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Posts Tagged ‘Social Media’

Rooting for a Social Sports Team

January 6th, 2012 by Jamie Porter

For a sports team, Twitter can certainly create hype among fans before a big game. But what happens when the team requires each individual player to join the conversation from their own handle?

Professional lacrosse team, the Philadelphia Wings will soon find out, when they become the first U.S. sports team to create jerseys that swap out players’ last names for their Twitter handles.

With a focus on increasing social media presence, the campaign has noble intentions: The stunt is already calling attention to a team (and league) with a relatively limited following. Ticket sales may increase, but the Wings will not ball-hog monetary benefits. After the jerseys’ February debut, the team will auction them off and donate proceeds to the American Cancer Society.

But is requiring 28 lacrosse players to tweet the best way to connect with fans? We can all recall instances of professional athlete and celebrity social media blunders. According to Forbes, team management is taking preventative measures by requiring Twitter training attendance for all players.

It will be interesting to see how closely the Twitter accounts are screened and monitored. Off the field, each player has individual opinions that may not represent the ideal image of the team’s brand. The Wings may have a discerning eye for what sentiments are Twitter-appropriate, but a major slip-up could have extensive backlash.

Hopefully a crisis communication plan is in place for those, but recent trends suggest fans might find less severe mistakes endearing, even. Trendwatching.com lists “Flawsome” as a top-12 crucial trend: “Brands that are honest about their flaws, that show some empathy, generosity, humility, flexibility, maturity, humor and dare we say it, some character and humanity.”

Perhaps this trend’s origins are in social media, as spontaneous and instantaneous messaging is naturally edited less thoroughly. I’m rooting for the @PhillyWings, and other sports teams making this leap into social media.

Is this campaign a good idea, or too much of a risk? What do you think?

Tags: Communication, Jamie Porter, Lacrosse, Philadelphia Wings, Social Media, Sports, Trends, Twitter
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Network by Rubbing Elbows (Literally)

December 8th, 2011 by Jamie Porter

Thanks to an innovative airline, the CEO you’ve always wanted to meet may be just on the other side of the armrest.

According to the Huffington Post, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines announced a future service allowing passengers to attach social media profiles to their seat assignment. Using “Social Seating”, fellow travelers will be able to search LinkedIn and Facebook profiles for a perfect seatmate at online check-in.

Social media is now a standard way for people to connect, but rarely has it led to almost instantaneous face-to-face rendezvous, (outside of location-based services such as “FourSquare,” of course). If “Social Seating” sparks a trend it could make dating, job-hunting and forming business partnerships a little easier.

And what could this mean for PR? Sit next to a top marketing exec and your impromptu pitch lasts coast to coast. Sit next to a news editor and land your client a feature by the time you land.

Well, it’s probably not that simple. But, “Social Seating” may at least help establish long-term business relationships. A busy editor could forget which Twitter follower pitched him as soon as the story goes to press, but might correspond regularly with the guy he chatted up on his 2-hour trip home. (Or there’s always the flip-side where he might purposely avoid sitting next to a PR person to avoid a pitch!)

How many people actually welcome in-flight conversation? Some look forward to the few hours of connectivity-free peace. It will be interesting to see if fear of getting stuck next to a chatterbox hinders the optional “Social Seating” use.

If the airplane isn’t the correct venue, perhaps more traditional hang-out spots will use social media in similar ways. (That is, if social media privacy isn’t a concern.)

What do you think? Would you try “Social Seating?”

http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/view_photog.php?photogid=982

Tags: Jamie Porter, KLM, public relations, Royal Dutch Airlines, Social Media, social seating, travel
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Get With It. Get Social.

November 18th, 2011 by Pam Njissang

(Originally posted on www.girlsintech.net)

It’s hard to believe that less than a decade ago “twitter” was just a word used to describe the sound from a bird. “Thefacebook” was a website project spurred on by a Harvard sophomore. We all know what happened next. Twitter, now with more than 200 million global users and Facebook, a social media giant with more than 800 million global addicts… er… users is at the heart of the social commerce boom.

What exactly is social commerce? Social commerce is the fusion of two of the decade’s biggest digital trends – “social media” and “e-commerce”. According to Moontoast, a Boston-based distributor of social commerce solutions, today’s brands have a lot to gain with this new way of purchasing and selling products and services. In its e-book, “The Social Commerce Opportunity: How Brands Can Take Advantage of the Next Evolution Commerce”, brands who supplement their social media strategy with social commerce will not only “increase revenue, but also increase community growth”.

