The Social Path

What I learned from my social media hiatus. | Guest post by Javacia Harris Bowser

Today, we're excited to be joined by Javacia Harris Bowser, a blogger and founder of the Birmingham, Ala., women's writing group See Jane Write. Javacia shares the lessons she learned from taking a three-week break from social media.

Each January my pastor encourages all his parishioners to fast something for 21 days in an effort to grow closer to God. Many church leaders totally abstain from food for three weeks, while some members fast certain types of food (such as sugary treats) or give up something like television. I decided to give up social media.

I wrote and scheduled “See You Later” posts for my two blogs and alerted Facebook friends and Twitter followers that I was taking a social media sabbatical. I also gave up Foursquare (at the risk of losing all my hard-earned mayorships) and Pinterest. This fast also meant I wasn’t allowed to read any of my favorite blogs either, as that is honestly how I spend much of my free time.

When I started the fast a part of me wondered if I would reach the end of the 21 days and realize that I no longer wanted social media in my life. I admit that when I announced my hiatus I felt this strange sense of relief. For three weeks I wouldn’t have to worry about updating my blogs or feel compelled to check Twitter every hour to make sure I wasn’t missing a link to some life-changing article.

But that feeling quickly dissipated. Social media makes everyday life better. Seriously. Foursquare turns a dreaded visit to the grocery store into an exciting game as I battle local residents to be crowned as mayor of the places I frequent around town. I’m an English teacher and, therefore, spend hours grading very bad essays, but those moments aren’t as torturous when I can take occasional breaks to browse my favorite blogs. And while some people “veg out” after a long day at work by flipping through channels, I’m not much of a TV person and I would much rather relax by clicking through beautiful photographs on Pinterest.

Coincidentally, despite my hiatus I found myself talking about social media more than ever during my fast. While teaching Fahrenheit 451 to my students we spent most days discussing the pervasiveness of technology and the role social networking sites play in their lives. When the electricity went out in my apartment one evening my husband and I found ourselves having a conversation by candlelight about Twitter. (How romantic!) And speaking of Twitter, when storms hit the Birmingham area before dawn one Monday morning I felt lost without being able to track tornadoes through my favorite meteorologist’s tweets. The thought never crossed my mind to just turn on the television. (I told you I’m not a TV person.)

I did realize, however, that I need to make some changes regarding my social media behavior. First, I need to rekindle my love for blogging. That sense of relief I felt at the beginning of my fast was triggered because somewhere along the way blogging has stopped being fun. I need to fix that. I don’t want blogging to feel like a job, especially since I’m not getting paid to do it.

Second, I need to stop letting social media make me a bad friend. When I wrote about my return to social media on my blogs I decided to craft the post as a love letter because I realized that I’m just like the girl who ditches her friends for the new man in her life. I’m always so busy trying to update my blogs and read all the interesting articles being posted on Twitter that I don’t make time to have real conversations with my friends. And I use Facebook as a crutch. I figure, "I know that this friend is pregnant and that friend got a new job because I checked their status updates. No need to call them; I’m all caught up, right?" Wrong.

And finally, I have to make time for myself, to read books that have nothing to do with becoming a better blogger and, yes, perhaps even watch television. There has to be some reason so many people are into that thing.

Javacia Harris Bowser is founding editor of GeorgiaMae.com and she also blogs for The Writeous Babe Project. She can be reached via email or follow @writeousbabe on Twitter.

Photo credit: Leo Reynolds on Flickr

Six changes that could complete Google+ Pages.

Google+ Pages finally launched with bang, or at least a small pop and fizzle. The company waited a baffling long time to launch their professional pages - so long that it seems much of the general public has lost interest. Nevertheless, it's Google and over time a G+ pages will become an important tool in search and customer relations, especially for storefront businesses as these pages become business listings.

The business pages have a lot of great qualities, one of them being that signature Google cleanliness. That's a welcome change from Facebook's increasing messiness. However, for the amount of time Google took in developing the professional pages after the initial launch, we still see a number of glaringly omissions that need to be added before Google+ becomes a viable competitor.

No Custom URLs

There is really not much explanation needed here. It should seem obvious  for the folks at Google to have vanity URLs available to pages. Maybe not all pages, but at least go the route of Facebook and provide custom URLs to pages once they establish a certain number of followers. It's difficult to link to a random set of numbers and letters. I can't imagine we'll have to wait too long before these become available.

Direct Connect

Direct Connect is a tool where typing +business name into your search bar will prompt the business's Google+ page to appear as the top search result in the drop-down menu, bolded and bigger than all other listings, and links directly to the Google+ page. It would be pretty handy if it weren't so elusive.

