Social Media Overload

It’s a jungle out there–navigating web 2.0, that is. For a technology neophyte, it’s hard not to get lost in the sea of social media.

And PR practitioners are starting to jump on the bandwagon. Not only do they have the traditional media, they now have blogs and social media sites to monitor.

These are observations I have for PR professionals or entrepreneurs regarding social media:

1. Noise is good!

We have Twitter, Friendfeed, Facebook, Loopnote, Seesmic, Ning and WordPress. Of course there are many more, but where do I begin? Take Twitter and Facebook, for example. Both can be used personally or professionally. I am constantly bombarded by hundreds of tweets and Facebook messages. But do I need to know what everybody is doing every second of the day? Maybe.

Leisa Reichelt puts it succinctly,

“Ambient intimacy is about being able to keep in touch with people with a level of regularity and intimacy that you wouldn’t usually have access to, because time and space conspire to make it impossible.

Who cares? Who wants this level of detail? Isn’t this all just annoying noise? There are a lot of us though, who find great value in this ongoing noise. It helps us get to know people who would otherwise be just acquaintances.”

And she is right. Initially, I thought why bother with all these e-mails, tweets and Facebook messages? How do you find anything of value? You don’t. As a potential entrepreneur, I realized all this is important. Word of mouth is important, which brings me to the next point: networking.

2. Network for benefits

As Gary Vaynerchuk says, everything is important.

 LinkedIn, for example, provides an excellent avenue for students and professionals. People on LinkedIn would build connections to find jobs. The following benefits to LinkedIn are:

1) The ability to be known and enhance your personal brand

2) The ability to be found by recruiters or other hiring authorities

3) The ability to find others and make important connections

4) The opportunity to learn and share

5) The ability to connect with group members

6) The opportunity to show you are plugged in to current technology

Not only can you find jobs through LinkedIn, you can review the profile of hiring managers and discover which of their existing contacts can introduce them. The best part is the LinkedIn Groups, which allows job seekers to network with people from the same industry or professional groups. This is about establishing meaningful connections with people who can add value.

3. You must establish your credibility

You are your personal brand. Develop a credible persona online and you will reap the rewards-especially if you are a company. How? By starting a blog and developing your own area of expertise. You must build relationships with key influencers, specifically those who are experts within a specific industry.

4. Let’s respect everyone’s point of view

Social media is all about the sharing of ideas and information. If you are a company representative and see something negative written about you, what do you do? Take the opportunity to get to know the blogger better.

Mack Collier in his article, “Worried About Bloggers Dissing Your Company? Read This” writes that it is not the end of the world when a blogger writes scathing commentary on your product. He provides two pieces of advice for companies:

1 – Even if a blogger slams you, how you respond is STILL more important.

2 – Bloggers are usually pretty reasonable people.

It is important not to get defensive and attack the blogger. Rather listen to feedback and calmly defend your position.

5. The customer is always right

In today’s complex society, PR professionals have got more than just journalists to please. There are customers who are very educated and like to contribute their ideas to online forums. Many companies have dabbled with web 2.0, but don’t really know how to manage use it. Sometimes setting up a blog or participating in Get Satisfaction or Twitter just because everyone else is doing it is not a good enough reason. Companies must understand how web 2.0 can benefit customers and company goals and objectives. Get Satisfaction is an example of how this works. If your company does not have any administrators and customers are sending complaints and questions left and right, how does this affect your company’s online reputation? If your company does not have the money to pay for moderators, then why not point your customers to your website? Even if your company has moderators, make sure they respond to customers in a timely manner and provide quality content. Give customers a voice.

6. Be mindful of your audience

When you are online, you must differentiate between public and private. You should be aware of who is looking at your profile when creating your online profile. Your future employer might look it.

Lauren Cooper writes,

“With many more recruiters screening potential candidates through Internet searches, career counselors are advising students to edit their online personas. Eighty-three percent of executive recruiters revealed they use search engines when making hiring decisions, according to a 2007 survey conducted by ExecuNet. Forty-three percent reported eliminating a candidate based on what they’ve found”

So, if you want to be taken seriously as a professional, do not post your pictures of last night’s drunken pictures or post a video on Seesmic while drunk. Potential employers will treat your profile like a resume to see if you are reliable, honest and sincere.

7. Community context

As Loic Le Meur puts it, web 2.0 is about a community. Companies must understand the need for great customer service, both online and offline.

