Why is Social Media a Full Time Job?

While it’s heartening to see more and more companies and business houses realize the value of social media as an important marketing tool; the fact that they are still not ready to allot enough resources to harness its full potential. This reduces the whole thing to a joke. Most of the companies prefer to shovel the responsibility of handling social media on their existing marketing team in addition to their current responsibilities. Regular marketing guys are not only sorely inexperienced and inept at handling social media they probably don’t even have enough time.

Social media takes an awful amount of time and energy before any success can be achieved. And those who are not too well versed with it tend to underestimate it. Just running a blog takes about 5-7 hours a week and when you throw in twitter and facebook, the meter starts running at top speed. You can well imagine how many hours running promotions and integrated videos into your social media initiatives would demand.

Even if the responsibility of handling social media is given to a PR person good with communicating and writing, or to someone who understands the brand well, it’s the amount of time required to keep facebook and twitter updated that kills the cat. The job of a PR person includes maintaining community relations, event planning, employee relation, advertising, government relation and not to miss something known as media relation. With social media thrown into the cauldron as well, who has the time and energy to make it work?

So any company interested in exploiting social media to its maximum advantage has two options. It can either create a complete team or at least a new position exclusively for social media or hire a social media firm who has already proven its mettle in the field. They just need to remember that putting a few hours a week into social media and expecting success is recipe of disaster. Social media may be free but that does not make it any easier. What you get out of it depends on what you put into it, in terms of both time and effort. I am sorry to say but there simply aren’t any short cuts.

Consider for a moment what results do you expect from posting once a week on your facebook page and then taking another week to reply to comments and queries. How do you expect to cut mustard by posting occasionally to twitter or linking it with your facebook account? The bottom line is you need a new full time position if you expect social media to deliver serious results it is capable of delivering.

The coming few years will see companies hiring people who will be solely responsible for handling social media. But those who like to take the bull by its horns understand its importance today and pay someone to do social media for them.

When a person’s sole focus is on social media he can keep accounts updated sometime several times in a day. Queries, comments and complains are handled immediately and disposed off speedily. Not only does he have time and energy to come up with creative promotional ideas, other duties do not get neglected in the process. This person can put together a plan keeping in view the goals of the company and keep an eye on changing trends in social media to mould the campaigns accordingly.

The payback is certain!

Social Media That Matters—for Families and Disasters

Forget the incessant cacophony about social-media use in business for one nanosecond. This post is about family, friends and loved ones. Find a way today to get them all connected to a social-media network of some type, because when disaster or terrorist attacks strike …

SOCIAL MEDIA MATTERS

Here’s why.

Several years ago my oldest son Kane worked in Galway, Ireland for a summer on a UN humanitarian law school project. When it was finished, he and a friend decided to visit Istanbul for a couple days on the way home. Being the ever-encouraging and positive father I am, I said,

“No. Are you nuts? You’re an American. Stay away. Did you look at a map? Did you happen to notice that Istanbul is not really on the way home from Ireland?”

Istanbul is not really on the way home

Being the ever-obedient son Kane is, he went anyway—with much panache I might add.

That same weekend as I was traveling with my youngest son Zack up the Great Smoky Mountains Expressway (a 17-mile trip up, then 18 miles down the mountain) with no access to any phones, stores or gas stations—a completely uncivilized ( heavenly) driving environment, I heard a beep coming from my son’s phone in the passenger seat.

“What’s that?”

I asked that question because a year earlier there was no cell service going over the mountain—a dead area.

“My Facebook phone alert.”

Facebook? In this isolated stretch of mountainous highway? Was there no peace to be had anywhere on earth anymore?

Zack looked at his phone.

“Dad, Kane says to tell you not to worry (he actually said “not to freak out” but Zack had edited it), he’s okay.”

Now, usually when someone says “not to worry, I’m okay,” that means there is a lot to worry about that you didn’t know you should have been worrying about until they told you not to worry about it.

My youngest son is a perceptive communicator and translator. He anticipated my reaction and quickly texted his oldest brother,

“Dad wants to know what the %$^$%& you mean.”

“There was a terrorist attack—an explosion, a bomb—near our hotel. Killed a lot of people. The hotel management was rounding up all Americans staying there and securing us in a room—for protection I guess.”

A MAALOX MOMENT

This is what is typically referred to as a “Maalox Moment.” 

