I Love When Companies Listen
Tech companies have to be innovative. We want leaders at tech companies to come up with the next new idea and to push things forward.
However, when existing companies get a little too innovative, they run the risk of upsetting existing users. It’s super important for companies to listen to their existing users and potentially dial things back.
I’m a huge fan of Facebook, both as a user and as a marketer using it as a platform. I’ve been frustrated in the past with some of the changes that they’ve made and that they weren’t listening to their users and marketing folks.
A couple of weeks ago, Facebook announced a huge batch of changes — most of those affected “Fan” pages. One of the biggest complaints from those that use Facebook as a marketing tool is that on the fan pages, Facebook was going to apply its “ranking alorithm” instead of allowing posts to appear chronologically. This was a disaster. Companies wanting to share their latest news on Facebook would have to compete with their own posts and hope that the news was seen by enough people to make it rise to the top.
Thankfully, there was enough of a backlash, and from advertisers that pay the Facebook bills, that Facebook announced last week that they have put in a few options. Page managers have always had the option to default and show everybody’s posts or just those posted by the brand. Now, Facebook page managers will also be able to choose whether to chronologically list items or have Facebook’s algorithm choose the top post.
To keep up-to-date on the latest Facebook changes, especially at it relates to small business and nonprofits, definitely keep an eye out on the Nonprofit Facebook Guy. They do a great job at highlighting all the latest changes at Facebook and providing videos to help your brand get the most out of Facebook.
Links in #nptech – 2/13/11
Updated Facebook Pages
- Facebook Pages Suit a Real Business Model
- Admin Tips for the New Facebook Pages
- Facebook Page redesign: 10 things admins should do RIGHT NOW
- How to block offensive comments on your Facebook Page
- How To Create and Optimize a Facebook Content Strategy – Advice from Alison Zarrella
- The 4 Types of Facebook Deals for Places
- How nonprofits can take charge of Facebook’s news feeds
Social Media
Web Design
Fundraising
Links in #nptech – 2/5/11
Social Media
- Gladwell Still Missing the Point About Social Media and Activism
- Nonprofits rank Facebook twice as important as Twitter
- 3 Social Media Metrics Every Non-profit Should Track
Fundraising
Web Development
Links in #nptech – 1/30/11
- Facebook Places vs. Facebook Pages – Which is best for your nonprofit?
- What Makes Facebook Fan Pages Successful?
- Facebook Fan Page Notifications By Email
Social Media
- 195 Social Media Monitoring Tools
- Five Key Assets of a Good Social Community Manager
- Social Media Monitoring: Are you paying attention?
- 20 free, awesome social media monitoring tools
- Social Media Monitoring in 30 Minutes or Less
Online Fundraising
QR Codes
Great Links in #NPTech
People to Follow on Twitter
TechSoup’s Digital Storytelling Event
Blogging
Social Media
- Nonprofits gain online savvy from Woods social media students — FundRaising Success
- How to Add Calls to Action to Your Nonprofit’s YouTube Videos — NetWitsThinkTank.com
- Why “Free Agent” Social Communities Rock – Care2 Frogloop
- Top 10 Twitter Campaign Mistakes — Movements.org
- 10 strategies for how to grow your Twitter followers, Facebook fans and email subscribers — Beaconfire Wire
- Zoetica Salon Summary: A Few Good Social Media Measurement Insights — Beth’s Blog
Conferences
- Minnesota Council of Nonprofits
- Calendar of 2011 nonprofit & social change conferences — SocialBrite
Fundraising
Other Links
A wrapup of links for the week on non-profit technology. Including social media, blogging, people to follow on Twitter, and other links.
Blogchat Transcripts for October
- Blogchat Transcript 100310
- Blogchat Transcript 101010
- Blogchat Transcript 101710
- Blogchat Transcript 102410
- Blogchat Transcript 103110
BlogWorld – Day 2 Recap – #bwe10
After a fantastic Day 1 at BlogWorld Expo, I was really looking forward to Day 2. I was up early, which is odd for me, so I decided to go to the Social Media Examiner breakfast. I’m a big fan of the Social Media Examiner’s content, and I was looking forward to seeing a few people who said they were going to be there. I had an amazing breakfast with Bob and Judy Dunn of Cat’s Eye Marketing. I also finally got a chance to meet John Haydon. John and I have been Twitter pals for awhile, and he did some consulting work at my previous job, but this was the first time I had the opportunity to meet him in person.
The morning keynote on Friday was all about politics, and I had very little interest in that, so I decided to go hang out in the social media lounge. Me skipping sessions became somewhat of a trend for the day, and I definitely spent more time networking on Friday than learning. While in the social media lounge Friday morning, I got to meet @thelvtweetup, @MommyReporter and @assuranceagency.
After hanging out in the lounge for a bit, I headed over to the Cause track to hear about Using the Social Web to Fuel Real-World Social Action. Folks from the HandsOn Network, KaBOOM, Volunteer Spot and Crowdrise put together a really interesting panel involving real-world action and the lessons learned from those actions. While I wasn’t able to attend all of the Causes track session, Chris Noble from WhatGives did an excellent job putting together some fantastic panels. Some highlights from the session:
- It’s easier to get people to get people to engage if you make it fun and interesting.
