Twitter and the big banks

Social media is impacting not only on how small and big companies conduct their daily business activities but also on their relationship and communication channels with clients.

The use of platforms, such as Twitter, are removing some of the hierarchial tape and letting consumers communicate in real-time with higher level employees from within the companies choosing to get on board.

Banking Review Media’s article, ‘Did ANZ open a new branch and forget to staff it?’ discusses how the big banks overseas are using social media and how in Australia, ANZ Bank attempted to engage with the Twitter community.

Australian banks are running out of excuses for not serving customers via Twitter, following the establishment of verified Twitter accounts for the Commonwealth Bank and Westpac.

The verified accounts go a long way towards ensuring customers communicating with a bank via Twitter can have confidence it is actually a bank representative they are dealing with.

Twitter may not yet be a mainstream social media platform, but the growth in its use by Australians continues to astound.

Experian Hitwise says around 20 per cent of all Australian Internet users visited Twitter.com in October 2009, and this month Telstra revealed use of Twitter on mobile devices by its five million 3G customers jumped by 450 per cent in the last 12 months.

In the US, which accounts for nearly a third of all Twitter traffic, banking giants including Bank of America, Citi, Wachovia and Wells Fargo routinely deliver information and answer common customer questions  on Twitter, with the platforms manned by dedicated staff during bank office hours. Looking more globally, Christophe Langlois from Visible Banking is monitoring more than 1,000 financial institution related Twitter accounts in 60 countries…

Australian banks on Twitter

ANZ (inactive)
@ANZmoneymanager
2,000+ followers

Aussie Home Loans (active)
@aussie
2000+ followers

Bank of Qld (active)
@BOQ
250 + followers

Commonwealth Bank (active, verified)
@NetBank
367 followers

ING Direct (yet to tweet)
@INGDIRECT_AU
140+ followers

Mecu (last tweet May 5)
@mecu_limited
60+ followers

NAB (yet to tweet)
@nab
750+ followers

RaboDirect (active)
@RaboDirectau
600+ followers

Resi Home Loans (active)
@resihomeloans
170+ followers

Savings & Loans Credit Union
@savingsloans
370+ followers

St George (active)
@stgeorgecareers
700+ followers

Suncorp Bank (yet to tweet)
@SuncorpBank
90+ followers

UBank (active)
@UBank
2500+ followers

Westpac (active, verified)
@westpac
1500+ followers

To read full article CLICK HERE

Avoid the common mistakes when engaging in PR

It is very easy to distinguish a good PR consultant from an ineffective PR consultant, just ask a journalist.

When it comes to PR it is important to identify the PR goals of the project/ client and to devise a well thought out strategy with tactics that serve the strategy’s purpose. Care and precision in each tactics execution is vital to effectively have what you’re saying considered by media and intended audiences. 

A good PR consultant has an eye for detail, an understanding of the importance of strategy and timing, an understanding of the client and media he/she is working with and the ability to get straight to the point.

A person engaging in PR activities often faces time limits, deadlines and high expectations for results. The difference between the good and the ineffective PR person is how they handle the stress of the task. Sometimes panic can result in a poorly thought out strategy, a rushed effort, many mistakes and ultimately a poor end result.    

It is important to learn what mistakes people make in PR so to be able to consciously avoid them, only then will you be the best you can be. AllBusiness.com’s article, ‘Top 10 Public Relations Mistakes’, explores the common mistakes made in the field of Public Relations.  

1. Poor timing. Timing is crucial and too often the individuals who handle public relations do not get a head start on their tasks. You need to consider lead time for magazines, newspapers, and other media.
2. Poor choice of language. Jargon and buzzwords do not impress editors who have little time to read all of the press releases that flow across their desks. Get to the point in plain and simple language.
3. Poorly written press releases. Errors, omissions, poorly worded sentences, lengthy copy, and poor structure are all pitfalls that land press releases in the trash. You need to grab the reader’s attention, get quickly to the point, and follow up with information about the event or activity. Keep it concise and include all pertinent details.
4. Poor follow-up. If you want to be heard, be prepared when someone calls with follow-up questions. Many businesses lose stories because they are not prepared to close the deal.
5. Too much hype. You want to be positive, but superlatives get tedious and can arouse suspicion in readers. Remember: You’re appealing to the news media, so supply them with supported facts, and avoid generalisations and exaggerations.

To read full article Click Here

Why business awards are a good idea

Beginning an awards submission can seem like a daunting process especially when you have a million other tasks on your ‘To Do’ list but in reality, the time and money spent entering business awards is more of an investment than a cost. Even if you don’t take home first prize, being a part of the whole experience can be incredibly rewarding.

Voicing your vision
How often do you sit down and think about what your business has achieved, how you have achieved it and what the plans are for the future? Creating a submission for an award forces you to spend some time looking at what you’re doing and can not only be really satisfying but can enthuse you about future endeavours.