Direct Connect is attained when Google's algorithms decide the page has earned it. Followers are obviously a big factor and Google suggests that adding a link on your Plus page, as well as adding a piece of code to your website, will help Google recognize and verify your page.

However, who knows how long that could take or what the criteria are - Google never tells you. Why there isn't a verification request form is a bit baffling. The option to request verification from our Google Ad representative would be helpful too. Either way, it's a neat feature that is far too exclusive. If they expect this search habit to catch on they are going to have to make it more attainable.

Auto-Circle

Here's a new term I hope becomes commonplace in our industry - auto-circle. The circles are a great feature, and it's the feature that sets Plus apart from their social competitors. Circles are simple and required, keeping our Google+ profiles tidy and making it easy to direct certain content at the ideal audience. However, for large brands who want to follow and engage with their fans, keeping up and organizing followers into all appropriate circles is going to be difficult.

A company may want to organize each of their followers by age, location, and sex; that's a lot to keep up with if you have fans pouring in. Ideally, if we created these circles, when a brand gained new followers Google+ would have an algorithm to "auto-circle" them into the appropriate categories. That way the brand has an exhaustive list when it wants to target a specific audience within their followers. This may sound like a pipe dream but if you're gonna dream, dream big right?

No Contests or Promotions Allowed

According to the Google+ Content Policy, a brand cannot administer a contest, giveaway, promotion, etc. through Google+. However, you may link to a contest hosted elsewhere, like say ... Facebook. An odd move on Google's part to encourage brands to drive traffic away from their platform and onto the competitor's.

Search

Not that I'm impressed with most social media platform searches but ... this is Google. That's sort of their thing. After creating the Luckie & Company page, I tried finding it through the search bar and turned up results for all our employees but no trace of the new, official Luckie & Company page. I realize the page had no followers at that point but it was the day Pages launched, no one really had any followers at that point. How are we to build an audience if the audience can't find us?

Not to mention, the search offered no organization to sort out people and pages or search by some demographic; it was just one big lump of useless results. I have to say this was the most shocking discovery, Facebook is beating Google at their own game.

Multiple Admins

No man is an island, and neither are companies. Currently, Google+ Pages are only allowed one administrator - the person who created the page. Unless Google wants people running around creating fake personal accounts in order to avoid giving out their personal email address to all their coworkers, they better rectify this. Fast. 

Facebook pages were certainly no gem when they were launched years ago and are a constant work in progress. So Google should certainly get some time to figure this all out. However, this is Google's fourth attempt at social platform and they hoping in pretty late in the game. At this point, it should be apparent what is and is not necessary to survive. Although, I guess if that were the case we'd all still be Buzzing.

In your experience with the new Google+ Pages, what are the changes or additions you would make?

Kammie Avant is a social media planner for Luckie & Company. You can contact her by e-mail or follow @KammieAvant on Twitter.

Photo credit: amala_tc on Flickr.

Three ways to improve your customer service on Twitter.

We talk a lot about creating great content for our social media accounts, with the goal of engaging fans and encouraging conversation. But sometimes we forget that the best thing about social media is that our fans are already talking — to us and to each other. We can't wait for people to strike up conversations, but we can't get so caught up in pushing out our own content that we forget to join the discussions our fans initiate.

Here are a few tips to stay in tune with your fans.

Make the Most of Search Terms

Set up search terms or columns in a third-party application like TweetDeck or CoTweet. Be sure to include your brand name, products, etc., to capture as many mentions of your brand online as possible. Just because your brand Twitter account isn't tagged or directly tweeted, that doesn't make the conversation any less important. Some of the most productive conversations I've had with customers over Twitter have been with those flattered by the effort we put in to find and contact them, before they contacted us.

Be Sure to Use Push Notifications

Push notifications via Twitter smartphone apps are nice for your personal accounts but mandatory for your business accounts. It's important to know as soon as possible when a consumer is discussing your brand, good or bad. Social media is all about immediate results, and waiting even a few days to thank a consumer for a compliment (or react to a criticism) can tarnish your customer service image.

Avoid Canned Responses

Consumers are on Twitter to talk, so talk we shall! The best way to manage customer relations on Twitter is to use a personal voice. You're not asking consumers to press a number to classify their concerns, so don't give them a canned response. Social media allows us to give our brands and companies a personality. Loosening up seems to be one of the most difficult parts of social media management for some but the effort goes a long way. It bolsters customer loyalty and appreciation the same way it bolsters a friendship.

