The 10 Golden Principles of Successful Web Apps from Carsonified on Vimeo.
April 27, 2010
April 14, 2010
Evaluate Impact, Don’t Continue Blindly
As with all your marketing campaigns, value is determined by the contribution you’ve made to the goals of the company. While it is important to generate an “online buzz”, the quality of the postings and impact on the company is still the ultimate judge.
Comments and discussions must be evaluated for both tone and prominence. Whether you are using technology to identify and evaluate articles based on defined criteria or having individuals sift through the articles to determine their value, it is important to take the tone and prominence into consideration when determining ultimate impact.
Companies need to not only track where and how often their brand is discussed but assign a value based on the importance of the outlet to the organization and determine if the conversations are positive, negative or neutral to get an accurate read of their results. Read more >>
April 6, 2010
Find Quality Followers to Engage, Don’t Worry About Numbers
We all want thousands of followers on Twitter, but the number is not as important as the quality of your network. If half of your Twitter followers are there simply to boost your numbers, you will not be reaching the right people with your message. Providing quality content and engaging in discussion is more beneficial.
Promotion is key to building your social media network. Make sure you share your Twitter handle, Facebook page or LinkedIn profile with your business contacts to help build your network. Add it to company promotions, include it in your email signature, list it on your website to let the audience you want to attract know where to find you.
Many social media platforms have created their own methods to promote valuable contributors. Twitter’s #followfriday, a designated day to recommend influential or interesting people to follow on Twitter, is a great way to get quality followers and establish your network.
Provide Consistent Content, Don’t Simply Dabble
Now that you’ve got spokespeople, guidelines and an understanding of the landscape, you are ready to engage in social media. Social media is about contributing to the conversation, not just selling your product or service.
It is acceptable to tout company announcements and activities, but participation means going beyond promotions. Share third party resources with your followers, fans and social media network. Offer them interesting articles and opportunities that will help them better understand the industry and see the value you can provide.
January 15, 2010
Set Priorities and Goals, Don’t Try To Do It All
Not all online conversations carry the same weight. Many will have no impact on your company and not every mention of your company or brand will require the same amount of attention. The trick is to understand what does and does not matter. While a discussion on the latest product release or customer feedback may be worth engaging in, other discussions may be trivial and will not require your participation.
While knowing what conversations are taking place and using the valuable insight gained from them is important, understanding impact will help you define the priority to the company. Just remember, you may not be able to do it all. The world of social media is rapidly growing and changing, focus on what will help you meet your goals.
- Part 1 – Overview
- Part 2 – Take Time to Listen, Don’t Just Jump In
- Part 3 – Identify Spokespeople, Don’t Dilute the Message
- Part 4 – Communicate the Strategy, Don’t Allow for Confusion
- Part 5 – Set Priorities and Goals, Don’t Try To Do It All
- Part 6 – Provide Consistent Content, Don’t Simply Dabble
- Part 7 – Find Quality Followers to Engage, Don’t Worry About Numbers
- Part 8 – Be Prepared for Success, Don’t Forget to Plan
- Part 9 – Evaluate Impact, Don’t Continue Blindly
January 13, 2010
Communicate the Strategy, Don’t Allow for Confusion
While you may have created a strategy and identified the spokespeople who will participate in online conversations, if you do not share that strategy with the rest of the organization it will lead to confusion. Social media turns everyone associated with your brand into a potential company representative. Whether you are a large or small company, the nature of social media requires specific guidelines for conduct. Read more >>
January 12, 2010
Take Time to Listen, Don’t Just Jump In
The first step in putting together an effective social media strategy is to understand the dynamics of the landscape. With social media, it is more important than ever to listen to what is being said before participating. What are people saying, how is it being said and where are they saying it?
Using a comprehensive monitoring strategy, it will help you define your online corporate brand identity and help ensure you are engaging with these new platforms effectively.
Read more >>
January 7, 2010
Creating an Effective Social Media Strategy
It’s undeniable that the new world of social media can have a dramatic impact on your organisation. All it takes is a quick scan of today’s headlines to learn the effects of successful (and not so successful) social media campaigns. While it seems that social media presents an endless amount of opportunities to build awareness, it also presents risk, which means that creating an effective strategy isn’t just nice to have – it’s an absolute must.
Creating an effective social media strategy is as much about what to do as what not to do. Before you jump in, it is important to develop guidelines to not only help you understand the current landscape but to help shape it. Read more >>
