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Who Should Represent Your Brand on the Social Web? Posted: 10 Nov 2011 04:15 AM PST This post originally appeared on State of Search. Given that engaging on the social web can benefit your brand's marketing, recruitment, PR, sales, customer service, and other departments, the question of 'who should manage and represent your brand on the social web?' will inevitably arise. The answer is, all of them. I believe that all employees with a passion and interest in representing the brand should be encouraged to. Utilising the expertise and networks of the people within your business is incredibly valuable when it comes to engaging on the social web and is not something that can be easily outsourced. It sounds obvious, but many businesses give a variety of social media responsibilities to the PR team, the tech team or external agencies, which is fine, but social media is not about using tools, it's about extending your current business activities into the landscape of social media to identify opportunities. It should therefore ideally be the responsibility of the people within the business, assisted by those with experience in recommending tools and strategies to increase effectiveness and productivity.
The first step to creating an effective and sustainable social media strategy is creating an internal structure that makes the most of employee's strengths and interests. However, getting employees to engage on behalf of the brand is easier said than done, and there are many potential issues that need to be prepared for prior to jumping in. Remember that everything you publish on the social web represents your brand and adds to your brand's online shadow, and this is why I believe businesses encouraging staff to engage should implement a social media council.
The power of having a Social Media CouncilGiven that the brand's involvement in social media may benefit multiple departments within a company, it makes a lot of sense to have a social media council made up of a representative from each major department involved in the brand's social media strategy. The role of the social media council is to develop the guidelines, policy and direction to allow anyone within the business to represent the brand on the social web effectively and safely. An example social media structure incorporating a social media council: The collective wisdom of the social media council will be incredibly powerful, but without someone who can objectively absorb the social media council's goals and provide a strategy that utilises the tools, networks and techniques available to achieve those goals, the council's wisdom and power will not be used to its full potential. This is where I personally believe an outside expert or social media agency is best situated in a social media strategy (in most cases). When the social media council and head of strategy have produced a carefully planned strategy and set of guidelines, it should then be safe and effective for employees to interact on the social web on behalf of the brand. When you know who is going to represent the brand, the next step is how.
How to represent your brand on social mediaOne of the most commonly debated questions when brands enter social media is 'how should we represent ourselves?' With so many options to choose from it's important to remember what your brand stands for and how you want to be perceived on the social web, because there is no right or wrong answer when it comes to setting up your profiles. Do you want to 'humanise' the brand by getting employees to tweet from personal accounts, giving insight into their lives? Or does your brand need to retain its mystery and glamour by not presenting itself as overly 'humanised'? Here are some guidelines, which are by no means factual but simply my perception of what different account structures suggest about a brand.
The decision of which approach to take should be decided between the social media council, who will be able to make an informed decision on how the brand needs to be represented to achieve the goals outlined in the brand's social media strategy. Here are several examples of different approaches that brands have taken, to give you inspiration on which may work best for you.
Example of a brand account with fictional characters tweeting on behalf of the brand:
Example of a brand account with employees tweeting (see left hand 'tweet fleet'):
Example of a brand account with employees tweeting as well as from personal accounts: Final thoughtsI asked some industry experts what their thoughts were on who should represent a brand on social media and how. A big thanks to Rand Fishkin and Luke Brynley-Jones who kindly shared their thoughts.
"I believe strongly in enabling authentic social media use by employees and encouraging those who want to participate more with the brand and community to do so. However, I’m not a fan of forced social contributions – for some folks, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Google+ aren’t great public outlets." For that reason (and many others), I much prefer each brand to have its own, corporate voice that’s not uniquely tied to an individual. At SEOmoz, that brand voice is represented by Roger Mozbot, our mascot, and while many folks use the SEOmoz Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. accounts to publicly speak “as the brand”, they don’t identify themselves as such. It’s like getting into the Mickey Mouse costume at Disney World. As far as park attendees are concerned, you’re Mickey. Nothing more. And when you take off the suit, you should be who you really are." - Rand Fishkin, co-founder of SEOmoz
“Staff should be encouraged to participate in social media, but within a clearly defined framework set out by the company. The framework can be open (e.g. Zappos) or closely managed within a CRM process (e.g. Dell), but the bottom line is: it needs to be clear and understood from the outset. The question is: how can you leverage the personal knowledge and networks of your staff without either (a) courting PR disaster or (b) crushing them under brand guidelines and CRM Service Level Agreements? The answer is: carefully.” - Luke Brynley-Jones, founder & CEO of Our Social Times
Who do you think should manage and represent a brand's social media presence? I'd be interested in hearing people's experiences with different strategies, so feel free to share your thoughts in the comments or on Twitter (my handle is @MarcusATaylor) © SEOptimise - Download our free business guide to blogging whitepaper and sign-up for the SEOptimise monthly newsletter. Who Should Represent Your Brand on the Social Web? Related posts: |
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Posted: 10 Nov 2011 04:14 PM PST The recovery has fizzled out in California with revenues $1.5 billion below overly-optimistic estimates. California tax collections since the start of the fiscal year have fallen $1.5 billion behind projections, raising concern that the most-populous U.S. state will face automatic spending cuts.Tier 1 Cuts
Tier 2 Cuts
Tier 2 cuts kick in at the $2 billion shortfall level. To put this in perspective, it took months of wrangling to reduce spending by $12 billion and the state is already (in a single quarter), $1.5 billion in the hole. Rather than increase taxes (grumbling on that is guaranteed to start), how about ....
