Category: Twitter
Social Media: Have we missed the point?
by Ashley Webb on March 9, 2010 | 1 comment
in Facebook, Social Media, Twitter
As Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube continue to infiltrate companies’ strategic marketing plans, it’s important to understand the purpose of social media. The purpose of social media is to connect with your audience. Let me reiterate, connect.
Many companies are making the mistake of diving into social media head-first without really understanding the purpose – to build a relationship. This is where businesses have gone wrong in their efforts and fail to see any success. If you don’t allow your followers to interact, what’s the point?
Social media isn’t push, push, push, there has to be some pull. You have to engage with your audience. Over self-promoting is the biggest mistake. You wouldn’t introduce yourself to someone and talk only about yourself, would you? There has to be a conversation. The same goes for social media.
Social media gives you the opportunity to interact with your customers, employees or a niche group of professionals and understand what’s valuable to them. Your audience needs to feel a personal connection with your company.
If you want my advice, participate in social media but understand, you have to be prepared to open up the lines of communication.
How do you use social media to connect with your audience?
Brand Wins Big at Blog Conferences
by Jessica Turner on February 16, 2010 | no comments
in Advertising, Branding, Marketing, Social Media, Twitter
Companies continue to take a creative approach to reach out to bloggers as a way to market products. This was seen in action at Blissdom 2010, one of the nation’s premier women’s blogging conferences, held at the Opryland Hotel February 5-6.
We worked with our client, Soles4Souls, to reach out to this influential group of bloggers at the conference.
Soles4Souls, the shoe charity, sponsored a booth and encouraged attendees ahead of time to bring shoes to the conference to donate to Haitian relief efforts. By leveraging Twitter, blogs, the Blissdom website and its e-newsletter, word spread quickly for attendees to bring shoes to donate at Blissdom.
And did they ever!
More than 1,000 pairs of shoes were donated at the conference. Attendees who donated shoes were entered to win a pair of shoes signed by Rascal Flatts; that contest enabled Soles4Souls to capture the bloggers’ contact information. Soles4Souls also had the opportunity to personally interact with bloggers when they donated shoes and generated several positive leads for future blog partnerships. The organization also included information in the conference swag bags about how bloggers could partner with Soles4Souls on their blogs.
Soles4Souls successfully maximized its sponsorship to reach out to an influential audience, demonstrating the importance of including blogs and bloggers in marketing strategies.
To Tweet or Not to Tweet?
by Jan Morrison on August 21, 2009 | 2 comments
in Twitter
I’ve struggled with the decision of whether or not to participate in Twitter, the micro-blogging social networking tool that marries text messaging with blogging. In the end, I’ve decided it’s not for me.
You may decide that it’s not for you, either. You may even decide that it’s not for your business/client/organization. And that’s okay, because Twitter just isn’t for everyone.
It’s not for me because I don’t think I have enough relevant and/or interesting things to say on a regular basis during my day. Sometimes I even struggle to think of a Facebook status for the day. Ultimately, I know myself well enough to know that I would end up using Twitter to retweet other interesting posts and complain about the weather on days when I can’t ride my scooter to work.
For some businesses, clients and organizations, Twitter isn’t a good idea either. Perhaps your audience is so diverse that followers would be bogged down by irrelevant content if you broadcasted it via Twitter. There are a lot of reasons why your organization may not be cut out for Twitter.
The same could be said for Facebook, Digg, Delicious or any other communication tool. For any communications tool to be effective, it must first be strategic. Don’t just jump on the Twitter bandwagon because you feel like you have to. Approach Twitter just as you would any other communications tool, such as a newsletter or sponsorship. Effective communication tools strategically and successfully deliver your messages to your target audiences. If a tool doesn’t accomplish that, don’t use it.
If you begin using communications tools just so you don’t feel left out, you may end up being a twit instead of a twitterer.
Handling Complaints on Twitter
by Jeremey Selfridge on August 20, 2009 | no comments
in Twitter
It’s true that Twitter can be an effective means for businesses to communicate with their customers. But recently Horizon Realty Group gave us a good example of why caution should be taken when a customer complaint hits Web 2.0.
