Media Archives - TODAY INDIA

India’s Influential News Media

Indian press has such a deep influence over the lives of people that the Indians trust their media more than their government in terms of news authenticity. A survey shows that the most preferred medium of news in India is television (about 37 per cent), followed closely by newspapers (at 36 per cent). Then comes radio at 7 per cent and news magazines at 4 per cent. Thus, media training is a must to handle the Indian limelight.

Surprisingly, Indians trust local newspapers, television, and radio more than news websites and blogs. So the pressure is on for Indian reporters to produce engaging news stories every hour.

The Most Prominent Newspapers Of India

In most of the Indian households, the day starts with a morning cup of tea, along with a newspaper. They are an integral part of the lives of Indians.

In a survey of Indian newspapers, the Hindustan Times (www.hindustantimes.com), published from Delhi, came up as the largest circulated single edition daily with 1,175,339 copies followed by the Ananda Bazar Patrika, published from Kolkata with 1,130,167 copies. The Times of India, published from New Delhi and printed at New Delhi and Sahibabad came third with 1,102,772 copies. The Times of India, the most read English daily in India (www.timesofindia.com), having eight editions with a combined circulation of 2,771,669 copies, came first among multi-edition dailies.

The Dainik Jagran (www.jagran.com) in Hindi having 15 editions, claiming a combined circulation of 2,483,432 copies stood second. Dainik Bhaskar http://www.bhaskar.com (Hindi) with 16 editions and a combined circulation of 1,901,384 copies, occupied the third position. The Economic Times, Financial Daily (www.economictimes.com) sells 400,000 copies. The Economic Times is the most preferred daily reaches by the business population.

India’s Most Influential Magazines

Business Standard (www.business-standard.com), Business World (www.businessworld.in), and India Today (www.indiatoday.com) have a strong grip over the Indian audience. They touch the lives of the Indian public with their accurate reporting and leave room for the reader’s views on current issues.

The Most Popular TV Shows Of India

Aaj Tak (www.aajtak.com) currently dominates the Indian media. It is the most preferred and trusted news channel among the Indian audience. Then comes DD TV, followed by Sun TV, Star news, NDTV, AIR, Zee news, and BBC.

The Indian media has captured the interest of Indian audiences by its various TV shows featuring famous personalities from diversified fields, shows on lifestyle, and other entertainment topics, including serious shows airing people’s views, problems, and controversies. Shows like the Big Fight, Seedhi Baat, Special Correspondent, National Reporter, and others have rocked the newsrooms of India. The latest rage is crime shows and those discussing the law and order problems of cities.

A majority of the Indian people trusts the media seeing them as credible news providers, believing that the media brings them closer to the freedom of speech and their own culture. They feel that they can voice their opinions through the media. However, many viewers find a substantial amount of western influence in Indian media.

Indian media has reached the pinnacle of performance and will continue to reach new heights. Hence, it becomes all the more important for you to take media training and develop a healthy relation with the Indian media.

Business Communication Writing Skills Benefit From Originality and Media Based Marketing Training

From the attic came an unearthly howl. The whole scene had an eerie, surreal quality, like when you’re on vacation in another city and Jeopardy comes on at 7:00 p.m. instead of 7:30.”

~anonymous high school essay

Greetings. Thank you for indulging me in yet another example of analogies collected by high school English teachers. I do so because the language we all share is a treasure chest of words that in the odd combination can make us smile, chuckle, even laugh out loud. And, like Larry the Cat — whose house we share and whose antics are just plain goofy — the best humor is unintentional humor.

Anyway, the gaffe above resulted from a sincere, albeit immature, effort to be original and evocative. Good for him or her, I say. At least the brain has been engaged. But what about the way us adults fall into shallow “copycatism” when we communicate in a professional setting? And how does that reflect on you and your business communications when you mindlessly insert those phrases in your website text or emails? Do you really want to sound like a faceless, unimaginative bureaucrat when it comes to writing skills?

Herewith some inaugural entries in my Language Hall of Shame:

o Negatively impact, as in “Our failure to fabricate even one paper clip that actually holds two sheets of paper together is negatively impacting our sales performance.” First of all, “impact” became a verb only about 30 years ago, even though the verbs “affect” or “influence” did the job quite nicely. But now that it’s here, why compound the damage by adding an awkward adverb (fellow Mainer Stephen King said in his book on writing, “The adverb is not your friend.”)? Why not rely instead on unambiguous, active, space-saving standbys such as “harm” or “hurt?”

o Core competencies, as in “Our core competencies include a flexible attitude about quality control and a collective tendency to stretch the lunch hour beyond normal parameters because we adhere to the principle of saving personal energy.” Does anyone realize that by using the adjective “core” to define “competencies,” you’re implying that you have other “competencies” that might not be so “core?” And that a careful reader could deduce that those other competencies might actually be subpar, or least rather pedestrian? Here’s a solution, in plain English: “What we do best is…” or “Our reputation rests on the way we…” or “We are known for…”

I bring this up because I don’t doubt that your readers are critical thinkers (at least that’s what I tell my writing seminar students to expect), which means they will view phrases like “core competencies” as lazy, unproductive thinking.

o Skill sets, as in “Our employees can bring the most unique set of skill sets to finding a solution to your problem, which is why we consider ourselves a high-end firm that can justify overcharging you for our services.” First of all, you can’t be “most unique” because “unique” means one of a kind. I used to think that foolishness was restricted to the sports broadcast booth, but now I’m seeing it on websites, which was probably inevitable.

