Practicing Safe Social Media

by Kim McWatt

To have a social media policy or to not have a social media policy?  That is the question. For some, the answer is no. Policies are useless, uninspiring, inhibit creativity, and essentially are stupid. For others, policies are important to protect both employees and the employer. What do I think…well I fall into the group of those who think it’s important.

Why would it be important to have a policy or guideline set up for social media usage at work? People have common sense and should know how to behave online! Yes, they certainly should. However, we’ve all heard stories of people on Facebook saying something harsh about their boss only to forget their boss is one of their Facebook friends. Duh.

It certainly is interesting to note just how many instances of people doing very foolish things online and paying the price for it – either getting themselves severely reprimanded or even fired.  I for one, would rather have a  policy put into place which eliminates any doubt about what my employer would consider “bad behavior” online.  As Shel Holtz notes in his blog post “Social media policies are stupid. Your company still needs one.”:

Hiring smart people…doesn’t automatically mean employees know every compliance issue that could come back to bite the company. Many of those compliance issues are unique or have special applications to the online world.

No one wants to get bitten. So, based on a review of a number of social media policies now published online, here are a few basic guidelines:

1. Be transparent. You represent your company on any online company properties. You also represent your company on personal social media accounts. If anywhere in your profile you’ve mentioned you work for “X Company” then you should always remember that what you say can and may reflect on your company.
2. Ask for permission. Do not disclose confidential information. Confidentiality is especially critical for clients.  Ask before disclosing any information about a client – a client relationship always comes first.
3. Cite any references. As in a university term paper, citations and references are critical to make sure proper credit is given to the originator of the thought.  Plagiarism is never a good thing. Copyright laws offline work the same online.
4. Be accurate. Facts and statistics must be correct – but if you do make an error, correct it as soon as possible and clearly indicate an error was made.
5. Disclose relationships. Clearly indicate your relationship to the client when posting approved content – as with transparency about your own company, it works the same with clients.
6. R-E-S-P-E-C-T. This is what it means to me – no obscenity, insults, offensive remarks. Demonstrate respect for other’s opinions and comments. Take the high road and don’t pick fights online. Constructive criticism is always appreciated.
7. Remember – the Internet never forgets. Everything on the web can be tracked – so be aware of what you are saying and doing online.

In many instances, these are no different from phone, fax or email policies that came into existence when these technologies were new.  Mr. Holtz sums it up nicely when he writes:

One day, when the newness has worn off social media, the policies that govern its use will be inherent in an overall communication or behavior policy.

Any guidelines you would add?

The Visual Art of Presenting

By Kim McWatt

Me doing one of my solo's.

I recently had the pleasure of being the photographer of record for a Middle Eastern Belly Dance recital which took place in my home town.  A lovely and talented group of ladies (some of whom I used to dance with) performed before a group of their friends and family.  The choreography was excellent, the costumes and colors visually engaging, the music fantastic. Overall, a wonderful evening for everyone in attendance, and executed without a hitch.

Looking through the camera lens, instead of being a dancer or a spectator in the audience, gave me the opportunity to really capture the essence of what presentation skills coaches impart to their clients.  How you present yourself to the audience makes all the difference in the world.

From experience, I know all about the tension, stress, excitement and exhilaration of performing before a live audience.  No different from presenting before a group at work – people often get butterflies in the pit of their stomach before having to present.  It’s only natural.

The most important skill is to know your content.  At the recital, the skill of the choreographer was clear in the beautiful movements elegantly timed with the music. However, wonderful choreography falls flat if it is not ingrained into the dancer’s mind.  The outward appearance becomes one of uncertainty not confidence.  The camera didn’t lie – I could see the looks of concentration and concern etched across many faces, thinking so hard about that next step they forgot everything else.

For any presentation, knowing one’s content inside and out, backwards and forwards is critical.  This is the only way to deliver content with confidence. Practice really does make perfect.  Only then can a presenter relax and deliver without looking like a deer caught in the headlights or a dancer looking like they’re worried about falling flat on their face.

