Government agencies and private-sector: still not sure about social media?
This is mostly for Government agencies and contractors, because I know many of you are still unsure. There is no way I could possibly cover everything you want or need to know in this one blog post, but I want to at least graze over a couple of points and perhaps this will expand out into a series so I may go more in-depth on particular points. For now, however, I want to make just a few quick points that I think are thought-provoking enough, even in their simplicity, to get your organization serious about social media engagement:
- Government is using social media. Whether you are the Government or it is your customer, you should care that agencies aren’t just thinking about it any more, they are engaging. Many have started blogs and Facebook accounts. You can even find Government agencies on Twitter in what I consider to still be an early adoption stage. GovTwit is a great resource to see which agencies have already arrived to the party.
- If you don’t stake your claim soon, someone else will. Or perhaps they already have. At least getting your organization set up with a few basic social media accounts (with a verification seal if it is available with the service) ensures that no one else takes your name and either acts as an imposter or in the case of businesses, stakes the claim on your name or acronym that they may share with you, forcing you to go for “second best.” Staking your claim also applies to the fact that whether you are participating in social media or not, other people are and they are talking about your organization specifically for better or for worse. If they aren’t, it is only a matter of time. Better to get set up now so that you can monitor and engage. It is incredible how quickly rumors can be put to rest if you can respond yourself in real time!
- It is okay if you think it is overwhelming. I can’t even list every social media platform… and it is a part of my job. The fact is, you are doing something wrong if you are on them all. Just like any new tactic, it should be backed by strategy. Getting started with social media is less overwhelming if you take a step back and think about where your target audiences are participating and which tools help you communicate what you need to. For example, is recruitment a big goal? Then there isn’t a good reason for you not to be engaging with prospects on LinkedIn and Facebook for starters. See where it takes you from there rather then trying to take on every social media site at once.
- Everyone who is pushing you to get on social media is very aware there are security and productivity concerns. We are not blind to this fact. This is why it is important to involve your IT and security personnel every step of the way, as well as to set up a formal social media policy to be shared organization-wide. Not sure where to begin with a social media policy? Begin with my first blog post. If you do a search for social media guidelines, you’ll find many great examples. View several because some are more comprehensive than others.
- The purpose is pretty simple, use social media to reach a goal. Got goals? Sure you do! Yes, some people do use their personal social media accounts to broadcast what their cat is getting into or that they are on their way to a meeting, but those people do not represent all of social media. Also, sometimes those people talk about other things, such as their government, employers, etc. So, they could still be your audience. But I digress… my point is that when an organization sets up an account, it is successful when there is a purpose. I am not encouraging you to get online just for giggles. I want you to use it to reach a goal. Set it in the beginning, and then decided how much time you need to invest to realistically meet that goal. Finally, measure for success!
- Final words: IT IS ALL FREE TO SIGN UP!!!
Just give it away, why don’t you?
Yesterday I listened to a Newfangled webinar entitled “The Modern Marketing Website.” It was so simple, yet so true. The one main message that really stood out to me was the message of generosity. Too many times we covet our knowledge, or are afraid to give too much away. But in the world of social media, it is all about sharing. No longer can we work behind closed doors and expect to gain the respect of others. Now is the time to really show your generosity and knowledge. I think we can agree on these two things: People like free stuff and people (especially professionals) like to learn. So, what better way than to do that through the Internet? Whether that is your website, blog, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, newsletter, or any other form of communication of your choosing—anyone can do it. Once you have the customer engaged in your content, you automatically build respect and confidence, and they now come to you. Granted, it isn’t a quick process, but imagine the clients that you can acquire.
So, what have we learned? Be generous and don’t ask for too much in return. Or, as in the famous line, “build it, and they will come.”
In Case You’re Still Thinking Social Media is Inconsequential to Your Brand
I fully admit, until as recently as this year, I held the firm belief that social media was nothing more than the faddish playground of teenyboppers and techno-geeks. This, despite the urgings of colleagues and peers that social media is in fact, a game changing brand management tool. I have come to see the light (evidenced by my participation in this blog), and here is a prime example why: Google Sidewiki.
Sidewiki is a relatively new tool that allows any user with a Google login to post comments (positive or negative, benign or mischievous) about any webpage that will appear in a sidebar frame of the browser for any other user to see. Furthermore, the owners of the website have no power to remove said comments (Google reserves sole moderation rights). Imagine if you will, the din of a flame war going on directly adjacent to your homepage for the world, and more importantly your prospects, to see. Yikes! (see The Google Sidewiki Controversy) Even more scary, the idea that these posters are now given the power to define your brand for you if you are not monitoring carefully and maintaining a steady stream of corrective comments. (see Don’t Blame Google Sidewiki if Your Brand Takes Another Hit) Brand management in the age of social media is not really a new idea anymore, but this particular application brings into shocking clarity the need for such management due to its extreme proximity to your most important outward facing channel, your website.
