Twitter Tools

I'm going to try to curb my Twitter addiction (TA, anyone?) and provide more balanced information on this blog; however, I hope you'll indulge me one more Twitter post (of course, it won't be the last, but you know what I mean.)

• PR firm Ogilvy has started a blog series on strategies for using Twitter to drive pr, awareness and goals;
• Another firm, Tech Cocktail, has a great resource: Twitter Tools for Community and Communications Professionals;
  
• The Wall Street Journal has an article today on the mainstreaming of Twitter.

Please take a few moments to read these and leave some commments.

Thanks,
Steph

Founder's Affiliate Tweet

Here's an example of a Tweet sent out from the Founder's Affiliate that I thought could be useful in a number of ways...including...(gasp!) traditional media.

NY Dept of Health just said more than 750K New Yorkers are in danger of heart attack or stroke due to high blood pressure--esp black nyers.

See how it appears on TweetDeck below (it's the second one down in the far left column):

What are your creative ideas for using such stats within our own markets? Leave a comment here or yammer/im/tweet me...just don't email me! :)

Blah, Blah, Twitter, Blah

Yes, in fact, I do actually know that I sound like a broken record. But you know what they say about key messages -- it takes constant repetition for your audience to get it. So I'll just keep twittering on and on about Twitter (and Social Media) until I have your full attention.

You're coming along, whether you like it or not!

The latest installment of Twitter-mania comes in the form of a special section in the latest edition of Business Week. Look closely at the screen shot below and you'll see that it's this week's Top Story (blue box).


The special report includes the following stories:

• How Companies Use Twitter to Bolster Their Brands
  
• Getting Intimate (with Customers) on Twitter
• Brands That Tweet
• AMC's Mad Men: Running Amok on Twitter

Read them in order -- the last two stories aren't as meaty. Brands thatTweet is just that: a list of brands you'll find on Twitter; Mad Men is a good case study of good marketing gone bad.

Happy reading.

Monday Blues?

So I was answering Tod's question to my previous post re: sudden death of Frank Cornish and it got me thinking about, what else? Social Media and how we can use it to help people like Frank.

As you know, I've been experimenting with Twitter, LinkedIn and other tools to figure out how they work and how to pitch media and engage people. One of the things I've learned is that you have to be real -- meaning, if you only write about work-related things people will tune you out; however, if you write about normal stuff with some messaging thrown in they're open to hearing and acting on it.

To that end, I've been creating my Topics To Tweet list, such as:

• When are you most likely to have a heart attack? Mondays. Take the Heart Attack Risk Assessment to start your week off right.
• It's 10 am, do you know your heart risks? Most cardiac events occur in the morning. Know your risks by taking the heart attack risk assessment.
• It's 3pm--when was the last time you left your chair? Step away from the computer and take a few steps for your health. Start Walking.
• Need more time? Start exercising, as it’s been shown that you could gain two hours of life for each hour of regular exercise.
• Friday is National Wear Red Day. Show your true colors and support women fighting heart disease. Shop AHA's sponsor Macy's.
• What's for dinner? Need ideas? Check out AHA's free heart-healthy recipes.

I'm also working on some specific to Advocacy, Mission: Lifeline; research; Scientific Sessions, etc. I'll share them here or, of course, follow me on Twitter and then retweet them. As I mentioned last week, you need to spend some time building your network so that you have listeners when you Tweet. I'm up to 157 followers on Twitter and 185 on LinkedIn (which, according to LinkedIn's calculations connects me to more than 1.2M professionals).

While I was thinking about Topics to Tweet, I stumbled across a recent article in Time Magazine that answers the question: When Are You Most Likely to Have A Heart Attack? I learned how to capture screenshots yesterday, so here's a handy one of the article. Follow the above link to read through the piece.


Stay tuned for a future blog posting about another social media tool I'm excited about: Blip.fm. I've just started playing around with it -- choosing songs with heart (as in, included in the title, artist, album, etc). Not sure if we can link to it from the office but if you try it, I'm DJ StephElsea.

Twitter Helps Feed the Hungry

Still on the fence about the ability of Social Media to make any real/lasting impact? Take a look at the Tyson Foods Hunger Relief campaign which relied on wom marketing via Twitter to

drive traffic to the Tyson blog. Tyson committed to donating 100 lbs of protein to the Capital Area Food Bank for every comment a visitor left on the blog.

