It’s kill or be killed in the blogosphere. It’s tough to stand out in an ocean of “influencers”. So what can you do to compete or, at least, survive?
- What is your blog’s intention? If it’s personal, don’t stress about the number of followers or re-tweets. It takes time, effort, and desire to truly compete with influential bloggers. It’s imperative to ask yourself whether you want to make the commitment.
- Blog if YOU want to – don’t force it. It’s a big mistake to write posts that just fill space. In the blogosphere, it’s quality over quantity. It’s not necessary to publish a post about every trend or piece of news.
- Follow trends but narrow your focus to something original. The more specific your blog is, the more people will be interested in reading it. Furthermore, your blog will become an authority on its subject and gain a solid reputation.
- Give YOUR opinion and not a carbon-copy of someone else’s post. You must be unique or you’ll be lost in the sea of vanilla bloggers. Be controversial; Be funny; Be outlandish. Most importantly, be yourself. If your blog doesn’t parallel your own opinion then something horribly wrong occurred during the creation of your blog.
- INTERACT! Talk to people about your blog’s topic. Comment on their blog or even write a post detailing how your opinion differs. Use social networks to freakin’ network, that’s what they’re for, dammit! Link up with groups or find inspiration.
- Utilize web tools to optimize visibility and enhance your blog’s appearance, but don’t go overboard. Oddly enough, it’s exactly like those dumb Bud Light commercials (Bud Light – The Arrival. Don’t be too plain because it’s boring. Don’t go over-the-top because it takes the focus off your post and clutters the page.
Hopefully, you can cross all these tips off your proverbial checklist. They’re remedial and general common sense, but it’s important to remind yourself every now and then.
Good luck…and stay competitive.
Tags: blogging, Internet, social media, social networks, technology, tools
The recent tragedy in Haiti affected people all around the world. Communication was imperative but not readily available. Friends and families couldn’t verify who was safe, relief groups were unable to organize properly, and Haiti was unable to help themselves recover. Governments and disaster relief groups rushed to help any way they could. However, the damage was done.
Help was needed and social media answered the call.
“A 48-hour-old fundraising campaign to help Haiti earthquake victims, done solely through text messages, was already stunning Red Cross officials on Thursday when it hit $3 million. By Friday morning, the tally had more than doubled.
The campaign, made viral on networking sites like Twitter and Facebook, had raised $8 million by Friday, according to a Twitter message from the White House that was re-posted on the Red Cross account.
The organization also has accounts on Facebook, Flickr and YouTube as well as its own blog, and hosts an online newsroom that provides updates on the organization’s disaster responses. (CNN)”
Social media tools also helped relieve some unease by linking families and friends together.
Connecting Through Social Media
Do you think social media proved its value during this crisis?
Tags: Haiti, Internet, social media, technology, tools
For those who enjoy my blog, I have some unfortunate news. I will be undergoing some surgery next week, which will inhibit new posts for a bit. However, my friends, I shall return.
While I’m gone, remember:
- Listen before engaging
- Stay focused on your audience and topic
- Be social – it’s kind of fun
- Content is integral – so is trust
- Monitor your visibility
- Add insight and provocative questions – in return you will build your network
I’ll miss staying tuned-in to all of your superb posts but I’ll check my RSS feeds as often as I can. Good luck and happy holidays, my friends.
Yours Truly
Tags: Corporate social responsibility, Internet, marketing, pr, public relations, RSS, social media, Trust
One of my favorite shows is Mad Men on AMC. Not only am I living vicariously through Don Draper – the lead character – but they’re brilliant ad-men. I also love comparing the technology from the 50’s to everything we have now. We’re so spoiled…I’m pretty sure most of us wouldn’t get much done.
In a recent episode, the team needed to promote telegrams over phone calls, which were the main communication tool of the time. After several stiff “Old Fashioneds” and some clever zingers, a light-bulb goes on. The gist…you can’t touch or save a phone call but a telegram is tangible.
