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How To Be A Social Media Self-Righteous Jerk

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February 9, 2012
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Posted by David Armano

Edelman Digital, Chicago

http://darmano.typepad.com/

Follow on Twitter @armano

This post was originally published on David Armano’s blog Logic + Emotion.

The scale below shows the many stages one has to go through in order to become a bona fide self-righteous jerk in social media. Still, there are many people who aspire to reach this peak, but fall short in executing against it. Given this observation, I thought it would be worthwhile to piece together a few best practices which will ensure your status as a social media self-righteous jerk (or SMSRJ). In no particular order:

1. Join The Klout Gestapo

All social media SMSRJ’s know that Klout is simply evil incarnate and requires a organized force to take on this evil axis of influence wherever it resides. A true SMSRJ will never-ever create a Klout profile and lash out against anyone who dares do so. If Klout is the Devil, then Klout Perks is the Devil’s spawn. Perks are to be shunned, banished and those who recieve them should be branded with a scarlet “K”.

2. Unfollow Offensive Twitter Followers In Public

Only seekers un-follow people or companies who they no longer derive value from quietly. It is the true SMSRJ who announces it out loud in some fashion or another. Tactics here can range from a thinly veiled post or an all out campaign. Make sure you get a few social media gurus on your side to link to your public posts and shout your discontent from the rooftops. A SMSRJ really knows how to make a public spectacle of their personal dissatisfaction.

3. Target Social Media Gurus

While on the topic of social media gurus, ignore the fact that while almost no true social media gurus actually call themselves that—they are the conduit to becoming a guru yourself. Take them down, one by one. Call them social media gurus every chance you get. Make sure all your social networks know you are doing real work. Tweets like “I’m still at the office knee deep in spreadsheets” will establish your credibility as a non guru. On your non-guru social media blog, write at least one post a month taking on a clearly identified guru in any subject you wish to establish authority in. If you’re really lucky, they might even link to you.

4. Analyze Social Media Influencer Lists

A new social media influencer list comes out about once a week. Make sure you find them and when you do, interrogate the creator on their methodology. Be sure to use your own made up metrics to throw them off the fact that you’re actually upset that you’re not on the list. 

5. Use The #Humblebrag Hash Tag At Will

If it looks like a humblebrag and acts like one—it’s a humblebrag and any SMSRJ has the responsibility to use the hash tag to combat this perverse social media behavior. After a few good uses, be sure to celebrate on your next vacation by relentlessly publishing pictures of beaches, mountains and gourmet food on Facebook. Hey, everybody’s doing it #humblebrag.

6. Take Up The Cause Against Personal Brands & Corporate Cheerleaders

A true SMSRJ creates social media feeds which reek of authenticity. However, shameless promoters are out there at every corner. They need to be dealt with. Let them know when their personal brands have gotten out of control. Or even worse, if they talk about their jobs and promote the companies who support their families. Take a zero tolerance stance pointing out that neither is acceptable. A handful of SMSRJ’s have even built successful personal brands pointing out how dangerous personal brands really are. Learn from this and you too can be internet famous in an ethical, respectable and admired fashion.

7. Call Out The Book Promoters

Let’s face it. Every author out there is using social media to promote their books. Unacceptable. Out them, blacklist them and once you have enough material to write a book yourself, make sure you mention your book in one out of every five social media posts. Just enough to promote it, but not enough to arise suspicion from non-author SMSRJ’s.

8. Engage (And Let Everyone Know How Engaging You Are)

So many people are out there using social media as a broadcast channel—they never even talk to anyone else. Blasphemy! Make sure that you spend most of your activity engaging with others. Make sure they know you’re engaging them. Remind them to engage back. Engage to the point where you risk work deadlines or real world relationships. Social media requires sacrifice. Bring your offerings to the alter of engagement and make sure everyone knows it.

9. Embrace Two Colors: Black And White

Nuance is for the weak. The SMSRJ sees only two shades—black and white, right and wrong. There is only one way to do social media right—see steps 1-8 for instruction.

