CaliberPulse

Have you ever discussed social media with a friend or potential customer and received a skeptical response? Many of us have. Perhaps you are the doubtful one. However you feel (or don’t feel) about social media, there is no arguing that our society has officially plunged into it head first. Social networking sites have become primary online marketing tools, communication outlets, and customer service vehicles. Instead of talking about the influence that social media can have, allow the numbers to speak for themselves. If you have ever doubted the power of social media, here are twenty unbelievable statistics that may make you rethink these qualms, and convince you to get more involved in one of the most influential resources of this generation.

June 30, 2011

Though our vehicles of communication have changed, proper etiquette remains a key to successful interactions. In this three-part series, we will provide tips to help you become more etiquette savvy with Facebook, Twitter, and sharing tools such as Digg, Delicious and Reddit. In the first post of the series, we offered suggestions for managing your Facebook profile and tips to keep you on the appropriate social networking etiquette path. In this second post of the series, we will offer the etiquette guidance to follow for your Twitter presence.

April 7, 2011

In the past year Twitter use has exploded and is rapidly becoming an essential business marketing tool. Millions of people and companies have utilized Twitter to gain exposure, brand recognition, and maximize online marketing. Almost every successful brand has a powerful Twitter presence, but the magic question is: How do they obtain—and maintain—so many loyal and qualified followers? Whether seeking to increase your following personally, or for your business or brand, there are several strategies for building a successful Twitter account and an invaluable online marketing tool.

February 10, 2011

The return on investment of time spent posting messages on Twitter is directly related to the number of qualified impressions those messages make. One key to increasing Twitter impressions is to have followers retweet your message to their followers; hence, retweets become an important tactical goal. Researchers and astute students of Twitter user behavior have made observations about tweet characteristics that result in retweet activity. Below are 10 things that you can do to get retweeted more:

January 27, 2011

As social media becomes more popular in practically every demographic group, so is its ability to communicate directly with companies and agencies. This trend extends to reaching out through platforms such as Twitter for help, whether to properly fix a customer service issue or to relieve a true emergency. The American Red Cross recently conducted a survey that concluded about one in five adults in the United States would use social media to contact emergency responders in a disaster. The immediacy of social media enables it to spread information about an ongoing emergency as people want or need help. If 911 systems are inundated with calls or phone lines are down, it’s reasonable to expect use of available communication tools and expect a prompt response. Thus, tweeting and posting can be a matter of life and death.

August 11, 2010

As our agency conducts social media training sessions, we've noticed many Twitter users do not understand the benefits of the platform's hashtag capabilities. Designated by the pound sign or hash symbol (#), this is a tool that even the most active social media enthusiasts haven't had the time to wrap their head around. However, hashtags can be powerful resource in a marketing and communication arsenal.

February 16, 2010

New technologies changed the way businesses communicate with customers, friends and families throughout the last decade. For public relations and marketing professionals, the emergence of social media created new opportunities to build relationships never dreamed possible. Facebook, Twitter, Hootsuite, Tweetdeck, LinkedIn…Where are these social media platforms taking us? Will there come a day when information is somehow beamed directly into the cortex of our desired audience? While that seems unlikely, so did the concept of a social networking site like Facebook ten years ago. Today, one can update customers through a company’s social media account through a cell phone or notebook. Restaurants and businesses have free wireless Internet services to plug into. The news doesn’t wait for the evening broadcast or morning newspaper; rather, news reaches us instantaneously on our mobile devices through the latest post or tweet. Even traditional news sources allow for public comments after each story on their Web sites. Remember the days of dial-up Internet service or sending faxes to communicate 10 years ago? The times are certainly changing.

January 11, 2010

Hit a link and hit the jackpot? Well, maybe. No one knows for sure about the jackpot part. But one Southern Arizona salon is betting it will boost business by increasing relationships and referrals using social media. Gadabout SalonSpas has jumped into the Facebook and Twitter communities to enhance its top strategy for attracting new clients—word of mouth marketing. Starting this year, Gadabout has attracted 1,950+ Twitter followers and 450+ Facebook fans and a dedicated company blog readership. It figures. As Megan Davis, marketing director at Gadabout, points out, today’s social media platforms fit right into the classic relationship Gadabout clients have with their hairdresser.

December 9, 2009

I'm a huge fan of the Corporate Curmudgeon, a syndicated columnist who appears locally in our Arizona Daily Star doling out wry advice to the green, unsophisticated or just plain clueless employee. Yesterday's column touches on an art form that, to me, is highly underrated:The fine art of the "soft sell." Why, might you ask, should a marketer/copywriter/pr practitioner/social media guru/flack/hack/car salesmen care to know what a "soft sell" is? Well, my dears, because we as a society are burned out. And when audiences burn out, they shut their ears.

September 29, 2009

As Marketing Director since 1999, Michelle Livingston has been overseeing marketing, advertising, graphic design, public relations, promotions and the online presence for Buffalo Exchange, a national chain of hip resale clothing stores based in Tucson. Michelle has participated in the impressive growth of Buffalo Exchange to 36 stores and 2 franchises in 13 states, with $56.3 million a year in sales. Currently Buffalo Exchange has 5,414 MySpace friends, 3,606 Facebook Page fans, 1,193 Twitter followers and 222 Flickr photo favorites posted by other members.

September 22, 2009

So if a misguided tweet occurs in an office cubicle and a boss isn’t around to hear it, did a twit, in fact, tweet? As with all new toys – the Internet, e-mail, instant messenger, text messaging – there comes a time in an employee’s life when said employee has to decide: will my company […]

September 3, 2009

If a conversation happens in a forest and you're not there to be a part of it, did it really happen? In the online world of social media - you bet your bottom dollar it did. And an entire network of friends, fans and followers heard it, participated in it and repeated it to their friends, fans and followers. When I worked for a small town newspaper right out of college, we often joked the biggest threat to being scooped was the gossip that took place at a quaint diner downtown. There's no message tool more effective than word of mouth - especially when the topic is heated, controversial or sensational. That's how I like to think of social media. It's not really all that new to those of us who understand how gossip works - it's fast, can often be misleading (think the children's game of telephone - the more you repeat something, the more inaccurate the message becomes) and sometimes damages someone's reputation.

August 28, 2009