Social Media Maven Chris Brogan: Listen – Connect – Publish

The other night I had the opportunity to meet Chris Brogan at an event called “Reputations” that was hosted at the Best Buy corporate headquarters in Richfield, Minnesota. Below is a summary of what I took away from the discussion.

Listen – The first marketing question should always be; “How can I help you?” Listening is the secret sauce that is cool and the minute people are treated nicely and feel seen, you matter. In social media and life, it isn’t about the tools, it is the intention and the motivation behind it. The tools we use to listen gives content and knowledge of customer issues. When we listen, it cultivates relationships that yield.

Connect – Be helpful. Find people who arent in your vertical and talk about them because it is best when they explain how they know you. It is amazing what can happen when we don’t talk about business. The more we talk about the people around us, the better we look.  The  old thinking of  “don’t send them to your competitors,” needs to change. People think its cool when we mention the competition. They will remember that so talk about who else has really good issues.

Publish – The purpose for publishing is to leverage platforms through blogs, video or podcast, etc. so that discussion around the campfire can begin. The key here is to make the information relevant to the audience. If we want to see people take action, create information they can use, not how great our products are. Brogan says on his blog:

“The trick with publishing is to make the information relevant to the consumer of this media. B2B has great opportunities in using publishing to improve the communications/sales process by making simple, short videos instead of simply lobbing white papers. Customer service can create behind-the-scenes blogs to show how to better use a product. Smaller businesses can capture their best customers in a photo or quick video. People can record radio shows that cover what matters most to the business. The possibilities are endless, and the opportunities to promote great content are equally dizzying in their promise.”

My Case Study: Charter Communications and Social Media

A few weeks back, I had billing issues with my phone, internet and cable providor, Charter Communications. My payment posted twice on the same day and I wanted my account credited to reflect one payment. I tried resolve this issue via their chat function. After 45 minutes of  communicating with a customer service rep and her supervisor, it was clear I was not getting anywhere. They told me it was going to take 6-8 weeks for me to receive a check back in the mail and they could escalate the problem with no guarantees.

I was stunned that an internet provider was telling me they couldn’t electronically reverse one of my payments. 4 times, I asked the supervisor who heads up her organization. 2 times I asked her to give me the contact information for the main switchboard at their corporate offices to no avail. I found the corporate office number and spoke to one person there. An hour and a half into the entire ordeal, I went out to Twitter and began my inquiries by tweeting

1. Hey #Charter Communications – Several, several, several requests to escalate a problem and your customer service isn’t helping
2. Hey #Charter Communications – Help me fix my dispute today. Today. I have asked several times for a leadership name at your company

I hadn’t been paying attention to twitter after those tweets because I was working on the phone to resolve my issues. Immediately  @Umatter2Chtr2 began responding online. Next, within 10 minutes of sending those tweets (Yes TEN MINUTES) I received a call from Josh, a member of the social media team at Charter. ”We noticed you out on Twitter and I was wondering how I can help you today?” Josh came to my rescue and had the issue resolved for me within 30 minutes with no additional phone calls needed.

My response was a tweet that read:
“RT @kakief Kudos to #charter communications social media team. Resolving my issues = authentic, personable and quick.”

That is the way great customer service should operate. They repaired my frustration and restored my faith in the company. They have a consumer for life. Do you have a similar story? Please share below and thanks for participating in the conversation.

Don’t Take a Number, Push One: HELP HAITI NOW

The American Red Cross gets social media. They understand the power of it, how it can make a difference and are using it to get assistance to the victims in Haiti. To donate $5.00 or $10.00 to The American Red Cross, Text the word Haiti to 90999. You will receive a text message back to confirm, click “yes” and that is it. 

According to NBC, AT&T has already raised $10 million dollars through this effort. Below is a Public Service Announcement from Michelle Obama. Please take action now, they desperately need our help.

How Can Social Media be Used to Combat the Effects of Racism and Promote Tolerance?

My friend, Amy Bowllan is an Emmy award winning journalist and a blogger for The School Library Journal. Recently, she has been doing a series of blog posts called : WAR: Writers Against Racism on Bowllans Blog. Amy addresses some very good questions about how can we use literature to combat the effects of racism and promote tolerance. Recently she featured me as one of the writers titled in her article called: Writers Against Racism: Kakie Fitzsimmons

Amy asked writers the following three questions:

1. Briefly describe the impact racism had on you as a young person.
2. Has your personal experience of racism impacted your professional work as a writer?
3. In what way can literature be used to combat the effects of racism and promote tolerance?

It got me to thinking, “How could we take literature in this medium and ask the same question about social media?”

 I want to hear your thoughts and insight below. Thanks for joining me in this conversation, I look forward to your responses.

Happy Holidays from Kakie – and Bur Bur and Friends!

Many of you know I write an award winning series of children’s books that plants seeds of self-esteem in children through educating them about sports and outdoor exploration. Below is a note that was written on our blog from myself and my friend JoAnne. JoAnne and I are co-creators and authors of the series. Just for you. Blessings!

In the spirit of the seasons, we want to extend wonderful holiday wishes to all of you. We are grateful that you continue to come along with us on our journey.

Bur Bur and Friends was created to inspire kids to discover their talents and self-esteem through true life experiences we like to refer to as “real moments.” This time of year can be a reminder for us to count our blessings as we see the magic through the eyes of a child.

At Farmer’s Hat Productions, we are thankful for your ongoing support and look forward to sharing many more of those real moments together with you and your families.

