How many followers do you really have?
As my Twitter followers grow on both Beaming Bohemian and Shanna Bright, I am often fascinated by the follow-habits that seem to be prevalent among Twitter superstars. Just today, I was followed by a social media “guru” who previously followed me, and then once I followed back, promptly unfollowed me. He’s not the first Tweep to do this. Numerous folks engage in this behavior in an effort to boost their following. There is no genuine interest to find new connections. It’s a numbers game.
It makes me laugh for a few reasons. I love that someone can claim they have over a million followers, but when you look through their list, you see lots of hallow and spam accounts. And two, I laugh because I actually remember the people who practice this type of number boosting exercise. It’s not that I have an awesome memory, it’s my Twitter management style.
I do not have over a million followers, nor am I following thousands. But everyday, I take a moment to look through the people who are following me, determine if they are providing valuable, relevant content and if they are someone I want to follow back. I report and block hallow and spam accounts without hesitation. Sometimes, I don’t feel I need to follow certain accounts and will just place them on one of my Twitter lists, a terrific organizational tool. I make the effort to manage my account so that I know who I am associated with on Twitter. It is a more accurate circle of influence.
You can do the same. You can closely manage your account and have valid, useful and helpful contacts or you can simply work toward some unverifiable cool factor and let anyone and everyone follow you. For high school and college students and student-athletes, law or med students, and job hunters, it is in your best interest to monitor who you tweet with just as much as what you tweet. If you are following tweeps who post a lot of inappropriate content, you are associating yourself with that content and personality.
With the same motivation to manage your reputation, protect your brand against being linked to the wrong people. Take the time to weed through your account and build up a following of quality and image-appropriate accounts that reflect the core values of your brand. Tweet with and retweet content from good sources, not someone you are going to regret “knowing” when your coach, college or potential employer take a peek at your account.
Cubs Social Media Night
This is really cool. The Chicago Cubs have really embraced social media. On the 16th, they hosted their first “Social Media Night.” The event included a panel discussion and attendees were given a swag bag. A favorite item listed is the social baseball cards, special cards with Twitter handles.
The standout point in this article was what Public Relations and Marketing Specialist Kevin Saghy shared:
He also articulated the five point plan for how the Chicago Cubs use social media:
1. Deliver the core values of the Cubs
2. Get to know their key influencers
3. Listening and engaging
4. Offer something of real value to the fans
5. Financial benefit
Take another look at the first point – Deliver the core values of the Cubs. BINGO! That’s what successful brands do on a consistent basis. And notice how the last point listed was financial benefit. The Chicago Cubs have their act together. It will be fun to follow them and see how fans respond to the Social Media nights and continued opportunities for engagement.
Here’s the link to the article or you can read the full post here:
Chicago Cubs social media strategy articulated on social media night
By Paul M. Banks, Friday at 8:28 am
On Wednesday May 16th the Chicago Cubs hosted their inaugural Social Media Night. Fans who purchased tickets were invited to a pregame social media panel at Wrigley Field’s Captain Morgan Club. And by social media, we obviously mean the discussion was Twitter heavy.
The panel consisted of Chicago Bears kicker Robbie Gould (@RobbieGould09), (more on his night here) Cubs.com writer Carrie Muskat (@CarrieMuskat) and Cubs Public Relations and Marketing Specialist Kevin Saghy (@Cubs).
Each person was given a swag bag that included a Cubs “social media” t-shirt, a copy of Vine Line magazine, a teeny foam finger, a voucher for a hot dog and a multi-card set of Cubs “Social Media Series” baseball cards featuring Cub players that are on Twitter.
“We looked at a lot of other teams, what they do and how we could differentiate themselves. We wanted to do something really interactive, then do you a unique giveaway” Saghy said.
“That’s where the baseball cards came in. I’ve never seen a professional baseball team do the social media themed baseball cards. Our ticket office came up with that idea, and as a kicker we got a lot of them autographed. So everyone that came here today actually got an autographed card.”
Mine was Ian Stewart.
“It just kind of ties into our theme of we want to provide value for following us, we really do care about fans and it’s something that we take very seriously, and hopefully we were able to portray that today.”
Kevin said that he and his team read every single tweet and message they receive through Twitter, and they often respond.