A “Maalox moment” is that involuntary tightening of the essence of your entire being that occurs right before an impending disaster—like when your car is out of control and you know you’re going to crash. Or, you look out the window and see an F-5 tornado headed your way. The list could go on and on. These type of events all invoke a “Maalox Moment” response.  I’m sure it’s an intelligently designed, evolutionary, genetic trait. One that is instantly triggered, when your son texts you …

… “Don’t worry. I’m okay.”

We texted back and forth going up the Great Smoky Mountains Expressway until I felt he was safe.

Now think about that. In the middle of nowhere, instantaneous communications from the Smoky Mountains to and from Istanbul—surreal and unimaginable, even the year before.

From the Smoky Mountains to Istanbul

I turned the radio on. The national news networks had no coverage of it. In fact, it was three to four hours later before it was reported in the United States.

ANOTHER MAALOX MOMENT

Then there was another beep on Zack’s phone..

“Dad, Kane says to tell you he’s alright—again. There was another explosion.”

The evil and efficient minds of most terrorists know they maximize death, destruction and psychological impact if there are two blasts—one to attract attention, then another one, usually bigger and several minutes later, to kill the emergency responders. Emergency responders—the brave-hearted people who respond to dangerous situations all over the world every day.

Long story short, the hotel staff was great, took care of the boys, and they were on a plane out of the country two tense days later.

FAST-FORWARD: MARCH 11, 2011 – EARTHQUAKE

My youngest son Zack is now overseas teaching English.

He’s been there two years.

Zack Kayser (If you can't guess.. he's the red Samurai)

In Handa (半田市, Handa-shi) in the 愛知県, Aichi-ken prefecture, Japan, which is south of Tokyo.

About 6 a.m. on March 11, a  Friday morning, I started getting beeps, pings, e-mails, Facebook messages and Tweets about an 8.9-magnitude Japanese earthquake. It startled me awake.

“Had I heard from Zack? Was he okay?”

I hadn’t—either about the earthquake or from Zack.

I tried to call, but couldn’t get through. The phone system didn’t work. The underseas communications cables had been cut by the tsunami and the telecommunications network had been severely damaged. I e-mailed him. Nothing.  No response. Nothing to do but wait.This went on for hours.

No response to anything.

Silence.  Then …

FACEBOOK’ED AGAIN

I get a Facebook message from Zack.

He’d been on the train to work. It shook severely and was scary, but he was okay. He said there were fires, quakes and tsunami warnings—things you don’t experience every day in Cincinnati.

Zack went on, through Facebook instant message, to describe what was happening, including the aftershocks every 20 minutes that were between magnitudes 4.0 to 5.0. Yesterday (Sunday) he’d had a 6.3 aftershock that picked his bed up, so he fled to the uncertain safety of the bathtub to ride it out. The bathtub is now his best non-human friend. Not so much as a kid though, if memory and olfactory senses recall correctly.

Then last night, Sunday (Monday morning for him), we video-Skyped. I saw his face, his smile, heard his voice—could almost reach out and touch him and I knew he really was alright.

When nothing else worked, social media and social-media networks did. How? I don’t know. Don’t care either. It just did.

Do yourself, your family, friends and loved ones a big favor. Connect them to a social-media network.

Use Facebook. Facebook has a Disaster Relief page.

Use Twitter. Twitter has been especially proactive during the Japan earthquake, posting a page of  tools and tips on how to use Twitter to get information and to communicate broadly to family, friends and others.

Use Skype.

Use Google, though not a social network per se, it has a great  Crisis Response Page with tools and critical information. It also displays real-time updates from Twitter via their real-time search function.

Use any social network you can that will help you stay connected during emergencies. It really is …

SOCIAL MEDIA THAT MATTERS

In disasters and terrorist attacks, I have learned this lesson twice: When nothing else works, social media does.

COURTESY – Steve Kayser

Happy Birthday

Wishing a person who changed my life for good, a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY. I wish all success, happiness and prosperity.

Enjoy the Day!

Taking A Break

Hi, I am taking A break from writing for a few days. Should be back soon. Take care and happy reading.

Top Five Regrets

An excellent articulation by Bronnie Ware.

For many years I worked in palliative care. My patients were those who had gone home to die. Some incredibly special times were shared. I was with them for the last three to twelve weeks of their lives.

People grow a lot when they are faced with their own mortality. I learned never to underestimate someone's capacity for growth. Some changes were phenomenal. Each experienced a variety of emotions, as expected, denial, fear, anger, remorse, more denial and eventually acceptance. Every single patient found their peace before they departed though, every one of them.

