January 2010

Old School Social Media Lessons You Won't Find In a Textbook

This week, I experienced the best and the worst that social media has to offer. One brand committed an epic FAIL, while another drove home some overlooked points and won respect (and likely customers).

First, let's look at a case study in what not to do. By now, most people have experienced Twitter auto responses when they start following someone. I tend to advise my clients to not use them. Twitter is about personal engagement. A canned response is anything but personal, or engaging.

Yet yesterday, I received an autoresponse that my colleague Tom Parnell stated "could be the textbook example of "what not to do." I agree. While I will not reveal the name of the offender, the message has to be shared.

"Hey there {firstname}, thanks for the follow! I really appreciate it! I can't wait to visit {location} and meet up with you."

There are so many things wrong with this, but beyond the failed script - why would anyone think a Twitter follow is an invitation to visit me in person? Make sure your response is authentic appropriate.

Remembering Old School

On a more positive note, Herb Connolly Acura of Framingham, Mass., is an example of a company that did something very right. Too often in the social media world people focus on Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and LinkedIn. They forget the Web 1.0 communities that brought people together and still do - listservs and message boards.

Chris Connolly, the president of Herb Connolly Acura of Framingham is not someone who overlooks these communications channels. Framingham has three very active listservs. Framingham is one of the largest towns in the U.S. (66,000 people) and there are more than 1,200 subscribers to the listserv (about 2% of the residents subscribe - a small but engaged group).

Yesterday, a subscriber posted a complaint about the prices at the Connolly dealership and said that people could get the same service for lesser prices at independent mechanics around town. People in Framingham listen to recommendations on this listserv and the wiki, so this type of complaint could have a negative effect.

Chris Connolly's responded directly to the customer complaint. It was prompt, professional, addressed concerns and also highlighted the benefits of the service. (Following is the text used with Chris's permission - I just removed some names.)

"I've seen the messages posted about our prices and our services earlier. I will say that we are always very conscientious about our pricing for our work performed. We constantly check the market against other dealerships and independent facilities. I don't think it's fair to compare the price of services performed when the worked performed is not the same. I know that [X] does not have an alignment rack at their shop. Whenever we perform a 30,000 mile service we also perform a four wheel alignment. That is $99.95, so our prices were actually very comparable, within $20, according to [consumer] when that is taken into account.
 
"As for the tire we always suggest factory recommended tires. We offer the same brand and the very same speed rating as the vehicle has on it when it's purchased new.  Again we're very competitive when we price our tires and all of our tires come with road hazard protection, so if you damage it hitting a pot hole or something else in or next to the road, you can bring it back to us and we'll replace it for free. Of course we can always offer anyone a cheaper option, something that isn't factory recommended, as many of the tires stores do today. 
 
"We always wash, wax and vacuum every vehicle that comes in for any service, including an oil change, for free. We check for any service bulletin that might have been sent out about your vehicle, offer free loaner cars or a shuttle ride to home or work. We also have free Wi-Fi in our waiting areas at anyone of our dealerships. If you find your vehicle is ever returned dirty or the work is incomplete or you feel like you didn't get your money's worth for any of our work, then I want to know about it.  Please reach out to me at [cconnolly at herbconnolly dot com] and let me know. We want to take care of your car and make sure that you are happy and we've exceeded your expectations every time you visit."

To me that is a textbook response and one that needs to be applauded. It was on message, addressed the major concerns and was customized.

(Note: I am not a Herb Connolly customer and have never been there. This is not an endorsement of the service or the dealer.)

Companies and communications professionals need to remember - even a customer complaint is a chance to win more customers. And the old channels can't be forgotten.

Posted by Mark McClennan on January 29, 2010 at 9:25 AM
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Did you hear about Apple?

Rumor has it they are going to be making some big announcement on Wendesday...Like many other tech executives and PR folks, I will be watching the news conference to find out that latest surprise from Steve Jobs.

It looks like some of the data leaked out inadvertantly due to a CNBC interview with a McGraw-Hill executive, as reported here by Erica Ogg of news.com

The buzz has really started to rise. I just did a quick audit of Twitter volume for Apple using trendistic,

As you can see, the volume of the discussion is on a hypergrowth trajectory. Currently more than half a percent of all tweets are about Apple. With more than 27 million tweets a day, that translates into more than 162,000 tweets today. It will be interesting to see what it looks like tomorrow. I feel confident in projecting four of the key hashtags will be #apple #tablet #jobs and #(insert new product name)

Update (1/27 2:45 p.m) I just ran the chart again, and Apple is dominating with 6% of overall Twitter share of voice. That translates into a run-rate of  1.6 million tweets today. Impressive. More interesing will be the tonality analysis.

This shows the power of social media, when combined with some traditional  PR approaches.