Anyway, I ask you: What’s wrong with just using “skills?” How can adding “sets” possibly add anything beyond the useless appendage of another four-letter word? If you use “skills sets,” ask yourself: “Why? What have I gained beyond the obvious tendency to imitate others unthinkingly?”

The News Media…Not Always Nosy Busybodies

“Literature is the art of writing something that will be read twice; journalism what will be grasped at once.”

— Cyril Connolly, English writer

Learning to deal with the press constructively need not be limited to traditional definitions of news. Some realistic role-playing in a media training setting can, in fact, help you frame and sharpen your message for commercial purposes. That’s where I can be of assistance. As a former newspaper and magazine reporter, I like to know how things work and what sets them apart. Then I try to pass on what I’ve learned in succinct prose, as Connolly noted.

Let me describe the sort of training I do. A couple years ago, a clever nurse in Maine came up with a blend of four aromatic oils that she said eased the nausea of first-trimester pregnancy, chemotherapy and motion sickness. To help with marketing, I put her through questions a reporter for the business section of a newspaper or magazine might ask. Then I wrote an article about her “aromatherapy,” which we discussed in detail for lessons learned.

The result? She and her marketing and investment associates came out of the exercise with a much clearer view of how the public would perceive their unusual product. The questions I asked were born of healthy skepticism, and she said she planned to adjust her pitch accordingly.

Mobile Marketing: Integrating Offline Marketing In Print Media

If you’re like me, then you must have heard or been a recipient of some form of mobile advertisement in one time or another. Despite its promising spiel for being the next big thing, not only in the smartphone revolution but, in the realm of marketing as well, it is not intended to independently cater to all of your marketing needs.

The objective of mobile marketing is not to interact with the consumer exclusively on their mobile phones alone, but to constantly engage with them.

Repetitive exposures to a stimulus would increase the likelihood of them being able to remember your advertisement. Research indicates that a majority of consumers have to come in contact with a brand at a minimum of eight times before they are cognitively mindful of it, and an additional two before they actually take the consideration to purchase it. This type of dynamic and regular engagement is termed participatory marketing. Any time mobile marketing is incorporated in on-and offline strategies, it may end up being participatory and become fully employed to produce a profound and enduring relationship.

The proper mobile marketing can certainly create that essential connection between your customers’ offline and online experience (e.g. online for browsing through your catalog and offline for the particular transaction). The cost of an item is the usual reason in the delay concerning research and purchase. An incorporated participatory marketing strategy creates an awareness of your brand that will most likely influence the consumer. And by increasing consumer awareness, you may be able to generate those sales to boost your quarterly net profit.

Using Print

One of the most significant and most economical mobile integration options is by using print. This is often as basic as motivating customers to view your website using a mobile phone or to send a code via SMS to sign up in a study or sweepstakes or to obtain customer details.

* Flyers

* Letterheads

* Banners

* Instructions

* Newspapers

* Business cards

* Catalogs

* Magazines

* Handouts

* Menus

* Tickets

* Manuals

Among the best approaches would be to use current print promotions in classified ads, newspapers, and magazines. With these, you can integrate a mobile initiative which is associated with the advertising campaign, directions for downloading featured mobile vouchers for consumer convenience (the customers will not have to cut one out of the paper), or marketing content material that promotes the advantages of your campaign and describes the way to get connected to current location-based ads.

Businesses may also integrate within a direct-mail campaigns. They are able to enable customers to enroll in mobile alerts whenever their monthly bill is due or when their membership status has been updated or changed. When they send merchandise to the customers, they could also let them send a text message to obtain the status of their delivery, or motivate them to subscribe for promotions or special discounts in connection with whatever they have purchased.

An additional way to integrate print in mobile marketing would be to include things like mobile directives to respond (call to action campaigns) or Quick response (QR) codes in your packaging or provisional service products, including disposable paper plates, utensils, cups, and napkins. Alternative paper resources, like envelopes, letterhead, banners, flyers, and business cards, could be employed to direct people to your own mobile website or even get them to text in a brief code to acquire a file format (Vcard), with significant contact details or to receive an open source calendar standard (Vcal), of your respective events.

For an Effective Online Marketing, Do Social Media Marketing

Every website owner desires to be visible on the search results web page in search engines. When they want to be on the race towards online presence, they need to have techniques or strategies. Marketing strategies, for example, search engine optimization, website design, social media marketing, pay-per-click management and printing are currently the most effective methods toward driving higher quantity of people to one’s internet site.

Search Engine Optimization. The optimization of the site is the most certain means of getting visitors or traffic and achieving greater ranking from engines. It is because of this that advanced methods of search engine optimization such as keyword research, backlinks building, article marketing, and refining a website as well as other strategies are ought to be done to help make a website stand above others.

