TAG | social media
The basic premise of content marketing is simple…provide good content to your customers, your community and beyond…and the appreciation will build authentic relationships that may result in leads, sales as well as others promoting you and your product(s). There’s no one size fits all approach to what kind of content and how to make it available, but here’s a breakdown of what kind of content companies are creating: social media (79%), article posting (78%), in-person events (62%), e-newsletters (61%), case studies (55%), blogs (51%), white papers (43%) and webinars/webcasts (42%). This infographic from the Marketo blog provides a lot more stats and info, but the idea of content marketing, “the beacon approach,” etc., provides the foundation for any inbound marketing strategy. (Click on the image to expand)
With 135M+ users and 11k new members every 90min, Linkedin has dominated the professional social media space as we all know it.
A question that’s come up from the sales side of business is “what can a sales person do on LinkedIn?” How should one sell via LinkedIn? Using an MBA framework, consider “The 5Cs” of How to Sales-In LinkedIn:
CONNECT - CREATE - COLD-CALL - COLLABORATE - CLOSE
CONNECT: Just as a sales person needs to leave the office to meet new prospects, he or she also needs to connect with new prospects on-line.
CREATE: In the era where “Content is King,” a sales professional also needs to be a source of knowledge and information. A well-crafted editorial agenda comprised of engaging & “non-salesy” content can position you and your sales team as a credible resource in your industry.
COLD-CALL: Rule #1 is to never cold call on LinkedIn, i.e., sending a request to someone you don’t know. However, finding a prospect’s Twitter handle/username, for example, and then following them and eventually replying to one of their clever tweets can be a very classy way to develop a relationship.
COLLABORATE: Get your sales team to cooperate and collaborate on LinkedIn. Develop discussion groups for teammates to exchange contacts, information and insights. Use the team’s collective LinkedIn connections to generate more leads and don’t forget to recommend one another.
CLOSE: Considering that any given prospect has a never-ending number of options at their fingertips, so focus on being an expert and educating the prospects before they have a need for a solution. If you manage the process correctly, the prospects will be closing on you instead of the other way around!
As Aristotle once said, “A friend to all is a friend to none.” With that in mind, go out there and focus on making relevant LinkedIn connections and sharing your knowledge and the sales will follow.
Everywhere we turn, we hear how businesses are hurting. Ad budgets are shrinking, fast. People are worrying if they can make payroll and keep locations open, yet everybody has money to promote facebook and Twitter.
What gives?
Last I heard, facebook and Twitter were doing okay. They have billions of dollars. They are working to take over the world. And guess what? They don’t run ads. They know that social media works organically. They also are enjoying the fact that companies, large and small, promote them for nothing, giving their logos all kinds of real estate not only on their online properties, but on their traditional print and TV ads.
Sure, you want people to know you’re “with it…” “Visit us on facebook! Follow us on Twitter!” Sure, if you’re online you can include a link, but anywhere else, print, radio, TV, let’s take a breath and reconsider. While it’s nice to make things as easy as possible for the consumer, people who are really using social media will know to look for you there.
If your brand has something to say, people will listen. The problem is, having something to say is a lot harder than putting a facebook logo on an ad. Of course facebook and Twitter are powerful tools, but we don’t need to sell the category. People are really into this stuff. It has become the fabric of their lives. And they know when you are just pretending to be in the space and when you are really utilizing it. The challenge is understanding how to spend the time, energy and resources to do something meaningful on facebook and Twitter.
Working from home can be a blessing and a curse. Many in the world of social media work out of their homes; in fact, I’d be willing to bet that most blogs are written by someone wearing bunny slippers. But while sleeping late and schlepping around the living room in your underwear definitely have their merits, there are times when you want to feel more like … well, an adult—a professional, surrounded by other professionals, producing whatever it is you produce without the potential distractions of daytime TV, the cat, the fridge. Sometimes, too, you might need to take meetings, but your apartment is most definitely not suitable for viewing, and the idea of a noisy hour in Starbucks is simply no longer appealing.
Increasingly, young Internet entrepreneurs are turning to shared office rentals as an alternative to the home office. In addition to a professional work environment—with receptionists, IT assistance, coffee machines—these shared spaces offer access to like-minded people who, in addition to inspiring and motivating you, may actually give you solid business leads. Who knows, they may even want to date you! That’s not going to happen when you’re on your couch covered in cat hair and Cheetos dust.
So, if you are interested in getting some fresh air, adding structure to your workday, meeting new people and, most likely, increasing your productivity, check out a shared office space. Not only are they affordable and require little to no commitment, they now exist in nearly every metropolitan area, and the latest companies are targeting young Internet professionals just like you.
