Socially-Speaking

So today at work I got to sit in on my first webinar by Andy Huston, Director of Members Services for the North-American Interfraternity Conference. The webinar, entitled, “Social Media Strategies,” was all about boosting your social media presence, especially as an organization. I found several aspects interesting, especially what to think about before creating a blog for your organization.

The following are 12 quick items to ponder before diving into the blogging world:
1. Define your scope
2. Tailor to your target audience
3. Who is blogging for your organization (are they personal and conversational?)
4. What is your comment policy?
5. Schedule (Your calendar of blog posts should be consistent)
6. Simplicity (Sometimes less is really more, so link to the more)
7. Keyword rich (This is what can attract followers)
8. Tags for searches (Something I tend to fail at on a regular basis, but not this post!)
9. Social media sharing (Connect all your social media!)
10. Compelling headlines (Just like a newspaper, 80% of people read only the headlines, while only 20% dive further into the article.)
11. Include pictures - they draw attention (But be sure to cite the source)
12. Vlog, video with transcript - breaks up the blog at times

I hope these quick notes serve useful and give you something to think about before starting your blog or evaluating your current blog.

-Cara Mahon

With the new boom in social media, PR firms are finding out just how much money can be saved. True they are still having to use traditional forms such as press releases; however, studies are being done on how when used right social media can not only enhance your impact but save you a nice chunk of change as well.

Erica Swallow, representative of Gist - a social network site, found through research and interviews just how much of an impact social media has made on the world of PR. She states it does take some time getting familiarized with the different sites and using them in the most efficient way. However, what most firms are finding is that it is saving them thousands of dollars.

INgage Networks’ Corporate Communications Manager Katy Saenz explains how her company saved $270,000 in expenses through social media. Before they used an external PR agency, but found that bringing PR in-house and using social media effectively they could save not only money but time.

http://mashable.com/2010/08/16/pr-social-media-future/

-Christine Martin

As a consumer, I have LOVED the boom of the deep discounts and group buying sites, but are these sites good for business? Brian Solis tweeted a link to this article — Deep Discount Coupons - Good or Bad?. In it, the author suggests that businesses, especially small ones, do the math before signing on with Groupon and the like. The author, Jan Riley makes a great point that these big deals should be looked at and budgeted for as a marketing expense, just like an advertising campaign. Although offering a coupon through Groupon does not come with the huge initial cost that a full page ad in the New York Times would, there are costs involved with honoring the deal, and of course, the coupon company expects to get paid, too.

Here’s Riley’s list of things to think about:

• Does the true cost of the coupon campaign fit into your advertising budget?

• Do you have the extra products and staff to handle a sudden influx of new customers all at once?

• Do you have a way to turn one-time coupon buyers into regular customers?

• Do you have a way to add coupon buyers to your email list?

• Is your physical location big enough to handle a lot more people at one time?

• Is your local Google business page and business website up to speed so people can find out your location, hours of operation and other details for your business?

• Did you remember to cap the deal so only a finite number of coupons can be sold?

• Is your staff prepared to deal with the fine print and extra phone calls? Make sure everyone who works with you knows the specifics of the deal and sticks to the rules of the coupon.

• Expect high redeem rates. Typically most businesses don’t expect the 60-80% redemption rate that Groupon and other deep discount coupon companies get.

• Most of all, DO THE MATH FIRST!

Sure, there are many group buying success stories out there, but just because Groupon worked for one company, doesn’t mean it is necessarily right for yours. Thinking about goals, objectives, strategies and tactics is still relevant and essential, and of course, so is budgeting and the bottom line. When getting into offering a big discount through one of these coupon companies, think it through and look before you leap!

-CN

Which is better paid media or earned media? With the wide world of social media ever expanding, it is important to know the difference and benefits of each. The linked blog post by Sarah Blake and Andre Britz explores these differences especially when it comes to tracking the effects that each can have on our public relations and marketing efforts.

