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A Firm Company Policy Can Avoid Social Media Disasters
Corporate or business Facebook and Twitter accounts aren’t just about “likes” and updates.
They are about honest interactions with the public, good and bad. And beware: Online social forums are one hashtag or Facebook post away from turning nasty.
To help prepare an organization’s Facebook and Twitter pages or online campaigns from turning sour, there’s an ever-growing list of case studies — from mom-and-pop businesses to corporate giants — to help teach about social media failures, or quite simply, what not to do.
There’s some hope, and companies can take a page from established social-media policies and response plans from companies that are setting the bar on how to interact with customers (both internal and external) on social networks, with the goal of avoiding online disasters.
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Social Media in the Tourism Industry
Social media is a fast growing field. It is, therefore, very important for nearly every business field to take advantage of social media tools as a part of the marketing strategy. These social media tools make it easier to communicate with your customers and prospects. Especially in the tourism sector, where a lot of potential guests start with an internet research before they book an accommodation, there is a high potential for the use of social media.
Guests want to be informed about their accommodation and the destinations they travel to, they search for fast information and direct answers. It is important to engage with guests before, during and after their stay in order to continually improve your service, attract potential customers and keep existing guest loyal. Happy guests will come back and refer your hotel or restaurant to their friends and family. And personal recommendations are worth much more than any advertisment.
In this article you can learn how social media tools can be reasonably used in the tourism branch.
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Are You Effectively Using Social Media for Business Development?
The promise of social media marketing often goes unfulfilled. The objective is to create a dialogue with customers, generate traffic to specific websites and/or to generate interest in your offerings. Very often, the key to success is to share adroitly branded and highly relevant content with users who, in turn, pass your content to like-minded people they’re connected to. Your effectiveness at social media marketing can be measured by the demonstrable monetization of your efforts.
The reason so many companies and professionals fall short here is not because social media marketing lacks power. On the contrary, it can be amazingly effective. The reason for a lack of success is quite often:
(1) A lack of understanding of the interplay between the target audiences, of the need to add value and of how to maximize the power of the various social media platforms.
(2) Lack of ability to effectively implement this troika.
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The eyes of the world are turning their glances toward London for the start of the Olympic Games. Besides watching the sporting events unfold, the world has something else they will be keeping an eye on…more specifically, the London Eye. Every night of the Games, the London Eye will be illuminated in representation of the percentage of positive energy UK residents are feeling about the Games.
So how will this unfold?
The organizers of the London 2012 Games worked with a collective group of graduates from MIT to develop a specific algorithm that analyzes tweets coming from the U.K. about the Games and splits them into two classifications: positive and negative. Each night’s light show will take into account tweets from the 24 hour period and show visual representation of the “Energy of the Nation”. Here’s a closer look at how the “Energy of the Nation” will unfold.
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Are Twitter and Facebook changing the way we complain?
Remember back in the day when customers only had word of mouth to tell the world about their bad experience with your store? Today, every business is practically on damage control 24/7. If someone is having a meal in your restaurant and upon the server greeting them, should something not go as scripted, you can rest assured the smart phone will be coming out and before the first glass of water is placed on your table, a scathing tweet has already been launched for all to see.
So what should that teach us all about customer service? The right answer should be that customer service should be at new levels of impressiveness, but oddly enough, it’s not.
Unless you live in Florida, or in parts of the southeast, you probably have never heard of a man named George Jenkins. You see, Mr. Jenkins founded a supermarket that (I honestly believe) sets the standard for all supermarkets to follow. Here’s what he said (and believed) upon founding the store in 1930:
“We will never knowingly disappoint you. If for any reason your purchase does not give you complete satisfaction, the full purchase price will be cheerfully refunded immediately upon request.”
82 years later, this motto is still going strong and explains why the Publix Supermarkets are one of the most successful grocery stores in business. They understand. The way they treat their customers has developed into a near cult following. Sure, there will always be people who run their mouth in search for attention. Look for any topic on Facebook and Twitter and you’ll see examples of this. So as this article questions if Facebook and Twitter is changing the way we complain. The answer is probably so. Let’s take it a step further and put a positive spin on things and ask, “Can we make Twitter and Facebook change the way we praise our fellow man?”