Posted by Mark McClennan on January 27, 2010 at 12:22 AM
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Katie Delahaye Paine on Measuring Social Media Campaigns

Social media is an integral part of many companies' marketing programs today. Tech companies in particular no longer view social media as optional or an experiment; rather, it's a core element of their outreach to customers, partners, employees and other constituents. Naturally, companies are starting to think about how to measure social media's impact.

On Tuesday, February 2, Katie Delahaye Paine will speak at a Mass Technology Leadership Council breakfast seminar on measuring social media campaigns. The author of All You Need to Know About Measuring Social Media and the Complete How-To Guide to Measuring Social Media, Ms. Paine is widely known for her expertise in measuring PR, social media, media relations, public affairs, internal communications and blogs.

The February 2 event runs from 8:00-10:00 a.m. at the Foley Hoag Emerging Enterprise Center located at 1000 Winter Street in Waltham, Mass. Breakfast starts at 7:30 a.m. You can register here.

Schwartz is a sponsor of Mass TLC's social media group. We look forward to seeing you there. 

Posted by Laura Kempke on January 22, 2010 at 10:27 AM
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B2B PR and Marketing: Five Indispensable Blogs

I'm a technology PR person and, as you'd expect, I read a lot. Most days, however, I don't have time to look at blogs that won't give me readily usable information. So lately I've been sorting out the stuff I really must read from sites that provide food for thought, but are maybe a little more academic or philosophical.

I thought I'd share a short list of blogs that I believe consistently give readers relevant, immediately usable information about B2B marketing and PR.

1. Social Media B2B--I recommend this one to clients every time I get the chance. One or two posts a day, many with an eye toward lead generation. This blog's total devotion to B2B is impressive; I think they know their audience well.

2. Journalistics--Practical insight into how media relations is really practiced today. (And no, it doesn't begin with a Vocus or Cision list.) If I were managing a PR agency or in-house program, I'd read this to help gauge whether my team was keeping pace with changes in the media and in PR.

3. B2B Ideas@Work Blog--If you like HubSpot and the concept of inbound marketing, as do a number of Schwartz clients, you'll be interested in this ad agency's blog.

4. CK's Blog--Help for traditional marketers who need a guide on getting going with social media and making it integral to their programs.

5. Social Media Today--Essential (yes, really) compilation of posts on all aspects of social media from dozens of bloggers. Theory plus execution ... what could be better?

Posted by Laura Kempke on January 19, 2010 at 4:08 PM
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Brown vs. Coakley: Who is winning the social media campaign?

Today the citizens of Massachusetts are electing a new Senator. The race has garnered national headlines, and those of us living in Massachusetts have been deluged with ads, calls and editorials for the past few weeks.

We are not taking a position on the election or either candidate, but wanted to answer a simple question - which candidate is using social media to create the most buzz? This question popped into my head when I noticed Scott Brown was trending on Twitter but Martha Coakley was not.

Looking at overall social media engagement, Scott Brown is creating about 46% greater discussion volume than Martha Coakley over the past week. Although it is interesting to note how the discussion spikes are eerily parallel. No one candidate has created discussion without the other.

When we narrow it to Twitter, Scott Brown and his supporters seem to be using the channel more effectively, with 182% greater volume than Martha Coakley.

I also looked at tonality (quickly) and although the tool was automated (and therefore suspect) both candidates were receiving about 28% positive coverage. Scott Brown was receiving 6% more negative coverage than Coakley.

How will this translate into success at the polls? We will find out tonight at 8:00 p.m.

Posted by Mark McClennan on at 11:04 AM
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Social Media: Many still need to apply communications fundamentals

Last night, I read a great blog post from @sixstringsnc. He called out some interesting data from a recent research report from the MarketingProfs on the "State of social media marketing."

There are a number of interesting, useful and compelling stats, and a few very disheartening numbers as well.

I won't rehash his post, he does a great job here.

But I wanted to call out a few things that might be of interest to our readers:

1) The key thing which didn't seem to be mentioned is one that is obvious, but needs to be said. The data is great, but it is essential that you first take a strategic approach to social media and ask yourself - do these channels and campaigns work for you? Just because 6% of corporate twitters have 2000+ friends, you still need to ask if Facebook is the right channel. I talked about it recently here.

2) That being said, one of the most chilling stats was that only 50% of companies use Twitter to monitor for problems in real time. Since a month after Twitter launched, I have been calling it one of the best tools for "free business intelligence." It doesn't matter if you are an active Twitterer or not, you need to listen. Corporate communications professionals need to monitor all channels. I hope to see this number grow dramatically over the next year.

Why? A few years ago, one of my clients was acquired and some rumors started spreading about them via Twitter. I called my client, confirmed they weren't true and we responded within minutes. Our tweets were re-tweeted, and a potentially very negative story was stopped dead in its tracks before it could hit the blogosphere or mainstream media. If we weren't monitoring in real time, that story could have exploded.

