My blog has primarily been about writing about events and happenings in my life. However, today I will be tackling the subject of why social media is beneficial for businesses. I am motivated to write this due to a social media certification that I am working towards with the Social Media Academy.
Why am I qualified to write on such a topic? I have been working as a social media project manager for nearly two years at a communications agency. Attending conferences as well as my client experience has given me some insights into the world of how businesses can you social media in beneficial ways. I read a number of blog posts and articles every week and do my best to keep up on current social media news and trends. Previously, I wrote my masters thesis on the subject of viral marketing which required extensive research on the subject allowing me to gain knowledge. Furthermore, I have been a first-mover on many social platforms and am an avid user of social media.
So, with all that said, this post will contain opinions based on my experience. There are plenty of cases that are out there that can back up my points and most likely others that will shine light on flaws in my arguments. Basically, if you don't like it, then find someone else who says what you think!
Onward!
So why is social media beneficial for businesses....?
Social media is built up with real time communication channels that consumers are engaging in, for the most part, on a daily basis. Whether it is for friendly interactions, to get news, personal branding or business networking, finding information, etc... there are billions of conversations happening everyday. What brands/companies need to realize, is that a percentage of these conversations are about them.
Social media not only gives brands/companies the ability to listen in to what consumers are saying, but it allows them to fully participate in the conversation. Brands/companies are able to, in real time, hear their consumers and respond to them. They can create discussions, get insight into the wants and needs of their consumers, learn about potential new markets as well as find new consumers.
Hearing the voice of the consumer is important in todays digital and global environment. A bad consumer experience use to be contained to the network of the consumer who had the bad experience. This used to mostly be family and friends and perhaps colleagues or classmates. Think about how many people you were connected to before the internet revolutionized your network and reach. Nowadays, all it takes is 1 angry person posting to your brand page on Facebook about your terrible customer service and you have nearly 40,000 post likes and 5000+ comments about how terrible your phone service is. It takes one YouTube video about you breaking a guitar to reach 12+ million people and make national headlines and being discussed in marketing classes around the world for years to come. The point is that the average person has more connections and more opportunity to broadcast their opinions and experiences further and faster than ever before.
Social Media gives brands/companies the ability to do right by their consumers. You can turn a bad experience into a positive one. Of course there are some cases that are just hard to avoid all together, but the damage can be far less if you are part of the conversation. I read a study that altimeter group did and they recognize around 50 social media crisis' since 2001. More than half of them could have completely been avoided. Brands/companies do themselves a disservice by not paying attention.
Of course it isnt all about listening for negative things. Social media allows brands to build stronger ties to their consumers. It enables them to reward consumers for loyalty. It provides them with a space to foster those positive experiences and encourage fans to spread positive sentiments and increase brand awareness.
Brands/companies however need to be willing to be bold and fully engage. In my experiences, many brands/companies are still not sure why they are participating in social media. Their thinking is a lot like when websites first became popular. Everyone has one, so we should to. The challenge is convincing them that they have a real opportunity to learn from their fans and see the ever important ROI.
More often than not, I see that there are good business opportunities that come from consumer feedback that are passed by because brands/companies do not listen to what their consumers are saying. I often think that it is almost as if consumers really dont know what they want until the brand/company tells them.
Of course not everyone can be Coca-Cola, Virgin or Red Bull, but if you want to be in their league, then you have to be willing to put in the effort and listen and engage with your consumers and provide them the value to keep them coming back for me.
søndag den 30. september 2012
tirsdag den 25. september 2012
I Dont Even Want to Know the Things in My Head
I had the worst dream ever last night....and it was way to vivid for my liking. I have had bad dreams before throughout my life, even re-occurring ones. You know the kind where you are falling and then you dream you wake up and then you are falling again and so on. Or even the ones where a murder is out to get me and when I wake up, I am covered in sweat. Then there are the ones where you twitch so hard when you wake up and your heart is racing...and you are thankful that no one was close enough to have felt your sudden awakening.
This one was like I was watching tv, but then as they were giving the accounts of what happened, it was like I was suddenly sucked into the real time version of the events.