- Engage people first before you make the ask. Will have a better response.
- HandsOn sees a really high no-show rate for people that sign up to do things via Facebook.
- When people see thank you they are more likely to do it the next time.
- Game dynamic is great for mobilizing small groups – teams & rewards do actually help.
After the session, I was excited to meet two of my Care2 colleagues – Steve Johnston and Justin Perkins. Steve and I had an okay lunch and an excellent conversation. Lunch ran a bit long, and I was having electronic issues, so I missed what I heard later was a fantastic session with Heather Whaling.
After relaxing for a little bit and spending a little time in the exhibition lounge, I went to one of the final panels for the day in the Causes track. I had told John Haydon I would listen to him speak and not try and backchannel heckle him too badly. The folks from Freespeech.tv, status.net, John and Renee Alexander (now with Unicef) did a great job talking about mobilization and online tools.
- One of the best ideas I heard all day — TWEET: Target, Write, Engage, Explore, Track — Here’s a link to a graphic of the idea.
After the session, I was lucky enough to get to spend some one-on-one time with the fabulous Mr. Haydon. We hung out at the Starbucks in the Mandalay Bay, chatted over frappucino and tea and did some people watching.
Later that night, the plan was to go to dinner at the Noodle House with a bunch of folks from the Causes track. We started at the Noodle House, but then decided to head to the Omaha Steaks party at the House of Blues Foundation Club. The Omaha Steaks party was awesome. It almost felt like you weren’t in Vegas as it was an open air balcony. There was fantastic food and lots of good conversation.
Other than grabbing a quick bite to eat on my own later, that was the end of Day 2 at Blogworld.
Blogworld – Day 1 Recap – #bwe10
I have been looking forward to Blogworld for months, and Day 1 did not disappoint. I see two real benefits to coming to conferences like this – good content and extending online relationships to the online world. I had the benefit of doing both, and meeting some really cool new people along the way.
Opening Keynote – @unmarketing 
You can see all my notes from the opening keynote here, and Scott did an amazing job kicking things off and getting people inspired. Bloggers need to be awesome and be passionate about what they are writing about. People don’t want to read “meh”. If you’re phoning it in to your blog, just to get content up, people are going to notice and stop reading. Scott also shared a theme that I heard a couple of other times during the day – there are many “social media” platforms out there. Trying to be on all of them and have a significant presence is not going to help you achieve any results. Personally, and your business, need to choose a platform and make it work for you.
The Now Revolution – Jay Baer and Amber Naslund
Jay Baer and Amber Naslund have been writing a book called The Now Revolution that is filled with all sorts of awesome. It talks about the “7 Shifts to Make Your Business Faster, Smarter, and More Social.” Jay and Amber made a couple points that really stood out:
- They echoed Scott’s theme and people need to find the platform that works for their business and focus their efforts on that instead of being spread out all over the place.
- Businesses need to focus their social media efforts on awareness, sales or loyalty.
- Jay made a strong case that customer retention is a more effective form of social media than customer acquisition.
- Jay and Amber shared some really great case studies of Sweet Leaf Tea and ThinkGeek.
Each of the attendees got a preview copy of their book, and I’m looking forward to the real thing coming out.
We Run Your Culture
I took a little break after lunch to get some rest, and the first session I attended after the break was one called “We Run Your Culture”. My notes are here. The content of the session was interesting, but not at all what I was expecting from the brochure.
Keynote – Livestrong CEO
The final keynote of the day was Livestrong’s CEO – Doug Ulman. I love when non-profit guys can talk about business in a way that makes sense both to non-profits and to other business people. I was really inspired by what Doug had to say, fitting since Livestrong is all about hope and inspiration.
- Both Livestrong and Nike originally thought that the yellow bracelet was going to flop. They thought they might sell a hundred thousand, but didn’t even think that would happen. The original idea was to have Just Do It on the bracelets for Nike branding. The Lance Armstrong Foundation had just launched the Livestrong website and agreed that would be better. The first 5,000 Livestrong bracelets made still had the swoosh logo on them, and then that was even taken off.
- Livestrong just passed 1 million fans on their Facebook page. They primarily use Facebook as a platform for people to share their stories.
- “You lead with your mission, you serve people, you serve their lives, and the money will come.“
- There are certain people that Livestrong will never ask for many — those that come in through their hotlines looking for information about a cancer diagnosis. Even though they never ask, Livestrong still gets frequent donations from this group of people.
People, people, people
I met some really fantastic people, connecting with some people I already knew both online and offline, and can’t wait for Day 2 and Day 3.
Photo credit: (cc) Kenneth Yeung - www.snapfoc.us
Blogworld – We Run Your Culture – #bwe10
- David – Traditional media needs to decide what content is making and where they’re putting it. Television is going to be redefined to be more multi-media.
- Kimberly – Traditional media needs to adapt. Breaking news online and then you see it later in the magazine. Incorporating blogs into their web presence.
