Social Business: Where is Your Focus?
Posted by Analisa, Thursday, January 21st, 2010 at 6:26 pm, under Social Marketing.
“Platforms are the means. People are the focus.”
This quote is taken from a presentation by VP of Social Media at Razorfish (a digital marketing agency) Shiv Singh, on Social Influence Marketing.
He points out an important distinction here. A business existing on social networks should be putting effort into listening, engaging and contributing…not into building a flashy profile. The people on social networks are what give social media value, not the networks themselves!
Think of Facebook, for example, as a house, where millions of people live. A business with a presence on Facebook needs to focus on interacting with its fellow inhabitants (fans), not on renovating, decorating and pimping out its room in the house (a fan Page).
Singh also modifies a quote (originally from Peter Drucker) that makes an interesting point:
“The purpose of a business is to create a customer who creates customers.”
Replace “business” with “social influence marketing” and you almost have yourself an excellent definition. However, I don’t think that social media is about creating customers. That’s what your website is for — selling your product. But your social networks are about making fans out of your customers. This is what we firmly believe should be every business’ approach to the Social Web. You are here to create brand ambassadors, not necessarily customers.
See the context in this slide show:
Your Website Should Be Proud of your Social Life!
Posted by Analisa, Friday, January 15th, 2010 at 3:05 pm, under Best Practices, Social Marketing.
It is one of the most frustrating and saddening moments…when I visit a website and see small, unobtrusive, ashamed little social media icons at the bottom of the page, below the fold, and generally hidden from view. I happen to be looking for them, always, so when I have trouble finding these important links, I wonder, how is the unsuspecting non-social-media-obsessed visitor supposed to find them?
Many businesses have entered the social sphere over the last year and some understand the arena more than others. Most at least know that being social is a good thing, something to be proud of…or at least, among other social folks. But their website must feel like a non-social entity to many of them, because they are either afraid or reluctant to proudly display their Facebook, Twitter or Blogging status for visitors to see and follow.
Imagine going into your friends home and noticing that there were framed pictures of their other friends and family displayed beneath the sofa, under tables and in dark corners…You would wonder what they were so ashamed of!
Being social means being public, present and proud, so I want to encourage the following organizations to re-think the placement of social links on their websites. These businesses all have fairly active social lives, but hardly an indication of their alter-social-egos on their websites.
Unacceptable
Bocanova: A new restaurant in Jack London Square (where HyperFolk often have lunch)
See the faded Twitter and Facebook icons at the very very very bottom of the page.
140 Twitter Marketing Tips from @KylePLacy
Posted by Analisa, Thursday, January 14th, 2010 at 6:25 pm, under Twitter.
Kyle asked his followers on Twitter to share tips and then compiled 140 of them into this slideshow. Brilliant.
(Oh, and find @socialarts on slide 109)
Adding Your Blog Feed to a Facebook Fan Page
Posted by Analisa, Tuesday, January 12th, 2010 at 12:38 pm, under Blogs, Facebook.
When I first searched for ways to feed my blog into my Facebook business/fan page, I was told to use a Twitter application, but this in fact can be avoided. Facebook has a built-in way to import each blog post you publish, so that it appears on your wall. The full posts can then be read within your Facebook page (in the Notes section), or readers can follow a link to the actual post on your blog.
Here are the step-by-step instructions for importing a blog feed:
- Prepare: Create the “Notes” tab on your Facebook page. This is where your blog feed will live in it’s entirety (posts will show up on the wall in abbreviated versions).
- Edit: Go to “Edit Page” (link is located directly under your page’s photo) and select “Edit” within the “Notes” section.
- Notes: You will now be shown an editing screen for the Notes tab. You can find an option to “Import a blog feed” on the right hand side:
- Finish: You will be shown a screen like this which allows you to enter your blog’s URL directly into Facebook. Click “Start Importing” and your blog will begin to feed into Facebook after you publish each new post.
Brizzly: The Best Way to Manage Multiple Twitter Accounts
Posted by Analisa, Friday, January 8th, 2010 at 3:45 pm, under Twitter.
“A simple way to experience the social web” -Brizzly
Twitter told me to try it, so I did…and I love it!
A Twitter “reader” that allows you to add up to 5 Twitter profiles to your account. Turns out, the CEO used to work at Google, specifically in the Google Reader dept…which explains why this application is so heavily geared towards usability when it comes to MY experience of Twitter. In my opinion, Brizzly is the best way I have found so far (and I have not tried Co-Tweet or HootSuite) to manage and monitor multiple Twitter accounts.
Why Brizzly Works So Well:
- You can view multiple twitter accounts at once, click in between each one easily, and perform all of the regular Twitter actions as if you were logged in to each separate account;
- Videos, photos and full links appear directly in your stream (no shortened URLS or links to twitpics);