When it comes to PR and managing the reputation of the brand, it’s important to be proactive by setting the proper systems in place.  The Social Media Gatekeeper System is a great way to keep social media managed and under the guidance of the organization.  It’s a preventative measure, should employees who initially set up social sites leave the company unexpectedly.

Here’s my video with information on the Gatekeeper system.  Hope your Gatekeeper System is in place, so that you are managing social communications properly within your company.

The more you work with your brand to create engagement opportunities on the different social platforms, you will see some common threads where information is shared in both places.  However, the more you get to know the platforms, you’ll see there is a divide between the activities on Twitter and the activities on Facebook. Brands must learn how to make each community experience different, to accommodate the needs of the members, to respect the community culture and implement the best collaboration practices.  In some cases you will have different people interacting with you and in other cases, loyal brand enthusiasts may want to engage with your brand in more than one place. For that very reason, there are some simple ways to differentiate and give your consumers a reason to interact with you in both of these communities.

A good approach to engagement on Twitter includes:

• Sharing newsworthy information related to your brand that interests the community – keeping community members updated about the brand’s activities
• Linking to content that’s not only interesting, but also has the potential to go viral (this may or may not be directly related to your brand)
• Recognizing and thanking customers, bloggers, media and other stakeholders for sharing your brand information and activities
• Engaging in conversations to help people by answering questions, addressing concerns and aiding consumers in the decision-making process
• Promoting your own community members’ content including their articles, blog posts, videos, podcasts, etc., which helps to build stronger and mutually beneficial relationships
• Sharing special offers and discounts by offering links directly to those promotions
• Engaging with influencers/bloggers and building new relationships that lead to increased awareness and coverage/endorsement of your brand
• Finding journalists who are actively tweeting to stay abreast of what they follow, in order to better understand their interests
• Creating fun or entertaining content to share with your community
• Creating virtual events/Twitter chat sessions through hashtag discussions
• Identifying and addressing PR and reputation issues in real time

A good approach to engagement on Facebook includes:

• Sharing exclusive promotions and information about partner programs
• Engaging directly with a community to spark passion and action with different groups including your consumers, bloggers and other constituents
• Creating an engaging environment where consumers interact with the brand and their peers, from “likes” and comments on wall posts to how many times people take advantage of a special offers/discounts (tracking from click to conversion) and participate in contests
• Driving traffic from your brand fan page to additional information on the company’s website
• Creating unique interactive content that you really can’t find in your other networks
• Building  a community where consumers can engage with the brand in fun activities through Facebook applications
• Using Facebook as brand stream to maximize the brand’s presence through status updates
• Addressing customer service questions and issues in real time
• Developing a research platform where the brand can study behavioral patterns to build an even stronger community of active fans and brand champions

Of course there are many more uses for both Twitter and Facebook. But, because time and resources are limited, it’s really important to identify what works the best so that you can interest your community members and keep them engaged with your brand (from awareness to brand advocacy). I look forward to hearing how you are engaging on Facebook and Twitter, and what’s working best on each platform.

On Wednesday, December 15, 2010 at 8:30 p.m. the #PRStudChat community gathers for our Holiday chat session, the 12 Gifts of #PRStudChat.  We’ll ask our community how each of the 12 gifts below have helped them during 2010 (at the same time recognizing those special people who help to deliver these gifts to us all year round):

Gift #12: Creativity. What inspires you? When/where/how do you do your best brainstorming?

Gift #11: Curiosity. What do you want to learn more about in 2011?

Gift #10: Organization. What tips do you have for staying organized?

Gift #9: Fun. How do you find fun in your job?

Gift #8: Time.  What are your top secrets for time management/ multi-tasking?

Gift #7: Friendship. Can friendships emerge from professional relationships? How?

Gift #6: Opportunity. How do you create and make the most of opportunities (biz or personal)?

Gift #5: Listening. How do you become skilled at listening?

Gift #4: Learning. Where do you find learning opportunities?

Gift #3: Trust. Who do you trust? How do you build trust online?

Gift #2: Leadership. What are the most important traits in a leader?

