Tag Archives: Twitter

Everybody’s a Twitter expert (well, maybe)

Posted on October 10, 2012 by Jon| Leave a comment

 

Everyone’s jumping on Twitter these days with links to blogs offering advice about how business owners can use the platform to greatly increase profits.

Read them and you’ll know how many Tweets to post each day. Well, maybe you will. Some say three, others say six are better.

There are supporters of posting between 8 to 10 a.m. ET (a little early for anyone living west of Kansas), while others say 1 to 3 p.m. ET is the sweet spot. Longer or shorter tweets? They each have their supporters.  Is a single hash tag enough? Are four too many?

All this points out what I’m learning from running three Twitter accounts and helping out on another — there are no one-size-fits-all solutions.  Every business, every industry is different.

One tweet I read recently really hit home. A woman complained about an online job posting for marketing position that required a minimum of 10 years of social media experience. I assume that job will go unfilled for the next few years. Ten years ago there was no Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Tumblr, Instagram or other major social media platform.

Anyone involved in social media is still a pioneer. Run from anyone who tells you he or she knows exactly what will work for your business. Instead be ready to work with someone willing to experiment and take reasonable chances to find the program that works best for you.

There is no doubt social media can be a huge PR and marketing boost. So go ahead and read these ‘experts.’ There is a little something to be learned from each blog — including this one.

Of course, that’s just my humble opinion.

– JD

Twitter: @jdaum

 

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Posted in business, Daum Weigle, Marketing/Communications

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I Want This Brand – My Friend Follows It on Twitter

Posted on July 11, 2012 by Jon| Leave a comment

Would you choose a jar of pickles based on your knowledge of a friend or family member following the brand on a social media site such as Facebook or Twitter? Close to one of five American consumers (18 percent) said they would when asked as part of a multinational study.

That survey from Ipsos OTX and Ipsos Global @dvisor didn’t specifically focus on pickles, it did provide clear evidence of the power of social media to drive buying decisions.

And it looks as though that influence will grow as nearly one in four (23 percent) younger respondents – those 35 years of age and under — said they would buy a brand based on a friend’s social media followings. Only 9 percent of those between the ages of 50-64 gave the same response.

There was virtually no difference between males and females. However, American companies may not be as quite as effective in using social media as their counterparts in other countries.  Worldwide, 22 percent of all respondents said they were influenced by friends’ social media brand likings.

Still, the survey shows the value of cultivating brand advocates through carefully planned social media campaigns. And if these numbers are accurate, it only stands to reason that a business-to-business social media effort also could prove to be worth the effort.

– JD

Follow me on Twitter @jdaum

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Posted in Social Media

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Let Me Weigh In on This

Posted on June 19, 2012 by Jon| Leave a comment

Image: healthybackblog.com

It’s amazing all the great new ideas really bright people keep coming up with to integrate social media into more aspects of our lives. Then there are some others that give me pause.

I just read about two new bathroom scales that will give you your weight and body mass index (your body-fat percentage) and offer other useful features such as keeping track of your daily weigh-ins on your computer or smartphone. So far so good.  But here’s the deal breaker for me — both have Wi-Fi capability that allows them to also post the results on your Twitter and/or Facebook accounts.

I don’t want my friends and business associates seeing that I didn’t resist those three huge meatballs with my spaghetti last night. And I think they don’t really care to watch me seesaw up (mostly) and down (occasionally) in the never-ending battle to maintain my weight. Public humiliation may work for some people, but not for me. My embarrassment will only cause me to eat more.

I’m not even sure even my immediate family members need to know what I weigh. Aren’t there still a few things about our bodies that we should only disclose to our doctors? How much of our private lives are we willing to share with close friends and passing acquaintances?

Nice try guys, but I’ll settle for a scale that keeps my weight private.

– JD

Follow me on Twitter @jdaum

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Posted in Social Media, We Dislike

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Twitter: It’s Not All About You.

Posted on June 8, 2012 by Marrissa| Leave a comment

There’s no question, social media (primarily the “big three” networks: Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn) is integral to a successful, comprehensive PR campaign. However, as corporations get more comfortable with social media, we’ve noticed that many of them still have a “Marsha, Marsha, Marsha…” approach to Twitter. To those organizations I say, “Newsflash: it’s not all about you.”

That may sound a bit harsh, but what I really mean is that social media, Twitter especially, should not be used as corporate air horn – only for broadcasting company news, white papers, case studies or executive accomplishments. Twitter is capable of much, much more. That is IF you take the time to step back, think about what interests your followers, engage with them and share relevant news and stories – even if they’re not about you.

I’m not recommending a complete kibosh on sharing corporate news and marketing content. I am however, endorsing restraint when it comes to tweeting corporate news. Take your average enterprise Twitter handle: with 3-6 original tweets per day, no more than half of those tweets should be self-promotional.

What else should you tweet if your not sharing news about your company?

Great question. Twitter is perhaps the fastest way to directly connect with potential customers and even members of the media – they’re all there, and if your talking about a subject that interests them, you just might open the door to your next sale or major feature story.

