of the biggest beverage companies in the world, do you think it might be good enough to deserve a few of your dollars from your advertising budget? Taking the Media out of Social Media FTC Guidelines for Bloggers The Federal Trade Commission has revised Endorsement Guidelines to include bloggers who receive compensation for endorsing a product, so that they will have to disclose in their writing, that they have either received cash or in-kind payment. The FTC states that, “bloggers who make an endorsement must disclose the material connections they share with the seller of the product or service.” We all have someone whom we hold in high esteem. Whether it’s a professor, a mentor, or a spiritual leader, someone has influenced us enough along our path that places them above others among people we respect. Social Media Conversations Conversations. We have them every day, sometimes all day. Whether it’s verbally or written, conversations are taking place all around us. While reading as we surf the Internet, we engage in conversation as passive participants in today’s Web 2.0, also known as social media. Using Social Media for Business Some of the most popular methods of internet advertising to develop in recent years are the many aspects of social media. Networking sites like MySpace and Facebook are more than just places for family and friends to connect; they’ve become places for businesses to hock their wares and for corporations to push their brands. Blogger, Wordpress, and Squidoo are just a few spots where you can create free web pages and blog about your life or what you’re selling.
Socialgraphics for Marketing Strategies
Do you know your customers? Are you sure that you really understand where they’re coming from and what interests them most? Without a true understanding of your customer base, you could be jumping the gun on a Social Media campaign. Much like a marketing strategy, social media planning takes an audience analysis in order to truly comprehend the demographics and socialgraphics of whoever your campaign is mean to target.
Socialgraphics is an aspect of audience analysis that goes beyond the regular demographic spectrum. Instead of investigating simply the culture, income, spending habits, and family size, socialgraphics investigates what your customers’ social behaviors are like online.
Socialgraphics answers questions like:
• Where are your customers residing in cyberspace?
• What is your customers’ social influence? Who do they trust?
• How are your customers using social media technology in association with your products or services?
Before you or your strategist begins a promotion or social media campaign, focus first on understanding your customer base.
There are several ways to do this:
Send them a satisfaction survey and ask if their needs are being met. You can conduct surveys face-to-face, via a short phone interview, through email, and snail mail. Do this soon after the customer has visited your establishment or utilized your services while the experience is fresh in their minds. Use multiple sources to gather information. Once you’ve compiled a large enough sample of surveys, analyze the comments and suggestions. Where is your company missing the mark or scoring high?
What are the trends of their spending habits? Then, change your performance to match their expectations. Thank them for their participation and follow up with them by letting them know you have improved whatever may have been lacking and are maintaining the features they like most.
Ask if you can provide them with any sort of training on your product or service. If you’re in retail, announcing certain days you’ll be featuring demonstrations are a great way to do this. Think of Home Depot’s strategy for the in-store clinics they hold for free. Home Depot offers classes on how to do a wide array of DIY activities such as: faux painting, planting a healthier garden, and installing a closet. They not only please customers but you can bet that after each clinic, they sell a great deal of the products used in the demonstrations.
Investigate any issues or short-fallings that customers bring to your attention. When more than one customer complains or is disappointed in your service, most likely they are representative of a larger percentage of customers who do not speak up.
Take their comments and suggestions seriously. Let your customers know that you plan to earn their continued loyalty by hearing and acting on what they need most. Be sure they can access you after hours whether its email, voice mail, or a form they can fill out online.
Pay attention to what your customers’ companies are up to. Spend time on their websites, sign up for their e-newsletters, and stay in tune with what their corporate leaders are saying. You can learn a great deal this way; when a company’s needs are not being met in an aspect you can cover, you’ll be able to address the problem proactively.
Stay abreast of economic, business, and global trends that affect your customers. If your clients begin to have financial trouble, you can prepare your own business for a loss of the revenue they generate. Better yet, you can also offer a way to help your customers if they begin to experience a downswing by extending credit terms, offering discounts, and other
incentives to continue doing business with you. When they recover from their slump, they’ll remember your assistance and pay you in kind by remaining loyal. There is no substitute for positive word of mouth advertising. Once you have a better understanding of your customers, you can plan an effective strategy for reaching out to them. Going to just any social network without knowing if your customers are there can be a waste of time and a frustrating effort that might discourage you from utilizing Social Media altogether. If your customers are actively leaving comments on the sites they visit, give them a way to leave comments for you and pay attention to what they’re talking about. In addition to segmenting your customers by demographics, using socialgraphics can help you plan a strategy for reaching your customer base which ensures better retention and continued customer loyalty.
In addition to the positive impact Social Media has had on business, Social Media can actually help keep you fit and healthy.
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that one-third of American adults are overweight and another one-third are obese. Think about that: two-thirds of the adults in America are unhealthy due to the fact that their weight exceeds a healthy limit. When an affliction reaches these types of numbers, it’s called an epidemic. We’re eating too much, sitting around a computer too much, and living overall sedentary lifestyles.
Taking the first step in changing lifestyles such as these is difficult when where to begin is unclear. Social Media offers not only a jumping off point but an entire universe of communities to join for maintenance of a healthy way to live. There are literally hundreds of places on Facebook alone that can serve as a starting point. My Twitter stream usually has at least four tweets every fifteen minutes devoted to health and fitness. Take a look at a small sampling of Social Media’s road to health:
• Facebook has pages that are devoted to exchanging ideas, offering tips, demonstrating yoga and weight lifting techniques, and providing moral support. When the temptations of special events and holidays come around, there are forums and walls that give immediate comfort and encouragement; someone is always on Facebook which means you’re never alone. Plus, the benefit of Facebook is that many pages offer links to websites with even more information for diet and exercise.
