Analytics: What Does it All Mean?

Klout (free) is by far my favourite real-time social monitoring tool, probably up there with Hootsuite which I discussed in an earlier blog post. Hootsuite has increased my levels of productivity and made my life a little easier and the same goes for Klout. Klout is a measurement tool that allows you to better understand your influence and your influencers. It has a way of making you feel like you should always be doing something more, especially when comparing yourself against your competitors.

• provides the user with their true reach, amplification, and their network or influential community, which are all very necessary to a public relations practitioner
• allows for a practical and easy to understand comparison between yourself and your competitors which can be very useful in indicator your stance in the industry
• permits for the incorporation of a variety of social media outlets and gauge the most accurate results

Icerocket is a free search engine real-time social monitoring program that provides user the option of reviewing social web conversations that take place on a variety of sites such as blogs, Facebook, & Twitter.

• an up-to-date look at your company to better engage your reputation
• easy-to-use website that summarizes interactions, even pictures which have been uploaded associating to your name
• provides an option to find followers who share similar interests 

Tweetstats is a handy free tool that graphs your Twitter statistics and make it a little pleasing to the eye and better to comprehend.

• a monthly, daily, and timely breakdown of your tweets
• allows you to compare your own statistical information against competitors
• useful display of informations that helps to narrow down your own month to month comparable differences.

Radian6 ($) A social media management and engagement tool to help companies better understand and sort through comments and tweets on a variety of social media facets. Monitoring data is essential and valuable information to every business strategy.

• allows you to filter through a variety of conversation and pinpoint the discussion of your brand on the social web
• provides users with an in-depth look at your most influential followers surrounding your brand and helps you to better target loyal supporters
• provides a single dashboard for all your social media tools thats provides real-time consumer feedback.

Check this out!
Free demo: social media monitoring, marketing tools - Radian6.com

We are Truly Sorry!

Some of you may have heard today, that an outbreak of the 'crazyness virus has been found in all body cream products by Body Design. We at Body Design are trying to do everything in our power to eliminate it from our products and workplace.  When 'crazyness' was found in our body cream products we took steps to completely eliminate the virus. Firstly, we executed an immediate nation-wide recall of all Body Design body cream products off the shelves and from the salons. Secondly, we stopped production of any more products and immediately closed the plant down. The most important priority to Body Design is your health and well-being. Unfortunately, our products have been linked to some cases of severe mental sickness and irreversible health problems. Our deepest sympathies and condolences go out to these people who are sick and to the families that are suffering. Words cannot express your pain and we will do everything in our power to right this wrong.  But even with standards that exceed regulatory requirements, we have failed to protect our customers against the “crazyness” virus and we at Body Design are deeply sorry. We commit to you that the actions taken from here on in are to put your interests first.

Sincerely,

Sonia Merena

CEO of Body Design

Catch up with the Grammy's

In the most recent group assignment covering 2 examples of real-time web strategies, my group and I covered the Sunday's Grammy's and their social initiatives. You'll learn by reading our post on the ryerson.ca email that we covered all possible social media facets available to the Grammy's and they way they were being utilized. Today I stumbled upon a report of how they played out and the impact they had.

Grammy Social TV Stats

p.s I like that they used an infographic to display the information. 

The Value of Social Media

I stumbled upon this article of the real value of social media "Value of Social Media" and began to wonder. Social media’s value in real life has been exacerbated by the invasive and gossipy nature of people. I am shocked that more feature films don’t often mention Facebook or Twitter in conversation the way it happens in my day-to-day life. Television shows have caught onto this idea, often slipping in a “like” joke or a complaint about a status update. Ten years ago, this would have been irrelevant, completely unfathomable; imagine publicly announcing and commenting on every e-mail chain letter you ever got in your inbox back in the nineties, when it was all the rage. To assign a monetary value to social media would be a lot like quantifying the meaning of life. “Klout” or power one acquires through virtual online networking and it is measured by the force of all of the social media outlets one utilizes combined. But in real life, it just means you spend an awful lot of time on the computer. Social media is valuable in that it makes it incredibly easy to find information and “get in touch” with people around the world, except that it defeats the entire purpose of being social, which is to be with people, doing social things. We are after all, human beings, not human doings. 