- Sheila – Many people that watch TV also have their computers with them. People are expecting interaction.
- Manya – Use social media to supplement promotions. Still do paper flyers, magazines, billboards, etc. Huge shift to marketing budget. People are turning to their friends about events they might be interested in. Media backed by large dollars aren’t as trusted.
Speed
- David – Going to have broader content and tighter niche content. Twitter will help reach and identify who the consumers *and* distributors are.
- Kimberly – Use Twitter to livefeed from events to give fans the experience of being there. Adding another experience and connecting with their audience. Bloggers and social media are constantly changing the game.
- Sheila – Twitter has been really helpful at promoting the smaller bands. Bands that are smart at using tools are good at making themselves seem larger.
Magazines that are doing it right
- David – Fader & Cornerstone
- Kimberly – Ok Player (a mall for music), Clutch magazine (women of color)
- Sheila – Blind Eye for the Kid (combined the site, sending bloggers out to events, etc.)
- Manya – Seven magazine
Is it important to get information out quick? How important is it to break story?
- David – Sometimes being first is important. Depends on editorial content.
- Kimberly – Quality over quantity. Even if they are not the first, focus more on the content.
- Asya – Get the information out, a week later editorialize it.
- Manya – Depends on your audience. If they are looking to discover new stuff, they are going to be more receptive to early reporting and discovery.
How do you get people to pay for culture content online?
- David – Diversification (ads, sponsorship, events, premium content if your audience is willing to pay for it)
- Kimberly – Average blog would be hard to get people to pay for content
- Sheila – Be realistic about traffic. Having a lot of luck with paid experiences (fashion tour of New York). More sponsored content happening.
- Asya – Sponsorship deals involve a lot of 360-degree type of things: events, banner ads, send out a blast, etc. You have to give a lot.
- Manya – Buyer of media wants to see more – reports, metrics, etc. Want to see more niche and not just throw banners everywhere and hope they get seen. Leverage artist communities, etc.
What’s happening in next 3 years?
- Manya – More interactivity. More branding. More crowd participation.
- Sheila – Musicians locally to be on the same page
Blogworld – Social Media and the C-Suite: Selling the Board Room – #bwe10
Jason Keath – @jakrose
Christopher Baccus – @cbaccus
Jaime Punishill – @jpunishill
Zena Weist – @zenaweist
- Getting buy-in from social media
- Having a different kind of perspective
- Getting buy-in from mid-level managers
- @zenaweist moved the conversation at H&R Block from marketing and back to fundamentals — went from team of 1 to team of 4.
- @zenaweist team is working social media into everything the company does
- @jpunishill – Citibank needed buy-in from someone senior in the organization who could translate it into something meaningful to the business.
- @jpunishill – Need to show business impact of social media
- How much is execution of social media a training issue or something else?
- @cbaccus – It’s about listening to c-suite; finding who might support it and listening to that support
- @cbaccus – find out the business objectives and make it a strategic implementation
- @zenaweist – listening to customer wants; reducing customer churn is important to the boss. Finding out how to use social media to meet those goals. Plain talk metrics that every executive gets. Social media is “just another channel”
- @jpunishill – Map out organization power flow and dynamics within organization. There’s no one right set of advocates or place to park social media.
- How to weave social media throughout the organization
- @zenaweist – Go to a lot of meetings during the day and do the social media work at night.
- How do you build out a social media team.
- @zenaweist – first used an outside agency to show what was needed. Have to find a champion.
- @jpunishill – fight process with process
- Put social media policy in place; build up steering committee; map out a structure for how the organization should work
- How do you sustain social media?
- @cbaccus – Make sure you have the metrics that show that social media is working
- @zenaweist – Highlight conversations with customers and specifically ones that start out as a spark that could turn into a “social media fire” / crisis
- @jpunishill – find the person that has the greatest “what’s in it for them” and get them to be your champion
- @jpunishill – Convince the c-suite that you know the brand and you know what you’re talking about
- @jpunishill – Don’t convince C-suite that they necessarily need to be using social media personally. Your CEO doesn’t need to be tweeting, but he needs to see the value of people in the company tweeting
- @cbaccus – Can’t throw out customer service ladder. Only 7% of customers will talk on social media about their problems.
- @jpunishill – Social media isn’t free and it isn’t “no work”
- @jpunishill – Can’t trust an agency outside with your brand and your social media strategy
- @zenaweist – Go deep in a couple of channels. Where are your customers? Where does it make sense?
- @jpunishill – No single tool that helps with listening. Citibank was originally using Scout Labs — allowed a lightweight implementation that they could share with other business units.
- @zenaweist – H&R uses Radian6; lots of free tools and filtering
- @zenaweist – Customer service can be a great save.
- @zenaweist – If H&R starts to see a trend in social media, they develop a script for their call centers because they know that same will show up there.
- @jpunishill – Getting rid of the idea that because you’re engaging, you’re opening yourself up. The conversation was already happening. Need to show that.
- @jpunishill – “Kids these days” have no filter between their thoughts and fingers (to Facebook, Twitter, etc.)