Second, establish rapport. While not everyone can relate to Middle Eastern music or feel comfortable watching their grandmother on stage in a belly dance bedlah and skirt, the skilled dancer can remove those feelings instantly by drawing the viewer into their world.  Too often the camera caught the dancers looking above the audience, never truly touching them. Or they looked down, almost inwardly, not really seeing the dancers around them, or anything else for that matter.  Even if on a stage removed from the audience, rapport is established by making eye contact, using gestures like clapping which get people involved…and loving every minute of it.

Within a formal presentation environment, establish rapport by talking directly to people – make it a conversation with each person in the audience – rather than staring at a blank spot on the wall. Relate to the audience, draw them in with a story, talk at their level, never patronize. Making the effort to relate to your audience, and they will relate to you.

Third, smile.  Smiling gives the impression of confidence, friendliness, and openness.  But it should be genuine – a fake smile, practiced and frozen can be spotted a mile away, and isn’t particularly appealing in the photos either.  Dancers who smiled and exhibited genuine warmth elicited the most audience response.  Even more so, based on the mood of the music, dancers who matched their expression to the music made for a truly engaging and wonderful experience for the audience.

In any presentation situation, people who smile, appropriately, command the most attention, respect, and credibility.  When smiling, the tone, cadence, and posture of the speaker seem more engaging and confident. People are more apt to listen to someone who is smiling than frowning.

Finally – relax and have fun.  The best dancers, and the ones who were a delight to photograph, were the ones who looked like they were having a great time. They portrayed confidence and credibility – even if a novice dancer.  They made mistakes, but no one in the audience knew because they continued with their dance as if nothing happened. Others who seemed frustrated or nervous showed it in their faces and posture, which was extremely clear in the photos.

If  at the end of  a presentation the audience walks away remembering your key points, and the fun they had learning about them, the session was a success.  Even if mistakes are throughout.  Even if some content is missed because of nerves.  Enjoy the opportunity to impart information to a group who clearly thinks you are the expert – otherwise they wouldn’t attend your presentation.  Don’t worry about the missteps – move on and focus on the key points you want to make.  No one will know the difference, and it gives you the chance to follow-up and network later.

It does take time to master these presentation skills (just as it does to master one’s choreography), but ultimately, whether in dance or in a work setting, the result is audience engagement.  And an engaged audience, is a happy audience.

Social Media Outside of the Mainstream

By Kim McWatt

When you think of the types of organizations using social media technologies, most people would automatically think of fashion retailers, restaurants, or big corporate brands / manufacturers.  It’s actually quite exciting to see other industries starting to embrace social media in their marketing tactics. Clearly, any company who needs to connect with their customers should consider social media as part of their communications mix.

An interesting example came to my attention in the April 2010 edition of Bodyshop magazine. The article titled “Social Settings” by J.D. Ney talks about the “newfangled” world of social media and provides a case study for bodyshops and collision repair facilities to model themselves after.

To differentiate themselves in a competitive market, many collision repair turn to traditional media choices like flyers, radio and direct mail to message their customers. For others, the time is ripe to put some effort into non-traditional media. With a changing consumer demographic, focusing only on baby boomers (their current customer base) will not promote future sales growth.

According to Chris Sheehy, president of Autobody Consulting Group in Rhode Island, “That younger age bracket relies heavily on word of mouth, and more importantly, the kind of referrals and testimonials you get with social media. They simply won’t believe something that comes from a company website. They believe and interpret what others are saying about it. So, they’re very dependent on the Internet to get this information. If they can’t find you there, or find out what people are saying about you there, then they’re not going to get to know you.”

A social media usage poll done on bodyshopbiz.com indicated that less than half of respondents had any kind of social media strategy at all.  Early adopters, like South Barrie Collision, the case study presented in the article, highlights the opportunities social media can open up for early adopters of this communications strategy.