More marketing opportunities
Even as a nominee, your business can receive a mention through a variety of media outlets in conjunction with the awards you have entered. The award organisers will often list nominees on their website, in their social media and in their media releases. You can also capitalise on entering by promoting your involvement through your own social media and on your website.

If you’re lucky enough to become a finalist or even win in a category, there are PR opportunities to take advantage of within your specific industry publications.

Putting you on the map
Everyone is always looking for that edge on their competitors, the key point that makes you stand out from the crowd. If you are named a finalist, or winner of a business award and your major competitor is not, this is a unique stand out factor that could be the difference between whether a customer decides to go with you.

The extra promotion through the awards will also help raise awareness of your company providing networking opportunities that often lead to new business opportunities.

The prizes
Companies usually enter business awards for the kudos and marketing opportunities that come out it but don’t forge there are often prizes involved as well which can really boost team morale.

For awards that have presentation ceremonies and dinners, the event is the perfect way to celebrate a job well done. A team with a high morale will generally produce better quality work which could mean more award wins in the future!

How to Blog an Event

Guest post by Johanna Baker Dowdell

My first foray into blogging was in 2006 when I was a new mother and writing about my experiences was both a good way for me to get things off my chest, but also important for me as a writer.

Since that first blog I have started and written for several other blogs and blogged for clients, but one of the most exciting challenges is guest blogging and, in particular, live-blogging. Blogging as an event unfolds is an exhilarating experience that takes me straight back to my days as a newspaper journalist writing the front page story on deadline while they hold the presses – nothing gets my adrenaline going quite like that.

This love of writing on demand won me a live-blogging spot at the recent Media140 for Foodies event, where The Internet Chef Bridget Davis and her team cooked an array of tasty canapés matched with wines from Robert Oatley Vineyard. As the food was prepared and the wine savoured, panels of food bloggers, writers and chefs discussed how social media had changed the way they operated and opened new doors for the audience of social media food buffs.

One of the topics covered at Media140 for Foodies was how food bloggers often wrote about their love of food and commented on dishes and restaurants from their own homes. I was on the Media140 set to show what this scene might look like, blogging the panels’ comments.

Other events I have blogged about include the first Sydney Media140 event and ANZ’s Febusave and I live-tweeted at ConnectNow and Flying Solo. These opportunities started with me expressing an interest in being involved in Media140 when it came to Australia in November last year and have spread from there.

If you think you’d like to guest blog for a conference, think about an event which interests you, that will be easy to write at least one blog (400-500 words) or a few mini-blogs (100-150 words) about, and then just ask. It might be something organisers hadn’t planned on doing (or didn’t know they could do) or were already planning. By offering your services as an expert in that area, you are promoting the event and providing additional coverage for organisers, but also associating your name with the event and boosting your readership. It’s a win-win for all concerned.

 Tips on Blogging for Events

• Research the event/conference thoroughly so you know who will be speaking and their topics
• Use this research to add extra commentary to your blog as the event unfolds (this will add to your standing as an expert on the subject)
• Arrive early so you can meet organisers and speakers to get a handle on what is going on before you blog
• Put together a basic structure to the blog before the event begins to help with your blogging while it unfolds
• Try to catch the mood of the audience as well as the speakers so the blog puts readers right there with you
• If you are writing on your own blog about the event, try to get a special button or logo you can add to the relevant posts
• Make sure you include a link to your own blog and social media contacts at the end of the post if you’re guest blogging on the event website

The best advice is to enjoy the experience. Having fun while learning and sharing those experiences with others is infectious.

Connect with me online:
Twitter – @JohannaBD
Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/Johanna.BakerDowdell
LinkedIn – http://www.linkedin.com/in/johannabakerdowdell
YouTube – http://www.youtube.com/user/JohannaBD
Blogs – http://strawberrycommunications.com.au/blog, http://t-changers.posterous.com/ and http://parentingaustralia.com.au/blog

BP Crisis – What should have been done from a PR perspective

The oil well explosion on the BP operated Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the gulf of Mexico on 20 April, 2010 killed eleven crew members and begun the largest environmental disaster in American History to date. With over 1,050,000 US gallons of oil being discharged from the well each day the area’s marine life is in great danger with 355 sea turtles and 43 dolphins already found dead within the spill area at the time of writing this (Ifitwasmyhome.com).

BP’s first reaction to the spill was to try to escape the blame by publicly blaming the outsourced oil drillers.

PublicRelationsBlogger.com’s Ashley Wirthlin believes this was the wrong step and offers four PR steps BP should have taken in Don’t Spread The Blame.

1. The first thing any PR professional would and should advise a company to do in light of a crisis such as this (which will devastate agricultural, oceanic, and wildlife systems, killing millions of marine and land animals in the process) is to accept responsibility. Regardless of who was at fault for your oil spilling, you are the overseeing company who is responsible for the oil when profits are being made; that makes you responsible when a crisis occurs, as well.

