This post originally appeared on the American Express OPEN Forum , where Mashable regularly contributes articles about leveraging social media and technology in small business. The goal of recruiting is to find the right person at the right time. Logically, that means one source is never enough. You’ll want to tap into diverse mediums to find the best candidates. Social media is no exception. Each platform has its own unique demographic. You’ll want to consider that audience when making the decision about which applications to use for your recruiting efforts. Regardless of the application, there are some common elements to using social media for recruiting. Here are six things to consider when using any social media application for recruiting. 1. Create an Online Presence That Reflects Who You Are Having a nice avatar, succinct bio and current contact information will make people want to connect with you. Be sure to organize your social media profiles to provide potential contacts with a better idea of who you are so they have a reason to communicate with you and form a relationship. “It’s about being human”, explains Bill Boorman , author of the Recruiting Unblog . “People connect with people, not brands. Connect with everyone because you never know who will make that referral or connection for you.” 2. Make the Most of Your Time A large part of any success with social media is involvement. This is especially true if you want to use social media for recruiting. While mobile applications can help with this, Boorman agrees, “It takes a big investment of time to build a talent community.” To target your efforts, he suggests asking people directly which channels they use and looking at what your competitors are doing. “Consider directing your messages to a single point, like a relevant blog or company website.” 3. Individualize Your Approach At some point, you have to connect with people you don’t know and become a part of their conversations. “I actually find it easy,” says Chris Havrilla national recruiting manager for Hitachi Consulting , a global leader in delivering business and IT strategies. “I have found if you communicate with people in a meaningful and thoughtful manner, you can never go wrong.” Havrilla’s approach is to connect with people who have a genuine interest in his business and industry. “I follow or connect with people related to that space, ‘listen’ to and learn from the conversations, and participate when appropriate. If you are connecting with someone directly, be ‘individualized’ in your approach — take the time to understand who you are reaching out to and be respectful of their time and attention.” 4. Be Authentic Recruiters always want to see the ‘real candidate’ and in order to do that, they have to be real as well. Amanda Hite , founder and CEO of Talent Revolution Inc. , says when it comes to social media: “Remember it’s NOT about the tools it’s ALL about the relationships.” So don’t be afraid to be yourself. Hite adds, “Being the authentic, unapologetic you is totally on trend. But more importantly when you embrace your own authenticity and stay committed to ‘being you’ no matter what, you’ll attract the kind of clients and employees that do the same and are the best match for you.” 5. Share Interesting Stuff All work and no play is boring. So sharing news, tidbits, etc. of general interest can create what might be the equivalent of “social media small talk,” which leads to bigger conversations. Sylvia Dahlby works for SmartSearch , a leading talent acquisition system and recruiting business software solution firm. She works from home and lives in Hawaii. “Before social network sites like Twitter and LinkedIn , I belonged to dozens of old-style online newsgroups. Now, I leverage the new social networks much in the same way,” Sylvia explains it’s still important to interact with others. One of the things Sylvia mentioned was her Twitter account because she mixes her recruiting knowledge with Hawaii tidbits. “My Twitter account is for personal branding and making connections. I mostly tweet about my work, my product and the recruiting industry during business hours, chat with friends and business associates throughout the day, and throw in a mix of my hobbies and certain interests (such as Hawaiiana). I treat Twitter as my office ‘water cooler’ or after-hours ‘cocktail party’ where I can catch the news and buzz from people in various online communities around the world.” 6. Focus on Substance If someone directs a question at you via social media, find a way to respond, even if it’s to take the conversation offline. “The key is substance,” says Steve Browne , executive director of human resources for LaRosa’s Inc. , a Cincinnati based regional pizzeria with 63 locations. “I’d recommend people using social media for recruiting [focused] on substance and not just resume information. Look at how the candidate is connected in the social media arena, and are they contributing to their profession, or just lurking. If they’re engaged online, chances are they would be engaged working for your company.” Many recruiters realize that when it comes to recruiting, social media tools are just that – tools. The real value is in how the tools are used. Havrilla explains, “Social media can give you a great and efficient way to engage with your community – candidates, clients, customers, partners, prospects, etc. – on a very level playing field with the companies you are competing with for talent (or business). The key is to make sure you have the time to invest in to it. At a very basic level this is all about networking. The use of social media tools has greatly enhanced my ability to build, grow, and nurture my network. These tools are not a magic bullet though — to get value from your network, you have to add value to it.” For more business coverage, follow Mashable Business on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook More business resources from Mashable: – 10 Essential Tips for Building Your Small Biz Team – HOW TO: Get the Most Out of Offline Networking Events – HOW TO: Market Your Small Business With No Budget – 5 Ways Small Businesses Can Leverage LinkedIn’s New Features – How Data is Redefining Business Relationships Images courtesy of iStockphoto , alexsl , mikkelwilliam
Sometimes flinging a virtual cupcake at a Facebook friend just isn’t enough. As you may know, Facebook has offered the option of purchasing real gifts since last summer. A big pro here is that you don’t need to know the person’s address to send them a physical gift. And like the Twitter gifting services we recently rounded up, the service makes it easy to integrate birthday, anniversary, and holiday shopping right into your favorite social network. Take a look at our quick how-to guide below, and if Facebook’s in-house offering doesn’t quite do it for you, check out the three alternatives we’ve also detailed. Buy Facebook Credits First things first: You need to get yourself some legal Facebook currency in the form of “ Facebook credits .” You can purchase this virtual currency by going to the “Payments” tab in “My Account.” Options to pay include Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover or JCB credit cards, PayPal or via cell phone. At the moment, one credit equals 10 cents, so you can buy 50 for $5, 100 for $10 and 200 for $20. Head to the Gift Shop Once your virtual wallet is full of money, head over to the Facebook store where you are presented with the options of “Music and MP3s,” “Virtual Gifts,” “Charity,” “E-Cards,” “Sports,” and of course, “Real Gifts.” Enter the name of the person you want to send the gift to and you can then choose from toys, flowers, candy, baked goodies from Mrs. Fields, various items of jewelery, some smaller consumer electronic items, Fandango movie tickets, and our favorite — all sorts of geeky products from ThinkGeek . A nice touch is the ability to choose the delivery date. If you’re super organized and know your Facebook friend has a birthday coming up in the next few weeks, you can get the gifting sorted ahead of time. If you do know the address of the person you want the item sent to, you can add it. But the system works on the basis of the giftee confirming a delivery address once they get the wall notification (with a message personalized from you) that you want to post them a present. And that’s it folks. And by the way, if the person refuses your gift for any reason, then the order will be canceled and Facebook will refund your credits — but not your feelings. 