Archive for Twitter
Touchdown for Twitter
Posted by: | CommentsSomewhere in an unknown stadium, Twitter just high stepped into the end-zone and did a touchdown celebration bigger than the ‘Lambeau Leap’ or the ‘Gronk Spike’.
The NFL announced it would allow players to tweet before and during this year’s Pro Bowl. The league said it would set up a computer on each sideline where players are encouraged to use Twitter to communicate with fans, teammates and even opponents during commercial breaks when their offensive or defensive unit is not on the field.
This coming from a professional sports organization that has been a little less apt to allow players to fully embrace social media. Their current Social Media Policy bans players from tweeting 90 minutes before games all the way until they fulfill their postgame media obligations.
Is this a sign of more social media involvement by players during games across all sports? The NFL said that the Pro Bowl is only an experiment that it is not being considered by the regular season or playoffs.
What’s interesting is the NFL decided to ‘try’ this experiment a week before the event that is largely considered the social media event of the year, especially for advertisers. Last year, 111 million people watched the Super Bowl, according to Nielsen Companies, making it the most-watched TV event ever. This year more and more Super Bowl advertisers will be integrating social media into their TV ads.
So, what’s next? I wonder at some point will players be allowed to interact via social media with advertisers during timeouts? Will we see in the very near future an interactive ad that displays a players tweet or Facebook post to drink Coke during a game? Or better yet, will next year players be allowed to perform a ‘Touchdown Tweet’?
Stay tuned . . .
Information for this article provided by:
NFL to allow Twitter during Pro Bowl
Super Bowl becoming the social media event of the season for advertisers
Twitter isn’t for kids
Posted by: | Comments
We’ve all seen Tweets that use the phrases, “OMG,” “totally,” and of course, “!” used as punctuation throughout. Even better are the multiple “!!!!!” This is absolutely acceptable for individual Tweets if that’s how that individual communicates. However, if the voice of your brand is communicated that way, it’s worth serious evaluation. Twitter is not for kids anymore.
If you are a business and your goal is to remain true to your brand, which is how it should be, the “voice” that is carried throughout your marketing needs to remain in line including your social networking voice. We’ve seen professional brands that come on to Twitter and begin Tweeting one way and then suddenly the voice changes. That’s okay if your voice is still consistent with your brand. However, if it sounds like you’ve handed over your passwords to a social networking newbie, you may start losing followers and not gaining any new ones.
A common misperception we’ve heard is that social networking is owned by the younger generation. That’s not necessarily true. And yes, there are exceptions to this rule. But while today’s college student most likely has a Facebook account and maybe Tweets, they are doing so personally. Their personal voices have been perfected with their friends in a causal and engaging manner. If the person you have assigned to manage your social networking does so without the insight to your brand positioning, the image of your company online won’t be consistent with your marketing. The expectation that it will, is wrong.
So, when a company just hands over its brand to the youngest person in the office without educating them, they are passing off a critical component of their brand to someone without any training. Companies surely wouldn’t do that with an ad or collateral piece. Which leads me to believe that businesses are either: 1) not taking it seriously or 2) they are just doing social networking for the sake of doing social networking. The fact is it’s a very powerful, fully Google searchable voice to your business. If you doubt the power of social networking, you’re just kidding yourself.
We also see confusion on where social networking fits. Social networking is a tactic. It’s not a strategy. However it does require a strategic approach just like any great marketing program.
Want to know how your potential new hire or agency handles it? Easy, check out their work.
1. Do a Google search and see how their personal social outreach trends.
2. Check out Twitter and see how many people they follow, how many follow back, how often they post and the number of posts to date.
3. Go to Facebook and check out their profiles including frequency, photos, links and other tabs.
4. View their LinkedIn profile to see how their professional resume is presented.
5. See if they have a personal website and/or if they blog.
If you are looking at hiring professionals or an agency,
1. Be sure to check out the agency’s social networking presence with a Google search. There should be a consistent level of frequency and not just starts.
2. Search for individual team members to determine their level of participation. After all if you choose the firm, they will be managing your efforts.
3. Go to their Web site. If an agency is active in the social networking arena, there should be links to their pages and it should up-to-date.
4. See if the agency blogs.
If the agency can’t do it for their own business, how are they going to do it for you?
No matter if it’s an individual or agency, a review of each of the online platforms will help determine their personal brand and therefore how they might represent you. If they’ve promoted themselves well, they’ll do justice for you. If they’re not active socially, then you have your answer.
Personal + Professional = Enthusiasm that Delivers
Posted by: | CommentsA recent exchange on Twitter got me to thinking, when you become a public relations professional do you lose independence and credibility when making recommendations or talking about things you like? I’ll start with the exchange so you get my drift:
A twitter user is looking for the best driving route from Point A to Point B. A discussion begins with another user noting that flying is best because the drive is a bore. I respond noting all of the beauty along the drive. The other counters my recommendation because I happen to work with several tourism clients that are along the route.
Sure, I do have clients along the route, but I’ve also driven it many times when my husband was living at Point A and I was at B. We’ve driven it on vacations since then, and yes, I’ve driven it for work. And every single time it’s been fascinating. And I’m entitled to this opinion, whether it aligns with my goals at work or not.
I have yet to come across a client that I’m not truly excited about. That’s because we believe in our clients and are genuinely interested in them—who they are, what they do, what they’re about. We don’t just take on clients because it’s business. We take them on because we WANT to. Then we immerse ourselves, learning as much as possible about them. We visit their location, attend their events or test their products. I like to think that our work reflects that enthusiasm.
Often that enthusiasm spills over into our personal lives (or stems from it). But if I’m passionate about something, I’ll talk about it, on my own time and in my own space, regardless of whether they’re a client. I’m an independent with my own likes and dislikes. I’m also a credible, trustworthy and honest person—and public relations professional.
