Rotary Meets Social Media: Orsini Speaks

Join Rotary on Facebook!

Be human
Add value
Don’t reveal confidential information
Be professional
Be aware of your responsibility
Check your facts and credit your sources
Disclose who you are
Understand and implement your clients’ policies
Know who you are linking to
Pretend it’s a party

The shift from impressions to connections and from campaign to connections, Bough and Agresta state, is the crux of social media and social networking changing how businesses communicate with their publics.

Speaking at the Rotary Club of Louisville today, February 17 at 12:30 PM, I will be presenting an interactive social media event. Please join us in person or virtually.

Via: Online Schools

February 17, 2011 the Rotary Club of Louisville has asked me to address the club, one of the largest in the world, on social media and its usage. Let me know if you’d like to be a part of this!

• Create an engaging profile. A business account on Facebook is a bit different than a personal account in that, instead of requesting friends yourself, your business will be “liked” by others. Because of this, you’ll want to create a page with relevant and informative content that will help draw friends and clients to you. For starters, make sure your contact information, website and business hours are listed in the info tab of your profile. You can also add photos, videos and post events that those following your profile can RSVP to.
• Connect with your community. Facebook makes it relatively easy to post different types of media, from text to videos to links. This allows you to create targeted content that your Facebook followers can appreciate and comment on, allowing them to feel like they are a part of your organization. For example, post event invitations for fundraisers or other promotional events and follow up with videos of these events, or post an article that is relevant to your company and clients and link posts from your company’s blog.
• Control your brand. Once you engage in conversation with others on Facebook, you’ll need to closely monitor the posts and comments that you receive. Facebook users can post not only compliments, but also questions and criticisms about your business. Dedicate time to review and respond to any queries or negative remarks posted on your page in order to maintain your business’s integrity.

Most of all, enjoy sharing. If you do not like interacting with others, you won’t enjoy social media. And, if you have nothing to say, then don’t say it! Spend your time linking to others whose words do speak to you in a meaningful way.

Know the lingo. More than any other social media site, Twitter employs a seemingly complex language of special terms and symbols. Working with Twitter, you’re likely to see things like hashtags (#), retweets (RTs), @username, direct messages (DMs) and shortened URLs. It is important to learn these terms and their functions in order to get the most out of your Twitter account. Twitter offers a glossary of key terms at http://business.twitter.com/twitter101/learning.

Be interesting. This sounds like a no-brainer, but it bears mentioning. People search Twitter using specific keywords, which is how total strangers will land on your feed. Producing compelling and relevant feeds will attract more followers. So take time to play around with the style you want, be it chatty and personal or strictly information based, and find the one that best fits you and your business. Above all, create content that your followers and clients will find interesting and keep your posts fresh by posting daily if possible.

Join the conversation. Once you have some followers and are following others, take part in the dialogue. Reply to messages and posts with meaningful or helpful information, make sure to answer any questions posed to you and retweet information from others that you find interesting. This way your followers know that you’re engaged and active.

Marketing is all about communicating, and Twitter is just another means of keeping the communication open.  You can hear me speak on social media in Kentucky at the home care conference Thursday, Nov. 18 and then Long Beach January 23rd at the PDHCA conference.

See how it works? You actually WATCHED it, didn’t you? That is the essence of marketing and how incredible it is to have access to the tools we have to spread the word about a product and to get folks to INTERACT! Call us today at corecubed to see how we can make YOUR product a star and get potential customers to help you tell your story so people will listen.

I suggest that there are several ways to gauge the ROI of social media. The first is to focus on the number of relevant followers not just followers per se.
Other numbers that really count when measuring for effectiveness:
• The number of people who fill in a form to get more information (or register for an event).
• The number of people who use a specific coupon associated only with the social media campaign.
• The number of influential people who tweet something about you or the event or the business.
• The number of influential blogs that link to you, mention you, refer to you.
• The number of Twitter followers from a specific location or demographic that is important to your business.