3 Alternative Services 1. DashGift This Boston-based startup offers a limited service at the moment, but is certainly one to watch if they manage to sign up more partners. The premise is quite simple: You post a gift on your friend’s wall via the Facebook app. Your friend hits a link to get a DashCode and then goes to the local store/venue to redeem it for the item. At the moment, some elements of the service are limited to the Boston area, such as SWEET cupcakes, a beer voucher for Tommy Doyle’s Bar, and Finale Desserts. But Fandango movie tickets and the $10 global giving donation are open to all users. Expansion into other local areas is planned this summer, so be sure to bookmark this app. 2. Friendgiftr Friendgiftr has had no trouble signing up partners. Its social gift card service currently works with around 150 companies, many of which are major names. You can buy a gift card from any of the stores and present it to a friend on Facebook. Your friend can then either shop online with a card code, request a hard copy version to be mailed to them, or — and this bit is cunning — swap the card for one from another retailer. So if you send someone a Lands’ End gift card, but they’re really more of an L.L. Bean kinda guy, they can do a switcheroo without you ever knowing. 3. ParcelGenie ParcelGenie is a fantastic resource for small, affordable and fun gifts, such as candy, buttons, key rings and the like. Via the Facebook app, you can chose a gift, select a friend to send it to, and personalize a message that will be posted on their Facebook wall, after which they need to let ParcelGenie know where to mail the item. The app cleverly displays Facebook friends’ upcoming birthdays, so you may end up sending more than you expected to. For more social media coverage, follow Mashable Social Media on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook More Facebook resources from Mashable – 5 Essential Facebook Privacy Tips – HOW TO: Find Long Lost Friends on Facebook – HOW TO: Disable Facebook’s “Instant Personalization” [PRIVACY] – 5 Tips for Creating the Perfect Profile Pic – 5 Ways Facebook Changed Dating (For the Worse) Image courtesy of iStockphoto , kutaytanir Tags: DashGift , facebook , friendgiftr , Gifts , how to , List , Lists , parcelgenie
While we love the videos that make us laugh out loud , we also love the clips on YouTube that amaze us, and make us want to share them with friends, family, neighbors and heck, even strangers. We’ve taken a light-hearted look at some amazing human feats and abilities that can be viewed right now via YouTube. It’s mixed bag of musical skill, athletic acumen, artistic aptitude, and plain old geekiness, but all the clips have one thing in common — they feature some very talented people. Browse below to see what we’ve selected, and remember kids: Don’t try any of these at home — except maybe the Rubik’s Cube one. Yeah, and the clapping probably won’t hurt. And circle-drawing isn’t too hazardous… Oh, you know what we mean! 1. Fastest Violin Player We wouldn’t be surprised if this guy had sold his very soul to the devil, his fiddling skills are so amazing. Hit play now for the fastest rendition of “Flight of the Bumblebee” you’re ever likely to hear without first pressing “fast forward.” 2. Inspired Bicycles — Danny MacAskill Mr. MacAskill is a BMX god, and his stunt bike abilities need to be seen to be believed. We love how this video draws you in with some failed stunts at first, only to leave your jaw on the floor towards the end. 3. Junior Breakdance You may think you’ve seen some tidy breakdancing moves in the past, but until you’ve seen “Junior’s” attempts, you quite simply ain’t seen nothing yet. 4. Rubik’s Cube Official World Record In 2008, Erik Akkersdijk broke a world record by solving the Rubik’s Cube puzzle in a tad over seven seconds. This clip captures the notable feat. Well, the first 20 or so seconds do — the rest is a bit of blur, which can perhaps be explained by the cameraman’s astonishment. 5. Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest 2009 On July 4, 2009, Joey Chestnut ate 68 hot dogs and buns in ten minutes, beating his previous record by nine seconds. If that’s not an incredible feat, we don’t know what is. 6. Spiderman Climbs Skyscraper Frenchman Alain Robert (“the human spider”) has scaled over 80 giant structures around the world. Here he takes just 20 minutes to make it to the top of a 150-meter building in Abu Dhabi — not one to watch if you’re scared of heights. 7. Kent “Toast” French, The World’s Fastest Clapper It’s best not to question why you’d want to be the world’s fastest clapper. Just hit play on the video and be amazed at what 14 claps per second looks like on film. 8. Amazing Human Beatbox 28 million views later and it’s still hard to believe that “Scratch” is making all these sounds vocally. It’s safe to say that this vid is a masterclass in human beatboxing and scratching. 9. World Freehand Circle Drawing Champion We bet Alexander Overwijk’s pupils try to get him to perform his circle-drawing skills every lesson to avoid work, but we only need this one recording to enjoy it again and again on YouTube. 10. David Belle Father of parkour (the French discipline of overcoming any physical obstacle in your path), David Belle makes old Spidey above look like a slowpoke. This mini highlight reel video showcases his brand of free running that’s made him such a hot commodity as a Hollywood stuntman. BONUS: Amazing Feat by Pi Day Celebrant What do you get when you combine Pi, a hula hoop, and a Rubik’s Cube? Awesome, that’s what. For more web video coverage, follow Mashable Web Video on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook More YouTube resources from Mashable: – Top 10 LEGO Movie Tributes on YouTube – 10 Best LEGO Music Videos on YouTube – Top 10 Funny Cat Videos on YouTube – Top 10 Wedding Dance Videos on YouTube – Top 10 Recut Movie Trailers on YouTube [VIDEOS] Tags: funny videos , List , Lists , videos , viral videos , youtube
Elliott Kosmicki is the founder of Good Plum, an online business blog focused on marketing and productivity. Elliott also quips with interesting people on Twitter . Three summers ago, people lined up around the country — and then the world — to get their hands on the next generation of mobile phone . Apple’s iPhone made “app” a household term, while cashing in on a movement that sent their stock — and everyday people’s productivity — soaring. In 2010, Apple released most of the specifications for iPhone OS 4.0 , which will launch along with the new iPhone sometime this June. I’d like to take a moment to review what we know, and what we think we know, about the new OS, the new phone, and what it all means for your everyday productivity. Things We Know About iPhone OS 4.0 Multitasking The most talked-about feature of the new operating system is, of course, “multitasking.” I put it in quotation marks because as many of you may know, it’s more of an application manager than an actual multitasking feature. Multitasking would insinuate that multiple applications can be running at the same time. And while that’s true for some applications (like audio apps, for instance), the majority of programs simply enter a suspended state until you resume them at a later time. However basic this feature may be, it’s a huge move forward for a system that has, until now, only let you work in one program at a time. No, you won’t be able to keep Facebook and Twitter updates streaming in the background. You won’t be able to get instant e-mail messages streaming to your home screen, either. But I’d bet those things will come eventually. For now, the ability to quickly switch between your recently