Does your company have social media policies in place for employees?
Are you employees engaging with others under your brand name with little or no guidance or standards?
Here is my point of view of what is being done today.
Susan Boyle was back in the news again this week. The British singing sensation, “discovered” during a taping of Britain’s Got Talent, has been rumored to be coming to the U.S. The producers are debating if they will trot her out for the American version of the sister show “America’s Got Talent” new season.
Why?
Let’s begin with her impact across the ocean. Boyle’s national TV debut proved that social media can impact public perception and revenues. Links to her performance on YouTube spread like a brush fire in Southern California at the height of a Santa Ana wind storm.
Back in April, I originally wrote about Boyle and her success. Now with a record 173 million page views later the reluctant reality TV star could be jumping the ocean to help promote its sister program in America.
Piers Morgan, who serves as a judge on both the Americana and British shows of “Talent” was quoted in today’s LA Times that ”In terms of the potential effect she could have on ratings, the British show jumped nearly 50% because of Susan. ”And I believe the American show could do the same.”
That would be a real revenue impact for NBC from a possible boost in advertising, all because of the power of word of mouth marketing,
Businesses that have not yet developed a game plan should see read about this success and begin engaging experts to develop a road map. Social Media’s impact on business is real and can improve the bottom line with one compelling video like that from Susan Boyle
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If you have not seen the video or want to watch it again, here is a link to Susan Boyle in My You Tube Channel on Social Media
There is also a good beginner’s video to social media, which I have included a link below.
Who is keeping tabs on social networking sites? Possibly, your next employer. Let me introduce you to a web site called spokeo.com. Have you heard of it? You should. Social media tools have swept the United States and many parts of the world. If you participate in sites like facebook and twitter, you undoubtedly have seen friends, family and those you might consider networking with posting on these sites. Some interesting posts and some not so interesting. And then there are the photos.
Spokeo is not another social networking site but a tool to help manage them. Spokeo touts itself as a place where you can see something juicy on friends, contacts and business partners.
I decided to give it a test run to see what came up on people that were in my yahoo.com address book. I do not use Yahoo as my default address but there are a few friends and family who are listed. This random test brought up four people: My sister, an old camp friend a fraternity brother from college and business contact. There were anywhere from six to 24 different entries per person. It included photos posted on flickr, Tweets a person has made and even a news article where my sister was mentioned in connection with a charity walk in connection with the America Cancer Society.
Spokeo might initially brand itself as a way to see something juicy, but it is really geared towards human resource (HR) directors or other hiring managers. Think about it. As the stock market shows signs of a rally, consumer confidence moving slightly better and the U.S. economy edging towards a possible recovery, businesses, now more than ever, will want to know more details about employees. Spokeo searches deep within 42 major social networks to find truly mouth-watering news about friends and coworkers. — their claim not mine.
It would be very easy to weed out potential employees who are posting negative or inappropriate information on web sites as a way to protect the company.
Anything you post on the Internet, a picture, comments on social networking sites and even blogs like www.sportsinfo101.com are open for evaluation by potential employers. Just look at it this way. Anything you say can and will be held against you by a future employer. If that doesn’t scream CONSUMER BEWARE, I do not know what might. Unless you are someone like Mark Cuban who attracts attention with sometimes outrageous comments, then you better start paying attention.
Want a real life example, I take this one and tried to keep it as clean as possible. In talking with an industry professional today, she suggested a website I had never heard of before, it is called www.fmylife.com On the site, people post these strange, wild and stupid things going on in their life. Here is an example: Today, I had to rub my turtle’s anus with a wet Q-tip, which is supposed to help with his constipation. I think he liked it.
Do not know if Spokeo monitors this site but people write and say the darnedest things. Spokeo’s blog, has a nice catchy phrase at the top of the landing page. ”Uncover personal photos, videos and secrets.”
Want to keep tabs on the same social networking sites. Here is a partial list of who Spokeo claims to be watching.
Windows Live Spaces
stumbleupon
friendster
blogger
Slide
hi5
yelp
Pandora
Veoh
It is not the entire list but a pretty good peek and the reach the site has.
The catch is, the service will show you a few people for free, but to see the entire list, you need to pay a fee. The payment options are a three month, six month or one year contract that ranges from $2.95 to $4.95 per month. The site teased me with an additional 32 people who came up on the contact search within the Yahoo email program, but I could only see the number of possible posts, not the actual item unless I paid.