March 11 in Philadelphia, I will be presenting on the strategy of social media at the 8th Annual NPDA  Conference: You can read more here, sign up, and come hear me talk live and in person!

So how can you measure social media ROI? Understand that some benefits of social media will be intangible. It’s not always easy to put a dollars-and-cents figure on social media returns.

I dined last night at a Different Pointe of View in Phoenix with one of my MOST clients, Suzanne McNeely and her husband. We are in Phoenix for the 5th Annual Private Duty Homecare Association Leadership Summit, and Suzanne is leading a roundtable on Geriatric Care Management. One of the topics was the ROI in social media. So, in thinking about this, I offer more of McCauley’s questions,

“What is the ROI in regards to having lunch with a potential big client?” he asks. “What is the ROI in regards to playing a round of golf with a trusted advisor?”

Of course McCauley’s statement has to be a bit over the top, because there are indeed ways to determine ROI, but it does mean we’re going to have to try to quantify the unquantifiable. What is the ROI of your telephone? Of your iPhone? Social Media marketing is really a new way to communicate. Not simply a marketing tactic.

Play to play is the word for the day in Social Media. And we at corecubed are working to bring our clients along so they can benefit from social media in a way that makes sense, is not a total time drain, and will get results.

It’s a legitimate question. Much has been made recently of the supposed power of social media marketing. As experts declare social media to be the new chessboard where all the best branding moves are made, marketers are rushing to their keyboards to post Facebook statuses and tweet to their hearts’ content.

Click here to see this dynamite video on the real value of social media marketing, done right.

Most people want to know what is the return on investment with Social Media as a marketing tactic?

Social media is today what the Internet was in the mid-1990s. It’s a great tool, but it doesn’t guarantee success unless you understand its rules, and use strategy to implement it. Not every egg the goose lays is golden.

The key to adopting any marketing tactic is to measure the time/money spent, as well as the benefits you receive. Examine your technique. Measure your results. What works and what doesn’t work? It’s important to concentrate on the more successful aspects of social media, (or any marketing) while “cutting out the fat” by eliminating the time wasting chores and money wasting tactics.

At corecubed, we know there’s more to social media marketing than just planting your flag and staking a claim. It’s not enough to be involved. You have to be effective, engaged, integrated and willing to listen. Let us be your partners as you create a marketing strategy that  delivers the results you need. Call us today!

Cepia LLC, the company that created Zhu Zhu Pets, describes its flagship invention as the next best thing to the real thing.

The hamsters come equipped with artificial intelligence and the ability to react to outside stimuli. Accessories include a skateboard, small car and hamster wheel.

Why are the toys such a hit? Perhaps it is the unorthodox marketing techniques Cepia used to jump-start the popularity of its new product.

The first step in the process is simple: They had a good product. You might think that’s overly simplistic, but it’s not. Cepia took the time to do the proper research and find out what kind of toy robots consumers wanted. It was decided that the robot should take the form of a pet – and hamsters, in particular, were “cute” pets that parents hated to buy, since they were often seen as large rats. For this reason, a robotic substitute might be in order: It could be as cute as a real hamster, but without the stigma a live rodent brings with it. and without having to clean any cages.

Of course, after the company perfected the product, it came time to implement the marketing. Instead of opting for high budget TV ads, Cepia LLC decided to take its product to the people. Over the summer, marketers held product demonstrations at Major League Baseball games in states such Georgia, Arizona and Texas.

Social media also played a significant role in Cepia’s marketing strategy. Mothers who maintained active online blogs were given free Zhu Zhu Pets so they could test them out with their children. The face-to-face demonstrations, combined with the online buzz that was building in the blogosphere was enough to generate the demand we see today.

Even the toy retailers themselves have found their own ways to help sell the product. A report on I4U News explains how Walmart was able to use TwitPic to post images of new Zhu Zhu shipments arriving on planes, thus getting the word out that its local stores would soon be restocked.