used applications will make a huge difference to people who use the iPhone every day, and would like to do several things simultaneously. For instance, people on the go often need to quickly copy part of a web page and paste it into an e-mail. This becomes much simpler when you have the ability to switch quickly between the apps without having to close one, then open the other, and then do it again if you want to copy a second item. I, for one, am looking forward to this new flexibility, even if the upcoming version is still fairly basic. App Folders Those of you who are already App Store addicts know that having a double-digit number of pages on the home screen makes it a challenge to find downloaded apps quickly. Now, with Folders on the iPhone, we’ll be able to group apps into whatever categories we like. I’m sure I’ll still keep my first few pages of frequently-used apps out in front. But after that, I can make groups for those I frequent less, like games, travel apps, and more. This feature will be a huge time-saver if you utilize it wisely. Unified Inbox and Multiple Exchange Accounts For those of you with one e-mail account, this might not be a huge deal. For those who are pulling e-mails down from many different servers, this is huge. In the past, we’ve had to go from one inbox, back to accounts, select the new account, and then that account’s inbox in order to see other messages. With OS 4.0, we’ll have them all on one screen. I’ve already “tricked” my phone into using one inbox by forwarding all my mail through a single Gmail account. OS 4.0 will allow me to keep things separated if I want to, as well as make it easier to send from multiple addresses. For those of us currently burning our single Exchange account on Gmail syncing, 4.0 will let us sync to multiple Gmail accounts, or pull in a work Exchange account as well — a huge plus. Bluetooth Keyboard Support Once you become familiar with the iPhone’s on-screen keyboard, it can be handy for typing out even long e-mails. But what about full-blown blogging? WordPress has put together a great app for the iPhone which, until now, has been useful for simple edits and comment moderation. Add a full-size Bluetooth keyboard to the toolkit with OS 4.0, and you’ll have everything you need to knock out a full blog post right from your phone, and quickly. This feature is going to make many mobile web workers even more dangerous when it comes to productivity on the road. iPhone Calendar API iPhone OS 4.0 introduces 1,500 new developer APIs, and for me, the best one will allow developers to interact with the user’s built-in calendar. This feature hasn’t seen much discussion, but I feel that this small offering could have a huge impact on the iPhone’s productivity apps. Right now, there are many apps that will interact with your Google Calendar, which you can then sync to your iPhone via Google Sync and one of your Exchange accounts — quite the round-about solution. However, in the new OS, developers will have the ability to read and write directly into your iPhone’s calendar. This will open up a whole new set of features for task apps and other productivity solutions on the iPhone. You could have instantaneous task reminders sent to your calendar, for example. Or, your doctor’s office could make an app that would deliver your next appointment right to your schedule. The possibilities are endless.
Rick Burnes leads the content production team at HubSpot , a marketing software firm that produces the Inbound Marketing Blog and Inbound Marketing University . Chances are, most of the businesses you interact with as a consumer are on social media. Your local restaurant is blogging, your grocery store is on Twitter — even your favorite candy is on Facebook . Companies in mainstream, consumer-facing industries are all over social media. But how about other businesses? Manufacturers? B2B service providers? Equine dentists? Are they experimenting with social media? You bet. Here are five examples, all at different stages of their experiments, and all indicating the breadth of business use of social media. 1. Equine Dentist Builds Relationships With Facebook How do you turn a regional service business into an international destination for industry thought leadership? Facebook. At least that’s what worked for Geoff Tucker, an equine dentist based in Palm City, FL. In a business driven by relationships, Geoff says that Facebook allows him to build new ones. “People do business with people who they’re friends with. Period,” he says. “And Facebook is a great way to get to know people. It allows people to see that I’m a person.” As he builds these relationships using social media, Geoff is also expanding his company’s reach. He says it was his blog , his Twitter feed , and his Facebook account that helped him win appearances on Horse Talk Radio and HorseGirl.tv . So what’s this done for his business? Geoff says that over the last year, Facebook alone has generated about 100 leads and 10-to-15 customers. 2. Steel Building Manufacturer Taps New Verticals As a manufacturer of prefabricated steel buildings, SteelMaster was initially hesitant to get involved in social media. “It’s steel buildings,” explains Michelle Wickum, director of marketing for the Norfolk, VA company. “How is that going to tie to Facebook? It doesn’t make a lot of sense, but when we looked at the growth in Facebook and social media, we felt we had to get our arms around it.” About a year ago, SteelMaster put its first toe into the social media water . The company discovered two important applications for their business. First, they found that Facebook is an excellent way to post pictures of customers’ steel buildings. Not only do the pictures engage existing customers — they also demonstrate to prospective customers the range of uses for SteelMaster buildings. “Photography for us is the hook,” Michelle explains. Perhaps more importantly, SteelMaster found that social networks like Twitter and Facebook gives it exposure to and create demand in specific verticals where it previously had little traction. Chicken farmers and woodworkers don’t typically think to use steel buildings, but when friends and colleagues share pictures of their SteelMaster buildings on Twitter and Facebook, the farmers and woodworkers become interested. 3. Full Social Media Integration for Marketing Paint Idea Paint is a Boston-area startup that sells paint that turns surfaces into dry-erase boards. The company uses social media throughout its sales and marketing process. The company blog , where employees publish videos, images and stories of product installations, is the hub of Idea Paint’s social media activity. The company uses Twitter and Facebook to share content published on the blog — then to listen to, respond to, and interact with the community that content engages. Marcus Wilson, Idea Paint’s head of marketing, says this system gives the company a level of customer intimacy and global reach and that was unheard of 10 years ago. What’s this mean in terms of business results? Social media is now one of Idea Paint’s largest sources of leads and traffic — and it is growing steadily. Meanwhile, the company’s Twitter and Facebook reach grew 70% in Q1 2010, and is expected to grow an order of magnitude in Q2. Idea Paint produced this video on their social media strategy, exclusively for Mashable readers: 4. Integrating Twitter Into the Paper Selling Process One year ago, the marketing team at Neenah Paper , a manufacturer of high-quality paper products, confronted a growing problem: It was becoming harder and harder to reach new potential customers. Their traditional channels — phone conversations and in-person meetings — were not working as well. Prospects were tuning them out. Jamie Saunders, Neenah’s marketing communications manager, noted that most of the company’s potential customers — designers, graphic artists and printers — were spending their time in front of their computers, and that social media could be a way to better engage them. So Neenah took a step into the social media world. While the experiment started with Neenah’s marketing team, its sales team was one of the biggest beneficiaries. They discovered they could do prospecting and nurturing via Twitter . Today the company has 10 sales representatives across the country using their personal Twitter accounts on behalf of Neenah to close new business. Jamie says these sales reps are finding that social media is simply a more effective way of engaging with their prospects. “It’s an invitation to have a conversation. You’re getting permission to have a conversation — a conversation that used to happen in person.” 