Field Notes Inside an Integrated Communications Agency

Articles

• User engagement is serious business and you should pay for it

  Mar 13, 2010 :: Angela Connor :: 2 Comments

   

  Its one thing to charge someone with growing your membership, but quite another to truly understand what it is you're asking.

  No one can effectively grow and maintain a community without the resources to make it happen.

  What are those resources you might ask?

  Well, the most important is time. They need time to nurture the community, seed it with content, create discussions, build relationships and interact with the masses.

  But wait!

  They can't do any of that if they don't know what the users want. And if you can't tell them then you need to give them more time to figure it out so that the community can thrive and grow.

  There is so much competition out there, so your community has to become a destination. It has to fill a need that isn't being met elsewhere. In other words, people need a reason to come.

  Sometimes your brand is enough to get them there. But oftentimes it isn't enough to get them to stay.

  It is frustrating to see people deem this as an afterthought. If you are building or maintaining a community for a client, you need to be paid for the time it takes to do it. And you need to make sure they understand that this does not happen overnight.

  How many ghost towns have you seen lately? How many LinkedIn groups with no discussions, abandoned Twitter accounts and empty Facebook pages have you visited in the last month? (Remember this report released four months ago that found that over a third of all FB fan pages had fewer than 100 fans?)

  The problem is everyone wants to be everywhere but they have no strategy for making any of it a success, and that, in my opinion is crazy.

  The point here is this: If you have goals related to increasing membership and engagement levels of any online community regardless of the platform, you have a hard job. 

  So, you'd better make sure that you aren't the only one aware of that fact.

  
  

  Tags: building community

• Do you trust social network privacy settings?

  Mar 11, 2010 :: Angela Connor :: 0 Comments

  When you set your Facebook profile to "Friends-only" are you confident that it is only being seen by friends? Do you just assume that your settings are etched in stone and will never go awry?

  How about photos? Do you think they show up in search results even if you don't want them to? Are people tagging you in photos that you don't know about because you're not being notified, though you expressly put a little mark in the check box indicating that you wanted to be notified?

  I'm not picking on Facebook here. Insert the name of any social network in it's place and you can ask similar questions.

  This topic came up at lunch with a co-worker a few minutes ago. We were discussing whether or not a brand that you fan, can automatically delve into your profile and other content simply because you became a fan.We talked about it at length but that's not the point of this post.

  Her follow-up comment is what stood out and inspired me to put this question out there for all to consider.Here is what she said:

  "I just don't trust privacy settings."

  Hmmm, why do I trust them, I thought.  I decided that I trust them becasue I need to. It's probably a false sense of security though. But in my case it's not a big deal because I'm not living a double-life via FB, hooking up with ex-beau's or wishing my boss a speedy death.

  What you will find on my page are pictures of my kids and some personal things about my family life that I don't typically share on other social networks. And that's information worth protecting, I think. 

  This is why I pay close attention to privacy settings on every network, becasue it's up to us to manage them. But how much contrrol do we really have? Blind trust is never a good thing, is it? 
  

  I guess time will tell.  
  

   
  

  
  

  Tags: facebook privacy

• Reality check: Your new community won't change habits

  Mar 9, 2010 :: Angela Connor :: 0 Comments

  Are you working on a new community with big time bells and whistles that caters to a niche that you just know has been waiting for a place to call home? If so, I encourage you to push ahead full steam. But, let me caution you first.

  Your new community, no matter how great will not change habits. What I mean by this is you will not be able to stop potential members from posting on Facebook or Twitter or their favorite Ning community.  If you are assuming that your new community will become the new gathering place for those belonging to the niche, I think you will be disappointed.

  Can you make it a great destination with robust content and interesting discussions? Absolutely. I know from experience what that kind of commitment can do and if you want some ideas on how to grow your community, read through some of the archives, or check out my book, “18 Rules of Community Engagement.”

  The main point here is, if you are assuming that you can stop people from spending their time in the mainstream communities, you are way off base.