Gift #1: Community. What makes an individual a valuable member of the community?

As a special gift to the community, our #PRStudChat sponsor that night, SWAGG, will offer one lucky student a $200 scholarship toward their education. SWAGG joins us on Wednesday, and is in the process of rolling out a mobile app during the month of December helping to simplify holiday shopping.

The free app lets friends give and receive gift cards from their smart phones as well as digitally keep track of gift cards, rewards and loyalty cards, cutting down on old-school plastic — relevant considering 60 percent of Americans will ask for gift cards this year (National Retail Federation).

In addition, SWAGG is giving back through its partnership with Stand Up to Cancer. Every time the app is downloaded either on Android or iPhone between now and Dec. 31, 2011, SWAGG will donate $1 per registration to Stand Up to Cancer, up to $125,000.  You can find SWAGG on twitter @swaggmobile and on Facebook.

We’re excited for our Holiday chat and the scholarship offering. During the session, we will be posting a question to the #PRStudChat blog.  Students who answer the question will be a part of a random selection process, with one lucky student to be awarded the SWAGG Scholarship!

We hope you will join us on the night of December 15^th and help us to celebrate the 12 gifts of #PRStudchat.

Because it’s the season to give, I want make sure all of my friends know about the 2010 Holiday Tweet Drive.  If you haven’t heard about Tweet Drive, it’s a wonderful cause. Tweet Drive is a nation-wide toy/clothing drive that uses social media to give back to children who are less fortunate and to spread some Holiday cheer along the way! What makes Tweet Drive different than some of the other tweet ups is there’s no admission fee. Rather than paying a small entrance fee, Tweet Drive asks that you donate a new toy or new article of clothing.  Every donation goes to a local shelter or charity from the city where the Tweet Drive takes place.

According to Harrison Kratz, the creator of Tweet Drive, “The fact that in just 7 short weeks, so many people have come together for this cause is truly amazing.  It not only shows the kindness in people and a widespread holiday spirit, but it also shows the good that social mediums such as Twitter can do.  It brings us together in ways that we could not have thought imaginable.”

When Harrison first told me about TweetDrive, it was forming in a few major cities including New York City, Chicago and Philadelphia.  Looking at the schedule today, the movement has penetrated many more cities, with numerous events being held this December.  It’s not too late to participate in a city near you.

Here’s the most updated Tweet Drive schedule for upcoming events:

Date                            City                            Location                    Twitter Handle

Events to date have included:

Date                           City                            Location                   Twitter Handle

I must disclose that Harrison is my co-host on PRStudCast, our podcast series that kicked off last month on the #PRStudChat blog. Regardless of my affiliation with Harrison, he’s been working diligently on this large Holiday TweetDrive project, joined by many of his peers.  The 2010 Holiday TweetDrive is a great initiative and I hope you will join us in our effort to help children by donating to shelters around the country!  If you need more information feel free to contact Harrison at harrison.kratz@kratzpr.com about the events and how to get involved in your city.  And, if you’re in the NYC area, then I hope to see you at the Dec. 21^st event!

The past few years have been revolutionary for PR and communications.  We’ve seen changes in our approach and in new technologies that allow us to share, collaborate and connect directly with our constituents.  For me, 2011 will be a year to dig in, making sure that our organizations have embraced the changes and are better prepared to deal with new ways of sharing communication, with the ability to monitor conversations as they occur.

One critical area, which demands attention, and where we should dig in more, focuses on monitoring and maintaining a record of social media conversations.  Now, many organizations may feel that this is only reserved to those companies that have to adhere to Public Record laws, such as healthcare companies.  However, reading an article called “Tools to Help Companies Manage Their Social Media,” in The New York Times, makes me think otherwise.  The article discusses how, “if three years from now somebody comes and says, ‘I need every Facebook post, every tweet …’”  Are you prepared to accommodate this request?

It wouldn’t surprise me if, in most cases, you said, “no, we don’t have that data archived,” or “well, let me see if my monitoring platform can pull together that information from the past.”  These are not the answers that your legal team wants to hear, should the company be facing a lawsuit regarding specific content posted on one of your social networking sites.  It’s better to be prepared and to understand the access that you have to archiving and/or the limitations before the legal team inquires.

