One of the largest global protests taking place right now, #OccupyToronto joins several other cities across Canada, the US and internationally in the fight against corporate greed, government corruption and social inequality.  Planning first began in New York City in mid-July with the Occupy Wall Street movement, which was inspired by the uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia to motivate regular people to create change from the bottom up and spread quickly from there. They have been staging rallies and protests ever since early October and have made St. James Park in Toronto home for their several hundred “occupants”. 

#OccupyToronto has many ways in which people can find information on the cause, how they can help, relevant news, upcoming events and comment on their main webpage.  They also have a sister website that provides links to their #Twitter and #Facebook pages, that states it will be merged with the other sometime soon.  This movement is extremely organized on the web – its main webpage mentioned above is an information hub for anything pertaining to the cause - information about the cause began and what they are about, how to help (the cause and protesters), upcoming events such as strategizing workshops being offered between protests/marches, and links to the different communication platforms.  They are getting a ton of support online, with encouraging comments such as the notion that “anything is possible” and that the cause “brings hope back in the minds of people that things will change”.  This organization does a great job at optimizing its content across its several platforms.

They are also great at keeping the cause alive – there is a livestream conversation with organizers responding to the comments flowing from those logged on, engaging in real-time.  You can also find conversations from previous days if you want to catch up on anything you may have missed.   I love this constant interaction.  What is great about the platforms is that there is no censorship – people can communicate freely without fear of their remarks taken down, which is essentially what the cause is pushing for.

This week’s class focused on monitoring and understanding how well your company, brand or PR campaign is doing in the social media space.  This is most commonly measured through the frequency of interactions, current and potential reach, and yield relative to depth of engagement with each contact.  ROI is difficult to prove because so many businesspeople only want to see quantitative data and don’t fully understand that there are other contributing factors that you also must take into account, such as the shift in culture, which cannot necessarily be measured in the same way.  In many ways like traditional media monitoring, in the end your results must all circle back to support the business and social web program objectives spelled out in your measurement strategy and the overall goal(s) set.

There are various web applications and companies out there with programs that help organizations measure their performance in social web platforms, through content, customer service efforts, or online to offline statistics.  Here are some free online tools as well as companies that were not mentioned in this week’s readings that offer these types of services:

Monitor your social campaigns using the Social Media Monitor from Wildfire, a company that focuses on creative interactive promotions on social sites.  Their tool tracks and compares how brand are performing on Facebook and Twitter.  Wildfire allows companies, small businesses, marketing agencies, nonprofits and bloggers to create their own branded interactive campaigns like contests, giveaways, incentive-based surveys and publishes them in social networks and websites at the same time.  Basic services are free but premium services are also available, ranging from $5 per campaign per day to $250 per campaign.

When it comes to the blogosphere, BlogPulse is an automated trend discovery system for blogs that analyzes and reports on daily activities.  With this service from parent company NM Incite, you can keep on top of key phrases, top blog posts, videos, key people, news sources and stories, top links, and general highlights.  The real power, however, lies in the options you have to track blog conversations based on your topic or keywords.  This is a great way to see which blogs or posts are fueling the most conversations about your company’s brand online.

Since I am in the events industry, I had to include a service that makes note of key and upcoming events.  Plancast is an RSS service that alerts you to new events that match keywords you select.  You can keep track of events thrown by competitors or stay on top of conferences you may want to attend or co-sponsor.

Similarly, paid tools like Actionly are also available for public relations professionals.  It tracks keywords across #Twitter, #Facebook, blogs, #Flickr, #YouTube and other social web platforms, pulling updates hourly.  The information is gathered, analyzes and stored in an easy to use dashboard that allows you to manage multiple #Twitter and #Facebook accounts and lets you export all data for future use.  The service also offers customized reports, e-mail alerts and sentiment analysis and its integration with Google Analytics allows you to see your social web ROI.  Actionly offers a free tutorial on how to use its services strategically and a one-search trial for those wanting to experience the service before they buy.  The cost for basic monitoring is $20 per month, premium for $50 per month and a Pro version for $100 per month.

Free tools are always great to have for the simple searches but paid analytic tools are better for larger companies and those wanting a more in-depth assessment of how their efforts are being absorbed online.