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Social media is reinventing how business is done
There will always be naysayers that the latest “fad” will soon be past and everything will be back to the way it has always been for the past hundred years. Well, there comes a time when the latest fad has so much momentum that it carries us into a new definition of normal, and that’s where we find ourselves today.
Social media is constantly evolving, but one thing is certain, it is not going away. That leaves us with only one choice - to embrace it. It’s now the norm of how business is done. The critical choice is to embrace it to its fullest and capitalize on the power of social media or choose to have a minimal social presence, which your customers will see and judge accordingly.
So as we embark on the summer tourist season, what will your game plan be? Stick to the status quo or grab hold of the social rocket and see your business go places it has never gone before?
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Adaptation: Key To Marketing Survival
Being born in 1975, I’ve always listened to classic country ever since I was strapped in a car seat in my parent’s Buick. At the time, I had no choice but to let those sounds fill my head and in some strange way begin to lay the foundations for my musical taste later in life. One of my favorite groups is Alabama. The industry has changed through the years yet the way the band faced those changes in the industry (and adapted to those changes) testifies to their greatness as a staple in the industry for so many decades.
If there was one thing the band Alabama knew, it was adaptation. If there is one thing a business owner, in this ever changing technological world, needs to know is adaptation.
Remember part of these lyrics from the Alabama hit - If You’re Gonna Play In Texas – released in 1984.
If you’re gonna play in Texas,
You gotta have a fiddle in the band.
That lead guitar is hot,
But not for “Lousiana man”.
So rosin up that bow for “faded love”
And let’s all dance.
If you’re gonna play in Texas,
You gotta have a fiddle in the band.
I remember down in Houston
We were puttin’ on a show
When a cowboy in the back stood up and yelled,
“cotton-eyed joe”!
He said, “we love what you’re doin’.
Boys don’t get us wrong,
There’s just somethin’ missin’ in your song.Nearly thirty years later, the simple lyrics to a song that would become a country staple also offers very effective advice for the business world. That lead guitar is no longer the lead. Sure, it is part of the marketing collection, but no longer the kingfish that drives all of the business to your door.
No, your office does not have to have a fiddle somewhere strategically placed for everyone to see, but metaphorically, that fiddle is indeed a requirement. You see, the fiddle is now one of your most powerful tools in your marketing arsenal. The fiddle you have to have in your band (business) is social media.
You don’t have to convince your customers to use social media; they are already on Facebook and Twitter. The number of social media outlets are endless. These social media forces influence your customer’s choices. Where to go. Where to stay. Where to eat. Where to avoid. Where to play. With such high stakes resting in the grasp of social media, can you really afford not to use social media and to use it well?
So as a phrase in the song ends, “There’s just somethin’ missin’ in your song” – for your business, don’t let that something missin’ be social media.
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Pitfalls to Failure: How to Swing from the Vines and Reach Your Goals
This could be possibly showing some of our ages, but do you remember the (awesome at the time) video game called Pitfall? You had a goal. Get through the course without falling into the pits. Fall into the pits and let the disoriented nightmare begin.
Strangely enough, this is how many business owners set out in the operation of their business. They are convinced they have a sure fire plan that customers will flock to yet, when they hit a pitfall and then stumble into another pitfall, they begin to wonder why the community fails to see the goldmine they have launched.
The key to actually owning your business is to know your business. (i.e. – who are your targeted demographics). You wouldn’t believe how many people so desperately want to be in business for themselves that when they find the “goldmine” of a business opportunity, they jump. Just like in the video game, they leap up and grab the vine and swing (hoping to land safely on the other side). They jump! Without seeking wise counsel. Without doing market research. Without knowing fully who their demographics will be and how they will even go about reaching them.
In Las Vegas, people taking bets love these types of people. Why? Because they roll with the flow…and that flow usually means a nice payday for the casinos. But what if it was different? What if you rolled against the flow? In a sense, that is what all business owners should seek to do. Rolling against the flow means you are armed with knowledge, and we all know knowledge is power!