The article is our wake up call and being in communications and a part of the reputation management team, we have to make it our business to have certain technologies in place.  If we are the team that guides strategic communication, curates the content and is responsible for monitoring the results of the social outreach and the sharing of information, then we have to have a better answer in place.

When you are in your strategy and planning phase and you know exactly where the employees of your company will be communicating on social sites, then you need to make sure you select the proper monitoring and tracking platforms; ones that will allow you to archive at certain intervals.  I just recently learned that one of our clients platforms will archive (by PDF) up to 175 posts and 1,000 comments on their Facebook wall, before we have to pay additional fees to upgrade our package.  Ask now to protect the brand later.

Based on this article, I think we will see some sophisticated archiving tools in the future that will help us to manage the communications better and to feel prepared to furnish the “can I have the last three months of posts and comments” request with ease and with speed!

There are a lot of great technology partners.  You need to roll up your sleeves and test several of these platforms to see which one meets the needs of your programs or the needs of different clients.  My video addresses a few of the questions that you should have in mind as you are selecting your monitoring and measurement technology partners.

A quick disclosure, the companies that I mention are the companies that I’m using for clients.  I mention them because they provide good platforms and good service not because they ask me to blog about them

Finally, we’re ready to announce the winner of the #PRStudChat Challenge.  The two finalists were:

Finalist #1: Karen Russell, PR Professor at the University of Georgia. Editor of the Journal of Public Relations Research. Karen’s collaborative lit review: http://bit.ly/9aT851 group SM book review: http://bit.ly/bW0l9Q offered a great example of the use of collaborative learning techniques in the classroom

and,

Finalist #2: Barbara Nixon, Assistant Professor, Southeastern University; Adjunct professor, Georgia Southern University. Barbara’s blog posts / assignments for #PRCA3030 (Social Media for PR) from Spring 2010 http://bit.ly/a4kZcW including a final project for which students had the option of creating their own Social Media Resume or writing a Social Media Policy for a client organization, gave students an opportunity to get experience that will directly impact their professional success.

Although both professors had excellent submissions, the winner of our challenge is:

(Drum Roll…….)

Winner: Barbara Nixon

Congratulations Barbara!  Here are your prizes:

• A Skype visit with your class by the co-founders of #PRStudChat.
• An interview with Barbara or the student of her choice on the new PRStudChat Podcast Series with co-hosts, Harrison Kratz (@KratzPR) and Ashley Funderburk (@amfunderburk1).
• An interview in the Examiner with @ValerieSimon about the winning project and social media in the classroom.
• A guest blog post on PR 2.0 Strategies and/or the PRStudChat Blog.
• The choice of one of the following books from Amazon (courtesy of Mango! Marketing):
  • The Mirror Test by Jeffrey Hazlett and Jim Eber
  • Social Media Metrics: How to Measure and Optimize Your Marketing Investement by David Meerman Scott and Jim Stern
  • Socialnomics: How Social Media Transforms the Way We Live and Do Business by Erik Qualman
  • The Networked Non-Profit: Connecting with Social Media to Drive Change by Beth Kanter, Allison Fine, Randi Zuckerberg
  • Facebook Marketing: Designing Your Next Marketing Campaign by Justin Levy

We want to thank all of the professors and students who participated in the October #PRStudChat challenge.  We hope you will all help us to congratulate Barbara on being our winner.  Great job Barbara!

New York City has some of the best venues to host a networking event.  Find a cool location and combine with an interesting topic (Beauty 2.0) and what do you have?  The  makings of a really creative and collaborative night.  That’s exactly what happened on Tuesday, November 9^th. Beauty industry professionals, media and bloggers met at CultureFix in SoHo to discuss and share ideas about the beauty industry landscape and social media communications.  The program was organized by @myskininc, a resource for unbiased skincare advice. From the funky atmosphere, unique artwork and a great group of people who were eager to talk social media, I thought the night was a success.