When questioned about any regrets they had or anything they would do differently, common themes surfaced again and again. Here are the most common five:

1. I wish I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me
   > This was the most common regret of all. When people realize that their life is almost over and look back clearly on it, it is easy to see how many dreams have gone unfulfilled. Most people have had not honored even a half of their dreams and had to die knowing that it was due to choices they had made, or not made.
   > It is very important to try and honor at least some of your dreams along the way. From the moment that you lose your health, it is too late. Health brings a freedom very few realize, until they no longer have it.
2. I wish I didn't work so hard
   > This came from every male patient that I nursed. They missed their children's youth and their partner's companionship. Women also spoke of this regret. But as most were from an older generation, many of the female patients had not been breadwinners. All of the men I nursed deeply regretted spending so much of their lives on the treadmill of a work existence.
   > By simplifying your lifestyle and making conscious choices along the way, it is possible to not need the income that you think you do. And by creating more space in your life, you become happier and more open to new opportunities, ones more suited to your new lifestyle.
3. I wish I'd had the courage to express my feelings
   > Many people suppressed their feelings in order to keep peace with others. As a result, they settled for a mediocre existence and never became who they were truly capable of becoming. Many developed illnesses relating to the bitterness and resentment they carried as a result.
   > We cannot control the reactions of others. However, although people may initially react when you change the way you are by speaking honestly, in the end it raises the relationship to a whole new and healthier level. Either that or it releases the unhealthy relationship from your life. Either way, you win.
4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends
   > Often they would not truly realize the full benefits of old friends until their dying weeks and it was not always possible to track them down. Many had become so caught up in their own lives that they had let golden friendships slip by over the years. There were many deep regrets about not giving friendships the time and effort that they deserved. Everyone misses their friends when they are dying.
   > It is common for anyone in a busy lifestyle to let friendships slip. But when you are faced with your approaching death, the physical details of life fall away. People do want to get their financial affairs in order if possible. But it is not money or status that holds the true importance for them. They want to get things in order more for the benefit of those they love. Usually though, they are too ill and weary to ever manage this task. It is all comes down to love and relationships in the end. That is all that remains in the final weeks, love and relationships.
5. I wish that I had let myself be happier
   > This is a surprisingly common one. Many did not realize until the end that happiness is a choice. They had stayed stuck in old patterns and habits. The so-called 'comfort' of familiarity overflowed into their emotions, as well as their physical lives. Fear of change had them pretending to others, and to their selves, that they were content. When deep within, they longed to laugh properly and have silliness in their life again.
   > When you are on your deathbed, what others think of you is a long way from your mind. How wonderful to be able to let go and smile again, long before you are dying. Life is a choice. It is YOUR life. Choose consciously, choose wisely, choose honestly. Choose happiness.

App Market Projections

According to a new report by Forrester Research, the app market will explode to a $38 billion industry by 2015, riding the huge growth in popularity of mobile devices from smartphones to tablets to whatever Apple dreams up next.

Source – http://www.fastcompany.com/

3 Ways Channel Complexity Impacts Customer Experience

The intent of multiple channels was not only to attract new customers, but also to reduce the cost of frontline sales reps and agents by shifting customers to lower cost channels. Instead, however, customers used channels based on their own convenience and, in many cases, used all the channels. As a result, new channels simply [...]

The intent of multiple channels was not only to attract new customers, but also to reduce the cost of frontline sales reps and agents by shifting customers to lower cost channels. Instead, however, customers used channels based on their own convenience and, in many cases, used all the channels. As a result, new channels simply added to the overall cost of distributing products to customers, with little or no increase in the ROI. For example, a survey by Oliver Wyman & Company revealed that 87% of financial services providers have experienced an increase in cost since shifting to a multi-channel distribution offering; only 3% saw an increase in ROI while the remaining providers stayed the same. Other industry resources report similar troubles.

Our research has identified three key reasons for this decline in productivity and a diminished customer experience.

1. Proliferation without strategy
2. Declining customer satisfaction
3. Lack of process and data integration

Related posts:

1. Simplify Complexity before it Kills Your Organization We long for a return to the good old days...
2. 13 Causes of Corporate Complexity Which of these issues are the biggest causes of complexity...
3. Does Customer Experience Pay Off the Investment? By Shaun Smith, Contributing Author to The Perfect Customer Experience....
4. Change Customer Experience from Within We all have to learn to trust our customers to...

Courtesy – Dale Wolf