Corporate Eye

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Media

Is Your CEO Afraid of Facebook?

No, really, is she/he?

This article written by Internet News gives a very interesting discussion on how CEOs, both popularly known and not-so-well known are apprehensive when it comes to using Facebook. They either have an account that they don’t use, make infrequent updates or perhaps just don’t know HOW to use it. Perhaps they feel that it’s a waste of their valuable time, or maybe they do not fully understand the impact that social networking can have on their businesses and on their reputation.

Social networking sites are a veritable playground for top-level CEOs if they market themselves and their sites comprehensively. Just their presence alone is enough to gain traffic and interest in their products or services. For instance, the article reports that Warren Buffet has over 7K followers on Twitter, but has a “soon to be published” message on his Twitter page. What’s that all about? After all, he IS Warren Buffet, but does that mean that he does NOT need to interact with the online audience and the internet media? Surely not!

Well, not everyone is as popularly known as Mr. Buffet, but social networking is crucial to a CEO’s business success nonetheless. I’ve spoken with many heads-of-companies and CEOs and my first question to them is always, “Do you Twitter?”, or, “Do you have a Facebook page?” Often, the answer is yes, but there are times when I get this blank look or this “poor little woman” smile (because they think I’ve been “tricked” into the latest online distraction)!

Far from it, social networking for CEO’s is quite necessary for their business success. What’s more impacting than having a CEO comment on your status or follow you on Twitter? Actually participating in online discussions can be a great way for CEOs to connect and establish rapport with online clients. The wrong thinking occurs when CEOs of companies think that the networking is a waste of time. They are doing themselves and their ventures a disservice by not fully engaging all available resources at their disposal. Consider the following:

1. The majority of social networking sites users are there to socialize AND to get information on the things that interest them. Be accessible.

2. Social sites bring the most unlikeliest of people together. Who’s to say that the next best deal to be had by you can somehow occur via Twitter?

What can you do to make your CEOs more visible in the social networking scene? How can you create an atmosphere that is inviting to the online audience and workable for the executive?

How Corporate Media Affects News Coverage: Stars – Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett and Ed McMahon Give the Media a Boost

The news coverage on the passing deaths of Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett and Ed McMahon shook the nation. These United States celebrities and entertainers were iconic figures in their own rights and created their own followings and cultures that affected the entire nation and the world.

The media was (and still is today) in a frenzy covering the news of their deaths. Corporate news stations like CNN.com and ABC.com are reporting the details on the events surrounding their deaths. Bloggers are furiously blogging about how each of the celebrities lives have affected their own. Facebook and Twitter are at an all time high even with other celebrities, sending condolences and words of prayer to the families of the deceased.

Corporate media has had a major impact on the web since conveying these events on the World Wide Web. Through the news outlets websites and blogs, and through social networking sites and other journalists blogs, traffic has increased significantly with questions and the quest for information. How can a corporate-driven blog benefit from the frenzy of online news and story coverage?

Aside from gossip and rumor stories, corporate blogs can benefit greatly from delivering the news and information on their own companies, and in most cases, even their competitors. The main consideration to be given in connecting with the online audience is to give them information that is of relevance and that will in some way benefit their experience. When they visit your site, ensure that you’re giving them good, quality information and news that is directly relevant to them.

Do you have a new product or service that you’re promoting? Why not enlist the help of a celebrity or entertainer to endorse it!

What about happy clients? Write and post testimonials on your blog that will show just how happy everyone is.

Your blog and/or website is the prime place to market anything that you want to highlight in your business. Present everything in a light that will make the customer WANT to visit often. Give them a reason to return! Aside from the celebrity factors that are in the media right now, there are a few drawing elements that a corporate blog can use to elicit traffic:

1. Tell how your products/services appeal to a particular market. How does everyone benefit? What are the long-term features and benefits? Will there be consistency and longevity?

2. Always use current news as a launching avenue for what’s going on in your business. Topics like the environment, politics and yes, entertainment can always become excellent sources for news in your business.

What are some areas of your business that you can use to gain traffic for your blog/site? What can you do to hold your client’s interest?

Gaining Clients from a Visual Perspective Using Webinars, Videos and Photos

Slowly count to 10 and look into my eyes. Deep into my eyes.

Well, that would be my computer’s virtual eyes! One perspective of online media that companies often overlook is the visual element. New media has gone the route of social networking, Twittering and instant messaging. The only way now for companies to keep up with their competition is to 1) do what others are doing, 2) do it better and 3) give customers something that would be pressed to find elsewhere.