• Youtube is a great place to professionally produced as well as amateur videos of individuals sharing their entire transformation experience. They’ll show you their before, during and after physical appearance as they record and broadcast their diet and workout regime.
• iPhones, Blackberrys, and other smart phones have programs that can be downloaded to help you keep track of your caloric, fat, and carbohydrate intake throughout the day. You can also find applications (or simply look up) the nutritional value of various foods while you’re dining out if the place that is serving you does not have it available. Staying on track of your diet and reaching daily targets when eating out has never been easier.
• The professional site LinkedIn, has groups that you can join devoted to exercise and working out. In these discussions, members will often include links to websites that have been helpful in their experiences. Some provide information such as the benefits of low or high impact aerobics, where to order equipment that has received the best reviews, how to heal various sports related injuries, motivational tips, and more.
Starting a program of health and fitness is easier to do with the support of family and friends. But for those times when immediate help isn’t available or when privacy about a weight program is more important than discussing it with family members is, there are plenty of Social Media communities that can make a huge difference in the success of stepping out of the statistic that two-thirds of Americans sit in.
Social Media for the Job Search
Chances are you or someone you know has been affected by job loss, underemployment, or unemployment. If you are blowing the dust off your resume, breaking out the thesaurus to find power words, and figuring out ways to derive your skills from your accomplishments, you’re not alone. Not everyone has the privilege of owning their own successful business and not all business owners are successful.
Landing a job looks better today than six months ago and commerce is returning to the marketplace. Now is the time to get more aggressive with your job search, especially if you have been unemployed (or underemployed) for any length of time. Using Social Media can help you find a job.
First things first, you need to get an updated version of your resume posted to LinkedIn. Not the gigantic job sites that post jobs and let you post your resume; they have lost their effectiveness in the overwhelmingly flooded sea of laid off employees. I have not met anyone in the past two years that has found a single lead from any of those sites. I have found several people who have successfully networked their way into positions through connections on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.
LinkedIn helps you to take advantage of your professional network of trusted contacts. The people you already know can give you the biggest advantage in your career through the connections they can make for you. This network of once and twice removed contacts is one of your most valuable assets. Plus, LinkedIn enables you to help these same people you trust in return.
Once you have your profile completely filled out on LinkedIn, don’t be shy about promoting yourself! Tweet out a link to your profile with a notice that you’ve just updated your information, or that a talented person in your field is available for short- and long-term projects.
You have to make sure your resume is a dazzler! Describe yourself or your previous work experience; boil it down to the bare essentials and explain the types of tasks and responsibilities you performed. Simply stating the title of the last job you held might not promote you well enough. Not all job titles spell out exactly what their duties are, like Territory Operations Administrator, which can be a job that has wide berth of duties from company to company. Many companies will not have the title in their organizational chart at all. If you’re not the Head Payroll Accountant, define your roll.
LinkedIn gives you space for an objective or summary statement, which gives anyone who comes across your profile an instant feel for the tone of you, your resume, your intellect, and your skill set. Since this is a tall order from one statement, you have to get it right. Some hiring managers admit, if they don’t like the objective statement on a resume, it goes into the dead file. The same is true for those who “cruise” the web looking for potential employees. This statement also helps you to focus on exactly what you are looking for as you search for a job. Plus, it’s a great ten second sales pitch of yourself during the quick handshake and business card swap moment at a networking event.
LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter are great places to learn about social opportunities where potential employment connections can be made. I constantly receive invites to networking events, the Social Media Breakfast Club, Tweet-Ups, and charity functions. These are all prime spots for swapping business cards. Plus, if full-time employment is unavailable, you might find freelance work.
Keep your Social Media sites updated and be sure you’re getting your event invites and other notices in your regular email. You don’t want to miss out on the one social get together at the exact company where you’re trying to get a job!
Since tools like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter are going to be around for a long time to come, understanding how to operate them is an important practice for any company.
Keep in mind that Social Media outlets are more than just “advertising” or marketing tools. These can be places where you educate and entertain your clients. A little creativity is all it takes. Your website does not have to be merely a place for you to post and interact with others; it can also be a resource tool for your clients or consumers. Let it be the one stop where people go to explore and learn about things related peripherally to your business. Not everything has to be focused on the very center of what you do; look around the edges and see what you find.
If you are in retail, pick any item or collection of items in your store and post interesting articles on how to use them in unique or better ways. An aisle of kitchen utensils can turn into its own category of cooking, recipes, and how to care for cutlery. Link videos of short cooking demonstrations or knife sharpening tips from your website, then post on Facebook and tweet a message out on Twitter that you’ve just placed a great idea for tonight’s dinner or a new “how-to” on your site. Be sure to include a shortened link that leads to the right page! Broken links or inaccurate links are frustrating to the user and do not reflect well on your business. (Hootsuite makes it very easy to shrink hyperlinks.) A video rental store should take advantage of this same tactic not only to announce the latest releases but also to help fans can find entertainment information. Post celebrity style tips, link to clips about computer generated special effects, post the lyrics to songs and links to videos. Just get creative!
I recently heard from Bashyam, Spiro, LLP - Immigration Law Group, about how they’re using Social Media on their own website to benefit their clients not only by linking to the popular tools like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, but also by posting bi-monthly immigration law information, monthly educational videos, and e-newsletters. Imagine how much simpler it must be to research information on how to bring a family member into the country, start a new business, or file taxes. With one, single portal like this, bookmarking a number of different sites becomes unnecessary.