He also articulated the five point plan for how the Chicago Cubs use social media:
1. Deliver the core values of the Cubs
2. Get to know their key influencers
3. Listening and engaging
4. Offer something of real value to the fans
5. Financial benefit
Carrie Muskat approaches social media from a professional, not a personal perspective as she’s a reporter for the Cubs and an employee of MLB. She said her main uses for Twitter are sharing team news and stories, following other Cubs reporters and blogs to get the latest team/player news and following current players who tweet. Her tweets appear on Cubs.com.
“Twitter has totally changed our jobs cuz it’s 24-7 now. Paul Maholm announced his signing on Twitter,” Muskat said.
The Cubs have seen increased Twitter volume since merging from @cubsinsider to @cubs.
“We reply to everything that we can, and we have a monitoring dashboard where we’ll able to summarize, qualitatively and quantitatively tweets and we can then we can go to our management team and say this event was really popular, or say this is the number of tweets we got for this campaign versus other campaigns,” said Saghy.
“We’re just getting much more sophisticated in our measurements basically.”
September 17th versus is the next Cubs Social Media night. A contest will be held, and one follower from the next event will get the chance to throw out the first pitch before that game.
Paul M. Banks is CEO of The Sports Bank.net, an official Google News site generating millions of unique visitors. He’s also a regular contributor to Chicago Now, Walter Football.com, Yardbarker, MSN and Fox Sports
A Fulbright scholar and MBA, Banks has appeared on live radio all over the world; and he’s a member of the Football Writers Association of America, U.S. Basketball Writers Association, and Society of Professional Journalists. The President of the United States follows him on Twitter (@Paul_M_BanksTSB) You should too.
When pressure builds, what do you tweet?
Running through my various lists of San Diego Sports Tweeps today, I came across this tweet from Bill Johnston, the PR Director for the San Diego Chargers.
Saying there's pressure on team to have great draft seems ridiculous considering we won't know results until year(s) down the road.
— Bill Johnston (@ChargersPRguy) April 25, 2012
I was a little surprised to see the PR Director tweet something so negative. Ridiculous? How is pressure for a great draft ridiculous? Or is it the fans who are ridiculous for putting the pressure on the team? I felt compelled to point this out to him. You can see here my response and his “save.”
@ChargersPRguy Ridiculous or just fanatical enthusiasm for a great @Chargers team/season in 2012? Fans can hope for a great draft. No?
— Shanna Bright (@shannabright) April 25, 2012
@shannabright Agree. Love it when people care. Just wanna WIN.
— Bill Johnston (@ChargersPRguy) April 25, 2012
This is a really great example of someone not taking that one extra moment to re-read a tweet before hitting the send button. With 6281+ followers, I suspect there are a few Chargers fans in the mix. Would Bill’s tweet have made a more positive impact had he posed a question?
“Who are you hoping the Chargers pick up in the NFL draft?”
Or could he have shed some light on the secret wishes of the players?
“The buzz in the locker room is that so-and-so is high on the wish list.”
To keep the communications in the positive zone, I responded with:
@ChargersPRguy We wanna WIN too! Do we know who fans are hoping for the most? What about the players? Very excited for the draft!
— Shanna Bright (@shannabright) April 25, 2012
Main point being, there was a good chance to engage fans and let them have a say, take a moment to interact. The comment/opinion from the PR Director only sets a stage for negative replies, as some might interpret him calling the fans ridiculous.
I’m all for being human and authentic, and certainly feel that even frustrations can be creatively vented online with a dash of humor and an open invite to comment. When you are a public figure, or sit in a position like the PR Director for a professional sports team, you really must remember that every time you post to Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest or elsewhere, you really have to give second thought to how your post will resonate with your audience. For someone in Bill’s position, he should be able to turn what seems like a personal frustration into a positive interaction with Chargers fans. Furthermore, and no less significant, when the PR Director for a sports team sends tweets out a bit haphazardly, what kind of example does that set for the players and FO staff?
How do you think Bill should have tweeted his pressure-filled comment? What examples have you seen where a negative sentiment or frustrating situation is turned into a positive moment where fans feel included? Thanks for sharing your links in the comments!
