Crisis management in the face of social media requires a masterful and agile skillset.  Today’s crises (and their responses) play out in real-time, as do breaking news and opinion about the situation at hand.  Add to that the viral nature of social networks and the ability for a story to get around the world in mere minutes, and you’ve got a virtual powder keg of bad publicity threatening to explode in the hands of the organization at the center of the crisis.  Gone are the days when you can bury a story or get by with a simple “no comment.”  How your company reacts (or doesn’t) to a bad situation can sometimes make or break its future.

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More and more companies, both B2B and B2C, are integrating social media into their overall marketing mix because they have realized the incredible opportunities that exist across the social web.  The ability for real-time customer service, lead generation, brand and reputation management, sales opportunities…the list goes on.   Let’s go over a few reasons why your business should be using social media.  

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[Note:  This post is the inaugural entry in “The Pulse,” a weekly feature that will explore trending topics, rankings and industry “bests” across a wide spectrum of communication disciplines.  We'll post a new "Pulse" each week through 2011 here at Channel M. ]

Lots of PR and digital agencies do a great job for their clients in helping them to establish a social media presence or build a loyal network of fans and brand advocates.  But fewer do a great job with their own social media presence.  Today’s social media-enabled agency knows it’s not enough to simply amass a large number of followers or broadcast promotional messages on their Facebook page — audience engagement is the currency of the social media landscape.  So who’s doing it right, which agencies are most connected to their communities, and why? 

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[This article was originally posted on Bulldog Reporter in its July 28, 2011 edition.]

Building relationships with target audiences is more possible than ever before—and far more essential. But we shouldn’t rely on a one-way push of marketing messages that we hope will find our audiences through traditional channels. And just tweeting occasionally or starting a Facebook page doesn’t mean we’re social media-savvy. Today, public relations is about more than key messages, focus groups and press releases; it’s about audience engagement. It’s about identifying key consumers and communities, listening to their likes and dislikes, and participating in conversations with the people who affect our bottom line — even when a transaction isn’t imminent.

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What do an iconic American consumer brand, a Swiss digital communications agency and the 2011 Canadian federal election all have in common?  Each tells its own success story with social media.  Specifically, each is a case study about using the intelligence and insight gleaned from social media monitoring for brand and reputation management, crisis communications and message control, and cross-channel promotion. (more…)

Over the past several months, I have attended conferences galore to the point where I have (for better or worse) started to develop an opinion on how they operate and what makes a session worthwhile to attend. Now, for the naïve attendee (that was me just five months ago), many panel titles imply sessions filled with awesome tips, insights and, ultimately, strategy! Unfortunately though, a lot of the time, you just end up getting pitched for some sort of service. (more…)

Everyone has a great story to tell. Everyone. Icons like Oprah Winfrey have built their careers around telling stories – hers and those of her audience. Companies like Nike – with their legendary “how the Swoosh logo was made” story – have built their brands on it. Products like Old Spice – with its “Man Your Man Could Smell Like” campaign – have reached new fans because of it. Even individuals — like James Frey, the drug addict who authored A Million Little Pieces — have written memoirs and garnered great fame because of them. (more…)

We decided it’s no different than dating. Not speed dating, although it does include some of the same elements like responding in real time and managing short attention spans. But the real, old-fashioned, “getting to know you,” courting kind of dating.

Who is the “we” and what is the “it” I’m talking about? The “we” included a roundtable of like-minds who joined me at one of the IABC 2011 World Conference early morning sessions: Amanda Brittain of Vancity; Dawneen MacKenzie of Livingston International; Steve Hogle of Edmonton Arena District; Beth Boswell of Fleishman-Hillard; Kathleen Vincent of BC Housing; Christopher Swan of Avery Dennison; Susi Maclean of Glass Tower Ltd.; and Erika Ruiz Ramos of Boehringer Ingelheim. The “it” had everything to do with best practices on how to build brand by engaging influencers. (more…)

The other week, I had the great pleasure of attending my first ever BlogWorld show in New York. While the event has been a long-running favourite of the social media community, this was the first time they had ever done one on the East Coast. While there were tons of great speakers, presentations and things to learn, I thought it would be fun to share with you three of my favourite take-aways. (more…)

Nobody ever said communications was easy.  Building great content, finding the right audiences to share it with, and having your messages resonate in a way that makes those audiences take notice and take action involves more than just luck and some clever copy.  Today, successful communications is about conversation and engagement with your customers and key stakeholders, and it’s about building strong relationships with those who can impact your brand and your business.  (more…)

At the recent Ink+Beyond 2011 conference, the Canadian Newspaper Association’s annual convention in Vancouver, Geoff Tan, SVP of Business Development at Singapore Press Holdings (SPH), delivered a presentation that surprised the crowd of 200 media execs, based on what he and his team have been able to accomplish. (more…)

Branding is important.  The perceptions that customers have about a company, and its products and services, play a big part in how they make purchasing decisions.  Personas are important, too.  Social media has changed how brands are defined online and enabled companies to create more robust, almost lifelike, personalities.  Increased brand loyalty, customer acquisition and retention are high on the list of goals for marketers, and branding efforts, be they online or offline, and through digital, social and traditional channels, play a critical role in helping to achieve those goals.   (more…)

These days, effective communication is all about attraction, or pull – giving your audiences compelling reasons to visit your website, engage with your blog, and interact with your organization through social channels. When people reach out to you – and not the other way around – you’ve earned their attention and your brand credibility rises. (more…)

As a marketer, I hear my fair share of four-letter words. In fact, I utter many of them myself. But there’s one word in particular that has come to dominate my (professional) conversations, thoughts and planning more than any other word: lead. Web-to-lead, lead generation, lead nurturing, lead scoring, qualified lead, lead management…the list goes on. (more…)