Persuasive Picks for the week of 01/25/10

foursquare_logo_girl6 marketing opportunities on Foursquare
Many are predicting that 2010 will be the year of mobile marketing. If thats the case, then iPhone and Blackberry app Foursquare is on its way to being a leading platform in that space. Tony Felice from iMediaConnection shares 6 ways marketers can take advantage of this increasingly popular mobile app.

Facebook Marketing Tips: Make the Most of Your Fan Page
Online Marketing Blog Copywriter, Michelle Bowles shares a few great tips on making the most of your Facebook Fan Page and provides examples of real pages that are inline with her advice.

Coca-Cola’s Super Bowl Ad Plans Include Social Media
Stuart Elliot from the WSJ’s Media Decoder blog provides a run-down of Coca-Cola’s Super Bowl campaign that includes a combination of traditional tv ads and online focused social media efforts

50% of Marketers Shifting Funds From Traditional to Online; Social “Top Priority”
Marketing Pilgrim’s Andy Beal shares the results from a recent report from the Society of Digital Agencies that indicates marketers are continuing to put more time and effort in the online social space.

Social Media As Customer Service
Lauren Fischer from SimplyZesty explores the trend of businesses adding social media platforms to their customer service workflows. A link to a Forrester presentation is also provided.

 

Persuasive Picks for the week of 01/18/10

topo5social Small Business Leaders Prefer ‘Passive’ Social Media, For Now
This MediaPost.com article by Ben Hanna shares the results of a recent Business.com study that revealed small business owners are still slow to engage in more “active” social media resources.

Why All Media Soon Must Be Social
Kirk Cheyfitz, CEO and Chief Editorial Officer of Story Worldwide, suggests that “social media” is not to far away from being plain “media,” and he provides a few excellent stories to strengthen the idea.

Social Media Development — Three Case Studies, Part 1 of 4
Conrad Hall kicks off a four part blog post series that chronicles three bloggers who have been very successful using social media to build their businesses while having their blogs at the center of their strategies.

Reporters and editors increasingly use social media to source, research stories
Freelance writer Helen Leggatt shares some impressive statistics from a recent Cision/George Washington University survey that shows how journalists are migrating to social media at an incredible rate.

Can Domino’s Turn Around Their Cardboard Reputation?
Rohit Bhargava highlights Domino’s recent campaign that spans both traditional and social media spaces, where they have invited (and publically shared) customer criticism – both good and bad.

Another Reason to Hire a Social Media-Savvy PR Firm

Earlier today, Cision and Don Bates of The George Washington University’s Master’s Degree Program in Strategic Public Relations released results of a national survey on how journalists rely on and use both social media and public relations resources for story research. While the headline, which reads “Majority of Journalists Now Depend on Social Media for Story Research” may have “social media experts” jumping to all sorts of conclusions and claims, reading further offers more validation that hiring a social-media savvy PR firm (or internal manager) is the best bet for your business.

Why? The study says that journalists “still turn to public relations professionals for assistance in their primary research” and that “most journalists turn to public relations professionals for assistance in their primary research.”

The bottom line is that PR experts who understand effective messaging and savvy story telling to the right audience will continue to be important – but more effective if they know how to reach key audiences where they already are – “fishing where the fish are,” as Coca Cola recently stated (slide 6). And for now, it looks like at least one of those audiences – source-seeking reporters – are on social media networks and using them strategically.

That leaves one question for you: Is your PR firm?

You can read the full news release and download the study’s results, here.

Action vs Talking – How do you DO it?

I’ve had that well-known Nike slogan running through my mind lately, “Just Do It.” It’s a catchy slogan that’s easy to remember, and reminds me a lot of our vision for 2010 at PerkettPR – don’t just talk about it, do it. This year, we’re focused on action and moving forward (after 2009, who isn’t?!) – how about you?

There are a lot of advantages to big business but one thing that stands out for me when meeting with a lot of larger companies is how many layers of talking there are to get to action. I enjoy working with both large and small companies, but one reason start ups and small businesses (SMBs) are so intriguing to me is that they are so very action-oriented. A lot of times big businesses add too many layers and before they realize it, the layers are covering so many non-doers that not much gets done. (Say that 10 times fast). People get caught up in theory and planning, hide behind layers of hierarchy and have a difficult time turning board room planning into real world action.

How do you ensure that your staff goes from planning and talking to action and doing? Do you allow new ideas to be tried and tested or do you stay on path with only tried and true methodologies? In 2010, as we move beyond one of the toughest years in business, encourage your team to “just do it” by opening up your mind to new possibilities. Here are a few ideas.

