Tag: twitter

When it comes to listing your social media contact info on your brochure, do you simply say ‘Find us on Facebook’? You’d better hope your customers are very patient while they comb through 500 million users.

We see Facebook and Twitter icons and logos all over the place now. They are very nearly as common place in advertising as phone numbers and email addresses, but what I’ve noticed is that a large number of companies stop short with JUST the logo of the Social Media site that they participate in. Unfortunately, this doesn’t do anything to help the user actually find you on those sites. Since the search functions on Social Media sites can pull up dozens of suggestions for any business name or search term, simply putting the logo of the site somewhere on your brochure can be counter-productive.

Businesses must realize that by doing this, they’re essentially saying “If you go on this site of 500 million users, I’m in there somewhere.” Not to mention the added level of complexity that exists if your business is a single location in a chain. What if there are 5 or 6 different stores from the same chain on Facebook? How easy is it for your users to identify which one is yours? What if corporate head office is listed there, too?

You can see the problem that this presents when you take the time and effort to connect with your customers, but you don’t go those last few steps to ensure that it’s really you that they find when they go looking. Luckily, there are a few simple things you can do to make yourself easier to connect with.

1 – Use a custom URL, and minimize it.

Most social networking sites, like Facebook and LinkedIn, will allow you to customize your URL so that you can shorten it and make it easier to fit on to brochures and business cards. For example, you can easily go from something like this page I found:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ford-Dealership/109108405778479

to a much cleaner example from another page:

http://www.facebook.com/ford.sales

Another tip to minimize the text is to simply remove the ‘http://’ from the URL, since we are all so used to seeing web addresses, it’s hardly a stretch to realize that ‘facebook.com/ford.sales’ should be typed in to the URL bar of a web browser.

To create a customized URL on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/username/

With Twitter, you can follow two ways of approaching this. You can either list your Twitter username: in my case @j_barrick, or your direct URL to your tweets: http://twitter.com/j_barrick. Again, you can use the simplistic: twitter.com/j_barrick and make the URL even cleaner and still make no mistake of which Twitter user is the real deal.

2 – Stick with only your top sites.

You may be tempted to list every single location online where your users can find you, but once you get past Facebook and Twitter, the widespread user base drops off dramatically. You might have a Flickr page, or Tumblr blog, or Myspace page, or several others from the myriad collection of social media sites, but that doesn’t mean you should stuff your materials full of every possible site. As a general rule of thumb, just list the few key sites that you’re most active on, or that you have the largest community. Again, this is all about making it easy on the reader.

3 – Don’t forget your main web address.

Unless you’ve got a VERY specific reason for doing this, don’t leave your regular www. web address off of any of your materials. I’ve seen several instances of companies running ads that are designed solely to drive traffic to their Facebook pages, but unless you’re running a completely dedicated campaign with Facebook traffic as your ultimate objective, this may not be the best course of action.

After all, your website should be the main hub of all your activity. Users should be able to go anywhere you are online from your website, so that would be where you’d list all the ‘other’ locations we talked about back in Tip #2, so don’t miss out on an opportunity to get people to visit your main online home. It can encourage them to check out more of you in other locations.

4 – Avoid ‘stylized’ logos. Stick with the instantly recognizable ones.

If you have picked up a magazine or newspaper in the last 12 months, then you know what the Twitter logo looks like. Same for Facebook. The simple, clean but easily identifiable ‘T’ and ‘F’ icon logos in the official colours are unquestionable about what they represent. But if you start to incorporate ‘fancier’ ones, (maybe they look like stamps, or buttons, or shiny metal), then you run a much greater risk of the general populace not recognizing them.

Example:

Use logos like this: not like this: in print materials.

The goal here is to ultimately drive people to see what you’re doing on these sites. If they can’t make that immediate association to the social media site brands that they are familiar with, they will be less likely to make that effort.

Bonus Tip: Business Cards

Your business card had better already have your company web address on it, but why not add your Facebook or Twitter URL as well? It’s simply one more way for your users to connect with you, which is the entire purpose of the business card to begin with! This info belongs on your cards, so the next time you print a batch, make that addition.

So overall, I think you can see that simply throwing an icon on your print materials doesn’t really accomplish anything other than ‘Yeah, we’re on Twitter’. If you really want to encourage people to check you out, then you need to make it as easy as possible. You would never put ‘Find us on the Web!‘ without listing your web address, so why do that with your Social Media?