Keep in mind, you can post the same or divide what you post between your main site and Facebook. This gives your audience a choice of which site to explore. Just make sure you don’t over clutter, or create too much “noise.” In other words, don’t post just anything and everything you find related to your business and send it out. Be thoughtful and consider what you’re attaching to your website. Even though a video might not be produced by your company or be directly related to your service; your audience perceives that whatever you put on your site is indirectly endorsed by you. Screen carefully for offensive material or anything that may be considered exploitative. As always, give credit where it is due. You cannot claim an article, photograph, video, or other work as your own without crediting its original source or creator.
Open the Social Media window wide and see how fresh you can make your content. Not only are the tools of Social Media available as an opportunity to increase brand awareness, generate revenue, and drive traffic to your site, but they also provide you with the chance to educate and entertain your audience.
I’ve been talking so much about using the tools of Social Media that I think I might have skipped the most basic and important aspect of using Social Media. You need to write relatively coherently. Now, I’m not talking Shakespeare and I’m not suggesting that you use perfect grammar or punctuation in every post you put out on the web. It is, however, very important that you do not make yourself or your business look illiterate. Have someone proofread your copy before you post it. Use spell checker. This is yet another reason why using a professional for marketing, Social Media, and copywriting are better ideas than trying to do everything on your own. You’ll come off sounding more professional and polished. Sometimes formal business writing is a necessity and there’s just no getting around it. There is a difference between formal writing, emails, and posting a blog!
Even MBA’s dread when they are forced to do any sort of formal business writing. There’s simply no replacement for the written word, even in our technologically advanced age. Sometimes a phone or video conference isn’t practical, and an email simply isn’t emphatic enough for what needs to be said. Presentations and projects often require original text, so you’re going to need some basic business writing skills. For times like these and when you need more than a memo to get your point across, follow these simple tips to make the business writing process easier and to keep your reader engaged.
Begin - When you introduce the topic of any business correspondence, consider your audience. How much background information is needed for them to understand what you’re talking about? If “very little” is the answer, then keep it short. You can lose your reader very early with too much information, especially if it is only adding flavor to the topic.
Format - Headings in business writing help the reader get a quick idea of the page’s topic and content. Use headings to get the message across quickly, allow your readers to skim the page and show emphasis. Headings also create white space, which gives the eyes a “rest” between topics and paragraphs. Does it have to be words? Business writing is often best communicated when it’s not written at all! (Especially for business correspondence, when the reader has quick and easy access to a trash can.) A graph or chart is much more effective than our market shares showed an increase in penetration throughout the summer months, reaching 92%.
Cut - Once you’ve written a draft, go back and look for redundant information to edit. Check to see where things you’ve written are saying the same thing and cut something out. The two previous sentences are an example, they say the same thing. Many companies have some sort of internal reference system, abbreviations or nicknames that can shorten your text. If everyone knows the Seattle warehouse is called “S-E2,” use it. Avoid editorializing, save it for a meeting, phone conference, or as a follow-up. Too much space is wasted with: For some time now, I have seen the need to improve the system of inventory control at S-E2, it has grown into a problem, which can deter its progression into a major distribution hub. Instead, get straight to the point of what is best for the company and not what makes you look the best. Before it can become a major distribution hub, the inventory system at S-E2 needs significant modification. Search for content that steers away from your core subject and remove it. Business writing is not about you but when it’s done properly, business communication will make you look great!
Go! - When you’ve made your point, there is no need to recap. This isn’t Composition 101, where your grade depends on the “tell them what you’re going to tell them, tell them, then tell them what you’ve told them,” formula. Once you’ve made your point and finished what you have to say, stop writing!
When Good Leadership is Tainted
Nearly every major corporation in America is going through, or has been through some sort of shift within its structure. We saw internet providers and technology advance into the twenty-first century well before the twentieth was over. Then, the bubble burst and many folks lost jobs and investment funds. Next, the lending business exploded after an artificially induced high-speed rate of growth that was touted as mirroring the “excessive ‘80s”, but it wasn’t real. The funds weren’t really there, so investors who were ripped off in the millions and the whole nation is trying to sew the holes in their pockets because of the actions of certain banking and lending institutions.
Think about some of the leadership from those companies and what they went through after losing their jobs. Pretty much the same hardships as the rest of us, only their humiliation and guilt may have been tenfold because it was more high-profile. See, not all of those leaders and managers were bad people; they worked at a company with a board of directors that made some bad decisions. Some of these men and women are very talented, highly educated and experienced executives who are back on the open market. Now, they’re ready to sell their skills and knowledge to help build another company and turn it into a successful machine of production. Yet, too many of them are either still unemployed or are only finding jobs that are way beneath their value.
There is a cynical but realist adage that says, too often in life, we are forgotten for the many good works we do and only remembered, by the one, last failure we committed. When an accomplished executive runs the engine of a well-oiled company, there is no daily praise; they’re just doing their job. But when the machine breaks down and profits collapse, that’s when the executive is dropped without the golden parachute, and sent out to land on their own. The executive’s name is cursed and everything good they’ve ever done is forgotten. On their way out the door, the only thing anyone remembers is how the entire crash was their fault.
Everyone makes mistakes but what happens when the slap is undeserved? Mid-level leaders know, when machinations are beyond their control, they can either stay quiet and have a job, or take a stand and be unemployed. So, how will “the good guys” in the group that do find work again regain/retain the respect and trust of their employees after negative publicity or a work history at a “tainted” company? Striking up a conversation via a Social Media outlet is one of the first ways to begin regaining the credibility that may have been lost in the mire that came before.
Whether you’re a mid-level manager or the executive who wants workers to understand that you were not one of the few who had a golden parachute to land with when the crash occurred, you can discuss these things openly in a blog. Or you can simply talk about anything else that proves what a regular person you are, things that let the employees know you’re aware of their economic plights. Prove to them that a common pain was felt when things went wrong. Respond to their comments and let your employees know you are listening to them. Find your allies among the rank and file and call on them as a source of credibility. State the fact that you are one of the good guys and be sure to point out the others that went down with the ship who were also good leaders but were led by a bad board of directors.