Web Design Project. In web development strategies, models that are innovative, user-friendly and also useful are supposed to be created. One can make use of the website CMS (Content Management Systems) that allows him or her to have full charge of the actual website’s content. Specific top features of CMS include plug-ins, user supervision, E-Commerce functionality, textual content enhancing, sub-page development, picture modifying and banner supervision.

Print Layout. In order that the online reputation as well as exposure of a web site is best, you need imaginative style to do these. Personalized packages include emblem, business card, quote, sales receipt, letterhead as well as account models, making pamphlets, booklet, flyers and cards that will captivate each and every customer’s curiosity.

Social Media Marketing. Using the growth associated with social networks these days, one can make use of sites for example Facebook or Twitter to improve the particular visibility of his services to be able to millions of internet surfers. Efficient strategies including establishing social media marketing accounts, creating these to stand above the fall behind MySpace pages/Twitter pages, creating tournaments and also special gifts, getting visitors to some web page utilizing Facebook marketing, participating followers by asking questions, carrying out polls, tests as well as blessed attracts as well as computing just what proved helpful and exactly what didn’t can easily definitely assist a single drive traffic to their website within a couple of hours.

Pay-per-click Management. If a person likes his merchandise to be elevated in major search engines by paying advertisements, what he needs is pay-per-click supervision. He will acquire more visitors using PPC supervision methods. Staff who were educated from the unique Yahoo Ad Phrases team can easily optimize and take away unproductive advertising campaigns, observe and keep track results, discover new markets, uncover new clients which rivals have not reached yet.

How To Grow Your Small Business Using Social Media

Are you a small business owner looking for ways to grow your business? Are you looking to attract more leads to your business, or have heard about Social Media Marketing, and now want to try it?

As a small business owner you face many challenges – limited capital, minimal support staff and having too much to do in what seems like very little time. So, how do you grow your small business without heavy investment in marketing and advertising? Answer – through the use of technology. Web 2.0 provides you with various tools and techniques that help you to generate leads and increase the exposure of your home-based business. Social media is one such tool. Here’s all you need to know as a small business owner to begin increasing revenues using social media.

What is Social Media?
Social Media is a category of online media where people are talking, participating, sharing, networking, and bookmarking online. Examples include Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, GooglePlus, and MySpace.

What is Social Media Marketing?
Social media marketing is using the above mentioned platforms to reach a new audience of consumers and create product brand awareness. By spreading word of a product from user to user, Social Media Marketing strives to gain greater legitimacy for a message because it is shared between trusted “friends.”

Which Social Media Channels are most popular?
Studies show that Facebook & Twitter are most popular social media channels followed closely by YouTube and LinkedIn, GooglePlus.

Why should Social Media Marketing Interest me?
If you think this kind of Marketing is not for you, think again. These platforms offer a large bundle of benefits to small business owners. Here are some reasons why you should consider using Social Media for your business.

Exposure: As a small business owner you rely largely on network marketing to channel leads to your business – which, in turn relies on your interaction with people. This is the core notion of what Social Media is! But Social Media offers virtually unlimited opportunities to interact with people – millions of them! With this interesting form of marketing, your business is no longer limited to local leads; you will find leads coming in from a diversified geographic market!

Zero-cost: While other marketing media would be expensive, this type of marketing is relatively free, or requires negligible monetary investment. It’s a great low-cost way to get your message across.

Improved web presence: Being on popular social media platforms strengthens your web presence. The more people talk about you on Facebook or Twitter, the greater are the chances of your business being found on relevant web searches such as Google, Yahoo!, or Bing.

Direct contact with prospects: These platforms put you in touch with your customers directly. You can have one-on-one contact with them, know what they really want.

Go viral: Such marketing offers you the opportunity to go viral with your marketing. Think about this. You put up a video about your business on YouTube. 10 people like it, and five of them share it with their friends, who in-turn share it with 20 more people. This is known as “viral marketing,” and it can be a very effective method to increase your lead generation.

What is a Social Media “game plan” and why should you have one?
A social media game plan is a process consisting of a few simple steps that can help you achieve your social media marketing objectives. The social media arena is large and you can get lost in it if you don’t play by the rules. There’s a lot of competition and you have to have a clear plan if you want to stand out of the crowd and get noticed.

Your ideal Social Media game plan
A typical game plan for your business should consist of these four steps

Build your network
Propagate your presence
Stay connected
Monitor

Step 1 – build your network: The first step is to search for and add those users to your network whom you think fall into your target audience segment. When placing a request to add users to your network, it is always better to accompany such requests with a personalized message. You can also look for and join groups that pertain to your line of business. For example, if you are a business selling Health drinks and other health-related products, you could join groups where topics such as nutrition, diet or health are discussed. Such groups provide you audience for the products you have to offer. However, when in a group, do remember to ADD VALUE. Answer questions that you are equipped to answer, actively participate in discussions, be subtle and don’t aggressively “push” your products.

Step 2-propagate: The next step is to announce your Social Media presence. You can do this by adding links to your social media pages on your website, e-mail signature line or newsletter, if you have one. You are out there with your business-announce it!