So basically the setting was the small town I went to high school. It seemed to be some sort of reunion because at one point, I felt like I was with a lot of people I knew from my graduating class. So for some reason we were walking down the main road on our wait out of town, towards the power station. As we got out a bit, we started walking by this old field that I used to bail hay at in the summers when I worked on a farm.
Everyone was talking and having a good time, when suddenly we saw this plane flying really low. There is a small airport very close by, so it wouldnt necessarily be an uncommon occurrence. However, it clearly looked like it was having trouble maintaining altitude. Not to mention, it was a huge jumbo jet, which generally would not possible to take off or probably land at the local airport.
The plane was bouncing up in down like there was a massive air disturbance. We all looked up at it, like holy shit it is going to crash. Suddenly it just did a complete 180 and crashed about 500 yards away (which is the length of 5 football fields). Everyone hit the deck as some shrapnel from the explosion came flying our way. Once the dust settled, a bunch of us took of running towards the plane to look for survivors. I could just remember as I was running that I was crying a lot, but at the same time I was completely focused on searching for anyone that may still be alive.
It seemed like by the time I got close to the wreckage, the police, ambulances and fire crews were already showing up (way more than the little town could provide in such a short time). The closer we got to the crash, dead bodies started to appear. Some were still strapped into their chairs, which had dislodged from the plane and just landed in the middle of the wreckage. Others were strewn across the ground with their closed burned off and their skin seared. There were people with dislocated legs and other just mangled so bad that had I actually seen this in real life, I probably would have thrown up.
Finally I got deep within the crash, which was just on the edge of a wooded area. I approached 2 rows of seats that had landed next to each other, almost like they had carefully been removed from the plane and then set up one behind the other on the hard dirt ground. I saw a woman, who appeared to be in her mid 20s move and I rushed over to her. She was pretty disoriented, but she soon came around. There were 3 people behind her who were also conscious and more alert about the situation. None of them was in terribly good shape so I was screaming for the paramedics to come over.
To my horror, no one was coming over. People were attending to the dead although there were survivors still strapped into their seats right next to me. I told the few to hold on and I would go get help. But as I started running towards the medical personell, they began to disappear. I was screaming so loud I was giving myself a headache. I ran back to the group and 3 of the 4 had died. The only one left was the young woman. Her knees were swollen like beach volleyballs and there was no way to move her. I yelled to my friends to come over and then suddenly I was back at my parents house watching this girl tell her story on the nightly news.
My mom just looked at me like it was no big deal and that kind of stuff happens in our town all the time. I looked straight at her and said "Mom, I was there when that happened." She replied "Oh thats nice dear."
Seriously WTF. The complete detail of everything is something that I dont recall experiencing in my dreams. Normally things are faded or blurred or I think I know someone, but I dont ever really see their face. It was pretty disturbing.
This one was like I was watching tv, but then as they were giving the accounts of what happened, it was like I was suddenly sucked into the real time version of the events.
So basically the setting was the small town I went to high school. It seemed to be some sort of reunion because at one point, I felt like I was with a lot of people I knew from my graduating class. So for some reason we were walking down the main road on our wait out of town, towards the power station. As we got out a bit, we started walking by this old field that I used to bail hay at in the summers when I worked on a farm.
Everyone was talking and having a good time, when suddenly we saw this plane flying really low. There is a small airport very close by, so it wouldnt necessarily be an uncommon occurrence. However, it clearly looked like it was having trouble maintaining altitude. Not to mention, it was a huge jumbo jet, which generally would not possible to take off or probably land at the local airport.
The plane was bouncing up in down like there was a massive air disturbance. We all looked up at it, like holy shit it is going to crash. Suddenly it just did a complete 180 and crashed about 500 yards away (which is the length of 5 football fields). Everyone hit the deck as some shrapnel from the explosion came flying our way. Once the dust settled, a bunch of us took of running towards the plane to look for survivors. I could just remember as I was running that I was crying a lot, but at the same time I was completely focused on searching for anyone that may still be alive.
