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5 Social Media resolutions for the new year

By on January 10, 2013 in Blogging, Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, Marketing, Pinterest, Social media tips, Twitter, Viewpoints with No Comments

By Steven Barcus

New year’s resolutions are generally not unique, nor do they even need to wait for the new year. Eating healthy, exercising more, reading, cleaning out clutter, spending more time with family and friends—we already know we should do these things in our normal lives. The same can be said for social media. The following are five resolutions for you to make that will bring your social media properties to the next level or just keep them shining bright. But don’t look for any surprises on this list…each of these are things you already know you should be doing!

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Social Media Accounts & Trade Secrets

By on June 19, 2012 in Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, Social media tips, Viewpoints with Comments Off

Is it “misappropriation of a trade secrets” to contact each person who follows an ex-employer’s Social Media profile for purposes of promoting a competing business?

Early in my law school career, one phrase stuck with me right away: “tough cases make bad law.” This, of course, begs the question as to what makes a “tough” case. Usually it’s a unique fact pattern that has limited applicability to a broader spectrum of cases. In the nascent and growing area of Social Media law, there is no shortage of quirky cases.

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Beyond Social

By on May 23, 2012 in Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, Marketing, Public Relations, Social media tips, Viewpoints with Comments Off

Have you harnessed the power of video?

We’re all watching, liking, loving, and sharing videos. In fact, 500 years of YouTube video are watched every day on Facebook, and over 700 YouTube videos are shared on Twitter each minute. The stats are beyond social and becoming the new norm for successful organizational marketing.

Video is a powerful medium that brings new life to your messages and credibility to your organization. It serves your target audience with information in the fastest way possible. It is the ideal method for learning and is accessible in the office, at home, and in the palm of our hands. Simply put, video works with our culture.

As much as I dig those cute kittens on YouTube, I’m sold on video based on the many stats that clearly indicate its overall positive organizational impact. We’ve put video into action, and witnessed its ability to achieve amazing goals. Video increases website traffic, increases sales, improves presentations, keeps messages consistent and makes training more efficient. Video keeps your target attention longer and outperforms any other marketing tool available.

So, if you’re thinking social, strategy and success…be sure to factor in video. Its multi-purpose value goes beyond social platform support, providing proven performance metrics that will benefit your entire organization.

Making it Practical, Making it Real

By on April 22, 2012 in Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, Marketing, Social media tips with Comments Off

As I look forward to my return to the @MIDWEST Social Media Conference, I am honored to have the opportunity to return and speak once again for two sessions: Connecting Event and Social Media for your Small Business and Mobile Marketing and your Small Business.

Whether a large corporation or a local company, there are questions that remain the same. After a career spent working with “big business,” I feel that small businesses are in an enviable position to try new ideas, make changes and see an immediate impact on their marketing efforts. What many companies are finding out no matter the size is that the success of any business or brand may not necessarily be impacted by the latest social media or mobile trends but by meeting your customers’ needs first and delivering a message to them in the most relevant place. As I prepare for my two sessions at this year’s @MIDWEST Social Media Conference this insight, focusing on the needs of the small business owner, will be foundation of the information I share.

Foundation questions:

  1. Who is your customer? How much are they buying and how often?
  2. What does sales success mean to you? Customer buying one more item each week? One more visit to your bank each month? A referral to your realty business?
  3. What are your competitors doing that you like? What are some of the things they are doing that you don’t like? Any ideas you can build on?
  4. What marketing tactics have you initiated? Have they yielded success?
  5. How much are you willing to invest in a new marketing idea – whether time or money?

What are some of the pressing questions that are top of mind as you look ahead to the @MIDWEST Social Media Conference? Have you thought about events to drive customers and referrals to your location? Is a mobile campaign the right path for your business? Post a question and let’s start the conversation!

Social Media Legal Risks: Seven Ways to Maintain Social Media Marketing Legal Compliance

By on April 20, 2012 in Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, Social media tips, Twitter with Comments Off

FTCIn October 2009, the Federal Trade Commission released it’s updated “FTC’s Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.” The purpose of the update was to address the increasing use of endorsements by consumers, experts, organizations and celebrities in online marketing. The update is particularly relevant to the explosive growth of social media as a marketing tool.

