Interested in a Sales/Marketing Position? You’d Better Start Tweeting

Traditionally, companies promote sales by initiating one-way, and often persuasive messages to influence buyers’ purchasing decisions, but social media has destroyed the “one-to-many-communication” model. And because of that, if one wants to work in the field of sales and marketing, s/he must know how to communicate effectively on social media.

Well, many people have already been active on Facebook and Instagram. Isn’t it enough? Probably, at least they know how to “talk” as a customer. The challenge is B2C (business-to-consumer) communications are very different from C2B (consumer-to-business) and C2C (consumer-to-consumer) communications because everything posted on a company’s Facebook page or Instagram profile must reflect a brand’s or a company’s core value. Do you notice any differences between the Facebook messages posted on McDonald’s page and the ones on Chick-fil-A’s page?

A good sales/marketing manager must also know how to measure and document the ROI (return on investment) of a company’s effort on social media marketing. Very likely, most internet users do not even pay attention to how many friends they actually engage on social networking sites. If that’s the case, can they determine if a B2C communication strategy is working or not based on measurable outcomes?

Additionally, a good sales/marketing manager must go beyond Facebook and Instagram. At a minimum, s/he must also be active on LinkedIn and Twitter. According to the Wall Street Journal, Twitter now has over 230 million monthly active users. Some companies have already gained great success in promoting sales on Twitter. For a hotel, Twitter can be an “easy and inexpensive way to get in touch with its audience and to form community bonds.”  

If you still feel doubt about Twitter, let’s hope the following Bloomberg video will add some weight to my argument. In your opinions, what are the important skills that a sales/marketing manager should possess in the social media era? What can a candidate do to better prepare himself/herself for the challenges facing sales/marketing managers these days?


References:
The picture was downloaded from Guladigital.com.

The Basic of Digital Etiquette

If you are reading my blog now, you are probably also very active on Facebook, Twitter, and other social media websites.  Over the years, has anyone made you wonder if s/he needs training on digital etiquette?

It happened that Today’s Show also discussed this topic earlier. Let’s see if it is well-said. Here are some highlights:  

• “Unplug” completely during vacation.
• Do not over posting “food porn” unless the food is really special or in a special occasion. Also, do it when it does not bother others in the restaurant and the servers.
• Limit the number of hashtags --- there is not a set limit. Personally, I think it is good to have up to three hashtags for every post. Too many hashtags equal to no hashtag for me. For that being said, it is a idea to create a hashtag for a special event like a wedding for tracking.
• A written thank you note is always better than a thank you message on e-mail. 
• Just like daily conversations, too many update about a person’s political views, personal opinions, and his/her life might annoy other people.

I believe the basic of digital etiquette is simple --- be thoughtful to others. In this case, we need to keep in mind “WIIFM” (What’s In It For Me? Me = the audience). Sharing updates on social media is certainly important, but engaging with the audience is the key to develop a meaningful relationship.  

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

  

Relevant discussions: 

Etiquette for the New Age 

Social Media Etiquette for Business 

Dinner Etiquette 

New Dining Etiquette by Zagat 

Smart Phone Etiquette 

Mobile Etiquette on Vacation 

Mobile Etiquette 

Wedding Etiquette in the Age of Social Media 

Wedding Etiquette 

International Etiquette 

  

References:

The picture was downloaded from NBCNews.com

How Much Does “Popularity” Cost on Social Networking Sites?

Money cannot buy us true friendship in the real life, but can we buy fans or followers on social networking sites? Absolutely, and the price might be cheaper than expected.   