10. Direct Your Energy Toward The Unenlightened

Spend the majority of your time watching others. Obsess over their social media habits and dissect their transgressions. It takes ten thousand hours to perfect any craft and this goes double for the committed SMSRJ. Don’t be distracted by your own initiatives but stay focused on what others do and allow their behavior to drive your mission in social media—to rectify social media injustices around the world.

*This post designed to make you think. Social media guru not required.

Image credit: MattersOfGrey

The Implications of Paywalls – Part 1: SEO & Social Sharing

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February 6, 2012
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Posted by Emma Gannon

Edelman Digital, London

Follow on Twitter @emgan

In today’s post, Emma Gannon analyzes the impact of paywalls on the online media from a perspective of SEO and Social Sharing. Part Two will study Monetizing Content and Content Curation. Look for the second part next week.

As the media world continues to evolve with new communication platforms, traditional outlets are increasingly making the transition to digital resulting in a shift in user consumption behavior. While the significance of print media is diminishing, the robust environment of digital content creation and sharing has driven search to become a major player in terms of media power.

Social media now plays a huge role in how we search for content, with the unveiling of Google’s Search Plus Your World proving that web search engine is not just serving index search results but increasingly based on personal preference and social history. Content that sits behind a paywall and thus cannot be shared out is missing a chance to strength SEO as it is lowering the opportunity for discovery as it inhibits the ease of social sharing.

But You Didn’t Charge Me Before?!

As consumers, for years we grown accustomed to the fact that many online information points do not normally charge us for their service. Instead of buying a magazine for a product review many consumers will turn to trusted blog source for advice or opinion pieces. This said, there is still a line between ‘freebie’ content and the value of something you should pay for. In recent Forbes article: ‘No you can’t pick my brain, it costs too much’, a blogger spells out why it is not fair that “people automatically assume that you have to provide information for free”.

This raises the question, should we be paying for information we once paid for when offline? And if so, what must these companies do to convince us that the content is worth paying for? We have seen an increasing amount of content move online: novels going straight to e-books, national newspapers increasing their digital presence, most magazine articles ending with an obligatory ‘read more online’ and other media channels such as TV and radio moving continuously towards onto online streaming and downloading.

We cannot deny that the digital world is currently our oyster in terms of internet browsing, but if so much content is moving online, how long can we expect it to be given away for free? If more sites do start charging for their content, what does this mean in terms of user engagement and consumption?

Thoughts from the Crowd

To get a sense of what people thought about the implications of paywalls I asked the people of Twitter what they thought and the response was a rather mixed one: Edelman colleague @LukeMackay said “paywalls aren’t the problem. Users need to be convinced of the value of the content then the experience has to be easy (e.g. iTunes).” Another example of a successful pay-for-content method is Spotify, whereby users are offered content tiers and can pick which specifically suits them.

Fellow digital friend @marcelloalessi said he’d “happily pay but not, say, for a whole issue when I’m interested in one particular article. Micro-payments would help.” It appears that many don’t mind paying for content if it is exclusive, easy to access and they are given a level of choice to how much or little content they sign up for.

On the other hand, social media marketer @ChelseyJo made the point that “If people have to pay, they will look elsewhere to get it for free. Might as well keep them on your page.” This raises the point that user engagement should be valued as much as the hard cash.

Exclusive Content

The only way in which paying for content makes sense is if the content is exclusive or you are paying for something that you can’t easily get anyway else. For example, a customer would not buy a book and if they had already read parts of it elsewhere for free. Paywalls work for people who have a particular individual they follow (such as Caitlin Moran’s articles for The Times) which asks the question whether users are following sites based on the overall content, or individual contributors. Due to individuals really making their mark online by freely publishing their content in other places as well as the traditional media houses, the ‘value’ or exclusivity of content on a specific websites may be down to the byline of the author, not the website itself.

Edelman colleague Marshall Manson made a similar point on the Edelman podcast ‘SOPA & content rights’ that discusses how the information marketplace is changing. He gave the example that if business editor Robert Peston was to move elsewhere from the BBC, he would probably continue following his posts, as it is Peston’s own POV that brings the value. This suggests that individuals can now publish their own content and amass their own followings independent of the organization that used to pull in the audiences.

We Create Content Too!

