Social media is about establishing and maintaining relationships with real people. Healthy relationships are based on trust – consumer-brand relationships are no different. When consumers are interacting with a brand online, they want to know who they’re talking to and what that person’s affiliation is with that brand. For example, if I’m looking for new shoes and I get advice from a guy that manufactures shoes, I have a good idea of what to expect from him and how to merit his advice. If I’m talking to the CEO of that same shoe store, I expect a different perspective and give it different merit.

By being transparent in your posts you are building trust and understanding in the content, the author and the brand. That’s why we feel VERY strongly that in order to build that trust you HAVE to have honest and transparent communication. We feel so strongly, in fact, that the jhP social media policy promotes it for team members regardless of posting on behalf of the company, ourselves or on behalf of our clients. So we’re required to clearly identify ourselves and our affiliation with jhP or the client.

Kohl’s is a great example of why we need to be transparent in social media. It all began with Ed Gawronski posting helpful tips on the Kohl’s page encouraging customers to visit the website where they could provide their email in return for discounts and cash-back opportunities. Unbeknownst to the other users, Ed just so happened to be the vp of marketing at Kohl’s. It didn’t take long for someone to call him out – going so far as to leave the link to his LinkedIn page. The real kicker was the comment, “Masquerade much?” That one question could have potentially been damaging to the brand – check out more about the case HERE.

When you’re posting as a representative, we recommend the following simple steps to prevent public embarrassment and damage to the brand:

1. Identify who you are using your full (real) name.
2. List your affiliation to the brand.
3. Discuss whether you are acting on behalf of a company, client,
   self, etc.

These three steps allow you to be honest and respectful and to engage openly in a conversation with others. Essentially, it’s doing just what you’d want others to do. So tell us what you think. For what other reasons do you feel it’s important to be transparent?

In case you missed it – I gave up Facebook for Lent.

This week was even more difficult than last. Last week my Facebook fast was top-of-mind to all my friends and family – this week the newness has worn off. People keep talking to me about things I would normally know about – expecting me to have a clue. But when I stop them and ask them to fill me in, I get the resounding “oh, that’s right, you’re not on Facebook.” And then there’s The Face.

“The Face” is the eye–squinting, wrinkled-forehead, pressed-lips look that you get when people feel sorry for you. I’m fairly certain I’ve used this look many times. Usually to communicate a feeling with others – typically when something has happened and I’m trying to show empathy to someone. Is that what my friends are doing to me? Feeling sorry for me? (NOTE: I’m exaggerating with that last line for effect – just go with it.)

But seriously, this past week proves one point I had hoped to make with this experiment – that you can’t communicate with your audience if you’re not using the communication tools your audience is using. If I could had been on Facebook this week, you’d know that I became of fan of my bank’s new Fan Page – CoreFirst Bank & Trust. Instead I have to wait until April to do so! And I would have known that Jayhawk Café, a new café in downtown Topeka’s Jayhawk Tower, had their grand opening. But I missed it because I didn’t know about it – I heard about it later that evening on the 10:00 news. Regardless, I’m managing. Not as effectively, or efficiently, as normal, but I’m making it through with a little help from my friends, family, co-workers and local media. Thanks everyone!

Here are a few other things you would have known if I could have been on Facebook this week:

•  WHAT!?!? There’s a Twilight “Scene It!” board game. How do I NOT have this?
•  Headed to the Heartland Visioning meeting! Can’t wait to hear all about their wonderful plans to revitalize Downtown Topeka.
•  Why are some stoplights in Lincoln horizontal and some vertical … did they just decide to buck consistency or does this madness have a real purpose?
•  Stupid friends – why aren’t you ALL on Twitter?! Okay you’re not stupid but my life would be easier if you were!

When I was in college, a night out with friends always included a craze of phone calls. “Where are we going? When will you be there?” A few years later, this same communication continues, but the methods are more sophisticated. Instead of phone calls, we use mass-texts to figure out the details. Now, gathering your group has a new method with the emerging network, Foursquare.

