Archive for the ‘brand monitoring’ Category

I embrace social media 100% and as a business owner social media has been proven for me. But, I know that a lot of marketing and PR professionals who are now just sticking their toe in the proverbial social media pool have questions; especially around the meaning and implementation of transparency.

As social media evangelists we talk about social media transparency and the importance of being forthright, authentic and honest. We also discuss that it’s about the “who” (people) not the “what” (brand or company), an important part of being transparent when it comes to social media.

That said, recently two incidents have happened that are making me re-think the term transparency.

As a business owner the first one is personal, but I think it’s important to share. In early February my father-in-law passed away and I was offline for over a week. A lot of people were contacting me because it wasn’t the norm and they were worried. When I jumped back online, I finally left a comment on Jason Fall’s blog (Kevin Palmer’s guest post) that I had told Kevin weeks before that I would write. Kevin might not have even notice that I hadn’t commented, but I wanted to keep my word. In commenting I apologize for the delay “due to a family situation.” And in retrospect, that was probably a mistake. Honestly, I didn’t want to be transparent…it was a private family matter, not for public consumption (even though there was a very public obituary). But, in trying to be transparent, I might have ended up seeming non-professional. I should have just said “sorry to be late to the party” the usual comment for tardiness. The thing is, people did know what had happened and offered their condolences online, it wasn’t a secret if people were paying attention to my Twitter stream. I have talked about my family before on Twitter, but this was different for me.

The second incident happened just yesterday. During the ghost writing debate, I was publicly annoyed because I felt that Heather and Mike Whaling were not being transparent in their use of social media (Twitter) while debating me (i.e. meaning that they were tweeting as two representatives from two agencies versus a married couple). I found out after the fact from Mike’s client, Eric Brown, that Heather and Mike were actually married. When I learned that, I just felt that the situation was disingenuous (not that they are  disingenuous mind you, there’s a difference and I don’t believe that at all). Mike left a really nice note in which he explained that he didn’t think it was necessary to mix personal with professional. I totally get that, but I stated that in this particular situation I thought it was indeed very important to be transparent. But at the end of the day, it’s Mike’s personal decision to determine the level of transparency that’s best for him, his business and his family, right? Not all of us are on the same page for how much transparency is appropriate.

For a brief moment, let’s think about these situations from a non-social media perspective. Would they have happened in a traditional, offline environment? I bet they would, but would have been handled differently. We understand business conduct and yet we are still trying to work out how social media best works for business when we all have a voice and the desire to be “real.”

Here’s the one way we could potentially look at the spectrum of outbound communications (I am basing these loosely on light transmission definitions since we are talking about transparency):

• Opaque – where most companies lie in the spectrum. One-way conversations (i.e. normal marketing/PR)
• Translucent – Forthright, not revealing all, but still two-way conversations. (Ex: a person can be very professional on Twitter, engaging, but still not discussing his/her personal life)
• Transparency – Crystal clear, real two-way conversations (you know about this person’s personal life, business experience, product/service they market/brand, etc.).

From a business perspective is being translucent okay when it comes to social media? Are we using the word transparency correctly? Do we need to know everything? Do we care or not care to know everything? Do you want to feel like you have a transparent relationship with a brand/company? What happens when transparency goes wrong? What works?

Who decides what the appropriate level of transparency is? Who makes the rules? The person, the company or the community in which they interact? Where are the boundaries?

Lots of questions here…

I’ve always wanted to use that for a post title! But to find out why, you’ll have to make a trip over to Communications Overtones…Kami Huyse’s and Lauren Vargas’ wonderful & insightful blog.

While Kami is taking time off to enjoy her new bundle of joy she’s ask Lauren, Shonali Burke ABC, Kellye Crane and me to guest post. Be sure to check ‘em all out! From stinging bees to sweating the small stuff to getting the message, there’re a lot of though provoking ideas and great conversation for sure!

As I am making my way through the web that is social media I have been quickly adding my name to Twitter, Plurk, del.icio.us, StumbleUpon, Digg, etc., After doing so for the past few weeks, I thought I should Google myself to see if I was appearing in a search [okay, okay, I admit it. I also wanted to see how I appeared on Goggle. I like Seth’s advice, what can I say?!].

On a recent Google search, I was skimming through the links and what do I see? A Beth Harte…and, as you can see, she ain’t me! She’s Beth Harte, Extreme Wrestling US Champion. Is this for real?!

Now there are two people competing for the same exact brand name. But it’s different because this is my name! It’s on my driver’s license, my tax return, my diplomas, and my blog! I am sure the other Beth Harte feels the same way…I mean being confused with a marketer might ruin her image. That is if she is even real [disclaimer: I am not, nor was I ever, an expert on the topic of pro wrestling].

How then does one brand oneself when they no longer have a unique identifier?

Here’s are some quick tips:

1. Change your unique identifier, even if slightly, it’ll help your search engine marketing (SEM).

   This is why David Meerman Scott goes by, well, exactly that. How do I know that? Because I watched his YouTube video and he told me. And that’s why I am now listed under the brand ‘The Harte of Marketing.’

2. Ultimately, in the social media groundswell, customers determine your brand—not you or your company.

   Before putting your name out there ask the following: Are you ready to turn over your brand? In the world people will respond to—and about―you quickly! Are you willing to invest the time into managing your brand? Are you open to feedback, even if very critical? Are you willing to say you’re sorry if when you find you’ve been rash or wrong in a response or a post? Are you willing to be permanent [i.e. you are forever on Google. I am finding things that I did in 2004 on Google!]?

3. Brand monitoring and reputation management is key―learn it. live it.

   Even industry expert Seth Godin has been a target of brand name exploitation.

4. Where can you go to manage your brand?

   Companies like Motive Quest, Nielsen BuzzMetrics, and Cymphony can help your company monitor their brand. But if you are a do-it-yourselfer or don’t have a budget, try one of these: Summize, Google Alerts/Blog Search, Technorati, and Blogpulse.

What tips can you offer on how you proactively manage your brand? What lessons have you learned?

Photo: Extreme Wrestling Corporation