So when it comes to your business’ social media, roll against the flow. You know your business! In that knowledge, you know your customers and your social audience. Too often businesses see social media as a one size fits all. What works for the golf course across town will probably not work for your business (let’s say, you are an organic vegetable nursery). If this was a game show in the 80’s, the sound you would be hearing is the overwhelming buzzer telling contestants that their answer is wrong.
Failure to analyze your social media efforts is a plan to fail. Taking a step back and looking at who walks through your doors each day (and getting to know them through genuine dialogue) can help you begin to formulate a solid social media plan that will leave you walking on solid ground and avoiding the pitfalls along the way. All social media platforms are not created equal, and neither are social media users!
We are always here to answer your questions. Send us a message on Twitter and we will certainly get right back in touch with you. You can now connect with us on Google+. -
Pinterest: Ready or not, Here it comes!
It’s in the media almost daily as a new explosive social media platform destined to be the next big thing. I admit, my wife has been a part of Pinterest for many months, and I (at first) failed to see it as anything other than a gathering place for crafters to get together and share ideas, crafts, recipes, and anything else that could possibly fit into an artsy homemaker’s repertoire. I was seeing posts all over Facebook about the addictive qualities of Pinterest and so with all of the other things I mentioned thrown into the equation; I stayed a long way away from this “Pinterest”.
Then it happened. A good friend of mine posted something on his Facebook page about joining Pinterest. What? Pinterest? You’re a guy? You don’t knit. You love football. You are the poster child for being a man’s man. Pinterest? Seriously?
My exploration of this thing called Pinterest began. The more I explored, the more my marketing mind began to see another incredible asset for brands (and more specifically small businesses, events, bands, realtors, etc.) to launch their content, engage with fans, and most importantly have a resource that could take something viral in an unprecedented time frame.
With all of that said, as a brand, you need to explore the addition of Pinterest to your social media arsenal. It is clearly in its infancy stage and on a growth curve to make it a power player in the coming year. Your customers and competitors are having their aha moment every single day, so with each day you procrastinate on joining the revolution, it’s another day of another brand capturing the views of the public.
As a consumer, everyday represents more growth on Pinterest with new users. Explore the brands listed below. In comparison to the fans and followers on Facebook and Twitter, there are considerably good odds that you could get a follow from one of your favorite brands or celebrities. With the user ratio still considerably low, a new follow of a brand will get noticed much quicker than a simple like on a Facebook page that boasts over a million fans.
The best part of being on the upside of the Pinterest curve is that there is incredible opportunity to make a genuine connection with the brands you love. It’s much easier for a brand that has 400 followers to return the following love back to you, as opposed to jumping in on Facebook or Twitter where you are one of potentially millions fans or followers.
Currently, the key to getting on Pinterest is through an invite. If you have not received an invite and are ready to spend the weekend getting your pin on, send us an email at (newtallentmarketing (at) gmail (dot) com) and we’ll get you hooked up. Stay tuned for an upcoming list of must follow brands and media once you begin your Pinterest journey!
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The Social GRAMMYS
Music’s Biggest Night is finally here and the pre-telecast awards are currently being presented. The 54th Annual GRAMMY Awards will certainly now be a night overshadowed by the death of Whitney Houston, but like everything in Hollywood - the show will go on. As with any big event, the social media world is gearing up for a busy night of fan activity. It’s unlikely that any bombshell events will happen…although we can hope. Remember the 1998 GRAMMY Awards when Wu-Tang Clan’s Ol’ Dirty Bastard stormed the stage in protest of losing the award category earlier in the evening? (See Video) Imagine the social media activity that would generate today!
If you plan on making tonight a Social GRAMMY night, here are some hashtags to follow:
- #grammyslive
- #grammys
- #grammyglam
- #wearemusic
- #pepsisoundoff
Pepsi is hosting an online GRAMMY viewing party at Pepsi SoundOff. The party with Pepsi begins at 8pm. So cue the Red Carpet arrivals and let’s get this party started!
Creation/Management/Strategy (Small business, specialty retail, music business. entertainment & events, hospitality, real estate, and insurance)