Canadian Community Management

Lululemon, a Vancouver based yoga wearing company is extremely active on Twitter or Facebook and exert a clear and concise message to its 530,000 fans on Facebook and over 180,000 followers on Twitter. Managers continuously share tips and commentary with participants on yoga and ways to stay fit. They guide the conversation and follow up with concerns or issues. Managers engage people in an effective dialogue in an authentic voice that shows they are passionate about the products and company.  Individual community Lululemon Facebook pages have been set up to allow you to interact with your local Lululemon store and their staff. As a result community managers become your local store manager who are well informed and love the products in the store and may have most likely met you in one of the free yoga classes each Lululemon store hosts weekly. 

• Lululemon's Facebook
• Lululemon's Twitter

Steam Whistle, a Canadian brewing company with over 9,000 followers on Twitter and the same on Facebook, manage their social community actively and authentically. Managers reply to each comment on Facebook and like Lululemon share tips and company facts on their Twitter profile. They answer questions with a passion and knowledge of the brand and build relationships with their participants.  In the past they have mobilized their active social media participants by organizing dodge ball competition in the brewery’s recreational area. 

• Steam Whistle's Facebook 
• Steam Whistle's Twitter

Informative Obsession- Infographics

I have recently become obsessed with infographics. I’ve stumbled upon them in the past on such websites as Airbnb and found myself reading the information because it was so well designed you wanted to know more and see more. I had no idea what this creative use of information was called, I just thought how cool of Airbnb to do such a thing. Over the past few days, I discovered the name for these creative diagrams and found sites full of well designed information and even incorporated an infographic into an internal quarterly newsletter I write for my company. I’m excited to receive some feedback on it once published but also looking forward to discover new facts through new infographics and getting others hooked. If you are unaware of Airbnb it is a fantastic site for finding short-term apartments, it’s a network for accommodations.  Below you will find the short video describing infographics and Airbnb’s infographic. Enjoy!

http://youtu.be/xekEXM0Vonc

Foursquaring!

I joined Foursquare over a year and a half ago with a fellow co-worker. We instantly became hooked and quite competitive, each morning comparing who had more points and badges. Our friendship hasn’t been the same since. Since first signing up and being onboard for a few months now, I noticed the amount of large corporations which have joined Foursquare thus far. Starbucks, Victoria’s Secret, H&M, and even networks like NHL & the Food Network are just to name a few.  The one thing I took away from Foursquare was the fantastic and instant recommendations through commentary on hot spots such as restaurants, deals, and great entertainment. I would have not known about these deals or dishes without being a member of Foursquare.

• Groupon: Deal-of-the-day website, Groupon and Foursquare are coming together to work alongside each other to offer Foursquare users more fantastic deals and Groupon will increase its exposure. http://mashable.com/2011/07/29/foursquare-groupon-partnership/

• American Express: To create stronger brand loyalty and promote American Express usage amongst loyal customers to a brand that is already well established and may not frequent use American Express. Like Starbucks, American Express would reward customers who have checked-in with discounts on purchases. By also incorporating QR codes in the sign-up process they have made life a little easier for everyone.

• GranataPet: By using Foursquare in a creative way to market a pet food product, they engage Foursquare customers in a way that transforms the customer into a spokesperson for their brand. By check-in, providing commentary and publicizing it on Facebook and Twitter, GranataPet's attracts new customers to new and innovative ideas. Check out this link: http://youtu.be/t8dmjoqOOQo

 

My Top 10 Bloggers

1.              Chris Brogan (http://www.chrisbrogan.com/)

I enjoy reading Chris’ blog because his posts focus on simplicity in the social media world by covering a majority of  aspects of public relations and social media. His blogs daily and even relates his blog posts to his real life experiences or uses videos to engage his audience. Chris’s blog is good at pointing out pros and cons on significant topics that may be overlooked by a newbie to social media.