Google Sidewiki is still relatively new and adoption rates are unclear at this point but regardless of any personal feelings I may hold about Google overstepping here, the point is clear, social media, while no panacea, is a force that must be recognized in strategic brand management for the foreseeable future.
Google Sidewiki may just be the flavor of the month social media tool, but make no mistake; other tools are currently under development in some garage somewhere in the world that will one day be the next outlet demanding your direct and immediate attention. The only way to truly prepare for the onslaught is to make sure you have a well thought out and defensible brand platform and a strategy that allows for the rapid adoption of new channels to manage that brand.
Profile pictures get a makeover
I recently read an article in AdAge about how Estee Lauder is promoting their brand within social media. I thought is was brilliant. As the article states, their strategy is to offer free makeovers to women, take a picture and then the professional photograph is emailed to the customer. This is smart on many levels.
First off, Estee Lauder has a target audience of 35-55 year old females, which is now one of the fastest growing segments on social media sites. Secondly, since there is a large majority of younger women currently on social media sites, they can possibly break into an even younger audience category. In addition, they will be able to capture contact info for future email lists, if the customers opt in. And it will no doubt increase sales if many women feel even a small obligation to purchase some makeup after receiving a free makeover. And I haven’t even touched on the brand visibility/coverage they will receive.
We promote ourselves each day online, why not take it to the next level and really make it polished? There might be an untapped business here, especially for professional sites such as LinkedIn. And I have a feeling they will be popular with the younger crowd soon enough, particularly if they can create a slightly less expensive category for the younger folks, that is, without watering down their current brand.
So, are you ready for your close-up?
Twitter Rolling Out Accounts for Businesses
Once upon a time, like in July, I wrote a post to this site called “Simple Business Rules for Twitter.” Back in those halcyon days of our blog, I was a relatively novice Twitter enthusiast, but I understood the service well enough to embrace it, and to see the benefits that it had for businesses.
Now it seems like Twitter’s founders are preparing to roll out “premium” – i.e. paid -services for businesses. In an article appearing in today’s Chicago Tribune, Biz Stone, one of Twitter’s cofounders, states that the microblogging site will offer commercial accounts for businesses by the end of the year.
I am glad that Twitter is coming to the realization that their venture capital funds – even the $100 million they recently received – will not last forever. Twitter needs to develop a business model if it wants to be more than a flash-in-the-pan internet fad like the pets.com sock puppet, or be taken over by a savvier competitor. Does anyone else remember the pre-Facebook days of Friendster?
Twitter needs to find a way to offer companies premium features while keeping its core services free for all to use, and they certainly have their work cut out for them. Cited in the Tribune article is adding data and analytics that companies would be willing to pay for. Yes, all companies want to know that their social media initiatives are working, and that embracing social media actually generates ROI. The problem is that there are already services, such as Mr. Tweet, that let people see how active they are as twitterers, the percentage of replies they receive, and the percentage of people who click on links tweeted. For example, according to Mr. Tweet, @CMcGurn is categorized as an “enthusiastic” twitterer with an “above average” reply rate of 40% and an “average” number of followers, 14%, who click on links that I send.
Yes, the metrics are fairly basic, but they give a good snapshot of how engaged a particular Twitter user is with others. I am curious to see what Twitter plans to roll out for businesses that will be worth charging for, and whether or not companies will buy into it.
Men, Women and the Social Web
Remember once upon a time when the term “Internet” conjured up images of these guys?
Yes, there was a time when it was believed that the Internet was the sole purview of the nerdy, male computer hobbyist. Then the bubble inflated, popped, and what developed is far more demographically diverse than Benjamin, Doug and Gary – the three gentlemen pictured – could ever have imagined.
In data recently compiled by Brian Solis and visualized by InformationIsBeautiful, the Internet, at least social networking, Web 2.0 sites, actually skews towards female users. Of the most popular social networking sites, LinkedIn and YouTube have about an equal number of male and female users, while Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and MySpace all have more female than male users.
As someone who works in the PR industry, I am not at all surprised by the data’s findings, since the industry as a whole skews female and the industry as a whole embraced social media – to one degree or another – in its infancy.
Still, I would be curious to see if there was any shift in data, and in the breakdown of male to female social media users if such sites as Wikipedia and general blogging statistics were incorporated into the findings.