In our last class we had discussed online community managers and the need for organizations to have someone that manages all the different groups of stakeholders organizations have in the social space.   It is this person’s job to listen to what the groups are talking about and really try to understand their sentiments toward your products, services or brand.  On the other hand, online community managers must also participate and commit to being responsive in a timely fashion; even if that means acknowledging they may not have the answer right away.  One of the most important things to remember is that pushing your products and/or services will not work in this space.  You must converse, not preach, and be transparent in your responses.  Here are examples of companies that have effective community managers:

 Research in Motion (#RIM)

This Canadian company was one of the pioneers of social web interaction.  It now has many channels through which it communicates with its audiences, mainly through blogs, Twitter and Facebook for their main product, the Blackberry.  The blogs (General, Business and Developers) are divided up to provide the right type of support for the various stakeholder groups that are interested in their products.  There is a place that nicely connects all of these communities together called Blackberry Support Community Forums, which is linked directly to the company’s website under Contact.  Essentially, there are a group of people dedicated to all of the forms; some post content regarding Blackberry’s new tools, updates, applications and daily tips for its users, while others are focused on replying to customer’s inquiries.  What I found great was that members of this team were all profiled according to their favourite food on BlackBerryHelp Twitter account.

Ford 

The Ford Motor Company has 4 ways in which it keeps its audiences connected: Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Flickr.  Their head of social media Scotty Monty does a great job being the face and voice for the company.  He exemplifies the true meaning of being a community manager – a face and persona representing the brand through human and personable interactions online.  Not only is Scotty responsive, I have seen him respond to almost every Tweet that comes his way.  His colleagues, @FocusDoug and @FocusJohn, provide fans with online updates on #Twitter for the new 2012 Ford Focus using YouTube clips and answering questions in real time.  These communities can all be found in Ford’s global website under the News Centre tab.

Which one of these companies do you think does a better job managing its online communities?

This week’s assignment had our class explore three more types of social web tools - location based services, discovery engines and QR codes / Augmented Reality (AR).  In this post, I plan to discuss how they are being used, offer examples of their effective use and rate them based on my findings into whether or not they would be effective PR platforms. 

Location based services - Foursquare

One of the tools I chose to explore was #Foursquare – this mobile based application with a community of over 10 million users let’s you check in at different locations all around the city, show your friends where you are and what you may be doing.  You get points based on how many times you check in to a particular location and you can collect the points to win prizes like coupons and special vouchers.  Not only are there special discounts just to users of the tool, but the more you engage with the business the more rewards you receive.  On the other side of the coin, businesses can collect user data to study the behaviours of its followers and customize the experience even further for future campaigns and promotions that can generate more brand awareness.

 Mazda is a great example of a company that used this tool in a unique and creative way to reach it’s audiences in the US.  Late last year, the company launched a campaign that would see one of its followers win a 2011 MAZDA2: 

Through this campaign, not only did Mazda give away what could be one of the biggest prizes on Foursquare but it appealed to their target audiences (hip and young crowd) by having them check in at various spots like video game stores, concerts and fashion events to receive badges that would unlock the last, most important badge and be one step closer to entering the contest.  They went even further by pushing badges through Twitter and Facebook to promote the campaign.  Great job Mazda!  (Your cars are pretty good too – but I may be a little biased ;)) 

Overall rating: 

Discovery Engines – StumbleUpon

StumbleUpon is a community site that collects users interests based on an initial registration assessment coupled with recommendations of like-minded people to present them with high-quality web sites that they may enjoy.   The more people like a web site, the higher it goes up the food chain.  You can also tag and bookmark your favourite sites and leave reviews.

StumbleUpon is a community site that collects users interests based on an initial registration assessment coupled with recommendations of like-minded people to present them with high-quality web sites that they may enjoy.   The more people like a web site, the higher it goes up the food chain.  You can also tag and bookmark your favourite sites and leave reviews.

I think companies need to research a little bit before they post their content on sites like these, mainly because the content is constantly updated and things can easily be lost in the shuffle.  There is no real way of gauging where your content will fall in the scale unless you know it is about a popular subject.  Due to the fact I found that visual content got higher scores than written content after #stumbling around myself, it may be most effective as a way of posting content (like a viral video) that could be a teaser for something bigger to come.  This way, you could generate interest before the launch of a campaign and link the site to your company website or #Facebook page in the meantime.  Because this space is so vast and unpredictable, I don’t believe it is as good of a tool to use for PR purposes.

 Overall rating:  

Augmented Reality – the new reality in Marketing/PR campaigns?

