Archive for January, 2009
Written by Mhairi Petrovic, January 29th, 2009
In a recent edition of Information Week Canada, there appears an article called “What if social networking doesn’t take off?”. It is written by Robert Parkins who, thanks to a quick Google, is also editorial Director of Canadian Government Executive Magazine, isn’t on Twitter, nor could I find him on Facebook (unless he’s grown a beard and moved to Santa Barbara but please feel free to correct me if I am wrong).
On reading his article, I commented about it on Twitter and @shawnpisio asked the obvious: “Was it written in 2003 or something”.
Sadly it was not. Robert’s article cites a survey done by Synovate in Sept 2008, that asks the question “do you know what social networking is”. The result: 58% of people surveyed in 17 countries across the world did not.
I was actually surprised that 48% did know. My mother who is approaching 70 is on Facebook but if you were to ask her what a “social network” was, she probably wouldn’t have a clue as to what you were talking about. Perhaps the issue here is in the wording of the Synovate question.
In the article Parkins suggests a reluctance to embrace Web 2.0 as the cause of this apparent ignorance. Excuse me Mr Parkins but 150 million people on Facebook and 180 million worldwide blogs can’t all be wrong. Perhaps its a reluctance within a certain (ahem) age demographic (my mother accepted).
According to Parkin’s, the tide is already turning on 2.0, especially in his area of expertise: government.
One need only take a look south at the recent success of Barack Obama’s campaign to see how far from true this is. Obama harnessed social networks effectively to build awareness of his campaign and reach and motivate people who otherwise wouldn’t have voted. His first blog post as president was posted shortly after his inauguration. Hardly the use one would expect to see of a dying medium.
He’s right in one area though it remains to be seen how the public sector will harness web 2.0 effectively but a survey that found that 58% of respondents didn’t know what social networks were doesn’t mean they should ignore the phenomenon altogether.
Far from the tide turning on web 2.0, the crest of the wave isn’t even upon us yet. Many traditionalists like Parkin have yet to be convinced and with many similar naysayers out there, this implies a huge opportunity from people just waiting to be convinced!
Written by Mhairi Petrovic, January 26th, 2009
This is our third podcast in a series on branding with Isabelle Mercier of LeapZone Strategies. In this episode, we talk about the external facets you need to consider for effective branding including the competitive market, partners, customers and processes. You might want to listen to the first 2 podcasts in this series so thast you don’t miss out.
Out-Smarts Podcast #7 – the basics of branding – what it is andwhat it is not.
Out-Smarts Podcast #15 – branding from the inside out.
[audio:http://www.out-smarts.com/podcast19.mp3]
Podcast: Download
Written by Mhairi Petrovic, January 22nd, 2009
1. Understand your prospective customer: who they are, why they buy, when and so on – do they buy on-line or use the Internet to research product information – are the using social media and if so which tools?
2. Your company – what resources are in place or will be made available. Also consider existing web presence, company culture, mission, goals and policies.
3. Competition – check out what your competition is doing on line, track blog and RSS feeds that mention them as well as comments on their products or service from users. Also consider the actions of similar companies operating in different jurisdictions.
4. The market – is your market place experiencing and up turn / down turn or is it in a state of flux? These will all impact the approach you take.
5. Integration with your overall marketing and advertising strategy is imperative. Each must complement and support the other by conveying the same brand image and messages.
6. If you don’t have web savvy resources in house then don’t worry – get guidance from people who do this (like us 
).
7. Positioning – find out where you stand in the web rankings in comparison to others in your field.
8. Traffic – who visits your site right now, how often and how long do they stay.
9. Pricing – if your offering is considered “prestige” then your web strategy will be different than if your its aimed at the masses.
10. Consider all tools at your disposal to promote your web presence and don’t forget to consider newer technologies such as wikis, social networks and microblogs for effective online marketing.
Written by Mhairi Petrovic, January 21st, 2009
Marketing + Technology = Rebooting Yourself
Join local marketing, sales and communications professionals for an educational overview on how technology will improve your marketing efforts including:
· What Telus found from introducing company wide blogging (social media)
· CBC provides pointers on creating affordable podcasts
· iPhone and Blackberry basics with Rogers Wireless
· Futureshop discusses how to connect home office and entertainment equipment
· Website and security basics from Webnames.ca
· Preview of a new consumer and production website for the movie industry from Movieset.com and more…
Canadian Women in Communication is a national organization dedicated to the advancement of women in the communications sector through strategic networking and targeted professional development.