Happy Holidays,

-JoAnne and Kakie

P.S. Please consider becoming a fan of our characters on facebook@ http://tinyurl.com/ybpagn6

Dilbert on Social Media at Work = Handy Humor?

Perhaps the humorous comic below is evidence of how even more people are embracing social media. In this take, Dilbert conspires with co-workers about how to use  Twitter and mobile technology to monitor his Boss’s activity outside of the office, during work hours. After spending many years in corporate america, I think that illustrator Scott Adams is brilliant. I wonder if he is giving up his blogging and using social media instead.  I love the humor. Enjoy~

Hey Marketers! Time to Get on Board with QR Code Mobile Media!

There is a new barcode in town called “QR codes.”  It’s much more than just a barcode. It is changing the way people are doing things all over the world. Scanning these codes is similar to scanning items at Target or Wal-Mart with your mobile phone, but QR codes have far more data than barcodes. The “QR” in QR code is an acronym for Quick Response. It is an application on a mobile phone that leads people to additional information, videos, text, websites and more. It uses Smartphone technology to speed read high capacity, high density data by scanning it.  The applications can be downloaded onto an iPhone or Blackberry.

 

 

QR codes are:

• Two-dimensional barcodes
• Easy to generate. Create your own codes at QR Stuff
• Placed in multimedia, on signs, products and business cards
• Scanned by mobile phones
• Leads people to more information (website, v-cards, coupons, additional text, product information)

The QR code can display on:

• Business cards to scan and download a v-card right to your address book
• Signs or brochures for travel based tours and reviews
• Bus stop signs to find schedules and routes
• Department store check out areas that will have a coupon or discount
• Art gallery items telling more about each peice

How they work:

• Download the application to your Smartphone
• Take a picture of the QR code with your cell phone
• QR reader decodes it
• It directs you to more information. (Educational websites or additional text and more)

It’s easy! Please, share your thoughts about this below.

TweetMiner – Twitter Content Discovery & Tweet Scheduling Tool

Below is a new Twitter tool that seems easy to use and convenient at the same time. It’s worth a watch!

Social Media Strategy and Education? Look no further!

Want to learn about social media and how you can use it to grow your business or create awareness around a cause? Are you in the dark about how it all works together? Hire Kakie – the leading expert who has successfully used social media marketing strategy on her own and for others. Below are some examples of how she can help you make an impact on what you set out to do. Kakie can help you: 

Marketing Consulting - New client acquisition and loyalty. Strategic planning, problem solving, tactical planning and implementation

Establishing social media presence - Defining your direction. Brand strategy planning and positioning your digital footprint and finding the right communities.

Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and others. How to target your audience, branding your home page, effective messaging, helpful applications, how to make it all work together.

Blog set up – Branding – Targeting readers – Content – Getting it established – Strategy and applications – getting the word out – driving traffic to your blog

Using Microsoft Outlook as a Contact Management System to Manage Your Job Search

Interested? Comment below and I will reach out to you via email. Rates will vary based on each situation and will be very reasonable. Thanks for visiting my blog. Please don’t keep me a secret.

Best regards,

-Kakie Fitzsimmons

Mobile Marketing Association Publishes New Global Mobile Advertising Guidelines

There are more than 2000 mobile phone applications that are functional and benefit the users. Some examples of this might inlcude a GPS system, tools to track expenses and mileage, games, etc. They are popular and made to benefit the consumer with hopes to increase brand awareness and integrity. Some of these apps are specific to certain kinds of phones or brands while others are not.

Since 2005, the Mobile Marketing Association has published Global Mobile Advertising Guidelines every 6 months based on input from the Global Advertising Committee. This provides global formats, guidelines and best practices needed to establish mobile advertising efforts for a variety of moble media channels that include web, instant messaging, downloadable applications and video. The goal is to engage and promote uptake in mobile advertising to make it simple for brands and agencies to create a consistent experience of implementation.

 New global requirements for Mobile Application units include:

• New advertising units and definitions across channels
• New length requirements for Mobile Video & TV ad units
• Recommended future mobile web banner ad requirements

Resources for those looking to stay up to date on the most recent trends:

1. The latest version of MMA Mobile guidlines : http://mmaglobal.com/mobileadvertising.pdf
2. MMA White Paper overview of mobile advertising: www.mmaglobal.com/mobileadoverview.pdf
3. Educational white papers for applications: http://www.mmaglobal.com/mobileapplications.pdf

The Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) is the premier global association that strives to stimulate the growth of mobile marketing and its associated technology. MMA members include agencies, advertisers, hand held device manufacturers, carriers and operators, retailers, software providers and service providers, as well as any company focused on the potential of marketing via mobile devices. Taken directly from the MMA website, the Mobile Marketing Association’s global headquarters are located in the United States and is the primary resource for the mobile marketing information and expertise, the MMA is dedicated to:

• Providing an industry forum to meet, discuss, plan and work cooperatively to resolve key industry issues
• Bringing together industry-wide, global and regional work groups that focus on industry initiatives
• Providing representation for the mobile marketing industry to major legislative bodies worldwide
• Sharing perspectives on mobile marketing between Europe, Asia, Latin America, Africa and the U.S.
• Fueling peer-to-peer interaction through seminars, conferences and events
• Developing metrics for measuring ad delivery and consumer response
• Developing open and compatible mobile marketing technical and creative standards
• Defining and publishing mobile marketing best practices and guidelines on privacy, ad delivery, and ad measurement
• Providing the value and effectiveness of mobile marketing to advertisers, agencies and consumers
• Serving as the key advocate on behalf of the mobile marketing industry