The updated FTC Guides contain two notable areas of concern for marketers. First, the Guides removed the safe harbor for advertisements featuring a consumer’s experience with a product or service, the so-called “results not typical” disclosure. Second, the FTC Guides underscored the longstanding principle of disclosing “material connections” between advertisers and the consumers, experts, organizations, and celebrities providing reviews and endorsements of products and services.

Even with the illustrations provided within the FTC Guides themselves, it is still confusing for advertisers, marketers, bloggers and social media users to know how to comply with the guidelines. The purpose of this article is to provided simple, concrete standards to determine (1) when to make certain disclosures and (2) the type of disclosures required by the situation. I have grouped the disclosure into seven categories: Personal Opinion, Free Sample, Free Gift, Promotional Relationship, Employment Relationship, Affiliate Relationship, Healthcare Disclosures, and Financial Guidelines & Disclosures. The key requirement to keep in mind is the obligation to disclose any relationship that may have influenced you.

1. Personal Opinion

If you write a review or blog post and your post contains only your own opinions, you haven’t received any compensation for the review or post, and you otherwise have no material connection to the topic of your post, you have nothing to disclose.

2. Free Sample/Free Gift

If you have been given a free copy, sample, or gift of a product or service and you write a review or blog post, you must disclose the facts and circumstances of how you received the item or service, even if you have not been paid to review or post on that topic. You do not run afoul of the disclosure rules if you receive payment unrelated your content. This disclosure is useful to keep in mind when your content relates to product previews, reviews of samples, services, gifts, books, software, music, movies, etc.

3. Promotional Relationships

If you write a review or blog post and your post is based upon an advertising relationship, and you have received compensation (cash, free services, product samples for personal use or a gift) for the review or post, you must disclose the nature of the relationship, whether you received anything of value, and information about relationships with advertisers or endorsers that would have a material impact about how a prospective consumer would view the message. This disclosure is useful to keep in mind when your content relates to paid posts, sponsored messages, tweets, fan page postings, etc.

4. Employment Relationships

If you write a review or blog post and your post is based upon an employment relationship, e.g. you are an employee or shareholder of a related company, you have a “material business relationship” to disclose, even if you are not being directly compensated for the message. You may post on behalf of a business or brand. In fact, it may even be part of your job description. Again, be mindful of the requirement to disclose any “connections” that may have influenced you, including both direct and indirect relationships.

5. Affiliate Relationships

If you write a review or blog post and your post is based upon an affiliate relationship, e.g., you have included affiliate links on your page, you must disclose the fact that the relationship exists and that you will be paid for referrals from your page.

6. Healthcare Disclosures

If you write a review or blog post and your content is based upon a connection to a pharmaceutical or healthcare product or program, you need to include relevant healthcare-related disclosures or information safety warnings, side effects, or official links with information.

7. Financial Guidelines & Disclosures

If you write a review or blog post and you work for a financial services company, you may be making investor-relations communications and your communications are subject to regulation by the NASD, SEC, FINRA and potentially state and federal regulatory agencies. The FINRA Guidance on Blogs & Social Networking Sites” can be found here. Record Retention: ensure that you can retain records of those communications. Suitability: a particular communication a “recommendation” for purposes of NASD Rule 2310 and is it suitable for potential recipients. Public Appearances: determine whether your post part of an “interactive online forum” and whether supervision is required. Third-Party Posts: If your firm created or “sponsors” and online forum, be aware that, under certain circumstances, a customer’s or other third party’s content on a social media site may become attributable to the firm. Whether third-party content is attributable to a firm depends on whether the firm has (1) involved itself in the preparation of the content or (2) explicitly or implicitly endorsed or approved the content.

Clearly, legal and regulatory compliance for social media remains a minefield. Although this article is intended to give you a working knowledge of the types of risks created by, and disclosures required for, the use of Social Media, it is NOT LEGAL ADVICE. Each situation is unique and you should consult with qualified legal counsel regarding your specific circumstances.

Clarity counts

By on April 16, 2012 in Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, Public Relations, Social media tips, Twitter, Viewpoints with Comments Off

How many times have you read a tweet, blog, website or email and wondered exactly what the author meant?    The world of instant communication and social media marketing requires the ability to translate opinions, emotions, values and ideas into text, sometimes in 140 characters or less.