CEO Junction Roundtable: Business Development Strategies for Today’s Economy
Earlier this week, I attended a very lively and informative panel discussion sponsored by CEO Junction. The topic was how to grow and develop business in difficult economic times – re: today’s economy. The panel consisted of four experts who discussed different BD strategies: Gregory Caruso discussed how mergers and acquisitions can be a successful development strategy for both the buyers and sellers of companies. Catherine Read talked about the importance of social media as a key component of business development, Kim Guarino detailed why marketing strategy is so important for a company’s development goals and Mark Slatin spoke on the importance of customer loyalty to grow a business.
The audience seemed to be most interested in the social media and marketing components of the panel. Since that is part of what we do at The Borenstein Group, I had the opportunity to speak with many of the attendees about how, and why, social media is a key component of strategic, integrated communications strategies and why such strategies are crucial for successful business development.
I tweeted the whole event. Much of the audience is yet to adopt social media, and was impressed when I told them that I captured the whole event via Twitter. It presented a great opportunity to tell people about the platform, how easy it is to use, and how it can help keep a record of meetings, forums and other events. If you would like more information on what topics were covered and what insight was gained, my Twitter notes can be found here.
Thanks to Art Medici and Bill Campbell of CEO Junction and all of the panelists and attendees for making this such an engaging conversation with a lot of great information.
Adventures in TechAdventureDC Land
A couple of weeks ago, my fiancée and I joined with some of DC’s resident social media experts, techno-geeks and innovators for the inaugural trip of TechAdventureDC. The excursion out of DC into the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia to Rappahannock Cellars gave those of us who spend most of our lives behind a computer screen, scouring Facebook accounts for updates, and Tweeting incessantly a chance to get to know one another offline and in person. It was a great trip and I enjoyed meeting so many people in a social setting as opposed to through social media.
As someone who believes in the power of social media to stay connected to friends, as well as to drive business goals, it is important to always remember that the emphasis must always be on the “social” aspect of social media. The “media” part merely allows people to connect to one another and begin a conversation. To truly develop the relationship, it still is important to meet people face-to-face rather than screen-to-screen. Yes, social media is important, and it is great at allowing people to make connections, but those connections need to be developed and furthered through efforts to engage with people offline as well as online.
TechAdventureDC understands that even with a tech-savvy, tech-evangelical crowd, it is important to give people the opportunity to meet one another offline, using more than 140 characters at a time, and build meaningful connections face-to-face. Social media is important, but it cannot be relied on solely to build lasting friendships or business networks.
Let’s get it started!
Greetings from the laboratory! This is my maiden entry in The Borenstein Group’s corporate blog. I would love to get your feedback, so please take advantage of the comments section.
This blog is not a mouthpiece; this is a place for dialogue and information sharing, which is how I believe all good communicators ought to treat their blogs and micro-blogs. Before getting started with all of that though, many companies and even government entities who are now adopting social media need to get their bearings. There is a lot to take in and consider!
The public relations team here at The Borenstein Group just rolled out a formal social media program to the rest of the company. With it came guidelines to make sure we are all on the same page about what we are doing in social media, why we are doing it, and how to stay out of trouble!
Here are some take-aways from our guidelines that any organization can apply to get a social media program started:
- Declare the objective/goals of the program. Let participants know why you are all doing this and what you hope to get out of it.
- Make it clear whether or not participation is opt-in/opt-out. List the platforms you plan to use (blog, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, etc.) Don’t sign up for them all for the heck of it. Be realistic about which outlets you can contribute quality content to on a regular basis. More importantly, make sure it’s a platform where your audience is engaging or could be directed to engage with valuable content.
- Come up with a simple approval process for the submission of blog posts, images, videos, etc.
- List rules/guidelines for employees who choose to participate and list consequences if they do not adhere to these guidelines.
I hope this helps someone get the ball rolling at his or her own organization! Is there anything you would add to this list?
antisocial media
It occurred to me last week, while driving past a Chik-Fil_A, that social media is starting to become antisocial. The fast food chain had a sign in their window that promoted their free Wi-Fi. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love surfing the Net just as much as the next person, but I think there are more appropriate places, like a Starbucks, hotel chains, etc. Do people really have to drag their laptops around everywhere they go? Can’t they have a bite to eat without getting on the computer? What is next, Wi-Fi at the local Olive Garden? It just seems to change the whole environment when people have their faces engrossed in their screens. At least the iPhones are a little more discreet, and people seem to be surfing shorter intervals. But, again, maybe I am alone on this one. I just hope that these new social media tools are used to their best ability, and don’t necessarily replace other forms of media, such as emails. And I definitely think they are important tools to have, and there is still a lot to be learned from them.
I would just like to add that I love Facebook, but I think that it is hard to say anything of real importance or personal thought because it goes to a big group of folks. Nothing is truly personalized anymore. So, in summation, I think that we all need to keep our social media in check, use it when appropriate, and maybe strike up a conversation with the person next to us at Chick-Fil-A for starters.