WHEN: February 11th, Wednesday 5 – 8 PM, come connect for an evening of networking, Q & A, light evening meal, wine and beer available.
Where: BCIT downtown, 555 Seymour St., Vancouver.
(Underground parking available.)
There is limited seating due to the seminar style format of the evening, so register ASAP.
Event admission includes participation in seminars, a light evening meal and networking, $50.00 members, $60.00 non-members and (limited) $40.00 student tickets. Wine and beer available.
For more information, or to register, please visit the CWC Calendar of Events.
Written by Mhairi Petrovic, January 17th, 2009
- When registering or submitting your details always double check the spelling, make sure your name and company details are right and that there are no typos- especially with the URL.
- Dont try to register with every single search engine out there. Cherry pick the most popular or the most applicable to the message you are trying to spread. Ask yourself what search engines your audience is most likely to use and focus on those.
- Remember to let the engines know when your blog is updated. Ping regularly so that the search engine picks up any changes. Many of the engines let you set this up automatically by simply entering a couple of lines of code into your blog set up.
- Be aware of your blog content – you will likely get a knock back if you use explicit language or images.
- Some of the blog search engines only track established blogs so you should get a few articles under your belt prior to submitting.
- Remember to link back to other pertinent blogs and articles and encourage comments from your audience – the more links and traffic your site has, the better its standing will be.
- Dont pay for inclusion – there are enough good blog search engines out there that do this for free.
- Remember to tag your blogs – assign each a category so that interested parties can easily find your stuff.
- Spam – if the blog engines get wind that your blog is simply spam then you may not get listed.
- Dont forget to register your blog with the traditional search engines too.
Written by Mhairi Petrovic, January 16th, 2009
Written by Mhairi Petrovic, January 14th, 2009
Different Twitterers take different approaches to building their Twitter following. Some run about like headless chickens adding everyone and anyone while some only add their “cronies”. Few, it would appear, take time to factor in their brand or the brand of the companies they work for. Whilst these tactics might be fine for individuals Twittering for personal purposes, they are not good enough for corporations or business people.
In our post last week on Top 5 Twitter Tips, we talked about the importance of strategy. Having a Twitter strategy is paramount. Before you set out on your Twitter adventures, take time to develop a follower/following strategy that fits with your corporate brand and your Twitter goals. By brand I don’t simply mean slapping up your logo on your Twitter site using the design functionality or picture (although that is important). Your brand is much more than just your logo. It is your company values, your promise to clients, partners and everyone you touch, it is what your company lives and breathes and what sets your organisation apart from the pack (for more on branding listen to our podcast series on that very topic).
Before you jump on Twitter and start following people willy nilly. Consider if this strategy is appropriate to your corporate brand. Put yourself in the shoes of those you are trying to attract. I know that when I check out a follower’s site and find that they are following way more people than they have followers I tend not to follow them because I am concerned they are simply going to spam. If your company’s brand encompasses blatant self promotion then having a high following to follower ratio is fine. If not then this Twitter tactic is not for you.
The converse can also be true. Many individuals and companies choose to follow very few other Twitterers. In Ruth Seeley’s post What’s really funny about Twitter she points out:
“But some of the Twitterati seem to have missed the point of social media entirely. For these folks, it’s all about who’s following them, not about the two-way exchange of information and ideas and the wonderful things that can result from the whole being greater than the sum of its parts. A respected British tech journalist Tweeted this morning that he had reached the 2000-followers mark, and seemed very pleased about it. Four hours later, he had 2009 followers – and was following a mere 145 people. I think we probably have to pardon him for not quite getting it: in his business, it’s still all about having an audience and a following.”
The British tech person Ruth mentions isn’t the only example of this. Here in Vancouver many of the Sun’s journalists are Twittering all of a sudden. I notice that many of them also have far fewer followers than they are following. As a visitor and a Vancouver Sun subscriber this follower to following ratio makes me feel like common Vancouver Twitterers are insignificant to the paper. Given the listening tools out there, effective listening can’t be the reason for this.
