Photo courtesy of Associated Press

In honor of President’s Day, we at One Social Media (mainly me, the political junkie) felt it was a good time to talk about politics and social media.

Social media hasn’t typically been a main part of a presidency or a presidential campaign pre-2007, but as the times change, this relationship between politicians and the way they communicate with supporters and the country changed as well. Today, social media isn’t just fun extra “bling” to a presidency or campaign, but is VITAL to the successful growth of an organic relationship with current and potential supporters. Gone are the days of political ads on television inspiring a citizen to campaign for their favorite politician or give money to his/her campaign. Today, one must reach the citizen where they are and make it a somewhat-as-close-to-personal relationship as possible. Where do they go? Online communities.

All in all, President Obama and the Republican candidates running for President know social media is the closest thing they have to making their jobs, campaigns and public offices transparent to the public. Voters want to feel like part of the campaigns – behind the scenes videos, messages, photos, intimate moments – all the stuff you won’t see on the media. They want to be part of the journey. Social media is no longer a side note; it is now front and center in the never-ending game of politics.

We all know politicians are everywhere on social media – from Twitter and Facebook to Foursquare and Tout  (click the different links to see how different candidates are using these social media sites). Here’s a look from Overdrive Interactives at how well those running for President are really doing. As you can see, and you’ve probably heard about, President Obama has and is using social media brilliantly to his advantage. Whether you like him or not, Obama has a social media strategy that is only going to help him spread is message and widen his pocketbook. The others? Maybe not quite yet. Yes…

Could this all change? There are still MANY months until November 2012… With social media, anything can happen.

Interested in how political candidates or President Obama is using social media? Want to know what we might expect out of social media this general election cycle? Drop us a note on Facebook or Twitter with your questions or comments! We love hearing from you.

]]> http://www.onesocialmedia.com/politics-social-media/feed 0 http://www.onesocialmedia.com/friday-clicks-volume-13-the-best-of-the-social-web?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=friday-clicks-volume-13-the-best-of-the-social-web http://www.onesocialmedia.com/friday-clicks-volume-13-the-best-of-the-social-web#comments Fri, 17 Feb 2012 15:44:51 +0000 Jeremy Anderberg http://www.onesocialmedia.com/?p=3472 Tweet

It was Grammy’s week, which always creates a lot of buzz in the social world. Even more so this year because of the unfortunate passing of legend Whitney Houston. It also happened to be Valentine’s Week, which of course led to multiple slightly ridiculous, if not creative, digital proposals.

The Links:

• Twitter continues to prove itself as an effective source for breaking news. The network got wind of Whitney Houston’s death almost a full half hour before the major press outlets. (Click here)
• MySpace (What?! That’s still around?) gained one million new users in the past month. Justin Timberlake is transforming the formerly defunct network into a space for music, boasting nearly three times more songs in its catalog than Spotify. (Click here)
• Newt Gingrich is boasting a subscribe-able Facebook Timeline page. Rumors are abounding about Timeline coming to pages in the next month or so, and Gingrich appears to have been given a test account. (Click here)
• Digital proposals: via an inforgraphic (click here) and via Words With Friends (click here).
• As a journalism major in college, I appreciate this piece about about some friends creating a new font in hopes of revitalizing the creative community in Chattanooga. (Click here)
• This video gets more amazing the further on it gets. It’ll be worth your time to watch the whole thing. Then, when you’re done watching, try to do what she did and realize how amazing it is.

There’s not a business out there that can afford to wait any longer. Your customers are using social media and so are other influencers in your industry.

If your competitors aren’t on social media yet, they soon will be.

Your brand is what your customer expects at any touch point they have with your business. Your customer service reps, your product, the package it comes in, the ads you run, and even the executives who run your company, all represent your brand. Those expectations have already started to be developed by the decisions you’ve made so far, but now your customer doesn’t just want to hear about you, they want to talk to you.

Social media has given your customers a chance to get to know you and they can’t wait! Leading brands like Skittles and Sharpie have developed unique personalities on social media to help enhance the relationships they have with their customers and the rest of the business world isn’t far behind.  So, you know you need to be talking to your customers through social media but you have no idea what to say and, even worse, no idea how to say it. Fear not!

We have a few social media branding tips to help.

1. Define Your Brand’s Personality – Once you have a clear definition of who your brand is, you will have a better understanding of what it would say. Would it make jokes? Does it love kittens?

2. Discover Your Brand’s Interests – Let’s make it easy. You want your brand to be your customer’s most trusted confidant, so you should have similar interests to your customer’s to help strengthen the relationship. Talk about topics that are relevant and interesting to your customers and talk about them like they’re relevant and interesting to you.