In addition to adding credence to the power of social media, this PR tactic also underscores what I wrote about in a post last week: it's about two-way communication. Social Media or Social Networking works because it requires people to engage and to communicate. That's why I've been bugging you guys to not only read these blog posts but also to comment on them.

Let me know what you think: good, bad or ugly.

Stuck? Shy? Here's a topic: how could we imitate the success of this campaign using one of our causes and sponsors? Looking forward to your ideas.

steph

Social Media White Paper

Paty attention kids, we're about to play six degrees of separation, social media style!

Thanks to Tim Mahoney (@Texas1st), one of the rock start IT dudes at National Center (aka: Mr. Goodwrench or Support Specialist for those with less creative minds), for Tweeting about a white paper Allison Harvey (@allisonharvey) , who is the Director of Donor Marketing and Development Initiatives at National Center, posted to the secret (ssshhhhh) blog, Heartsmarter: the Official blog of the unofficial AHA Social Networking Core team.

Got all that?

Okay, all you really need to know is that there's a great white paper, How is Social Media Changing the Face of Marketing? available for your perusal. It's only three pages and shouldn't take long to read.

I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Gotta run...Patty is giving me the stink eye...CMAPP training is about to begin.

p.s. I suggest you follow these other National Center social media gurus on Twitter. Look for Christian Caldwell (@xian3000) , Specialist for User Interaction and Usability and Kristi Walling Miller (@krash63), Strategic Planning Manager.

Social Media in an Emergency

The American Red Cross is a great example of a nonprofit harnessing the power of social media to drive the goals/mission of the organization.

Why do I believe they are such a good example? Because I clicked through two of their tweets this week to learn more about issued that could affect me and my life:

1. U can maximize Twitter in a disaster. Stay safe with social media. Visit our blog for info from @DavidStephenson http://www.redcrosschat.org/
2. Learn mouth to snout rescue breathing for an injured pet. Seriously, we teach that too. New pet safety info on http://www.redcross.org/.

What AHA activities can we tweet about??

Twitter, tweeting, tweetup, etc

All,
On Sunday, the Austin American-Statesman ran a story about Twitter, including a "starter pack" of Austin-area Tweeters. Also, here's a great USA Today article from a couple of weeks ago.

No time to read? Okay, here's Twitter in Plain English:




The story was followed on Monday by a real-time chat with a variety of Tweeters and the Statesman's expert, Omar Gallaga (@omarg). Some good stuff is coming out of this -- I'm learning a lot and suggest you go on line and read the transcript when you have time.

In the interim, here are my Twitter Cliff Notes:

• A site listing newspapers that Tweet
• Texas Media Guide (@TXMediaGuide)
• Oklahoma Media Guide
• Etiquette: you don't have to follow everyone who follows you
• FailWhale is the cute cartoon whale image you get when something goes wrong/the site is down
  
• When Tweeple meet in RL (real life) it's called a Tweet Up. Here's a video from an Austin TweetUp blood drive. Ask me about Uli's adventures in donating blood.

While I'm in a video frame of mind (video? frame? get it? I crack me up!), here's a great gag looking at the present/future of the advertiser/consumer relationship.

Two weeks worth of info in one big post

You know it's been awhile since you've updated your blog when you can't remember the login information! After about 20 mins of trying, I finally remembered the account information. Yea. Or, as I've learned from Twitter: W00t! (I'm blaming the confusion on too much cold medicine.)

Now that we've made it through the All Staff Conference and are getting ready for year-end performance reviews, goal setting and such, I thought I'd spend some time on the blog (ie: procrastination).

I've been home sick all weekend and have amused myself by spending time surfing the web and exploring social media. The Austin American-Statesman has a story today on Austin's best tweeters. A good intro into Twitter and possibly something for you guys to pitch to your local media -- let them do your homework for you. Has anyone started their list of the top bloggers in your market? I'll be working on our social media game plan this week, so look for more direction on this soon.

In the interim, here's a bit of homework for you. The Wall Street Journal published a piece on Social Media as a tool for reaching customers. I've pasted the story below or you can view it here:

Use Social Media to Bond With Consumers

By KELLY K. SPORS

Do you tweet on Twitter? Or network on Ning?

A new and growing array of tongue-twisting tools and technologies is available to help people easily interact and share information online.

While it may be tempting to avoid these obscurely named technologies, there's good reason for small businesses to learn what they are and how to use them: So-called social media can help small firms to better connect with and market themselves to consumers and others in their industries. And they're often free.

Here are some tips to making social media work for your business:

Experiment

The best way to figure out what value social-media tools can have for your business is to try them out. You usually just go to a site and sign up for a free account. And most offer quick tutorials.