It’s an Issue of Trust
Perhaps you’ve seen the news peppered with stories about university athletic departments all geared up to monitor their student-athletes’ social media accounts. With several universities receiving media attention and NCAA infractions, it’s no wonder athletic departments are “scrambling” for solutions.
Without a proper education, there is no doubt that student-athletes are going to commit social faux pas online. Even coaches and athletic department staff have committed noticeable errors. However, the message that you send the moment you set up a monitoring system is, “We don’t trust you.” Your message to your players becomes, “We have the greatest faith in you on the field, but the moment you’re out of our sight, we don’t trust your actions or your judgement. We don’t trust that you know how to communicate or what to say. We don’t believe in you.”
Educating your players, on the court and in the office, prepares them to be successful communicators and builds trust between an organization and its team members. When you (re)educate your team – and I mean every staff member, coach and player – about your brand identity, the brand message and provide social media guidelines (methods for successful communication), you empower your people to serve as brand ambassadors. Enabling them with a better understanding of the various communication tools develops personal pride and a willingness to better serve your organization. Directors and Head Coaches serve as positive, capable examples and can better relate with staff and players about the events happening in the social stratosphere. A thorough education and open discussion can serve as a spring board for ideas which may be generated from the most unexpected sources.
Some universities have chosen to provide some level of social media education, but yet continue to employ monitoring services, “just in case.” That only sends mixed signals to the players, “We want you to learn how to use these tools and we want to help you improve your communication skills. But…we still don’t trust that you’ll be successful and remain worried you’ll say or do something stupid.” How else are these young adults to interpret this? How are they (and you) to learn from their mistakes?
ASU’s Michael Crow said at the NCAA Convention in January that the student-athlete experience is, in a sense, a leadership academy. In addition to creating opportunities for their players to become the best athletes they can be, the ASU athletic department staff and coaches offer “life coaching” to motivate their young men and women athletes to consider what they want their life to mean, what life goals they want to achieve and what they want to contribute to the world.
In a CBS video of several coaches weighing in on social media, it was Jim Christian at Texas Christian University who said, “As opposed to just restricting them, you know, sometimes they have to make bad decisions in order to learn. And I think that’s what college is all about.” And UNLV Basketball Head Coach, Dave Rice chimed in with, “I really believe in the importance of empowering student-athletes, making it a part of the education process and really using social media in a positive way.”
Universities, which are at their core, educational institutions, are far better off preparing their athletes for success versus assuming their failures and continually operating in crisis management mode. Educating your athletes about reputation management, personal branding and all the nifty details of social media, challenges them with responsibility and professionalism and a chance to rise to the occasion. At the end of the day, that IS what college is all about and a sure method for creating an environment of trust and empowerment while paving a path for tomorrow’s leaders.
Through Beaming Bohemian’s branding and social media education, including the development of social media guidelines, you can change your tune and deliver the message of trust to your student-athletes. Investing in this education is a uniquely positive approach which delivers the message, “We believe that you are amazing individuals who have a unique ability to inspire others through your leadership. We believe you are just as talented off the field as you are on the court. As a student-athlete, you have a more visible platform for story telling and brand development. We trust that you respect yourself, your teammates, your coaches, fellow students and members of the community. We believe in you and we are excited for you to share your story with the world.”
Media Sources
Maryland Bill Addresses College Athletes’ Social Media Privacy via The New York Times
Supreme Court to schools: Take care with First Amendment via LA Times
Athletic departments get free rein with social media via Minnesota Daily
UNC, NCAA Address Monitoring Athletes On Social Media via WFMY News (CBS)
Schools scramble to monitor athletes’ social-media activities after NCAA ruling via philly.com
NCAA: No plans to police Twitter via Missoulian
Redskins Need a Lesson in Branding
If you follow the #smsports feed on Twitter, you may have caught the discussions about Tim Tebow’s move from the Denver Broncos to the NY Jets during the NFL trades. You may also have caught some buzz about a particular tweet that appeared on the @Redskins feed today. The tweet that started the discussions began with a comment about Tebow’s move:
[blackbirdpie url=”https://twitter.com/#!/Redskins/status/182526346185015296″]
Was that the view of the team? Everyone who works for the Redskins agreed that it was an awkward fit? Collective opinion? Most of us could see that it was not the Redskins organization that held that opinion, but the person in charge of the Twitter account, Gary Fitzgerald. So when @dcsportsblog called him out on the comment, the Redskins feed posted:
[blackbirdpie url=”https://twitter.com/#!/Redskins/status/182531179784847360″]
And that was exactly the point. Just an opinion. On a corporate, team or business Twitter account, personal opinions of the tweeter have no place in the feed. This echoes the GM scandal awhile back when an employee made a nasty comment about the driving capabilities of his fellow citizens, a tweet which appeared to be from GM itself. Major hiccup which led to the firing of the employee who tweeted the statement.