For those who choose to follow only few people, again ask yourself if this reflects your brand. If your brand image is exclusive then this approach will be great for you. For visitors, it may simply leave them cold.
So before you start using Twitter, determine what your follow strategy is and ask yourself: does this represent my company or personal brand? If it does, then you’re good to go, if not take time to reconsider and come up with an approach that does reflect your brand.
Written by Mhairi Petrovic, January 10th, 2009
I’ve been on Twitter for almost 2 years now. At the start I was rather skeptical as to the value the medium brought especially from a business perspective: most of the “Tweets” (noun used to describe the statements people make on Twitter) were narcissistic comments made under the assumption that people were actually interested in hearing what others had for breakfast (for example).
I have watched Twitter usage evolve and today it’s much more sophisticated. Here’s a few tips for you to use to tweak your Tweets and get more out of your Twitter presence:
1. Add value – don’t just spout off about boring stuff. Nobody is interested in what color shoes you are wearing (maybe your underwear but definitely not your shoes!).
2. Share interesting stuff you’ve found on the web that relates to your business or area of interest.
3. Use TinyURL or a similar url abbreviation tool to shorten the length of url links in your Twitter posts so they fit in the 140 character limit.
4. Look at Twitter as a forum to let followers know what it is you do for a living – you never know who might read and say I need someone to do just that for me.
5. Don’t spam or sell.
6. If someone starts following you don’t automatically add them and follow (don’t be a sheeple) – take a look at the number of followers they have compared to their following. If they are following way more people than they have followers then it might be best to avoid them – chances are they are only looking to follow so that they can in turn spam you.
7. Don’t let Twitter suck up too much of your time – it can be very distracting.
8. Limit the number of people you follow to avoid Twitter overload.
9. Use Twitterfeed to feed your blog to Twitter.
10. Use Tweetscan to monitor whats being said about you or your company on Twitter.
Join me on Twitter to find out more and see for yourself how the medium is being used.
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Written by Mhairi Petrovic, January 07th, 2009
Here, in follow up to our podcast yesterday, are Julie Gibbon’s top 5 tips to help you make the most of Twitter.
1. Define Your Twitter Strategy
Don’t venture into Twitter for the sake of it. Like any marketing activity, decide what you want to get out of it and be consistent. Twitter is a great tool to make instant and powerful connections, but offers endless opportunities for distraction. Don’t fall foul of those distractions – decide on your strategy and stick to it. The old faithful “Who, What, Why, When, How” can always be counted on to keep you straight.
2. Employ Tools to Help
Your Twitter strategy can be made easier using the right tools. You might want to manage multiple accounts, or deal with multiple timelines – there are tools to help. See a definitive list of Twitter applications here: http://twitter.pbwiki.com/Apps (Thanks to @marismith for the link). Use them wisely.
3. Create Your Follow Policy
Don’t waste time dithering about whether to Follow someone or not. Decide on your Follow Policy from the outset and don’t stray from that – it’ll save you lots of valuable time.
4. Be Social
A community relies on interaction between members. Don’t forget to offer value to your community and you’ll receive value in turn. Engage with as many relevant people as you can – it’ll pay dividends and enhance your Twitter experience. Remember, your social network (on Twitter and elsewhere) is part of your business capital. Make sure it gives you best value, and protect it.
5. Measure, Measure, Measure
As Guy Kawasaki (@guykawasaki) points out “Twitter is arguably the most powerful advertising mechanism since television” – and you wouldn’t run a television ad without measuring the results. Use tools to track and measure results in the same way as any marketing campaign.
Follow Julie on Twitter @juliegibbons and join our Twitter community at @outsmarts.
Written by Mhairi Petrovic, January 06th, 2009
Our first podcast of the year was recorded on Hogmanay (the last day of the old year) with Julie Gibbons of PeopleMaps . Its our first trans Atlantic podcast, the topic is Twitter. In this podcast we talk about PeopleMaps, their online personality reports and how they are using Twitter to build awareness and grow their community.
Watch out for a blog post addundum to this podcast, giving Julie’s top Twitter tips, very soon.
[audio:http://www.out-smarts.com/podcast18.mp3]
Podcast: Download
