Deprecated: Assigning the return value of new by reference is deprecated in /home/marketing/www/whatthetweet/wp-settings.php on line 520

Deprecated: Assigning the return value of new by reference is deprecated in /home/marketing/www/whatthetweet/wp-settings.php on line 535

Deprecated: Assigning the return value of new by reference is deprecated in /home/marketing/www/whatthetweet/wp-settings.php on line 542

Deprecated: Assigning the return value of new by reference is deprecated in /home/marketing/www/whatthetweet/wp-settings.php on line 578

Deprecated: Function set_magic_quotes_runtime() is deprecated in /home/marketing/www/whatthetweet/wp-settings.php on line 18
social media & PR « What the *Tweet* is Social Media?

What the *Tweet* is Social Media?

Be a Social Media Rockstar | August 12, 2009 | St. Norbert College, De Pere, WI

Posts Tagged social media & PR

Step in to Social Media, but do it right…

May 20

Posted by Kiar Olson in Panelist, Post-event Follow-up, Speaker Notes, What the Tweet | No Comments

For all of you who made the What the Tweet event yesterday, it was a great event with lots of good information. The speakers were good and really gave some in depth information on how social media helps drive a brand, grow a category and work PR magic.

But, I had quite a few people approach me after the seminar and tell me they were still pretty bewildered. They seemed unsure how to best get their company or organization into SM without a lot of money or people to drive it.

So here is a few tips to help get you started.

1. Start small. If you want to just promote your brand, try starting a Fan page in Facebook based on who your target audience is or a Twitter blog that gives the latest product or industry tips that make you unique.

2. Focus. Keep to your core competencies and don’t try to be everything to everyone. People would rather see less frequent posts or tweets than lots of posts with too much fluff. Unless it’s the pistachio green fluff made with jello. That stuff is good all the time.

3. Have fun. This shouldn’t be something forced and trite. Your customers and audience will read your posts or tweets more often if you add humor or inject some of your own personality into your writing. Seriously, if I want to read your press release, I’ll click on it. But if you are talking about how you sneezed and drank an entire cup of coffee through your nose while writing that release, I’m so there. BTW, don’t do that unless you want to singe all the hair out of your nose.

Well, I hope this helps with any questions people may have. Dana and I are working on putting together some small group classes that will help businesses get a hands-on start in social media. If this is something that interests you, give Dana or myself a quick email or call.

Dana VanDen Heuvel - dana@marketingsavant.com - marketingsavant.com - 920-569-6535

Kiar Olson - kiar@goelement.com - goelement.com - 920-983-9700

Tags: , , , ,

Susan Finco of Leonard & Finco PR

May 19

Posted by Dana VanDen Heuvel in Speaker Notes | No Comments

Susan is the only “PR Only” public relations firm in the Green Bay area.  She’s got some very interesting results to share from a recent survey that they released recently.  [check out the results of the Leonard & Finco survey here]

56% of the business people that L&F surveyed use social media, and the rest, ou guessed it, they’re not. What’s really interesting is that the media, by and large, are using social media to conduct interviews, generate story ideas and keep up with the issues and organizations in the area.  So, what’s that mean? Well, if you’re seeking media attention for your organization, you’ll find the media hanging out in social media!

Networking (79%) seems to be the main area of social media success for northeast wisconsin business people.

An interesting tidbit from the survey that MarketingSavant did with the Chamber was the response from 31% that said that social media is “important but not critical”. 

Here’s the fascinating thing - nearly 90% of the survey members said that social media will be part of their future marketing plans!  Similarly, 87% believe that social media WILL impact the way that they business. At least most of us can agree on something.

100% (how often do you find that in stats) believe thst social media has a place in the business world. Whew. Glad we got that settled.

What does this all mean?

> Social media has been embraced by the media the cover you
> Younger, better educated folks have embraced social media, so you should too!
> Encourage your organization to learn all that it can about social media as soon as possible
> Sure, it’s still developing, but it’s developing rapidly.  The time to jump in is now.
> Put social media into your marketing plan, and make plans for social media

It’s imperative to understand that social media will be part of your brand. You react, respond converse and promote in traditional media and while there will be some transition, the right approach right now (and for the forseeable future) will be a blended/integrated approach.

Susan mentioned that ‘not every social media app is right for you’ but that doesn’t mean that you can ignore it. If you don’t blog, fine, but that won’t stop bloggers from talking about you.  You need to be aware engaged, even if you’re just observing.

Susan doesn’t advocate a hard core ’social media policy’, but as Pat said earlier, you need to have some training and some media understanding amongst your team members.

Tags: ,