3. Develop Your Brand’s Voice – The more sharing or “talking” you do, the more you will see patterns in your word choice, your phrasing, and even your punctuation appear. Your fans and customers will get used to these patterns as well so make sure you stick to them.

Once you get through these basic steps it will become second nature to communicate on behalf of your brand. It may seem like you have a second personality hiding inside of your head, it’s not insanity, it’s smart branding. There have never been more or better opportunities for you to connect with your customers on such a personal level. Your connection leads to a relationship and with that comes loyalty which is one of the most valuable assets your company can have, but the hardest to gain.

Click Here to get The Essential Step-By-Step Guide To Internet Marketing E-book and learn more strategies to help your brand succeed online. 

If you feel you might be making mistakes in social media, you aren’t alone. I talk to business owners, CEO’s, and marketing directors from all around the world and they all share the same frustration and concern with me; that they may be wasting their time in their social media efforts.

The five biggest social media mistakes I’ve uncovered are: 

#1 Not having a social media plan. 

People plan more for their weekend vacations than they do for their social media strategy. What are your objectives? What do you want to accomplish? Who are you trying to reach? Which social media platforms are your potential customers spending time on? How can you add value?  Stop wasting your time in social media and plan.

#2 Overpromoting. 

Social media is more about sparking conversations, connecting with others and developing relationships than it is advertising or promotion. Businesses abuse the social media tools available to them thinking they are to be used to shout their message over and over. Add value first. People will find you if you are adding value and helping to solve a problem.

Click here to learn the other 3 Biggest mistakes and how to avoid them. 

Is it Friday already? I don’t know about you, but this week has flown by. Not a whole lot going on in the social sphere this week, so I figured we’d have a little bit of fun, and not be entirely newsy about it.

• Samuel Adams did something really cool and crowd-sourced a new beer. Unfortunately, the voting period is over, but Facebook fans were given the chance to vote on flavors, colors, aromas, etc. As a lover of craft beer, this was awesome to see. (Click here)
• The most watched uStream channel of all time is back on air – and it’s right here in our lovely home state of Iowa. Welcome back Decorah Eagles! (Click here)
• Numbers, numbers, numbers. LinkedIn reached 150 million users recently, up 20 million from just November. And Facebook supposedly will hit 1 billion in August. Remember, a million isn’t cool, a billion is cool. Guess Facebook is cool. (Click here and here)
• Some folks are claiming that Google+is in fact competition for Facebook because it has a higher adoption rate at this stage in the game. I disagree for two reasons: 1) Every new Google account created is automatically given a G+ account. Cheating. 2) Facebook, remember, was a closed and private network for it’s first few years. (Click here)
• You can now gauge who your most valuable Twitter follower is. This new web app is quite cool and was featured in Mashable last week, so it darn near broke the site. It is now, however, back up and running. (Click here)
• For your Friday laugh, watch the video below. Where will you sheet?

Did you miss the Social Truth last week? Joe, Rob and myself talked about a few of the books we are currently reading and recommend.

The three of us are all big readers, and firm believers in reading about as much as you can handle to keep you on top of your game. And you don’t just have to stick to strictly marketing or business books. Personally, those often look so familiar to me with numbers and strategies and bullet points that I end up preferring stories where I can learn one or two key points and not be bogged down trying to learn a million new skills.

Watch the video below and tell us what books YOU are reading right now. Comment below, or find us on Facebook and Twitter! We’ve also posted the direct links under the video to all the books mentioned.

• The New Rules of Marketing & PR by David Meerman Scott
• How to Market to People Not Like You by Kelly McDonald
• The Little Book of Leadership by Jeffrey Gitomer

Rob’s Picks:

• The Power of Intention by Dr. Wayne Dyer
• Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without Losing Its Soul by Howard Schultz
• Reflections from the North Country by Sigurd Olson

Jeremy’s Picks:

• Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson
• Putting the Public Back in Public Relations by Brian Solis and Deirdre Breakenridge
• The Selected Works of T. S. Spivet by Reif Larson

This week was incredibly significant for one reason: The social media giant that really started this whole industry filed for their Initial Public Offering (they are going public and will be selling stock). The marks a momentous occasion, even if it doesn’t have much of an effect for the general public, or even folks like us here in the marketing world.

What it really marks is that these internet giants are not to be taken lightly. They are much more careful about going public than the companies that saw their bubble burst 10 years ago. In the last six months or so LinkedIn, Angie’s List, Zynga, Groupon and the likes have gone public. They are forces to be reckoned with in business world.

