The Business of Social Media: Three Ways to Rethink Your Social Performance
Any business can throw up a Facebook page or create a Twitter handle and have a presence in the social media space, but the organizations that truly succeed are the ones that are actually present in the social media space. Being present means managing the community on a day-to-day basis and approaching the community with the understanding that their needs come first.
It used to be that businesses were asking, “What is a community manager and how do I find one?” Now, however, the question is more along the lines of, “What can make our good community great?” Here are three ways you can instantly elevate your social media presence:
1. Lose the 24/7 Marketing Messages
One of the easiest ways to turn-off community members is to abuse the marketing messages. We’ve all seen them – the brands that market more than they converse – and we’ve all chosen to hide them from our news feed or unfollow them. Remember that when you’re playing in the social media space, you are there by invitation only. This isn’t television, where a rabid fan of a show will sit through commercials to pass the time. This time around, companies are invited into personal space and it is important to be respectful of that, or they risk being shut out with a simple click of the mouse.
2. Take the Heat or Get Out of the Kitchen
I once worked for a large corporation that only allowed their community managers to respond to direct questions. Saying “thanks,” or even, “I am not sure, but I’ll get back to you,” was a no-no in their eyes. Fortunately for me, I had a boss who understood that this was the exact opposite of a best practice, and he let me use my best judgment. When I started responding within minutes of a post, or even just thanking a fan for a compliment, the engagement rates for that company shot up by double digits.
This same rule applies to negative comments. 95% of the time, a Negative Nancy just wants to be heard. Simply letting them know their feedback is valuable (and it is!), and was heard by a real person will stop the complaint from escalating, and in many cases can turn a potentially negative brand experience into a positive one. Ignoring negative feedback? That’s SO 2010. If you’re going to play in the social media sandbox, then you better be ready to interact, respond, listen, and learn. Social media is a space where you have to commit. You can’t just show up some of the time and expect results.
3. Be Fearless
If you think about all of the brands that make the news in social, you’ll soon realize that the one major thing they have in common is that they’re fearless. My favorite example is Domino’s Pizza. They’ve used social media to entirely reinvent themselves over the course of the last 18 months. Not many companies are willing to put their CEO in front of consumers to communicate a brand message. Domino’s did and it paid off both financially and from the perspective of credibility. They created an experience for their consumers that allowed for a two-way conversation, not just a one-way marketing push. By stepping outside the comfort zone of traditional media, businesses can make big things happen for them in social media.
The Business of Social Media: Three Ways to Rethink Your Social Performance by @annabelleblue bit.ly/IPSM3 #engage #social
— Intrapromote (@intrapromote) February 2, 2012
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Managing Your Personal & Professional Social Profiles (Part 3)
Join our own @MaryLeeS as she discusses how Social Media Privacy is really now Search Privacy bit.ly/IPSocMed2 ^MLS #privacy
— Intrapromote (@intrapromote) January 25, 2012
Part Three: Social Media Privacy has morphed into Search Privacy
This post is the third in a five part series addressing the management of one’s personal and professional social media profiles. (Did you miss Part 1 and/or Part 2?)
Most of us are quite familiar with Facebook and its ever changing Privacy Settings. We know that every time there is a Facebook update, we need to go in and deactivate whatever changes they made arbitrarily – we know the drill. But when is the last time you updated your Google Profile? Have you delved into your Google+ Privacy settings? What about your other Social Media profiles? Why does it matter?
Last week, Linda O’Neill discussed Intrapromote’s POV on Google Search Plus Your World with Erik Dafforn. In what Erik describes as “One of the most dramatic changes to search results in years”, Google has significantly increased the input of certain social signals for certain users. What does this have to do with Privacy? Depending upon how you have your privacy settings set up on your social media accounts, your profiles will be showing up more prominently in Google Search Results than ever.
Take this quick search for Intrapromote’s illustrious President, Erik Dafforn, as an example:
You will notice the following:
- Erik’s Google+ profile shows up in instant search results
- Erik’s LinkedIn & Twitter accounts are listed prominently
With Google having the largest market share (66.6% in December 2011) by far, it is important to take a closer look at your Google Profile Privacy settings.
