During a Ragan Communications conference, a “mock” panel was held to persuade a wary CEO, Mark Ragan, to begin to use social media platforms for his company. Among the panel were David Biesack, Shel Holtz, Vida Killian, Terry McKenzie and Jim Ylisela. (The recording of the discussion can be found here.) Mark Ragan expressed “concerns and objections around the adoption of social media communication channel.”

After listening, I found that the panel had logical comebacks for each concern Ragan presented. Here are some of the things that caught my attention:

~ Through a relationship, you can listen to your customers needs. If they feel as though you are listening to what they are saying about your service or product, they will want to stay with your product and company.

~ People want to hear the views from the employees of the company and what they are doing within the company. Everything from negative things to positive things.

~ Blogging = building relations. They become personal to the company. Not only for customers but also for the employees. It allows them to get to know the company.

~ Blogging can be a channel to correct mistakes by a company or reporter. Instead of going through the long process to fix a misunderstanding, any social media channel can quickly bridge the long time gap it would take to fix otherwise.

~ Transparency is letting the customers see the company. Understanding your customer is priceless. Transparency gives you the opportunity to respond to any kind of feedback. Building publicity through transparency will create trust because you’re being open.

~ The use of social media platform create an open door policy: accessibility. Continue to try new things.

Honestly, what surprised me the most out of the whole podcast was how prepared the panelists were to answer the questions that Ragan asked. Because the answers were simple but held such depth to persuading the “CEO” to use social media.

What I would like to know more about is if there are CEOs out there, which I am sure there are, that still need convincing to tap into the social media revolution. By this time, since it is no longer a fad but the way we communicate, they must see the results of companies that are using these outlets.

Listen to the recording and I would like to hear your thoughts!

As a student, I enjoy attending these meeting because it gives me the opportunity to get to know professionals, allows me to volunteer for different events and PR related work, and shows me potential jobs I could have upon graduation.

This month’s speaker was Jim DeGannaro who is Senior Marketing Manager for Central Florida Development Council. He delivered a very animated and interactive presentation on “Marketing to People in the Social Media Era.” He offered some great tips on how to creatively impress clients. Here is a few of some great things he shared:

1. Listen to you client. “No man ever listened himself out of a job.” – Calvin Coolidge 

2. Do the research. Know what your client does and involved in; these facts can leave a valuable impression.

3. Get to know people. It’s not about how a company comes together as much as it is about how people come together. Network, network, network.

4. Notecards, chocolates, and flowers. Any gift will impress and make anyone feel important: especially in business.

5. Most important: In all the social media things, don’t forget the human element.

Thank you, Jim!

For more information on FPRA, visit www.fpra.org.

I find myself in group #2. As much as I wish I could be in group #1, that competitive attitude and infatuation with sports does not run in my DNA. I’ve never been a gung-ho sports fan. I enjoy the appetizers and hanging out with the others that fall into my own category. Cheering when there’s a touchdown (for the team that we just “feel like” rooting for, that is.) Watching the commercials is what we look forward to. And while many of them were funny of inspiring, the one I enjoyed the most was the M&M commercial, advertising their new brown shelled pieces. Represent: Ms. Brown.

Everyone loves candy; therefore, the advertisement would appeal to anyone. Especially chocoholics! With a touch of humor, it was classic with the voices behind the personality filled M&M characters.

What do you think?

“Your brand is whatever your customers say it is.” ~ Groundswell, page 78

For my PR class, I am reading through Groundswell by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff. Chapter 5 caught my attention because it was expressing the fact that companies need to listen to their customers. Before communicating and influencing an audience, you need to listen.

"Groundswell" from forrester.com

If your brand really is what your customers are saying, it is essential to listen to what they are saying. Marketers come in with a backward view. They “brand” the brand. They want to own it. But the problem is, they may put out so much information that attracts consumers but they need to make sure that information is keeping the customers attention. This is where listening comes in.

Here is an example of listening:

In essence what they may be projecting really may be great. But what is the response?

Within the chapter, it discussed the different ways companies will go about trying to find out what their consumers are thinking. “They call it market research.”

Companies will spend millions a year conducting research. Research to find out all kinds of information about the product and customer relationship. How many people are buying the product? What demographic is being reached the most? The questions are endless. The negative side: “Syndicated research is a valuable tool for mapping rends, but it can’t tell you what people are thinking.”

So, surveys are conducted. Questionnaires are sent out to users. They ask a plethora of questions and get the response. Again, it is expensive. But surveys aren’t helpful in a way because you, as a company, may have left out the most important question.

Lastly, focus groups are put together. A small group will come into the company and be questioned about the product. The downside of focus groups is that a limited number of people are speaking for a large audience.

“Those research methods are designed to answer questions, not to tap into consumer insights.” ~ page 80

This is where the Groundswell comes in and can help a company listen to what their customers are actually saying. Whether a positive or negative response, the Groundswell is helpful because it allows an organization to finally tap into the information they’ve been looking for as a company.

Chick-fil-a‘s Twitter account is a great example of how the company is interacting with their customers across the social media platform: Twitter. They listen to what there consumers are saying about the service and product and respond. Whether its a negative experience or asking a question, Chick-fil-a values what their customers are saying.

