Small Business Saturday

Posted on November 20, 2012 by Jeannette Bordeau

Thanksgiving has always meant turkey, stuffing, gravy and family, but what about and credit cards, shopping bags and cash registers opening at midnight? Although Black Friday has been creeping into Thanksgiving, some consumers have been generating more interest in the shopping day that includes a full day’s break after the feast: Small Business Saturday.

: Historic Third Ward Milwaukee / Foter / CC BY-NC-SA

More than ever, this two-year-old shopping event calls for small businesses to undertake special public relations and social media efforts. The Shop Small organization has completed a lot of the leg-work as far as social media, with more than 3.1 million supporters on Facebook. Plus, the American Express-sponsored event has advertised a $25 gift card offer to cardholders who purchase at small businesses on Saturday, November 24.

However, small businesses should develop a social media plan, tailored to their own shops. By participating in the event through social networking efforts, you can contribute to the community-based “buy local” efforts in your area—as well as help drive your sales. According to the “Shop Small” infographic, independent retailers that are in communities with a “buy local” initiative reported revenue growth of 5.6% on average in 2010, compared to 2.1% for those elsewhere.

The Shop Small website provides pre-made, editable email messages and posts for Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and LinkedIn for the convenience of small businesses. Whether your business follows these outlines or creates your own messages, we’re offering a few tips in spreading the word:

Stick to your usual platforms – Now is not the time to open a social media account to promote this weekend’s event. Continue posting where you have already built your fan base, whether this be through your Facebook page, an email account, or simply the window of your store (you can download free “Shop Small” signage.)
Control your posts – Avoid posting too little so that the message does not go out, but do not post so much that you bother customers. Post enough so that you show your involvement and share how you are participating,
Thank your customers – Do more than just announce the event; give your customers a reason to come out with any special offers or rewards. Then, thank the customers for their support through your original communications channels.

As a small business, we appreciate the efforts of this day in supporting small businesses, as it proved last year with these shops.

As PR professionals, we also applaud American Express for conceiving the idea for the event and setting an example for an increasingly successful – and smart – integrated public relations, marketing and social media campaign for their own business.

We’ll be shopping small and local at the Easton, PA Farmers Market. Who are you supporting this Small Business Saturday?

Photo credit: Historic Third Ward Milwaukee / Foter / CC BY-NC-SA

The 2012 Election: The Most Social and Mobile Friendly Election?

Posted on November 3, 2012 by elysealtiere

In elections gone-by, people learned about candidates through TV, radio and more recently a campaign website. Today, social media and mobile technology have drastically changed how the public interacts with political campaigns. People can now learn about the election and candidates through social media outlets and apps, live blog and tweet the debates as they happen, share their opinions and ensure their thinking and opinions reach the candidates directly – or at least their campaign staffs. Social and mobile technologies have changed political elections by empowering the electorate to stay up-to-the-minute … every second of the election!

Socially Friendly
On Facebook, people are sharing opinions on the presidential candidates by updating their Facebook statuses throughout the debates, and sharing their opinion on key issues and more. Facebook is also a great way to learn about the candidates through their pages. In fact, both President Obama and Governor Romney are encouraging voters to get on Facebook. Read about it here: http://on.mash.to/Y6QRoh.

Instead of watching the debates on TV, websites like YouTube allows others to watch the debates – even from their smartphones – and share their opinions and color commentary. Twitter is another great place to follow candidates and related conversations via hashtags. Voters can engage in conversation with others about the election, retweet their favorite candidates tweets, check-in to the polls and much more.

There’s an App for that…
Today, there is an app for everything and elections are no exception. Need help finding your way to the poll on election day? The VoterHub App can easily help you find your way to the polls. Want to donate to a campaign? There’s an App for that too. Looking for live election night updates on your iPhone or Android … that’s right, there is an app that can help.

VoterHub also provides information on everything you need to know about the election. According to Mashable, “VoterHub, a new app from AT&T, the Pew Center on the States and Politics-360, is designed to be a non-partisan one-stop-shop for everything voters need to know on Election Day.”

If you find donating to your favorite campaign to be a chore, check out the The Rise of Mobile in Election 2012 to learn more about political mobile apps and how to donate with ease.

The New York Times – and others, we’re sure – is offering moment-by-moment election news coverage direct to your phone.

Just how mobile is this election? Mashable created an awesome infographic to explain.

Final Thoughts…
This election is most interesting because of the prominent role social and mobile technologies are playing. All of us can share our thoughts and opinions with hundreds of friends, who in turn broadcast those messages to hundreds more. It has made the election extremely interactive. I think the 2012 election will be remembered for many things, most especially for its use of social and mobile technologies to engage with voters.

Tell us what social platforms or mobile apps you prefer to keep up with the campaigns.

Can your employee social media policy stand up to court challenges?