An issue that comes hand in hand with paywalling content is the fact that as individuals we co-create, share and are often the inspiration behind content. Take Huffington Post bloggers for example; these bloggers go unpaid, however are a main source of content providers. Clay Shirky’s TED Talk on ‘why SOPA is a bad idea’ brings up the issue that comes with bills such as PIPA: ‘we don’t like only to consume…. We like to produce and we like to share’. Paywalls inhibit the consumers’ right to share and produce. This puts a barrier up between ‘site’ and ‘user’ and does not allow for any sort of collaboration or sharing. These media sites are therefore missing out of opportunities for users to be carriers of the content and to share with their wider networks.

It’s All About Engagement

The key issue with paywalls is that it inhibits the natural instinct for users to share what they have read. Reading something and then wanting to pass it on is a key part of how people behave online, not to mention increasing engagement levels via organic user activity. Clicking on links on social networks that have paywalls may end up deterring users from clicking on that particular site again. ‘Sharing’ is a metric that is being monitored with greater frequency, the ‘share’ button on Facebook has just as much, if not more kudos on Facebook as the ‘like’ button on wall posts. ‘Sharing’ means getting further into the users newsfeeds. In terms of Twitter, millions of links are shared daily and studies show that links are shortlived showing that links in fact have a “half life of 2.8 hours.”

The social media editors of paywalled sites are also changing their online engagement strategy. Instead of being able to share best content with all readers, Chris Snider makes the point that they have to start acting ‘more like marketers than journalists’ as they try to convince the community to pay for the content instead of just sharing engaging tweets.

Image credit: Allanran 917

Writing Content for Search Engines

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February 2, 2012
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Posted by Ben Cotton

Edelman, Dublin

http://socialwebthing.com/

Follow on Twitter @bencotton

This post originally appeared on Social Web Thing as Part Three in a series exploring search engine optimization and content creation. Part Two can be found here.

This post is the third and final in my series looking at writing content for search engines. With a break from the previous format and to bring the series to its conclusion, I’ve written in more depth about less topics in this post and it contains some tips to consider, rather than immediately act upon. Nonetheless, I’m confident the issues covered will provide PRs with food for thought.

Incidentally, it seems fitting that in the middle of penning this guide, the BBC’s Rory Cellan Jones asked if mastering Google’s search algorithm and Wikipedia’s editing system are essential skills for the modern PR executive or lobbyist? Rory is nearly right. A solid grasp of search and an understanding of how to go about ethically editing a Wikipedia entry are two attributes in the ever-expanding digital skill-set. Whilst, these are standard skills for digital PRs, I’m unconvinced if they will become more widely adopted.

However, it’s hugely significant that Cellan Jones mentioned both Google and Wikipedia. They are interlinked. If Google is the first place people go to search, then Wikipedia is often the first thing people find. And I remember back in 2008 Stephen Davies proclaimed Google as ‘your new corporate homepage.’

Understand the Long Tail

To really make the best use of keywords and search budget, you need to understand the Long Tail. Ian Lurie, CEO of Portent hits the nail on the head when he describes the Long Tail as: “specific, niche search phrases, usually more than 2 words in length, that offer a low competition, low search volume and high searcher intent.” In short, it makes good business sense to understand and focus on Long Tail keywords to increase search visibility. There are several reasons for this.

  • Firstly, the couple of keywords you aspire to rank #1 for are likely to be very competitive and therefore more expensive.
  • Secondly, Long Tail searches are more specific and the lower volume actually adds up to a larger figure than the Short Tail – a widely quoted statistic from SEOMOZ says Long Tail comprises 70% of all search queries.
  • Thirdly, given the descriptive nature of Long Tail phrases, they often convert better into sales as people know exactly what they are searching for e.g. ‘jacket with red stripes’ is much more specific than just ‘jacket’.

Recognise the growing relationship between social and search

For the last couple of years we’ve been hearing about the impact social media is going to have on search results. The starting pistol to deepen the relationship was fired when Tweets began appearing in Google results and Facebook ‘Likes’ on Bing, but Google’s recent ‘Search Plus Your World’ which integrates normal search results with content that has been shared on Google+ represents the biggest convergence of social and search to date.

