Posts tagged corporate communications
The power of simple design to tell a story
Jan 31st
Wanted to share this brief presentation as a superb example of how effective, simple design can be used to tell a story. In less than three minutes, the primary findings on a research study on the source of individual power are wonderfully illustrated.
Think how effective this communication method is compared to simply reading a blog article on what could have been a very dry subject. What are your thoughts on this presentation?
How social media can hurt business relationships
Dec 20th
The social web may be the most revolutionary marketing tool since the advent of radio. I don’t have to tell you why at this point. But for all the opportunities, there can also be danger, if the technology is mis-applied or misunderstood. Here are some ways social media can destroy customer relationships:
1) Hit and run communication. Many people, especially under-20s who have been conditioned to handle conflict over text messages, mis-use the technology. If 80 percent of communication is non-verbal, how much is lost when customers provide customer service issues over a tweet? We are more likely to be unprofessional, harsh and inappropriate in writing than in a live conversation and unfortunately, more and more important customer interactions are taking place over short-form messages.
2) False sense of expectations. I’ve observed that some companies are urgently getting into the social media scene and then being unprepared for the response. It’s so easy to connect with customers today, but you better be prepared to connect with them in a meaningful and appropriate way or you will disappoint them and then lose them.
3) Over-dependence on social media. Pick up a phone. Make a personal visit. Write a thank-you note. Don’t get too hooked on communicating through only social media, especially if it’s not your customer’s preferred way to communicate. Going old school can actually help you stand out.
4) Wrong person in charge. Some companies pick a person to run their social media efforts just because they have a nice Facebook page. Wrong. Like your website or your sales and customer service efforts, this is your front line of defense. I would much rather have an experienced customer service person learn social media than a social media person learn customer service.
5) Customers are learning to game us. I had a company president tell me that he no longer responds to customer complaints over Twitter. Customers caught on that complaints meant free merchandise and the company became overwhelmed. So they just stopped until they can figure out a solution. Now even people with real complaints are being ignored because it is too difficult to separate the real problems from the gamers.
So, there are a few dangers withn the opportunities. What do you think? What customer-related dangers could be prompted by using social media in your business?
This is the future of social media
Dec 6th
With the dawn of the social web, I can’t think of a more exciting time to be in the field of marketing. But I don’t think we have really seen anything yet! Here are 12 developments I believe we will witness in the future … and probably sooner than you think.
1) Hyper social measurement– At some point soon, Google is going to start doing something bold with the volumes of personal data they’re collecting. Google is in the best position by far to define social media monitoring, especially now that they are taking steps to fold in data from Twitter, Facebook and other platforms. Once Google flexes its social media monitoring muscles, companies like Radian6 will become niche players at best. Complex algorithms will determine real-time sentiment shifts down to the individual. And it won’t be free.
2) Tapping into text messaging– The one communication mode largely untouched by real-time search is text messages. This is a goldmine of information too big to ignore, especially if you’re a “cool-hunting” consumer product company. Entrepreneurs will find a way to tap into the “text stream” by rewarding users for being included in their data-gathering systems. Does this seem improbable? Would people accept a free cell phone and free data service in exchange for their text information being stored in a database for consumer product research and targeted promotions? It would work.
3) The human coupon– The massive quantity of personal information available about you will eventually follow you around. Enabled by GPS and RFID technology, coupons and special offers based on your buying patterns will appear instantly on your mobile device as you near a store. RFID chips embedded in packaging will send messages during your purchase decision to encourage up-selling and cross-selling. For example, if you pick up a blouse off of a rack, a message will direct you to the precise area of the store where you can find a matching skirt … on sale just for you.
4) Radical privacy movement — This intense data gathering and the use of it in a Big-Brother-like manner will spark a backlash, including legislation, assuring the right to be excluded from Internet data-gathering tools. Because of its power and control over voluminous personal details, Google will become the most profitable, and despised, company in history.
