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03.31.09 Social Media Is Changing The Way Companies Communicate  By
Lee OddenAre companies engaging in social media? Are they monitoring their brand? What's a social media press release? These were a few of the topics covered in Marketingsherpa's recent "Engaging Bloggers, Journalists and Customers" webinar featuring Todd Defren from SHIFT Communications and Marketingsherpa's Sergio Balegno discussing new ways journalists are using social media. MarketingSherpa surveyed 1800 people from both small and large, B2B and B2C companies. In their findings, three out of four companies surveyed feel that social media is changing the way companies communicate. Details of this research can be found in the new Social Media Marketing and PR: Benchmarks and Best Practices report. The most common social media tactics being used include press releases, social network profiles, blogging and interacting with forums. In their research, Marketingsherpa found that the most effective tactics were blogs, forums, press releases and company blogs. The most effective tactic implemented is engaging in user review sites. While commenting on user review sites was the most effective tactic in terms of cost and time, it is the tactic least implemented. Companies do not seem to be matching up their tactics with what is effective. 
Commentary and reputation management is a hot topic that goes hand-in-hand with social media. When companies were asked if they monitor or respond for negative feedback, 25 percent of companies polled said they don't monitor social media commentary at all. 31 percent monitor, but don't respond. While larger companies are more likely to monitor brand reputation, smaller companies admit that they should also be responding to negative commentary. Google Alerts is a simple way to monitor your brand commentary. With this free service, alerts are sent to you via email when your name or brand is being written about. So what are the barriers? Why aren't companies engaging more with social media or tackling criticism? Most said that it was because of a lack of knowledgeable staff. Other reasons included inability to measure ROI, lack of budget funding, management resistance, technical obstacles or they just didn't feel social media was relevant for their company. The second part of the webinar covered the social media press release. Did you know that the first press release went out in 1906 by Ivy Lee, a 102 years ago?! The basic press release format hasn't changed too much since then. However, with the changing face of communication, the familiar press release structure needed a boost. That's where the social media press release came in. Continue reading this article. About the Author: Lee Odden is CEO of TopRank Online Marketing, a digital marketing and public relations firm in Minnesota that specializes in search, social and online PR consulting and training for companies worldwide. Odden has been cited for his internet marketing expertise over the past 10 years by the Economist, Forbes and U.S. News and contributed a chapter to the book, "Online Marketing Heroes" published by Wiley. For the past 5 years he has also been the editor of TopRank's Online Marketing Blog, a Technorati 100 favorite blog and one of the top marketing blogs according to Advertising Age. |
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