Step 3-stay connected:The third step is to stay connected with your fans and group members. Social media marketing initiative is easy to start, but requires effort to maintain. And like many networking efforts, results are usually not immediate. Acquire permission from group members and others on your network to send e-mails. You can then e-mail relevant content to people on your network. The key here is to send RELEVANT, VALUE ADDING content-not an advertisement of your products/services. If you are a health-drink selling company who is also a part of the diet and nutrition group, you can send links such as ’10 Best Anti-Oxidant Rich Fruits’ and then perhaps add an image and some information about your product, encouraging people to get in touch with you if they’re interested. This approach will be better-received than just sending the prospects an e-mail flyer totally dedicated to your product.

Dos and Don’ts
While social networking is all about human interaction and cannot be strait-jacketed, here are some tips that will come in handy.

What you should do?
Add value to your contacts: Always add value to your contacts. Always! Provide them useful information, tips and other interesting facts that they can use. For example, Jane, a home-based business owner sells health drinks and weight loss products. So, it makes sense for her to provide her audience with interesting articles on the topic of weight loss.

Be consistent in your online participation: It is not a one-time effort. It is about building a relationship… and relationships take time. Be consistent in your social media communication. Have an interesting tweet/post/update at least every day. In some few cases, multiple postings a day are even better-but don’t forget rule#1-add value. Your posts shouldn’t sound like pointless ramblings or advertisements of your product/service.

Pay attention to what’s being discussed: If you have joined a forum or a group, actively participate in relevant discussions. Use your specific, professional knowledge to help others. Contribute to add depth and dimension to a discussion.

Conversation is the key: As mentioned before, social media marketing thrives on relationships. To build a strong relationship with your prospects, you need to engage in a conversation with them. Maintain a 2-way communication between you and your audience. Take genuine interest in what they have to say and follow up on comments or observations that are made.

Thoroughly know the subject you are talking about: Position yourself as an expert on these platforms. But be sure that you know what you’re talking about. Research if you aren’t sure of something. Mistakes on these platforms spread quickly and damage the reputation of your business.

Personalize your interaction: It’s advisable to personalize your interaction with your audience. Inquire about an event or occasion posted on a Wall, such as a recent trip, or “like” their vacation pictures on Facebook.

Portray your individuality: The biggest advantage small business owners have over large corporations is the fact that they are much smaller and haven’t lost that real-person feel. Let your audience know the person behind the business. Make sure your interactions include a personal side!

Respond to your customers’ grievances ASAP: Did you know that 88% of customers say unanswered complaints on social media sites deter them from doing repeat business? And deleting customer complaints is even worse! So make sure you resolve your customer’s complaints on social media platforms immediately. Even if you can’t resolve them, at least respond so that they know they’re being heard. Acknowledge everything.

Mention your Social Media presence: Advertise your profiles. Always provide links to your social media profile in your website, blog, e-mails and even print materials. For websites and blogs, it’s best to add Facebook and twitter widgets which provide a live feed of what’s happening on your Facebook/twitter page, right there on your website or blog. Provide incentives or value adding information such as whitepapers or articles in order to encourage people to follow you on social media sites!

Monitor & moderate: Monitor your social media presence. Find out where your name’s coming up online and in what context it has been used. A Google alert is the simplest way to do this, though there are many free tools available online to monitor your web presence. Also stay in-control of your social media pages. Read what others are putting up on your page and respond promptly.

Syndicate your Social Media content: Content creation takes time. So why not make the most of the content you have? Post your content on all popular social media sites and don’t hesitate to re-use them. Turn a blog post into a link and put it on Facebook. Convert it into a video and add to YouTube and Facebook or turn it into a presentation and put it up on SlideShare. The aim is to get maximum exposure for your content.

What you should not do?

DON’T overtly push your products/services: Social media is a platform

where you build relationships, to create value. It’s NOT an advertising venue. Your audience

will shun you if all you talk about is the stuff you sell. Think about it, would you talk to your family

and friends about the products you sell all the time? Of course not! Then don’t treat your

social media audience any differently.

DON’T spam your contacts with pointless updates: OK, so now you added two new products to your line-up. While it’s great to share the news, don’t spam your contacts with ads. Put up a link to the new range of products; monitor who is interested and share information on a need-to-know basis.

DON’T have grammar and spelling errors in your posts: You are a small business out to create an impression. Don’t spoil it through spelling and grammatical errors. Use spelling/grammar checking tools, but never rely solely on them. Proofread your posts before putting them up online. If spelling or grammar is not your strong suit, have someone else proofread your work before it goes out

DON’T fail to respond to requests for help in your area of expertise: If you are a part of a group or forum, seize every opportunity to display your expertise. Don’t be a wallflower-actively participate in discussions.

DON’T let your profile get stale: Make sure your profile is frequently updated and that you offer something new. One mistake many small business owners make is creating social media profiles and then forgetting about them. Your social media efforts have to be on-going to bear results.

