THINKing » Twitter http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog My CreativeTeam Thinks About Creativity, Marketing, PR & Social Media Wed, 08 Feb 2012 17:40:12 +0000 en hourly 1 7 Strategies For Employee Communication Through Social Media – Part 2 http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/7-strategies-for-employee-communication-through-social-media-part-2/ http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/7-strategies-for-employee-communication-through-social-media-part-2/#comments Thu, 19 May 2011 12:30:27 +0000 Harry Hoover http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/?p=2315 We talked in Part 1 about the first four strategies for utilizing social media as an employee communications tool:

  • Establish Clear Ownership
  • Use Protected Twitter Accounts
  • Use RSS Feeds
  • Develop An Internal-Only Blog

Here’s Part 2:

Bring Social Media Reports To Regular Meetings

(source)

In some companies, social media (whether in the form of blogs, Twitter, RSS or Facebook) is an island unto itself, a hermetically sealed, back-room “experiment” that no one else in the company interacts with or hears about. This is a mistake! The whole point of corporate social media is to improve communication and performance throughout the company.

Whoever is in charge of corporate social media should be bringing reports to regular company meetings and contributing insights based on what was learned. This can be employee tweets, blog comments, shared stories – literally anything that sheds light on how the company can change or improve in some meaningful way.

Obtain Executive Buy-In

(source)

Social media will not go very far in a corporate setting without buy-in from top executives. Absent this key support, whomever is in charge of social media will constantly be fighting an uphill battle, struggling to make suggestions or changes on the basis of an initiative only they (or at most, a few non-senior managers) support. Left to continue this way, your social media communications program will stall and stagnate.

Don’t make this mistake. From day one, let it be known that everyone, from the CEO on down, is fully behind the social media initiative (both in spirit and in terms of resources allocated.) Only then will the company embrace social media as a lasting fixture instead of a passing fad.

Not For Entry-Level Employees

(source)

Finally, it must be noted that social media is not suited for entry-level employees or interns. Whomever is responsible for the initiative should be, if not a senior executive, then at least someone with a long history at your organization. Someone who thoroughly understands its culture and has interacted with all of the various departments in the past.

The reason this is so important is that the entire organization must be on board. If one or two departments are not committed to social communications and refuse to participate, the entire initiative has failed. Moreover, the job of running and monitoring your internal social media channels is very comprehensive – someone fresh out of college or with only a few months experience at the company will likely be overwhelmed.

Editor’s Note: today’s post is from guest author, Bryan Cochand, a freelance writer for Adobe. Adobe’s Online Marketing Suite helps businesses with their search marketing efforts.

 

Other Posts You Might Like

]]> http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/7-strategies-for-employee-communication-through-social-media-part-2/feed/ 1 7 Strategies For Employee Communication Through Social Media – Part 1 http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/7-strategies-for-employee-communication-through-social-media-part-1/ http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/7-strategies-for-employee-communication-through-social-media-part-1/#comments Tue, 17 May 2011 12:30:27 +0000 Harry Hoover http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/?p=2302

Social media has come a long way in the last five years. Once used to kill time and stay entertained, the social web is now deeply ingrained in the day-to-day operations of businesses large and small. Communications is no exception – in fact, it’s one of the premier uses of social media in the corporate environment. Instead of relying on outdated bulletin boards and impersonal memos, tech-savvy executives are now using online tools to communicate more quickly, more personally and more effectively.

Here are seven strategies for implementing social media communication in your company:

Establish Clear Ownership

(source)

One of the biggest problems companies have when implementing social media at the corporate level is that no one department has clear ownership of it. Who’s responsible? Is it marketing, HR, senior management, or perhaps a newly anointed person/department? There is no one “right” answer, but the old saying applies: when it’s everyone’s responsibility, it’s no one’s responsibility.

When a company’s social presence is run by different departments, it invariably falls short of its full potential. Each week sees the birth of new “initiatives” and experiments, rather than the continuation of one solid direction or approach. As a result, social media fails to become the rich communication channel it has the potential to be. Pick one person (or department) to be in charge and give them authority over the channel.

Protected Twitter Accounts

(source)

One of the quickest ways to immediately leverage social media for corporate communications is Twitter. But there’s a twist: established businesses shouldn’t sign up for the same public Twitter accounts that individuals use. Rather, executives will want to use what’s known as a “protected” Twitter account (explained here.)