Those of us who were chatting about the Redskins comments agreed that the team had not only misstepped by tweeting a personal opinion as representation of the view of the organization, but also really missed an opportunity to bring their 93k fans into the conversation. Instead of letting Gary tweet his personal opinions (which weren’t even positive), why not stimulate conversation with a simple question, “What do you think about Tim Tebow’s move to the Jets?” Redskins fans react, discuss and grow affinity for their own team and the Redskins positively impact engagement. Win.
It was clear that Gary picked up our tweets, as we all made sure to include the @Redskins handle in most of our conversations. A few hours later, this comment appeared:
[blackbirdpie url=”https://twitter.com/#!/Redskins/status/182569952820211713″]
Again, a misguided employee tweets something inappropriate for the brand. The Redskins need to yank that computer away from Gary Fitzgerald and let him understand that he needs to stop injecting Redskins communication with his own personality. The above tweets were not edgy, informative nor entertaining. The Redskins allowed the person in charge of Twitter to share his personal opinions as though they were the opinions of the team and everyone within the Redskins organization.
What is clear, then is that the Redskins have lost their grip on their brand’s core values. They do not have a clear brand message and certainly, they have no social media guidelines for employees to follow. It looks like Gary runs redskins.com, which also makes me question who they’ve assigned to communicate their brand messaging. Is the webmaster the right person to manage the Twitter feed? What value does the Redskins organization place on social media if they just toss the duties to the web department? Why not hire a branding, marketing or communications professional?
More important than the lack of internal organization and training, the Redskins simply don’t understand that Twitter provides more than a forum for information and entertainment. They could have used the Tebow news to their advantage to spark dialogue with fans, and shed some positive light on their brand. Sure, they would have been talking about Tim Tebow and the Jets and possibly even Denver and Manning, but they would have engaged their fans on the topic of football during a crucial time in the off-season. There were so many opportunities missed here, mistakes made, and that’s why their comments came into focus – for all the wrong reasons.
My course of action for the Redskins?
1. Do an organization-wide branding exercise so all employees are aware of the brand’s identity and messge
2. With all employees, players and coaches, provide social media education and training
3. Consult with the marketing and communications staff to integrate social media throughout their marketing and business plans.
4. Reassign the Twitter responsibilities to someone who understands that they speak for the brand, and that every letter they type needs to be in-line with brand messaging. “Just an opinion” is never something we should see from a brand like the Redskins.
There’s a problem with your Google+ profile
That was the lovely message I saw when I logged onto Google+ this morning. Let me start by saying that I don’t actually visit my Google+ accounts everyday. If the darn thing were integrated into my Hootsuite, then I would post a lot more often. Just as Google built Google+ as an afterthought, so is my interaction on the site. I have to actually remind myself to visit, post, red and interact.
So when I do login and see this notice, I grow a little less patient with the site.
There’s a problem with your Google+ profile
It appears that the name you entered does not comply with the Google+ Names Policy.
The Names Policy requires that you use the name that you are commonly referred to in real life in your profile. Nicknames, previous names, and so on, should be entered in the Other Names section of the profile. Profiles are limited to individuals; use Google+ Pages for businesses and other entities.
If you do not edit your name to comply with the Names Policy or appeal with additional information by March 21, 2012, your profile will be suspended: you will not be able to make full use of Google services that require an active profile, such as Google+, Buzz, Reader, and Picasa. This will not prevent you from using other Google services, like Gmail.
We understand that Google+ and its Names Policy may not be for everyone at this time. We’d be sad to see you go, but if you do choose to leave, make a copy of your Google+ data first. Then, click here to disable Google+.