What it is:
Foursquare is a location-based social network that allows users to “check in” from anywhere. Using an application on my cell phone, all my Foursquare friends can see where I am. “I’m at jhP (3200 SW Huntoon, Huntoon & Lakeside, Topeka) – writing a blog post about Foursquare.”

While Foursquare may seem invasive or even creepy to some, you should understand that like Facebook, this is a trusted network. You only add people you actually know. That allows this tool to be a powerful way to generate business and good buzz through word-of-mouth, as well as bring all your networks to a central location. So if it makes you nervous for the world to know where you are, here’s a word to the wise: Don’t add anyone you don’t know.

How it works:
Foursquare’s main purpose is to promote personal location. If I’m out on Saturday night and want friends to join me I simply “check in” from my mobile web browser: “I’m at Bosco’s (435 S Kansas Avenue, 4th & Kansas, Topeka).” I’m also encouraged to share tips about places I visit, so others can benefit from my experiences. So I might add, “Check out their amazing Apple-tini and Burger Sliders.”

Aside from promoting personal location, Foursquare encourages “competition.” I earn points for checking in. These check-ins can be used to unlock fun badges like “Crunked” for 4+ stops in one night or “School Night” for checking in after 3 a.m. Also, visiting one location more than anyone else will award you a key to the city! Okay, you don’t get a key to the city, but you will become “Mayor” of that location until someone dethrones you.

For Businesses:
Using Foursquare as a promotional tool offers businesses great marketing potential. Businesses across the country are offering loyalty specials for people who check in via Foursquare. Your Foursquare brand advocates could earn points they can redeem for free ice cream or get a special discount as “Mayor” of your location.

Foursquare is also developing reporting tools that will help businesses know who is visiting, how often, where they came from and where they go after they leave. This is shaping up to be a great new form of word-of-mouth marketing. Better yet, it’s completely customer driven – which helps build a loyal customer base plus dedicated brand advocates.

For Individuals:
As a user of this new social network you’re not only telling your friends where you are, you’re challenging them to be there too, and sometimes to join in an activity. “I’m at Big Dog Motorcycles (1520 East Douglas, Wichita) – I bet you won’t look as hot on a 2010 Wolf as I do! Check it out!”

But consider:
Checking in at the same location frequently could make you seem to endorse a business. If you become Mayor of a restaurant, your friends would naturally assume you recommend it. Since that might not be true, think about where you’re visiting before you check in to Foursquare. Do you want to be seen as a brand advocate for the place?

Now that you know a little more about Foursquare what are your initial thoughts? How can this affect your network of friends or your business? As I write, I’m at jhP  (3200 SW Huntoon, Huntoon & Lakeside, Topeka). I challenge you to learn more about Foursquare and see if it’s for you!

1. Public Record – Anyone can view a Facebook Fan Page whether they have a Facebook account or not, and Fan Pages are indexed on search engines so they’re easily found. This allows people to  access your company’s Fan Page just like any other website.
2. Personalized URL – After your Fan Page has accumulated more than 100 Fans, you can register for a personalized URL, for example, www.facebook.com/jhpadv. This clean, easy-to-remember URL looks great printed on marketing collateral compared to http://www.facebook.com/ads/manage/#/pages/Topeka-KS/business-name-here/104116816064?ref=search
3. Viral Advantage – If you post an update to your Wall, or add new videos/photos, they also post on the Walls of each of your Page’s Fans. This easily  keeps Fans up to date, encouraging them to interact with the site. Plus, each interaction then goes out on the Walls of all their Friends. This effortlessly increases the number of people exposed to your company’s Page.
4. Insights – Facebook collects statistics for activity on Fan Pages so you can see what videos, photos and updates people like best and how they’ve interacted with them. The insights also reveal basic demographics like age, gender and location.
5. Applications – You can add various applications like quizzes, polls and RSS feeds to your company’s Fan Page to enhance its offerings, giving your Fans even more reason to enjoy visiting your Page regularly. There are thousands of applications available. And since the Facebook coding language was released to third-party coders, you can have a programmer create a custom application, uniquely branded for your company.