First of all, if you want Personal Results to show up in your Search results on Google, you do have to opt in. You may do this in your Search Settings as seen below.
Now that you have Personal Results turned on for Search, what is the easiest way to manage all of your different profiles? Fortunately, Google has Google Dashboard to manage all of your profiles associated with Google products. From your Google Dashboard you may currently manage settings for your Google Profile, Google Analytics, Android Devices, Android Market, Blogger, Buzz (yes it’s still listed!), Calendar, Chrome, Contacts, Docs, Friend Connect, Gmail, Google Music, Google+, iGoogle, Latitude, Picasa Web Albums, Reader, Google Talk, Google Chat, Google Voice, YouTube and any other Google product that you may have signed up for!
Check out this video about the Google Dashboard below:
Google Privacy also has a YouTube channel, which is a great resource for further information on the topic.
Although Google related profiles are very important, that is not all you need to look at. As we found with our search of Erik above, LinkedIn and Twitter profiles regularly rank high in search results.
Especially in regards to business, LinkedIn is a profile that most of us would WANT to show up in search results. LinkedIn has a newly re-designed settings page with privacy options prominently displayed as shown below:
When it comes to Twitter, it really depends upon what you are using Twitter for (personal vs. professional). Twitter does not have a lot of privacy features aside from protecting your tweets from public view. As a good rule of thumb, never Tweet anything that you would not want seen by the world (including employers and journalists). You never know when a national publication may pick up and quote your tweet on a subject and always assume potential employers are searching for your Twitter account to review. In Part 1 of this series, there’s a good example of how this can backfire on you — especially if potential employers or customers are using tools like Rapportive.
And don’t leave out your new Social Media accounts as well! It is generally a good practice to search out privacy settings in each network when you first set up your account. You may have caught Intrapromote’s Katie Hehn and her recent blog post about Creating a Unique Brand on Pinterest. Interestingly, Pinterest has just one Privacy Setting and it is all about Search!
How you have your privacy settings set on your social media profiles is now more important than ever. After all, you will probably prefer that a potential employer find your polished LinkedIn profile over your Milli Vanilli Fan Pinboard….”Girl you know it’s true!”
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Google Search Plus Your World POV Discussion with Erik Dafforn
Find out what our own @erikdafforn calls “One of the most dramatic changes to search results in years!” bit.ly/IPSEO1
— Intrapromote (@intrapromote) January 19, 2012
Google is at it again.
Last week, Google launched an update to its search results that relies heavily on social factors – primarily from its own social media channel, Google Plus.
Here at Intrapromote, we like word pictures and analogies. We asked our pundits onstaff to describe their word picture for this latest Google update.
“Imagine you’ve just learned to ride a bike. Now imagine taking a wild spin on your bike … overcorrecting on the turns and then refining what you are going to do with your new found toys and discovering how more of the world opened up to you as you built your first social networks.”
Okay, maybe it’s not that dramatic and certainly not as nostalgic, but these changes are certainly as much fun if you can articulate what it means to get the most out of changes as the evolution continues.
We took the opportunity to discuss this update with our very own Erik Dafforn, President and Director of Search at Intrapromote, to hear his preliminary thoughts, reactions and recommendations for clients.
What Is It?
Erik explains the Google unveiling as “…one of the most dramatic changes to search results in years”.
“One of the most dramatic changes to search results in years!”
Erik continues by sharing how Google has significantly increased the input of certain social signals for certain users. Here is an encapsulated version of the changes:
- In applying the concept of Personal Results, consider recall of a post you read on Google Plus but could never find again because you forgot who posted it and the key terms from the headline. If you are logged into your Google account, you will still see traditional search results and can now “opt in” to see Personal Results from your default Google Plus search engine.
- Profiles in Search isn’t new but Google Plus profiles will now appear in the autocomplete box to get you to recognize other Google Plus users, and get them added to circles more quickly than before. Remember, users will need to be logged into Google to see these results.
- There is nothing like getting served the world on a platter. Now, People in Pages helps identify the Google Plus Profiles of people and organizations that relate to your query, and makes it easy to add them to your circles.
How Relevant Will These Results Be?
Just like with our newfound bike or skateboard, navigating the neighborhood to expand our social networks, Erik says, “…the algorithm is out for a wild spin” and goes on to predict the search giant “…will likely take some time to refine how it’s scoring personalized results.”