  If you have a presence on those other networks, let the community know that and use them as part of an outpost strategy that highlights all that’s going on in your community. Accentuate the positive, or communicate with your audience in other places whenever you can.

  Building a community is a labor of love. (Well, it can also be one of hate if you don’t have support from the top, but I digress…)

  You will always think it’s better and deserves to be the center of your members attention, but it won’t be. Certainly not in the beginning.

  Accept that you are not an island and work hard to grow your membership.

  It’s the only way to grow.

   

  (Note: This is a cross-post from my other blog. I'm sharing it here due to the high level of interest)

  Tags:

• Get to know your privacy settings

  Mar 2, 2010 :: Angela Connor :: 3 Comments

  Have you ever read posts in your Facebook feed that seemed a little too private for your liking?

  I know I have. I thought it was cute at first when my best friends husband was lamenting his love for her for all to see. But then it got a little risque, and I got very uncomfortable.

  I called her immediately and told her what was happening. Needless to say she was mortified and I ended up talking to him at length about managing his privacy settings.

  Perhaps some people do want their friends and the friends of their friends to see all of their activity, but I bet that many don't. And they probably don't know how public they're business really is.

  While my best friend had a few minutes of embarrassment and has long gotten over it, that is probably not the case for the professor who posted these two messages on Facebook:

  • "Does anyone know where to find a very discreet hitman? Yes, it's been that kind of day ..." 
  • "had a good day today, DIDN'T want to kill even one student :-). Now Friday was a different story." 
    

  Well, thanks to her privacy settings, she is now on administrative leave. Some of the very students she was referencing happen to be "friends of her friends" and guess what? They felt threatened by those posts. She thought that not accepting their friend requests was enough. It wasn't.

  Yes, Facebook did make some changes that required users to go back in and adjust their settings but if you missed that news, you too could be vulnerable.

  All the more reason to get to know your privacy settings.

  You can read more about the story referenced in this post on Inside Higher Ed.
  

  Tags: facebook privacy settings

• Why I don't ask for retweets

  Feb 27, 2010 :: Angela Connor :: 8 Comments

  I've never asked anyone to retweet the messages I post on Twitter. I just can't bring myself to do it. I liken it to saying: "Please think I'm awesome enough to share what I post with your network," or "Please laugh at this joke." 
  

  It just sounds too much like begging to me and eventhough a good friend has suggested it to me many times, it's never gonna happen.

  My belief is that if I post something worth sharing, people will share it. If they find it valuable to anyone other than themselves then they will pass it along, and they often do. I like seeing that happen organically and I don't want to muddy the waters. 

  Retweeting is very personal. We all have different people in our networks and we know them best. You can argue that there are times when soliciting retweets is appropriate  like when you're raising money for a specific issue or cause.

  And you may be right.

  But chances are people would do it even if you didn't ask, if they share the same passion. And there lies the rub. Shared passion!
  

  I think that's organic and doesn't need to be forced.

   

  Tags: angela connor retweets twitter

• Going beyond the 'Big Three' in social media

  Feb 24, 2010 :: Angela Connor :: 0 Comments

  Are you still thinking of social media in terms of the big three only?

  While Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter are definitely important platforms and great channels to share information and content, attract new customers and grow your social footprint, they certainly are not the only fish in the sea.

  I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that not every brand needs a presence on these particular platforms. There, I said it.   

  Now, that's not to say that they may not ultimately need a presence on all three but when you assess your goals and align a social strategy with those goals, all three may not be a fit.

  If you're stuck in the Big Three rut, here are a few tips to help you jumpstart your creative juices and start thinking outside the box a bit.

  • Take some time to find other online communities that focus on your niche. It's important to find out where your target demographic lives in the social space. Remember, Ning has millions of members discussing almost as many topics. 

  • Don't forget about Yahoo and Google groups. Forums are still alive and well. How can you tap into that space?You maight even check out Craigslist.
    

  • Take a second look at YouTube. If you hate YouTube, then try Vimeo , or Blip.tv or 12seconds.
    

