It seems as if every big event nowadays is live tweeted by brands seeking to gain free marketing on the back of these popular events. This last Super Bowl saw brands literally setting up war rooms filled with social media professionals, graphic designers and even lawyers, simply to post content in reaction to real-time events. For most events targeted by brands in this fashion, guerrilla-style social media marketing is more than likely less expensive than a 30-second TV commercial. And, if the team is creative enough, it could have more reach.

Oreo has won wide-spread infamy for starting this trend with its creative response to the Super Bowl blackout that occurred 2 years ago. It featured a cameo by Audi crashing the Mercedes-Benz Superdome’s big day.

Many brands are now trying to one-up the other and gain exposure by spending money on live social media activities, rather than ponying up for traditional advertising (thus the term “guerrilla” social media).

This trend has caused social media platforms to make it even easier for their advertisers to utilize these platforms to insert themselves into conversations happening around real-time events. Twitter advertisers have long had the ability to target events through phrases and hashtags. Now Facebook is joining the party with the recent rollout of a new feature allowing brands to pay to promote ads specifically tied to real-time events. While this is certainly a great new revenue stream for the social media platforms, users need to ensure they use it correctly

At least two brands recently experienced severe mess ups in their social media marketing efforts. One brand – Totino’s -- makers of pizza rolls – decided to get into the “live-tweeting” game during the Super Bowl, but it was very poorly executed. Apparently, someone on their social media team scheduled tweets so that it appeared they were live tweeting when, in fact, they were just pre-scheduled posts. The problem was that they were actually scheduled to be sent the day before the Super Bowl, assumedly by mistake.

Another recent social media faux-pas was Coca-Cola’s automated tweeting campaign which encouraged tweeters to find negative tweets and retweet them with the hashtag #MakeItHappy. Coca-Cola’s Twitter account was set to transform the tweets into pretty text art. The problem was that someone realized it was automated and tricked Coca-Cola’s Twitter account into tweeting out passages from Mein Kampf. Of course, Coca-Cola had to shut down that campaign.

While brands are experimenting with increased social media content marketing, attempting to engage their audience through real-time interactions, automated campaigns or scheduled posts, they are also experiencing the growing pains associated with this. Mistakes are being made and companies are experiencing the type of exposure that they don’t wish to create – negative.

Social media is all about human interactions. Fans of brands who engage them imagine a real person sitting behind a desk (or at the event) interacting with them. If they figure out that is not the case (which they will), those brands will accomplish the exact opposite of what they set out to do. Instead of joining the conversation, they will find they are escorted out of the party. Large-scale social media campaigns such as real-time live tweeting are hard work and can be fragile endeavors. Brands who can pull it off can win the day. But it only takes one slip to ruin the whole adventure for the brand.

Take care when deciding to embark on these types of voyages as, at least from a public relations perspective, it only takes one distraction to sink the whole ship.

When considering the successful use of social media by a business, the first thing that pops into many people’s minds is quantity. Not necessarily quantity of posts, but how big their audience is. Many judge social media success by the number of fans they have on Facebook, or followers on Twitter. If that number is large and/or growing, they feel as if their efforts are a success. The second thing that many business owners think of is engagement. Of course, with some social networks determining who sees your content based on engagement, that’s also important. Are these the most important things, however?

No. And here’s why:

Social media by the very definition of its name is social. If you went to a party and you started talking to someone who never talked back, you would probably abandon your efforts and seek a friendlier audience. Social media is about two way engagement. It provides an opportunity to connect with people you might not otherwise have been able to. Your audience probably includes your employees, clients, peers and perhaps even prospective customers. And this is the audience you want to have. There’s no doubt that it’s a great feeling when your content gets liked, retweeted, shared or prompts a comment. How do you think that commenter feels when your business doesn’t acknowledge them? Is there a chance that they may leave feeling as if they were talking to someone at a party who wasn’t talking back?

