Disclaimer: This blog post is in no way condoning the gaming of, or attempts to “buy,” a higher Klout score. This post is also in no way stating or inferring that any given user of the platforms mentioned below, regardless of their metrics or “prices” on the respective platforms, has ever utilized the method I am about to explain. The purpose of this post is only to suggest the potential for activity which might increase your Klout score in order to expose potential shortcomings of a human algorithm attempting to calculate online influence in order to suggest ways to improve …
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Nonprofit organizations (NPOs) around the world strive to tell their story to potential donors and volunteers every day. We strive to come up with that powerful message that will move people to action. Video is one of the most vibrant ways to paint that picture and create a lasting impact. In the past, NPOs avoided using video because it was expensive to create and challenging to broadcast. New technology and the onset of social media have changed all that. Creating video has never been easier. Just about every cell phone comes equipped with a video camera these days and free …
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In this digital era, I’m often surprised how conventional wisdom continues to emphasize journalists (and now bloggers) as an organization’s primary stakeholders or publics for “earned media.” This is underscored and bolded by the majority of industry publications, plus many PR and marketing practitioners, particularly those with a primarily promotional focus and an over-reliance on news releases as the main salvo in their toolkits. Conversely, I’m saddened by how little understanding or appreciation there is about one of the most enduring and important publics found at the company’s nucleus: employees. In particular, the lack of value attached to organizationally knowledgeable, seasoned (i.e., older) …
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Content marketing is all the rage these days. The ” content” in content marketing might be blog posts, videos, slide shows, white papers, podcasts, ebooks–anything that can be read, viewed, or listened to by others. But why do it, and how is it “marketing”? Good content can do all of the following: Build your image as a trusted authority in topics related to your business concerns. Develop loyal followers who will come back for more of what you have to offer. Enhance the likelihood that you and your business will be easily found in search engines. Create new relationships with …
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Almost six months ago I blogged that marketers would decide on the fate of Klout. However, with the continued buzz about Klout scores that I hear from new and potential social media consulting clients, as well as the continued presence of its main competitor PeerIndex and the emerging metric for influence Kred, the debate over how social influence is measured continues to rage on. In fact, as Google Trends suggests, we have had a pretty stable interest in the metric to measure social media influence for the last several months: Let’s take a step back and try to understand what …
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Outsourcing business development tasks is nerve-wracking to begin with – but when it comes to social media management there’s even more at stake. While web design can be tweaked after the fact and copywriting can be refined before it’s published, Twitter updates and Facebook posts are there for a lifetime. The first step to outsourcing social media is defining your needs. Social media management can come in so many different varieties and combinations, so you really need to know what you’re looking for in order to find the best solution. The term “social media manager” can be used in so …
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HOW A NOBODY CAN BECOME A SOMEBODY Social media’s tremendous power now rests in the hands of those using it. We’ve seen this over the past year with Tahrir Square and the Arab Spring as well as with the Occupy Wall Street movement that escalated to global proportions. Social media users have become major players in social change. In 2009, through the use of YouTube and other social networks, Canadian guitarist David Carroll publicly took United Airlines to task for breaking his instrument : United Breaks Guitars (His book “The Power of One Voice in the Age of Social Media” …
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In recent posts we have talked about the changing marketing landscape; it’s a social landscape that is creating new opportunities and presenting new challenges. Some call this new era the Relationship era. This new era requires a different marketing mindset. “The ultimate goal of marketing is to generate an intense bond between the consumer and the brand, and the main ingredient of this bond is trust’ (Hiscock, 2001). Now more than ever, consumers make purchasing decisions based on their level of trust. Trust is an asset that must be earned. Research shows it’s possible to connect sales and trust. The …
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Like other industries, retailers need to identify and build relationships with influencers in order to achieve success in the social media realm. However, when completing initial research and identifying influencers, most retailers miss the mark and overlook one of the most significant groups from right under their nose: their own employees. Employee Integration and Audience Relevancy If you’re a retailer, stop and ask yourself: are my employees well integrated in my social media program? If the answer is no, then ask “Do I feel like I’m building a highly relevant audience of advocates for my brand?”. In most cases, these …
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Employment expert Alison Doyle defines social recruiting as when companies and recruiters use Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and and other social media sites to source and recruit candidates for employment. Although LinkedIn is notorious for headhunters contacting potential candidates, it should be noted that Twitter and Facebook can be equally used for social recruiting, although in different manners. That being said, no other social networking website is geared towards making it easier to find your ideal candidate – or fill your talent pipeline – than LinkedIn is. You can check out the infographic below from Jobvite with more statistics on the subject, …
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In previous posts I have talked about the importance of producing content that grabs the attention of your customers and prospects and engages them or inspires action. But how does one do this in practice? How do you speak in the language of the customer, connect with their concerns and choose topics that are of greatest interest? There’s a concept called Voice of the Customer (VoC) that can be important for content and social media marketing. According to Wikipedia, it “is a market research technique that produces a detailed set of customer wants and needs… prioritized in terms of relative …
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Consulting with clients on their social media strategy and implementation for more than two years has led me to one conclusion about how businesses should be using social media: The closer you can bring your brand to your customers, the better it will be for both of you. In exposing as much of your brand to your customers as possible, fans hopefully become more passionate about your products, and your company learns more about how to please fans. In doing so, assuming that these fans are social media users, online word of mouth spreads goodwill about the company, brand loyalty …
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Have you ever had the opportunity to moan about something via social media? Did you do it? Put your hand up if the answers yes… Was it the stale bread in your lunch time snack, a broken product or something that you purchased but it didn’t work or was it something bigger? Did you complain about bad service? We all love a good horror story; take my complaint about Virgin Media. I wrote a blog post about some of the most appalling service I’ve ever received. I completely vented my frustrations and within a few hours Virgin’s Twitter team had …
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Foursquare, boasting more than 15 million users, is the leading location-based social platform that allows users to “check in” to places via their mobile phones. There are several components that make Foursquare attractive to its users, including the ability to earn freebies (many locations now offer complimentary items just for checking in), plus the social component — being able to share information about favorite spots with friends, and learn about new places from others as well. Another factor that makes Foursquare appealing is the game component, which rewards users with points and “badges” for checking into certain places. While this aspect is …
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Let’s face it: Facebook is the new Farmer’s Market. Every business wants to be there because every consumer is there. There are amazing things you can do with Facebook applications, community development, and engagement to help better brand your company and increase your social following of present and potential customers. On the other hand, when I recently spoke on a panel on social media for the agricultural industry in Japan, there was a watermelon grower who sold one of his watermelons simply through a conversation on his Page’s wall. When we think of selling products or services to consumers on …
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