Posted on October 27, 2012 by samanthamkimball

: jimdeane / Foter / CC BY-NC-ND

Social media policies have been tested in several recent high-profile cases. The case of Andrew Goldman, a freelance columnist for the New York Times Magazine, is almost notorious now. Goldman was suspended from the magazine for tweets to author Jennifer Weiner that were considered profane and sexist.

It’s hard to look away when such a venerable brand undergoes a minor disaster, and the issue has been discussed at length. Over at the Harvard Business Review blogs, Alexandra Samuel ponders whether or not an organization should have such a broad and vague social media policy as the Times does. After all, they claim that it isn’t even written down.

It turns out that such policies may not just be misguided, they may be illegal. In two recent court decisions, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) set precedents for what constitutes a legal social media policy. I’m certainly not a lawyer, but I’ll do my best to lay out the basics as it pertains to social media and PR professionals.

Protected and concerted

The first case concerned another major brand — Costco Wholesale. Part of a larger challenge of Costco’s employee handbook by UFCW Local 371, this case dubbed certain provisions against social media usage unlawful. In particular, the ruling stated that Costco cannot prohibit employees from posting “unauthorized” material while on company property. Also, the company’s employee handbook included broad statements prohibiting employees from using social media to discuss and debate pay, sick leave and what they thought about the company. Such prohibitions are apparently illegal under that National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), because such conversations (online or off) are considered “protected and concerted.”

The judge’s decision in the second case was a bit more nuanced. This case concerned a salesman at a car dealership who had been fired after posting two unflattering items about his employer. In the first, he posted a photo with a caption that criticized the dealership’s choice of food for an event, which led to subsequent comments by other employees. The judge deemed this discussion protected under the NLRA, and also understood that this was not why he was fired.

In another set of posts the same day, the salesman posted a photo of and sarcastic comments about a car accident at the neighboring car lot. He was apparently fired for the second set, which did not fall under the protection of the NLRA.

Still, in another case, the dealership was ordered to remove unlawful rules from its social media policy. The policy was deemed too broad and restrictive of employee communications, particularly where it concerned “courteous” language and not damaging the reputation of the dealership.

What’s in your social media policy?

Is this making you panic yet? After all, it seems that most social media policies list rules about not discussing sensitive issues like payroll or anything that will hurt the company’s image. Apparently, under the NLRA, this is illegal. Employees have a right to discuss hours, pay and other employment-related issues. And in both of these cases above, employers got in trouble with policies that were too broad and could be construed to restrict such “protected and concerted” discussions.

However, employers can ask that their employees follow appropriate laws when using social media. Posts that clearly constitute harassment and bullying are never okay and should never be condoned. Furthermore, employees must heed industry-specific laws when discussing their work online. This has been tested many times in the medical professions. Nurses and doctors have both been fired for posts that violate the privacy provisions of HIPAA. Financial sector employees can also be fired for violating industry-specific laws — and they may also face massive fines, as the recent case of a Citigroup analyst demonstrates.

Clearly, this is a far more complex issue than most business owners realize. So how do you write an enforceable, reasonable and legal social media policy? Here are five starting points:

Start with your existing employee handbook and laws governing your industry. This will ensure that social media policies are consistent with current workplace culture and regulations.
Engage employees in the process. Recruit employees who are active on social media to be involved in the development process. Provide social media training for everyone, to make sure that less tech-savvy employees understand enough to follow policies competently.
Engage your lawyer in the process. This should go without saying, but not enough small businesses heed this advice.
Keep your policy narrow. If the above examples tell us anything, it is that employers must be very specific about what behaviors are prohibited.
Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. New social networks emerge and gain significant traction quite frequently. Do not base your entire policy around Facebook and Twitter.

For more information on developing quality social media policies Inc. has a great article, and Socialmedia.biz has an excellent guide. From where I sit, it seems a good place to begin is to encourage your employees to be safe, savvy and engaged participants in the social media sphere. Didactic, restrictive policies won’t necessarily protect your business or foster positive use of social media among your employees.

Photo credit: jimdeane / Foter / CC BY-NC-ND

Keeping Facebook Posts Short and Sweet

Posted on October 1, 2012 by elysealtiere

Let’s face it, no one wants to read a novel on Facebook. Who has the time? Shorter is sweeter. People tend to gravitate towards shorter, more simple posts. To honor that shorter is indeed sweeter, I’m keeping this short.

Convincing your Clients Shorter is Sweeter

Some clients tend to post long updates and it can be difficult to sway a client in the “right” direction. Given how quickly people scan their news feeds it’s important to get to the point right away and drive more traffic to your posts.

Here are some tips to help convince your clients:

Show clients examples of what other pages are doing. Are shorter posts receiving more feedback? Chances are yes!
Give them the facts. (see below)

Remind them that posts cut off on Facebook and you must select, “See More” to view the rest of the post. Chances are if someone sees the word, “See More,” they are going to pass and move on to more succinct information.

