On Words and Business

These days, social media and mobile apps get all the attention from the marketing set. Not to say that we oldsters aren’t joining the party, but when it comes to making it look easy, both of these are pretty much the purview of the younger set, the Millennials.

But guess what…according to Nielsen (in this report on Marketing Chart) Boomers’ use of Twitter jumped 469% in 2009 (there was nowhere to go but up!). 80% of Gen-Xers use tools like Facebook and Twitter. The Greatest Generation, those over 65, are a different story when it comes to the social media and mobile bandwagon. They are a bunch who like email, though, so you can still reach ‘em online.

Go forth and market…

Want to create a social media policy but don’t know how? Want to make sure your existing policy passes muster?

Check out Social Media Governance, a website with over 100 policies from companies like the BBC, FedEx, and Sun Microsystems. In addition, there are links to over 100 research reports about social media policy, some of them free.

A great resource.

The small business success index takes on social media:

• 75% have a company page on a social media site like LinkedIn or Facebook.
  I have a company page on LinkedIn and am wishing there was more I could do with it. In my world, Facebook is for personal use and I don’t see that my customers would be looking for me there. Are you?
• 39% have a blog
  Check. This is it.
• 26% tweet
  Nope.
• 61% use social media to identify new customers
  Working on this one.

How are you using social media technologies in your business?

Straight Talk with Nigel Hollis

Thoughts on marketing, branding, and communications from the folks at market research agency Millward Brown. Good stuff.

In the U.S. alone, poor customer services loses businesses $83 billion per year. And 71% of consumers have ended a relationship because of poor service. That’s pretty serious.

Check out more in this MediaPost research brief. Including the bit about it taking an average of 9.5 minutes for a consumer stuck in an automated voice self-service system to reach a live human to speak to.

If you haven’t heard about this yet, you should know there’s a bit of a kerfuffle about a change in blogging policy at Forrester. It’s an interesting debate.

What I really like is Bruce Temkin’s piece offering five lessons companies ought to take away from this:

1. Assume everyone will find out.
2. Don’t get bullied by the crowd.
3. Pick your battles.
4. Be open and honest.
5. Don’t obsess about social media.

To those I add:

1. Be on the same page. When communicating with the media, which includes the press and anyone keyed into your social media outlets, have guidelines for communication. Since you can’t vet every single word or thought in a fast moving social media environment, make sure those communicating with the public understand how they represent the company and the limits of their communications responsibilities.
2. Don’t be afraid. Social media has the edge over traditional media in its immediacy and viral reach. But don’t let that stop you or your company from stating your opinions or policies. The quick feedback allows for a quicker course correction if necessary.