End Note: There is another technology being introduced that intends to do a better job of integrating print and web, and that is the QR code. I haven’t touched on that in this article for two reasons: 1 – It’s a bit more advanced in terms of it’s usage and how to integrate it in to your business goals, and this article was intended as the ‘basics’ of putting SM contact info in to print, and 2 – it is still in the early adoption stage, and until every person has a smartphone, and everyone has taken the time to download a QR code reader app for their smartphone, QR codes will continue to be a very specialized way to reach a unique target market. In summary, not enough people know what they are or have the understanding and technology to utilize them effectively.

Jonathan on Google+

March 10, 2011

Twitter + TV = Better Entertainment

Jeff Probst and CBS get Twitter in a way that very few do.

Image linked from: http://mikesbloggityblog.com

I’m a big Survivor fan. Been watching since my wife (then girlfriend) convinced me to watch the finale of the Australia season (#2). Seen every episode of every season since then, and it never gets old.

That being said, this season (#21 if you’re keeping track) has added a completely new element to the experience of watching this show: Jeff Probst, the long-serving and exceptionally entertaining host of the show, live-Tweets with fans during the show.

For the past few episodes, he’s done this, and it’s added a new layer of insight in to what is the longest running ‘reality show’ in history. Imagine if you could sit on the couch right next to the director of your favourite movie AS you’re watching it. Yeah, it’s THAT cool.

For example, tonight I found out that Jeff gets to keep the torch-snuffers from each season, he accidentally smashed a vote urn during a lighting rehearsal, and that he thinks Ralph telling everyone about the hidden idol was a huge mistake. Now granted, if you’re not a fan you’re probably saying “So what?”. But if you ARE a fan, you know how interesting these little bits of info are. Now you’ll likely start thinking about other shows that you watch, and what little bits of info the host or actors might have that you might find really interesting. See how this adds a new level of entertainment to the whole ‘TV’ experience?

What Jeff Probst and CBS have done is recognize the potential for connecting with their already-loyal fans and making them feel like they’re very nearly part of the show. Which, of course, they are. Without fans a show doesn’t get past the first season. By having a host who clearly loves what he does, and allowing him to connect with the fans of the show while it airs, they’re allowing the ‘Survivor’ experience to be enhanced by having ‘behind-the-scenes’ comments sent out in real-time to everyone who wants to know more about the show. This kind of bonus material is usually reserved for ‘special edition’ DVD’s or two-hour post-season specials. Now you get it instantaneously, and for free.

What this clearly illustrates is the passion that both Jeff and CBS have for the show, which in turn will take already devoted fans and turn them in to raving evangelists. They recognize that by engaging with their fans they increase the amount of entertainment that they can jam in to a TV show’s time slot.

Businesses can learn something from this example. Sure, social media is great at improving your SEO, generating brand awareness, and all those other good things. But what social media is EXCEPTIONAL at is taking an already strong relationship with your biggest fans and making that relationship essentially indestructible. If you give your advocates and enthusiasts more than they expect, they will sing your praises even louder than they already do. Just something to think about.

February 28, 2011

The Tao of Twitter – Book Review

The book I wish I had before I wrote my first Tweet.

Twitter can be a really hard sell sometimes. “Who wants to hear what celebrities had for lunch?”, “You can’t use something like Twitter for business.”, or “How can you say anything worthwhile in 140 characters?” are all questions that we’ve heard before, and some of us are even guilty of asking them. But the reality is far from this perception. Twitter is indeed a viable platform for business communication, professional networking, customer service, marketing, news, and more. Every day more and more people are realizing the positives from participating on Twitter. They are preaching its awesomeness from all corners of the globe, and yet there are still droves of people who still think it’s stupid, pointless, just for kids, or full of celebrity gossip.

So how do you break that stereotype and show them the reality? Well, Mark W. Schaefer, author of the {grow} blog, took action and wrote The Tao of Twitter. A book whose sole purpose is to smash the negative stereotypes that talk of Twitter as a ‘waste of time’, and show readers that the personal and business benefits you can achieve on Twitter are real and are far-reaching.