One very attractive way to gain customers is visually (virtually). Engaging them with your daily activities so that they feel a part of things, in many ways. In other words, why not let your online clients SEE the company they’re dealing with, the people behind the ideas and the tasks that go into making the products that they are buying?

The online world of virtual purchasing and virtual involvement is not very new. Companies use this technology daily when they host webinars and teleconferences. CEO’s often address the employee pool via conference addressing and use podcasts to keep them in the loop on what’s going on with the company. This is one of the main reasons why certain industries are so successful – – because of the visual element that they have available either on their website or as a part of their blog. Webinars, teleconferences and virtual tours are a lot of the cause of success for so many companies, both online and offline and the technology can be magnified in so many ways towards the company’s success.

Imagine visually showing your customers where and how their product is developed. Imagine giving them a glimpse into the meetings and decision-making events that help to shape the ideas that you bring to them. Let them into your back offices to see how things really go and even perhaps the mistakes that you sometimes make.

How-to sites are a hybrid of this type of visual marketing. Some ideas could include:

1.) Virtual bios of your company’s officers. Have them address the audience, if nothing but to say “hello.” Customers like when they can put a face with a name (product).

2.) A visual demonstration of the new widget that your corporation has just developed. Show the customers online how the widget works and other features that it may have.

3.) Photos and snapshots of your new facilities in construction. Go from a “before” to an “after” to give them an idea of your progress.

4.) The taping of the ground-breaking ceremony of your new facilities. Make your customers feel that they are a part of the news.

5.) Instead of written client testimonials, consider visual testimonials, if possible. Interview the client and ask what he thinks of your services. Include background on that client in the video if possible.

There are so many ways that you can use virtual media to reach clients online. Don’t limit yourself to only social networking, but consider the possibilities of other mechanisms of marketing as you reach out to them – – while looking deep into their eyes.

What other facets of media outlook can you use to reach your customers? Is your industry conducive to visual marketing or do you find that you have to be more creative?

How to Use Podcasting for Client Communications and Sales

The new media of blogging, social media and podcasting are swiftly and thoroughly taking over the Internet as the dominant lead in marketing, sales and communication. Now, instead of assembling a packet of sales letters, samples and brochures, all one must do is to provide their prospect with the appropriate URL and let their content do the rest.

Client Marketing

Client communications and marketing is the lifeblood of any company, big or small. If you don’t know what your customers want, how are you going to provide it to them? You also have to stay in communication to ensure that the happy client stays that way: happy.

Client marketing is also another area that requires a corporation’s full concentration and best concerted efforts to be successful. There must be careful and methodical approaches to securing new clients and maintaining the existing ones. Yes, clients will come and clients will go, but corporations must ensure that they are not losing clients for the wrong reasons. Are your communications effective? Are you visible enough for them to remember you or for you to establish yourself enough so as to become a household name?

New Media

There are many, many venues that companies can successfully use to address their clients; websites, blogs, emails, social sites, etc. Podcasting is one such method that works wonderfully well for some companies who have a product and an effective employee base who can maximize the potential that podcasting can offer.

A podcast consists of a series of digital media files that are available as downloads and go directly to the user’s computer, provided that the correct software is being used to capture the podcast. The podcast has the ability to be downloaded or retrieved and enjoyed at the user’s convenience, which makes it more inviting and exciting to utilize.

With a podcast marketing system, your company has the ability to generate multiple podcast presentations at any designated number of times they choose. In other words, you can publish a podcast once or twice a week if you prefer. The listener has the convenience of going back to listen to previous downloads, listening to a series of downloads or selecting only certain dates or times of the downloads that interest them. But, for the corporation, the podcast equips them with phenomenal marketing power.

Whenever your company publishes a podcast, they are essentially making a “mini” television commercial each time. They have the space and time to introduce a new product, a new marketing concept, teach a series of lessons or strategies, or to even have one of the top executives present a weekly address. The ideas are limitless!

Communications is key. Marketing is key. Start by doing the following:

1. Identify those internal employees who have the necessary skill set and technical abilities to publish the podcast. Make sure that they have a desire for this new media and not just doing “their job.” Their enthusiasm (or lack thereof) will certainly show through on the podcasts.

2. Invest in the necessary software equipment that it will take to implement this new media. Shop online at various software dealers that have software that is specifically for the podcasting audience.

