Analysis of Social Media Management

Analysis of Social Media Management

A look at the integration of social media platforms

Background

·         In my graduate social media course with Marist College we were instructed to create accounts on Blogger, Twitter, and Pinterest.

·         Each week we were given a topic to discuss amongst our class and these discussions were executed through the blogs we created for the course (My blog: http://dc4sm.blogspot.com).

·         Using the social media platforms we created accounts with (Pinterest, Twitter, and a class Facebook page) we posted links to attract attention and generate traffic to our blogs.

·         Here, I analyze my social media management experience and the results of integrating blog posts with social media platforms.

Introduction

·         As a prior public relations professional, I have seen the growing importance of social media and how businesses are developing plans to utilize these platforms to reach their consumers.

·         As an entrepreneur and business woman, I am deciding which social media platforms work best for communicating and reaching my own customers and I have seen the impact that social media has firsthand.

·         My online websites have seen the most traffic and the most amount of purchases when my blog and social media platforms (especially Instagram) has a steady flow of content being produced.

·         Going into this course, I was eager to learn more about these platforms and to see what I could take away that would better help me manage my business' social media accounts and reach more customers.

Plans & Policies

·         With knowing firsthand how the use of social media can directly affect traffic to a website; I set out to increase traffic to not only my class blog but to my business’ blog and websites as well.

·         I wanted to gain a better understanding of the social media platforms that I already use (Facebook and Twitter) as well as new ones (Pinterest).

·         I most importantly sought to drive traffic to my class blog through these platforms.

·         On my business’ blog and websites I do not have any privacy policies posted, however after taking this course and especially learning about policies and security online, I will be implementing privacy policies on all of my websites.

·         To create the privacy policy for my class blog I used a free website called: http://freeprivacypolicy.com.

·         This site offers a generic privacy policy template and allows users to select the options that best suit their needs.

·         To view the privacy policy for my class blog, click here.

Activities

·         For each week’s blog post I “pinned” a pin along with a link to our class’ Pinterest board, I shared a tweet with a direct link to the post, and I shared a link on our class’ Facebook group wall. 

·         Halfway through the week I typically posted again to remind people to visit my blog and join in in the discussion that was underway (this included a link to the blog as well).

·         Lastly, I posted on the final day of the week with a similar reminder.

Analysis

·         Week four’s blog post entitled, “Social Media and your Target Audience” has been my class blog’s “most successful” blog post thus far (the above screenshots are from week 4 as well).

·         During week four I published my blog post earlier than usual (Tuesday instead of Wednesday) which afforded myself and my visitors an extra day of interaction and dialogue.

·         Below are my blog’s stats which for week four showcase a 45% increase in pageviews versus week three:

·         When it comes to my blog’s audience, the only information provided by Blogger is the country and operating system used (97% of visitors live in the U.S. and 30% use Google Chrome).

·         I’d love if Blogger developed the ability to provide more specific audience information such as age, income levels and professions.

Conclusion

·         Although, it might be difficult to clearly state that my blog’s traffic increased specifically because of my social media interactions; there does seem to be a strong enough correlation between the two to continue these practices.

·         The strategy of posting at least three times throughout week on these social networks seemed to offer the perfect balance between posting “just enough” and posting “too much”.

·         Moving forward I will definitely be taking what I’ve learned in this course and directly applying it to the marketing strategies I use for my two websites (The-Style-Closet.net & London-Rock.com).

·         The key to success is a constant flow of content production; which often times is relatively difficult for me to keep up with.

·         As a one-man-show it becomes difficult to post on several different social media outlets as well as a blog; however I know how important it is for not only meeting new customers but maintaining the relationships I have with my current customers as well. 

Securely, Social Media

Securely, Social Media

While the popularity of social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook and Instagram have grown exponentially in recent years so too has the intelligence of the “bad guys” of the internet; such as hackers and people seeking to steal other’s identities. With that in mind it is important to ensure that the profiles you create on these networks are secure.

Image from: makeseoeasy.net

In addition, as a result of the social networking explosion organizations both big and small have needed to develop social media policies for its employees to abide by. Although some companies have run into issues of violating section 7* of the NLRA (National Labor Relations Act) concepts that every social media policy should have include maintaining company confidentiality of trade secrets and private for confidential information the need to be respectful and fair to fellow associates, customers, members, or suppliers and restrictions of using social networks while at work and on work equipment (Herrin, 2012).

Your Social Media Security Checklist

This video gives a quick reference of three important things to do to ensure your security through your use of social media…

 

To ensure you are operating securely through your social networks you should…

1.       Be sure to have updated antivirus protection software on your computer (or other smart devices): Hackers can still send viruses to your computer through your social networking sites; these are often disguised in messages from your “friends” with shortened hyperlinks that hide the real web address.

2.       This leads me to my second point which is to second-guess messages from your “friends”: Just as your profile can be hacked, so can your friends and once their account is hacked, hackers will use their account to get to you.