Proper and effective social media is more about the art of listening and finding opportunities to connect with your audience. The content that you post is simply the icebreaker to the conversation. When your audience interacts with you in any way, you should make an effort to acknowledge that interaction. Something as simple as clicking the like button on their comment or favoriting their tweet shows that you are paying attention. Your audience will realize that they aren’t talking to themselves. Even if the comment they make needs no reply, a quick thank you shows your appreciation for their engagement. That is what you need, after all, to increase organic exposure on Facebook, at the very least.

As for the quantity of fans or followers, bigger isn’t always better. While having a larger audience is certainly better than a smaller one in general, it’s more important to understand that the quality of the audience trumps quantity. If the people in your audience would never do business with you, then you’re talking to an empty stadium. There are far too many businesses that engage in buying likes with the thought that a larger audience is going to be more effective. The truth is that the answer is quite the opposite. By diluting your fan base with irrelevant fans intentionally, you only accomplish making your message LESS visible to the audience members that matter.

Make sure that you are paying attention to the most important part of social media… and that is being social. Active listening and acknowledgement of your audience’s engagement is paramount to building an audience that is listening and that cares.

When considering the successful use of social media by a business, the first thing that pops into many people’s minds is quantity. Not necessarily quantity of posts, but how big their audience is. Many judge social media success by the number of fans they have on Facebook, or followers on Twitter. If that number is large and/or growing, they feel as if their efforts are a success. The second thing that many business owners think of is engagement. Of course, with some social networks determining who sees your content based on engagement, that’s also important. Are these the most important things, however?

No. And here’s why:

Social media by the very definition of its name is social. If you went to a party and you started talking to someone who never talked back, you would probably abandon your efforts and seek a friendlier audience. Social media is about two way engagement. It provides an opportunity to connect with people you might not otherwise have been able to. Your audience probably includes your employees, clients, peers and perhaps even prospective customers. And this is the audience you want to have. There’s no doubt that it’s a great feeling when your content gets liked, retweeted, shared or prompts a comment. How do you think that commenter feels when your business doesn’t acknowledge them? Is there a chance that they may leave feeling as if they were talking to someone at a party who wasn’t talking back?

Proper and effective social media is more about the art of listening and finding opportunities to connect with your audience. The content that you post is simply the icebreaker to the conversation. When your audience interacts with you in any way, you should make an effort to acknowledge that interaction. Something as simple as clicking the like button on their comment or favoriting their tweet shows that you are paying attention. Your audience will realize that they aren’t talking to themselves. Even if the comment they make needs no reply, a quick thank you shows your appreciation for their engagement. That is what you need, after all, to increase organic exposure on Facebook, at the very least.

As for the quantity of fans or followers, bigger isn’t always better. While having a larger audience is certainly better than a smaller one in general, it’s more important to understand that the quality of the audience trumps quantity. If the people in your audience would never do business with you, then you’re talking to an empty stadium. There are far too many businesses that engage in buying likes with the thought that a larger audience is going to be more effective. The truth is that the answer is quite the opposite. By diluting your fan base with irrelevant fans intentionally, you only accomplish making your message LESS visible to the audience members that matter.

Make sure that you are paying attention to the most important part of social media… and that is being social. Active listening and acknowledgement of your audience’s engagement is paramount to building an audience that is listening and that cares.

In yet another move by LinkedIn to create a more engaging user experience, the company has decided to penalize any users of the InMail feature that send mail that is irrelevant to the recipient. As LinkedIn cannot read the messages, it had to formulate a way to determine which messages are more likely irrelevant – namely those which receive no replies. LinkedIn used to offer a “guaranteed reply” for its InMail. If the message recipient failed to reply, your account was credited back. In a complete reversal, LinkedIn has now decided those InMail messages which receive no reply are likely to be irrelevant. InMail credits are now returned when your message IS replied to. They are not returned when your message goes unanswered -- the complete opposite of its past policy.

As social media networks have continued to grow and compete for users, LinkedIn has added features that make it, for lack of a better analogy, more Facebook-like. It encourages bloggers to publish within the LinkedIn platform, versus sharing content from outside. It nurtures social engagement through its own newsfeed-like feature and within groups. Now it is seeking to eliminate what it has essentially deemed spam. Make no mistake, LinkedIn will still allow anyone to purchase InMail credits – it still wants all of the money it can get. Now, however, the new policy will perhaps force those wishing to send messages to take care to better optimize each message for the recipient. Or they will pay for it – literally.