3. Connect your company with the major social networking site(s). Let everyone know that you have a podcast available. Tweak, adjust, post, comment and interact on these networking sites constantly.

4. Advertise the podcast on everything from your email signatures to sales letters to brochures. The more exposure your efforts have, the more traffic you will receive.

5. Be consistent with your podcast presentations so as to establish trust with your followers. Consistency is the key. Customers may not remember everything you said, but they will not forget the one week that you missed publishing a podcast presentation.

These are a few steps that will help get your company aligned with the podcasting idea and position you as a forward-thinking business.

Podcast Then?

Absolutely!

But wait…should your corporation or business start podcasting? Is podcasting going to really make that much of a difference in the way you do business? Will customers respond better? Differently? Be non-responsive?

Of course, no one can give you definitive answers to any of those questions because the use of various media processes all depend on several external factors, i.e., the nature of the business, the technical skills of the employees, the company’s ability to hold their own against their competition, etc.

But, podcasting, if done correctly and strategized correctly, can have a significant impact on your company’s interaction with customers and clients, which could essentially result in higher sales and an increase in your client base. Who would object to that?!

Hyundai’s Social Networking is GREAT for Business

According to the Hyundai’s Assurance Program, if you get laid off from your job, you can return your car and not even have to worry about honoring the rest of the note payable. Really. Hyundai says you can do this, no questions asked, but of course certain restrictions do apply.

The new Hyundai’s Assurance Program has gotten its share of attention on the web from many blogs and websites. A journalist from The Huffington Post gave a well-written review of the program, while another blogger from The Simple Dollar wonders whether or not the idea is fiscally sound.

What I find interesting is the commercial that I saw about it on television the other night. It seems that they are promoting the idea via Facebook and Twitter. And, they’re asking everyone to buzz and tweet about it. They want everyone to talk about what it is they’re doing, bringing them more business and exposure. The idea of social networking for business exposure is certainly not new. But, in questionable agreement with the Simple Dollar blogger, don’t you have to make money while getting all of that *exposure*? So if (most) everyone is returning their cars if they have undue hardships (possibly many in a shaky economy), then what do you do with that inventory? How do you or can you re-sell an sold car?

Sharing this information on Facebook and Twitter can be a phenomenal plus for the car company’s marketing campaign. Like any viral marketing idea, someone is bound to tell someone else and them someone else. A brilliant way to market a program that works and interests most everybody. Because the program is so necessary and timely for some, I would imagine a marketing strategy like this will take off in a very short amount of time.

How do you think the Hyundai’s marketing plan fits into the social marketing community? Is it buzz-worthy? Will it out-last other car company’s marketing tactics? What do you think?

The Iranian Situation and New Social Media

>Were you able to get on your Facebook or Twitter pages Tuesday, amidst all of the commotion that was going on online? Hopefully so, but a vast majority of the citizens in Iran and even some in London were not able to. This news article was one of many articles that were published this week outlining the accounts of the controversial election around President Ahmedinejad and how the election was won.

For a moment, regardless of how the election was handled, who said what during the election, and whether or not things were handled improperly, the most attention-getting topic about this whole situation is how new media plays a role in this election. It is simply amazing at how different organizations went to great lengths to suppress the free speech benefit. Whereas journalists are usually given special privileges to report on certain information, in the political situation in Iran, anyone with Internet connection and access to a communication means was able to share their story. They were able to convey the story from their perspective, from their platform, from their point of view. And therein is where the problem lies…

Social media was under attack and wished to be squashed away. This same social media that has been dubbed by many as frivolous, time-wasters and of no consequence was for, at least this week, taken seriously enough that some people in some part of the world wanted it (social media) to sit down and be quiet.

But it can’t.

Social networking sites have always played a much bigger, and more important role than was readily visible. It has been more than just about checking on what your friends are doing, or giving updates on the lint rolls on your pants. No, social media is very important in the grand scheme of things. And so certainly now, perhaps that role will be embraced and respected more by the general population. Maybe now sites like Facebook and Twitter have proven themselves to be more than just a gossip-style site of over-caffeinated opportunity seekers.

Now, and even before now, their services had a purpose and a plan to change things the way we see them. Things are changing slowly but the evidence is there that it will not always remain the same. Do you think this change is episodal or a landmark of what we can expect in our online future? Are the social networking sites setting standards that we will embrace and emulate, or sit back and watch? What do you think?