Umm. Ok? So do you want me to verify my name, or do you want me to leave? You seem awfully eager for me to disable my account. Hmm. Well, I’ll go ahead and appeal the flagging of my name, as that is my name, it’s what everyone calls me and I simply refuse to add my middle name to the mix to make this fully legal.
When I clicked the appeal link, this message popped up:
Your profile is being reviewed
Thank you for submitting your profile for review. Your profile will be reviewed again to see if it complies with our Names Policy. Reviews are usually completed within a few days. In the meantime, you have full access to Google+ and all other Google services.
If the review is successful, this message will disappear and you can continue using Google+. Otherwise, you’ll be informed that the review was unsuccessful and provided with further instructions.
We’re sorry for the inconvenience.
We understand that Google+ and its Names Policy may not be for everyone at this time. We’d be sad to see you go, but if you do choose to leave, make a copy of your Google+ data first. Then, click here to disable Google+.
The only part of that message that is right on the money is this: We understand that Google+ and its Names Policy may not be for everyone at this time. I’m certainly not digging it! And again, what’s with the encouragement to see me go?
I was a bit frustrated with these two messages, and posted publicly to Google+:
Hey Google+ – What’s up? My real name isn’t good enough for you? You may suspend my account? You state at the end of your explanation that “our Name Policy may not be for everyone at this time.” Also that I am welcome to leave Google+? I may take you up on your suggestion if you don’t find my real and commonly used name a fit for your policy. Absolutely ridiculous!!!!!
Apparently, others have had issues to and lent some empathy. Finally, a Google engineer chimed in:
Yonatan Zunger – Hrm, seems like a false positive to me. Will check.
That makes me feel sooo much better! So, I thoughtfully crafted this response:
Shanna Bright – +Yonatan Zunger Since you are with Google, may I suggest that you warm up the communications to your users. This paragraph:
We understand that Google+ and its Names Policy may not be for everyone at this time. We’d be sad to see you go, but if you do choose to leave, make a copy of your Google+ data first. Then, click here to disable Google+.
…comes across as a suggestion to leave. Telling users that you/they are not a good fit comes across as a suggestion to leave. I’m already finding it difficult to make time to update my Google+ as I do not have Hootsuite integration….so Google+ is an afterthought in my social networking activity. When I do log on and find that I’m not considered “real” or “acceptable” or that I don’t fit policy… or now that I’m a false positive… it makes me even less enthusiastic to participate. There is much friendlier language that could be used which would not alienate your current users. Example?
Hey Shanna Bright! Your name is so unique, our computers think it might not be real. Can you click here and help us verify your name for us. If this is your nickname, that’s cool, but we need to list your profile name as the name you are commonly referred to. You nickname can now be entered here…
Something along those lines….. See what I mean?
While I did not receive a response to my suggestion, I was delighted that my good name was finally cleared:
Yonatan Zunger – +Shanna Bright We cleared the bit and you should be OK now. I’m sorry about that message — you got the “we’re pretty sure you’re a spammer / spambot” message. We’re tracking down why these false positives happened in the first place now; this shouldn’t have happened.
To which I replied:
Shanna Bright – +Yonatan Zunger Thank you for looking into this and for clearing my name. I’m glad to be considered a human again and not a spambot. I hope my profile doesn’t trigger any false positives in the future. Please do consider submitting my suggestion for brand communication style changes. Thank you – SB
At the end of this experience with Google, I feel a bit beaten up. I don’t feel valued, I don’t feel human and it seems my suggestion for warming up their communications fell of deaf ears. But really…what a missed opportunity to positively interact with your users and inject your brand identity and core values into the conversation. Definitely does nothing to welcome me back to the site and rev up my interaction levels.
This is really something to consider though. Your brand identity needs to be stamped in every communication from your company or personal accounts. This means your invoices, error messages, receipts, tweets, updates, posts… everything. Because one little slip – like a stupid little false positive name issue – leaves an impression with your clients. They interpret these messages as part of your brand values. In this case, Google leaves me with the “cold shoulder” impression. Not once was a “thank you,” “we appreciate you,” or even “good idea” remarked. Google+ missed the opportunity to make me a fan. Instead, the network will remain nothing but an afterthought.