It got me thinking about the myriad of tools we have access to and if they can provide tangible results.
For years, companies depended on ROI that wasn’t the easiest to aggregate. Calculating increases in revenue, increase in new consumers, or overall reputation from massive amounts of market research (done by hand).
Now social media is becoming the most used tool for measuring just about any statistic for any industry. Of course, some web presence is necessary.
New analytic programs can compare stats with the competition, whittling data into categories (gender, location, and even what spots on a website are clicked the most). Some great tools are:
Compete – Features include: Site traffic and engagement analytics, Site ranking, and Keyword and SEO analytics.
Alexa – Features include: Web traffic metrics, Top sites lists, Site demographics, and Popular trends.
Crazy Egg – Features include: Heatmaps (a picture of where people clicked on your site), Overlays of website elements, Lists of hard analytic data, and Reports of the compiled data that can be shared.
Take a look and asses your work.
Tags: Alexa, Compete, Crazy Egg, marketing, pr, public relations, social media, technology
I’m always looking for the newest tools and widgets that make my life easier. I only have one arm so I depend on multi-tasking and speed. I put together a list of tools I’ve found to help.
Yoono – Useful Multi-task Tool – Yoono is an Internet plug-in that creates a sidebar on your browser (but you can decide if you want it visible or not). You can pick from 10 social networks that you update or follow the most. After putting in your settings, Yoono shows all updates on the social networks you chose to view and any RSS feeds you follow. Yoono is great because you don’t need all those tabs open and you can update several profiles at the same time.
ShareThis – ShareThis is a nifty widget. You can add it to your web browser toolbar, a blog, and it also appears as an option when you right-click. ShareThis allows you to send anything you find on the web (e.g. cool picture, good blog post, interesting article, etc.) almost anywhere (e.g. email, Twitter, Digg, etc.). It’s similar to the ReTweet button.
StumbleUpon – The web is enormous, so how can you cut your searches down to only what you want? With StumbleUpon, you give sites a thumbs-up or thumbs-down. Based on your ratings, StumbleUpon suggests sites you might like or are similar to sites you rated. Another sweet feature is to Stumble. StumbleUpon sends you to a randomly selected site, which is typically pretty fun.
TweetLevel – This is a new tool from Edelman, that measures your importance on Twitter. TweetLevel grades your Twitter profile out of 100 points, based on influence, popularity, engagement, and trust.
- Influence – Are you interesting (to other people)
- Popularity – How many follow you
- Engagement – Are you socially active
- Trust – Does anyone believe what you say
The higher your score, the more important you are.
Social Mention – Want a free real-time analysis of you or your company’s web presence? Good, because that’s what Social Mention does. You can easily track and measure what people are saying on more than 100 social media platforms. Social Mention aggregates user generated content from across the universe into a single stream of information.
These are just a few rosebuds I like. You may or may not have known about them but they help me. What are your favorite tools?
Tags: integrated marketing, Internet, marketing, pr, public relations, sharethis, social media, socialmention, stumbleupon, technology, tools, tweetlevel, yoono
Most businesses have embraced social media as part of their marketing toolbox. It’s clear through market research, as well as multiple case studies, that social media creates a unique way for companies to communicate with customers. As more companies jumped on the bandwagon, more social media tools were created. These new tools can focus on a niche audience that may have been difficult to target with traditional marketing methods. However, some businesses dive into social media before understanding how or which tool to use. Here are five steps a business should follow to ease into social media:
1. Know who you want to reach
Knowing your audience is definitely the most important part of any marketing plan. Market research needs to be the first step in order to adequately conduct a successful marketing plan. You need to learn everything about your audience so that you can directly connect to them. Through market research, find what demographic current marketing plans are not being reached, and you reach them. This step, although first in line, is an ongoing process. Attitudes can change in the blink of an eye, therefore, always keep an eye on the trends and topics that affect your audience.