3.       Always check your privacy settings: this is especially important because social networking sites can change their privacy settings at any time. It’s also equally important because the information you post is owned by the social networking site you post it to (DoD Social Networking training module).

4.       Less is secure: Don’t give too much information about yourself and your whereabouts. For instance if you post that you will be out of town for a week on vacation someone could easily take that as a tip and break into your home while you are gone (DoD Social Networking training module).

5.       Beware of GPS: Be cautious when downloading apps that use GPS to automatically post your location to your profile. Allowing people to know your exact location makes you vulnerable to physical harm.

6.       Do Not Post Personal Information: To maintain truly secure social networking profiles you’ll want to avoid posting your email address, phone number, birth year, hometown, employer, educational background, and family members as hackers can use this information to fill out paperwork with your information (DoD Social Networking training module).

Making the Change

Taking poor security measures on your social media outlets can lead to hackers, identity theft, property theft, and even physical harm. Consider this: 24% of Americans say they are not at all confident in their ability to use privacy settings and 15% of Americans have never checked their social networking privacy and security account settings (internetsafety101.org). If you are one of those people that have not taken the time to adjust your privacy settings and review the policies of the social networking sites you use I urge you to do so now (See below for links to check your current social media security). You might be surprised at what you find.

Take a look at this video from internet prankster, Jake Vale; it might seem funny in the video but it really shows how easily someone can physically find you and information about you through your social networks.

Security Check

Blogger (blog): https://support.google.com/blogger/answer/42673?hl=en

Twitter: https://support.twitter.com/articles/14016-about-public-and-protected-tweets

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/pin/136445063681977550/

Facebook: http://www.yahoo.com/tech/you-better-watch-out-how-to-set-up-your-facebook-70505754667.html

* Section 7 of the NLRA establishes that employees may confer with one another about their wages and other terms of employment and may take ”concerted” action in an effort to improve their working conditions (Burke, 2013)

References

Burke, L. (2013, August 13). The nlrb strikes down employer policies on social media and the confidentiality of complaint investigations. Retrieved from http://www.insideprivacy.com/social-media/the-nlrb-strikes-down-employer-policies-on-social-media-and-the-confidentiality-of-complaint-investi/

Cluley, G. (2012). Sophos security threat report - social networks [Web]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJCDSxQZGYw

Herrin, B. (2012, June). National labor relations board posts template social media policy. Retrieved from http://www.legalhimformation.com/articles/pdfs/HIM2012-06.pdf

Social media statistics. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.internetsafety101.org/Socialmediastats.htm

Vale, J. (Performer) (2013). Social media experiment [Web]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5P_0s1TYpJU

 

 

 

Social Media and Your Target Audience

 

Everytime you show up, you’re marketing yourself

-Scott Stratten

This is precisely what David Meerman Scott explains in Chapter Four of his book, The New Rules of Marketing & PR; Social Media and Your Target Audience. When you first hear such a title your mind immediately thinks that the chapter is going to focus on HOW to reach your target audience or even how to FIND your target audience. On the contrary, the chapter focuses more on how and where companies should be engaging with its target audience online. First, Scott makes it a point to specify the difference between social media and social networking,

 

THE WEB = A CITY, SOCIAL MEDIA = A COCKTAIL PARTY

For the few who find it difficult to understand “online life”, it may be eye-opening to think of the web as a city and social media as a cocktail party. For instance:

-          Corporate sites are the storefronts on Main Street

-          Craigslist is the bulletin board at the entrance of a corner store

-          eBay, a garage sale

-          Amazon, a superstore

-          Mainstream media sites like New York Times are the newspapers of the city

-          Social media and the way people interact on blogs, forums, and social network are the bars, private clubs, and cocktail parties of the city

If you follow this analogy then you would agree that, “The popular people on the cocktail circuit make friends. People like to do business with people they like. And they are eager to introduce their friends to each other. The same trends hold true in social media” (Scott, pg. 55).

WHAT ARE THEY SAYING ABOUT YOU? AND WHAT ARE YOU DOING ABOUT IT?

 

The rest of this chapter on Social Media and Your Target Audience focuses heavily on the importance of being aware of what people are saying about your business via these social media sites and how your business should react or interact in response. Ignoring what your customers are saying on these platforms is ‘hazardous to your brand’.

Sony BMG, for example found this out the hard way when the company reacted not only slowly but via the wrong mediums in response to backlash the company received in surrounding new software used on music CDs. Mark Russinovich blogged about it and very quickly after several consumers commented on his post with things like, “I SAY BOYCOTT THE BASTARDS” (Jack3617).  Five days after Mark’s blog post Sony BMG’s global digital business president Thomas Hesse went on NPR’s Morning Edition to defend the company. According to Scott, “The choice of radio as a forum to react to a storm of protest on the web was a poor one.” Sony later released a statement offering an exchange program, but it was too late to stop the law suits. Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott sued Sony BMG under the state’s 2005 spyware law; and more law suits followed soon after.

