In a recent article from QSRweb.com the
website released an infographic which highlights the top 10 restaurants in
social media. The infographic ranks quick serve restaurant brands by popularity
of likes, followers, subscribers and score on Facebook, Twitter, Google+,
Pinterest, YouTube and Klout. Among all 10 brands that are taking advantage of
social media, Starbucks comes in first place while Pizza
Hut shows an impressive following in several platforms.
In this age of social networking, brands are increasingly finding
new ways to interact with their customers as well as build their brands
through social media. While many brands are skeptical of social media, others
have jumped on this golden opportunity to drive advocacy through them.
Like Starbucks and Pizza Hut, how can social media help drive
advocacy for your business?
Imagine all your satisfied customers becoming your brand advocates
and instantly generating positive word-of-mouth about your business to all
their friends, family and colleagues on Facebook, Twitter and other social
media platforms.
According to the results ofemphatica.comlatest Consumer
Insights Panel findings, nearly three in four consumers use Facebook
to make retail and restaurant decisions. This is a clear indication of how
important social media channels are becoming as a source of information as well
as recommendations.
A word of caution for building brand with social media, a
successful social media strategy is about much more than just accumulating the
highest number of "likes" or followers. Real success will come from
how effectively you engage your followers and how well you use that engagement
to improve your bottom line.
Are you ready to turn your
happy customers into brand advocates?
Below are the infographics
posted by QSRweb.com showing some restaurant brands that are utilizing the use of social
media and its impact
Barack Obama’s victory in the US Presidential Election of 2008 set the benchmark for what can be achieved using social media. He achieved this by designing his campaign to spark the right actions, leading his supporters with direct conversations and providing the tools to let a grassroots community create and share content.
If Barack Obama can become a world leader through the use of Social Media, what can you create? What’s your campaign? What’s your real world result?
Because social media allows information to spread quickly through global audiences, it’s understandable that some politicians/leaders may be wary of its use in an official capacity. However, educating yourself on the capabilities of social media platforms will help your organization become more effective in using them to communicate with key audiences.
How Can Social Media Help Leaders?
Social media is a quick way to communicate to your colleague, your stakeholders, the media, families, the local community and the public with information on events and issues that affect them. Using social media can help bridge the gap for people who aren’t in close proximity to an installation or know very little about certain issues.Social media is incredibly dynamic and engages people in a way that feels informal, real and transparent. It affords leaders the opportunity to connect with others on a personal level. By its very nature, social media allows everyone to have a role in shaping conversations.
Social media is only one of the tools in your public affairs communication toolbox, which includes your base website, base newspaper, email and commander’s calls. Each tool should provide unique, complementary information to support your priorities. Identify the audience you want to reach and the message you want to convey, and then determine which social media platform(s) will most effectively reach that audience. Regardless of which social media platforms are used to help communicate to key audiences, they should be supplemented by other tools to meet overall communication goals.
Consider scope. The communication strategy and corresponding communication tools a president uses will be different from secretary units. Use a tailored approach to balance the needs of senior leaders with the needs of key audiences. Remember that social media is not just for pushing information – share interesting content and engage frequently.
Social Media Use
When using social media in an official capacity, it’s important to be honest about who is posting information on behalf of senior leaders. If you’re using social media to keep in touch with family and friends, it might not make sense to allow subordinates access to your personal accounts. If your personal social media accounts are publicly viewable and show your political party affiliation, you must consider what your photos, videos, posts and comments say about you, your values and beliefs and your political party image. As leaders, you need to keep in mind that if you violate regulations or policies, you’ll need to deal with the situation appropriately.
Do’s and Don’ts of SocialMedia for Leaders
Do listen to your followers and engage as necessary.
Do be honest about who is maintaining a social media site.
Do keep your interactions conversational and informal, yet professional.
Do consider your public image when using social media professionally and personally.
Do pick the right communication tools for your audiences.
Don’t rely on social media alone to communicate your messages.
Don’t stifle conversations, If a comment or post doesn’t hurt anyone and doesn’t violate your comment policy, don’t delete it.
Don’t be afraid of negative comments or opinions, it’s just feedback and a potential opportunity to educate people about a topic.
In this wonderful modern era of web-based social media, sadly there's a new area of concern as well in the form of cyber bullying. Cyber bullying is bullying using technology. For instance,
it involves using the Internet, mobile phone or other technology like a camera
to bully and so hurt or embarrass someone. It can happen anonymously, at any
hour, anywhere and reach a vast audience.
Cyberbullying has a number of certain features:
it allows for a potentially infinite audience to view or
participate
it is often anonymous as perpetrators can hide behind
false identities
it has a permanency of expression as information put
online can be difficult to remove, and may be recorded and archived
it may be difficult to escape from the bullying as people
often use technology everyday and in the case of mobile phones can be
constantly contactable
content can be duplicated easily
content is often searchable.
What does Cyber Bullying look like?
Bullying on the Internet or using mobiles can include:
being sent mean and/or anonymous text messages
receiving nasty or threatening messages through social
networking sites
people sending photos or videos of you to other people
with the intention of embarrassing you
people spreading rumors about you
people intimidating or harassing you
people trying to stop you from communicating with others
people hacking into, or stealing passwords to access your
online accounts (e.g. Facebook or My Space)
any form of communication that is discriminatory.
Why is Cyber Bullying a growing concern?