2. Monitor several platforms to see where your audience is
After figuring out your audience, you need to be able to know how to find them. It’s not necessary to disregard traditional marketing tools to generate buzz. However, finding a fresh way of connecting with consumers can only benefit you. Unfortunately, the world of social media is huge. In fact, you probably don’t even know how incredibly huge it is. So, how do you find your specific audience? My suggestion is to choose from a few social network platforms and monitor the amount of traffic, the type of audience that uses each particular platform, and how they communicate. Most have trouble with this step because our first reaction is to start participating immediately. It’s important not to dive in before you completely understand your audience, the best platform to reach them, and how to use it.
3. Monitor and learn the proper etiquette of that platform
Once you’ve narrowed your search to one social network platform, it’s okay to create a profile, but still too early to get your hands dirty. Every platform has a different set of social rules that equate to their 10 commandments. If you break a commandment, most likely you will be branded as a salesman and considered spam, the ultimate insult. For example, on some platforms, such as Facebook, it’s perfectly normal for there to be advertising. However, platforms like Twitter will excommunicate you if they feel you’re only there to sell something. Watch how intimate users are with each other and monitor some of the top influencers to get a good idea of the “Best Practices” to follow.
4. Begin building relationships by commenting and adding relevant info
At this point, you’re ready to start communicating. The important thing to remember about social media is that everything is wide open. Everyone is allowed to voice their opinion and the majority can see exactly how involved, and how interesting, you really are. There’s also a bit of role reversal. While in these networks, your agenda comes second to the opinions and comments of your audience. It’s crucial that you build trust and relationships with your audience before any hint of a pitch can take place. See what they’re saying and add useful and relevant insight. Be confident to prove that you should be there, and they will accept you with open arms.
5. Maintain relationships while adding your own agenda
The final step is to keep a steady level of participation. This type of tool is not a one-time deal, it’s continual, but the benefits are worth the time you put into it. Stay in contact with the relationships you have made and, hopefully, build a larger network of followers. Also, it’s important to remember that social media is social. Don’t be afraid to let loose every now and then to talk about non-business-related things.
Social media has become one of the most important tools in many companys’ marketing toolbox. However, it has also become the downfall of some who did not utilize it properly. It may take longer than you’d expected, but the rewards will prove that it was worth the wait.
What would you add to this list?
What would you do differently?
Tags: campaign, integrated marketing, marketing, pr, public relations, social media, technology
Properly executing an integrated market campaign (IMC) is the most powerful business tool. When done correctly, an IMC utilizes several tools to produce a seamless marketing campaign. Although an IMC uses a variety of traditional and new tools, it must maintain the campaign’s message and brand. One of the best examples is CNN.
It couldn’t have been easy figuring out how to maintain interest in a 24-hour news channel. Even after creating a steady audience, how could people ever feel engaged? It was imperative to lose the “talking head” Walter Cronkite stigma that news broadcasts emanate. In essence, keep everything the same but different. The product of constant research is the almighty CNN we know today.
CNN combines traditional journalism and marketing strategies with cutting-edge media.
1. Traditional news broadcasts. (CNN Newsroom)
2. Senior correspondents have scheduled programs catering to their speciality. (Larry King Live, The State of the Union with John King, etc.)
3. A cutting-edge website (CNN.com) filled with today’s social media technology.
4. Correspondent blogs – Viewers can read and respond/comment during live broadcasts. (Anderson Cooper 360 blog, Paging Dr. Gupta blog, etc.)
5. A Twitter feed – @CNN constantly updating with breaking news “tweets”.
6. CNN Mobile for news on cell-phones.
7. iReport – An online section where current news is sent to CNN from users via any media platform.
8. Podcasts – Audio and visual files that can be downloaded to any media player. (Fareed Zakaria GPS, Amanpour, etc.)
9. Multi-lingual options for non-English speakers.
10. The Big Wall – An enormous touch-screen which supplements news stories with visual support.
The combination of old and new tactics in a IMC allows CNN to reach the maximum audience and entice them to participate (Call to Action). Every piece fits with the brand and message. By providing so many ways to send and receive information, CNN dominates the news industry.