“The algorithm is out for a wild spin”
This results change has already fueled complaints of Google favoring its own properties over more relevant third-party results.
What Does This Mean For Users?
Google’s most recent release is more important for its symbolism than for its actual results but unequivocally underscores the importance of certain tactics in overall Search Engine Optimization and Social Media Optimization.
Want To Learn More?
Simply contact us. We’ll be happy to answer any question you have and share with you our complete POV document. We can create a strategy that will maximize your company’s presence on Google and Google Plus.
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SOPA: Will There Be Censorship of the Internet in the United States?
#SOPA: Did you realize it’s the same Internet censorship the US State Depart fights in Iran, China & Syria?bit.ly/IPSOPA
— Intrapromote (@intrapromote) January 18, 2012
If you visit a handful of popular websites today, like research giant Wikipedia, you’re going to see that the entire English-speaking portion of the site has gone dark for 24 hours to protest the Stop Online Piracy Act that was introduced into the U.S. House of Representatives on October 26, 2011. Better known as SOPA (or as some say, the “internet censorship bill”), the introduced measures, if passed, would allow the Department of Justice (DOJ), as well as copyright holders, to seek court orders against websites accused of playing any role in copyright infringement.
Online piracy is undoubtedly a problem for many copyright holders, but SOPA is far from a solution. Even the author of the bill, Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) came under fire last week when Vice contributor Jamie Lee Curits Taete pointed out that Smith himself violated the provisions of the proposed legislation for failing to give proper attribute to artwork that was used on the Representative’s official website. Since, the artwork has been removed and the website has been updated.
Beyond the difficulty of policing intellectual property, critics of the legislation point out significant flaws, including one of the original provisions, which would allow blocking DNS requests for any sites that were deemed to be hosting content illegally. This is the same internet censorship that the U.S. State Department constantly fights against in Iran, China, and Syria. Lamar Smith’s office released a statement last week, however, saying that the DNS provision should be removed from the bill until further examination.
So what exactly would it mean for businesses and websites if SOPA were to come to fruition?
First of all, the implications to search engine results and social media sites are substantial. Vint Cerf, a Vice President at Google, put it this way in a letter to CNet, ”Requiring search engines to delete a domain name begins a worldwide arms race of unprecedented ‘censorship’ of the Web,” implying that the cure for online piracy may be much worse than the disease.
Major companies including Google, Facebook, and Twitter sent a joint letter to Congress, stating “We support the bills’ stated goals – providing additional enforcement tools to combat foreign ‘rogue’ Web sites that are dedicated to copyright infringement or counterfeiting. However, the bills as drafted would expose law-abiding U.S. Internet and technology companies to new uncertain liabilities, private rights of action and technology mandates that would require monitoring of Web sites.”
Further, the proposed SOPA legislation does more than just try to stop online piracy. Instead, it removes a core tennet of the American justice system, due process. Under SOPA, a court order can shut down any site and force any search engine to stop sending traffic to the site before a full investigation can take place. It could potentially allow the companies with the deepest pockets to control what content you are allowed to read and share on the web and on sites like Facebook. Taken a step further, it could even contend that an individual simply re-tweeting without appropriate attribution could be held legally liable for damages.
So what do you think about SOPA? How would it impact your business or the way you interact online? Would you continue to share photos on Facebook?
Learn More About SOPA:
- Infographic on SOPA
- List of companies that support SOPA from the House Judiciary Committee
- Complete Guide to Contacting Your Representative about SOPA
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Paid, Earned, Owned & Shared is No Longer Enough
Paid, Earned, Owned & Shared is No Longer Enough by @annabelleblue bit.ly/xMkeT6 via @intrapromote
— Intrapromote (@intrapromote) January 5, 2012
A few years ago, typing the name of a favorite product into a search engine would often result in seeing the homepage for said product in the number one spot.
Simple enough.
Today, however, searching that same product often results in the user being inundated with choices, many of them links to social media channels of that product. Many times, the home page will still be in the top spot, but the searcher may now opt to visit a social media site ranked above the fold, such as a Facebook page, for the best, most accessible information. Currently, two of the top five search results for our company are social media channels.
