Share Your Story.......

I'm sorry to have to do this and rain on a lot of campaigns' parades but.....
"Sharing Your Story" on a company's website does not equal a social media campaign. "Sharing Your Story" is also not a magic bullet to be used from toothpaste to washing machines although it seems that a lot of industries are using it as one.
When entering the social media sphere, a lot of people tell me that they want to start a conversation with their audience. This is a great start. Then, and this is when it gets off course, they point to some company that's asking people for their stories on how their lawn mower saved their life or something to that effect. While we realize that our audiences must be engaged and listened to these days, the answer isn't simply to turn the podium over to them and ask them to "say something."
Have an actual conversation.
This is hard to do because it varies from company to company but there are a few guiding ideas to start with. What does a conversation between your audience and your company sound like?
Does it make sense to ask them their story? If you're a Center for Troubled Teens it might. If you're a paper company it doesn't. A paper company's conversation might involve the paper company giving advice on how to tell which thickness is best for presentations or their audience asking for advice on recycling.
The tone of the conversation should determine the placement.
If you're a music store or a celebrity magazine, having that conversation on Facebook would be fitting while the paper company might want to have their conversation on a social community for young professionals or entrepreneurs.


~ Caitlin

Keeping Your Job, When No One Else Is

Within the last few weeks, Ebay and Yahoo have both laid off 10% of their workforces. This trend is being reflected in local markets as well and my e-mail box is starting to swell with friends and acquaintances looking for a great place to work. Scary right?
So how do we help to ensure that our jobs will be safe through the current and possibly upcoming turbulence in the jobforce?

Forbes published a good article on it recently, but here's some highlights and my 2 cents.

1) Be indispensable: Help bring new things to your job instead of doing the status quo. Can you learn about blogs and lead the company blog? Is there a new sales process you think would save the company money? Now's the time to speak up.

2) Maintain your contacts: Do not forget to be aware of your connections' accomplishments, birthdays, etc. When it comes to bringing in new business, word of mouth is still the best way.

3) If you're working just for the money, don't show it. Clock punchers are always in the first round of layoffs.

4) If you are on the other side and doing the hiring: Hire Slow. Make sure that the position that you are hiring for cannot be pieced apart and completed by others in the company. If you don't grow too fast, you may avoid the layoffs altogether.

~ Caitlin

Can Social Media and Advertisers Play Nice?

I've been thinking a lot lately about the fact that as soon as something great gets popular, it gets ruined. Bands that you found before they were on the radio, clothing you wore before it was a huge trend, and now, blogs you used to read every day that are now overrun with advertising.
My latest gripe is with Mashable. It used to be my go-to blog. I told everyone I met about Mashable. It's writer's were interesting and let loose their issues with Twitter and anything else. The writer's are still great but I have noticed a distinct change in the flavor of Mashable lately and I do believe it has to do with the explosion in size, and yes, advertising.
How will we add sponsored content without ruining the integrity of the blog/site? I think it has to do with the gatekeepers of those sites/blogs staying firm in their original motivations to start blogging in the first place. It also means that advertisers have to add sponsored content that FITS with the flow of the site.
Then again, there are always going to be new bands and blogs that we can turn to when we need "something new and unspoiled". I can't say I have the final answer on this one yet but it does seem that the two will need to learn to work with each other in a more productive way.

~ Caitlin

Banner Blindness

Jacob Nielson has come out this week and said what I think a lot of people suspect: That not only do people not LIKE banner ads, they don't even see them.
It's a pretty strong statement, and one that I happen to agree with. Even if I see a banner that has a cool image or slogan, chances are I won't remember what company it was associated with. What worries me about this statement is it's implications for us in social media, our friends at agencies, and those in the web design business. What exactly is making people "blind" to banner ads? In my opinion, I suspect it's the placement of the content as well as the messaging. People are just getting wise to where we are placing ads and are ignoring all content in those areas. General audiences may not be familiar with the terms "leaderboard" or "skyscraper ads" but they do know where they sit on a web page. Think about it, if you click to just about any site it's obvious almost immediately what content is advertising and what is the meat of the site.
The solution? Advertisers will have to change messaging and placement if they want to get back in the line of site of their audiences.

~ Caitlin

What's Going On With Facebook Ad Targeting?

I love Facebook. I spend an embarrassing amount of time checking up on what old friends are doing, updating my pictures, and just "surfing around". As a person, I think it's great. As a part of a social media firm I think there are a few things that companies should remember about Facebook.
When it comes to Facebook, people aren't there to see ads, they are there for information and content from other people which presents a problem for advertisers eager to get their content viewed. When I go to Facebook and a fashion ad pops up, I'm unlikely to click through because I'm not on Facebook to talk to a fashion company. Similarly, if I'm on a fashion social community, and a fashion ad pops up then I am much more likely to engage with them and see them less as a distraction.
Does every company need a Facebook page? Well, that all depends on the way you want to communicate with your audience. Just because you want to reach moms and some of them happen to be on Facebook doesn't mean that you should use that method to engage them. Maybe moms want to hear from your company in a setting where they can read reviews from other moms. Maybe the moms you want to reach are taking blogs very seriously or are watching videos.
My point is this: it's becoming important in social media to not only consider where your audience is online but what they are doing in those places and how it relates to your company. Facebook is a huge cluster made up of many demographics but certainly isn't the only place that people are gathering online.

- Caitlin