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

We have yet another answer for the ever-present challenge of how to stimulate more interaction on Facebook. Facebook recently introduced a new feature that allows page administrators to build interaction by polling. This added feature allows social site managers to not only survey their fans to find useful information, but it can also be used to reinforce message strategy via questions.

April 12, 2011

With all the technological advances at our fingertips, proper etiquette is still 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 this first post, we offer suggestions for managing your Facebook profile and tips to keep you on the appropriate social networking etiquette path.

March 3, 2011

It’s been an evolutionary year for social media. Many new trends and facts have been published that may help you shape your 2010 marketing and PR plan. We have included a sampling of these facts and our recommendations on how you can use them when developing your 2011 plan. FACT: 25% of search results for the world’s top 20 largest brands are links to user-generated content. Source: Social Media Revolution 2 Video, based on the book Socialnomics by Erik Qualman

November 24, 2010

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

comScore, an online measurement firm, recently released a staggering report on the significant increase of visitors to Facebook. Between December 2008 and December 2009, the social network more than doubled its U.S. audience from 54.5 million visitors to 111.9 million. Facebook is now the fourth most visited online property, right behind institutions such as Google and Yahoo!. Facebook is where people are going to communicate and get information. Every demographic has a presence on the Facebook network and each is rapidly growing.

January 22, 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

Everybody knows somebody who shares information that should be kept to themselves. I like to call that person "The TMI (Too Much Information) Guy." Typically they are somebody you know at work or interact with in social settings. Now that social applications like Twitter and Facebook are bursting at the seams with new members, The TMI Guy is now your friend or follower. Not only can this make your social media experience a not-so-fun one, but it can also hurt your online reputation with other friends and even employers. Imagine if TMI Guy starts blabbing about something embarrassing you did - it's in their personality to share everything. This is definitely a trend. Here are some tips to consider as you build your online networks, whether you know a potentially dangerous TMI Guy or happen to be TMI Guy yourself (shame!).

August 5, 2009