Tag Archives: Small Business
5 Ways to Use Video for Employee Engagement
The core of your business: Your Employees
People often spend so much time trying to figure out how to reach their customers, grow sales and use social media for these purposes that they are at risk of forgetting the key members of their community: their employees.
Video is a powerful tool for employee engagement. People often think “video” then limit their thinking on what they can do with it. Companies should not limit themselves to focus on product or service offerings when they have a whole cast of stars within their team.
Here are 5 Ways to use video to spotlight your employees
…and in the process increase their engagement and create opportunity for your community to also get to know your business better.
Breaking Down Social Media : Finding a Soul in Brands
The term social media is largely misused and misunderstood.
You can’t have one social media strategy, or just decide to “do social media”. You have to realize what the term represents, that’s the first challenge I see when I speak with most people considering social for their businesses.
The Basis of Media
When you are speaking about using social media as an outreach tool in the general public the first thing you have to realize is that none of those people are reading “these” articles – the dialogue we all have about it on-line , its of no interest to them.
The people you are trying to reach are living their lives. Reaching them becomes marketing – just as you try and do in magazines or radio ads or newspapers. That’s the media part of the term.
In turn, from a business owner’s stand point, making decisions about social media use has to come from understanding deeper objectives and being in touch with your organization as a whole. Social media is not a new marketing strategy or sales vessel. It’s not a substitute for customer service. It’s not about broadcasting a new logo or flooding a channel with messages, it’s about a mindset.
What is the “Social” Really About?
Social is about this ability for consumers, employees, and all people to be connected. People using the on-line space to further their knowledge, interact with others, do research, play games, express themselves, grow, laugh, be entertained and of course throughout all this to share… The social part is about where you are reaching them and it’s the entire basis of all these pillars of social marketing success.
I think sometimes businesses, people looking into social and marketers forget the why of why you have to be genuine, or why the goal is
Changing The Buzz Words in Social Business: “The Impact Equation” Delivers #ImpactEQ
The Impact Equation by New York Times bestselling authors Chris Brogan & Julien Smith is set for release on October 25th. I was thrilled to get an advance copy for review and am so honored to be able to share my experience in reading it with you here.
First things first, a little Q&A on who should read this book. In case you’re wondering if this book has something in it for you.
Q1: I’m just a business person, not a social media expert, is this book right for me?
A: Yes. It’s perfect for you. No social media mumbo-jumbo here. Just practical, real life information that you can understand and apply to your life and business right away.
Q2: I’m in the field, I’m already a “social media expert”, why would I read this?
Social Media Timing is Everything: Understanding Automation’s Role in Community Engagement
Robot (Photo credit: ewen and donabel)
Are You a Robot?
We have heard a lot of talk lately about the risks of automation in social media. Many people seem to believe that automating tweets, or posts work against social media best practices. In particular, genuine communication.
I think that the key to assessing this is in knowing the objective of your social media activities. In addition, the role that your social accounts are playing for the community they serve.
Manpower is a huge issue in this as well. Do you have a community manager who is dedicated to only running social media, or do you have social media as a “part” of the person’s role?
Automation used right doesn’t mean “impersonal”
There are positive ways that automation can be used which also respect and maintain the human touch. Here are some examples:
1. Scheduling Updates that contain photos, videos or your own posts to strategically appropriate times on both Facebook and Twitter
This content should be generally in line with your objectives, and the message you want to share within your community. There is no reason not to schedule these things. It allows you to be consistent. A huge factor in establishing a strong social media presence.
2. Scheduling distribution of articles via Twitter or Facebook so that the proper exposure is attained on peak hours in multiple time zones.
3. Automation responds to various needs and can help teams work together
Automation lends a Helping Hand in Time Management
Where “Automation Is Anti-Social” – What Not to Do.
It’s all about Balance
- Time for Blogging or other content creation
- Time for broadcasting the content
- Time for dialog and interaction based on the content & Identifying Opportunities for engagement elsewhere (ex: Social Search) <;- The most important aspects
- Time for analysis of interaction and results
The Appropriate Use of Automation
Automation does not Equal Auto-Pilot
- What is the acceptable delay to respond to comments on Facebook, Twitter, Your Blog?
- This will depend on the nature of your business, and the role your sites play.
- Itemize the type of content your organization is willing to automate.
- Example, blog posts, photos, videos, status updates, Direct Messages. Make sure to answer the question for yourself, what value does automating the selected items give your public, and your company. What are the potential risks?
- Ensure that there is a regular check point to follow through on these automated posts.
