Thought Leadership

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]