The full impact of Google+ on search is yet to be felt, but this play by Google shows the definition of search (or at least what it encompasses) is expanding. Future SEO campaigns will need to be more social with a focus on great content, as well as incorporating traditional (perhaps fundamental is more apt) search techniques, such as page names, meta tags, headings, anchor text etc.

Social is important for search as it provides the most natural platform for humans to link, vote, and endorse content and its inclusion into search algorithms adds a layer of human verification that is more difficult to game, resulting in better results for users, as Google continue their search for the perfect search engine.

Image credit: MoneyBlogNewz

Google Search + Your World

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January 13, 2012
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Posted by Edelman Digital

Follow on Twitter @edelmandigital

Google has launched a new feature called “Search Plus Your World” – a deep integration of Google Search with the Google+ social network – in an attempt to turn search into a much more social experience. “Search Plus Your World” was announced on Tuesday, January 10, and will continue rolling out to all Google users over the next few days. Below are some important things to know about the new feature.

“Anything that impacts search results this strongly is something brands and organizations need to be paying attention to and experimenting with,” said Craig Kronenberger, Global Managing Director of Search at Edelman. “The opportunities and impact with ‘Search Plus Your World’ on search results are too great to wait and see what happens.”

How it Works

The new feature allows Google users to search across both the public web and the private web, meaning a logged-in user’s search query (when not opted out of the “Your World” feature) will return a mixture of 1) both traditional, public web pages, and 2) content that has either been shared with them on Google+ or a post that has been made public by a Google+ user. For example, when searching for “Edelman Digital” when logged-in, Google will return the public page www.EdelmanDigital.com as a result, but may also return any of your connections’ Google+ posts or photos that contained the phrase “Edelman Digital.”

The “personal results” generated by “Your World” will include posts, pictures, personal Google+ profiles and brand pages. These “personal results” will be marked with a blue humanoid icon as well as the name of who shared the content (pictured in the above image). While Google will prioritize the content and profiles of those you are connected to, it will also include in its results public profiles to which you are not connected. Additionally, search results will include profiles of experts on the topic you are searching around. Users can add these public/expert profiles to their circles directly from the search results page with the click of a button.

The “Your World” feature will be automatically turned on for logged-in users, but users can opt out by simply clicking a toggle button to show to non-personal results.

Google is also integrating “Your World” with its Instant or autocomplete function, which will help users quickly find the profiles of friends and family.

Thoughts and Things to Consider

This Impacts SEO, Making an Active Google+ Presence a Way to Greatly Increase Search Visibility

The integration of search and social is an area Google continues to experiment with in order to provide users with the most valuable search results. Google launched the +1 button last year, which was at first met with negative reviews, but has begun to show up more and more across the web and has shown to contribute to higher rankings in search results. “Your World” is another step in Google’s experimentation with the integration of search and social.

“Your World” could provide a way for brands and organizations to greatly increase their presence on the world’s largest search engine. By having a Google+ brand page, working to increase connections and optimizing Google+ posts and photos, brands can effectively increase their “shelf-space” in search results for branded terms.

“Your World” could also help a brand or organization be seen as an authority figure in a specific area of conversation. For example, if a brand had a Google+ page solely centered on a green initiative, then by actively posting about trending “green” topics, the brand’s page and posts could become visible in Google results to users searching around those topics, helping the brand become an authoritative voice in that arena. By optimizing profiles and posts around keywords, the brand’s profile would also be more likely to appear as a recommendation under “People and Pages”.

See below for Google’s explanation on how to appear as a recommended page:

Search Results Will Differ Depending On Your Logged-In Status

Users have to be logged-in to Google and using secure search (https://www.google.com) to see the new “personal results”. These “personal results” will, however, differ depending on if the logged-in user does or does not have a Google+ account. For those only logged-in to Google, “personal results” will be based off of information in your basic Google profile such as your location. For those with a Google+ account, results will be much richer and will present results based on Google+ pages and things shared across the network. Even if you aren’t an active Google+ user, your results will still be affected by what your existing contacts have shared.

Users who are not logged-in to Google won’t see any personalized results, but they may be presented with recommended “People and Pages” to follow on Google+ for certain search queries. Logged-out users will only be able to view these Google+ pages, and won’t be able to interact with them until they have created their own accounts. The social network currently has 60 million users and has been projected to reach 400 million by the end of 2012.