For those fortunate leaders who are able to find jobs once again, over time you will prove your mettle to your employees because you honestly are one of the good guys. Those who work for you will come to realize that your leadership skills and principles are sound; just keep talking to them through your blog and listen to them when they comment. Don’t expect praise, after all you’re just doing your job. But, you can count on being respected and trusted. That’s all any leader really needs, the key ingredients of loyalty.
“With my what?” If you asked that particular question, you might be missing an opportunity to increase awareness about your business even more so. Or, if you’re not even using Social Media yet and you aren’t sure what your Brand is, depending on what your business is, you’re probably overdue for some marketing basics.
Have you developed a Brand strategy for your business? Look at whatever branding your company currently has. Is it unified? Do all roads lead back to Rome? What I mean is: does everything look as if it belongs together? Will it all point the way to the door (or website) of your profit machine? Is your logo on every piece of collateral you print? Is it on every email that goes out, or do you at least have a signature with your tagline and information? Do your advertisements have the same “tone” as your webpage, Facebook page, and twitter profile? If one site has a trendy tone and looks like your place of business is where the young crowd comes in to shop and another site has a more conservative tone and looks as though senior citizens play checkers on the sidewalk, you’ve got a conflict.
Every piece of print material or promotional item that has your company name on it should be able to stand on its own, perhaps even without your name on it, and be recognizable as something from your company. Your unique logo (Brand), tagline (mine is “Bringing Words to Life!), website address, phone number, and twitter handle should be on everything you hand out. If it won’t all fit, make sure at least your logo is always present.
Your brand identity is YOU, or it is your COMPANY and it will represent what your company is. One might say it’s a symbol. The brand will be repeatedly communicated, in many of the ways listed above and within other ways, such as your audience’s blogs or other posts. This will continue throughout the life of your business.
If you are in the process of igniting all of these various fires and you’re not sure where to start, take it one step at a time. Keep in mind almost everyone has to start with nothing: no website, no logo, no ideas for taglines, and no clue as to how to begin tweeting and Facebooking.
When you stop and consider the fact that people who have utilized your services or visited your place of business are already talking about you to one another, whether or not you have a brand, you might very well be better off starting with Social Media while you are in the process of developing your Brand identity.
Set up a Facebook page first and a twitter account second. Why invest in an expensive website that will have to be overhauled after you create a color palette, background, logo design, and signature style? Get involved with the community that is out there talking about you now, let them know “things are in the works” if you must, but just get active somehow in letting people know you exist…no, not just the ones who already know you exist, others.
If all of this is new to you, find someone who will come to you and explain it all. Get some help. You’ll have to pay for it if you want GOOD help, but in order to build a business that will PAY you long-term dividends, you must invest. This is the identity of your business, it’s public perception, and you want to make a great impression. Unify your brand properly, get active on Social Media, and you’ll make the right impact!
Pepsi made an unprecedented decision and pulled the plug on advertising during the Super Bowl. Instead, they are investing some of the money they saved ($20 million), in a Social Media campaign. This was the first time in more than 20 years that Pepsi did not have commercials air during half time, before or after the big game on Super Sunday. The ad execs at Pepsi have seen the writing on the wall…or in this case, they’ve seen the writing in the blogs. They have seen the numbers of TV viewership drop and believe the advertising budget is best spent off of TV, and into Social Media.
Other large companies are dedicating hefty portions of their budgets into Social Media, too. According to President and CEO Larry D. Woodard of Vigilante, a Manhattan ad agency, Toys-R-Us created a Facebook page that grew anywhere between 40,000 and 95,000 per day after it was launched. That’s an amazing amount of growth for one single business, regardless of how large the company!
So what is the buzz about? Well, for one thing, Social Media builds communities between businesses and their audience, or buyers. The conversation about most sizable companies is already taking place online somewhere, anyway. Having it on a website controlled by and run by those companies just makes sense.
However, Social Media might not be right for you. The different ways of interacting through Facebook, Twitter, Digg, Youtube, and many other sites could be something that doesn’t appeal to you at this time. Maybe you’re unsure about how the metrics or the Return on Investment (ROI) will be calculated. If you’re prone to sitting back and waiting to see how something plays out before you get involved, go ahead and wait. However, you’re going to be behind when you decide to join the rest of us.
Social Media is a constantly changing and evolving animal. Learning how to Twitter was important to understanding how to utilize a tool like Hootsuite. Most of us progressed from Myspace to Facebook, which helped us understand the concept very quickly, simply because we were familiar with the former. Just keep in mind that if you dragged your feet before you succumbed to email, eventually you began to use it for nearly all of your correspondence. This is technology that is not going away. When the time comes to begin a Social Media campaign for your business there will be plenty of specialists around to help you, there already are.
I tend to watch the movers and shakers in order to know what’s going on with business and upcoming trends. When a company like Pepsi Cola decides Social Media is a better gamble than running commercials during the big game on Super Bowl Sunday, I tend to put stock in that.
I’ve heard older business owners look at Twitter and Facebook as something their kids and grandkids are “playing at” with their friends. Apparently, they’re not alone. More than 80 percent of internet users in the United States are still not on Twitter, however, one in four page views in the U.S. goes to Facebook. Those are huge numbers when you consider how many other sites are vying for our attention: news sites, blogs, eBay, Youtube, Amazon, Myspace...the list goes on.
So, how do we propose a Social Media campaign for the client who throws up the Great Wall of China when we bring up “Social Media” in its basic form? “An internet and new media based program that begins a Word of Mouth conversation.” Simple…we take the media out of the Social Media.
