From the category archives:

Social Media

3 Must-Ask Questions Before You Go Online

by Daria Steigman on March 4, 2010

Should you be on LinkedIn? Plaxo? BizSugar or Open Forum? While it’s easy to be online, the vast array of options can leave even the social-media-savviest business person overwhelmed. At last check, my AddThis button linked to over 230 separate platforms/sites.

Because time is a finite resource and we can’t be everywhere, I recommend applying a simple three-pronged business test for social presence:

  • Will it help me be found?
  • Will it help me connect with my audience?
  • Will it help me identify new business?

I explore these questions in some detail in a new IABC CW Bulletin article, Bringing Social Media to Your Business. Check it out and let me know what you think.

Photo by jenny downing (Flickr).

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Do You Have a Phone Book?

by Daria Steigman on March 2, 2010

I was listening to the UStream feed from Hawaii on Saturday. While I was generally impressed with the state’s emergency preparedness planning, there was one piece of advice that I think needs revisiting. When asked where people should turn for evacuation details, officials advised checking the routes printed in the phone book.

With more people ditching their landlines and even more of us relying on the Internet and smartphones for information, just assuming people have a phone book seems out of touch.

Do you have a phone book? And where would you turn first for advice in an emergency?

Photo by Ed Kohler (Flickr).

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Cool Google Web Tools Help You Visualize the Data

by Daria Steigman on February 17, 2010

When was the last time you clicked on the “Show Options” button at the top of the Google search results page? If you haven’t looked lately, take a peak. There are some good Web tools available to help you visualize the data.

My two favorites:

  • Timeline gives you a timeline of the data pertaining to your search term. A search for the term snowpocalyse pulled up a 1922 reference—along with a lot of current articles from around the world.
  • Wonder wheel puts your search term at the hub of a clickable wheel. A search for Pepsi, for example, includes spokes on Pepsi coupons, Pepsi employment, the history of Pepsi, and even Coca Cola. Click on any one, and you get a whole new wheel.

Have fun exploring.

Photo by takomabibelot (Flickr).

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Being Social, Snow Days, and #Snowbored Friends

by Daria Steigman on February 8, 2010

Neighbors building a snow fort.

Unless you’re living under a rock, you probably know that the Saints won the Superbowl and that the Washington region is slowly digging out from a blizzard. While #snowmaggedon’s been a good trending topic, my favorite snow hashtags today are #snowmore (via Colleen Campbell) and #clusterflake (via Line Storgaard Conley). But I’m wondering if we’re missing one: #snowbored.

You see, several friends whose offices are closed have called me to chat. What’s interesting  is the trend: no one who called me this morning actively uses social media. So the only way they can connect is an old-fashioned way. So while the rest of us connect and keep working, they’re reaching out for company.

Do you have any #snowbored friends? Can they update Facebook, speak in 140 characters, or define a hashtag?

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What Marketers Are Saying About Social Media

by Daria Steigman on January 22, 2010

Want to know how communicators are using social media? You could pose a question on Twitter or you could do a deep dive. MarketingProfs did the latter, surveying 4,763 marketers and others managing communications for their organizations. That included 3,285 who specifically said they are responsible for social media.

I don’t have a copy of The State of Social Media Marketing, but I did get a peak at some of the findings. There is some great data here:

  • 48.2 percent said their organizations have a social media presence. They are typically companies that have “very little to hide.” Companies in industries with strict regulations and major repercussions for leaking information (think drug makers, bankers, insurers) are less visible.
  • 60.8 percent who do social media said that it is not part of their job description.
  • Social media isn’t cheap: Most of those doing social media are mid- or senior-level people.
  • 48.8 percent said their company has no official social media policy; 12 percent said they have a restrictive one.
  • There is a correlation between culture and the success of a company’s marketing efforts. Employees who blog (independently) can spark new ideas and increase prestige.
  • All the measurement tools are helpful, but incomplete. For example, 52.8 percent of those surveyed said that paid analytics tools are “helpful but incomplete” (versus 66.1 percent of those using Google and other free tools). And approximately one-third of respondents (33.6 percent) said that the paid tools “enable perfect tracking” (versus 28.1 percent for those using free tools).

There is also a lot of data about the disconnects between the tactics people use a lot (i.e., what’s popular) and the tactics that are most effective. For example, the most used tactics on Twitter are driving traffic (72.1 percent) and driving sales (54.2 percent)—how’s that worked out for you lately? In contract, the most effective Twitter tactics cited involved two-way communications strategies and monitoring for PR problems in real time.

Photo by webtreats (Flickr).

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