Tags: campaign, CNN, integrated marketing, marketing, pr, public relations, social media, technology
Several years ago, I was working in the Marketing department of a prestigious law firm. Within a few minutes I realized why there is such contempt for the men and women in law. Simultaneously, every lawyer joke crossed my mind (i.e. “What do you call 1000 lawyers at the bottom of the ocean? – A good start.”) and I had to laugh.
One of my duties was updating and editing all the lawyers’ profiles, which should have been an easy endeavor. Somehow this task, which follows a basic template, became the bane of my existence. (Cue the egomaniacle, despicable, over-indulged lawyer phone call) Every day I’d receive several phone calls from our firm’s most distinguished lawyers during which I’d be berated for a misplaced comma. NOTE: not an exaggeration.
It seems odd that such busy and well-versed attorneys had time to spend correcting minute grammatical errors and voice their aggravation. You’d think they had other – more important – things to do…perhaps prepare for a case. However, my co-workers and I were obligated to appease their every request…it felt like working at a Burger King (“Have it your way.”).
As the demands became more frequent, we were all issued a smartphone in order to be tethered to the office at all times to make these inane “corrections”. To be honest, originally I thought the phones were a tasty perk. Eventually, the novelty wore off and I got so fed up with the constant nagging, the phone began to embody pure evil. A recent case study from BlackBerry revealed that employees work roughly six extra hours a week because of the 24/7 connection. Yet nobody had time to enjoy the full capabilities we had at our fingertips.
Years after I left that firm, smartphones became an essential business tool and everyone had some form of these mini computers, which also happened to have phone capabilities. Not much later, high-schoolers and college undergraduates were jumping on the bandwagon and a revolution began.
Mary Meeker, a Morgan Stanley technology analyst, was blown away by the recent influx in demand for smartphone technology. She declares that this all-in-one technology “is ramping faster than any tech cycle I’ve seen in modern times.” The companies that make these business toys are equally excited by the consumer tsunami.
Smartphones are giving the world the opportunity to be connected all the time. The growth of social media and social networks are making the phones more than a traveling e-mail trashcan. Real-time news and communication on a daily basis are just the tip of the iceberg. The phones are becoming so advanced, that in the near future they could replace something as simple as a wallet or something as sophisticated as a car key. Not that their current features aren’t anything short of witchcraft.
So…on one side, the smartphone is the equivalent to being shackled in your office and relinquishing your privacy. On the other, the world is conveniently at your fingertips whenever you want it. Therefore, I leave it up to you to decide whether you’d bring your phone to a deserted island (which had curiously good wi-fi) or whether you would enjoy watching your phone burn slowly in the family fireplace.
Tags: marketing, pr, public relations, social media, technology
Recent market research has proven that consumers respond to corporate social media. Studies show consumers are willing to pay more for a product if the proceeds will benefit a social advocacy issue.
Corporations, both large and small, are joining the corporate responsibility trend. However, some talk the talk but don’t walk the walk. This could create more distrust between companies and consumers, as well as putting other companies under scrutiny.
During the recent recession, a select group of companies received government bailout funding to keep them from bankruptcy. However, even though these companies survived solely from government intervention, they continue to give enormous executive bonuses and disregard the welfare of the company.
Granted executive bonuses, no matter how outlandish, don’t directly relate to corporate social responsibility, it directly affects consumers’ trust. It also begs the question of whether these companies, who claim to give back, actually contribute to things other than their executive’s bank account.
How is America supposed to feel about this situation? How should these companies feel? Where was the Public Relations professional, whose job is to portray their clients in a positive and friendly manner?
If this was your client, how would you advise the company to handle bad press and recover the trust of consumers.
Tags: Corporate social responsibility, marketing, pr, public relations, social media