Some clients need older methods before we can bring them forward to the new way of doing business marketing today. If we try to force it on them too soon, they’re going to resist, continue doing business as is, until it fails, or they retire and they either sell the business, or a younger family member takes over. (One who will most likely adopt a Social Media campaign.) But for the current curmudgeon or stubborn but sweet business owner, shoving Social Media down their throats is not going to work. Like Seth Godin teaches us in “The Dip” sometimes you have to know when to quit.
A Social Media campaign from which the Media has been removed starts at the floor of their business. It’s back to the basics of customer service. Is their staff properly trained and empowered to handle a customer complaint, crisis, and to rectify a problem if the owner isn’t around? If not, what they have is an employee standing around saying, “Um, I dunno what to do…the owner’s not here….” All this does is anger the customer, make the business look unprofessional, and spread a bad image of the business throughout the community.
An employee who has been properly trained to handle a crisis or has been empowered to rectify a situation on the spot looks confident, and makes the establishment appear well organized. When an irate customer comes in with an issue and the employee is calm and listens to the complaint, the situation is diffused. If the employee has the power and authority to immediately right the wrong with a refund or replacement, the problem has been solved successfully and in the best interest of the customer. A patron who will return leaves the establishment prepared to tell at least three friends about the satisfactory experience.
Naturally, their staff needs to handle more than just customer complaints properly, they need to be happy about their work. Either their attitude and desire to do a good job are genuine while they’re on the clock, or they need to be replaced. Keeping an employee on board who is not measuring up to standards makes no sense when there are so many applicants in the market today who will eagerly fill a post and perform tasks with vigor. The entire tone of an establishment filters throughout town. When consumers enjoy shopping or doing business with particular companies, they talk about it. Word gets around.
Getting the message out in your marketing plan will have to be slightly old school here, too. In addition to discussing your client’s workforce, you’ll need to gather consumer information in the form of either street or email addresses. They will have to be collected at registers or transactions via a drawing for a prize of some sort. Then, you’ll blast an e-newsletter or direct mail flyer…you know the drill. This method is time consuming but through diligence, it pays off in the end.
Once you’re able to show this client results with the old style and possibly an email campaign, maybe then you can gently ease them into Social Media. Let them know how much more effective all of what you’re currently doing would be with the added benefit of a wider reach via blogs, a fan page, videos, etc. Most likely, you will have earned their trust by not forcing something foreign and unfamiliar onto them at the get-go, and they’ll be open to giving your ideas a shot.
For certain clients, taking the media out of Social Media, in the beginning of a marketing campaign, can truly make the difference.
Personally, I’ve got no problem with this. If anything, I think the added protection to consumers is beneficial. I only wonder why anyone needs it. Do people honestly believe everything they read on the web? We don’t believe everything we see on TV. I am skeptical that with the generous income Christie Brinkley earns, that she actually uses a folding home gym. Does Paris Hilton truly eat Hardy’s burgers? Or perhaps, did she only pretend to in the commercial?
Sure, I understand that sometimes what we read online is not clearly defined as an endorsement or an unpaid product review. Like Mary Engle from the FTC says, they’re applying the same guidelines that have been around since the 1980’s to the realm of Social Media because you can’t always recognize an advertisement online just by looking at it.
Only bloggers who are trying to pass themselves off as genuinely unattached to a company are going to have a problem with this. I used to blog for a satellite TV company. My posts were almost always about what had been on TV the night before, soccer, and movies. At the end of my posts, I placed a disclosure with links to XYZ’s satellite dish company which made it clear that they were either paying me in cash or in-kind. I know of “Mommy bloggers” that receive free products in order to write about them. Some of these bloggers are very popular, so they’re using their online celebrity status to spread the word. A good review from one of them can go a long way in promoting a product or service.
What does this mean to you? As a consumer, it means you will be better able to tell when someone has been paid to review a product, or if it is a genuine opinion about a product they have purchased and wrote about. I recently made this comment on Twitter, “I’m not getting paid to say this but (dish washing soap) just made my dishes and glasses the cleanest EVER!” I was thrilled with the results of this soap because I’d been having problems with the condition in which my dishes and glasses were coming out of the dishwasher. Since I wasn’t paid to mention the soap, my comment actually received feedback from one of my followers saying they were going to try it, too. Another simply said, “really? That’s cool…”
What this means to you as a business owner, is that you’ll need to make sure whomever you hire to blog for you or if you are doing your own blogging, you must divulge your relationship with the product, company, or service. This is not a big deal, but the $11,000 fine is!
Blogging is one of the best ways to engage with your core audience. You can find out who your core audience is and target them in your advertising, marketing, and inventory. Staying in touch with consumers through conversations is the only way to build a community and include them in it. Being honest and transparent creates a meaningful relationship.
The FTC has actually done us all a favor. They’re making us introduce ourselves.
In the Social Media realm, one of the people I hold in high regard is Olivier Blanchard. He’s the Principal at BrandBuilder Marketing, a Greenville-based Brand Consulting and Marketing Management firm. I read his blog on a regular basis because I’m constantly learning from him. He also helps me to remember to keep moving forward in my endeavors, Olivier is very motivating.
Recently, I’ve had a few emails about my column from businesses needing advice on how to start working Social Media into their current advertising and marketing strategies. Some of the questions about Social Media are understandable, especially from business owners who are still mastering the launch of a website and email marketing. I thought I’d address some of the questions and misconceptions about Social Media in this article. I’m hopeful that I’ll clear some things up and perhaps, help some of you get started on your own SM campaigns!
Will Social Media work for my company?