Brian Morrissey writes,

“For these companies, community is not a tactic or marketing plan line item, but core to what they do. It means being hyper-responsive to customers, laser focused on usability, unapologetically human and OK with customers determining the course their businesses should take. The bonus: When they take off, these brands don’t need to do much in the way of advertising, instead letting their customers spread the word”

Southwest Airlines uses Twitter a lot to communicate to customers. By informing customers of special deals and linking them to the corporate blog, Southwest Airlines is providing great customer service. Also, Southwest Airlines sends nice messages to customers and responds to their feedback.

8. Be transparent

Companies can greatly benefit from starting a corporate blog. Customers want to hear from companies executives, not PR professionals who try to pitch them new products and services. Transparency means putting a human face on the corporation and connecting with customers.

9. Lose control

Too often, companies feel the need to monitor or police their community. Let the discussion take its course. Listen and collaborate to the discussion. Encourage feedback. Companies can gain valuable insight from customers.

10. Share

Everybody has got to start somewhere. It’s tempting to think that your opinion doesn’t count, but in order to have a meaningful experience online, you must contribute to discussions. Ask questions.

How to pitch bloggers

Here is some interesting food for thought. How do you pitch bloggers and how do you make sure your pitch doesn’t end up as spam?

From what I have gathered, there is no shortcut for PR professionals.  Web 2.0 is all about fostering long lasting relationships with bloggers, journalists and the community in general.  It’s more than just researching what they write about. It’s about giving them a story that matters to them and how it benefits their audience.

I won’t bore you with things you already know about. But here are some questions that I have found from The Bad Pitch Blog that you should ask yourself before pitching to the blogger or journalist. Have you…

1. Read more than the most recent post of the blog?
2. Searched the blog for your client or relevant product/service/industry terms to see if they are covered?
3. Subscribed to the blog’s RSS feed or e-mail delivery to make it easier to follow to boost their audience metrics?
4. Left a comment on the blog that continues the discussion and is unrelated to your pitch?
5. Looked for posts and links from their home page telling you if/how the blog author likes to receive information?
6. Sent the blogger author an e-mail unrelated to your pitch?

Now these questions may strike you as odd, and definitely seems like a lot of work. But this is how it is done. You don’t want to seem like you have a hidden agenda and you certainly want to build a relationship with the blogger, journalist or community. Educate yourself on what the blogger generally covers by setting up a Google News Alert. That way, your pitch does not end up in the trash.

What do you guys think? How would you approach a blogger?

 

 

People-Powered Customer Service

Get Satisfaction

 

 

RescueTime

 

Being in the time management business, RescueTime is all about expedient service. RescueTime specializes in time management tools that allows workers to understand how they spend their computer time. The company truly understands what it means to have a two-way dialogue. With 573 Topics powered by 1179 people with help from 3 employees, this forum is defintely one of the most active in Get Satisfaction.

The way this site is managed is very user-friendly and above all, it is constantly updated every four hours. There are three tabs: recently active questions, recently active ideas and recently active problems. In addtion, these tabs are organized into tags that can easily be found by other people through keywords used to describe companies, such as Firefox or Beta.

If customers have a similar problem, they can share the solution from the administrator with their friends on Twitter, Facebook or Del.icio.us. Also, customers can subscribe to the RSS feed.

The overheard tab bridges the public Twitter stream into Get Satisfaction’s support network. Customers can follow the “tweets” related to RescueTime. Anyone can convert a tweet into a Get Satisfaction discussion.

The three administrators are Joe, Brian Fioca and Tony. Although Joe doesn’t have a profile or other kinds of accounts, his rapid fire responses are very much appreciated by consumers. Unlike some administrators who responds to problems in a few days or even weeks, Joe responds to complaints within hours. He has made 470 replies and 85 of them have been marked useful.

Not to be outdone, Tony responds to complaints just as quickly as Joe. Although sometimes, his solutions may not be the right ones, at least he is trying. If there is a delay in his responses, he apologizes. He actively participates in sharing of information with consumers.

            Brian Fioca is another administrator who responds within the hour to customer complaints and problems. He walks the customer step-by-step and seems extremely knowledgeable and asks the right questions.

            Web 2.0 is all about developing excellent relationships with customers. Learning about the benefits of web 2.0 and how to engage the consumer is important to companies who are trying to maintain good customer service and overall reputation. Government officials should look into this before they try to push new legislation.

           

Expedia

 

Expedia is one of the largest online travel companies out there. However, customer service is lacking on both the online and offline components. Everywhere online, customers would rant about their negative experiences and still Expedia would do nothing to solve their complaints. On the website, customers are encouraged to ask questions and report on negative experiences, but according to some customers, their negative postings were either edited or turned down.

