Tag Archives: Social media

Rapportive makes me smarter on email

July 16, 2013 karimkanji

If you’re like me, you love using social media to connect with family, friends and even strangers. But you probably see huge value in continuing to use email to further solidify personal and business relationships.

Many saw the demise of email as social started creeping into the work force. However, I have (as I’m sure many of you) been using email more. Firstly, it’s hard to convey a message in only 140 characters. Second, attachments are almost impossible to send on social too.

I actually see a symbiotic relationship between social and email. And this relationship is made that much stronger via a cool app called Rapportive (recently purchased by LinkedIn).

Rapportive is an email plugin (I use GMail) that uses people’s emails to connect to that person’s social media accounts (It’s like my very own social media spidey sense.) Here’s a snapshot of what mine looks like:

How do I use Rapportive? To better personalize my emails. Some may call it creeping. I call it being smart. I can check the recipient’s public social status updates to further understand who I’m emailing. And thus can craft a message that is also timely and more effective. If I can see (via Twitter, for example) that the person I’m messaging spent a wonderful day at the beach with her son, then I may use that in the email. For example, “Hello Mary. I hope you had a great weekend at the beach with the family…..”

I do want to point out that I would use this sort of information when I email someone I actually know. But the same process can be used when emailing someone I may not be close to. Social media data can tell me lots of things. I might be able to determine that the recipient likes a certain brand or communicates in a certain way. This sort of information can help me not just send a more relevant email. It will also help me communicate more efficiently and effectively with this individual over time.

And that’s the power not just of Rapportive but of social media. Remember: It’s about being social.

digital media, social media

#FollowFriday: Gregg Tilston – Taking Flight with Social Media

July 12, 2013 karimkanji

One of the first people I started to look up to in my journey in this social media world was Gregg Tilston. I can’t remember what is was but he always been one of those people in the community that had time to give back.

Gregg is not only the social media lead for Flight Centre globally, but he is also active with Movember in Toronto. And if you’re a good guy, you might even be fortunate to share a beer, coffee or meal with him.

One of the reason’s I looked up to Greg in the first place was his understanding of the digital space and his constant thirst for knowledge. Here’s a conversation I had with Gregg. We discussed strategy, analytics, security, and of course, Klout.

Enjoy!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_J4UQAMfYQU&w=560&h=315]

digital media, social media, twitter

#SurrenderYourSay is a winner

June 24, 2013 karimkanji

Last Wednesday I saw a post from Gregg Tilston letting his Twitter followers know that they may be seeing some apologizing for some of the tweets that would be coming from his account that day. Gregg happens to be the Social Media Global Lead for Flight Centre. He is one of a select number of professionals who I closely follow to keep up to date on what is happening in the world of SEO and social media. He caught my curiosity and I started to investigate.

It seemed that the Tourette Syndrome Foundation of Canada (with guidance from agency Saatchi & Saatchi Canada) was asking people to give up control of their tweets for 24 hours in an attempt to have people understand how Tourette Syndrome works.

For those who don’t know, people who have Tourette Syndrome suffer from involuntary vocal and physical outbursts known as tics, that cause them to lose control of the things they say and do.

What better way to illustrate the symptoms of Tourette then giving up control of our tweets. No editing. No giving approval before “pressing send.” Just like those who suffer from Tourette.

Here’s an example of a tweet from Gregg:

And one from me:

These were totally random tweets that Gregg, myself and thousands of people had populate their feed throughout the day.

I have seen many brands (mostly corporate for-profit companies) execute social media campaigns. However, none have been so true to their message and brand than this one run by Tourette Syndrome Foundation of Canada. Those who took part were not insulting their followers. In fact, it raised awareness in a humourous yet effective manner. For example, Gregg (because I know him personally) takes what he says publicly seriously. He’s one of those people who thinks twice before pressing enter on his keyboard. So when people saw his tweets that day they probably stopped and read his tweets twice. And because there was a link and the #SurrenderYourSay hashtag, they most likely checked out what the heck Gregg was tweeting about.

Personally, no one responded to me in a negative way. No one sent me a DM saying that what I was tweeting was insulting to them and was harming my “personal” brand. In fact, I received many retweets and a few favourites too.

According to an official post, over 3 million people were reached in the first 24 hours of this campaign. As I write this on Sunday night, over 1.5 million people have participated in the #SurrenderYourSay campaign.

Congrats to the Foundation on their great work, this campaign and everyone who participated.

digital media, social media, twitter

#FollowFriday: Mark Farmer

June 21, 2013 karimkanji

Every Friday I am going to highlight someone who I think is worthy of “following”. In the spirit of social media and specifically Twitter, I’m dubbing this #FollowFriday.

My inaugural “guest” is none other than Social Media Cafe TO co-founder and digital strategist Mark Farmer. I met Mark a few years ago when he was helping the Royal Ontario Museum navigate the social media waters. Today he is doing the same for my alma mater, York University.

In my opinion, Mark is one of Canada’s brightest minds in digital. He is also very humble: If there is a problem he’s having he’s not afraid to go onto Facebook and ask for guidance.