– Hand over the Reins. Often, less-senior staff get frustrated in business when they feel they don’t have a seat at the table. Senior management often doesn’t give them a seat at the table becaues they dont have the time to “deal with it.” During your next team meeting, hand over the reins to a junior staffer – let them set the agenda and run the meeting and see what new ideas abound. You’ll be surprised how people step up to the plate when given the chance.

– Speaking of stepping up, Try Letting Go. One of the biggest challenges I’ve seen managers face is letting go and delegating. A good manager keeps a team coordinated and on task. A great manager also  delegates and gives staff members the benefit of the doubt.

– Don’t forget to Empower Your Staff. Delegation without direction can be like falling overboard with no swimming lessons. You have to teach, too. Often it takes more time and effort than just doing the task yourself, and that’s why so many managers fail at delegation and empowerment. Do the work it takes to give your staff what they need to be successful.

– Track Results. Don’t forget to go back over those meeting notes and track movement. Check up on both the silent types and the big talkers – they are often the ones hiding behind a lot of tasks and To Do lists. The value is in looking back to see not only what planning was turned into action, but what action yielded results.

– Try Something New. If the finance industry was any indication over the last couple of years, following the pack isn’t always the best idea. Take one or two really innovative ideas and test them this year. You’ll be surprised how, even if they don’t work, they inspire your staff to keep thinking beyond the usual and help make your company a true leader.

What ideas do you have to share to encourage others to Just Do It in 2010?

Persuasive Picks for the week of 01/11/10

CokeCoke drops campaign sites in favor of social media
Will Cooper from NewMediaAge explains Coca-Cola’s shift away from creating campaign-based micro-sites to utilizing social media platforms like Facebook and YouTube, in an effort to place their brand where people are – rather than trying to drive people back to their own sites.

 

Social Media Success Means Learning to Let Go
Sean Donahue from MarketingSherpa reminds traditional marketers that when engaging in the social media space, “You have to be comfortable with the idea that you’re no longer in control of the conversation.”

The Killer Pitch? – When PR Agencies Can Do This – Look Out . . .
This post from SiliconValleyWatcher‘s Tom Foremski suggests one way PR agencies might be able to craft the perfect pitch – and mentions our Founder, Christine Perkett. What do you think?

Helping Social Media Mature in 2010
HighTalk blogger George F. Snell III provides three reasons why businesses still aren’t engaging on the social web, along with three ways to change their ways of thinking.

IT must integrate social media tools into business architecture
ComputerWorldUK’s Anh Nguyen advises enterprise organizations to work more closely with IT Management in order to enter the social media space more smoothly.

Persuasive Picks for the week of 01/04/10

group hug by massdistraction.What Is Engagement And How Do We Measure It?
Jason Falls helps readers maximize their social media success by understanding the importance of defining “engagement” before applying it to their social strategies.

Women Warm Up to Brands on Social Sites
EMarketer.com highlights some very interesting statistics from the recent SheSpeaks “Annual Social Media Study” – showing a large increase in brand activity among females across online social networks.

SEO tips for smarter social media
Geary Interactive CEO, Andreas Roell, explains how social media efforts and SEO go hand-in-hand, while providing some tips to make sure you are maximizing your efforts.

Is 2010 Your Year for a Mobile App?
Interactive Media Strategist, Tessa Wegert, shares statistics and examples of why 2010 just might usher in a trend of mobile-focused marketing campaigns.

Seven Tools to Better Manage Your Social Networks
CIO Staff Writer, Kristin Burnham, shares this list of seven tools to help you streamline your social media interactions. This post gets my vote for introducing me to five new tools I wasn’t aware of yet!

PerkettPR – Best Tech PR Crunchie … With Your Help, Of Course!

Thank you for all of your support, conversation, engagement and interest in PerkettPR in the past year. As we close out a truly memorable year, we’re very excited to kick off 2010 with a bang … but we need your help!


Some of the PerkettPR crew at December’s holiday party

Because of you, our amazing community, we’ve been voted a finalist in the list for “Best Tech PR” from TechCrunch’s “The Crunchie’s Awards.” Thank you for voting us to the finalist list! Now, our friends, family, clients, prospects and partners can vote once per day until January 6 to help us win this prestigious award. Think of it as the tech industry’s own Oscars! Winners are announced during the Crunchies award ceremony in San Francisco on the 8th of January 2010. For more information, visit the Crunchies homepage.

If you’ve seen or experienced our work and been impressed, we would love your vote/s. Please click here to vote for us for “Best Tech PR” – you can click next to our name, no registration required, and be done in less than a minute. You’ll see lot of other exciting categories to vote on as well.

Thank you for taking the time to read our blog, vote for us and for being such a fantastic community. We wouldn’t be here without you! Happy New Year!