Ask them what posts they tend to view on their news feed. Most likely, they stick to the shorter posts with only occasional exceptions.

Remind them only a sentence or two will appear in the Ticker on the right side of the news feed.

According to Social Media Today, nearly 70 million people will access Facebook from their phones each month. People don’t want to scroll forever to read lengthy posts. Advise your clients accordingly.

It’s a Fact

It is a fact shorter posts receive more likes, comments and shares. According to Facebook.com, “Posts between 100 and 250 characters get about 60 percent more likes, comments and shares.”

Final Thoughts…

Time is everything. It’s important to realize people often multitask while viewing updates. They don’t have time to read wordy posts that seem to go on forever. If you want to run a successful page and receive more feedback on posts, keep them informative but short! And remember, just because a post is shorter doesn’t mean it doesn’t have substance. You can still provide exceptional content through short posts. Have you had more success with shorter posts?

Twitter Gets a Facelift, Focuses on More Visuals

Posted on September 25, 2012 by elysealtiere

You’ve no doubt heard a lot of the buzz about the new changes to Twitter. Whether on your desktop, iPad, Android or iPhone, the first thing you’ll notice is Twitter has taken its cue from Facebook with its cool new timeline-like feature called the header photo. Entrepreneurs and businesses will appreciate the near-instant recognition this offers their brands.

So what do you need to know to ensure your Twitter account doesn’t look outdated? The recommended dimensions for the header photo are 1200×600 and the maximum file size is 5MB. The photo will stay consistent on mobile Apps including iPhone, iPad, Android and Twitter.com.

Your photo or logo will appear on your header image once you’ve uploaded a new image under “Change Header.” Your Twitter handle, bio and website will also appear on your new header image. Remember, your background image will not change and will still appear as is once you’ve uploaded your new header image. Photos that you tweet will be moved up and appear more prominent on the photo stream. Photos will now be available full-screen via the Twitter App on the iPad, iPhone and Android. With these visual changes, brands need to be aware it’s vital to provide exceptional visual content in order to engage their audiences.

Here are a few tips to make the most out of the new header photo:

Use a photo that enhances your brand.
Let your personality shine through.
Remember, that unlike the old Twitter, your header image will appear the same on iPhone, Android, etc. and it will be the first thing others see when viewing your account.
Keep your header photo simple, you don’t want to overwhelm everyone.
Follow the correct dimensions.
Have fun with it!

Read more about the changes to Twitter here and view examples of a few accounts already using the new header photo: http://blog.twitter.com/2012/09/because-you-have-more-to-show.html

Helping Clients Take Ownership for Social Media

Posted on April 17, 2012 by elysealtiere

We manage many social media account for our clients, but that doesn’t mean their social media presence is entirely out of their hands. We’ve found it’s important to engage clients in social media activity. It seems simple, but can have a huge effect on the quality of your client’s social media presence.

Often, fans view brand posts as robotic and have trouble identifying that a real person is actually posting. Having the “voice” of a client is vital in running engaging social media accounts and lends a personal feel. Below are ideas and tips for getting clients involved, helping them feel more comfortable with posting and what we’re currently doing to get our clients involved.

Getting Clients Involved in Social Media

Let’s face it: posting the same content can get stale! No one will be interested in boring robotic content. Keep your audience interested about what you’re posting. You can’t always do that unless you have the help of your clients, who are the experts in their field. Get your clients excited about social media and help them feel comfortable.

Ask clients to provide photos of events, employees, every day life around the office, etc. Visuals are an effective and easy way to get clients involved and get consumers interested.
Suggest shooting a 30-60 second video each month directly on the Facebook wall. No need for a fancy camera. Facebook allows you to record videos directly on your Facebook wall, and you can use built-in computer camera or a smartphone camera. Videos can drive traffic to your client’s site.
Suggest clients provide trivia/poll questions related to their brand to engage consumers.
Get clients to dive into the conversation. For example, if another brand posts an interesting article, have the client participate in the conversation. It’s crucial not to hide behind your own page and just post your own content all the time. Be active!

How to Make Clients Comfortable with Posting/Sharing Content:

Create sample posts and share with clients.
Create possible responses for conversations they can partake in.
Show them how other, similar brands are engaging.

What We’re Currently Doing to Engage our Clients:

We’ve seen first-hand the benefits of client involvement in social media. Below are some ways our clients are getting involved.

Each week or every other week, our clients provide a quick tip for people working in their industry, which helps to build engagement.
With some posts, we include a photo of the employee who provides the content. This way there’s a face associated with a post.
With the launch of the new Facebook Timeline on March 30, we’ve been asking some of our clients to send old photos, documents, etc. to build Timeline. It’s an easy way to get clients excited and it’s a great way to tell the story of a brand through photos.

