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Investing Marketing Dollars in Social Media May Be a Gamble

February 21st, 2010 | Posted by Jessica Bratcher in marketing | News - (0 Comments)

It appears that many businesses are willing to take that risk and increase their marketing spend on social media advertising even though the ROI is not as cut and dry as say, e-mail marketing. Website Magazine recently shared a report of digital marketing budgets in “Are Businesses Drinking the Social Media Kool-Aid?” that revealed 70% plan to up their spending on social media in 2010 but only 19% considered the ability to measure results for these mediums to be good. In contrast, over 50% consider the measurability to be good on email marketing channels. Is the ROI really that hard to measure or are they looking at it on its own and not in conjunction with their existing messages and strategies? The real benefit of social media is providing a consistent message and adding value to your core marketing.

Melody K. Smith, February 21, 2010

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Is Employee Screening By Social Info Discrimination?

February 21st, 2010 | Posted by Jessica Bratcher in guidelines | jobs | News - (0 Comments)

It seems common-sense enough: using someone’s online profile as a screen for potential employment. After all, if the information is public, what’s the harm? But a recent Star Tribune article, “HR and Facebook: It’s complicated,” discusses employers coming dangerous close to violating anti-discrimination laws if they use what they find to deny employment to someone. While discrimination by race, gender, or religion is clearly illegal, other legal activities like drinking or union organizing should not enter into the decision-making process, even though they may be “undesirable.” Some companies use a third party to obtain information legally about the candidates. Still, social savvy job seekers: be careful what you leave visible online. Consider a personal and professional Facebook page, or use LinkedIn exclusively for professional contacts. In the age of social media, companies need to tactfully sift through the information legally, while employees should keep the personal online profiles private.

Sam Hartman, Feb. 21, 2010

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New E-mail Feature May Help Job Hunter

February 21st, 2010 | Posted by Jessica Bratcher in jobs | News - (0 Comments)

A recent article by hotelmarketing.com, “Email campaigns bloom with social media,” dissected the virtues of a new combination of e-mail and social networking. While intended to help create viral campaigns, it may be a job seeker’s best friend too. The story discusses a Social Sharing option that has become a popular addition to e-mail marketing campaigns. This allows information within an e-mail to easily be posted on social networking sites and shared with all the recipient’s friends. While this has clear advantages for a company trying to sell its products, it may also help spread the word about your job hunt. Many people already know that the word of mouth generated by telling friends and family you are seeking new employment is often the best way to land a job. By utilizing this Social Sharing technology you can not only make their job easier, but also spread your net even wider.

Patrick Roland, Feb. 21, 2010

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Social Network Access Unblocked, But Dangerous

February 21st, 2010 | Posted by Jessica Bratcher in News | security - (0 Comments)

Security research firm Sophos just released a new Security Threat Report with “grim irony:” more companies now allow their employees unfettered access to social networks, while spam and malware attacks rose dramatically over 2009. The Ars Technica article detailing the report, ”Firms worry about social networks, but don’t block access,” says that most companies express concern over these attacks, which means educating employees and applying “social security” methods are crucial. The growth in malware attacks was prompted in part by the ease with which users click links and download unknown files “with abandon,” and this is exactly the reason why companies need to have strong and secure social media usage policies in place. Facebook has taken some steps, partnering with McAfee to counter threats both on site and on users’ computers. At the end of the day, it comes down to the individual user, navigating through the precarious social universe with one finger ready to hit ESC.

Sam Hartman, Feb. 18, 2010

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More Money Going Into Digital Marketing

February 20th, 2010 | Posted by Jessica Bratcher in marketing | News - (0 Comments)

In yet another sign of deterioration for traditional marketing methods, a survey of more than 1,000 companies revealed that 70 percent of them intend to increase their ‘off-site’ social media budget. Roughly one-fourth of the organizations studied are shifting from traditional marketing channels to digital marketing. While it’s no surprise that social media is the biggest winner of marketing dollars, Econsultancy research director, Linus Gregoriadis, noted that SEO and e-mail marketing will continue to gain strength. The sample of companies planned to increase their budgets for SEO and mobile marketing by a solid 64 and 56 percent, respectively. The research was performed by Econsultancy and ExactTarget Marketing consultants and is detailed in a Silcon.com article that focuses on social media and SEO. While social media darlings like Twitter and Facebook are attracting significant investment, it’s important not to forget about the surging forces of SEO, e-mail marketing and mobile marketing.