As a marketer it is crucial to be an active participant in the communities that your markets are a part of. It isn’t enough to simply post only when you have a sale or promotion or to comment only about your products or services. Marketers will find it beneficial to monitor what’s being said (Hello Google Alerts!) and when and if a company becomes the center of a heated discussion a representative needs to jump in with a response.

The internet is like a massive focus group…

- David Meerman Scott

Is Your Social Media Strategy Relevant to Your Target Audience? Click Here to find out.

Death by Social Media

We hear stories of kids being bullied not only in school but via social media platforms as well. Some of which have been pushed to the brink of committing suicide and some of those have even created suicide videos that have seen upwards of one million views. It's sad but it's a harsh reality in our voyeurtistic, social media obsessed world.

Director Joselito, Altarejos (Angkulet.com, 2010)

 Recently a Filipino film director, Joselito Altarejos, revealed his film entitled, "Unfriend" at the Berlin Film Festival, with a story line (based on a true event) centered on a gay 15-year-old's heartbreak and obsession with social media that resulted in the 2011 shopping mall shooting. Altarejos told Reuters, "A 13-year-old boy killed his boyfriend and killed himself inside a mall. The video was uploaded on Facebook. I promised myself I would do something about it. I would show people how social media has changed the way we live our lives, how we have become performers, and how social media has also made us voyeurs and exhibitionists."

'Unfriend' video teaser

Click here to read the full Reuters article. 

Have any of you come across anything on social media like this, whether you were actually one of the million people that watched a suicide video, a fight  or bully video, or even something as simple as a status update? What do you think we can do to make social media safer and teach teenagers and young children about using social media safely? 

Forum Discussion Week Three: Strategy

This week's discussion circles around the importance of strategic communication planning. Argenti, Howell and Beck define strategic communication as communication aligned with the company's overall strategy, to enhance its strategic positioning. Dennis Moynihan, Chief of Information for the U.S. Navy, seconds that notion by stating, "When planning to use social media you should first consider how social media fits into your overall communication strategy. Your approach to social media should be complementary to your other communication efforts." I too believe that a company's communication strategy should link back to the company's overall strategy; if not then what are you really communicating to your publics? With consumers becoming harder to reach by the old ways of marketing and with the increase in consumer social media usage, the importance of integration is more important now than ever. To ensure strategic integration across platforms companies need to develop plans. I say plans as plural because there need to be several different plans, short-term, medium-term, and long-term.

As a public relations practitioner my team and I would create calendars based off of our clients marketing calendars. These calendars would span for the entire year and would break down by each month and then each week. Monthly plans would tie together with new product launches as well as events that occur that month for example, February we all know is Valentine's Day so we would plan outreach geared towards Valentine's Day at least three months ahead to secure timely placement in the media. On a weekly (short-term) level we would plan the content of our social media Tweets and Facebook status updates etc. Short-term planning also included being abreast of what was happening in the news which would include things such as, ‘How to achieve looks from last night’s episode of Mad Men’, or ‘Avoid looking like an Umpa Lumpa like Lindsey Lohan and use this sunless tanning product’. Without a strategic communication plan you run the risk of things being left on the table, missed opportunities. 

Kevin Rollins, CEO of Dell, says, “You have to modify messages by constituency. Which elements of the overall strategy do you want to discuss with which constituent? The communication function breaks strategy into pieces and sells the right pieces to the right audiences.”  Once the company has established its overall strategy then it can determine what to communicate to its marketers, its employees, the media, etc; while still delivering a cohesive and integrated message. 

Resources

Argenti, P., Howell, R., & Beck, K. (2005). The strategic communication imperative. Retrieved from https://www.dartmouth.edu/~opa/communicators/fall08/reading/Sloan_MIT_Strat_Comm_Imp.pdf

Moynihan, D. (2011, July 25). Social media handbook for navy paos. Retrieved from http://www.slideshare.net/USNavySocialMedia/sm-handbook-print

Our first assignment.

At the end of our second week we needed to turn in a 4-5 page paper that talked about the history of social media. Here's an excerpt from my paper:

It was a sound we can all relate to, the loud humming and crackling of the AOL internet dial-up system. I was in seventh grade, an only child with parents who worked long hours. I would race home and eagerly turn on the computer to hear that sound; a sound that connected me to an outside world, a world where I felt like I was a part of a group. My go-to online hangout was a chat room through the ever popular 90’s boy group Dru Hill’s website; my screen name was the name of my favorite song at the time, Lie Detector by Mya. A “beep” followed by the words, “lie_detector has entered the chat room” and I was in. I was immediately greeted by my online friends, “LIEEEEEEEEE”, “Hey LIE”, “What’s up LIE” and so began my early stages of social media interaction.  

What do you remember about using AOL in its "You've Got Mail" hay-day?