Take, for example, WeWork, which has three locations in Manhattan (including the hipper-than-thou Meatpacking District) and plans to open soon in San Francisco and L.A. Designed like the coolest boutique hotels, these offices offer all the business infrastructure you might need—including high-speed Internet, conference rooms, and mail service—as well as pool tables, Xbox lounges, and even happy hour parties. Just like you, they’re concerned about the environment: the offices have fair-trade organic coffee, purified water systems, bike storage, and discounts for Zipcar rentals.
So, it might just be time to take the plunge: get yourself dressed, and get to an office where you can network with your peers. Not only is it highly likely to help your business, it will almost certainly provide new fodder for your blog, your tweets, your Facebook page, and what have you.
For more about shared office rentals, check out this article on All Business: http://bit.ly/okY1Bg
Meanwhile, you will be happy to know, as I write this, I am fully clothed.
Social media is affecting the world in big ways, both good and bad. Just a few years ago, news didn’t travel as quickly as it now does through Twitter, Facebook, news aggregators, etc. Positively, this means we have access to world news in a matter of seconds, and we no longer have to wait for the evening news to catch up on daily occurrences (see: social media’s role in Egypt’s 2011 Revolution). Negatively, especially for those in the public eye, this means that nothing goes unreported, even private pictures sent through a site like Twitter (see: Anthony Weiner). We take a look at some ways social media is affecting the way we look at religion, sports and politics:
Religion: The Catholic Church has joined Facebook and Twitter. In June, The Vatican announced the launch of a social media-integrated official news website, news.va, that will make heavy use of social networks. Pope Benedict XVI himself sent out the first papal tweet. News.va will function essentially as a Vatican and Catholic Church-related news aggregator, republishing stories from L’Osservatore Romano, Vatican Radio, Vatican Television, the Fides news agency and from Vatican media relations. Livestreaming of Papal events will also be featured, along with links to homilies, statements, and speeches. Spanish, French, German, and Portuguese-language versions of the site will be launched over the next few months. Users will also be able to post links on Twitter and share stories on their Facebook walls.
Sports: The International Olympic Committee has issued rules for athletes using social media at the 2012 London Games. The athletes are encouraged to “post, blog and tweet their experiences,” but forbidden from using Twitter, Facebook or personal blogs for commercial or advertising purposes or to share videos filmed at Olympics venues. If the rules are broken, athletes are warned that it can withdraw accreditation, shut down online operations and start legal action for damages. These new social media rules come after some controversy at the 2010 Vancouver games, where US skier Julia Mancuso was asked to stop online merchandise sales after her silver medal-winning performances generated interest in her official website. Some of the other social media stipulations for London? Posts, blogs, etc. should be in first-person, should not contain vulgar or obscene words or images, and should not reveal confidential information. “Unlike in Vancouver, where the rules were adapted to fit changed circumstances, the rules in force in London have been properly codified,” the IOC said.
Politics: In mid-June, Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y., resigned from Congress in the wake of a sexting scandal. The move, which abruptly put an end to Weiner’s on-the-rise political career, serves as a warning to politicians and lawmakers about dealing with the social media world. To recap: Reports indicated that a college student had received a sexually suggestive photo from Weiner’s Twitter account. Weiner denied sending it, saying the account had been hacked, but as more texts and photos of the congressman surfaced, Weiner finally admitted that he’d sent the photo. The story picked up and more revelations surfaced, including messages to a 17-year-old Delaware girl. Ultimately, Weiner sought a leave of absence and said he’d seek treatment. While Weiner isn’t the first politician to deal with a sex scandal, the incident reverberates as politicians grapple with the new world of social media. It should serve as a “serious warning sign to politicians,” said Steven Schier, a professor of political science at Carleton College in Minnesota, that that they need to be careful. “They send out this stuff unfiltered, so the risk is increased considerably,” Schier said.
In what other ways is social media changing the world? Tell us in the comments!
Are you in a restaurant rut? Hungry, but not sure where to go? Often, hitting the old neighborhood standby, with its familiar menu—maybe even a waiter who knows your name—can be the path of least resistance.
But on occasion, a bit of experimentation is in order, and it can be well worth the effort. The best laboratories in the food world right now are pop-up restaurants, in which a well-known chef takes over someone else’s kitchen for a temporary run.
Unfettered of the responsibilities of managing overhead costs or assembling a permanent menu that covers all dietary bases, pop-up chefs let their imaginations run wild. When was the last time you had teriyaki rabbit meatballs with foie gras and yuzu? That was on a recent dinner menu at a pop-up in Los Angeles, in which a French chef took over the kitchen of a casual Asian lunch spot.
So, how does one find out about these fleeting eateries? Social media, of course. Like gourmet food trucks—which rely on food blogs, Twitter, and Facebook to spread word of their ever-changing locations in real time—pop-ups use social media networking as their principal, and often only, marketing vehicle. According to a National Restaurant Association spokesperson, the time-sensitive nature and “experimental aspect” of pop-ups make them particularly ripe for promotion via the blogosphere. And it seems to be working: The trade group has named pop-ups and food trucks as the biggest expected industry trend for 2011.