5) Man-machine interface. Medical advances and social media platforms will converge. Scientists are already embedding electronics in humans to power limbs, regulate body functions, and enable the brain to access information from micro chips. It’s now possible to think a tweet or control artificial limbs with a thought. Humans will routinely carry a computer inside of them, powered by body heat and motion. You will literally always be on the social web, generating messages just by thoughts. Humans will have markings like tattoos to display the premium, designer brand of devices embedded in their bodies. This will give new meaning to the tagline “Intel Inside.”
6) We become the Internet. Today, people talk about Twitter, Facebook etc., never really connecting that these are all “Internet.” As the social web literally becomes part of our bodies, we will no longer distinguish between listening, talking and electronic communications. In our minds, there will be no more web. It will just be.
7) Massive national ID validation. The social web will become the exclusive source of consumer information, political research/policy development, and education systems. Because of the increasingly critical importance of this feedback and the opportunity for corruption, complex systems to prevent fraud will be needed, including a broadly-implemented government validation program that extends across all platforms.
8) Micro politics — Politicians will use real-time sentiment analysis to craft and re-craft voter appeals right up until the moment they enter a polling station. Political messaging will be nearly-instantaneous and tailored to individuals based on data purchased from Google.
9) Extreme content — Journalism, film-making and advertising agencies will thrive, much to the surprise of nearly everyone. The need for content on the social web will drive radical evolution of these three traditional professions and “Content development and management” will become a popular college major. While most content today is generated through “free” submissions to YouTube, blogs, etc., salaries for the very best and most creative content providers will skyrocket as corporations raise the creative bar to cut through the clutter.
10) The loner workforce. The cultural impact of the social web will have radical implications for managing the workforce of the future. How do you deal with a generation of employees who have been conditioned to communicate through their thumbs? Employee training of the future will look increasingly like video games.
11) Digital divide grows — For many parts of the world, access to free, global communications will be a great equalizer between rich and poor nations, especially as web-based translation services improve and encompass local dialects. However, in countries where people cannot access the web either for economic or political reasons, the digital divide will not only grow, it will become permanent for one simple reason: they will fall so far behind the technology curve they will never be able to catch up. Digital commerce, innovation and technology will be permanently dominated by those nations in the game NOW.
12) Pay for play– Social media is free but the cost of attracting consumer attention will become increasingly expensive, especially with the ability to skip ads. At some point, the cost per impression will be so high it will be less expensive to simply pay people to watch an ad. Combined with the “human coupon” trend mentioned above, this would provide nearly perfect information on cause and effect of advertising campaigns.
Well, that’s enough far-out thought for one blog post and I’m sure you have A LOT to say about it! Your turn. The comment section is now OPEN!
An interview with GE’s Social Media Wizards
Nov 5th
The GE Social Media Team: Gary Sheffer, Jen Walsh, Sean Gannon, Lisa Lanspery, Mike Eisenreich, Megan Parker and Vivek Kemp
- Megan Parker – “The Enthusiast” and GE’s Twitter-er. An example of her creative flare: “Hey baby! GE donates $8M for UK maternal hospital”
- Sean Gannon – “The media guy” corralling stories from around the GE system for the team
- Jen Walsh – “The web expert” and fan of llamas.
- Vivek Kemp – “The reporter” and balloon artist.
- Lisa Lanspery – “The storyteller” and computer enthusiast
Megan, as GE’s lead Twitter-er, how do you describe to your mother what you do for a living?
Parker: “I’m fortunate to work and live close to my family. So when I started my role as a social media communicator, I did the most logical thing I could think of — I scheduled a Parker family meeting. We spent a couple of hours one Sunday afternoon in the family dinning room going from the principles and theories of social media up through the latest and hottest tools. I wanted to ensure that my family understood that social media has changed the way people share and converse on a large scale.”
Other than subject matter, how is it different managing social media for GE instead of doing it yourself as an individual communicating with friends?