Edelman Digital’s Take

The battle continues with another punch from Google.  Remember, the intersection of social and search is a marriage that will only grow.  One can no longer live without the other and this clearly gives Google an advantage.

Expect Facebook to be forced with a tough decision on either partnering with Bing more closely or opening up so its content can be indexed by Google.  Sheer volume of searches alone on Google would presume Facebook would plan to open up more.  The ad dollars Google searches can drive to Facebook are too critical to both companies. Bing’s market share has been growing, but it will need a pretty deep partnership from Facebook to make any headway; seems difficult when you’re dealing with two big giants like Microsoft and Facebook. At the end of the day Google needs Facebook and Facebook needs Google with the ball in Google’s court.

This move will also increase adoption on Google+ and force more brands to play on the platform.

Don’t buy into the cries from Twitter.  Twitter has done a great job of playing both sides and may in fact prove to be a big winner in the move.  Expect Google to cool down the conversation by opening up more to Twitter, a plan Google most likely intended from the beginning.

Since launching, “Search Plus Your World” has received some backlash from the online community and questions around antitrust violations. Some are saying Google users do not care about what their friends have to say about what they are searching for, but this isn’t true. In many categories, such as travel and technology in particular, users highly value their friends’ opinions when it comes to things like what hotel to stay at or what smartphone to buy.

In many instances, when the names and photos of individuals who use a site are shown on the homepage, it can lead to high click-through and conversion rates. This is much like how in recipe results on Google, users are much more likely to click on a recipe with an average rating of 4 stars than one with no rating at all, because these ratings add social context and more value to the user.

The “Your World” feature is a significant change is Google’s user experience, but it’s a good change as it ultimately provides users with better results. We’ve seen Facebook change its layouts several times, and there is always backlash at first, but users adapt to and embrace the changes over time. The same will likely happen with Google search once users begin to realize the value “Your World” provides.

Brands should not wait to get involved and should take advantage of this opportunity by experimenting more with Google+, as it could go a long way in helping increase a brand’s presence in Google results.

For the search and social industry this is nothing but good news. Google has been lightly playing with the convergence of social and search. This move pushes us into the next era. Continued development in making personalization and relevancy a key factor in how people find information ultimately creates better user experiences, quicker access to information that matters, organized results based on trust and people who matter to you. The outcome is a richer search experience for consumers and higher conversions for those brands that have earned trust and loyalty from consumers.

Recommended Reading

Below are articles we recommend reading to learn more about “Google Plus Your World” and how the change will affect the search experience:

Writing Content for Search Engines in 5 Steps

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January 11, 2012
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Posted by Ben Cotton

Edelman, Dublin

http://socialwebthing.com/

Follow on Twitter @bencotton

This post originally appeared on Social Web Thing as Part Two in a series exploring search engine optimization and content creation. Part One can be found here.

2011 seems to have been the year that many woke up to the fact that search, and content are the two key battlegrounds of digital marketing. They are the starting point in the user journey and put simply; search engines are the first place people go for information, so ensuring you have great content with relevant, high-authority links is vital to win the online content battle.

This realization has had a big impact on organizations and many now know if they want their content to have the best chance of being shared, commented upon or ‘Liked’, Google bots needs to be more than an afterthought. That’s why I have put together the second of a three part guide on writing content for search engines (you can find Writing Content for Search Engines in 5 Steps here).

The Content Powerhouses

Before we start it’s worth referencing some best practice examples of organizations winning the online content battle in the form of online publishing powerhouses; the Daily Mail and Huffington Post. The Mail masterfully strike the balance between news, trending content and celebrity gossip to create one of the worlds most popular news sites. On the other hand, HuffPo excels at providing up-to-the-minute news and content people are searching for.

The Steps

Despite the vast editorial differences between these giants of traditional and hybrid media, they both share a similar strategy that has improved search visibility and increased both readership and revenues.

  1. Maximize meta description

    2. A meta description is the couple of lines which appear on a Google search below the title. It’s perhaps best thought of as your pitch to readers, as well as Google – and strong meta description can be the deciding factor that gets someone to your website. There is a character limit of 160 to consider, but the principles of writing for both humans and search engines in mind, as well as front-loading with relevant keywords apply here. So make every character count!