Read, read, and re-read your post

There is nothing more embarrassing…or damaging, than sending out a social media post with errors in it.  Usually it’s just a typo, but it can change the message completely.  Depending on your organization, errors can undermine the professionalism, authority, and credibility of the entire business.  Avoid errors by taking the time to read, read, and re-read your post BEFORE you click Send.

A little grammar, please

If you tweet on behalf of a business, institution, or organization, it can be a challenge to speak in a professional voice expected by your audience, using 140 characters or less.  We are bombarded by a generation that talks, texts, and posts using shortened words and phrases, but please don’t let this lingo into your professional communications.  Take the extra characters and spell words in full, and use proper grammar whenever possible.

Dashboards…accidental posts

It’s not uncommon for social media strategists to be managing multiple accounts on each social media outlet.  A social media dashboard can be an effective and efficient way to manage multiple accounts and avoid personal and professional confusion.  Dashboards, however, can lead to accidental posts to incorrect accounts.

Undo

If you notice that you’ve made an error or inaccurate post, you CAN delete it.

On Twitter, the Delete option will appear when you hover over your tweet.  Your tweet may still appear in the twitter search for awhile, but it will clear shortly.

 

You cannot, however, delete a post off someone else’s timeline, so if your message has been re-tweeted, you will not be able to retract it.

Posts on Facebook can also be deleted.   On Facebook’s new Timeline, the Edit or Remove menu will appear when your mouse hovers over the top right-hand corner of the post.

Mistakes happen 

Once in awhile, regrettable posts happen.  In those rare instances, quick wit might just smooth over a potential disaster.  In 2011, The Red Cross experienced this when a staffer accidentally posted the following message:

The Red Cross recognized the rogue tweet, deleted it, and responded with quick wit:

 

The Red Cross’ accidental tweet about “getting slizzard,” got the attention of Dogfish Head beer.  They noticed, they made a donation to the Red Cross, and in turn, people started donating because of it.

Don’t let a culture of instant communication ruin your message, your business, or your brand.  A confused customer is a lost customer.  We need to take time to ensure that the information you want to send is what your audience actually receives.

Three highlights from PRSA Digital Impact

By on April 11, 2012 in Facebook, Google+, Public Relations, Social media tips with Comments Off

Honing the messageI think it was evident at this week’s Public Relations Society of America Digital Impact conference that the PR industry has turned a corner from “playing at” developing social Web presences to focusing on advanced tactics. Having mastered the basics, we’re moving on to discuss techniques for optimizing our efforts and  honing our message for conversation rather than broadcast. That’s great to see. Here are three things I learned about at Digital Impact.

1. TimelineMovieMaker is nifty. Reflecting the central role that Facebook has come to occupy in many communications programs, Caryn Marooney, vice president of technology communications at Facebook, delivered a keynote. While explaining newish Facebook features such as Timeline, Subscribe and Interest Lists, Marooney pointed the audience toward TimelineMovieMaker, an addictive little tool for quickly generating cool videos pieced together from the photos and videos that appear in your Facebook Timeline. Will brands begin to make their own home movies out of their Facebook activities?

2. Google Plus is great for generating discussion around social issues. Matthias Lüfkens, a managing director with Burson Marsteller who previously devised social media strategies for the World Economic Forum, described  the annual forum’s approach to extending its conversation onto a variety of social platforms. It was striking to see that the WEF has about 7 times as many followers on Google Plus as it has on Facebook, even though Facebook’s user base overshadows that of Google Plus by a similar multiple. While Circles and Friend Lists serve the same purpose, there does some to be more discussion on G+ spanning different geographies and communities, perhaps intertwining more people who don’t know each other in real life. That makes it a good platform for discussion about causes and social issues drawing from a variety of perspectives.

3. PR teams are beginning to get comfortable with data. Responding to an attendee’s question, Philip Sheldrake discussed Burberry as a case study of an organization has cast off 20th-century organizational baggage to focus on deriving deeper insights from all of its business functions. For example, cloud-based solutions with powerful analytic tools have allowed Burberry’s information technology and communications teams to work together on studying flows of influence through its customer base, elevating their dialogue. The study of influence will even lead to a new discipline, Sheldrake predicts, that of the influence professional. Such advances are possible because of developments in technologies as diverse as social CRM, the Semantic Web and the vast proliferation of Internet connected devices and objects. Best of all, we’ve only yet scratched the surface of what these tools can do.