5. Leading the Online Aviation Maintenance Discussion In November 2008, a handful of auto executives flew their private planes to Washington, DC to testify before Congress in support of federal aid for their industry. This perception of corporate excess created an outcry, and the private aviation industry’s image was damaged. At that time, aircraft maintenance and support company Duncan Aviation had just started using social media . The company discovered that the new medium could be a way to positively shape the conversation — to add its perspective and improve the industry’s damaged reputation. Beth Humble, now Duncan’s social media lead, explains that while social media is an important part of Duncan’s strategy, the company doesn’t aspire to create a Comcast- or Coke-like presence on the social web. Instead, the goal is simply to influence the right people. “There are a lot of industry people that we network with that are on Twitter: Journalists, other aviation bloggers, and industry and media outlets,” Beth explains. “If you connect with the right few people, you can really get in there and connect with thousands of people.” For more business coverage, follow Mashable Business on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook More business resources from Mashable: – HOW TO: Market Your Small Business With No Budget – 13 Essential Tips for Landing a Job on LinkedIn – How Venture Capitalists are Using Social Media for Real Results – Why Co-Working Makes Sense for Small Businesses – What Facebook’s Open Graph Means for Your Business Image courtesy of iStockphoto , FANDER09 Tags: business , facebook , List , Lists , small business , social media , social media marketing , twitter
Maria Ogneva is the Director of Social Media at Attensity , a social media engagement and voice-of-customer platform that helps the social enterprise serve and collaborate with the social customer. You can follow her on Twitter at @themaria or @attensity360 , or find her musings on her personal blog and her company’s blog . If you have been tracking conversations around social media for business, you have undoubtedly come across people talking about Social CRM. If you are anything like me, the first time you heard it, you probably rolled your eyes and said, “Ugh, another social media buzzword!” And while I do take issue with the jargon itself (and will discuss that later), Social CRM is a central concept that businesses need to understand deeply and integrate fully, in order to serve the social customer . Who Is the Social Customer? The social customer consumes information in a different way , and learns about breaking news through Twitter and Facebook , favoring what her network has curated and surfaced as important information. The social customer learns about new products and brands through social channels and trusts her social network to provide honest feedback about it, as opposed to a brand’s one-way advertising message. The social customer is savvy , doesn’t respond well to unsolicited SPAM in her social networks or overly promotional tweets, but is open to relevant information that meets her needs at that particular moment. The social customer expects brands to be present and active in the same social venues where she hangs out , listening to her feedback, whether it’s negative or positive. The social customer expects you to listen and engage with her , not only when it coincides with an e-mail blast or new feature release, but rather when she needs you . And you better respond fast, in real-time, or she will either move on to a competitor, or tell her friends about her bad experiences. Because the social customer can talk to a brand through many channels at the same time, she expects everyone she talks to from your company to have the same background on her issue . For example, if I complain about an airline on Twitter, I want the representative who engages me there to know my itinerary and the full history of our interaction through various channels. Bottom line: The social customer owns the relationship, and you need to earn her trust. What is Social CRM? Paul Greenberg , and author and leading authority on SCRM, stated that Social CRM is “…designed to engage the customer in a collaborative conversation in order to provide a mutually beneficial value in a trusted and transparent business environment. It’s the company response to the customer’s owning of the relationship.” Another great definition was put forward by Michael Fauschette : “Social CRM is the tools and processes that encourage better, more effective customer interaction and leverage the collective intelligence of the broader customer community with the intended result of increasing intimacy between an organization and its prospects and customers. The goal is to make the relationship with the customer more intimate and tied to the company by building a public ecosystem to better understand what they want and how they interact with the various company touchpoints like sales, customer service etc…” At the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter what you call Social CRM or how you define it, as long as you understand it and know how to apply it to your organization. It’s all about the execution. At Attensity, for example, we developed the “LARA” framework, which addresses the end-to-end process of Social CRM: Listen to customer conversations Analyze those conversations Relate this information to existing information within your enterprise Act on those customer conversations Jacob Morgan of Chess Media has developed this pretty comprehensive diagram that I like to refer to: As mentioned above, I don’t necessarily agree that Social CRM is the best name for this kind of process because CRM has typically enabled one-way conversations with customers, with a disproportionate focus on technology. The name CRM stands for “customer relationship management,” which is a misnomer because the company no longer controls or manages the relationship –- the customer does. In one of my favorite quotes about Social CRM, Mitch Lieberman states that “Social CRM is about bringing “me” [the social customer] into the ecosystem… It is not about the technology, it is about the people, process and cultural shifts necessary to support and grow a business.” This is a very important notion to understand in order to avoid coming down with a case of “analysis paralysis.” We all have a tendency to over complicate things, and while SCRM is a big concept that takes a lot of savvy and planning to get right, it’s really very simple at its core. Companies that successfully execute on the Social CRM process share the following characteristics: — Social engagement must be enterprise-wide . To achieve this goal, you need to “socialize” the organization. The larger and more entrenched your organization is in traditional ways of handling customer interactions (inbound or outbound), the more difficult this task will be. How do you socialize the organization? Through proper training, alignment of objectives (the quintessential question of “what’s in it for me?”), and providing leadership and mentoring. Marketers within your organization need to understand that a brand is no longer what you tell your customers it is –- it is now what they say it is. Make sure the salespeople know how to use Twitter to build relationships without spamming their networks. Empower customer service to help, and product teams to gather and act on feedback. Overall, the toughest task of “socialization” is conveying the notion that the more the brand lets go of its