DON’T get distracted: There’s a lot of distraction available online-especially on social media channels that can make you lose track of your productive hours online. Games, quizzes, forums and live-chats-while these can be interesting tools to attract prospect interest, focus on your goals. Otherwise you’ll find yourself investing too much time and energy into activities that offer no returns to your business.

Social Media Marketing – How to Use Free Online Tools For Site Promotion

Discussing, promoting and sharing information are some of the advantages in social media marketing. It includes social networking, social bookmarks, forums, wikis, and blogs. Facebook, MySpace, Plaxo and LinkedIn are few examples of websites used for social media marketing.

Small and big businesses are now using social sites as tools to spread brand awareness and discuss their products and services. The best part of these applications is that they are free of charge. It is a great advantage for small business operating on a low marketing budget.

Social media requires long term commitment and consistency. Business owners should also have done research on selecting the appropriate social applications in line with their company’s mission and goal. Here are some popular and successful social media tools for small business.

Create a Blog The sites that receive the most traffic are blogs. A blog is like a journal that is written by an individual and is regularly updated. Your company can use or create blogs to share multimedia, news and information about your business. Through the use of blogs, a small business can develop a specific image or personality and educate people about their products and services or the industry in general.
Use Twitter Twitter is a micro blogging and social networking service that allows users to read and send messages to the public. By using Twitter, you can promote your products and broaden brand awareness. Twitter is a fast-growing online community and its popularity is still on a rising trend.
Facebook Fan Page Most people are now using Facebook. Facebook is the most well-known social networking site in the world today. It is not only known for personal profiles but also for business profiles. This social media tool allows you to share your company’s videos, photos, event posts and concise wall posts. By replying to the fan’s questions on your wall post, your customer service will be enhanced.
Use LinkedIn LinkedIn launched in May 2003. It is a business-oriented social networking site and is usually used for professional networking. You can post your resumé and receive approval or recommendations from fellow employees, clients and business partners. This is also an efficient way of hiring competent employees and recognizing business opportunities. Users can make connections and interact through LinkedIn Polls, LinkedIn Groups and LinkedIn Answers.

Social media is now a fascinating tool in the world of business today and is modernized to meet the consumer’s demand. It is highly recommended to do research on the effective tools in social media to promote your company’s services, products and brands to your target market.

News Media Interviews – 7 Tips on How to Prepare For Mainstream News and Feature Media Interviews

Today, many business people are focused on social media, new media and on-line media. While these efforts are important and necessary for marketing, traditional media outlets are still important and can play a major role in your business success.

So, the question is, “Will you be ready when Oprah or Donny Duetsch from The Big Idea calls?”

You will be if you prepare now. Following are 7 tips for conducting successful media interviews:

Define your agenda: decide what you want the audience to do. Buy your services? Attend your event? Support your cause?
Know your story: to effectively assert your agenda, you must deliver your message confidently, calmly and concisely. You are the expert on your topic. Stay focused on your agenda during the interview.
Develop key talking points with supporting proof points: prepare three key points you wish to make during the interview. Then support each talking point with three points that offer tangible proof including stories, case studies, and other examples.
Know the interviewer and the media outlet: before agreeing to an interview, do your due diligence. Research the media outlet and the interviewer. A quick Google search will give you an idea of what to expect and how to best prepare for the interview.
Prepare the interviewer: reporters are very busy and anything you can do to help them is greatly appreciated. To this end, provide background information as well as sample questions on your topic. You will often find that they will use these exact questions.
Anticipate questions and controversy: Your preparation is not complete without anticipating questions and controversies that could arise in the interview. Create a list of all anticipated questions. Then answer each question. Be sure to include the ones that could be asked – remember; “if you dread it, you’ll probably get it.”
Practice, practice, practice: nothing takes the place of practice. It alleviates pre-interview panic and post-interview remorse. To hone message points and to prepare for actual interview questions, even the most polished spokespeople find there is simply no substitute for practicing out loud. Better still, role play with a buddy or coach. Are your answers coming across? Are they concise? Are they believable or do they need more support?

Follow these tips and you will master mainstream media opportunities. And, who would not want to be interviewed on the Today Show?

How To Predict A Call From the Media – The Could It Happen Here Story

Wouldn’t it be great to know ahead of time when and why your company or organization would be getting a telephone call from the media? Believe it or not, you already have that ability right at your fingertips. Sure, there are instances where you could pretty well guess that a phone call is coming such as in the case of a strike, a product recall, an environmental disaster or a workplace fatality. But what about those times when a call comes in that you were not expecting? While half of your brain listens to the voice on the other end of the line, the other half is frantically asking, “Why are they calling? What did we do? What has happened that I don’t know about?”

What’s happening here is what is known in the news business as the Could It Happen Here Story. Whenever there is a story gaining national attention, local news media outlets will always try to localize the event. When Timothy McVeigh bombed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City in 1995 which resulted in the deaths of 168 people, news outlets across the country went into Could It Happen Here mode. Officials were questioned about security at local federal buildings and federal workers were asked if they felt safe in the workplace in light of the Oklahoma City incident. When tornadoes strike a portion of the nation, local media outlets air stories about local preparedness for such a disaster. When several children were sickened after playing on a lawn newly treated with chemicals, landscaping companies across the nation were forced to defend their own practices.