On Get Satisfaction, Expedia is a poorly managed forum. There is not an administrator in sight and meanwhile, customers are complaining left and right. One customer complained about the cancellation fee of $35 that was charged weeks in advance. The complaint was reported seven months ago and was never addressed by the administrator. Similar complaints were reported but no administrator addressed the problems.

Web 2.0 is all about a two-way conversation and an avenue for companies to engage the customers in a meaningful dialogue. If customer service is lacking, why does Expedia want to participate on Get Satisfaction, when it does not want to improve on its services? What is the point of setting up a blog for customers to complain and not address any of it?

How to apply Six Sigma concepts to PR

Efficiency. That’s what I’m about. If I am assigned a task, I try to figure out a way to complete it in the most quickest and efficient way possible, guaranteeing maximum results.  Imagine my reaction when I found out about the Six Sigma program and how it can be applied to PR.

Six Sigma may seem like some strange business concept, but it is really easy to understand. And did I mention that your boss or teacher will thank you for bringing this up?

In layman’s terms, Six Sigma provides ways to do things better, faster and more cost-efficient. A method for eliminating defects through hard data, it seems that every facet of business is looking into employing the Six Sigma method.

Part of PR is understanding who the target audience is. The Six Sigma approach begins by understanding the internal and external customers. Your internal clients would be your boss and your external clients would be journalists, analysts or employees. Obviously, the next step would be to understand the needs of you clients so that their needs could be met.

I think all this sounds very basic. But there’s more.

According to Mark Weiner, CEO of Delahaye Medialink Worldwide, the Six Sigma process guides communicators through the following steps:

* Define

* Measure

* Analyze

* Improve

* Control.

Through what is called Weighted Impact & Net Effect, a research formula is created to gauge the effectiveness of a company’s media coverage. Such measurements include story to influence the media and measuring the level of audience exposure, the reader’s level of awareness and recall, and the impact of the story on the reader. Each placement is assigned a score between +100 and -100, and the editorial tone determines whether the score is positive or negative. Then, the figures are multiplied by its Weighted Impact Score to determine its Net Effect.

This strategy can be used for media relations, which includes reducing time for press release approval, improving media targeting, and ensuring that key messages are picked up by the media.

Unfortunately, there are not enough PR professionals who are aware of Six Sigma. Having this knowledge will provide communicators with a competitive edge.  

A Night for Stargazing

Every once in a while, I get to mix business with pleasure. Going to the 40th Anniversary Ruby Gala, hosted by Canadian Children’s Opera Chorus, was my debut into high society and I loved every minute of it.

I felt right at home, wearing a sparkling evening gown and sipping red wine. I was acting like a little girl in a candy shop, schmoozing with the likes of the Canadian Tenors, Quartetto Gelato, Richard Margison and Alana Bridgewater.

The concert was phenomenal. Former CCOC members took the stage and sang pop and jazz selections. Then, the various children’s choruses performed operatic ballads. I was extremely impressed by their talent and genuinely believe that classical music is here to stay. Next up was the Canadian Tenors. I was completely mesmerized as they performed their pop hits and Tomasso Albinoni’s Adagio.

Anyway, I had a fabulous time at the gala. It was not all fun and games for me, however. I had to look pretty and sit in front of the lobby to greet the guests.

Did I mention that I had the chance to take a photo of my hero, Jamie McKnight, from Canadian Tenors?

Here is something you might want to listen to. It’s from Quartetto Gelato, one of my favourite groups. Peter DeSotto did a fantastic job with his rendition of Nessun Dorma. Enjoy!!!!

12 Secrets of PR for Startups

An article by Brian Solis, called “PR Secrets for Startups” strikes a very interesting debate on the relevance of the new and exciting world of web 2.0. No longer does PR involve traditional media, but the use of blogs engaging not only traditional journalists, but a new set of influencers. Solis writes,

“PR is now more than ever, something more capable and influential than simply writing and sending press releases to contacts generated by media databases. The media landscape has been completely blown open to not only include traditional media, but also bloggers and most importantly the very people we want to reach, our customers.”

Indeed, social media has forced traditional pr professionals to evaluate how to put a human face to its tactics and that is where social media comes in. Truth be told, I’m technologically inept. It was until I took this course that I learned about Twitter, Delicious, and how to blog. I don’t understand how my voice can stand out in the crowd when everyone is saying the same thing.

Solis writes,

“Social Media is anything that uses the Internet to facilitate conversations between people – it is not the practice of social marketing. I say people, because it humanizes the process of communications when you think about conversations instead of companies marketing at audiences.”

The element of social media is that it forces companies to engage in an active dialogue with more targeted audiences. After all, public relations is about building relationships. But the offline component must not be forgotten.