desire to control the message, the more they will be able to shape it collaboratively with its customers . This is where a social media director/manager becomes a crucial hire, because she will provide direction for the entire organization. — To truly provide a “mutually beneficial value in a trusted and transparent business environment,” per Paul Greenberg, the organization must be irrevocably oriented towards transparency and customer service . Why are companies like Zappos so successful, while others’ attempts at helping on Twitter resemble a “me too” strategy? Because transparency, taking risks, and providing a “no-matter-what-it-takes” kind of service are part of their corporate DNA. If you don’t have the guts to truly commit to transparency and service, and if you don’t empower your people to act on behalf of the company (which will inevitably lead to some unintentional mistakes), you won’t get very far. You must embrace experimentation, take smart risks, and “fail fast.” — I can’t stress enough the importance of putting the right processes in place to truly listen and engage . Because the sheer volume of social media conversations is staggering, you need a plan to triage, prioritize and activate the right people in the organization to engage properly. After you socialize the organization, take the time to figure out who the right internal resources are in at least these areas of the organization: Customer service, PR, marketing, sales, and product feedback. Develop a process by which a social media message gets routed to one of the above groups and activate the right resources for an immediate response. There must also be a robust crowdsourcing component, which will empower customers to provide direct product feedback, and the organization to ensure that the feedback is heard and acted upon ( UserVoice is a terrific platform for this). The social customer may go to Twitter with a question, a user forum with a customer service query, Facebook with a compliment, or Yelp with a complaint. The processes you establish will largely determine your ability to respond quickly and with the relevant information, while uniting all of these interactions under one customer record. At the end of the day, you must ask yourself if the steps above help you enrich the two-way relationship between the social customer and your social business. Use the Right Tools Even though Social CRM is mostly about people and processes, you do need the right tools to help you achieve the following: A 360 degree view of the customer must include not only the relevant interactions between your company and the customer across the networks where they originated, but also internal data from your own CRM system. This data must be rich and actionable, and the system must also retain all these interactions as part of the customer record. This is a win for the customer because she gets a personalized experience and never has to tell her story to three different reps, and a win for the company which now becomes more efficient. The ability for everyone to engage and be in alignment: Social media is not a silo, and no one department owns it . There must be a process in place by which each message gets automatically routed to the right person, classifying it by type (question, complaint or compliment), content (what it actually said), sentiment , action needed, and influence. This helps automate the triage process, which until now has been mostly manual. Sophisticated workflow tools will ensure that information created by the 360 degree view of the customer is accessible to everyone in the organization in the same way, creating a context for each interaction and enabling the rich, intimate relationship with the social customer. Each person involved with the customer record receives a set of prioritized tasks and reminders. The ability to engage right from the app creates a virtual paper trail of the conversation. Are you ready for enterprise-wide engagement? Can your organization support Social CRM? What are some of the steps you have taken to build a rich relationship with your social customer? For more business coverage, follow Mashable Business on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook More business resources from Mashable: – How Companies Can Use Sentiment Analysis to Improve Their Business – How Venture Capitalists are Using Social Media for Real Results – Why Co-Working Makes Sense for Small Businesses – HOW TO: Get the Most Out of Offline Networking Events – 5 Ways Small Businesses Can Leverage LinkedIn’s New Features Image courtesy of iStockphoto , iqoncept Reviews: Facebook , Twitter , Yelp , iStockphoto Tags: business , customer service , enterprise , facebook , List , Lists , small business , social media , social media marketing , SocialCRM , twitter
Leyl Master Black is a Managing Director at Sparkpr , one of the world’s top independent PR agencies. Leyl has more than 15 years experience driving high-impact communications programs for emerging technology companies. A couple of months ago, we talked about ways to engage your fan base on Facebook . Several readers asked how B2B companies could take advantage of the tips we shared, and I know that some organizations are still wondering if it even makes sense to try to reach a business audience on Facebook . In my view, Facebook presents a unique opportunity to connect with and educate your target market in a way that your website and even your blog can’t match. The trick is coming up with meaningful content that people will want to share, and that brings them back again and again. Here are some tips for creating a powerful presence on Facebook that will engage a business audience. 1. Become an Industry Resource Whatever business you’re in, chances are that you’re keeping up with industry news and maybe even writing about it on your blog. You’re likely running educational webinars or speaking at industry conferences. You’re also engaging with customers, helping to solve their business problems and maybe even documenting the process with case studies. This means that you probably already have a large number of resources to share. Why not funnel this content onto Facebook and make your Page the go-to place for insights and information on your particular industry? A good example of this approach is 360i , an award-winning digital marketing agency. Tapping the deep expertise of its team, 360i keeps its Facebook Page updated with industry insights on topics that matter to the brand marketing audience, such as how businesses are taking advantage of Google Places or new trends with Foursquare . The 360i team showcases industry research and reviews cool new technologies that marketers can use in their programs. They post a weekly summary of all the important industry news, and provide readers with astute commentary that puts the news into context. In short, they’ve positioned themselves as experts in digital marketing and become a valuable resource for their target audience on Facebook. 2. Engage the Community In the past, your customers may have had little interaction with each other, and the outside world could only see a list of customers on your website (if you put them there). As a marketer, you wouldn’t know what all your customers were doing with your products, or even how to reach them. Now, you can use Facebook to engage directly with your customers and make them part of your marketing efforts. For example, you can ask customers to share their successes on your wall and get feedback on new product features. You can encourage them to recognize great service people and reward them for their input with a discount or other promotion. You can also solicit customer references for case studies and media opportunities and find out who’s doing something innovative with your product. BigCommerce , a company that offers e-commerce shopping cart software, routinely reaches out to its Facebook fan base to identify reference customers and uncover interesting use cases for the media. For example, when the company wanted to promote the success of its recently launched Facebook shopping application, they simply posted a query on their page asking which customers had seen a boost in sales from the application and who would be willing to talk to the media. Within 24 hours, the company had generated fifteen new customer references and were able to immediately turn this information into media coverage. 