It should certainly motivate senders to give more thought about what message they are sending, and whether the recipient would be interested in it.

In yet another move by LinkedIn to create a more engaging user experience, the company has decided to penalize any users of the InMail feature that send mail that is irrelevant to the recipient. As LinkedIn cannot read the messages, it had to formulate a way to determine which messages are more likely irrelevant – namely those which receive no replies. LinkedIn used to offer a “guaranteed reply” for its InMail. If the message recipient failed to reply, your account was credited back. In a complete reversal, LinkedIn has now decided those InMail messages which receive no reply are likely to be irrelevant. InMail credits are now returned when your message IS replied to. They are not returned when your message goes unanswered -- the complete opposite of its past policy.

As social media networks have continued to grow and compete for users, LinkedIn has added features that make it, for lack of a better analogy, more Facebook-like. It encourages bloggers to publish within the LinkedIn platform, versus sharing content from outside. It nurtures social engagement through its own newsfeed-like feature and within groups. Now it is seeking to eliminate what it has essentially deemed spam. Make no mistake, LinkedIn will still allow anyone to purchase InMail credits – it still wants all of the money it can get. Now, however, the new policy will perhaps force those wishing to send messages to take care to better optimize each message for the recipient. Or they will pay for it – literally.

It should certainly motivate senders to give more thought about what message they are sending, and whether the recipient would be interested in it.

It’s no secret that the FTC has been monitoring brand usage of social media. The hammer finally fell when the FTC ruled last week that companies and agencies utilizing social media must include disclaimers. This is regardless of the social media platform and whether or not the account is a brand account, an agency account, or company employee’s personal account – and yes, this does mean compacting a disclaimer into 140 words for Twitter.

According to an Adweek article, the ruling originated from a settlement between the FTC and Deutsch L.A., an ad agency.  While promoting the Playstation Vita, Deutsch L.A. ran a Twitter social media promotion utilizing the hashtag #GameChanger. It then sent e-mails to its employees asking them to participate using their personal accounts. The FTC ruled that this violated “the FTC’s stance that brands have to have full disclosure on marketing materials no matter what medium the ad is on.”

According to the article, the crux of the FTC’s stance is as follows:

“...even statements made on personal social media accounts need to be transparent if there may be any brand bias…”

Small businesses of all kinds are affected by this ruling, including public relations agencies, automotive vendors, and even car dealerships. We all need to be aware, and train our employees, that, while it’s certainly appreciated when they promote and/or participate in a social media campaign on our behalf with their social media accounts, they are not exempt from the FTC’s rules. Failure to comply – regardless of if those actions originate from the brand, or a person with a bias towards a business (such as an employee) – is irrelevant. The business can be held liable for their employee’s actions.

As social media usage becomes more important in business’ exposure and branding, I expect that these rules will become more black and white.
 

What does this mean?

For businesses, it means that when sharing client or employer content and messages on personal accounts, this content now has to include disclosure of bias. For tweets, including hashtags such as #client, #sponsored or #employee at the end of the tweet should be sufficient. 

On platforms in which more text is available to use (such as Facebook), disclaimers should be easily understandable and unambiguous to a reader. These could be as simple as an indication that this is a client or that the person posting the content is an employee.

This may seem irrelevant; but it’s actually very relevant. Think of all of your engaged and loyal employees who are supportive of brand messages, contests, and company events that share and encourage their friends to participate using their personal social media accounts. Perhaps they share the company’s Facebook ads – including specials, coupons or offers – to their networks.

Different platforms require different details to increase exposure. For example, hashtags are an excellent way to generate buzz and consolidate a conversation on Twitter amongst a brand and its fans. Hashtags are also relevant on Facebook. However, the uphill battle on that platform is via the Facebook newsfeed algorithm. While it’s unlikely any of your employees are trying to game the system, actions such as liking, commenting and sharing certainly effect the reach of those messages. And employees (or agencies) who share without bias disclosure run the risk of being accused of gaming the system by the FTC.