Rather than start off with the typical lists of terminology and mechanics, Mark begins the book with a funny little anecdote about when he had his ‘a-ha!’ moment on Twitter. A moment that we all have when we start using it. The precise moment when you realize what the potential is. He then moves to an example of a tangible business success that could only have come to him as a result of Twitter. This approach allows the reader to understand the whole point of Twitter in the first 10 pages, and see what it’s capable of, instead of getting immediately bogged down with dry definitions and acronyms.

From there, Schaefer proceeds to explain the three ‘Tao’s that ensure you’re developing a strong community. In summary, the keys are to ensure you follow a group of people that are providing good content, that you return the favour and share good content to your followers, and that you commit to being genuinely helpful to the community. Through these three activities you will begin to realize the full benefits of Twitter.

Only then, once he’s shown that YES it does work for business, does Schaefer begin to explain some of the essential common terminology, the basic mechanics of how to Tweet properly, and some of the best do’s/don’ts for both beginners and veterans alike. Mark also outlines a simple regimen for ensuring that your entire day is not devoured by Twitter, but you are still an active participant within your community.

Finally, the book discusses how to put all the concepts together, as well as some important competitive advantages that will come from using Twitter, and how some of the current influence benchmarks work and are being used. While far from perfect, these influence metrics are still important to be aware of, and you certainly won’t be able to ignore them for long.

Overall, I was quite impressed by this first book by Mark W. Schaefer. It tackles a key problem that businesses face when adopting Social Media, and uses real examples of successes, both personal and professional. The Tao of Twitter should be viewed as the handbook to become one of those Twitter users that people will actually WANT to follow. It’s the kind of book that you’ll read more than once, lend to your friends and colleagues, and will probably fill with post-it notes, highlighter marks, and dog-eared pages.

*NOTE: This review was not solicited in any way. My copy of the Tao of Twitter was purchased.

January 25, 2011

Top 5 Tips to Get in to the Twitter Pool Without Drowning

Know someone who should be on Twitter, but is a bit apprehensive? Here’s 5 tips to help them get their feet wet.

Twitter is intimidating for new users. Back in June 2010 (which is eons in the past, for Twitter), there were an estimated 65 million tweets being posted per day. PER DAY!?! I don’t care who you are or where you’re from, that’s an impressive figure, and it’s even totally out of date. How many daily tweets are there now? No idea, but it’s surely many more than that.

So, now that everyone is saying that you have to be on Twitter, where do you start? How do you step in to a community of 90 million users and not get completely swept away? Well, there’s two strategies, just like swimmers entering an ice-cold lake: The brave just dive in and deal with the shock, the timid move in slowly and adjust a little bit at a time. Here’s a fun fact: Twitter retention is about 40%, with most users who quit leaving within the first month. Why? Hard to know, but it may have something to do with the lack of any standard way of being ‘introduced’ to Twitter. Everyone has their own idea of what users should do first, and it never works the same for everyone.

But I believe there are some basic tactics that new users can follow, regardless of their reasons for joining. I’ve decided to compile what I believe to be the top few tactics that might be helpful to those timid Twitter swimmers who know they need to be there, and want to see what’s happening, but aren’t quite ready to plunge headlong in to the unknown. Here we go:

1 – Choose one interest to start with.

This might seem simple, but it can be incredibly daunting. There are Twitter communities out there for any topic you can imagine, and I mean ANY topic. Want to connect with other people who use Twitter for their small-business? You can find them. Want to connect with other people who dye their cats fur? You can find them, too. It’s a good idea to not spread out too fast all at once, since you will quickly become overwhelmed with ‘stuff’ to sort through. Choose one main focus to start, and see what’s there. You can always add other interests once you get the hang of things.

2 – Identify a handful of key influencers.

For every topic, there are those Twitter users who it seems like EVERYONE follows. A Twitter user in Marketing? They probably follow @mitchjoel or @unmarketing. A pop music enthusiast? They probably follow @coldplay or @ladygaga. Choose a few really popular users that fit your topic of interest, follow them and see what they’re posting. Not only will you likely find their posts incredibly interesting, but it will help get you adjusted to the way tweets are written, and how other people interact on Twitter.

3 – Find a few users that make you laugh.