  2. Keyword URLs

    3. Wherever possible use relevant keywords in web page URLs. This is for two reasons; Google says that it helps SEO efforts and inner pages now rank more frequently for keywords than homepages. Secondly, people will be likely to link to your website using the keyword URL as anchor text; further strengthening the association between your website and particular keywords – all of which increase search visibility.

  3. Rename image ALT text

    4. Although the importance of ALT text has diminished somewhat in recent years, it still acts as an effective way to drive traffic to your website and should be considered as part of good SEO practice. Many websites automatically generate a random title for ALT text which is unhelpful. You should amend this to describe primarily what is happening in the image, but also look to incorporate relevant keywords.

  4. Use images

    5. Although, the Google search page is constantly evolving, it won’t have escaped your attention that images feature prominently at the top of listings. So if you want your content to score highly on search, images should not only fully be optimized for search, they have to be an integral part of your SEO strategy. It’s also worth noting that search results with images tend to have higher CTRs and lower bounce rates.

  5. Utilize SEO plugins

    6. If you’re thinking about re-designing your website I would recommend using WordPress due to its formidable online community of developers who are constantly innovating and improving what has become an industry standard platform. Another  reason is that WordPress boasts many fantastic SEO plugins, such as Yoast, All in One SEO and Platinum SEO Plugin all of which can optimize content with relatively little effort.

Search Engines Are a Conduit, Not a Source

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December 28, 2011
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Posted by Dave Fleet

Edelman Digital, Toronto

http://davefleet.com/

Follow on Twitter @davefleet

Originally published on DaveFleet.com.

Let’s get this out of the way: Search engines are a key part of communications nowadays. Take a look at your website analytics and it’ll be clear – there’s no avoiding it. Search engines usually drive a significant proportion – if not the majority – of traffic to companies’ websites.

However, I’m tired of seeing “studies” showing that “search engines” are a source of information for consumers.

Search engines are a conduit – a step along the path – not a source.

Getting Results

Think about it – when you look for information on something, you go to Google (or Bing, or Ask.com, or whoever…) and type in your query. The vast majority of the time, you don’t sit and look at the results page – you click through to a result. You do that because the results pages have the information, not the search engine.

Yes, there are exceptions – Google News, for example – and sometimes you’ll find the information you need in the title or description shown in the search results, but the majority of the time you pass straight through the search engine and on to your destination. Search engines understand this – Google optimizes its page to get you off its site as quickly as possible.

Why does this matter, and am I just being pedantic?

The nodding and agreement that comes from headlines about search engines as an information source interferes with the push to answer more important questions:

  • Do consumers in my market niche, rather than generic consumers, use search engines to research their products?

  • Once my consumers have searched (or not), where do they go?
    • Do they go to product review sites to check out other peoples’ reviews?
    • Do they go to corporate sites to read-up on specs and options?
    • Do they go to news sites to see what’s going on with the company or the product?
    • Do they go to blogs to check out discussions there?

This is the sort of information that’s useful and lets my team figure out where to prioritize its efforts in order to drive search engine optimization (driving consumer reviews; publishing product-focused content; driving earned media coverage, etc).

Also, there’s a big difference between customers of different industries – preferences along these lines are what we should be digging into (note: this is another report that cites “search results” as an influential channel). We need to be thinking more closely about that.

Search Is Important, but…

Yes, Search is important. Companies need to pay attention to Search (and invest more in optimizing both organic results and the paid media around those results). Etc etc. And yes, some companies aren’t paying attention.

For the rest of us, though – those of us trying to do the best we can, and who really want to optimize based on useful insights – let’s move beyond the “search results are an important information source” nonsense and get down to the business of finding useful insights that can fuel our communication strategy.

Fair?

Image credit: Go Local Search.

The Checklist All Facebook Pages Absolutely Must Have

O
December 8, 2011
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Posted by Jasper Krog

Edelman, Hamburg

Follow on Twitter @jasperkrog

Originally posted on AllFacebook.