If you’re a business, off the bat you should ensure you have an online presence. Furthermore, if you’re looking to rapidly increase brand recognition, best believe that social media must be a component of your marketing arsenal. Moontoast’s e-book touts some very compelling stats by Nielsen and Gartner illustrating how much time Americans spend on the Web and how much companies are expected to generate in revenue from the Web via social presence and mobile applications, respectively.

“The Social Commerce Opportunity” e-book outlines the following opportunities unique to social:

Brands can reach engaged audiences than ever before.
Brands can present offers better than ever before through a digital “word of mouth” phenomenon presented by social.
Social drives adoption through confidence via repetition, user experience and trusted payment methods.

Building on this, it’s also important to note that today’s savvy, digital consumers also use the Web as a resource for savings. In its Times & Trends Special Report, “The Downturn Shopper: Buckled in for a Wild and Crazy Ride”, market research firm, SymphonyIRI, reported that the Web is rapidly becoming an integral component of what it calls the downturn shopper’s money saving strategies, pointing to a steady rise in shoppers using the Internet to research products and gather coupons.

The lesson here is this: social media is here and it’s here to stay. People are spending lots of time on Web and even more on social media. Many are already relying on social media to learn about products and deals, and it won’t be long before social media becomes the driving force for a majority of online purchases. The folks at Moontoast say it best, “Social Commerce will not only help brands monetize social media efforts, but it will fit in seamlessly with social media strategies and offer new ways to reward people through exciting offers and a better user experience.” Get with it. Get social.

Tags: Facebook, Girls in Tech, marketing, Moontoast, pamela njissang, social commerce, Social Media, SymphonyIRI, The Social Commerce Opportunity, Twitter
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Earthquake Reactions Help Measure Twitter’s Magnitude

October 25th, 2011 by Jamie Porter

Just how powerful is Twitter? If only it could be measured on the Richter Scale. But, if hashtag trends from recent earthquakes are any indication, I’d say it measures pretty high. A good ground-shaking is guaranteed to produce ground-breaking news on Twitter, leaving the most prestigious traditional sources in a straggler shakeout.

New to the San Francisco Bay Area, I experienced my first earthquake last week, but didn’t even know it at first. The 4.0 Berkeley quake rumbled through our office space and rocked our fifth-floor “crib.” It interrupted a meeting in our sound-proof conference room, but I still needed confirmation. Almost instinctively, I tapped the Twitter icon on my iPhone. Sure enough, @earthquakesSF had the report. And while logged in, it only made sense to update my East-Coast friends and family with a #BerkeleyEarthquake Tweet.

My earthquake encounter was put in perspective a few days later. After learning about Turkey’s devastating 7.2 quake, (yes, via Twitter), I was thankful our previous quake here in SF was nothing more than a little tremble.

Although immediate Tweets have no place in high-magnitude earthquake quake survival, Twitter still aided victims in Turkey and helped loved ones not in the vicinity keep up to date. A local journalist, Erhan Çelik, used his 22,000-follower network and a trended hashtag (#ÊvimEvindirVan—my home is your home, Van) to find 17,000 families offering temporary housing for those left without, according to the Guardian.

Catching the attention of the Istanbul governor’s office, mobile phone companies, airlines, and international relief, Twitter has proven its ability to move thousands into action. Twitter obviously isn’t a quick-fix for such a shattering event, but hopefully Çelik’s efforts have provided a small dose of comfort to victims.

Perhaps social media’s all-in-one approach is what makes it such a powerful news tool. Where else can you receive instantaneous news and at the same time broadcast your own opinion to the masses, while vouching for your safety in the event of a natural disaster? When a natural disaster hits, where do you go to first to officially confirm its occurrence?

Tags: Communications, Earthquake, Jamie Porter, Natural Disasters, Social Media, Twitter
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To Tweet or Not to Tweet?

September 27th, 2011 by Kristin Scheidegger

Over the past few years there have been thousands of articles discussing social media strategies, highlighting how or when social media is right for a company. While most have already taken the plunge, there are still some who wonder when and if your company should jump into the social media sphere? And furthermore, once you’ve taken the plunge which of the various social media tools are right for your company.

