Must Reads

Reputation Matters, Forbes, August 15, 2011

In every community, there are some members who are more powerful than others.  Trend-setters, opinion leaders and “tipping point people” all wield disproportionate influence within their communities…and it is no different in the social media space.

All those who want to raise their profiles and prominence in social media need to do is leverage their supporters in a way to gain exponentially more supporters. Once you get on the radar screen of a few real gurus, it is amazing how quickly your numbers and influence can mount.

Therefore, for our final “don’t” of this series, The 10 “Dont’s” of Corporate Social Media we would like to concentrate on the perils of forgetting to leverage your community. […read more]

Reputation Matters, Forbes, August 12, 2011

“Return on investment” is the mantra of those businesses and organizations that are making it in this topsy turvy world in which we find ourselves.

As the stock market gyrates, the US is downgraded, and we do not know whether we are in a double-dip recession, or somewhere along a road to recovery, cash flow management and lowering expenses are key.  So, every organization must be asking itself what is the payback on each expenditure.  Is it worth it, or can I put off the expense?

This is especially true for social media investments. We are still not completely sure what the payoff will be, across a wide variety of organizations. So, in this, our 9^th article in our series, The 10 “Don’ts” of Corporate Social Media, Ian and I are turning to how to Use Your Brand’s Network to Create Love from ‘Like,’ and how to increase your ROI in the process. […read more]

Reputation Matters, Forbes, August 11, 2011

There is nothing more disarming than owning up to your mistakes, fixing them and truly apologizing.

While stonewalling or making a weak, insincere apology that isn’t really an apology seem to be the standard these days (why do you think there are so many “fill in the name of the company sucks” websites and postings out there?), acknowledging and fixing a problem, and then proffering an authentic apology are secret weapons for success. They are also the right thing to do, in your personal life, professional life, and social media life.

So, for our 8^th installment of “The 10 “Dont’s” of Corporate Social Media,” we are tackling social media mistakes, and how to own up and recover from them. […read more]

Reputation Matters, Forbes, August 10, 2011

The real-time nature of social media is a double-edged sword.

On one hand, the immediacy makes social media continually relevant, powerful, and of-the-moment.  Just look at how it is being used this week to create flashmobs in the London riots. It is redefining politics, and life — not only life on the web, but life off the web as well.

On the other hand, social media’s combination of immediacy and indelibility can allow some tremendous gaffes – that could haunt you, your company and your brand for a long time to come. If you can write it the moment you think it, you can write some pretty dumb or hurtful things. Ready, fire, aim has never been a particularly good strategy for building organizations’ reputations!

So, for today’s “Don’t” – the 7^th in our series of The 10 “Dont’s” of Corporate Social Media –  Ian and I have tackled the issue of indiscretion, and legal boundaries. But, these boundaries are being redefined nanosecond by nanosecond around the globe, and that is what makes it all so fascinating… […read more]

Reputation Matters, Forbes, August 9, 2011

Social media is the perfect venue for real thought leadership.

We’ve already established that too much crass marketing does not work on social media, but what if your company or brand are not conducive to games, contests, interactive ads and other somewhat cutesy stuff?

What if you have a serious product or service, and a serious message to impart?

To my mind, this is really what social media was made for. Information is the coin of the social media realm, and providing great information is exactly what can distinguish your brand on social media. […read more]

Reputation Matters, Forbes, August 8, 2011

Today’s topic, the 5^th post in our 10-part series, The 10 “Don’ts” of Corporate Social Media, comes straight from our Summer Intern, Ian Anderson, so interns of the world, please do not take offense!

We talk a lot at Temin and Company about with whom the responsibility of a social media strategy and its tactical execution should reside: the young and experienced in social networks, but inexperienced in organizational strategy and marketing, or older, more experienced corporate marketers and branders, who usually have less of an innate “feel” for social media.

Clearly, corporate boards are increasingly interested in their companies’ social media presence, and CEOs are therefore becoming crucially involved. But, in many organizations, there is a power struggle going on between marketing, PR (if they are separate) and IT as to where responsibility must reside.

In organizations that have CMOs, there can be little doubt, we feel, that the responsibility rests with them.  But we also feel it is crucial to have a team of very smart and engaged young people (interns…) and technology experts as well as more experienced thought leadership experts, brand strategists and marketers involved in social media strategy and execution.

Cross-generational, cross-disciplinary teams really are the way of the future anyway.  Why not start with social media? […read more] 

Reputation Matters, Forbes, August 7, 2011

Seducing and abandoning is never good form, be it in real life, or on social media.

But on social media the consequences can be especially dire. Many companies, in their quest to create a social media presence, may try certain things and, upon finding that they don’t work, or take too much effort to sustain, abandon them. Yet, the relics of those experiments may remain on the web, and those who find them will expect them to be “live.”  If they are not, you can lose admirers and loyalty, because you have not been paying attention.

So, the theme of our fourth of 10 “Don’ts” of Corporate Social Media is to pay attention, and never seduce and abandon, but know when it is time to leave.

This series of 11 daily postings, which I have co-authored with Temin and Company’s Swarthmore summer intern, Ian Anderson, is meant to launch our efforts in helping to build reputation over social media, a top priority for almost everyone these days. […read more]

Reputation Matters, Forbes, August 6, 2011

In social media, it really is all about the conversation — the authentic conversation, that is. In Swarthmore College student Ian Anderson’s and my third of 10 “Don’ts” of Corporate Social Media, engagement is the key.

We will continue to post one “Don’t” a Day for the next 7 days, plus a wrap-up on the 8th.  Please send us your comments and thoughts.  Improving the quality of marketing on social media will raise the bar for us all.

Listen and Respond

Not acting like an advertising machine  is necessary, of course, but not sufficient — don’t forget to be conversational and ENGAGE your followers and fans. KPMG’s Twitter site is a good example.

High-quality, interactive content is important, but so is listening and responding to your audience in real time.  Brands unwilling to cater to customers or listen to what Facebook “likers” and Twitter followers have to say (positive and negative), are on. […read more]

Reputation Matters, Forbes, August 5, 2011

Continuing our series of The 10 “Dont’s” of Corporate Social Media, co-authored with Temin and Company Intern, Ian Anderson, and published daily for 11 days, starting yesterday, following is #2:

Don’t Act Like a Robot; Show a Human Face

Retweet, Retweet, Reblog, Retweet, Retweet. Brands whose Twitter feed has content patterns that look like RT, RT, RT, and whose blogs and Facebook page(s) look like advertising streams aren’t getting the most out of social media.

As we stated in our introductory post, social media is social.  Failing to interact with audiences — by holding contests (if brand-appropriate), asking questions, and replying to followers’ posts — is a big mistake many companies and brands make.

They seem to feel that a presence, any presence, is all that is necessary on social media, even if it is not alluring, of interest, or humanly generated. […read more]