Consumers gravitate towards original content that clearly reflects what they value in a brand — not just automated updates from a third party. Lastly, don’t forget to take a deep breath and relax! Social media should be a fun interactive place for both clients and customers.

Becoming Mobile and Social – Reflections from the IMCA Creative Forum

Posted on February 23, 2011 by kimballpr

Finding really valuable take-aways from industry conferences can be a challenge. I went into the IMCA Creative Forum in Atlanta on Feb. 21 with a vested interest (full disclosure: I am on the IMCA board), but also some anticipation to learn more about everything from mobile marketing to social media integration.

Jon Beber of BilltoMobile opened the forum with insight into the incredible impact mobile marketing will have on our lives and the strategies of marketing and communications pros – smart phones, not computers, will drive everyday life and “PC analytics will not work with smart phones.” Mobile marketing needs to be part of the integrated communications mix.

James Wisdom, Director of New Media at Aflac, was a great follow-up with “The Power of Authenticity.” In this context, he discussed Aflac’s response to customer services issues raised on Facebook and their use of the Facebook Causes app: “If social media is talking about a cause, people are okay getting hammered about it.” More information I could use.

John Coombe of Liberty Mutual built on those ideas, describing their success with the Liberty Responsibility Project. He explained how this helped Liberty overcome consumer distrust about insurance and raised brand awareness 50 percent. They engaged customers in a dialogue and celebrated their customers’ responsibility – engaging over 10 million unique visitors. He also pointed out that 67% of agents are engaged in social media. That’s a tidbit that will help.

These are all great ideas and tidbits of information, but how do I sell these to my clients who may be timid or help them pitch their forward-thinking communications ideas to management? No worry – it was Sam Harrison up next with great tools for pitching ideas, all built on that great David Olgivy quote: “Management cannot be expected to recognize a good idea until its presented to them by a good salesperson.” And he added 5 ideas for pitching ideas to management, emphasizing that “passion is a transfer of enthusiasm.”

After lunch, Tom Pytel of Allied World showed how his in-house creative team breaks through the marketing boredom and never lets budget limit creativity. Innovating collateral is not specifically relevant to my work, but it was inspiring to all of us who may be tempted to succumb to mediocrity.

And finally Howard Yermish (he claims to be the only one by that name) on “Internet Marketing, Creativity and Stravinsky.” He captured my interest with: “If you think you can control the flow of information from point A to point B, the Internet will kill you,” and kept on with an inspiring, hour-long presentation on unlocking our creativity using lessons from composers. We then broke into groups to put the theories to the test.

As you can probably tell, I walked away from the Creative Forum bursting with new ideas, my left and right brain feeling some connection. Not only did I gain practical information on mobile marketing and more, but I was inspired to push our clients with bolder ideas – and I have better tools to sell them on these ideas.

Insurance Agency Stats Illustrate Need for B2B Social Media Adoption

Posted on January 5, 2010 by kimballpr

My PR agency works with insurance carriers, MGAs, wholesale brokers and other insurance entities that need to reach agents and brokers to be successful. So when I read a recent article (http://bit.ly/6sBxSO) reporting that less than a quarter of insurance agents and brokers use social media, I was reminded of why it can be a challenge to convince our clients – and any business-to-business company – to implement social media strategies.

Some think it will be a waste of time and resources. Others wonder just how it can help their business. And many just don’t understand it and are reluctant to dedicate time and effort to get up to speed. But to such reluctance, I would cite another statistic from the same magazine article – 20 percent of agents and brokers are considering using social media in 2010.

The plain fact is that social media/networking will continue to grow so it should be part of the marketing and communications strategies for any B2B company. It can supplement your print advertising and email blasts – both of which are declining in effectiveness, by the way. And on the PR side, you probably send press releases, write articles for trade magazines and attend events to network, exhibit or speak. Social media is another tool at your disposal.

Here are a couple of examples:

Social media can help with networking. For example, LinkedIn is an easy, natural way to network. It’s all about relationships and social networking is another way to build and maintain relationships. One marketing pro I know got a new account the same day he set up his LinkedIn account.

Social media is a great way to connect with your audience and share your insights and expertise. If you are in the insurance industry, for example, Twitter is a way to share information that agents and brokers find helpful in doing business. Don’t try to sell yourself. Use the same reasoning as if you were speaking at an industry event or writing an article for one of the trade magazines. Speak about issues of interest to agents and brokers.

Remember, approach social media like any marketing decision – start with a strategy and turn to experts. Your PR and/or ad agency are a logical choice, but there are also Internet marketing firms that specialize in this. Or read up on it first and do it yourself. It is very easy.

Just don’t let news about slow adoption rates slow you down. Whatever your business, as more and more people adopt social media strategies, you want to be there.

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: