BulletProofBlog the blog on crisis communications

The top six social media tips to know before you leave the office.

As social media evolve and become more central to our personal and professional lives, there is an ever growing interest in how and why platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube work. With new data on the business impacts of social media being released every day, keeping up with these developments is no easy task - but these studies provide useful information for optimizing your online presence and effectively managing your online profiles.

In this week’s Six @ Six, we’ve summarized notable studies from the past couple weeks and offer ways to apply the findings to your online marketing efforts.

1. More Executives Turn to Social Networking

Web 2.0 Journal reports that a recent study by www.MeettheBoss.com found that executives are spending an extra 11 hours a month online connecting with and learning from their peers. According to the survey, more than 90 percent of respondents said, “they felt their time online was ‘very valuable’ to their daily role.” This means online networks are quickly becoming the clearinghouse for the latest trends and insights from the C-Suite. Take time to train executives on the benefits of investing time online and joining in these conversations. For example, does your team use SlideShare to share and view PowerPoint presentations? This site combines business and social networking by making it easy to find presentations by others in your field and enabling your slide decks to go viral. Plus, the site’s LinkedIn application keeps your professional network up-to-date. 

2. Tolerance of Social Media Marketing Increases

Questions have long lingered about the true value of social media marketing’s effectiveness. A new study by Performics and ROI Research found many social network users, such as those on Facebook and Twitter, took action after seeing a brand mentioned on a social channel. For example, almost half of the Twitter users surveyed said they actively search for more information about brands mentioned on the network. Additionally, 30 percent said they have learned about a new product, service, or brand from a social networking site. This data is encouraging and should compel you to consider new ways to stimulate word-of-mouth discussions about your brand. This week, Facebook announced new functionality for advertising – the ability to target friends of people who are already fans of your brand. Using this tool, you can ensure consumers who are increasingly relying on social media for purchasing decisions are finding out about your brand from people they trust.

3. Special Offers Increase Social Media Engagement

New data from Razorfish suggests that brand awareness alone may not be enough to entice consumers to partake in your online community. The company’s 2009 Feed Report, which examined consumers’ digital habits and attitudes, found that “special offers, discounts, and promotions were more likely to illicit action.” Across the board, respondents cited “access to exclusive deals” as a primary reason for joining online communities. One of the beauties of social media is that community members voluntarily join your groups. However, membership and participation do not go hand in hand. Take a cue from Tide. The company’s Facebook Fan Page features a tab devoted to special offers. Providing incentives such as Facebook- or Twitter-only offers will showcase the value of being a member of your brand’s online community on a daily basis, entice new members to join, and motivate current members to share your information with their networks.
 
4. Businesses Still Struggle to Maximize Social Media’s Potential

Deloitte’s 2009 Tribalization of Business Study evaluated the responses of more than 400 companies, including Fortune 100 organizations, which have created and maintain online communities. The study examines the “perceived potential of online communities” and ways organizations believe these networks can be better leveraged. A fifth of respondents have set up formal “ambassador” programs for active community members as a way to broaden their relationship with their most loyal customers. Such a program is another way to ensure you are building goodwill and recruiting legions of supporters to combat possible attacks and insulate your brand during crisis. Your company’s reputation is already in the hands of those who use your products, so why not engage with them proactively to protect your brand?

5. Social Media is the Search Engine of Choice for Many

More people are turning to social media outlets such as Wikipedia, Blogs, Facebook, and Twitter first in their search for information. In a new study, Nielsen looked at how people are finding information on the Web and found that 18 percent of respondents use social media as their main research tool. While the number may seem small, as Vice President of Analytics Jon Gibbs points out, the number can only be expected to grow. With more people turning to social media rather than search engines for information, populating profiles with the basics -such as your website and company description - will ensure searchers find credible information. Next, audit the keywords associated with your profiles. Are you optimizing the right words to ensure searchers reach your sites?

6. Twitter Growth Flat-Lines

A comparison of Twitter’s growth and usage statistics over the past four months by Mashable concludes that the service has hit a wall. Data from several website traffic monitoring tools suggests “absolutely no growth as far as unique [visitors], [repeat] visits, or rank.” While it makes sense to assume your brand needs to be everywhere online at all times with an equal effort, companies might be better advised to monitor conversations about their brands and identify where those conversations are taking place. There are both paid and free tools to help identify where communities of interest are growing and maximize the return on your social media investment.

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