MINI Mistake
I was at my parents’ house when they asked me if I had heard about MINI’s massive recall. Actually, I hadn’t caught the news, hadn’t received an e-mail from MINI nor did I catch it in any of my social media feeds.
When I got home, I easily found an article about the recall: CLICK HERE
I combed through my e-mails just to make sure that I didn’t miss something or that the significant letter didn’t land in spamville. Curiously, nothing. I started to get a little worried. So I went hunting online to see what I could find.
On the MINI USA twitter feed, there was ONE tweet that addressed the issue, dated January 18th:
MINI issued a recall for the Electric Auxiliary Coolant Pump on some 2007-2011 models. Customers with questions can contact 1-866-ASK-MINI.
— MINI USA (@MINIUSA) January 18, 2012
I couldn’t understand why MINI was addressing owners after the news had been posted. I couldn’t find anything on the website and I imagined that the phone lines would be tied up. So I tweeted to MINI hoping for some information:
@MINIUSA In addition to the 1-866-ASK-MINI line, is there a site we can visit to see if our model is affected by recall? #minirecall
— Shanna Bright (@shannabright) January 23, 2012
Much to my surprise, I received a call from MINI about 20 minutes later. They received my tweet, looked my name up and contacted me. The woman on the phone told me that it looked my vehicle would be affected and that they were collecting their information before they sent out letter to owners affected by the recall. I gave her two suggestions:
1. Put up a page on the website where owners could enter their VIN number to see if their car was affected. If the VIN number was a hit, let them know that an e-mail or official letter would be forthcoming.
2. Send out an e-mail, a letter or post a message on the website acknowledging the recall and letting MINI owners know that correspondence would be arriving soon.
I explained that MINI owners shouldn’t have to learn through third parties that their cars may be a part of a massive recall. That new should have come directly from MINI, well before it went public.
I did give MINI a shoutout for responding to my tweet with a phone call:
Cheers to @MINIUSA. They responded to my tweet ? about recall with a phone call to provide info. Thank you. #custserv #MINI
— Shanna Bright (@shannabright) January 23, 2012
Today, February 22, I finally received the “official” letter in the form of an e-mail from MINI of San Diego, where I got my car. It said:
…..
Attention all MINI “S” model owners only
Your vehicle may be involved in a product part update for your auxiliary water pump. Please reply to this email with:
–Your Name – and if possible the last 7 of your vehicle identification number [located on the driver’s side lower windshield corner]
please email Terry Zito at: [email protected]
…..
And so I responded with the appropriate information and received another e-mail which said only:
…..
NO OPEN CAMPAIGNS
VIN #######
Your vehicle has no open recalls per MINI data base and OR is equipped with the updated part.
Thank you again for your business
…..
And that was it. No “Dear Shanna” no signature, no personalization or possibility to exceed my expectations. So I decided to call the ASK MINI number which was previously tweeted. A man answered this time and I explained the chain of events. I told him that I was confused because the woman I spoke with previously had told me that “it looks like your vehicle is affected.” He asked me who I spoke with (the one time I didn’t actually jot down a name!) because there was “no record of the call” and that my vehicle VIN number was definitely not part of the recall. He then asked me, “How many miles do you have on your vehicle?” And when I told him, he said, “That’s about the same you told us in the last call.” So I told him, “When I called MINI the last time, that was the first time I called. And the woman I spoke with also asked me for the mileage on my car. So if that is the case, how do you know that that was the mileage I reported in the last call if you have no record of my phone call?” He was clearly embarrassed and then made the excuse that he was confused. I ended by telling him that the communication from MINI has been less than stellar, and that as a MINI owner, I simply want to understand if my car has been affected. I also explained that I am not the one who should have to seek out the information, but that MINI should be overly accommodating and make it as easy as possible for owners to get information.
As much as I love my MINI, this episode was thoroughly disappointing. Not only did they not deliver what they promise, but the lack of communication and the strange manner in which they quietly handled this… it’s just not in-line with their brand. It’s a good lesson for other brands. Sometimes things happen that are unfortunate. Sometimes mistakes happen. But if you are a solid brand, you own up to it, and take responsibility for the situation. You can actually take advantage of the situation to deliver your core values and strengthen your brand.
Have you ever had an experience where a brand that you love falls short of your expectations? How did your opinion of that brand change?
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