It seemed like by the time I got close to the wreckage, the police, ambulances and fire crews were already showing up (way more than the little town could provide in such a short time). The closer we got to the crash, dead bodies started to appear. Some were still strapped into their chairs, which had dislodged from the plane and just landed in the middle of the wreckage. Others were strewn across the ground with their closed burned off and their skin seared. There were people with dislocated legs and other just mangled so bad that had I actually seen this in real life, I probably would have thrown up.
Finally I got deep within the crash, which was just on the edge of a wooded area. I approached 2 rows of seats that had landed next to each other, almost like they had carefully been removed from the plane and then set up one behind the other on the hard dirt ground. I saw a woman, who appeared to be in her mid 20s move and I rushed over to her. She was pretty disoriented, but she soon came around. There were 3 people behind her who were also conscious and more alert about the situation. None of them was in terribly good shape so I was screaming for the paramedics to come over.
To my horror, no one was coming over. People were attending to the dead although there were survivors still strapped into their seats right next to me. I told the few to hold on and I would go get help. But as I started running towards the medical personell, they began to disappear. I was screaming so loud I was giving myself a headache. I ran back to the group and 3 of the 4 had died. The only one left was the young woman. Her knees were swollen like beach volleyballs and there was no way to move her. I yelled to my friends to come over and then suddenly I was back at my parents house watching this girl tell her story on the nightly news.
My mom just looked at me like it was no big deal and that kind of stuff happens in our town all the time. I looked straight at her and said "Mom, I was there when that happened." She replied "Oh thats nice dear."
Seriously WTF. The complete detail of everything is something that I dont recall experiencing in my dreams. Normally things are faded or blurred or I think I know someone, but I dont ever really see their face. It was pretty disturbing.
tirsdag den 18. september 2012
Back in Business
After being sick for some days, I finally got back to a somewhat normal routine. I ve been at work this week, trying to catch up on different projects, while continuing to receive new ones. It is much better than not having anything to do, but sometimes more consistency would be nice.
I like what I do, so there is no complaint here. Things are starting to pick up for our little social media department too. The social media seminar we are currently in the process of organizing is starting to fall into place. We have our speakers confirmed, the location booked, catering under control and the invitation is just a day or two from being sent out.
There is plenty of new biz pitches being worked on as well. Social media wise I m the guy behind the guy or girl. Mainly making all the presentations or a good portion of them and then letting the man in charge do what he does best.....and that is to close.
Recently some partnerships have been paying dividends and we have had some inquiries from other companies for our services. In the past 2 years, our little department has quietly made a name for itself by producing results and overall providing quality services. We even have an intern now.
The gym is also part of my normal routine. I went today even though it wasnt for as long as I wanted, but sometimes it is best to start out a bit slow. The last thing I would want to do is overexert myself and be right back where I was a few days ago.
Tomorrow will be the real test though. I am back to basketball practice. Only 2 weeks until our first game. I am excited to get on the court again. I ve already played 6 pre season games, but it doesnt compare to the regular season.
I like what I do, so there is no complaint here. Things are starting to pick up for our little social media department too. The social media seminar we are currently in the process of organizing is starting to fall into place. We have our speakers confirmed, the location booked, catering under control and the invitation is just a day or two from being sent out.
There is plenty of new biz pitches being worked on as well. Social media wise I m the guy behind the guy or girl. Mainly making all the presentations or a good portion of them and then letting the man in charge do what he does best.....and that is to close.
Recently some partnerships have been paying dividends and we have had some inquiries from other companies for our services. In the past 2 years, our little department has quietly made a name for itself by producing results and overall providing quality services. We even have an intern now.
The gym is also part of my normal routine. I went today even though it wasnt for as long as I wanted, but sometimes it is best to start out a bit slow. The last thing I would want to do is overexert myself and be right back where I was a few days ago.
Tomorrow will be the real test though. I am back to basketball practice. Only 2 weeks until our first game. I am excited to get on the court again. I ve already played 6 pre season games, but it doesnt compare to the regular season.
søndag den 16. september 2012
Being sick is for kids
I have had some time over the past few days to ponder the pros and cons of being sick and my list came out to be quite one-sided.