More than 335 people completed the Visit Topeka, Inc. logo survey last week, and it’s unanimous, Visit Topeka is the winner!

We used our social media networks to recruit participants through our blog, Facebook Fan Page and Twitter accounts. Visit Topeka also distributed an email blast. Eighty-nine percent of the participants were between the ages of 18 and 64. Just over two-thirds were women, and over 80 percent lived in or nearby Topeka.

The most popular logo received 42 percent of the votes. Here’s how the various logos fared:

For the full results, check out this page.

Congratulations to Taylor Clauson, winner of the hotel package giveaway drawing. Enjoy your night’s stay in the great city of Topeka!

So you joined Twitter – now what? That ran through my mind, too, the first couple of months I was on Twitter. But I stuck with it and just spent some time watching. After a while I found people whose Tweets were useful to me, and I started following them. Slowly I learned how to make Twitter more valuable. Here are some suggestions to help you get more benefit from your Twitter account.

1. It’s not about quantity, it’s about quality.

Some people use Twitter to stroke their ego by seeing how many people they can get to follow them. While a big audience might benefit them, it doesn’t guarantee any value for you as a follower.

2. When you get a message that someone new is following you, thoroughly check out their profile before following them back.

Read their bio, check out their URL and scan the messages they are sending. Ideally they’ll have a nice mix of original messages, Re-Tweets and @replies. If they don’t, it’s a red flag. This  helps you quickly skim off the spammers and ego-maniacs.

3. Use Twitter Search. 

Search key phrases you’re interested in, and when you read an update that’s good, follow that person. This helps you sample new Tweets to learn whether the person’s topics, attitudes and ideas are worth your time.

4. Use an application like TweetDeck to help you be organized.

Create groups with the people you’re following so they make sense to you. For example, I have a group for local Tweets, a group for @replies and a group for DMs, on top of the Twitter stream that contains all my followers. This helps me keep conversations going by making them easier to follow.

5. Use TwitterLocal to see what local Twitter users are saying and connect with them.

It’s a great way to learn what’s new going on around you, and meet cool people you’ve never met before. I highly recommend attending at least one TweetUp. They are great fun if you enjoy networking and meeting new people!

Hopefully this will help you out. I promise, I really didn’t get Twitter at first, but it WILL get better.

@alissasheley

Last week was horrifically challenging for public relations executives at Amazon.com, Dominos and PepsiCo. Each company failed to respond in a timely manner to social media outcry to crises regarding company conduct or employee relations.

The week started with authors blaming Amazon.com for dropping their sales ratings from their popular website. Strangely, all sales rankings that disappeared were for books that discussed gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender or erotic works. Accusations soared on the popular social networking website, Twitter, using the hashtag #AmazonFail so followers could track other comments on the situation. Amazon.com failed to respond until several days after the uproar began when they stated that this occurred due to a “computer glitch.” Offended parties were unimpressed with the excuse.

Following suit, Dominos takes the award for hardest fix when two employees released a YouTube video of themselves making a sandwich featuring crude, “secret” ingredients. The video later implies that the sandwich was served to a customer. Had Dominos been monitoring their brand more closely they could have had the video down in hours as opposed to a day. The two individuals who created the video have since been fired and are looking at a potentially hefty lawsuit. Below is an NBC Today Show segment featuring parts of the video. The original video is unavailable due to a copyright claim by Kristy Hammond, the woman featured in the video.

The week ended with another public relations crisis, this time at PepsiCo. As part of unveiling the new Yankee Stadium, PepsiCo, a stadium sponsor, held a promotional event that gave away free tickets to a Yankees game. Yankees fans joined in large numbers for a chance at the tickets and when fewer tickets were given out than promised, fans were mad! They demonstrated their anger by chanting “Pepsi Sucks!” while pouring cans of Pepsi into the gutter. In an attempt to redeem themselves, PepsiCo has set up another ticket giveaway with a local radio station – but not before the negativism had spread across social media networks.

