Marketing, public relations, social media... and a little of this and that.
If you use Twitter.com it’s highly likely that you’ve heard about the new Retweet feature that has been in the works. The beta version is rolling out and I thought I’d give you a glance. Take note of “Retweet” in the bottom right hand corner of the image above.
This new Reebok spot is fantastic.
I recently had a conversation with a friend on Twitter about social media and the need for having a strategy. He held a firm stance that not all companies should care about social media.
Here’s how part of the conversation played out,
Me – “Just read a comment saying it might not b time for all bus to have a soc med strat. Disagree. How do u handle neg soc PR w/out a plan?”
Him – “Not every business will have the same needs and requirements. Social Media isn’t imperative for all. It’s value added.”
Me – “I actually think it is quite crucial to know how you would handle a sudden wave of neg online PR. Could happen to anyone.”
Him – “But for a company that doesn’t deal with the public, public opinion matters less.”
I’ve not been tested against this, but I feel like I could make a good case as to why just about any company would need a social media strategy.
Having a strategy doesn’t necessarily mean a company will be actively using social media, but there’s nothing wrong with being prepared should a need arise. And that “need’ could be very broad. For instance, if company X learns of a negative online comment do they address it or choose to leave it alone? If they respond, who responds?
A perfect example would be my previous post about trying to use a local travel agency, A Way To Go Travel. My inclination is that they don’t monitor the Web (would love it if I was wrong) which means they have no clue that I wrote a blog post that mentions them. And the mention itself wasn’t necessarily negative, but it wouldn’t be listed as positive either.
If they received Web alerts someone could take prompt action and completely turn the experience around (again, not that it has been negative, just not really responsive). Heck, they could even leave a comment saying something like, “We are working on your itinerary right this second.”
In my opinion not having a strategy means a company is choosing to ignore social media (including blogs/Web sites) or that they are taking part, but doing so recklessly.
PS – In regards to my friends last comment from the short Twitter conversation, all businesses have customers no matter if they are consumer or b2b. Customer opinion should matter – if it doesn’t something is wrong.
Tweet this: “Can some companies ignore social media? http://bit.ly/13JY2C“
I’m in the midst of planning my annual post Christmas vacation and haven’t decided where I’m going to go, but I know it will be somewhere abroad. I’ve narrowed the destinations, but have a small interest in talking with a travel agent that can help with some logistics.
On Sunday afternoon I sent an inquiry to A Way To GoTravel, a local agency in my hometown of Greensboro, NC. As of lunchtime Monday I hadn’t received a response so I sent the following tweet,
“Anyone know a good travel agent? Typically plan trips myself, but interested in talking to someone about South Africa.”
I had a near immediate response from @iNvest4you saying,
“The staff at A Way to Go Travel on Wendover are great.”
That was nice to hear, but I had already sent them an inquiry. About 1.5 hours after sending the tweet I received a reply from @spiritoftravel saying,
“I’d love to help plan your trip! DM me.”
I didn’t know who this person was, but after a quick check of their Twitter profile and Web site I realized they worked for The Travel Network, a travel agency that claims to be a “travel agency for the 21st century.” I was intrigued so we exchanged a few short messages on Twitter and then moved the conversation to email.
Bam – just like that I had someone willing to proactively help me.
I couldn’t help but wonder how @spiritoftravel tracked me down so I asked. Apparently she did a Twitter keyword search for “travel agent,” good move.
Around 4 pm I received a call from A Way To Go, but the gentleman that called handles corporate travel and needed to have someone else get in touch with me. He took down some information, but as of 10 pm last night I hadn’t heard from anyone.
They are supposedly a great company to work with, but I hope you see how slow the process (when compared to the proactive effort of The Travel Network) has seemed thus far, when in reality that might not be the case.
Let’s circle back to the keyword search that The Travel Network did. At a minimum I suggest that companies do two things:
During these tough economic times I can’t help but imagine that the travel agency business is a tough industry. It will be quite interesting to see if the company that tracked me down via a Twitter search get’s my business over the local company that I reached out to more than a day ago.
I don’t know about you, but I haven’t bonded very well with Linkedin. Every time I visit the site I seem to find myself dissatisfied in some way.
Part of my hang up is that I find it so much easier to connect and communicate on sites like Facebook and Twiter. It almost seems archaic in a way. Also, there’s also that little annoyance of being asked to pay to upgrade every time I turn around.
I’ve had this discussion with folks that value the site, but the “value” they see has to do with sales or landing a new job. Some also mention the Groups, and I’ve joined (and interacted) five or six, but they haven’t really changed my opinion.
If you’re like me and are searching for ways to get more out of Linkedin, the folks over at Mashable have highlighted seven items to help you/me get more out of the site:
Give the article a read – maybe it will help you out. I’m just not there yet.