While this is a complex question, as each company is unique, social media plans need to be highly tailored to the needs of each company as an individual. There is no one size fits all answer when it comes to effective social media programs.

Each company needs to be practical about its bandwidth when considering adding social media to the mix of existing communication strategies. The bottom line is: while social media is a beneficial addition, it can be VERY time consuming. As such, some companies have gone as far as creating full time social media positions to handle blog writing and managing various social media sites. Others have PR agencies manage their program.

Social media is the start of a new relationship with a company’s audience and just like any other relationship it takes a commitment and regular maintenance. It is not perceived well by the social media audience if a company’s last blog post was months ago, or if the Twitter handle hasn’t been tweeted from for even a week. A major component of credibility in social media is in the real time updates and real time interaction so before a Twitter handle or Facebook page is created, you must first consider: Do we have the time and resources to dedicate to social media?

Once the logistics of bandwidth and frequency have been sorted through, a company must then consider the various social media components that will be best suited for that company. A strong rule of thumb is to start with a Twitter handle to help build a social media following and help the company get a better handle on what’s involved with a social media program. While there are numerous social media tools to consider, the most commonly used forums by companies include a corporate blog, Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.

Explore the Top Four

Corporate Blog
A corporate blog allows company visibility for potential clients, business opportunities and target audiences. It also gives the company the opportunity to generate conversations through thought provoking pieces, from the company execs to the sales people, reflecting on topics relevant to the company’s industry. It is a welcomed addition to any thought leadership program.

Twitter
Twitter is a highly effective means for reaching editors within your industry, target audiences, potential clients or customers, competitors, investors and so forth. The ability to reach target audiences of all facets at no cost can be extremely valuable to your brand. In 140 characters or less, your company can communicate its key messages, thoughtfully interact with industry leaders, provide thought leadership content via articles and websites or share its latest company news. For a company, Twitter is essentially a way to have continual and ongoing two-way conversation with significant stakeholders within its industry.

LinkedIn
LinkedIn is a professional social media forum that effectively acts as a digital resume. It’s definitely worth having for any company who is embarking in social media. LinkedIn gives your company presence in the social media world by providing company history and background information. From the company standpoint it is also a great tool to recruit new hires as well as post new company positions. LinkedIn is a more corporate form of social media where different forums can be created by industry or by topic to discuss current industry issues with a likeminded audience.

Facebook
When most companies think about social media they automatically think that they must have a Facebook page because it is so popular and widespread. However, Facebook isn’t the right fit for every company. Before starting a Facebook page, consider your target audience and how you would like your brand to communicate with that audience. As Facebook is predominantly made up of a general audience of consumers, it is more effective for brands who interface directly with this audience compared to a brand who has a niche value proposition for a segmented audience (i.e. semiconductor company to engineers).

Additionally, from a media relations perspective, Facebook is not a tool where connecting with key analysts and editors happens as easily because of the exclusivity with privacy settings and having to “add friends” in order to have a public conversation. Aside from not reaching as an extensive audience as Twitter, most companies generally end up posting the same content on Twitter and Facebook. In a sense, this creates extra work but lacks reaching the broad audience of Twitter.

Still Confused?… Don’t be!

As more social media sites continue to emerge, the debate between which forums are right for your company will continue. It’s important to always remember that not every social media channel is right for every company. It’s also critical to be realistic about bandwidth and the company’s capability to efficiently manage each social media platform with thoughtful, real-time updates. All in all, companies do need to be involved with social media to some extent, it’s just important to thoroughly evaluate which tools are right before implementing a program. Now join the conversation!

Tags: Kristin Scheidegger, public relations, Social Media, Stearns Johnson Communications, Twitter
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What Can Google+ Mean for Your Business?

September 20th, 2011 by Pam Njissang

By now you’ve heard all about Google+. You’ve heard about all the ways it’s better than Facebook. You’ve heard about its rapid growth to more than 60 million users in less than two months.

The social network is bound to grow even more with today’s news that Google has lifted Google+ membership restrictions – anyone can now sign up to be a user by going to plus.google.com. The question is, however, have you signed up and do you know what the hype is all about?

Still limited to personal accounts, businesses – outside of Ford Motor Company – have not received the much anticipated invitation to play in the Google+ sandbox. But, as a good social media citizen, this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be thinking about it and familiarizing yourself with the platform.