As a working adult, unless you hate your job (which I do not), being sick has no benefits. When you think about all the plans you have to cancel and all the opportunities for fun you have to postpone, being sick is really disruptive.
Just think if you have kids too. You can be sick, but the chances are you will still have some sort of responsibilities to handle. Even worse, if you are single parent. Being up early, watching your kids, making meals, etc. There really isn't any good time to rest and recover.
Now when you are young and in school, then that is a different story. I used to like being sick so I could miss a day or two of school. It rarely happened because I was always active was not often ill, but when it did, it was like a mini vacation. Staying home, often meant staying home alone and watching tv or sleeping. I could eat some soup or whatever else was in the house and then when someone came home, then normally they would cook me something. Sure I had to play catch up in classes when I went back and make up some homework, but I was a smart kid and really didnt have to do much to make that happen.
Now with a fulltime job and other extra curricular activities, being sick is pretty terrible. Deadlines at work dont get moved, parties with friends arent postponed and groceries dont buy themselves.
Luckily, I am not often sick, though when I do get sick, I am normally out of commission for a few days. I only wish that I had some of my favorite Campbells Soup to bring me back to my normal self.
As a working adult, unless you hate your job (which I do not), being sick has no benefits. When you think about all the plans you have to cancel and all the opportunities for fun you have to postpone, being sick is really disruptive.
Just think if you have kids too. You can be sick, but the chances are you will still have some sort of responsibilities to handle. Even worse, if you are single parent. Being up early, watching your kids, making meals, etc. There really isn't any good time to rest and recover.
Now when you are young and in school, then that is a different story. I used to like being sick so I could miss a day or two of school. It rarely happened because I was always active was not often ill, but when it did, it was like a mini vacation. Staying home, often meant staying home alone and watching tv or sleeping. I could eat some soup or whatever else was in the house and then when someone came home, then normally they would cook me something. Sure I had to play catch up in classes when I went back and make up some homework, but I was a smart kid and really didnt have to do much to make that happen.
Now with a fulltime job and other extra curricular activities, being sick is pretty terrible. Deadlines at work dont get moved, parties with friends arent postponed and groceries dont buy themselves.
Luckily, I am not often sick, though when I do get sick, I am normally out of commission for a few days. I only wish that I had some of my favorite Campbells Soup to bring me back to my normal self.
torsdag den 13. september 2012
Basketball + Work + Weather = sick
Monday my bike got fixed....and my bike guy did it for free. Seemed to be my lucky day!
Also had a basketball game against a team in the 1st division, which is the division above the one my team is in. We played a highly competitive game, but lost our chance to tie it with just seconds left when one of my teammates got a technical foul for not keeping his mouth shut. Overall though, we were all quite pleased with our performance.
Work has been pretty good this week. Had a great meeting with one of our developer partners and have started making good progress on getting our social media seminar presentations developed. We also booked a really nice place that we think all the attendees are going to like.
Wednesday was the first day that I could really feel that winter is on its way. It was much cooler than it had been earlier this week. I think it is cold season too. The drastic changes is temperature gave me a slight itch in the back of my throat. I was really hoping to have been able to fight it off....but that didnt happen.
Sweated all night and woke up feeling like garbage, so I stayed home. Hopefully it doesnt persist. Though, I m not sure I can do anything else more for myself other than what I am doing.
Also had a basketball game against a team in the 1st division, which is the division above the one my team is in. We played a highly competitive game, but lost our chance to tie it with just seconds left when one of my teammates got a technical foul for not keeping his mouth shut. Overall though, we were all quite pleased with our performance.
Work has been pretty good this week. Had a great meeting with one of our developer partners and have started making good progress on getting our social media seminar presentations developed. We also booked a really nice place that we think all the attendees are going to like.
Wednesday was the first day that I could really feel that winter is on its way. It was much cooler than it had been earlier this week. I think it is cold season too. The drastic changes is temperature gave me a slight itch in the back of my throat. I was really hoping to have been able to fight it off....but that didnt happen.