Creating a successful Facebook page requires more than just a few clicks. There’s so many things to consider, it’s difficult to stay on top of it all. But we’ve got just the thing for you: A checklist. Print it out or save it on your computer so you can check off tasks once you’ve completed them.

1. Analysis

Task

Description

Complete?
Internal Analysis Do I generate added value for my business and my fans with my page? Do I have the resources (time and money)? Does it fit with my business strategy?
Target Group Analysis Who is my target group? Is the target group actually on Facebook? Are the fans on my page part of the target group?
Stakeholder Analysis Are there active fan pages for my brand? Is it possible to partner or merge with any of them? Tip: Merge the pages — here’s Facebook’s explanation of how to do this.
Competitive Analysis Are my competitors active? What are they doing? Tip: Compare fan page with others.

2. Strategy

Task

Description

Complete?
Define Objectives What are my objectives for the fan page? Are they reasonable and measurable? Do they contribute to the success of my business? Are they smart?
Define Key Performance Indicators How do we measure success? (Number of fans, user engagement, increase in sales, and so on.) What do we want to achieve? Which metrics should we use? Tip: Define clear objectives and metrics upfront for a certain time frame and continuously check performance. Interesting case studies can be found here.
Create a Framework What resources do I have available? What departments need to be involved? Who is responsible for what? Tip: Involve all internal and relevant stakeholders (marketing, legal, customer support) in a timely manner and create processes and outlines for responsibilities.
Define Processes Who is the responsible spokesperson within the company? What are the processes for approval? Tip: Outline an approval process that serves as a binding, unmistakable guideline for community management. Plan for quick processes that enable the CM team to act.
Plan Content What basic content will be posted? Tip: Avoid marketing and advertising text. Facebook requires individual contributions that adapt to the platform, its environment and behavior.
Internationalization

Do I need a central fan page or country-specific fan pages? Are the target groups within the markets big enough for individual pages? Sufficient resources for multiple pages and translations? Tip: Single status updates can be directed at different countries and languages.
Direction Is the fan page long term or is it campaign driven? How will the users be directed to the right page?

3. Basic Set-Up

Task

Description

Complete?
Page Name Is the page name fitting and can it be used long term? Does it conform to policy and the law? Does it communicate your objectives? Will potential customers/fans search using this name? Tip: The guidelines for Facebook page names can be found here.
Profile Picture How do I best use this image? Can it be used with the profile banner as a single unit? Does it meet objectives?

Tip: Within settings for the profile picture, a thumbnail for posts can be cropped and selected. Here’s some advice on images.

Info Tab Is all relevant company information provided? Can a fan get in touch via email or phone? Tip: The information options within the Info Tab vary depending on the type of fan page selected (local business, film, company, etc.)
Create a Vanity URL What address do I want? Are there Facebook rules against it? What are the rights for the URL? Is it communicated in marketing? Tip: Click here to create your own vanity URL. Be sure your page is selected.
Welcome Tab Is there a start page for non-fans? What information is provided here?
Applications Which applications are needed on the fan page? Does it need any at all? Who designs them? Who implements them? What resources are necessary?
Integration with Other Channels Am I active on Twitter or YouTube? Should these channels be integrated as a separate tab on the fan page?
Netiquette Does my page require netiquette? What should be included? Can I bypass Facebook rules here? Tip: Examples of good netiquette appear here.

4. Community Management

Task

Description

Complete?
Editorial Plan and Responsibilities What content will be posted within the next weeks? Who is responsible and serves as administrator? Do we speak informally or formally? Tip: Create an editorial plan that outlines when contributions are to be posted and name clear responsibilities so that even in emergencies, one person is responsible for the fan page.
Frequently Asked Questions And Approval Process What are the most common questions? Who can approve any FAQ we create? What legal advice can we get on this? Tip: Create an FAQ in advance and outline posts that require an approval process so the community manager can react quickly and independently.
Crisis Management and Prevention What are potential crisis topics? What is our opinion? What will be communicated and what not? Who needs to be informed when and how should they be involved? Tip: Develop a crisis plan for well-known issues so your community manager can react quickly.
Monitoring What is happening on the fan page? What happens on weekends and outside of working hours? Tip: Set fixed monitoring periods, also beyond normal working hours. Determine which comments require a reaction and which do not.
Reporting and Evaluation What is the atmosphere like? Have goals or KPIs been achieved? How is the activity? How is growth? Tip: In addition to Facebook Insights, use additional sources for evaluation and develop your own metrics based on objectives. Continually compare this with your determined KPIs and standards, checking at regular intervals.

