Open The Dialogue

Interview of How General Motor Handles Social Media

David Meerman Scott interviews Christopher Barger on how GM uses social media.  Barger discusses what tools they use, how they monitor and what their MO is on engaging in social media.  The video is definitely worth watching.

Why Companies are Still Scared of Social Media

BL Ochman discusses the six reasons why companies are still scared of social media.  Among them are: loss of control and employee productivity issues.  BL provides some very good reasons for each.

Alternative Ways of Encouraging PR Embargos

In light of TechCrunch’s refusal to accept embargoed releases, Robert Scoble provides some tips on how to get your message out at the proper time.  Release news at a press conference, on the company blog or even use donation to a charity as leverage in keeping the silence.

FCC To Unclog the Internet: Social Media to Act as Plunger

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski launched the website OpenInternet.gov to build support for legislation that maintains equal access to content over the net.  The use of social media channels on this site is impressive with the integration of Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and other platforms.  The goals are widely supported in the social media community with Mashable outlining why they support this measure.  Video of address is below:

MySpace and Twitter in Complete Harmony on Status Updates

According to RWW, MySpace announced that it will offer greater sync capability with Twitter.  It will keep MySpace more relevant in light of Facebook’s popularity. In addition, it will facilitate building branded assets on MySpace by allowing Twitter to send out messages across all platforms.

GEICO Hosts Fastest Growing Online Biker Community

By way of The Blog Council, GEICO’s MyGreatRides.com is a great example of creating an online community for your target publics.

When I do research on a company’s social media presence, I keep coming across a common recurring problem: It is almost darned impossible to find out what some companies are doing in social media from their corporate websites.  This is especially true for websites of major multinationals and comes across as if they don’t want the consumer to find them in the medium.  Too often, social media activity is hidden away on a distant website or with a forgettable name resulting in loose links to the brand.

While it may help us PR folks in researching what a company is currently doing in social media, more importantly, it will help potential consumers connect with your brand on a daily basis by making it easier for them to find your social media assets quickly and easily. As such, these are my top three recommendations in making it so:

1. Have a clear section on your website that lists and links to your social media assets.

This is now about as important as the About, Contact or Products sections on the corporate website.  It simply befuddles me to know that a company is active in social media, but there is virtually no way of finding out what they are from their corporate website.  If the company is a multinational then they can be forgiven for not having this on their global website, but this is absolutely a necessity for their regional or national website for each country.

2. Keep your social media assets as closely branded as possible.

Facebook has a process of reclaiming branded pages if they are currently taken by someone.  Your corporate url and your Facebook page name should be as close to each other as possible.  Meaning, if your corporate URL is: www.yourcompany.com then your Facebook URL address should be http://www.facebook.com/yourcompany.  This goes for all the other platforms as well, so people can easily guess what your page may be if they want to connect to it directly.  Twitter profiles can be changed a little due to space constraints but it should still be as close to the original as possible.  If the consumer is not able to find your social media profiles directly, they should always have the option of going back to your website to look it up, as mention in number 1.  Too often, I have found myself typing in the most logical URL on Facebook for a company, only to be disappointed for not being clever enough to guess the page for their super awesome campaign that is temporarily going on at the moment.

3. Make your content shareable.

This all about doing what social media is all about.  Just today, I came across some great  photography tips by a professional on the website of a major camera company.  I really wanted to share the video but there was no way for me to do it.  The content was locked and the only way others could see it too was only if they were compelled to come to the website.  This was a missed opportunity for the company in turning a single consumer into their evangelist who could have reached tens if not thousands of others in his or her network.  Now repeat this for every other consumer who may have wanted to do the same and you can easily see the loss for having locked content.  So, make your content shareable and at the very least it will get you more exposure.

I am certain others have said this before but it bears repeating in the hopes that this becomes the M.O. for all companies using social media.

(Photo by Andy and Becky on flickr.)

What Small Businesses Should Do Today Online

Chris Brogan outlines some of the basic things small businesses should do online.  While they are quite obvious to us in the space, it is still important to understand that small businesses may be averse to using the medium based on fears and misunderstandings.  Brogan’s recommendations are simple and he also provides justification for why small businesses should use/implement them.  Hit the link to find out what they are.

Brands and Facebook Lite

Facebook’s new Lite version does away with apps and pages and many other features that are so essential to brands.  This may spell doom for brands but David Berkowitz provides two reasons why it shouldn’t.

1. Over 90% of home internet users connect over broadband.  Because of this, they can afford the feature-rich regular Facebook site.
2. Users who try the Lite version will miss key Facebook features such as instant messaging and apps.

The Effects of Twitter’s New TOS

The new Twitter TOS is already having an effect on the experience resulting in fewer bots, squatters and imposters.  These are just a few of the ten profile types that will go missing.  Some of these are important to keep in mind in how client profiles can interact with the public on the system without being booted.

Is Social Media a Fad or Revolution?

(by way of Econsultancy)

5 Ways Banks are Using Social Media

This article shows how different financial institutions are using social media to achieve one of the five goals listed below.

1. Community Building
2. Product Research
3. Customer Service
4. Marketing & Promotion
5. Transparency

Facebook Introduces @ Tagging in Updates

Facebook finally adds the ability to tag your friends in your updates a feature that is common to Twitter.  While it has allowed this feature in photos, the addition of this feature will certainly bring Twitter’s appeal to Facebook.  The roll out of Facebook Lite is another step in that direction.

Twitter + Mixx = Tweetmixx

How do you find great content without having to follow thousands of people on Twitter? Tweetmixx helps search what is important such as links that are being shared the most or messages that are being retweeted the most all while filtering out the irrelevant babble in between.