Sweated all night and woke up feeling like garbage, so I stayed home. Hopefully it doesnt persist. Though, I m not sure I can do anything else more for myself other than what I am doing.
lørdag den 8. september 2012
Stress and Change
2012 so far...
The first half of the year was pretty good. I was busy with work, which was nice most the time, because I like what I do. The basketball team I play on came in 2nd in the the division so we earned a spot in the league above us. I did some traveling and was able to see some old friends, which is always a plus in my book. Last but most definitely not least, I had been dating a beautiful girl that I am still crazy about and in general enjoying life.
Summer went by and I had a friend come out for a visit. We spend a week in Spain doing some surfing which was pretty nice.
The fall came and of course work was still there. Basketball has also slowly started back up again. In fact, my team is playing in a tournament this weekend. We are 1-1 so far. The refs are absolute garbage, which kills any flow of the game. I didnt think they could get any worse than last year, but with some new rule changes...it seems like everything is a foul.
We potentially play 2 more games tomorrow (definitely 1) and if we make it to the second game, then we will have a shot to avenge our loss.
I ve been a bit stressed out these past couple weeks. Thats the main reason I m writing. I think if I get my thoughts out of my head, then I on some level feel better.
Basically the last couple weeks have been the cause of my stress. The first thing was that I was told I have to find a new place to live. I have been in the same apartment for 3 years now living with a roommate/landlord. I originally met the guy through a mutual friend, so it ended up being a pretty good living situation. We were both students at the time, though I was further ahead. He has since finished his education and started working full time, as am I. Basically, he doesnt need to rent a room in his place anymore. It is completely fair and I m sure I would probably do the same thing if I was in his situation. It is however ridiculously hard to find a room in Copenhagen or an apartment that is affordable to rent. I have put in over 30 requests in the 10 days or so and I have been rejected on everyone. It is often cited that they have 100+ applicants. I think that being a foreigner also makes it a bit tough too. I have however been able to work my network and got an interview at a shared collective next week. One of my teammates lives there and they have a room opening up in november. I m hoping I get it. It will be nice to live with someone I know and also because it is something I havent tried before. Being a collective means that you share a lot of things, cost of food, cooking/cleaning duties, etc. I think it will be a good chance to broaden my horizon a bit. I also think I ll fit in pretty well because I have lived in a house full of people before.
My bikes are also a stress point at the moment. My nice bike is falling apart. I need a new back rim, front and back tires and new tubes. I m sure it will be quite expensive to fix and it was a cost I wasnt really planning on having. My spare bike also has a couple of flat tires, so I cant use it either. The tires are not easy to change on the spare and my bike shop is closed for another few days. I m currently riding around my girlfriends bike since she is away traveling. It definitely does the job, but it of course has its own set of problems. Really I m not looking forward to the cost of fixing my bikes, since I am trying to put money away for savings. Unfortunately not having a bike is just not an option here.
My Mac also crashed after only 9 months...but luckily that stress has been relieved a bit since I got it back and it has been functioning properly for the last few days. Thought I am still contemplating whether or not to extend the warranty on it in case it happens again.
The most stress though has come with my girlfriend leaving for 6 months. She is taking an amazing trip around to different parts of the world. I am full of conflicting emotions that at time seem uncontrollable. I am jealous that she is able to take such an amazing trip, sad that she is gone for so long and I do not get to see her, happy that she is out experiencing what the world has to offer, afraid that she will miss me less than I miss her or that I will lose her love and angry at myself for not being able to find the words to tell her how I feel about her before she left.
It basically adds up to be that my life is changing. The most frustrating part is that it is change that is unexpected. Though I did know about my girlfriends trip for sometime, it still managed to sneak up on me in the end. I new there would be some tough times, but I did not know how strong my feelings really were until it was too late.