5. Additional

Task

Description

Complete?
Advertising Are the advertising campaigns effective? How is the price-performance ratio? Is there a desired clickthrough rate? Who designs and administrates ads? How are they paid for? Is the contact with Facebook Germany necessary? Tip: Start with a small budget and test the effectiveness of ads if you are unsure. You can create and manage ads on your own here.
Marketing and Presence Beyond Facebook Presence on other platforms: Is my fan page included on my homepage? Within my advertising? How should the fan page be integrated in marketing communication? Tip: Integrate your fan page on your homepage with the so-called like box.

Photo credit: adesigna

Search & Social 101

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September 6, 2011
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Posted by Matt Stontz

Edelman Digital, Chicago

Follow on Twitter @mattstontz

According to a recent ComScore report, Americans conducted more than 19.2 billion search queries throughout the month of July. To go along with that massive statistic, social networking now accounts for 1 out of every 6 minutes spent online, and according to a recent survey, 84% of people go online with the intent of socially sharing content. These are very powerful, yet very different statistics, but they work together to illustrate that people are using two mediums to find information online: search engines and social networks.

Over the last few years, search engines have begun to recognize the value users find in social networks and how social sharing can help inform them of which content is popular, of high quality and is deserving of a high search ranking. Because of this, major search engines like Google and Bing are now using links shared on social networks as search ranking factors.

As the relationship between search and social continues to grow, it’s important for businesses to start taking one integrated approach to online strategy that considers how search and social media can work together to meet overall business objectives. This presentation gives an overview of how search and social media influence one another and also includes a few tactics to consider when taking an integrated approach to online strategy.

 

 
Disclosure: Microsoft is an Edelman client.

Image credit: Jan Kromer

Social Search Will Force Your Business To Recalibrate

February 28, 2011
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Posted by David Armano

Edelman Digital, Chicago

http://darmano.typepad.com/

Follow on Twitter @armano

Originally posted on Logic + Emotion.

One of the trends colleague Steve Rubel and I identified for 2011 was the re-emergence of Google through furthering the integration of social into their search ecosystem. Google’s latest iteration of social search now further integrates platforms such as Quora, Flickr and Twitter more aggressively and points to a new reality for businesses in how they approach social integration themselves. In short, ignore at your own peril. So what’s a business to do as search increasingly integrates signals from multiple ecosystems? Here’s a few tips:

Refine Your Social Intelligence Infrastructure

It’s now more important than ever to formalize and scale the ways your organization monitors and listens to conversations which occur across the entire digital landscape. Ad hoc solutions without putting in the right people, process and platform(s) in place will only give you samples of what’s being said about you, or the topics you care about and where. You have to have the right intelligence in place before you can act upon it.

Evolve Approach Beyond Traditional Optimization

Increased social integration emphasizes further the need to go beyond traditional search tactics such as keywords. As Google continues to tweak its algorithm to be more effective in indexing social systems—content which is produced and shared within these systems become increasingly important. A content strategy which focuses specifically on this new dynamic will be needed.

Mobilize Your Ambassador Ecosystem

The typical ambassador ecosystem for a mid to large scale business likely consists of hundreds of employees, customers and partners which can potentially be harnessed for the benefit of the organization. Participation in thought leadership in places Google indexes such as Quora and even Slideshare can influence what shows up on search results. Marketing partners should be re-calibrated from focusing primarily on paid media efforts to being active in the overlaps between paid, earned and social media while tapping your companies most active advocates. Your organization has a workforce of employees active on social networks, yet most organizations remain content to have their employees “locked down” vs.being empowered for the benefit of the business.

While Google looks to index any social system they can, Bing continues to integrate Facebook in how they display search results. The larger impact which both signify is that search will eventually fuse with social platforms in ways that alter how your business is found. Get ready for it. (Microsoft is an Edelman client)




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