What the South Barrie Collision story underscores three key points:

• Monitor your audience: Periodically review who is actually following and responding to your Tweets or Facebook updates. It’s not about how many people you reach, but WHO you reach which is more important. Identifying a small group of highly engaged and energized potential customers is more rewarding than hundreds of somewhat interested followers. South Barrie Collision first focused on the end customer, but then recognized their followers were more in the insurance business and changed their communications accordingly to maintain visibility with insurance brokers too.
• Test – learn – adjust: As with any marketing campaign, you need to start with a solid strategy. But you also need to be flexible and adjust your strategy as needed. South Barrie Collision constantly adjusts their message to not only focus on their shop – they provide advice, tips, news, fun “stuff” in order to maintain engagement with their audience
• Social media requires commitment: Do you want to create a short term interaction or are you committed to work towards a long term relationship with your customers? As the Sheehy points out “”I search around and see a lot of bodyshops who have a presence in this space, but I see an awful lot of one-liners…” Social media requires constant attention; otherwise, long-term benefits will never be realized.

Social media is not only for the retailers, restaurants, and big corporate brands in the world. It can work for any company who wants to seriously engage with their customers and build strong relationships. From commercial truck dealers, independent automotive or truck repair facilities, to tow truck operators or vehicle rental shops – develop a social media strategy that works for your business and follow through. It’s time to get the conversation started.

A Moment in Time – Revisited

By Kim McWatt

Back on April 30^th, I wrote a short post about a social experience through the New York Times photography blog LENS. The challenge: LENS invited readers to take a photo May 2^nd, at 15:00 U.T.C to record a “moment in time”.  The logistics: take a photo at (or as close to) the designated time, upload your photo to the site (which was open till May 7^th), and then wait in breathless anticipation for the interactive site.  The result: an overwhelming response – four times the number of submissions than previous solicitations.

My Observations

My Moment

• It’s a small world. Such a cliché, but this endeavor provides further evidence of its validity.  You wander through the photos and see commonalities across the globe. While the locations varied, commonalities abounded – family, pets, community, nature – we’re all in this life together.
• The power of social media. Social media works. As a social media event, this had an impressive result. LENS tapped into the passion of photographers around the globe and the community responded. Even though there were issues (see below), people still commended LENS for their efforts and felt it was a worthwhile experience.
• People will rally around a common cause. Social issues or simply a photographic endeavor, people band together to make wonderful things happen.
• Technology isn’t perfect. Just accept the fact, things can and will go wrong. An unexpected technical glitch early in the submission process left the team with images and captions they could not reconcile.  Blog updates and wall posts on the LENS Facebook page were quick to point out this anomaly and advised participants of the problem. You have to commend the team at LENS for continuing to do everything they can to rectify the situation and get all contributions posted.
• Stay connected. After posting my photo, I kept going back to the LENS blog (and I joined the Facebook page) to keep tabs on what was going on. This is how I had found out about the technical issue and emailed my photo to the team as instructed, just in case. However, for many that received a “thank you for your submission” after uploading their photo in those early stages, and did not follow the Facebook page, they would not have caught on that there was a potential problem and simply waited to view their photo online when the interactive site became available…only to not find it at all. A letdown for all those who had taken the time to take part in this timed event (the comments can attest to the disappointment).
• I’m number one. The interactive site initially did not have any filters other than general geographic area and category. You had to scroll through hundreds of photos, one by one, to find your photo. And the strange thing is…people did (obviously, since they commented on not finding their photo). We all want to see our contributions first and are dogged in our persistence. Only after I found my photo, I slowed down to take in all the other moments – the real point of the exercise. Which brings me back to my first point:  it’s a small world – different locations, but we’re alike in so many ways.

This was a great experience and I truly look forward to the next call to action.

A Moment In Time…Where will you be?

A Moment in Time

By Kim McWatt

A colleague passed along this posting by David Dunlap on the LENS blog at the New York Times:

Attention: everyone with a camera, amateur or pro. Please join us on Sunday, May 2, at 15:00 (U.T.C./G.M.T.), as thousands of photographers simultaneously record “A Moment in Time.” The idea is to create an international mosaic, an astonishingly varied gallery of images that are cemented together by the common element of  time.