The moral of the story: Despite what you may have heard, good marketing is not all about big budgets and lots of on-air time. Smart marketers understand that success is more about creativity and meeting consumers where they are. Do that, and you’ll soon see that even the smallest of rodents can run with the big dogs.

And, know that corecubed uses a strategy based integrated marketing communications model and we are experts at reaching targets where they are with powerful messages that resonate and cause the target to purchase. Sound simple? If it were simple, everyone would be able to do it!

Watch a Fox News story on the Zhu Zhu:

In the past week, the online behemoth made some radical changes when it began incorporating social media into its search results. Until now, individual posts from sites like MySpace, Twitter and Facebook have been MIA in Google searches. Not anymore.

Now Google displays any social media posts that contain a particular search term in real time – as they are posted.

It’s not that this never-ending digital gossip wasn’t happening before – it’s that the largest search engine in the online world now brings it to consumers “at the speed of live.” That means that anything and everything that’s screamed, spoken or whispered about your agency in the MySpaceFacebookTwitterYouTube world is spotlighted for the entire Web population.

And it’s not just social media that’s appearing on Google, according to a December 7 article that appeared on InternetNews.com. Google has revamped its entire search engine infrastructure to accommodate an arsenal of new tools.

So, if you want to be found on the Internet now is the time to get active in the social media landscape. 

How can you do that?

1) If your company doesn’t already have a presence in social media, get one.

2) Start posting regularly and often on Facebook, Twitter and MySpace. These are the top three, but they’re not the only social media sites. Monitor other sites – including startups – and consider joining them as well.

3) Maintain your list of SEO keywords and use them regularly in your posts, as well as your agency’s name. Remember: you want your posts to be seen by people searching for your company, or words related to your company’s mission and product/service offerings.

4) Videos, videos, videos! Invest in multimedia. Fill your site with video and audio files.

Companies like Google thrive because of their ability to identify and take advantage of certain trends. The same goes for home care agencies. Google has just handed us several new marketing tools for our arsenal. Take the time to become familiar with the tools – and you’ll quickly find you’re able to use them to your advantage! Or, better yet, just hire corecubed to do it for you!

Watch Google’s new Social Media Search in action:

For more details on these forecasted ideas, read FutureLab’s David Armano in more detail.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently announced revisions to its guidelines for endorsements and product reviews – guidelines, we might add, that before now hadn’t been revised in almost 30 years.

According to an article posted by CNN, the guidelines affect product endorsements that appear in a “New Media” format, such as on blogs and social media sites. The upshot of the revisions is this:  If an individual or company is being compensated in some way – be it money, free products or some other form – to endorse or review a product on a blog or social media site, they have to disclose the relationship publicly. If they fail to do so, they could risk a fine of up to $11,000 per incident.
 
The revisions are having more than just a small impact. Just take the case of Mid America Chevy Dealers.

Earlier this month, the association of Chevy dealerships announced a promotion that lets six area mothers test drive Chevy’s new Equinox and Traverse crossover vehicles for a full month. The association also provides each mother with gas money and $150 in groceries. In exchange, the mothers are required to review the vehicles on blogs hosted by a Chevy promotional site.

Though cautioned to be truthful about the shortcomings of the vehicles, the women are promised rewards such as free massages if they persuade a reader to take a test drive.

Proponents of the FTC’s position say that bloggers who fail to inform consumers of this type of quid-pro-quo relationship could improperly sway readers. Those bloggers might feel compelled to minimize certain deficiencies in the vehicles in order to appease “the hand that feeds them,” so to speak. Full disclosure of this affiliation, the FTC argues, would arm consumers with crucial data they need to make a fully informed decision.

On the other hand, some critics argue that the revisions are an attempt by big government to stifle free speech in the blogosphere. Others say they single out online media for excessive scrutiny.

“Significantly, the new rules place requirements on social media from which traditional print and television media are exempt,” writes Tim Jones in a legislative analysis published on the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s Web site. “For instance, if a blogger publishes a book review, the rules will require her to disclose whether she received a free copy of the book from the publisher. Book reviews in print media face no such restrictions.”