The bottom line is that if there is a story that is making national news and if the story is in any way connected to your business, there is a possibility you could be on the receiving end of a Could It Happen Here call. Your job is to simply be aware of the possibility. As you read the morning newspaper, listen to morning radio news or watch morning television news, keep a careful eye and ear out for stories that relate to your business. If you find one, rehearse mentally what you would do and say if you got to the office and the media called. That way, when the call comes in, you’re prepared to confidently tell the media that because of your company’s standards, policies and professionalism, it Couldn’t Happen Here!

Facebook Fan Pages – Key to Social Media Marketing

The phrase “Social Media” is everywhere these days, and if you are like me, you may be a bit unclear about what it actually is… the infamous phrase “I’ll know it when I see it” comes immediately to my mind!

I went looking online for a short, easy to understand definition and found this analogy:

Think of regular media as a one-way street where you can read a newspaper or listen to a report on television, however, you have very a limited ability to share your thoughts on the matter.

Social media, on the other hand, is an active two-way street that gives you the ability to communicate and respond.

As the internet develops and evolves, the various Social Media websites are also growing and changing. Several years ago, MySpace was the place to be but it is now, generally, considered to be on the wane. Likewise, on MySpace, 33% of its users are aged 17 or less.

Ravalry is a relatively new, large community based around knitting with over 1,200,000 registered users. As you would expect, its membership is primarily female and the average member age is not available.

Facebook provides this information about its users:

More than 500 million active users (I recently saw the number 600 million, but it hasn’t been changed yet, on the Facebook site)
50% of our active users log on to Facebook in any given day
Average user has 130 friends
People spend over 700 billion minutes per month on Facebook

As you can see, each Social Media site appeals to and has a different user base than any other site.

One of the powerful considerations about using a Social Media web site is the fact that most of them provide a level playing field when it comes to small business owners vs the big boys. For instance, you can build a Facebook Fan page for your offline business and so can a major automobile manufacturer. Within those Facebook Fan pages, both you and the multi billion dollar car maker have the same tools and resources. On Twitter, as another example, both you and the big companies are limited to 140 characters per tweet. They can’t buy more characters and blast you out of the competition.

When considering which Social Media site to use with Social Media Marketing, you should consider the site’s membership but you should also evaluate its culture and how the members interact. It is important that any Social Media site have a population whose interests are in line with your goals and, also, that it have a structure and pattern of interaction that is compatible with your objectives.

In addition, you must keep in mind that things change on the Internet, sometimes at breakneck speed. As an example, between March 2011 and May 2011, Facebook implemented some major changes which changed the whole landscape of using it for business. Suddenly, controlling the content on a business Fan Page and using product images to build a brand became game changers… for those who knew how to do it!

While a particular Social Media site may be a good fit now, be aware that it may not always be a successful marketing vehicle for you! Monitor the efficacy of any Social Media site you are using AND also keep an eye out for the next big thing!

With all of that in mind, at the current time, I consider Facebook and Twitter to be the Social Media sites most likely to be compatible with the majority of offline businesses and their needs.

In this article I am going to briefly cover Facebook, its structure as it pertains to Social Media Marketing, discuss some of the pitfalls, and propose some strategies appropriate to it.

Facebook Marketing for Small Business

Facebook’s membership has exploded and is currently greater than 500 million, according to its own website.

It originally began as a way for college students to keep in touch with fellow students. As a result of that, the basic Facebook community seems to start from an academic basis, joining students and former students with friendship circles widening out from there. If you are like me, you will be shocked at how many members from your high school class seem to appear out of nowhere!

As part of the Facebook mechanism, possible Friends are suggested to you, based on Friends that you and the other person have in common. While you can do searches, it is hard to find and befriend a person that Facebook doesn’t think you should know. On the other hand, Facebook makes suggestions that will extend your network, based simply on friends you may have in common with someone.

Another important mechanism is the Facebook Like option, which has now been extended beyond Facebook Profile pages and Facebook Fan Pages and out into the web at large.

A third and exceedingly important Facebook mechanism is the ability to link between websites, Facebook Fan Pages, and Twitter accounts. This can be done with a variety of website creation software options. At the moment, I am encouraging my clients to use the blogging software, WordPress, for non blog websites.

With WordPress as your website management system, once you have signed up for the Networked Blogs Facebook App(lication), you can set your website to show any changes on your Facebook Fan Page and your Twitter account. Your Twitter Account can be set to show Facebook Fan Page Comments along with Posts from your WordPress website. In addition, your Tweets will be displayed on your Facebook Fan Page and your website.

Now, I know that the previous paragraph was confusing so let me give you the abridged edition! In my example, you have three web presences for your business – A Facebook Fan Page, a website built with WordPress, and a Twitter account. Any Post made on one of those three sites will automatically appear on the other two sites.

This is VERY powerful and is a REAL time and energy saver IF you take the time to plan your web marketing strategies with this capacity in mind!

