@JustinFlitter

So your business might be using Twitter and Facebook to engage with your stakeholders but what information and training to you give your new staff on how to behave online now they are in some way representing your brand?

Whether or not those staff directly engage with your customers through the company Twitter or Facebook pages it's likely they will have personal Twitter or Facebook profiles. They might be RT'ing the companies updates and news or perhaps writing blog posts on issues effecting their profession.

A few things you might like to consider including in your resource are:

• How to define what information is private and confidential or good to be shared.
• What the process should be if they get asked a company question through their private account
• How to deal with media approaching them directly
• What style of language the company uses when talking to people online
• Personal conduct, out of office hours - if that's important - if that person has significant personal and company reputation to shoulder

What I think is so important about this is all your staff will at some time be sharing what your company does. Understanding what your company does on social sites like twitter an facebook helps to distribute "why should I follow you" information. It shares insights into the tone and personality of that company and the brand.

What else should you share with new staff about your companies use of social media?

Just something I have been pondering the last week or so.

Would a company get better or worse results if the Community Manager is also the Social Media Strategic Planner?

IE. If the person creating the social media strategic plan and policies is also the key person implementing those strategies do you think the result would be better or worse?

Often I think these roles are one in the same but for larger companies you might have a communications manager developing the strategy and a community manager implementing and engaging.

Unless both people were very much on the same page one could assume that problems could occur if the community manager implementing the strategy did not fully understand the implications of consistency, style, brand personality, analytics or simply lacked historical organisational knowledge to deal with sticky questions...

I guess these are just the same issues with any role, irrelevant of the social media title

Personally I think social media is best handled by someone with experience, in strategy, communications and support. Especially as Twitter can be the most visible of front lines

What do you think?

Rob Thomas is running for seat on the Council for Auckland Central. He has some nice friendly branding, big billboards and gets out networking (I have never met him though).

Last night his new campaign billboard made TV news

My campaign for council made it onto TV3's Nightline - watch the full story...http://fb.me/GSz2j4hX

The story was about Rob's billboard in Ponsonby containing a Bluetooth unit that could send passersby a campaign message if they had bluetooth activated on their mobile device.

The message sounded so boring why anyone would want to do that is beyond me, something like "Vote for me, I'm Rob Thomas"

No one I know walks around with bluetooth on just in case a City Council Candidate's billboard wants to talk to them, it drains our battery for one thing. 

What made me laugh more than anything was the assumption that people in Ponsonby were tech savvy and that Bluetooth might be a good way to connect to them. Are you freakin kidding me? How about using a Tweet or chatting on Facebook or using Foursquare, Ponsonby hipsters are more likely to be there than worried about working out what bluetooth is and how to turn it on just to get your message.

What should have been in that news slot is a Council Candidate for the Rodney District Michael Goudie. Rather than using old school, one way communications gimmicks like bluetooth Michael is using todays technology like Twitter and Facebook to full effect.

I received in the mail a few days ago a postcard flier from Rob Thomas, there was no mention of his Twitter or Facebook page, only his website. Disappointing really. Shy? Seems so.

Michael Goudie has boldly gone where no other Council Candidate in Auckland (That I have seen) is going. He is actively using and integrating his use of Twitter and Facebook with all his traditional branding and marketing. He's making candid, rough edge videos sharing himself, allowing people to get to know him and see his personality. 

See: Standing out in City Council Elections with Social Media for my previous post about Michael

The old saying of "fish where the fish are" comes to mind. Rob Thomas could have encouraged people to tweet him, ask a question via twitter with a #tag, at least it would have encouraged people to connect with him using technology that people actually use these days. A creative social media campaign probably would have cost less and been more useful than a tacky bluetooth gimmik with a cheesy message at the end

Cringe Factor Score = Embarrassing 

Photos from our day trip to Sonoma wine country and the Golden gate Bridge

                                 

Click here to download:

San_Francisco_Trip_to_Sonoma_W.zip (19639 KB)

in Sonoma Village I went to Charles Creek and tried five wines. 

Vineyards we went to were

Cornerstone

Buena Vista Carneros

Valley of the moon

Kunde Estate

Kenwood Vineyards

Wines here are high in alcohol content up to and over 14%

Tasting is occasionally free but mostly $10 per person for about five wines. But get the conversation flowing and all sorts of treasures come out for you to try. Valley of the Moon has the most touristy tasting room that was more of a gift store but we had a 20% off voucher and one Syrah is to die for, but the staff were hopeless if you asked them any wine related questions 

Kunda Estate was by far the best of the ones we went to, best wine, best staff, best prices and best tasting room and courtyard, Just a lovely space

And these are the three wines that I bought.

     

Click here to download:

san-francisco-trip-to-sonoma-wine-country-HtiidAojmpmHhmxqgFEv.zip (3809 KB)

There is something about the word 'Customer' that doesn't sit right with me in todays world of Social Brands and Social Consumers.

The word 'Customer' creates a sense of "us and them", a kind of barrier to a more fruitful relationship.

When trust and peer referrals are so vital to any brand surly businesses should focus on making friends rather than hunting for customers. Service is the new Sales and efficiency gains are found in enduring mutually beneficial relationships. 

When I'm dealing with a business I like to be treated as a friend, personal and caring not as another file or job sheet. Businesses that don't make me feel comfortable inevitably lose my custom and interest very quickly.

So while your business might pride itself on being customer focused are you really focused on turning those customers into friends and fans or just delivering an expected outcome?

Its not about us and them its about working in harmony together...don't you think?