Have a favourite comedian? Or perhaps an actor/actress that you can’t get enough of? Follow them. It will give your Twitter feed a ‘break’ from the monotony of one topic on a regular basis, and it will help you see Twitter not just as informative, but entertaining as well.

4 – Retweeting to show that you exist.

Posting a fresh and original tweet is great, and I encourage you to do it whenever the mood strikes you, but if you have no followers, you quickly feel like sending out your own tweets is pointless. (Note: Yes, I know that it’s not pointless, but when you have no one reading them, it sure FEELS like that) Retweeting stuff that you find interesting allows those tweets to appear in searches that other people conduct for the original tweeter, as well as any # hashtags that appear in the tweet. This is a good way to introduce yourself as someone on Twitter who has an interest in those topics, and wants to share that information with the rest of the community. It’s a good way to earn your first few followers.

5 – Answering questions & giving feedback.

Have an opinion on something someone just tweeted? Don’t hesitate to let them know. I’ve noticed that the Twitter community is not only very receptive to feedback, but we tend to crave it. I love to know what people think of my content, especially if they have something new to add to the conversation. It helps everyone see different perspectives, and gets your own creative juices flowing. A single comment can be the spark that generates a whole new series of tweets.

Well, there you have it. Hopefully those tips help make Twitter seem a bit less scary. It’s always comforting to have some kind of plan in place when you start something new, and social media is no different. I believe that following these tips for your first steps in to the Twitter universe will get you in the groove quickly and effectively. It’s always good to keep in mind that Twitter is not a competition, nor is it a race. Don’t focus on how many followers you have, or how many people have retweeted you. What’s really important is if you’re getting some value out of your experience. As long as you feel like it’s beneficial for you, then you’re doing it right.

Also, if some of the words in my post seem like gibberish to you heres a collection of Twitter Definitions and Terminology:
http://hellboundbloggers.com/2009/04/23/twitter-definitions-for-newbies/

I’d love to hear your opinions on these tips, or if you have any of your own that have worked for you, let’s hear from you! Or maybe you’ve got a great ‘what not to do’ example that you can share, let’s hear those too!

January 7, 2011

Fully Committed

The business climate we find ourselves in doesn’t allow us to take a cavalier attitude towards Marketing activities. Social Media is no different. Having no presence in any of the Social Media options is just plain dumb, but having a presence that is merely superficial can be just as bad.

We’ve all seen ‘those companies’ on Twitter who tweeted a handful of times in the first few days of creating their account, and then went dead silent for the last year. What happened? Why would they do that? What about the company blogs or Facebook pages that haven’t seen any fresh material in months, or longer? Who’s behind this? Far be it from me to criticize, since I have my moments of extreme procrastination that would make ‘the Dude’ in ‘The Big Lebowski’ seem like a dynamic young go-getter, but how can a company not have anything to say for a YEAR?!?

Let’s start with the obvious: If you’re in business and are currently alive and breathing, then you know about ‘Social Media’. It’s been the biggest buzz phrase since ‘Think Outside The Box’ thoroughly saturated the business world. If you’ve been paying any attention to the world at all, you know that Social Media is big on an epic scale, and businesses are adopting it at an astounding rate. That being said, if you took the time to create an account for your business, create an avatar, write a description, design a fancy background, and post a few snippets of info, then you MUST have done it for a reason. You must have recognized some intrinsic value in doing this, even if it was only a tiny little bit. Yet you stopped? For some reason you stopped doing something that takes no cash out of your pocket, creates a constantly growing footprint for your company, is searchable, shareable, and (if done properly) gives you greater credibility than your competition in your marketplace.

I suppose what ‘could’ have happened was that whoever took the initiative within the company to start using SM either left, was fired, or ordered to stop. But really, what are the odds of that? Probably better than I realize, but still, I don’t think that should be considered a legitimate reason. If you’re reading this, and realize that “Holy crap on a cracker, he’s talking about MY company!!”, then the time to remedy this problem is right now.

The accounts are there, ready and waiting for you, all you need to do is start feeding them some material. However, before you start going in to damage-control mode and posting everything and anything in an incoherent stream of gibberish, take some advice that comes direct from one of the top thinkers in the world of Social Media, Mitch Joel. Joel says in his book, “SIx Pixels of Separation”, that to proceed in to social media without an overarching strategy can hinder your ability to create a thriving community presence.