- Will it be every day, every hour? Set an expectation so you don’t lose yourself in the automated process. You want to respect the whole reason you are using automation – to stay connected. Leaving it on Auto-Pilot is not acceptable, and in theory does not meet the reasons you are doing it in the first place!
Providing Value
Do you use automation to expand your capabilities in social, or were you thinking it could just put your activities on auto- pilot while you head out to the beach?
What do you think?
Do you have any tips to add?
Navigating The Buzz of Branding: Start Here.
People aren’t looking for an ad,they aren’t looking to buy something.They are looking for a connection.
How do you do that? #branding
When Search Engine Giants Turn to Print – Your Marketing Strategy
Fading printers sign on an old stone wall – is print a thing of the past?
According to a recent infographic focusing on the demographics of online users, over 66% of adults are connected to a social network. According to Internet World Stats, as of Dec 31, 2011 over 78% of the North American Population is connected online. With information like this, it’s clear why there has been a surge in internet marketing, social media marketing strategy and a rush of forward thinking companies looking to find ways to reach the population in these areas.
The challenge for companies working on marketing strategies is balancing the investment into the online world with traditional media. Many are of the mind set that traditional media is dead, or soon will be. However, we need to consider that although everyone may be online, they still live in our offline world which is scattered with opportunity. When building a brand, or reinforcing one, it has never been sufficient
Warning: Social Media May Cause Aggression | Mobile Marketing
If you work in customer service, if you own a business, if you manage a team, you need to read this, and in fact, you need to share this with them.
Share this if you care about customer service. This is how severe the impact of Social Media, perception, and influence can be for a business.
I Discovered The Most Amazing Place
It was a beautiful day, breeze blowing softly and the temperature just right for a walk up the avenue. A pastry shop/cafe that I had never been into before was on the agenda for the day. I entered the shop and I was completely impressed and delighted. I was already planning for this to be my new lunch place. I couldn’t wait to taste the sandwiches, it was such a great variety that my friend and I couldn’t decide on any one and ordered a few things to share. I happen to be a bit of a modern epicurean, so it is rare that a place would be this impressive to me. As I waited for my food to be prepared at the counter, I not only looked forward to many more lunches at my newly discovered spot, but to return and pick up some pastries for the weekend, the cake for my next party – you get the picture.
When Impressed – You Tweet
I reached for my phone to take a photo of the cake display and just as I snapped my picture, a gruff, serious (and somewhat intimidating) voice behind me, (think Al Pacino, or Don Corleone) asked “What are you taking pictures of?”
The Social Sometimes Forget to Use Social | Networking | LinkedIn
This post is about recognition and extending the value in our networks and connections to translate into the “real world”.
We are overloaded with Social Networks, we participate actively, we manage our posts, we share on all the right networks, we build our relationships, we find a way to balance everything and we keep moving.
We meet at conferences, we tweet each others praises, we connect. It’s a beautiful thing – but I believe in all this we are all guilty of missing something – the hard evidence. The “Pay it forward” factor that needs to show for the “non-socially oriented”.
Where You Start is Never Where You End Up
Why are we doing this? If you ask me, I started exploring social media for business, I had no intention or idea that what I would find would be a community alive with people who have now become great friends and contacts in fields that interest me, people who have driven support, encouragement and enthusiasm which leads to increased and consistent daily motivation and success.
Social Consumerism and The Great Divide | Social Business Values #Custserv #Leadership #Strategy
As more and more brands are learning how to do social business and integrating social mindsets into all areas – the divide between the traditional business (non-social), and the social business is evident. For the social consumer the differences can be intolerable.
Will the rise of the social consumer change you?
In the video short below “Drive Blog: Episode 1″ , I discuss the difference I see in businesses that demonstrate social values, and share the story of what happened when Chris Brogan tried to get some resolution to an issue on a Facebook Page. What would your response have been if Chris Brogan wrote to you on your brand’s Facebook page, and is this how you would treat every customer?
In exploring the attributes of the Social vs. Non-Social Mindset I found several key differences:
Is Pinterest the New Mall of America? The Shopper’s Playground? #SMM #Study #Marketing #BrandChat
English: Red Pinterest logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Recent Studies Suggest Pinterest is More Successful at Click Through Sales Then You Might Think. In view of this, a discussion on strategy and potential opportunities. Is it time to rethink Pinterest? This post is based on the information found in the May 31st E-Marketer Article:
Is Pinterest Really Leading to Product Purchases?
When I saw the results of the studies below, I have to admit I was pretty shocked. I found it hard to believe that the data was available to justify the high numbers being sited by the study below. In particular, with Pinterest only having been in the market for about a year, to make such progress in achieving this rate of success in click through sales seemed astronomical.