What will be your moment in time?

What an amazing chance to be a part of the global photographic community and share your experience of that single moment.  Have a read and get all the information you need to post your photo record.

I’m  excited about the opportunity  to share my moment. What a fascinating social experiment – I will definitely be interested to see the results.

..how about you?

Missed Opportunities? Mandarin Chinese Buffet Promotion.

Passport to Japan Poster

By Kim McWatt

In March 2009, the Mandarin Chinese Buffet restaurant announced their 30^th anniversary promotion – Mandarin’s Passport to Japan. Running from March till November 2009, thirty lucky individuals won a trip for two to Japan. One semi-finalist from each of the Mandarin’s 21 locations was chosen. The remaining semi-finalist ballots were pooled, and the last 9 trips were given away. Winners were announced December 15^th and the trips were taken in April 2010.  During the fantastic nine day trip, winners visited places such as Tokyo, Mt. Fuji-Hakone, Kobe, Kyota, Osaka, and more!

Now, aside from the odd choice of Japan for the grand prize from a Chinese buffet restaurant, the Mandarin missed a huge opportunity to utilize social media to increase their profile online and in the communities where their franchise locations are located.

Here’s a few of my thoughts:

• Website: The Mandarin could have updated their 30^th anniversary page to truly engage visitors with the brand and franchise. Currently, all that’s shown is a single image of the winners and a list of their names. Tremendous buzz could have been created by having winners rave about how wonderful the experience was through images and comments. Likely, such a move would have garnered a lot of interest from new and returning customers alike to watch out for the next big promotion – even if it isn’t till their 35^th anniversary. Included here should also have been links to their Twitter and Facebook pages to invite further customer interaction with the grand prize winners, the brand and the company on a more personal level.
  

  Contest Winners

• Facebook: The Mandarin has a Facebook fan page currently with 379 fans –  the first post is dated May 22, 2009. Here, they missed out on a fantastic way to involve the winners of the promotion to upload images and write wall posts about the trip itself.  Just taking a closer look, Mandarin did execute on one promotion through Facebook – Canada Day – however, nothing mentioned about the Passport promotion. Unfortunately, the page hasn’t been updated since June 30, 2009. Less than two months and then nothing. Customers were commenting and interacting with each
  

  Twitter Feed

  other – there was interest from the community! What a lost opportunity to really connect with customers, gather feedback, get them involved!

• Twitter: Twitter feeds for the Mandarin started in September 2009. Looking at the Tweets, most were about promotions and events happening at the Mandarin with attempts at interacting with the customers.  Unfortunately, like their Facebook page, the postings stopped shortly after starting in January2010. There could have been so much more done through Twitter to engage their customer base and use the Passport promotion to increase the number of followers of the feed. People want to hear from people, not only about one promotion after another.  Certainly there were individuals on the trip who had Twitter accounts and who could have been encouraged to Tweet about their experiences. Or post links to their images or videos on their own Facebook, YouTube or Flickr accounts. All including a #MandarinBuffet reference. The Mandarin could have easily retweeted their postings for their followers by monitoring these posts. Additionally, as staff from Mandarin also accompanied the winners, they could have been provided with access to the Twitter feed to post their own experiences during the trip, their interactions with their customers, being brand ambassadors for the company

Other opportunities to get connected with customers could have been through setting up a Mandarin channel on YouTube and posting video of the trips in action. Or setting up their own Flickr account and posting the best photos.

The opportunities were endless for engaging and igniting customer interaction with the brand – and at little to no cost to the franchise owners themselves using social media tactics. Bottom line, the marketing message the Mandarin could have capitalized on was this: Mandarin treat’s its customers right.

Perhaps, on the next big anniversary, they’ll give it a try.

NOTE:  A clarification on the Twitter account and Facebook pages. These are not the official accounts of the Mandarin. Given that these were created by fans of the franchise, all the more reason to develop a social media strategy to interact more closely with customers.

