Social Media ~ I have noticed lately that there are a lot of big brands and companies out there who obviously do not fully comprehend the breadth and width of the social media reach. They’ve not been given the social media handbook ( because it doesn’t exist) or they didn’t read it, at the very least they don’t understand the etiquette. It takes practice to make perfect when it comes to social media. No one, not one of us, on Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, Youtube, Summify, About,Technorati, Myspace, Google+, Linkedin want to be shouted, preached at or commercial-ed to death. We don’t respond well to SoapBox media. This applies to individuals and brands. It’s social media 101, you have to be engaged to engage others. Big Brands are not the almighty OZ and we, the people, already have a brain. At the epicenter of all this engagement needs to be a person (a real life person) making real life relationships and having real conversations.THAT is how social media works.
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Photo Mirnabard.com
Social Media Experiment
This morning, my husband asked me to tweet out a simple request that people vote for Midmark Corporation to win the Dayton Journal Brand Madness competition. I’m not even sure what exactly they win aside from bragging rights but I love a challenge. When he asked me this, of course I obliged. When he asked me to do the tweet, the percentages were 6% for Midmark and 94% for the competition. Within in an hour, the odds were at 46% Midmark and 54% for the competition. Now, I’m not saying my tweets and FB requests of my followers did all of that but I think it’s too much to be called a coincidence. I think social media was working in Midmark’s favor. I did some research and on Twitter I have a little over 3200 tweeps that I tweet with on a daily basis. People that I engage and interact with and have real conversations. Each of them have anywhere from 100 followers to 200,000 followers. This increases my reach exponentially. Factor in the fact that they support me and vote or publicized the competition because I asked, it appeared on their walls and in their Twitter streams, and the reach is even larger. Midmark however has 374 people who follow on twitter. They do not engage actively every day and from what I saw, most of it is of the SoapBox variety. Tweeting out once every few weeks usually something that only other employees would be interested in reading. I have 900 total followers on Facebook and Midmark has 180. I am by no means a giant in the social media field but I I know what I am doing. The fact is that my social media reach is greater than this multimillion dollar company. Doesn’t that seem weird? Well, it shouldn’t because it proves my point that people respond to PEOPLE not auto tweets, auto DMS, spam and certainly not Soap Box Media.
Social Media Wins Again
This is not Midmark’s fault. I love Midmark but it proves a point that no one teaches social media. It’s still too new and ever changing. It’s like parenting. You learn as you go and then you are able to use your wisdom to do better. I would like to demonstrate this for Midmark that they need a specifically social media savvy type person to handle their social media. They need someone who understands all that social media entails. It’s social media not Soapbox media, to get the most out of it you have to engage and be social. A publicity blast will yield no return or at least not the kind you might want. Anyone, brand or person, who just tweets one-sided and does not engage in actual conversation will not get the full benefit of social media.I don’t usually ask for votes for anything but I really want to prove that social media reach is strong and there is value in people who employ the skills to effectively navigate social media. Please help me to help Midmark win this branding competition by clicking on this link and voting for Midmark. It will only take a second. If you rally want to let the big companies know that we individuals with social media savvy backgrounds are the way to promote their companies than add a comment after voting for Midmark letting them know that TruthfulMommy sent you. If it makes you feel any better, Midmark truly is an outstanding corporation who actually deserves to win. Voting is open until midnight tonight eastern standard time. They just don’t have the social media know how to let people know they are even in the running. Maybe I can prove the need for a Social Media guru. Thank you all so much for taking a second to vote. I promise it is a click on the link and then a click on the vote for Midmark. There are no forms to fill out. These big companies need to realize the value of social media and that it takes more than just a business degree and a few publicity blasts to grow your social media image. Help me prove that for social media to be effective, it takes people, like you and I, who sit at a computer, form relationships and hold conversations.
Social Media Savvy Wins
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