In order to do that, you must share your knowledge with the ‘Twitterverse.’ No corporate news or product launches this quarter? No problem. What’s going on in your industry? Do you see a major industry challenge on the horizon? Have you noticed an interesting trend in customer buying preferences? These are just a few of the things you can (and should) be blogging about.

Draft a quick blog (100-200 words) and tweet it out. If you’re interested in the topic, chances are, the people following you (including influencers) are interested in it as well. If you regularly share your knowledge, you will be repaid in spades on Twitter. You’ll gain a) Credibility as a thought-leader; b) Trust of customers who are used to being bombarded by marketing messages c) The interest of members of the media looking for expert sources.

Finally, a point on engagement. It’s simple really – do unto others as you would have them do unto you. That means, thanking someone for a retweet or for following, responding to tweets in which your brand is mentioned and asking questions.

When you learn that Twitter is “not all about you,” you’ll gain the social media respect you deserve.

- Marrissa (follow me on Twitter: @marrissam)

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Posted in Marketing/Communications, Social Media

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Move Aside, Gallup, Zip It, Zogby – Leave It to Twitter

Posted on May 29, 2012 by Jon| Leave a comment

Hardly a day passes without a new survey from national pollsters reflecting our changing attitudes about Barrack Obama and Mitt Romney. With more than five months to the general election, this is already getting tiresome — even to a bit of a political junkie.

Several months ago, during the heat of the Republican primary season, one research organization attempted to measure the candidates’ use of social media to pick a winner. In hindsight, the results were very inconclusive at best.

But undeterred, another group has compared Obama’s and Romney’s Twitter-only following. Here’s a look at some of the results.

  • Obama has almost 16 million Twitter followers, while Romney counts just over 500,000. Nearly half of the Obama followers live outside of the country. About 90 percent of Romney’s live in the U.S.
  • About seven of 10 Romney followers are men. Obama’s followers are split fairly evenly between the sexes.
  • Based on percentages, Romney followers are wealthier. Obama’s are younger.
  • The top industries represented by Obama’s followers are hospitality, law and marketing/PR. Romney draws more support from followers employed in the fields of software, insurance and fashion.
  • The influence of each candidate’s followers (as judged by connections across 60 social media sites) give a clear edge to Obama with a “pull” measurement of 5,461, compared to Romney followers and their 466 rating. Yet while Obama has about 30 times the number of followers, they only have about 12 times more pull than Romney’s.

There is even more detail in the report, including a look at swing state followers. So what does this all mean? How do these numbers translate into electability?  I doubt anyone can say with certainty. But it does provide us with one more set of statistics to debate.

But before we learn the winner on Nov. 6, I think we’ll all be begging for relief.

– JD

Twitter: @Jdaum

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Key To Social Media Success? Think Like A Wildcat

Posted on May 2, 2012 by Jon| Leave a comment

Image via Stickyegg.com

A truly successful social media campaign requires enthusiastic involvement from your employees, students or vendors – even their families. These are your best ambassadors and offer a glimpse into the organization that goes well beyond what your social media director alone can provide. And why should you expect the general public to embrace your efforts if your own immediate constituency won’t?

The University of Kentucky recently provided a good example as its men’s basketball team moved through March Madness to become NCAA champions.  Throughout the tournament, the campus’ social media team posted insights into the team on its Facebook site. It offered its followers regular Twitter updates.  Flicker was used to post team photos.

UK students, faculty, staff and alumni were encouraged to add their own comments and photos. They responded in a big way and attracted their friends and followers to the university’s sites. Thousands of new visitors – some from as far away as Army bases in Afghanistan – became Kentucky fans.

Seizing on this opportunity, the social media team added news about other UK sports, academics, student achievements and many other posts to showcase a well-rounded campus. Pardon the mixed metaphor, but this was a real homerun leading to the University of Kentucky’s use of social media being named to two Top Ten rankings among U.S. colleges and universities.

Admittedly, your organization isn’t likely to win one of the most highly publicized national competitions anytime soon. But by encouraging your team to fully embrace your social media efforts, your organization’s message opens up to a much wider community, providing a chance to gain new followers and experience what sets you apart from the competition.

There are ways to keep the process fun and informative and gain employee involvement in a big way. Do that, and you’ll be well on your way to social media success.

Need some ideas on gaining involvement? Is your social media “team” at the breaking point or even non-existent? Then look for an experienced outside vendor to help develop and maintain your social media properties.

– JD

Follow me on Twitter @jdaum

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Posted in Social Media, We Like

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Let Me Totally Eliminate Any Confused Misunderstandings with Some True Facts

Posted on April 11, 2012 by Jon| Leave a comment

Most of us are inundated daily with too much information.  It comes from our email, Twitter, Facebook, RSS feeds, blogs or text messages.  If you’re like me, most of what comes into your computer or mobile device is junk.

I do receive a few nuggets that I want or need to read, I appreciate those writers that use the fewest words to create a clear message.  Brevity is a virtue.

I recently read an interesting column from the publisher of PR Daily about circumlocution — the use of many words when one will do.

Here are a few examples:

Rather than using “in advance of,” try the word “before”

“With the exception of” can be adequately replaced by “except”

The thought behind “at this point in time” is more articulately stated using the word “now”

I have a few pet peeves of my own, not all reducing the number, but also the length – or even necessity – of some words.