Just as it’s highly unlikely the FBI will break down your door for recording a movie, the chances are small that our businesses will gain the attention of the FTC regarding these social media postings. That doesn’t mean the possibility doesn’t exist, however, and the FTC is notorious for being very vigilant with car dealerships and advertising compliance. Chances are that your dealership’s social media usage won’t attract the FTC’s attention alone. But should you find your dealership under a compliance audit and/or under FTC scrutiny for misleading advertising, it’s more likely than ever before that they may include your social media activities in the future.

It’s no secret that the FTC has been monitoring brand usage of social media. The hammer finally fell when the FTC ruled last week that companies and agencies utilizing social media must include disclaimers. This is regardless of the social media platform and whether or not the account is a brand account, an agency account, or company employee’s personal account – and yes, this does mean compacting a disclaimer into 140 words for Twitter.

According to an Adweek article, the ruling originated from a settlement between the FTC and Deutsch L.A., an ad agency.  While promoting the Playstation Vita, Deutsch L.A. ran a Twitter social media promotion utilizing the hashtag #GameChanger. It then sent e-mails to its employees asking them to participate using their personal accounts. The FTC ruled that this violated “the FTC’s stance that brands have to have full disclosure on marketing materials no matter what medium the ad is on.”

According to the article, the crux of the FTC’s stance is as follows:

“...even statements made on personal social media accounts need to be transparent if there may be any brand bias…”

Small businesses of all kinds are affected by this ruling, including public relations agencies, automotive vendors, and even car dealerships. We all need to be aware, and train our employees, that, while it’s certainly appreciated when they promote and/or participate in a social media campaign on our behalf with their social media accounts, they are not exempt from the FTC’s rules. Failure to comply – regardless of if those actions originate from the brand, or a person with a bias towards a business (such as an employee) – is irrelevant. The business can be held liable for their employee’s actions.

As social media usage becomes more important in business’ exposure and branding, I expect that these rules will become more black and white.
 

What does this mean?

For businesses, it means that when sharing client or employer content and messages on personal accounts, this content now has to include disclosure of bias. For tweets, including hashtags such as #client, #sponsored or #employee at the end of the tweet should be sufficient. 

On platforms in which more text is available to use (such as Facebook), disclaimers should be easily understandable and unambiguous to a reader. These could be as simple as an indication that this is a client or that the person posting the content is an employee.

This may seem irrelevant; but it’s actually very relevant. Think of all of your engaged and loyal employees who are supportive of brand messages, contests, and company events that share and encourage their friends to participate using their personal social media accounts. Perhaps they share the company’s Facebook ads – including specials, coupons or offers – to their networks.

Different platforms require different details to increase exposure. For example, hashtags are an excellent way to generate buzz and consolidate a conversation on Twitter amongst a brand and its fans. Hashtags are also relevant on Facebook. However, the uphill battle on that platform is via the Facebook newsfeed algorithm. While it’s unlikely any of your employees are trying to game the system, actions such as liking, commenting and sharing certainly effect the reach of those messages. And employees (or agencies) who share without bias disclosure run the risk of being accused of gaming the system by the FTC.

Just as it’s highly unlikely the FBI will break down your door for recording a movie, the chances are small that our businesses will gain the attention of the FTC regarding these social media postings. That doesn’t mean the possibility doesn’t exist, however, and the FTC is notorious for being very vigilant with car dealerships and advertising compliance. Chances are that your dealership’s social media usage won’t attract the FTC’s attention alone. But should you find your dealership under a compliance audit and/or under FTC scrutiny for misleading advertising, it’s more likely than ever before that they may include your social media activities in the future.

Content marketing, in general, can provide many valuable benefits. It can help create and maintain a brand presence; assist in search engine optimization; and position executives as thought leaders. It can also serve as a valuable source of information for both customers and potential customers.

There are many types of content marketing. Technically speaking, everything your business creates and publishes is content marketing. This can include such items as marketing pieces, videos, blog articles, articles published in trade magazines, social media posts -- you name it. If your audience sees it, chances are that it’s content marketing.