Sure, this all seems easy enough but with the sheer volume of conversation happening on Twitter at any given time, it's a lot to keep up with. For years brands have provided a 1-800 hotline for customers to call but social media has flipped the script - now it's time for us to find and reach out to our customers. People are out there talking about your brand, whether or not you chose to seek them out and respond is your choice. But given the choice to take control of your own image or let consumers run wild, which one would you chose?

How has your organization used Twitter for customer service? We'd love to hear about your experiences in the comments.

Photo courtesy robpurdie on Flickr.

Kammie Avant is a social media planner for Luckie & Company. You can contact her by e-mail or follow @KammieAvant on Twitter.

How Facebook has made it easier for critics to bash you, and why that might not be such a bad thing.

If you work at a business that has its share of critics, I hope you’re sitting down, because I’ve got some bad news. (The good news being, not many people read this blog standing up in the first place.)

Just as a recent survey found negative comments about products are becoming more powerful online, Facebook has decided to allow anyone to comment on your business's Page without becoming a fan. What a fantastic combination.

As you probably know, commenting on Facebook pages has traditionally been limited to those who first “Like” the page. Some businesses have felt that this creates a mental barrier for critics who don’t want to be seen “Liking” the evil corporate oppressor.

Admittedly, it’s a short hurdle for activists to leap over, but I was still a bit disappointed to see that Facebook recently (and quietly) removed it. Now anyone can comment on a page regardless of whether they’ve Liked it first.

And criticism appears to be more potent than ever. As you can see in the eMarketer chart below, negative information about products is affecting purchase decisions quite a bit more in 2011 than it did in 2010.

So should we all panic? Yes. Yes we should.

No, I’m just kidding. Of course the news isn’t all bad. In fact, you don’t have to try too hard to put a silver lining on this thunderhead.

Two reasons to remain optimistic:

1. Positive comments continue to outweigh the negative when it comes to affecting purchase decisions. You can see it right there in the same chart. People put a lot of stock in customer praise, perhaps because it’s in such short supply these days.

2. Facebook’s change actually opens you up to more positive comments, too. Not everyone on Facebook is a “joiner,” and many people have an understandable amount of Like fatigue when it comes to brand pages. We take it for granted that Twitter has long allowed businesses and consumers to chat back and forth without any sort of subscription being required.

Now businesses on Facebook have a chance to hear from casual customers who are neither superfans nor megacritics, but still have something important to say. And as with anywhere else on the social Web, if you take the time to respond, you might pull off the greatest trick of all: turning a one-time visitor into a customer for life.

David Griner is the Director of Digital Content for Luckie and Company and contributing editor for Adweek’s blog, AdFreak.com. You can reach him by e-mail or on Twitter.

Are daily deals sweet or sour for business? We look at the numbers.

One of the hottest debates in digital marketing right now is the effectiveness of daily deals such as Groupon and Living Social, which use 50% discounts to create buzz and business for clients.

These and their many competitors claim to generate hundreds or even thousands of new customers with minimal effort, but critics say such deals can often do more harm than good by stretching businesses beyond their abilities to offer quality service.

Here's how the typical pros and cons shake out.

Upsides of daily deals:

• Influx of new customers
• Boost in awareness
• High potential for word of mouth and repeat business

Downsides of daily deals:

• Coupon service can take 50% of earnings
• Massive discounting (usually 50% off) can hurt businesses with low profit margins
• Few businesses are truly prepared for so many customers in such a short time
• Backlash from poor customer service

So who's right, the supporters or the critics? The answer is far from clear, but a few new sets of data can at least help business owners make an educated decision.

Pinterest for professionals: How to get started.

Tired of hearing about Google+ and how you can't actually use it for business yet? Well then, let's have a chat about Pinterest, a rapidly growing (and business-friendly) phenomenon that just might be the most fun social media tool around.

Pinterest is a visually based social bookmarking tool that lets you organize and archive your favorite sites and images from across the Web. Sharing your discoveries with friends and admirers is a central part of the Pinterest experience, too.

It's still in beta and is invite-only (you can hit up a friend or request an account here), but the site's popularity has skyrocketed, and influencers are already surfacing across the platform.

While it's a great tool for discovering new things, the cream quickly rises to the top, making it obvious what is trendy and who are the trendsetters. The most popular users, many bloggers or professionals, have tens of thousands of followers.

This platform could become an important tool for businesses, brands, and bloggers to share their content and products. Wondering how Pinterest could benefit you personally and professionally? Here's our quick guide to making the most of it:

5 lessons every business should learn from MySpace's spectacular collapse.