According to The Washington Post, Amanda Bonnen, a Chicago resident living in an apartment building managed by Horizon Realty Group, had enough of the cleanliness and maintenance issues of her apartment building and took her voice to Twitter. Bonnen, who allegedly had a mold problem in her apartment that was not receiving the attention she believed it deserved, Tweeted her dissatisfaction: “Who said sleeping in a moldy apartment is bad for you? Horizon Realty thinks it’s okay.”
These two cents from Bonnen, which were read by her whopping 20 followers, sparked, get this, a defamation lawsuit by Horizon Realty for $50,000 plus court costs, according to ChicagoNow.
A lawsuit? Really? Does this seem like a complete overreaction to anyone else?
To top it off, Jeff Michael, whose family runs Horizon Realty was quoted in the Chicago Sun-Times saying, “We’re a sue first, ask questions later kind of an organization.”
Ouch!
Now, I am not an apartment manager and obviously situations arise that require tough decision making, but it seems to me they could have handled this situation a bit differently. According to the Sun-Times, Mr. Michael claims his company “has a good reputation it wants to preserve.” If Horizon Realty wanted to preserve its good reputation, the company should have first contacted Bonnen and addressed her concerns personally, in addition to establishing itself on Twitter and addressing her followers directly. This would have been simple and could have demonstrated to Bonnen and her 20 followers that Horizon Realty takes seriously the concerns of its customers.
Since Marian Wang, a writer for a Chicago-area legal blog owned by the Chicago Tribune, broke this story it quickly grew legs and ran all over the country. An issue that could have been resolved quickly and quietly has since been picked up by ABC, WGN, CBS, The Associated Press, The San Francisco Chronicle, Christian Science Monitor, Wall Street Journal, Chicago Tribune and Huffington Post. Horizon Realty’s tarnished image has now been seen by the entire country, doing considerably more damage than did Bonnen’s original tweet.
Horizon has since released a press release which can be seen here, but was it too late? Has the damage already been done?
New “Social Media 101” Resources
by Ashley Webb on July 28, 2009 | 1 comment
in Facebook, Social Media, Twitter
Social media is an element that should be considered in the development of any artful and well thought out PR plan these days.
Adding social media to your marketing plan may seem like an overwhelming and daunting task, but you don’t have to be a technological guru to utilize it. Find some of the great tips and tutorials online to familiarize yourself with social media, and get started.
Twitter, for example, launched Twitter101 last week. It’s a new platform that helps businesses understand what Twitter is, how to get started and ways to develop an effective plan that brings value to your business.
Facebook is another social space where businesses can take advantage of the promotional opportunities and drive new business. The All Facebook blog recently posted the 9 Rules of Facebook Promotion Every Small Business Should Know. It gives some great tips on how to best benefit from Facebook, as well as a few Facebook “no-no’s.”
Social media has ultimately changed the way we market our businesses and ourselves. A recent article in the New York Times highlights the ways many small businesses are using Twitter to promote business and build clientele. The article provides some great ideas for social media marketing. And in a time when marketing budgets are tight, many businesses are using free social media sites as a significant component of their marketing mix.
If you’ve implemented social media into your marketing strategy, what advice do you have to offer?
What You Can Learn From Social Media Right This Second
by Ashley Webb on March 20, 2009 | 1 comment
in Measurement, Social Media, Twitter
There’s no denying, social media is “in” and it’s only growing more popular as companies are recognizing its value and influence. By listening and engaging with these public forums, companies are getting feedback from consumers and learning how to improve their products or services.
Ok, ok—so I’m not asking you to jump on the social bandwagon and start a Facebook Fan Page or anything, but there’s value in exploring social media sites to see if there’s any buzz behind your brand.
Here are a few easy ways to monitor three of the most popular social media sites today.
Facebook Lexicon
Recently, I discovered Facebook Lexicon, which allows users to monitor certain words or phrases being posted on walls. It even quantifies the data and displays it in a nice, pretty graph! Even better, it allows you to customize how you analyze the data. You can view it by age, gender, and even geographic location. This is a great way to see how you compare with the competition. Further explanation from Facebook engineer Roddy Lindsay available here. (Note: You or someone you know will need a Facebook username and password to try out Lexicon.)
Twitter Search
You don’t have to be on Twitter to see what the buzz is all about—or should I say “tweet” is all about? Search.twitter.com allows you to view the most recent comments about your company or product. But for those heavy Twitter users, check out TweetGrid. It allows you to search a term and receive real time updates.