  • Create a podcast or start your own BlogTalk Radio channel.

  These are all very simple and the good thing is any content you create and share elsewhere can be shared via the big 3 as well. We don't hear much about this but I feel that it's time to focus on social media integration strategies. Some brands are all over the place but have no real method for showcasing which would result in a higher ROI.

  I'll post more about this in the coming weeks, so stay tuned. And feel free to add your thoughts in the comments.Where else do you go beyond the big three?
  

  Tags:

• What social media guidelines say about your company

  Feb 18, 2010 :: Angela Connor :: 2 Comments

  I am fascinated by social media guidelines. The whole process of getting the stakeholders around the table to discuss strategies for creating a document that usually makes employees cringe or rejoice is a challenge I welcome. The conversations that ensue are thrilling, and the fears that are uncovered can be real and raw.

  The social media purists might say that the fears are unjustified, and in some cases they may be. But I can't tell my four-year-old that her fears of a monster coming out of her closet while she's asleep are unjustified when they are real to her.

  What I can do is discuss her fears, try to understand the root of those fears and work to understand her pain point so that I can make it better by talking her through it. 

  I spent some time reading through the BBC's new social networking policy today and their fears are evident. But there's nothing wrong with that. They've clearly identified those fears, thought through the process and put together a document that will guide employees on how they should conduct themselves across social networks.

  I am sure there will be critical blogposts about this new policy. Remember the shredding ESPN recieved across the twitterverse and blogoshpere when it released it's socail media guidelines last year? They even issued a response to the criticism.

  But back to the BBC....One thing I found very interesting is what they call their "Linking Strategy, whcih states that links should be editorially justifiable. I agree with that as a former news manager. They have their credibility to portect and what they're saying is if they're going to provide a link, it needs to make sense and add value to the content.

  I also found another passage rather interesting. It characterizes on-air mentions of social networks. It seems that the BBC won't go on and on about their Twitter accounts or their Facebook pages without good reason, like CNN does.

  (This is not to bash CNN but there is a constant scroll of twitter handles on the bottom of the screen, and Rick Sanchez lives by Twitter on his news program.)

  So they've put a lot of thought into what level of importance social media willl play in their editorial content, and that should be applauded. I think that employers owe their employees guidance in this area.

  Does your company have social media guidelines? And what do those guidelines say about the company?     
  

  
  

  Tags: brand management monitoring reputation socialmedia

• Success through simple social strategies

  Feb 16, 2010 :: Angela Connor :: 0 Comments

  Social media strategies don't have to be elaborate to be successful. On the contrary, sometimes it's the simplest ideas that stick. I recently shared a story about a gift shop in Cary in an article I wrote for EContent Magazine that illustrates this point quite well.

  It started with the store manager, Heather Lilly, who wanted to do something different for Swagger Gift's Facebook fan page. What she decided to do was select one item from the store to showcase on their page each week. She thought she could build buzz around the product by doing so and on Friday's, one of the many people who participates in the conversation actually wins the item. They call it Facebook Friday's and it has become a huge success.

  Not only has Facebook Friday's brought a slew of new customers into the store, it's online sales have increased a great deal as well. And since the winner has to come into the store to redeem their prize, there's always a chance they'll buy other items.

  It has been a win-win for Swagger and it's really a simple concept.

  I think we should all take a page out of Swagger's book and think simple. Grab that low-lying fruit when you can. It could pay off.

   

  Author's note: I do realize that Facebook has made some changes and there are some new rules regarding contests. However, the point stands...that we should think about siple ways to engage our audiences.