This is interesting to me because I’ve seen commercials where versions of this technology is used but did not know it was AR until I read about it.  Basically, there is a layer of data such as a sound bite, video clip or graphic that is superimposed onto a real-world video scene that alters a person’s perception and enhances their experience.  With the arrival of smartphones and operating systems such as Google’s #Android platform and Apple’s #iPhone, it has also given mobile gamers a new way to place the game they are playing into the their own reality with the help of the phone’s camera function.  Check out one I found - Sky Seige.  Cool eh?

Another example of this would be how BMW used AR in their advertising campaign.  By creating a viral video that saw their new car come to life, they encouraged the public to print their own symbol off of their website to virtually test drive their vehicle.  I do have to admit, this was a lot of fun and a cool way of picturing yourself in a potential new car. 

Overall rating: 

Which tool do you think will take off and stick around?

Here are some of the sites I chose to follow via an RSS reader that have sparked my interest on the topic of social media in no particular order.

Measurement Matters from Metrica – provides a weekly summary of the top PR and social media picks for media monitoring, PR planning, media analysis, social media measurement links and related stories in the form of a cheat sheet.  I like how this site also includes a summary of infographics as a means of driving the conversation forward.

PR Squared focuses on the social media 101 – a guide not only on how PR and marketing professionals can contribute and participate in online conversation but what they can get out of it through listening to it as well.  It showcases the power of social media as it goes beyond traditional marketing/PR efforts to force both sides to use the others’ strengths to create integrated strategies.  I particularly enjoyed the post showcasing the power of ordinary people’s online contributions in the form of pictures and videos to spark conversations about important subjects or issues not necessarily told by traditional media.

Deidre Breakenridge’s PR 2.0 Strategies offers the latest on social media tools and platforms and the different ways in which it is changing the way PR professionals and businesses need to communicate.  I like how she uses different means such as current stats, videos and provides interesting interviews to engage the reader.

Through Communications Conversations, author Arik Hansen shares insightful links, stats and studies to investigate and propose creative ways in which to communicate in any industry.  Arik’s site has been recognized by PR Weekly, Journalistics and AdAge Power 150 to name a few.

In Social Media Explorer, creator and contributor, Jason Falls, and his roster of SMEs provide their international insights and opinions on everything from digital and online communications, marketing and PR to community and brand building.  Jason Falls owns a consulting firm and speaks at various conferences mainly in the US.

Jeremiah Owyang discuses what companies are doing in the social media space and how they can communicate with their customers more effectively through the technologies that are available and being added to the mix. It was his justification that influenced my social media department to employ the hub and spoke organizational model.

In his blog entitled Pro PR, Joseph Thornley provides a Canadian perspective to my list - a professional focus with personal touches on subjects he comes across and finds interesting when doing work for his clients.  I personally like his review-type format of new social media platforms and how they can help businesses.

The Future Buzz is a blog geared towards PR and marketing professionals that offers best practices, insights into the latest in the social media world and learnings that companies can take away from them.  It illustrates ways in which companies can build a brand presence and maintain long-term visibility within the social media space.

Brian Solis has an online reputation for being one of the most prominent thought leaders within the social media community, he uses his experience as a digital analyst to write about building, maintaining and measuring success within the social web.  He is taking businesses to the next level by outlining upcoming trends.

Last but not least, the blog from the contributors for All Beef Media was also recommended by a coworker whose friend co-founded the site.  It offers all-female perspectives and observations on the social media practice, covering all types of industries from fashion, beauty, health to design and travel.

So here it is – my first blog post.  A stretch for someone that has been deathly afraid of the social media world up until this point, as some of my friends and colleagues may know, I realize that, besides being a mandatory component of my Social Media class assignment,  it is in my best interest to break free of this fear and take the plunge.

Apart from updating my personal Facebook page, which I kyboshed for the first 5 years of its existence due to the fact that I heard I would be “addicted”, I am not an avid user of the various other social web platforms that are now out there.  I do realize, however, that communications is changing quite rapidly and want to make sure that I do not miss out on the opportunities this expanding world of the social web can bring.

 As I expand my horizons more and more, I learn that this isn’t just a gimmick, it’s the way in which people are communicating not only to each other, but to companies as well.  Unlike a journalist’s review of a product or service in the “old days” of traditional media, for example, consumers and regular people can now have their say and the impact has never been larger.  A game-changer from a PR perspective, it is no longer about the push of information, it is about true dialogue.

 So as I begin my path to new discoveries, I want to end this post with the following question: what was the one platform that introduced you to the world of the social web?