Gannon: “The biggest difference is remembering that no matter how casual the conversation is online, what we say via various social media is, in the end, still the voice of GE. While it’s not the voice of “BIG GE,” as in an official press release or a viewpoint on our main website, what we say is nevertheless trusted by our audiences to be factually correct – 100%.
“That requires balancing the instinct to stay informal with the discipline to only inform our conversations with well-researched information. In this sense, we are much more like the news blogs of major media organizations because if you go to these sites you’ll find humor, informal writing, asides, genuine human voices (not corporate-speak) – but you’ll also find an unwavering attention to detail and facts. That’s different from shooting off a story or a comment to a friend. Causal doesn’t have to mean sloppy or lazy when it comes to the facts.”
How has GE’s social media strategy changed since its inception?
Walsh: “I like to think of GE as a corporate pioneer in the social media arena. Before ‘consumer-generated content’ became a term of art, there was the GE “Pen,” which we created in 2003 when we launched GE’s new “Imagination at Work” campaign. The basic thought is that every idea begins with a sketch, so why not let people doodle and put their own imaginations to work.
“Internally, GE employees have been able to create blogs and wikis for several years, as part our project management and workflow toolset known as SupportCentral. We launched ‘From Edison’s Desk’ in 2005 to the delight of scientists and technologists at our Global Research Center, but more importantly, to give promising, job-seeking PhD candidates a regular view into the type of work we do in our R&D labs.
“In 2006, we asked consumers around the world to “Picture a Healthy World”. After they crashed our servers (we had no idea so many people were so healthy!), we had a great set of photos and stories that we could show and share when we took over all the digital signs in Times Square on World Health Day.
“We’ve made our monthly innovation stories on GE.com sharable. And as our Managing Editor, Sean Gannon, likes to say, we’re letting everyone and anyone who visits GEreports.com “have it your way.” Just come to the site and decide if you want to get GE Reports via RSS, email, Twitter or YouTube. Thanks to Mike Eisenreich, our technologist, you can now embed our new widget. Finally, Beth Comstock, our CMO, has a moblog called “BlackBerryBeth,” where she shares her ideas and observations with thousands of communicators and marketers at GE. These regular updates keep a far-flung team connected and also inject fresh thinking into the organization.”
What on-the-job learning has been most beneficial to your success?
Kemp: “Over the past five years I’ve transferred from newspapers to broadcast news and finally to GE’s digital media team. Each jump has required a willingness to adopt new technologies and techniques. But really, the entire job of reporting is an active task of learning (and listening). You parachute into a person’s life, into a conflict, or into an event and you’re charged with learning and digesting those issues, so you may translate them into words, pictures or videos (and increasingly Twitter, blogs and podcasts).
“I’ve been fortunate to learn how to write an article, shoot and edit a digital video and narrate a broadcast story. But, honestly, the single most important on-the-job lesson I’ve learned, and been lucky enough to practice, is how to craft a story – an on-going lesson. And one I hope I’m always learning.
How will GE convert the expense of social media activities into shareholder value?
Walsh: “GE’s social media activities are part of the way we work and communicate every day. They are not an extra expense to the company, but rather part of our regular media and communications mix. GE has become a daily news publisher, sharing our stories and data in text, audio and video formats, available anytime, anywhere online. The ROI for shareholders is more timely and useful information that they can share and interact with. That’s what I call disclosure!”
Are there different skills necessary to be successful in social media compared to traditional types of marketing?
Lanspery: “Relationships are pivotal in both online and offline campaigns. What is different in social media is how information and opinions about your products and services will appear without any attempt on your part to control the source and flow of information. The key skill you need for social media is flexibility — flexibility to participate in the conversation.”
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Grow your company, reputation, customers, impact, profits. Grow yourself. This is a community that will help. It will stretch your mind, connect you to fascinating people, and provide some fun along the way. I am so glad you’re here.
-Mark SchaeferFollow Mark
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