2. The next thing that good PR pro would advise is to apologize. Putting aside the actual cause for the crisis, apologize because you were involved. Guess who the public is going to remember when they talk about this spill in 20 years, like the Exxon spill, who’s repercussions are still being felt? BP’s. The name of the drillers whose machinery failed will not be remembered. The media, bloggers, and the public are already responding and nothing is being said that references the drillers; BP’s name is the only one being used.

3. Be genuine about your apology as well, because, believe or not, regardless of the general public’s lack of understanding of what’s actually going on (because they are ill-informed), they can tell if you’re being sincere or not.

To read full article CLICK HERE

How to come up with a social media strategy that works

The potential ways you can use social media to benefit your business are limitless. Even the NSW State Government has discovered the value of social media and experimented by holding NSW’s first ever parliamentary Twitter debate on Wednesday 16 June 2010. Although not that successful, the Government’s Twitter debate showed that trial and error is needed to achieve a social media strategy that works for you.

When it comes to sourcing ideas for social media tactics look at case studies of businesses that have successfully executed innovative social media strategies. The Honeytech Blog has an article listing the 10 Best Social Media Case Studies.

1. Coca Cola
Coco-Cola social media case study is one of the best examples available out there.  The company was also named by Slate’s The Big Money as the brand “making the best use of Facebook,” and their well-publicized Expedition 206 campaign is billed as the company’s largest social media project ever. Coco-Cola has used several ways such as blogging, sharing photos/videos, tweets, social media apps to promote their brand and achieves huge success.

2. X-Men
During the movie release of the X-Men-3, “Last Stand”, it used the social networking site to promote itself. It added that all the users who will add the X-Men profile as a peer can use certain exclusive functionality. As a result of this media plan, almost 3 million members of the myspace.com community added X-Men as peer in just 1 month. The movie got a huge opening and it became the fourth-biggest movie in box office history.

3. British Airways
The airways launched the program Open skies.  This program used social media and community marketing to promote itself.  It created a corporate blog to influence the globe trotters. Managing Director Dale Moss even shared a blog with the common people so that they get to know about OpenSkies development. Then he discussed about the meal service and showed people the cabin classes.

4. Dell
Dell is usually known for its cost-effective methods that it uses and so it jumped in social media to reach people. Back in December, Dell reported that offers from its Dell Outlet Twitter account has booked more than $3 million in revenue attributable to its Twitter posts. It might sound like a small percentage for a company that books $16B in revenue annually–but a nice number however, especially in a dreary economy.

5. SAP
This third largest software company in the world faced a challenge in the year 2002. It wanted to become a platform company using NetWeaver. The company had to open its platform and allow the other developers to use the platform in order to solve their business problems. The company had to interact with several developers across the globe. As a result of which, the company gained global collaboration and adoption of new SAP products increased.

6. SeaWorld
The main aim of the Journey to Atlantis social media program was to develop contact with the coaster community and bring about alertness regarding Journey to Atlantis. Influential people said that social media will give a chance for SeaWorld to make inroads.  So, 22 coaster enthusiast blogs and forums were recognized during its beginning period.

To read full article CLICK HERE

How to pitch to a blogger

We source information from blogs – recipes, opinions, news – but did you know you can pitch stories to bloggers just like you to journalists?

The first thing to note when pitching an idea to a blogger is – they aren’t journalists. They have a very personalized medium where they interact with their readers through comments on their blog. So you need to make the contact with them personal.

Sending an irrelevant media release to them is obviously a big no-no but rather than pitching a general release, be sure to make your contact with the blogger a little more personal than you would with a journalist.

Read their blog first, make mention of posts that interested you and if possible make this friendly contact before sending a ‘pitch’ email. You can also start building a relationship with relevant bloggers by posting comments on their blog and engaging with them.

When a relationship has been built, a blogger will generally be more receptive to your ideas.

The pitch should be in the form of an email – which needs to be clear and to the point. Busy people do not read long emails, so in the first paragraph clearly outline your idea. Don’t email a media release. Take the time to detail the story idea and why their readers would be interested.

Bloggers won’t always publish a phone number on their site so a follow up phone call is not always possible which is why building the relationship first will usually deliver more promising results than a one-off email pitch.

Obviously if you are asking them to review a product – send them the product but first ask them if they would like to receive it. Blindly sending products in the hope for a review is a waste of time.

Top Australian blogger, Neerav Bhatt who writes the very popular Rambling Thoughts blog and its sister blog, A Road Less Travelled is often contacted by people pitching services and products they want him to write about. Here is his advice on the best way to pitch to a blogger:

The best thing to do first is watch, listen and read what a particular blogger is doing. See what they’re writing about now and in the past, what they’re tweeting about, who they’re chatting with.Then if you still think your product/service is relevant to the blogger and their readers contact them and arrange for a general chat before going into specifics about your current campaign.It is always more effective to better to build any business relationship over time, whether with bloggers or anyone else, rather than contacting a person with a cold call sales technique.