Author: Julia

Thank God It's Follow Friday #TGIFF

So, you’ve jumped into Twitter feet first and are making a big splash. Right? Though Twitter has only been with us since 2006 it has developed a culture that some find difficult to decode. This could be part of the reason there are so many Twitter Quitters. The retention rate for Twitter is around 40% in the first month for new users, compared to 70% for Facebook. Another reason could be that the newbies just aren’t following the most appropriate handful of Tweeters out of the hundreds of millions of Twits.

While Twitter does an adequate job of suggesting people for you to follow, what better way than to get a personal recommendation from somebody you already “know”? Maybe we could choose a specific day of the week and make up a catchy name for it, something with alliteration. Oh, wait it’s already been taken care of:

That was back in 2009 and the trend has only become stronger. A hashtag (#) was added and the space removed to become #followfriday and now it is mostly shortened to #FF to save on precious characters.

To use best practices for Follow Friday, try to do a logical grouping that gives people a reason to understand why these Twitter accounts are worthy of a follow: “PR Pros”, “Funny Friends”, “Moms with Moxie”, “Sports Stars”, “Nose for News” or “Charming Charities” (alliteration is NOT required, but it doesn’t hurt!).

If someone includes YOU in a Follow Friday tweet, it’s always nice to tweet back a thank you, since it is a form of compliment. If you get multiple #FF mentions, nicely done! You can do one tweet thanking your supporters all together.

See, it’s easy to be part of the “in” crowd. So make sure to give a shout out to people who fill your Twitter feed with goodness that is worth sharing. Along the way, you might pick up some shiny new people to follow and adore. It’s not hard, it’s already on your calendar!

Make a Splash in the Twitter Stream

Afraid to dip your toe into the Twitterverse, let alone dive right in? There’s really nothing to fear unless you plan on trying to drink in everything that comes at you. Twitter is the online equivalent of the storied water cooler. It’s a virtual place you can stop by, refresh your beverage and fill up on the latest buzz and then move on with your life. You can connect with people and brands around the world and keep it short and sweet.

The best part about tweeting is the speed and immediacy it can offer. Recent examples that impressed this upon me include a fire in Chilliwack, that put the power out for some of my co-workers, and an earthquake, that shook parts of Vancouver Island and that I felt in Maple Ridge. Before Google or Facebook could give me answers, the Twits were on the case. I had photos of the fire and updates when it was out and when power was back on. Before I could get friends on the phone in Victoria I had reports from all over the Island and the Lower Mainland about where the quake had been felt.

It’s all about who you follow. On Facebook, I only “friend” people that I would actually cross the street for if I saw them in real life. I am sharing photos and updates that are personal in nature and I have my privacy levels at maximum. On Twitter, I get great updates on my varied interests and I even have two Twitter accounts to keep the flow of information more organized. As @juliaaustine, I follow people that share common interests and will keep me up to date on Technology, Public Relations, Social Media and my community while I try to return the favour. I have a separate account for my cooking blog that is food, baking, restaurants and more food.

Twitter can be a little intimidating, as there are written and unwritten rules of netiquette that seem to change at a moment’s notice. I’ll try to guide you through the ebbs and flows as I learn them myself, but I encourage you to come on in and test the waters for yourself.

Crisis in a Teapot

Corporate Communications in times of crisis need to be timely. Rumours spread faster than the truth, because they are usually more exciting. My own experience with a well handled crisis relied on facts and beating the public to the proverbial punch.

In the Spring of 2008, our manager pulled us into a huddle at the start of the work day. We could tell that it was not a “Let’s make this a great day team!” type of huddle. He had something to tell us, and it was serious. He gravely explained to us that a long time employee of the financial institution that we all worked for had been caught embezzling a large amount of money. She had, obviously, been fired and charges had been laid.

An entire communications package had been put together, including quotes from the CEO about the difficulty and sensitivity of the situation. The information was shared from the top down by telephone conferences with the branch managers, followed by early morning huddles like our own. Our daily internal electronic newsletter had links to a special page on our intranet on how to deal with any media calls and to whom these calls should be directed. We were provided with scripting to answer our customers’ questions and to offer them reassurances.

The funds taken were all from internal accounts and 90% of that was covered by insurance. No personal or business deposits were affected and there was no negative impact to our ability to operate or to be profitable. Some high value accounts were contacted by their account managers to assure them that their assets were safe and to let them know that they may be reading about us in the newspapers.

There was actually very little in the media about the fraud. I like to think it is because the truth was put out quickly and in an orderly manner. There was no opportunity for anyone to be caught off guard or unprepared. All the employees were aware and informed and knew what to do and where to find answers. We felt that the people calling the shots trusted us to be able to handle the truth of the situation and we wanted to live up to that trust.

Playing by the Rules

Privately held companies can call their own shots and only have to share their financials with the tax man. Once you go public, the game changes. Suddenly, the rules and regulations kick in to overdrive. You are now responsible to your myriad and ever-changing group of investors. In 2002, when the Sarbanes-Oxley Act was enacted in the United States (which served as a template for changes in Canada as well), publicly traded companies were handed a whole new rulebook that they had to play by or face some time in the penalty box (fines and/or jail time).