3. Expand Beyond Your Wall There are now a host of different applications for Facebook that let you do more than post on your wall. If you’re selling B2B products online, you can set up a shopping tab on your page to drive traffic to your e-commerce site and encourage viral sharing of your products. Get Satisfaction , a popular social CRM and customer support platform, recently launched a Facebook version of its application so your customers can ask questions and get support right on your Facebook Page. You can also set up a promotions tab using Fan Appz to offer special deals to your Facebook fans and even use these deals to support lead generation programs. For example, if you sell software licenses, you could offer a 20% discount on the annual fee for people who enter the promotion code at an upcoming webinar or bring the coupon to your booth at a conference. 4. Lighten Up While many of us use Facebook in our day-to-day business, the vast majority are usually there to have fun and engage with friends. So no matter how serious your product is, inject some humor and levity into your page. For example, if you’re selling enterprise security software, why not do a poll where people rate the most evil tech baddies in films like Hackers and The Terminator ? If you’re a marketing agency, you could do a “Which Mad Men Character Are You?” quiz that assigns users an identity based on their answers, which can then be shared with their friends. Just keep it relevant to your industry and safe-for-work. And even if your website needs to stay “all business,” Facebook is where you can give a face and personality to the company. You could do an “employee of the month” feature on the page where you profile someone who’s making a big difference at the company or who achieved a significant milestone. Include photos or even a short video. You can highlight what the company or employees are doing in the community or in support of a particular cause, which has the added benefit of putting the weight of your fan base behind these efforts. You can also consider posting behind-the-scenes photos of engineers hard at work on the next product release, or a smiling customer service rep on the phone with a client. All of these ideas will help your fans make a stronger and more personal connection with your company. These are just a few examples of how companies can use Facebook to engage with B2B customers, and I’m sure there are many more out there. If you’re using Facebook to market to other businesses, I’d love to hear what else has worked for you! For more business coverage, follow Mashable Business on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook More business resources from Mashable: – 10 Essential Social Media Tools for B2B Marketers – 13 Essential Social Media Lessons for B2B Marketers from the Masters – How Venture Capitalists are Using Social Media for Real Results – Why Co-Working Makes Sense for Small Businesses – What Facebook’s Open Graph Means for Your Business Tags: b2b , business , facebook , List , Lists , MARKETING , small business , social media marketing
This series is supported by Bantam Live , a web-based collaboration workspace with “Social CRM” for small business teams. For more information visit BantamLive.com . From a marketing standpoint, it’s a great time to own or start a business. The social web makes it more cost-effective than ever to get the word out about your products and services, no matter what industry you’re in. Most social media accounts are free to set up, and many targeted online ad platforms are inexpensive. The most it will cost you to get your marketing campaign rolling, at least in the beginning, is time. In fact, the toughest challenge facing small business marketers these days is not cost, but finding a strategy to get your message heard over the din of a noisy Internet. For advice on this, we checked in with a few experienced social media marketers. Here’s what they had to offer. Become an Expert Advertising is not always the best way to market on social networks. People crave valuable content, and it can be as niche as the very products you’re selling. By blogging, tweeting, sharing, and updating about things relevant to your industry, you can build credibility in your field. “Whether you’re selling specialty cookies or enterprise software, you probably have significant expertise that you can share with potential customers,” said Leyl Master Black a Managing Director at Sparkpr . “You can write how-to articles, create educational videos about your products in action, or post pictures and tweet out commentary from an industry trade show. Every piece of content you post online — whether it’s on your blog, your Facebook Page, or on third-party sites — has the potential to boost your brand and drive search results and traffic at very little or no cost.” Black notes that YouTube is an often overlooked platform for building low cost, high impact content. A small investment in a consumer-level camera and editing software, and a bit of time learning the basics of video production can pay out big in the long term. “E-commerce vendor BigCommerce , for example, is generating tens of thousands of views for its online marketing video series for small business on YouTube,” said Black. Cultivate Super Users The social web has changed both the medium and the message for marketers, and we’ve discussed extensively how the users are now in control of your brand’s image. This can be a very positive thing if you understand the social media ecosystem and leverage it to your advantage. The key is targeting and cultivating super users — customers who are already fans of your brand, and share their positivity about it on the web. “If I know there’s a Twitter user who loves purses and talks about them a lot (which I can find using Twitter Search ), and I sell purses, I reach out to her and offer her 20% off to come in or check out my catalog online, just because I know she digs purses,” said Jason Falls , a social media strategist and consultant whose blog discusses the online marketing industry. “If she blogs about purses, maybe I send her a new model with a note that says, ‘Thanks for telling people about purses. We dig you.’ I’m betting she’d talk about me, and I didn’t have to break the bank to get the conversational love.” When an endorsement comes from someone outside of your company, like a trusted blogger or social sharer, it has greater value and reach than anything you could send through official channels. You can’t control what the social web says about your brand directly, but by identifying and wooing brand ambassadors, you can certainly have an influence — the kind that no paid advertisement can match. Ensure People Can Find You on the Web This point may seem obvious, but it’s a common misstep, especially for new businesses. If and when people hear about your brand, they will go straight to their favorite services — Google , Yelp , and other listing sites — to find out more about you. Take the time to ensure that your entry there is accurate, and that there are direct links to your website and phone number. But there’s more you can do to get your brand out there for free. “Look beyond Yelp for free business listings,” said Black. “ MerchantCircle , Google Local Business Center , Angie’s List , Yahoo! Local , YellowPages.com , SearchLocal , and SuperPages are some of the online directory services that allow businesses to create a free listing. Make sure that you’re on these sites, and if the site already lists your business, you should ‘claim’ it by adding more details to the listing, such as your company website URL, a map, phone numbers, or business hours.” Black also noted that many of the directory sites allow customers to leave feedback and reviews. “Encourage your customers