The only problems with the Groundswell when it comes to listening is that a vast amount of information is out there  and a company will only hear from those who want to talk across all the social media outlets. Therefore there are two listening strategies:

1. Set up your own private community.

2. Begin brand monitoring.

Socious is a great example of a company that provides a service to help organizations create these online communities to better their communication.

For more information on the real power of listening, what it means to you, and more, check out Groundswell by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff. 

nyc PR girls. 2/1/12. Post: “The Perfect Follow-up” written by Adrianna

I agree. What’s a good time frame to wait before you send a follow-up email or phone call? The media are probably getting follow up emails and phone calls constantly. What are some ways to stand out? Great advice for following up on pitches though.

Blog Comment #2

PR Daily. 2/1/12. Post: “10 Ways to be a Dream PR Intern” written by Jessica Levco

Thank you for these tips! I will soon be doing my internship and it’s always refreshing to here on tips to survive the internship. I hope to learn not only from the work in my internship but also from the professionals around me. Tapping into their knowledge will only benefit me in the end.

Blog Comment #3

PRestigious. 2/15/12. Post: “Valentine’s Day: Social Media/Southeastern University/Chartwell’s Style” written by Taylor Flumerfelt

My favorite was the M&M commercial advertising their new brown chocolate shell. I thought it was cute and witty. The eTrade commercials were funny as well and at the top of my list. I think their commercials are ones that peoples look forward to watching when a new one comes out. In a sense they branded their commercials by using the babies. I think if they stopped viewers would be disappointed.

"Social Media Monitoring" from socialmediainfluence.com

With all the social media outlets that are used in our world today, companies want and need to know what their consumers are saying about them. Hence as a marketing strategy, they will monitor what their customers are saying so they can improve their product or service. But where do we draw the line? People are so open about what they are saying online but they still want a level of privacy. What are the ethical procedures to be taken with this kind of information?

The problem is, is that there are any really. There is no set standard of ethics. While it can be super beneficial for a company to know what its customer is saying, it can also be an invasion of “privacy” for an individual. Even though all the information that is publicly published online is permanently there for the everyone to see, an individual should be careful what he posts, since it can be used.

What a company needs to keep in mind is that they need to be sensitive to what they do with the information they find through social media monitoring. Use the information from a total objective standpoint.

I think that Social Media Monitoring is a great way for companies to see what their consumers are saying about them. Watching all the mediums on which your customers are commenting on your products or services is important to the success of your company in a such a social media driven society.

The downside to this is that there is no code of ethics to charter a company in what they can do with the information that is publicly available to them. How they use it or how they can monitor what you are saying. An extremist would say this may someday lead to a loss of freedom of speech in a way. Because not far behind this movement of social media monitoring will be a code of ethics limiting what consumers can say or hoe companies can go about monitoring what their audiences are saying.

Co-Founder of Birchbox, Katia Beauchamp, shares about how Birchbox originated and how it has become a successful business. I have first-handedly experienced Birchbox. I thoroughly love their service and products. Enjoy this video!

Follow them on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Foursquare. 

"January Birchbox" via Emily Meade

GG: What is your top piece of advice for those looking to get into the PR / Social Media world?

CW: I have a few – do your research, network and intern!  I’ve met so many people who want to be in PR or social media, but don’t have the first clue as to what the space consists of or what a job would entail. Look at brands that you respond to because of their editorial coverage or their strides in social media. Take classes. Read everything.

No job is too small, and no contact should be forgotten. Keep in touch with everyone and establish meaningful relationships because both the PR and social media world are progressively contact and network driven. I hate to say it’s all about who you know, but to an extent, in these industries, it is.

"Picture Taking" from supercoloring.com

Pictures enhance the experience of reading. As a little girl, I would only read picture books; because it made the story that much better. All the other books with just pages of words were considered “boring.” That’s how most readers feel these days about reading online articles. To see a page of endless black font size 12 is overwhelming and easily looked over.

Pictures add to the reader’s interest. They capture attention. They leave a bigger impact than just the article itself. For these reasons it is important to include photos in a blog post. You want to captivate your readers. You want to be a reliable source of sparking interest to your audience.

But it can’t be just any picture. It has to be one that has the quality of catching the eye of even the best of readers. But as the writer, you have the power of choosing that photo. How to choose one with such integrity?

1. Choose one that is relevant to your article. The worst thing you can do is choose a picture that doesn’t have anything to do with your post. Even if its a great picture. Pick something that goes with the article.

2. Choose one that sparks interest. Sometimes a picture is all a reader needs to be drawn to reading your post.

3. Choose one that is from an unexpected angle. A witty photo can add interest to the article because it is an unexpected one.

REMEMBER: Give credit to the photos if they are not yours. There are certain pictures that have copyrights. You don’t want to use any photos that are not yours. But as the saying goes, “give credit to where credit is given.” Never use someone else’s photo without giving credit to the photographer or to where it was taken from. Because it would be include in a blog post, embedding the link would be helpful to give credit.