Start by thinking about what your goals are, what your strengths are, where your knowledge and expertise truly are, and how you can help. That last point is really key, because the entire reason for joining, creating, or participating in any community is to give help and receive help. Formulate your plan for social media based on how you can provide useful material to your community. Then, start contributing, and most importantly, don’t stop. This isn’t to say that you need to post everywhere, everyday, but you do need to be consistent. Start out at a comfortable pace, then pick it up as you gain confidence with what you’re doing. As Mitch Joel also points out in “Six Pixels”, the last thing you want is to have your audience be accustomed to you posting a ton of content at the beginning and then be disappointed as you slow down when your content fuel tanks dry up.

The key is to be fully committed to the fact that this stuff matters. If you’re going to be there, then BE THERE. Take it seriously, realize that it takes time to build your community, and most importantly, realize that you’re doing it for your audience, not for yourself.

October 26, 2010

Social Media – The New Propaganda?

I love old-school propaganda posters. Like the kind from WW1 and WW2. They’re magnificent. They perfectly illustrate how powerful messages were conveyed in a bygone era of innocence, confusion, anger, fear, and unequaled bravery.

There was no gray area in the propaganda from that time period. You knew at first glance what the message was, and you knew that they were dead serious about it. ‘Buy War Bonds’, ‘We Can Do It!’, ‘Loose Lips Sink Ships’, are some of the classics that everyone has seen as shining examples.

They played on basic human instincts and powerful emotions: Fear, Pride, Anger, Love, Hate. And they did this exceptionally well. Big bold images of happy smiling families collecting scrap iron on the home front, horrifying demonized images of the ‘enemy’ as blood-sucking creatures hovering over terrified children, powerful and proud Allied soldiers charging ahead to victory.

At the time, the world was a pretty big place. Other countries seemed like strange, distant lands filled with odd customs and a totally different way of life. It was relatively easy for people to make the attitude shift that propaganda was demanding of them, since the topics contained within them were so far away. Most people didn’t have close ties to the ‘enemy’. There was little understanding about foreign purposes or policies by the average person, and the information they did get was filtered and edited by the news organizations and by government bureaus.

But what about now? I’m going to throw in the oft-repeated phrase “Times have changed!”. Media has transformed in to a completely different animal since the advent of the Internet, world travel has become easily accessible to all and is commonplace, we are all connected 24/7 and communicate instantly to all corners of the globe. How does propaganda work now? Or does it even have a place?

Some might say that propaganda is extinct. That once the Internet makes its way in to the infrastructure of a country, the influence begins to shift from the powers that be back to the people. Information is power, and when everyone in the world has access to the same information as everyone else, the playing field all of a sudden becomes much more level. Certain governments are trying, and failing, to contain this change, but we all know that eventually there will be no stopping it. Just like radio and TV spread all over the world, so too will Internet and Social Media.

Could it be that Social Media is turning in to the propaganda of the next generation? Except instead of being controlled by government or military, it’s controlled by individuals. Individuals with reach, with influence, with charisma and with intelligence on how to persuade. It won’t be recognizable propaganda as we’ve known it up to this point, but there are indicators that it influences in much the same way. Look at how easily the Gap was persuaded to change its logo back after the ‘uprising’ that occurred? Companies change logos all the time, why should Gap be any exception? Well, there were a few key people who, through their postings/tweets/messages were able to persuade larger groups of otherwise indifferent people that the logo change was terrible. Their phrasing of tweets and message, their passion for the original logo became the propaganda tools that influenced those who may not have even cared about the change to speak up and become opponents.

Social Media has proven to be a highly successful method of influencing behaviour, and I think we can all agree that it is quickly become the default method for spreading a message. If it’s on Twitter, the world CAN see it. If it’s shared by the right people, the world WILL see it. Propaganda knows no borders now. Even though Malcolm Gladwell makes some good points about the ties made in social media being ‘loose ties’, sometimes those loose ties are all that is needed to bring about social change. If you reach enough people, with a simple and powerful message that resonates on a base level, it doesn’t really matter if your ties are weak or strong. The influence is there if you use it right. Just like how people bought millions of war bonds to ‘do their part’, many small actions can be incited through social media in order to enact a big change.

I guess Rosie was right, we CAN do it.