In any case, what does all of this mean for you as a business? What should you do to comply with the new regs?

1)   Review your online marketing presence. Examine how your business markets itself in the blogosphere and in social media. Is all of your Web material created internally, or do you work with external partners? Who writes your blogs and status updates? Employees? Members of a professional association?

2)   Determine how each of these content producers are compensated. It’s important to note that “compensation,” according to the FTC, does not have to consist of money. It can take the form of free products, free services, a business partnership, referrals, etc. Any sort of quid-pro-quo relationship can be viewed by regulators as “compensation.”

3)   Disclose everything. Are your bloggers employees who receive a regular salary for their work? Disclose it. (The actual dollar amount is unnecessary.) The goal of the regulation is to let consumers know what may or may not be influencing the opinions of the bloggers.

4)   Do a reverse analysis. Determine how you and your business are taking part in the marketing of other companies. Do you write blogs or social media content for business partners? Are you being compensated in any way for that material? If so, you also will have to disclose your agency’s relationship to the companies and associations you’re marketing.

5)   Most importantly: Talk to your attorney. It’s critical to seek out the services of a competent attorney to ensure that you’re complying with these regulations. Neither this site nor any other that is not skilled in the practice of law can provide you with legal advice, and none of the material you are reading here consists of such.

As New Media continues to evolve and play a much more significant role in marketing, regulators will continue to closely monitor its use. We at corecubed are committed to keeping you informed about the latest developments when it comes to online marketing. Together, we can stay on the forefront of cutting edge communication as we look forward to 2010.

See the video below about the revisions:

Click here to view the text in a PDF of the newly revised FTC guidelines.

No company wants word of its financial woes to reach customers’ ears, yet that’s the situation Six Flags Inc. found itself in last month when it filed for bankruptcy in a Wilmington, Del., court. The New York-based owner of 20 theme parks throughout the United States is saddled with billions of dollars in debt and plans to undergo a four-to-six-month reorganization plan to regain financial stability.

That’s all well and good, but it’s also a serious PR debacle.

Forget about the creditors and investors. How would the customers react in such a situation? No one wants to purchase season tickets to an amusement park when they believe it may shutter its doors in the next three months. And who wants to ride a roller coaster through that stomach-churning loop when the steel safety bar – the only thing that holds your body safely in place – was installed, tested and purchased by a company they think is doing everything it can to trim expenses?

At least, that’s how some see it.

The truth is, these fears are based on a lot of misconceptions about bankruptcy. But – misconceptions or not – they could cause some families to stay home and watch “American Idol” reruns instead of hitting the water park.

Thus the problem for the PR gurus at Six Flags was clear: how could the company educate the public about what bankruptcy really means, allaying their fears and encouraging them to continue flocking to its coasters?

The answer: social media.

Social media Web sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and others can be valuable mediums for any communication, including damage control messages. Six Flags recognized this and took definitive – and quite possibly unparalleled – measures to utilize social media to show how services at its 20 parks would remain unaffected by the bankruptcy.

Here are some steps the company took:

• Purchasing terms and phrases on various search engines that contain the word “bankruptcy,” and directing users searching those terms to a FAQ page that puts a positive spin on Six Flags.

• Hiring a social media marketing expert whose sole job is to troll sites like Facebook and MySpace, looking for negative conversation about Six Flags and responding to the criticism.

• Using “Mr. Six” – the dancing elderly man who appears in Six Flags’ television commercials – as a voice on Twitter to remind users of all the things they love about Six Flags. Fans of Six Flags can follow Mr. Six @TheRealMrSix.

Social media is still in its infancy, but already companies like Six Flags are taking advantage of its ability to reach their customer base – teens and young adults. Now, more than ever, it’s important to have a proactive social media marketing strategy. Need help? Call corecubed today. We have a very active social media component when appropriate in our strategic marketing. We can advise or implement.