With the potential of getting a three to one benefit from any of your Social Networking posts, as described above, let me go a bit deeper into the opportunities afforded to an offline business by having a Facebook Fan Page.

NOTE – It is important to understand that while a Facebook Fan Page can be considered a potential web site substitute, it offers long term hazards that, in my opinion, are not worth the risk.

Building your business’s primary web presence on a third party web site is taking the time, effort, and money to build a nice new house on land that you DO NOT OWN! You might be OK in the short term, but later down the road, you may lose you house, simply because you do not own the land.

While you may decide that it is efficient to start with a Facebook Fan Page, you should also plan to build your own website ASAP! As a business owner, you should be careful to own and control as many of your business assets as possible.

With that warning out of the way, before utilizing any Social Media site for your Social Media Marketing, take the time to read the site’s ToS or Terms of Service. Do NOT assume that you know what is allowed and what is not.

As an example, you may have multiple Twitter accounts, but each account must be tied to a different email address. Any email address can have only ONE Twitter account.

With Facebook, any human is allowed ONLY ONE ACCOUNT! This means that any Facebook Fan Pages built for any businesses will be offshoots of your primary, personal Facebook account.

If for some reason, you do not want a Facebook Fan Page to be obviously tied to your personal account, you can set the Privacy setting to obscure the connection. In the case of most offline businesses, this would not be a concern. However, I have a number of online businesses, some of which I am open about and others that I have chosen to run from behind the scenes. There is nothing questionable about doing this, I just prefer to keep the connection quiet to minimize others copying my business model. However, ALL of my business Facebook Fan Pages are offshoots of my SINGLE personal Facebook account.

Part of the evolution of the Facebook Culture is that, in most instances, it is considered appropriate to ask other members to share with their Friends about your Facebook Fan Page or your new post or any of a number of other Facebook interactions. This is markedly different from other websites and their culture, and as a business owner, it is a powerful tool.

It is perfectly OK to ask others to LIKE your Facebook Fan Page. In fact, this can be an important traffic builder for your Facebook Fan Page!

Google AdWords vs Facebook Ads

Another online marketing benefit offered by Facebook is the option to use their Pay Per Click advertising. In the Facebook universe these are known as Facebook Ads – which seems obvious, but online, things are not always obvious!

Last night, I was on a call with one of my consulting clients and she mentioned that she had just gotten a $100 voucher for Google AdWords. She wanted to know if this would be worthwhile. I said that I thought that using Facebook, creating a Facebook Fan Page for her business, and spending her limited budget on Facebook ads would be a better use of her resources, even considering her $100 AdWords voucher.

I explained it to her this way:

Google AdWords and Facebooks Ads are Pay Per Click… each ad is shown (this is called an impression) and you pay when someone actually click on the ad.

While the mechanism for figuring ad payments is the same (PPC or Pay Per Click) the basis for showing an ad differs drastically between Google AdWords and Facebook.

On the surface, the ads themselves are similar. While they may or may not have a picture included, the text or content of the ad is short and presented in plain and simple text. Ads are displayed off the side in vertical stacks or within the body of the page’s content. For the most part, these ads are subtle and unobtrusive.

However, the Ad Display Criteria is where the biggest differences lie.

In Google, AdWords are shown on the pages generated with Search Results as well as on website pages related to the Ad’s specified search term. This means that Google AdWords are displayed using a mechanism of which terms are being used in online searches. As AdWords have developed, in some instances they are also displayed according to the geographical location of the person doing the Search.

Facebook actually takes an entirely different approach – Facebook Ads are displayed in front of PEOPLE who meet the demographic requirements that you have chosen.

To simplify further, Google AdWords are displayed based on the content of the page where they are shown and Facebook Ads are shown based on the interests, and even the physical location, of the person doing the looking!

As you can see, there is a radical difference between Google AdWords and Facebook Ads.

This is one of the reasons that I feel that Facebook Ads may be far more beneficial for offline businesses.

It is also important to note that when creating a Facebook Ad, you have the choice of sending people who click either to an offsite web page or to a specific Facebook Fan Page.

All in all, I consider Facebook a strong option for offline businesses, since you have the ability to target both demographically and geographically. The potentially viral effect that is inherent in the Facebook culture is another good reason for adding Facebook in to your online advertising mix.

WordPress works well for integrating Social Media options

Finally, if you are using WordPress to build your website to blog, it is relatively easy to integrate WordPress Posts, Facebook Fan Page Posts, Twitter Tweets, and possibly even, your Autoresponder Service messages, so that each one appears on the others… AUTOMATICALLY!

Between the timesaving automation available and the three for one currently available combining WordPress, Facebook, and Twitter, spreading your company’s message across the internet has gotten MUCH easier!

Reaching the Affluent on Social Media Platforms Top 7 Strategies Using the HR Department

Social Media is a phrase everyone knows or has heard, and is certainly being tossed around by seemingly everyone with a heart beat and a pulse these days, and yet it is difficult at times to answer the question regarding Social media. If Facebook, MySpace, and Wikipedia are Social media sites, then what is social media? Perhaps the best way to define social media is to break it down. Media is an instrument used for communication, such as the radio, a newspaper, and television, and social media would be a social instrument of communication.