While most businesses understand the importance of content marketing, many get stuck when trying to make it an ongoing reality. Think of it as an extreme case of writer’s block. Someone is tasked to create this “content” but they don’t know what to create on a regular and ongoing basis. Some companies create comprehensive content marketing strategies, but then lack the creative time and resources, so they never get implemented. Others simply stare at a blank document without a clue as to where to start.

As a starting point, the focus of this blog is on one type of content marketing: a company blog.  Blogs are one of the easiest ways to produce and disseminate good content, but for some can be tricky to execute. Typically, the lack of execution is simply due to not having any ideas to write about.

Here are 4 basic tips to help establish a winning blog:

1. Provide Useful Content – Companies and individuals that focus on providing an audience with useful information will see more engaged and loyal followers. Customers generally appreciate the time and effort it takes to produce quality material. Providing useful information helps to gain the trust of your audience and further positions you as an industry expert.
2. Provide Timely Information – A good company blog should also share relevant industry news accompanied by commentary and analysis on how this news affects your specific industry. It’s wonderful that you’re sharing Google’s latest algorithm change, but how will that affect your customers? Remember that YOU are the experts. That’s why your customers are interested in what you have to say.
3. Blogs as a Human Resources Tool – Blogs can help drive in prospective new hires. Just as you do research on applicants, applicants will also do some research on you. Your blog can provide valuable insight into your beliefs and company culture. A good mix of content will show potential employees that you care about your staff, customers and the industry as a whole.  I have heard of cases where blogs have been an important part of the decision process for prospective employees.
4. Educational Value – While your blog should not solely serve as a marketing platform to promote your products and services, it CAN from time to time be used as a tool to provide customers with educational material about your company. For example, when something changes – a new feature is introduced, a new model is unveiled, or a new service is offered. In this way, your blog can be a great venue to help keep your customers informed.  Just be sure to strike a good balance -- don’t use your blog as purely a promotional platform. If you do, you will quickly loose readers.

If you choose to integrate a blog into your website (which is where it should be, by the way) be consistent in publishing. Consistency breeds expectation. There’s nothing worse than having a company blog in which the last post is months or years old. It shows apathy as well as a lack of commitment. And those are not favorable attributes for any business to be projecting. This type of blog just helps to drive customers away. Decide how much you want to publish and then determine how often. Choose a day of the week and ensure that you are always publishing on that day. Your customers will start looking forward to the articles, as will the potential new customers.

One last key piece of advice: Please do watch spelling and grammar, as you would with any communication you wish your customers and potential new customers to view. 

Blogs don’t have to be long, nor do they have to be masterpieces of literature.   Show your personality and start a conversation: that’s how great relationships are built!

Content marketing, in general, can provide many valuable benefits. It can help create and maintain a brand presence; assist in search engine optimization; and position executives as thought leaders. It can also serve as a valuable source of information for both customers and potential customers.

There are many types of content marketing. Technically speaking, everything your business creates and publishes is content marketing. This can include such items as marketing pieces, videos, blog articles, articles published in trade magazines, social media posts -- you name it. If your audience sees it, chances are that it’s content marketing.

While most businesses understand the importance of content marketing, many get stuck when trying to make it an ongoing reality. Think of it as an extreme case of writer’s block. Someone is tasked to create this “content” but they don’t know what to create on a regular and ongoing basis. Some companies create comprehensive content marketing strategies, but then lack the creative time and resources, so they never get implemented. Others simply stare at a blank document without a clue as to where to start.

As a starting point, the focus of this blog is on one type of content marketing: a company blog.  Blogs are one of the easiest ways to produce and disseminate good content, but for some can be tricky to execute. Typically, the lack of execution is simply due to not having any ideas to write about.