Indeed, social media are largely responsible for pushing the pop-up concept from the exclusive realm of in-the-know foodies to the mainstream. The Sundance Channel even has a new TV show about pop-ups, “Ludo Bites America.” Now, hardcore foodies are trying to come up with new dining experiences reserved for only the most plugged-in-events such as a “flash mob”-style gourmet dinner served on the New York subway, or a Manhattan version of Paris’ ultra-exclusive Dîner en Blanc, planned for a secret location in August. Will these gourmands succeed in excluding the hungry hoi polloi from their hush-hush “underground” meals? As we know, all it takes is one innocent little Tweet, and the word is out….
Check out more on the business of pop-up restaurants here.
Unsurprisingly, Facebook’s top branded fan page is…Facebook’s own Facebook page, now at around 40 million fans. Last month, a few more surprising brands made it into the top 50, including:
Playboy: Newcomer Playboy rounded out the top 50 as number 47, with 5,038,757 fans. It bumped Forever 21 off the list, which just goes to show the power of those…bunny ears?
Red Bull: Red Bull ( number eight ) has been a steady fixture on this list for a while now. The energy-drink superstars keep their 20 million plus fans engaged daily with interesting apps, such as access to Red Bull Athletes on Twitter, Red Bull Web TV, and games, such as the Soapbox Racer.
Ferrero Rocher: Number 17 on the list, the Ferrero Rocher fan page features not much to engage its 11 million fans besides pictures of the delicious chocolate. Sometimes, that’s all you need.
Disneyland: The Disneyland fan page jumped two spots to number 22, keeping fans entertained with an app that allows them to share their favorite Disney memories. The page’s almost nine million fans also have a chance to ask vacation planning questions when traveling to Disneyland, and users can even create a stick figure Disney family!
What are your favorite Facebook pages and why? Share with us!
Do you like things? That is, do you often, or even sometimes, “like” the news story, music video, picture or status that your Facebook friend has posted? Chances are, you’ve “liked” something in the past year; it has become second nature to most of the Facebook-using world. Which is why Google’s new service, +1, which launched a few months ago, may be turning your “like”-heavy world upside down.
The explanatory copy reads:
Use the +1 button to publicly show what you like, agree with, or recommend on the web. The +1 button can appear in a variety of places, both on Google and on sites across the web. For example, you might see a +1 button for a Google search result, Google ad, or next to an article you’re reading on your favorite news site. Your +1’s and your social connections also help improve the content you see in Google Search.
Hmm, sounds familiar…
Google’s +1 competes directly with the Facebook like button, in that it serves as a signal for determining what content appeals to a certain individual. Google, as the world’s largest search engine, integrated the product immediately. Since the mega-site accounts for over half of incoming traffic on many sites, publishers had a marked interest in implementing +1. The question is, aside from Google’s touting of the product, is it actually that great?
First of all, at its most basic, it’s hard to argue that “+1” is a great name. How awkward is it to tell someone, “Yeah, I totally just +1’d that page; check it out!” It just doesn’t flow that smoothly. “Liking” something, on the other hand, comes pretty naturally to most of us.
Furthermore, when you +1 something, the +1 button will turn blue and the +1 will be added to the +1′s tab of your profile. Meaning, anyone who wants to participate in +1’ing has to create a Google profile as a sort of basecamp. There, you can manage all your +1’s.
Whether or not you choose to make your +1’s public through sharing, they will be visible to others viewing the content. Meaning, you really shouldn’t +1 something you wouldn’t want your boss to stumble across, because your name could appear next to the +1 to help your friends and contacts identify which content may be most useful to them. +1’ing is a public action, and although one would wonder why you’d “like” or “+1” something you wouldn’t want others to see, this visibility aspect is nonetheless an irritating one.
Google’s goal is clear; they want to be bigger players on the social media field, and who better to steal plays from than Facebook? Google will need to be markedly aggressive in order to implement +1, which started off as an experimental feature. However, they don’t exactly have a great track record in the world of social media; i.e. Buzz. What Google does have going for them is influence, but as we’ve seen with other social media failures, influence can only carry a brand so far if their product fails to deliver.
So, is +1 for you? Let us know in the comments!
We First: How the Private Sector Uses Social Media to Scale Social Change
Posted by Erick B on June 7, 2011
Simon Mainwaring’s new book is called We First: How Brands and Consumers Use Social Media to Build a Better World. In opposition to the “me first” mentality that has informed so many business and consumer practices, We First lays out a new plan for how we can buy and sell what we want and need but also build a better world. In doing so, We First explains in detail how companies use the latest in social, mobile and gaming technologies to build their brand communities and profit while also having a positive impact. There are three stages to the We First plan.
