Case Study of Social Media at Work

One of the thoughts I currently hear about Social Media is that “people don’t really care what I have to say.” That thought cripples people from engaging social networks, and being social in the way they live.

Not so for now famous Stephanie Gordon (@Stefmara). Yesterday she boarded her plane a not-so-standard event planner, and walked off the plane, quickly becoming known around the world because of the pictures she posted to Twitter of the Space Shuttle Endeavor’s last launch…caught right from her iPhone on from her seat on the plane (check out the rest of the pictures and video she posted). When she boarded she had about 1,000 followers. This morning she has over 4,300 followers.

What can we learn from @Stedmara?

While not all of us will take pictures of a historic event, there are several things we can learn from this Stephanie.

Being social is a way of life.

While the pilot said there was a chance to see the shuttle, Stephanie didn’t think she’d get the opportunity, and definitely wasn’t intending to get famous from it. Rather, when she did see it, she decided to document it and share it with her network. This wasn’t in an attempt for notoriety, but just wanting to share something with those she was connected to. This is the social way of life. Communicating what you see, communicating what you feel is important or interesting, and just being willing to engage.
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Great tips for Twitter Success

I talk with a lot of people who have no idea how to make Twitter work for them.  While I have instructed many of these individuals on some of the best practices, here is a great video discussing 50 of the best practices to make the most of Twitter.  Enjoy!

No more money for my tweets?

Ok, so I never actually got paid to tweet.  But I’ve been reading a lot recently about Twitter’s new policy they won’t allow third part API users to put sponsored tweets in their stream.  This is actually a good thing.

An Edelman Study earlier this year showed a declining trust among peers in social networking platforms.  Part of this lack of trust, in my opinion, is how easily social networking users have sold themselves to companies willing to ‘buy their endorsement’.

How, then, are companies supposed to leverage social networking?  Simple: Authentic Relationships.  When a company has authentic positive relationships with people, those people will talk positively about that company.  This is the type of communication you really want.

So instead of paying Tweeples to tweet about you, your product, or your company, engage the Twitterverse.  Engage when people say good things about you.  Engage when people say bad things about you.  The real key is to engage in a positive manner.

Thanks, Twitter, for keeping an eye on authenticity, and helping make your product better for those who really care about their audience.

Energize your new campaign…without breaking the bank!

I am engaged in a marketing campaign for a client that has some serious viral potential.  The two methods we’ve decided to tackle on the front end of this campaign are through Facebook and Twitter.  Now I’ve read a lot of feedback that says you shouldn’t pay for marketing in social networking, but I have to disagree.  Here’s why:

Facebook

You don’t have to pay to have a Facebook account, and you don’t have to pay to add events, groups, fan pages and other such things.  However, these are all great…if you can get people to see them.  This is where Facebook PPC comes into play.  Unlike Google and MSN, you can very specifically target your audience with Facebook.  For instance, my current client wanted to target 40-60 year old adults in 45 of the 50 states in the US, who have a college degree and speak English.  How can Facebook be that specific in its targeting effort?  Because people give that information when setting up their profile (it’s not just so people know a little about you). (more…)

3 Tools to lower your 2010 marketing budget

As we approach the end of the year, one of the questions every marketing department will be tackling is how to lower their marketing budget and increase effectiveness.  Below are 6 tools I would recommend for anyone leveraging Internet Marketing Strategies:

• Google Analytics – One of the better analytics programs on the market, and yes, it’s free.  With this tool, you can automate reports, have them sent to your email on a daily, weekly, monthly or quarterly basis.  The downside to this tool is the lack of real-time analysis.  Reporting can be delayed as much as several (6+) hours.  If you need real-time tracking for your site, you’ll want to investigate some of the “for fee” analytics programs. (more…)

Social Networking…Optimized

I have focused a lot on leveraging Social Networking and Social Media for pushing your business forward.  As I have, a lot of focus has been on the need for doing it, which is also getting a lot of attention.  But what I’ve only seen recently is the need to do it well, and to optimize your interactions in Social Networking.

The first thing to keep in mind is that things posted to a social networking site is still being posted to a webpage.  With that being said, it’s not the “build it and they will come” model.  Unfortunately a lot of people approach it that way.  Yes, you’ll get some people to come if you just build it.  However, they aren’t necessarily the people you want to have.  Rather, just like your website, you want to the right people to come to you.  How do you make that happen? (more…)

Do I really need Twitter?

If you’re a teenager, I would say, No. If you’re a serious business person, whether you’re in sales, an executive, or a marketing professional: YES, you should be tweeting! Why?

There have been a rash of recent news articles about how teenagers aren’t using twitter. With 200+ million users, than who are they? According to Forrester Research, it’s the group aged 35-50! With that said, what are we doing to embrace this explosion in the professional world to push our businesses forward? (more…)

Twitter for Businesses

I saw this morning that Twitter has produced some training on how microblogging can be leveraged and benefit a business. Below is the presentation Twitter produced. You can also get this directly from Twitter at http://business.twitter.com/twitter101

To Tweet or Not to Tweet, that is the question

It’s constantly a battle for Internet Marketers to challenge their clients to think outside of the “get me” attitude, and help them develop a “know me” mentality.  Utilizing Twitter has not been any different.  I have spoken with a lot of people who say stuff like “Josh, I just don’t have time for anything new like this.”  For those people I have one answer: Make Time! (more…)