The links:

• Love Angry Birds? Or course you do. Your favorite game is now coming to your favorite social network. It will debut on Facebook on none other that Valentine’s Day. How romantic. (Click here)
• You’ve probably read a lot about the Facebook IPO already, but here’s a good article about what it really means for the rest of the business world. (Click here)
• Think radio is dead? Think again. Radio is actually inherently social – curating your what fans ultimately want the most – according to this article. My guess is we’ll see a lot more music-related apps/games popping up this year. (Click here)
• Thinking of diving into Tumblr or Pinterest with your corporate social media? They are reaching different audiences, so choose accordingly, says this article. (Click here)
• We can’t go without mentioning the Super Bowl this week. The NFL understands the importance of social media, so it’s having for the first time a 2,800 square foot social media command center in Indianapolis for the big weekend. We should be seeing more of this for big events – especially the upcoming election. (Click here)
• Amazingly, we have sloths making this blog series again. The video below made its way around the web this week, and it’s too funny to not share. Actress Kristen Bell loves sloths so much that they make her curl up in the fetal position and cry with joy. I guarantee it will make you laugh.

The theme of the first month of 2012 in the social world has largely involved privacy and ethics – something we aren’t quite used to here in the social space. Is this a sign of a lasting trend? I think so. In the past, we’ve just been all about new networks and getting our message – both personally and professionally – on as many channels as possible. Many experts, though, are saying that 2012 is going to be a year of scaling back that attitude and thinking through the implications of our world being inherently more social. Quite interesting!

The links:

• This article from Brian Solis over 4 years old – but it’s fantastic nonetheless. It gets at the heart of social media. (Click here)
• Google has updated its Terms of Service – and will start sharing your information between all your accounts. For instance, watching a Toyota video on YouTube will lead to a Toyota ad in your Gmail. People aren’t too thrilled about this update, as there is no opt-out other than shutting down your accounts. (Click here)
• Apple continues to make news, but not in positive ways. They’ve come under fire for their manufacturing suppliers in Asia and running into subpar working conditions. (Click here)
• We are seeing social media playing an increasingly important role in politics, whether it’s Republican primaries or SOPA protests. (Click here)
• This skit below was on Saturday Night Live a couple weeks ago. It is certainly funny, but it also speaks volumes about what the social world can do to us.

The web was aflutter with #SOPA this week. Thankfully, Congress has decided to table the bill (for now) and do some further research about its far-reaching implications. Facebook also made the news this week, as did the continued opinions coming out about Google+ being integrated into search. Oh, and Apple found a way to sneak in as well. Are we really surprised?

Onto the links:

• Here’s a nice SOPA article – specifically about how Blackout Wednesday was the Internet’s coming of age to be a voice in politics. (Click here)
• Stephen Levy, a renowned tech writer, voices his (mostly negative) opinion about the Google+ search integration. (Click here)
• Facebook unleashed around 60 apps to integrate into your Timeline. They range from big names like USA Today and Trip Advisor, to more up-and-comers like Goodreads and SoundClound. (Click here)
• Apple found a way to stir up the publishing pot by announcing iBooks Author – an incredibly easy-to-use self-publishing platform. Amazon has a similar service, but it appears that Apple has just raised the bar. (Click here)
• One final tidbit: A couple months ago we had an office debate about whether or not baby sloths are cute. Don’t ask how we got there, it just happened. You can’t really argue after watching the video below.

We got our first real chill of the season this week here in Iowa. As with most winter occurrences in our lovely state, we had 30-40 mph winds to go with it. Needless to say, we may or may not have stayed in over lunch and played a little extra ping pong. If you are interested in seeing an epic point between Taylor and I, I’ll post it after the links.

Onto the goods:

• Google and Twitter got into a bit of a spat over search results this week. Google updated their site to show results from Google+ postings, and Twitter didn’t like it. (Click here)
• In electronics news, the Consumer Electronics Show is happening this week, the biggest event of its kind each year. It’s not directly social related, but there are cool gadgets coming out that will someday incorporate social, including kitchen appliances. (Click here)
• Dan Zarrella is quickly becoming known as THE social media scientist. He retrieves mountains of data and tells you, the digital marketer, exactly what you need to do. In this case, he talks about the content of your tweets if your goal is more retweets. (Click here)
• If you love social media, and you aren’t on Pinterest, you really need to be. Just sayin. Even the fellas out there – you won’t regret it. This is a phenomenal and in-depth post with some great tips for brands. (Click here)

Did we miss anything? Let us know on Facebook and Twitter!

And finally, the video you’ve all been waiting. I (Jeremy) am the one in blue who won the point.