With the rise in popularity of social media communities, the public can now comment instantly on brands, services and products. The lesson arising from these situations is that consumers demand immediate responses to their concerns. This makes it essential for companies to be familiar with various social media networks. If companies aren’t comfortable being involved in these communities yet, they should at least monitor their brands in these communities. By staying aware of what’s being said, companies can be positioned to prevent similar situations and – when they arise – to confront them directly, immediately and effectively.

Lately, it’s not uncommon to hear people talking about tweets and retweets. No these people are not discussing birds – they’re talking about the social media network Twitter.

Twitter is a microblogging service where users explain what they are doing and share information in 140 characters or less. The key to Twitter is summed up in five simple steps: Follow, Tweet, Retweet, Reply and Repeat.

If that sounds like gibberish to you, please join the jhP team Friday, April 10 at 4:00 for a fun “Twitter Tips Beer-30” at jhp, 3200 sw huntoon in Topeka. For valuable Twitter info and a cold brew, make your reservation by calling us at 785.228.0900 or by email: lweichert@jhpadv.com. Seats are limited, so don’t delay!

And if you’re still wondering why your company should care about Twitter, consider these facts:

1.)   Twitter is good for business.

I’ve been told many companies are uncomfortable with social networking because they can’t control what’s being said about them. Today’s truth is, more than ever before, the customer controls your brand. So it’s imperative that you find out what your customers are thinking – and saying. Twitter’s search features let you monitor what’s said about your company. This gives you up-front and personal opportunities to monitor and manage your company’s image. If a customer had a poor experience, now you’ll know and can get to the front line, speak with them and resolve the situation. Think of the times you’ve been in a restaurant and had poor service. Do you still go back? You might – if the restaurant’s recovery was handled right. Twitter is your chance to recover and develop a better relationship with your customer base.

2.)   Twitter is a great training and research tool for your employees.

My favorite Twitter feature is following other industry professionals. I can post industry-specific articles or read links posted by other professionals that I find interesting. I no longer have to search various blogs for industry-specific information because I just log into Twitter. Now I’m usually one of the first to know about industry news and emerging trends.

3.)   Twitter allows you to subtly market your business.

Twitter puts a face to your brand and personalizes the experience for your clients and customers, AND it allows people to learn more about what’s going on in your company. Taking part in a tradeshow this week? Let your followers know! Help them realize they should be there to learn that your product or service is just what they’re looking for.

So logon to Twitter and start following people! Remember to Follow, Tweet, Retweet, Reply and Repeat. These five steps will help bring value to your tweeting experience. But also keep in mind that Social Media isn’t something to experiment with. You need a plan and strategy just like all your other marketing efforts. That’s the only way to turn this fun activity into business success.

Make your reservation now for our “Twitter Tips Beer-30,” 4:00pm Friday, April 10 at jhP. Call 785.228.0900 or email lweichert@jhpadv.com and ensure you’ll have a seat. (And a frosty beer!)

I’m a member of the millennial generation (people born approximately between 1978 and 2000). I can’t remember a time when computers weren’t around, and a time without the Internet was short-lived in my lifespan. When I have a question, I search Google. When I want to talk to a friend, most of the time I do it using Facebook. When I want to get contact information for a client, I check out their profile on LinkedIn. When I need industry advice and news on the trends, I read various blogs that I have bookmarked or I send a question out on Twitter.

And I’m not the only one using multiple online resources. Today I find that even my parents and grandparents are logged in online multiple times throughout the day.

With the way the communication world has quickly changed, I am more and more convinced that marketers should be supporting their traditional advertising dollars by supplementing with online marketing. Now don’t get me wrong – I don’t think it’s okay to pull out of traditional media. I still flip through the pages of my magazines, watch television on a regular basis, and when I’m at my parent’s house I sit and read the newspaper. However, with the growing majority of most people’s time and focus spent on the computer and Internet, it just makes sense to support traditional marketing with digital marketing messages.

So as you’re budgeting for your next marketing campaign, consider earmarking a portion of your advertising dollars to support your message online. Whether it’s through Google Adwords, a Facebook Page and Facebook Ads or a Twitter campaign (just to name a few), consider where your audience is and tap into those social media outlets to supplement your traditional marketing efforts toward them.