Mike "Mish" Shedlock http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com Click Here To Scroll Thru My Recent Post List Mike "Mish" Shedlock is a registered investment advisor representative for SitkaPacific Capital Management. Sitka Pacific is an asset management firm whose goal is strong performance and low volatility, regardless of market direction. Visit http://www.sitkapacific.com/account_management.html to learn more about wealth management and capital preservation strategies of Sitka Pacific. | ||||||||||||||||||||
France, the New Elephant in the Room Posted: 10 Nov 2011 11:44 AM PST On January 7, long before Italy was in the spotlight of mainstream media attention, I wrote Italy The Invisible Elephant. It was five or six months before Italy became an uncloaked popular economic topic. However, "elephant hunting" is now a popular sport and mainstream media has done a better job at spotting the next one (with help of S&P threats to France's AAA rating of course). Elephant Spotting Articles San Francisco Chronicle: France Plans EU7 Billion in Taxes, Cuts to Save AAA Rating France unveiled tax increases and spending cuts amounting to 7 billion euros ($9.6 billion) for next year to defend its triple-A rating as growth slows and Europe's debt crisis deepens.Los Angeles Times: Eurozone debt jitters creeping into French bonds The European debt crisis has gone from bad to worse as Italian government bond yields have soared, threatening the solvency of the Eurozone's third-largest economy.Ah yes, how can you save Greece and Italy if your concern is to save yourself? The answer is you cannot and a quick look at sovereign debt spreads will show the bond market is starting to figure that out. Sovereign Debt Table France vs. Germany
To help put that spread table into perspective let's look at today's action in 10-Year and 2-Year government bonds. France 2-Year Government Bonds France 10-Year Government Bonds Germany 2-Year Government Bonds Germany 10-Year Government Bonds The two-day move in French bond yields vs. German is likely a 6-sigma event. Today alone, the 2-year yield rose 27 basis points vs. 2 for Germany. Unfortunately the chart does not reflect this because Bloomberg charts are hopelessly a day out of sync with the numbers posted left of the chart. While the equity markets are cheering the Rise of the Borg (and also the ECB stepping into the fray as the buyer of last resort of Italian bonds), a new elephant, completely visible, stepped into the room. Mike "Mish" Shedlock http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com Click Here To Scroll Thru My Recent Post List Mike "Mish" Shedlock is a registered investment advisor representative for SitkaPacific Capital Management. Sitka Pacific is an asset management firm whose goal is strong performance and low volatility, regardless of market direction. Visit http://www.sitkapacific.com/account_management.html to learn more about wealth management and capital preservation strategies of Sitka Pacific. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Posted: 10 Nov 2011 09:28 AM PST Saxo bank chief economist Steen Jakobsen pinged me with an interesting set of comments regarding Italian interest rates.... World has Major Funding GapIMF Begs China for Money That last comment from Steen piqued my interest and a quick search lead me to IMF chief holds talks in China amid eurozone turmoil. International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde held talks in Beijing Thursday against a backdrop of worsening economic turmoil in Europe that has rattled financial markets around the world.Act of Desperation, Rise of the Borg Begging for money from Russia and China is an act of desperation. Why would or should either country invest in European bonds other than Germany when Europe has not fixed its structural problems? Six week ago Merkel and Sarkozy promised a comprehensive solution. We do not even know terms of the EFSF yet. What is the leverage? How is it structured? What is the guarantee? None of that is set, Italy and Greece have prime ministers who agreed to step down (with no replacements other than Technocrat Borgs in sight), and the IMF has the gall (and stupidity) to go begging for money. Sheesh. For a discussion of "The Rise of Technocrat Borgs" please see Beware the Technocrati; The Next Delusion is Technical Government; Borg Cannot Save Europe Has a Run on Greek Banks Started? It would appear so. ZeroHedge reports Greek Bank Deposits Plunge By €5.5 Billion In September: Biggest Monthly Drop Ever According to just released data by the Bank of Greece, the September collapse in gross deposits from €188.7 billion €183.2 billion was the largest ever, and took the total to an amount last seen in June 2007. Indicatively Greek deposits peaked at €237.8 billion in September 2009. Said otherwise, in addition to being massively undercapitalized, banks cash in the form of deposit liabilities has plunged 23% from its all time highs. Look for this number to continue dropping month after month as more and more Greeks move their cash offshore. Additionally, the ECB announced that financing to Greek banks in September was €77.8 billion while Greek reliance on the "temporary" Emergency Liquidity Assistance program hit €26.6 billion according to Bloomberg. With every additional deposit outflow, expect ever more money to be needed to keep the Greek sham of a banking system afloat.How Long Can Greece Hold Out? Inquiring minds may be wondering how long Greece can hold out. For one possibility, please see History Suggests Greece Will Freeze Bank Deposits, Exit Euro by Christmas; Spain and Portugal to Follow Next Year; What's the Rational Thing to Do? Whether it happens by Christmas is debatable. What's not debatable is the rational thing for Greek depositors to do is pull every cent of their money out of Greek banks immediately. If depositors act rationally, the Greek banking system will not last long. Mike "Mish" Shedlock http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com Click Here To Scroll Thru My Recent Post List Mike "Mish" Shedlock is a registered investment advisor representative for SitkaPacific Capital Management. Sitka Pacific is an asset management firm whose goal is strong performance and low volatility, regardless of market direction. Visit http://www.sitkapacific.com/account_management.html to learn more about wealth management and capital preservation strategies of Sitka Pacific. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Posted: 10 Nov 2011 08:30 AM PST Here is a note I received by email from Barclays Capital regarding Italian GDP and Industrial Production ... Italy: September IP declined 4.8% m/m (BarCap: -4.0%, consensus: -3.0%)Italian Economy is Toast The Italian economy is toast and that is before the "Rise of the Technocrat Borgs" who will make matters much worse. Please see Beware the Technocrati; The Next Delusion is Technical Government; Borg Cannot Save Europe. Expect Krugmanites to Howl at Moon Italy desperately needs structural reforms especially the ability for corporations to fire people much easier than they can now. Long-term, reforms will make Italy more competitive. Short-term, reforms coupled with austerity measures will add so much pain (not that it takes that much) that the vast army of Krugmanites will howl at the moon. Also bear in mind there have been no reforms that have started yet, only promises to make reforms. Things in Italy are about to get much worse, and Italy is already in recession. Mike "Mish" Shedlock http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com Click Here To Scroll Thru My Recent Post List Mike "Mish" Shedlock is a registered investment advisor representative for SitkaPacific Capital Management. Sitka Pacific is an asset management firm whose goal is strong performance and low volatility, regardless of market direction. Visit http://www.sitkapacific.com/account_management.html to learn more about wealth management and capital preservation strategies of Sitka Pacific. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Beware the Technocrati; The Next Delusion is Technical Government; Borg Cannot Save Europe Posted: 10 Nov 2011 01:24 AM PST Politicians in Greece and Italy failed to do the job. Prime Ministers in both countries went down in flames. However, it has been a struggle to find anyone to replace them with. Politicians have been bickering over replacements ever since the leaders agreed to resign. The latest proposal, and one we will likely see in Greece and Italy is "technocracy", rule by well-respected economic experts, who supposedly will know what to do. Rise of the Technocrats The Financial Times discusses the setup in Rise of the Calculating Machine Stand by for the rise of the technocrats. Apparently, the answer to the huge problems of the eurozone is the replacement of elected premiers with economic experts – approved officials dropped from European institutions. In Greece, Lucas Papademos, a former vice-president of the European Central Bank, has been pushed hard for the job; in Italy, Mario Monti, another economist and a former EU Commissioner, is much mentioned.The Next Delusion is Technical Government EuroIntelligence writes This is quite a brilliant comment by Robert Shrimsley of the Financial Times. He makes the point that there is now a possibility of technical government – led by Lucas Papademos in Greece, and Mario Monti in Italy, both former high ranking EU officials. While European officials may find this reassuring, it is not solving what is fundamentally a political problem in those countries. The problem with technocrats is that they have avoided the traditional routes to power.Borg Cannot Save Europe As of 3:15 AM central, various European markets shifted into the Green. S&P 500 futures that were down 6 are now up 9. Yield on the 10-Year Italian bond fell to 7.12 from a high of 7.40. Hooray! The Borg have saved Europe. Not. Mike "Mish" Shedlock http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com Click Here To Scroll Thru My Recent Post List Mike "Mish" Shedlock is a registered investment advisor representative for SitkaPacific Capital Management. Sitka Pacific is an asset management firm whose goal is strong performance and low volatility, regardless of market direction. Visit http://www.sitkapacific.com/account_management.html to learn more about wealth management and capital preservation strategies of Sitka Pacific. |
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