Absolutely! There is no selection process as to which types of companies SM works for or doesn’t work for. Keep in mind it is like anything in life, you get out of it what you put into it. Social Media is just one of the many sets of tools available to bring about public awareness and brand recognition for your company. Your only constraints are budgetary…see, it’s not really free. It costs time, thought and creativity, as well as the an underlying ability to stick with it.
We’ll have no control over a Social Media campaign, the public will take over our image.
Wrong! Do you really think that because you start a Facebook page for your company that your input will get washed away in the comments? You will now have the ability to listen and respond at an even better rate than you did with phone calls or emails. Instead of dealing with someone in your face or in your ear disgruntled with a failed service or product, you’ll have the opportunity to publicly make it right. You’ll be able to really hear what is being said, think carefully, apologize, and respond in a way that satisfies not only the upset patron but also the potential, future customers who are also paying attention. When current customers who have had the same problem see how you’ve addressed an issue, you’ll be able to set up a system of recall if needed. As Olivier Blanchard points out, by entering into Social Media, you gain an understanding of how others outside your organization feel about your company. This gives you even greater control over your image. I suggest that you allow others to post their thoughts without deleting them. Even negative or stupid comments can be addressed with a polite response from a company representative. Of course, anything offensive should be erased and posted as having been deleted for that purpose.
Social Media is just Twitter and Facebook and they’ll burn out like Myspace.
Wrong! These are just the tools of Social Media. The platforms of Facebook and Twitter may change over time like Myspace did but Social Media itself is not going to burn out and fade away. In fact, Blanchard wisely says, the only way Social Media is going away, is if people stop doing two things: talking to each other and using their technology, especially their portable technology. Remember when the cell phone was thought to be a fad? If you’re too young to remember that, then you probably don’t remember when it was thought that home computers would never come about either. Regardless of your age, or what you think of technology, don’t get caught in the trap of thinking Social Media is a fad. It’s no more of a fad than email, downloading music, or YouTube.
Without an effective Social Media campaign, your company is missing out on effective communication between you and your audience. Take a look at some great users like Rubbermaid, Fiskars, Toys-R-Us, and Coke. Then, think of how it can work for you. Follow me on Twitter! @WendyWells
Social Media is filled with tools to bring us closer and to make conversations possible, yet sometimes it seems as though we are further apart than ever. Maybe because of the impersonality of it all…how easy it is to become close to someone online and write things you would never say face-to-face. We have begun to verbalize thoughts to strangers in 140 characters that we might otherwise never have considered uttering in a whisper to an old friend. At a Tweetup luncheon one day, a colleague looked around at the lack of actual conversation taking place. He commented that most of the people there were not someone he normally would have struck up a friendship with. Yet, because of Twitter he talked more openly with the attendees when he tweeted than he did face-to-face with them.
While I preach the gospel of Social Media and its many tools, I wonder if the backlash of the convenience and progression is a lack of morality and civility in this generation. Not only the kids but adults, too. Sometimes I feel as if our nation needs its mouth washed out with soap, and certain individuals should be made to stand in the corner. Insolent, childish behavior has put us in the spotlight showcasing our lack of civility toward one another.
Recently, the worst breach of civil conduct came from James Wilson, the Senator from South Carolina. By shouting the words, “You lie!” at our President during his address, Senator Wilson disgraced his constituents, his family, his party, and his country. It was the mockery heard round the world. Even though a few people interviewed in South Carolina’s capitol city, Columbia were supportive of his actions, Wilson’s behavior has been seen as deplorable to every other country on the globe. The reaction of citizens of other nations are overwhelmingly against his behavior, and consider his outburst beyond disrespectful. Only children and those who suffer from turrets are excused from not being able to contain their explosive vocalizations. From what I can tell, Senator Wilson is neither.
Days later, at the MTV video awards show, Kanye West jumped on stage, took the microphone out of Taylor Swift’s hands as she was making her acceptance speech for winning best female video. He completely ruined her moment in the spotlight as she was saying that she was a country singer, so she was grateful to win. Kanye practically said that she didn’t deserve the award by saying that Beyonce’s video was one of the best of all time. Taylor was frozen, microphone and Moonman award in hand, her chance to shine tarnished. The next night, Kanye went silent when Jay Leno asked what West’s late mother would have thought of his behavior toward Swift. He never answered the question. Surely, Kanye knows wherever his mother is, she’s frowning in disappointment, shaking her head, “this is not how I raised my boy.”
Then, Serena Williams, who lost the U.S. Open semifinal threatened a line judge with bodily harm after the judge made a foot fault call on Williams. Now, Williams didn’t say just one little, flippant threat; she described in colorful detail how she would use a tennis ball to kill the line judge. Serena acted like a typical playground bully, who wasn’t getting her way. She took what used to be one of the most civilized, “gentlemen’s games” and turned it into back alley brawl.
What we need is a good old fashioned dose of Ozzy and Harriett, Ward and June Cleaver, and Father Knows Best. Manners were taught at home because they were exhibited at home. Parents said, “good morning” to one another and their children. The word, “please” always accompanied the request of a favor, “thank you” was the immediate response when the favor was granted, and “you’re welcome” was replied in return.
Yes, these were idyllic lives on TV, but when you watch these old shows, don’t they seem to express a sense of good will toward one another that we are lacking today? These were the post-war years, our nation was prospering, and perhaps like in the days following 9/11, we were more aware of how fragile life truly is. Maybe after all of the death and destruction that World War II had caused, hurting someone’s feelings was just as damaging as physically hurting them. It still is, yet somehow we’ve forgotten that.