Paid | Earned | Owned | Shared + Searched
More and more businesses are starting to understand that it is no longer enough to just go through the motions of Paid | Earned | Owned | Shared in the digital marketplace. The integration of search engine optimization with social media is not all that new, in that search engines have been using social signals to influence their rankings for the last few years. Yet it has only been since the last half of 2011 that most digitally-savvy marketers and social strategists have truly blended their social media efforts with those in the SEO space.
One reason social signals, such as a multitude of “likes” or a tweet being re-tweeted hundreds of times, are so important to search engines is credibility. Recommendations from peers and social groups tell search engines that your content is cared about and provides them with tangible value, similar to the way that high authority inbound links can increase your rankings in Google. Think of it not so much as an algorithm, but a new twist on word-of-mouth marketing. The more active the interaction in the social channels, the more potential for search results to be impacted.
Useful social content, such as videos, blog posts, or podcasts, that isn’t found via search is a lost opportunity.
For a long time, marketers and salespeople were focused only on what social media data could provide them in terms of insight – demographics, spending habits, and ad performance, for example.
But that approach leaves out a major component of the overall digital experience.
Here at Intrapromote, we utilize the Paid | Earned | Owned | Shared model for social media optimization, but with the additional benefits of “Searched.” Blending search into the equation means providing a holistic approach to both search engine optimization (SEO) campaigns and social media optimization (SMO) campaigns.
Businesses that utilize an integrated search methodology in their social strategy see higher conversions, better engagement rates and benefits that trickle down into their other areas of focus, such as new customer acquisition. Useful social content, such as videos, blog posts, or podcasts, that isn’t found via search is a lost opportunity.
At the end of the day, regardless of what the goal is, both SEO and SMO should be working together to not only deliver marketing results, but to deliver search results, as well.
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What Makes Good SEO Conversation?
I just recently overheard a comment of someone saying, “Content used to be king – Conversation is the new king”. While I don’t entirely agree with the statement, I think it brings up a great point.
With the rise of social factors creeping their way into search engine results pages, the conversations that are happening on social networks are going to have a greater and greater impact on what you see when you search.
For many people, having a great conversation can excite, inspire and bring happiness to everyone involved. Think about it. At night we gather around a fire or a bar or at a friend’s house to enjoy great conversation. As comments are passed back and forth, it’s often the most unique, insightful or hilarious comment that is remembered and repeated from that night onward. Conversely, think of the looks you’d get if you simply repeated everything the person next to you said. Would anyone remember? Nope. So you can see how the social interactions we have in real life have begun to mimic how we act and react on social networks.
If there’s a chance your website will get a boost in rankings from people “Like”ing or “+1”ing it, why not focus on increasing those metrics?
This may sound like a simple question, but it’s an important one especially if you’re working on increasing the number of “Like”s: “WHY would anyone “Like” my site?” The common sense answer: they “Like” the content on your site and hopefully, they’re willing to converse about it. Social media cannot exist without people posting unique content to spark the conversation.
If conversing in the real world parallels over to social media, then some of the same rules apply.
Know who you’re talking to and what you’re talking about – Vanessa Fox of Search Engine Land just recently did a presentation on how search personas help target specific audiences in the online world. SEOMOZ also just did a great Whiteboard Friday discussing this topic. Are you using search personas to understand your audience?
Ask questions – If you’re uncertain about how the visitors to your site may react to a change or a new piece of content, create a side-bar survey that allows users to give feedback on what they liked / disliked. Look at the comments from users and most importantly, respond and keep asking questions and seeking input.
Listen! – Social media helps your customers and users speak their mind. Listen and you will be rewarded with long-term customers that stay with you for a lifetime. Our very own Linda O’Neill did a great piece on how to listen to your customers on social media.
So has content been demoted? Not at all – if anything content and social have raised each other up, creating a synergistic force. When you create great content, people will share it, and if you’ve created truly eye-catching content then their friends will share it, and their friends will share it and so on. Sometimes they will even critique it so that you can learn first hand how to make your content better. They may even give you new ideas for your next great piece of content.
In the end, I believe search and social are both king. It’s a diarchy – if you will. So for my closing comment I say:
Long live the kings!