Industry discussions indicate lots of excitement for Google. Most share the sentiment that Google+ is a much needed alternative to Facebook, especially when it comes to segmenting audiences with its “Circles” offering.

Many of you haven’t bothered with Google+ because you see it as yet another social media solution to learn. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, here’s a basic run down of Google+’s features to help you get up to speed:

Circles: Unlike the clunky sorting method on Facebook, Google+ lets members easily sort contacts into specific categories, allowing you to tailor posts and send them to specific groups. Now, there’s even an option to join “Suggested Circles” based on your area of interest: http://suggestedcircles.com/circles/sort/count/desc/ In short, there’s a lot of potential for brands to use this feature for audience segmentation.

Hangouts: Great for those times when team members are in different locations and you need to get together for a virtual meeting, hangouts are on-screen gatherings where you can chat live with your contacts. According to PC Magazine’s Mark Hachman, hangouts “may be one of the killer features that prompt customers to leave Facebook.”

Sparks: Imagine your Google Alerts integrated into your social network page. This is what Sparks is. It collects articles and videos that might be of interest to you which you can easily share with your Google+ followers with the use of the “share” button under the post excerpt.

Messenger (previously named “Huddle”): For those times when you want to reach a group of people, but have limited time, Messenger lets you stay in touch with a group of contacts from your smartphone with this group messaging feature.

+1: This button can be found on both on Google and sites across the web – you can see it next to a Google search result, ad or even an article in Google News. Similar to the Facebook “Like” button, it’s a way to publically recommend something. What’s different with the Google +1 button is within Google+, you can use the +1 button to share the webpage or content that you recommended or +1’d. You can also share it with specific circles versus all of your followers.

Sharing is Caring

In very simplistic terms, Google+ seems to have taken the best of Twitter and Facebook, and merged it with the ability to easily send pictures and video. But even more important, encouraging more sharing than any other platform, Google+ addresses a lot of the sharing shortcomings from the other social media options. When available to businesses, Google+ can be a powerful tool for companies managing their reputations and brands.

Already, various research reports have shown that users are comfortable sharing ads with their friends and family if they feel the ads appeal to them. Case in point: IKEA. The self-dubbed “Life Improvement Store” has rolled out a social shopping and sharing program to let customers speak for their brand via its Share Space site and social media networks like Twitter and Facebook. Think of the possibilities with Google+.

By targeting appropriate content to audiences hungry for new information, Google+ has the potential to open the door to a non-intrusive and more appealing way for brands to connect with its audiences.

Which Social Network Will Reign Supreme?

Major social networks like Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and Google+ all have something unique to offer its users. Many use Twitter as a communication tool to reach both of their business and personal contacts. LinkedIn is reserved mostly for business connections whereas Facebook is popular for personal connections. Google+’s ability to easily segment audiences is one of its most intriguing features as it can be utilized to network with personal and professional contacts.

So, will there be a winner? Just a couple of years ago we heard rumblings that Twitter would quickly take users away from Facebook. I think you’ll agree that there’s still a healthy following of both networks. It’s hard to tell now if there will ever be just one social network that will dominate others. While Google+ had millions of users sign-up, it’s not clear how many are active users.

At this point, only time will tell, but in the meantime, make sure to familiarize yourself with Google+ so when the company opens up to business use and your CEO asks you what your Google+ strategy is, you won’t be left flatfooted.

Here’s what some SJC team members have to say about Google+:

Tags: B2B, B2C, Google, Social Media
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Your Mom Won’t Use It; At Least Not Yet

July 14th, 2011 by Jaclyn Percy

If you’ve been scrolling through your Twitter and Facebook feeds this week, I’m sure you’ve noticed a reoccurring theme: Google+. Whether it was people questioning this new social networking advancement, dismissing it as “horrible”, or begging for an invitation, there was an undeniable buzz in the social media air.

As an avid user of social media, I found a way to get an invite (the only way to use Google+ at this stage in the game) and was about to start poking around, until I thought: Why?

Why was Google attempting to create a social media platform that would serve many of the same services that current platforms like Facebook and Twitter already served? Was it to hold their ground as a Web 2.0 master? To throw Mark Zuckerberg for a loop in thinking his precious Facebook may have a strong competitor? Or to just add to the population’s incessant need for new technology and social media?

I realized it was the latter.