Great Social Media Course, Great Insights

By Kim McWatt

This week I attended a fantastic one-day course on Social Media Marketing held by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) of Canada.  The speaker was Mitch Joel of Twist Image.  Let’s just say, it was definitely like eating a seven course meal with a slingshot (analogy courtesy of my colleague Tim Srigley).

It was hard to believe all the information Joel was able to pack into this intensive eight hours.  Time simply flew by.  Here’s just a few key insights gleaned from this engaging experience:

• Many people don’t realize it, but social media has been around for a long time – over a decade already.  It’s not a passing fad…there’s staying power and potential here that hasn’t yet been tapped.
• Social media has created the need to reemphasize marketing.  A paradigm shift needs to occur in the collective mind of all marketers – we need to communicate WITH customers, not at customers.  It’s a subtle shift, but it is definitely a shift and needs to be embraced by everyone.  And we need to pay attention not only to what we’re saying to customers, but also to what they are saying to each other.
• Too often, marketers get hung up on the “how many” when determining the success of a social media campaign.  How many followers, how many hits, how many visits to the site, how many click throughs.  What we need to be interested in is the “Who” – who is following my blog or twitter profile? Who are the influencers?  Who are the key trend setters? “Who” is far more important than “how many?”
• Everything is “with” not “instead of” – as marketers, don’t get caught in the idea that social media is a silver bullet, the savior of any marketing campaign. Social media is simply another media channel to be utilized.  Based on the overall marketing strategy, these tactics should complement the other tools used to create an effective comprehensive communications campaign.
• And one of the best insights of the day: placing an ad is like a one night stand, social media is like getting married.  That’s powerful.  Think about it – are you looking for the quick spike in sales and gain a few new customers in the process?  Or, are you in it for the long haul, building relationships and developing a community?  Social media is not a one night stand. It takes true commitment and dedication.

Great insights, great course.  I would like to thank the IAB for hosting the event and also Mitch Joel for being an engaging, passionate, and energetic speaker.

How do you treat your suppliers?

by Kim McWatt

Mitch Joel, in his blog post “The Business of Kindness”, was spot on with his commentary.  With the ever increasing transparency of business interaction going on out in the market today because of social media technologies, every company will need to review the way they interact with their customers.  Kindness could indeed become the new competitive advantage for an organization.

As mentioned in the post, kindness shouldn’t extend only to the customer relationship – it should permeate every interaction, internally and externally.  Kindness, respect, transparency…these are important ingredients in any working or personal relationship.

Consider the supplier relationship.  How often does anyone really think about how they treat their suppliers?  Are these relationships cordial or adversarial?  In many cases, suppliers are being beat up to lower pricing or provide increased levels of service for the same cost.  Ultimately, how often are suppliers actually thanked for their efforts and hard work?

In today’s economic climate, many would argue that in order to stay in business, you have to be tough on your suppliers to get what you need.  Looking at it from the standpoint of the supplier, to keep the business, you need to ensure you’re providing the best possible products / services at a competitive price.  If there is dissatisfaction, and if the relationship is built on integrity and trust, you should be able to work together to resolve any issue.

But, that’s not always the case.  I heard a story the other day of a manager at a local manufacturing firm who, during a conference call with a key supplier, put the phone on mute and proceeded to insult the supplier because of a pricing issue.  However, the manager actually did not hit the mute button and the supplier heard every… last… nasty… word.  The response?  The supplier pulled his business from the company.  [Note: the manufacturer did find an alternate supplier for their parts in this instance. They were lucky.]

Perhaps there was a long-standing issue behind the scenes that precipitated this type of response by the manager.  Even if there was, there was no reason to treat the supplier with disrespect, even if out of sheer frustration.

I mentioned in an earlier post it’s better to be a “client partner” and build relationships based on trust and transparency.  And if you can build such a relationship with a client or customer, you can also build this type of relationship with your suppliers.  With a strong supplier partnership you can resolve issues respectfully and to the benefit of both organizations.