Eric Steuer reported the following price tags in Wired Magazine:

Facebook: 500 likes for $30 or 20,000 for $699 on Socialyup.com

Twitter: 1,000 followers for $10 or 1,000,000+ for $1,750 on FanMeNow.com

Pinterest: 100 followers for $15 or 5,000 for $95 on Pinfol.com

YouTube: 30,000 views for $150 or 1,000,000+ for $3,100 on 500views.com

I can certainly afford to pay $30 to make my Facebook page look better, but if I rarely engage the Facebook users on my page, how likely can I build a meaningful relationship with them? Without a meaningful relationship, can I create value for me and the Facebook users on my page? Probably not. That’s why I argued earlier that only the relationship built on engaging conversations can create value. Likewise, even though companies can buy thousands or millions of likes or followers, without engaging and meaningful conversations, company will not be able to convert the likes and followers into customers or sales.

What do you think of the act of purchasing fans or followers? Can we treat that behavior the same as cheating? If so, are the companies cheating the customers or potential investors? What suggestions will you provide to the companies who want to recruit (but not to buy) real fans and followers?

Relevant discussion:

How Much Is Your Tweet Worth? 

The Price Tag of “Like” on Facebook?

Can You Carry a Good Conversation? The Basic of Social Networking  

References:

Steuer, Eric. (2013, April). Best friends$: No matter what social network you’re on, you can buy your way to popularity. Wired, p. 32.

The picture was downloaded from MalaysiaFinance.Blogspot.com

Smart Marketing with Smartphones

Photo taken from www.glamour.com/

You’re waiting in the car at the gas station. You’re bored at the doctor’s office. You’re waiting for your professor to arrive to class. You’re at a party that’s lame. What do you do? 

You do exactly what everyone else does. You reach for your phone. You check your Facebook notifications, then you check the weather for tomorrow, next you see who won the big game.The list goes on. Anything you used to do on your PC, you now have the capability of doing on your smartphone. 

There are currently 4 billion phones in use, of these 1.08 billion are smartphones. 

How many applications do you have on your smartphone? How many do you think the average person has? And, what does it take for you to download a free App or spend money to buy an App? 

According to an article written back in 2009 on CNN Money, Apple employs 40 individuals to approve Apps for the App Store. Every week, approximately 8,500 applications are submitted to this team for approval. As of September 2012, 650,000 Apps were available on the App Store. 

Photo taken from www.thebreakfast.com

So, now that you have downloaded the Twitter, Facebook, Yelp and GoogleMaps you only have 56 more to go to reach the number of Apps the average person has downloaded. 

Restaurants, movie theaters, television shows, airline carriers, travel agencies, banks and retail stores are all utilizing SMS advertising and mobile applications to generate leads, traffic and add new customers. 

But, why are companies investing billions of dollars into this new platform of advertising?

Companies understand the ROI on the mobile movement. Nine out of ten smartphone searches results in an action. For instance, going to Starbucks because FourSquare offered you a coupon or going to the movies because you watched a trailer on your Fandango App or trying a new restaurant because you saw great reviews on Yelp. 

What are your favorite Apps you have downloaded or purchased? Which Apps do you use on a daily basis? And, what companies do you think are leading the mobile movement? 

Check out this video for a better understanding of the mobile movement. 

 References:

Costello, S. (2012). How Many Apps Are in the iPhone App Store. Retrieved from http://ipod.about.com/od/iphonesoftwareterms/qt/apps-in-app-store.htm

Elmer-DeWitt, P. (2009). 40 staffers. 2 reviews. 8,500 iPhone apps per week. Retrieved from http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2009/08/21/40-staffers-2-reviews-8500-iphone-apps-per-week

 Olenski, S. (2012). American Express Looks To Shake Up Mobile Advertising. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/marketshare/2012/06/05/american-express-looks-to-shake-up-mobile-advertising/

 Perez, S. (2011). App-ocalypse. Retrieved from http://techcrunch.com/2011/12/18/app-ocalypse/ 

Pham, D. (2011). Smartphone user study shows mobile movement under way. Retrieved from http://googlemobileads.blogspot.com/2011/04/smartphone-user-study-shows-mobile.html

Social Media in Mainland China – “bei hexie le”

What? Bei hexie le??? For your information, that is not a typo. In Mandarin Chinese, “bei hexie le” means “(something) has been harmonized.”

