Disqus - Latest Comments for ThomasTerry

Re: Are you promoting the company’s brand or your personal brand?

ThomasTerry — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 10:38:30 -0000

Dirk,

I also agree with your point that social media should become a core responsibility of employees across the organization.

Even when/if companies become radically transparent, you will have a core group of evangelists that will be more visible than others. They are the 20 percent of thought leaders in some varying degree at the company, perhaps 70 percent of employees will use SM with some success but never generate a large enough following to ever become really visible. 10 percent don't care and won't use it.

How many of the 400+ twittering employees at Zappos can you name or would actually care to follow?

On the other hand, companies with a large number of product lines or those with very technical knowledge will have a larger number of influential participants in social media. Microsoft and Google have numerous blogs, each focusing on a niche area of the company.

Best, Thomas

Re: Are you promoting the company’s brand or your personal brand?

ThomasTerry — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 21:15:09 -0000

Dirk, great seeing you in Austin at SXSW.

In regards to your post, I think the bigger question hinges on the C-Suite truly understanding social media. Companies aren't social and they do not have a personality or identity. A company is only the sum of its employees.

Having strong personal brands is very valuable for companies.

However, Scoble is an interesting example of the unforeseen dangers that face companies who put too much power into the hands of too few social media spokespeople -- the anointed ones. Microsoft enabled Scoble to become bigger than the company in some ways. Unless you are a company founder, you run a risk if an employee becomes the recognized face of that brand — a better paying job can quickly steal the most talented individual from a company.

I believe Dell gets it right. They have a number of employees focused on social media. And as a result, Dell as a company gets the credit for being good at social media -- the credit does not go to a single 'rockstar' employee. A team is bigger than one person.

Companies should focus on building social media teams with a strong bench of up-and-comers.

Agree?

Best, Thomas

Re: Tip for PR pro's, You don’t just tweet a release.

ThomasTerry — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 11:54:27 -0000

Dirk,

I'll be attending SXSWi events every day. DM me once you get settled and we can grab coffee or a beer.

Also, wanted to invite you to a party on Monday night: http://www.tocquigny.com/sxsw . I believe Melanie and Erin are planning to attend.

Thomas

Re: Tip for PR pro's, You don’t just tweet a release.

ThomasTerry — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 12:27:22 -0000

Dirk,

My thoughts are based on two assumptions. First, the product is enterprise software and second, the audience is IT influencers as opposed to C-Level decision makers.

Several thoughts:
* People join communities for selfish reasons. The key to a successful strategy is to create something that benefits users more than it does the company.
* It is difficult to build a new community around a product announcement.
* Make it easy to engage. People will try something only if it requires a small initial time commitment.
* And they won't return unless they perceive value from the activity. People only have a limited amount of time in the day -- participating in a new community requires reducing participation elsewhere.

Within those parameters, here is one idea — many developers and IT guys already blog and are active commenters — but the blogs are scattered across the net.

You could aggregate existing blogs written by the developers and IT folks into a single community. A full text blog feed that is taggable—to drill down into specific areas—and searchable for specific topics. In addition, allow new bloggers to add their content to the main feed.

Institute a reputation system that allows the community to rank content and reward the most valuable creators. Have company experts writing their own blogs and commenting on other content.

Top posts could be linked in company newsletters. You could use the data to create a dynamic top 25 ranking of the most influential bloggers on ECM or other topics. Give them a badge to display on their blog and drive visitors to the new site.

It is within this community that you could launch a product -- via company blog post -- and encourage community feedback.

The possibilities could be endless. Let me know if you would like to discuss in more detail.

Thomas

Re: Tip for PR pro's, You don’t just tweet a release.

ThomasTerry — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 15:19:48 -0000

Dirk, I have a slightly different view of socializing press releases. As you correctly stated, "a press release is “A” way to share your news." It is simply one tool in the PR "toolbox" which is designed for a very specific purpose.

Companies should realize that press releases are not social and should not be forced into assuming that role. Twittering a release or adding social bookmarks, tags and comments does not make it social.

Know your audience. Write a press release for investors, analysts and the crusty industry trade press.

Yet, enter the Social Media Press Release (http://budurl.com/nqfq) in 2006. While this invention received significant buzz -- it has failed to take off. I see several reasons why. First, the newswires lack the infrastructure to deliver a rich content experience downstream. Second, the social press release is a crutch that enables companies to "be social" (Placating the C-Suite) without investments in "a real community infrastructure." As such, the results are usually underwhelming.

Companies need to release news in a way that reaches every audience. A press release works well for some, blog posts for others, twitter for a different group and etc. People get news in very different ways -- PR should recognize this and make sure that news is simultaneously distributed in a variety of mediums.

Thomas

Re: Are your employees complying with your social media guidelines?

ThomasTerry — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 17:03:34 -0000

Encouraging employees is definitely important. In fact, someone said it is those employees who are most controversial and willing to mix it up that benefit the company most.

Lets meet up when you are in Austin next week. I'll be attending SXSW.

Re: Are your employees complying with your social media guidelines?

ThomasTerry — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 13:32:23 -0000

Hi Dirk,

Interesting question. I believe it is impossible to find everything that would be flagged by the guidelines. As you know, crazy things will pop up unexpectedly.

However, for 99 percent of cases, diligently monitoring your company brand, product names, major competitors and key executives-- will catch the majority of offending content. Also, its great practice to Friend & Follow every person within the company who is participating in social media -- both on behalf of the company and not. Often, simply knowing that the company is watching is a deterrent.

Ultimately, you should be the first person to find any potentially damaging content. A polite email to an employee will often be enough. In many cases, it helps if you offer a solution - removing a photo or changing a sentence -- instead of a blanket corporate take down notice.

Depending on severity, intent, and if they are a repeat offender — HR and the direct manager should get involved.

Best, Thomas