3) Only 22% of companies contacted people that had negative things to say about their company on Twitter. So basically, only 50% of those companies monitoring Twitter use it for any sort of "crisis" communications. The rest just take note of the problems and don't respond. These companies are missing out on a great, low-cost opportunity to build deeper relationships with their customers and address negative issues before they spread.

I love PBS and how they have used Twitter to address customer concerns (Unlike Macy's that just seems oblivious to complaints on Twitter). I blogged about it here, but when I expressed discontent over some programming, I had a response from PBS within hours. And the response changed my mind.

What other elements do you find interesting from the study?

Posted by Mark McClennan on at 8:17 AM
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Games People Play: Website Traffic, PR and the News Media

Tom Foremski, one of the more thoughtful observers of interactions between PR people and journalists, has a couple of fascinating recent posts on "the killer pitch." In the first, he says that because some reporters' compensation is based on page views, the killer pitch would be the PR person's claim that they can drive traffic to the journalist's website. He goes on to say that PR people don't really know how to do this.

"Well, that's not entirely correct," I thought--PR people understand that clicks matter and we aren't completely unable to influence them now and then. Certainly, we've had people comment, and sound pretty happy, I might add, when they've enjoyed a boost in traffic after a company links to a favorable article. So as I read the first post, I thought, "okay, I may personally not have enormous ability to pump up a story that makes my client look good, but I know how to advise the client on promoting it, which can have the same result."

Then, in a follow-on post, Mr. Foremski puts a finer point on the question and wonders whether agencies can "reliably drive traffic to specific stories." This idea is more focused and far more interesting. 

If journalists are evaluated based on page views and, at the same time, PR people create a repeatable approach to promoting the stories their clients like, and do so in a way that affects the reporter/blogger's bottom line, the media's role as a critical observer of an issue or industry can't help but be negatively impacted. (You really want to read the original posts and comments.)

It's a big topic to consider. When I initially read this, I thought that the question of "the killer pitch" was a timely twist on questionable but sadly common tactics like trying to buy positive editoral coverage by advertising or sponsoring publications' conferences, currying favor by giving select reporters exclusives on news items that you know more than just one would find appealing and--the PR equivalent of holding your breath until you turn blue in the face--not communicating with reporters who don't see eye to eye with your client.

However, the issue that Mr. Foremski describes is new. The question is what happens when the reporter covers his or her industry carefully and thoroughly, with an eye to clicks but not primarily motivated by them, but companies become adept at elevating the prominence of coverage they find most flattering. Obviously, companies will effectively hide from search engines coverage that's negtive or even just balanced.

It seems to me that it would take more than a few submissions to Digg and some tweets to do the trick, but when I check out one client's Twitter following of a couple thousand and then consider that some of those people are active re-tweeters of links to our news coverage, I wonder whether the scenario that Mr. Foremski is talking about might really come to pass. In particular, I can envision it in segments of the tech industry that have relatively few reporters left.

Really, it's the flip side of what some companies already do when they try to bury a particularly bad article by stepping up the pace of their own news releases for a few months, thus loading down search engines with fresher content.

At any rate, Mr. Foremski's posts are the most interesting I've read so far this week.

Posted by Laura Kempke on January 14, 2010 at 6:20 PM
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CES Day 1: Fat vs. Thin

Posted by Mark McClennan on January 8, 2010 at 12:56 AM
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CES & Ten Things Not to Buy in 2010

Next week the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) takes place in Las Vegas, the venue which vendors debut the latest in the technology gadgets of the future. With so many new products entering the market, inevitably products that utilize older technology slowly reach end-of-life status. Along those lines Smartmoney.com has issued a list of "10 Things Not to Buy" with their predictions for the products where innovation will cease in 2010 and consumers should avoid purchasing in these categories. Next week on the CES show floor I will be very curious to see how vendors with these technologies are positioning (or repositioning) products that fall under these umbrellas.
 
Given some of Schwartz Communications' work in our growing Green PR practice, a couple of the items from the list that drew my attention include Gas-guzzling cars and Energy inefficient homes. As a consumer PR professional, number 6 on the list, newspaper subscriptions as an obsolete purchase, is disheartening, as I have always felt that sitting down with a cup of coffee and a newspaper is the best way to be thoughtful about the news we read.
 
Click here to view the full list, see you in Vegas!

Posted by Kim Angell on January 5, 2010 at 2:33 PM
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Our bags are packed, we're ready to go

While the trade show landscape has changed many times over the decades, with the pendulum swinging from big shows to focused, niche gatherings, there have always been a few shows that remind one of COMDEX in the mid 90s (and have the same unbearably long cab lines).

One of these is CES - the premier consumer technology tradeshow. Schwartz and our clients will be there in force this year. At the end of each day, we plan to highlight some of the most exciting and innovative technologies we encounter on the show floor. If you don't want to wait for the end of the day, we will be tweeting key updates at www.twitter.com/mcclennan.

Posted by Mark McClennan on at 11:40 AM
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