Stage One: A Third Pillar of Social Change
We First looks to a new partnership between brands and consumers connected by social technology. For their part, brands get to enjoy the goodwill, loyalty and profits that result when they engage with consumers in ways that are meaningful to them. And they also suffer damage to their reputation by consumers using social media when they don’t act in socially responsible ways. For their part, consumers enjoy the benefits of corporate social responsibility initiatives, cause marketing, and the integration of purpose into for-profit business strategies and models of companies that together help build a better world. On the strength of this partnership, brands and consumers form a third pillar of social change in addition to government and philanthropy.
Stage Two: Contributory Consumption
Build on inspiring concepts like 1% for the Planet, Product(RED) and SocialVest, We First introduces the concept of contributory consumption. The idea is simple: a small proportion of every dollar spent on a product or service should go towards being a contribution to a pressing social issue.
Yet We First extends this concept across five levels. The first is retail and includes the billions of purchases that are made each day around the world. The second is credit cards transactions that also number in the billions every day. The third is mobile purchases, which are rising dramatically, and the fourth is e-commerce as people increasingly make their purchases online. The final level, and perhaps the most exciting, is social gaming in which people buy virtual goods to use in their games, a small portion of which serves as a contribution to a social issue.
Stage Three: The Global Brand Initiative
The third stage looks to the creation of a federation of brands called the Global Brand Initiative dedicated towards sustainable and large-scale social change. As an extension of the shift we already seeing in today’s marketplace with more brands and consumers acting in socially responsible ways, the GBI looks to engage the entire private sector in the same way. Small, medium and multi-national brands would bring their expertise, leadership, training capacities, intellectual property, R&D, and bricks and mortar infrastructure to bear on the most pressing problems challenging our planet. In short, it’s designed to bring the best of the private sector into the social change space without also inviting its worst excesses.
Seen together, a third pillar of social change comprised of brands and consumers, along with the concept of contributory consumption, and the foundation of the Global Brand Initiative, represent the foundation of an incredibly exciting new vision for the role of the private sector that would allow us to build our businesses and profits and dramatically scale social change. We First helps us better understanding the future of business, branding, and social technologies. It is realistic, practical and I highly recommend clicking here to order your copy now and sharing the link with as many people as you can. This is a book that business and the world needs now more than ever.
You can order We First here, join the We First Facebook community here and follow Simon Mainwaring @simonmainwaring.
Congratulations Simon and best of luck!
This week, we take a look at a few more cool social media case studies and the success certain brands have seen from their efforts. While in the past, social media campaigns were best used by marketing giants like Coca-Cola and Burberry, today social media is present in many industries, including healthcare, real estate and even credit card companies. Here are a few of our favorites unexpected uses of social media:
Mall of America: Lisa Grimm, digital public relations specialist for the Mall of America in Minnesota, recently shared the success of one of the Mall’s most triumphant campaigns. Since the most difficult time to park at the mall is during Christmas week, the Mall of America team decided to take advantage of this increase in activity to boost their social media following. The team decided to actually auction off parking spaces in the front row of the mall’s lot, but only to their social media followers. By using the parking event’s hashtag on Twitter, followers were entered into the auction. The campaign was a success: The Mall’s Twitter following increased by 11% and the campaign was covered by Forbes, among other news outlets. This campaign is just one example of the far-reaching grasp of social media.
Century 21 Real Estate: Century 21, a leader in real estate, recently revealed that QR codes will be available on Century 21 signs. These custom bar codes can be scanned on a smartphone and will direct you to specific information, such as a real estate listing.
American Express: American Express has been heavily targeting small business in the US for the past few months. One feature of their campaign is the American Express OPEN and Facebook collaboration called Big Break for Small Business. The national contest was designed to help transform the way small businesses use Facebook, and of course, to publicize American Express as the leader for small business use. Business owners could enter to win an all-expense paid trip to Facebook headquarters for a two-day “boot camp” and a US $20,000 cash prize by submitting responses to a short questionnaire. Over 10,000 businesses entered to win their “big break,” and on July 5th the five finalists will be subject to a public vote. Read an interview with Rosa Alfonso of of the American Express Open program here.
The No Kids Hungry Pledge: Share our Strength, a non-profit organization, is working through their Facebook page to help end childhood hunger. On their custom welcome page, they ask you to take a pledge and help end childhood hunger by 2015. Once you sign up by providing your email and zip code, you receive an email asking you to help spread the word by way of social status updates (templated Facebook and Twitter posts) or via email. Note, they don’t ask for money or for you to volunteer your time. In doing so, Share our Strength is building their email database while gaining trust from their new fans.
Have you seen any cool uses of social media in the past few months? Share with us in the comments section!