Here are 4 basic tips to help establish a winning blog:

1. Provide Useful Content – Companies and individuals that focus on providing an audience with useful information will see more engaged and loyal followers. Customers generally appreciate the time and effort it takes to produce quality material. Providing useful information helps to gain the trust of your audience and further positions you as an industry expert.
2. Provide Timely Information – A good company blog should also share relevant industry news accompanied by commentary and analysis on how this news affects your specific industry. It’s wonderful that you’re sharing Google’s latest algorithm change, but how will that affect your customers? Remember that YOU are the experts. That’s why your customers are interested in what you have to say.
3. Blogs as a Human Resources Tool – Blogs can help drive in prospective new hires. Just as you do research on applicants, applicants will also do some research on you. Your blog can provide valuable insight into your beliefs and company culture. A good mix of content will show potential employees that you care about your staff, customers and the industry as a whole.  I have heard of cases where blogs have been an important part of the decision process for prospective employees.
4. Educational Value – While your blog should not solely serve as a marketing platform to promote your products and services, it CAN from time to time be used as a tool to provide customers with educational material about your company. For example, when something changes – a new feature is introduced, a new model is unveiled, or a new service is offered. In this way, your blog can be a great venue to help keep your customers informed.  Just be sure to strike a good balance -- don’t use your blog as purely a promotional platform. If you do, you will quickly loose readers.

If you choose to integrate a blog into your website (which is where it should be, by the way) be consistent in publishing. Consistency breeds expectation. There’s nothing worse than having a company blog in which the last post is months or years old. It shows apathy as well as a lack of commitment. And those are not favorable attributes for any business to be projecting. This type of blog just helps to drive customers away. Decide how much you want to publish and then determine how often. Choose a day of the week and ensure that you are always publishing on that day. Your customers will start looking forward to the articles, as will the potential new customers.

One last key piece of advice: Please do watch spelling and grammar, as you would with any communication you wish your customers and potential new customers to view. 

Blogs don’t have to be long, nor do they have to be masterpieces of literature.   Show your personality and start a conversation: that’s how great relationships are built!

In the past, a business could increase per post reach on Facebook simply by creating unique and engaging quality content. That has now changed and, for the most part, ads are the only real posts creating any significant reach. Organic posts on Facebook pages have seen reach drop into the 1-2 percent range, down from 12+ just 2 short years ago.  Since Facebook’s IPO, and the subsequent emphasis on Facebook ads and Sponsored Posts, businesses and brands have been forced to look at Facebook as part of their ad budget, not simply employee time to create and post quality content.

Facebook has taken the stance that decreasing reach for pages is the compromise for monetization. It believes that allowing all of the brand/business content into a user’s newsfeed crowds out the content that users want to see – namely posts from family and friends. Decreasing reach of organic content from businesses allows Facebook to substitute that content with Sponsored Posts, while keeping the business to personal content ratio in a user’s newsfeed relatively the same.

There have been some users, however, that have rallied around the movement that Facebook should allow them to control what (and who) they see content from. They do not wish to have Facebook do the censoring for them through a secret algorithm. Facebook did integrate a way for consumers to ensure they can see a Page’s content. However, it was a relatively intricate process that normal Facebook users didn’t embrace, despite many Facebook page’s efforts to get them to do so.

Facebook is reportedly now taking the next step towards allowing users to dictate what content they see. A recent Advertising Age article, shared Facebook’s plans to add a feature they’ve named their “news feed monitor and control tool.” This tool apparently allows a user to view who they are seeing the most content from. They can then dial down the number of posts they see from a given friend or brand, as opposed to completely hiding them. Facebook pages that fail to produce engaging quality content may see their reach decline even more because of this.

No matter what your page is seeing in regards to reach and engagement on Facebook right now, expect to see a further decline as consumers become aware of this tool and start to exercise control of what they allow into their newsfeeds. Business participation on Facebook will most likely become more challenging.  It would seem that we will be forced to either join the “pay to play” environment that Facebook has become, or be happy with the crumbs that Facebook allows us.

The marketing purpose of social media is brand exposure. Content and engagement marketing rely upon two core ideas: businesses talking to consumers and consumers talking back. This real-time communication allows businesses to continuously poll their audience through content. They can then change marketing strategies in real-time, shifting the needle as quickly as customers’ interests change.

The only solid strategy left to produce increased reach, regardless of how many fans you have, is to create unique, relevant and interesting content that audiences want to see. At the same time decrease the continuous promotional activities many businesses practice.   While this will not get you as much exposure as in the past on Facebook, it will at least stop your audience from tuning you out altogether!