We have so many tools for Social Media and ways of keeping each other connected, but we’re standing further apart than ever before. Kanye West was right beside Taylor Swift the other night when he took the microphone from her hands, yet he was miles away – in his own world, where only he matters and he is King. However, it’s got to be a very lonely place. He doesn’t understand the power of the words, “I’m sorry.” He won’t energize them and make them real…he says the words, then backs up his original actions as if he were right to do what he did. Tim McGraw used the Kanye West moment as a lesson for his daughters to learn how not to behave. How many other parents did that?
Senator Wilson says the President has accepted his “I’m sorry” over the phone, but refuses to publicly verbalize an apology to the House. There are more people than just the President he insulted. How about apologizing to America? He has embarrassed us across the world and now, by his refusal to apologize publicly, he’s only showing his lack of remorse. He is a petulant, stubborn child with his fingers tied behind his back as he makes an apology over the phone to a voice on the other end.
Then, Serena Williams says she won’t change the way she is. She assures her fans that she will remain “passionate” and still plans to argue as she plays her game. Why can’t she set a better example instead by saying she plans to act like a lady and give the word Diva a more refined nuance?
How do we find our way back to civility and better will toward one another? Can purity and chastity back pedal to our teens and cover their midriffs and make them pull up their pants? Will it ever be cool for teens to destroy CDs that don’t stand up to proper values? (Think back to when the Beatles’ records were burned.) If we can’t create a false idyllic time like the days of the post WWII TV shows, where is our civility headed?
Parents are the only ones who can truly impress upon their children the difference between good behavior and bad. As adults, we have to monitor one another. Letting Kanye West know we won’t tolerate his infraction against Taylor Swift can take place simply by not buying his CDs, downloading his music, or attending his shows. Congress has already passed a resolution rebuking Joe Wilson’s behavior and Serena Williams was fined a large amount of money. In fact, we can use our tools of Social Media to speak out against all of these examples of bad behavior on blogs, twitter, etc. and state that you’re against what they did. Instead of letting technology push us apart, we can use it to keep us together.
We have to be the ones acting like adults with the bar of soap in hand and one finger pointing to a corner. Otherwise, we are losing our battle against bad manners. Our civility is being lost to rudeness, ill will toward one another, and an overwhelming sense of nihilism.
Follow me on Twitter! @WendyWells
Social media is about engaging in mutually interesting or beneficial conversations. These conversations often take place at a collective gathering point such as a social network like a Facebook page, a blog, Twitter, a news feed, or some other group. These groups are where influential powers are located. The start of a movement begins with a conversation. Sales and marketing dollars can be generated and/or lost due to the power of a social network. Through the collective the individual is reached, this is nothing new – it’s marketing 101.
If you’re sitting back and thinking, “whatever is being said about me and my company is fine by me…all publicity is good publicity,” you’re going to fall far behind the competition – quickly. Participating in social media is a vital part of today’s marketing and public relations strategy. By actively taking part in the conversations that are taking place about your product or services, your sphere of influence opens as wide as your audience. You earn the trust of your clients because you’ve given them a voice and proven to them you are listening.
To truly define social media is difficult. The term is used to broadly describe the act of participatory online media as it is executed through blogs, webcasts, photos, videos, podcasts, and other publishing techniques. It is a public submission accessible by the public and often said to be a democratic method of information dissemination. Some might even say that it’s a means where the most popular and loudest voice wins.
Social media can be thought of as the accumulation of content such as reviews, comments, ratings, etc. that is left on the Social Web, and by the impression that is left behind that identify what the audience is thinking and feeling about your product or service. This impression becomes the barometer by which you can gauge what your strategy needs to be in creating your own social media plan. How will you influence and engage with the audience (influencers) that has built up this accumulation of content? Where will your social media conversation guide you?
Let’s take a real-life scenario into account. I had been having trouble with my cellular phone service. I had pages and pages of notes with customer service representatives’ names and the dates that I had spoken with each one. One day, I went to a forum site where other customers were discussing their customer service experiences with the phone carrier and I posted my negative comments. Then, I sent a message out on Twitter using the carrier’s name and saying the customer service I had been receiving was the worst ever along with a link to my comment on the forum. Twitter is a public stream and I have over 1,000 followers, some of whom re-tweeted my message. Within a few hours, someone from the phone company tweeted me and gave me a contact link to receive personal help. The phone carrier decided what their strategy needed to be, and engaged with an influencer (me), by offering a solution in the form of personal help. In turn, I wrote a follow up on the forum describing the positive experience that had taken place. Then, I sent out a message on Twitter to my 1,000+ followers thanking the carrier along with a link to my comment on the forum. The strategy taken by the phone carrier helped to change some of the accumulated negative content on the Social Web that had been built up by an influencer (me), which had in turn created an impression of how people felt about their company.
Did this behavior increase their sales? Probably not. What it did was reinforce their brand and their image as trustworthy. The impression that was left behind is positive and shows that they are engaged, aware, and most importantly – listening.
If you haven’t begun to implement a social media plan into action for your business, get started! Try something basic like a YouTube video, a blog, start commenting on other blogs, or create an email newsletter. Get your employees involved, encourage them to blog and talk (positively but honestly) about the work they do, or specials that you’re running.
The most basic of social media steps to take is to become a part of a networking group. Everyone and every business should be registered on LinkedIn by now. According to their own definition, “LinkedIn is an interconnected network of experienced professionals from around the world, representing 170 industries and 200 countries. You can find, be introduced to, and collaborate with qualified professionals that you need to work with to accomplish your goals.” It’s the perfect first step to get your social media conversation started! Follow me on Twitter! @WendyWells
Yet, social media is not really free. This is where some businesses go wrong and think they no longer need to invest dollars in advertising. Social media is time invested by someone who knows what they are doing. And it doesn’t mean giving up traditional forms of media advertising. A Facebook or MySpace page that is never updated or that doesn’t interact with an audience will give your company absolutely no return. You get what you put into social media, just like anything else in life.