I spoke for about 15 to 20 minutes on PR 2.0 and how to put the Pubic the Public Back in Public Relations.  When I arrived at the event, I immediately noticed that one piece of art hanging on the gallery wall was a black canvas and in cut out letters were two words, “Serious Business.”  The perfect start to a discussion on social media.  I asked a volunteer from the group to stand up and to say the words on the canvas after I said, “Social Media is….” And she said, “Serious Business.”  We started out on the ROI topic and ended there as well.  As much as the discussion covered a lot of ground, I wanted to share one of my favorite questions that night.   The question was, “What should I look for in an agency, if I need social media help and how should they be advising me, or should I do it in-house?”

Because social media is serious business…my best advice for any brand, large, medium or small is to work with an agency that understands your needs, why you want to participate in social media communications (what are you trying to achieve through social outreach and engagement) and clearly works with you to maximize the resources you have in-house.  An agency is an extension of your communications department, and, therefore, should not be draining on your time or your budget.  Agencies should enhance and support your efforts.

A lot of the initial work in social media begins with your monitoring or listening strategy (and it will continue for as long as you communicate through social channels).  Your agency should start with an exercise to identify exactly where and why you should engage based on the conversations going on in different social networks.  A full audit, using keywords, should be conducted, so that your brand knows: if it’s already being discussed, if you are capturing any share of voice as compared to your competitors and to get a good snapshot of your brand sentiment. Many are surprised to learn that the conversations are already going on; whether it’s your customers, partners or even employees in your company who are chatting about you. You’d be surprised at the number of mentions, even before you start your official participation.

In other cases, there may be no conversations that mention your brand, products or services, but your keywords will uncover related conversations regarding your industry. It’s important to key into these conversations and watch them for opportunities to participate.  Engagement in the right place, with the right people, can lead to thought leadership, brand awareness, stronger relationships with constituents, coverage from journalists and bloggers, and helping your customers directly to answer their questions and/or concerns.

Your agency, as you are collectively working together on strategy and planning, should also be thinking about a good social media policy.  A well crafted policy for your employees will help them to understand why it’s important to be responsible and respect your brand in conversations and to also realize the value that social media can bring to the organization.  Social media policies should guide your employees on how they should participate and call out the best practices in their interactions.

Of course, you may see legal language in your policy that, depending on your industry and the type of participation, will cover intellectual property, privacy, defamation, and confidentiality to name a few areas, as well as linking to other globally developed policies created by your organization. Your agency will also work with you on a public social media policy that discusses how the public can participate with you on your blogs and/or other social media sites.

Polices are meant to encourage participation, and as Kodak discusses in it’s social media guideline, policies are really to protect the reputation and privacy of the brand, as well as the people.  This is the one voice policy and an excellent one to reference with respect to well written guidelines and if you’re looking for a more “people-friendly” type of resource.

As a part of strategy and planning, your agency should be able to recommend the best tools, tactics and resources for you to use when you are ready to implement your program.  Sometimes the tools and tactics are free resources that flow on the web, and at other times they will be the paid for services depending on your funding.  Here’s where their knowledge and use of technology really comes in handy. Because your agency should have already evaluated your budget they will know based on your resources, if they are training you to do your own social media outreach and managing communications, or if this is more of joint effort.

I recommend that agencies and brands work together.  I’ve seen excellent results when the brand remains involved in all communications and in social media, you can’t just let someone else participate for you.  It’s important that you are there and so are your employees, engaging directly.  Your agency will continue to counsel you strategically on what type of content your public needs from you and how to integrate your communications.  They will listen carefully on your behalf and use the information to enhance programs and manage your reputation.  The agency will be instrumental in the measurement of your social media engagement.  Lastly, they will continue to open new doors for you to participate with key influencers and help you to build stronger relationships with your customers.

Beauty 2.0 was a creative and informative event with a great group of people.  I can tell just by the post event conversations that social media is not being taken lightly and we can agree that “Social Media (for any industry) is Serious Business.”

Check out the link to the slideshow from the Beauty 2.0 event