MySpace Search
MySpace makes monitoring quick and easy. Do a simple text search for your company, organization or product name and see what people are saying. It’s that easy!
Check out KDPaine’s “Measuring Community on Social Networking Sites” to learn more about measuring MySpace and Facebook.
Once you know what people are saying—or not saying— you’ll have a better idea of your online reputation.
Who Reads Blogs, Anyway?
by Paula Lovell on March 18, 2009 | 2 comments
in Corporate Blogs, Social Media, Twitter
The explosive popularity of blogs and the myriad other online outlets has secured this new but influential medium a seat at a table it has never before graced – the boardroom table. Every executive’s first question? “Who reads blogs, anyway?”
What they’re usually wondering is, “Can these new online media really influence my target audience?” This question does not have a simple answer, but it has a very important one, especially if the executive plans to be in business five years from now.
“Can it influence your audience today? Probably. Tomorrow? Absolutely.”
As we speak, blog readership is rapidly growing among American adults. According to the Pew Internet & American Life Project, 33% of Internet users read blogs. In 2003, Pew reported that only 13% of Internet users had ever visited a blog. Growth at this rate for the next five years would essentially mean all Internet users will be reading blogs. So, why wouldn’t an executive use this medium to communicate?
For a visual snapshot of the growing popularity of online media, we can turn to Google Trends, a service that graphs the popularity of various search terms. The following graphic compares the number of Google users who searched for “blog,” “newspaper,” and “twitter” during the past five years.
Here, we can see that Google searches for “blog” outpaced searches for “newspaper” in early 2005 and never looked back. Even more telling, searches for “Twitter,” an even newer online medium, are growing at an astounding rate.
To further illustrate the point, we can add “Facebook” to the graph. Because Facebook.com began as a resource for college students, its user base can offer a clear picture of how tomorrow’s business leaders are using the Internet today.
The growth is impressive to say the least.
Business executives who ignore this trend do so at their own peril, because even though today’s top prospects may not currently read blogs on a daily basis, they will soon. And, tomorrow’s top prospects already are.
If you’re wondering how to prepare yourself (or your boss) for the coming wave of blog-reading business leaders, stay tuned. That will be the topic of an upcoming post. To make sure you don’t miss it, subscribe to our RSS feed by clicking the “+Subscribe” button at the top right corner of this page.
Or, if you want to talk right away about how to beef up your online media strategy, give us a call or send us an email. We’d love to hear from you.
Also, I’m curious, have you PR and marketing pros out there seen an increased interest from top management regarding blogs, Twitter and other new media? Let me know in the comment box below.
What’s So Great About Social Media?
by Rebecca Kirkham on March 16, 2009 | 1 comment
in Healthcare, Social Media, Twitter
Ok, ok … I get it. Social media is changing how we communicate. Blogs, Facebook and Twitter are here to stay – at least for now. And I’ve (reluctantly) joined the revolution. After months of procrastinating, I have a Facebook page, I’m connected on LinkedIn and even though I don’t “follow” anyone on Twitter (sorry, I really don’t care that you had Corn Flakes for breakfast), I get it.
And yes, even a curmudgeonly Gen-Xer like me can see that these mediums provide creative new ways to connect with consumers. For recording artists or global brands, the potential ROI is huge. I’ve also seen lesser known companies effectively use these mediums to build loyalty, recruit employees or supplement branding efforts.
What I don’t get, however, is the rush to shoehorn these tools into every communications plan. As part of Lovell’s healthcare unit, I represent clients ranging from hospitals and surgery centers to revenue cycle consultants and pharmaceutical companies. Though there are exceptions to every rule, I don’t think it’s realistic to expect scores of people to become “fans” of an outpatient cath lab or read the latest tweet from a coding software provider.
And while blogs can be a great communications tool (i.e. – http://runningahospital.blogspot.com/), let’s face it: not every CEO has dedication or the candor necessary to create a blog worth reading.
Yes, social media is really cool. And, yes, there are some amazing success stories out there. But let’s not lose perspective in our haste to seem “with it.” Not every medium is right for every company. Social media tools are most effective when they are part of a targeted marketing strategy that speaks directly to your audience.
There, I said it… Now please just don’t de-friend me on Facebook.