Some of the most successful Realtors I know are blogging and Twittering about their listings and what’s going on the local market. A good example of a Facebook page that uses social media to benefit a business would be a restaurant that updates their daily specials and sends out notices, that they’re offering discounts to customers who mention their postings and “friend” or “follow” them. When customers comment on an experience and no one from the restaurant responds, an opportunity to interact and exchange dialogue has been missed. But engage in an exchange and other customers will join in and discuss their experiences, the meal they had and which dish was their favorite. Sure some postings might be “bait” postings that are placed by a professional blogger or an employee but they’ll get dialogue going, especially since it will be something that others can relate to. “I’m craving the key lime pie with a Margarita,” is all it might take for others to join in and mention their favorite dessert or beverage.
One very important aspect of this particular type of social media is how the public customer complaint is handled. If a customer openly posts something to the effect of, “my last Margarita was watery, I doubt I’ll be back,” a perfect opportunity has opened up for an apology and a plea to give your restaurant one more shot. Other customers will come to your defense, too. You’ll be surprised how often clients will jump in to say they’ve never had a bad experience like one a negative reviewer might describe.
In last month’s issue of Saathee, I went over corporate blogging and its benefits to revenue. Blogging is another aspect of social media that is free and available on the internet. However, it is not free when you consider the time and effort that must be consistently invested in order to see it pay off. Just like any other form of advertising, it is only through constant touches and reaching out that something becomes familiar enough for the public to remember and try.
Measuring the success of these tactics is hard to do, which is one of the few drawbacks of free, social media. Trying to gauge how much income is generated via these means is not as easy as it is through traditional advertising such as print, television and radio. This is precisely why the big three should never be completely discarded. Print advertising is still one of the most viable methods of getting word out about your business. Like the internet, it is easy to reference and not as fleeting as radio or TV.
Social media is new territory that encompasses a vast range of communication tools used to network people, products, companies, concepts, and overall branding. If your sales are down and you’re wondering if you’re going to survive this economy, you should be exploring social media as a means to brand, market and advertise yourself and your company. If you’re not exploring social media and its benefits, perhaps it’s time to consult with a professional branding expert or marketing firm that can teach you how to use these tools. These aren’t the tools of the future, these are the tools of today and you need to use them in order to survive.
Corporate Bloggers
Some of you may be wondering what is corporate blogging and what does corporate blogging do? What can it do for your company? Corporate blogging is when a company hires someone to blog either daily or a few times a week. That's the most simple explanation. If you hire a blogger, they don't necessarily blog strictly about your product or services, but whatever their passion is that is performed with the product or from the service.
For instance, you're a restaurant owner, who hires a blogger. You wouldn't necessarily need the blogger to talk only about your type of food and your place of dining, instead, they would blog about their whole passion of eating and what food means to them. They would write about the sensations the aromas bring to them, the experiences they have with their family, what happens when they wash the dishes after dinner with their daughter, the bonding time they spend teaching her how to cook, memories of learning to cook when they were little….it's the genuine, human qualities of blogging that bring people back to reading over and over again.
Let's look at another example: an auto repair shop owner hires an older gentleman copywriter to blog. The man blogs about the road trips he took as a young man on the turnpikes and freeways when he was a kid, the roadside picnicking he and his family did, as the only restaurants back then were a few Howard Johnson's scatter throughout North America. He might blog about teaching his son to drive and the melancholy ache of watching him drive away to college. The blogger could share how it felt to lose his sharp vision as he aged, and what it was like to get his first traffic ticket because he was driving too slowly. If a corporate blogger is a genuine person and not a fake product pusher, their audience will grow. They have to be real.
Corporate blogging is about relating to people on their level and giving them a slice of another person's life. It's voyeuristic in a way that is allowed, legal and acceptable. Now, how does it benefit your company? Here and there throughout the blog, you would place hyperlinks that direct traffic to your webpage. Or at the bottom of the blog, there can be a statement or short paragraph about your shop or services, and how something like what they've written is made possible due to services like yours. This increases the traffic to your website, thus increasing your brand name's exposure. One of my blogs is for a huge satellite TV company. I usually end up blogging about European Football, Manchester United is my team, I'm obsessed. I have a following of people who want to know what is happening with the players, transfer speculations, who is injured, and what my general opinion is. Instead of trying to force a plug for the satellite TV company in my writing where it won't fit, I'll simply say at the end of the blog that maybe I had to DVR the game and watch it on my (name brand) HD digital, crystal clear picture satellite TV…I'll say how I get so many channels of sports and movies, and I'll put hyperlinks on certain words that pertain to the satellite TV.
As a corporate blogger, the benefits I offer are that the traffic to the company's website escalates at a rapid rate, there is constant exposure of their product, and an increase in their brand's recognition. The fact that I have a loyal readership, means that their name brand is always exposed to a growing number of people who read my blogs. Some of my articles are passed around via emails, Twitter and links that get posted throughout the sports world; which includes the UK, after all, Manchester United is from England. The team also has a huge fan base in the U.S., so their exposure is circulated in North America where they want to generate sales, thus increasing their revenue. That's what matters most, the bottom line – money. Whether or not these people are buying satellite TVs within the next 60 days or 12 months, the brand awareness is consistently increasing as the audience of my blog continue to become engaged in what I write. When the time comes that my readers want to buy a satellite TV, because I've been genuine, I'm their friend…they feel like they know me, so they trust me, and the satellite TV company I recommend is brand X. Bottom line: corporate blogging increases revenue.
Twitter As Social Media
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