How Does Your Business Define Engagement

I’m at the Alterian “Engaging Times” conference in Chicago which is full of interesting conversations and people.  One of the things that struck me at the conference is that nobody defined or explained what “engagement” means.  If someone “likes” your facebook page is that engagement?  What if they leave a comment on your blog?  What if they tweet with your brand?  Are all of these things engagement?  Does one of the above make you more engaged than another?  Engagement also really needs to be put into context depending on what is being done; for example direct marketing vs social media marketing.  A direct marketer’s definition of engagement might be the open rate of emails whereas the social media marketing person might look at engagement in terms of facebook page comments.

Read More…

Growing Your Brand Through Social Media

From Twitter, Sphinn, Google Reader, Facebook, Amplify, Buzz and Friendfeed–you name it!–I have been gathering some of my favorite posts. These 5 personal favorite must reads have sparked some really awesome conversations, tweaked long term project plans and challenged a lot of great ideas. From social media, online marketing and project planning to business organization these posts will for sure to fill your thought bubbles, have you reaching for the phone to share a conversation about the value of flexibility and the future of social media.

1. Aug 9th, 2010: “Local brands have the flexibility to cater their social media campaigns directly to their local customer base, using the same tools that large brands are using to cover a wider audience.  In addition, local tools and services are growing in popularity” – Social Media Gives Local Brands Home Field Advantage
2. July 28th, 2010: “Listening, Content, Socialize and Measure could just as well be represented as a cycle, but I think the forward direction is important because you can’t reach outcomes without action.” -4 Steps to Social SEO Success
3. Aug 6th, 2010: “There’s No Out Of the Box Solution – I shudder and cringe each time I hear about a company selling a basic ‘Twitter, Facebook, Delicious, StumbleUpon’ package for every business that comes through their virtual doors. Not every website is ideal for every business.” – 885 Social Sites, SEO & Marketing: Fine Tuning Your Marketing Strategy
4. July 30th, 2010: “79 percent of large corporations are leveraging social media to engage their audience, and they are using innovative ways to build buzz, establish relationships, foster communication, improve products, and cultivate long-term brand awareness and consumer trust.”- 4 Ways to Master Social Media Marketing
5. July 29th, 2010: “there are certain universal truths to what your company’s style of tweeting reveals about your corporate culture, your attitude towards social media, and what you think about your customers in general” – What Your Company’s Twitter Account Says About You

Comments

Building Online Visibility With Facebook Questions

What implications does the new feature of Facebook Questions have for our online reputation of our business or our personal brand?

In the last 24 hours Facebook has been rolling out it’s ‘Questions’ functionality – you will see it on the left hand side of your Home Page or at the top of your Profile or Business Page.

The Answers and Questions feature of Linkedin have been a great way to build online visibility and be a source of lead generation for a number of years. This move by Facebook is another example of them looking to have people spend more time in their company and become a source for information and research about questions we have.

Read More…

Market Unto Others As You Would Have Others Market Unto You

I have been on a big kick lately to examine business-related content (both client and non-client) with a different set of lenses. I have been as guilty as the next guy in trying to uncover or even create some great mystery around content creation. The more I search, though, the more I find that there is a great way for companies of all sizes to market themselves through their content.

How you ask? Well, I don’t care if you are IBM or Bubba’s Country Store—you must remember that your audiences are just people. People like you and me. No matter what kind of façade they put up, they still put their pants on one leg at a time. They still have emotions and they just want to be treated fairly.

I know there are exceptions to this rule, but I contend that the vast majority of people in this world like things to be as simple, easy and straightforward as possible. Especially as the world gets louder and more aggressive, people seek an honest voice of reason to cut through the clutter and to help them make a good decision.

Read More…

Are You Ready To Promote For Generation Y And Beyond?

A new study from the Pew Internet and American Life Project makes for interesting reading on Gen Y and their presence in social media/social networking.

Read More…