  
  
  Tags:

• Want to go viral? Create something ‘awe-inspiring’

  Feb 11, 2010 :: Angela Connor :: 1 Comments

  Have you ever been tasked with creating a "viral video" or told by clients that they want their content to go viral, as if doing so is as simple as brushing your teeth in the morning? If so, you know that it isn't as easy as it seems and a lot of content that does go viral often happens much to the surprise of the creators. Think the wedding dance on YouTube. I'm sure they knew their idea was novel and fresh and would be the topic of the year, or even the decade among their family and friends, but I doubt they set out to make their wedding the YouTube sensation it has become. The concept for the Will it Blend videos happened by accident after one guy was so disgruntled with the fact that he couldn't sell the blenders that he decided to take out his frustration on the appliance by attempting to blend branches from his backyard. It was a complete accident. But the branches blended, and the rest is history.

  Just like videos, news stories are circulated around the social web at warp speed. We are inundated with emails and links from our family, friends, followers and extended networks and when the source is someone we trust, we usually check it out.

  But what does this content have in common and why are people sharing it? This is what is revealed in a recent study of the New York Times most-emailed list as reported by John Tierney. I took a look at the complete study this morning and was quite intrigued by the methodology and the fact that the researchers analyzed the virality of more than 7,500 articles. (Major kudos to Jonah Berger and Katherine L. Milkman, both assistant professors at The University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School for what was surely an exhaustive experience!)

  The four common denominators of the stories are as follows: They were awe-inspiring, emotional, positive and surprising. Keep in mind that the research did focus on text, and the assumption that this translates to video and other online content is mine alone.

  But sharing is sharing and these four variables clearly resonate with the human spirit. If you’ve shared something via e-mail recently, chances are you can use one of those four adjectives to characterize the content.

  Is it a science? Certainly not. But the information gleaned in this study is too valuable to overlook. I would encourage you to read the entire study for yourself. I found it awe inspiring, positive and surprising, and three out-of-four isn’t too shabby.

  Tags: viralcontent

• Intelligence through Social Media

  Feb 9, 2010 :: Angela Connor :: 5 Comments
  Active social media monitoring can keep you in the know about what consumers think of your brand. When done effectively, it allows you to spot fires in the making and work on putting them out before they reach three-alarm status. It also provides great opportunities to connect directly with customers, potential customers and brand enthusiasts in real-time which can breed a great deal of brand loyalty.

  But yours isn't the only brand you should monitor.

  The widespread use of social media coupled with a good listening strategy makes it very easy to keep an eye on your competitors, and you should be watching them like a hawk. Now, before you write off this tactic as "stalking," allow me to illustrate its effectiveness: Let's say you work for a TV station in a medium-sized market where the top three affiliates are very close in the ratings. If you follow the competitor's interactions with viewers and actively monitor their brand you might be able to glean all kinds of helpful information.

  Consider this: That exclusive interview that Station X just landed is no longer exclusive when the interviewee announces to his or her twitter followers that they just did a 20 minute interview with said station and can't wait until it airs next week. If you're lucky, someone will likely inquire further about the topic and the interviewee will spill the beans all over the Twitterverse. They may also spread the word in their blog or via Facebook. After all, an interview with a news reporter is just too juicy and self-aggrandizing for most people to keep it out of their social media status updates.

  But this isn't just a tactic for TV stations. Any company or organization can find out what's being said about their competition and use it to their advantage if they simply start listening. If Comcast sees a ton of gripes about Time Warner Cable in a market where they compete directly, they can literally go in for the kill if they can sell their services as superior or offer a better deal and maybe make a conversion in the process.

  This is not small potatoes when every customer counts.

  I posted a blog last summer about a bad experience I had at a hotel that did not want to honor the deal Orbitz gave me for booking my travel through their site. I heard from a competitor a few hours after my blog post was published encouraging me to use their site in the future. They were clearly monitoring mentions of Orbitz in the social media space. The good thing is Orbitz monitors its own brand and they contacted me first, apologized and gave me $50 off my next booking. But, if Orbitz had not responded, I certainly would have gone to that competitor. And if nothing else, they put themselves on my radar, and that's a good thing for that competitor. There are many ways to use social media for business and they go well beyond what you've grown accustomed to hearing. We'll explore many more in the near future.

  So bookmark this blog if you haven't already. We've got a lot to talk about.

  
  
  Tags: reputationmanagement socialmedia