Basically, a protected Twitter account is one where only approved followers (employees and colleagues in this case) can see your Tweets. Once established, your protected Twitter account can be used to share anything of company importance: memos, reminders, event invitations, etc. You can even go a step further and establish protected Twitter accounts for each department. This way, everyone gets tweets that are very pointed and relevant to their job duties without getting overwhelmed by things outside of their purview.

Corporate RSS Feeds

(source)

RSS feeds offer another way to rapidly disseminate information across the company. RSS (which literally stands for “really simple syndication”) enables executives to create “feeds” that employees and co-workers subscribe to via tools like Google Reader. What can you syndicate using RSS? Actually, just about anything you wish.

Today’s RSS technologies permit you to syndicate text, videos, audio files and virtually anything else you can send along in an e-mail or instant message. The benefit of using RSS instead is that you can create the content once (say, a reminder or memo) and effortlessly blast it out to everyone in a completely streamlined and trackable format.

Internal Company Blog

(source)

If you aren’t ready to experiment with Twitter and RSS yet (or even if you are) a much simpler way to bring social media into your communications program is just to set up an internal company blog. This is distinct from any customer-facing blog you might have. Rather than publishing PR stories about the company, your internal blog is meant to convey information that’s meaningful to employees and executives.

A major plus of having an internal blog is allowing employees to comment on each post and paying attention to what they say. This is a priceless form of feedback – encourage people to freely and candidly share their thoughts on company blog posts. Furthermore, use these responses to drive new initiatives or employee programs based on what you learned.

More strategies in Part 2. Stay tuned.

Editor’s Note: today’s post is from guest author, Bryan Cochand, a freelance writer for Adobe. Adobe’s Online Marketing Suite helps businesses with their search marketing efforts.

Other Posts You Might Like

]]> http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/7-strategies-for-employee-communication-through-social-media-part-1/feed/ 4 How To Write Tweets That Get Noticed http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/how-to-write-tweets-that-get-noticed/ http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/how-to-write-tweets-that-get-noticed/#comments Tue, 15 Mar 2011 14:00:40 +0000 Harry Hoover http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/?p=2189 Editor’s note: Today’s article is by David Murton, who has been helping companies build and maintain their online relationships with customers since 2006. He also is a professional writer and webmaster with a particular interest in the open source Drupal platform.


Tweets are about connection. People sign up for Twitter with purpose: They want to tell everyone who they are. And, they want to build an online relationship with people like them, who can respect them. Tweeters build their followers and who they follow in hopes of igniting that social connection.

The goal is to write the perfect tweet, a tweet that can reach everybody, can be retweeted again and again, a tweet that will expand the tweeter’s reputation. How can you possibly write a tweet like this? It’s simple when you consider and understand two important rules: readability and retweetability.

Readability

Obviously, you need to learn how to write and to be read well. Find your voice and go with it. Need help? There are plenty of writing schools online that teach the skills you seek. Twitterers will notice your superior writing instantly. Just take note, writing one or two great tweets isn’t enough, you have to be consistently excellent to keep your readers engaged.

Think of your Twitter page as your business page. How can you provide value? First, you need a headline (your link) that grabs reader attention, that entices them to click and read more. Next, you deliver with quality content. Don’t make your reader regret reading. Sell your tweet by appealing to the reader. Close the deal by giving them something they can bite into. Remember to always be honest.

Know this: it’s not all about you. You don’t tweet for the sheer joy of writing. You tweet because you want to be heard. Write to your readers, give them something they can relate to. Combine your personal life with your professional interests. Be open about who you are and your purpose. Most importantly, be open to the ideas of others. Don’t bore your followers by always talking about one thing – branch out, be a part of the conversation.

When people read your tweets, they judge your writing abilities. Poor writing can lead to no feedback and no followers. Only celebrities have the luxury of being grammatically inept. You must watch your grammar, have perfect spelling, use correct punctuation and contractions, and always start sentences with a capital letter.

Retweetability

Keep your tweets under 140 characters. Short tweets are more retweetable because they leave room for the retweeter’s name and possibly a comment. Leave about 25 free characters for this. Doing so will make it easier for your followers to share your tweet.

Provide a link. This could be a blog, news article, youtube video – anything that reiterates your point. You want to share worthwhile information through your links. Giving your readers some place to go, to learn more, helps to solidify your ideas or thoughts. Linking to a known source will enhance your own credibility. Remember to always give credit to the source.

Use your manners and thank people when they retweet your post. Ask politely when you want to be retweeted. Tweeters who are kind and gracious are likely to be noticed and retweeted. Conversely, being a contentious tweeter may get you some attention but won’t get you respect.

Stay connected and retweet others. Twitter is more dialogue than monologue. In order to be heard, you can’t just talk out loud, you have to talk to someone. When you do retweet another post, leave a comment and tell everyone why this tweet meant something to you. Shorten lengthy tweets in an intelligible way that doesn’t affect the original tweet.

Build your online appearance with you bio or URL. Spell out your full name so people know who you are and provide a link to your site if you have one. Write your bio in the first person and include only the finer points of your character and your purpose. Upload your picture right away because Twitterers like to see who you are. All of these things will give you credibility. Do them well and you will seem more human in this digital world of the web.

Other Posts You Might Like

]]> http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/how-to-write-tweets-that-get-noticed/feed/ 3 Market Successfully In Today’s Interactive Environment http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/market-successfully-in-today%e2%80%99s-interactive-environment/ http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/market-successfully-in-today%e2%80%99s-interactive-environment/#comments Thu, 10 Mar 2011 15:22:36 +0000 Harry Hoover http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/?p=2176

I just did a session called Market Successfully In Today’s Interactive Environment for the Bank of Commerce’s School of Commerce (SOC). The SOC is designed to help independently owned businesses with the key challenges they have, ranging from financing to marketing.

The presentation covered how to develop your social media plan with key discussion centering on research, audience definition, goal-setting and measurement.

I developed a special report to go with the presentation and you can download it here if you are interested. Do you agree with my approach? Did I leave anything out? Please let me know.

Other Posts You Might Like

]]> http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/market-successfully-in-today%e2%80%99s-interactive-environment/feed/ 0 How Is Social Media Like A Mullet? http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/how-is-social-media-like-a-mullett/ http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/how-is-social-media-like-a-mullett/#comments Wed, 02 Mar 2011 13:01:19 +0000 Harry Hoover http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/?p=2160

Photo: Copyright 2001 Columbia Pictures

When you live in the South you sometimes still see the male hairstyle known as the mullet. As Joe Dirt said in the movie by the same name, a mullet is “business in the front, party in the back.” And that is how social media is like a mullet: it’s both business and personal.

It’s not easy juggling your different accounts, keeping in mind what you should and shouldn’t say using that particular account. I have a personal and a business Twitter account, and assist in tweeting several other business accounts. There’s my Facebook account, the My Creative Team Facebook page, and four other client related accounts. Not to mention LinkedIn, Amplify, and Quora…you get the picture.

I’ve been using Hootsuite to simplify my digital life. And it works pretty well. I just ran across a story in Springwise about Whoopaa,

The new service can integrate with users’ Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn accounts, presenting them all on one site. Users can then mark these accounts as associated with either their business or personal Whoopaa profiles. Once Whoopaa has been linked up in this way, users can switch between their business and personal profiles at the click of a single button, instantly viewing all the social network activity attached to the Whoopaa profile selected — neatly arranged in one time-line. Users can send direct messages, invites and wall posts to their separate social network accounts from within the Whoopaa site, as well as sending messages directly to other members’ Whoopaa inboxes. An iPhone app is currently in development.

With the increasing importance attached to online identity, both in personal and business terms, the demand for aggregators has seen no shortage of contenders. However, for social networkers who prefer to keep these profiles separate, Whoopaa set itself apart with a neat headline feature.

I’m thinking about giving it a try. Have you tried Whoopaa, or another utility that gives you more control? How do you keep your business social media and your personal media personas separated? Let us know.

Other Posts You Might Like

]]> http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/how-is-social-media-like-a-mullett/feed/ 6 Real Life – The True Beneficiary Of Social Media http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/real-life-the-true-beneficiary-of-social-media/ http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/real-life-the-true-beneficiary-of-social-media/#comments Fri, 05 Nov 2010 14:27:07 +0000 Harry Hoover http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/?p=1477

I was having a discussion last night with a friend who doesn’t get social media. He says he feels like a voyeur when seeing things his friends post. I can understand that to a point because some people do overshare their lives.

Let me admit that I love social media. But perhaps not for the reasons you might think. To me, the promise of social media has always been about improving my real life. I embraced blogging, LinkedIn,  Twitter, Facebook, Yelp and Foursquare fairly early.

These platforms have helped me maintain contact with friends who may have moved away. They also have helped me find new places to dine and party, and allow me to tell my friends where we’re going to be on certain nights. It is surprising how many people will show up when I post that we are going to a local night spot to hear a musician.

For instance, the folks at The Wine Cellar along with my wife arranged a surprise birthday party for me almost entirely through Facebook. The musician on the right in the photo above is of my cousin. They also arranged for him to come – via Facebook – to play for my birthday. We had a huge crowd and I was surprised.

Just last night another social media activity enriched my real life. I had gotten a note a couple of days ago via Yelp from Jeff. He had been eating at Choplin’s, which is within walking distance of The Wine Cellar. Jeff saw my Yelp note about the place and gave it a try. Here is his message to me:

I’m a big Yelp fan. So after dinner at Choplins I looked at my Yelp app and there was the Wine Cellar. Love independent places and it just had a good vibe. Not a lot of people Yelp around here – so when I saw 27 checkins – I had to ask the owner. He said you were one of his best friends. I drank a great bottle of wine and we proceeded to have a great bottle of wine and one of the best conversations I’ve ever had. Thanks for the writeup Duke of the Wine Cellar!

I was happy to receive this note and pleased I could help Jeff to have a great time and also to help my friends who own the Cellar. But that was not the end of it. Last night, I met Jeff at the Cellar. The owner brought him over, introduced him to me and Jeff gave me a bottle of wine to thank me for introducing him to the place.

Now, that’s what social media should be about. Has social media improved your life? How?

UPDATE: Read Amber Naslund’s excellent post on this topic.

Other Posts Of Interest

]]> http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/real-life-the-true-beneficiary-of-social-media/feed/ 2 Too Much Social, Not Enough Sales? http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/too-much-social-not-enough-sales/ http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/too-much-social-not-enough-sales/#comments Tue, 01 Jun 2010 12:39:20 +0000 Harry Hoover http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/too-much-social-not-enough-sales/ Is social media wearing you out and getting in the way of your real work? It’s not bad enough that you have to keep up with a blog, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Friendfeed, Youtube and maybe Plaxo, but every day I’m being asked to join yet another social network. There are hundreds of them, it seems. I’ve said no to Viadeo, no to Friendster, no to MySpace, and by-bye to Goodreads.

How many social networks is too many to handle? As in every other facet of business, I believe focus is the answer. Pick three to four that make sense for you and your organization and do them right.

If you are spending all of your time blogging, Twittering, adding posts on your company Facebook page, when are you going to have time to keep the business afloat? After all, the first rule of business is to stay in business. To do this, you must make money.

How many networks are you trying to keep afloat? Have you jettisoned any? Which ones? What is working – or not working – for you?

Other Posts Of Interest

]]> http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/too-much-social-not-enough-sales/feed/ 2 #tweeta20 – That’s A Wrap http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/tweeta20-thats-a-wrap/ http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/tweeta20-thats-a-wrap/#comments Tue, 11 May 2010 21:12:52 +0000 Harry Hoover http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/tweeta20-thats-a-wrap/ Well, #tweeta20 – the social media project designed to raise awareness and funds for Thompson Child & Family Focus -  is behind us now and I think it was a success. I think we raised more awareness of the good work that Thompson does than we did money. Although we raised at least $4,000 via social media at last count.

Here’s how it happened. Friend Kathy Rowan (@PRQueen) works closely with Thompson and has for a longtime. She asked me to help with the project she had conceived.

First, we recruited  a great group of Charlotte Twitterati to participate and I’d like to recognize them once more.  I hope you will follow these wonderful people:

@CrystalDempsey

@AlexisAcosta

@ScottHepburn

@prettyannoyed

@beccabernstein

@daily_pinch

@lisahoffmann

@brandonuttley

@kateymarie

Next, we decided upon a catchy hashtag – #tweeta20 – to help track the stream.

Then, we:

- rounded up some Wicked tickets for a drawing from the pool of online #tweeta20 donors (oh, by the way, the winner was @ppnc09)

- pre-promoted the May 11 event to friends and followers to try to prime the fundraising pump

- developed Tweet Cheat Sheets for our 10 Twitterati to utilize and to keep us on message

- mounted a media relations effort to garner media interest, and this paid off with pre-event publicity from The Charlotte Observer and Fox News Rising. The momentum continues: WCNC-TV visited the facility the day after the event, spending two hours there filming.

- set up a Twitter account for Thompson and began following Charlotte, NC area people with the account

- set up a Thompson cause page on Facebook to involve our non-Twittering friends

During Thompson’s May 11 annual luncheon, its big fundraiser for the year,  our group sat at the Twitter Table,  twittering like crazy, utilizing two 4G Overdrive hotspots that @Sprint provided.

We’ve learned a lot about how to use social media for nonprofits, and I want to figure out how to translate this knowledge to other charities in our area. I’ll get back to you on that once I’ve figured it out.

Other Posts Of Interest

]]> http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/tweeta20-thats-a-wrap/feed/ 1 Meet The Tweeters http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/meet-the-tweeters/ http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/meet-the-tweeters/#comments Tue, 04 May 2010 18:18:54 +0000 Harry Hoover http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/meet-the-tweeters/ We talked recently about #tweeta20,  a social media project in which I’m participating along with @PRQueen.The project is for Thompson Child & Family Focus, aka @ThompsonCFF.

A number of prominent Charlotte, NC tweeters have graciously volunteered their time to assist in this worthy cause.  Please follow these good folks:

@CrystalDempsey

@AlexisAcosta

@ScottHepburn

@prettyannoyed

@beccabernstein

@daily_pinch

@lisahoffmann

@brandonuttley

@kateymarie

As a thank you, I’m profiling our social media volunteers as their bios come in.  Let’s get started:

Crystal Dempsey, @CrystalDempsey, 45, owns From The Hip Communications, a Charlotte-based communications consulting company that works with nonprofits (Crossroads Charlotte, Dress for Success Charlotte) and businesses. During her 20 years at The Charlotte Observer, Crystal was an editor (Style, Eye, UCity), writer (fashion/lifestyle), page designer and copy editor. She continues to be a contributing columnist for the Observer’s Style section. Crystal serves on the TEDx Charlotte steering committee and on advisory boards for Charlotte Community School for Girls, UNC Charlotte’s Women’s and Gender Studies Program and the Women’s Inter-Cultural Exchange.

Scott Hepburn, @ScottHepburn, is a father, transplanted New Yorker (who isn’t, really?), and PR and marketing veteran. His consulting firm, Media Emerging, provides social media training, content marketing strategy, and copywriting for agencies and mid-sized business. He once wrestled a bear. No, not really, but wouldn’t that be cool? He’s an avid trail runner, coffee lover, and debater.

@prettyannoyed prefers anonymity. She is a Charlotte resident who, despite spending time micro-blogging about the annoyances we all encounter in our daily lives, enjoys spending free time helping worthy causes such as Thompson Child & Family Focus.

Becca Bernstein, @BeccaBernstein, is a Senior Content Developer and Social Media Strategist for Lowe’s Home Improvement. A writer and a graduate of the Portfolio Center, Becca has worked at several of the top agencies in Charlotte. She was also the Co-Founder of the Dave Thomas Fan Club. When she’s not working, Becca spends her time with her husband, her daughter and a dog that looks like a cow.

Brandon Uttley, @BrandonUttley, is a social media strategist for Wray Ward, helping create conversations and connections in the social media space. Uttley has a practiced perspective on social media and, as a 20-year veteran in the fields of marketing and public relations, brings a keen understanding on its role in integrated marketing communications. 

Other Posts Of Interest

]]> http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/meet-the-tweeters/feed/ 2 Tweeta20 – A Non-Profit Social Media Pilot Project http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/tweeta20-a-non-profit-social-media-pilot-project/ http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/tweeta20-a-non-profit-social-media-pilot-project/#comments Thu, 22 Apr 2010 12:59:15 +0000 Harry Hoover http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/tweeta20-a-non-profit-social-media-pilot-project/ twitter20.jpg

On Tuesday, May 11, nine Charlotte social media folks and I will spend an hour trying to raise money for Thompson Child & Family Focus, an organization that has spent nearly 125 years providing education, treatment and support for children traumatized by sexual abuse, domestic violence or rampant neglect.

During Thompson’s annual meeting at noon May 11, we will sit at a Twitter Table and encourage our followers to Tweet A $20 or more. Each contributor of $20 or more will be entered to win two tickets to WICKED at Charlotte, NC’s Ovens Auditorium.

We’re using the hashtag #Tweeta20 in all of our social media postings  so we can keep up with the social stream, primarily from our Charlotte area social followers.

How can you help? I’m glad you asked.

  • Follow Thompson on Twitter @thompsoncff
  • Become a Facebook fan of Thompson Child & Family Focus
  • Share news on your blog, in your tweets or Facebook status updates about the promotion and use the #Tweeta20 hashtag
  • Follow our Tweets from noon to 1 p.m. on May 11 and please RT our #Tweeta20 tweets
  • Go ahead and #Tweeta20. We’re taking donations!
  • Send any other ideas you have to tweak our #Tweeta20 promotion.

Other Posts Of Interest

]]> http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/tweeta20-a-non-profit-social-media-pilot-project/feed/ 6