“On a regular basis” is a long way of writing “regularly”

Why use “approximately” when “about” does the job using eight fewer letters?

Does the word “actually” have any serious value?

If you use Twitter, with its 140-character limit, you understand the need for brevity.  Take that same attitude into all of your electronic communications.  Your readers will appreciate it.

Do you have a few of your own pet peeves to share?

– JD

Follow me on Twitter @jdaum

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The Candidate Has Taken The Lead by 25 Tweets

Posted on March 12, 2012 by Jon| Leave a comment

Image courtesy of Mediabistro.com

We’re a nation that likes to handicap our competitive events.  But before we drop a few bucks on our favorite sports team or Oscar-nominated actress, we need as much information as we can get.  That also holds true before placing a bet on who’ll be our next president.

In the political arena, we follow how much money candidates raise, the major endorsements they secure and the amount of media coverage they receive. Daily polls report on who’s up and who’s down. But for a true political junkie, that’s not nearly enough.

One research firm wanted to find out if a candidate’s use of social media can predict election success.  The group took at look at Twitter activities of the four remaining Republican presidential candidates heading into the March 8 Super Tuesday primaries in 10 states.  Looking at the “positive sentiment” of tweets for each candidate during the six days between Feb. 26-March 2, the researchers predicted winners for each primary.

In hindsight, this is still a work in progress. The firm did pick the winners in Georgia, Idaho, Massachusetts, Ohio and Virginia.  But it missed in Alaska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Vermont.

That social media is playing a significant role in this election is indisputable.  Campaign spinmeisters are tweeting even before a debate or news conference has ended.  And it’s not just Twitter getting all the political action.

Mitt Romney leads his challengers with Facebook, attracting more than 1.5 million likes.  Ron Paul is the king of YouTube with more than 10 million views of his videos.  And Newt Gingrich claims 1.4 million followers on Twitter — easily the most among this group.

But the Republicans are in trouble if these numbers have any meaning in predicting our next president.  President Barrack Obama has 24.5 million Facebook likes, 173 million YouTube views and 12.8 million Twitter followers.

We’ll see what it all means come November.  But in the meantime, as the media looks to fill its 24-hour news cycle, we might as well know how “social” our candidates are.

– JD

Twitter: @Jdaum

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Posted in Public Relations, Social Media

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Getting Social in Security

Posted on March 9, 2012 by Cindy| Leave a comment

Marketing for the security industry has always had its challenges. After all, what company really wants to talk extensively about its security? Talk with any marketing, public relations or media person in the industry and he or she will tell you that one of the most difficult things is to get customers to talk openly about their security systems.

Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons/Nan Palmero

Now, add social media to the marketing mix. We are talking about Facebook, Twitter, blogs and all the other social platforms vying for attention these days. Social media is meant to be just that – “social.” It is meant to frequently and openly communicate about a company, its products, solutions, people, events and expertise. So, it might seem that social media and the reticent world of security are not a good fit, but it would be a mistake for any tech-savvy company today to ignore its potential marketing power.

Social media is a way of showing your customers, investors, vendors and employees just who you are. It gives them a peek behind the scene, builds brand awareness and sets your company up as an industry leader.

I recently wrote about how we helped a large security systems integrator expand its digital media presence and take advantage of new marketing platforms. Whether your company is involved in security or any other high technology business looking at taking on or expanding a social media program you’ll want to read this article on SecurityInfoWatch.com. It’s a good roadmap that highlights the benefits of implementing a strong social media program and provides some valuable tips help you get started.

- Cindy

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Posted in Daum Weigle, Marketing/Communications, Public Relations, Social Media

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Move over South Beach, Make Room for the Twitter Diet

Posted on February 23, 2012 by Sara| Leave a comment

It's amazing how social media has made us willing to share personal details  — often with complete strangers.

Case in point: New York Times reporter Brian Stelter recently admitted on a Boston radio station that he, like most of us, fights a continuous battle to control his weight.  In 2010, he set an ambitious goal of losing 90 pounds.

But willpower alone wasn't enough.  So friends, family and strangers following him on Twitter began receiving regular updates on every meal and snack Brian ate – along with a calorie count.  Now when Brian indulged in a few too many cookies, his followers let him have it.

That reinforcement was just what he needed.  After eight months, Brian lost the 90 pounds.  But then he made a mistake.  He stopped his regular food tweets and over the next year, 20 pounds he fought so hard to lose had returned.

So Brian's daily diet is once more food for Twitter.  If he does "screw up," his social media community is ready to come to the rescue again.

"I did feel I was revealing an awful lot, but I felt like I had to, because I felt I couldn't accomplish the weight loss without doing it publicly," he told radio station WGBH.

I've got to say I'm happy for Brian.  But I shudder to think of the next round of problems those we follow on Twitter may be willing to share.  Maybe Hillary (Clinton) was right – it takes a village.

BTW, if you want to help Brian keep the weight off, join his 3,000+ followers @brianstelter25.

– JD

Twitter: @Jdaum

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