One of the key components of investor relations is a company’s annual report. Once a large expense and a drain on natural resources, they have now begun to enter the digital era. By sharing an online version of the annual report, businesses can save the cost of printing and delivering the reports which also saves on paper and pollution. The other online advantage is the incorporation of video and the ability to be more interactive. It is also easier for potential investors or employees to look back over the company’s performance and get an idea of how they have (hopefully) grown and progressed.

While the primary function of the annual report is to reveal the financial performance over the year, it can also be a useful vehicle to reinforce their brand, expand on their vision and to give a glimpse into their future. The biggest challenge with an annual report is making it in depth and sophisticated enough for a savvy investor, yet engaging and clear enough for other audiences.

The online annual reports are still based on the concept and style of the published reports. Once more companies can get away from the restrictions of a paper world, we will see the growth of interactive and dynamic websites that can offer each viewer an engaging experience that gives them a simple video overview or access to all the numbers their hearts’ desire. Stripping away the bonds of a static report and opening ourselves to the possibilities of the digital world will take investor relations to the next level.

Feel the Klout

Have you ever wondered about your Klout? If you want to quantify your influence on Twitter and/or Facebook then head over to their website. They will give you a score from zero to one hundred on the ability you have to impact and drive your followers to action. It then gets further broken down into True Reach, Amplification Network.

I checked out the results for my very new Twitter account @juliaaustine and expected to get a zero. But, a new feature of Klout.com is that you can link your Facebook as well. So, with my three year old Facebook account added in, I got bumped up to a whopping 5!  My other Twitter account, for my food blog, also and rated a 5, but that must be more heavily dependant on my Twitter activity, as I only use that Facebook account to interact with Twitter. So, I’m a solid 5. What does that mean? Well, I’m in the 10th percentile, so it means I’m just starting out. I already knew that, but it’s nice to know that I have a solid base to start from and that I can only go up from here.

If I want to increase my score I need to start by tweeting new and engaging content, reacting and interacting with my fellow Twits and gain followers who will be interested in my viewpoint and what I have to share with them.

I also checked in on @SweetTartelette, the Twitter handle of Helene Dujardin of the blog Tartelette, to see how she fared with her Twitter following of over seven thousand. She scored an impressive 47, which puts her in the 80th percentile (which means she has more Klout than 80% of the accounts on Twitter). Helene has been blogging since 2007 and generates gorgeously mouth-watering content of her culinary creations that she styles and photographs herself. She has over twelve THOUSAND tweets, compared to my ten, and is at the top of her game.

I am definitely influenced by her recipes, her styling and her photography. My food blog is not in the same style as hers, but I hope that one day she might click a link to my blog and be intrigued by what she sees or reads, and maybe, just maybe, she might tweet about me.

October 18, 2010 Update: My Klout has increased to 12, I moved up to the 20th percentile. I am on my way up the Social Media ladder!

November 14, 2010 Update: I’ve climbed one more rung, so I’m now up to a 13 on Klout. Look out world.

February 17, 2012 Update: It took a while, but I’ve soared up to 40 on the Klout scale. Look out universe!

April 3, 2012 Update: I must be doing something right (according to Klout anyway), I’m up to 47.

Two Cents Worth

It used to be that a media platform was given only to a select few who had the credentials or connections to make it that far. With the birth and proliferation of the internet, anyone who can string two words together can have a blog that can be read (or ignored) around the world. Stories that made the papers or the airwaves were researched, fact-checked and approved before they reached the people. Now a Tweet can be heard around the world faster than you can find which remote turns on the TV.

While anyone (and their dog) can start a blog, it takes something more than just saying something to build a following, it’s about actually having something to say that people want to take the time to hear. It’s not about having the best photography equipment or top notch grammar, it’s communicating passion for a subject or presenting a unique perspective. Also important is the ability to create new content and keep the attention of today’s overstimulated masses.

If a blog somehow manages to gain, and keep, an audience it will only be a matter of time before big industry will try to co-opt its popularity by having the blogger mention, review or promote their product or service. Some bloggers are quite open about what they get for free or how they get compensated. Others refuse to accept anything for free or do paid endorsements. Many blogs host contests and give aways, some prizes are sponsored and others are purchased with ad revenue from the blog. Successful bloggers can also get book deals, sell t-shirts or accept “donations” to fund their blogging.

Big business wants to take advantage of these (potentially) low cost marketing opportunities. Some companies will target multiple bloggers with one promotion. Ralph Lauren’s Pink Pony Foundation invited 100 fashion bloggers to help them promote breast cancer  awareness, as well as the 10th anniversary of the foundation, by posting images of themselves wearing the Pink Pony Polos in their individual styles. This guaranteed them a bare minimum of 100 blog posts and cost them only the price of the shirts.

A larger investment in the blogosphere was made by General Mills when they invited 50 food bloggers for their first Eat & Greet at their headquarters and test kitchens in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Baking blogger, Bakerella was there and her post about it linked to at least seven blogs of the other attendees. The bloggers come across as naive and overly impressed with the hoopla and they seem overwhelmed with the attention and swag that they receive.

What I find most interesting is how the community of bloggers is becoming more interconnected as the bloggers not only read and comment on each other blogs, but find and create opportunities to meet up in real life and even teach each other. Food blogger, My Tartelette, who is a very accomplished pastry chef, food stylist and photography (a blogging triple threat), has held baking and photography for fellow bloggers, which then get blogged about.

By reaching out to bloggers, with events, promotions and give aways, the two cents that a blogger shares with their readers about the company can turn into two dollars (or more) in the real world.