When it comes to the world of technology, there is always a demand for bigger and better things. Yes, something may already exist, but there are always ways to either improve upon it or in Google+’s case, to take a stake in an already present market. Since Google has already presented itself as a top competitor in the online world, it seems only fitting that it would join the social media train, something that doesn’t seem to be going away anytime soon. However, I must agree with Mashable in that “it must prove that it can draw users and keep them engaged in a way that doesn’t replicate Facebook or Twitter’s functionality.” Since Google+ is coming into the social media game late, it needs to have something different that can draw new users in.

For those users who have divulged themselves into the new platform, they seem to be learning quickly that Google+ has the ability to grow rapidly. Dan Gillmor, well-known tech columnist, Tweeted “It has taken <2 weeks on Google+ to get almost half as many followers as I’ve accumulated in, what, 4 years on Twitter…fascinating.” Maybe it will be this ability to quickly develop your network that will set Google+ apart from the competitors.

Whatever the case may me, I don’t see Google+ stealing a place in my social media heart alongside Facebook and Twitter, but the thrill of a new platform still got me craving an invite. In the end, I must agree with technology blogger Robert Scoble, “Your mom won’t use Google+” and that “so far geeks, insiders, social media stars, journalists, and other people” will be the main users for at least a little while. However, those who are just as curious as I am in social media’s newest platform can watch Google’s YouTube series to guide them through the process and reasoning behind Google+.

Tags: Google, PR, Social Media
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Think Before You Tweet

June 17th, 2011 by Kristin Scheidegger

Children all over America are taught to think before they act. In today’s 21^st century shift to all things digital, one would think that wise phrase would still apply. Yet over the past few months I’ve noticed many scandals in the public-sphere that occurred as a result of thoughtlessly or even recklessly posting private information on Twitter. Perhaps people are unaware that an estimated 20 million people visit Twitter each month, and its network comprises hundreds of millions of users.

In an age where hackers are breaking down corporations like Sony, it’s hard to imagine placing content on the web, regardless of privacy options, without thinking that you distributed information that is accessible to the masses. Unfortunately many reputable brands have made costly mistakes via social media platforms.

What we must understand about social media tools is that thinking before we post is not merely about the content a company puts out, but what that content can potentially do for a brand. After the uprising in Egypt, Kenneth Cole distastefully sought the revolution out as a way to promote their new spring line, tweeting “Millions are in uproar in #Cairo, rumor is they heard our new spring collection is now available online at http://bit.ly/KCairo.” As you might imagine, this tweet spread like wildfire to Twitter’s unhappy users, and Kenneth Cole was forced to take down the offensive tweet and donate money to the cause.

Soon there after, the country of Japan was devastated by an earthquake and a related tsunami. Microsoft was quick to jump on this tragedy by tweeting “How you can #SupportJapan – http://binged.it/fEh7iT. For every retweet, @bing will give $1 to Japan quake victims, up to $100K.” Had Microsoft not learned anything from the Kenneth Cole situation? This backed-handed scheme to gain more followers of Microsoft’s new search engine was a tasteless way of taking advantage of a tragic situation.

More recently Duke Nukem, a video game that has seen many iterations over the years, was on the hot seat for their PR firm’s tactics. The firm publically threatened outlets who reviewed the recently released game Duke Nukem Forever tweeting, “#AlwaysBetOnDuke Too many went too far with their reviews.. we r reviewing who gets games next time and who doesn’t based on today’s venom.” Although this type of retribution had been going on quietly behind the scenes in the world of game reviewing, this was the first time anyone ever had the nerve to announce it so plainly. Review us well or we’ll make it hard for you to do your job.

This type of public intimidation has the potential to harm Duke Nukem’s credibility as a video game company, while simultaneously calling into question the professionalism and ethics of the PR firm.

And, dare I even mention the ongoing Representative Weiner twitter scandal? I think it should be obvious by this point that posting lewd pictures of oneself and posting it to Twitter is not positive publicity, no matter how buff.

What I am getting at here is that our social media tools have a very real capability of going viral and reaching millions of people. Once a message is disseminated into the masses, it’s out forever, even deleting from your account doesn’t really fully retract a statement. Who would have ever thought that the integrity of a brand could be lost by the simple click of a single button? It’s imperative to remember that one negatively skewed 140 character tweet has the power to reach the same number of people that a positive tweet would.

So think before you tweet – it’s that simple.

Tags: brands, Kristin Scheidegger, public relations, Social Media, Twitter
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