Now you know. Keeping tabs on Social Networking Sites just received a higher priority.
Social media and social networking. The terms are all the rage these days as products and brands look for more real interaction with consumers.
Major social networks you probably know include LinkedIn, Facebook, MySpace and Twitter. All very popular and all seem to be thriving. However, what are you going to turn if you want to create your own social network site? Who can help you with building a site and getting it up and running in a hurry?
Ning. No, that’s not a typo. Ning. Rated as the 55th most popular web site in the America by Alexa, it has more than 12,000 incoming links. The company was founded in late 2004 and bills itself as an online platform that empowers people to create and discover new social experiences. The company also says it has close to one million social networks on the Ning Platform, which would be the largest number of unique social networks on the Internet.
You many know about other companies that build social networks for companies. Pluck, for example is a Texas based company that bills itself as a leader in Social Media. In addition to USA Today and Whole Foods as customers, Pluck also has a few sports clients which include the National Football League (NFL), the Dallas Cowboys, Livestrong.com and Men’s Health.
Stats are verified by Compete.
But let’s come back to Ning. Ning is a Do-it-Yourself Social Media site. Look at the consistent growth over the past year. In April of last year, the site had more than 1.7 million unique visitors and by March of 2009, that number had exploded to more than 7 million monthly unique visitors and climbing.
While it might take a bit more hands on time than just hiring an outside agency to build the site, the advantages include:
1) More affordable
2) Quicker to bring to market
3) Easy to scale
Ning says owns can choose public or private, members only social networks, moderation options and things like invitation engine.
A friend of mine used Ning to build his social networking site and it so far, satisfied.
Happy building and good luck.
I recently had the opportunity to visit with leaders from Ketchum Public Relations who shared with me a study they recently completed on a 2008 Media Usage Survey. It is called “Media Myths and Realities” and was completed it in partnership with USC’s Annenberg Strategic Public Relations Center.
I am not going to dive into methodology details, sample sizes and all that. For this blog, I will focus trends. The study asked some key questions including:
1) Is traditional media dead?
2) What are trends in consumer choice?
3) How credible are digital/social channels?
This is not the first time the survey has been completed but the first time I had a chance to take a peek at the numbers. Here are some of results.
When comparing the use of traditional media from 2006 to 2008, a downward spiral continues at a rapid pace, though usage is still substantial. For example, Major network TV news declined 6%, from 71% to 65%. Local newspaper consumption, not surprisingly was down 6% to 63% and local TV news fared worse, off 12%. Two areas increased however – Advice from family and friends increased 3% while advice from coworkers increased from 23% to 30%.
Influence from people you trust certainly plays a big part in key decisions and the study shows this is only growing more important. The role of influencers was broken out from the general population and examined as well. Who is considered an influencer? It is defined in the study as 10-15% of the population who exercise influence and control the levers of change in society.
These people consume media at a higher rate than the average population and are better informed about news and trends. Influencers consume cable network news (19%) local TV news (10%) and local newspapers (13%) at a higher rate than the average population. When looking online, the difference is more pronounced. According to the study, influencers consume 20% more websites for local newspapers, major TV news and cable TV news sites.
The question each of has to ask then is, how do we reach them? The answer, might be social and digital media as these influencers continue to embrace these areas. Which specific outlets you ask? When looking at strictly influencers from 2006 to 2008, blogs and social networking sites have each increased 16 percent. Podcasts and mobile media, which have generated lots of interest in the past, also increased but at a lower rate (Podcasts +3% and mobile media +5%).
Look at the sphere of influence the following people/organizations have on Twitter
1. Barak O’Bama 308,000 followers
2. CNN Breaking News 255,000
3. Stephen Fry 219,000
4. Twitter 199,000
5. Britney Spears 181,000
6. Kevin Rose 166,000
7. New York Times 158,000
8. Lance Armstrong 153,000
9. Al Gore 143,000
10. Evan Williams 138,000
New Photo link as of March 18, 2009
A brief look at this top 10 list.
* Only two media companies included
* Today, Individual voices on this list have a larger audience than many newspapers
* You are probably asking yourselves, who the heck is Kevin Rose and Evan Williams? Kevin is the Digg founder and Evan Williams is the CEO of Twitter.
The media landscape is changing.
On this day last week, I introduced my “baker’s dozen” of social media in Tech Friday. It discussed the popular tools people use today to communicate and how technology is changing the way we do business.