David Thimme, Feb. 20, 2010

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Social Media Attention Is Easy as Pie

February 20th, 2010 | Posted by Jessica Bratcher in branding | News - (0 Comments)

The Domino’s pizza chain has begun unconventionally attracting social media attention, a recent Utalkmarketing.com article says. The popular dinner delivery company is rewarding frequent customers with redeemable online codes for free food and rewarding its Facebook friends by naming a Pizza King and Queen who recruit the most fans to their site. While at first glance this new campaign may seem like more silly online ephemera, a lesson can be learned and applied to many situations. By reaching out to people in unique ways via social media, Domino’s is attracting visitors, even though those people already know what they have to offer. Since more companies are using social media in job searches and there are a lot of online job seekers with a lot to offer, perhaps utilizing social media in a special way will be the golden ticket that helps you land a dream job.

Patrick Roland, Feb. 20, 2010

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Job Seekers are Living in a Fishbowl

February 20th, 2010 | Posted by Jessica Bratcher in News - (0 Comments)

Be mindful of how you are represented online, says a recent finextra.com article. The lessons within this piece are aimed at all computer users, but hit particularly close to home for job seekers. Thought provoking online slanders, from how professor grading sites can ruin a good teacher’s chance at landing a job, to a company’s need for transparency with the Better Business Bureau, to mismanaging social media, are showcased. The article gives several useful pieces of advice on protecting yourself from a rotten online reputation, but fails to really hammer home its importance for job seekers. Studies show more and more employers perform informal background checks using Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. While keeping slanderous statements off the Internet is a must, it is equally important to police yourself and remove questionable statements and photos from your page for hiring managers to see.

Patrick Roland, Feb. 20, 2010

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Traditional Web Analytics Becoming Outdated

February 20th, 2010 | Posted by Jessica Bratcher in guidelines | News - (0 Comments)

In “3 New Ways to Measure the Social Web,” some new techniques are discussed that are outrunning the traditional “pageview tracking” analytic model so many of us grew up with. Many sites are browsed today without so much as a page refresh, making individual pageviews a thing of the past. Funnel Analysis, or “measuring conversion rates,” allows developers to track bottlenecks in the user-flow process, be it sign-up, adding friends, or searching. By targeting retention rates on specific areas of your site, you can see how “sticky” an app or feature really is. Social networks are all about community, and communities rely on repeated interaction. Regardless of the method used, find the analytics that help to get sales and customer interaction; too much data can sometimes overwhelm and blur the focus of your team.

Wrap-up: Focusing on good customer interaction and conversation will ultimately reward your social media campaign, regardless of the analytic results.

Sam Hartman, Feb. 19, 2010

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Tools to Tweak Your Tweets

February 19th, 2010 | Posted by Jessica Bratcher in News | Twitter - (0 Comments)

The applications and tools for Twitter users grow by leaps and bounds daily. Sometimes it is hard to weed through them to find the truly helpful ones for journalists. Networked – a blog from the Society of Professional Journalists Network recently shared 7 Social Media Tools for Journalists that provides a short list of Twitter-related tools that does just that. An interesting find in that list is Twiangulate, which works much like Friends on Facebook by allowing you to find out who the people you follow are following. This allows for a broader networking potential. A more common application, but very useful one is Twitpic – a service that provides an easy way to share photos and images from your phone, through the Twitter site or their own site. Plus many popular twitter clients have built-in support for TwitPic.

Melody K. Smith, February 19, 2010

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Are Employees the Weakest Link in the Data Security Chain?

February 19th, 2010 | Posted by Jessica Bratcher in News | security - (0 Comments)

Instead of avoiding social media and missing out on its potential for business leads, networking connections, and customer engagement–for fear of the data security issues–organizations need to establish a strong security strategy that includes employee training. Read the moral of the story here.  

While acknowledging the potential for phishing and other cyber attacks in social media settings, they also point out that despite the continual threats to online banking, it is not only still being used but that use is growing. The key seems to be a comprehensive security strategy that includes employee training not as an afterthought, but as a key component of the plan. By acknowledging the human factor being the weakest link in any information security situation, proper planning allows them to fully utilize and benefit from great social media networking.

Melody K. Smith, Feb. 19, 2010

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