Experiment with a few to determine which site or technology helps you best connect with your customers or generate the most traffic. Analytics tools provided by the programs can show how many visitors you're getting daily and where they're coming from.

Twitter.com allows users to post on a profile page updates on their whereabouts or activities from either a computer or mobile phone. "Followers" then subscribe to your Twitter updates, or tweets, and even have them scroll across the bottom of their Web browser.

Ning.com users can launch their own online social network around any topic or business. They then can invite others to join and create profile pages with photos so people can discuss and swap information.

Social-networking sites Facebook and MySpace also allow businesses to create profiles and form a "group," or special page, for people interested in connecting with them online.

Another option: Write a blog or produce a podcast. Blogs allow you to post information about yourself, your business or anything related to your industry. Readers can comment, subscribe to your posts, or forward them to others. Networking sites Digg.com and Del.icio.us allow users to mark content they like and let others know about it.

Luke Burgis, chief executive of FitFuel.com, a Las Vegas-based Web site with 20 employees that sells health and fitness goods, uses Twitter to post about five daily updates. Most are personal and not directly related to the business, such as concerts he went to or random thoughts.

The benefit, he says, is keeping customers connected to the business all the time and letting them see that he's "human." And it gives people the ability to ask him questions. Mr. Burgis says he has about 800 "followers" on Twitter.

He also uses a feature on Twitter that lets him see what others are writing about FitFuel on their Twitter pages. "We sort of have that personal connection with customers we wouldn't otherwise get," he adds.

Build Usage

Social media will benefit your business only if people actually use them to keep in touch with you. So you need to promote it.

Sending customers and associates emails about your new blog or MySpace page isn't enough. You also should look for ways to advertise them in different places.

For instance, you might post a link at the bottom of all emails you send out or link to it whenever you post a message on a blog or online forum. And encourage users to invite their friends to check you out. Also, your business Web site should offer links to all your social-media applications.

Elizabeth Bailey, an event planner in Baltimore, started a blog last year on which she posts photos from events she organized, vendor recommendations, articles on event planning and tips.

At first, she sent emails out to customers and acquaintances. Now, she also includes a link in her email signature and mentions the blog in conversations with new customers and vendors. She currently gets about 2,000 unique visitors a month.

"It's really given credibility to us as a business," Ms. Bailey says.

Keep It Fresh

Once you've gotten the word out, you'll need to build user loyalty. That means finding ways to keep people coming back for more.

Content should be updated frequently, preferably daily, and be interesting or useful to users. It also doesn't hurt to add a variety of tools that followers can use, such as the ability to invite other people and post photos, videos and comments. The more interactive and thought-provoking or fun the content, the more likely users will return.

Lyn Mettler, founder of Step Ahead Web Strategies, a Mt. Pleasant, S.C., social-media consultant, says it's important that businesses don't use social media to directly try to sell their products. Instead, a business should try to use them to interact with users on a more personal level and show that the firm really understands customers' minds. Social media can also help position business owners as "experts" in their fields.

"Clearly, these tools are about being authentic and not selling," she says.

Businesses also shouldn't fear or remove negative comments, as they help create a well-rounded discussion and help the business address customer gripes head on. "You need to be conversational and allow some negative comments and react to them," Ms. Mettler adds. "You have to let go of control a little here."

And finally, here's another gem from The Austin American Statesman. My favorite new media guru, Omar (see previous reference above, follow on Twitter: OMARG) strikes again on his Digital Savant blog:

Have you heard of Slydial? It’s a service that allows you to call someone and go straight to their voicemail without having to talk to them. Want to engage in a sneaky breakup? Got some awkward news to share after going to see your doctor? The applications are endless! The phone number is 267-SLYDIAL (267-759-3425) and the voice prompts will guide you. The press release I got says you can use SLYDIAL to “Create the illusion of communication.” Well, that’s novel. I’m sure you’re not sneaky enough to use it, but it’s nice to have the option to be a reprobate in the future.

I better not start getting a ton of voicemail msgs from you guys now! Of course, y'all probably know by now that I'm a screener and rarely answer my phone. I prefer to return messages so I know what the caller needs and can be prepared. A habit I learned while working for the LAF.

Taming the Social Networking Beast

I found this blog post via a Twitter -- how's that for using social marketing tools?
The post describes the uses and differences of many of the new tools, of which there appear to be new ones emerging almost daily!

Give it a read and let me know what you think.
steph