Here’s a conversation Mark and I had recently. I hope you enjoy it.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PuO85jxswQI?rel=0&w=560&h=315]

social media

Return on Networking – the ROI of Social Media (guest post)

June 11, 2013 karimkanji

I was never a fan of the cocktail party-variety networking scene. I will never be one to dart around a room shoving business cards into people’s hands. I prefer meaningful conversations with people, getting to know them and vice versa.

But social media networking? That’s something different altogether. Done right, it’s never a hit-and-run. Rather, it consists of building relationships over months and even years by sharing information – both professional and personal – through posts, comments and responding to questions in various online communities.

What’s the return on investment, the ROI, for putting that kind of time into social media? Actually, it’s called the RON – the “return on networking.”

And for me, it’s huge.

I’ve been on Facebook for five years; I also have Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn accounts, among others. All totaled, I’m now approaching 100,000 friends, followers and connections. Those followers expose my name and message to their audiences every time they “like” one of my posts or share one of my links. Recently, someone re-tweeted something I’d shared on Twitter – he had 130,000 followers! That’s a potential audience of 130,000 people I likely would have never reached otherwise.

Talk about exposure!

Who knows how many of those people may someday become my clients? Who cares? I’ll still consider the exposure a good return on networking. Here’s why.

The RON of social media isn’t always tangible, not immediately, anyway. By establishing a continued presence online through regularly sharing content of use to my followers, I’m building my platform and my reputation as an expert. That grows in surprising ways – and it lives in surprising places.

A recent case in point: Late last year, I got a call from a prominent New York City hair stylist, the director of a salon in one of that city’s premier department stores. He wanted to talk about some publicity needs and what my company could do to help him.

When I asked how he got my name, he explained he’d written some books over the years with a co-author, and she’d heard me at a speaking engagement.

Well, that made sense. Speaking at conferences is still a great way to get your name out while also building credibility.

But the next thing he said came as a complete surprise.

“So, then I contacted the corporate office (of the department store chain) and asked what PR agency they would recommend.” And they recommended me and my company!

I don’t know a soul in the corporate offices of that high-end retail chain. I can only guess they learned of me through social media.

Just being on Twitter or Google+ isn’t enough, of course. You have to make a diligent effort to regularly post content that people find valuable, including links to informative articles, tips relevant to your topic, and/or informed insights on topics in the news.

You also have to “be a human,” as our lead social media strategist, Jeni Hinojosa, likes to say. She and our other social media producers encourage clients to send photos when they go on vacation, celebrate milestones or engage in hobbies. Posting those photos with a comment adds a personal touch that allows followers to connect on a more emotional level.

Our social media producers also make sure clients’ personalities shine in their posts, showing their sense of humor and letting followers in on the other things they care about, whether it’s victims of a natural disaster or a favorite charity.

Interaction is equally important. Strive to respond to every comment or question posted on your networking sites. Interacting is engaging, and people who are engaged tend to be happy followers. The more you take part in conversations via comments and responses, the more lively and visible your presence becomes.

The RON includes increased traffic to your website; increased trust in your brand and what you’re selling; and greater word of mouth than you could ever hope for by attending a cocktail party or even a speaking engagement.

About Marsha Friedman

Marsha Friedman is a 23-year veteran of the public relations industry. She is the CEO of EMSI Public Relations (www.emsincorporated.com), a national firm that provides PR strategy and publicity services to corporations, entertainers, authors and professional firms. Marsha is the author of Celebritize Yourself and she can also be heard weekly on her Blog Talk Radio Show, EMSI’s PR Insider every Thursday at 3:00 PM EST. Follow her on Twitter:@marshafriedman.

digital media, social media

Entering the conversation with HootSuite

May 22, 2013 karimkanji

After we listen to the conversations that are taking place online hopefully we will soon become comfortable. We will get excited about the positive comments and ecstatic about the opportunities we see. What about the negative comments. Choose to see these as opportunities to improve rather than hide your head in the sand. Hiding doesn’t make the negative go away even though we might hope they will.

Two things you should understand is:

People move to social media to both congratulate and complain.
People view a brand’s social media accounts (right or wrong) as customer service channels.

This brings us to entering the conversation.

Saying Hello:

Let people know who you are and what you do. However, don’t fall into the habit of spamming. I usually follow the 80/20 rule. 80% of the time you should be sharing interesting third-party content, RTing interesting content and replying to people online. The rest of the time you can tell people about what you do and share with them your own content.

Positive Comments:

Positive comments give us the opportunity to receive validation on what we are doing and our industry. If someone leaves a positive tweet or Facebook comment regarding their interaction with your business make sure to thank them. A retweet (RT) or Like is not sufficient enough. Leave a comment thanking them for taking the time to leave a positive comment. And ask them what specifically they enjoyed. Even ask them to continue to use your service/product.

Negative Comments:

At our social media agency in Toronto we have the opportunity to work with many popular brands. Not too long ago, one of our long term clients underwent a rebrand. One of the changes was that the brand was open twice as long as they were before. Which means twice as many customers; twice as many happy customers; and twice as many negative comments. Our client could have shut things down and hid their head in the sand. Fortunately they understood the opportunity and have been engaging with everyone who leaves comments on their Facebook page or Twitter account.

Questions and Answers:

People will also have specific questions about your business. They may even have questions about your industry. Be open to answer all of these.

By Karim Kanji