We are all using the Internet, mobile phones and other
technologies more than ever. While these technologies bring many benefits to
our lives, such as connecting with friends, entertainment, research and
accessing support services, their growing use means that Cyber Bullying poses
increased risks and dangers, particularly for young people. In Australia Cyber
Bullying affects at least one in ten students.
In June 2010 young people aged 14 -17 years old had the
highest rate of Internet use in Australia with 91% spending time online every
week.
Level of Internet use
14-17 year olds
Total population 14 years and older
Heavy users (>15 hrs per week)
36%
28%
Medium users (>7- 15 hrs per week)
37%
27%
Light users (<7 hrs per week)
18%
23%
No use in an average week
9%
22%
Retrieved from ACMA,,‘Australia
in the digital economy, shift to the online environment’, Communications Report
2009-10 Series, (June 2010) p 13.
What are the impacts of Cyber Bullying?
Bullying, including Cyber Bullying, can have serious impacts
on individuals, organizations and communities. Cyberbullying can be detrimental
to a person’s mental and physical health. Victims can experience significant
social isolation and feel unsafe. It can lead to emotional and physical harm, loss
of self-esteem, and feelings of shame and anxiety, concentration and learning
difficulties. Incidents of young people committing suicide have also occurred. In
the case of a perpetrator of bullying, it can contribute to ongoing antisocial
or criminal behavior and engaging in abuse in other contexts. Cyberbullying is
likely to create difficult and unsafe environments in organizations, be it at school,
work or sporting clubs. Organizations at, or through, which bullying occurs
have responsibilities to address and prevent bullying. In addition to the
significant harm that cyber bullying can have, not addressing incidents of
bullying could expose organizations to risks of claims for compensation.
Two of the most famous cases are the suicide of Ryan Halligan and
Megan Meier back in 2003 and 2006 respectively, due to the effect of cyber
bullying. Cyber bullying is unique case because it can happen 24/7 and most
people think they can get away with it, without knowing the impact it can have
towards the bullied person.
Here's a video showing celebrities read mean tweets and their reactions
So what do you guys think about this new type of bullying? any idea on how to solve this problem and who do you guys think should be responsible for this, parents, friends or the social media itself?
Should we consider Twitter to be a marketing tool or is it just
for people who have a lot of time on their hands and the need to jibber-jabber
all day long?
I will be honest, I was an early adopter of Twitter and then I
ignored it for quite some time, because i just dont get the idea on how to
use it. However once i understand it fully, i absolutely like it.
Think of Twitter as a means to get instant public messages out to
your audience, whether it is an audience of colleagues or potential
customers.
Twitter is becoming an increasingly important platform for online
communication and, yes, conversation. TechCrunch reported that Twitter is
receiving 8 million unique visitors per month and about 3 million messages are
posted daily.
How can we use Twitter as a marketing tool?
Good question. Let me see if I can help.
Twitter As A Source of Information
As I mentioned, over 3 million messages are posted everyday. Are
you mentioned in any of them? What about your company? This might be a good
time to find out. Twitter provides a search engine that allows you plug-in
company names, brand names, topics and even personal names. How is your buzz
level? Are there any negative comments out there? If I were you, I'd use the
search engine to check in a regular basis.
Today, I found out that Coles made a customer unhappy and he
Twittered about it. I learned that Rockstar Games has some really cool iPhone
applications and that the pancakes at Pancake Parlour is to die
for. All that was posted recently, so whether you are engaging on
and participating in Twitter or not, someone may just be twitting about you or
your company.
Use Twitter as a Media Outlet
You can use Twitter to post news or updates about your company or
products. However, please don't do this before you become familiar with the
format and etiquette of Twitter. The best way to do this is to post a link to
the full content of the news or update. Think of what's valuable to your
consumers and let them hear about it first on Twitter. You'll be amazed how
your following will grow. Plan it carefully to prevent a disaster just like
KennethCole
KennethCole Twitter Disaster
A Promotional Palace
It's not uncommon for companies to post promotions, sales, or
specials on Twitter. An example would be Dell, they do it well. It's important
to remember that Twitter is about conversation and breaking news, so be sure if
you are posting promotional information that you make it conversational and
personal. If I want an ad, I'll turn on TV.
Create Character in Your Brand
Twitter is a fantastic tool in giving your brand a voice and a
personality. Being successful in Twittering, you will have to put forth your
personality and a unique style. That's what makes the difference and can
increase your Twitter following and make it a successful marketing tool for
you.
Great Marketing Research Tool!
Imagine having a
test group of millions, that can provide real time consumer feedback at a
unprecedented level. Companies will be able to release a new product and almost
instantly find out what people think. Additionally they can get take the pulse
of customer sentiment and then make changes to increase customer satisfaction.
Twitter could also empower customers to get their complaints heard as unhappy
customers will have a way to tell thousands of followers about their bad
experience. All it takes is a short text message that gets retweeted and a
brand’s reputation can be tarnished overnight. This could mean a stronger focus
on improving customer experience. Optimistically, companies will be able to
better understand the customer by listening more closely and using the data
mined from the Twitersphere to create improved products and services that will
increase customer satisfaction.
That's my view on how important Twitter can be as a marketing tool, not just an everyday jibber-jabber media. Is there any other view that you guys have on twitter as a marketing tool? feel free to share.