According to the Wall Street Journal report by Xiao Qiang and Perry Link, people in mainland China have to be very “creative” when communicating on the internet because the government is actively and heavily monitoring people’s conversation in the cyberspace. So, instead of posting “my wallet has been stolen” on the internet, one must use “wo bei hexie le” as a “synonymic but good” expression (translated into “I have been harmonized” for the bad accident happened to me). Otherwise, this kind of messages will be screened, and their voices will never be heard.

For a long time, I have known and accepted the fact that I cannot communicate with my family and friends in mainland China via social media. They have no access to Facebook, Twitter, or my blogs --- you can be the judge here and decide whether my blog is strictly business focus or promoting anti-China thoughts/activities.

Regardless, I have to admit that I am very impressed with the power of the Chinese government. How can it manage to literally cease the social media movement in a country of over 1.3 billion people? Can China continue to do so by stopping the social media movement in the history of human development? Very likely, China has the power to do that, but I wonder if such scrutiny on censorship will actually do more harm than good to the country and the Chinese citizens.

I am not a politician by any means, but I see social media as a very powerful communication tool for business. Business must actively engage with their customers and business partners on social media to stay competitive. Yes, there are times when people say negative things about the business, but social media is not about “controlling” or preventing what people talk about on the internet. Rather, business needs to take every feedback seriously and respond to the negative reviews in a professional way. Think positively, customers are providing the business an opportunity by providing negative feedback so that the business can address the issue before it becomes too big or too late.

Under the scrutiny on censorship in mainland China, my friends can occasionally jump over the firewalls and access their Facebook and Twitter accounts. There are two popular and so-called social media tools available in China --- Weibo, which is the only microblogging tool that is certified by the Chinese government, as well as WeChat, which is a mobile app for photo sharing, text messaging, and microblogging. I tried to sign up a Weibo account about a year ago. I was denied because I was using an e-mail address at Yahoo.com. I am now using WeChat to connect with my friends and family in China, but it does not seem like a real social-media tool to me because my friends cannot see any activities between my other connections and me. For example, they do not know if we have any shared connections or what I “like” or comment on WeChat; they cannot even join the conversation between my other friends and me on my wall (except the time when I initiate a group chat). Then, in what way can WeChat and Weibo help promote an international business?

There are advocates promoting a life-style with no texting, tweeting, or Facebooking. Maybe this group is exactly what the Chinese government is after.  

What do you think? Is the censor’s scrutiny helping the country and the people living there? Why or why not?

Other relevant discussions:

“SoLoMo” and Legislation

Starbucks and Pizza Huts: Time Has Come for a Rapid Expansion in Mainland China

The Biggest Challenge and the Hidden Opportunity of Entering the Chinese Market

Investing in Lodging Stocks in China

References:

Qiang, Xiao and Link Perry (2013, January 5-6). In China’s cyberspace, Dissent speaks code – What to escape the censor’s scrutiny? Call the regime a ‘heavenly dynasty.’ Just don’t get ‘happieness-ified.’ The Wall Street Journal, C3. Also available online on http://on.wsj.com/SqXeU0

The picture was downloaded from Geek.com.

We Are Being Analyzed on Twitter for Marketing Purposes

Most of us know that the Big Brother is watching us on social media. So, whether or not we want to be watched is out of the question. The debate turns to: To what extent should we be monitored? And more importantly, are we being watched for a good reason?

Twitter, for example, will soon allow advertisers to target users based on their “assumed” interests and hobbies, according to this Wall Street Journal video. Twitter is able to do that because it knows what users like by analyzing their tweets, favorite tweets, retweets, interactions with other users, keywords in Twitter search, the following list, and the follower list.  