This week's must-read for all digital professionals is Bloomberg Businessweek's exhaustive and fascinating look back on the collapse of MySpace.

While it's compelling as a singular case study, "The Rise and Inglorious Fall of Myspace" also offers many hard-learned lessons for any business trying to build a strong future online.

Here are five takeaways that jumped out at me, followed by the relevant excerpts from the article:

1. Don't let good traffic numbers cloud your ability to spot serious structural problems.

The troubles at Myspace hardly went unnoticed by its corporate owners. But the site's continued success muted any alarms that the social media network was on an unstable path. "When you're growing at 300,000 users a day," says (former head of MySpace marketing and content Sean) Gold, "it's hard to imagine that you're doing anything wrong."

Trial by FAIL: Five social media case studies worth learning from.

This week, I was honored to be invited out to BlogWorld & New Media Expo in New York City to discuss case studies in social media failure. Copresenter Dave Peck and I walked through some lesser-known examples of marketing efforts that drew flack for being offensive, misleading or just unsuccessful.

If you'd like to view the presentation, I've just posted it to SlideShare:

FAIL: Learning from Social Media Disaster

View more presentations from David Griner

Be sure to check out my previous presentation with Dave Peck, "Like It Or Spike It," along with my other related slideshows:

• Like It Or Spike It: Social Media Case Studies

• The Tipping Points of Social Media

• Keeping Social Media Sexy

• Fear and Loathing in Social Media

David Griner is the Director of Digital Content for Luckie and Company and contributing editor for Adweek’s blog, AdFreak.com. You can reach him by e-mail or on Twitter.

 

Do activists have the right to assault your Facebook Page?

I was frustrated today to see that a corporate Facebook Page coordinated by a friend of mine was being attacked multiple times a minute by environmental activists. It's something we've all come to expect in the world of corporate marketing and PR, but it's still annoying to see first-hand.

They spouted a bunch of copy-and-paste attacks on the company and made it clear that they were there to scream, not to talk — and most certainly not to listen. (I'm not going to link to the Page for now, because I don't want to give these infantile protesters exactly what they want: attention.)

Asked my advice on the situation — one where any decision is fraught with potential repercussions for the brand — I found myself unapologetically favoring one approach:

Show these jackasses to the door.

I'm a big believer in companies answering their critics in social media, even those who seem irredeemable. But when a coordinated group invades a Facebook Page with the sole purpose of being disruptive and incendiary, I have no qualms with deleting their spammy posts and banning them from the Page.

Some might feel this approach is anathema to the openness and community spirit of social media. To me, it's just common sense.

Look at it this way: Facebook is your business' digital lobby.

Google keeps you painstakingly safe and secure.

In recent weeks, hackers and viruses have reared their ugly heads more frequently and successfully than we've seen in a while. And worst of all, they're not just coming through our outdated email addresses and Friendster; they've crept across Facebook and our beloved Gmail.

Facebook already has stepped up to the plate by offering a secure HTTPS connection, and now Gmail has followed suit by rolling out an advanced login option.

You can check out the official Google Blog for details, but, in summary, they have built a thorough system - to a fault. It all starts simple enough...

Step 1: Open your account settings and select 2-step verification.

Step 2: Download the Google Authenticator App on your phone and scan the QR code on your computer.

Step 3: The QR code will give you a six-digit code that randomly regenerates every minute. Just type that code into the next screen.

Step 4: You're then provided 10 backup codes to print and store in a safe, easily accessible location, should you lose your phone.

Step 5: Finally, you input a backup phone number, should all of this fail you.

Step 6: Just when you think it's over, Google determines if you use a phone or desktop application, and then you'll have to get another code ... and then I passed out from sheer exhaustion. 

The whole process really only takes 15 minutes and can secure your whole Google world, which is truly fantastic. I had to log out and start over because my randomly generated codes were repeatedly rejected but the second time was the charm. 

I've never been hacked, so maybe I have a rosy disposition, but I just didn't deam this necessary for my Gmail. However, this could be a vital tool for independent contractors or others who run their companies from their Gmail accounts. Just clear some time and get organized before diving in or you'll burn up a lot of time going through the process.

P.S. - To all the hackers out there, I didn't secure my Google account with the codes pictured above so don't even think about hacking me.

Kammie Avant is a social media planner for Luckie & Company. You can contact her by e-mail or follow @KammieAvant on Twitter.

Photo credit: Truthout.org on Flickr.