The blog concludes that you should find a tracking tool that can compare your earned vs. paid media, but also see the effect they can have on each other. These two different types can combine to create a successful following to your organiztion.

http://www.quirk.biz/resources/article/4980/paid-vs-earned-media

-Cara Mahon

Advertisement or Publicity? After looking at the following blog I felt overwhelmed by this debate. I mean come on social media has to be earned media because you are not paying for it right? Oh wait earned media is defined as, “What happens when 1-3 are executed well and the brand, or its content, achieve Buzz, Word-of-Mouth spread or go ‘Viral.’” So that is the overall goal of using social media to promote a business right?—More brand recognition the better.

What social media actually does is paid media, owned media, and relationship media. (Definitions can be found in the link to follow.) You as a company or organization have owned media in social media and you hope to build relationships with your target market, but the goal is earned media. It’s not a guarantee by any means.

So maybe the blogger is correct, “The debate should be: how do we leverage Social Media to achieve Earned Media?”  Social Media isn’t synonymous with “free” or “earned”, but, when leveraged properly through Social Marketing, Social Media enables Earned Media. Hmmm thoughts?

http://www.contenttocommerce.com/fuel/social-media-paid-media-or-earned-media/

-Leah Bradshaw

I was catching up on Twitter posts when this caught my attention: Sesame Street Goes to Pakistan.

I jumped to the article in Time and read about how the U.S. Agency for International Development will fund the project to send Elmo and company overseas. A project with a price tag of $20 million. According to the article:

Their main messages will be of acceptance and empowerment, to sway youngsters away from religious extremism and promote growth.

Time also offered more on muppet mania through a link to a video entitled Sesame Street’s Viral Ambition. This video allows a bit of insight into Sesame Street’s strategies in the age of social media. The Sesame Street representative interviewed by Time talks about how the videos Sesame Street is making are sometimes aimed as much, if not more, at parents rather than just children. The videos carry with them a learning message, as is the purpose of Sesame Street, but most children will not get the second meaning behind a parody of Law and Order or True Blood. However, the people behind the Sesame Street campaign believe that by engaging parents, children’s learning potential is furthered. So, through social media such as YouTube, Sesame Street is working to hook an older audience.

Sesame Street has already had videos pull a lot of attention including Grover’s take on Old Spice, “Smell Like a Monster” that went viral with more than 7 million views! In the Viral Ambitions Video, the Sesame Street representative also talks about some of the challenges of the new media and Sesame Street’s efforts to bring in a new, wider audience. After parents weighed in on the show’s guest Katy Perry and her tiny outfit, Sesame Street chose not to televise it, and to only air the episode on YouTube. As stated in the Time video: The message is that Sesame Street listens.

In a world that is changing, it’s important that companies innovate to stay fresh and current. It’s also essential that public relations professionals help these companies to keep their message clear and in the places where their target audiences reside. With the innovative spirit Grover and Elmo are showing, the furry friends who helped teach me the alphabet are certain to be around for many years to come. Perhaps the children of Pakistan will soon be asking, “Can you tell me how to get to Sesame Street?”

-CN

Reported from ESPN March Madness is the second largest revenue event in sports, the first is the Super Bowl. One of the reasons this is is because players are not paid but part of the NCAA. March Madness attracts almost 75 percent of the total advertising spent on NCAA basketball through the season.

Whether you follow college basketball or you could careless, as someone in the PR world it is important to know this. March Madness is a prime time to get your name out there and for everyone to see. If you are looking to give your name a boost, make sure your are not only filling out brackets, but getting your name represented during game time.

The biggest advertisements shown is Universities and Colleges. Universities use March Madness as a way of recruiting high school students to come to their school.

http://www.sundog.net/sunblog/posts/ncaa-march-madness-ad-revenue-leads-all-sports/

http://www.businessweek.com/investor/content/mar2006/pi20060331_984777.htm

-Christine Martin