July 9, 2012

Social Media Masterclass

Listening In

CHRISTINE ZAKRAJSEK

columnist

For our first real world experiment in Social Media Masterclass, let’s do something that we would probably never want to do. However, doing it via Twitter makes it seem so right. Let’s listen to folks talking about us. Before we go much further, please keep in mind that just because someone says something about you it doesn’t mean you have to acknowledge it. So, please, no picking fights. Your momma raised you better than that.

Your Brand

Using whichever Twitter client that you choose (for illustrative purposes, I’ll be using HootSuite), go ahead and create a new stream of information. This stream will need to filter tweets based on a keyword. The keyword you will want to choose is your “brand name” and its most commonly used short forms.

The whole point of filtering the content for your brand name is to be able to see what people are saying about your brand even if they don’t use your Twitter handle in the conversation.

Example:
JonesContracting is making a lot of noise on Front Street.
This tweet will show up in your keyword search for ‘JonesContracting’.
@JonesContracting is making a lot of noise on Front Street. This tweet will show up at a mention on Twitter and in your keyword search.

Hashtags #

Hashtags are a way to self-identify your tweets with a particular topic. If you’re participating in an event or hosting your own event, you can create a hashtag and distribute it among the event participants so that they may converse with each other about the event via Twitter.

Example:
JonesContracting is having their Annual General Meeting on Tuesday. #jonesagm

You can now create a search stream for this particular hashtag using the keyword search method to surface tweets about this subject.

The hashtag for Social Media Masterclass is #rcdmasterclass. Go ahead and introduce yourself to the class with a tweet using this hashtag.

Hashtags are particularly helpful during Twitter chats where a moderator tosses a question out and anyone following the hashtag can respond. Twitter chats can be a lot of fun and very informative. But be warned, the conversation goes by pretty fast!

Employees

Depending on who you talk to, your employees either are the real voice of your brand or the real REAL voice of your brand. So, if they are talking, shouldn’t you be listening? If the purpose of your corporate social media is to fully engage in your business ecosystem, who is more worthy of engagement than your own people? Also, if you want to highlight the great people who are part of your team, these are the folks who can tell the story in their own words. So why not start a list of your people and when you see they are doing great stuff? If they have a bad day, make sure they know you are wishing them well. If your people celebrate a milestone (new baby, new house, topping out) spread the word!

To create a list:

• Click on ‘Add Stream+’ then click on ‘Lists’.

• Select the appropriate profile that you want associated with this list.

• Click on ‘Create a new list’ and give it a name.

• You can decide if the list is public or private.

Now, when you see someone in your ‘Home Feed’ that is one of your employees you can click on their icon and drag it into your new list. Or, if you know someone is on Twitter, you can search for their username and then view the possibilities in the users tab in the search results box. To add a selected user to your list click on ‘Add to List’ and choose the appropriate list.

Cyber Stalking is Not Allowed

If your corporate culture is such that reading other people’s benign online horseplay and innocuous frustrations can result in human resources or management action — do not follow your people on Twitter. In my very frank opinion, your people probably deserve much better from their employer than being cyber-stalked and reported on Big Brother style. Either engage with your people with class and dignity or leave them alone.

Partners and Clients

Using the same list and search method in ‘Your People’, go ahead and do the same thing for you business partners and clients. Again, these are the folks that you work with on a daily basis so if they are posting great information (or some troubling accusations) deal with it politely and respectfully.

Yes, It Is All About You

In the concentric circles of web engagement, your brand, your employees and your partners and clients are where you need to focus your initial efforts and setting up lists and searches can help significantly. Try paying attention to just these streams of information for a week to gain a deeper understanding of what your business ecosystem thinks of you when you’re not around.

Social Media Masterclass is a collaborative initiative developed by Reed Construction Data and EllisDon. Christine Zakrajsek is EllisDon’s social media manager. Social Media Masterclass appears every Monday in the Daily Commercial News and the Journal of Commerce. Please send any emails to editor@dailycommercialnews.com or editor@journalofcommerce.com

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