A example in sports is showcased in the latest issue of PR Week, a trade publication for communications and marketing professionals. In the February 2nd issue, a story penned by Frank Washkuch tackles how professional sports teams have quickly adapted to using social media. Specifically, the Phoenix Suns, Detroit Red Wings and the Los Angeles Dodgers are asked how they use social media in their business. Shaquille O’Neil and the Suns use Twitter to drive conversation and bring fans together at events and game nights. The story also mentions how the Detroit Red Wings use Facebook and Twitter “to keep fans across the US and Scandinavia in check with the team’s latest moves” while the Dodgers feature star Andre Ethier in a “Dining with Dre” Blog to talk about where the athlete eats.
The bottom line is use of tools like Twitter allow internet users to get information now. The days of getting breaking news from the morning newspaper are just about over. Case in point, I am up by 5:30 each morning and when I began reading on Page one of the Los Angeles Times Business section today, a headline screamed ”Wider List of Madoff Victim is Unveiled”. This was old news to me. I had mentioned that Dodger great Sandy Koufax was one of those folks named in my Twitter message by noon yesterday.
Lastly, since I have always loved numbers, consider these, according to the Pew Internet & American Life project’s December 2008 Tracking Survey:
· Share of adult internet users who have a profile on an online social network site has more than quadrupled in the past four years — from 8% in 2005 to 35% now
· 75% of adults 18-24 use these networks while 57% ages 25-34 are also active in the arena
· 60% of adult social network users restrict access to their profiles
· 31% of the survey had an income of $75,000 or more.
Sounds like a target market you want to engage in your business? Then get hopping and develop your social media business plan.
To follow me on twitter, you can find me at www.twitter.com/sportsinfo101
As a sports administrator you need to quickly adopt to changing technology. Consider it as part of your plan moving forward to tweak the current approach to changing fan needs.
One of the most popular internet buzzwords of 2008 was social media. Corporate America has been trying to figure out how to develop a business voice in this space. While companies like Zappos.com has instilled it as part of their their culture, most businesses still struggle.
Sports teams have web site sections dedicated to discussion boards or an online community, but creating online buzz and breaking through the clutter to reach fans is getting more difficult. Unless you are in the Super Bowl, World Series or Stanley Cup every year, take time to think how you are responding to developing fans needs and communication.
One of the first companies that changed the way we communicate online was an Israeli technology company called ICQ or I-Seek-You. They were the first to brand and sell an instant messaging tool that has now been integrated into so many different online communication platforms. ICQ however, was developed prior to the current trend to social media.
I would bet a few social media web sites you have probably heard of today include facebook and my space which many millions of people use to connect, communicate and promote themselves, their music, clothes business, whatever.
Sports teams and brands need to develop a voice and communicate with their fans and consumers in new ways. How many teams and organizations have dedicated staff to engage and monitor postings on Twitter, Digg or de.licious? I asked my father, as a measuring stick, if he knew or used any of these tools. Okay, he is retired and struggles to go beyond email, so he has never heard or used them. How about you? Here is a list of my baker’s dozen of popular social media tools. Beyond number one, how many have you heard of and how many do you use, monitor or engage?
1. youtube.com
The shoe companies often move the fastest in this space. Nike and Reebok, I think it is Reebok since I see athletes wearing their jerseys in the video have developed viral forms of fun comunication to create the buzz online via facebook.
This Kobe Bryant video, which you probably will never see as a whole TV commercial since it is 2 minutes, is called – Ankle Insurance — and produced by Nike. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPnRFkPWyDM
More than 3 million people have already viewed what I believe is a fun Reebok take on Fantasy Football – http://tinyurl.com/9zo3hy As one comment on this YouTube post said “Fake or not its GREAT!!!!!” Do you have fun, edgy video being viewed by 3 million of your fans and customers? Players from the Lakers, Saints and Chargers are in the videos. Not for their teams however, but for a shoe company.
Teams need to be investing more and more in technology. You need to know how to drive online ticket sales from organized GEO targeting and a better plan to reach local fans. Do you monitor open rates on emails, are you buying internet traffic for ticket sales or are you just posting your web site and rely on fans to Google your default web site address.
Just as important, how are you responding to fans who post a comment on Twitter?
If you are not currently a sports executive and want to get into the game, then develop an expertise in this area and show teams how this can impact their business. Smart executives will understand and hire you to implement a program for their organization.