In fact, other big players in the market like Google and Facebook have been running targeted ads for a while, but I still think this could be good news because marketers will have an additional medium to reach target customers --- users on Google+, Facebook, and Twitter are different in many ways in my opinions. Besides, this could an important move for Twitter before it announces the IPO (initial public offering).  

Today’s technology allows marketers to closely watch consumers about just everything, from body temperature, motions, and heartrates in a shopping trip, to their shopping routines. I am not sure if consumers are happy about that, but I believe many marketers are. Would you agree? 

The business implications of monitoring internet users’ online behaviors, however, can go beyond marketing. HR is another good example. Social media has become a very important tool in recruitment and employee selection. Hiring managers can now analyze a job candidate’s online presence before making an offer. If a job seeker does not know how to present himself/herself with 140 words or how to leverage the power of social media in job search, s/he would miss many good opportunities.

If you are a HR professional, how do you use technology in managing an organization’s human capital? If you are a job seeker, what tactics can you use in job search on social media?

Besides Marketing and HR, what other departments can use social media for their advantages? How?

References:
The Twitter logo was downloaded from https://twitter.com/logo

Social Media: Is It a Gift from Angel or Devil?

I keep hearing two distinguishing voices about social media. Some complain that social media has negative impact on individual users and the society as a whole because people can become very addicted to it and there is no sense of privacy in the cyber world. Others think highly about social media because people can use social media to promote business, find jobs, solve crimes, and remain connected with friends and family. Which school of thoughts makes sense to you?  
 

To me, they all make sound arguments. I see social media as a “neutral” tool. If people do not understand social media or fail to use it in an appropriate way, it could be very harmful. At the same time, social media can certainly become very useful, depending on how we use it.

The following news videos, for example, provide some great examples of how social media can make positive impact. As featured in the first, CBS news video, NextDoor is a new entrepreneurship venture that keeps people connected with their neighbors. On NextDoor.com, people can seek support from neighbors and remain informed of what is happening in the neighborhood without knocking on people’s doors. According to the second, MSNBC news video, police departments are relying more on social media, especially YouTube in solving crimes.

So, what is your opinion on social media? Is social media a good thing or a bad thing?

Relevant discussions:

Still Feeling Reluctant to Adopt a Social Media Strategy? Please Think Again

Yammer: Another Entrepreneurship Idea that Built on Social Media

Social Media for Entrepreneurs

The CBS News video about Nextdoor:

 The MSNBC News video about more police departments adopting social media in solving crimes:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

References: The picture was downloaded from TightMixBlog.com.

Newly Released Statistics: How Big Is Social Media Now?

It is no doubt that social media will be here to stay, but do you know how big social media has become? This MSNBC news video shares some updated statistics with us.

Twitter 

Sixty-seven percent (67%) NBA players are on Twitter. Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber, for example, have 26+ million and 23+ million followers respectively as of June 24, 2012, more than the population of Australia (22 million).

I (@LinchiKwok) have to admit that I like Twitter even more after I use it as a teaching tool in my social media class. Twitter makes it easier for me to communicate with students and other industry professionals. As a matter of fact, Twitter is also very helpful for travelers. When my flight was delayed due to a storm in May, I tweeted to @AmericanAir and got prompt responses and assistance. What a great testimonial for the power of Twitter complaints!

YouTube 

There are over three billion hours of YouTube videos being watched every month, 500 years of YouTube videos being watched on Facebook every day, and 700 YouTube videos being shared on Twitter every minute.

Facebook

About 80% of its monthly active users live outside of the U.S.A. Americans spend more time on Facebook than another other websites. Every day, there are over 300 million photos uploaded on Facebook.

LinkedIn 

There are 161 million active users. Every second, there are two new members signing up on this site.

Flickr

Users upload 2,500 images to Flickr every minute. Every day, there are more than 3 million images posted on the site.

We should all embrace new technologies and learn how to use social media for our advantages. Would you agree?

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

References:

The picture was downloaded from blog.mcf.org.