to post reviews of your products or services, or provide incentives for them to do this. For example, one merchant applies an additional 10% discount to their coupons on MerchantCircle if the consumer leaves a review on the site. This encourages repeat business as well as reviews.” Offer Ad-Funded Payment Options If you have a steady flow of customers, and you’re looking to boost the size of your transactions and increase customer loyalty, one low- (or no-) cost strategy is to implement transactional advertising. “Popularized by TrialPay , this ad-funded approach to payments works to turn browsers into buyers,” said Black. “Consumers are able to get your product for free in return for buying something from a brand advertiser such as Gap or Netflix. The advertiser then pays you once the sale is completed.” For companies selling relatively low-cost or web-accessible products, a highly targeted “reverse advertising” strategy like this could be a smart move. “For example, IntroWizard used TrialPay to convert ‘intermediary’ customers who had tried their free Flash web design software but hadn’t made a purchase yet — boosting their profits by 15% at no additional cost,” said Black. Your Thoughts? Have you found any web or social media marketing solutions that are easy on your budget and big on return? Be sure to share in the comments. Series supported by Bantam Live Bantam Live is a web-based collaboration workspace for small business teams that combines “Social CRM” with project/task management and microblogging communication – all centered within a real-time activity stream. Business teams can share an address book and track contacts and conversations, track prospects and sales pipelines, and organize projects and tasks to get work done. With integrations to social networks, team members can search for keywords and reply to and import new contacts and their real-time profiles into Bantam Live . For more business coverage, follow Mashable Business on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook Images courtesy of iStockphoto , cmcderm1 , GustavoGoncalves Tags: business , facebook , how to , List , Lists , MARKETING , small business , small business tips series , social media marketing , twitter
Adam Rosenberg is the Online Community Manager at Salsa Labs . Most recently, he was the New Media Manager at the Center for Democracy & Technology where his work focused on Internet privacy, data protection, cybersecurity and open government issues. The latest changes to Facebook have seen their fair share of criticism, with many users examining more closely the definition of “public vs. private.” Some users have been turned off enough by Facebook’s envelope pushing when it comes to privacy to go so far as to contemplate a mass Facebook exodus . Whether or not the changes become the final blow to Facebook ’s tenuous relationship with privacy remains to be seen. However, protecting your privacy is important on any social network, so while you’re still on Facebook, here are a few important privacy tips to keep in mind as you navigate the site’s newest incarnation. 1. Lists: Learn to Love ‘Em The list function seems to be one of the most underrated privacy tools on Facebook. All privacy snafus aside, the past year has seen Facebook improve the granularity of privacy control settings by leaps and bounds. Users often forget that the tiny dial in the lower-right corner next to each post they share gives them an option to make that item visible to “Everyone,” “Friends Only,” or even particular lists. It’s important to know that “Everyone” doesn’t just mean all Facebook users anymore. According to Facebook’s own website , it means the entire Internet. This is a good thing to keep in mind if you select “Everyone” as a share setting for a post. A search for the term “soo drunk” with Facebook’s “Posts by Everyone” option reveals some openly available results that were probably not intended for public consumption. Lists can be extremely valuable for both privacy advocates and marketing professionals. The privacy cautious may want to use lists to restrict co-workers or professional contacts from knowing their relationship status, favorite movies, political views, etc. The marketer can use lists as a way to keep groups aware of products, announcements and events. And with “likes” now a very open cluster of data on the web, the list function is a more important privacy feature than ever. To create and edit lists: Go to Account Click Edit Friends Click Create New List (or Edit List if it’s for an existing list) Add friends to this list To use lists: Go to Account Click Privacy Settings Click Personal Information and Posts Select different areas and click Customize You can also use lists on every post and update you make on your profile. Just look for the “lock” symbol and follow the “customize” directions above. 2. When in Doubt, Just Log Out While the ability to “Preview My Profile” can be used to find out what specific people in your network can see, it still doesn’t give you the full picture of what the general public will find when they come to your page. Sharing personal information with friends is one thing, but it’s important to be aware of the content you present to the world from Facebook. A great way to check this is simply to log out of your profile, refresh your browser, and then visit your Facebook page. If you see something there that you don’t want available to the public, go back in and make the change. Another option is to completely remove your profile’s visibility outside of Facebook. To do this, simply: Click Account Click Privacy Settings Click Search Uncheck the Public Search Results option This makes your profile invisible to non-Facebook users. 3. Audit Your “Likes” Many Facebook users are eager to “Like” (previously, “Become a Fan Of”) many brands, causes, entertainers, etc. But the recent privacy changes have shined a brighter spotlight on the issue of “oversharing” information through social networks. Unfortunately, the pages you “Like” cannot be masked through Facebook’s privacy settings, so anyone who has access to your profile can see them, and consequently make assumptions about your personality. While it may not be a big deal for people to see that I “Like” my employer’s Fan Page, or my favorite band, there may be things in your fan history that you’ve forgotten about — things you may or may not want the world to associate you with. To combat this, it’s a good idea to edit your “Likes.” The easiest way is to do the following: Click Account Click Edit Friends Click Pages on the left-hand column (remember, this includes pages for things in your activities, music, and movies sections of your profile, in addition to anything you’ve “liked”) Go through this list and ask yourself, “Do I want this to be public?” Then ask yourself, “ If I want it public, would I be comfortable with strangers networking with me through these channels? ” If something doesn’t meet your criteria, click Remove Connection (click the X ). 4. Spring Clean Your Third-Party Applications One of the big changes to Facebook is the “ Instant Personalization ” feature, which allows several sites, including Microsoft’s docs.com , Yelp , and Pandora , to automatically connect to your feed by default. Facebook has allowed these trusted partners access to your profile information in an effort to “create a better user experience.” Those who aren’t interested in these auto-connections, or who have privacy concerns, are required to manually opt out — and it’s not a very straightforward process. Here’s how to do it: Click Account Click Privacy Settings Click Applications and Websites Click Instant Personalization Pilot Program While opting out will stop the flow of information to these partner sites, your Facebook friends who use them may still share information about you, unless you block the application altogether. To do that, you’ll need to visit the application pages for Docs , Yelp , and Pandora and click “block application.” It’s probably a good idea to login to your accounts on these sites to make sure you have opted out on that end as well. Facebook organizes your applications in categories so you can easily see which ones have been granted access to your profile information. The trouble is, they also make it difficult to simply find a list of “all” applications that you can manage in one place. If you only do an audit on one “section” of applications, make it the “authorized” section, as these apps have access to more data and information than others. It’s not that connecting to these sites through Facebook is necessarily a bad thing. It’s just important to understand how your information is being shared, and make the decision yourself about how much you want to put out there. 