Are you the Mayor on Foursquare of a location in Auckland?

Join the Facebook page for updates and event details

On September 29th we launch the very first Foursquare Mayor Party at Twentyone in SKYCITY Auckland.

Skycity have come to the party to help Auckland's Foursquare Mayoralty network and party in style with a great venue and the first round of drinks.

Foursquare Mayor Parties will be held on the last Wednesday of every month (except December and January), same time, same place.

First Event Details:

Date: September 29th

Starts: 8pm

Checkin to: Twentyone at SKYCITY Auckland

Required : Must be the Mayor of at least one Auckland location

Michael Goudie is standing for a seat on the Rodney District Council. With the Elections on October 9th not far away Michael is right into campaign mode. But unlike the boring, old school campaigns we see ruthlessly scattered everywhere, Michael has well and truly adopted Social Media as a campaign tactic. As you can see from his billboards and videos its not just all talk and hot air. As far as I have seen Michael is the only candidate up for election in any of the city's electorates really using Social Media. Certainly Michael is the only one to use Facebook and Twitter logos is such a prominent way on billboards and other collateral.

Who is Michael Goudie? I am the Youngest Ever Rodney District Councillor & hope to be the youngest on the new Auckland Council. Now that you have found me, I hope you get to know me, and support my campaign for the HBC - Albany - East Coast Bays Ward

This is Michaels first Campaign Video

Tweet

From Tony Boyte's presentation at Auckland Social Media Club one slide particularly stood out for me

We're all familiar with Sharpie markers and pens. You might have one or two on your desk right now. Now with the launch of the Sharpie Liquid Pencil an great social media campaign has been launched creating quite a buzz.

It's just in time for back-to-school, the new Sharpie® Liquid Pencil hits USA stores in September.  Using the newest liquid graphite formulation, the Sharpie Liquid Pencil writes like a pen but erases like a pencil.  

"The Sharpie Liquid Pencil is a game changer in the back-to-school shopping aisle," said Sally Grimes, vice president of marketing for Sharpie.  "Sharpening standard pencils takes up valuable classroom time, and mechanical pencil leads seem to constantly break.  The Sharpie Liquid Pencil means no more sharpening, and it's erasable for up to three days, after which it becomes more permanent.  It's unlike any other writing instrument out there." Read more from this article

So check out @SharpieSusan and all the photos and comments posted by fans, parents and creatives.

Then check out @SunniBrown. She is Sharpies Doodle Expert and you can submit your own doodle to her, which is uploaded to the website for all to see. The SharpieUncapped.com site is a great way to explore their products and engage with their brand and staff

So I just thought I would highlight a nice integrated campaign around what is really a rather boring product and how much fun you can have with it.

This seems to be the theme of the last few days. Really cool, useful apps for Social Media tools like Twitter and today Foursquare.

Jayson Bryant aka The Wine Vault posted this on Facebook 

WeePlaces.com maps and plays back your Foursquare checkins for the 6 months. And you can zoom in and out so if you're a globe trotter you can plot your world domination.

Check it out.

If you dont use foursquare this is my WeePlaces map

Here is a map of my Auckland checkins

http://4mapper.appspot.com/ - But there is no play back option

Have you seen any other Foursquare map applications? 

Lately I have been finding a few really cool Twitter apps

Todays one is the Twitter Parade where you type in your twitter name, a keyword or hashtag and you'll see a parade of all the people who have mentioned you or that word. It's a fun and interesting way to view twitter especially for presentations. 

I use Google Chrome. I like the no fuss clean interface and ultimately the lack of widgets and apps taxing my screen real estate. 

The new Kosmix Firsthand toolbar for Firefox and Chrome. It has, several times, made me delightfully surprised, something a toolbar app has failed to do for a long time. It runs silently in the background but once you start browsing.... it's cool.

Kosmix’s addition are Twitter icons. The app scans pages for names, people and businesses, and searches for their accounts on Twitter. (You can roll over any icon to see a slick, lightweight list of recent tweets.)

On Stuff today there is a great example. The story is about Allblack, Alby Mathewson and Kosmix has found his twitter account

   

Click here to download:

a-browser-app-that-s-actually-cool-socialmedia-nzeFtjpBExzpkAzxhtaE.zip (300 KB)

Check out your own website to see the difference it makes to the user experience

What do you think? Certainly seems to add a good deal extra to consuming news and information

If your businesses is starting to use Foursquare, offering incentives and rewards for checkins and mayoralties, may I offer one small word of advice...

If your staff check in to work with foursquare it defeats the whole purpose for your business. Your staff will always be the mayor negating any incentive for customers to keep trying. 

Ideally you'd like to have a new mayor every few days, some healthy competition amongst your frequent flyers not your staff that have to be there everyday anyway.

Social Media for Business.....WHY?

Because people like to share their experiences.

If it's a bad experience we tell people

If it's a good experience we tell people

If it's an average experience... probably not

Hopefully your business is geared and focused on delivering great experiences to every customer. 

So you have customers, they have great experiences, now they want to share that experience with their friends, family and probably their social network too.

So make it easy for them to do this. After all its promoting your business to their audience and if that message is shared further to 2nd and 3rd degree audiences as well.

The likes of Twitter, Facebook and Foursquare are all about encouraging people to share content about your business. 

Without social media word of mouth is exactly that, a physical exchange of thoughts and opinions. With Social Media your customers dont just tell 10 people they could be telling 1000's or more.

It costs nothing except for your time and effort. No other marketing tool can do that for you.

This is the key message I shared during a Social Media talk last week.