In Web 2.0 terms, you’re given information while that information interacts with you. The interaction can be various things from comments to rating a product or articles, and thus the beauty of Social media – it’s a two-way street providing you the opportunity to communicate while you’re engaged on that site. At one time it was commonly held that no one could sell High-priced items online, or anything else of real value for that matter – but that time has come and gone. More than three-quarter of US online adults made a purchase over the Web.

Nearly 4 out of 10 online buyers have made a travel purchase and more than one-third have managed their credit or banking accounts online. American Express Publishing and the Harrison Group’s report “The Second Annual Survey of Affluence and Wealth in America” found that 70% of US consumers with over $100,000 in discretionary, house hold income surveyed prefer online buying to the in-store experience. The same number (70%) also goes online to research products, comparison shop and make purchases.

This fondness for online shopping could very well be a case of time equaling money. More to the point, the retail experience has varied in its character. For example, the introduction of online retail has significantly changed the overall shopping experience. The term e-tail encompasses so many different experiences such as grocery e-tail, auction e-tail, and or specialty e-tail and a host of others. But now there’s a new experience on the rise and has been added to online shopping which is the rise of e-luxury online.

So what has sparked this sudden growth for luxury online? This new growth is largely because most wealthy Internet users in the United States are optimistic about the economy going forward according to Ipsos Mendelsohn and their online spending has historically been higher than average. That should make everybody happy and present an attraction to retailers, which have increased their attention to social networks to attract customers. But does this mean that the affluent will be as receptive to social marketing as other Web users? The answer to that question depends on who you ask. According to a study conducted by Unity Marketing, the outlook is mixed. But as confidence grows among Affluent about the economy, the Affluent will drive online spending. Believe it or not, the affluent lead the way to E-Commerce recovery, and that leads to another interesting point I’d like to make.

In the past, most corporations’ communications teams were responsible for protecting and preserving the corporation’s reputation. However, with the huge popularity of Social media, every department in your business can play a huge role in branding, monitoring and protecting the corporate image and reputation, beginning with the Human Resource department. One of the greatest challenges for Human Resource executives is breaking through walls that some corporations put up simply because there’s a belief and or policy to allow only their communication’s departments to represent the company and its brand identity. In some companies the wall is big. But there is a way to knock it down, if one has the right tools. Except in a few instances, most companies offer largely undifferentiated products and services; airlines for example fly their aircraft over and over, while serving the same food, and retail stores offer the same merchandise.

In many respects, their brand strategy is quite simply their business strategy. A brand, frankly speaking, is a promise to consumers to provide a specific level of service, value, and quality that can be expected and received. Think of a brand as a covenant between a business and its customers. Branding expert Martin Lindstrom said it best when he said “Great brands and religions have something in common: the idea of vanquishing a shared enemy.”

Today’s media approach to branding the message of a company to the consumer is greatly enhanced, with all the Social media platforms out there today, one thing is for certain – if the promise is not kept, customers will flee and go elsewhere. A classic example is Eastern Airlines who promised to “Earn its Wings Everyday” through superior customer service while simultaneously canceling flights, losing bags, and serving passengers horrible food. As a direct result, trust between customers and the airline were irrevocably broken, passengers boycotted and eventually Eastern Airlines went out of business and destroyed the brand forever.

What went wrong? Eastern Airlines failed to align the behavior of their employees with the brand promise, and that leads to my first tip to anyone building a brand; understand that the copy in your ad does not deliver your brand’s promise, nor is it your product – your brand’s promise is delivered by your people.

Herein lies the opportunity for Human Resources to break down the walls and into the branding game, by helping ensure that all of the large and small actions that people in the company take every day, throughout the organization, fall in line with the brand strategy.

Finally, use these seven tips to further enhance your position and participation in the company’s brand identity, ensuring that your company and its brand will have ever lasting years, and be in business for years to come.

Top 7 Strategies and Tips for getting Involved with the Company’s branding from the Human Resource Department to reach the Affluent:

Conduct interviews as if you’re using a crystal ball. Look deeper and ask questions that lead to future responses.
During interviews start thinking of the big picture – convey how the corporate reputation affects every aspect of the company’s business, including the hiring and terminating process.
Create a company policy centered on conduct and disclosure, and offer to the communications department for implementation outside of your office and department.
Understand how quickly information moves online and be ready to respond swiftly should an issue appear online.
Review Social media sites before conducting an interview, and become aware of the social behavior of the person seeking the position in the company before to employ them.
Keep your temper under control, and never speak badly to anyone using Social media and review if the potential new employee has done the same. Remember that your bad comments will out live your temper.
Think the Future. Try to predict how announcements, changes in policies, ad campaigns, and world events can impact your organization, while taking part to lead in a reputation crisis.

Keeping these helpful tips and strategies in mind will go a long way in the process of an HR executive participating and supporting with branding strategies. Ten years ago it would not have been possible for this kind of intelligent departmental interaction to be feasible.

As a Human Resource executive, you can take advantage of this opportunity to reach the affluent consumer by incorporating social media and monitoring into your communications plans today!