Karma…what comes around, goes around.  Just like any customer who stops purchasing your products / services because of poor customer service, suppliers also have the option of not dealing with an organization who doesn’t subscribe to the concept of kindness.  And, such organizations may not be around in the long run, especially when they’ve run out of suppliers to insult.

What do you think? “The Social Media Bubble”

By Kim McWatt

I happened upon thought provoking posting by Umair Haque titled “The Social Media Bubble” for Harvard Business Review.  Within the article, Mr. Haque advances his hypothesis as follows:

“Despite all the excitement surrounding social media, the Internet isn’t connecting us as much as we think it is.  It’s largely home to weak, artificial connections, what I call thin relationships”

While I wouldn’t necessarily agree overall (and neither would the majority of individuals who commented on the post), he does raise some pointed questions on the direction of social media use as a relationship builder.  I believe that social media technologies provide the tools to network and build relationships.  The tools themselves are the means to the end – ultimately, it’s up to everyone who engages in social networks to grow and sustain their relationships, both online and offline.  Just as you would with any other networking initiative.

What do you think?  Is social media home to weak artificial relationships or does it provide the starting point toward developing stronger, deeper, more valuable relationships?

I myself look forward to the next time when Mr. Haque discusses what we can do about it.

Thoughts on Engaging Customers Online

By Kim McWatt

Recently we completed a competitive analysis of online marketing communications for our client.   Over thirty websites were reviewed and evaluated with a focus on e-commerce capabilities.  Here’s a few things we noticed.

• First impressions are everything. If you make the commitment for e-commerce then follow through.  Unfortunately, not everyone does this.  Some sites offered online ordering, but failed in the execution.  We saw anything from product search being non functional, to missing order policy information, and even missing images of products on offer.  Wanting to get in on the e-commerce game is admirable, but customers will not come back if their experience is not optimal first time around. First impressions are everything.
• Why do I need to register? Nothing is more irritating from a customer experience standpoint than having to register or login to find out about the products available, or shipping, return, and payment options.  If you’re going to provide online ordering, then allow your customers to view your product offerings and policies without making them register.  In this age of total transparency, unless there’s something you want to hide, give customers the information they need to make a sound buying decision.  Registration can then take place at check-out – if the customer knows all about your policies and is committed to purchase, they will be happy to register.
• Be aware of the “fold”. Sites often showcased huge lists of parts available, but you had to scroll down to see everything.  As noted in Jakob Nielsen’s recent blog: “Web users spend 80% of their time looking at information above the page fold.” It’s the old 80/20 rule at play here.  Customers will scroll down long pages.  But only 20% of the time.  Although you may want customers to see everything you have to offer, if the goal is to allow for quick easy purchase online, keep product features and pertinent information above the fold.
• Call for pricing. As in the first point, you’re either committed to e-commerce or you’re not. Why promote online ordering if customers must “call for pricing” or “request a quote”. Customers will simply go elsewhere to purchase what they need, unless your product offering is truly unique.
• Need a GPS to navigate. Is your information categorized and presented properly?  Is your shopping cart and checkout area free from clutter and unnecessary steps? Having a clean, easy to follow ordering process will guarantee higher conversion rates, and increase sales.  Which leads to…
• Who am I ordering from? In some cases, customers were redirected to a separate site to complete their purchase transactions.  Redirecting customers does not build brand loyalty or repeat visits – why bookmark your site if they can simply bookmark where they actually made the purchase?
• Give me options. Provide an option for in-store pickup (if available). Often, the in-store pick up was faster than receiving via courier (order online, pick up within 24 hours). For many consumers, being linked to an actual bricks and mortar location provides a sense of comfort and consistency. This also helps to build relationships face-to-face.  Not everyone is ready for a full online transaction…yet.

Needless to say, the sites reviewed were quite diverse with respect to their online customer experience.  Things can only get better as companies benchmark against the leaders in their respective industries.