Social Media Blog by Michael Brito
Insights into the social web & real
time community engagement
time community engagement
And walk through life with their heads down as if those who participate in social media don’t really exist? I don’t get it.
A few months back, Burson-Marsteller conducted a study that found that 15% of Fortune 500 companies communicate with people via corporate blogs. Only 74 Fortune 500 companies actively maintain a blog! It’s almost criminal. Now of course, a corporate blog is just one tool in the overall social universe; but I wonder how many of the other 426 companies have some presence in social media. It doesn’t have to be a blog. It could be a twitter account, Facebook page or a community hosted on/off domain. In my opinion, companies, brands, products – whatever you want to call it – have to participate in some way. And I am not just talking about the Fortune 500 either.
Here’s why:
A study back in June showed that 55% of consumers want [...]
And the very cool thing about this entire situation is that I am on the board. I am very excited to be a part of this project; and I am also humbled that Chris Heuer has asked me to participate. To be on the same list as those listed below is truly an honor. Here is a tidbit of what I and 41 others will be tasked to do in the coming months:
The new interim board has been charted to address several key organizational and strategic deliverables, including development of membership goals, acceleration of local chapter development, increase in adoption of industry standards and implementation of a new legal structure to enhance future growth … The board will also focus on increasing its research efforts and strengthening relationships with other organizations such as the Society for New Communications Research (SNCR) and the International Association for Business Communicators (IABC). [...]
I have asked this question before but in a different way. It was a post I wrote about two months ago, The Holy Grail of Social Media: Conversions or Conversations? My summarizing hypothesis was that social media as a communication channel might not be the best strategy for customer acquisition and/or direct marketing as would search or display advertising.
Just yesterday, Reem asked a similar question on her blog – What’s more important: a million impressions or 5 relationships? — which was originally asked by Joe Marchese, President of SocialVibe, during a panel at the OMMA Social conference in New York. According to Reem, he was specifically asking this question about those who actively participate in social media. It was a great question that many marketers struggle with today; and if we are talking about social media users only, I echo this sentiment loudly. That is, real relationships [...]
I just started reading Groundswell and I love it so far. I recommend it to everyone who is involved in social media/blogging/community building. The cool thing is that I was fortunate enough to sit through Jeremiah Owyang’s presentation of the POST method twice; one at Intel and the other at the Cluetrain at 10 event.
Groundswell is a comprehensive approach that helps marketers define their social media marketing strategy and has several key components like the Social Technographics Ladder of Participation, the POST method and social objectives to name a few.
Okay, it’s not really what you think; like a newsletter or magazine. POST (aka: the POST Method) is really the most effective acronym ever invented; ever since the four P’s of marketing. It’s a four-step approach that helps marketers define a social media marketing strategy for their business and/or clients. It’s been talked about for quite sometime, but I think it should continue to be drilled in the hearts and minds of marketers who either work in the social media space or are just thinking about it.
P equals people, “assess your customers’ social activities” – difficult in some organizations, easier in others. This really goes back to mapping your customer segmentation to Forrester’s “Social Technographics” which are behaviors displayed on a ladder with six levels of participation within social media.
It’s a year old but still very relevant and applicable today and I am sure it will live a long time. [...]
… at least on Cafemom it is. Those were the words from Andrew Shue, Founder of Cafemom at Agency Bootcamp in Chicago. It was his response to my question to the panel:
There is a lot of talk in the industry about the concept of community. What is your opinion of “community” and is it just a fad?
He went on to say that it’s natural human behavior to form, build and live within a community; and that this behavior dated back centuries when cavemen lived within some form of communal standards. He also said that “online communities” will increasingly grow and that these communities will HAVE to be even more relevant if they want to succeed. I couldn’t agree more with him and I think Cafemom is doing a great job at being relevant! I was also quite impressed with Andrew’s knowledge in this space. Perhaps playing an Ad Exec in [...]
… and maybe, just maybe you will be hitting home runs in no time.
I agreed to review this ebook back in late 2007; and I just finished it last night. Sorry it took me so long (Darren & Julie); but life has sure been hectic transitioning to a new job, computers crashing, etc. It literally took me a few hours to get through the entire book. It was an extremely easy read and Darren and Julie did an excellent job articulating the basics of social media.
The target audience for this book is just about anyone who dabbles with social media in any capacity (internal marketers, agencies, consultants, small business owners). It is filled with tips, tricks, strategies, tactical elements, and case studies. By reading this book, you will:
Understand the landscape of social media
Learn how to launch a social media relations campaign
Learn how to optimize your web site for social media (SMO)
Discover new [...]