2.              Wayne Sutton (http://socialwayne.com/)

Waynes’ blog is esthetically pleasing as well as intriguing and insightful. His use of gripping diagrams leads me to stray from the main message of the blog and I find myself learning new and exciting ways to promote businesses and personal growth. Maybe that is the main message.

3.              Scott Monty (http://www.scottmonty.com/)

What started as social media research for my work related account to Ford Motors has turned into a daily obsession of reinventing my companies social media outlets much like Scott Monty has done with Ford. He continuously has shown new and exciting was to present company information to the public which is clear through Ford's success during the recession in one of the most affected industries.

4.              Kevin Dugan http://badpitch.blogspot.com/

This blog is a look at what NOT to do in the field of public relations and personally helps to remind me what to stay away from in order to create a successful campaign. It’s not very common to encounter a blog that focuses on the mistakes that professionals make and provides a detailed description on what mistakes were made and what the consequences of these mistakes have lead to. Kevin also goes into depth on how these mistakes can be corrected and avoided.

5.              Elena Verlee (http://prinyourpajamas.com/)

Social media campaigns consist of many parts and this blog looks at how to make sure all parts of a campaign are successful. It gives advice on “how to” and “ways to” make effective campaigns. Elena also goes into details on the advantages and disadvantages of social media outlets and explains how this allows you personalize your campaign to your needs.

6.              Brian Solis (http://www.briansolis.com/)

Brain Solis’ blog is a current up-to-date outlet that looks at important and relevant issues that relate directly to public relations and social media strategies of today’s larger corporations. The blog focuses on today’s issues and tomorrow’s advances.

7.              Arik Hanson (http://www.arikhanson.com/)

Arik provides an unorthodox look at public relations and social media. The blog offers tips, must haves and no nos for creating a successful campaign. He uses his real world experiences and relates them to current issues which allows to learn valuable lessons.

8.              http://mashable.com/ 

After searching a wide variety of blogs mashable.com is a unique blog offering an array of information, from entertainment and business as well as social media and public relations. Information on this site is very convenient and easy to find and posts are accompanied by commentary which is very insightful and helpful.

9.              http://socialmediatoday.com/

The name speaks for itself, this blog is essentially a "real time" working website relating to social media. It focuses on trending topics that are presented by a wide array of featured bloggers that focus on their own specific areas of expertise. These bloggers are very creative when presenting information and use unique articles to back up their opinions.

10.            http://soshable.com/

Creative and gripping are two words that effectively describe this blog site. Its use of hopeful topics and inspirational stories relating to social media platforms helps to re kindle and inspire a persons passion in public relations and its many aspects.

Stuff PR People Say!

If you have following the recent craze of "Sh** People Say," this definitely caters to the average public relations practitioner. I love a good laugh, hope you enjoy!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C32V4-P0idA

The Little Owl

One of my biggest pet peeves when I began a position in public relations was the jumping back-and-forth between social media accounts to make sure the message was posted on my company’s Facebook, LinkedIn and then at a limited word count on Twitter and then again in French on each separate social media site.  Each time I would hop around, I was feeling unproductive and definitely thought time could be spent. Until, I discovered the ‘little owl,’ Hootsuite. I must say, I think I told everyone at the office, all of which definitely did not care. “Of course there would be a social media dashboard out there, until now how could such a thing not exist.” I am forever grateful. This was 2 years but today, it’s difficult to narrow down the Top 10.  To name a few: TweetDeck, Brizzly, Threadsy & Spredfast. After giving many a try, every time I just keep crawling back to Hootsuite.  So I thought what better then to mention some of the positive things Hootsuite is doing other then making my life a little better everyday.

http://www.prdaily.com/Main/Articles/10647.aspx

Hootsuite is partnering up with Syracuse University and their Newman School of Public Relations to assist students with building their own social media awareness. Similar to Ryerson’s social media course, the program will aid in the fundamentals of managing corporate social media. I think this is very necessary when studying public relations, what do you think?