Original Source:
Nonprofits Lead Academia and Corporations in Social Media Adoption, ImpactWatch
For the second year in a row, non-profits have adopted social media at a faster rate than corporations or academic institutions.
A new research study, “Still Setting the Pace in Social Media: The First Longitudinal Study of Usage by the Largest US Charities” compares organizational adoption of social media in 2007 and 2008 by the nation’s top 200 largest charities.
The study was conducted by Dr. Nora Ganim Barnes, Ph.D., Senior Fellow and Research Chair of the Society for New Communications Research and Chancellor Professor of Marketing at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth and Eric Mattson, CEO of Financial Insite Inc., a Seattle-based research firm.
The study reveals that:
- 57% of charities have blogs, compared to colleges/universities at 41%, Inc 500 corporations at 39% and only 16% of Fortune 500 Co.s blogging.
- 90% of charities feel that their blog is successful.
- Use of at least one form of social media has increased from 75 to 89% of respondents.
- Usage increased for all social media tools studied: 79% of charities are using both social networking and video blogging, up 38 and 47% respectively over a year.
- 66% of charity respondents conduct online media monitoring, compared to 54% of academic institutions and 60% of the Inc 500.
- Over 80 percent feel that social media is at least “somewhat important” to their future strategy; 45 percent responded that social media is very important to their fundraising strategy.
Tagged as:
Nonprofits,
Reports,
social media,
study
Source:
Using Social Media to “Socialize” Existing Marketing
Part of what a lot of companies are looking for in the social media space is to be able to integrate social media into their existing marketing efforts. Before this can happen the company really needs to understand what their current marketing efforts. I know this sounds intuitive but a lot of marketing is a “black box” for organizations and marketing “just is”. I’m working with a client on socializing their existing marketing and integrating social media into their existing marketing efforts. I thought I would create 2 off the cuff examples of how companies can “socialize” their current marketing:
Customer Purchase
Existing Marketing
Customer makes a purchase and at check-out receives a thank you email for purchasing from the company. Sometimes this can be followed with a discount for a future purchase or a reminder to purchase something else in the future.
Socialized Marketing
Customer makes a purchase and upon checkout is asked to join the company facebook fan page to receive special offers, promotions, sneak peak items, etc. In addition an email is sent to the customer with a link to the company twitter page should the customer have any questions or concerns with the product. The option to “tweet” the purchase is also given.
Visit to a website
Existing Marketing
Tagged as:
corporate marketing,
social media
by Traci Armstrong, Social Media: A Brand’s Best Friend Or Worst Enemy? (Three Minds On Digital Marketing @ Organic)
In mid-April 2009, two Domino’s pizza employees decided it would be funny to pull a little YouTube prank. One employee prepared sandwiches for delivery while putting cheese up his nose and blowing nasal mucus on the sandwiches – all while his co-worker provided up-close camera work and a play-by-play narrative. Within 24 hours, over a million people had viewed the video. The incident brought a whole new meaning to brand reputation “nose-dive”. Domino’s sales plunged overnight.
In mid-May 2009, Michael Silveira – a 22 year old lab technician who does not own a car, got fed up with receiving unsolicited phones calls to purchase an auto warranty. According to a Wall Street Journal article, Silveira decided to seek revenge on the auto-warranty company by leaving voice-message recordings of Rick Astley’s 1987 song “Never gonna give you up” – sort of an audio version of “RickRolling“. Silveira invited other disgruntled customers to join him in his crusade- by publicly posting phone numbers and addresses on various activist sites. The online mob resulted in overloaded phone lines, changed voice mail greetings and even arson threats for the Irvine, CA based warranty company, AutoOne.
FRIEND OR FOE?
Both of these powerful examples prove the new social media customer service formula: one outraged customer + two fast typing thumbs + 50 Twitter followers = a formula for corporate catastrophe. If there was ever a time for companies to step-up their customer service practice, that time is now.
Tagged as:
brand marketing,
corporate marketing
Source: Ignoring Social Media could be the worst business decision you ever make – Ecademy.
Some people thought that the telephone was a fad. The founder of IBM himself failed to see the long-term possibilities of the computer. Others believed that TV would never catch on and still others thought that email would never replace letters and postcards. There are also those who say that Social Media is just a phase, a passing trend that will be gone in a few years.
As a digital marketer, a web presence architect and an Internet professional who is deeply involved in creating and implementing Social Media strategies for my clients – a variety of businesses of all shapes and sizes – I see firsthand the variety of responses to this new Internet paradigm.
Some people are blissfully unaware of Social Media. Some are aware but are choosing to ignore it. And, at the opposite end of the spectrum, some people confess to be “dabbling”, or “doing a bit” and finally, some people – and some businesses – are completely embracing it, pushing out the frontiers and seeking to make the most of this phenomenon.
Unaware of Facebook? What planet…
Tagged as:
Marketing,
social media,
Strategy,
underdesign
