This has been one of those long weeks. Started off promising but really dragged on, maybe it was the rain, maybe it was the boring events on the Olympics, who knows. It just dragged. The end of the week was kind of busy with a Tweet chat set for Vistaprint and the #Soxup for Steve Garfield’s book launch and now it’s only a few more hours until the weekend. So without further ranting, here’s this week’s edition of Five for Friday.
A CMO’s guide to the social media landscape – the title speaks for itself, but it is a nice one-page sheet that you can print out for that executive who is still wondering what the heck a Tweet, Digg or YouTube is. You know you have one up there. The sheet also goes into a color-coded break done of each service in terms of customer communication, brand exposure, traffic to your site and SEO.
Social media needs accountability – a lot has been written about all of the variables in social media and how X is hard and Z, well let’s not discuss Z. There have also been a number of articles written on theories. This piece goes into one word that needs to be in every SM practitioner’s tool belt – accountability.
Think traditional media is on the online ropes? Think again. – This is an interesting piece from Jason Falls that looks into the hard numbers (from compete.com) on popular local blogs compared to the traditional media outlets. The numbers here will surprise you.
A fresh pitch on ‘U’ tube – Tufts University has taken innovation and creativity into their admissions process. Students are now encouraged to send videos in along with their applications about themselves. This concept is especially welcoming for those kids who stink on standardized tests.
Do you know your customers enough to be a social media hit? – This is a great question to draw you into an article. It is also something that companies should consider when jumping in without swimmies on. Perhaps the more interesting concept was in the article’s example of ThinkGeek:
ThinkGeek has separated their Twitter messaging into TWO feeds – one designed to sell stuff (which is hilariously called @thinkgeekspam and posts updates about products and promotions) and one which posts all sorts of geek trivia and responses to fan questions and comments, called @thinkgeek.
According to Jamie Grove, the company’s Director of Evil Schemes and Nefarious Plans (i.e. Marketing), ThinkGeek is “all about serving our community. Our social media activities live in our customer retention sphere, not customer acquisition – because the minute it’s in customer acquisition, it changes the nature of the conversation.”
So this has been a week that all of the world has been waiting for. Not only are the Olympics in full swing, but later today, Tiger Woods will break his silence (click here to read my advice for him). Some pretty exciting stuff, especially since both have the opportunity for PR snafus for us to snark on. Hope ya’ll got some great weekend plans, so with that, here’s this week’s edition of Five for Friday.
P.R. firm spreads the love on Valentine’s Day – This is an interesting concept that might be interesting for a business in any industry. Instead of milking Christmas and New Year’s why not look into V-Day as a way to say I love you to your customers/clients?
My Life as H.J. Heinz: Confessions of a Real-Life Twitter Squatter – I was put onto this story while engaging in the #PR20chat on Tuesday night and was kind of set back at how quick Twitter changed the account. Now don’t take this as saying cyber-squatting is a good thing, but from first-hand experience and talking to some flacks who have the accounts for mega-brands that have not received such treatment. Would love to know what constitutes Twitter’s action strategy.
Social Media Metrics My ASS! – Now this is interesting. Not because it questions metrics, but rather the closing point on brand equity. One of these days the code will be cracked on measuring it.
Video, Customer Interactions, and Getting Seen – I am fascinated by video in social media. This is also interesting for PR & CRM and this post goes into some numbers about how companies and individuals will start to communicate via video. Kind of reminds me of those super cool video phones from the 90’s.
Bonus Video
This is just pretty sweet Shaq may have to relinquish the Superman moniker.
This has been an interesting one to say the least. We were supposed to get a giant snow storm, but it never came and we got less snow than the folks in DC, so my snow angel kind of stunk. It has also been frustrating because my issues with some of the code on this blog are kind of screwed up so the RSS and email feeds are down to some extent and the WP.org forum was no help. So if anyone out there is fluent in coding or WP hacks or fixes, please email me at jeffreyespositoAThotmailDOTcom so we can talk about what’s going on. So without further adieu, here is this week’s Five for Friday.
How To Bounce Back From A PR Disaster – This article comes from NPR and is something that all flacks to take a look at. Not only does it pertain to a PR nightmare that is going on with Toyota. It also goes into some interesting facts on recovery, some I agree with others, I call shenanigans on.
Matrix: Companies Should Factor ‘Social Influence’ Into Total Customer Value– One thing that always fascinates me is metrics in social media. There is no silver bullet and everyone is looking to string together something sticky. This piece is quiet interesting as it pulls in metrics based upon real-time influencer assistance. I would argue that companies need to care for even the smallest of customer (and influencer) but he does make some good points for his side of the fence.
Enough, Google — Just Buy Twitter Already – On Monday evening, I was Tweeting with Brett Peterselon this very issue after Google announced their version of Twitter with social status updates for Gmail. The article states something that many have been proposing for a while, it is not a matter of if, it is a matter of when only difference is the price tag and its inflation. As the article points out, the acquisition may be a game changer in holding off Facebook.
Detroit Red Wings Make Game Programs Interactive With QR Codes – In a league that is desperate for goodwill and publicity, the Red Wings are doing their part. Making their program filled with QR codes is very hip and cool, but what really stands out is their intro video that shows fans how to use it is even cooler. This not only exposes their fans to new technologies, but also includes increased exposure for their partners.
The Pros & Cons of Twitter – Forget Twitter in this title as you could easily substitute any social site into the equation. It offers a number of good points for news organizations as well.
This week was filled with some interesting tidbits and some unfortunate events. Actually make that two events, the first was being locked out of my Twitter account due to a phishing scheme and the second was a bug with the blog. A special thanks to Danny Brown and PRCog for helping me sort through the issues. I really don’t have much more – sorry – here is this week’s edition of Five for Friday.
Please Stop Automatically Equating Number of Twitter Followers With Real Influence – This is one of my pet peeves when talking to people on the impact of Twitter. Folks focus on the quantity of followers over quantity. This isn’t sex, its business and the small talk and conversations matter. I love the audacity of the response if you don’t follow me, I will unfollow you. (more…)
Is it me, or did this week go by really fast? Well if your week didn’t I apologize, but it sucks to be you. There were a lot of interesting things that happened over the course of the week including a minor election in Massachusetts (and my video response was picked up by CNN & BBC [link to follow]), brewing up the beer for St. Patty’s Day and meeting a new friend for lunch at the local sandwich shop. Thanks to Twitter for the connection along with Kate. I also have a good deed alert and favor to ask of everyone. If you are in the Boston area and love animals or would like to donate prizes to an event, please check out this post from my good buddy the PRCog. Well other than that, there were some pretty great stories in the realm of PR and Social Media, and below are my top five. Please feel to comment with stories I missed or should have been included in the list.
Four styles of marketing on Twitter – Jason Falls makes a great case for the types of Twitter marketers. Marketing folks are now catching up to what has been going on in social media. After seeing Dell making oodles of money has now become, What is this Twitter that you speak of, and how do we make money from it. This may also be the best description of folks in the space as well:
