What's New In Social Media

One of my favorite things to talk about in the social media world is real-time customer service and action plans for negative feedback from customers. But considering the fact that I've mentioned that in previous blogs, I'll restrain myself today and talk about social scanning.

Social scanning is where 2D codes are used to bring people together, and allow customers to rate and view products from their friends. These codes are the square boxes that have been recently showing up in ads, posters, and billboards. This trend is so new that most companies will have customers who have not used a 2D code yet. Businesses who recognize that these codes will increase customer loyalty and bring in greater revenue are really doing themselves a favor.

QR ("quick response") codes can be scanned by a QR reader or a smartphone and are able to deliver a lot of information without much hassle at all. One example of how QR codes could simplify your life is that huge stack of business cards you have piled somewhere. QR codes would allow you to maintain a contact list without manually entering the information into your database, just scan the code and you have all of the information stored. These codes have been around for years but were generally just used for tracking parts or for inventory purposes. Magazines, airlines, the weather channel, and companies such as Best Buy and Barnes & Noble have started using QR codes to give customers quick access to more information and links to buy products online, get updates about flights, or gain access to top-secret messages.

Oprah uses 2D codes in her magazine to advertise different products. In her September Issue of O Magazine there were 9 different products advertised each with a corresponding 2D code that readers could scan to find more information online and place an order. American Airlines uses 2D codes to allow customers to get updates on their flight information. They are also looking at about using these codes as boarding passes in the future. Stay tuned to see how else 2D codes can improve business.

Here's a picture of a 2D code. 

A Few of My Favorite Social Media Campaigns

Proctor and Gamble, the parent company of Old Spice, brilliantly launched a social media campaign that people are still talking about a year later. Isaiah Mustafa was hired to quickly answer questions that fans from Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube posed to him. He posted nearly 200 videos, all answers to fans, in the span of just a few days.

Here’s one of the Old Spice commercials called The Man Your Man Could Smell Like. This social media campaign got so many people talking that even a few celebrities (Alyssa Milano, Demi Moore, Ellen DeGeneres, and Ryan Seacrest) posted questions for him to answer. 

Jack Link's had a national ad campaign with five commercials that all had people pulling pranks on the sasquatch (Big Foot). Here's one for you to look at called Football Kick. A Messin with Sasquatch microsite was created to go along with the national commercials in order to keep fans on the Jack Link's website and interact with the brand character. Games have since then been created as well as other features on the website that keep fans involved.

Jack Link’s Beef Jerky and the Old Spice Guy are two of my favorite social media campaigns because I think they are hilarious, addictive, and they got their customers involved. They both created a recognizable brand identity as well as a buzz that got fans excited. I think that many companies will follow their lead and create campaigns that are similar in the future. 

Mountain Dew had a campaign in which they had customers vote on what new flavor they should produce. DEWmocracy was the name of this project and fans voted on which flavors they liked best in their home-tasting packs. The top three were then moved on to the next round in which “Flavor Nations” made up of ad agencies, fans, and experts were assigned the responsibility of packaging the new product and coming up with graphics and social marketing. The one flavor that got the most votes would be the winner. There are few great ideas about this campaign. I really like the fact that it has people involved. Interacting with customers is a great way to do more business. What did not work is the fact that there were potentially thousands of customers who were lost because the flavor that they voted for was never produced.  

The Link between Social Media and Your Professional Life

Social media provides the opportunity for someone to connect with people who they would otherwise have no hope of getting in contact with. Linked in, twitter, and facebook to some extent allow people to make connections on a less personal level to people they may or may not have already met. To paraphrase, expanding your network is expanding your net worth. The more people you know, the more chances you'll have to come in contact with someone who can help you get where you want to be. Social media is quickly becoming a great way for recruiters to find the type of employee they are looking for. Most of these services (facebook, twitter, Linked in) are free and a very large number of professionals use them on a regular basis. Some people who are on the hunt for a job will create their own website, blog, or at the very least post some information about what they are looking for and a way to find out more information. Linked in provides a way to post a resume with easy to access recommendations, youtube allows users to post a video of their resume, and twitter allows those searching for a job the ability to 'follow' a company and make connections with current employees. That list of ways different social networking can benefit your professional life is just touching on the major players in the social media world - facebook, twitter, and youtube.  Some "lesser-known networks" that should be mentioned as well are Jigsaw, Visible Path, Gather, and Sermo (Gillin).

Social media obviously can be a help in terms of advancing your professional life but there are several ways that it could hurt it as well. I, like many others in the workforce today, am 'friends' with my superiors at work on facebook and twitter. It seems some people forget that what they post via these mediums is for public consumption and many times there are complaints about their job or pictures of them on their "sick" day that are posted for anyone (including their boss) to see. You have to be conscious of what you post and recognize that most companies are going to look for employees who are responsible and tasteful, not careless and tacky.

I once applied for a job in which all applicants and eventually employees were seen as the "face of the organization." We were on public display and whatever anyone knew about us reflected the company we were working for. The interview process for this job was several stages long and after some cuts there were training sessions with the potential hires. Each 'ambassador' was asked to clean up their facebook account and be aware that anything that was ever posted about them was out on the web for everyone to see. I do not have much experience with inappropriate social media and job hunting but this one job that I held in which we were required to sign agreements pledging to be good examples to the community. Negative social media could have adversely affected this job situation. In some cases the employees were scolded by superiors who were monitoring the facebook pages for inappropriate content.

Social Media: Here to Stay

Communication in today's society is completely different than in years past. I believe that social media is not only here to stay but that it also is going to soon be vital for any company that wants to have competitive advertising and customer service. The internet has made it possible for companies and consumers to have an interactive dialogue. Companies that do not see the worth of this new breakthrough in marketing are missing out on an inexpensive way to market and an excellent way to monitor the satisfaction of current customers. Facebook statistics say that approximately 700 billion minutes are spent on Facebook during any given month. This fact alone proves that social media is not just a fad. Facebook and other social platforms have turned into the primary way many people connect with others and this trend will only continue to get more and more popular.

Buying decisions of customers are affected by those they trust. The buying decisions of millions of people are affected daily via social platforms because of the massive number of people who use sites such as Facebook and twitter. Many companies have caught on to the wave and developed ways for the consumers to have live interaction with customer service employees. If a customer is unhappy with a product, a customer service agent can have a real-time conversation to fix the issue thereby reducing the probability of lost future business. Consumers who have grown accustomed to live interaction companies they do business with or their fellow consumer will not want to slip back into a world without this valuable resource. Social media is definitely permanent.