5. Control What Friends Can Share About You Through Applications In December 2009, Facebook introduced a new privacy setting to control what information could be shared with friends through applications. This is a key privacy feature because it relates to not just information you post on your profile, but what your friends could offer up about you to an application or website they are using through Facebook. For example, your friend might use the “Give a Dog” application, which can access information you have made public including your name, gender, birthday, photos, videos, etc. Your information is used and collected by the app developer, even though you were not the one to actively share it. To manage these settings: Go to Account Click Privacy Settings Click Applications and Websites Uncheck everything you don’t want applications to share without you knowing Click Save Changes (Note that most Facebook settings pages will auto-save for you, but application privacy settings require this extra step) This somewhat confusing section is really just asking you what information you want collected and shared by third-party applications using your friends’ profiles as a conduit. It will not affect how much your friends can see on your profile. If you want to be in control of all of your data, we advise that you uncheck all the boxes here. What other privacy settings have you found useful or important on the “new” Facebook? Be sure to share them in the comments. For more social media coverage, follow Mashable Social Media on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook More Facebook resources from Mashable: – Facebook Open Graph: What it Means for Privacy – HOW TO: Disable Facebook’s “Instant Personalization” [PRIVACY] – HOW TO: Find Long Lost Friends on Facebook – HOW TO: Add Facebook “Like” Buttons to Your WordPress Blog – What Facebook’s Open Graph Means for Your Business Tags: facebook , List , Lists , privacy , social media
This series is supported by Rackspace , the better way to do hosting. Learn more about Rackspace’s hosting solutions here . No matter where you sit in the HTML5/Flash debate , the fact is, more and more mobile or low-powered devices are being shipped either without or with very minimal support for Flash video. Web developers who design sites that utilize video need to be cognizant of this reality and design and build their sites accordingly. While it’s great that video hosting services like Vimeo and YouTube support HTML5 and that solutions for larger sites are available from places like Encoding.com and Brightcove , that still leaves users who want to host their own video content — but don’t necessarily use a platform like Brightcove — in a bit of a predicament. After all, in a perfect world, everyone who visits a website should be able to view video, whether they are on a desktop or on an iPhone. Fortunately, there are a number of great free tools available that will let you serve video via HTML5 and also support Flash, in the event that a visitor’s browser doesn’t support HTML5 (or in some cases, the video codec being used with your HTML5 code). Here are a few of the solutions currently available that we particularly like: 1. JW Player for HTML5 LongTail Video recently released a beta release for the JW Player for HTML5. The JW Player is currently one of the most popular open source video solutions on the web and the new version offers seamless fallback support for JW Player for Flash. This is important for developers or designers who want to make sure that no matter what browser is being used (even IE6), video will be watchable. JW Player for HTML5 uses jQuery and supports playback of H.264, Theora and FLV video. It also supports existing JW Player and PNG skins. JW Player for HTML5 is just entering beta but we expect that it will soon be integrated into a number of different platforms (like WordPress) and that it will continue to evolve quickly. 2. Kaltura HTML5 Video Solution Kaltura is another open source video solution with an HTML5 player and library. Already in use by Wikimedia (the Wikipedia people), the JavaScript library is built on jQuery and jQuery UI which means that the look and feel will be very easy to customize. Kaltura supports OGG, H.264, FLV and MOV formats and is designed to work across browsers and fallback to Flash if necessary. 3. Video for Everybody Kroc Camen’s Video for Everybody was one of the first cross-browser HTML5 video solutions on the web. Although more players have entered the ring, it remains a great contribution and is extremely useful. One of the unique aspects of Video for Everybody is that it does not use JavaScript. This is important for accessibility standards or for playback in applications, like RSS readers, that might not support JavaScript. The code is pretty simple — if a browser supports HTML5, that’s what is played. If a browser doesn’t support HTML5, Adobe Flash is used. You can locally host the Flash file or embed an existing file, like a YouTube clip, for instance. There is a deprecated version that can also try to fallback to QuickTime before playing Flash. Worst case scenario, a placeholder image and a video download link is shown. WordPress users can use the External Video for Everybody plugin by Kevin Wiliarty for easy integration with their WordPress blogs. 4. Open Standard Media Player The Open Standard Media Player (OSM) bills itself as an all-in-one media player for the web. It’s licensed under the GPL v3 and is written in jQuery to support HTML5 as well as Flash and Flash-based sites like YouTube and Vimeo. It can be used to playback OGG or H.264 files or to pull video from other video service streams. It’s customizable using jQuery UI’s ThemeRoller. 5. Degradable HTML5 Audio and Video for WordPress This WordPress plugin is similar to the Video for Everybody plugin but there are a few differences. While Video for Everybody encourages encoding video in both Theora and H.264 (as Firefox only supports Theora video via HTML5), if you just want to use one H.264 file, this plugin will force Firefox to fallback on Flash and play the H.264 video that way. Depending on how much video you use, it may not be worth trying to support multiple formats if the Flash player fallback is acceptable. BONUS: Sublime Video (Coming Soon) Another solution that is in the works is Sublime Video from Jilion. This is another JavaScript based option (although it uses its own standalone library) and offers full-screen playback, iPhone and iPad support, and fallback to a Flash player in unsupported browsers. I’m really excited about this option because it just looks so stunning. Obviously, we’ll need to wait for it to come out to compare performance and options agains the other solutions currently available, but this is still one solution to keep an eye out for. Your Picks Are you using HTML5 video on your websites? What tools do you use? Do you have any tips about encoding or offering Flash fallback? Let us know in the comments! For more technology coverage, follow Mashable Tech on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook Series supported by Rackspace Rackspace is the better way to do hosting. No more worrying about web hosting uptime. No more spending your time, energy and resources trying to stay on top of things like patching, updating, monitoring, backing up data and the like. Learn why. Tags: Flash , h.264 , HTML5 , List , Lists , ogg , video , Web Development , web development series