I know things in my life will become normal to a point and that this is a time for reflecting on what I want my future to be like. I need to take this time to become better at areas in certain areas in my life. I hope I can sustain the motivation that I have recently found and utilize the extra time I have to be in better shape, do my job better and gain more knowledge, as well as learning danish as it will be beneficial in many aspects of my life.
The first half of the year was pretty good. I was busy with work, which was nice most the time, because I like what I do. The basketball team I play on came in 2nd in the the division so we earned a spot in the league above us. I did some traveling and was able to see some old friends, which is always a plus in my book. Last but most definitely not least, I had been dating a beautiful girl that I am still crazy about and in general enjoying life.
Summer went by and I had a friend come out for a visit. We spend a week in Spain doing some surfing which was pretty nice.
The fall came and of course work was still there. Basketball has also slowly started back up again. In fact, my team is playing in a tournament this weekend. We are 1-1 so far. The refs are absolute garbage, which kills any flow of the game. I didnt think they could get any worse than last year, but with some new rule changes...it seems like everything is a foul.
We potentially play 2 more games tomorrow (definitely 1) and if we make it to the second game, then we will have a shot to avenge our loss.
I ve been a bit stressed out these past couple weeks. Thats the main reason I m writing. I think if I get my thoughts out of my head, then I on some level feel better.
Basically the last couple weeks have been the cause of my stress. The first thing was that I was told I have to find a new place to live. I have been in the same apartment for 3 years now living with a roommate/landlord. I originally met the guy through a mutual friend, so it ended up being a pretty good living situation. We were both students at the time, though I was further ahead. He has since finished his education and started working full time, as am I. Basically, he doesnt need to rent a room in his place anymore. It is completely fair and I m sure I would probably do the same thing if I was in his situation. It is however ridiculously hard to find a room in Copenhagen or an apartment that is affordable to rent. I have put in over 30 requests in the 10 days or so and I have been rejected on everyone. It is often cited that they have 100+ applicants. I think that being a foreigner also makes it a bit tough too. I have however been able to work my network and got an interview at a shared collective next week. One of my teammates lives there and they have a room opening up in november. I m hoping I get it. It will be nice to live with someone I know and also because it is something I havent tried before. Being a collective means that you share a lot of things, cost of food, cooking/cleaning duties, etc. I think it will be a good chance to broaden my horizon a bit. I also think I ll fit in pretty well because I have lived in a house full of people before.
My bikes are also a stress point at the moment. My nice bike is falling apart. I need a new back rim, front and back tires and new tubes. I m sure it will be quite expensive to fix and it was a cost I wasnt really planning on having. My spare bike also has a couple of flat tires, so I cant use it either. The tires are not easy to change on the spare and my bike shop is closed for another few days. I m currently riding around my girlfriends bike since she is away traveling. It definitely does the job, but it of course has its own set of problems. Really I m not looking forward to the cost of fixing my bikes, since I am trying to put money away for savings. Unfortunately not having a bike is just not an option here.
My Mac also crashed after only 9 months...but luckily that stress has been relieved a bit since I got it back and it has been functioning properly for the last few days. Thought I am still contemplating whether or not to extend the warranty on it in case it happens again.
The most stress though has come with my girlfriend leaving for 6 months. She is taking an amazing trip around to different parts of the world. I am full of conflicting emotions that at time seem uncontrollable. I am jealous that she is able to take such an amazing trip, sad that she is gone for so long and I do not get to see her, happy that she is out experiencing what the world has to offer, afraid that she will miss me less than I miss her or that I will lose her love and angry at myself for not being able to find the words to tell her how I feel about her before she left.
It basically adds up to be that my life is changing. The most frustrating part is that it is change that is unexpected. Though I did know about my girlfriends trip for sometime, it still managed to sneak up on me in the end. I new there would be some tough times, but I did not know how strong my feelings really were until it was too late.
I know things in my life will become normal to a point and that this is a time for reflecting on what I want my future to be like. I need to take this time to become better at areas in certain areas in my life. I hope I can sustain the motivation that I have recently found and utilize the extra time I have to be in better shape, do my job better and gain more knowledge, as well as learning danish as it will be beneficial in many aspects of my life.
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